<> <> (Argh. Have to reboot. BRB.) ( Thren blows up. ) ( He's still at the asteroid :P ) (Sorry.) <> ( Mmm... continental breakfast. I got dibs on Asia. ) <> * Demetreia looks around curiously. * Ian peers about. "Huh." (Small is a misnomer. By "small" I mean "not football field sized, actually the size of about a dorm room.") * Vera holds onto her hat. * Threnody looks distracted and sleepy, right to the point when he sees the indentation and takes in the room. Then he goes deeply pale, and looks a little green. * Leopoldo glances around in curiosity. * Ian looks at Thren. "What's wrong?" * Threnody looks back at Ian, and clears his throat. "Why do you ask?" * Ian shrugs. "You didn't look so good just then." * Katherine is in all black again. No real surprise, she must find it generic and useful for travelling. * Threnody ehes, then looks at the indentation again as he answers. "Well..." * Fitzroy is haging around, waiting for whatever it is we're waiting for. * Katherine is eyeing the indentation too, and says flatly, "It's a damn bodyslide bowl. I think." <> Aren't those a bit- wait, ATC. Nevermind. * Threnody nods once, not taking his eyes off the bowl. "That is, in fact, what it is." * Demetreia looks down, alarmed. * Ian blinks. Yeah, ATC. (If any of you were given a silver ring with a rose crest? Throw it away right now.) <> * Leopoldo glances around and gets in. * Ian shrugs, and steps in. * Katherine rubs her hands together. "Haven't seen one for a while, is all." She steps in. * Fitzroy steps in. * Demetreia hesitantly steps in. <> * Threnody steps in cautiously, but finally seems to give in and get a little of his color back. * Chamelaeon sets mode: +v Threnody <> <> * Demetreia looks a little wide-eyed, but peers around curiously. ( Er. wild-eyed. ) * Katherine blinks her eyes a few times and shakes her head. "That was quick. Egh." Urk... * Katherine then sees the turrets, and they grab her full attention. "Daaaaaaamn." * Ian eyes the turrets, and mutters something about pizza. * Leopoldo doesn't seem to have been affected *too* much... Although he does look around curiously. "Wel-Gah!" He takes a step back, but after realizing they're not active doesn't look so freaked out anymore. * Vera staggers. "Ugh. Freaky." * Threnody looks a little wobbly. "...I think Mother would be pleased to know those have improved just a bit." ...improved? * Fitzroy holds his stomach for a sec. "ooogh" * Threnody smiles at Ian, and it's hard to tell if he's embarrassed or a little scared. "Bodyslide bowls... let's just say the trip wasn't always that smooth." <> I can imagine... I'd hate to have seen the earlier ones. * Fitzroy steps out of the bowl quickly. The earlier ones, from what I've read, were... people would throw up after using them. * Ian stretches a bit, and steps out. * Vera does too. "Wonder why." * Leopoldo steps out. "I'm sure you could guess." * Katherine swallows and steps outside of the bowl. <> * Demetreia nervously lets herself be urged. * Ian steps onwards, looking at the labcoats curiously. * Threnody walks slowly, looking at the psi-armored men nervously a moment. "They used to have... psychadelic side-effects." * Vera follows. * Katherine eyes the men, and starts walking forward. "Like seeing geeks in tie-dye?" ( *plays SSB Dreamland theme on loop, goes insane* @_@ ) * Leopoldo walks in as well, looking around cautiously. Like you haven't seen worse. * Threnody blinks at Katherine for a moment, then turns forward again. "More like... I believe the only one I heard about in detail was a giant, smiling Brasilian Space Jesus." ...a what? Giant, smiling Brasilian Space Jesus. I'm not going to ask. ... impressive. There has been quite an improvement, then. * Katherine shrugs. "Well, that's what he said." She looks around at geeks and the suits. (Gonna reboot again. Sorry.) <> "YES! We hit the Newtonian constant of gravitation! 