2018-09-07: Change And Change
- Log: Change And Change
- Cast: Josephine Lovelace, Jacqueline Barber, Fei Fong Wong, Xantia, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Dazil City
- Date: September 7th 2018
- Summary: Josie works on tinkering with the ARMs parts she found in Cage Tower, borrowing a workshop in Dazil. While on a break, she crosses paths with a few familiar faces. Advice on the changes in Ignas is offered for free.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
The sun's low on the horizon in Dazil, setting the sky aflame. Though it would be a long shot to say it's getting cool -- not this time of year, not in Dazil -- it's certainly a change from the oppressive heat so common to the midday in this place.
The good news is, it doesn't have to get cool outside when you're working inside. A little money and a little traded-in favor works wonders for borrowing a workshop for a while, and a while's what Josie needs to do her work here.
Besides, it's not like she was doing anything illegal*. Just assembling some of the parts she found out in Cage Tower** into a working ARM.
(*probably)
(**may be about a thousand years old, see previous point)
Was, is for the moment, the operative word. She's ducked out into the warm of the young evening, leaning against the wall and smoking a cigarette away from the workbench. Duster cast off, a bandanna holding back her bangs and loose tendrils of hair, and without her usual heavy gloves, the bandaging wrapping most of her right forearm and hand are visible, particularly with her shirt sleeves rolled up. Damaged, scarred skin peeks out around the edges. Her gaze is for the moment distant, directed up at the dusty near-night sky above the encampment city.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
A particular problem had been revealed to Jacqueline - everyone thought the Caravan Kinship was dead, or at the very least otherwise departed. That was bad for business.
Now that she was in a condition to travel again, it was time to fix that. And so, she had put together some more fliers and set out to advertise her business once more - today, this takes her to Dazil.
She hums idly to herself as she walks around, putting up fliers in the designated locations, but as she's doing so she spots a familiar face.
"Ah, Josie! Hello there!" Jacqueline greets with a smile. "It looks like you made it back just fine, as well..."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
LAST TIME ON THAT TOWN YOU BLEW UP BECAME A HIVE OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY FEI FONG WONG
^
NOW
Fei is moping about in Dazil, looking about as usual. It's hard for himself to know what's on his mind after that whirlwind of an experience let alone the minds of others, and that's not even getting into the discussion with Rudy and Cecilia which, well, he doesn't want to think about right now. It doesn't seem like it's going to be an easy situation either way.
He spots Josie first, but then--Jay! He blinks a few times and approaches more casually, curious at what they are up to as he looks at the ARM that Josie is working on.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia was notably not present at the second battle of Adlehyde, despite teleporting back to Filgaia with everyone else. That's twice now, she got separated after getting sent to Lunar, too. Perhaps this is sufficient empirical evidence to add the drawback 'prone to transporter mishaps' to her character sheet.
Thankfully she at least knew the lay of the land enough this time to find her way to Adlehyde from where she ended up, helpfully guided by the plumes of smoke in the distance, but by the she got there it was too late to do anything about it. Feeling bad, she decided to stay a while and help out in a different way, by doing some of the heavy lifting required in clearing rubble and rebuilding efforts.
But now, here she is in Dazil! It's been a long time, she needs to refamiliarize herself with the sights, smells, and especially tastes of the places she's been. She is unsurprisingly in the middle of eating a bun of some sort when she chances upon familiar faces. And while she would never literally drop what she's doing where it comes to food, she does proceed ignore it for a moment, which is notable enough already.
"Feiiiii!" Of course that's the name she'd choose to shout, only offering greetings to the others after rushing up to them. "Hi Jay! Hi Josie! Nice to see you all here! Did I miss anything exciting?"
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Stiffly, with her right, bandaged hand, Josie gives a half salute Jay (and Fei's!) respective ways, peeling away from the wall she's been borrowing for her break. "Jay-- hey, glad to see you're still kicking." A touch lazily, she nods Fei's way. "And you, Junior. Heh, nothing like the middle of nowhere, right?" She gestures vaguely with her lit cigarette. "Hot even after the sun's almost down. And it'll stay that way a while yet, believe me. Until it becomes colder than Aru Solato's tits." She grins in spite of it, almost like she's taking some perverse pleasure out of 'living in hell'.
