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4 minutes ago, Rushu42 said:

Sarah began burning her metal, and a speed bubble sprang up around them, engulfing their two chairs. Outside, time abruptly slowed. People paused in the middle of their sentences, mouths open. An apple that had rolled from a table seemed to freeze in midair, and the motion of the door swinging open was suddenly barely noticeable. "Cool, right?" She asked.

"Ya," Fasi said with a smile. "That'll be useful if we get into trouble." 

Edited by Oduim's Chmapion
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Just now, Oduim's Chmapion said:

"Ya," Fasi said with a smile.

"And the best part is," she continued enthusiastically, "From the outside, all they see is a brief blur. They can hardly tell something happened. I'll show you. Here, stand up." Sarah stood, placing her blank questionnaire on the seat behind her.

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5 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

"And the best part is," she continued enthusiastically, "From the outside, all they see is a brief blur. They can hardly tell something happened. I'll show you. Here, stand up." Sarah stood, placing her blank questionnaire on the seat behind her.

Fasi stood waiting for what was about to happen. @Rushu42

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Adren takes the paper and follows. Carefully striding across the floor and sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, carefully watching the people coming and going. The chair he was sitting on had a slight wobble from the pads on the bottom being slightly misaligned. Setting down Jethro on a small table next to the chair, Adren takes a small pen from his pocket.

As he began writing, he began mumbling, reading through the questions. Reading  them to Jethro and Mercy.

"How do we fill this paper out, there are three of us here, but I think you can come as tag alongs what do you think."

"I think we should go home. I'm tired of this already" (Jethro)

"For once I agree with him. I'm boreeeeed." (Mercy)

"Be quiet you two this is going to be an adventure."

"What kind of adventure?"

"I hope it is like the one with Ali Baba and the 40 thieves. All the fun with death and then some gold at the end." (Hopeful tone) 

"I hope not, that sounds like too much work." (grumbling)

I hope not as well Jeth. There is a lot at stake. My only hope is to find the people that got lost and get them back. Then maybe we can look around the caverns.

"A rescue huh. You want to be a hero don't you."

No. I want to get this cleared up. Then we can go and see a new place.

"He wants to be a hero. He wants to be a hero."

"I'm glad I'm the only one who can hear you. Let's finish this paper and we can get moving."

Adren begins to fill out the papers with a renewed vigor. Looking to see if anyone had been watching him talk to seemingly himself.

Edited by ElephantEarwax
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13 hours ago, kenod said:

"I don't really know," Karin answered. "I mean, the only things I know about you are your name and that you have a habit of getting philosophical." She tilted her head, thinking. Guild? Could work, maybe too personal, and not that important. Age? Good way to get into trouble. Albinism? Not really important. Suddenly they got an idea.

"Do you have any interesting abilities or skills?" She asked. Immediately after she asked it she realized her mistake. Asking about Althea's abilities would likely also cause her to ask about her abilities. Well, it was too late to do anything about that. Besides, there was a good chance she'd find out anyway later on.

Surprised Althea's eyes widened a fraction when she looked at Karin again, then she inclined her head apologetically.

"I am sorry, I assumed you know. I apologize for being rude. Half the room is observing me and my actions, so I figured it was common knowledge."

And besides I thought you were someone else.

"I am Althea Tenira, an Elsecaller and member of the Ghostblood Triarchy." She introduced herself completely, then paused and thought about something else she could tell safely, that Karin could find out easily if she did some research on her person. "I spend years studying investiture. I know, it's nothing compared to the knowledge the DA has, but it's something I know my way around."

Her eyes rested on Karin for a moment, then she easily played the question back to her.

"What about you?"

Edited by Sorana
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4 hours ago, Sorana said:

Surprised Althea's eyes widened a fraction when she looked at Karin again, then she inclined her head apologetically.

"I am sorry, I assumed you know. I apologize for being rude. Half the room is observing me and my actions, so I figured it was common knowledge."

And besides I thought you were someone else.

"I am Althea Tenira, an Elsecaller and member of the Ghostblood Triarchy." She introduced herself completely, then paused and thought about something else she could tell safely, that Karin could find out easily if she did some research on her person. "I spend years studying investiture. I know, it's nothing compared to the knowledge the DA has, but it's something I know my way around."

