2017-05-18: All's Fair in the Fair

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Heal Berry says, "I was not expecting tonight to turn out like this, but /god damn/ I am glad it did."

Duplicator says, "The hell happened XD"

Zetasol says, "Yes. That is correct. 'The hell happened'."' 


<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Eastbridge University is miles away, but that hasn't stopped it from sending a whole passel of academics to the Ancient Cultures Exhibition's Banner Week--a whole lot of festivities, including the long-awaited unveiling of the golems Diablo, Lolithia, Leviathan, and Barbados! Excitement is building all across the fairgrounds, and everyone from vendors to entertainers to petty thieves to the definitely-not-wanted-criminals manning the Gentleman's Aisle is taking full advantage.

But for some people, the Exhibition isn't just a place to go to have fun--it's a place to share knowledge and build contacts. Ida Everstead-Rey (Baccalaureate of Natural Philosophies and Science, Eastbridge University, 498 PC) is one of those people, as is her mentor, Dr. Reginald Oxford. Then there are people who see the whole thing as an opportunity to disparage rivals and/or gather supporters and/or attract funding and/or conduct vital self-preening. Dr. Cameron Bridges is one of those people. Regrettably, he belongs to the same university as Ida and her mentor, and that is why the two of them are sitting off to the side of the lecture hall, some distance from the podium.

The auditorium is pretty much just that--an open-air space often used by theater companies and speakers at the nearby university. It's covered with a colorful tent roof to give everyone some shade, and to protect both people and displays from the vagaries of the elements. What sort of displays?

For starters, lots and lots of dioramas. They're set up near the entrance, and depict, in convenient 1/100 scale, terrifying metal monsters with teeth like butcher knives and sheet-metal wings adorned with rivets. At least one diorama has one such dragon squaring off against a group of what are presumably Metal Demon War-era human foot soldiers. The fire breath is several shades of crepe paper. The more impressive stuff is inside.

Something that might be a human-sized model is covered with a dropcloth, off to one side. On the other side is a life-size replica of a Metal Dragon skull, made of stamped metal--it rests atop a table, and is well-braced. It is big. Elsewhere, marked with a plaque that reads Courtesy of the University of Adlehyde's Historical Preservation Society, is a good-sized vessel. It looks halfway between an ornate tank and a funereal urn. A second plaque at the bottom claims that it contains preserved Demon blood, a quicksilver amalgam. How curious!

The speaker has not yet shown up, probably because there's still five minutes to go. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Oh hey, it looks like a dragon from back home," Talise muses, folding her hands behind her back as she leans in to examine one of the dioramas. It depicts a dragon blowing crepe-paper flame at a bunch of soldier guys.

More than just about anyone, she's out of place at an exhibition like this. She stands and moves away from the diorama, doing her best to smile as she moves towards wherever it is that the speaker's supposed to line up. Sword and lute slung over her back, she looms over most of the guests, and she's getting a few odd looks not just for her height, but for her conspicuous racial traits and the fact that she's recognizable from wanted posters if you look hard enough.

She pushes her hand through her hair and sighs heavily, moving towards a seat and slinging herself into it by stepping over the back of it like she's seconds from growing a beard and becoming first officer on the Enterprise.

Hanging around with Ida and Lynnai has finally made an impact on her: She pulls a notebook and a stub pencil out of her breast pocket, flipping to a clean page and crossing a leg over the other, beginning to jot a few things down.

- the dragons are metal here

- still kind of buzzed from last night

- note to self: drag hawthorne off 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Odjn is having fun at this Ancient Culture Exhibition.

She's not sure why Riese has been so scarce ever since the exploration to the Hollows -- the winged woman has, unwisely, tried to leave her out of the loop of the heavier stuff that's about to happen, possibly with a giant ring of donuts. But today, the self-styled Busker of Adlehyde is having loads and loads of fun.

The one-foot tall dragon looks especially rotund today as she pleases herself going from stand to stand, having played rousing games of Wall Chicken (the exciting game in which you run up against a wall and don't crash against it!), Soda-Guzzling (burp), Test your Strength (in which Odjn just sat on the panel and made it ring), and several peculiar animatronic exhibitions...

...which is why she's wearing cheapo 3D glasses made out of stiff paper and flimsy glasses over her face, along with a shiny green party hat and a popper stick in her mouth as she carries what appears to be a half-eaten bucket of Zeik's Fried Chicken*.

(*No relation at all to Zeikfried, Siegfried, Motherfried, Zeeks, Zeon, or any other living or metallic persons.)

"Whoa, Noeline, Noeline, let's go there! Look at that big dragon going 'bwaaaarrr--', it's so cool!"

She's easily amused, to say the least. 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

Despite having been attacked by bandits like literally yesterday, Emma Hetfield cannot be stopped even if she really ought to be. She has her blazer on her shoulders because her right arm is wrapped up like a mummy in the middle of the forearm, concealing an actual blown-through cauterized hole big enough to stick a pencil through!

EARLIER, POSSIBLY WHILE TALKING WITH MEREDIN CROZE

"Look, I can put a pencil through it."

She then fainted.

HERE AGAIN

Either way, her slight wobble in her heels and more frequent than usual break for a breather is not easily visible to the casual observer. SHE'S forgotten about it half the time because this is - well, let's ask her directly.

To nobody in particular, Emma declaims, "I would swear that I have gone to 'Hog Heaven,' but I don't think that swine are commonly held to do anything other than reincarnate as pork chops and Meria Bouler sausages." 

<Pose Tracker> Vash the Stampede has posed.

Dioramas abound! All portraying grand horrors of an era long-since gone and (largely) forgotten! Behold, the splendor of their artistic portrayals! Behold the sight of the terrifying metal monsters and their gleaming knife-teeth! The dragons wrought of living steel! The billowing paper flame that consumes all! The human soldiers, valiantly struggling against the end!

The red-coated, shockingly life-like blonde-haired citizen in the corner, mouth agape in obvious terror!

... wait. What?

He blends in so well it might be easy to overlook him, but he's there. At the dragon diorama, towards the back of the soldiers, lost amidst them if not for how he stands conspicuously, is a tall man not dressed to the warrior nines like the rest of the brothers-in-arms. No, he's dressed in a red coat. Blonde hair, spikey. Orange, circular sunglasses. Surprisingly lifelike. Suspiciously lifelike. Mouth agape in obvious horror--

"... snrrr... snnrt--ssnRT!!-- zzzzz guhhhuhhh--"

Is he -- snoring -- is that a real person just sleeping standing up in the diorama--??

"nuh"

Clearly just a very very lifelike model.

"...nuhgunnatakemydonutsdragon....snrrt--"

Ignore him. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

It is said: if you build it, they will come. It is said: if you construct a treasure, people will treasure it. It is said: if you make a thing of wonder, people will wonder at it. It is said: if you put up a bunch of Metal Demon artifacts and try to make claims about them, then Noeline will turn up - with a plate of canapes balanced expertly on one hand and a glass of the reddest wine she can find in the other - to see what exactly you got wrong.

After all, the self-styled Crimson Noble is definitely something of a socialite, and where else are socialites going to be seen right now if not the finest, largest Expedition in the world? She'd probably be here even if the exhibit was about ponies, though admittedly with less of an amused grin on her face. "It is quite impressive, isn't it?" she hums as she follows along behind the dragon, taking her time to properly and picturesquely swan around the dioramas at a rather more sedate pace - her face lit up with genuine curiosity as she examines each of them.

This, you could say, is one of the big reasons as to why she went out into the world: seeing different viewpoints clash, seeing the different perspectives from different angles. Sometimes, literally.

"I'm sure you're much better than that one when it comes to going 'bwar', of course," she adds smoothly even as her attention swivels towards the centrepiece, her eyebrows slowly going up as she lets out a low whistle. "... my. Are those actual versions, do you think?" she wonders aloud, having to pause for a second to tell. "You have some growing to do yet, Odjn dear." 

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

The presence of Rose in the crowd shouldn't be too surprising, seeing as how the Sparrowfeathers are still stationed at the Fairgrounds. It's wouldn't surprise most people to know she just dumped the responsibility of running the store slash stand slash tents on Eguille and took off to go see the exhibition. She's not quite as much into ancient culture and technology as the Shepherd and the princess, but she doesn't find it entirely, completely boring either.

Besides, golems? That's a hell of a novelty to her.

But Rose isn't seated yet. Of course not.

That giant Metal Dragon skull has her interest, as she orbits the replica on display. She has significantly less interest in all the pieces showing real, actual monsters and demons, finding them a bit too scary for her tastes, but a big skull, yeah that's quite fine. As long as it doesn't get up and start moving she can find it quite interesting!

Maybe she should go grab the princess. A day here might help her relax and stop stressing out more than books can. Ah, who's she kidding, she's probably busy with some stuff anyway.

Taking her eyes off the skull on display, the merchant's gaze wanders towards the source of some noise. Snoring? Is that snoring? She ventures towards Vash, whose outfit and mug remind her of... something she can't quite put her finger on. A poster? She doesn't remember what kind of poster. This is why she dares wander up to him to poke him on the forehead. "Hey, mister! Wake up, you'll miss the demonstrations and the big speeches!" First time she sees someone sleeping standing up, admittedly. 

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey is here at the lecture as well, although he doesn't stand out anywhere near as much as he usually does. Part of this is due to the fact that he isn't wearing his usual Shepherd's shawl, which Alisha had so kindly provided to him long ago. After both Port Timney and over in Lahan, Sorey had been getting a bit more attention than before... and while he was not opposed to taking time to talk to and help people, there was something to be said for wanting some time to yourself.

And so he wanders along through the fairgrounds, taking in the sights as they come. There is a lot of interest here, and Sorey is glad to have a chance to enjoy this. He stops at the edge of the lecture area, looking on for a moment... and then he spots Rose assaulting some guy with a single finger. Part of him raises his hand to call out to her... but he pauses, and waits to see how this exchange goes.

You are no longer marked as an observer in +pot. 

<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.

In the midst of the auditorium's hubbub, a distinctive brogue gets lost within it - not just the fact that there are too many people to overhear her, but the fact that she pitches her following words very low, and directed only at her companion.

Entertainers, petty thieves and definitely not-wanted criminals take up a specific corner at the very back of the room, and away from the ampitheatre's bright lights. Legs stretched out into the seat in front of her, figure sprawled on her seat in a concentrated effort to take up as much space as possible, a limp head with golden tresses is tipped back into its support, gold-flecked emerald eyes shielded by a pair dark tinted lenses. She needs them today, still reeling from the consequences of a late night visit from a certain someone who decided to introduce her to liquor (FROM THE MOON, he said. The bloody fookin moon) while trying to tell her several pieces of information she ought to know. Any responsible person would decline. Any responsible person would pace herself.

But 'responsible' has never, ever been an appropriate descriptor for her in any way whatsoever.

Still swimming in a haze of part-delirium and part-dismay, as the temptation to skip this entire affair had been absolutely overwhelming, a heavy head rolls sideways to look at Noah Hawthorne from the tops of her frames and lingers. Not especially because his profile could put a dozen marble busts to shame (and she's seen quite a few of these in art galleries all over Filgaia), but because the moment she turns her head, she realizes that it's going to take a lot of effort to move it back into the position that it was before and she can't be assed to do it right now.

Pushing the words from around a mouth that feels stuffed like cotton, she says:

"Mistakes were already made last night."

No kidding.

"I think this is another one. We could have slept in, Noah. We could have. I could have spent the entire day turtled in bed, conning room service out of Jude who'd con it out of the hotel. I just wanted to let you know, in case you dinnae think of it, that you could have also. Wherever you were staying. Turtling. Room service. Maybe a massage from housekeeping who would have oh-so-willingly offered tae turn your mattress." 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

One could be forgiven for thinking Jacqueline had come just to pass out fliers. The thought had crossed her mind, admittedly, but that wasn't the case this time - she hadn't even brought any with her, which anyone who knew her might consider a little strange. No, her interests were purely academic. Business hadn't crept into her thoughts at all.

At the moment, she was wandering amongst the displays, notebook in her hand to...well, take notes, as one does. There were others doing the same thing, so she didn't feel too out of place here. Mainly, it was something to do until the speaker actually arrived.

Not personally knowing anything about the man, she does not experience the trepidation that one who actually knew him might.

If anything, she was actually somewhat excited. This day was looking to be quite interesting! Or, at least, she hoped it would remain that way, but who knew what would happen? 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

There was exactly no chance that Lynnai would miss something like this. This is why she originally came to the Ancient Culture Exhibition - well, that and the fact that she's in ruins often enough she might have had something to sell, but it was primarily the knowledge.

