<> <> <> <> <> ( Tea is good for you!) (I like tea!) (Tea needs to take a dirt nap.) <> (Snack get. Idle a sec.) <> (Slim jims and Pepsi Twist. I so healthy.) * Rochelle takes her tray (which contains a healthy dose of SpaceWaffles, fruit, bacon, and juice), and looks around for a seat. She's only half awake and her skin's starting to peel. (This is at an ATC base or on a ship?) * Ian is yawning, and has collected a large tray of fruit and SpaceWaffles, along with some Sleythin tea out of sheer culinary adventurousness. (ATC base, Roy) (In Cali, I think?) (Yeah.) (Yup. San Bernardino valley area.) (Blah blah we have no weapons blah blah can't access military areas of base blah blah not let off base.) * Demetreia looks awake, somewhat nervous as she sits down with her "one of everything" tray. Including the tea. Aside from essential reasons, no-one's seen her out of wherever she's been sleeping. * Vera wanders into the room, dressed in her usual getup. She yawns, "God damn, mankind wasn't meant to get up so early." ( By the way, my mind is gone. So, just a note. ) ( Also, why devil chicken? ) (Because it's sitting on my desk. And looking at me.) ( Oh, dear. ) * Ian sits down at the group's table, nods to everyone, and starts attacking a waffle. No mercy! * Leopoldo has a tray with a good dose of spacewaffles, a little fruit, a good amount of bacon, and some Sleythin Tea. He's holding it one handed and doesn't look upset, despite what others may look like. He sits down and attacks the bacon. IT'S BACON! ( No costume for Ian? ) * Fitzroy looks like he's sleepwalking and would agree with Vera if he was awake enough to talk. * Rochelle finds the others, blinks sleepily, and heads over there, having a seat next to Deme. She starts nibbling on some fruit 'n' bacon. (Not for breakfast.) * Fitzroy manages to find a tray of waffles and a seat with the others. * Demetreia eats her one slice of bacon, then starts on her solitary grape. Next up, waffle of space! * Katherine is availing herself of the special, which is to say, eating SpaceWaffle at a very good clip. She's wearing a deep blue cutoff top and black jeans. She looks angry. Go figure. * Vera grabs a nice healthy breakfast of a waffle, an apple and a cuppa coffee, and sits down at the area. * Threnody has been sipping tea and looking frustrated. He has had a waffle in front of him, untouched, for about ten minutes. <> * Rochelle wakes up a little more after having some juice. This means she eats faster. <> * Vera isn't trying it! She'll stick with coffee, thanks. (What she's not telling you is that it wasn't the AllDrug that cloned Illy. It was the tea.) (>.>) (<.<) (c_c;) (TRVTH.) (We're doomed.) * Fitzroy squints at his waffles and stares them down for a while. <> * Threnody sips his tea a moment, then frowns -- actually frowns! -- and spears his waffle with unaccustomed gusto, sawing off a huge chunk and shoving it in his mouth. * Leopoldo eats waffles very, um, cleanly. * Ian is enjoying the waffles with increasing levels of cheer. * Katherine takes a gulp of juice, and goes back to the waffles. She starts slowing down, and says, "Why the hell do they wake them up at 6 if you can't eat until seven-thirty anyway? Poor bastards." * Ian hmms. "Morning exercise or something?" (... I'm resisting the urge to have Rochelle steal food from other people's plates, because that's so what I'd do at a nice breakfast if I'm really hungry.) They'd say it builds character. Probably one of those stupid things the military likes to do. Y'know, wake up at ungodly hours, only shout, stomp instead of walk. * Katherine rolls her eyes. "Okay, I can buy morning exercise, since that's how I burned the time, but not everyone on this base needs to be in tip-top military shape." * Rochelle swallows waffle and says, "Probably just want to make sure they all suffer the same." * Ian nods. * Leopoldo nods and shoves a waffle. After gulping he continues. "Equal opportunity suffering." * Fitzroy blinks hard, glances around the table, then down at his food again.. looking mighty confused. "Uhh.. 'mornin" * Threnody continues to tear through his waffle like a madman until he actually presses the fork down so hard the plate cracks, which seems to snap him out of it. * Ian raises an eyebrow. * Demetreia blinks at Threnody. * Katherine 's head snaps up when Thren's plate cracks, and she looks at Thren with a frown for a split second. Then she looks back down at her plate and continues eating. * Rochelle gives Roy a halfhearted wave, then blinks at Thren. * Vera does too. "You gonna eat that, or just turn it into wafflebits?" * Threnody looks down at the plate and blinks, then sighs and rubs his forehead, letting the fork drop. Then he looks at Kat and simply asks: "Did you get it too?" * Fitzroy says "Something I said?" looking even more confused at the plakecracking. * Ian is just eating obliviously now. * Leopoldo shrugs. * Katherine doesn't even bother looking up. "Yes." Get what? * Threnody breathes out, closing his eyes. "I was afraid you'd say that." * Katherine finishes off her second waffle, and rolls her eyes. "Oh, you had to know it was coming. I think ATC operates on equal opportunity suffering." She thumbs at Leo. * Threnody pauses a moment, nods, then opens his eyes and smiles embarrassedly. "I think, ah... I should explain a few things to you all." * Vera shrugs at Leo. "They probably got a tour of the base or somethin'." * Demetreia goes a little cross-eyed with confusion, but shakes it off and continues eating quietly. When it's time for her to