Her eyes rested on Karin for a moment, then she easily played the question back to her.

"What about you?"

Karin blinked in surprise at the revelation that she had been talking to one of the leaders of one of the great guilds. And the fact that half the room was observing her... Apparently she needed to work on her situational awareness some more.

She shook her head, trying to focus on Althea's question. "I'm an Epic," she answered. "Shapeshifter, to be precise, though with some odd quirks. Part of my abilities is that my cells aren't what you'd call... human. Compared to normal people my physiology has been enhanced a lot. I'm fast enough to beat Olympic athletes without putting in much effort, don't need to breath or sleep, though I still do because of habit, and I've got a fairly strong regenerative ability going on as well. My body also doesn't seem to age, though I don't know if that's a permanent thing."

"Ah, those are all part of my ability," she hastily added, "they aren't because of any experiments, just to make that clear. Other than that..." she shook her head, trying to think of anything. "Well, about half my internal organs don't seem to have any actual use, and though I do have blood I don't actually have a heartbeat, and I think a different system might be used to replace a lot of the functions blood has, though I haven't figured out exactly what."

She decided not to talk about her ability to store mass, or its limits. Best not to reveal all the details on her powers, especially the weaknesses.

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20 hours ago, Voidus said:

She nodded mutely back. Sparking extroverted people insisting on conversing just because they happened to be near to someone else. Hopefully if he saw her staying silent he'd lose interest, but she couldn't let her gaze wander too obviously while he was watching her.

The girl nodded back to him. She didn’t want to speak? Judging by that scar, she probably couldn’t. Chiding himself for putting her in an awkward situation (Wes realised how much he would dislike it if someone tried to interrupt him while he was concentrating), he looked to the form in front of him.

The details were easy to put in, and if Wes had ever forgot, he could just take a look at his identity card, and copy off of that. Name, Investiture, anything ACE might find important from him. Wes inwardly laughed at that, because he doubted any part of him was really important. His only skill of value would be his technical engineering skills, and he was sure ACE already had better ones if they were planning to excavate the entire tunnel system.

When Wes finished the questionnaire he proofread it to make sure he hadn’t made any errors. He doubted there were bigger ways to make himself seem unprofessional than to have a few spelling errors. All looked fine when he re-read his form, the only thing he was confused about was the name segment. Did he just put ‘Wes’? Or did he write his full name, ‘Wesley Miller’?

Maybe if he looked at the girl’s questionnaire, he’d find whether he put his full name or just a shortened version. Tilting his head slightly to the side, he darted his eyes past the gap between them and to her form.

“Hey,” he whispered again, cheer and amazement in his voice. “We have the same name. Isn’t that cool?”

He tilted his own questionnaire to show where ‘Wes’ was written on his sheet of paper. This was really awesome. Wes had never met someone also named Wes. Maybe he would write about this in his journal. He suddenly didn’t regret coming to this meeting space.

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1 hour ago, kenod said:

"Ah, those are all part of my ability," she hastily added, "they aren't because of any experiments, just to make that clear. Other than that..." she shook her head, trying to think of anything. "Well, about half my internal organs don't seem to have any actual use, and though I do have blood I don't actually have a heartbeat, and I think a different system might be used to replace a lot of the functions blood has, though I haven't figured out exactly what."

She decided not to talk about her ability to store mass, or its limits. Best not to reveal all the details on her powers, especially the weaknesses.

Shapeshifter. That explained a lot. The woman she had met, most likely she was something like an alter ego, a different form. For the moment she let the topic aside, there was no need to tell everybody in the room about Karin's powers, or in case the woman herself didn't know to further confuse her. Or she was wrong, in that case she was sparing herself an embarresing situation.

"Were you born on earth?"

She asked instead, changed the topic to something easier.

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14 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Shapeshifter. That explained a lot. The woman she had met, most likely she was something like an alter ego, a different form. For the moment she let the topic aside, there was no need to tell everybody in the room about Karin's powers, or in case the woman herself didn't know to further confuse her. Or she was wrong, in that case she was sparing herself an embarresing situation.

"Were you born on earth?"

She asked instead, changed the topic to something easier.

