Inside 68: Dawn of a New Season (or two)

[Leostales]

[Industrial Park - Underground]
"I could sneak ahead and see what's in front of us." Muun suggests. Though he's not too enthusiastic about it, he doesn't want to get shot accidentally.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"Well, there's a few of us who might be able to help with that, though I'm not sure who'd be best," the elf says, eyeing the other techs, who are still at work. As she moves her head, Michalson can see a small chrome port on her neck; it had been covered by her hair a moment before. "Long as you're not feeling terribly territorial, that is."

[The Docks - Angelic Postmortem]

Quin nods in agreement with Calm's assessment, and follows along behind her, watching closely for more danger.

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"Can't says I do," Michalson says, unsure what she means. "I just need the dark of what was nicked from the tech stores. Once I have that, maybe I can put together some idea of what someone's tryin' to cobble together."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"I guess I'm your best option, then. The tech stuff stolen from that outlier store was all high-grade cyberware," the elf says, brushing some of her hair out of her eyes. "Cybernetic arms and legs and torsos, even spines and skulls, along with pretty much any other humanoid body part you can think of." She flips the sheaf open to a specific page, apparently familiar with it, and points out a line. "There were also move-by-wire and reaction enhancement systems in there. Not illegal per se, but they're typically only used by combat cyborgs. With what was stolen, you could make four or five full bodies, assuming you had brains to stick in the skulls."

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Michalson is silent for a few moments.

"Guess our answer's obvious, then, but I don't know if I trust it," he finally says. "Was someone tryin' to create tinmen? But that doesn't explain the rest of the missing milk. It's a start, but there's more to it."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"It would explain why they stole that factory floor, but you're right, I'm still not sure how all the magic bits fit together. Where I come from, if you're that cybered up, you tend not to need much in the way of defensive magic," the elf comments, looking thoughtful. "And the psionic stuff, too. We didn't have that back home, but in the Nexus, everything sort of works together, so it's hard to guess. I was going to head over to the warehouses' owners' storage area next; maybe there'll be something in whatever records they had there that will put this together for us?"

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"Aye, that's where I was headed too," Michalson says, nodding. "Might be there's a piece of the puzzle there we're missin'. Also... I get the ugly feelin' the people in the warehouse were nicked as cheap hands to put together whatever those bashers are workin' on."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"We might as well go together, then. I'm Misty, by the way. Misty Thunderbird," the elf says, with an expression practically daring Michalson to make fun of her name. She looks to the others, and calls out, "You boys keep taking pictures; I'm heading to the records scene with Detective Michalson!" A few nod and shrug, before going back to whatever they were doing.

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Michalson... doesn't seem to even smile at the name. Could be that he's heard much weirder in Sigil and the Planes.

"Let's get goin', then. Those records will take time to look through and we don't have a lot of it, I reckon."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

The "dapper trouble maker" has the faintest ghost of a smile as Red Velvet leaves with the children.
It probably doesn't have anything to do with the notable reduction in effort he has in keeping all that death off himself, since Ithuriel and now Mo are giving some rather risky tutoring to the boy.

More immediately relevant to Red: other than her own struggle of having to hoist around so many unconscious children, she has acquired a fairly easy task here. All those other things she was aware of are in no position to be an issue for her.
Presumably all of the officers holding the perimeter outside will be wanting to check the children, but they will find them all to be physically healthy and normal. There is a high chance of less physical issues.

Which brings us back down to the boy and the two figures trying to grab his focus.
He's trying, really very hard, to wrestle some sort of control of the power his small frame is struggling to contain. And it is working! Slowly. It's most comparable to trying to force a cover onto an explosive fire hydrant leak, bare-handed and alone.
But even reduced, the weight of it all is suffocating. A hundred strangling hands, or just eighty strangling hands, the danger is still there.
A danger that Mo seems to want a piece of.

Stepping in front of Ithuriel does mitigate the effect on the angel-rhino by a good amount, but it's not the sort of effect that placing yourself in the middle of will completely disrupt. There's even the slight possibility the overall effect is just a hair worse, as the boy becomes confused by the new person suddenly pushing into place.
He'd look at Ithuriel for some sort of guidance there (she is the angel, even if...a really weird looking one now), but Mo is in the way.
Though, from his perspective, Mo did come in with Ithuriel to help with the rescue, so she must not be bad. The boy is not aware she was technically here first

Regardless, she has stepped into the full-weight of lethal divinity here. The smothering descends upon the flame of her existence, apathetic and relentless.
Quite unlike the boy himself, who continues to look terrified and would really rather this all stop at any point now.
Both of these adults are offering a lot of assurances here (did Mo just offer to adopt him?) and they probably know better than he does...