say something, she might. * Fitzroy starts on the waffles, now that he's awake enough to eat. Yeah, okay. * Rochelle goes back to eating. * Leopoldo looks quizzingly at them, but finishes devouring his meal first. * Ian raises the eyebrow again. "Go ahead...?" * Threnody blinks a couple times, then looks down at his plate with a troubled expression, drawing a circle on the table with his finger. "ATC... I got an e-mail from the CEO this morning." ... * Katherine picks up her juice and drinks. * Leopoldo blinks, and blinks again. "Mmm?" * Threnody breathes out, but doesn't look up. "She's an old friend of the family. It simply read 'see you soon'. Which means..." He pauses, then looks up and pastes on the embarrassed smile again. "Which means we're still in something bigger than we thought." * Rochelle chomps down on some bacon. She doesn't look fazed, but does she ever? "Go figure." * Ian rubs his temples. "Well, I figured that was the case, after yesterday." * Leopoldo sighs. "Guess I was hoping too much." Hard to imagine a place like this having a CEO. I always envision a council of grumpy old men. (I rather like the idea of a council of grumpy Veras more.) (...yes.) (hat) * Threnody smiles wearily. "Once upon a time, it was a bit like that. Sort of..." * Threnody winces and rubs his temples. "Wall to wall Ed McMahon. I wish I could cut that out of my memory somehow." (Hehe. The ATC AI is now The Hat.) What're you talkin' about? ...huh? <> * Rochelle pops another bit of fruit in her mouth. She's making good progress on her meal. ( Roger Levinworth! ) * Leopoldo leans back and sips some tea. "McMahon?" * Threnody knits his brow and shakes his head. "Never mind. The point is... if Rondure is involved..." He puts his fingers to his temples again. "Maybe I should start at the beginning." * Ian nods. "That would be helpful..." * Katherine rubs her temples, and sets the juice down. * Leopoldo nods as well, although cautiously. "Perhaps you should." * Fitzroy scratches his head. He's down half a stack of waffles and still fairly confused. * Demetreia has finished the food by now, and is currently alternating sips of coffee and Sleythin tea. * Ian has some more tea. * Vera leans back. * Threnody closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "ATC is a much different entity than people think. It has a much different history than the public knows about. And there are layers to it that normal people can't even conceive of." (Allow me to continue since I appear to be in expository mode. *kicks Cham*) (Please do?) * Threnody opens his eyes and looks around. "There are grey operations and other such things that are buried underneath it. ATC were the prime movers behind the whole Europa conflict... and ironically, in the end, it was the Europa Team who changed ATC from the inside out, after what the public saw as 'their heroism' was over." * Threnody looks up at the ceiling. "It's not my place to outline the whole truth of what happened... but Englebert Briarius Ulysses Caryman was not who people thought he was, and neither is R. Levinworth... although she's a little more benificent than he was." (*dies laughing*) Or she benifits a little more than he did. But go on. * Rochelle keeps eating and drinking juice. Yum. * Threnody tilts his head down. "Maybe... regardless. ATC is about to ask us for something, and no matter how good their motives sound... there's guaranteed to be something behind it. That's... my warning. It's all I can really say." (Winamp: ATC theme o/~) * Katherine doesn't move the whole time Thren talks, except for minor temple rubbing. Then she goes back to eating. * Threnody looks at the table in... fear? Something. "They're dangerous. They mean well, but they're more dangerous than anyone can imagine." * Leopoldo sips some tea. (Exposition over.) * Vera shrugs. "So they're like any other corporation. They're bigger than any other. That's different. There's... more to it than that. I wish I could say... I'm sorry. It probably sounds very stupid. <> It sounds...quite plausible, really. But right now, is there anything else we can do? * Katherine mutters, "Maybe to a nutball like you." * Leopoldo shrugs. "I'll believe it all when I see it." * Threnody looks up, and looks somewhat nervously at Taluun, but manages to force it out of his voice. "Good morning, Taluun-dono." * Taluun`tzo sits down. "Good morning to you all as well. I trust you all had a good night's rest?" Not really. * Ian bows politely. "More or less..." * Leopoldo smiles and bows his head. "Oddly enough, yes" I don't think I've gotten up that early since... ever, really. * Demetreia ducks her head politely. * Taluun`tzo takes, well, I guess you'd call it a huge gulp of tea. He wisps slightly. "Get up any later and there won't be food left for you." * Rochelle shrugs. * Threnody leans back and is all smiles and light and boy-faced cheerfulness as before, in almost a split second. "When I was training in Tibet, I often got up at dawn to sweep the temple steps. It's not much different." He looks at his plate, which he seems to just now realized is cracke din half, and ahems. "Waffles are better than rice gruel, though." Did they wake you up with an annoying alarm? * Threnody looks at Rochelle and blinks. "A chicken, actually. Well, five of them." * Rochelle thinks about that. Is that annoying? * Demetreia looks confused. "By your bedside?" * Katherine finishes off the last of her waffles. "Fuck, I'm used to waking up early anyway." * Taluun`tzo looks over your empty plates, and chuckling at Thren's