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Post by CJ on Dec 13, 2012 17:55:09 GMT -5
"Sickness," Beth repeated. She wasn't aware of any sickness. She thought Connor died violently. She knew he had a genetic condition, but she would have known by now if that could have spread.
"Connor, do you know anything about what this guys are talking about? How exactly did you die?"
Tomahawk did not speak at first. It was hard to tell what was going on in the brain inside its head. It stared directly at the one who asked where he was purchased.
[Look, I'm human, alright?] it said, though not very confidently. He looked to Beth.
Tomahawk placed its hand on its head, opposite that of the airy specter.
"So whatever was wrong with you is affecting the people here now," Beth confirmed. "We need to figure out what happened to your body and fix the problem before this continues further."
She sighed, imagining how painful the whole situation was, not only for Connor but for the islanders there. She turned to the others with a rather defeated expression.
"You guys should probably leave here. I'll go with Connor and figure out this situation. If you stay, you'll run the risk of being affected like these people. Call for O'Brien and go back until we're done here."
Of course, Beth was also in danger, but she seemed to have some personal responsibility over the whole thing. She look particularly at Camellia and Finnegan, who she felt to be most at risk in the situation. Kaede would be useful but she had been through enough at Clockwork Island. She didn't even feel safe have Snake and Shroud Demon there.
Tomahawk went to brush away the spectral figure on his shoulders. It seemed to be annoyed with her at this point.
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Post by Kyubey on Dec 13, 2012 23:54:25 GMT -5
Camellia and Finnegan, like before, didn't say anything to interrupt the intense conversation that was going on before them, knowing that most of it was none of their business. They most certainly knew they weren't sick, and so the problem didn't lie with them. Camellia tried to pay attention as closely as she could, but most of it ended up going right over her head. As far as she could tell, someone, possibly Connor, had made everyone sick, and because of that nobody could go onto the island. Also, her name was now Kalendra for some reason. But none of that really mattered to her. After all, she wasn't the one who made everyone sick, and as for the rest, she had confidence that her new companions, who she thought quite highly of, would be able to take care of things and they would be able to leave in no time.
"You guys should probably leave here. I'll go with Connor and figure out this situation. If you stay, you'll run the risk of being affected like these people. Call for O'Brien and go back until we're done here."
At that brief statement, all the color seemed to vanish from Camellia's face. The steam that had been steadily pouring out of her cup was suddenly sucked back in. Her mouth hung open and her hands were shaking.
"You guys... you don't want me anymore?"
Her voice was wavering and weak, but she seemed to still be comfortable with those words, like this was not the first time she said them. Finnegan looked down at her sympathetically for a brief moment, but that moment was over just as it began, and in general he seemed to only be relieved.
"Well, it seems like that's the best course of action to take. Let us go now, Miss Charina, it appears we are done here."
"No."
"Pardon, miss?"
"We can't leave yet. We can't."
"Ah, yes we can. Did you not hear Miss Anderson? They've been kind to us, but we really cannot trouble them any further. And what about these poor people? Let's just leave them be before we're infected as well, alright Miss?"
"But my parents might be here."
"Highly unlikely. These people couldn't help us, remember?"
"But they didn't say they weren't here!"
"Goodness, miss, In all the islands in all the sea, I cannot say it is wise to put ourselves in such danger for the sake of looking for them at this one location!"
"But what if it is? A bunch of people came to the island before the quarantine thingy, right? Mom and Dad could be here, and they could be sick, and now they can't get out!"
"Even if they were, they wouldn't want you getting sick along with them! Now, as your guardian, I cannot allow you to be at such risk any further! We're leaving now."
"Not until we know if Mom and Dad are here or not! Finnegan, I'm ordering you to stay!"
"Miss, we do not even have a choice in this matter! The people of this island are saying that we shall not pass, and Miss Anderson has instructed us to leave. We cannot go further, even if we wanted to."
"I don't care what they say."
"Please miss, just be reasonable..."
"These people can't tell us to leave, we're getting through no matter what they try to do. And we don't need them either." she shot a purely hateful look at Beth with this. "We can find our parents on our own."
Camellia kept her arms crossed, and, though she was confined to a teacup, it was still clear that she would not be leaving the island so easily, and Finnegan could say nothing to convince her otherwise.
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Post by Sprite on Dec 14, 2012 4:08:06 GMT -5
Snake let out an irritated sigh as he scratched the back of his head, still slouching, and still smoking slightly from the burst of flame and electricity the odd inhabitant of the island had struck him with. It seemed at least, his hair had been spared.