"I was," Karin said with a nod. "I still have family living there, though given how long I've been away I cannot be sure about their current state." Karin kept smiling, but deep inside she felt a chill. If the conversation continued as it was going she'd probably have to explain how she'd gotten here, or what life was like, at which point she'd have to talk about her missing memories.

"You were born in this world, I guess?" She asked, trying to divert the topic.

Edited by kenod
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The watching presence didn't seem to focus on her again, Whisper felt a small measure of relief from that. But it still didn't answer why someone had been watching her like that in the first place. Had it simply been someone who was overly cautious? Or had her brief interaction with Althea caught some attention?

She felt another, more clumsy presence direct its attention her way and had to resist rolling her eyes as she felt the man who'd sat down next to her lean over and peek at her form. Her hand almost instinctively began to turn the page so that the remaining details were less easy to see, but for all she knew they were going to make all this information public anyway, best to assume that people would know about her abilities sooner or later.

She stared blankly back as his voice seemed to raise half an octave in excitement, gesturing to the name at the top of the sheet, identical to the pseudonym she'd chosen. Same spelling and all.

Is it too late to change it?

She looked back down at her form, at the section where she'd written the name. It was written in good ink, no easy way to get rid of that. Lightweaving could cover it up but that would fade after a while. And she'd already introduced herself as Wes to Althea, changing it now would just attract undue attention. Seemed like she was stuck with it, and likely also stuck with her overly exuberant companion with the same name. She nodded quietly at him, but the stony expression did not convey the same enthusiasm that he apparently felt at this coincidence. She didn't particularly feel that talking to this man was a good idea, but if she didn't then he'd probably just continue talking anyway. And if he dictated the topic of conversation then it was far less likely to be useful to her.

One small, pale hand reached into a dirty pocket and pulled out a small square, one side was white and polished to a shine. Something she'd picked up on a foray to earth, it had proven useful when she needed to talk to someone outside of the DA. Though she still felt that Alleycant was much more discreet, elegant and convenient.

It seems very coincidental. She wrote with her left hand, resting the small square on the side of the chair so that Wes could see it, and using her right hand to continue filling in the form. I hadn't expected to meet anyone else with that name here. What brings you?

@I think I am here.

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13 minutes ago, kenod said:

"I was," Karin said with a nod. "I still have family living there, though with how long I've been away, I'm not sure about there current state." Karin kept smiling, but deep inside she felt a chill. If the conversation continued as it was going she'd probably have to explain how she'd gotten here, or what life was like, at which point she'd have to talk about her missing memories.

"You were born in this world, I guess?" She asked, trying to divert the topic.

"No." Althea accepted the change easily. She had to, otherwise their conversation would leave one of them in a position where they had to talk about secrets, or about information too personal too share. And she enjoyed it too much to end it like that.

"I was born on Roshar. The Ghostbloods brought me here to fill their ranks after the Seven-Day-War. They educated me, took gave me a place to live." She spread her hands slightly. "And here I am, leading the one organization that offered me a chance."

"This world is my home. I returned to Roshar, but it's not where I belong and I have nobody left there either."

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11 minutes ago, Sorana said:

"No." Althea accepted the change easily. She had to, otherwise their conversation would leave one of them in a position where they had to talk about secrets, or about information too personal too share. And she enjoyed it too much to end it like that.

"I was born on Roshar. The Ghostbloods brought me here to fill their ranks after the Seven-Day-War. They educated me, took gave me a place to live." She spread her hands slightly. "And here I am, leading the one organization that offered me a chance."

"This world is my home. I returned to Roshar, but it's not where I belong and I have nobody left there either."

"I can understand that, I guess," Karin said with a sigh. "I feel the same about the DA. I mean, they can be weird something, and some of the things they do give me the creeps, but they still took me in, and most of them are still nice people once you start getting along with them, despite their myriad issues." Besides, it wasn't as if she had any place to return to anyway, she thought.

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33 minutes ago, kenod said:

"I can understand that, I guess," Karin said with a sigh. "I feel the same about the DA. I mean, they can be weird something, and some of the things they do give me the creeps, but they still took me in, and most of them are still nice people once you start getting along with them, despite their myriad issues." Besides, it wasn't as if she had any place to return to anyway, she thought.

