2021-03-21: The Silver Key
- Log: The Silver Key
- Cast: Ida Everstead-Rey, Marivel Armitage, Eleanor Klein, Venetia Vuong, Zhang Xiumei, Ashley Winchester, Azoth, Brad Evans, Seraph Clarine, Avril Vent Fleur, Gwen Whitlock, Montgomery Curie
- Where: Guild Galad - The Hearthfire Voids
- Date: March 21, 2021
- Summary: Having narrowly escaped the dimensional rift, the Dianbai Guang finally arrives in Guild Galad. The Master and his security detail are there to greet the heroic Drifters, but unfortunately for them, he's none too happy. Why?
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
After hours of travel--and one extended, unscheduled stop in another dimension--the Dianbai Guang arrives at Guild Galad.
As always, the first sign of the city are its walls, and the great lighted towers that once stood guard over the former Hyadean base. Nearby, scaffolding and searchlights illumate vast gouges in the earth--the Boneyard, with its vast riches of Hyadean remains. The train tracks split, repeatedly, forming branches that doubtless lead to other stations. All of them seem to slope downwards, and as the Dianbai Guang continues on its course, it enters a metal-walled tunnel. Beneath the earth lies St. Jun's Station, the central rail hub of Guild Galad. It's here that the train makes its final stop.
The Master's guards are waiting. At least two dozen of them stand at the station, garbed in wide, semi-conical hats and black, armored coats. Noel watches them from his seat in the first car, the very picture of stoic patience. When the train comes to a complete stop, he rises, and looks around to his bodyguards. "Shall we?" he says. Picking up his carry-on luggage--a single leather briefcase--he steps through the door, and onto the platform. Ida follows him like a shadow, carrying her well-worn travel bag over one shoulder. She bathed in one of the passenger cars, and changed her clothes--one could hardly tell that she was fighting a seemingly-endless horde of demons less than two hours ago.
As soon as ARMS and their friends and allies have disembarked, the captain of the guard nods her head. "Guild Galad thanks you for your service," she says. "But the Master wishes to speak with you as soon as possible."
"...All right," Noel says. He turns to the others. "I'll--"
"No," says the captain. "All of you." She glances meaningfully at the end of the train, where the passenger cars should be.
This is not a request.
The Master waits in what would normally be the office of the station overseer. He seems perfectly at home behind the large desk made of expensive wood; as usual, he wears a fine silk suit, colorful and tasteful. As the Drifters enter, his attention rises from something on the desk--a refurbished Hyadean palmtop of some kind. His gaze fixes on his son for a moment, before turning outwards to the others. Tension turns the lines on his face into a texture map of stress and brewing anger.
"My son is alive," he says, "despite the efforts of Odessa. For that, and for your past services, I thank you." The wave breaks. "But with all due respect--" His eyes narrow, here, as he turns to Marivel, then to Eleanor, to Ida-- "I did not hire you to escort my son so you could destroy my property!"
Ida was already standing ramrod-straight, but the Master's words seem to suck even more life out of her. She goes stone-faced, as if implementing a decades-old strategy. A defense mechanism to prevent a stoic front in the face of a dressing-down. Something she learned in the world outside her home.
Noel, in sharp contrast, looks aghast. "Father--" he says. He turns to look at the others. What is the Master talking about?
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Yeah yeah..." Marivel tells the captain. "We'll be there. Should do a proper briefing anyway. I'll take the heat for anything that might be bugging him so don't worry about it. I'm guessing he's mad because he lost some money on this so don't worry too much. And don't go in on him if he's cranky or rude about it. Being able to deal with nobles is part of our job."
She reforms the clothes that have been burned off and destroyed by battle. "Besides! Brad's back so I'm in a good mood." She smiles, notable in how genuine and honest it is. It isn't sly or mischevious. The vampire is just...happy. That's it.
Marivel will lead the group onward. She can't let Eleanor take the heat for this one. As far as the politics here are concerned, Eleanor is far more important than she is.
The Master goes in on them as anticipated. Marivel holds up a hand and says, "Sir, I understand you are upset at your lost property. This is my failing as a team leader as I was exclusively focused on ensuring everybody got out in one piece--that's my standing orders."
She gestures forward with one hand, "We were not informed of any property nor given a cargo manifest, but if you have a receipt, House Valeria will reimburse you as we can. If Odessa has stolen anything from you, we will work to retrieve it, but I think we all agree the important thing is that your son made it back home safe."
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor Klein, too, took the time to clean up and ready herself for polite company again after the excursion into the Emulator Zone and the battles contained within it. If nothing else, she needed a change of clothes because the last set was quite terribly bloody. Conveniently this means she is dressed more as a diplomat than as a scholar when they disembark the train...
But she wasn't available much for conversation in the time before disembarking, either. She and Montgomery both were scarce after that--presumably it took some time to get ready, and he was bloody and disheveled himself, though his demeanor wouldn't suggest it. The sword he carried was covered in demon ichor, his hair out of place, and his coat covered in slashes. But he was intact.
Surely that's the reason Eleanor looks kind of concerned as she steps off the train, finally showing up again. Or maybe it's the fact that the Master wants to speak with them, just as reasonable. Even though she had that expression before the captain spoke up...
"Very well," Eleanor agreed at the time, glanced at the others and then at Monty, and continued. Soon...
Dressed in pale orange in Merian style, Eleanor has opted to lean into her status rather than attempt to obscure it. The tiredness that might've been obvious to her friends is in no evidence here and now as she faces the Master, noting his stress and his apparent anger.
'With all due respect' tends to mean there's less of it than one would like. Eleanor is already watching him with her hands folded politely when he narrows his eyes, looks at her and at Marivel and at Ida. Her own expresssion is perfectly calm, reasonable, schooled.
She doesn't pre-empt Marivel. ...Indeed she's noticed that Marivel is taking the lead here, and is somewhat troubled by it, particularly when Marivel takes the heat on her own. Eleanor does not look visibly surprised, not to most, but there is a little look she gives turning to Marivel.
"..."
She remains calm, but doesn't have anything to add for the moment except a nod. She has something of the opposite approach of Ida's; rather than standing ramrod-straight and going stonefaced, Eleanor keeps up her general warmth, albeit subdued for the subdued occasion.
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
Venetia Vuong had her neck taped up and was given the benefit of some medical attention. Even so, she lost like a quart of blood, much of which went into the mouth of a terrorist vampire. She is not feeling her best.
She had a spare facemask and has loosened her collar. Cussedness and a hearty constitution means that she is able to get up and move around, but she does seem as if she has aged fifteen years. Some of this will of course be fine in a day, and even more in a fortnight, but that's where she is right now.
"Oh, thank you, all in a day's work, what," Venetia answered the guards blearily. And then they go forwards. Forwards and into the presence of -
THE MASTER!!
Am I taller than him? I thought he was seven feet tall and pissed gold and silver, Venetia thinks to herself, with a faint chuckle at her own good jokes as she stands upright. She has a certain creakiness which would benefit from someone immediately adjacent. Then...
Her brief mirth curdles when The Master addresses them regarding his property. Her mouth turns down into a mild frown, which is probably being much more strongly reflected in the eyes and forehead *except* they have lace and a little decorative spangle in front of them.