He glared suspiciously at Connorhawk and Beth, they were just sending them all home. The rowdy prince took a single step forward and jabbed a finger at the Andersons.
"Now hold up, we all came along knowing there would be danger and risk. You can't just tell us to leave you guys alone now. Besides..."
Snake crossed his arms across his chest and motioned with his head at the large collection of elemental beings that were once normal people, oddly he was still standing amongst them, between the fireman and electrician.
"You expect us to trust this lot to let you two go on your way once we're all gone? Kaede, Shroud, back me up here."
The green-haired warrior kept his suspicious burning gaze trained on Beth and Connor. He wasn't going to let them have their way.
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Post by Kuro on Dec 19, 2012 12:07:04 GMT -5
Shroud Demon's expression was hidden behind his bucket, and he stayed quiet as everyone spoke. All these things about Konnor, his sickness? That maybe he made these other people sick on purpose? No, no that wasn't right! Konnor was a hero, true-and-true, and so was everyone else who sailed on the Lucky Ducky! He was about to vocally express these absolute truths when Beth said something that completely froze his thoughts for several seconds.
Leave.
Shroud Demon continued to stay silent while the Princess and Mom started arguing with each other. It was rather odd, really; the bucket-headed crusader was simply standing with his arms at his sides and his head lowered, not making a sound.
Leave.
"Kaede, Shroud, back me up here."
Shroud Demon looked up. He looked towards Konnor, although that would have been hard to tell given his bucket.
"...I...I'm, i'm so...I can't..."
He paused.
"...Wow, are we at that part already?! I thought that would have come at like, the climax or something! The really really good part of the book! I guess things can be a little different."
He ran up to the cyborg and clanked his bucket with the robot's "head", butting heads with him and speaking with not hostility but excitement.
"Don't you see? This is the part when everything seems really really dangerous and the person tells his friends that its too dangerous so he tries to go on his own but then the friends follow him anyway because that's what friends do always and always! This happens every single time, and it happens in so many stories over and over again! Don't you see it?!"
He went up to Beth's face and continued to keep talking like an overjoyed or ecstatic child, he was bouncing up and down and practically squealing.
"Didn't you say that life is similar to stories that we hear as children?! Yes, yes, you exactly said 'Life is all too similar to stories we hear as children'! Well, the stories aren't just for children, but yeah, yeah, this is just like all of the stories! You can't honestly expect us to just leave you guys, we could never do that! This is what friends do and friends stick together forever and ever! We will help you, and you should know that there is nothing you can do to stop it!"
He looked at Camellia and outstretched a hand towards her in a dramatic, imploring gesture.
"Please do not be like that, Princess! I can help you find your parents! I will help you find your parents, and we all will help! Do not worry, we will find your parents, we will find them, we will! Stick with us, no matter what Beth and Konnor say, and we will find them! Now, let us go!"
And with that, seeing no further problems, he went to step onto the part of the island that the natives were on, despite their number, abilities, and hostility.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 28, 2012 12:18:41 GMT -5
"You expect us to trust this lot to let you two go on your way once we're all gone? Kaede, Shroud, back me up here."
"It's not like I have anywhere else to go, I can't just return to Solaine empty handed." Kaede shrugged, looking between Snake and Beth. It seemed she had some difficulty speaking up, and would not have done so without Snake's prompt. "Besides, I'm not worried. I know how to avoid diseases, compared to some of the other stuff I've had to deal with, that's nothing."
She had never been as far as to have ventured through a quarantine or an area beset by sickness to be sure, but she generally never got sick. A combination between her know-how, as well as some common sense. She could remember times when practically everyone had gotten sick in her old crew, for example, but not her. Like any other threat really, it was just a matter of proper approach and preparation.
Meanwhile Connor's efforts to remove the spectral figure went unhindered, and his robot arm passed right through her as though she weren't even there, dissipating like striking one's reflection on a surface of water. It seemed though that rather than evaporating from the touch more or less, she just simply appeared nearby. What was strange was that she didn't seem to have moved, it was more like she had always been there to some extent, and just now was able to be noticed a bit better in that place rather than any other.
Either way, both she and most of the others stopped dead at something Connor had said. They didn't even look to each other, there was no need, they just mostly all stared in unison at the robot.
"You said... you said, you were... with Arch?"
"Was for her to bring here? She take citeboard to this?"
"We have to... RJ will want to know about this."
