<> <> (October 14th, for those of you who were just waiting for mid-October.) <> <> <> <> * Ian is soberly consuming a large quantity of breakfast, looking worried for once. * Leopoldo is eating a healthy breakfast of doughnuts and co- okay, so it's not healthy at all. He's fairly impassive right now. Let's see if that changes. * Rochelle has her usual place on the cat hair-filled couch, flipping channels for the TVnet with the remote in one hand while the other holds a half-eaten doughnut. <> * Vera eats a powdered doughnut and drinks a cappucino. * Threnody is sitting next to Rochelle provided she left room, and reading a paper copy of the Tao Te Ching and occasionally making marks in it with a pencil. Also, the violet has finally washed out of his hair. * Rochelle takes another bite out of her doughnut. Yes, she did leave room. * Ian is sitting across the room, watching the TVnet as he consumes doughnuts. * Demetreia is sitting on the floor looking nervous and watching everyone else. (So, to sum up, we're trapped in an episode of Friends until someone speaks up.) * Katherine is sitting in a chair, in her own house, wearing a pair of low-waist jeans and a black top. She seems focused on nothing in particular, but her eyes are moving around like crazy. Standard head-computer fare. (Sounds like.) (That's our Demetreia!) * Rochelle chews doughnut, swallows, and finally looks away from the 'net to whatever Thren is reading. This is followed, of course, with: "What're ya readin'?" <> * Threnody blinks, and looks up. "The Tao Te Ching. It's really a rather stupid book. Or so I thought on my first reading. But everyone assures me it's full of wisdom, so I'm reading it again." * Fitzroy chows on a doughnut. * Ian nods. "A lot of books are like that..." * Rochelle blinks. "Maybe it's both." She finishes her doughnut and reaches over for another, this one chocolate. * Threnody knits his brow and totally crosses out a line. "So far all I can gather is the ancient Chinese thought wisdom came from 192 pages of contradicting yourself." * Ian grins. "Another good thought." So wisdom is not sayin' what you mean. Got it. * Fitzroy suddenly speaks up. "Oh yeah. I couldn't talk to Anders directly. The message just bounced." * Threnody giggles a little, then looks at the book in frustration before shutting it closed dramatically. "To heck with this. Is there a crossword puzzle I can do?" * Leopoldo sarcastically comments. "Oh, that's great." * Ian nods. "Did we find Samuel?" * Katherine says suddenly, in a very flat voice, "Second shelf from the bottom, bookshelf against the wall." * Threnody blinks at Katherine, then at Roy. Blink. 97 more and he self-destructs. * Demetreia blinks at Katherine only. She has more blinks left than Thren! * Vera sips her drink. * Katherine 's eyes shift around rapidly, then she says in a normal voice, looking at Thren. "Didn't want to screw up the subvocalizer. Like I said. On the wall." * Threnody turns to Kat and blinks again. 96! "I'm actually more interested in Roy's report on Anders." I bet they're at the same place. Unless Sam decided Anders wasn't worth his time anymore, so he killed him and left to find someone else to save his life, and that's why we can't contact Anders. * Rochelle chomps on her new chocolate doughnut. Yum. * Demetreia blinks at Rochelle. She's trying to catch up. (98 for Deme.) ( Yup. ) * Leopoldo chomps a whole doughnut in one bite. * Rochelle is outdone by Leo. ;_; * Vera takes another bite out of her doughnut. "'S 'cause he's in a doughnut. I mean a coma." * Ian grins. * Vera bites the doughnut again. It's high quality food. * Fitzroy shrugs. "None of info he gave me was still active." * Rochelle swallows. "A coffee coma. Who, Sam or Anders?" * Leopoldo blinks, then finishes his doughnut. (99?) * Threnody just looks at Vera. "...you found him? Why didn't you say so sooner?" Maybe she didn't want to? * Vera finishes her doughnut and wipes her hands on a napkin. "You din't ask." * Threnody looks a little flabbergasted for a minute, then rubs his eyes a bit. "What did you find out?" * Katherine closes her eyes for a second, unplugging herself from the pad, then leans back in the chair. * Vera shrugs. "Anders gibbered nonsense for a while and fell in a coma, everyone else is hiding out with him at the same place, and they don't trust us any more than I trust them. Interesting. Oh, dear. That must be handy. What, the coma? Nah, the part about not trusting us. * Vera drinks her drink. 'Cause that's what you typically do with a drink: Drink it. * Threnody sighs and slumps back down into the couch. "Well, that sort of puts us back at square one, unless anyone found any other leads." After a moment of hesitation he finds a coconut glazed, snatches it, and bites in with gusto. * Ian sighs. "I've got nothing as far as the Concordat's concerned." Other than the obvious. Your aliens aren't targetting us. At least, not exclusively. ("Your" aliens. Like someone made them up.) * Katherine nods, and says, "No leads here either. Nothing in the artifact list on dealing with them either, as far as I can figure out." So we have a bunch of nothing? * Rochelle goes back to flipping through 'net channels. Pretty much, yeah. * Threnody leans back on the couch and looks at the ceiling. "I wonder if the Sleythin have ever heard of these beings. I'd think Vernon would have asked them..." * Katherine laughs to herself. Then she adds, hastily, "I assume nobody's heard from Mr. Marcus?" * Vera sips her drink again. "Why don't you?" * Threnody sits up and looks at Vera a moment. "I don't know any scientists on Sleythin. Not by name. But ATC certainly might." It's worth a shot. * Leopoldo sips some coffee! * Ian nods. * Threnody stretches his arms behind his head. "I wanted to ask Vernon something anyway..." He looks for the phone, or something approximating the phone. <> * Rochelle eyes the premiere. * Ian peers up at the TVnet. "..." * Fitzroy hmms and grabs another doughnut. (This is actually my fault.) ( Why am I not surprised? ) * Threnody eyes the TV with a suspicious eyebrowtwitch, then produces his cel phone from wherever and dials what presumably must be a least-amount-of-steps method of reaching Vernon. * Rochelle lets it play for a few minutes, then flips channels. (Three days later...) ("Hi. This is...Vernon. You may speak.") (Be nice or I'll tell my mommy on you.) ( *snickers* ) (Thren finds a phone already!) <> * Katherine shakes her head. "How can you just flip through that junk, Roch? There's never anything good on." * Vera finishes her drink. <> * Rochelle shrugs. "I suck at reading, and I just painted my nails." She puts down the remote and waves her fingers to make the point; they're silver-blue today. * Threnody dials, then blinks at the phone in confusion after someone picks up. "Vernon?" There's a pause. "Oh. I was wondering... have you discussed the 'beings' with any Sleythin scientists?" * Katherine looks at the, then stands and walks over, to see if there's any donuts left. "How can you suck at reading?" 