plate. "Yes, well, if you're done, I'd like to escort you to a conference room where you will talk to one of my superiors." * Threnody smiles at Rochelle over the rim of his teacup. "Only until you eat them." <> Chickens? Yeah, that'd be annoying. I understand that's the best solution for irritating chickens. * Rochelle nods. "Revenge on alarms. Cool." She finishes off her juice. * Threnody glances at Taluun, also over the rim of his cup. "...superiors?" * Vera shrugs. "Well, I'm done." * Taluun`tzo nods. "Superiors." * Fitzroy eats a last bite of waffle. "Done here too." * Ian finishes his tea. "All set." More than one superiors? We're special. * Taluun`tzo blinks. "Oh, sorry. You'll only be speaking to one." * Demetreia has been finished, and is currently stacking up everything in one tall pile in the center of her tray. * Katherine rubs her face. "Yeah, I'm all done too." She looks at Deme. "What the hell are you doing?" * Leopoldo has been finished for a while and finished his tea as well. "I'm done. What would we be talking about?" * Threnody stands up and stretches, then blinks at the nice cracking sound a joint makes. "...I had no idea I was so tense." * Demetreia starts at Kat's question, accidentally knocking the whole tower down. "Er...I apologize? I did not realize I was doing something wrong..." * Katherine shakes her head. "It's just odd." ...oh. * Ian gets up and stretches. * Demetreia looks sadly at the pieces of the tower, which are all scattered about, and rather despondently puts them all back on the tray in any order. * Rochelle gets to her feet, stretches a little, and then rubs at her arm. She blinks at the peeling skin there. * Vera gets up and stretches, and yawns. * Taluun`tzo gets up and whisps. "Just talking about things." * Leopoldo gets up. "Okay, well, let's get moving then." * Threnody smiles placidly. "You can trust Taluun`tzo, that's for certain." He stretches again. Nothing out of the ordinary. * Taluun`tzo whisps even louder this time, even laughing. "I'd hope so! I trust myself every day." * Katherine stands too, and only stretches very slightly. "I'll trust him when I get my guns back." (...200 proof DORK. By the tall bottle.) (Damn straight.) * Ian shrugs. "Let's go find out what's going on." * Taluun`tzo nods and leads them out of the area. * Rochelle is led! * Katherine frowns on the way there. (Oh. Did Taluun evermake good his promise to get my bokken back? ^_^) * Leopoldo follows and is led as well. <> (yes) * Demetreia stands up and follows. (Woo! Then I am wearing it.) * Vera follows too! * Ian follows! * Threnody follows~ <> * Vera tips her hat. <> <> <> * Threnody sees said woman and stops dead short in whatever it was he was doing, frozen like a deer in headlights. Ms. Levinworth, I presume? <> "Of course. Please, sit down." * Ian bows politely, and takes a seat. * Demetreia sits down politely, a blank expression on her face. * Leopoldo blinks, then remembers his manners and takes a seat. * Fitzroy finds a seat. * Vera takes a seat. She cares not for fashion! Besides, she has a hat! She leans back in her chair, resting her arm across the back of it. * Rochelle blinks a couple times, but goes to have a seat. She's looking at the CEO very carefully. * Katherine starts rubbing her hands together in a dry-wash, and takes a seat as well. "Might as well be comfortable for this." * Taluun`tzo takes a few steps back and takes a seat in the only chair there designed to hold him. * Threnody sighs and also sort of 'unsticks', walking over and taking a seat next to Rochelle. "Agreed." <> "First off, I'd like you welcome you all, and apologize if hospitality has been lacking in any way." <> "Your weapons have been cleaned and replaced in your rooms, with a few spare clips of ammo, if it uses it." "We can skip past the introductions. You know me, and of course, I know you." <> "As you might have guessed, we've been watching you lately." * Rochelle shrugs, but doesn't say anything. * Ian nods. * Katherine just frowns. * Threnody listens with a totally neutral expression, hands folded in his lap. * Leopoldo nods. * Demetreia shifts a bit, looking confused. * Vera just waits. <> "The artifact in Red Marion was a trap, so to speak. We knew there was a third faction out there looking for the artifacts, and we decided we needed to flush them out. So, my apologies for that, too, but it was necessary." * Fitzroy listens. * Katherine snorts. "Well, at least you didn't decide it needed to be a capture trap. Small favors." * Ian nods. "That explains the timing..." <> "Otherwise you'd have been quite dead in New Mexico. And we wouldn't have stopped the Concordat." <> "Which we did. The artifacts were later collected by a sweep crew properly outfitted for the job." What're you gonna do with 'em? * Threnody nods slowly, as if in agreement. "An excellent question." * Taluun`tzo looks on, listening. I've been wondering that myself. <> "Welllll, we'd been thinking about that. Turns out most of them are going to a little research lab we have, and we're going to let the scientists pick through them. The dangerous ones get locked up in our storage." <> "And the really dangerous ones get dropped into the sun or the nearest gas giant, we haven't really decided yet." * Threnody briefly but clearly looks at the CEO with undisguised terror, but manages to get it under control quickly enough. Why not just dump 'em all in and be done with it? * Katherine smirks very thinly. * Ian nods, seemingly satisfied with this. * Leopoldo nods. "Think of the scientific