Between the mixed looks and various uttered words between them, the soaked looking fellow made a few steps back in hesitation, before finally committing to running off back into the start of the city from where he came. The statuesque lady went to follow and or otherwise stop him, making the motion to do so, but something about the newcomers kept her behind. The electrician suffered no such qualms however, and soon left in the same direction as the other fellow. Understandably, Kaede was a bit alarmed as to why and where these people had left to. If there was going to be some trouble because of it, she would rather have had the chance to stop it, a chance now lost. In response she reached into her bag, but it seemed a bit late for that now.
"Where are they going? We're not going to hear an alarm trigger in a few seconds or something, right?"
"No no, nothing like that, it's just... it's been a long time since anyone has heard of that name, much less said it." The spectral figure flitted between the strangers, appearing here one minute and there the next, without any discernible movement or transition between. Like with Connor, she seemed to be examining them a bit more closely with some disbelief, in the chance that she may have missed something or might recall who these strangers actually were. When she got to Kaede, the chemist drew her shoulders up to her neck, a bit creeped out by the person's drifting nature. "I don't think you are lying... no, how could you be? But then, it depends upon what kind of relationship you had with that person. He had at least as many enemies as he had friends, if not moreso."
"Why the sudden change? A few minutes ago you all wanted us gone and would have attacked us, and now you're... I don't know what, inviting us to tea or something?"
"Not for tea, to meet and other. One for to know lead clothes person."
The fiery fellow turned towards the statuesque lady and nodded towards the strangers, to which she seemed to understand. Both he and she began to approach the outsiders, relatively from either sides of the front of the group, wherever that was. The spectral figure on the other hand appeared to have made herself distinct behind the lot of them, between the strangers and the shifting array of containers on the water behind.
"You wouldn't all mind following along with us, would you? We can't force you to come with-"
"We can."
"-well it would be much... cleaner? Yes, if you all came with us. If you want to leave, that's fine too, I don't think anyone will object. Plus we can't guarantee your safety, but there is someone who would definitely want to hear what you have to say. See none of us are all that familiar with that person you spoke of, but she would be."
While the fire wielder and the tall stony woman approached, the spectral figure stood aside, extending her arm to the coast below. It seemed she was freely allowing them the chance to leave, but was much more interested in taking them up on their intent to progress further into the island. Of course though she laid it all out for them, and wanted to make sure that they knew what they were getting into before the agreed to anything. After all, at least statistically speaking, the track record stood that eventually all of them would end up like the locals; having succumbed to the disease, and afflicted with some malady like the rest of them. Probably sooner rather than later, as well. But then, it was what they wanted before, so chances are they would not be opposed to tagging along.
"Ok, but where would we even be going, if we did go with you?"
"Up."
Kaede asked the obvious question, to which the fire user simply said and pointed back towards the city. Given the angle of the land they stood on, it was indeed, up. At least in relation to the rest of the world. The spectral figure meanwhile, merely stood offering the way back, waiting for either Beth or Connor's response.
"I'm not hoping for much here, but it was what you wanted, right? Let's make sure of that before anything else."
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Post by CJ on Jan 2, 2013 13:51:19 GMT -5
Beth frowned terribly when Camellia began to protest. She hadn't realized how emotional this all was for her. She hated to be seen as the villain in this situation, but she was incredibly concerned about her safety and even thought of accompanying her to the island herself when she knew it was safe.
She expected Snake's and Kaede's response (especially the later, given she was much more experienced with these kinds of situations), but didn't expect Shroud Demon's grand speech. She watched as Tomahawk backed up slightly when the bucket wearer butted heads with him. She braced her own head, thinking he would do the same to her but was revealed that he chose to jump up and down instead. He was her friend, he said. She didn't feel like his friend just yet but wondered if it was possible.
"If it's that important to you all," Beth sighed, "you can stay. Just be aware that if any of you get hurt, I'll hurt you... more."
Beth realized how stupid her statement sounded. She shook her head and listened carefully. Again, Arch was brought up. She had only met him once but it seemed like Shichibukai had some influence in most aspects of her and Connor's life. Maybe here she'd get some answers... or possibly more confusion.
"It's a start," Beth shrugged her shoulders at the spectral figure. She became nauseous again, thinking of having to travel all the way up the island. She took Tomahawk's hand in hers and began to follow the figure.
"You should probably let the others in on what you know about Arch, Connor," she said, realizing how little the others knew about the situation.
[Uh, Arch is,] Tomahawk began statically. [Arch is the kind of guy you don't forget that easily. He was always in a suit of armor when I was with him so I never saw his face. He is... kind of crazy in a good and bad way. Like, he'd do anything to help you but he'd break through the wall before thinking about using the door to get to you. To this day, I don't really know much about him. All I know is that he saved my life and I'll likely never be able to repay him.]