'Cause I can barely do it. (None of you know how he answered the phone. Arne't you lucky you've got me as a go-between?) (It must be relevant to the ATC plot! I will research yaks in relation to giant robot ants and multi-dimensional space freaks! See you in a week.) * Rochelle finishes off her doughnut and licks her fingers, still watching the 'net. (Roy is brilliant.) (Yeah. If it had been Kat, Vernon would already be dead.) (Bye Roy!) * Threnody blinks (94), then frowns and sighs. "I see. Alright." He pauses again. "Also, have you ever heard of Harold Halberson, nee 'ThePenguin'?" * Katherine stands there for a second, donut in her hand. Then she shakes her head and walks back across the room, into the bookshelves. * Threnody hmms. "Well... he's the man responsible for the Game starting as an underground rumor among hackers. Someone found that out for me, and I thought you might know. My source says he was an ATC scientist who disappeared. It's not really a priority. I just thought you might know." (He coded TheDunnoWorld, then disappeared.) (>_>) (^_^) (8 adults, zero smalltalk. Welcome to ATC2!) (I'm on the PHONE! Shut UP.) * Leopoldo waits for Thren to be done with the phone. Let's see if Vernon's got anything. * Threnody smiles. "Well, glad SOMETHING of help to someone came of this. Thank you, Mr. Marcus." Okay. Thanks. *click* What'd he say? * Threnody looks at the phone. "Aardvark *what*?" He then shrugs and puts it back into a pocket. "He asked them already, and they know nothing." * Ian sighs. "Well, damn." * Threnody drums his fingers on the sofa. *dadadadumdadadadumdadadadum* "We can't get to Anders, we can't find the Concordat... there's got to be *something*." (I know! *consults GameFAQs*) * Rochelle shrugs again. * Katherine comes back from between the bookshelves. "Maybe we can figure out what they're going for, if it's not us?" (Giant Ants.. I'm tellin' ya.) (So, basically, we deploy giant wolf spiders and pray for the best?) 'Could go play pool. <> * Katherine glares at Roch, lest she let in ANOTHER person without asking, then says, "Who is it?" * Rochelle blinks at Kat. (98) "What?" (Now look what I've done.) * Threnody blinks (93) at Rochelle, tilting his head a little, but says nothing. <> "'s jes me, lassie! I got a hurt boyo needs fixin up, yer the one te do it right!" * Demetreia blinks (97). * Katherine frowns. "... Didn't we have this conversation yesterday? And when did I tell you where I lived?" (As always, the model of sympathy.) * Rochelle idly grabs a napkin and wipes at her face and hands. (She's CRAZY.) * Threnody says, completely innocently, "Maybe the stones told her." * Ian looks at the speakers in confusion. "I may be auld 'n batty's a broomstick, lassie, but I kin read phonebooks." ( Mock not the stones. ) Who's that? Mad Hettie. You'll meet her in a little bit. Hey Mad. * Katherine mutters, "I don't remember telling her my full name either." She shakes her head. "Buzz in." * Threnody tilts his head at Rochelle again. "Did you meet the boy she said was coming?" (What is he, some sort of spoony bard? We don't need your type here.) Yup. * Katherine mutters to herself some more. <> ( Edward has steely resolve. ) * Ian just blinks. * Rochelle waves, completely unfazed. "Want a doughnut?" * Threnody also waves. "We're fresh out of bagels. My god, what happened to his arm?" It got hurt. Donuts are nice, thank you. * Vera makes a face. Bent arm. Ew. * Leopoldo winces. "I don't know, but we need to get him to a hospital quickly." He rushes over to his stuff and pulls out a first-aid kit. * Rochelle grabs a glazed doughnut and hands it to Edward. * Demetreia blinks (96) and looks a little worried. * Ian shrugs, gets up, and helps with the first aid. How did you get hurt? (Saved me the nanopak.) "Ach, do I!" <> "'e were out too close to the Curtain last night, damn fool lad go' trapped 'neath a wall an it 'sploded out on 'im." <> "'Strewth, ye've got a party goin' on up 'ere." Yeah, we were just watching a program about some yak guy who lives with robotic ants. * Fitzroy continues to watch the commotion, not getting involved or in the way. "Sounds like bollocks." * Leopoldo starts working on the first aid. * Katherine says, still with annoyance in her voice, "It is. Told ya there were eight of us." <> * Edward has a doughnut. :9 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Leopoldo (2d6-4) and gets 4. (By 3.) * Ian continues helping out. <> * Katherine 's ears twitch. * Demetreia looks more worried. * Leopoldo winces. "What the hell?" I don't think you did it right. * Ian double-takes. But thank you. * Threnody blinks, twice, coming closer to doom, and says to Roch with a distracted air, "There's your reason." "Look, ye gits, I brought him te the tech-lady fer a bleedin' reason." * Rochelle tilts her head, then asks, "Can you move your hand when you're like that?" It sounds like an honestly curious question. * Katherine stalks over to where everyone is, very purposefully, almost knocking over Roch in the process. "Shit, I thought you meant DEME would have to help him. Jesus." * Demetreia widens her eyes. * Leopoldo lets up. "Sorry 'bout that then. Thought you were, ya know... human." ^^; * Edward looks at Kat. "Hettie says you can fix my arm. Are you training this other guy?" Or at least your arm was. * Ian blinks. "...er...sorry about that." Cyber...? * Ian sits down and has another doughnut, a bit shaken. * Rochelle almost gets knocked over and flops back on the couch. <> * Threnody looks curious a little, but doesn't seem to be saying anything. * Leopoldo takes a seat on the couch. * Edward wiggles his fingers. "These still work." That is...good. * Edward seems mildly pleased by that for some reason. * Katherine shoos Leo and anyone else who's too