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
Xiumei is back in her civilian clothes. No armor, no bodysuit, no weapons of war. She looks tired; circles under her eyes, and she's been closing them behind her glasses when she had the chance. Now, though, she stays a little behind Eleanor Klein. She has a ledger clasped in her hand. Her eyes drift towards Noel and she nods.
When they get escorted up, she remains quiet.
She doesn't flinch at the Master's words -- she is used to being berated, and that means she is able to keep a placid smile on her face and go unblinking. Inwardly, she thinks that she doesn't really owe this man anything, but she doesn't dare say it.
She does fight a smile back, when Marivel answers him. Her head turns to Eleanor. She watches her, for a second, and then looks back at him.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Ashley is no longer a walking apocalypse barely constrained within the flimsy shell of a black and red kungfu bugman. Instead, he is just an everyday ordinary baker, who just got back from a ripply nightmare prism subspace full of far, FAR too many demons.
Just.
SO many demons.
And now he's here, listening to the man whose office he saved by punching meteors out of the sky complain about property that they had to disengage from a train trapped in said subspace in order to not be trapped forever in the void between worlds.
...
...
For some reason, the Master's face looks distinctly Irving-ish.
But it hasn't quite come to the point where Ashley is going to do anything about it, yet.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth spends most of the rest of the train ride as isolated as he can, powering down as much as he can, and running diagnostics and resets until he feels reasonably confident his operation is running smoothly again. The Emulator Zone was not his favorite place, and he'd like to stop picking fights with any more colors.
After that moment of 'rest', it's like nothing happened as he hums and hurries along in his usual, chipper way. But he's not rested. His battery took quite the drain. He won't need to worry about shutting off from for a while yet, at least.
When they have to meet 'authority' (hey, it's not one of his users), Azoth goes quiet and unassuming, trying to get a better read on how this is supposed to be handled. Seems even orders given to humans can run into unexpected consequences for the end user if they don't consider what someone's objectives truly are, or forget the orders explicitly given above all else.
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
Brad Evans is present.
This is as weird for him as it is anyone else. He keeps looking behind himself for antitime fissures or, like, bats.
The bats were the worst.
But he finds only a wall, this time. By rights he should be sleeping. Or at least, not in a high-stress environment. He is currently satisfied enough by being surrounded by a mere four-ish dimensions that he doesn't seem to care much.
In short: ARMS has brought in an extremely large man they did not have upon entry and that's probably fine. He has stolen somebody's water bottle, which he is nursing without much regard for propriety.
Marivel steps in to sooth the angry mayor so Brad determines he does not need to have his head removed.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
It has been an exhausting time for Clarine, but just the act of being here, back in natural light, back in a natural world, has helped Clarine recover considerably. It would be inaccurate to say she is relaxed - their mission is not technically done yet, after all - but she is at least doing better than she was, no doubt aided by the recent revelation of Brad's continued survival.
But as they arrive at the station the mood is... dour, so to speak. Clarine frowns, but follows along after the others as they are lead to the Master's office. She frowns a little at the harsh words and looks toward Marivel as she gives a measured response.
"...Are trains particularly valuable...?" Clarine asks, curious. "I am afraid I do not know what goes into their creation..."
She speaks knowing that the Master and those accompanying probably can't hear her, probably doesn't even know she exists aside from possibly as a name on ARMS' roster, so she can say pretty much whatever she likes.
She's not usually one to say rude things to those who can't hear her, though. She tries to be polite.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
All at once, the dimension had begun to come apart. Avril had of course immediately lent her aid to those who were fleeing the trap Odessa had set, making all good speed back to the train.
After that, things had briefly gotten a little bit dangerous, even by Drifter standards. But they had all escaped alive.
If without certain parts of the train.
This had, apparently, been the sticking point, if she is to understand what the Master is now saying.
She is silent at first as the Master berates them, eyes forward, hands clasped before her.
Then:
"Can the train cars not be replaced?" the young woman asks simply, seemingly ignorant of the position this man holds.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
They've seen better days.
The walk to the Master's office (temporarily, at least), has given Gwen enough time to make minor adjustments to her blouse and other clothing, making her look less like a ragged android fighter who had just escaped from a warfront in another dimension and more like a perfectly normal professional courier. .... who had just escaped from a warfront in another dimension.
Gwen notes the way her anger does not bubble to the forefront like it had a month or so ago, when Setanta's pride boiled all reason in tense spaces like these. But it is due to that same power that she turned on Ida.
So, seeing Ida stand so straight, lambasted, and Noel looking confused.
"If I may..." Gwen begins to volunteer, but wisely decides to quiet as Marivel speaks up, giving Marivel a nod of respect.
She doesn't regret it. Marivel's professional reply puts whatever apologetic reply she'd think up pale in comparison.
"Of course, we're coming at this from our limited knowledge of the situation. If there were some priceless artifacts in the back, I'd understand your anger a certain amount, as a courier. We placed the lives of the passengers first because they were the known quantity that could be easily moved, lighter and equally as irreplaceable. If this places your business at risk, perhaps there are some ways to turn this into a success of its own." She opens her arms, gesturing towards the Master. "But I feel I'm not entirely gettin' all the context here. But, I think, if we place all our minds together, I bet we can come to a better understanding."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
'Can the train cars not be replaced?'
The Master looks at Avril. His mouth falls open, his expression fluttering somewhere between astonishment and rage. He's about to say something when Marivel swoops in. As she speaks, tne anger starts to bleed out of his face. When she speaks of her 'failing', he looks a little satisfied, and seems to calm further.
Marivel is right. No one was informed of any property. No one was given a cargo manifest.
"Father, I don't believe you."
Noel steps forward, his expression almost a mirror image of the way his father looked earlier. "Isn't it enough that I'm alive? Isn't it enough that they did their jobs--even those who weren't part of ARMS, who weren't paid a single gella?" He glances over his shoulder at Azoth and Gwen and Avril. "If you're wondering who detached those train cars, it was me. Is that what you're upset about?"
Silence, for a long moment. Ida's stony facade cracks, and she takes a half-step closer to Noel, moving to flank him.
"You did what," says the Master. He rises to his full height, putting both hands on his borrowed desk. (Venetia may take solace in the fact he's at least an inch or two shorter than her.)
"I'm surprised you didn't know," Noel says. "But it isn't right that Lady Valeria should take the blame when I was the one who made that decision. If you know half of what you're implying you do, you should know why."
"Noel." The Master's face has twisted back into that look of carefully-schooled anger, though this time it's directed almost solely at his son. "You--no. Never mind. This is not the place."
"Listen to them, Father!" Noel says. "What was so valuable that you couldn't afford to tell them about it?"
Ida calmly reaches out and puts a hand on Noel's shoulder. It's equal parts protective and stilling. She's seen so little of this relationship, but she can tell that her relationship with her own father isn't a fraction as... tempestuous.
"Your Eminence," Ida says. "Both Lady Valeria and the best courier I know have offered to help secure the return of your property. I think it might be prudent to accept."
The Master is silent. He looks at Ida for a long moment, well aware she's protected him twice, now. "You remind me of your aunt," he says. "Very well, then. Lady Valeria, you will receive your manifest in due time. I trust you to use the utmost discretion. I had hoped that secrecy would be a shield, but I was wrong. Until then... thank you, for returning my son to me, alive."