benefit, Vera. All the dollars of R&D funds saved." * Fitzroy nods at that. "They're too interesting to dump." * Vera rolls her eyes. "Oh, of course." Not that I hold this position, but you could say the same of the extremely dangerous ones. Or useful. Would you get rid of that one you have, Vera? <> "Think of all the little quirks. The sheer scientific benefit!" <> "Now, there's no need to be cynical about it." * Threnody says, quietly, "Past experience dictates otherwise." Hell if I know. I don't exactly have it right now, do I? * Katherine laughs very slightly. I suppose I'm an optimist, but the scientific benefits appeal to me greatly. * Threnody takes a deep breath, eyes Katherine a moment, then forces himself to say: "Didn't the AllDrug teach us anything?" AllDrug? <> * Rochelle looks from Thren to Levinworth. * Ian blinks, and looks at them. * Katherine looks slightly sick for a bit. * Threnody knits his brow, looking... not mad. Irritatedly frightened. "Experimenting with these things might have disasterous results! If you... if you'd seen the image of the THING these people saw! If they trigger something awful it won't be funny!" "If I remember my history right, the AllDrug disaster was caused by uncontrolled meddling by a scientist bent on her own fulfillment." <> "And I know all about the transdimensional beings. We've even seen one here. Well, in the lab." * Threnody just... blinks. A few times. And then sits back down in his seat looking thunderstruck, but not saying anything else. * Leopoldo watches the conversation with interest. * Ian takes all of this in. So, what do you want? <> "History. Those who don't learn from it..." <> "You're all wondering if I called you in here to discuss company policy, right?" <> * Rochelle shrugs. "I figure you already decided what's gonna happen." * Katherine presses her hands together in what would be prayer, and then puts her hands to her face. (You got that right, sister.) "Quite right. Leopoldo, there's something I have to tell you." <> "It's about your sisters, Leo... just this morning... they both seem to have gone completely insane." <> * Ian raises an eyebrow. * Threnody blinks in genuine surprise a moment, then turns in his chair to eye Ronnie and Leo, blinking. What? * Demetreia just looks confused. * Leopoldo blinks. "What?" * Katherine blinks as well, and says with a smirk, "When you said watching you weren't fucking kidding," * Threnody is slackjawed in shock, but doesn't actually SAY anything. * Leopoldo shakes his head. "No, no. What did you say? I mean, you didn't just say what I thought you said, did you?" "I'm sorry, Leo. Your elder sister was home for the weekend, and they were out shopping when they apparently lost it. They've holed up in a convenience store. They apparently have no guns, but your elder sister is doing quite well fending people off with her telepathy." <> "I'm so sorry." * Threnody blinks again, then winces and looks at Leo a moment, then lowers his eyes at the table. * Ian turns to Leo, shaken. "Leo, for whatever it's worth, if there's anything I can do..." * Rochelle watches, eyes flicking from Leo to the CEO and back. "And it doesn't take ATC-level surviellance. It's all over the TVNet this morning." <> ... Yeah. Stupid me not to check the net before killing defenseless punching bags. * Leopoldo hits his fist on the table, making a noticable dent and a loud noise. He changes a shade of blue, but mantains his composure. "Dammit. God dammit. What's going on, then? If you're keeping some kind of watch on my family, which I think you would be doing, what exactly's going on? And I want to get back there right away." <> "Calm down, please. Of course you want to go back. I want to get you back, as soon as possible. Just take a deep breath, okay? It's a standoff for now." (Punch her in the face! :P) (Seconded!) (Soooooooooo tempted.) (;____;) * Threnody looks at Ronnie, seems about to say something, then shuts his mouth, sort-of frowning. (I mean, how many people can say, "I punched the ATC CEO in the face"?) * Vera just glares at the woman. * Katherine doesn't bother glaring. She just leans back and looks up at the ceiling. ( ;____; ) "We don't know entirely what's going on. All we know is that they were out shopping, and that suddenly they ran into a convenience store, and started killing people. They've stopped that now, but there are still about a half-dozen hostages." <> * Fitzroy raises an eyebrow, then plugs into his TSM machine. * Leopoldo grips the table with the other hand, squeezing it very hard. He's not breathing heavy in the least as far as people can tell, but he's clearly angry. "Oh, that's great. That's just fuckin' great." * Katherine smirks faintly as she stares up at the ceiling. <> "I want all of you to go with him." Why? Absolutely. * Threnody looks at Leo, then at pretty lady. "...I'm going because I might be needed, nothing more." He looks at Leo again. "I don't know how much help I can be, but I understand the burden telepathy can be, so I humbly offer whatever I can do." "Precisely that. You might be needed." <> "And if it means anything to you, I'll even pay you for it." 2d6-7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Fitzroy (2d6-7) and gets -3. I doubt I'd be needed. * Leopoldo nods and gulps. "I... I don't know." He looks up at the sky, focusing on one particular point, then back at her. "No, this is my problem. I don't need money... I'd go anyways." Think she was talkin' 'bout the rest of us, Leo. "Dear Leo, I did mean for the others." * Ian shakes his head. "I