close away, and says, "Come over here a sec, Edward. And who's this other guy?" She walks over to the closet, and pulls out a huge box, and walks over to the open area in the middle of her apartment. Probably near where Deme is sitting on the floor. * Edward nods and walks over to Kat and the Open Area. * Fitzroy gets an odd look on his face due to the fingers. * Threnody takes a slow breath, then looks at Hettie, sitting on his knees on the couch and leaning over the back of it to see. "Rochelle says he's the one you saw coming. Right?" <> "Aye, so 'tis." Er... Huh? * Threnody chuckles, but looks a little disappointed. "I guess my sense of drama thought it might end up being Anders. It feels wrong to be disappointed, though." * Ian settles for some more coffee at this point. Explanations appear to be off. @_@ Who's this kid? ( "Edward is Edward." ) * Katherine opens the box, and interested parties see... a lot of random equipment in there. Hoo boy. She pulls out three things, puts one of them on her head like a welding mask combined with a magnifying loupe, and two other tools. She says softly, "Alright. I don't think you feel much pain, but I'm gonna be careful anyway. Mind telling me who you meant by 'the other guy'?" "Who th' bloody blazes be Andrew?" <> "Peacock." <> (*CRACKS UP*) * Ian blinks. "...er...thanks?" He looks at the stone. * Leopoldo rubs his head, obviously confused. (HA.) * Demetreia blinks (95). (Awesome.) It's fer luck, Ian. * Ian ahs. "Thank you!" * Threnody follows Hettie around the room. "Er, Anders. A kid we knew who's gone missing." (With his eyes. With his eyes.) (Important distinction I left out.) ( What is he, a pupp--oh. ) * Rochelle looks at Vera. "That's Edward. He's been stayin' with Mad for a while." * Edward sits and lets Kat work. "Uhm, the one who tried to fix my arm." * Katherine frowns, and pulls out another tool, peeling back the skin from his arm effortlessly. "Oh? What's his name?" * Fitzroy watches Kat's work on Ed. * Demetreia watches Kat's repairs intently. * Ian looks on, for a lack of anything else to do. <> * Leopoldo watches the work proceed. "Never taught me how to do that kind of stuff..." * Edward watches, too. "I don't know." He turns to Leo. "What's your name, mister?" <> "Crocodile." <> "And spider." <> (Curses, I was betting on Leo being a chicken.) (*less cracking up, more amusing snickering*) * Leopoldo catches it. "Crocodile?" ( No, no, that's Virgil. ) ( I was thinking chicken, too. ) <> * Katherine blinks, and frowns. "No. No, I didn't teach Leo how to break arms. Well, not directly." (There you go, Mecha, you can add the stones and animals to the charguide. ;P) * Edward turns back to Kat, after misinterpreting Leo's response. "His names Crocodile. That's a funny name." * Fitzroy changes focus to MH "And spider?" * Katherine pulls out different tools. <> "Yer animals, me boyos, yer own animals." * Leopoldo laughs. "No, no. I'm Leopoldo." Oh. That's a better name. * Edward nods, satisfied. * Vera rubs her head. "I've got a headache. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-3) and gets 3. * Rochelle curls her feet up on the couch and starts picking at her nails. ( Hey, it could be worse. You could have a bent arm. ) (By 4) * Fitzroy hmms, and puts his stone into one of his pockets. Sorry about your arm though. Didn't know you were using cyber. ( Or both. ) * Edward blinks. "'Using Cyber'?" (Apparently the skin rolling made Deme so squicked she passed out.) * Leopoldo points at his arm. "The prostetic." <> "Been a rough few days, addnit?" * Katherine suddenly swaps a tool into her mouth, and very carefully _removes the arm_. "Jesus. How did they do this? No standard BIL at all." She says BIL like B-y-ll. ( I got nothin' ta say. I'm Deme. :P ) (You're seeing a Deme dissection. Surely you've got something. >.>) * Demetreia blinks (94) and turns away. ( Well, that. ) * Edward blinks. "Hey, it comes off! That's neat." * Rochelle snickers a little, despite herself. * Katherine nods in total agreement, and says around the hammer in her mouth. "Yeah, it is." * Leopoldo blinks. (98) * Fitzroy grins. * Rochelle looks up from her nails to watch the dissection. * Ian nods. "That's pretty cool..." I wonder why I'm like this. This isn't normal, right? 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-3) and gets -1, a CRITICAL SUCCESS!!! "My momma always said, you gotta take the good with the bad. Here's some good." Not hardly. ( Result: Kat does not smash Edward into little tiny pieces. ) * Threnody looks at Edward with something approaching pity. "It must be terrible not to remember anything. I wish we could do something." * Katherine frowns. "It's not that weird. Well, full arms aren't that common. Bonnie had one, but nothing like this... hell, I was designing something like this..." she trails off and puts the arm down very carefully. Yeah. * Demetreia looks around to see if there are any doughnuts left. Or if there's any coffee still. * Ian keeps watching carefully. Thanks anyway, mister. <> * Threnody smiles obliviously. "You're welcome." Ya hungry? * Demetreia picks up a doughnut and nibbles on it in a distracted manner, not looking at Kat'n'Ed. * Threnody blinks (92) and then stops to look at Hettie carefully, with a confused expression. * Katherine pulls out some stuff from the box, and winces. "Okay, I guess it's diagnosis time, not that you'll really care once it's fixed. You lost a hydraulic pump, and either the gears were stripped, or Leo stripped them with his little stunt." <> That's bad. Yeah. * Vera eyes Dem, then turns to Hettie. "So what's the deal?" (Woop, mischan.) (Ha.) (Yeah?) (Even the GM agrees!) (*flail*) * Katherine starts pulling pieces of the arm apart, and sparks fly and gears turn and many noises are made in the process. "Could be a hell of a lot worse." * Threnody watches Hettie closely, as close to staring as you can get while remaining marginally polite, but doesn't say a word. Hey Edward.. Do you have a last name? * Edward winces a little. "Sounds pretty bad." * Katherine says idly, "Yeah, well. If it were an elevator, it'd be a nightmare. In an arm, though, it's just a torn muscle." Edward Kessana. * Leopoldo nods. "Nice name." ^_^ * Edward beams. "Thank you." ^_^ (...smut for DP.) (Aw, hell no. He's not going to break him right after I fixed him.) * Leopoldo is still looking at the stone. (Nobody's asked about anyone