"I'd invite you in, but it's not all that much better in there than it is out here--"
She stops short as Xantia comes with a certain name (or two, or three) on her lips as she makes her way across the comparatively cooler evening plaza. "Sparky! How're you doing? ...Nah, not as such."
Other than the part where a hellwhale destroyed a city. Or how they got teleported back to Filgaia. Or the attack on Adlehyde, or the present threat to the planet, or...
"Took a look around Cage Tower, by the way," she comments to Fei. She wrinkles her nose. "Metal Beasts. Can't tell if they're recent or old, but I'd put my bets on the first."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I'm doing better than I was, at least." Jacqueline says with a chuckle. For a while there things had been difficult for her...but that was to be expected, considering everything that happened.
"What're you up to, Josie? If you don't mind my asking, that is..." Jacqueline asks...but around this time, two people make themselves known. Jacqueline turns, offering them both a smile.
"Ah, Fei, Xantia! It's good to see the two of you, as well." She says cheerily. Anything exciting... "Nothing too special..."
And then Josie mentions Cage Tower, which gets Jacqueline's attention.
"Ah, you've been there as well...? It seems as if Mother's awakening has caused the specimens there to become active once more..." She comments. "I went with some friends just the other day."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei grimaces at Josephine's revelation and says, "That's no good. It must be a side effect of Mother waking up. We might have a lot more instances where stuff like that happens. I doubt the Cage Tower was the only place with inactive Metal Beasts." He shakes his head faintly, sighing.
He smiles as Xantia approaches, waving over to her. "Well I didn't know you were here. I guess we've just got a knack for running into each other." His eyes widen faintly. "Oh hey you got a snack. I should eat too when I get a chance."
He looks back to Josie, shaking his head. "Even worse, the ruins of Lahan have been turned into some kind of... Crime Town." He lowers his head, curling his fingers inward. "They even named a bar..."
He trails off, without saying what they named it. You'll have to visit yourself, faithful readers!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia has never had the decency to look even the slightest bit bothered by the desert heat. She's perfectly comfortable here - much moreso than back on Lunar. She made it pretty clear how badly she wanted to return to Filgaia, so now that she's here, it's extra unlikely to hear any complaints from her.
She only looks very briefly confused by the nickname Josie gave her - she's starting to get used to it, even if she still doesn't understand it very much. "I'm doing pretty good!" is her response, as she wolfs down the rest of her food. Of course she would be, 'having food' is a simple and effective way to make her happy. When she's not happy to begin with, which seems like a fairly rare occurance on average.
The mention of Metal Beasts of course draws Xantia's attention, for a simple reason. "Want me to beat 'em up?" As always, she just wants to help, with things that she's good at. "...I should check in on Silvestris soon," she adds in out of seemingly nowhere, but, well, her Gear is a giant metal beast - not necessarily capitalized - so she couldn't help but be reminded.
She just smiles at Fei's acknowledgement that they have a knack for running into each other. In her book, that's more evidence that she has some kind of connection to Fei. ...Though even Fei might not be aware of all the instances where their meetings weren't as accidental as they may have seemed, but no need to get into that. "Oh, oops," she notes sheepishly when Fei points out the food that just disappeared before his eyes. "That's the only one I had left. I can show you where I got them, though!"
And when the state of Lahan comes up, Xantia frowns. "Whaaaat, they can't do that! I'll definitely have to beat them up." She doesn't even know who 'them' are. It doesn't really matter, does it?
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Oh yeah, I heard about that!"
And that's when Gwen Whitlock, Super Courier and not-quite-known native of THE OTHER CRIME TOWN, strolls right up to the group assembled around Josie. "I'm still catchin' up, mind. I had some *very* unhappy customers who wouldn't take 'I was on another world for a few months' as an excuse. Not that I told 'em that." She grins, raising her index finger on her left hand. "That.. would be bad for business." Nevermind there are probably pissed off customers on Lunar now, but one problem at a time! "But yeah. I'm with Xantia. Kinda pissed off that they chose that place. Once I get my ARM repaired, I'm half tempted to make sure they at least pay homage to those who came before." Her eyes glance back towards Fei for a split second in an attempt to check his reaction.