won't refuse it, but it's not necessary. Family is too important." * Leopoldo nods. "Yeah, right..." * Threnody smiles at Leo gently. "We don't need to be paid to go with you, Leo." * Rochelle blinks at Levinworth. "If you think we might be needed, and you'll pay us, why don't you send some of your own people or something instead?" * Katherine is still just looking up at the ceiling. "Because Leopoldo will trust you more than a squad of my forces. And because soldiers tend to make a scene. It's what they're good at." How about the ATCops, then? And why the hell would he trust me? I shot him in the leg. * Katherine says snarkily, "ATCops are paid to be dumb and noticeable." * Threnody nods slowly. "If... if her powers really have gone wild, the fewer people the better, and generally friends and family..." He suddenly blushes. "Speaking from e... experience, anyway." <> "Exactly. I'm kind of hoping his trust will become hers. Perhaps a little naive, but it can only be better than sending a brute squad in after them." * Ian nods. * Threnody suddenly blinks. "Where are you *from*, Mr. Grahovac?" * Leopoldo sighs. "I don't know what she's doing... Trish has never acted anything like this before." * Rochelle turns her attention from the pink-haired woman to the monitors. * Leopoldo looks over at Thren. "Space colony Carner." I'm more curious as to what happens to the rest of us if we refuse to go. <> <> "Well, you can refuse, sure. I'm not going to force you to go." * Rochelle puts her chin on her hand, continuing to watch the convenience store mess. "Never been out there." "But I could certainly make it worth your while." <> I'll go along, but I'm not sure how helpful I'll be. * Threnody tilts his head, following Rochelle's gaze. "Actually, neither have I. Earth, Mars, even Venus for a day or two... never any asteroid colonies." * Ian nods. "I'm going." .. I've been looking around though, and there doesn't seem to be any reason for this. * Demetreia quietly alternates from watching TVNet to watching Leo, looking worried. ... I feel like I need to break something. * Katherine grins. "Ah, I knew you had it in you, Leo." * Rochelle turns to look at Leo, then her gaze falls to his chair, and she points at it, looking to Levinworth. "You don't need that, right?" * Threnody continues to look at the TV. "There... wasn't any reason for Vera to start shooting people, either. Mental powers are unpredictable things, Mr. Fitzroy." He turns around and smiles a bit at Roy. <> "Of course not. Chairs are exependable, and rather cheap." <> There was too a reason. I had my mind controlled. Okay. * Threnody blinks, then smiles at Vera embarrassedly. "That... was actually my point." *eyebrow* * Leopoldo gets up and grabs the chair, swinging it around and splintering it on the table in one fluid motion. His colors fade back to somewhat normal. "That's better. When can we get going?" I don't buy it. Sorry. Both of his sisters suddenly decided to go insane, and instead of sending in a special squad, you need a group of civilians, most of whom can't even fight. * Rochelle leans back a little so some of the wood splinters fly by her. * Leopoldo ignores the splinters that bounce off him. * Taluun`tzo walks over to Vera. "Do you want me to explain why they don't send me?" * Vera continues, "Not to mention the CEO of ATC has to tell us this, rather then, say," she points to Taluun'tzo, "Him." "I chose to tell you because it was important news, and I wanted to impress upon you how strongly I feel about this." "I had to skip out of a board meeting and bodyslide here almost as soon as I heard." <> "Of course, skipping the board meeting was a pleasure." Yeah, you must feel pretty strongly if you have to come all the way here in person. <> * Threnody stands up and walks around his chair, leaning over the back. "We really shouldn't dally..." He smiles at Leo. "Right?" * Leopoldo nods. <> "I can put you on the T132 transport, and have you there in five hour's time." * Katherine tilts her head forward again, so she's sitting like a normal person. "Christ." * Rochelle looks to Leo. * Vera folds her arms, scowling, but doesn't say anything. Let's go then. <> * Ian nods. "I guess we'll just need our items, and we're set." * Vera can't hear! She has a hat! ... er, nevermind. * Demetreia looks around at everyone and tentatively makes to get up. * Vera glares at the woman, and stands up sharply. "Don't think you can buy me." * Rochelle watches the exchange and smiles, just a tiny bit. She gets to her feet. <> "Call it a bounty, then. A live one." * Katherine smiles faintly. "Going, Roch?" I don't need your money! I'll go but it's for Leo's sake, not yours. * Leopoldo looks very anxious to get going. Sure. Why not? * Katherine shakes her head. "Yeah, why not. Better than being a hired gun on the cheap." * Threnody smiles around the room. "It sounds like it's decided, then." <> "That's very good to hear. I'll go make the necessary preparations." * Ian nods. * Fitzroy nods and stands up. "We won't be able to learn much more here. Let's go." <> * Taluun`tzo watches her leave. * Katherine frowns, and jumps out of her chair, stalking after her immediately. * Rochelle rubs at the back of her head. * Threnody blinks at Katherine, manages to say "Hey... wait!", then dashes after her. * Ian sighs, and gets up. * Demetreia gets up, looking between Thren and Kat's direction and...everyone else. * Vera gets up and stalks out of the room. She looks more cross than ever. <<... okay! #crazy for Kat and Thren, then.