6! Well, 6.62! Er, 6.62 time ten to the negative eleventh, but who's counting!" <> "We'll take you too! An ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIP to the VACATION ROOM!" <> ... * Ian would ..., but he's gone! Damn. I never win anything. * Katherine eyes the floor. "... Fucking geeks!" (It's Vernon.) * Demetreia starts at that a little, and tries to reach for them, but fails. FAILS. I know I don't normally like to hit people but... but if someone tries to do that with me, can I hit them? Hard? * Threnody keeps walking, unperturbed but looking a bit headachey. "It's probably not in your best interest to touch ANYTHING down here." * Demetreia gulps. ( Wow. That WAS the whole plot. ) * Katherine frowns, and reaches out to grab one of the remaining geeks. "What the hell, man? I know you're all nutbags, but bring 'em back." Hey, you can't argue with all expenses paid. * Leopoldo puts his hands in his pockets. Doesn't sound like they're going far. <> (... HOORAY.) ( Is it Kirby? ) <> ( Aw. Disappointment. ) * Vernon is grabbed. "Er...sorry about that, ma'am. They'll be back soon, if Joey's with them. He just gets a little overexcited." * Threnody blinks and stops walking, then turns around and smiles. "...I guess with all the psi-armor and interference, I didn't even notice." He then rubs his temples. "I am guessing SIG-ASP doesn't employ many telepaths. Or if they do, the turnover must be enormous. Who's researching the quantum properties of aardvarks, anyway? He needs a break." * Vernon doesn't look terribly heroic. He's alert, but it's the kind of alert that might or might not actually involve responding, or falling over. * Katherine eyes Vernon carefully. "Ma'am? Oh, Vernon, I'm going to snap your goddamn neck." * Vera eyes Thren. "What the hell you babbling about?" Ack! * Threnody looks at Vera. "It's like hearing fifteen simultaneous radio stations, all broadcasting the same text but in a different language, switching at random mid-sentence." * Vernon recognizes Kat. "Oh. Sorry, I've been up for about a day arguing with things -" He looks over at Thren. "Involving aardvarks a great deal, yes." * Vera looks from Thren to Vernon. "Uhhh.... yeah. Okay." * Katherine pushes Vernon away, letting go. "Fucking hell, Marcus." Thought you said his name was Vernon. * Leopoldo just looks confused. Fascinating creatures, aardvarks, but do you want to be involved in the budgeting process for an entire array of aardvark-frightening devices? No, I dares - hey, I said I was sorry. * Threnody extends a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Marcus." * Katherine snorts. "Name's Vernon Marcus, Vera. And you're not fucking sorry anyway." She rubs her neck with both hands. Oh. He's one of those guys with two first names. Like Chester Arthur, or... Well, Chester Arthur. (*pause*) (Pause?) (Pause - v. to halt, stop, interrupt. TO PAUSE.) (Right. Pause.) (Sorry. was a phone call, people won't shut up, my modem keeps dorpping. >_< But MAMBO COMMANDS ME TO GO ONWARD) (*unpause*) * Vernon gets ahold of himself, and shakes hands with Thren. "Likewise, Mr. Renard - good heavens! It's been a long time. With the issue of aardvarks firmly behind us, welcome to SIG-ASP. We have a little ways to walk, here - this is a maze of sorts, so as to prevent trouble with intruders and so forth. Everyone stick together, please, and follow me." (And the aardvarks *are* behind us. ;_; I can hear their evil little feet following me, everywhere I go!) * Threnody smiles, but looks like he gets a little jolt shaking Vernon's hand. "Oh! Shock. And thank you." * Leopoldo rubs his head. "I know what you mean about this place, Thren. It's almost as bad as Anders." * Threnody walks forward a bit, then stops and turns to look at Leo. "...I was about to agree, but then I thought about what you said and I realized I didn't understand." <> * Katherine looks very angry. But she follows Vernon. * Leopoldo follows. * Vernon begins leading everyone through the corridors. "I do apologize if I'm a little bit unprepared - it's, well, as I said. Please don't be alarmed by anything that you see around you - it's all been constructed, much like DunnoLand, only somewhat more dangerous if you get in the wrong line." * Vera follows. * Demetreia follows like a following person. * Fitzroy tags along. * Threnody walks with more confidence than is probably warranted. <> (He thinks being with Vernon makes them safe. Which... is actually probably completely opposite the truth.) * Vernon aims a savage kick at the Lobster Door, hits the wall next to it, and then