And without another word, the Master slips through the side door, closing it behind him.
Noel sags, visibly. Ida has her arms around the young man's shoulders, supporting him, holding him. "I'm so sorry," she whispers.
"No, no--" Noel says. "This makes no sense. Was... was Odessa even interested in me?"
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel frowns as the Master starts turning his ire on his son. It is true this was Noah's choice, but well... Marivel sees herself as a teacher. And Noah shouldn't take punishment for making the right call either. If he is to be the future of Guild Galad...
"Well I wouldn't say they're inexpensive. I wouldn't say it's just a drop in the bucket for the Guild Galad Master here, but he's not exactly going to go out of business."
But Noah is right. A lot of this doesn't... make sense. If he cared this much about the cargo... But surely even if there were a bunch of dragon fossils in there, that wouldn't do it. Something bigger.
"Ngh...." Marivel mutters. "Those spy clones, that's what this is about I'm sure of it. Even if they don't have any more, having to deal with one has really put a crimp on the communication chain."
She looks to Noel. "You think they were after the cargo?" She thinks it over. "But there's softer targets--I'm sure they would've been happy to get rid of us, but this was a major operation. Headed up by Caina himself and a Brionac officer..." And she suspects there may have been something else as well.
"What are your thoughts, Noel? He wouldn't have to be secretive about typical weaponry or building materials."
She looks towards Venetia for a moment. Her gaze settles on the bandages around her neck.
"...He's not one of us, I promise." She tells her softly.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
When Xiumei looks at her, Eleanor can only glance back her way, and briefly--her attention needs to sta for the moment on the Master and on what's going on here. She does not think to start punching, unlike some. She's dealt with him before; his being angry and cryptic isn't new. However...
This is a bit beyond the pale, there. She doesn't really appreciate Marivel being made to lean on failure but she understands that sometimes dealing with big egos is like that. What he says about property, though...
He eventually leaves. Eleanor continues to watch him. He closes the doors behind him, and she lets out a breath, lips pressed together in that way that suggests that she wants to say something but isn't going to say it. Instead she looks over at Noel, and frowns, regarding the way he sags there.
Montgomery steps up from behind the group to stand near Noel, shaking his head. "The Master is known to act with... asymmetrical information structures," he decides is the most diplomatic way to say it. "Even before 'spy clones'."
Eleanor, meanwhile, looks to Venetia with some concern and then frowns thoughtfully as she turns to talk with the others. "I don't like it either," she admits.
But Monty to Clarine, "I can provide you with some literature on trains later, if you like. In the meantime, this train was apparently more valuable than you were told."
He frowns.
"We can't very well protect something if we don't know it's there--secrecy from us was--" Eleanor pauses. "...Well, I suppose I shouldn't say too much."
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
Xiumei frowns, as she watches the Master leave. She looks at Marivel, he reyes widening for a moment -- and then she shakes her head once. "I checked all of the manifests--" Of course she did. Xiumei is a clerk at heart; she triple checked each manifest, noted anything that seemed amiss, and had a ledger for reconciling it.
"I didn't see anything that stood out. Nothing you would want to lose, but nothing to warrant... ah." She glances at the door that the Master left from.
She is polite enough to not point out how he behaved.
She glances at Montgomery, then at Eleanor. She hesitates for a second. "We can't," she says. "That's not how these things work." She sighs. "What a mess... well, I hope that we can find some way to recover them."
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Well.
That could have gone much more badly, Ashley thinks. At least he said thank you for plucking his son out of the bowels of a psychedelic hell dimension... Even if the Master is being that special brand of infuriatingly secretive that makes Ashley occasionally want to suplex their collective blue-haired boss through a table.
"I can't believe he wouldn't at least tell us that there was something mission critical in those cars," the Musketeer breathes a long, frustrated sigh... Once he's out of earshot of the Master's surely super-keen hearing. "It's one thing to get mad at us for knowingly choosing between one objective and the other, but if it was that important, then..."
He shakes his head and looks to the ceiling for answers. Except for the minor discoloration of the plaster, you almost wouldn't be able to tell that there was a hole in that roof only a few weeks ago. "...How are we even going to recover them? They kind of got... lost in space. Not even normal between-Filgaia-and-Lunar space, but..." Ashley gestures vaguely into the air, "Bizarre demon space...!"
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
"Comfortable train cars can be expensive," Venetia answers Clarine quietly, "but ultimately it's a house you put on wheels, designed so it fits through the tunnels."
This is cross-talk because... well, she is from around here. Perhaps she does not want to holler at the Big Cheese, even if she is slightly taller than him, in all his cheesiness. Yet it is not a question of who is largest, or else Guild Galad would simply eat the other city states, Venetia thinks, before squeezing her eyes shut, then opening them again.
"... What was in that car?" Venetia asks, before looking at Marivel. Her jaw works just a little, but then she breathes out. "... I don't hold you responsible. Is he one of those, what did you say, the other ones? I read about them in the documents."
Venetia looks to Noel for a moment, then to Xiumei and Ashley. "... What, a disassembled Gear? I suppose that would be too large... Gear components?"
This has the air of wild guessing.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
It's an offer Gwen can't exactly do much towards, unfortunately. A courier, yes, but with a courier's budget, as well.
But maybe it helped a little.
"Noel," Gwen starts, looking towards the young boy. "...."
She looks away, walking towards the now empty desk.
"It's pretty telling... that a man would place his son as cover. Both to how valuable the cargo is to him, but, unfortunately, also that it's not the other way around--" She clears her throat. "I'm sorry, Noel. You'd expect more out of us adults. But, thing is, we're only seeing his reaction to lost cargo. Not to losing his son on top of that cargo."
She listens to everyone speak, frowning. ".... Sounds like somethin'...." She regards Noel there, and rubs the side of her head. "Soo... maybe... something.... that he'd rather not have anyone know?"
In other words, 'illegal as hell, sorry Noel, your dad's a bastard, it could be drugs for all anyone knows'.
"But it'd need to be something Odessa'd be interested in, too, so... huh. That cuts down on the possibilities, at least. Something he couldn't let people know about, but too valuable to allow it to be handled by just some hired hands who wouldn't ask questions, or to just lie n' say 'it's bags of rice'. Valuable enough that it'd mean involvin' Noel, just so we'd be extra interested in protectin' the train."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Avril asks much the same question Clarine does. She looks toward the master for his response, her frown deepening at that astonished look. She looks toward Marivel then as she explains - not inexpensive, but not enough to put him out of business - and a nod toward Venetia as she contributes, as well.
But the conversation seems to turn to one conclusion - whatever it was that drove the Master's anger, it had to be something beyond value.
She nods toward Montgomery, though, as he offers to provide some literature on trains.
"That would be... nice, thank you..." She replies. She did find them quite interesting - she wouldn't mind learning more about them.
But as for the matter at hand...
"Indeed... it would be easier if we knew what we were looking for." Clarine says. She looks toward Gwen, then, as she lays out some possibilities. "...I do not understand why he simply cannot tell us. I do not think I will ever understand the minds of those like him..."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Avril waits, almost expectantly, as the Master just about gapes at her. Ever so slightly, she shifts the positioning of her hands, waiting still for an answer--
Which comes more directly from the Master's son, Noel. She turns her head to regard him, a silent question plain on her face.