else's animals. Huh. Guess Ian's just too embarassed.) (Thren understands them all.) (<_<) ( Deme didn't even realize the significance of that when she heard it. ) (He doesn't know Vera's, but he can see reasons for all the rest.) ( Vera doesn't care. ) <> "'s a time honnered tr'dition, 'tis. Ancient. Comes from'a Indians, it do." <> * Leopoldo shrugs. "Who am I to turn down good luck?" He pockets the stone. * Ian nods, and stores his in his bag. * Threnody blinks a few times (91 through 87) as Hettie unexpectedly speaks, then reaches into his shirt pocket and produces a similar blue stone, looking at it carefully. "Spirit guides, huh? Something of that nature, if I'm remembering my history right." Yeah. Wasn't it traditionally native americans that did it? "Aye, tha's it, lads. Them." * Demetreia blinks twice (down to 92), reaching into her satchel and pulling out an orange stone and an old stinky chicken bone. "The stones are guides?" * Rochelle scratches at the back of her head. "I thought it was the spirit you are." * Ian nods. "I've read about this a little, but not as much as I should..." * Edward blinks... many times, while listening to this conversation. (Call it, oh, 89.) * Threnody smiles a little. "Sort of. I think it just means that your spirit animal is a part of you and helps protect and guide you." Yeah. Some sought the guides for guidance in times of crisis or need. Mine must be napping or something. I do not understand. How can stones be animals? It's spiritual. * Demetreia blinks at the stone and bone (91), shrugs, and tucks them back in her satchel. "Both are true, and both aren't... *HACK* ... Ach, 's just the ramblin's of a crazy bat like meself." <> * Katherine retrieves the hammer, and a second smaller hammer, and starts banging out damage dents. Loudly. * Threnody rubs the back of his neck embarrassedly. "I have to say, I wasn't expecting to hear what I am." * Leopoldo raises an eyebrow. "What are you, then?" * Threnody smiles stupidly, eyes closed. "Bear." "Old!" <> I don't think anyone expects to hear somethin' likethis. * Leopoldo snickers. ("I'm Threnody Sakuraba, age 17." *pause* "My hobbies are cooking and cats!") * Ian smiles. "Yeah, it's always a surprise. Although I have to admit it fits." (*falls over*) Does everyone else have one too, then? * Rochelle blinks (97) and turns her attention from Kat's work to Hettie. "Yeah." * Threnody tilts his head at Ian curiously. "...how so?" * Leopoldo blinks (97). "How's that?" (Wait. Retcon.) (I misunderstood what he said.) (Ah.) * Demetreia blinks a few times (88). "Ohhhh...." (I thought he was talking about Thren. He was tlaking about himself, though.) (Right?) (Right.) * Katherine bangs less loudly, now, and pulls out another tool, saying to Ed softly, "Finally. Hammering hurts my ears. You OK there, Ed?" * Demetreia then looks a little confused. "So I am a...butterfly?" (Ai ai ai.) (Searching for your samurai.) (INNA GADDA DAVITA BABY...) (*rocks out* DONTCHA KNOW THA I LURV YUUUUUUU...) ( A beeeeautiful butterfly! And no-one ever got those points the other night, either. ) ( *puts Thren in a box* ) (Well, the only samurai in the world is Thren, so it's a short search.) "Aye. A Viceroy, nae that ye'd know what that be." ...a provincial administration officer butterfly? ( Woot! ) (...too much Rot3K for you, missy.) (Literalist! >.<) <> ( official, not officer. Anyway. ^^ ) (Whoo, maybe we can make Hettie self-destruct!) I'm fine, thank you, miss. * Leopoldo blinks a few more times. "Huh?" (94) (NOW it's just getting gratuitous.) (But I can't stop laughing at it.) ( Mecha: Brain of computer! :P ) ( XD ) * Threnody leans back and closes his eyes, slumping into the couch again. "I'm glad we could help Edward, but we're still no further along than we were." * Katherine nods, and licks her lips. "Okay. Before I go putting this back on, I wanna do a quick check, make sure everything I can figure out is OK." Prentative maintenance, blah blah blah. * Edward nods. "Okay." 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-3) and gets 1. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-4) and gets 3. "That don't matter, me boyo, don't matter a whit. Ye'll be busy, I think." * Vera shrugs. "Eh, who cares? It'll come to us. I'm sure Anders would agree." (By 6 on the Mech, by 4 on the Elec.) * Threnody would blink, but his eyes were already shut, so he simply opens them and looks at Hettie. "...huh?" * Rochelle puts her chin on her hand and continues to split her attention between Hettie and Kat. * Demetreia continues avoiding looking at Kat's work and nibbling at the doughnut. She can nibble slow when she wants. "Just a hunch, ye understand. Auld bats like me kin feel't inner bones, y'see." (Really? I just envisioned Deme having a completely vertically straight hinged robot jaw. "DONUT: CONSUME." *CLANK*) (Excellent.) (donut->consume()!) (DEME OPEN JAWS / DEME RELEASE ANTS) (Or would that be jaw->consume(donut)?) (...oh, dear. ) * Ian hmms. (DEME WATCH YOU SCREAM BECAUSE DEME DOES NOT DANCE!) (Deme.consume(doughnut);) (*flail*) * Threnody mmms and sits back again. "Maybe." He sighs. "I wish I could puzzle things out in my mind. Why there were so many voices, what that feeling of 'stickyness' was. But... I don't have anyone who really understands what I mean when I describe it." (Except Leo's sisters, but they were eaten by the wolf spider.) * Rochelle blinks (96) and looks at Thren. "Sticky?" ( GAH WOLF SPIDER *runs off screaming from repressed SimAnt memories* ) * Katherine says, after a second more of looking at the arm, "Could you take off your shirt, please?" She pauses, and says, "Or, rather, maybe I should, because your arm is off." Hmm? * Demetreia blinks (87), but since Roch beat her to it, says nothing. You mean when Trish was under control of that alien? * Threnody nods. "In the minds of all the 'possessed' people. Like... like a layer of slime. Sticky stuff. I don't KNOW how to describe it." He nods at Leo. "Exactly." <> * Edward tries to take his shirt off for Kat, blushing a little. It's really difficult to describe. It's like she was behind a layer of... really thick molassas (sp) or something. If it helps anything, there are absolutely no records on Edward here. None.. * Fitzroy asks Ed, "Where are you from?" * Threnody mmms at Leo. "And more to the point, the voice in their mind was... layered. Not just one voice, hundreds. I