And so she's here, right on time.

Lynnai sits down on a chair a good deal more normally than Talise, but she's next to her. She takes a moment of curiosity to lean to the side and read what Talise has put notes down on over her shoulder, something that is a bit of a stretch because of how much shorter Lynnai is - though to be fair it's not because Lynnai is short. Talise is just tall.

"I don't think the second point needs to be remembered," she says, though she means it as a joke. 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius, one of the most suspicious-looking men for miles, is one of the many in attendance. His eyes remain without joy, or boredom, or much of anything. It's tough to get a read on what is actually holding his attention, if anything, as he slowly walks through the many dioramas on display. Not slow enough to be aimless, not fast enough to be consciously ignoring them as he passes by a very realistic model of a man that looks like someone not named Vash.

He makes eye contact with almost no one, so that's a vote for the idea that maybe he really is seriously considering absolutely every piece of 'information' present? He can't just be staring off into space all brooding-like for no good reason, come on, he's a grown-up, not a teenager.

He murmurs a couple of complicated-sounding words in a sequence that sounds kind of stilted and unnatural, one hand to his head as he formulates whatever thoughts are coming to mind about what he's seeing.

He just misses the sight of Odjn, thanks to which hand is currently over his face. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell strolls through the Ancient Cultures Exhibition, hands in her pockets, red eyes drifting with interest from one stall to the next. This includes the auditorium with its many, many dioramas and metal dragon skull, which she views with interest. Ragnell doesn't know how accurate any of it is, but she *is* curious about the Metal Demons for a variety of reasons, and this is probably what she's going to have to settle for if she wants information on them. That isn't, you know, just asking.

She stops near one of the dioramas, admiring all the monsters depicted within. She chews on a piece of Meat-Onna-Stick that she may or may not have swiped from someone, probably someone who'd just bought it since if pressed she'd insist that it's paid for, no *really*. Rose is nearby in that same orbit, but in light of the presence of so many other interesting things, Ragnell's elected to give her a break for once. For now. Small favors.

One of those dioramas, though, has a man in a red coat in it. He appears to be sleeping while literally on his feet. Ragnell squints at him, then at Rose, walking up to him and poking him and telling him to wake up or he'll miss the lecture. Well, that would be a shame, wouldn't it? And this guy looks like a pretty sound sleeper. He is, after all, literally dozing on his feet. Rose alone might not be enough.

So Ragnell then reaches out and *jabs* him in the neck with the business end of her skewer. *Jab, jab*.

Helping! 

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

As the history keyword is invoked, those with historical interests are summoned. One of them is the mysterious and marvelous Miss Miang, who is only mysterious and marvelous to the people whose adventures she has financed.

For everyone else, she is a only a well-dressed woman with memorable purple hair. Her traveling dress is a midnight blue today, with black designs in the skirt's panels that give her a sombre sense. A bit of relief color is present in the white ribbon at her high collar. She has a parasol that is currently folded and held in her gloved hands, because the sun is mercifully now outside and she is not.

Miang lingers near the life-size Metal Dragon skull replica. It's life size, and what more could you want out of history but a sense of tangibility? It's as if something from that era was standing right there. She silently studies the shape of it all while the crowd moves around her. 

<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.

Noah Hawthorne's profile is only partially visible because the moment he sat down -- in a posture almost precisely like Cassidy's, save that he takes up considerably more room than she does -- he draped the event's thin-sheeted program over the top of his head to shut out a significant portion of the light. His elbows are on the arms of his seat, his fingers laced over the hammock of planes that make up his torso in his present slouch.

His hangover is remarkable. He cannot even remember the last time he was hungover before this, though in his current condition he's not convinced that that's couldn't be because he's done permanent and irreversible damage to his brain. He was drunk enough when he got back from Layna Manydays' ship, presently grounded in the middle of the desert for Reasons; after Cassidy decided to drain the flask he took for the road he decided he was no longer drunk enough to deal with her being as drunk as he was and obviously, the only solution was to keep drinking, and after that it all goes a little bit melty around the edges for him.

"I don't remember," he says eventually. "Where. Last night. I don't think I made it back to the hotel."

This mystery period of lost memory will certainly never come back to bite him later!

His peculiar accent remains thicker than usual, emphasized by a lazy tongue. "Anyway this is a job, we have to..." He unlaces his hands to lift one and roll it at the wrist, a swirling, all-encompassing gesture. "Be thorough. Oughta go see the...you know." Pause. "Things." Pause. Long pause. "In a minute." Longer pause. "Two minutes." 

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

If there's one law of the universe, it's that there will always be last minute supplies. Somebody forgot the Thing, or assumed the Thing was going to get taken care of by someone else, and that someone else thought they were going to take care of the Thing, and meanwhile, there's a shipment of Thing(s) in Tinmey Port, sitting by its lonesome, sea gulls calling their melancholy cries overhead.

GWEN TO THE RESCUE.

The door opens. Gwen's there, red-faced. Panting. "T-The things are here!" What are the Things? Gwen sure as heck does not know, but she's carrying a box of them. "Where do I put the Things?" Unfortunately, the people in charge of the Things are elsewhere, probably dealing with other Things that needed to be dealt with. Such is the way of Things. An assistant just blankly motions the courier to carry the box to a corner, where the precious Things will probably lie for the entirety of the festival, untouched and forgotten.

Hey, at least Gwen gets paid! "Hooollyy cow, this stuff is amazing! "That *can't* be Metal Demon blood, can it...?" Now she's like an eight year old, openly gawking at each display, no matter how potentially gruesome, with open awe and wonder. "Whoah, is that a metal dragon skull? Man, the attention to detai-" Wait. That's... that guy. In the red coat. You know.

Mysterious Hobo Guy X. "How did he...?" Oh, well, Rose is there to resolve it all, as well as... Ragnell.

As the saying goes, it's best to let sleeping Vashes lie. But the man in the diorama isn't Vash at all, he's Mr. AUGHBALUSGH. So it's perfectly fine to wake him up!

Gwen's eyes then turn to a more important order of business: Ragnell's meat on a stick. "Oh, that looks *good*. Hey, Ragnell, where'd you get that? Is it good?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

People finish streaming in. People look at the dioramas. At least one person inexplicably falls asleep in one of the dioramas. The mysterious be-tarped figure (a statue?) waits in silence at the flank of the podium, which is still unoccupied.

Dr. Reginald Oxford, a bearded, greying man who looks like the very picture of well-established academia, pulls his pocketwatch from its appointed resting place on his waistcoat. He checks it. Ida scans the crowd--there's people she recognizes, and she's not sure if that makes the whole thing more or less stressful. She does give Talise and Lynnai a discreet wave when she sees them! It's better than fidgeting.

Someone emerges from the back of the auditorium, passing through a flap at the back of the tent. Lynnai (or anyone else with local academic connections) might recognize Dr. Elm, a lecturer at the local university. Because Adlehyde has a notable lack of microphone technology, she has to raise her voice, but since she's a lecturer, that's just part of her job!

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!" she says, smiling brightly. The tent flap opens again, and a tall man in a suit enters, adjusting his jacket lapels. His features are perhaps best described as 'severe-looking'. "The Distinguished Lecturer Series is honored to present Dr. Cameron Bridges, of Eastbridge University, Guild Galad!" A murmur goes through some parts of the crowd. "Doctor Bridges, you have the floor."

Doctor Bridges does not wait. He walks up to the podium, sets his hands on it, launches into the lecture proper. "Thank you," he says. It feels like a reluctant afterthought. "As I hope most of you are aware, much of modern science and industry owe their existence to the relics of past eras." Bridges's eyes scan the audience, like he's trying to figure out what he has to work with. Mercifully, he cannot see the debacle unfolding around Vash, or the dragon buried under a pile of carnival accoutrements.

Ida can sort of see the former from her seat off to the side, and is looking at it, concerned.

"I am certain that many of you have heard of 'Dragon Fossils'," Bridges says, flinching ever-so-slightly as he picks out Emma Goddamn Hetfield, Ph.D in the crowd. Good Granas, why is she here? "I find the term quaint. What we are really uncovering is not the remains of animals from distant antiquity, turned to stone--it is the remains of creatures who lived a thousand years ago, and died in a futile, catastrophic assault on our precious home. Through their folly, we can build a greater civilization, and I am here to teach you about it." 

<Pose Tracker> Vash the Stampede has posed.

"SNRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT"

As if in defiance of the increasing amounts of people here, somehow, some way, the man in red who is definitely just a model in the diorama just manages to snore EVEN LOUDER the more people filter in. Head tilted back until it's practically a 90 degree angle, mouth yawned open so wide it looks like an angry chasm in miniature, and still somehow otherwise so disturbingly stock still, he snorts and grumbles and mutters with ever-increasing volume until--

--*poke*

"bluhhhh i'll join the war in five minuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutes...!"

  • JAB JAB JAB*

"AAAAAHHHH DRAGON ATTACK RUN FOR YOUR LIVES"

This is shrieked with such blood-curdling terror that one might really expect a dragon to come rampaging through the meeting at ANY MOMENT. Timed almost perfectly with Rose's words, it might be unclear just what the impetus was to snap the strange man to wakefulness -- and probably easy to assume that it was just her urgent words, if one couldn't see poor, helpful Ragnell.

Either way, the end result is the same: Definitely Not Vash the Stampede, Not Humanoid Typhoon, grabbing his neck and hollaring like a child having a panic attack as his other limbs go flailing like a wet noodle. "It bit me! It BIT ME! Help I'M GONNA BECOME A WERE-DRAGON, GET SOME SILVAUGH?!"

And this is Rose, getting to see Vash single-handedly taking down an army of brave (diorama) men as he goes tumbling to an ungraceful crash right at her feet. A second passes. He looks up. Slowly. Squints.

"... You're not a dragon," he surmises of Rose. Very astutely. "... or... are you...?" A second passes. Still face-planted, his eyes widen.

"Wait-- Gwen? Hi, Gwen!! HI! GWEN! IT'S ME! HI!!" don't answer gwen it's not in your best interests to be associated with him right now "-- Oh wow, when did all these people get here? Is there something happening??"

Nevermind Rose literally just told him that. Show some respect. He was almost turned into a were-dragon. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Yeaaaaaah... yeah, I might put that one off." Talise smiles as Lynnai settles in beside her, leaning back and resting a hand on the coil of her notepad. Absently she jots her pencil across the edge of the paper, scribbling a couple meaningless designs into the margin. "Couple important ones on there, though. So that's what a Metal Dragon looks like. It's a familiar look. The metal-ness is different, though."

Having no real academic background herself, Talise just smiles as the distinguished lecturer puts in his appearance. "So that's Doctor Bridges, huh," Talise murmurs to Lynnai despite having no clue who the guy is and why he's important.

If nothing else, she knows what Dragon Fossils are. She takes a few notes, then blinks as the man decides it's a quaint term. Furrowing her brows, she shrugs and listens in. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Even here with so many people around, Noeline rather stands out from the crowd - finely dressed as she always is in a contrasting shock of crimson and black, the terribly amused girl is pretty hard to miss and looks like she could pass for a noble, if the noble were the Count of Wansylvania or something.

"Odjn, dear, I suspect I should probably claim a seat for us both. Do be careful while you look around, won't you, and find me if you need anything," she calls out to the hyperactive dragon as the lecturer pauses for effect, because... well, she's very fond of Odjn, and where Riese's fondness is a very nurturing thing, Noeline's fondness is letting the dragon be spoiled terribly in whatever she wants to do.

Perhaps it's not the best time to leave Odjn to her own devices, what with a red idiot nearby yelling about a Dragon Attack, but Noeline has bigger fish to fry right at this moment. Sliding into a chair with an easy motion, she suddenly leans forward to rest her arms on the seat in front - which lets her grin brightly askance at Talise and her companion. "Why, you can just smell the academia, can't you? It's certainly a terribly interesting display, all told. Though I would suggest the dioramas are small fry, compared to that pile in the middle." 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

There is a Metal Demon here.

Well, aside from Noeline and Odjn and somewhere out there is Mikalo from Accounting, but nobody cares about him. There is a Metal Demon here, walking along with Noel and Odjn, his arms hooked lackadaisically around the back of his head like he's NOT AT ALL IMPRESSED at all the awesome dioramas and hanging sculptures and the enormous skeletal remains of his distant relatives hung out for everyone and their mother to gawk and stare.