scans his retina after a warbling beep sounds. <> That's unorthodox security. Some might say, it's the most reliable kind. <> * Vernon nods, as he steps through. "It certainly is. It's good to see you again, Kat." * Vernon bangs a sphere against a patch of sky-blue algae. * Katherine shields her eyes from themass of colors. "I'd be in that group. As long as it didn't include the word Sig-Asp. And I'm sure it is, Vernon. Not enough experiments to keep you busy, lately?" * Demetreia looks very disoriented. just looking at the...stuff? Place? * Vernon continues on towards the left, occasionally pausing to engineer more geometrically-oriented chaotic events. * Leopoldo looks around. * Threnody walks slowly, saying nothing. * Vera follows behind. "You sure this ain't a kiddy zone?" < A few, a few. It's been much busier these past few months, though. Very nice work with the ears, by the way - when did you do that? (turrets they reall) <> <> * Vernon pauses to punt a chorus of barbershop-quarter badgers through a large hoop. (Quartet, rather.) (Vernon scores three points.) * Threnody laces his arms behind his head, walking beside Leo. "The silly thing is, this is just odd. It used to be odd and potentially lethal." * Katherine 's eyes narrow. "You know, I almost punched Taluun in the face when he almost brought that up. Do you want a punch in the face, Vernon?" ...no? Sorry. Did it? Maybe I should be glad. (Thren and probably not even Kat understand the true horror of the previous SIG-ASP. In his own way, Vernon should be congratulated.) * Fitzroy eyes Kat curiously. <> * Threnody grins up at Leo. "I heard talk of grenade golf, from my mother." He looks forward. "She hated this place." Ah, everyone! Through this next part, please duck as soon as I do. * Demetreia gulps and braces herself. * Leopoldo nods. * Vernon strolls onward until something starts whistling "Don't Sleep in the Subway", and then ducks. <> * Leopoldo ducks! * Katherine ducks. * Threnody ducks without missing a step. "Okay, so maybe my evaluation was a little preemptive." * Demetreia ducks. * Fitzroy ducks ( Rochelle gooses! ) (If she were here, maybe.) (Oh, it's *that* this time, is it? Do we get wafers with it? >_>) Yeah. (COURSE you don't get bloody fucking wafers with it!) Still, giant birds over live ordinance. It's a distinct improvement. <> * Katherine wobbles slightly. "I'd rather have the live ordinance." <> (You know, the X2 music for the Thunder Plains came on winamp, and I just felt like I had to leave it. It's very Foxhole-y.) (That, or Fancy Mel's Atelier from Dewprism. c.c;) * Vernon rebalances. "This whole mess keeps intruders away from our dimensional travel equipment, and also keeps any incoming unpleasantness away from the rest of the complex." * Vernon walks onwards, towards the door. "That's why it's so confusing." * Katherine rubs her head, mashing down one of her ears in the process. "More planning than I thought you'd ever have done." <> * Threnody puts up a finger. "You managed to perfectly plan chaos down to the last detail. I am deeply humbled." * Vernon raises an eyebrow. "Well, it still needs improvement, but...management is dead set against some of our ideas." * Vernon smiles. "Thank you." This is... Frightening and interesting at the same time. * Vernon feeds the geckos some ice cream. "And how is your Aunt Alexa today?" (This is addressed to the geckos.) * Threnody laces his arms behind his head. "That sort of defines the entire outfit in general, really." * Katherine mutters, "I'd just go with fucking lunatics. I like it. It's simple." * Leopoldo almost starts a retort, then thinks better of it. * Vernon shrugs. "Accurate enough, probably. All of us in SIG-ASP secretly think that we're the only sane person in the joint. Of course, that was actually correct during that bit of instability the other day." <> * Vernon scans his retina. * Threnody smiles at Leo, though it's a little strained this time. "Think of it like... a really big ice cream sundae that you get for free if you eat it all. It LOOKS really good, but if you try too hard to get through it all, you end up having your stomach pumped." That's one hell of a metaphor. * Vernon grins. <> * Threnody ehes at Vera, then goes BEET