The robot paused and hit its head with his fist, as though trying to get his brain to remember his old friend.
[His Devil Fruit power was scary. He could make the world change into something it wasn't. Like, if he was here right now, he'd turn everybody into cowboys or ninja or something. It was all illusion, but it was pretty frightening if you didn't know what was coming. I still don't know how it works. I'd wager he could even beat you, Snake, being a Shichibukai and all. He used to be the most powerful person I knew.]
Tomahawk cringed visibly. Its encounter earlier that day with Snake taught it to be weary of saying the wrong thing around the prince.
"Well, who is the most powerful then?" Beth asked out of curiosity, thinking it might be her.
[I'd rather not talk about it,] Tomahawk muttered quietly.
Beth assumed Connor was thinking about the Grand Path fight he had before Snake's. She never wanted to bring it up and figured he would talk about it when he was ready. All she knew was to avoid the name Valentine, as a surname, anyway. She couldn't help but think that the infected people and Kaede kept talking about Arch as a "she," but Connor stuck with "he." What was up with that anyway?
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Post by Kyubey on Jan 3, 2013 0:59:45 GMT -5
Camellia beamed enthusiastically at Shroud Demon's encouraging words. The tea changed into a vibrant color, and the top half of her body splashed about in a giddy fashion. She had a friend. Not just someone who was traveling with her out of duty or obligation, but one who chose to assist her in her quest. For the past five years of traveling, Camellia had always felt rather strange, plagued by an odd sense of loneliness that stayed with her despite having a constant companion. While she was no doubt very close with Finnegan, and owed much to the faithful butler, he was still just a guardian, a protector. Not the kind of friend that someone her age longed for. And, what's more, this friend, this shipmate, still thought that she was a princess. What could be a better fit for a spoiled little rich girl? It was like something she had dreamed, and, as even Beth accepted her presence, nobody could deny that she had a place, at least for a little while.
"Thank you so much!" she shouted enthusiastically to Shroud Demon, "not to worry, I'll be staying with you all a while yet. Go forth, my loyal vassals! Your princess demands adventures!"
Finnegan was, understandably, a bit put off by this. Camellia, even on her most well-behaved days, was a difficult to manage, and this was before she was a princess. He was fortunate to have others he could rely on to help the Little Miss, but if they continued to treat her like that, it might end up as more trouble than it was worth. But he did not dwell on that too much at the moment, for now he was focused on what Tomahawk was saying, particularly the name that was discussed, that would go straight over Camellia's head, but was familiar to one such as Finnegan. It seemed that these new companions of Camellia's were much more extraordinary than he could have expected.
"Were you really an associate of a Warlord?" he asked in amazement. "Tell me, just who are you, truly?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jan 10, 2013 0:57:21 GMT -5
"None of us have met him, but I don't think there's a person in this place who doesn't know who you're talking about. All of this..." The spectral figure gestured all around them, at the island itself. "...is possible because of him."
"She not here for long time. Get lost, maybe she did." The fire fellow felt a need to tag on that piece of information, as they 'escorted' the outsiders up the island. Of course, since they were all within its gravity, it just looked like walking normally. Over a range of scrap and debris before eventually reaching the beginning of the city.
"Right, right. The person we're taking you to though, she knew him. Not sure how well, just made his ship I think."
At this point Kaede perked up, hearing about a ship. A specific ship to be precise, and she had a feeling she knew which one it was. She had only heard about it before, but it had always fascinated her, just the idea of it. She would have loved to have seen it, seen how it worked, and now she was rather curious to find out if Connor had been on it at all. Even if, it was when he wasn't alive.
---
The trip through the city was hectic, to say the least. Quite often more locals emerged from the structures, seeing outsiders and looking to attack. Even with the escorts of the fire fellow, the spectral figure and the statuesque woman, it was a major hassle to allow the strangers to not be destroyed by strangely plagued islanders. Along the way they picked up some followers whom were interested, lost some others, but more or less they maintained the same ratio of escorting guards.
