Session Start: Wed Nov 17 18:29:03 2010 <@Ked> [The Hunt] <@Ked> [Sunday, July 4, 2490 - 1610 local time] <@Ked> [Squeegee Hall basement] <@Ked> Carter is a girl of many confusing impulses, but one thing is for certain - she runs FAST, even with a load of heavy gear, easily outpacing the snowflakes on the mad dash out of the Lab basements and down the main tunnel road to the nearest unobstructed exit. Darrell, not so much - he's more built for power than speed, and falls behind quickly on the winding ramps. <@Ked> The magic is easy to feel now, zipping back and forth over your right shoulders as the team runs down the roadway. It feels angry, in some unquantifiable way. Squeegee provides the first exit, and everyone piles out of the access stairs into the basement physics labs, mostly abandoned on a Sunday afternoon. <@Ked> [resume session] Well, this is gonna go to hell fast. * Farah doesn't look all that winded, although she *does* look worried. * Sei is bringing up the rear, making sure nobody gets left behind. It's pretty clear he COULD be going faster, as he's not even breathing hard. * Carter still has her shotgun slung over her shoulder, web gear, breathing mask and mining lights giving her a very special-ops look for a high-school campus. She makes it look good, though. * Darrell collapses in the stairway. "Go on, I just need to catch my breath." Nuh-uh. *trying not to appreciate the view of Carter's retreating rear TOO much* ...take off the mask; it'll be easier to breathe. Not a good idea if that thing's still moving... but your call. * Darrell has it pushed up on top of his head. He sits on a step and pulls it all the way off. * Sei eyes the larger boy. "Don't make me carry you. We've gotta move." Dude, I think it went straight up out of the labs - we're probably safer here than going outside. Yeah, assuming ANOTHER one doesn't come. * Farah takes a break, doing a good job of ignoring the dart-ping sensation. * Jaimie is now known as LadySwarm * LordWind doesn't just respond to the silverdart alert; he sends a message to all the snowflakes; "What's going on? Trying to find it." Well, *I* want to see the fight! * Carter punches the elevator button. * LadySwarm is heading towards the magic sensation at the fastest speed she can maintain for long. * Sei taps a message for Hantsuki to send. [Earth monkey got possessed by a Silverdart. It's on its way to the surface.] * Farah makes a face, looking around more and more nervously. <@Ked> The elevator arrives quickly, and takes anyone who's going to ground level. The librarians at the front door are somewhat aghast at the tunneling team which barges through, though the stink is probably the main reason. * LadySwarm stops so fast she almost falls on her face when the implications of that message hit her. She barely seems to be breathing. "Oh, no..." After a moment of wide-eyed horror, she jolts back to the present and starts running again. * Farah, against her better judgement, goes up. She knows she reeks, and she knows she's in trouble, but she needs to be out there, just in case. [Where at? On my way soon as I know.] * Sei drags Darrell, carrying him as threatened if necessary, but they make it to the elevator, too. <@Ked> Wind and Swarm are coming from the dorms - Wind somewhat faster, of course - and can hear an odd commotion across the quad, past the fitness center, and near the sports field. <@Ked> Swarm blows by the Squeegee entrance just as the tunnelers emerge into daylight. * Sei winces inside his own mask, which he hasn't yet taken off, and says, "We should probably scatter before we're caught." * Sei dashes off in a random direction. ...I'm going back to the dorms. Let Lord Wind sort this one out. * LordWind goes to check out the commotion, and asks the nearest person as soon as he lands, "What's going on?" * Farah moves as well, since she needs to 'get away' from the others while also staying close enough to transform if need be. * Carter turns the corner towards the field and just keeps running, even outpacing Lady Swarm. * LadySwarm sees Carter zoom past her and yells with as much breath as she can muster while running, "Hey! Stay away from it!" * Sei ducks into a field, and behind some tall bushes. As soon as he's sure nobody can see him, he pulls out his fan and a column of water erupts from his hiding place. Lord Charybdis rides it out, flowing towards the disturbance in all his grey-and-black glory. * Sei is now known as LordCharybdis <@Ked> Wind grabs a random fleeing student, who points back past the grandstands to the playing field. "It's glowing!" * Farah takes