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

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

12 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

So As far as I'm concerned, you can work on whatever you want. You can try to discover the worlds secrets, or the secrets of the guilds. You can do both, you can push the limits, or try to be an agent of change in the alleyverse, the only requirement is that you help the DA. I think that my domain can cover everything." He sat down and leaned in. 

"So tell me, where do you want to start?"

These people are mad, Lita thought, slowly tapping thumb to pinky finger, then ring finger, then middle. I'm mad too, for getting myself mixed up in this.

"I killed him," Lita said suddenly, her mouth moving almost of its own accord. "My last employer, I mean. Forian. I killed him."

She'd never actually said it out loud; hearing the words rose goosebumps on her arms. It was insanity, being so open with these people. But Lita was getting better and better at ignoring her own sanity. Limits, she thought. Everyone has their limits.

"He wanted to frame my father for his smuggling. He told me it was the perfect solution." Lita was surprised that the acid in her voice didn't burn her own tongue. "He was so proud when he told me, like he expected me to be impressed." She stood up suddenly, planting a hand on Mac's desk, breath coming fast through her nose. "What is it about me that would make someone think I'd be rusting impressed by that?"

"I put cyanide in his brandy," she said quietly. "It was too good for him."

She took a deep breath and sat back down. "I've always wanted to pull back the world's curtain and see the wheels and the lights. I want to know who is pulling the strings, and writing the lines. I want to pull a few strings myself. Improve what can be improved."

She looked at the little needle in his hand. "I'm tired of being a sharp tool in the hands of dull men, and duller gods."

Lita met Mac's eyes, and she could see he was serious. He wanted to forge a new universe, write his own rules, know all the secrets, have complete control. She could respect that. "I'll find out whatever it is this organization wants to know," she said, tracing a slow circle on the desk. "Just... when you create that new universe of yours, don't create another Forian Tekiel."

She sighed, then raised her other hand. "Oh, and that pen trick in the bar. If it's not more than a pen, I'll eat my brassminds. I want to learn."

Lita felt a true smile creep onto her face, the first in over two years. "I think I'd rather like to learn everything that I can."

She nodded her chin at the slender needle. It shouldn't work, but it does. "Do you have anything else that shouldn't work, but it does?"

@Voidus

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

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@MacThorstenson what does this guy look like? Because my current mental picture is oscillating between Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders and Slender Man (because I don't have a clear mental picture of his face)  

Spoiler

 

 

[MacThorstenson he/him]

Quote

Thats a cool picture, he may actually look like that. 

His clothes are always very dapper, and his face looks like my profile pic.

In terms of how his face looks, his facial structure is similar to the one in the picture you sent, but he has a big mustache. His hair is also a bit more full on the sides.

Most of his face is taken up with the mustache and either sun glasses or a monocle.

His eyes are generally more lively than the guy's in the picture though. 

Sorry I'm not doing that good of a description, I've never come up with an image of him beyond my profile pic, his entire personage has been the bowler hat glasses/monocle and mustache.

I will hopefully respond to this later tonight.

In the past I've used the pictures below to picture mac when he's either happy or solemn.

 

Edited February 27, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Quote

Perfect description, thank you!

 

[MacThorstenson he/him]

20 hours ago, ZincAboutIt said:

These people are mad, Lita thought, slowly tapping thumb to pinky finger, then ring finger, then middle. I'm mad too, for getting myself mixed up in this.

"I killed him," Lita said suddenly, her mouth moving almost of its own accord. "My last employer, I mean. Forian. I killed him."

She'd never actually said it out loud; hearing the words rose goosebumps on her arms. It was insanity, being so open with these people. But Lita was getting better and better at ignoring her own sanity. Limits, she thought. Everyone has their limits.

"He wanted to frame my father for his smuggling. He told me it was the perfect solution." Lita was surprised that the acid in her voice didn't burn her own tongue. "He was so proud when he told me, like he expected me to be impressed." She stood up suddenly, planting a hand on Mac's desk, breath coming fast through her nose. "What is it about me that would make someone think I'd be rusting impressed by that?"

"I put cyanide in his brandy," she said quietly. "It was too good for him."

She took a deep breath and sat back down. "I've always wanted to pull back the world's curtain and see the wheels and the lights. I want to know who is pulling the strings, and writing the lines. I want to pull a few strings myself. Improve what can be improved."

She looked at the little needle in his hand. "I'm tired of being a sharp tool in the hands of dull men, and duller gods."