Ooooh, look at the big dragon monster, I'M SURE GLAD IT'S DEAD.

Wow, look at those big teeth! IT'S GOOD THAT WE KILLED THEM ALL.

Monsters.

Sniff.

"Hrmrmrmrm, this place is about as uncomfortable as I thought it would be," Zed says with a huff. "They could at least be more... More... Hmmm."

Respectful?

Awed?

Terrified!?

"I dunno, something."

Welp.

"Odjn, are you suuuure you don't want to see me run through another wall?" Zed asks his tiny friend, frowning down at the rotund little dragon. "Also! Did you need a perch!? Because it looks like there is a presentation, and I am a good perch--"

Presentation.

ABOUT THE DEATH OF HIS PEOPLE.

Zed's eye twitches ever so slightly. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

IN A FROZEN GODDAMN WASTELAND, ELRU

Riesenlied looks up from where she's just about gotten her eyelashes frozen and sneezes like she's just been called out.

HERE, IN A MUCH LESS FROZEN FESTIVAL

Odjn looks excited as the lady exclaims her introductions and gets about... about... fifteen seconds through the lecture about Dragon Fossils before she gets distinctly bored. Riese was always a lot more enamored about Dragon Fossils, but she also has a habit of crying when she finds them, which usually means that it's her job to try to cheer her up.

Usually with the usual 'hide under the skull' trick.

Odjn perks up in an attempt to cure her very short attention span to go, "Hey, Noe! Have you seen Riese cry about fossils before? There's a skull around, check out the joke I usually make when she does! Here Zed, I'll cheer you up!"

The Guardian of the Comedy of Errors, whoever they are, is probably on-scene and in full force because just right before Vash starts screaming that there's a dragon attack, she drops her party popper and floats around and ... slips underneath the cavity of the giant Metal Dragon skull.

Odjn sticks her face up to the skull and tries her best to make her eyes shine.

She takes a deep breath and exclaims, "Ooooooo~ooooooo~ Look at me, I'm the ghost in the sheeeeeee~ll!!!"

There's a little 'urp', and then suddenly Zeik's Fried Chicken -- all sixteen pieces of them -- doesn't feel like such a bad idea. Gas... coming back up... her throat...!! Can'tholditin--

There's an incredibly rude-sounding burp, which...

Which...

Given that Odjn is a dragon, emanates as a mercifully small gout of flame coming out of the Metal Dragon skull's row of teeth.

OH GOD IT JUST CAME ALIVEEEEEE 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lynnai gives Ida a slight smile back. That's pretty much the expected expression from her - Ida knows her well enough to recognize her emotive style - but she's trying to be supportive, really she is.

She speaks to Talise quietly when the doctor(s) are not. She picked up Talise's gap in her knowledge - or, more likely, Lynnai just likes to explain things to people who aren't going to run away from her when she does. "Dr. Bridges knows a fair bit about Metal Dragons," she says, "but I can't say I like him otherwise." Lynnai gives a slight frown, seeming about to say something more, before settling back in her chair and listening.

Listening does not prevent her from looking. She gives Vash a look at his noise and crashing through dioramas. She does not approve, and she manages to look stern without getting out of her seat. Her gaze carries through to Noeline, who is a lot less disruptive, and... oh, the tiny fat dragon. She remembers Odjn. (She also remembers Ruby, so by now she's starting to get used to seeing dragons around.) "Well, both of them are worth the investigation," she says, looking at Odjn sticking her head in the skull.

She pays no attention to Zed beyond a slightly sympathetic look. She assumes Zed is stuck on dragonsitting duty, and while he's a meathad, nobody deserves that. 

<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.

"I dinnae even remember when you left," Cassidy says, finally rolling her heavy head so she could stare directly up at the ceiling. "Though I remember your eyes taking up half your face and all your stubble melting off intae my floor." With good reason; these are visions that are nightmarish enough to keep someone such as herself up at night. After a pause. "Oh, ay. And that Physics was a person."

What.

"A person trying tae kill us. Because you made me climb the roof. Why did you make me climb the roof, Noah? Would have been easier tae just roll down the stairs if you needed some air."

But yes, the job.

She groans.

Doctor Oxford reaches the podium and she makes a token effort to lift her head...to no avail. Weighted down by all the other talk about fossils and dead things, pale gold tresses slowly drape into the back rest of her chair. The last few weeks have given Noah Hawthorne a crash course into just how firmly the conwoman believes the past should stay in the dirt, and yet here she is.

Because as much as it never fails to earn, at the very least, a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she is very much interested in keeping her head above water. And by all accounting of last night's events, it isn't as if she can do that with liquor.

"Fook me running," she mutters. 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

Emma Hetfield comes up to a dragon diorama. Someone is making noise in there. "Hmmm... speakers? An automatic music system? It's very evocative," she says, adjusting her glasses with her left hand.

Either way she drifts on because someone is talking. Though she pauses to look back when someone shrieks about a DRAGON ATTACK. "What realism!" Emma says, but then her attention is taken by the talking people as she gravitates loosely towards that life-size skull. Well. Death-size, if you think about it.

Her eyes cross against that of Bridges'. The light in the tent gleams on her glasses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOy6hqzfsAs

Someone calls to Gwen and Emma looks over her shoulder. She raises her injured arm to wave and from the sudden ashen look and silently mouthed scream deeply regrets this, staggering a step before she lowers that and waves at Gwen with her other arm. "Gwen, come here and listen to a specialist with me. I'll be sure to set you straight if he makes key errors of omission or obscurantism."

Flame washes over Emma's left sleeve which starts to smoulder gently, but she does not take clear note of this. 

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

Vash panics. Perhaps by association, Rose panics, suddenly wondering what is happening. A dragon?! WHERE?! She looks around, flails, and is only calmed by Vash's stumble into the display pieces. She winces, realizing that old saying about waking a sleepwalker might have had some truth to it.

This is bad, if security catches them they're going to be in a mountain of trouble for ruining the exhibit. Also the talking has started, agh! Rose, impulsive, and unaware Ragnell is there, reaches down to grab Vash by the arm to drag him towards the seating section, perhaps intentionally towards Gwen, since Vash seems to be wanting to go that way. And there's plenty of room to sit, thankfully.

"Come on, get seated quick before someone notices you made everything fall down! This is some big unvealing for a thing and a science exposition, how'd you wander in without noticing?"

She seems to not be hesitating one moment when it comes to dragging a man she doesn't know with her and sitting him down. "Oh, I'm Rose by the way, nice to meet you! I feel like I've seen you somewhere before but I can't place it. Oh well! So dragons! Fossils! You into that kind of stuff at all? The exhibits are pretty cool but I was more curious about the golems than the demons and dragons." 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius allows the burgeoning chaos over yonder to his left to boil to whatever end it's going to upon a certain Someone In A Red Coat having a moment. He's not sure when he came within the auditorium, exactly. Strange thoughts keep clawing into his psyche for emphasis, to a pattern he doesn't recognize. To come up for mental air, he looks up from what might or might not be a building headache to talk about 'Dragon Fossils' from a most esteemed expert.

Reflexively, giving a few shifty glances, he withdraws that small tooth he stol-- carefully and decisively removed from the Dragon Fossil jaw way back over in the ruins near Capo Bronco. It's small enough to be hidden from sight as long as he keeps his fingers tightly around it.

Perhaps he should compare its appearance to the skull replica later, he thinks, from where he's taken a seat.

...

When did he take a seat? 

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

From his own research, Sorey doesn't think that the 'futile' was the best description of the Metal Demon War - it had sounded like a fierce conflict that had cost a lot of lives. But then again, perhaps this professor had a different view of things? Hard to say.

But he wanders through the crowd for a moment, and then reaches up and lightly touches Rose on one shoulder. "I didn't think that you and Ragnell were teaming up to torment people," he offers with an amused smile. And then he looks over at Ragnell. "And I don't think that using a skewer like that is terribly nice - what if he'd jumped the wrong way and you'd ended up hurting him?" That... didn't strike him as the nicest prank that he's ever seen. In fact, it could have very easily gotten the strange guy with the pointy hair hurt.

Well, he seems okay, at least.

Then of course there's the creepy voice of the ghost coming from that Metal Dragon skull, and Sorey turns towards it. "Wow, really?" he asks curious. And steps towards the skull. "Are you actually a dragon ghost? If so, how old are you?"

Really, he sounds super curious. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline is about to go find a seat when one of the exhibits she had passed by...comes to life? No, it was just some lunatic, apparently. Her brow furrows a bit and she hurries on, not wanting to get caught up in...

...all of that.

She does find a seat mostly without incident - though incidentally not too far from Talise and Lynnai - and sits down, notebook out and ready.

She doesn't actually recognize anything but the names of the people speaking up on stage. She'd read about them, of course, but there wasn't much time for advanced academics when you were a traveling saleswoman - though admittedly she hadn't done much of that of late.

Once again, her brow furrows a bit, this time at Dr. Bridges' specific wording. It seemed...a little mean-spirited? She thought they were supposed to remain unbiased. But then again, what did she know?

Somewhere nearby flame shoots out of the mouth of a dragon skull, and it takes her attention off of the Doctor for a moment. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

"Oh, hey there, Gwen," Ragnell says to the incoming courier, casual as you please. "This?" She waves the meat-onna-stick. "Got it from one of them stalls outside. It's pretty good! Nice and sizzly fresh." To underscore this point, she takes a big, satisfied bite of the meat. And then jabs Vash in the neck. The results are even more spectacular than she would've expected (she's even genuinely startled by Vash's bloodcurdling screams), and Ragnell hops back to avoid the mass of flailing noodle-limbs and falling diorama soldiers in the wake of his fit of panic, screaming about becoming a were-dragon. She stares at him with raised eyebrows and growing, open amusement, before eventually looking back at Gwen.

"Friend of yours?" she says, the beginnings of a grin baring her teeth.

Then Sorey drops by, placing a hand on Rose's shoulder as she attempts to drag Vash into the seating with Gwen, then chiding Ragnell for her use of the skewer. "Well, for one, it's just a flimsy piece a' wood," she says, waggling it at him. "It'd probably snap before that fella there could get *really* hurt. An' if somehow he did anyway? Well, that's what healin' magic is for, Sorey. Give me *some* credit here. I don't go tryin' ta kill people by pranks on *purpose*."

don't say a word gwen DON'T SAY A WORD

Then the dragon skull lights up with flame and spooky voice. "Huh," Ragnell says, looking over at it momentarily. "Nice special effects. Wonder how they do that?" *Chomp*, goes the last of the meat on her meat-onna-stick. 

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

It is mid-dragging Vash to a seat that Sorey intercepts the trio. Rose pauses, confused for a moment. Ragnell? Wait, isn't that the name of--

Rose EEEEEKS, and immediatly dives behind Vash, a hand reaching out from behind him to point accusingly towards Sorey. "Why'd you have to point it out?! I was perfectly fine not knowing there was a gho-- Seraph here! And what do you mean torture, this gentleman here just fell asleep, I didn't want him to miss the big reveal!" Which they might miss anyway if they keep talking while the various doctors are trying to talk to the crowd.

"Why are you here anywa--" Rose stops herself, as a GHOSTLY VOICE (and also flames apparently) comes from the skull she was examining moments earlier. Oddly it's Sorey she screeches at, though she continues using Vash as cover unless he moves. "S-Sorey, don't encourage the ghost! Tell it to go away! MAKE IT GO AWAY!" 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Wh- Odjn!" Zed squawks, "Odjn, no! This is the worst possible place to be trying to reanimate the living legacy of the dead!" And yet.

He is too late.

Because the giant dragon fossil just burped out a tiny little babby flame.

Zed stares for a lonnnnnng moment. And then he starts... Laughing. Snickering. Chuckling. CACKLING! "Ahahahahahahaaaaa ghost in the shell."

"Hem."

Zed glances back at the gawking audience, at the man on the podium, and then... LEAPS up onto the dragon's tremendous, fossilized skull. Yes, ancestor, this is what you would have wanted. Zed knows it...! "Yooouuuuuuu! You, person talking on the podium. You are being extremely rude to everyone who died in that war!" Zed points boldly at the lecturer. "And now, the spirits of those ungrateful dead have returned. Look upon your works, and despaaaair!" 

<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.