There is at best a sort of partial answer: something else was aboard, if Noel's question in that direction is to be any guide--
And then it's over with, the Master leaving the room.
"..."
She at last turns towards the others, her frowning. "Whatever was aboard the train, then? He would not speak of it to us. That is not how people usually behave." Her brow furrows. "Might it be... something which could be trouble if it were discovered?"
In other words, 'illegal as hell'. She and Gwen are on the same wavelength today.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth waves with his fingers when he's glanced to, overly chipper because doesn't have the right information to know why he should be afraid of the opinions of nobles.
Once Noel's father is gone, Azoth brings his hand to his chin with a curious string of chirp-beeps. "Pretty big error on his part to deliberately conceal a critical component of mission success. Granted... I don't think any of us saw that particular obstacle coming." He smiles at everyone. So many of them had looked stiff and uncomfortable before. "Still, a definite wetware error. Everyone did their best with the information they had!"
He smiles at Noel. "You made the most logical call. Unless there were people in that cargo, it still was."
As everyone discusses possible contents, Azoth rubs at his head in thought. "I'm worried that if it's because we knew, we'd have dumped it into the void ourselves whether it was necessary or not."
Venetia mentions Gear components and about all of Azoth's inner signals go off with attention. That he might actually want to look into...
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
Brad has transcended the human need for tact and very bluntly says, "It's not smuggling if it's the state doing it."
He slugs back his water. Then, because he's got experience with assessing and undermining tyrannical regimes, adds: "If he could at all pass it off as Gear parts he would have. Hell, men like that have excuses for just about anything. The fact he floundered to even describe it means..."
His eyes clear with a certain terrible focus. "Probably an Iscariot violation," he says, low.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
After an awkward moment or two, Noel returns Ida's hug. There's a familiar sort of clinginess there, one she's seen from scions of families who were less warm and open towards one another than hers. It's like he's hungry, in a way, for gentleness that isn't carefuly-sculpted to reduce vulnerability. For someone to listen. For someone to give him a hug and tell him he made the right call.
It takes her a moment to notice that Noel is crying, and trying desperately to stop the tears. He doesn't answer Marivel immediately--not until Montgomery steps in closer, and speaks up. He lets go of Ida, and Ida lets go of him. "It's just like him to do this," he says, more or less confirming what Eleanor's fiancee just said. "I--I've been in the Celesti territories these past few weeks. Father said it would do me good to take a tour of the company holdings there." A hic, a hitch of breath. "But he only involved you when I was set to return. No, you're... you're right, Lady Eleanor. You couldn't have been expected to protect something if you didn't know it existed."
Noel pulls out a monogrammed handkerchief, and blots his tears. "I... either they were, or it was a happy coincidence. I want to believe Father wouldn't endanger me..."
Ida rests a hand on Noel's shoulder, and squeezes. "...But you can't be sure," she says, finishing the thought. Her eyes have grown dark. She glances over at Xiumei. "Xiumei has a meticulous eye for detail. If it wasn't on the manifest, then..."
Possibilities are thrown out. A disassembled Gear. Gear components. At Azoth saying it was a 'wetware error', Noel blinks. "What's wetware?" he asks. It's a distraction from the darker, more likely possibility.
Something illegal. Brad puts a pin in it before Ida thinks of it herself, and her heart grows full with gratitude for whomever or whatever returned him from the dead. "A superweapon, then?" she says. "A Gear could qualify, if it was powerful enough. So could a great many Hyadean weapons, and those are scattered all over..."
For the first time in weeks, Ida feels Fafnir stirring within her. It's sudden, sharp--like when she knew Lombardia's name without prompting, and recognized Astrid. Something deeply important to him. It takes her by surprise. She wobbles to the side, letting go of Noel and bracing her right hand against the stationmaster's desk. Her eyes go unfocused.
"Ida?!" Noel cries, stepping forward to help her. She shakes her head.
"Just--just a moment, please," she says. Reflexive as the memory was, it was deeply insistent, and now that she thinks of it, she... saw something, when she'd checked the cargo holds for passengers, and found none.
Ida picks a pen and paper off the stationmaster's desk. "Xiumei," she says. She rolls up her sleeve, and the arm that was within it begins to change. It grows longer, more muscular--the skin color deepens ever-so-slightly, and red geometric markings trace from Ida's shoulder to her fingers. "I need you to tell me if you--" Ida is holding the pen in her left hand. She passes it to her right, grips it. Ever-so-slightly, she loosens that grip.
Noel stares, openmouthed.
Entirely independently, Ida's hand inscribes three Hyadean runes, ones she knows mean 'EXISTENTIAL DANGER'. "Did you see these on any of the crates? Especially ones that looked Hyadean?"
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
"It's possible," Xiumei says, with a glance at Venetia. She sighs. "But I don't think it was marked as such on the manifests..." She nods at Gwen's conclusion, then sighs. Something that Odessa would be interested in narrows it down -- and presents so many complications on its own merits.
"It could be," Xiumei says, with a glance at Azoth. "If it was something too dangerous.... ah, I don't know. It's hard to speculate."
She frowns, then nods at Brad's conclusion.
She looks at Ida -- and then she tilts her head. She sees the inscribed Hyadean runes -- she doesn't know what those mean -- and her brow furrows. "I... hm. I'm not sure if it was those exactly--it's not a language I speak. But... I think so. On a very small crate, of Hyadean design. It was with a group of salvaged Dragon Fossils, so it's likely that it was lumped in with those..."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel listens to the various thoughts of the party. Avril and Gwen point to Marivel's growing suspicion and Brad specifically calls it by line and verse. At this point, the telltale sign of Marivel's hand twitches and Marivel exhales out a long sigh.
"I see."
She turns to Noel. She sees the tears in his eyes and she gives him a smile. He's still a boy. A boy who needs the care and love of an adult, who needs proper mentors to steer this lad onto the right path.
Marivel approaches Noel and she too rests a hand on Noel's shoulder.
She looks him into the eyes, with a smile as gentle as the sunshine.
"Noel," Marivel says. "You did the right thing. You are strong of heart, clever, and a clean soul..."
She beams brightly, showing rows of fangs as the scarf slips. "So if you want me to eat your father alive..."
"I'll be happy to do that for you." Marivel says. "Superweapons like this killed most of the people I've grown to love so I'm very sore about this. It would be of great pleasure for me to feed him to the tormented souls that lie within me."
She lets that hang for a moment.
"But if you want to handle this yourself, I trust your ability to. It's important for leaders to take proper care of their nations so that there is stability and a hope for recovery for this realm."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Noel was worried about Ida. Marivel provides him with something else to be worried about. For a few moments, his eyes shine with unshed tears of gratitude, and then-- "N--no! Lady Valeria, s--surely you must-- Ida, are you..." Pause. "Ida?"
"Oh God," Ida whispers. Her eyes widen. "Those three characters--" She points to them, one after another, with the hand that is still hers. "Total destruction. Possibility. Negating authority up to and including the Quarter Knights themselves."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Something so dangerous," Ida continues, "That even the likes of Berserk and Alhazred never deployed it."
