People you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley

[Fatebreaker]

As she took the coin, from the Stranger's Shade, he grinned widely. 

"You'll do, Little Lita, you'll do." He turned and walked towards the door, stopping to look back at her. 

"Remember that this is bigger than anything else. It's bigger than people, guilds, wars; this is the pursuit of Secrets. This is Science. Keep it as your compass, and the Alleys will truly accept you." The door opened on it's own and he walked into the hallway.

"Tell Mac I said hi. He's been dealing with a lot lately and the real me hasn't visited in quite some time. Tell Laurelai that I appreciate her recent work in the Records, that's no easy task." He turned and gave her one last smile as the door slowly closed.

"And enjoy your cookie while it's warm."

[+ElephantEarwax]

Spoiler

Nobody mentions the elephant in the room

I couldn't help myself... Im back for a day.

[+ZincAboutIt]

Lita watched the door close slowly, then eyed the cookie on the table. She picked it up - it was still warm, and the center felt soft. She sniffed it tentatively; it smelled amazing.

Hell, she thought, then shrugged and bit into it tentatively. The sound that escaped her mouth edged precariously close to obscenity, and any earlier caution was thrown to the wind. Lita's newest and most crucial objective was to cram as much of the cookie into her mouth as possible, chewing with reverence.

It was only after she had licked the crumbs off her fingers that something prickled in the back of her mind. Lita looked down at the coin in her hand, then crossed the room and opened the door, looking up and down the Alley outside. It was empty, of course. She closed the door and went to boil some more water for tea. As she waited, she flipped the coin, watching as the golden scales spun in the air. That uneasy feeling persisted, nettling her. It wasn't until she was back at the table, ready to tap the Alleycant medallion again, that it hit her.

My name, she realized with a shiver. Lita looked at the golden coin lying on the table. I never actually told him my name.

[Voidus]

Voidus shifted, his tired expression became stern as he stared at a corner of his office. Sudiov had been making more attempts at incursions in the Alleys themselves recently, likely not expecting any of them to work but even so it kept Voidus busy dealing with them. If any changes to some of their experiments were to occur it could set back decades of a Denizens research.

But this wasn't Sudiov, this was something different.

A feeling.

As a man of science, Voidus rarely relied on gut feelings or instincts, but there was something different about this one, it felt real like one of the Strangers hunches that he'd pitched while they were both exhausted after a long series of experiments, the hunches that almost universally turned out to be correct. Voidus hadn't had many hunches like that himself but he guessed that this was what it felt like.

Somehow, he knew that there were a number of dangerous figures in the Alleyverse. Dangerous in a different way than most. Beings that needed to be eliminated.

He swivelled around in his chair, seeming to peer through the walls that surrounded him to several more distant locations.

He'd need to start with the one the Ghostbloods had held captive.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Laurelai rubbed at her eyes as she closed the last record, SPI-4823 had been an interesting read but not important to what she needed. The questions that loomed at the back of her mind still itched at her, driving her to seek more information. But there was a time and a place for everything, and she had other places to be right now.

She returned the pile of records to storage, nodded to the denizens nearby and began making her way out. Even with the use of a Bronzemind medallion, she still hated pulling all-nighters like this, decades of experience told her that it was ultimately less useful than maintaining a consistent pace and allowing her mind to rest properly in between study-sessions.

She Alleytravelled back to her own quarters first, making a jug of coffee and pouring out one cup for herself. Then checking up on various notes that had arrived in her absence as she drank it. It seemed that a number of Denizens had mobilized last night, heading out to assist some church out beyond the city walls.

Must have been the field agents. They're the only ones who are free enough to do something like that on a whim.

She took note of the reports, devoting them to memory before burning them. She'd need to follow up on some of them later, and see what the outcome of the matters at the church had been.