>> * Rochelle shrugs at Demetreia. I've been watching the news as it comes in. They really don't know much about the situation. * Leopoldo glances over. "Why... God dammit, why?" * Leopoldo looks over at Roy. "I know. It just doesn't make any sense!" * Ian uncharacteristically hugs Leo. "Don't worry, Leo. It's not your fault, and I'm sure there's something we can do." (Aww!) (Our first slash is set.) (...oh dear.) (AWESOME.) ( Well, that took a while. ) * Leopoldo is a hugged leezard? Well, he hugs Ian back. (It's lizard love.) (So set.) (God dammit. Why is it always my character?) ( No! I wanted Leo! Guess I'll have to settle for Dem ;_; ) (Vera is the jealous and ignored love interest.) ( You don't really seem like Demota's type. <.< ) (While you may be thinking this is just Thren and Kat being secretive again, we're in fact having a holo menage-a-trois.) (Oh, dear.) (Um. Are you people going to go or recover or something? @_@) * Rochelle scratches at the back of her head, then walks out before she gets caught up in the hugfest. ( Well, apparently there's nothing else for me to do :P ) * Leopoldo lets go. "Yeah, I know..." (I'm wandering! Wander wander. You can talk to me, if Kat and Thren and whatever are being secretive. :P) * Fitzroy follows Rochelle. (And I have a lemming!) (Well, I had PLANNED to get you to the asteroid tonight, but follow Roch for now. >_<( (This is awesome.) (Not my fault your characters are paranoid of Ronnie.) (She has pink hair. What's not to be paranoid about?) * Vera is outside the room, leaning against the wall, arms folded, smoking a cigarette. So nyah. * Demetreia ...follows Roch and Roy. * Rochelle waves at Vera as she passes. "Goin' to get your stuff?" Yeah, I guess. (Two! Two lemmings! Ah ah ah ah ah!) * Vera goes to do that. * Leopoldo walks out. "I should get ready to go, then..." ( O_o ) * Rochelle walks, and assuming they all need to go in the same direction, looks curiously at Roy. "Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm wonderin'..." * Threnody comes back down the hall, wiping his eyes a little as he does so. He looks... flushed. But smiling. * Ian walks over to get his stuff as well. * Leopoldo looks back at Thren. "What'd you do?" .. Yeah? Just... why are you going? * Taluun`tzo looks over the group as it walks out. "Strange times, strange times..." * Threnody smiles at Leo. Smile, smile, smile. "I had... a talk with Auntie Ronnie. It's fine. I'm ready to go as soon as I get my suitcase." I guess I'd like to help Leo out if I can. * Rochelle nods and goes back to concentrating on where she's going. "Yeah. Just didn't figure you for the type, really." * Taluun`tzo hmms, then walks after Ronnie. I guess his player just realized he'd probably follow her. ^^; "Aunt" Ronnie? * Threnody nods at Vera "She and my mother... they knew each other, during the time of the Europa conflict. She's an old family friend." * Fitzroy shrugs. "I suppose I could just go back to Mars, but this is more interesting." Mmm... Still don't trust her. * Threnody nods once. "I think you're right not to trust her. She's got... many layers. But I think her desire to help Leo is genuine enough." We'll see. * Threnody smiles at Leo again after saying that. "Is 'Leo' okay? I admit, even for me, 'Mister Grahovac' is getting unwieldy." * Leopoldo doesn't look like he's been paying attention. "Uh, yeah. Leo's fine." <> * Rochelle looks for her room! Hopefully she finds it. * Leopoldo looks for his room too! * Ian has collected Ian's Stuff! *music* <> <> <> * Threnody does the same, and emerges with the same small suitcase from before. He sets it down and sits on it in the hallway, waiting on the others. ( Do I get a bonus? ) * Demetreia enters her room, which she's probably sharing with at least one of the animals unless ATC made them into soup. * Vera checks her room, looking in particular for a certain gun. <> * Vera grabs her guns and her suitcase and is ready, then! * Rochelle grabs her stuff, makes sure everything's packed, and doesn't poke Vwoof, since Deme seems to have him. * Katherine comes back from wherever she went, with a blank look on her face, and goes into her room without even looking at anyone, and starts collecting stuff. "T132 Transport, Eck. Hope you're ready for the ride." She has her things arranged in short order, and comes out with her two things. * Leopoldo has a backpack, idly fiddling with his artifcat, which looks to be a banana. * Fitzroy grabs his stuff heads back to the group. (Fitzroy comes back to keyboard woos at the spam.) (*smacks Mecha*) * Demetreia has nothing special to pack other than her satchel, so picks up Vwoof in lieu of a suitcase. ( Not like a suitcase though. ) ( Also, now Leo has a pet! ) (Bananas are not pets.) ( *oohs at Leo's artif-cat.* Artificial cat! ) (He does not. Taluun left.) (Err, artifact. So I typoed. <.