His gaze flickers from Mo's face, to an abstract point behind her where he assumes Ithuriel's face should be, back and forth a couple times.
Talking is hard, when he's trying to devote so much to what feels like keeping himself from exploding and hurting everyone here even more, and he thinks it's working, but this is all so hard and he doesn't understand...
"I'm scared."

His hand moves towards Mo.
She shouldn't take it.

[Rebonack]

[Docks]

Oh hey, here comes Geneva!

She's still small and pink.

Why is she still small and pink?

Because she's counting on needing to head down into the sewers again now that the angel thing is gone. They still need to flush out all the awful stuff lurking down there. And given what she knows about skinwalkers, she would NOT want to be caught in close quarters whilst a hippogriff.

As a mew she has barriers and potent telekinesis. And a nice little side of fire if all else fails. All excellent tools for dealing with close quarters combat.

Otherwise?

Well... otherwise she would probably be in a great deal of trouble.

She spies the other VIGILanties heading down into the ruins and dips low to catch up with them.

~That orb blew up and killed everything in the blast radius,~ she reaches out mentally. ~Thank Arceus it only caught a stray bird.~

Yeah no kidding.

That would have been a bunch of dead people otherwise.

~The communicators I built for everyone double as light sources. It's really dark down there.~

Geneva will be following the others, a faint iridescent bubble flashing into view around her every now and again when the light hits it just right.

[Industrial Park]

Morning Glory will likewise allow Jaahlyn to disembark.

Or, more properly, she'll set Jaahlyn's feet on the frosty floor.

"Scouting ahead is a terrible plan," Morning points out. "We should keep within sight of each other at all times. And we should move quickly," she adds, trotting in the direction of the cold.

Huh.

She had wings a second ago, didn't she? She doesn't now. No transition. No withering away. Just there one moment and then gone the next like a bad movie cut. Weird shape-shifting things.

"So, passphrase. One person says tail. The other person says fire. We know this. The creeps don't. Easy."

Hopefully there aren't any horrors hovering within earshot.

Morning Glory isn't totally sure how to feel about all of this. She gets back to the Nexus and within no time at all a crisis is cropping up. Just like old times, right? But really, when was the last time an existential threat reared its ugly head? Cauliflower, maybe? There's a bit of excitement, but at the same time a feeling like lead in her stomach. She has to take this seriously. These are real people the bugs are murdering. Or at least people who believe they're real.

That has to be good enough.

[Abrajin's Library]

The woman stares at the Scout in a completely unhelpful fashion.

"I need to find my lamb. I'm not meant to be alone," she repeats.

...she probably isn't going to be terribly helpful in the long run.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Misty nods, and the pair set off towards the address the owners gave Intersection. It's clear across the city, but they make good time. Michalson will learn that the elf hails from a dimension where magic was once absent, but returned after the inhabitants had reached a relatively advanced technological state. The return of magic meant the return of more mystical races, such as elves like herself and dwarves, and the mixture of technology into said magic, with large corporations now the dominant force over society. She apparently worked for one before somehow arriving the in the Nexus, though she's rather evasive on exactly how that occurred. Still, she seems to know her way around cybernetics, as she gives Michalson a very basic crash-course in how they work and the various types that were common in her world.

The address, once they reach it, is a small office building in one of Inside's more upscale business districts. A handful of businesses are listed in the directory, and they find the holding company that owns the warehouse among them. Once they reach the office, they're greeted by one of the officers who was sent to help sort through records.

"Heard you two were comin'. You've got luck on your side; we've just managed to find the most recent set of manifests. The owners are here too, so if you'd like to question them, now's as good a time as any."

[bc56]

Into the Dungeon

Tethrik turns around, swinging his fist wildly at the approaching skeleton. He barely notices Lynx's eyes, and they aren't that weird compared to some stuff he's seen.