But for now, she headed towards one of her hallways, jug of coffee in one hand, and a pair of cups in the other. Using the hallways as the starting point she Alleytravelled once more, almost losing some of the coffee in the frozen slopes of Alley 2378, before eventually arriving outside the pale-blue doors to Lita's quarters.

She knocked briskly on the door, a professional knock, though her full arms made it a little awkward.

"It's Laurelai!" She called out. "I've brought coffee."

[+ZincAboutIt]

4 minutes ago, Voidus said:

"It's Laurelai!" She called out. "I've brought coffee."

Lita jerked awake, peeling her cheek off the table. The Alleycant medallion was still strapped to her arm, but the pen had rolled off the table to who-knew-where. She stood, blearily rubbing one eye, and slid the gold coin off the table, flipping it absently as she crossed to the door and opened it.

"Good...morning?" Lita said, pulling the door open wider as she saw Laurelai had her hands full. The smell of coffee wafted in ahead of her. "Is it morning?"

[Fatebreaker]

A faint voice could be heard echoing down the Alleys 

“Did we get mornings back?!?!?”

[Voidus]

 "Is it morning?" Lita asked as she opened the door, looking like she'd just woken up. There was an imprint on her cheek, as though she'd been lying on some solid surface for an extended period of time.

Laurelai smiled when she saw the other woman then stopped at her question, looking up at the sky. Was this one of the Alleys that had a diurnal cycle?

A dark roiling mass of gray met her gaze as she looked upwards, they seemed to momentarily form shapes but broke apart before any definite shape could be determined. The view held her attention for a few moments before she frowned and looked back towards Lita.

"Technically not it seems." She replied. "Excellent point. But it's morning in Alleycity at the moment."

“Did we get mornings back?!?!?” Another voice cried out from the distance.

Laurelai debated whether or not she should reply, there had been that one time that she'd replied to a vague voice in the distance that turned out to be one of the escaped Eldritch horrors that had tried to devour her existence. She decided to ignore this one to be safe.

"Ready for what the new day bring?" She asked Lita "Or do we need some motivation to get started?"

She shook the coffee pot invitingly

[+ZincAboutIt]

6 minutes ago, Voidus said:

"Ready for what the new day bring?" She asked Lita "Or do we need some motivation to get started?"

She shook the coffee pot invitingly

Lita pointed a finger at the coffee pot. "Definitely some motivation," she said, walking over to the small kitchen and getting a clean mug. She whisked the dirty cup of tea off the table and scrubbed the tiny spot of her own drool off the tabletop as well. No need to out herself as a slob so early in the game.

"Someone came by while you were away," Lita said, meeting Laurelai back in the main room. "Someone important, I think. He seemed very important, anyway. Either that or my hallucinations are beginning to produce coins." She held up the gold coin to Laurelai.

"Said his name was 'the Stranger,' and he told me to tell you that..." Lita squinted, thinking back to the odd dream-like conversation, "that he... appreciated your work in the records department, that was it. Anyway, he walked right through the door. Just about scared the wits out of me, actually."

[Voidus]

Laurelai poured herself a second cup along with one for Lita, still a little too hot to sip straight away she set it to one side as she listened.

"A stranger walked through your door? Or one of the actual Strangers? Did it have weird kind of black pits instead of eyes?"

Why would one of the Strangers be here, and how would she have noticed it if it did? I've never seen one before anyway. Wait did she say a Stranger? Or...

"Did you mean to say a stranger? Like someone you didn't know? Or did he actually introduce himself as..."

Laurelai trailed off, her eyes became unfocused as she thought the matter through. If the Stranger was back that was big news, the head of R&D had been gone for a long time, since well before she'd joined the Dark Alleys. Before she'd been born even. Should she report this? Who to? Mac? Someone in R&D? Voidus himself?

She shivered and took a deep breath, her hand relaxed from where it had been nervously gripping and twisting the hem of her dress, she started smoothing it back out.

"Did he say The Stranger?" She asked again.

[+ZincAboutIt]

Lita watched Laurelai's face carefully, holding her cup of coffee gingerly. It was hot.