<) (Question. Would you rather I get you to the asteroid now and start next session with the conflict, or just leave off in the ship and start with a chunk of desc?) (Either is fine with me.) ( I'd say get to the asteroid. ) (Might as well get us there. We're in deadspace.) (Get there!) * Ian has his backpack, and all of his other stuff is either packed away or on his person. (Whatever. ^_^) (Let's go go go!) <> * Katherine looks pleased as she trudges. "It's good to have the guns back. And at least it looks like they cleaned the jam out. I'll have to check it myself on the trip." * Vera doesn't trudge. She stalks. * Leopoldo , um, walks? * Threnody walks, trailing his suitcase behind him on little wheels. "I like that about a bokken. It never jams." (I have lots of stuff. I trudge.) (I never run into that problem? ^^;) * Ian walks, pondering. ( I don't run into that problem. Must be the hat. ) * Rochelle walks along, duffel bag over one shoulder. * Katherine doesn't respond to Thren. (Katherine needs either prozac or a dirt nap.) < ( oooh, is it cool and comfortable too? ) (I doubt it. c.c;) (Not the engine part, but the rest of it.) (Aww, it's not painted 'make-it-go-faster red'?) (It's not the Brick.) * Demetreia has Vwoof, which wouldn't be a problem except that Deme evidently hasn't the slightest idea how to carry a dog and Vwoof is squirming. Cool. A giant space-shark. * Demetreia carries Vwoof anyway. Kyahahahaha! * Threnody shields his eyes with his free hand and blinks. "It doesn't look very... reliable." * Leopoldo looks over it. "... That's pretty impressive. Yeah, that too." * Rochelle looks at the ship, then starts making her way up the ramp. Sure it does. It's shaped like a shark. * Leopoldo makes his way up the ramp too. * Vera follows Rochelle. * Demetreia weaves her way up the ramp in as close an approximation of a straight line as possible. * Katherine has an Eck on her shoulder, because there's nowhere else he could be. "It's shaped like someone really wants to go fast. How long would it usually take to get to this colony anyway, Leo?" * Threnody walks up the ramp without killing himself or others. * Fitzroy makes his way up. A few days to a week, depending on where it is in its orbit... ( Twice as long, because Leo's ship isn't shark-shaped. ) * Katherine grimaces. * Demetreia looks around. "It seems...comfortable." She shivers a little. "And somewhat cool." <> ( I KNEW IT ) ( I am a lunatic. ) (... It's Kookabara, isn't it?) (Thank god, no.) (Not if CHam wants to live very long.) * Ian has followed people in, and is looking around with caution and growing worry. ( We'd have damn well said if it was Kookaburra. ^_~ ) (Sorry, figuring my taxes and realizing I owe several times more than I, er, have. c_c;) * Threnody rubs his arms a bit. "A bit... chilly." He stows his luggage in the overhead compartments in compliance with Red FCC regulartions. * Katherine stows and gets strapped in fairly quickly, and frowns, scooping up Eck. "Ship wasn't built for ya, dear. Just gonna have to hold on tight for... whatever the hell this ship is gonna do." (Kookaburra comes later. You'll know when it's Kookaburra.) * Leopoldo strapps himself in. He doesn't care about the AC at all. * Ian straps himself in very securely. "If nothing else, this will be a...unique experience." (Leo will start crying about bad Russian music mixed in with "Day-o.") * Vera does likewise, and doesn't likewise too. * Rochelle goes and straps in. Definitely. * Demetreia looks around for somewhere to put Vwoof, but settles for sitting down and strapping him in with her. <> * Threnody fails his Resist Laws of Physics roll, and shudders! <> * Rochelle winces. Aigh. * Ian is wincing as well. <> (In ATC tradition, we've leaped directly to Ludicrous Speed.) <> * Katherine pets Eck soothingly. * Rochelle unstraps and, yes, looks out to see Earth disappear. <> * Vera leans back and tips her hat over her eyes. "Five hours to go." * Ian nods. "Very fast indeed..." * Threnody closes his eyes and looks a little pale. He stays strapped in and immobile. <> <> * Rochelle blinks, waking up. She's back to looking out the window. <> (Shoot down = move quickly!) (I thought you said we blew one UP.) * Katherine spends her time during the trip checking out her AE, petting Eck and keeping her from flying off, and that about covers it. ( I was confused. ) <> * Rochelle wrinkles her nose. * Threnody ughs. He's been looking ill the whole flight, and he quickly turns from the window. "I'll never get used to space travel." * Ian urks. "Wow..." * Leopoldo looks around. Yup, home. <> <> * Fitzroy has kept to himself mostly.. looking kinda tense the whole way. * Rochelle looks around, waiting for the okay to get out of this ship. * Katherine whistles as she looks out the window. "Wow. This is different. Been a while since I seen an asteroid colony." She frowns faintly. "Easy to forget, I guess." <> * Ian nods, and then steps out of the hatch. "I've never been to one, myself..." * Threnody gets off with all due haste and despite the weird sky seems to be glad to be on terra firma again. "It... IS a bit disconcerting, but so is Avalon." Me neither. I don't like the whole ceiling thing. * Vera yawns and gets to her feet. "Don't think I have either. Oh well, first time for everything." * Leopoldo steps out as well. "You'll get used to it." * Rochelle gets off, yes. <> * Katherine makes sure she's got her guns on, and then walks. The shoulder holster looks sorta silly with a non-midriff-covering shirt. * Ian walks along, looking around curiously. * Leopoldo walks torwards the flashing lights. (You fall off the world.!) * Rochelle follows, looking around. Flashing lights here we come! * Threnody heads into the lights. Towards them. Something. * Vera follows, too, lighting up a cigarette. * Fitzroy tags along, glad to be off the ship. <> "Mr. Grahovac! I see you've heard..." * Demetreia follows people. * Leopoldo has a somewhat worried look. "Yes, I have. I hope... Well, I'm hoping I can talk to her." "So are we, lad." <> * Rochelle blinks, hesitates for a moment, then follows the Leo. * Leopoldo nods and walks onwards. * Katherine follows as well. She looks unsettled. <> (KAT IS A LOON) (Quack, or Wark, or Wuack, or whatever sound loons