a moment, looking around. "Fine.. crystallize." She is encased, light cuts into her being, and as piano plinking-meets-shattering glass sounds out, Lady Crystal moves onto the scene. * Farah is now known as LadyCrystal <@Ked> Swarm, Charybdis, and Crystal more or less converge about three hundred meters away from Lord Wind. They're close enough now to have a solid bearing on the alien magic. Nnnngh. * LadyCrystal mutters something foul, homing in on the signal. Poor thing... * LadySwarm glances aside at the two nearby snowflakes, but she's saving her breath for getting to the magic source as fast as she can. <@Ked> This magic is still slick and shiny, but this manifestation has an oddly grungy edge to it. * LordWind goes to get up close and personal. Whatever it is, Wind wants it focused on him and not the million innocent people nearby. * LadyCrystal grits her teeth a little more. "Don't like this..." * LadySwarm huffs, "When *do* we like this?" <@Ked> It looks like there was some sort of intramural or club soccer match in progress - uniformed players are still drifting off the edges of the field, and the grandstands contain some foolhardy sorts who have stayed to watch the unexpected magic fight. Lady Spoon is in the middle of the field, dressed in referee's colors, and a very small, bluish-orange-glowing monkey is flying around and around her, making an awful laughing screech. * LordWind blinks. "Uh." * LadySpoon has Spoon in hand, but appears to be getting dizzy trying to track her opponent. * LadySpoon catches a glimpse of John as she rotates. "Wind? A little HELP, here?" <@Ked> (let's retcon John's catching attempt before the others pull up to help) Workin' on it! * LordWind reaches out - and controlled wind goes out and carries the nearby soccer net to interpose the monkeys orbit. C'mon, please be easy. * GlowyMonkey comes to a dead halt in midair, eyeing the net, and then seemingly tracing the magic holding it back to that teenage boy. It grabs a hunk of something out of... somewhere, and hurls it at Lord Wind. <@Ked> John suddenly finds his face and one arm covered in slightly-liquid, glowing monkey shit. * LadyCrystal pauses... and can't help but laugh a little. * LadySwarm slows up a short distance from Lady Spoon. She holds out her hand, palm-up, and her rod falls into it with an audible *smack*. * LordWind blinks, looks down, and cautiously sniffs. "What. The. Hell." ...eeeeeeeeeeww. * LadyCrystal closes in, and doesn't know what to think about being... uh... biologically attacked. "Ew." * LadySpoon backs up a few steps, bringing The Spoon to high guard. * LadySwarm skids to a stop a short distance from Wind and Spoon. "Yuck...at least it doesn't burn?" ...they really DO that? * LadySwarm makes a face. "Looks like." * LadySwarm holds out her hand, palm-up, and her rod falls into it with an audible *smack*. She must've stowed it to run. * GlowyMonkey bares its teeny tiny teeth at the gang of nasty hostile large things and gathers another handful of... goo. ...uh, I'm afraid to ask, but where the FUCK did the monkey come from? * LordWind lets the net drop, and slowly, calmly takes off his Lordly jacket, revealing a short-sleeved white shirt underneath. VERY GOOD QUESTION! Let's hope it doesn't suffer like the others! * LadySwarm shrugs, watching the monkey warily. "No idea." * LadyCrystal looks at Chary for a second, then back at the monkey. "Heads up!" * LordWind then uses the jacket to clean off his face - as soon as the deed is done, a miniature tornado roars into existence around him. * LadySpoon reaches out very, very delicately with The Spoon, offering the critter somewhere to land and perch. Has anyone called Lady Turbulence yet? * LadySwarm looks around, preparing to do just that if it seems no one has. * LordWind says, very calmly, "I need a very strong excuse to not lay this damned monkey out. And it better be soon." The general alert is out, but I think Acne's the nearest one. And she's probably not going- oh, come on, come to Spoony... * GlowyMonkey decides that poo-flinging is the better part of valor and hurls more at Lady Spoon. Who dodges calmly. * LadySwarm frowns over at Wind. "We might actually be able to avoid killing this one. And then one of the scientist-Ladies could get a look at it, and we might learn something about this magic." Well, we could at least know what's going on... and this is an Earth species. Does this mean they can hop into people? * LadySwarm swallows. "I hope not." What do monkeys li- uh- oh boy. * LordCharybdis washes forward, talking in a kind but loud voice, "Here, little monkey... it's