Lita met Mac's eyes, and she could see he was serious. He wanted to forge a new universe, write his own rules, know all the secrets, have complete control. She could respect that. "I'll find out whatever it is this organization wants to know," she said, tracing a slow circle on the desk. "Just... when you create that new universe of yours, don't create another Forian Tekiel."

She sighed, then raised her other hand. "Oh, and that pen trick in the bar. If it's not more than a pen, I'll eat my brassminds. I want to learn."

Lita felt a true smile creep onto her face, the first in over two years. "I think I'd rather like to learn everything that I can."

She nodded her chin at the slender needle. It shouldn't work, but it does. "Do you have anything else that shouldn't work, but it does?"

@Voidus

"I killed him, My last employer, I mean. Forian. I killed him."

"He wanted to frame my father for his smuggling. He told me it was the perfect solution. He was so proud when he told me, like he expected me to be impressed." She stood up suddenly, planting a hand on Mac's desk, breath coming fast through her nose. "What is it about me that would make someone think I'd be rusting impressed by that?"

"I put cyanide in his brandy," she said quietly. "It was too good for him."

"Hmm." Mac frowned. Thinking. She does have limits. Good. This girl could be very very good.

"I'll find out whatever it is this organization wants to know, Just... when you create that new universe of yours, don't create another Forian Tekiel." She sighed, then raised her other hand. "Oh, and that pen trick in the bar. If it's not more than a pen, I'll eat my brassminds. I want to learn." Lita felt a true smile creep onto her face, the first in over two years. "I think I'd rather like to learn everything that I can." She nodded her chin at the slender needle. It shouldn't work, but it does. "Do you have anything else that shouldn't work, but it does?"

"Yes actually we do. But first I would like to offer a warning." He leaned in. "Please don't try to kill me. I think you have potential. I would prefer to not have to utterly destroy that." With that thought,he carefully slid the needle into his neck, then began chirping. He nodded. "Good," he said, "Now, based on what you just told me, I will assume that you don't enjoy killing people wantonly. In that case, we won't start you out with hemalurgy, instead we will start you with the alleys and the mechanics of the alleyverse. Now unfortunately I cannot personally tutor you right now, but I can later. Once you've learned the basics, I will teach you how to alleytravel. Laurelai? Would you care to help our newest recruit learn the basics of alleymatics?"

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I know that Voidus is busy irl right now, and I am extremely tied up as well. I will try to make posts when I can, but I expect that things will slow down to a crawl, which may not be to your liking. I understand if you want to wrap this up and rp more in other places for a while before I can come back.

This is the last post I can make today, sorry.

@Voidus

Edited February 27, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[Voidus]

Of all the Alleys to take us through why'd he have to detour through 64%&12? Laurelai thought wryly, still trying to get the ringing out of her ears. I would have thought the last experiment on penguins ended disastrously enough to discourage further research.

Now back in the Alleys she made use of her Zincminds to think things through as Mac spoke to Lita, though she did feel a smug smile creep across her face as Lita replied.

Well she'll fit right in. Not a bad catch.

She raised an eyebrow when Mac asked her to teach Lita Alleymatics. It wasn't exactly the first item on the training menu for most newcomers. Then again, if someone wanted to pull back the curtains of the Alleyverse then Alleymatics was definitely the place to start.

"Of course." She replied politely before turning to Lita. "Come on, we can stop by R&D while we chat for a bit, they always have something interesting that shouldn't work but does. And we can pick you up a special pen of your own."

 

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Up to you how much you want to RP of this stuff, I'll likely be quite busy for the next 3 or so days but hopefully will start being free again after that.

 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

15 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

"Yes actually we do. But first I would like to offer a warning." He leaned in. "Please don't try to kill me. I think you have potential. I would prefer to not have to utterly destroy that." With that thought,he carefully slid the needle into his neck, then began chirping. He nodded. "Good," he said, "Now, based on what you just told me, I will assume that you don't enjoy killing people wantonly. In that case, we won't start you out with hemalurgy, instead we will start you with the alleys and the mechanics of the alleyverse. Now unfortunately I cannot personally tutor you right now, but I can later. Once you've learned the basics, I will teach you how to alleytravel. Laurelai? Would you care to help our newest recruit learn the basics of alleymatics?"

Lita laughed a little ruefully. "I won't try to kill you, I'm not that stupid. I don't generally make the habit of killing the people I work for. Anyway, I highly doubt your ambitions are so small as to include framing my father for smuggling gunpowder. You wanted to know my limit, so, there it is."

She turned to Laurelai

"Come on," said the woman, "we can stop by R&D while we chat for a bit, they always have something interesting that shouldn't work but does. And we can pick you up a special pen of your own."

Lita nodded, smiling at the mention of the pen. How had Laurelai done it?