RED and EYES Leo. "..wh-WHAT?" (*CRACKS UP*) * Leopoldo looks over at Threnody and blinks. "What?" (Leo's a savant.) * Vernon steps through the door, and heads about forty feet into the corridor, then stops to read the wargames poster carefully. * Threnody just *eyes* Leo for a few moments more, still quite red in the face. "...never mind." * Katherine is focused on the guns. "My god. What a absolute fuckload of weaponry." There better be something more important in here than a new version of Battleship. * Vernon nods. "We're through the maze and out into the barracks, now. This is the only way through to Xenology, where we're headed." * Leopoldo looks around. "What the..." ( It's Sleythin Battleship. ) <> * Vernon shrugs. "I don't understand the military people, and they don't understand the geeks. We're all nice to each other, though, after tensions finally came to a head that one time." <> <> * Threnody blinks, a few times, then slaps a fist into his palm in understanding. "...this must be what Mother meant." * Vernon starts walking down the corridor again. "No wargames today, so we should be fine." <> * Leopoldo walks along. "What about your mother?" * Vernon raises an eyebrow. "Hmm?" * Vera follows, eying the general environs. * Threnody looks forward. "She's been here before. Well, a different version of 'here'. She mentioned the military cordon that guards the place, and how they get a little... loopy." <> * Vernon presses part of the wall. "Director Marcus requesting authorization for party of eleven at 3C902." He rolls his eyes slightly, out of view of the guards. Uh... yeah, okay. * Katherine licks her lips, and looks around slowly. * Threnody looks up at Leo. "Well, think about it. If you were a military man assigned to guard a psychedelic building full of people who talk to geckos, what would YOU do with your free time?" "Party of eleven, no smoking, extra plasma and a twist of lime!" <> * Vernon steps in! You have a point. * Katherine steps in, ending up very close to Vernon. * Leopoldo gets in, taking up lots of room. ^_^; * Fitzroy steps in. * Vera steps in. * Threnody steppeth in, anon. <> * Demetreia got in before the door closed, yeah. <.< ( Sorry, family call. ) * Vernon taps in a code on a wall panel, and steps out of the elevator. <> <> * Katherine follows. "Do they fucking pay you enough to remember all this shit?" I'd guess yes? You discount the possibility that he built some of it. * Vernon nods. "That, and we get to build more of it, which is payment enough for our more single-minded technicians." * Vernon makes six or seven changes to the puzzle, and then announces "The Seven of Diamonds. Checkmate!" * Katherine sighs. * Threnody smiles at Katherine. "You'd enjoy it more if you focused less on hating it." <> * Vernon holds a quite brief argument with a Braille terminal on the wall about acceptable suits, and then scans yet again. It's quite mindboggling what's here. <> * Vernon heads in! * Katherine shakes her head. "It's not easy to focus on much else, thank you." * Vera follows. "Couldn't they just have a metal detector or something. Jeez." * Threnody shrugs and follows Vernon. "Your loss, I guess. I admit it's not as easy to do as to say." * Fitzroy smiles "I think it's all pretty funny." * Vernon leans against the wall and refocuses. "All right! Welcome to Xenology. This is a little easier to get used to, I find." <> (er. 50's.) ... Ants? ( ...SimAnt. *cowers from the wolf spider* ) * Vernon nods. "Ants." And takes one of the tunnels. <> * Demetreia goes through it all trying to look stoic. (Lookout for the lawnmower!) (The wolf spider owns you. ZOT!) * Threnody blinks. "Well... it could be worse. Though I admit, this has gone beyond interesting into downright creepy, this room." He walks on. <> * Vernon nods. "It's a bit scary, but it's at least predictable." ( The wolf spider was the only reason the bug spray can existed...to watch it writhe in severe discomfort. XP ) (*eyes /msg* Poor Kat. Her only ally is gone.) * Leopoldo nods and follows Vernon. * Katherine follows Vernon with a slight smirk. <> * Vera follows. * Threnody twitches a little at that. "...brrr." * Vernon stops, and knocks at a door. "Simon? The beachball's deflated again." (I