[Nexus] Inside 43

[Shadowcaller]

[Park]

Astrana tries to recall any pact bounds which might help in this situation but nothing comes to mind. It wasn't often you bargained for neurosurgery equipment.

Arel was going to turn into some sort of zombie and they could do nothing but watch it happen. Great.
But if she felt bad about it, it was probably nothing compared to what Rein felt. At least Valente might still be cured but nothing save for a miracle could save Arel.

"Look... if the worst happens, maybe I can get you in touch with some of my contacts? They might be able to cure her." For a price of course, a price that Rein probably wouldn't even be able to pay even if they could 'cure' something like this.

[Ashen Lilies]

Extensive backstory spoilered for length, violence, criminal amounts of absurdity.

Spoiler

Show

[A Convenience Store]

"HOLY JESUS YOU GET ATTACKED OR SOMETHING!? YOU ALRIGHT? SHOULD I CALL AN AMBULANCE?"

It occurred to Roy Isaacs, professional coffee shop dweller, that the woman currently standing behind the counter of the store (a rotund brunette with long, red nails and pink highlights) was possibly not very bright. One does not simply get their right arm ripped off at the shoulder simply walking down the street. And when encountering someone with said injury, it's usually best to assume that no, they are not, in fact, alright, and that you should call an ambulance straight away, not stand around answering useless questions. Especially when they happen to be gushing blood all over your clean white floor. Thinking to correct this deplorable lack of intelligence, Roy opened his mouth, only to be disappointed when, instead of words, all that exited were his front teeth, the blood of which he could taste quite distinctly, as well as the linoleum of the floor paneling he had just smacked into.

Great. He thought. Now dental bills, on top of whatever it is I have to pay for... whatever it is they're going to have to do for my arm.

This was not an entirely sensible thought to be having, considering the circumstances, and Roy would have quickly rectified it with a thought more relevant to his current situation, except he couldn't because he was dead.

[An Abandoned Warehouse (They Just Build These Things Everywhere, Yo)]

When Roy woke up again, the very first thing he noticed was that his teeth were back. It wasn't a particularly significant observation, which, combined the with the rather flippant thought Roy remembered having just before he died, spurred him to decide to have slightly more important thoughts in the immediate future. Like notice the fact that he quite clearly remembers dying. He opened his eyes. Lights. Bright halogen bulbs, quite a distance above his head, hanging in conical shades down from an even higher ceiling. He moved his head, then realized his head was actually strapped down, preventing that earlier action from occurring.

Note to self: evaluate whether physical motions are actually possible before attempting.

Taking his own advice to heart, Roy wiggled his limbs in turn, left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg, finding that, like his head, they had each been strapped down to the table he was lying on, preventing him from moving at all. His next thought then, would have been that strapping him down like this without his permission was a terribly rude thing to do, and that he would have to have words with whomever had done such a thing to him, but remembering his earlier promise to himself to think of only sensible things, he instead decided to reflect on the fact that, logically speaking, he shouldn't have a right arm to be strapped down at all, given that it had been quite painfully detached from his torso by the ravenous zombie that had attacked him, roughly thirty seconds before he had stumbled into a nearby convenience store and subsequently perished.
Now thoroughly intrigued, Roy raised his arm up into his line of vision to get a better look at it, only to disappoint himself by finding not his own arm, magically reattached and fully functioning, but rather some sort of cobbled together robotic monstrosity, all black metal and servos and leather straps with twisted metal rings on the end where they had been rather violently pulled out of the table he was lying upon.

Oh.

Making good use of his new prosthetic, Roy removed the rest of the straps holding down onto the table, sitting up just in time for the door to slam open, admitting a small, frail looking man with weaselly features, coke-bottle glasses and a nervous twitch, followed by two zombies. One of the zombies (the one that wasn't a rotund brunette with long, red nails and pink highlights) was clutching an arm that looked suspiciously like Roy's own, only Roy was reasonably certain that his own had had a good deal more flesh upon it, and bones that hadn't been thoroughly gnawed on.