Because it was night and there were no lights (save for the occasional fires in places for people to keep warm, or where they were burning things like trash to produce smoke), it was damn near impossible for the normal people to see, and it would have been actually impossible for them to find their way through this city. It was like a labyrinth really, a huge tangle of buildings, built extremely close together if not connecting and giving off a heavy feeling of confinement or claustrophobia. Not just horizontally but even vertically, it was a terrible web of interconnecting buildings, bridges, roads and everything else for many, many stories above them. Even in the daytime and with power it likely wouldn't have made sense, for the design of this place was with neither rhyme nor reason; it was made solely to accommodate the vast amount of people whom lived here and their vastly different cultures. Truly cosmopolitan, it wasn't like a normal city with streets and blocks and buildings. It was more like layers, and every few stories upwards, there sat another layer with whole new streets and structures. These had all been built on top of and over each other overtime, so that it resembled one vast hive stretching across the lower half of the hourglass of the island. As such, where the group was walking, on the bottom level where the canals were (waterways where the water was actually running upwards, towards the center of the island) they would not be able to see the sky or the stars. Just the artificial ceiling of the level above them. All in all the place was very run down, very dirty, and very grimy. Like lots and lots of people had lived here and passed through here for a very long time, and it had never been cleaned, or at least not very well. Not at all characteristic of a futuristic island, even if here and there could be seen examples of high tech, albeit out of power like everything else on this lower half of the island.
It was a good while, but eventually they came upon a unique little structure for this bottom level. At a point where some of the canals joined up to create a small lake of sorts, the buildings and the tangle all bordered around it. If one were to stand at the edge of this small cistern then and look up, they would finally see the sky, as the border of buildings around it continued all the way up and gave the impression of a giant well. It was in the middle where their interests would be drawn, to what could be likened to a tower or a lighthouse, just sitting in the middle of this cistern and reaching almost all the way up. It had many different levels like the rest of the urban sprawl here, but it was only connected by a walkway or hanging bridge or two down here on the bottom level. Further up there were doors and windows, even decks, but they had purposefully seemed to have been left cut off from the rest of the buildings surrounding the tower on all sides.
Although understandably the power was out here too, a large number of fires were likely set within, as the place was fairly well illuminated. Or at least, better than most of the other lit buildings they had seen thus far, of which there were not many. Still though, it would be hard to make out what was formerly several large neon signs positioned on the tower in various places, all reading "RJ's"
---
"Hello Ma'am, my name is Kaede! It's an honor to meet yo-"
"That robot isn't from here. It's also not a robot. Where'd you get it from?"
Upon being led into the place, the group would have been given the quick run down of the place and it's proprietor. An auto-shop, for fixing vehicles, it's owner a mechanic. Perhaps the best on this lower half of the island, good enough to have made Arch's ship. Went only by the name of RJ, wore navy workplace coveralls tied off around her waist and a grimy white shirt. As per her former curiosity, Kaede was intrigued by this person, and greatly admired her. When they finally were introduced however, RJ shook her hand but sternly looked right past her to the Tomahawk. It seemed she wasn't even paying attention to the explanation as to why there were outsiders in her shop, from some of the other locals.
"They're outsiders. We found them out on the Drift, said something about the sickness, maybe you can ask them better."
"I can tell they're outsiders. That's Connor right there, Anderson. In the robot."
Kaede lowered her hand, somewhat dejected, taking some steps back to let the mechanic act unhindered. It seemed right now, she had very little if any importance in this situation, beyond being an outsider. Taking a seat on a large piece of broken machinery, she took the chance to look around this place in the hopes of learning new things or finding inspiration. Unfortunately the place was rather sparse, likely a result of the current crisis on the island, and if anything was in working condition she couldn't tell. She did happen to notice though, several of the locals from earlier whom had run off, assumedly to this place. The electrician and the fellow whom looked like he was permanently soaked.
"I bet they already told you my name, so we can skip that. Your names though, would probably be good to know. I mean apart from Connor here, and Kaede..." At this, understandably, Kaede looked perhaps not so dejected for a moment, when RJ looked at her in speaking her name. "What I really want to know is, what you're all doing here? I mean I can guess why you're here, but what do you need? How can we help you?
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Post by CJ on Jan 12, 2013 21:12:19 GMT -5
Beth attempted not to roll her eyes at Camellia's glee. She reminded herself to keep quiet and let the girl be as happy as she could. Goodness knew they needed a little positivity in this adventure. Shroud Demon's craziness couldn't account for all of it and Snake certainly wasn't helping.
[I'm not special or anything,] Tomahawk said solemnly to Finnegan, looking down at him. [Arch found me in a train station one day and asked me to travel with him. I didn't realize he was a Shichibukai until long after that. It's because I was with him I ended up like this. It has nothing to do with me at all.]
The robot made a sort of sighing sound. It was clear it didn't have very much confidence in itself.
---
Beth's head rolled.
Eight Gates, Cologne, whatever it was, was driving her dizzy. There were several occasions she had to throw up on the side of the road. She could only imagine what sickness she would feel if the city were as alive as it once was. Merely thinking of flashing lights made her head hurt.