tried playing SimAnt once. I saw that spider. I never played SimAnt again.) * Vernon shrugs, and keeps going. "Guess he's not in." <> <> * Threnody looks at Vernon. "What, exactly, is that smell?" Pheromones, of course. Ants use them for finding directions. * Leopoldo nods slowly. * Threnody blinks, rather stupidly, then nods a couple times. "...it actually makes perfect sense, if you think about it. But are you saying the *robotic* ants use them?" Next week's layout will, I think, be easier for people. (...definitely SimAnt. x.x ) Oh, no. We tried that, and it didn't work at all. It's necessary for the effect, though. I've got a question. Why the heck are we here, anyhow? * Threnody nods again, as if this made perfect sense. "Well, I suppose so." He can never go home again, that's for sure. (Isis: "...you went WHERE?!") Good question. <> * Katherine is just walking. Eying the weaponry as she goes. * Vernon nods to Leo's sisters. "I'm afraid that you ladies will need to stay in quarantine for a while. Not to worry, it's quite comfortable, but we need to figure out what happened to you." With the aliens? <> * Leopoldo eyes Vernon. "You will make sure nothing happens to them, right?" * Threnody leans forward and smiles at the sisters. "Don't worry. Just take it all in stride. They really do know what they're doing." <> Absolutely. The worst that any of the technicians will have to do is confuse them a bit. (Iris doors everywhere. It's the freakin' Genesis Station.) * Vernon opens the door! * Leopoldo doesn't look terribly reassured, but nods. <> (It's full of tinier men!) * Vernon heads on through. * Threnody follows. (And I'm taking this opportunity to get a snack.) * Leopoldo follows. * Vera follows. "Still wondering about this. Why do we need to lump them with aliens?" * Vernon blinks. "Aliens?" <> * Katherine rubs her back, then looks at the aparment. "Quite a box." <> You did say Xenology, right? * Leopoldo blinks. "Quite." * Vernon nods. "Well, we usually study strange, unexplained technology, that sort of thing. It's sort of a catchall phrase." Right. Aliens. * Leopoldo shrugs. "I've been called an alien before too, Vera. Really, Xenology can cover anything that's 'unnatural'." * Katherine says in an annoyed voice, "Like the goddamn artifacts." (Yes, Leo grew up on a very strange asteroid. :P) * Threnody frowns at Vera a little, then looks into the apartment. "You could certainly do worse." * Vernon nods. "All of the biology studies that aren't really traditional - 24s and so forth - are part of Xenology. Anomalous Tech is handling the artifacts, for the moment." <> <> * Vera shakes her head. "Not gonna say it." * Vernon blinks. "Hmm?" * Vernon checks a few panels, and then turns to the group. "Okay, the sensors are working. I'm sorry to say that we do need to keep them indefinitely, until we can figure out what happened. That may or may not be very long; we've put quite a few resources into this. I'm sure you'll have some questions, and I'll be happy to answer them now." * Leopoldo sighs. "Well, first of all, they didn't have a chance to talk to our parents before they left. Would it be possible to set up some means of communication?" * Vernon nods. "Certainly. We're already getting TVNet and communicators set up for them." * Leopoldo nods... "Thank you. You have no idea how long it will take to isolate the problem?" * Threnody rubs his chin a little. "I don't think it's just the problem, that's the problem, if you'll pardon the confusing way of putting it." Not at all; thank you for taking this so calmly. No, I'm afraid I don't. When it comes to figuring out things like this, however, we're the fastest there is. Frankly, though...we have no clue what happened. Thus, all of the monitoring. (And now I prepare to say something that's going to cause trouble.) * Leopoldo nods again... (Go ahead. :P) * Threnody looks at Vernon. "Ronnie gave me her list of suspects. I think you can rule out the Cloud, if that helps." * Vernon raises an eyebrow. "That's good to know. This didn't *seem* to fit it, although some things looked similar." The what? Wait what? * Threnody sighs and closes his eyes. "I wish I could have had time to explain this all before we left..." Whew. That's...a