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
"I'm sorry, Wetware? Is that one of the towns out there?" Venetia asks Azoth.
"If it was just Gear frame reinforcement or something I doubt he would be that heated," Venetia speculates. She glances at Noel again with an obscure sort of sympathy, before continuing to think. "Guild Galad doesn't turn on Gears the same way Aveh or Kislev do."
Her lips quirk in a weird way as Brad cuts to the quick of the matter. "What, seriously? On a train with people on it? I don't think too highly of the man - please forgive me, Noel, I don't know him personally - but something like that would be ridiculous to put on a train unless you were absolutely certain it were completely inert. Like..."
Venetia trails off.
Because she spaced out for a moment. She grimaces when she realized it happened, and she breathes deeply, quickly, several times, before her focus returns to Ida and co. "Eh? Is this something they lost control of? What is it, exactly, then?" A moment passes, and Venetia keeps on speculatin': "Something useless for Filgaia?"
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Gwen has some very good points that Eleanor would have tried not to deliver. She winces slightly, when she says 'it's not the other way around', though it's not as if it's her fault that that seems to be true. And the matter of it being secret...
"Yes," Eleanor agrees, "There are many reasons to keep the cargo a secret but none of them are particularly encouraging." She looks to Azoth, and frowns thoughtfully. "Something we'd have dumped into the void ourselves... That's concerning even as an idea."
It's not smuggling if--Brad mentions his theory and Eleanor looks directly at him completely serious. But it's not with shock. "...You think..."
She can't actually rule it out. She wouldn't have suggested it herself, but it fits all the available data, and this troubles her. That tired look she had before comes back. "And of course in that case he couldn't tell us. Especially not with me and Irving..."
Xiumei recognized a particular rune--of course Xiumei would recognize everything she saw. Ida's change doesn't alarm Eleanor much, but Montgomery does watch impassively as he stands next to Noel.
Then again, he probably already saw a lot of this, didn't he?
Eleanor in the meantime steps closer to Noel herself, worrying in his direction. "I'm so sorry," she tells him too. "How..."
"How dare he," Eleanor murmurs, breathing in sharply and composing herself. Notably she does not actually say a single word against Marivel's offer to Noel. Ordinarily one might expect her to laugh it off, or to reassure him that she doesn't really mean it, but not this time.
Eleanor pauses then, and looks to Ida as she explains the characters. Finally she says, "Answer her seriously, Noel. She means it."
Then she continues staring right at Ida. "...Foolish, reckless, senseless--" Her hands curl at her sides. "...And he's really going to put this on a manifest for us to see. I doubt that somehow."
"But if we reveal it ourselves, then we risk the trust we've built up in other nations as well. Even so..."
"Frankly, the space between dimensions is the best place such a thing could be--It--"
Montgomery reaches out to put a hand on Eleanor's arm. "Eleanor," he says in a steadying tone of voice.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Wetware also earns a curious tilt of the head from Avril.
But her own question on the matter -- as others speak to the danger of the device that may (based on what Xiumei can recall and what Ida knows through her arm) have been aboard the train -- is rather more particular than others:
"What is... 'Iscariot'? How would one be violated?"
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
What were they transporting? What were they transporting? What is now currently stranded in the interstice between dimensions, floating and unretrievable in the void that none of them can access.
...The void that... none of them can access.
"...What if," Ashley says, hesitantly, due to the... extremely sensitive nature of just what it is that they were transporting. "What if killing us was just a bonus? What if the real reason they shifted the train into that space was because they knew that they could engineer a situation where the only way out was to abandon the cargo...?"
"Abandon it... in a place that only Caina could access?"
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
On the confusion of his word choice, Azoth waves his hand dismissively with a sheepish smile. "Oh, sorry. I guess that's not common slang. Don't worry about it -- I only meant... this is his fault."
Azoth wonders briefly if he would have counted as illegally smuggling a part of a superweapon. He also wonders, even more briefly, if the answer were 'no', how much that might offend the people who built him.
Then Ida wobbles, and Azoth's eyes flash as he looks toward her. Noel's already there to lend his support, thankfully. "Miss Ida?"
He looks over the runes with a tilt of his head, then wilts as the others discuss his meaning. One eye closed, Azoth mimics a wince. He glances to Eleanor with her final assessment about where such a thing would belong. It's not always fun being right.
And then Ashley says the next part he was thinking. "...And if they did kill us, they'd secure the cargo without needing any fancier tricks."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Brad says something that causes Clarine's head to tilt curiously to the side.
"What is an... 'Iscariot violation'?" Clarine asks. "I do not think I have heard this term before..."
From context, she can it's something... pretty bad. She looks toward Ida, then, as she takes this to mean 'a superweapon'. That puts some things into perspective, especially as Ida asks Xiumei a question, who answers to the positive.
...Total destruction.
"...Deceiver... Did he think he was clever, using us like this...?" Clarine utters, her tone cool. "Using his own kin to ensure that we would not look too closely at his contraband...""
The lights in the room flash angrily for a brief moment, but she quickly gets that back under control.
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
"Time like this...uncertainty, change," Brad says, staring down at his water with the same energy as an old vet looking for his youth at the bottom of his whiskey, "that's when the kind of men who become leaders get desperate. Guild Galad is built on the bones of a people who have a voice, now. Betcha the Master's none too pleased to hear it." ... He shakes his head. "Well, Odessa's not making that any more cozy."
He looks up at Ashley, and his face hardens. "....that...would be very like them. Damn."
He drinks more because he needs hydration to put up with Vinsfeld on the best of days, leaving others to explain Iscariot.
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
Venetia raises a hand. "Not long after the Day of Collapse, the surviving nations met in Arctica to discuss how to comport themselves and avoid, you know, the what, three? four? More? Major calamities that have wracked Filgaia. I'm not sure why it's named Iscariot, but in this case it's referring to very powerful weapons capable of causing massive casualties... lethal chemicals, a few other things. Anything that causes an explosion past a certain degree of explosive force, I think it's the equivalent of one hundred tons of trinitrotouline? I would have to check because it uses the old units, sharls and repsols and all that shit. Excuse me," she apologizes to Noel, for saying a cuss.
"Anyway, it's one of the foundations of international law," Venetia concludes.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"No? You don't want to handle it yourself? I've never eaten an entire an entire human, I probably shouldn't. Maybe just the tongue since he's made such poor use of it." Marivel says. "But I'll stop being cute."
"Your father violated the Treaty of Isacriot. That makes Guild Galad--"
Avril asks about the Treaty of Iscariot.
"The Treaty of Iscariot, Avril," Marivel explains. "Is a treaty sponsored by all nations from Filgaia beyond rogue ones like the Veruni, Solaris, and Shevat that bans Weapons of Mass Destruction. It came into effect around 50 years post collapse because Filgaia suffered like three or four apocalypses by that point which should tell you something that I've lost count of how many apocalypses that Filgaia has had. The weapon that turned Slayhelm to SALT? An Angel class weapon banned by the Treaty. Nuclear weapons? Banned by the treaty. Gears and golems? Well, they're on the lower end of the spectrum but the reason everybody thinks Aveh and Kislev deserve to wipe each other out and that'd be better for everyone? It's cause they're GLEEFULLY seeing how far they can stretch the treaty and outright ignoring its violations. It's simple in comprehension, but vast in scope."