Probably should turn off the tin, she thought absently. She'd been burning it all night, it seemed. Not good.

At her mention of The Stranger, the blonde woman seemed confused, then apprehensive, then downright anxious. Lita watched her twist the edge of her dress. Well, it seemed like this Stranger fellow was as important as he'd made himself out to be, if Laurelai's reaction was to be believed. Lita doubted she was faking - she was usually so unruffled and cool.

Lita took a tentative sip of the coffee, hissing as the heat of it seared her tongue. "Rusting hells," she swore quietly, glaring into the cup. She cleared her throat. "Yes, he called himself  'The Stranger.' Or, some kind of... shadow? He was real, but not..." 

Lita started flipping the coin again. "He must have been real enough, though. He gave me this." She caught it mid-flip, looking at the image of the balanced scales, recalling the other images that had cycled across the face of the coin: the world, the spiked skull, the sun. "He had a spike through one eye, real old-school. His other eye was...odd."

[Voidus]

"Rusting hells." Laurelai echoed.

What did this mean? Was the Stranger really back? And if so why hadn't anyone else heard about it yet? There were too many questions and too little information. She unconsciously cluthed at her dress once more as her eyes darted rapidly around the room, unfocussed but contemplating.

"We'll have to tell someone I suppose." She sighed, sliding her spanreed pen out. "But what to say..."

Suddenly she looked directly at Lita.

"Actually, I suppose this is good practice. Care to take a shot at it? We'll need to let Mac know at the least. I'm honestly not sure who else we should report this to."

[+ZincAboutIt]

It took Lita a moment to figure out what Laurelai was talking about. The pen, you moron. She set down the coffee cup and ducked under the table, feeling around for the pen; it was lurking behind one of the chair legs. 

"So what do I tell him?" Lita said, straightening back up, spanreed pen in hand. She'd tapped almost all of the Alleycant medallion and figured she could send a message, but the prospect of sending such sensitive news herself made her nervous. "'Good morning sir, hope you're well. Hate to bother you but the somewhat-real manifestation of an ancient missing demi-god visited me while I was having a cuppa. Regards, Lita.'"

She giggled, the sound coming out a bit more strangled and high than she had intended. Reflexively, she reached for the coffee, extinguishing her tin and filling her brassmind. The temperature instantly started to moderate, and she sipped gratefully, uncaring that the caffeine would likely make her more nervous.

 

[Voidus]

Laurelai cracked a smile as Lita spoke. It would definitely be amusing to see Mac when he received a message like that, but at the same time she knew he'd been busy with something recently, best not to put more stress on him than he needed.

"Something simple perhaps." She said. "Along the lines of 'I met with an entity that called itself the Stranger, though this is currently unconfirmed.' Simple is usually best."

Laurelai ran her hands through her hair for a moment before pausing to rub at her temples. More stress was not something she needed today. Who knew what would happen because of this? Would the structure of R&D change? It already changed pretty much every other week anyway, but it could be even worse now.

She took a large gulp of coffee, burning her mouth slightly as it hit her soft palate.

[+ZincAboutIt]

Lita nodded, chewing her lip in between sips of coffee. She tapped her left finger against the side of the cup, listening to the light 'plink, plink, plink' of china for a few moments before realizing that it was probably annoying. With a sigh, she set down the coffee - she'd indulge in stimulants after sending the highly-important communique. Lita turned the end of the spanreed pen and took a deep breath, holding it near the center and imagining that it was her practice-spoon from earlier. She figured that Laurelai's message was as good as anything she could come up with, so she relayed it to Mac word-for-word, twirling the pen and not dropping it once. Well, there's that at least.