"Because--"

But anything Noah might have said on the subject of anthropomorphic fields of mathematical study gets shelved when some part of some diorama somewhere starts SHRIEKING HOLY MURDER about dragons, causing him to feel as though someone has just fired a crowbar into the side of his head, and every single syllable is a weight that piles onto the end so that the crowbar begins to lever the top of his skull off and expose his extremely uncomfortable brain to the growing racket. His expression of discomfort is exquisitely delicate, eyes closed and brows knit, both hands lifted to press the flimsy sheet of a program down over both ears, effectively wrapping the top of his head in informative paper.

"Oh my god." Booted feet walk his backside forward on the ledge of his chair, dragging him into an ever deeper slouch, as though altitude were the reason he were vulnerable to these predations of noise.

"You didn't say there were gonna be reenactments." 

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

Miang spares a look over her shoulder as nonsense aggressively occurs. Nonsense then begins to aggressively occur in front of her. As more people crowd in to deal with the ghost, Miang takes a step backward to maintain a well-mannered distance.

Besides, it's easier to see the beginnings of the lecture from here, especially when the first guest speaker is a weirdly acrobatic demons' rights activist. 

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

And Vash, aka MYSTERIOUS HOBO X, awakens, and successfully defeats a good chunk of the diorama! Gwen winces. Then blanches as the Vash begins to come towards her, Rose following in tow. Though really, having Rose there does make it a bit better, maybe he'll get distracted or something. "Y-yeaaah... He is a friend of mine... He's probably just tipsy, you know? Someone spiked some punch somewhere, and he got tired, and sleptwalked.... He'll be fine, he's actually a very sane, logical man who doesn't damage private property. Sometimes." Gwen rubs the back of her neck, bashful about her friendship with what is apparently a madman, as she seemingly talks to OPEN AIR. Ie, Ragnell.

She may have to snag two of those, however. One for her, and one for Vash, just to, uh, make up for what she's ABOUT TO DO.

"O-oh, hold on, Miss Hetfield!" Gwen makes a key decision to move away from the Vash at that very moment, who is probably perfectly fine with Ragnell and Rose there! Even if it seems like he can't see the former. Maybe she'll talk to him about those too sometime! Sometime that _isn't now_, she has to look somewhat intelligent in front of these people. And pat out the fire on Emma's shoulder. "How's your arm healing?"

Then Zed jumps on top of the metal skull, and Gwen finds herself wishing she had something to eat while she watched all this. "I think someone's beaten you to the punch there. Though, I don't think Zed's an expert in any sort of history... He's pretty awesome though, you know?" She nods confidently. "He must've set this all up! He'd probably make for a great actor, y'know? Though the guy in front? That's, uh, Mr. Sorey, and I don't think he realizes this is all a reenactment. He's cool too, though!"

Gwen you are not helping yourself by knowing these people's names 

<Pose Tracker> Vash the Stampede has posed.

"Huh," mumbles definitely not Vash, scratching the side of his head. "I kinda figured this was just a room for naps. Look at all those comfortable leaning posts!"

He gestures, towards the dioramas. They're dioramas, Vash. Dioramas.

"... I guess that explains why I was having so many nightmares about dragons though... huh. What--"

But before Vash can continue whatever undoubtedly nontangential thought drifted through his brain, he's suddenly grabbed-and-dragged. Yanked up into a stumbling walk, Vash manages a startled "AWK" before he follows after, helpless against the much smaller Rose's insistence. "H-hey wait a sec, th-this is all moving way too fast for me, dragon woman!! I don't go to science expositions until the third date and--" Wait, what? "--you're crushing my boooooooooooooooooones with your terrifying dragon strength--!!"

Vash: Still not entirely convinced Rose isn't just a dragon in disguise.

It's helped (distracted from) just a bit as Rose pauses long enough to introduce herself. He blinks, taps his chin. "Rose doesn't -sound- like a name you'd give a dragon... ... ..." he muses, as if he were somehow an expert. And then she continues. I feel like I've seen you somewhere before. "Ah!" he begins, blinking once, before smiling. Roguishly. "Of course you have. For you see, I am the legendary, the infamous, Mister EEEEEEK!"

...

"Wait. What?"

And thus Vash is left in confusion as where once was Rose is empty air. He blinks. He looks around him. He frowns. "Did she fly away--?" he wonders to Sorey, as if it were only natural that Rose, as an obvious dragon infiltrator, would be capable of flight. It makes the fact that he shifts just a little bit to better hide Rose behind his tall frame a bit more subtle and understated.

And makes the way his gaze flickers briefly towards something somber and reflective as the presentation begins on the horrors of the would-be extinct Metal Demons all the more difficult to spot.

"Wait. Seraph? What's a Seraph? A ghost??" He blinks, tilting his head to look back at the cowering Rose. His lips purse. A reassuring look takes over his expression. "Don't worry, Miss Rose! I happen to be an expert at seeing ghosts, and I can tell you there are none -immediately- close by!" And, as if to demonstrate, he jabs a finger out towards empty air.

"There's one way over there!" Another jab. Empty air. "There!" Point. Air. "There!!"

Jab!

"And THERE!"

... his finger jabs right into the side of Ragnell's face. Just. Right into it.

Can he see her??

"Way, waaaaay over there--!"

Nudge. Nudge. Poke poke. No. Obviously not.

"... this air is oddly dense in this area though... huh......."

nudge nudge pinch

"Is this part of the exhibit? Some dragon magic--??"

No, he's probably just an idiot. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"AAAAAHHHH DRAGON ATTACK RUN FOR YOUR LIVES" someone shrieks, not at all girlishly, seconds after Bridges finishes his opening statement. To his credit, he does not immediately flip out, and instead gives a meaningful look at Dr. Oxford, his much more mild-tempered colleague. "Are the children getting into those again, Reginald? I specifically informed the presenters..."

Ida takes one for the team. She raises her hand, abruptly excusing herself to tend to the... events outside. Oxford murmurs a soft "oh dear" under his breath as he catches sight of it himself.

This gives Odjn the perfect opportunity to sneak, like some sort of tiny, draconic Solid Snake, into the back of the skull. Dramatic flame spurts from between stamped-metal teeth. Someone in the audience goes "Ooo!" far too loudly. Bridges seems to think it's just a commoner being impressed, but part of his attention is scattered thanks to the children he knows are just ruining everything.

Ida stops in front of the Ragnell-Gwen-Rose-Vash cluster in mid-conversation. "Please stay out of the exhibits," she says, almost on reflex. She seems to hear something odd, then--a voice that's right there, but she doesn't see anyone it should be coming from. Her brow furrows.

Zed Zeds. Bridges just kind of whirls away from the skull, glaring knives at the man who is totally not a Metal Demon in disguise. "Kindly get off of the model," he says. "I say 'futile' in the sense that their ultimate goal--complete control of Filgaia--failed." Over to the side, Oxford looks at Ida, and whispers something; Ida looks back into the auditorium, her face just kind of sinking back into its mask of perfect calm. This is an easy way to tell that she is horrified.

"Zed," Ida hisses, though she knows he can't hear her. What is Zed even doing here, anyway!? Shouldn't he be helping Kalve get back to Arctica so he can help his family? "Zed, get down from there and stop harrassing the distinguished guest." She makes a 'get down' gesture, because she's out of sight of most of the audience.

"Have a seat, sir," Bridges says, displaying what for him is amazing self-control. "And I will enlighten you." He clears his throat, glances back in the general direction of the diorama drama, and resumes. "While we can only guess at their reasons for wanting to steal our home--as well as their point of origin, or whether or not the "Extrafilgaian Theory" of origin is meritable--we do have solid knowledge of their physiology."

Bridges approaches the thing under the tarp.

Ida attempts to will the next five minutes into perfect order.

Bridges dramatically whips the tarp off the whatever-it-is, in what is clearly a taah-daah! moment.

The figure under the statue is... a sculpture, a little larger than human-average height, though basically humanoid. At first glance, it looks like a knight, or a similarly heavily-armored figure, but the seams and layout of the joints look more like the joints of a metal toy. One hand holds the haft of a long spear, while the other rests at its side. The forearm is less-armored, and on closer inspection, it looks like it's been cast with several gun barrels inside it. It has no visible eyes, and there is no trace of flesh anywhere. The whole thing looks vaguely menacing.

To an eye familiar with such things, so much of it is off, in ways ranging from overt to very subtle--there's no way that arm-mounted weapon is energy-based, as is the norm for a lot of Demons, nor is that armor a single, unified kit. It's cobbled-together, despite the sculptor's thoughts on the matter--and some of it wouldn't actually be bonded to the soldier's body. At least one piece has the characteristic shape of Metal Dragon belly-scales, but the difference there is so subtle it's easily-forgiven, perhaps. The spear is inexplicable.

"A modern reconstruction of a Metal Demon line soldier unit," Bridges says. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

There's a pause from the dragon skull as Odjn hears Sorey's question and starts to panic and keep crispy cajun chicken thighs from climbing back up her throat. She hears Rose panic, oh gosh please don't be scared because of her! She has to be-- be soothing, somehow! Think think think, what should she say?

In the best approximation to what she thinks a real dragon's voice sounds like:

"Hello there everyone! How are yuuuu doing! I am fine sankyuuuu! Pay no attention to meeee, the dragon ghooost!!!" she booms, the skull conveniently echoing her voice and making her feel even sicker and sicker.

That's... that's probably not the words of the living legacy of the dead Zed wanted to have accompany his speech.

Odjn tips over and accidentally bumps the skull to one side and... oh gosh... oh gosh... it's not going to... roll over... is it...?? 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

"Shhhhhhhh," Emma shhhhhhhs at Zed, possibly right over Miang's head.

Gwen asks how she is. "Oh, thank you for asking," she tells Gwen in a low voice. "I don't think that it's going to form a permanent fistula based on the granular tissue involved when I've changed the dressing, and other than a teeny little numb spot along the back of my middle finger, there seems to be no damage to the nervous system. Unless I suffer a septic attack or another shot from a bandit, I will probably make a full recovery."

"Although," Emma says, tilting her head down, "I fear that the asymmetrical impact here may ruin my hopes of ever finding a new career as an art model."

Speaking of which, her attention shifts forwards. Emma isn't sitting down, although if someone suggests she does, she might. Maybe. It's unclear. The tarp is withdrawn - and Emma's lips thin and quirk to the side in an expression of formal unimpressiveness.

"If that's a MD troop unit," Emma remarks to those in her vicinity, "then I'm a banana. I hope he didn't have to wait long for that commission, because it's extremely off model." 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Oh, so he's kind of a special little guy, huh," Talise murmurs back to Ida with a slight lowering of her lashes, careful not to let the man on stage hear her.

Lynnai's explanation is actually welcomed. She nods and takes a couple of notes, smiling at her companion with genuine gratitude. Inwardly she can't help but wonder if she's not too stupid to be friends with Lyn and Ida, but they've tolerated her so far, so she's not going to ask too many questions.

She does her best to tune out the cataclysm at the back of the room, instead staring in winder as Bridges unveils his...

...his Metal Man.

Talise jots down a note:

- nope, not a dentist

"Huh. I didn't think they'd be that literally metal," she murmurs. "But I guess the dragons are." Wetting her lips, she leans forward deeply in her seat, squinting and inspecting the big sculpture. "Why's the ARM part of his arm?" she asks Ida. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Oh, so he's kind of a special little guy, huh," Talise murmurs back to Ida with a slight lowering of her lashes, careful not to let the man on stage hear her.

Lynnai's explanation is actually welcomed. She nods and takes a couple of notes, smiling at her companion with genuine gratitude. Inwardly she can't help but wonder if she's not too stupid to be friends with Lyn and Ida, but they've tolerated her so far, so she's not going to ask too many questions.

She does her best to tune out the cataclysm at the back of the room, instead staring in winder as Bridges unveils his...

...his Metal Man.

Talise jots down a note:

- nope, not a dentist

"Huh. I didn't think they'd be that literally metal," she murmurs. "But I guess the dragons are." Wetting her lips, she leans forward deeply in her seat, squinting and inspecting the big sculpture. "Why's the ARM part of his arm?" she asks Lynnai. 

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Anyone who thought that this was going to be some sort of dignified presentation had obviously not been in this city for all that long. Because Sorey figured that with Zed around, as well as a few others... this entire situation was going to dissolve into chaos sooner or later.

And it seems that it has. Of course, Sorey isn't going to play some sort of crazy game - he's genuinely curious if this is an actual dragon ghost or someone else playing with the skull. He looks back at Rose for a moment, and grins excitedly. "Asking Seraphim is one of the best ways to get information about the past!" he points out, totally reasonably in his view. "If this is an actual ghost or spirit, imagine what we could learn." He knees down next to the skull, where Odjn is doing his best to appear threatening and spooky.