After all, there's no sense in making him feel guilty all over again.
Her eyes go Jay, and she nods. "Um. Thanks for helpin' with Gulliver and my wagon, by the way. As thanks, I'll... do a discount? .... I 'spose that's not really that useful, so I'll just say 'if you need a hand, lemme know'." ahahahahaha need a hand, that's rich
And finally, her eyes glance towards the center attraction: Josie and her ARM. "Oh man, where'd you unearth this? Cage Tower? There was some amazin' stuff there." Her own ARM is protectively cushioned in a cloth sling, though it doesn't seem to give her much pain or discomfort aside from dead weight. "I'll be makin' a run to my auntie's soon if you need any tools or texts."
Gwen seems to be her usual, cheery self, at least. Courier work is a hell of a way to keep your mind off of the possible end of all life on Filgaia, it seems.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Jay is answered thus by Josie: "Doing a little work. Investigating into this and that," she says, waving the lit end of her cigarette absently. "But I got hired by a certain young lady to do her a favor, so I'm taking a little time off from the grunt work for something fun."
Which is to say, translated from Josie: she's taking time off from poking into information about the Metal Demons to tinker on an ARM for Lunata, who she's opted to leave nameless in this discussion of her current goals.
"Doin' fine, Sparky." It was that or 'spitfire' for a name, both dredged up from whatever mystery association Josie has when it comes to nicknaming people. "That looks pretty good. Maybe when I'm not working with machine oil I'll go get a bite?" ...Wait, why is she smoking then?
"Hey there, kiddo--" She pauses for a moment, as if searching some internal register or another. "Gwen, yeah? Glad to see you're also still in the living-and-breathing club. How's your auntie?" Another pause, as Josie's lips twist in a lopsided semi-smile. "I probably should go pay her a visit again one of these days..."
Maybe she might even know a thing or two about Josie's personal research problem, to say nothing of the current state of the Badlands et al.
To Fei and Jay, she nods. "That, or they moved in recently. Sunshine'd probably be able to tell for certain," Josie says, referring to Riesenlied, and slinging her bandaged arm loosely across her abdomen. "I figure, either/or with those things." She pauses a moment, tilting her head to one side. "...Probably couldn't hurt if you did give them a seeing to, Sparky," she says to Xantia. "Just try not to break anything important-looking just yet, eh?"
Fei has some bad news. "...Lahan, huh?" She exhales a breath. "Bad luck. I suppose the war's frontlines shifted or something like that, and then, bam, just like clockwork. Bandits. The ecosystem of the desert sometimes. A town dies, and the buzzards are there for the corpse..." She takes a drag of her cigarette, gazing up at the skies for a moment.
"The remains of a town can linger a while like that, before the wastes claim it for good."
Morbid.
She drops the end of her cigarette into the dust, grinds it underfoot.
"Anyway. I don't suppose you all wanted to come in? I'll show you what I got -- and bingo, kiddo." She points a finger at Gwen. "You're right, I found this junk in the bottom of Cage Tower. I think I'll get a working ARM out it yet."
Or, rather, Lunata will.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Ah, I see..." Jacqueline replies with a nod of understanding. It's probably better that Josie leaves Lunata nameless - Jacqueline would probably be more than a little concerned if she knew.
"A 'crime town'? I'm sorry, that's awful..." Jacqueline murmurs in surprise. She couldn't imagine how that must feel, to have the ruins of a place someone once lived turned into a den of crime.
There was unfortunately little she could do about it, but...
Well, before she can dwell on it Gwen arrives to brighten things up a little bit. Jacqueline turns to her to offer her a smile.
"Oh, it's no problem, really...It was a difficult time for everyone." She replies, then thinks. "...Ah, there is one way you could help me. I'm trying to go around and let everyone know the Caravan Kinship is around and active again. Don't go out of your way to do it, but...if you could help spread the word, that'd be a big help."
She looks toward Josie then and offers her a nod.