don't understand it at all." * Katherine smiles very faintly. "Don't worry 'bout it, kid. Just a doctor today." She helps him with the shirt. Maybe she was possessed by hundreds of people. Mmm, unlikely. I don't even know if it's possible, is it? * Threnody shakes his head. "I don't think it was the aliens. The voices in Trish's mind were screaming to be left alone. But the possessing feeling is more... primal. It doesn't vocalize. It's just raw, undirected animal rage." Hm? You know something about mind possession? Maybe it was everyone it got. That's an interesting concept. Like some sort of swarm? * Threnody nods at Rochelle eagerly. "That's my theory. That they're... STEALING psyches, somehow. Carrying fragments of people's minds away with them." * Ian winces. * Leopoldo frowns. "That can't be healthy." * Demetreia makes a face. * Katherine starts peeling off more of the kid's skin and setting it aside carefully. "So what have you been doing in Box City for the past week?" * Threnody puts his hands up. "It's a wild and totally groundless theory. I just can't THINK of anything else. They clearly want something we have, and that only 24s have... but what IS it?" Uh, killing lots of people at random isn't usually healthy anyhow. ( Unfortunately, it happens to be an extremely cute smile, which makes people think that she's some kinda sadist. Oh well. ) (BSDeme.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6) and gets 10. (Dice luck had to run out eventually.) (Oof! Thanks a lot, Dice. Give me the bad roll on the hard one.) (Hm. That acronym doesn't work so well.) (FreeBSDeme.) ( Fr--damn, slow. ;-; ) ( We don't share DRs in this game, do we? ) (No. And I wouldn't burn it anyway. c.c;) <> ( Okay, just wondering. There's like one of my games that does and I can't remember which it is. ^^ ) * Katherine frowns, and eyes the chestplate. "Stupid... blasted Dunnos. I'd swear this is Dunno if ATC had gotten ahold of it 20 years ago..." * Leopoldo glances over. "What're you trying to do there?" <> * Demetreia is a friendly neighborhood Deme. * Edward blinks. "Dunno?" * Katherine says sarcastically, rubbing her hands together a bit, and trying again, "Well, I left my 'Red Atlantan Handbook of Cyborg Medicine' in my other apartment. What does it look like I'm trying to do?" * Threnody closes his eyes and slumps back into the sofa again. ( I've seen two in the past month, so they can't be that uncommon ^^ ) (I'll kill you.) (It's true.) Honestly? Looks like you're trying to perform cyber-surgery. * Threnody makes a face. "I can't watch. It's too creepy." (Vera wins the prize!) * Vera shrugs. "I've seen worse." I could help, I guess. If I thought I could do it without breaking him or something. * Ian is watching, fascinated. * Katherine says at Edward, "DunnoCorp is a company that mass produces all sorts of things, as well as makes excellent Cyber. You look Dunno-made, except for the complete lack of ids, standard interface, anything." She smiles a little oddly at that. * Edward is also fascinated. "Is that odd?" * Leopoldo blinks a couple times (92). "That's amazing. Really quite amazing. I'd help opening that, but... I'm afraid I'd break something." * Demetreia sighs quietly and looks away. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6) and gets 10. (... Thank you, asshat.) ( Wait, she hasn't been looking for a while now. Well, whatever. ) 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Fitzroy (2d6-1) and gets 6. * Ian nods. "Not something one sees every day..." Somethin' on your mind, Deme? * Threnody opens one eye and quickly trains it on Demetreia. "I don't suppose... you two have a related history? I can't imagine that..." He flounders, and lamely finishes on "...people of your type are all that common." * Katherine starts trying to open the chest for real, and frowns as it doesn't work. "Yeah. If it were me? It'd only mark you like this if you were someone's R&D project. Sorta like Deme must have been." * Demetreia shakes her head at Vera, then blinks at Thren (86). "...I am the first. And the only one I know of." Guess you know of another one, then. * Edward blinks. Ah, come on, kid. I can see you're thinking about something. * Threnody then bravely looks at Edward and immediately regrets it but manages not to flinch. "I'd... I'd offer to LOOK for you, but it's hard to keep track of a cyborg's thoughts. And even more, someone's trying to keep mentalists out of your head, I think, Mr. Edward. Maybe it's just a quirk of the technology, or maybe it's a countermeasure." (88) * Demetreia kinda half-shrugs. ...weeeeeeird. 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-1) and gets 5. (Made by 2! It's a miracle.) * Fitzroy scratches his head and STARES at Ed.. * Katherine tries one more time, "Maybe..." the chest plate pops open. "Aha." She peers at his now exposed not-gooey innards. * Demetreia takes a big chomp out of the doughnut, a furrow forming between her eyebrows. Ooooo. Hey, Edward.. Do you know the name Kanesas? * Rochelle leans forward, peering at Edward curiously. No? * Katherine snickers, as odd lights play off her face. "Yeah. You're a veritable Christmas Tree." * Edward blinks at Deme. "Are you okay?" * Threnody blinks, then turns to Roy, mouthing the word slowly. "...spell that?" What, Kansas? K A N E N A S * Threnody pauses a moment, mouthing the word again, then looks at Edward, confused. ( There ya go. Dem was created by angry farmers in Kansas. ) * Demetreia blinks twice (84). ( And I'm down to 87. ) (Toss another "N" in there.) * Threnody turns to Deme. "...do *you* have a last name?" * Demetreia blinks (83). "It was designated as Kanenas." (She was designed to chase people off their property.) ( Scarebot. ) (We have a bingo!) * Ian blinks. * Leopoldo blinks. (And when that doesn't work, she stands in fields and scares crows away with her blank stare.) * Threnody blinks (86) and sits back on the couch. "They're almost anagrams. Kanenas, Kessana, Kannesas..." ( Yup. ) I...did not think of that. Huh. Edward, How about the names Nikodemos or Deinaeira? (Oops on the spelling.. I had a heckuva time writing out Dei(...)) ( Deianeira? XD ) (Hehe.) Uhm... * Demetreia bites her lip. (Deienerianananana.) (DANA BANANA) They... I think... * Edward frowns in concentration. "I think I remember something, but I'm not sure?" * Threnody grabs his copy of the Tao Te Ching and pencil, goes to an empty