At their arrival at "RJ's," Beth smiled grimly at Kaede in a sort of apology for RJ interrupting her. She wondered who this person could possibly be. Of course, Tomahawk wasn't showing any sort of reaction to her (Hard, when it had no real face). She hazarded a guess she was some kind of mechanic.
[Hello, again,] Tomahawk said as meekly as its static voice could. It raised a hand in an awkward wave.
"How did you know this thing housed Connor?" Beth asked. "Did someone tell you? Is there something on this thing that says "Oh, how's it going. I'm Connor Freaking Anderson?" I have no idea with these things."
She stepped forward to meet RJ face to face.
"Speaking of having not a clue about anything, we're here to see if it's still possible to get Connor here a replacement body. I'm guessing you know about the brain thing. Is that a common thing here? Oh, and I'm Beth Anderson."
It was a good thing Beth hadn't considered interviewing as a career.
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Post by Sprite on Jan 16, 2013 14:11:48 GMT -5
During their trek through the city, Snake peered about the maddening labyrinth layout of the city with a weary expression on his face. For someone with perception as good as Snake, being constantly exposed to such detail in his environment was exhausting. On the plus side he wasn't being fooled or disoriented to the point of vomiting like Beth.
Each time a new inhabitant came at the group, aggressive or curious, Snake tensed up and raised his whip in his fist. His preparations to fight however were thankfully unneeded as each time they managed to continue through the city unmolested.
Upon reaching the shop of RJ, Snake let out a small sigh of relief and sat down on a pile of flat steel bars. Leaning back, Snake passively observed the introductions, taking part when he was involved.
"Name's Snake Havey. I'm a 'friend' of the Andersons, thought I'd help them get Connor back into his body."
He left out the entirety of his reasons for coming, all the ass-kicking was on a need to know basis. Of note however was that Snake still had his whip resting on his lap. It seemed he had grown very wary of the odd city and its dangerous inhabitants, his distrustful attitude towards RJ was blatant as well.
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Post by Kuro on Jan 20, 2013 20:28:31 GMT -5
Shroud Demon was absolutely amazed by the wonders of Cologne. He had never seen anything like it in his life and it only made him happer to have such good friends bring him to such cool places and adventures. He walked near Camillia like a good princess's bodyguard and waved his sword at any local who got a little too close. Throughout the walk, he had pointed and remarked at anything odd and new, which was pretty much everything.
When they got to the location they were supposed to locate, he didn't know what to think. Of course, the first thing he did was give a proper greeting when prompted to. "I am Shroud Demon, protector of the innocent and warrior of justice! I am here to help my friend Konnor get his body back! Thank you very much for doing it, thank you." He politely bowed as deeply as he could, causing his bucket to slide off of his head and hit the floor with the floor with a CLANK.
"..."
"...Agh! Wait! No! Oops! Uh, uh..." He suddenly panicked and waved his arms around, as if trying to ward off curious eyes. His first instict was to look up, but he quickly rid himself of that reflex and kept his head down. "Uh, uh..." He grabbed the bucket and fumbled it in his hands while stammering, sweat visibly appearing on his skin. With more clumsiness than usual, he placed the bucket back onto his head and held it down as if it would fly away.
"...I'll be over there." Quietly (or as quietly as a man dressed in pots and pans could), he slinked off into one corner of the room and started admiring the metal works and bits in the shop, although he really had no idea what any of them were supposed to do. It was probable that no one had seen his face, since he had kept his head as low as possible during the bow and kept it that way putting his helmet on, but nevertheless, a little anxiety started to take root in him. It was a rather embarrassing moment for him, hopefully one that would never be repeated.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jan 21, 2013 13:57:17 GMT -5
"Beth, Snake, and Shroud. Got it."
It seemed that shaking hands was not really RJ's thing and she had only done so before because Kaede approached her about it. Once given the chance she immediately returned to work, trying to fix the wiring on a piece of machinery. This may have seemed rude, but once the others stopped talking she looked up from her work to recite their names, indicating that at least some of what they said registered with her.
"I can tell it housed Connor because of the way it carries itself, not at all like a robot. I met him before and they look exactly the same. Besides, it's generally forbidden for people to leave with things from this place, but Connor did. Who else would be coming back in such an unconventional way with something like this?"