okay..." * LordWind is oriented at the monkey - it's hard to tell exactly what he's doing inside it, but the magic is building slowly. Wind! You can't attack it just because it acted like a monkey! We need to keep it alive! I'm not going to kill it. Merely hurt it into unconsciousness. Yeah, how well did that work the last couple times?! ...you know, if he could do that... Leave off! It's worth a try, at least. Let's TRY while it's not mad enough to fight? If we're going to try to incapacitate it, use Sea Witch's Curse. * LordCharybdis swallows, and nods. "Okay." We know that'll work right off without hurting it at all. * GlowyMonkey chitters hostility at the advancing Charybdis and backs up - literally upwards - a few meters. * LordCharybdis points the trident at the monkey. "Sea Witch's Curse!" The golden light washes up the shaft and out to try to envelope the chimp... * LordWind says softly, the magic still slowly building up, "Better beat me to it, then." Oh boy, here we go... * LadyCrystal tenses, waiting for the other shoe to drop. * LadySwarm actually looks angry, but she grinds her teeth and waits, clenching her rod. The motes around it are spinning, spinning, spinning. * GlowyMonkey is totally surprised by the attack, or at least that's its expression, but the golden light of Charybdis's magic *bounces* off of a sudden shell of orange light and rebounds straight back at him! Eep! * LordCharybdis cringes behind his black trident, which...absorbs the attack just like it emitted it before. "...that...never seems to work." * LadySwarm catches her breath, then releases it again as Charybdis doesn't get transformed into a random sea creature. It looks to have some kinda defense... and I bet it's officially not happy with us now. * GlowyMonkey shoots straight up into the air and its eyes begin to glow, giving just a split second of warning before bluish eyebeam lasers seem to stab back towards Charybdis. What..? Yeah. Oh heck - Yah! *reflexively shoves backwards, his water column snaking vertically with him atop it* * LordCharybdis is blasted off of the top of the column, and slaps wetly into the grass below. The water collapses without him inside it, drenching the nearby ground. "AAAAHHHHH!" he yells, curling tentacles and body around the wounds in pain. "OWowowowowOW! Fffffff... so much for the peaceful route. Dammit it's just a--owwwww--a baby! * LordWind 's finally lets loose what he was building up - the magic explodes, and so does the cry of "AEROCRUSH STORM!" Immediately after it comes out, he takes a hearty step to the side. A baby that half-killed you! Use some common sense! Se- ...Lord Wind! I'-- *hisss* I'll be fine! * LadySpoon has a sudden panic attack over a student possibly getting killed. * LordCharybdis 's two flopping-over-there tentacles might disagree. Charybdis, call out your...turtle! Get it to heal you! I don't thi-think th-the girls like me that much! Yeah, but the turtle does, and they do what he asks, right? * GlowyMonkey is suddenly blasted by the unseen wind, and is sent hurtling far into the air leaving a stinky trail of excrement vapor behind. Just DO IT, Charybdis. O--kay. <@Ked> The little creature traces a ballistic arc, eventually falling to the ground somewhere beyond the far sideline. * LordCharybdis slowly gathers the water up around himself again, and that drum- and-wind-instrument music starts to play. Chary, stay back and take care of yourself. I think it'll safely forget about you, so get patched up. I'll be FINE! *angry* I'm not backing off! * LadySpoon looks back as the alien magic goes flying, and decides that the Lord can fix himself. Go get it! Well, we're advancing! C'mon, girls, lets check it out. * LadySwarm snorts softly at Charybdis. "We know. And someone else might need that healing soon." * LadySwarm jogs off after the glowing monkey. * LordWind starts walking to the impact site. o/~ Dete-o! Ku-re! dete-o! Ku-re! Watakushitachi no... o/~ * LadySpoon sprints across the field, only slowing for the last meter or two of approach. * LordWind breaks into a short air dash to make up speed, keeping pace with the lead. * GlowyMonkey is still glowing, but is very obviously unconscious, sprawled in a twisted heap under the visiting-team bench. * LadySwarm looks down at the monkey, frowning. "I can stow it while it's still unconscious." Let's hope the healing rocks work on it. Swarm, can you tie it down with some of the bench pieces? * LadySwarm shakes her head. "It'd just laser through them, wouldn't it?" * LordCharybdis comes flowing forth, already looking much better as the girls on