HALO 181: 0.55% Cooler Than The Last One!

[Beans]

Dorms

Cherie chuckles at that. "I hope you'll forgive me if I say I guessed that the moment I saw your blade," she says. "Nothing wrong with that, of course. I think having a passion is very important, otherwise you'll just drift through life, and who wants that?"

"Passion is an anchor, after all." Khaari shrugs. "You have to be anchored to something. Or sometimes, several somethings, depending on what sort of person you are."

[Mee]

"Okay then. See ya." He says as he walks to the shuttle. "I wouldn't have gotten my point across about putting aside her stubborn pride to save lives if I was nice. I'm going then."

Civvy just kind of stares a bit more. Then just shakes her head, sighs, and walks away. She was done. Just . . . just done.

Pod Entrance

You know what isn't enraging for greeters? People to greet!
Like the blond teenager wearing glasses, jeans, and a red jacket, looking embarrassed as he steps out of the shuttle pods.

Civvy takes just a few minutes off to sit quietly in her room, breathing slowly, and just relaxing a bit.
But then someone else appears! She decides that, you know, going and getting to meet someone new would probably really help. So that's exactly what she does!

"Hi welcome to HALO my name's Civvy who are you?" She asks all in one, excited breath after simply appearing in the room amid an veritable explosion of pink hearts.

[Deathkeeper]

Pod Entrance

The teen grins wide. His eyes are a very sharp yellow.
"Nice entrance. My name's Isaac. Uh, Saunders if you need a last name for the record or somethin'." he adds hastily.
He's really got no idea how this place works.

[Mee]

Pod Entrance

The teen grins wide. His eyes are a very sharp yellow.
"Nice entrance. My name's Isaac. Uh, Saunders if you need a last name for the record or somethin'." he adds hastily.
He's really got no idea how this place works.

Entrance!

"You too!" Civvy you didn't even see his arriva- "I don't but it's good to know! I'll call you Is! I S. Yeaaah." Civvy nods a few times, this was definitely the best of ideas. "So what brings you to HALO?"

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance!

Isaac immediately blushes slightly.
"Ok so I can do this thing where I get big and extra-magical but I need money to afford change-proof clothes so I wanted to get a job here." he admits. He doesn't actually know if Halo does part-time jobs but he can't exactly give up school.

[Mee]

Entrance!

Isaac immediately blushes slightly.
"Ok so I can do this thing where I get big and extra-magical but I need money to afford change-proof clothes so I wanted to get a job here." he admits. He doesn't actually know if Halo does part-time jobs but he can't exactly give up school.

Entrance!

"Oh! Yeah! Absolutely! Whaaat sort of skill set do you have? What sort of job are you looking for? Off the top of my head I can think of things like washing dishes -- but bleeeeeeh --, I could use someone to water my garden when I'm away, or maybe sorting out library books, or Iunno lots of other things. What can do you? I'm sure we can come up with something exciting!"

[Hallways]

A portal opens near the strategy room and three people step out. The first one is Douglas, looking like he wishes he went into literally any career but spymaster. Maybe something nice like fishing or farming. He tightly holds the elbow of a woman like she's going to cause an international incident that he'll have to write reports and go to meetings about if he lets go even for a second. The woman has shoulder length golden hair with furry ears flopping out from the top of it and a slightly curved tail poking from her shorts. She's looking around in excitement. The last to enter the base is a tall man who looks 30 and moves with a measured grace. He's a military man, from his short black hair to his green fatigues to the sword at his belt. The RCA station chief drags the doggirl down the hall towards the library while the swordsman goes the other way and walks to Tobias' office.

((I've got the new thread ready for when we hit page 50!))