page, and starts scribbling something, occasionally chewing on the end of the pencil. * Vera finds a nice comfy wall to lean against, and leans. * Ian starts taking notes, as well. * Fitzroy 's eyes twitch a bit as he looks for something via mindlink. * Leopoldo listens interestingly. * Katherine exhales, closes the chest-plate, and takes off the mask. "Alright, you look fine, Edward. A perfectly healthy... robot? Cyborg? Something. I don't want to crack your head open to test it out, honestly. I hope you don't mind." * Threnody does a lot of crossing out, then hmms and starts reading things off. "K, E, A, N, S in common. Snake? Keans? Skean?" He does more scribbling. (Ekans. They're pokemon.) ( :D ) Uhm, I think my head's okay. <> "Did ye ask'im how te spell it?" ( Deme, stomp attack! ) * Katherine chuckles. "Well, except for the memory thing." Hold still a second, so I can reattach your arm. * Threnody nods at Hettie, turning the cover of the book around and showing what appears to be a game of Last Name Hangman with a lot of corrections. "Yes." Ok, Kanenas... Nikodemos and Deinaeira Kanenas were cybernetics researchers. Researching full cyborg augmentation. * Ian blinks. Hmm? * Katherine reattaches the arm1 * Rochelle blinks, too (95). * Demetreia stands up rather hastily. "I...should go check on Vwoof." * Rochelle gets to her feet, too, and looks evenly at Deme. "I'll check on 'im." * Threnody puts down the book and stands up, too. "I'll come help. If you want." * Edward wiggles his arm experimentally. Thank you, miss. * Katherine nods. "Sure. Was a pleasure." She rubs her temples. "Mostly." No, I can...I must learn to see after him, if he is to live with me... ...although I would not mind assistance. Thank you. * Threnody smiles. "My pleasure." Eh, I'll come to. I need to get out of this stuffy apartment. * Edward blinks at Deme(86). "Vwoof?" * Leopoldo turns to Roy. "So... What you're suggesting is these researchers eventually completed, or came very close, to their goal?" * Ian nods. "I could use a walk." * Rochelle actually lets out a little sigh and sits down again. She goes back to watching the conversation. (.... wait, so who the hell is going and staying? c_C) * Katherine hands Edward his shirt, and answers helpfully, whispering in his ear, "Her pet dog." (I'm staying. ;P) ( Deme, Thren and Vera are going, I think. ) (Ian, too.) (Yup.) (Kat is still busy with her new best friend. *_*) ( @_@ ) (Deme could have been her best friend too! All she had to do was open up a little! HAW HAW HAW.) (*punches Kat in the face*) Oh. * Edward puts his shirt on. They were really close to their goal, but were never able to finish. * Threnody gets up! And walks outside! (#outside) * Ian follows! * Edward does not go outside. (Deme actually managed to escape? Whoo, timing.) <> * Vera heads out. So perhaps Deme and Edward here are... prototypes? * Demetreia leaves. * Katherine starts packing things in boxes. "I... don't think so." What do you think then? (...Vera got lost on the way #outside? ^^ ) (*rimshot*) ( Vera typo'd "#outside" a lot ) ( *snerk* ) * Katherine stands, and streeetches. "I think... Edward here," she tousles his hair, "Is a newborn. Or they had recent technology however long ago." * Edward blinks. "Is that why I don't have any memory?" * Fitzroy watches Deme leave.. "Actually, I think it's pretty likely, for Demetria at least. Not so sure about Edward though." That'd explain why he doesn't have a memory... * Katherine nods at Edward. "Maybe." * Katherine shakes her head. "That wouldn't make any sense." (Looking at Roy as she does so.) * Rochelle flops to one side, now that Thren isn't occupying the couch anymore, and comments, "If it's cyber, don't they need a human brain?" * Katherine starts pacing. "I'm not sure anymore. But if Dunno, or I assume it's Dunno, had Deme... maybe 17 years ago, if her designation is any indication, why isn't Edward as strong? Or as tough?" (They're not Saiyans.) ( He's not as strong or as tough? ) (Thank god.) (Well, his arm isn't, that's for sure.) Well, if Edward is so recent, the Kanenas' wouldn't have been the ones working on him. Typically cyber does, but then again normally 24s don't go crazy... ( True. ) And apparently Artificial Intellegence is very real, so... ( Then again, ever tried to twist Deme's arm? ^^ Not that I'm suggesting it, mind you. ) (Kat, if you're gonna drop it, explain. >_<) They died in '87. * Edward watches the conversation go back and forth. (I dunno. Leo might be able to bend Deme's arm. ^^;) (I'm not. Kat doesn't get it. c.c;) But cyber isn't the same thing as AI. * Rochelle looks puzzled for a moment. "Right?" But they were researchers at DunnoCorp. Well, in theory, couldn't you combine the two to make a 'living' robot? * Katherine nods at Fitz, then peers at Leo. "Yes." Their designations, as it turns out, could be in honor of those researchers. So even if they're dead, others may have continued their work. * Rochelle moves from puzzled to confused and just puts her face in a pillow. <> "Ye're all tae laud fer an old bat like me." * Rochelle grabs a pillow, not looking at Hettie, and half-tosses it to her. (I can only respond to so many things in a realistic time frame without spinning like a top.) <> "Talkin' like bees, ye be. What be the problem?" I think Demetreia is a whole different story than Ed here. (Why am I having seriously whack Armitage flashbacks now?) Back in '87, when the Kanenas' died, their 15 year old daughter went missing. * Katherine rubs her head, then exhales noisily. "Yeah. Hey, Roy. Can you..." she trails off. Her name? Demetreia. * Leopoldo blinks. ( Dun dun DUUUUUNNN ) (What cracks me up is that the ones who went with Deme _aren't_ getting the answers.) (Well, that's why Deme _left_.) * Edward blinks. (Yeah. We were trying to help comfort an angry and hurt person. God, what evil BASTARDS!) (YES) (winamp just switched to my theme music.) * Katherine frowns. "So... either they faked a daughter at some point, or Deme's... not a cyborg." * Leopoldo hmmms... "Well, finding out if she's a cyborg shouldn't be too hard, should it? Can't we just take her in for a physical or something?" * Rochelle turns her head, opens one eye, and looks at the group. "She could be a daughter and a cyborg," she says, half-muffled. * Katherine eyes Leo. "Yes, let's just drag her off. Come on, man, even I'm better than that." She walks over