The mechanic just looked plainly at Beth as she approached, looking from her to the robot a few times as she spoke before returning to her work. From what she said, it may have been hard to discern her meaning. After all, Connor of the past and Connor now looked nothing alike, but then RJ didn't mean it in that sense. Rather, she could look at the Tomahawk robot standing in her shop now, and see the same person that was the cyborg chef from the past. The movements, the manner of speaking, she could recall minute details like that and to her it was like he had walked out of her ship yesterday as the chef and come back today as the Tomahawk.
"As for the other part, it's possible to get anything here. A replacement body is one of the easier things you can get, it just depends on how much you need it right now. Normally that sort of thing would be handled on the upper half of the island, but with the lockdown in place, nobody goes in and nobody goes out. I'd tell you the whole story, but I really don't want to."
Bluntly she looked to all of the people there, hoping they would pick up the slack. With a sigh the electrician opted to, taking over from the spirit-like lady.
"When the plague hit, people just wanted to... tried to leave. But part of the rule of living here is that you can't just leave, in the same way that people outside can't just get in. So then, since we weren't allowed to leave, we figured we'd just head for the upper part of the island since it was pretty much fine and the facilities were much better..." Although he made a motion to gesture all around him, RJ looked up to shoot him an angry look, to which he altered his effort to instead point specifically outside of the shop to the rest of Colyne. "...better at least than out there."
"Ok but what stopped you from just leaving?" Kaede whom had been listening to the others for the most part, felt a need to interject at this point before the conversation moved past what she was interested in knowing about. After all, why didn't they all just leave if there was some terrible sickness plaguing the people?
"The top half, they fired on us if we tried to evacuate. Even without the marines knowing about the sickness, we've been kept here by the upper half island ever since." The spectral lady flitted about the workshop as she spoke, here one minute and there the next, with no discernible transition points in between. It seemed already she was back in the groove of the place after having brought the strangers here, and she was busy fetching tools and other such supplies for RJ to work with.
"Well anyway, once people started to head up the island, the top half began to get too crowded. It doesn't really have any large scale housing, so even before it was pretty crowded. When it got to be too much though, they shut down the gates, stopped people from coming up. So of course then we tried going up by force, but they just cut off the power."
This was all a lot of information to take in, and given the already confusing layout of the island, it was difficult even for Kaede to wrap her head around at first. She tried her best though, and felt that more or less she was getting the general idea of the history that had happened here since Connor had arrived and left before. She tended to forget sometimes, that the world was a big place full of people, and that everywhere you went there were usually problems that the people had to deal with. In this case, this was the sort of problems that people of a future island had to endure.
"Now, people try to just sneak to the top half, but we've also been trying to just separate from it entirely. They want to save Seven Gates, but they keep saying they need time. We're done waiting, done living like this, and we don't want to save it... we want to escape it. By blowing up the gates themselves, the lower half will actually detach from the upper, and then they won't be able to stop us from rejoining the world."
"Already three of the seven have been destroyed. When it gets down to about two, they'll have to just separate out of necessity, and then we'll be free."
Most if not all of the people here seemed to be in agreement about this topic, murmuring among themselves about this and that. Kaede was almost dumbstruck by it. She couldn't fathom how they thought detaching was in any way a good idea, if for no other reason that the entire island was suspended above the ocean, so separating would mean simply that the bottom half just plunged beneath the waves. She was sure that these people who had lived there and were familiar with such future innovations as could be expected of Colyne, had a better grasp of the plan than she did and that they surely had some reasonable way to explain it. Whatever it was though, she was not privy to it, and merely had to take their word meanwhile hoping that she was nowhere near the bottom half when and if they did break apart.
"Well can't we just sneak up there then? You guys have to have some way of getting up there if you've been here so long, and I'm sure they won't just attack us on sight once they realize who Connor is."
"That's not the problem. Of course there's ways to reach the top." RJ's voice again could be heard over the noise or repairs done to machinery, and again she didn't make the effort to stop or otherwise speak directly to anyone in particular. "The problem is it's dangerous. They've really steeped up security as of late, and for good reason. They're planning on blowing another one of the bridges tonight. If you hurry, I'm sure someone here will be able to lead you to the ones in charge of that plan, and in all the commotion you'll probably be able to sneak right through without any problems. If they do catch you though, I think it's safe to assume they won't hesitate to attack, how are the supposed to know you aren't involved with the bombing? I don't know how much you outsiders are aware of, but the weapons here and the security, they don't leave much coroner."
At this last piece of information, Kaede looked to Beth for answers or a response, as she often did. It seemed that usually now, she deferred to Beth in all these matters, and not only because they were dealing with such a personal matter to the Andersons.
"The question is, how much do want that replacement body? How much are you willing to risk?"