He does look at Vash for a moment, and grins. "I'm afraid that she's somewhat scared of ghosts, so she tends to hide really quickly when she thinks that they're around. And she's pretty good at it - who knows where she might be?" Certainly not behind you or anything, Vash.

But Ragnell... there's something about her attitude that makes Sorey a little leery. "The sorts of advantage that a Seraph has over a normal person are pretty significant, Ragnell. I'd appreciate it if you were a little more careful." Sorey is polite as polite, can be of course. Just asking if Ragnell would behave a liiiitttle bit more.

But the skull is moving around now, and Sorey ignores the dramatic unveiling in an attempt to save the poor spirit! "Hang on!" he says, and grabs the skull. Or he tries to, because its already starting to roll.

He might end up with a tiny dragon instead. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.

From inside of Sorey, a voice echoes into his mind:

"Asking Ragnell to behave is like asking for water to stop being wet. Give it up."

Very Helpful(TM). 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

"Your friend's pretty funny," Ragnell remarks to Gwen, grinning. Very sane, logical man who doesn't damage private property? Riiiiight. She definitely believes that one, Gwen. Maybe next you'll want to sell her the deed to a bridge over the Silver Sea.

Ragnell peers at Zed when he leaps up on top of the dragon skull and starts lecturing the lecturer about their lack of respect for the people who died during the Metal Demon Wars. She peers harder when he functionally aligns himself with the spirit of a Metal Dragon, and thinks about some of the odd things she's seen him do or say that seem unusual for a human or seemed unusal to other humans around him, something she'd attributed to a) his general personality b) Filgaia being Filgaia. Hm. Hm.

Whatever her thoughts are, though, she keeps them to herself. Instead, she steps back to... not so much enjoy the show, though there's always a lot to enjoy about Rose freaking out about ghosts, as observe how it goes down. She glances at Gwen as she comments on it, following up on what Ragnell just said about the special effects. "Yeah, Zed's awesome, all right," she says, oddly poker-faced. "Them theatrics and all." She doesn't remark on Sorey. Part of this is because of the unveiling of the 'modern reconstruction' of the Metal Demon soldier (she has a sneaking suspicion it's not as accurate as they think); part of it is the dragon ghost zombie's cheerful attempts to calm everyone down before starting to roll over; part of it is because Vash has decided to reassure Rose that there are TOTALLY no ghosts in the immediate area and pointing helpfully where they are far, far away. Right into her face. Over and over.

Ragnell's eyebrow twitches.

"Sorry, Sorey, but that order's gonna be one too tall to fill," she says to Sorey, right after Edna's peanut gallery commentary and right before doing what any reasonable person would do when repeatedly poked in the face by some idiot in a red coat:

She bites his finger. Hard. Just. CHOMP. 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lynnai very deliberately puts Zed out of her mind when he joins in with Odyn. She's not with either of them, she has nothing to do with this...

It helps that she actually doesn't have anything to do with this. Safety through honesty!

"Some ARMs are part of Metal Demons," Lynnai replies to Talise. "That's part of why some of the uneducated are afraid of people who can synchronize with them - because they're somehow similar to the Metal Demons. I don't believe that's true; people who can synchronize are quite varied, but good luck proving a negative to people who are looking for an excuse to get angry."

Lynnai considers the model for a long time, though. "While they were said to be metal," she eventually adds, "I'm not convinced about his assembly. I don't think the armour is all one style." She reaches into her pocket, pulling out one of her books - no, that's one of the older ones in a different hand, it's Sara's book, one of the ones Lynnai inherited.

She shows Talise a page from it. It has sketches from a mural of Metal Demon designs; none of them are very detailed but it's enough to give her an idea, at least. Some of them actually look pretty similar, in a sketchy form; others do not.

Meanwhile, at the back of the crowd, someone appears quietly. A small girl, who is actually not really able to see very much from where she is, though those doglike ears are probably good at picking up the speech. She doesn't say anything to anyone, and doesn't actually stick around very long before she vanishes, possibly without being seen at all.

Mariel has flowers to sell, anyway. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Wait, was that Zed? And he was...yelling at Dr. Bridges. At this point, Jacqueline's eyebrows would be just about flying off if she was a more comedic character, but for now they remain firmly affixed but in a very confused expression.

Though...why are you taking notes, Jacqueline? This wasn't in the program, don't listen to that guy.

Too late, these notes are forever tainted with Zed's ravings.

It isn't long before the notes start getting back on topic, which is fortunate since the thing under the tarp is soon uncovered and it's...

...Something? An impressive sculpture, definitely, but it looks a little off to her. But then again, she's not the accredited person of science here. It goes in her notes too, as well as her concerns on the authenticity of the thing.

Before she gets too far, however, she hears a voice. It takes her a second to realize it, but it sounds...somewhat familiar?

"Odjn?" Jacqueline says aloud, confused, glancing in the direction of the little dragon's shenanigans, as well as those who had gathered around her.

Just what was going on here? 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius seems to want to channel out all external noise for sake of his thoughts, however important they are. Everyone has thoughts. Why are his so special? He seems little better than a prop, in the backdrop of the chaos ongoing with the dragon replica display... but even the strongest concentration can't blot it all out.

He lifts his head up and - a brow? Did he just lift a brow? Is he physically capable of even emoting? At the sight and sound of Zed - doing what he does in almost(?) sincerely showing indignation for something involving the display.

Zed, someone who - against all odds given their noisy self-aggrandizing conduct - often came off as so unremarkable and forgettable as to be misinterpreted in his mind as a paragon of discretion and subtlety.

More gears in his head turn, a hand to his head. He considers the web of possibilities from choice encounters. Educated guesses as to who keeps who's company, and why, following that one fated encounter, that led him to see something that he was probably not intended to see. All of which refresh as certain names are called out.

His hand lowers from his face, as chaos briefly ensues. All the way over to the other display of significant interest - the one with preserved demon's blood, supposedly.

He wastes little time from there. He tries to use the cover of the chaos - and the awe-inspiring unveiling of a supposed replica of a Metal Demon foot soldier - to get up off his chair and move out of immediate notice around-or-behind the supposed container full of preserved demon blood.

He crouches in wait, making sure that eyes have yet to follow him. 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Hmph. You'll enlighten me!? You fool, you couldn't light up the inside of a black paper bag! There is only so much falsehood one soul can tolerate in this world before it is too much to bear! Your truth is slapdash and patchwork! It is no truth, just something that only kind of looks like truth if you squint hard at it! It is not science, it is... TRUTHINE-arp...!!" The skull. The skull is talking!

ODJN. ODJN NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU'RE RUINING THE ATMOSPHERE!

"What. What! Do not rock the boat, friend!" Zed squawks, turning about on his heel to try and stabilize the enormous dragon skull before it goes toppling all over these festival-goers. But then... Then, there is an Ida!

AN IDA...!?

"Hrmph. You said that you would present these as evidence of heritage of the past...!" Zed points now at his friend-archaeologist. "But this is... This is...! Just blowing up one man's ego!" He gestures over at the metal demon replica. "I mean, look at that. It's like he took six different skeletons and welded them together." Also, if that actually happened, he's probably going to shank that guy. 

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

The skull wobbles. Miang takes another quiet step to the side. She shifts her hold on her parasol so that she can rest it point-down on the ground, both hands folded on top of each other on the handle.

Miang considers the unveiling of the Real Trooper(TM) with a slightly furrowed brow. It is an expression that is difficult to read. Concentration? Concern? Calling bullshit? Who knows.

Miang happens to be one of the people in Emma Hetfield's vicinity, and therefore she is a part of the audience for the other woman's remarks. Miang looks sidelong at Emma, splitting her attention between the lecture and the commentator.

"That's quite piercing. Is that an academic or aesthetic opinion?"

The man on top of the skull gets louder and says relevant things. Miang glances over her shoulder in his direction, and then back to Emma. Well? 


<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"Oh, dear," Noeline continues to sigh theatrically from her seat. She's leant over to one side at this point, her chin propped on one hand as she adopts the Crimson Noble With Wineglass position straight from the cover of 'Dark Seductive Secrets III: The Bite Of Desire", and is grinning happily to herself as she watches the presentation dissolve into confusion in a record amount of time.

"Not that I didn't see it coming, or anything, but you do have to wonder why they didn't post a little more in the way of security around priceless artifacts such as these," she comments alongside to Jacqueline, as Zed gets more or less tackled with attention. "That said, I'm not completely convinced you could stop either of those two even if you wanted to."

She does pause as the piece de resistance gets unveiled, and immediately lets out an amused little snicker at the sight of it. "... well, that is certainly an interpretation of them, from what I've studied myself. Though, if I had to take a rather broad guess, it's more the romantic version than any kind of sensible mock-up," she comments publicly in the other direction, having turned to pick up on Emma's estimation. "For once thing, the armour is plain nonsense. If you want a terrifying soldier, you should probably not immediately expose all the important joint bits," she adds with a satisfied huff, flicking out a twintail in an expression motion.

Sorry, Noeline, who exactly is the romantic version here? 

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

"I'm not a dragon!" Rose confirms for Vash, between two fits of panic. Lucky for her he has not deserted his post as her cover yet. Maybe it's for the best the infamous, legendary Vash wasn't able to finish saying his name due to her shrieking though.

His claim to be an expert at seeing ghosts seems to do a mix of reassure her and make her more on-edge, especially as Vash proceeds to indicate the presence of many, many ghosts. None nearby, or so he claims, but many many ghosts. She weeps internally, not willing to accept that this is her life now.

"I don't think any of this was planned, but if it was they sure went all out," she answers him from the relative safety of "his back" either way.

Also Zed is standing on the skull giving a dramatic speech now. And the skull is continuing to insist it's a ghost. Sorey isn't helping in the slightest. "It might be the best way to learn about the past but it's also the best way to die when it turns out the ghost is hostile and wants to eat you, Sorey!" she decides to insist on, even though she knows the Shepherd won't listen at this point. In fact Sorey is outright reaching out to catch the skull now despite all risks this situation presents.

A distraction. Anything would be welcome right now. This comes in the form of a reveal, as the cloth is pulled from over a... soldier? That's a soldier? Rose peeks out from behind Vash towards the stage, where the reconstruction of a Metal Demon is now on display. She wonders if that might not be a dangerous thing to rebuild, considering the legends. It does look pretty cool though. For all the situation is chaotic, at least it was worth coming to see that. But she'd rather not see it too up close either. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"Get that child out of there," says Bridges, irritably. "Young man, that's a model, it's a reconstruction of a Metal Dragon skull made of sheet metal from a stamping plant. There's no ghost--" He can hear Emma whispering things to the people around her, probably poisonous things. Perhaps she will try and take advantage of this to advertise her newfangled "Emma Motor" nonsense. Either way, Zed is getting in his face, so he gets right back up in Zed's face. "Sir, I offered you a seat." His temper is starting to fray. The dragon skull wobbles, ominously. Ida tries to will Zed into imperceptibility, which obviously does not work.

Zed's looking at her. He's accusing her as well as Bridges, whom she is only dealing with because he teaches at her alma mater, the school she hopes to teach at some day, and academic politics are the absolute worst. Her face starts to redden. People are staring at her. Emma and Miss Miang are talking, and so many other people are talking, too.

"Miss Everstead-Rey, if you know this nuisance, please remove him before I'm forced to call the guard," Bridges says.

Ida's face settles into its look of calm again, and she moves back to look at Zed, her expression all but unreadable aside from that. "Kalve needs you," she says. "Please, just--"

The skull wobbles again, and topples, probably dislodging Zed and Odjn in the process. Stiff upper lip, Ida reminds herself, though inwardly she wants to scream, and then hit Zed, and then Bridges. 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

Emma considers matters as she cradles her shot up arm thoughtfully. Her free hand comes up to tap on her lips as she hears Zed add contributions and perceptions to the situation. "You know," she says, "I think I can see it." A glance towards Zed/Miang and she explains.

"The general proportions are correct, and of course this is a model for public enlightenment, so a certain coarseness is to be expected. It isn't as if we'll be stormed by Metal Demon troops in the middle of the exhibition," Emma breezes along, "but at that point it ends. First of all, the arm assembly is incorrect and slim, and you can see how it's got a hollow tube situation there. Most energy projection weapons, it's agreed, would either have a lens assembly or a solid core for development of charge."