Althea nodded and then looked back into the room, to those that had arrived for the expedition. If she left the Ghostbloods, if they let her leave without terminating her, that was, she could go to Max and do - nothing. The thought was strange, almost uncomfotably so. She was used to her days being full of work, of things she needed to take care of. To leave it all behind, no she had decided against that. Maybe she could change something, do something for the city, when she continued where she was.

"Why are you here?"

She asked and then remembered her earlier words about controlling people with their dreams. Karin wasn't here to chase a dream, she doubted that somehow. Still she hoped that Karin didn't take the question as an attempt to manipulate her.

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1 minute ago, Sorana said:

Althea nodded and then looked back into the room, to those that had arrived for the expedition. If she left the Ghostbloods, if they let her leave without terminating her, that was, she could go to Max and do - nothing. The thought was strange, almost uncomfotably so. She was used to her days being full of work, of things she needed to take care of. To leave it all behind, no she had decided against that. Maybe she could change something, do something for the city, when she continued where she was.

"Why are you here?"

She asked and then remembered her earlier words about controlling people with their dreams. Karin wasn't here to chase a dream, she doubted that somehow. Still she hoped that Karin didn't take the question as an attempt to manipulate her.

Karin shrugged. "Nothing better to do, I guess," she answered. "At least, I probably looked like that? I was just doing research when Aylitha suddenly came up to me, telling me about this, and while they didn't quite order me to go they made quite a lot of noise about how interesting this would be, and how great an opportunity it was, so I got the hint and here I am."

At that point Karin realized that Althea might not know who Aylitha was, given that they never left the alleys. "Ah, right,"  she added. "Aylitha is the department head. they're this large black fox. Quite cute, I guess, as long as you forget about the fact that they could probably rip you apart in seconds if they get annoyed, or mutate you into something from a Lovecraft story, or thousands of other nasty things." She failed to suppress a small shudder. At that point she realized that she was talking to one of the leaders of an assassin guild, and that she could probably do some stuff that was just as horrible, and hoped she hadn't accidentally insulted her.

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Deb looked at her watch, frowning as the second hand ticked inevitably toward ten thirty. She could hear the low murmur of conversation within the meeting room, and she’d watched the group assemble for nearly forty minutes through a small angled window. The turnout was good, better than Deb had initially expected, and she allowed herself a small smile. It was very nearly time for her entrance.

Farren had been right, of course. Waiting was far too dramatic for Deb’s taste, but making an impression had its advantages. Especially in a city like this. She sighed, checked to make sure her jacket was smooth down the front, and then turned her attention inward. The Steel flakes she’d swallowed earlier flared into life within her, and immediately, a dozen blue lines sprang out from her chest, alerting her to nearby sources of metal. The two largest lines shot out straight ahead of her, pointing at the two double doors that lead into the meeting room. Deb gripped her clipboard and pen a little tighter, then took a deep breath and Pushed.

---

Corette was halfway through filling out her questionnaire when the double doors at the back of the room swung inward as if on an invisible wind. A woman stood there, smaller than Corette had expected from what appeared to be a substantial Steelpush. Bronze quickly confirmed her suspicions, identifying the woman as a Coinshot. She looked to be somewhere in her early to mid thirties, with a slender, almost delicate face, sharp cheekbones, and amber eyes. Her honey-gold hair was pulled back into a merciless bun, sides so smooth it looked like she’d lacquered them. Unlike the young man who’d given out the questionnaires, this woman appeared totally at ease in her olive and orange uniform. She had a military air about her, that firm, ramrod efficiency that only came after a lifetime of following orders. 

She scanned the meeting room in one long sweep, then nodded almost imperceptibly before walking to the head of the room and gesturing to the rows of chairs.

“The meeting has begun,” she said, voice clear and sharp. “Please, take your seats.”

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36 minutes ago, kenod said:

Karin shrugged. "Nothing better to do, I guess," she answered. "At least, I probably looked like that? I was just doing research when Aylitha suddenly came up to me, telling me about this, and while they didn't quite order me to go they made quite a lot of noise about how interesting this would be, and how great an opportunity it was, so I got the hint and here I am."