"Well, if you insist...I wouldn't mind taking a look." Jacqueline agrees with a nod.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei shakes his head slowly. "They'd probably enjoy it." Also he tried it already. "...But who knows, maybe you can convince 'em to clear out." He sighs. "I guess I'm not really the person who should tell them right to do anyway. It's not exactly like I have the right." Indeed... HE LACKS THE RIGHT.
He spots Gwen, smiling at her but only gives her a small wave with a hand for a while. He honestly looks kinda brutalized by the whole thing. Not like 'going to jump off a bridge' brutalized, but he's definitely contemplating the inside of his navel. "I don't know, it's not like they have any reason to think about the lives of the people there. Only I do. And they certainly shouldn't listen to me about it." He pauses. "I mean, I wouldn't...Well maybe I would, but only if I thought about it."
He looks over to Gwen. "I don't know. Should I just leave it alone?"
He glances over to Jay for a moment, and then back to Josie. "Maybe I should just be glad they seem to be enjoying themselves."
But the way that Josie seems to be talking about it, well, it doesn't exactly endear him to even what he just said. He frowns for a moment and is a little slow in responding.
He nods, eventually, and he says, "Sounds good." to her.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Suddenly, Gwen arrives, prompting another, "Hi Gwen!" from Xantia. Though happy to see the courier in relatively good shape, it's pretty obvious just by looking at her that the mention of Gwen's ARM needing repairs causes concern. Knowing what it's connected to, and better understanding the implications than she did before, of course Xantia would be worried. But since Gwen herself doesn't appear to be worried, that moment quickly passes.
Instead of going into that, she smacks her right fist into her left palm, with the encouragement she's getting from both Gwen and Josie. "Leave it to me! I'll make them sorry!" Who knows anymore if she's talking about Metal Beasts or the Bandits. They're probably interchangable in her mind as 'bad guys', anyway.
It's too bad Fei seems less enthused, which dampens her enthusiasm a little too. It might be backpedaling a little that she chooses this time to announce, "...I should let grandpa and grandma know what's been happening too, so maybe I'll go say hi to them first." With a nod to Jay, she adds, "I can tell people about the Caravin Kinship along the way!" As long as she can help, somehow, with something.
With Fei faltering further however, she feels compelled to speak up. "...Fei, they're bad guys, they do bad things. It's wrong to just leave it. I know how you feel, but--" Xantia looks off into the distance, abruptly transfixed by something. Though there's nothing in particular going on in that direction, just people going about their regular business. Xantia remains still for a moment, then she frowns, shakes her head, and continues like nothing happened. "...but people like that enjoy themselves at other people's expense. It doesn't matter where they're doing it, they shouldn't be doing it at all." Bandits are a pretty black and white matter, as far as she's concerned.
And then just a second later, back to full blown cheer in her reaction to Josie's invitation. "Sure, let's go see it!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
How *is* Gwen's aunt? "Still trudgin' along. And yeah! Auntie might be open to that!" Gwen smiles wide. "I think she's in a good mood for once, so take advantage of that." Looking to Jay, the courier gives a ready nod. "'Course! I'll be sure t'spread the word far n' wide."
Josie's take on Lahan makes Gwen wince. "Whoah, whoah, whoah. That sorta thing happens in the Badlands, but mountains're harder t'make disappear. There's a reason little towns survive just fine out there in places like that." Fei's words on the matter make Gwen pause. This doesn't sound like Fei at all. Well, okay, it does, but it's more like the Fei that she had met trying to flee from Gebler troops, not the person who attempted to show her some martial arts tricks, or the man who had stood toe-to-toe with many powerful enemies.
That smile twitches, just a bit.
Everyone's spirits are low, for understandable reasons. Not only did they meet up with an unsurmountable force that no one, save the Guardians, knew about, they were faced with the real possibility of Mother eradicating them all. And on a personal level, if Gwen did manage to survive that, if she didn't become a slave, it would be likely she might fall into Alhazred's hands instead.
... Is that what she wanted, to survive, no matter what the costs? What if there were worse things than death?