"And now," Marivel looks to Noel. "Because of your pops, Odessa has a weapon even Quarter Knights needed permission to use."
She crosses her arms. "So," Marivel says. "Your father is a threat to this world. I will not allow him to run this country as he has any longer. Either I handle it, or you handle it. Whatever approach ensures your father never does this again I will accept but if Guild Galad violates the Treaty once more there won't be a Guild Galad anymore because I'm going to go full Dr. Sharon Wyatt here and raze it to the ground with Super Golems or something equally horrifying because I will not let this world be destroyed again by short sighted humans."
She takes in a deep breath and exhales it out slowly.
"So please, Noel. I'd rather not create several stages of hazards for heroes to battle through and eventually 'slay' me forcing me to my unnatural sleep for a couple hundred years. I'm counting on you."
She nods once to Venetia and leaves it at that.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"But I thought that's why Crimson Castle was the way it was?" Ashley asks towards Marivel, because he really doesn't want to think about what Vinsfeld Rhadamanthys has planned for yet another weapon of frankly unreasonable destructive power right now.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Seeing Ida write those symbols with the arm of Fafnir (she has to assume), Gwen's expression softens, remembering the soul she met on that plain of dreams.
It's a pleasant enough thought, before Brad brings up a word that makes the courier's expression go blank.
"'Unburden yourself from the trevails of the iscariot....'," Gwen mutters numbly under her breath, then, raising her voice, she says, more helpfully, ".... the world means betrayer, I think..."
She just flat out sits on the desk at this point.
"Speaking of that, if this was somethin' none of us knew, and he made sure no one else knew, not even his own servants... how'd Odessa know?" Her lips thin. "Sounds like we got ourselves an iscariot in these very woods, even."
Her gaze drifts, passing Noel, then going back, a guilty look on her face.
Walking over, She kneels to his height. "I'm real sorry, Noel. All of this stuff... I'm sure there's reasons why people do these things, but, it ain't something a kid needs to learn, especially as we're just assemblin' the pieces." She places her left hand on his shoulder, then looks up at Marivel, horrified. "C'mon, man! Let the kid have some room t'be a kid before you ask him to become a superhero or somethin'!"
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
"That's terrifying," Xiumei says, quietly.
If it seems understated -- well, it is -- but she looks down. Her eyes are on the floor; she closes them, lets out a sigh, and shakes her head. "...this is terrible," she concludes. "This isn't something that should be brought out into the world."
She looks up -- hesitates when she sees the way that Eleanor gets worked up -- and her heart sinks a little when Montgomery is the one to calm her. She glances downward, after that, and her eyes blink once.
"That... seems likely, Mister Winchester," she says, softly. "This is terrible. This is--" She looks at Marivel, and her mouth opens. Then, she closes it.
"M-Marivel... maybe we should... check in with Lord Irving, before we make threats like that."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's hand hovers above the paper for a moment. With no prompting whatsoever, it gets right back to writing, inscribing more Hyadean runes. Then it goes limp, the pen falling from its grasp to roll across the desk. Ida stares at them a moment. "...'Gull'? Not--not the animal. Part of a name. Part of something. Just as the box was part of--part of--"
He's trying. He's trying desperately to bridge the impassable gulf between them. That he's doing it at all is a change Ida did not expect, or plan for. As the second mind roils within her brain, she looks at Noel, who is still staring, growing more and more fearful with each passing second--
"A key," Ida croaks. "A failsafe. There are others. Ghh, you bloody dead bastard what did you people do--"
The strain vanishes from Ida's face. She looks at Noel, then follows his gaze to Marivel. She remembers how she felt when K.K. made a very similar threat. Both hands--hers, and Fafnir's--clench into tight fists. "He never wanted it to see the light of day," Ida whispers. "And I--we--will do whatever it takes..."
Noel is shaking. He is fourteen years old, and a woman he knows only as a scion of House Valeria is threatening to obliterate his home, and everyone in it, if this weapon--this weapon his father wanted--isn't stopped.
"I promise," Noel whispers.
Ida tries not to look at him and remember herself, shaking beneath a blanket as K.K. threatened to destroy everything she knew and loved.
"Marivel," Ida says. "This isn't just his responsibility."
The red lines trace their way up Ida's face. The eye contained within them doesn't change color, but the intent is there. "It's ours."
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
Venetia looks at Marivel with several slow blinks, like a bearcow that has just been informed by the Meria Bouletin that it is, in fact, a bearcow.
I suppose she was probably there, wasn't she, Venetia thinks.
Venetia also thinks: Did she just threaten to blow up my school?
Venetia, who is insanely tired and low on blood and also tremendously arrogant, thinks: No, she said raze it to the ground. Obviously. Upper levels at worst. Surely we could dig another tunnel if we had to. The strata to the northwest would probably come up somewhere in Sylvaland or something. Just have to...
...
Venetia bites her own lower lip which forces herself back awake.
"So we have to get back into that horrible Emu Paradise Zone thing, eh? To get at the trains? Tout suite, if at all possible?"
Now she speaks to Ida in a vague sense. "So there's more than one? Sounds like it'd be a good idea to get them all and break them down, eh? And maybe then we can restore the planetary ecological balance if we have some free time."
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
"...Yes," Eleanor answers Ashley and Azoth both. She doesn't know Azoth's concerns, of course. But she says then, "And that man didn't think it prudent to tell us what we were guarding!" Clarine mentions him using them--using Noel--and Eleanor feels much the same as the lights flicker.
"Marivel..."
Gwen brings up a point. How'd Odessa know? Eleanor frowns at that. There's a lot of frowning here. But the matter of responsibility...
"Yes," she says. "It is our responsibility." She looks to Xiumei, and hesitates, worrying in that direction, too.
"...It would seem that there's important things to be done away from the battlefront as well, in that case," Montgomery speaks up, looking to Eleanor for a moment. There's a conversation there between them, suggested by the next look, but Eleanor doesn't speak up about her end of the moment. Instead...
"We would need to find another way there. But that would seem to be one of our goals." To Venetia, of course. "But if there are these... others..."
She presses her lips together, and looks down. "There's a lot to be done."
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.
Brad, who still remembers his job in this organization, helpfully supplies, "She'll do it, though," when Marivel assures Noel she doesn't want to turn his house into Marivelvania.
This appears to be all he thinks he needs to do at the moment because he steps aside to refill his water, uh, somewhere off-screen.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Avril glances Clarine's way, smiling softly as the Seraph gives voice to a similar question as she.
But, 'Iscariot'...
It is the original sin of man to stand up for the dying world of the iscariot. So had said the man who had appeared in her dreams, deep in the prisons of Bevelle. It's the only context in which she knows the word. 'The iscariot'. She didn't understand then any more than she understands now.
Avril blinks slowly the once as if rousing rather suddenly from a daze and turns her head towards Venetia, who offers an explanation of a sort: a weapons ban, on a nation-wide scale. And to Marivel, who provides rather more context.
"...I see."
She clasps her hands hands together for a few moments, her gaze distant, troubled.
"And this is... an existential threat."