Looking back ahead, she says, "The spear is amateurish. Massed pike tactics are a hundred years obsolete with the increased understanding of the ARM as well as the new direction of Gear tactics and Gear-infantry interface - don't tell anyone that one, it's going in my second book. No Metal Demon would have resorted to it, outside of a temporary expedient - certainly not enough to be typical. It doesn't even look good."

"I'm going to rush the stage and correct him," Emma says, stepping forwards JUST as the skull topples with a massive CLANG behind her! As it rolls, she looks over her shoulder. "Oh! Lucky!" 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Huh, I didn't realize they actually had their weapons attached to them," Talise murmurs back to Lynnai, furrowing her brows in private wonder - equal parts troubled and interested. She shifts her shoulders, Rastaban swaying across her back as she adjusts the strap holding her scabbard there. As her friend shows her the sketch, she moistens her lips, nodding, then taking another couple of notes in her own right.

"We don't have anything like this where I'm from. ARMs are different enough, but this? Incredible."

Antics continue near the back of the room. Talise closes her eyes and just sighs. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

"GYAA--" Odjn finally topples over at the same time Sorey exclaims that he'll save her, which-- probably brings him along for the ride?!

The skull does topple over, which hopefully just means it rolls over harmlessly instead of crushes yet another diorama or... something... and the tiniest dragon one's ever seen flops out, along with a stack of half-eaten pieces of chicken thigh, wing and drum that go all over the place.

There's a 'GLURK' and a terribly uncouth burping sound as Odjn kind of just rests on the bowl that is the upturned dragon's skull. "Ooghhh, just say no to habanero sprinklessss....." 

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

"Yeah, er, he's... one of a kind, y'know?" Gwen says, not entirely willing to outwardly snub Vash entirely. "He... um... likes donuts." This fact does not help the conversation in any way.

"Huh." Gwen just nods along with Emma encouragingly, making the appropriate sounds of acknowledgment along the way. "Fistulas sure are painful. As well as septic shock." Her nod is the nod of someone who knows next to nothing about the other subjects being talked about, as well as the nod of someone who has had to sit through many, *many* long words and look like she's following along politely.

That all changes when the solder is revealed.

As Gwen looks at the metal soldier, she stands quiet, her left hand instinctively feeling the length of her ARM. Zed and Kalve had mistaken hers as some sort of demon's arm. Metal demons, huh...? "Is that the thing I was so worried about...?" Gwen murmurs under her breath, just before Emma comments. "-Oh." Gwen's face falls. It was a selfish thought. 'If a metal demon looked like that, maybe things would be different for me.'

No, she doesn't need that at all. There's several people in this room alone that have accepted her as is, without being prompted, whether due to not knowing any better, being kind souls themselves, or just plain didn't care.

Suddenly she feels guilty about snubbing Vash back there. She turns to look to Rose and Vash, only to see him poking into Ragnell, and Ragnell, well, chomping back. TIME TO GET SOME DISTANCE BETWEEN VASH AND RAGNELL. "Hey, Rose, right? Let's take Mr. Urguabash to get some of those really tasty look meat skewers, and-"

She casts a look towards Ida, guilt burning a hole in her stomach. If maybe she had intervened...?

But then, EMMA COMES TO THE RESCUE. Possibly. Or just seal Ida's fate. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Zed...actually makes a good point? Jacqueline's brow furrows a bit. That seemed...really strange. She didn't know him as well as some of the people here, but she knew enough to know that that was something that didn't happen often.

She glances in Noeline's direction when she addresses her.

"Hm...you have a point. I don't think any amount of preparation could've helped..." She agrees. She would've lent some of her Crests to security if they had really needed the help, but then again there was possibility that something could've gone horrifically and tragically wrong, so...

Her attention returns to her notebook as Noeline begins to criticize the sculpture, and these criticisms are added amongst her notes - as well as Emma's.

"Do you know much about them?" She asks Noeline curiously, fully unaware of the humor of her question.

She looks up again, where she can see that Ida is...probably having the worst time of her life right about now.

Poor Ida. It was situations like this that made Jacqueline glad she never seriously tried to get into academics herself. She was happy where she was, flying solo without having to worry about internal politics. 

<Pose Tracker> Vash the Stampede has posed.

Please stay out of the exhibits, Ida politely requests. Vash looks up from idly poking the 'air' (Ragnell's nose, just kind of, smooshing on it) and blinks with all due innocence.

"But isn't this whole thing an exhibit...?"

He might have more to say -- might even, EVEN politely recuse himself -- but there's something else important to note: "Say, are you working here? Can you answer me a question? What does a dragon ghost feel like?" Poke, poke, prod goes Vash's gloved hand against Ragnell's face. "Because I think I--"

CHOMP.

There's a period after this where stark silence reigns from the blonde-haired man. Like a moment frozen in time, he stares forward at Ragnell; it's still so damningly hard to tell if he can actually see her as he looks down at his finger. His brows furrow. His eyes go cross-eyed.

"... Ow?" he wonders, as if unsure. A second passes in which he ponders this assessment.

"... OW!"

And there it is. "Dammit! Son of a-- the dragon ghost bit me! It's on the attack!! Watch out, everyone!!" Several, furious seconds in which Vash just impotently flails his arm, possibly taking Ragnell on an awkward, janking up-and-down-ride with his powerful flailing until he finally manages to free that limb and clench onto his hand with the other, tears streaming openly down his cheeks. His claims prrrrobably don't help Rose with her own problems, but--

"That was my best poking finger...!!"

--he's been dealt a TRAGIC BLOW here today!!

It's a lamentation that's shockingly short-lived once Bridges reveals his would-be Metal Demon reconstruction. Mood whiplashes from sobbing to pensive curiosity as the red-coated man tilts his head and purses his lips at the sight. He looks around him, to the green-haired man on the rampage to the very obvious ghost dragon, then back towards the sight again as Emma systematically tears it all apart with words. His brows furrow; his expression, for a moment, is strangely inscrutable. A soft sigh escapes his lips. It almost sounds... sad.

But it doesn't last, of course. "Huh. So it's totally wrong," he declares roundly, as if it were an absolute matter of fact. "Wow! Science sure is amazing, huh? And here I was worried it was gonna come to life and kill us all for a second! Ga ha ha, how silly--"

CRASH

"GAH SAVE ME"

It's almost instantaneous, the way Rose suddenly finds herself front and center.

Because now Vash is hiding behind her.

Just... awkwardly contorting his body to fit her proportions. It's terrible.

"Am I dead yet--??" 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lynnai Albrek is polite enough to not interrupt someone's presentation to tell him he's wrong.

She only tells Talise he's wrong, at least right now.

Tucking the book away, Lynnai seems perfectly willing to keep doing that. "Not all of them are attached, and of course ones used by humans don't tend to be, but there's enough art of Metal Demons with weapons on their body that we generally assume it's meant to be taken literally. Of course, it's not like we can look at a Metal Demon to verify."

How little does she know... 

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey responds silently to Edna's inner comment. And it actually turns into a little bit more of a conversation, because he remains a bit unfocused for a moment as the two chat about... something. Hard to say what, because that's what mental conversations are like.

But he looks at Ragnell for a moment, and replies, "As long as no one gets hurt." And he gives Ragnell a smile while he goes back to wrestling with the skull.

Something that is complicated by Zed trying to jump on top of it. "Zed!" he calls out. "I'd be careful, a lot of spirits aren't very appreciative if you trust and step on top of them. I mean how would you feel if you suddenly had someone standing on your head!?!" Sorey figures it would probably make him angry, or at least a bit irritated!

And then the skull finshes rolling over, and out pops... a small dragon?

Wow. Sorey looks at Odjn for a moment, and really you can almost see his eyes sparkling a bit. Because for him, dragons are actually creatures to be revered, not terrible monsters. "It's okay Rose, it's just a baby dragon!" he calls over to her. And kneels down, smiling. "That was quite a display you put on," he states, digging around for a moment. He pulls out a wax paper wrapped cookie, and offers it to Odjn. "Was this the skull of one of your ancestors, and you were wanting to keep it safe?" 

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

There was a dragon in the skull! It's not a ghost!

Rose lets out a sigh of relief. It doesn't help with Ragnell's presence but at least the big skull wasn't a spooky ghost, just a baby dragon trying to be scary. It'd be adorable, if it wasn't still a dragon. She is not terrified of baby dragons, luckily.

Rose is about to answer Gwen when Vash turns the tables on her and uses her as cover instead, after a wild moment of panic, which drags Rose down into it as well, at least for as long as it takes to notice things are fine and no one is dead.

"N-No! No one is dead! Everything is fine!" It is. It's true. Rose steels herself and turns towards Gwen again, huge sweatdrop present. "Y-Yes. Please. I think that was enough excitement for the day, ahah... ha... I have no idea how Drifters deal with this every day." See, this is why she prefers stabbing people. People are predictable. They might have weird powers sometimes but people don't tend to be monsters or ghosts or anything like that.

Rose attempts to look back towards Vash. "You hungry? I hear poking fingers heal better when you've had meat on a stick." 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With ease, Noeline shrugs one shoulder in Jacqueline's direction. "The tales are wide and varied enough that it's difficult to pick anything concrete out of them," she comments airily back to Jacqueline - and effortlessly, as well, since it's obviously not a lie if it's one of omission. Her eyes flick towards Odjn briefly, watching the dragon get picked up and then bribed in short order, and quickly decides that everything turned out alright on that end, at least.

"I suppose you could say I'm operating more on general common sense, as far as that all goes. It wouldn't make any historical sense for a 'well-equipped fighting force' to have such poor armour - you could hardly call them well-equipped at that point, could you? I suppose you could use the-- the 'bits' as intimidation if you really needed to, but that's a great deal of weight for something like that," she adds, obviously enjoying the chance to give a lecture as she lays out her generally sensible reasoning - and then tugging her amused grin even wider as Emma steps forward to lay out a rather more scathing review.

"... my," she notes at length, her eyebrows shot upwards and looking rather impressed. "Someone's done their homework, it seems. I didn't think we'd get a good old-fashioned battle of researcher intellect right in front of us. I should clearly have bought more in the way of a snack, if I'm to enjoy this properly." 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

The white-haired man with the half-hidden face remains crouched behind the display with the blood.

This man has stated that ancient technology is all he seeks. There is (supposedly!) a most remarkable display showing what an ancient soldier is like - the sort of thing that he probably should be the (Cyre-labeled) mechotaku over.

The man eyes the container. He can tell it is tightly sealed - it ought to be. He takes notice of certain symbols that have been worn off, and re-engraved.

He must have already surmised that he stands to possibly demolish a priceless artifact simply for the sake of curiosity, but something compels him to keep his focus. There has been a driving question that demands answers. He remembers what he and another saw and heard, and the possibilities that opened up. Possibilities that he can no longer allow to go unanswered - something that overrides even the idea of a great cultural cost for being wrong.

A strange comfort for this kind of situation comes over him.

The other hand feels under his poncho. Yes, the empty vials he purchased. He mentally works out the logistics - how, when? No matter what, he will require sound cover as he pulls out the small Dragon Fossil tooth.

He believes he has an idea. He just needs one more distraction. One more outburst. One more commotion. He mentally prepares the exact chanting sequences he'll need to pull to get this going. 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Do not worry, Sorey!" Zed roars with the irrepressible confidence that comes with being Zed. "I am sure it would approve of such a thing!" After all, Odjn rides on his head all the time. So the opposite would probably be fine, if Odjn was big enough to be ridden...!

More pertinently.

There is a guy on stage.

Who does this jerkface think he is!? Presuming so much about everything and everyone. He feels the fury burn in his veins. The anger surges through his soul, pounding at the inside of his ears. At least it seems there are people who understand. Emma, kind of. Gwen, sort of. Jacqueline. But the others... The others. Yes. There will be a reckoning. In the name of grand and glorious Doombringer, there will be a-- "Wark!"

Zed kwehs.

Because the skull has toppled.

He tsks, front-flips, back-flips, and then sticks his dismount, landing, standing, in an empty seat not far from Ida and all the rest, and...

He glances over his shoulder, staring long and wroth at the archaeologist he knows perhaps too well. "Using Kalve to get me to calm down... Do you care more about this exhibition than your promise to us?"