[Hallways]

In a strange turn of events, something is definitely very, very wrong with the hallway the three teleport in to. Something about the hall smelled wrong. Very, very wrong.
Wait. Wait no. Wrong is the incorrect word. 'Delicious'. Delicious is what I meant.
Let's try that again.
Something about the hall smelled delicious. Very, very delicious. The most likely cause is the woman that had already been inhabiting the hallway, attempting to go from point A to B, when the trio teleported in. She's of fairly average height for a human, with about shoulder length, super vibrant red hair, matching eyes, and a near-bronze level of tan.
"Ooop. F'xuse me." She says around the croissant that she's carrying in her mouth in preparation to nom it upon arrival to . . . wherever she's going. 11 more of the very freshly baked pastries exist on the plate she's carrying level in front of her, smelling absolutely divine.
"Fffmf mfff fft?" Apparently it's difficult to talk around a croissant. So she actually bites the one she's been carrying, shuffles the plate around, and holds her croissant in one hand, the plate in the other. "Have we met before?" She asks not of Douglas, but of the doggirl.

[Devixer]

"Passion is an anchor, after all." Khaari shrugs. "You have to be anchored to something. Or sometimes, several somethings, depending on what sort of person you are."

"Or someone, perhaps," Cherie says in agreement. "But in any case, if I am indeed welcome here, shall I choose a room?"

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance!

"Well, my magic is all fighty stuff. Barriers, healing people, knocking stuff around." he says, patting a little mallet hanging from his belt."I can also reach really high shelves when I'm changed." he says, trying to make a joke. "I don't mind minor chores."

[Mee]

Entrance!

"Well, my magic is all fighty stuff. Barriers, healing people, knocking stuff around." he says, patting a little mallet hanging from his belt."I can also reach really high shelves when I'm changed." he says, trying to make a joke. "I don't mind minor chores."

Entrance!

"Nooo. Nonono. You didn't come here for minor chores! There are better jobs for you!" Then she frowns in thought, and blinks a few times.
"Wait. Why did you say you need this job again? Clothing? Yeah, yeahyeahyeahyeah that was it. Never mind.
Well. We've tried everything. I just can't think of anythi-" What about maintaining and upgrading the dummies and things in the training room?
"What about maintaining and upgrading the dummies and things in the training room? You do barrier thingies right? What about trying to figure out a way to incorporate those into the various types of dummies and targets we have in the training room so they live longer? Like. Any improvement would be great. We have to keep getting more by the dozens because they break a lot. Also if you want and as you have time, making sure there's some sort of order to the weapons and ammo and stuff. A lot of people keep using the weapons, but never mention putting them back in the right spots, so stuff is probably suuuuper shuffled around."

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance!

Isaac frowns.
"Well...I could try a free-standing, permanent barrier, or I could use a focus of some kind? I can't really actively make the dummies tougher because that's transmutation and I lost the ability to do that. I'm more like...a force-mage. I can organize things, even though I don't really know much of weapons besides this thing." he says, spinning the little hammer in his hand. "Uh, it's a big mace sometimes. When I'm using it. It's like, my wizard staff but my friend made it into a giant hammer instead. Probably because his higher self said he wants me to be a big hero some day and hammers are more heroic."

[Mee]

Entrance!

Isaac frowns.
"Well...I could try a free-standing, permanent barrier, or I could use a focus of some kind? I can't really actively make the dummies tougher because that's transmutation and I lost the ability to do that. I'm more like...a force-mage. I can organize things, even though I don't really know much of weapons besides this thing." he says, spinning the little hammer in his hand. "Uh, it's a big mace sometimes. When I'm using it. It's like, my wizard staff but my friend made it into a giant hammer instead. Probably because his higher self said he wants me to be a big hero some day and hammers are more heroic."

Entrance!

"Hmmmm. Well. I mean, if you do that, however you do it is good. I'm not one to tell you how to do your own thing.
But that was just what I came up with off the top of my head. Another great option would be something like just drift around. Ask people if they need help with things. I'm sure specific people could have jobs for you I couldn't come up with.
Oooor we just go ask other people if they have ideas."

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance

"Well, I can show you what I can do if you'd like. I'd probably have to get big to do anything impressive but that's okay, your ceilings seem high enough." he suggests, looking up.
Normally he's a bit bashful about his ability but with this sort of group it almost seems more appropriate to be in smashy mode. Just not smashing their stuff.