At that point Karin realized that Althea might not know who Aylitha was, given that they never left the alleys. "Ah, right,"  she added. "Aylitha is the department head. they're this large black fox. Quite cute, I guess, as long as you forget about the fact that they could probably rip you apart in seconds if they get annoyed, or mutate you into something from a Lovecraft story, or thousands of other nasty things." She failed to suppress a small shudder. At that point she realized that she was talking to one of the leaders of an assassin guild, and that she could probably do some stuff that was just as horrible, and hoped she hadn't accidentally insulted her.

"I met her actually. Or at least somebody belonging to your guild using that name. We fought side by side for a short while during the Invasion." Or rather Aylitha and Max had fought while she had tried to something, anything useful. Well not everybody could be a skilled fighter, and she hoped, that she had at least helped a little bit.

Her eyes moved over the few ACE staff members that were around, turning cold.

"It's the same pattern. A new organization rises and invites everybody to an event. It feels like the moment when Plasma Core opened it's door and invited the whole city und the pretense to collect money."

Which was her reason to be here. If ACE tried the same, she would kill them all long before they turned into a real threat. This time, she wouldn't stand by and watch. That was a lesson she'd learned.

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11 minutes ago, Sorana said:

"I met her actually. Or at least somebody belonging to your guild using that name. We fought side by side for a short while during the Invasion." Or rather Aylitha and Max had fought while she had tried to something, anything useful. Well not everybody could be a skilled fighter, and she hoped, that she had at least helped a little bit.

Her eyes moved over the few ACE staff members that were around, turning cold.

"It's the same pattern. A new organization rises and invites everybody to an event. It feels like the moment when Plasma Core opened it's door and invited the whole city und the pretense to collect money."

Which was her reason to be here. If ACE tried the same, she would kill them all long before they turned into a real threat. This time, she wouldn't stand by and watch. That was a lesson she'd learned.

Nekorb overheard the words and swallowed. She was right, they were similar. Hopefully, that was where the similarities ended. He still had nightmares from his time in captivity, even if he could not remember most of it.

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1 hour ago, Sorana said:

"I met her actually. Or at least somebody belonging to your guild using that name. We fought side by side for a short while during the Invasion." Or rather Aylitha and Max had fought while she had tried to something, anything useful. Well not everybody could be a skilled fighter, and she hoped, that she had at least helped a little bit.

Her eyes moved over the few ACE staff members that were around, turning cold.

"It's the same pattern. A new organization rises and invites everybody to an event. It feels like the moment when Plasma Core opened it's door and invited the whole city und the pretense to collect money."

Which was her reason to be here. If ACE tried the same, she would kill them all long before they turned into a real threat. This time, she wouldn't stand by and watch. That was a lesson she'd learned.

"Huh, really?" Karin asked. "I bet that must have been... interesting to see." She wasn't sure what it would have been like, but from her experience with the other DA members it must have been an interesting show, one that probably involved tentacles, given the general aesthetic tendencies of the bio-science department.

She looked around the room as well, wondering about what was going to happen. "Why did they do that actually?" she asked, "inviting everybody. Plasmacore, not ACE. I can't see any real benefit it would bring them, it would just make others pay attention to them. Oh well, not that important anymore, I guess." She shrugged.

"Still," she added, "To me this looks more like trying to get personnel, which of course raises the question of why they'd hire random outsiders, instead of creating specific job-postings. I mean, there wasn't even much information on specific skill-sets listed in the advert." She tilted her head, thinking about it.

Just as she was about to say more the doors opened up and a woman strolled in, looking like someone who might work as a school teacher in one of those old movies, one of those ridiculously strict types. "The meeting has begun," she said, "please take your seats."

For a moment instincts from high-school warred with a knee-jerk to disobey authority, but the instincts won out. "I guess we'll talk later," she told Althea. She then stood up, walking to the row of chairs indicated, sitting down, trying to look like she was paying attention.

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Fasi looked at Sarah and felt a tinge of guilt then chided herself softly, she couldn't afford to have her trust broken again. Sarah though, she seemed so nice and genuine traits that were hard to come by. Stop it, Fasi thought, That's what happened last time to. Turning her attention to the person who had called the meeting she quickly sat down in her seat on top of the empty questioner.

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