long story. I take it, Thren, that Isis told you all about it? <> (...good job, Captain Discretion.) (Vernon says: Oops!) (If I were Kat, you'd be a smoking spot on the floor right now. c.c;) (Luckily, I'm not. ^_^) (But Vernon ICly wouldn't be paying attention to that kind of thing at this point. So oops. ^_^) (God, now I get to make all those unsekrit.) ( Way to go, Vern. ) * Threnody nods once, turning around to face everybody. "She did. Whatever happened to them, it was too... orderly, too structured. As for what the Cloud is... um..." * Katherine looks around, rubbing her temples, and goes over to the couch. * Leopoldo blinks again, putting two and two together and looks once more at Thren. "Uh... Well, that does explain a lot." * Vera leans against the wall and folds her arms. Don't need a couch. * Demetreia stands too, but right where she is so she looks like a dorkface and not cool. * Threnody breathes out. "Well... the Cloud is an AI in the form of nanites, basically, that posseses living beings. Ronnie thought it might have done something to your sisters, but I don't agree. The Cloud is very chaotic, and the... 'goo' around their thoughts was very structured, very carefully placed." * Leopoldo takes a seat once he's sure that the seat could support his weight. (I make it sound like Yu Yevon. "Every 24 years, Sin is born again...') * Demetreia shudders. * Fitzroy decides to find a seat and, well, sit. * Vernon nods. "The Cloud acted organically. As you say, this seemed to be more engineered." Carefully placed goo. * Threnody ehes at Vera. "I know it sounds strange. But there was... I dunno how to say it. Jelly around their psyches. It was trying to keep other people out, but keep them 'in' as well." He looks at Leo. "Your voice was what broke through. When you spoke, or they heard that song... it got weaker." * Leopoldo nods. "Trish was trying to talk to me, but... She couldn't break through." * Katherine leans on her hands, looking out/up at the group of people talking about goo. * Vernon nods. "So...any other questions?" What's this Cloud thing? It's, uh... ( It's "What's it for", not "What is it?" ) * Threnody sighs and crosses his arms behind his head. "Let's start at the beginning." * Leopoldo holds his head. "Please do..." * Vernon nods, and takes a seat. "The short version...well, I'm not sure there is a short version." (Unless you count the Book of Europa. ^_^_v) * Vera leans. She's happy with her wall. ('lo, the tresses!) (It's not very short. ^_^;) * Threnody nods, but remains standing. "The Cloud, the Cube, the Egg, the Pyramid, even the Sphere... all artificial intelligences, born all over the galaxy. They're part of something called 'The Game', but beyond that I don't know much. The Cloud is... a player, but he -- IT -- is insane. During the time of the Europa Team, he almost did away with life on Mars before they stopped him." (And now I'm in exposition mode, so excuse my wordiness.) (You're excused.) Part of his MO was to take over the bodies of people... a man named Benny Masterson, in that case. * Katherine puts her face in her hands. * Threnody looks around to make sure everyone's following so far. * Vernon nods at Thren, and interjects, "One thing ATC does is make sure that the rogue AIs are gone - that the Game doesn't start up again." * Threnody nods back. "Which is why if the Cloud were involved with what happened to Leo's sisters... of course, Ronnie mentioned another posibility, the Square, but Mr. Marcus probably knows more than I do about that." The Game... IS real? I remember hearing about it, but just in urban myths. * Demetreia listens quietly, her face a bit pale. Not that that's a big change. The rogue AIs... which ones are rogue? * Leopoldo continues along. * Katherine says muffledly, "Was real." * Vernon nods. "It was real. As far as we know, it's been over since we - the Europa Team - took care of it." * Threnody looks at Katherine, then nods. "All of the participating AIs are... gone, or bowed out." You were on the Europa Team? Huh. (Presumably, the Egg said "...screw THAT.", rather than self-destruct.) (Vera is the master of pop culture.) (Man, Vera lives in a box. A hat-wearing box.) (They only let her out to beat up Richard