Zed frowns, turning away then. His eyes are hot with quiet fury, he does not sit, but his arms are crossed and his scarf billows in a nonexistent breeze. "Alright, professor," he says, then to the man on the stage. "What is this... Glorious future you say you will build?" 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell gives Zed a measured look as he continues to yell at both the lecturer and now at Ida--hmm, didn't she pass by a little earlier, try to tell them not to mess with the exhibits? Ragnell was busy being poked in the face so she didn't quite notice. But the point is, Zed seems awfully informed about Metal Demons for someone who's a Dark Hero and not, say, a scholar or an archaeologist.

Ragnell continues to keep her thoughts on that to herself. It's just as well for everyone involved that the dragon skull finally toppled all the way, spitting out a precious baby dragon. Sucks to be Ida.

Then poking happens, and then CHOMP.

There is a several-second delay. Sorey asks Ragnell to at least make sure no one gets hurt. She starts to give him a thumb's up, since while she likes pranks and dislikes humans, she doesn't actually want to prank anyone so hard they get significantly injured-- ("Ow?" Vash says) --and then turns it into a handwobble. ("OW!" Vash decides.) Much flailing ensues, where Vash whips Ragnell 'round before managing to dislodge his Best Pointing Finger, sending Ragnell careening backwards to crash into several chairs that may or may not have sitters sitting in them. She at least catches herself before outright bowling them over, and shakes her head back and forth before standing up straight and dusting herself off.

Well, it looks like Gwen is attempting to smooth things over by coaxing Rose into dragging Vash off for meat-onna-stick. Ragnell tightens her gloves, considers her next action, and then gives Gwen a little salute (looks like she'll be allowed to leave peacefully), before sauntering over to get a better look at this chubby little dragon that looks to have eaten too much fried chicken. Along the way, she passes by the container of "blood" and gives Ethius a pointed stare before leaving him be. It's not like he can see her, anyway. Then she finishes the approach, walks around Sorey and Odjn to Zed at the seat where he lands but doesn't actually sit, and leans in at his shoulder.

"Hey there, Zed," she murmurs, keeping her voice down. She eyes the Metal Demon facsimile on stage, as well as the stately stage dive currently being attempted. She also eyes him and his response to Ida. Huh. "You seem awful mad about all this." No, really? 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

The skull goes tumbling. Out pops Odjn, whom Bridges stares at with a mixture of shock, disbelief, anger, and disgust. "What is that, he demands, "get that out of here! Get him out of here!" It's uncertain which 'him' he's referring to at this point.

Now, it is Dr. Oxford's turn to take one for the team. The older man rises from his seat, somehow managing to seem dignified and calm even as his colleague is on the verge of a total meltdown. He whispers something. The crowd is talking openly at this point--someone close to Miang is speculating that this might be 'Lingan Performance Art'. Ida looks like she wants to melt into the floor. She looks at Emma, as if to say 'Please, do what you must. Anything to salvage this.'

Oxford is leading Bridges back, behind the tent. Someone boos.

"Zed, I--" Ida looks at him. She's gripping something tightly in a fist--something little and metal. "Zed, it's not part of this, I did just what Riesenlied asked! It's out there, not here, I can show it to you--" Someone who is not there talks to her. Ida's face goes pale. Perhaps it's the stress getting to her.

Lunata Croze has left.

Lunata Croze has arrived. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Odjn looks up at where Sorey is staring down at her with sparkling eyes, immediately getting flashbacks to the other person that really adores her, Ruby. "Ehehe--" she's a sucker for a cookie too, let's not forget about that. She could probably be tempted to evil with a cookie. Maybe. She chomps it down even though she was just about to barf up chicken a moment after. Odjn: The secret weapon no one's brought to the Saucery Globe quite yet. "Um? Uhh--"

What would Riese say at this point?

ODJN'S MIND

A chibi version of Riese bawls as she kneels ontop of a pile of dragon fossils and gasps and whimpers and exclaims, "Why are you all dead?? I just wanted to be friends with all of yooou! Waaah!" A stream of tears fly to either side of her face.

REALITY

"I--I guess they could be?" Odjn has no idea of the implications of what she's saying, but surely she's not a Metal Dragon. The very idea is preposterous. Metal Dragons have been extinct for generations upon generations, and even if they weren't...

Who'd ever be scared of a foot-tall Metal Dragon???

Sorry Zed, cookie politics outweights academy politics, in Odjn's mind.

The yelling from Dr. Bridges prompts her to jolt and go, "Yikes! Cheese it, Mister!" as she realises that the gig's up. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Several hundred yards away, in another, much more somber display, sit several sets of Metal Dragon fangs. One is a full set of teeth, upper and lower--it's missing a few at the back, but there's no telling where they went. Another is just a single, large fang. They have very similar plaques: Metal Dragon Remains, Retrieved From Greater Mirapulse Area by a team led by Ida Everstead-Rey and Riesenlied

The single fang has the addition:These remains are dedicated to science in the spirit of reconciliation and discovery. Let it be known that we must remember and learn from the past, even as we look to the future. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Yes, I suppose that would 'muddy the waters' a bit, so to speak...." Jacqueline replies, nodding in understanding. She listens to Noeline's explanation, nodding intermittently throughout.

"I see...that makes sense. I have to wonder what lead him to...that design, then." She wonders, nodding towards the sculpture on stage.

"Wowing the crowd, maybe? Though I'm afraid it seems like it might have backfired..." A lot of the people around seemed to be only barely focusing on the presentation...and the people who were paying more attention didn't seem to be taking it too seriously...or, in the case of Zed, were actually being angered by it. And, as Noeline pointed out, Emma was strolling up, presumably to educate the Doctor...who was now being lead away.

"...I...actually kind of feel bad about all this..." Jacqueline mutters, fidgeting in her seat. It was awful, but she couldn't stop watching.

Well, at least she wasn't personally responsible for this tragedy, unlike some people who shall remain nameless. 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

The skull tumbles, causing noise. Chaos. Ethius hides his exposed forearm under the poncho to dampen the light that comes from casting Symbological spells as he squints tight at the glass. He maintains a chanting pace and volume that expertly balances casting viability with low volume.

This is someone who has had a lot of practice doing this.

Heat is focused like a laser point towards the top-most reach of the liquid stack in the container. The angle of the hole is pointed towards a wall, minimizing the angle of potential splatter - the contents are almost certainly pressurized.

He has no means of mitigating this problem on short notice.

The Dragon Fossil tooth is thusly jabbed into the softened point of glass. It rests there for a few seconds. Ethius' thumb trembles under the pressure...

The other hand goes for the vial. He won't be able to cleanly re-cork it for the moment, but he has spare vials.

His movement is decisive. Precise. As the Dragon Fossil tooth is ejected from the pressure to hit the wall and floor with a quieter clatter than it ought to, the vial is in the liquid matter's space for just long enough to catch some of it and minimizing splash on his hand. He wears gloves for a reason - those should be easy to remove and stash out of sight in a hurry, if not so easy to dispose on the spot. The spray should be angled as such as to not be immediately visible from the angle of the stage and its audience.

The sound of ancient Metal Demon blood hissing and then possibly splashing, that's more luck of the draw - people are going to hear that the moment things calm down with Zed's little displays, and the oohs and ahhs of whatever is on display.

Ethius walks away, hands guarded close, as he has to go through two of his three spare vials before he can find a cork that will come off with just one hand given that the other is occupied with the object of extreme importance.

He can only look inconspicuous for so long, before his handiwork is discovered. He suspects he has fifteen seconds, at most. 

<Pose Tracker> Vash the Stampede has posed.

Oh, look how terrified Vash is! There's nothing in this world that can ever console him! Ever mollify him! Ever heal the scar left in his heart--

"Meat? On a stick?"

And suddenly there Vash the Stampede is, straighting out with a snap like the most tensile of springs, hands on his hips and expression practically GLOWING. He looks like he could SPARKLE with MANLY COURAGE at any moment.

He doesn't.

But he looks like he could.

"Very well! I will protect you from this dragon ghost--" he's still convinced that exists despite all evidence to the contrary, "--in exchange for payment in the form of one meat on a stick!" Nostrils flare. Vash looks determined. And then he hesitates.

"... ... I mean like, not 'one piece of meat on one stick,' more like 'a lot of pieces of meat'."

...

"On one or two or five sticks."

He says five.

And yet is holding up ten fingers.

This might have been an unwise idea.

But before regrets can be had, off Vash marches, eyes aflame as he waves stoically to those he knows as he passes by who all would probably be better served pretending they don't know him.

That he also waves to the recovered Ragnell is probably coincidence of someone he knows being behind her, obviously.

As is the thing he mouths. Did he mouth 'sorry'?? No. Couldn't be.

He only pauses, briefly, when that large, metallic fang is unveiled. Only pauses for an instant to stare at it -- to stare at every piece of memorabilia of a scarred past, of an era of unprecedented carnage -- before he shuts his eyes and turns away again. All of this is just too...

"COME! TO THE MEATS!!" 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

Emma finishes strolling down the aisle and climbs up on the stage rather than taking the steps like ten feet to her left. This means getting up there is an entire production which makes her have to struggle and flop around on her knees for a moment before she can manage to reverse herself and push herself upright.

Wiping her forehead with a cloth, Emma says aloud to the group, "Good evening, everyone. I'm Emma Hetfield," AND THIS IS JACKASS

"And if I'm a little faint it's because I'm recovering from a brutal bandit attack. I hope that you're all having a good time here in..." She makes a little punch-up gesture with her unbandaged arm. "Adelhyde!"

"They say a lot of things about this town, and I think we can all conclude that nobody fete`s the ancient cultures of Filgaia harder than..." Punch-up, "Adelhyde!"

Adjusting her glasses, Emma moves on to the statue. "I'll give you the executive summary because you're all very busy people. This statue is grossly similar in outline to a Metal Demon soldier unit, but in its armament, fine details, and particularly," rub rub, "it's chubby little tummy, this is not an accurate representation. If you ever encounter a Metal Demon soldier unit, it's more likely to destroy you with combined ARM fire than with a sharp poky spear, however dramatically rendered."

"Are there any questions from the floor?" 

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

It seems like everyone is paying attention to the commotion up from, and that's not a bad thing. Especially since it seems like the small dragon he's talking to is rather distressed by this entire thing. And there are other bits of chaos that are being caused as well in the area. Sorey can just feel... something strange about this entire thing.

And so he reaches down and pulls out a cloth from his satchel - his white and black patterned shawl, which he holds out to the small dragon.

Part of him wonders if this actually was a tiny metal dragon, given what Odjn had said. If so... well there was a lot he'd like to ask. Were these dragons like the ones back on Lunar, who served Althena? Were they touched by malevolence, like the evil mockeries created by Hellions? Were they immune to it? He could actually spend several hours asking Odjn questions, so on the spur of the moment Sorey makes an offer.

"Here, hide under my cloak and I'll carry you out of here. I've got a few more questions I'd like to ask, and that way no one will realize you were messing with that skull."

He hopes at least. 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"I saw them," Zed says after a moment, still staring at the man on stage as he's dragged off. He's memorizing his face. His features. He won't forget. "I appreciate the sentiment. I do. However... You didn't answer my question," Zed says, more grave than he's been in all the days Ida's known him. "Think about it. Consider it well, which is more important. The spirit of your promise, or this... Whatever you want to call it."

But then, it seems, the presentation is kind of... FUBAR? That's a good way to put it. FUBAR is good. What is not good, is that... That sound.

Zed knows it. Maybe more than anyone else here, except possibly Noeline. It's the sound of a demon's blood hissing and splattering. It's not his own.

His eyes turn, golden and terrible, "What!" Zed yells, his usual self back again like nothing had ever stripped it away. He leaps, boldly vaulting to stand RIGHT IN FRONT OF ETHIUS. "What are you doing!? You put that back!" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida looks angry. In public, in front of a huge crowd of people. This is a new development. "Kalve is trying to get home to his poor, ailing mother, and you're here engaging in this crass display of--of-- Why are you so upset, anyway, they're just a bunch of dead monsters!"

Sorey is already dealing with Odjn, and Emma seems to have the floor. This does not stop Ida's face from burning with shame. "Please, Zed," she says, lowering her voice. "No one's come back from there in--" She swallows. She is clearly torn up about this on top of the debacle that just happened.

Something splatters.

Demon blood, as it turns out, is like mercury--a metallic, silvery fluid. Unlike mercury, it doesn't bead up--it just splatters. "No, no, no!" Ida cries, and rushes the tank. It's okay, she can fix this. She can fix all of this.