Abrajin's Library

Well this won't do at all. The scout doesn't want to be lost in here, and it seems unlikely that it will be able to help this lady without directions. It goes to the only resident of the room it can see, the snake, and asks, "Excuse me, my good serpent.
Have you seen perchance where a little lamb went?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Hotel]

Sam Bacon practically skips home to the room arranged for him and Lucy, having had quite an eventful day. Opening the door with a grin, he triumphantly drops off his jacket with Steve the Sword onto a hook.
”I’m back. Where are my favorite people?” he asks, looking for Pippin and Lucy, if she’s home. She wasn’t when he went to drop off his cooking supplies.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Ithuriel shifts round to Mo's side, her wrinkly grey face (you've seen rhinos before, right? They all look old!) cracking into a soft smile. She wants to get Mo out of here, to tell her this is Intersection business and that she shouldn't be endangering herself like this. She wants to turn and punch through that damn shield protecting the man behind her, tackle him to the ground and beat some sense into him...

She also really wants to not die.

Hopefully she can manage one out of three, because she's not in a position to get Mo out of here or take the culprit into custody right now.

She gently rests a hand on Mo's shoulder and squeezes lightly. "You don't need to do this, but thank you. But please, don't put yourself at risk for my sake. I'm just doing my job." With the kids now out and safe, Ithuriel lets the radius of her aura shrink and fade, focusing just on protecting herself and Mo, and letting the child feel the warmth of the glow.

"We're both here for you. Just focus on us, we're not going anywhere." She pauses and chuckles, trying to hard to hide showing any of the considerable strain on her body. "I know this is strange and scary, but we're two big strong women, I think we can keep you safe, don't you?"

*****

[Hotel]

Lucy is back now, but Sam's rather energetic entrance is greeted only by a rather quiet "H-hi." She's curled up on the sofa with Pippin sprawled across her lap, gently stroking the purring space-cat, with a blanket loosely pulled round both of them. "I-I'm sorry I was gone for so long." How long had she been gone for? It was a bit difficult to tell, what with the sort of semi-breakdown she had after the Riverside incident. All the personalities coming out and then-

Oof. Lots to unpack.

"Uh, how long has it been?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Hotel]

”Day or two, I think. I see Pippin missed you. And oh, I almost forgot. I did get you something before everything happened earlier.” Sam reaches into his pocket and takes out the bag of jewelry he traded from the bird lady. Or lady bird. From it he takes a very shiny silver necklace, and holds it out to Lucy. Nothing can cut through drama to your sweet dragon roommate like shinies.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hotel]

"I-is that all?" That doesn't feel right, surely? Just the time Sylvess spent with Spako was more than that, right?

"I, uh, are you sure? Sylvess must've spent two days catching up with his boyfriend, a-and that was after what I did, a-and whatever the, um, the others did. I thought I must've vanished for at least a week!"

Pippin purrs. He is a very easy cat to please.

Lucy's babbling is momentarily put on pause by the shiny. Shiny. Shiiiiny. One hand instinctively reaches out for it-

And then withdraws. "It's, um, it's very nice, Sam. Hooow have you been?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Hotel]

Sam shrugs. ”I was pretty sure it was just a few days. But maybe I was gone longer than I thought. I did spend a while training with this nice Vampire I met. I could a new cool magic artifact thing and that means I’m magic now.” he declares, face almost shining with pride.
”And please Lucy, it’s yours. I traded a spoon for it. Bird traders are strange. And um congrats on the boyfriend, Sylvess.” Lucy hadnt ever told Sam he was dating someone. She also hadn’t really made it sound like they were that separate that they’d talk about each other like that but...there she is so. Sam has to assume that’s a thing.

[Shadowcaller]

[Industrial Park]

At least hooves were pretty good at withstanding cold, Jaahlyn lands softly with a clipity-clop. "Yes, and scouting ahead is for those who have time to spare, and we have none. Let's just get deeper inside, let us hope we can surprise them. Overwhelm them at a critical moment." There was only hoping at this point. They had no clue what was waiting in there so they just had to hope their clubs would be bigger than the enemies teeth.

[Docks]

Anika shrugs. Looked like Blanche didn't have any opinions on this one so she was just going to head after the others to the ruins of the inn and investigate. Seemed like the best course of action right now.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hotel]

"Oh, th-there are nice vampires here too?" Lucy remarks, giving Pippin a little scritch under his fluffy chin. "I guess after everything else, that shouldn't surprise me, but vamps are one of those things often considered evil. Oh, but magic sounds neat!" She brightens up a little bit at that. "Oh, yeeeeah, the boyfriend thing happened a while ago, but I don't like to talk about Sylvess' private life much. Oh, but he doesn't mind you knowing! He figured I'd have to explain my absence a bit, y'know?"