Nixon.) ( I'm wearing clothes from the mid 1900s. :P ) I think we took care of the Square. I *hope* we took care of the Square. * Threnody mmms. "Well... then that only leaves her other two suspects. A remnant of the Concordat... or the artifact beings." * Vernon nods. * Threnody looks back at everyone else. "And once she told me that, I knew we had to meet with Mr. Marcus, so I asked her to arrange it." If the Square exists, and is behind this, we should know soon. It's not the type to lie low. ( Didn't you hear? It's the Squarenix now. ) The truth is... anything we get involved in from here on out isn't going to be so simple anymore. So... it might be better if you decide right now how much you want to risk. Hm. * Threnody smiles sheepishly. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for not mentioning who I am earlier... it just didn't seem important." * Vernon nods. "If you want out, ATC doesn't have a problem with that. This could be simple, or it could be very risky." (We are taking your silence as agreement. If you'll just sign these waiver forms...) <> I'll think about it. <> (Yeah, I think they got that part. c.c;) ( ¬_¬ ) (Vernon == oblivious! ^_^_v) ( I thought he was Tim's son >.> ) * Leopoldo sighs. "Well... I don't know what to say. I really can't offer anything that'd help, but it'd also make no sense if I just left..." ( ...gonna kill you so hard. ) (This is the most _unreactive_ group. Space Jesus could come down from heaven and they'd be like, "Uh. Yo.") (*Brasilian* Space Jesus. Smiling.) ( Well, yeah. After the third time you meet one of the people on the Europa team, it kinda loses its glamour.) * Threnody puts his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "But... we're sort of back to square one on leads, until more tests are run." ( Anyway, robot/cyborg/metal girl. So. ) * Vernon nods. "That we are." (Unless I mind-meld with Trish!) (Then I can stop the reactor, and you can fire me at the Gensis Planet in a torpedo casing...) <> (...what IS it with you and the AC kicking on?) (That's what happens when nobody SAYS anything.) * Threnody looks at the apartment. "Unless..." Mr. Marcus, is there psi-shielding in there? * Vernon blinks. "Hmm? Yes, there's a great deal." * Leopoldo sighs. "Well, I guess you could try that." What are you considering? * Threnody furrows his brow. "Is there somewhere secure, without it? Where I, uh..." He looks around a bit. "I might be able to find something, if Leo's sister lets me look." * Threnody is actually *blushing*. It'd be cute if he didn't look so disturbed. It's unrestricted inside, but there's a huge amount of shielding from the outside to the inside. You could just call her Trish, you know. * Threnody turns around and ehes at Leo in embarrassment. "Then... it might be worth a try. With your permission," he says, directing the last at Marcus. * Katherine stands up from where she was and starts pacing. * Vernon blinks. "If you're thinking of a mindmeld...no. I'm sorry, but that would be incredibly dangerous. You could pass it up to Ronnie, if you want, but I can't just approve something like that..." (Vernon! Not Marcus. Damnit, Mike, now you're making ME do it.) (Ha! Sucker.) * Threnody looks surprised a moment, then nods once. "I guess you're right. It was just a thought. Though..." He smiles sheepishly. "I don't know I'd use the words 'mind meld'." (GEEK.) * Vernon nods. "It might be useful, but I think it's far too dangerous. We do have a job for you while we get started on testing, though...there are some materials we've collected on Avalon that need to be brought back here. Might you all be willing to help out?" * Threnody blinks, just like he did pre-retcon. "...Venus?" Well... I guess I could take a trip to Venus. * Vernon nods. "That's where the polymers are." * Demetreia frowns a little. Mmm... * Threnody blinks again, still confused. "What kind of polymers?" * Vernon smiles. "Naturally, ATC will pay for this." (Polymers that are perfectly safe.) (Except when they LATCH ON TO YOUR FACE AND SUCK YOUR BLOOD AAAAAAH) * Vernon shrugs. "It's some new high-tech material that a crew out there has been working on. I have a full report from them, but haven't read it all over yet." * Katherine rubs her