to the couch, and looks down at Roch. * Rochelle moves her eye to follow Kat. Aaah, she's coming closer! * Edward rubs his head. (I dunno that it matters, but she said "I'm a cyborg" in one session and Thren followed that with "I can read her mind and she's telling the truth.") (I remember. ^_^;) * Fitzroy nods at Roch, "They might have been augmenting her along the way." * Leopoldo sighs. "Just a thought." (Here's your birthday present! A nice shiny new set of arms!) Maybe, but if she were a full cyborg like she said, then the Kanesas' should have been able to put that in on Edward's construction. Assuming Edward is Dunno-made. ( Except they're DEAD. ) (They weren't dead for the five minutes it would have taken for Dunno to have used their research. c.c;) * Katherine rubs her head, and goes over to her chair. "This just doesn't mesh." I get the feeling that their research was forcibly taken over. Whoever is doing it now may not have everything the Kanenas' had. ( They could've been zombies. You never know. ) (You're right. ^_^;) <> * Leopoldo nods. ( They're clones. Obviously. ) * Katherine glances over at Ed, with a faint grin. "Any of this make any sense to you?" ( "I didn't die! That was my clone!" "Oooooh. Your clone." ) Uhm... Yes. I think? * Katherine says, "What's your take, then?" Then she plugs herself into the pad that was lying on the chair. (I doth buzz the apartment, G.) <> * Katherine 's eyes twitch, she says, "Speak," and then goes back to twitching. It's just me. Buzz in. * Katherine frowns, and unplugs. "Well, Ed?" Uhm... I'm weird? * Threnody arrives however much time later getting there requires. He looks like someone just kicked his Vwoof, and he heads couchward. * Rochelle sits up to let Thren have his seat again, if he wants it. * Katherine gestures absently. "Bah, you're not weird. Getting little metal filmy things put in your eyes, that's weird." * Threnody smiles wearily at Rochelle, then slumps down and shuts his eyes. Oh. But getting metal arms isn't? (I can't tell if Edward's an innocent realist or a highly-sarcastic jackass.) * Katherine points at Leo. "He looks like a lizard, I look like a dog, and she looks like a cat. What's a little metal, I always say?" ( He's very Enzo in that. ) (I'm betting on the former. He doesn't seem the very sarcastic type.) * Leopoldo smiles and nods. ( But see, that's the beauty of those types. They never seem to be. ) Oh. Okay! * Threnody breathes out, then opens his eyes and says, "I think... maybe we should forget about looking for Demetreia's background." * Katherine stands, and stretches again. "Might not be someting you wanna broadcast, though. I can think of a lot of people that would be a little more interested in you than would be healthy..." she trails off as Thren speaks. * Edward blinks and looks at Thren. "Would she wanna know?" I really don't know. * Rochelle looks at Thren for a moment, then Edward when he asks it. * Threnody looks at Edward and nods slowly. "That's sort of it. She's... she's hurting and upset. But she doesn't know WHY. I think those memories exist in her head, and probably yours too, somewhere... buried and inaccessible. I think she's frightened of knowing what they are." * Katherine mms, and suddenly has a very sarcastic grin on her face. "But aren't we supposed to deal with that sorta thing nowadays, as opposed to shoving it aside?" * Threnody gives Kat a glance that would almost be called angry if it weren't Thren's face, which doesn't seem built for anger. "I think so. But it's not easy to do, and in some ways she's just a child." Oh. ...poor Demetreia. * Rochelle shifts her gaze to her nails, which she starts rubbing at again. I can understand that. What I know isn't pleasant. It'd probably be hard for her to deal with. Yeah, but she'll need to know. * Threnody nods at Roy, then pauses before looking at Edward. "What about you?" * Vera buzzes in. * Ian does likewise. * Rochelle buzzes them in without checking. * Vera buzzes back. "Yo, one sec." * Katherine opens her mouth, then looks at Roch. "If some commando sneaks in because you think they're take out, I'm gonna be miffed." (Ninja Burger!) * Edward frowns. * Rochelle then proceeds to pick up the remote and turn TVnet back on to Repeating Yak. "It's not take out. I didn't order food." * Vera buzzes in. Again. * Rochelle buzzes her in already. I was being hypothetical. * Vera comes in! She does not trip over the ottoman, whether there actually is one or not. <> * Ian follows Vera in, and grabs more coffee. ...uh? * Ian leans over to Thren and says something before sitting back down. Where's Deme? She's thinking. I think she's coming to grips with it a little better. Okay. Yeah... * Threnody blinks at Ian, tilts his head a little, but doesn't say anything. * Demetreia buzzes in. * Rochelle buzzes her in, too, before Kat can reach it. * Katherine realizes she left the box out, and goes to put it in the closet. * Demetreia walks inside slowly, dragging her feet. * Threnody sinks back into the couch tiredly, looking drained. There's a pause. "Why is he living with giant ants?" Yo Deme. * Leopoldo waves at Dem. (*dies laughing*) * Demetreia nods to people. Because it's funny. They'll probably spend five episodes explainin' it in the middle of the season. ( What Cham did. ) * Edward blinks at Deme and mutters something about clicking. * Ian nods back to Deme. (86) * Edward stands up and walks over to Deme, and hugs her. "It is good to see you back, sister!" * Demetreia stiffens like a corpse and almost jerks away. <> It reminds me of the Foxhole. I wonder if there'll be a pheromone confusion episode. *pause* I suddenly want popcorn. Eh? What the hell did you guys do to the kid while we were out? I think Kat has some. And nobody did anything. * Demetreia moves as far away from Edward as is possible. * Katherine says, "Don't ask me where the sister thing came from." * Rochelle doesn't even look over to Edward and Deme. * Leopoldo shrugs. "I got no idea where that came from." * Edward grins. "I remember now! You're my sister!" * Demetreia looks sullenly at Edward with narrowed eyes. "I have no memories of *you*." * Edward blinks. "You don't?" I do not. * Demetreia turns away from him. Maybe you'll remember later? I did. * Threnody appears to be making a concerted and violent effort to show interest in yaks and giant ants. * Ian as well. And his coffee. The stuff going on