[Mee]

Entrance

"Well, I can show you what I can do if you'd like. I'd probably have to get big to do anything impressive but that's okay, your ceilings seem high enough." he suggests, looking up.
Normally he's a bit bashful about his ability but with this sort of group it almost seems more appropriate to be in smashy mode. Just not smashing their stuff.

Entrance

"Oooh! Yeah! That'd be great!" Civvy cheers excitedly!

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance!

Isaac nods. "Okay, so it's sort of only supposed to turn on when I'm in trouble but it's really sensitive, so you just gotta hit me. Like, not hard or anything, just enough to trick the magic. Or I guess you could surprise me with a gun noise or something but I'd see it coming." he says, scratching his head and giving her a side of his face easy to slap or something. He's never played Persona 3 and didn't think of bringing a cap gun.

[Mee]

Entrance!

Isaac nods. "Okay, so it's sort of only supposed to turn on when I'm in trouble but it's really sensitive, so you just gotta hit me. Like, not hard or anything, just enough to trick the magic. Or I guess you could surprise me with a gun noise or something but I'd see it coming." he says, scratching his head and giving her a side of his face easy to slap or something. He's never played Persona 3 and didn't think of bringing a cap gun.

Entrance

"Um. Umm. Ummmmmmmmmmm" Civvy was all of a sudden super not sure about this. "I-I-I think that's okay, then. I don't neeeed to see." Violence is bad, right? And hitting someone is violent! She can wait to see whatever it is.

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance

"Okay, uh, the other way is for me to just magic a lot if you can't just make something pop in my ear. " he says, waving a hand to create a translucent yellow square on the floor and starts moving it up and down. "If I add enough of these I'll get tired and it'll kick in." he explains as it starts to get faster.
Or Civvy could just teleport behind him while he's focusing on that with another heart-splosion and yell Boo at him.

[FireFox]

[Hallways]

In a strange turn of events, something is definitely very, very wrong with the hallway the three teleport in to. Something about the hall smelled wrong. Very, very wrong.
Wait. Wait no. Wrong is the incorrect word. 'Delicious'. Delicious is what I meant.
Let's try that again.
Something about the hall smelled delicious. Very, very delicious. The most likely cause is the woman that had already been inhabiting the hallway, attempting to go from point A to B, when the trio teleported in. She's of fairly average height for a human, with about shoulder length, super vibrant red hair, matching eyes, and a near-bronze level of tan.
"Ooop. F'xuse me." She says around the croissant that she's carrying in her mouth in preparation to nom it upon arrival to . . . wherever she's going. 11 more of the very freshly baked pastries exist on the plate she's carrying level in front of her, smelling absolutely divine.
"Fffmf mfff fft?" Apparently it's difficult to talk around a croissant. So she actually bites the one she's been carrying, shuffles the plate around, and holds her croissant in one hand, the plate in the other. "Have we met before?" She asks not of Douglas, but of the doggirl.

[Hallways]

You most certainly have not, replies the Station Chief as he places himself between the two women. He briefly shoots the doggirl a warning glance when she tries to speak for herself and then sizes the newcomer up, top to bottom. Who are you?

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Pod Entrance]

One of the pods meant for larger beings arrives, and opens. Out steps a massive being, that looks rather like a small mech suit, standing roughly 11 feet tall, its armor green trimmed with yellow and orange. Behind the faceplate, where the optics should be, is a black void filed only by two glowing reddish-pink eyes. The head moves around quickly, taking its surroundings in as it moves slowly away from the pod. The way it moves is slightly different from how most mechs move: it's more fluid, more organic and less jerky than most mech suits. Perhaps it's not a mech suit after all. From the way it's looking around, it's either looking for someone, or it's sight-seeing, but the only way to find out is if someone asks, since it seems to be trying to stay out of the way of people who are moving more rapidly to and from the pods.