[CosmicHobbit]

Into the Dungeon

Tethrik turns around, swinging his fist wildly at the approaching skeleton. He barely notices Lynx's eyes, and they aren't that weird compared to some stuff he's seen.

The skeleton takes every hit Tethrik dishes out, as well as a blast of green energy from Lynx. The skeleton tries to grab Tethrik's right arm with it's bony hands!

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Powerful cliques ruling a place is something Michalson finds familiar. The corporations seem a bit less weird and more nakedly greedy than the Sigil factions, which are ideological in nature, but close enough. He considered joining the Doom Guard during his younger, edgier years, then thankfully grew out of it.

"Let's swap some chant- uh, talk to the owners while they're 'ere," Michalson decides. "The papers aren't goin' anywhere and we'll squeeze the dark out of them later."

[Deathkeeper]

[Hotel]

”Alysha is very nice.” Sam assures Lucy.
”So. Uh. Wanna do something? I haven’t seen you in days. We could get food, go shopping, something.” he tries to find something that will get her off that couch. Sam misses Lucy as she was. He needs something that can get that back, even just a little.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Misty and the officer nod, before he leads both of them deeper into the office, and around a few corners, to a conference room. The table is covered in boxes, obviously full of files. At one end of the table, a balding dwarf sits, reading one of the papers, dejectedly, head propped up on one hand. Across from him, an attractive young gnomish woman paces, looking worried. Both barely look up as the officer opens the door for Michalson and Misty. The dwarf eyes the detective after a moment, his other eye covered by his hand.

"So, ye be the detectives from Intersection, aye? Ah hope what we found c'n help ye, ah've never heard of anythin' like this ever happenin' here before," he says dejectedly. "We'll be sunk if'n ye cannae help us find our buildin'."

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"I've got some possible leads," Michalson says, somewhat non-committally and making sure to keep the Sigil gutter-trash language out of his speech. "Finding out what was taken along with your warehouse should help me connect the dots."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

The gnomish woman looks to Michalson and sighs.

"Materials, detective. Raw and finished components for various things. Electronics, wiring, computer chips of various types. And from the manifest we found, two shipments of raw armoring materials that were delivered yesterday afternoon. Our warehouse was by no means full, but even so, we're still talking about nearly a hundred tons worth of various goods that were being stored."

"Do you happen to have a general list yet?" Misty asks, a bit hopeful.

The dwarf nods, and passes her a notepad from under some papers. She thumbs through it quickly, her expression growing more dour the further she goes.

"....these are....definitely not good. No, I don't like this at all," she mumbles to herself before handing the pad to Michalson. The list confirms what the gnomish woman is telling them, but Michalson might notice something that might worry him. Some of the raw materials stolen weren't just mundane items, but magical ones. Specifically, two tons of various types of dragonshard crystals, and a small crate of rare alchemical reagents that are typically used in more potent potions, but can be used when creating items imbued with magical abilities. It's hard to tell if that's what's got Misty worried, though.

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"This whole situation is definitely wasteward from good, but what is it in particular that worries you?" Michalson asks, looking through the list. Yes, someone is definitely trying to make something.

[bc56]

Into the Dungeon

"Just when you think you've got the hang of it, they have to throw something new at you." Tethrik is grabbed, but all he does in response is lift his arm above his head. Assuming the skeleton has a firm grip and is about human size, it will be lifted several feet off the ground. Tethrik will then try to pick off its legs with his free hand the way a cruel child dismembers an insect.

[CosmicHobbit]

Into The Dungeon

Both of those things happen to the skeleton, but it seems to ignore it, now trying to bite Tethrik.

Lynx swings his scythe, making a purple scythe made of energy shoot out of it, which lops off the skeleton's skull. This doesn't stop it from hopping across the ground toward Lynx, still trying to bite somebody.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"Well....we can probably rule out them using the people that were kidnapped from that factory for raw materials. Some of the electronic components that were stolen can be used in AI constructs," Misty begins, her dour expression showing worry. "There's also some mil-grade hardware in there. If I had to wager a guess, they're building some kind of force of AI soldiers. Still not sure how the magic fits in. Defense, maybe? Those dragonshards could possibly be used as a power source, though, if what I've read about them is right, though I have no idea how you'd work something like that. Doesn't magic usually have some sort of innate talent you need for it?"