Please, she has to fix this. She has to fix this or her career is ruined before it can even start. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Odjn lights up as Sorey offers to hide her underneath his cloak, and sees no problem with being spirited away by a strange man whose name she doesn't even know who just offered her candy. "Oh, okay!" She glibly ducks in and hides, suddenly the ghost under the sheet more than anything else.

Riesenlied's worries are just beginning...... 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

There Emma goes. At least she seemed to be making things a little bit more exciting...though her way of getting on stage was a little sad.

Jacqueline stands up, just a bit nervously.

"Yes, two questions, actually. Um, do you need any potions or anything, Doctor Hetfield? I'm an apothecary, so..." She asks, just a bit concerned.

"And secondly-"

Whatever question she was about to ask is suddenly interrupted as attention is brought to...Ethius Hesiod, who was currently in the process of stealing some of the demon blood.

She stares at her confidant, the question in her eyes clearly - 'what in the world are you doing??'

She just hoped this didn't come around to her somehow. 

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

Gwen nods enthusiastically at Rose, as if Rose was tapping into her hidden, secret potential, unknown to all. And that potential is... to be a Vash whisperer. Yes, use the lure of food. Be gentle. Keep his attention steady. You know. Like a horse.

"It's part of what makes being a Drifter a Drifter," Gwen says, encouraging Vash and his shield (aka Rose) to move forward. "That's it, thhaaattt's it. Gentle, gentle... I got a med kit, I can bandage everything up and explain it all, therreee we gooo."

Ragnell catches Gwen's gaze and Gwen snaps up a salute back, before she realizes just what she may have been advocating. She crosses her eyes, realizing her mistake(s). "... Yeah, um, I need something in my stomach or I'm gonna keel over. I think Vash has the right idea." She holds up ten fingers, her face deadpan. "I'm gettin' five too." dear god IT'S SPREADING


As she continues coaxing Vash out, Gwen's gaze drifts to Zed and Ida, noting their exchange. Promise?

A glorious future. Gwen stalls. She looks to Zed, then to Ida. No, she shouldn't get involved. Emma's mention of the attack to the audience makes Gwen move her hand subconsciously to rub the area where Kent's blast knocked her off her feet just last night. Heal berries and some rest did a lot to heal the damage, but the memories and lessons she learned that night...

Is it really worth it to meddle in things like this, when she doesn't know what's going on? She looks to Rose and Vash. "H-hey, let's go." Her voice sounds conflicted.

Then, something shatters, and someone calls Ethius's name. For once, Gwen looks lost.

All she can think about is what happened the last time. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell peers at Vash, who waves in her general direction, possibly at her, possibly at someone behind or in front of her. Either way, she decides to shrug and give him a two-fingered salute. See you 'round, you weird, bristly person. Then she passes by Ethius, passes by Odjn and Sorey, and murmurs to Zed. Zed doesn't seem to hear her--that's fair, considering how upset he is--and Ida hears her but only enough to jerk back and wonder if she's hearing things. But it means that Ragnell gets to see some things up close and personal. Like how Zed is not just angry but serious. The way he stares down the professor being pulled off stage. Ida's mention of names Ragnell doesn't know, and--

'Why are you so upset, anyway, they're just a bunch of dead monsters!'

Ragnell shoots Ida a sharp look. Then Ethius's efforts bear fruit, providing a convenient distraction for Zed and for Ida, and Ragnell steps back to let the both of them rush Ethius to stop him from his blood-thievery.

The Lightning Seraph quietly reflects on what she's just heard. She glances towards Sorey and Odjn, the latter of whom scurries into the former's cloak. Then she scratches her head under her hat and silently follows after Zed.

For a variety of reasons, she'll probably want to see how this pans out. 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Someone else here - someone who has had both the pleasure and misfortune of being in the rare circumstance of regular contact, through a number of erratic cover causes as to completely obscure the nature of his dealings with them to ensure he's only known as a frequent client and nothing else - may know full well what this man's actions must mean, once the shock subsides.

Standing face-to-face with the green-haired Dark Hero, the shady Technology Hunter (and part-time blood bank robber?!) stands virtually emotionless and unmoved in the face of a hyperactive swordsman whose movements are erratic and impossible to predict. Absolutely no one in their right mind should be sure of their current position when Zed gives someone that look of fury, that look of purpose. That look of conviction.

When Zed looks into Ethius' eyes, he doesn't see... much of anything different. Could it be, this man was secretly a villain hiding in plain sight all along?! Of course! He wouldn't mask his face from view otherwise!

Ethius murmurs something as he gets that cork on top of his ill-gotten gains. The light coming from the tattoos are a dead give-away. He's up to something--

Before Zed can strike, and this would be a most narrow save indeed, a satchel is thrown into the ground of the auditorium.

A dust cloud. A thick, fast-spreading dust cloud - one of his Powder Grenades.

Ethius flees the premises immediately, but Zed could figure out who he is easily. There may be no going around this, at this point - someone may have just set a countdown of potentially disastrous consequence.

On the other hand, Zed did just ruin his shot at a clean getaway - he may not be able to act as freely with this as he may intend. 

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey gently wraps Odjn up so he's out of sight, and makes his way towards the edge of the crowd. The Shepherd can be sneaky when he wants to, especially when he's trying to protect someone. But he does pause to glance back as a SMOKE BOMB of all things goes off behind him, and he whispers to his passenger, "It looks like things are getting kind of crazy back there. I hope no one gets hurt."

Well Rose is back there and she's good about handling people!

Maybe.

He trusts that she'll be okay without him, at least. And maybe she can calm the situation down.

If not, Sorey's probably going to get an earful about it next time they meet up.

"Is there someplace you'd like me to take you, little dragon? I'm not sure where you came from exactly. Or if you're hungry, I can find a food stall or something..." 

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

Miang is left standing on her own when Emma leaves. She watches the other woman go and consume spotlight.

Positioned as she is, Miang is safe from any hijinks involving a giant metal skull. However, she is also within hearing distance of conversations involving a series of name-drops and talks of a promise.

Little data points. The set requires time to develop.

Miang offers a smile and a response to the speculator near her: "Wrong mode of ironic discourse, I think." The crowd moves and shifts, and Miang gets lost in it. It's easy when everyone is panicking or yelling or acting out.

Just as Ida arrives at the tank of Real Demon Blood(TM), mercury splattering out of it, Miang steps out of the crowd of people who are attempting to flee not only the silvery substance but also the spreading cloud of powdery dust. She reaches out and makes a subtle, circular gesture at the hole--and the blood just stops. On closer inspection, if anyone has time or mindfulness for that, it is suspended by invisible force. Little details.

Miang does not seem concerned. She glances back at Ida, and gives her a kindly look that is completely at odds with pretty much everything else going on today. Dust swirls around her in unseen currents, keeping away from her face.

"Hey," she says. Her tone is almost motherly. "Focus on one thing at a time. Clear everyone out, alright?" 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

'Why are you so upset, anyway, they're just a bunch of dead monsters!'

Zed shoots Ida a glare, the kind that a predator gives to a small animal that it's about to obliterate in an orgiastic fit of ultraviolence. He looks like he's about to do something he's going to regret. But the... Then Ethius provides an appropriate distraction. Smoke fills the air, Zed's eyes only sharpen further. But more importantly, his ears...!

>Implying Zed doesn't know how to fight in a smoke screen.

The black swordsman disappears in a haze of choking, powdery smoke. But before he does, before he vanishes completely, Zed lands mid-leap next to Ida, and leans down to whisper something that would send a chill down any Filgaian spine.

"I am neither dead, nor a monster."

And with that, Zed leaps away, surging after Ethius with unnatural speed. It's a chase scene, folks, and Zed is in it for the long haul..! 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Whatever Noeline was about to say to Jacqueline pauses on her lips, for longer than the metal demon would normally like - it isn't smooth to keep people waiting, after all, but there's a lot to take in and distract her: Odjn tucking into Sorey's cloak as she gets dragonnapped, Emma's lucid if slightly bizarre speech from the stand, and-- the sudden and unmistakable noise of chicanery going on around the pot of Metal Demon blood.

"Oh my," the Crimson Noble decides aloud, her eyebrows rocketing up all over again. Unlike everyone else, the statement isn't delivered in a particularly shocked manner, so much as a terribly amused one. She can't help but grin - what a good day to be alive and in Adlehyde - and her eyes glitter with interest and curiosity at the sight of the extremely taciturn individual doing something tremendously dodgy.

At the very least, she's quick enough to recognize the 'paff' of a familiar satchel hitting the ground. "--Jay, dear, I think it would be best to try to stop the both of--" she even manages to get out, rising from her chair as she gets ready to... well, probably do anything except stop Zed, but she's not about to tell anyone that.

In fact, she whirls as Zed suddenly puts on a burst of speed, perhaps surprised by the demon's actual ability for the first time ever. "--well, really," she just huffs, planting her hands on her hips as the smoke engulfs them. 

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

Vash has the look of a paying customer. That is what Rose notices, and she suddenly regrets not being the owner of a restaurant. Sadly even if she told the Sparrowfeathers to get cooking right now the meat wouldn't be well and done in time to satisfy the sudden cravings for "five" "meats on a stick". On the other hand she suddenly fears for her purse.

... but she's also hungry, so she'll let it slip.

Before they leave, Rose turns to Sorey, who is now apparently adopting a baby dragon. "Well, I'M going to someplace without any ghosts, so you have fun with... all this," she says, vaguely gesturing at the exhibits on display, knowing they are Sorey's thing. "Just don't get any weird ideas like trying to find real Metal Demons to ask them questions, I don't think that would work out in anyone's favor." It really would not!

Their retreat towards food is made all the more urgent when crates are apparently dropped and there's Metal Demon blood(?) spreading around. Yep, no, let's not stick around.

"To the meats indeed!" she charges forward, with Vash.

Though she also gives Gwen an answer. "Well, Drifters are weird, then. But I wish I could be that fearless sometimes too. It'd really come in handy a lot."

One day, Rose, one day. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Odjn's stomach works like some kind of science that no one can quite discern, and the closer you observe how it works, the more uncertain you become. We'd say it operates on some kind of Schrodinger theory, but there is only one Schrodinger, and she's not the kind to put dragons in a box and ask people whether it was dead or alive.

Sorey makes, perhaps, the mistake of offering to take her to a food stand.

"Oh, let me tell you about this taco stand of Saeed's..." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Oh damnation, he has one of those powder bombs. Ida immediately erupts in hacking coughs, all but doubling over. Mercury-laced blood continues to dribble out of the tank. Ida reaches in her pocket for a handkerchief--she has what Kalve gave her, but that can't help.

Someone's behind her. "Miss Miang?" Ida says, and she coughs again. Right. Right. She steps back out of the cloud, addressing the audience. She's covered in powder.

"You have our sincerest apologies, ladies and gentlemen," Ida says, raising her voice. "Obviously these saboteurs will be tracked down, and--"

"I am neither dead, nor a monster."

Ida coughs again, a little more violently. Zed--? Why--! 

<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.

In the face of chaos, mayhem, powder bombs and more, Emma's impromptu lecture comes to a halt. She frowns, one hand still on the model-Demon's chubby little tummy.

She rubs it a few more times, perhaps for luck. Ida emerges from the cloud, coughing. Hm, she thinks. Her lips purse in a frown.

She then starts to strike the statue, producing a really-off key "BONG." "The lecture is ended, go now in peace." BONG "Shoo." BONG "Skiddoo." BONG "You don't have to go home," BONG "but you can't stay here." 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline's first question doesn't get a response, but that's fine, because right now, her mind is on another question. Similarly, chasing after Zed and Ethius as Noeline suggested is the furthest thing on her mind.

Why was Ethius trying to steal supposed Metal Demon blood?

Concern crosses over her face. He couldn't possibly...?

"Anyway, Doctor, feel free to come by my shop later if you need anything." She says, looking up at Emma, her tone a bit hurried.

And then, Jacqueline turns to leave, as directed. That was fine, anyway.

There was something she needed to check. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Looks like Ragnell's instincts were right. She looks from Zed, to Ida, to Zed again, to Ethius, to Myyah, to the blood vessel that's been mysteriously stopped up with invisible force, something she spots even as the dust grenade billows up a cloud all around them. She drums her fingers on one thigh. ...Well, Zed hadn't heard her anyway. That can't be helped.

With Zed having raced off after the blood thief, looks like she'll be tailing Ida for a little while longer. Then after that... who knows?

But Ragnell knows storms when she sees them brewing on the horizon, and she can tell how fast the headwinds are blowing this way.

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