[Mee]

Entrance

"Okay, uh, the other way is for me to just magic a lot if you can't just make something pop in my ear. " he says, waving a hand to create a translucent yellow square on the floor and starts moving it up and down. "If I add enough of these I'll get tired and it'll kick in." he explains as it starts to get faster.
Or Civvy could just teleport behind him while he's focusing on that with another heart-splosion and yell Boo at him.

Entrance

Civvy waits patiently for IS to do his thing! Well. Up until another person shows up!

[Pod Entrance]

One of the pods meant for larger beings arrives, and opens. Out steps a massive being, that looks rather like a small mech suit, standing roughly 11 feet tall, its armor green trimmed with yellow and orange. Behind the faceplate, where the optics should be, is a black void filed only by two glowing reddish-pink eyes. The head moves around quickly, taking its surroundings in as it moves slowly away from the pod. The way it moves is slightly different from how most mechs move: it's more fluid, more organic and less jerky than most mech suits. Perhaps it's not a mech suit after all. From the way it's looking around, it's either looking for someone, or it's sight-seeing, but the only way to find out is if someone asks, since it seems to be trying to stay out of the way of people who are moving more rapidly to and from the pods.

"OH HELLO THERE!" She shouts, entirely out of the blue. Hopefully Isaac wasn't really focusing. The sudden startle might just be quite surprising.
"Oooooh. An Armored Core! Hello! Welcome to HALO! I'm Civvy! Who're you?"
Civvy, just in case this hasn't been linked to recently enough, is very much pink. Though today she's just wearing a loose t-shirt and some sweatpants.

[Hallways]

You most certainly have not, replies the Station Chief as he places himself between the two women. He briefly shoots the doggirl a warning glance when she tries to speak for herself and then sizes the newcomer up, top to bottom. Who are you?

Hallways

Grace holds up the plate of croissants, offering the duo some if they so wanted. "I'm Grace. I work down in the lab. On Science things. Most recently just finished up an alternative fuel that I was going to go talk to someone about trying in the various vehicles we have here. It burns cleanly, and helps keep the engine clean.
Uhhh. Who are you two?" She asks, somewhat trepidatiously.

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance!

Close enough. The shout is enough to startle Isaac, mostly because he was actually expecting her to disappear and pop up behind him.
The universe pauses for an imperceptible amount of time as LDK goes to fetch a character description here. Unfortunately Civvy is the wrong Mee PC to make the observation that he looks like a certain species of pachyderm from a certain trading card game, but that doesn't stop him. Or from his little hammer to suddenly growing into a big hammer.

Unfortunately his player forgot to have him take off that red jacket he explicitly stated wasn't enchanted yet in a previous scene, which means he forgot too, and it's promptly torn to shreds by his sudden growth spurt. He sighs, looking down at himself. Under the jacket was a simple button-down shirt he was wearing in case he had a formal job interview. It probably looks really goofy on his current big, round self, especially when covered in red ribbons.
"Darn it. It's so hard to keep track of what I got enchanted. I don't suppose you've got someone who does clothing repairs, do ya?" asks the loxodon sadly.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Entrance

Quin takes a couple of steps towards Civvy and Isaac, but pauses as Isaac turns into his loxodon form. He looks between them, before letting his gaze settle on Civvy.

"Uh, hello there. I'm Quin Mantha dot E X E, but everyone calls me Quin." The voice is male and deep, but friendly and gentle. He looks to Isaac, and a tinge of concern enters into it. "Are you ok, sir?"

[Mee]

Entrance!

Close enough. The shout is enough to startle Isaac, mostly because he was actually expecting her to disappear and pop up behind him.
The universe pauses for an imperceptible amount of time as LDK goes to fetch a character description here. Unfortunately Civvy is the wrong Mee PC to make the observation that he looks like a certain species of pachyderm from a certain trading card game, but that doesn't stop him. Or from his little hammer to suddenly growing into a big hammer.