his shoulders scold him for his intemperate and ill-considered actions. Shimatama floats cheerfully in the water column, and waves at the others. If it's that flexible. ...is it okay? Worth a try. If nothing else, it gives me something that's not it to teke still. It's unconscious. If we just want to trap it... * LadySwarm looks over at Lady Spoon. * LordCharybdis 's tentacles have re-attached themselves. Nami, the tiny maiden in the red miko outfit, goes watery-eyed. "Awwww! It's so CUTE!" Nice. Well, better that we don't, you know, have to worry about it killing us, and if we can finally figure out how they do this... * LadySpoon lays the bowl of her Spoon down over the monkey, then sits on the handle. ... it flings glowing shit. It is not cute. Heh. That works. * LordWind lets the winds surrounding him die down now that it's ovally covered up. * LordCharybdis sighs as Mizu, the blue miko, hmfs. "It's almost as ill-mannered as Charybdis, then?" Hey! I need a long, hot bath. * Carter rumbles up, finally out of breath, and levels her shotgun at the turf near the monkey. * LadySwarm darts a look at the blue-clad girl. "Charybdis doesn't throw poo at people that upset him. Or laser them." ...woah, woah...what's that for? * LordCharybdis eyes the gun and Carter. * LadySpoon blinks. "That's a new look for this campus, Carter. Who let you into the armory?" * LadyCrystal looks over at Carter. "Nice sentiment, but it's handled. Bye." We, uh, armory? And WHERE DID THE MONKEY COME FROM? * LadyCrystal keeps her mouth shut. No need to give Carter the means to connect dots. * LordWind makes a face. There's an abandoned lab about ten meters straight down from here. Didn't you know? Still doesn't explain how the monkeys got there in the first place... Oh. Uh, I think they were in one of Acne's secret deliveries. And I guess I knew there was a lab but... ... * LadySpoon looks at Carter again. "Tunneling?" They should've taken the monkeys with them when they left. ... this one is definitely more deadly than the others. * Carter nods and smiles. It is? You saw the beams from its eyes. You *felt* the beams from its eyes. That *looked* painful. Can't imagine how it felt. * LordCharybdis winces. "Um, Nami? Mizu? Could you...?" They roll their eyes. "Baby," they say, as they hold hands up near the remaining burn near the bottom of his rib cage. And it reflected your attack. Painful. But...well, I didn't get hit by any of the others, so I don't really have a basis of comparison. It seemed...a lot more angry from the beginning, too. Oh, well, the end of the epidemic was chaotic as hell. There's weird shit in half of the Q-zones. I just thought this one got cleaned better. * LadyAcne rolls up in an actual gasoline-powered ambulance and sprints to the collection of young MG's. Burning sucks. All you need to know. Nami, Mizu, once you're done with him, can you focus on the actual baby? There's this thing where they, cellularly degenerate because of the magic, so if you can try and counteract that, we'd appreciate it. I'm all wet. I don't burn easy. No, no, don't heal it! Of course! Come on, Miz--why not? Yeah, hwy not? What? Because then it might wake up and start trying to kill us again. * LadySpoon carefully lifts The Spoon so Acne cab see ut, Yeah, that. Noted. * LadyAcne snaps her fingers at a paramedic, and he hands her a big case of medicines. She chooses a vial and a syringe, and quickly injects the little guy. This is just a baby... but I guess he'll end up a lab animal after all. Poor guy... NOW can we heal him? So long as we get some answers, and a leg up. * LadySwarm shakes her head and sighs. "Not much we can do about it. And Crystal's right, we need to know more about these things." ...it's got a magic healing factor. It's going to be all we can do to control it. Spoon, on the net and get us a couple of heavy hitters for containment. Uh. Okay... So, uh, this one won't burn out on it's own? I'll have to get it in the FASMRI box to find out. * LadySwarm blinks. "How do you know it can heal itself?" Good question. IT *is* the first earth creature turned... The bruising is fading as we're watching. And the puncture mark *waves the syringe* healed in five seconds. * LadySpoon pulls out her EI and wanders off a few meters. . . . It seems to be handling it better than the other animals. Huh. * Carter takes this opportunity to slink sideways away from the authority figures. So, um, Carter? Shouldn't you have been seeking cover or som-- *trails off and lets her slink away* Maybe because it's more complex? * LadyCrystal rubs her chin. "... troubling." Well, it's