in the real world is not something he can deal with. * Leopoldo gets a historical novel about world war II and starts reading. Not listening. Nope nope nope. * Vera doesn't. Yaks and giant ants bore her. Now, maybe if the ants were mobsters... (That's episode two.) * Demetreia looks for another doughnut, trying to ignore Edward. ( Giant mobster ants try to rustle the yak. ) * Fitzroy seems a bit uncomfortable. "Demetria. I'm sorry if I.. hit a nerve, or anything with that topic." .. He starts watching Yaks along with Thren. * Edward frowns. "My sister hates me." <> (Thank god.) * Katherine has been crouching near the closet, and finally stands. She doesn't seem to have much of a clue as to what to do, though. * Demetreia mumbles to Roy. "It is not your fault." * Leopoldo picks up a doughnut and stuffs the entire thing in his face without spilling a crumb. <> "ACH! How long I been out?" * Threnody winces a little, as if he's in pain, then smiles at Edward. "Maybe you both need time to adjust." (Err, mouth.) * Rochelle checks her watch. (This was originally a spam from "Rptn Yac" entitled "Real family insect." I envisioned a repeating yak, like a repeating rifle only more lethal. Cham took it off in another direction.) (....) (Thank you, typo of 'insect'! This would be much scarier television otherwise!) ( *laughs* ) Ten minutes. * Threnody blinks (85) at Roch. "...what?" * Rochelle looks back to Thren. "Mad wanted to know how long she's been out." ...oh. "Faith, I must be gettin' auld." <> "Think I aught te be goon. Got te get a start on me beggin' fer teday." * Rochelle nods. "Yeah. Think you're gonna get a good spot?" * Threnody looks at Hettie a minute, then reaches into his pocket and produces a cred chip. "There's not much on it. I was actually going to bring you bagels the other day, but I lost track of time. Do you want it?" * Fitzroy has forgotton the Yak and is back to watching the conversation. "Nae good fer business te turn it doon. Thank ye kindly, lad." <> "Come along, laddie, Tim tae goo." * Edward nods sullenly and follows Hettie out. * Katherine is still standing near the closet. She blinks once and opens the door for them. "See ya later, Ed." * Ian waves. "Pleased to meet you both." 'Bye, Katherine. <> "Nice tae see ye all. An' I'll be seein ye later, I'm sure." * Demetreia waves rather half-heartedly. * Katherine nods, then chuckles. "If we find the place to redeem the stones for a Sleythin doll, we'll let you know." * Leopoldo looks at the two leaving people. "Good bye you two." * Rochelle waves. * Threnody also gives a little wave, but seems highly distracted. For the fans at home, he also blinks. (84) * Vera half waves. That's all they're gettin'. <> * Katherine leans on the counter, and says with a half-smile. "Wow. Now only if Anders walked in, the day would be complete." * Threnody lets out a breath once they're gone. "Edward... what is inside your mind..." He looks perplexed. <> (It's Anders. *mambomusic*) (*punches Ian in the face*) (*bleeds*) * Rochelle doesn't buzz anyone in! It's... it's... * Ian raises an eyebrow. <> * Threnody suddenly slaps a hand into his palm. "An aquarium!" Uh? * Rochelle blinks. "What? Fish?" Huh? * Demetreia actually looks almost-normal for a second (i.e. confused) and blinks at Thren. (81). * Threnody knits his brow. "Edward's mind... it's a little different from Demetreia's. All these... fragments and pieces of memory are floating around in there, unanchored. Way more than a normal human's." What's that got to do with fish? ...huh... But if you touch the 'surface' with something, a trigger... a name, a place, something... then memories associated with it sort of... stick to the trigger. Sounds more like a cotton candy machine. Like spreading food on top of an aquarium. They leap up and stay at the top for a while, then down they go again. In other words, it's like artificial intelligence that handles memories...totally differently? * Threnody shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. Psychology is my field, not technology. The best I can do is produce the metaphor." * Ian nods. Seems pretty much the same thing to me, but I'm no expert. * Leopoldo nods. <> But it's not artificial intelligence, or whatever. * Rochelle hmms. Potato salad. Nah. * Rochelle changes channels. * Katherine shakes her head. "Yeah. It can't be AI. It's just not... no." * Threnody nods. "If he weren't human, at least in some way, I wouldn't even 'see' him." Well, if it's not human, and it's not AI, then it's gotta be something else, right? * Demetreia immerses her attention in the doughnut again. Hmm. * Vera shrugs. "Maybe he's an alien." * Threnody shakes his head. "I think Edward is human. Maybe not his body, but his mind is definitely human. It's just that whatever they did to him changed the way his mind works." * Ian nods. "That makes sense." * Katherine glances at Deme, then wanders across the room slowly. "What you'd have to do to keep a mind in that body, without any blood or immune system... I have no idea." Hmm. * Vera shakes her head. "Anyway... What does having an immune system have to do with anything?" * Katherine reaches the other side of the room, and starts moving a pile of paintings that wasn't there a few weeks ago against a window, which she darkens. "Nervous, immune systems, respiratory, and all that support crap, it's all just to keep you working. The whole problem with full conversion is how the hell to reproduce it all." * Leopoldo nods. * Ian nods. Not my field, but I imagine nanotech helps a great deal. I mean, sure, medical science can reproduce parts of that. But that's still biological. Getting mechanical parts to do the same thing is almost unheard of. I guess you could do it via nanotech, but how? * Threnody sits back. Mm, potato salad. "I'm not sure I want to know the answer. It sounds sort of terrifying." * Vera shrugs. "I got no idea." I... well, it's not something I can answer today. * Demetreia continues nibbling. Mmm, doughnut. * Rochelle watches potato salad. Hell, I barely even know what you're talking about. They got robots and they got AI, though. Human minds in robotic bodies just seems like a stone's throw away from there. (You got a robot and you got a magnet.) It'd seem so, wouldn't it... * Katherine finishes putting the last painting against the wall, and sighs. * Demetreia walks over to a non-paintinged window and stares out. <>