"N-No! You can't be awake yet! The process has not finished yet! The master has not yet returned!" Whined Weaselface (as he was spontaneously referred to by Roy's brain), brandishing a syringe full of a suspicious looking black fluid.
"Y-you're going to have to g-go back to sleep now. G-Go back to sleep, so that the M-Master can come back and fix you up nice and properlike, oh yes..."
Seemingly gaining confidence, Weaselface advanced forward menacingly, holding the syringe out before him like a dagger, licking his lips. Not particularly wanting to get syringed by a complete stranger, and perhaps harboring a minor phobia of needles in general, Roy thrust his robotic arm forward, punching neatly through Weaselface's chest and out through his back, taking much of the intervening bone and soft tissue with it. It briefly occurred to Roy that what he was doing would be considered vaguely sociopathic, at least according to most people he knew, but considering the sort of injuries he'd suffered only minutes prior (at least, from his point of view) knocking a man's heart through his spine with his sternum didn't seem quite so bad, at least in the grand scheme of things.
Distraught over their master's death, or at least, as distraught as a bunch of mindless, shambling corpses resurrected into a pale mockery of life can be, the two zombies lurched forward, moaning out guttural warcries that may or may not have been just regular moaning, only to be met by more fists, which, instead of causing them to burst into bloody messes, merely caused them to crumple and shatter, as though their bones had suddenly aged by about ten-thousand years.
Roy removed himself from the quivering heap of let's-not-think-too-hard-about-that that used to be Weaselface, examining his arms. One flesh. One metal. Both now, covered in blood. Blood that seemed unnaturally hot against his skin, as if he had just spilled coffee all over himself, only not as painful. And around them both, a writhing aura of darkness which flared for a moment, before sinking back into his form. Roy felt slightly stronger. Slightly.

And so, confused, blood-soaked, and now thoroughly late for his dinner date for that cute girl he had met at the coffee shop, Roy stepped into the night.

[Hattish Thing]

Streets

Marciano continues to walk to an empty alley. While in this alley Marciano takes out a remote control. He shines it at a trash can....The top of the trash can's lid rises. The lid then floats in the air before spinning around at a high speed. The lid then flies into a small slit in the wall. The wall then opens on hinges. It's the factory's secret entrance into Louv're Laboratories. Marciano walks inside. There is a tunnel. It is a white tunnel. At the end of the tunnel there is a chrome double door that must lead somewhere. Marciano snaps his fingers. Grantaire follws. Maybe the pantherbot will follow.

[LadyOfWar]

Mayhala forgoes running up to the house, at least for the moment. Instead, she quickly draws in enough shadows to completely cloak herself in them, which she does, holding it for a moment.... And, when she releases her control over them and they disperse, she's vanished.

Despite appearances, however, she hasn't decided to abandon her new friends; she's hopped worlds, slipping into the shadow realm, which is her usual method of breaking into somewhere. Assuming it works as normal, she should be able to walk through the walls there, getting her into the house, where she'll hop back into the normal world.

Mayhalla will be met by a tidy, pleasant little house with clean floors and inexpensive décor. The kitchen, the room she ends up in, is a particularly nice little room with canisters of ingredients lined tidily on the counter and a few dirty dishes stacked fastidiously in the sink. To her right is an opening to the living room in the front of the house.

The living room is a sharp contrast to the kitchen. Two casserole dishes full of food were dumped on the floor by the front door. The lamp is lying on the floor and the coffee table is awkwardly pushed half-way across the room. The couch has a fluffy throw lying half-hanging off the arm, but most disturbing of all would be a single detail: a darkened bloodstain on the fluffy fabric.

Mayhalla is not alone for long.

[Jessica's Home]
Rhyan's eyes widen as, half distracted through looking around at the neighbourhood, Winguardia starts running suddenly.

When she sees why, she gasps quietly.
"Oh, no."
Then sprints after her friend!

Winguardia completely ignores the crime scene tape and sign telling interlopers to keep out. She tries the knob first, and finding it locked she opts for a more violent approach. She backs up, then takes a running start and bursts in through the front door, coming to a sudden halt just before stepping in the mess on the front rug. Her eyes fly around the room, taking in everything in a single sweep.

She does a double-take when she sees Mayhalla is already here, then abruptly asks, “Did you see anyone?”

From her position following Winguardia, Rhyan may notice that the winged woman’s shoulder is now bent in a direction shoulders shouldn’t go. Impulsiveness has a price.

[Sojourn]

MEGA GOOP!

It's actually starting to harden and crumble away like crusty play-dough at this point. Apparently this stuff doesn't last terribly long once it's separated from the blobbies.

The various adventurer types head off toward the door, which Commander Dorf opens for them!

Yay!

He's already pulled up a trolly with all sorts of goodies on it!

Wes sighs in relief when she realizes the stuff is crumbling off and won’t cause any more issues.

Then she sees the trolly of goodies that everyone else is doubtlessly headed toward. She had better hurry before all the good stuff is taken! Wes hustles over and takes a close look at the loot.

“If they’re willing to give away one of those tri-corders I call dibs!” she announces good-naturedly.

[Lady Serpentine]

Mayhalla will be met by a tidy, pleasant little house with clean floors and inexpensive décor. The kitchen, the room she ends up in, is a particularly nice little room with canisters of ingredients lined tidily on the counter and a few dirty dishes stacked fastidiously in the sink. To her right is an opening to the living room in the front of the house.