Unfortunately his player forgot to have him take off that red jacket he explicitly stated wasn't enchanted yet in a previous scene, which means he forgot too, and it's promptly torn to shreds by his sudden growth spurt. He sighs, looking down at himself. Under the jacket was a simple button-down shirt he was wearing in case he had a formal job interview. It probably looks really goofy on his current big, round self, especially when covered in red ribbons.
"Darn it. It's so hard to keep track of what I got enchanted. I don't suppose you've got someone who does clothing repairs, do ya?" asks the loxodon sadly.

Entrance!

Well. SOMEONE is underestimating Civvy's power.
"Ohmygoshyou'realoxodon. Is. Is that like. The Warhammer? The Loxodon one? With the trample and the lifelink and the stuff?" Civvy might have been really distracted by seeing an actual real life loxodon, and so just kind of answers his question by snapping her fingers -- eyes never leaving IS --, and his jacket is just completely fixed, and lying neatly folded next to him.

Entrance

Quin takes a couple of steps towards Civvy and Isaac, but pauses as Isaac turns into his loxodon form. He looks between them, before letting his gaze settle on Civvy.

"Uh, hello there. I'm Quin Mantha dot E X E, but everyone calls me Quin." The voice is male and deep, but friendly and gentle. He looks to Isaac, and a tinge of concern enters into it. "Are you ok, sir?"

Entrance!

"Armored Cores are the neatest! Happy to meet you, Quin! Welcome to HALO!"

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance!

Isaac rests the hammer on the ground so he can shuffle his fingers awkwardly. No one's ever gotten excited over this before.
"Uh, I could probably trample someone. But I think Lucas based it on Gundam Barbatos' hammer? But made it out of ivory, 'cause I'm an elephant and it was all thematic and stuff." he turns to Quin and his ears perk up. His big nose dominates his face too much for a smile to be obvious.
"Oh, you're a tiny mobile suit! That's super cool. Double-Zeta's a weird pick but okay." he says, not realizing there's nobody in that.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Entrance!

Quin looks between the two, somewhat bewildered, but hey, someone's actually recognized his design! That's always a plus. He nods at Isaac, then at Civvy.

"Um, thanks, yeah, my operator was a fan. I'm actually a Net Navi, but here in the Nexus, I guess I'm closer to a living mobile suit than a computer program. I'm still not sure how that happened, but...anyways. Can one of you tell me what HALO does? I've heard a few rumors, and someone said I might fit in, so I came to check it out."

[Mee]

Entrance!

Isaac rests the hammer on the ground so he can shuffle his fingers awkwardly. No one's ever gotten excited over this before.
"Uh, I could probably trample someone. But I think Lucas based it on Gundam Barbatos' hammer? But made it out of ivory, 'cause I'm an elephant and it was all thematic and stuff." he turns to Quin and his ears perk up. His big nose dominates his face too much for a smile to be obvious.
"Oh, you're a tiny mobile suit! That's super cool. Double-Zeta's a weird pick but okay." he says, not realizing there's nobody in that.

Entrance

"Not, sec," with that, Civvy reaches into a pocket and pulls out her Magic deck. She always went to the Roost on Friday nights for games. She flips through the bit-thicker-than-regulation deck, and pulls out a single card, before showing it in all of its pink-sleeved glory to IS. "not this one?"

Entrance!

Quin looks between the two, somewhat bewildered, but hey, someone's actually recognized his design! That's always a plus. He nods at Isaac, then at Civvy.

"Um, thanks, yeah, my operator was a fan. I'm actually a Net Navi, but here in the Nexus, I guess I'm closer to a living mobile suit than a computer program. I'm still not sure how that happened, but...anyways. Can one of you tell me what HALO does? I've heard a few rumors, and someone said I might fit in, so I came to check it out."

"Navi? Like, the fairy? You're not an Armored Core at all? You're a fairy!" But then he actually asked a question and derailed her already-derailed train of thought.
It's not hard to do.
"Yeah! So, HALO is just currently kind of a melting pot for a lot of good peoples who want to help out. From here you can talk with like-minded people, just hang out during down time, or use it as a base to go out and go fight evil and help people and stuffs!"