neck. "Venus. What's it supposed to do?" And more to the point, why us? * Vernon shrugs. "Just something to occupy you all while we get started on the testing. You certainly don't have to, but it's very dull around here unless you like aardvarks." (It's an aardvark polymer!) * Threnody ehes and rubs the back of his neck. "Well... I've only been to Avalon once, and I didn't stay very long. I don't see why not, if Leo'll have me along." * Leopoldo shrugs. "I got plenty of room." (Err, I've) ( Meep ) * Vernon smiles. "And if you like, we're always in search of more people to try out our ship technologies." (Got Split?) * Katherine smiles faintly. "Staying here's going to drive me fucking bonkers, and... I need some time to think." (Sourdough's uptime is apparently three minutes. c_c;) Same here. * Leopoldo raises an eyebrow (or lack thereof). "Well... I suppose I wouldn't mind it. What have you got in mind, anyways?" * Threnody looks around, then chuckles. "I guess Ian and Miss Rochelle can decide once they return from the Vacation Room." What *is* the Vacation Room? * Vernon blinks. "I almost forgot about that." * Katherine mutters. "Yeah. When is that, anyway, Vernon?" It sounds relaxing, to an extent. It's just an environment simulator. We usually keep one on "Cancun". ...oh dear. Not with sunlamps, I hope. * Vernon gets out a pocket communicator. "Ronnie? Do you think you could send a few guards down to give Joey his sedative and keep him away from aardvarks for a few hours? He seems to have abducted a couple of our guests and is probably scaring them." ( * Ian comes back. Hey, where'd you get that giant tomato? ...that's Roch. ) Very probably, I'm afraid. * Threnody sighs. "Poor Miss Rochelle. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Ask her to send some burn cream." * Vernon blinks, and does so. "She's sun-sensitive?" <> "For the love of christ, Vernon, what the fuck do I pay you for?" * Threnody is at a loss. "...to an extent." "Aardvarks, at the moment, Ronnie." (Hehe.) More like albino, Vern. Sorta. * Vernon blinks. "Oh, dear." > "You're not much good to me alive, are you, Marcus?" <> I dunno about that. Getting shot in the spine might not kill you, but it probably wouldn't make you any stronger. * Threnody looks distracted. "Well, she survived New Mexico, so maybe she's built up a tolerance or something..." ( Make him a zombie! Problem solved! ) * Leopoldo nods. (...now I am envisioning Ronnie's little red and black sphere decked out like a voodoo mambo in a pentagram circle.) * Vernon looks at his communicator, and puts it away. "Something bad must have happened. She's usually not quite that angry." * Threnody blinks. "She did sound rather... cross. I wonder what's wrong." * Katherine smirks and says nastily, "Maybe it was your crappy-ass massage program." Oh, dear. She won't tell me *why* that didn't work. * Threnody smiles at the others. "If it makes you feel better, *I* didn't believe the fate of the universe was entrusted to any of them either." * Katherine suddenly laughs very loudly at that. * Leopoldo is trying to figure out where the heck this conversation is going. * Vernon shrugs. (So am I.) (I don't think anyone knows.) * Demetreia has been confused for ages so by now probably looks normal to everyone. (I just thought Thren's statement was really really funny.) * Threnody looks around. "...maybe we'd better go retrieve Ian and Miss Rochelle." * Fitzroy scratches his head. * Vernon nods. "Good plan, Thren." (wrap up, then.) * Vernon gets up. "Would you mind filling them in?" * Threnody sighs. "It does seem to have unexpectedly become my job. But I'll do my best." (Vernon disappears down another corridor. "Just head back the way we came. See you later!") * Vernon smiles. "Thanks." (ANd gets about ten feet before he's tackled by, minimum, two people.) ( Ha. That'd be a whole 'nother session on its own. ) ( Ten? That far? ) (Kat's distracted.) ( Ah, right. ) (Yeah. Leo'd tackle him, though. ^^;) (We want to STOP him, not kill him.) (... Point.) * Vernon leads people back into the maze, then. * Threnody follows! And somehow looks a little lighter in step than he was the past few days. * Leopoldo waves bye to his sisters, smiles, and then follows. <>