metaphysically larger, at least. Closer to sentient than, say, a peepmouse. Would make sense. Will probably still burn out, though. We'll just have to see. So, a human could handle these ... powers without overloading? * LordWind frowns. Acne, do you want Turbulence? It's hard to - hell yes! - hard to say. We've never actually been able to track emergent magics before. I do not want to think about a person ridden by a dart. At all. * LordCharybdis 's little turtle is sitting on the ground near the creature, looking at it. It squeaks, and Nami says, "Shimatama-sama says that he would like to help watch over it." The turtle squeaks again, and Mizu adds, "He also volunteers his back as a research base, isolated from the rest of the world, if you wish." The darts are picking better things. We have to consider the possibility. Uh. Thank him for the offer, but we'll get farther in my lab. He says he understands. He would like to help however he can. We would, too. * LadySpoon grimaces angrily at her EI. "Come on, your grace, we need someone better than Lemon. You do not want this thing to get loose." * LadyAcne signals to the paras once more, and they trot over with a stretcher. Is Football not giving anyone tough? * LordCharybdis boggles. "Is she talking to Duchess Football?" Probably. Her grace still controls Hierarchy assignments here. Look, thanks for the offer, but why don't you all come by the Zone 11 labs tomorrow afternoon? I doubt there'll be much you can do, but all of you deserve to see what we turn up. * LadySwarm nods. "Thanks." Oh, okay, Bubble will work. Okay. We'll be there. Thank you, Acne. * LadyAcne transfers the monkey - still glowing! - to the stretcher and the medical team moves away with it very, very carefully. Don't thank me yet. * LadySpoon puts away the EI, then makes a face. Issues, ma'am? What's the matter, she says, why didn't you kill it? We'll thank you if we want to. *winks, obscuring his respect with mock-obnoxiousness* ... ...if she wants to know, I'll be happy to tell her. * LadyCrystal sighs. "She's definitely the direct sort." * LordCharybdis mutters something about earplugs. * LadySwarm blinks. * LadySpoon looks after Lady Acne, and kneads her forehead. "She is that. Well, I suppose there's a place for it." Mind if I come with? ... after I get a shower in, anyways. * LordCharybdis holds a ball of water over Wind's head. "I could hasten that shower if you want," he offers, no malice in his voice. I'll pass. I want to get clean, not just wet. Tomorrow, Lord Wind. Tomorrow. <@Ked> The ambulance rolls off. Hm. I can only help with 'clean' on your clothes. Sorry! * LordCharybdis retracts the water ball to his column. * LadyCrystal takes a breath. "That went much better than expected." * LadySwarm nods. Ah, well. At least she's less an- ah, never mind. * LadySpoon looks around. "Um. Did I really see a student with a firearm?" ...I'm glad we didn't have to kill it. * LadySwarm looks distressed, remembering previous encounters. Yeah. This turned out about as well as it could have. * LadySpitterwing unblends sheepishly, looking as though she just now made it in. Which may or may not have been the case. * LadySpoon goes in search of someone. Or maybe an RA. The RA's don't count as people, do they? Carter's fucked. * LadySwarm winces. * LadyCrystal chuckles. "I wouldn't be surprised if she were dragged out and paddled for this or something. Bad mental image, but at this point, I wouldn't put anything past Spoon and the RAs." * LadySpitterwing looks a lot less sheepish once Lady Spoon walks off. * LordCharybdis sighs. Uhh, I hope not. Maybe she can get rid of it before she gets caught. There's nothing wrong with firearms if you know how to use 'em. I mean, I'm pretty sure this *hefts his trident* is more dangerous. * LadySpitterwing looks around for the Carter in question. Is she still within earshot? Yeah, Chary, but you can't just go into town and buy one of those. Actually... Hantsuki? Send her a warning? * Carter is once more well-hidden. And having a gun in a private school when you're a student is asking for it. <@Ked> Hantsuki reminds Charybdis that Carter is off the grid this weekend for her other bit of mischief. Yeah, well...I do wonder why she ran up here after it though. Although I guess I shouldn't, I mean, it *is* Carter. * LadySwarm shakes her head. "She ran right past me. I told her not to go near it..." ...oh, right. I'm going to have to ask her later. If she hasn't been eaten by Spoon and the RAs. Sure, just tell her who you are, too. *rolls eyes* ...um, I'll transform, first? <@Ked> [end session]