[FireFox]

[Hallways]

The spymaster looks at the plate like it's such an obvious trap that there has to be another, more subtle trap involved. My name is Douglas. Royal Clandestine Agency. This is a civilian contractor here to use your library and you don't need to know her name. You don't have time, really. His brow furrows and he scratches at the two-day old stubble on his cheek, wondering when HALO had a capital ess Science Division. There was a... Pestilence, wasn't there? But a Grace is new. In this moment of concentration on one thing, his concentration on the other thing falters, allowing the blonde woman to shake off his grip, push past him, and offer her hand to the other lady.

Hi, hello Grace! I had no idea what you just said but it sounds really cool. I am

There's nothing sweeter than honey
or better than a day sunny,
but if you can think of things that are I hope you will tell me;
we can laugh if they are funny.

But, you know, it's a bit of a mouthful and it doesn't translate well anyway, so you can call me Honey! She grins and tries to sniff a croissant. Doctor Honey is my official title.

[Deathkeeper]

Entrance!

Isaac squints at the card from behind his round glasses. Then back at his hammer.
"Uh, well, as you can see my hammer's more like a mace. And it's made of ivory. Holy ivory. It was a saint's baby tusk. Lucas is really good at making things." he says proudly.

[DoomITP]

The demon considered that. "Oh."
He did not want to stay here for another month. Last time he did that he got bored out of his mind and caused a fuss. "Can you show me where the kitchen and pool are?" Esmock put his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight between the balls of his feet and his heels, idly considering just how much time he should spend in HALO per visit to avoid stabbing somebody or getting stabbed. "And I guess I'll just check back every now and then until she shows up."

Fair enough. Sitting around waiting is boring. I wouldn't want to stand awkwardly waiting for someone to pop up for ages.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Entrance!

"I see." Quin props his left elbow into his right hand and taps his face plate with his index finger in contemplation for a moment. Having a fixed base to return to once more might be helpful, to say nothing of being able to sleep inside for once. "What must one do to join this organization?"

[Mee]

[Hallways]

The spymaster looks at the plate like it's such an obvious trap that there has to be another, more subtle trap involved. My name is Douglas. Royal Clandestine Agency. This is a civilian contractor here to use your library and you don't need to know her name. You don't have time, really. His brow furrows and he scratches at the two-day old stubble on his cheek, wondering when HALO had a capital ess Science Division. There was a... Pestilence, wasn't there? But a Grace is new. In this moment of concentration on one thing, his concentration on the other thing falters, allowing the blonde woman to shake off his grip, push past him, and offer her hand to the other lady.

Hi, hello Grace! I had no idea what you just said but it sounds really cool. I am

There's nothing sweeter than honey
or better than a day sunny,
but if you can think of things that are I hope you will tell me;
we can laugh if they are funny.

But, you know, it's a bit of a mouthful and it doesn't translate well anyway, so you can call me Honey! She grins and tries to sniff a croissant. Doctor Honey is my official title.

"That, um, that is quite the name! And a fellow doctor! What, um, what did you get your doctorate in? I've my own in chemistry." Grace replied excitedly, and gladly shook the offered hand. "Please, help yourself if you'd like one." She offers the plate to Honey.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Douglas. Croissant?" Whether or not Honey took one while she spoke to Douglas -- and of course once she was done --, she offers the plate his way, in case he'd like one. "They're fresh."

Entrance!

Isaac squints at the card from behind his round glasses. Then back at his hammer.
"Uh, well, as you can see my hammer's more like a mace. And it's made of ivory. Holy ivory. It was a saint's baby tusk. Lucas is really good at making things." he says proudly.

"Hmmmm. Well. I suppose that's still good. Probably doesn't give lifelink though."

Entrance!

"I see." Quin props his left elbow into his right hand and taps his face plate with his index finger in contemplation for a moment. Having a fixed base to return to once more might be helpful, to say nothing of being able to sleep inside for once. "What must one do to join this organization?"

"Baaaasically just say you want to join. And bam. That's just about it. Then I'll show you to the rooms, and you can pick the one you like.
That goes for you too, IS!"