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Post by Kyubey on Jan 21, 2013 19:24:20 GMT -5
Camellia and Finnegan followed the group through the city, with the teacup girl looking at both the surroundings and the people with equal amounts of interest. At first, she gazed at everything whilst telling herself that she was keeping an eye out for her long-lost parents, but soon she lost sight of that and was just looking for the sake of just looking. Those she passed might have been surprised to see a tiny girl living in a teacup, and even more surprised to find that she was looking at them with such awe. Eventually though, the stimulation proved too much for her, and she had to return completely to her tea form at times. Finnegan simply walked forward dutifully, not letting any distractions prevent him from his duty of going straight ahead.
When the group reached its destination, Camellia poked her head out once more, and listened to what everyone was saying, waiting for her turn to introduce herself.
"Hi, my name is..." she began, but was stopped when it seemed that the conversation had already progressed without her. "Eh, like I was saying... I'm... uh, this is... hello, guys..."
A couple more times she looked as though she was going to try again, but now the subject had changed completely. She could tell that the issues going on had nothing to do with her, and nobody really cared to bring her into them. Dejected, Camellia sank back into the tea and stayed there. That is, until the word "dangerous" was mentioned, after which she came out just enough to see what was happening. To her butler, this was a sign most awful.
"Miss, might I suggest we not take part in this venture?"
"No."
"I do think these fellows can manage just fine without us, perhaps we should..."
"No."
Finnegan knew better by now than to try and argue. As for Camellia, the chance of adventure was too great to pass up, even though it was dangerous, and, really, none of her business at all.
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Post by CJ on Jan 23, 2013 14:24:48 GMT -5
Beth was starting to get it.
She never thought of looking at machines like people or animals. She always assumed objects had the same feel to them. It was hard to explain, but Beth saw a lot of her husband in Tomahawk before; she just never called it to mind. The slight tilt of his head downward to the right, the way it held its hands close to its chest. It was all Connor. She didn't need a face to tell who or what it was.
If Connor and RJ only met for a brief while and she could tell who he was by the way he carried himself, Beth assumed RJ was likely very intelligent. She despised intelligent people for the most part. However, RJ was different. Again, though, she couldn't figure out why.
After listening to the plight of the people of Seven Gates and the restrictions on proceeding from the spirit woman, she nodded and spoke to the others.
"It's your decision to come with us or not," Beth said with an intense frown. "Don't blame me if you get hurt or worse. For the Connor, the alternative for not getting his body back is death. He can't survive as he is, struck in the middle of the Grand Path... at least, I'm pretty sure he can't. This is a necessity for us but it isn't for you. Please be careful. This doesn't have to be your fight."
Beth said this especially to Camellia and Finnegan. Shroud Demon and Snake had experienced danger before. If they died, Beth would feel horrible but at least it would be expected. Camellia was still a little girl, Tea Logia or not.
She turned again to RJ and the spirit, who she tried to avoid touching at all costs.
"In exchange for helping us, we can do whatever we can to get you free then. Just help us get Connor where he needs to be and we can help you out of here. I'm useless against machines but the people here with me, they're pretty good against basically anything you throw at them."
Beth turned back to look at the group and looked them up and down. A horrid realization came over her face. She grinned with wide, skeptical eyes.
"Um... at least two people are good with uh... that sort of thing... Alright, Snake lost against the previous machine... Um... you know what, let's forget it. We're set to go. Kaede's good enough for us! E-hahaha!"
Beth went to pat Kaede on the back for merely existing. Meanwhile, Tomahawk tapped its fingers together. Connor seemed extremely unsure of himself. He voiced no opinion, leaving Beth to do most of the work (though she herself seemed to enjoy that for the most part).
"So... where to now, Electric Ghost, RJ?" she asked with a nervous smirk.
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Post by Sprite on Jan 23, 2013 14:53:40 GMT -5
"Beth you little- GRAGAGAGRGHHHHH-"
Upon Beth's little jab at Snake's previous defeat at the hands of Connor, the warrior prince seemed to explode in anger. If it were not for Luis who had sprang up in his full anaconda form to restrain the Ravunyan, Snake might have simply jumped at Beth in retaliation. Or maybe his had been to simply jump on Connorhawk and tear him apart with his own bare hands.
Luis hissed at Beth and Connor, though it seemed to be more of an apologetic and warning hiss than anything. Tightening his coils around the Prince, Snake continued to fume and shout garbled threats until he seemed to subside into a sullen silence. Glaring at the Andersons with stony eyes, he merely said.
"Let's get going then."
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