The living room is a sharp contrast to the kitchen. Two casserole dishes full of food were dumped on the floor by the front door. The lamp is lying on the floor and the coffee table is awkwardly pushed half-way across the room. The couch has a fluffy throw lying half-hanging off the arm, but most disturbing of all would be a single detail: a darkened bloodstain on the fluffy fabric.

Mayhalla is not alone for long.



Winguardia completely ignores the crime scene tape and sign telling interlopers to keep out. She tries the knob first, and finding it locked she opts for a more violent approach. She backs up, then takes a running start and bursts in through the front door, coming to a sudden halt just before stepping in the mess on the front rug. Her eyes fly around the room, taking in everything in a single sweep.

She does a double-take when she sees Mayhalla is already here, then abruptly asks, “Did you see anyone?”

From her position following Winguardia, Rhyan may notice that the winged woman’s shoulder is now bent in a direction shoulders shouldn’t go. Impulsiveness has a price.

Mayhala shakes her head, allowing a bit of the spirit she shares her form and identity with to bleed into her eyes, and appears to be sniffing the air, as though hoping to detect an usual scent. Which, really, she is; she's hoping that, if Winguardia's friend (or anyone else here) died violently, she'll be able to see or smell the residue of life that they would have used up in the time it took for them to die of natural causes. Of course, if something fed on or otherwise removed it, or it's been a while, it's quite possible there wouldn't be enough left for her to detect.

"Not until you came in... Nor was someone or something hiding in the shadow world."

[Mindfreak]

Streets of the Red Zone
Dave is currently looking around the Red Zone, searching for a good spot to build his clinic.

[Beans]

Streets of the Red Zone
Dave is currently looking around the Red Zone, searching for a good spot to build his clinic.

He may come across a white coffin-like box in an alley.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Space Flower Park Thing]
Zwei marvels at the spacey flowers!
((But deadtime.))

Karyana grins, glad that Zwei seems to like it.

"Do you want to go in and look around?"

*Pokes Beans*

[Common Street]

The scorpion looks confused at her. Was his wording that threating? Seems like the world lost his temper in the time of his sleep. Hopefully the place she shows him won't be like that as well.

"What makes you think I have? Let's just go on, please."

Tlannae, apparently not liking the scorpion very much for some reason, ignores his question, and sets off towards Remnant.

[Beans]

[Park]
Zwei nods, smiling.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Star Park]

And, presumably, enter the park they do!

Once inside, things get still odder; it seems like they're in space, complete with a lack of gravity, and the planet holding the Nexus behind them, though there's air, and the ground, as well as the flowers, still exist.

[Beans]

[Star Park]
Zwei giggles, feeling all floaty.

[Mindfreak]

He may come across a white coffin-like box in an alley.

Red Zone - Alley
Dave, like any smart person, starts poking it with his sheathed katana.

[Beans]

[Alley]
IDENTIFY SELF VOCALLY PLEASE.
A mechanical voice pipes up.

[Mindfreak]

Red Zone - Alley
"Sup, I'm Dave Smith."
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Star Park]
Zwei giggles, feeling all floaty.

Karyana grins, glad that Zwei is feeling better enough to giggle, and goes to spin them slowly.

[The Bushranger]

[Jessica's House]

Rhyan does indeed notice the dislocated shoulder, but she (a) lacks healing abilities beyond brute force, and that can wait; and (b) has more important fish to fry...

Specifically, if she can spot the bloodstained throw on the couch, she'll quickly make her way to it. And cast a small, simple spell - one that will tell her what sort of being (species, gender, approximate age) the blood came from.

[Beans]

[Park]
Zwei seems happier.
---
[Alley]
It opens, and inside is Tsan.
... Hello.

[LadyOfWar]

[Jessica's House]

Rhyan does indeed notice the dislocated shoulder, but she (a) lacks healing abilities beyond brute force, and that can wait; and (b) has more important fish to fry...

Specifically, if she can spot the bloodstained throw on the couch, she'll quickly make her way to it. And cast a small, simple spell - one that will tell her what sort of being (species, gender, approximate age) the blood came from.

The throw is lying in plain view, draping off of the couch's arm. The spell works nicely and reveals that the owner of the blood was a young human woman, with no other species mixed in her bloodline.

Mayhala shakes her head, allowing a bit of the spirit she shares her form and identity with to bleed into her eyes, and appears to be sniffing the air, as though hoping to detect an usual scent. Which, really, she is; she's hoping that, if Winguardia's friend (or anyone else here) died violently, she'll be able to see or smell the residue of life that they would have used up in the time it took for them to die of natural causes. Of course, if something fed on or otherwise removed it, or it's been a while, it's quite possible there wouldn't be enough left for her to detect.

"Not until you came in... Nor was someone or something hiding in the shadow world."

Someone here did die violently. It has been many hours, but not a full day, since the death, and she had a lot of life left to live had it not been cut short that morning.