That done, she nodded and set the pen down, picking up her coffee again and taking a more generous mouthful. "It was the oddest thing," Lita said, nerves and caffeine pushing her to fill the silence in the room. "It - he - was a shadow at first. Like, a proper shadow, just sort of hanging in the air. Then he just sort of..." Lita waved a hand in the air, "appeared. Told me he enjoyed meeting the new Alley denizens - I kind of figured it was probably normal, honestly, with how my life's been in the last few days. From the look on your face, though, it isn't normal, is it?" 

She tugged up one sleeve, inspecting the little spikes in her arms. The entry areas looked clean and weren't swollen, which she guessed meant that everything was fine. Lita stepped closer to Laurelai, holding out the coin the Stranger's Shade had given her. "What is this? Do you have any idea? It didn't always have these scales on the front - and it just sort of appeared in his hand." 

[Voidus]

"Not exactly normal, no." Laurelai replied. "He's been... away for a while. This is the first time I've heard of him seeing anyone in a long while."

She winced as the roof of her mouth continued to burn. Laurelai ensured that she took her next drink more carefully, slowing sipping at the dark, bitter liquid as she thought over how best to reply. The topic of The Stranger had been an interesting one for a long time, she'd initially assumed it was just some kind of urban legend that the DA held, or some long-dead researcher who people still spoke of because of his achievments. But the R&D department had always insisted he was still alive and well, just busy with an experiment.

Lita pulled out a coin, breaking Laurelai's train of thought as her eyes fixed on it.

"What is this?" Lita asked. "Do you have any idea? It didn't always have these scales on the front - and it just sort of appeared in his hand." 

Laurelai carefully looked the coin over, but there were no signs of anything dangerous about it.

Here goes nothing I suppose. Laurelai carefully extended a portion of the strange power that was both Selish and Rosharan. The power that the Nightwatcher had given her. She tried a small Forgery, an attempt to make the coin think that it had been placed on the table instead of held in a hand.

She felt the power begin to trickle out of her, and then felt it be repelled by the coin. A tiny stream colliding with a solid wall.

"Well it's Invested at the least." She remarked.

[+ZincAboutIt]

Lita cocked her head, watching Laurelai do... something. Some kind of power, no doubt. She wondered what, exactly, her talents were, though asking right out was a bit of a gamble. Some people were very touchy about their powers. 

"Well it's Invested at the least." Laurelai remarked.

Lita nodded and pocketed the coin, glad that the other woman hadn't sensed anything overtly dangerous about it. She liked the weight of it in her hand; it was excellent for flipping. 

"Well," Lita said, "here's hoping it doesn't warp me into another dimension or something. I do so hate unscheduled travel."

She stopped filling her brass for a moment, testing the coffee with the back of one finger. Still too hot to drink comfortably without some Feruchemy. "By the Survivor, did you heat this in the center of the sun?" she muttered, siphoning the heat into her brassminds. "Right, so. What does a 'normal' day look around here for you? Sorry you got saddled with the new girl - it's just my luck that I encounter a living myth on my first day."

Lita rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling a little. She had been living alone for far too long, and a simple conversation with another person was a luxury she wasn't used to having. Laurelai was complicated and a bit aloof, which was just fine with Lita - more secrets that way. 

[AonEne]

On 3/24/2019 at 11:31 PM, Voidus said:

A feeling. Somehow, he knew that there were a number of dangerous figures in the Alleyverse. Dangerous in a different way than most. Beings that needed to be eliminated. 

Quote

Does this be what I think it be?

 

Edited October 29, 2019 by AonEne

[+Invocation]

Quote

Does this thread represent a physical location that I can do something suitably dramatic in with one and a half of my characters really quickly?

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by Invocation

[Voidus]

5 minutes ago, Invocation said:

Quote

Does this thread represent a physical location that I can do something suitably dramatic in with one and a half of my characters really quickly?

 

Quote

Sort of general-purpose thread for multiple locations, if the dramatic mystery is intended to take place in the Alleys or otherwise DA-related then yes this is an appropriate place to post.

 

[MacThorstenson]

Quote

Sorry for the complete change in character, Mac reaaaaallly loves the stranger. Like, he is a serious fanboy.