OH THANK YOU XANTIA, GWENBOT RESUMES POSITIVITY.EXE
"You have as much of a say in it as we do. Besides, you intervened before, right? You wouldn't do it because it's what was or wasn't expected of you. You've shown yourself t'be the sort of person who'd do things because you felt it was the right thing t'do, no matter what the odds were, or whether it put you in more danger. If you hold back because you need to think over things, that's okay too, but don't fall back just because you feel guilty."
There's an awkward pause. Josie makes her offer, and Gwen seizes on it immediately, but with earnest interest. "Sure! Let's see it!"
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
It's a possible good reason to be concerned, particularly since what Lunata had asked, and Josie is quite willing to give is...
Gunfighting skills.
Xantia's enthusiasm for violence, meanwhile, only prompts Josie to grin. "Heh. That's the spirit, Sparky."
It's a mirthless smile that meets Gwen, when the topic turns towards Lahan's current state. "Everything goes eventually, kiddo. And Lahan..." She breathes out, shakes her head. Then looks over at the young martial artist.
Is it something Fei should involve himself with?
"That's up to you, ain't it? Sure, the village is gone." She doesn't know the details, even if she's gotten some of the general 'shape' of what happened there, once. "But it's 'yours', right? If you want it back, then take it back."
Is she encouraging an outright massacre of bandits?
She might.
Jay has just one favor to ask. "I'm listening," Josie encourages, jerking her head in a short nod. "--That the Caravan's back... sure thing. Heh, I'd be in a load of trouble if you stopped doing business, right?" The fingers of her bandaged right arm curl, stiffly, in towards her palm. "Which, speaking of, if you have any of that stuff in stock..."
It's not a cure, but it helps.
After which, she turns on her heel and heals on in.
The workshop's fairly standard. More than likely, it's a sort of communal resource for Dazil's ARMS Meisters, though the tools are Josie's own... as are the parts she's salvaged from Cage Tower.
"Here's what we got. I bet there's more of the same," she says, tapping the unfinished ARM laid out on the table, "if you go looking yourself. But I'd go looking soon -- someone already dug into the armory before we did, and I suspect we're not about to be the last."
Her left hand rests on her hip. "There were a few machines swarming the place, you know. Not just Metal Beasts. They sort of looked like Elw machines, except altered. ...Reminded me of 'living metal', if I'm being honest." As if put upon, she sighs, lifting a hand to her head. "So just so we're keeping track, that's possibly more of the Elw mixed up in Cage Tower, and Metal Demons besides..."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Everyone pretty much agrees to help spread the word about the Caravan Kinship. She's a little taken aback...but it gets a smile out of her, all the same.
"I'd appreciate that, everyone. Thank you." She replies with a nod and a polite bow.
And then she starts to think about the Lahan situation. Who knew what the best approach would be, really? Jacqueline frowns as she considers it, but then Xantia echoes her internal sentiments. Jacqueline nods.
"Yes, if they're causing trouble for people, then they need to learn proper behavior." She says. Jacqueline absolutely is not encouraging massacre - she might be literally suggesting they go teach them how to act properly.
Eventually, they all had inside to go take a look at Josie's handiwork. Jacqueline wasn't much one for ARMs, but she could tell that this one was pretty impressive.
"Wow..." She murmurs, looking it over before looking up at Josie as she mentions 'living metal'.
"...Yes, I saw that. It was as if they were...infected. And what's more, I saw a sandworm that had dug into the basement and showed similar signs of infection." She comments with an uncertain frown.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Huh." Fei says, surprised by everybody agreeing to ... beat up the bandits more or less and chase 'em out of town. "Well, if all of you guys agree..." He hesitates, then admits, "Then I guess I'll try again. Maybe we can find out who is running the place." He pauses. "If anybody." He's likely to drag all y'all this time around though even if with Xantia and Fei around you probably don't have to worry about the facepunching situation too much.
Part of him wants to tell Xantia that she doesn't know how he feels because how could she? She hasn't done anything like this. The stronger part of Fei reasonably mentions that without her memories, she might have, and she's trying to be nice. That thought does cheer Fei up and he reminds himself a few more times that Xantia is a kind soul and he should try to calm down.
"I'll make sure to bring you along next time Gwen."