Her hands part from one another once more. She straightens, just that much; she breathes out. The presence in the back of her mind -- no, it would be more accurate to call it herself, the massed impression of her unconscious mind. That part of herself... feels a familiarity. With such a thing.
"In what manner, then?" She pauses, frowning ever so slightly. "If it were to be used as a weapon, what forms might it take?"
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"I think... at the very least, we need to give the Master the benefit of the doubt," Ashley says, hesitantly. There's an ache in his chest, a hunger that he can feel slavering at the very thought of allowing certitude to spew vitriol and vindication into his heart and soul. He takes in a breath to steady himself, then slowly shakes his head. "...Someone like the Master must be under a lot of stress, governing a place like Guild Galad basically all on his own. And we just saved him from an assassination threat, too. I can't imagine that he'd want a weapon like that with the intent to actually make use of it-- more like, he wanted it for security. To put his fears at ease."
"...Maybe Odessa had been planning exactly for this to happen when they went after him. Make him scared, knowing that we'd be there to step in and protect him. But if he thought that we wouldn't always be around to keep him and Guild Galad safe, then he probably thought he needed... insurance. Something to keep his people from harm, even without us around." To take advantage of people's fears and insecurities, even at the highest echelons of power-- that, too, is something Odessa would probably do.
"Or, at least," Ashley says, slowly fixing Noel with a reassuring look, "...I think he's someone who cares a lot for his home. And for the people living here. Someone who was just concerned about his own personal power... Would have just gone along with Odessa when they first came knocking."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Clarine doesn't lash out again - instead electing to fume silently as others explain the exact nature of the Treaty of Iscariot, and what it covers. It... doesn't make her feel any better, to be honest, but it is, at least, good to know the exact nature of the Master's crimes.
"Next time we meet with the Master... please let me know if there any any unkind things that you wish to say to him that you would rather he not hear. I will gladly do so for you." She says, her tone still cold... then pauses, then looks at Ashley. His words make her go quiet for a moment and she looks, briefly, sad, and perhaps a little ashamed. "...You have... much more faith in mortals than I, it seems..."
...It's reassuring, in a way - especially considering the power he holds.
"...But, you are correct. Perhaps... we should not so quickly assume ill will..." She murmurs, her tone softening. "...But even so, we must deal with the situation."
She looks toward Avril, then, as she asks a very good question - what kind of weapon is it, exactly? Clarine goes quiet, waiting to see if anyone knows.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Oh no, I haven't even made you guys jump over instant death spikes or thrown irregular floating medusa heads over bottomless pits. I'm not a monster," Marivel says, pauses, and then clarifies. "I am prosocial and strive to be a good member of the community."
Marivel looks to Gwen. "I'm not asking him to be a superhero, Gwen. Isn't it obvious?"
"He already is a superhero."
"I put this on him because he has proven to be capable of making the right decisions, because he has a strong heart and an unwavering will. I'd say he's more ready for this challenge than most so-called adults."
Ida says it isn't just Noel's responsibility. Marivel listens to her words and she says, "But his family is his responsibility." Marivel says. "And ensuring my family's sacrifice wasn't in vain is mine. Everythign else? Responsibility for the world? For these weapons? Sure, that is shared responsibility. But--"
Ashley puts forward that he only wanted the weapon as a deterrant.
"Of course he only wanted it as a deterrant!" Marivel says, throwing up her hands. "That's the problem. Mutually Assured Destruction! I don't need to tell you what happens when that's the endgame, Ashley. You've all seen the results of it in Celesti. You've heard of the results of it in Slayhelm. You see it happening in Ignas. This is not something that can just be allowed to slide because of good intentions. I'm not claiming he is some World Eater, but his choice is a danger to everyone's homes."
But it's Xiumei who actually gets Marivel to shut up but not for the reason Xiumei might think. Marivel is an ally of Valeria but he's not her boss in the same way as he is yours. She's a Dracula. She serves him for a reason. Two reasons. One is that it's House Valeria, and Marivel has always favored them ever since she met Anastasia. The other reason is...
"...Yes..." Marivel murmurs. "The world cannot afford Guild Galad's destruction anyway." She sighs, looking up to the sky. She imagines the threat approaching ever closer as this nonsense keeps getting in the way.
They thought Sin was bad, Marivel thinks. That destruction won't be confined to one or two nations.
"...Noel, I apologize for losing my cool and going full dracula on you. But I do trust you. If I've asked you to do more than you can, I'm sorry. But I believe I haven't and that you can get your house in order. And we..."
"...We'll handle the rest."
She looks towards Clarine for a moment and takes a moment to hold her hand. She gives it a soft squeeze.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Iscariot. Well, Azoth was built well before that. But... he was also torn apart. By someone. At some point. Before it? After...? Has humanity already decided someone like him shouldn't be permitted to exist as all he is?
Except, maybe, some of the worst parts of it.
Azoth feigns another wince. "Uh, what's a 'full Dr. Sharon Wyatt'? Does that involve super golems?" He has some off topic concerns and that just made them worse.
Ida continues on about keys, and Azoth would be getting deja vu if he were vulnerable to such glitches. But he doesn't actually know what that feels like! He frowns. "So it's not completely in their grasp...? Yet."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Oh well... Do you know what a 'mad scientist' is?" Marivel asks, distracted. "Wyatt was a mad AI specialist. Used to read her books. Clearly mental. Wonderful woman."
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth smiles at Marivel. "Ooh, I see. Thanks."
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
"Oh, like the Hetfield lady in Adelhyde," Venetia says. "Except historical, I assume."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Noel already is a superhero.
Marivel makes a good point, there.
Gwen smiles and nods. "I 'spose you're right. Just... he's just at that age where I wanna scoop him up and hug him for bein' so *good* and responsible and--" She clears her throat. "He's a young man who has impressive foresight."
Some things are better not voiced.
She glances towards Ida, then to her arm, as she steps over, placing a hand on Ida's shoulder, gently.
"Ashley's right." Gwen looks up. "Until we know better, let's just assume nothing. Whatever the Master intended? It doesn't change the facts. There's somethin' in Odessa's hands, and thanks to alla this?" She gestures to everyone, including Noel. "Now *we* know. And since we know, we can intervene. For all we know, he intended on storin' it away from Odessa to keep it from bein' used. We can't let our anger get the best of us, when we got a dimension t'bash all proper like." She taps her fists together. "N' I think I'm feelin' inspired enough to give it another try."
She glances at the group, their injuries, and remembers her own, which... likely will leave a nice calling card tomorrow morning, if likely before, once she manages to relax.
".... Later. Sorry, I kinda got swept up, eheh."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"What's stopping you?"
Marivel looks to Azoth and says, "No problem. Don't worry, you look pretty advanced. Person-like AI is so complicated I doubt most people could do anything to mess with you. They'd probably have to blunt force it and frantically add workarounds as your personality outgrew and adapted to any program limitations."
She pats Azoth on the arm twice reassuringly. "It'd be so much trouble I doubt anyobdy would try. But if they did, I'd eat their heart! You're just too cute to languish as a roboslave. Ga ha ha ha ha!"
EDITOR NOTE: Marivel Armitage is also a mad scientist.