make.) * Threnody is steadily getting his color back as he walks... but he looks troubled. ( Loons go AAAHIIEEEEEWOHGOGOGOGOGOGOGOOG ) (...) (... Kinda, yeah.) (... I don't believe you.) ( I do. ) * Ian follows, looking worried. ( Show me a loon that doesn't, and I'll show you a HATEFUL IMPOSTER! ) * Katherine smirks thinly. ( I thought loons yodeled. ) (Play now. Grip on consciousness rapidly slipping.) * Demetreia looks a little nervous as she walks. What else is new? ( You mean that noise isn't yodeling? ) ( Mine's been gone. Ha! ) ( And what Yu said. ) <> <> <> <> "That's it, lad." * Katherine looks around at the damage. "Well, christ..." * Leopoldo gulps. "Ye-yeah..." * Rochelle looks over the bodies. She might be counting the number. * Demetreia looks a little sick as she sees everything, and her grey skin gets a few shades paler. * Threnody blanches at the scene, putting a hand over his mouth. * Ian gets quite pale, and looks away. Crap. * Fitzroy also looks a bit sick. Not the nicest of scenes. * Rochelle finishes and looks to Leo. "Are you goin' in?" * Katherine looks about as fazed as Roch. "They've been in there since the morning. No demands, no warning, no nothing." <> (Which is not at all?) (Bingo, chica.) (^_^_v) * Leopoldo takes a deep breath. "I don't know. I know Trish is a telepath, but Laura... I have no idea what she can do. She's never shown any powers. This is beyond their abilities, even for them." * Threnody blinks at the mention of telepathy, then looks at Leo and nods slowly before turning his gaze to the building and shutting his eyes. * Leopoldo hesitates and looks at the crew. "What do you think?" * Vera shrugs. "You know them best." Does your family know anybody who could do something like this? No, there are very few 24's on this colony. It's just... I don't know what to do. * Katherine looks to be sizing up the store, and the buildings around it. * Threnody opens his eyes. "Something's... not right. Well, beyond the obvious." That is the obvious. * Rochelle blinks, turning to Thren. "Like what?" * Leopoldo still looks worried, and it's showing in his more black skin tone. "What's wrong with her?" What It's a set up. * Threnody knits his brow. "There's... I can't put my finger on it. There's five hostages. But Laura and Trish... it's... slippery? Is that the word I want? Like her thoughts can't even be held on to." * Ian raises an eyebrow. Must be weird. * Rochelle nods, looking from Thren and back to the building. She frowns a little. It'd be dangerous to look any further. If she's unstable and she notices me... Okay, well... going through the front's a stupid idea, if that's what happens when you try it.. * Rochelle points at all the dead bodies. * Ian nods. * Leopoldo nods. "Maybe there's a back door?" What's the point of going in? Can't shoot 'em. <> * Threnody shakes his head. "They'll 'see' you coming anyway. Sneaking in is probably pointless." * Katherine shakes her head. "The telepathy makes anything risky, yeah." Tranqs probably won't work, either, if they're anything like Leo. * Leopoldo shakes his head. "They look perfectly normal." Oh. I'm the 'ugly duckling,' if you will. Only I don't get pretty at the end of the story. * Leopoldo looks over at the officer, then his eyes go wide again. "Where are my parents?" "They're at the hospital still, I think. We sent them there to calm down." ( "Hey, didn't we have some kids?" "I dunno!" ) * Threnody knits his brow again. "What would cause that? Is it... a defense of some kind?" He's murmuring mostly to himself. (DunnoKids!) * Demetreia starts visibly at Leo's question, then settles down a little, her eyes a little frazzled-looking. (Like disposable contacts. Try 'em free for 30 days.) * Ian is gazing into the store now. "I wonder..." * Rochelle tilts her head. "Well... if the idea is to have Leo talk to 'em, then..." * Leopoldo looks a little relieved. "Thank you... I'm begining to think walking in's the only option. Unless you've tried to contact them already?" * Leopoldo is still talking to the officer. It's not gonna hurt him if he tries, right? From here, maybe. Out of range? Yeah, I wouldn't suggest going in just yet. * Rochelle nods. "We've tried callin', but nothin's working. We were rather hopin' you'd try." * Katherine frowns, and looks away from the store. "Leo, where do your sisters usually live?" With my parents. They haven't moved out yet. Why do you ask? (AFKL a sec) * Katherine thumbs towards the store. "Well, we can't really go in on them. If the whys aren't in the store... maybe they're at home." Just a thought. That place is unassailable. Only way you'd ever get them out is talking them down or blowing it up;. Seems like a longshot. * Threnody nods slowly. "I think she's right. It might be worth looking. I have..." He pauses. "I can't put my finger on it, but I have the feeling they're not responsbile. Call it a hunch." * Ian nods. "That's a good idea." * Rochelle looks away from the store and back at Leo. "Yeah, it is. But I still think you should try talking to 'em first." Well, duh. I figured that out from the beginning. * Leopoldo nods. "I'll try talking first, though." * Leopoldo looks around for a megaphone that they always have at these police things. (And we wait for Cham to get back. ;P) * Katherine nods slightly. * Threnody looks at the store, ignoring Vera. "Normally I'd say the quickly shifting thoughts is just being confused or afraid, but the other..." (I'm going to hold off on that and end it here.) ('kay. ^_^) (Sounds z to me. Good to z. Sounds z. Z.) <>