Pffh, mountains aren't so tough
Fei ignores this and focuses on Josephine's workshop. Well, the workshop anyway. He tkaes a long look around, eyes wide as he looks about. He really hopes the Elw didn't somehow invent metal demons. That would really grind his gears.
"I'll add that to the list of things to ask my friend about." He says. Though Mariel isn't really a friend. Well she's not an enemy.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
If there's one thing you can count on Xantia for, it's an extra helping of positivity. It's rare that she gets down in the dumps about something for very long. It's okay to fail, you'll succeed next time. Nothing is impossible as long as you keep trying. So of course she's going to encourage Fei to keep trying! She may not fully understand how he feels, but she's pretty sure he's not going to feel better by leaving this alone. She believes in what she said of course, but ultimately, making Fei feel better is what matters most here.
It doesn't hurt that everyone seems to agree on the best course of action. Their preferred methods might not be the same in all cases, but that's fine, it's the results that matter here. And so, when Fei seems won over, her smile grows all the brighter for it. "Yeah! That's the spirit!" Finding the leader seems sensible. "And then we'll beat him up!" Because that's the logical extension of that, of course.
Xantia's main motivation for wanting to see these recovered parts... well, it's easy to guess when you know what priority #1 always is for her. She's always hoping that the next thing she finds will be something that triggers her memory in some meaningful way. That could be literally anything. Upon entering the workshop and examining the ARM, such as it is while still unfinished, nothing comes to her immediately, but it doesn't dampen her enthusiasm any.
"Looks pretty fancy!" That's the extent of her expert opinion on things she is not actually an expert on, as far as she knows. But what's even more fancy sounding in this 'living metal' thing, which makes her look between Josie and Jay a few times, they seem to know what's up with that. "Metal can infect monsters? That sounds bad. ...Is it bad?"
She's not specifically asking about what it does to the taste, but she may be thinking it.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Josie's mirthless grin manages to call Gwen out on her small outburst, causing her to back down. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But it's not like the Badlands, y'know? Towns don't spring up n' disappear like they do out west." No one deserves to be forgotten that quickly.
But enough of that! It's time to bolster Fei's spirit. "Damn right you are, Fei." The courier erupts with an infectious laugh. "I was never a part of Lahan, but, I remember my visits there. If they wanna build a retreat there, sure, okay, but if it's just gonna dance over that town's former spirit, I can't let that be."
As they move into the workshop, Gwen snoops around, but is careful not to touch anything important-looking. Finally, she returns her attention to the parts in question. "What age d'ya think these parts are? I 'spose they'd be from the Metal Demon Wars era, but in that case, I hope your client was able to synchronize with it in some way. Though I guess, bein' they're relics like this, that makes 'em just as valuable even if a person can't." She rubs the back of her head. "Eheh. I'm kinda just babblin'. Been eager to get home, for once. What'ca figure out so far?"
If anything, she feels strange, considering it 'home' for once. Being on another planet must do that to a person.
"Infection, huh..." Gwen grimaces, hearing Jay's story. Actual wildlife being infected? "Sounds like I'll have t'check this out for myself." Is it alarming that she almost *wants* it to be a neutral force, rather than some new element of Metal Demons that she was unaware of? And is it selfish to think this way, just because it makes her feel uncomfortable?
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei hesitates when Gwen says she visited, because strangely enough--he doesn't recall it. Truth be told, he just went around doing his own life with very little interest in the outside world. Truth be told, he just kinda went through his own little life without too much regard even for Lahan. Sure, he was friendly with its people, he had two best friends and even taught the kids karate and whatnot, but was he really part of the town? They got rid of him so easily. They said he was trouble so readily. Sometimes he wonders why he even cares about it still, perhaps it's his own perversion.
But he does say, "Well,you don't need a strong personal connection to do the right thing."
Uh what is the right thing again? ... He'll figure that out later.
Maybe he should visit Cage Tower too while he's at it. Dealing with this personal vendetta of his might be a little petty when the world is at stake.
Huh, Fei thinks, the world IS at stake isn't it?