Marivel nods simply to Venetia. "Perfect example.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"I'm not saying that he didn't make a mistake," Ashley answers Marivel with a slow shake of the head. "I know exactly what that kind of weaponry can do to Filgaia, and I think it was a downright stupid thing to try and bring that sort of thing into his control without telling the heavily armed group he specifically hired to protect the transport it was on about its presence. But if we wrote off everyone for making a stupid mistake because they were afraid, then we would be very, very alone."
"...The only thing that's different is the scale of power that the Master is able to wield. When he makes a dumb decision, the whole world feels it. But I don't want to condemn the man for doing something stupid out of fear."
He breathes a long sigh, then shrugs. "...Maybe it's stupid of me, too. But I'm okay with that."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"There is more than one failsafe," Ida says, to Venetia. "Multiple layers of security. If I were Mother, I would either want them at my disposal--or split amongst those loyal to me." Slowly, Ida's body returns to its original shape. She flexes the fingers of her right hand, and looks at Eleanor. "We need to find them before Odessa does. Destroy them, if possible. But you're right in that we're also dealing with a mole--perhaps it was Delvecchio, but until we know, I think we should assume it wasn't her--and that the mole is still out there."
Ashley speaks up. Both Ida and Noel turn to look at him. Ida is reminded why she is very glad to have him in the command structure. For all he scares her, he's a counterweight to the others' cynicism, as well as her own. A necessary one.
It's Noel, though, who first says his thoughts on the matter. "You could be right," he says. "I--I wish I could say that I knew my own father's heart, but in matters like this, he always said that I needed to be less curious."
And Marivel calls him a superhero. Noel is speechless for a moment. "...Dracula?" he whispers, fixating on the word he doesn't recognize, much like he did with Azoth. "But... But I'll do what I can. I have to. I have to be better than him."
"Noel," Ida says. "You don't have to be anything." God, she can practically feel the pressure on him, hear his psyche creaking as it bears up under that weight. Hers did. "Be you. Remember that."
The two meet each others' eyes. Noel nods, once--he doesn't get it, but Ida has faith that he will.
"You're right," Ida says, to Azoth. "And I--I'm sorry if I worried you. He had something urgent to convey, and I almost missed it because he did it... unexpectedly. I'll have to double-check with my other Hyadean contacts, and..."
Long pause. Ida looks almost as horrified as she did when Fafnir scrawled those runes. "...And introduce my dearest to my beloved family for the very first time. With less than two days to prepare."
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
"That's... true," Eleanor admits to Ashley's perspective. "But a man in his position has to understand that the very act of stockpiling such weaponry itself increases the danger the whole world is in." She relents though, shaking her head. "...I can see, though, the way Odessa could have taken advantage of that fear. How many steps ahead are they...?" Truthfully she has a lot of worry and feeling in common with Marivel here. Though she is not exactly planning to eat Guild Galad herself. She just gets it.
But Ashley... Well. "Maybe," Eleanor says. "But I do think it's important for someone to be inclined to mercy, somewhere. It's a voice that shouldn't be ignored." She smiles briefly at Noel. "You're a brave young man. I feel better about Guild Galad's future because of you." Multiple keys...
She sighs. "...I'm... very tired," she says suddenly. "I think now that we're done meting I want to go and sit down somewhere." A pause. "Good luck, Ida. We can... talk about it later."
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
"You're a kind hearted man, Winchester," Venetia says: "and I'm going to buy you lunch for it if you don't need to leave town promptly."
She smiles at Noel, benignly. (She has inferred that Dracula was some sort of Crimson Noble folk hero, like out of history.) "I know the feeling," she murmurs to Eleanor.
"I can't speculate on the motives of that horrible person," she tells Ida, "but I think I follow your reasoning."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Marivel takes one of Clarine's hands and gives it a soft squeeze. She relaxes a little at this, sending her a small, grateful smile.
Now, the task at hand is clear - they need to find the failsafes before Odessa does and do something about them. That is what's important right now.
She pauses, though, as Ida drops one final bombshell...!
"...Ah. You... have my deepest of condolences... I hope it goes well..." Clarine says. ...She doesn't know Ida's family or her partner, but from the way she says it... it sounds like it'll be quite the Thing.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth smiles at Marivel with relief. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I can't imagine I'd be worth the effort."
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa part 2
More of a depressed, sad current of resignation, really.
But she does have a point. His personality has been unaffected, and that's something to cling onto. (Which personality? Shh.)
He looks to Ashley. "I think the logic checks out, for what it's worth." Robot approved? One out of however many robots approve, anyway.
"I'm just glad you're all right," Azoth says to Ida. "And... thank you, for helping us." He means that for Fafnir, unsure if he'll be heard. But Ida's other problem gets him a blank blink. "Ah... But they'll be happy to finally meet him, right?"
The ancient war machine has some possibly innocent ideas about how anyone could possibly have issues with such matters of the heart.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"ghhhhhhhhhhhh...." Gwen looks like she's having an epic struggle with an unknown power. "Ashley, if you keep up with this, I'm hugging Noel *and* you!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"ghhhhhhhhhhhh...." Gwen looks like she's having an epic struggle with an unknown power. "Ashley, if you keep up with this, I'm hugging Noel *and* you!"
And then, glancing to Ida, Gwen says, softly, ".......... do you want me to ask Zed to train me that week? To, uh... help." Help distract Zed.
"Though, I mean, I'm sure it'll be all fine, Ida!" Now Gwen is trying to pat Ida on the shoulder, instead of trying to do it to soothe Fafnir.
She's likely to have as much success.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
For a moment, Ida looks at Gwen as though she were an angel sent by Granas Himself. "That would be lovely," she says. "If you were to ask him."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Not really. Anybody with the tech could just make their own robots. Baseless cruelty with no purpose." Marivel says.
She doesn't argue Ashley's kindness and isn't going to push it anymore. She does say, "Gwen, just hug them. You have the power."
She's staring expectantly.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
But before Montgomery goes after Eleanor, who leaves in short order, the tall elven man looks back at the others. He considers a particular question...
"As to what form it would take," he says to Avril, "It is hard to say. Such weapons have been made in many forms; some are obvious things of fire and destruction, and others... less so. There's a few histories that go into it that I could recommend."
He bows to ARMS. "...But I should go. This is no part of Guild Galad to go unescorted and tired."
He goes, too.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Ah. Of course Ida would take Gwen on her offer, made so carelessly. "Oh, right, yeah! Totally. I'll ask him!" She smiles. Totally will get on that.
She has the power. Gwen blinks, as Marivel reveals the Truth. ".... of course.... I could... I *do* have the power!" TO HUG.
Which she does, to Ashley and Noel, at the same time. "Ghhhhh you two are too precious for words!!"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida nods.
Noel, meanwhile, is swept up in a phenomenon he has never heard of, much less experienced, before today: a Gwen Hug. He lets out what can best be described as an adorable little squeak, and takes a good few seconds to regain his dignity.
He doesn't try to squirm free, though. This... isn't so bad.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Avril remains silent for a few moments more, then slowly inclines her head in a nod at Eleanor's answer to her question. "Such as... whatever happened in Slayheim, it seems."
Slayheim. She thinks she has heard of that name before. A disaster...? Something to look into, once she is able.