Winguardia does not have magic to utilize, so she hurries through the house, looking upstairs and down for clues, for signs of her friend.

Either of the women may notice the small streak of dirt left on the wall beside the picture frame which is hanging askew a good five feet from any other signs of violence in the room.

[Mindfreak]

Red Zone - Alley
Dave is still hopefully poking the box.
"Hi."

[Rebonack]

[Park]

The Templar knits his brow, looking down at the afflicted woman. "I'll do my best. As much as I can for her. But whether or not it will be enough remains to be seen."

That said he'll reach out to put a hand on the former-angel's head. And then attempts to lay a blessing on her. The blessing is meant to mend wounds and purge poisons. Or rather purge foreign containment from a person's body.

Disease is caused by evil spirits where he's from. So the usual generic divine magic for healing sickness simply doesn't exist. With any luck the seed will be treated as alien to her body and dissolved.

...hopefully that doesn't leave her brain-dead in the process.

Fredrick bites his lip in anticipation! Will it work?

[Sojourn]

All sorts of neat stuff on the trolly. A tri-corder of course. A few funny looking ray-guns. Some fancy crystals. Shiny metals. Things of that nature!

Once lewt is picked out the adventurers will be hurriedly shooed off the ship. There are repairs to be done!

[Beans]

Red Zone - Alley
Dave is still hopefully poking the box.
"Hi."

Do you have instructions for me?
Or information?

[Slii Arhem]

Park

((All actions approved by Gulaghar.))

Oh dear. Deep in the meat of Arel's brain, the seed has already taken root at the base of her skull, overcoming her antibodies and becoming one with her spinal column. This means that, had the purging prayer come even a few moments earlier, the plant would have been expelled.

Instead, it begins to grow in earnest, maturing at a much more rapid rate.

Of course, all of this happens internally. On the outside, Arel's skin should begin to regain its normal hue, and the moss and ferns that speckled her features should wither and die as the zombification is forcibly removed.

[Mindfreak]

Do you have instructions for me?
Or information?

Red Zone - Alley
That gets Dave to stop poking.
"Am I supposed to?"
He did just meet this chick.

[Beans]

[Alley]
Yes please.
She nods, smiling hopefully.

[Mindfreak]

Red Zone - Alley
"Then I suggest you get out of that box. That can't be too good for your back."
"By the way, what's your name?"

[Beans]

[Alley]
She gets out, getting a shoulderbag as she goes.
I am Tsade, though I have been called Tsan.

[Gullara]

[Park]

The plants that had begun growing on her indeed fall away, but her skin retains a slight yellow tone. Unfortunately, Arel doesn't seem to be less zombie like, and there's still more to come. Three pairs of vines, very similar to those still surrounding them, sprout from along her spine and grow at a rapid pace. Her dress is in the way, so it might not be too noticeable until there's obvious bulges under her clothing and the vines navigate out of the various ways out of her dress. It'll take a couple minutes for them to grow to their full ten foot length, but as soon as they're able, they will try to wrap around Rein and pull at him.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Park]
Zwei seems happier.
---
[Alley]
It opens, and inside is Tsan.
... Hello.

[Park]

In that case, Karyana does as well, and goes to pull her into a hug.

"Would you like me to make someplace like this, back in my Forest?"


[Jessica's House]

Mayhala frowns. That's not good... Certainly, it's possible that Jessica killed someone here, presumably after they attacked her for some reason, but in that case, wouldn't she have been allowed to stay in her house after reporting it and being interrogated under Truth Spell?

"Someone died here... I can't tell who, but they had plenty of time to live. Either they were young, or they were going to live to be quite old, based on how much time they would have had left to live."

Mayhala will notice the dirt only if Ryhan doesn't.

[Beans]

[Park]
Zwei nods, grinning.

[LadyOfWar]

[Sojourn]

All sorts of neat stuff on the trolly. A tri-corder of course. A few funny looking ray-guns. Some fancy crystals. Shiny metals. Things of that nature!

Once lewt is picked out the adventurers will be hurriedly shooed off the ship. There are repairs to be done!

Westlanna nabs herself a tri-corder, several fancy crystals and a sizeable pile of shiny metal. She is careful only to take her fair share, though her decision not to go for any of the ray-guns means there's more metal in her share than in some of the other's. Once she's well paid she thanks the captain for the job and tromps off the ship.

Her fellow adventurers all receive fond farewells with plenty of waving. Cherry-cheese-cake (for that is what Wes is now craving) gets a slightly suspicious glance as she waves goodby to it.

Then she is off again toward...

[Erin's Emporium]

"Aeryn! I'm back from the job! I have loot! You want to see a tri-corder? It's just like in the show." Wes is all hyper and chipper now.