"I wonder," He murmurs. "How the metal demons are feeling now that they can talk to their god."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Jay, as per, well, Jay, suggests they give the bandits a good talking to. At this, Josie has no commentary to make, instead just smiling wanly and shrugging her shoulders.
It might work better, as Josie considers the matter herself, if the talking points are backed up with a really big gun.
"Now that's more like it, Junior. Just take your business to the biggest one there, and..."
Or barring that, attempt a slaughter. It's how the military usually cleans out troublesome nests of bandits, or so she's been told. Sometimes even local towns will hire a Drifter or two to do the same.
It's tough out there in the Badlands, sometimes.
"Maybe not, but it ain't easy, no matter where you live," she says, on this very same subject.
Inside, at least, it's cooler. Just a touch. She hasn't been making bullets, so at least the forge is cool.
"It's probably bad," Josie asides to Xantia. "...Sandworms, too? Hm. So it's not just the machines. I didn't know you could do that with animals. ...Maybe I oughta mention this to Sunshine." Pause. "Riesenlied," Josie clarifies. "Maybe between your friend and her we can get some answers."
Gwen comments on synchronization. Josie rolls her shoulders. "I'm not sure. The ruin certainly is, but it's hardly unexplored. So I suppose we'll see! Of course, it might not be a Metal Demon Wars-era ARM anymore, at this point. I had to make do with some modern sections where the parts don't cover, like here, and here," she says, jabbing at a few shinier pieces of metal in the weapon. "But even if she can't use it, it should still sell~" she finishes, patting the unfinished ARM briefly as if it were a small child. "She can always take that and buy an ARM that does work for her."
She settles in against the workbench for a moment, sighing out. "I've never gotten to play with an ARM from that era myself, you know."
Maybe someday.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"It's bad, yes. The sandworm was dead when we found it...I don't think it took well to the infection. But...there's no telling how well it would take to anything else." Jacqueline replies. "We saw these red orbs that seemed to act as a vector for it...so if you go into Cage Tower and see anything that looks like that, try not to let them come intact contact with you directly."
She didn't know if that would actually do anything, but she wasn't about to suggest they find out.
Jacqueline turns her attention back to an ARM.
"It seems like it would be a shame, to just sell it after all this work...hopefully she'll be able to use it." Jacqueline says, still unaware of who it's meant for.
She glances toward Fei as he wonders how the Metal Demons are feeling. ...They must be ecstatic, she supposes. The viewed 'Mother' as, well...their 'Mother'.
...But they'd have to stop her, somehow. Fighting someone's mother... That thought brings her no comfort.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei nods slowly to Jay. "But at the same time...now the legend...is just reality." He closes his eyes for a moment. "No reality can match up to what you imagine in your head. Not in my experience."
He is finding himself not too concerned about whether Josie will be able to oppose Mother based on her being 'a mom'. Personally, he is too distressed at just having to fight Mother (again) ((what?)) (((again???))) that he kind of just wants to get it over with, honestly, but he knows it won't be that easy. The demons will figure out the new paradigm first.
Fei isn't too interested in mass slaughter but she does nod to Josie. If they go after the 'big guy' they won't have to mass slaughter, in theory. If nothing else, Fei wants to know WHO it is.
He hopes it's not Bart.
The thought makes Fei a little nauseus. "'Play'?" Fei asks.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Heh. I hope so, too. It'd be a shame, but that's how it is with ARMs from this period. Either you've got the knack or you don't..."
Fei's nothing if not right on that front -- whether or not 'Mother' is the matriarch of the Metal Demons doesn't matter.
But neither is it anything personal. It's just survival at this point. Neither side looks likely to back down.
So she'll go all out, for the right to life.
"Use it," Josie clarifies, on 'play'. "Shoot it."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I suppose so... I suppose trying to use an ARM you can't, well, use is just going to hurt more than it helps. ...Perhaps literally." Jacqueline replies. It was true - some of those ARMs could be really...testy. She'd never used one herself, not really having used ARMs before, but that's what she'd gathered.
Jacqueline isn't particularly thrilled at having to fight Mother. But at the same time, she knows there really isn't any choice. It wasn't as if they could just go up and talk to her...
...And from what she'd heard, that wouldn't work even if it was an option.