Also, goodnight y'all, I have to hit the sac.

Mac sat quietly in his office, watching the latest intelligence reports roll in, when his alleycant pen started moving.

He watched it quietly, his mouth dropping lower after every word, then in a stunned whisper said "The Stranger, is back? Wha- What does this mean? Voidus has to know." 

He stood up in a hurry and slowly made his way over to the door. The stranger had been gone for years! And now he was seen! What did this mean? More science? More Cookies? This- this was incredible! 

For the first time in years Mac felt pure unadulterated Joy. This could change everything. He stepped into the alleys and yelled at the top of his lungs "THE STRANGER HAS BEEN SEENISH! EVERYONE! AN ASPECT OF THE STRANGER WAS SPOTTED!!!!!!!!!!!" With that said he ran to Voidus' office and started banging on the door.

[+ZincAboutIt]

16 minutes ago, Invocation said:

one and a half of my characters

Quote

I'll admit, I'm intrigued.

 

[beantheboy12]

Quote

And one of mine...

Disclaimer: I approve of what Invo's gonna do.

 

[Voidus]

Quote

That's less interesting than an Alleytravel mishap that caused half of a character to travel into the Alleys and the other half to be lost somewhere. But still sounds interesting.

 

[AonEne]

Quote

Voidus, was the half of the post above in my last post meant for Bean's characters or the one thing we discussed in the one thread?

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by AonEne
clarification

[+Invocation]

Okameahelemakeakaheuhanei'ike'oleikameanānaeho'opa'i walked around the Alleycity, attempting to find a law to enforce and some structure to help him feel normal again, when he heard sounds of fighting and what sounded like a crackling fire. As he hunted the sounds down, slowly pinpointing the location, he began to wonder what exactly he expected he'd be able to do. He couldn't fight. At most, he could summon a shield and hunker down, hoping to be able to Lash his opponent to the ground once they tired, effectively detaining them. His highspren, unconcerned with the debate within him, gave the mental impression of a yawn. 

When he had finally tracked the sounds down, all that was left were two corpses. One had her hand clutched around what appeared to be a spatula, and the other looked to have on fire recently, judging from the scorch marks on the ground where he had fallen, though, curiously, he didn't seem to be burned at all, and the paper note sticking out of his pocket was fully intact. Okameahelemakeakaheuhanei'ike'oleikameanānaeho'opa'i pulled the paper out, hoping it would have some clues as to the identity of the combatants and the reason for the fight. 

Volatile, the note read, if you want to get back to your holdings on earth, you must do something for me, for the sake of the DA and the continued health of the Alleycity. Kill the one known as Delarin. Burn her if you wish, but kill her so she has no chance of coming back and deliver her to us.

That was all that was there. Presumably, the man was this Volatile, and the female bearing the spatula was the Delarin referenced in the hit-note.

Okameahelemakeakaheuhanei'ike'oleikameanānaeho'opa'i's spren manifested by his head. "Perhaps this DA is the law-force you've been seeking, Okameahelemakeakaheuhanei'ike'oleikameanānaeho'opa'i," she hummed. "You should find out who they are and ask to join."

"Perhaps you are right, Taehia. I will find them, and I will take these corpses with me as a measure of goodwill," Okameahelemakeakaheuhanei'ike'oleikameanānaeho'opa'i said, slinging them up onto his shoulder, hardly feeling the weight, and walking off. 

He walked for a good while, attempting to find out where to locate the mysterious DA, before eventually determining they had to be located somewhere in the back alleys of the city. Choosing one at random, he walked in, only to find himself in a very different location without having discernibly moved. I presume this is the DA, headquarters, then. 

Okameahelemakeakaheuhanei'ike'oleikameanānaeho'opa'i took the two corpses and Lashed them to the wall of this new location, hoping to draw attention so he could get answers.

Spoiler

The half a character was the (now late) Volatile.