I'll find that out soon enough, and more besides, she thought. I guess I picked the right day to get a drink.

@Voidus

Quote

Actually it seems as though the busy stars are aligning for all of us at the same time. I'm about to get quite busy for the next three/four days myself, so a far slower pace is likely ideal for a bit. I've purposely only created one character so she's stuck in one place at a time. And if she's about to be learning complex stuff, all the better that it's at a slow pace  

 

[+ElephantEarwax he/him]

Quote

Couple meta questions  

What kind of pen and what kind of drink?

 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Quote

It's some kind of pen that can send non-verbal messages between people. That's all I know about it and it's kind of killing me that I don't know more, because it's really cool.

As for the drink, that'd be port. Well, and choc. But mostly port. Mmmmm port. I got it at the tavern, but you may not want to go there right now, since it's on fire, and being attacked by a crazy person, so the service probably won't be as prompt as usual.

 

[Voidus]

Quote

Whoops, guess this got lost in my backlog, sorry about that. Busy week.

Laurelai led Lita back through the Alleys, she took a longer route, avoiding any particularly dangerous or secret Alleys as they wen, but a short time later they stood in a large, sanitized room which somehow still seemed dark in spite of the bright fluorescent lights overhead. A number of sealed metal crates were stacked in corners, most of them with a small tag attached to them.

As they entered, a blue-skinned humanoid wearing a traditional white labcoat and what seemed to be vestigial horns growing from his forehead looked up with a somewhat distracted look.

"R&D." He said plainly. "What do you need?"

Laurelai hadn't seen this particular member before but most people who worked in R&D were a little... different. Mac's department of Counter Intelligence was mostly staffed with people who could pass as normal in the Alleycity, the R&D department had decidedly abandoned any hopes of passing as normal and liberally experimented with the limits of Hemalurgy.

"Morning/" Laurelai replied, though she wasn't even sure if this Alley was temporal so they might not have mornings. "New recruit, wanted to get her set up and see if you guys had anything new and interesting."

The blue-skinned man nodded with a wide smile.

"Everything in R&D is new and exciting." He said, continuing to grin. "Come! Come! Lots of new things to see."

He spun around, labcoat twirling in the air behind him and emitting a steady stream of smoke from one of its pockets, though he hadn't seemed to notice yet. He proceeded to march through a nearby door, into a room stacked with thousands upon thousands of crates.

"So!" He barked out from inside as he steadied a column of boxes with one hand, and with the other quickly yanked one of the crates out from the middle of it, barely managing to avoid the entire pile from collapsing on top of him. "What kinds of new things?"
@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Quote

No worries! I had plenty to keep me occupied both here and irl.

Lita followed Laurelai as they wound through the Alleys, and though she tried to map out their route in her mind, she was still wholly turned around.

This place, Lita thought, is not normal at all. 

The room they entered was white and clean - uncomfortably clean. Lita had been living in Alleycity long enough to know what a laboratory was, but the level of complete sterility still made her shiver a bit. The man standing in the center of the room was even odder still. He was blue, and... were those horns growing out of his head?

Stop staring you nitwit, Lita scolded herself, putting on her best polite half-smile. Laurelai chatted with the man, asking if they had anything new and exciting. He ducked into a back room, the pocket of his white coat smoking like a burning tea kettle. Lita glanced at Laurelai, who seemed utterly unconcerned at the idea of talking with a blue-skinned horned man.

"So!" The man barked out from inside as he steadied a column of boxes with one hand, and with the other quickly yanked one of the crates out from the middle of it, barely managing to avoid the entire pile from collapsing on top of him. "What kinds of new things?"

Lita jumped a bit, blushing as she realized she'd been staring at the man again - well, at his pocket, which was still smoking.

"I -- ah," she cleared her throat, suddenly lost for words. What did she want? It was clear from the looks of the fellow in the lab coat that almost anything was possible down here.

Definitely not horns, she thought, twirling a finger around the ends of her plaited hair. She looked over at Laurelai. It seemed like a great deal of choice to offer someone brand new to an organization. Admittedly, she was still trapped in some kind of strange underground maze. Perhaps this was normal. 

"I'm a spy by trade," she said, trying to keep her voice from quavering. She wasn't even sure what she was allowed to ask for. "Something to help with covert intelligence, maybe? Or one of those clever pens?"  

@Voidus

[Fatebreaker he/him]

There was a crash as one of the boxes fell over and a short fellow with a bone peg-leg rolled out. He scrambled to his foot, looking around wildly.

"Did we get mornings back?!? Are we experiencing Bendalloy Blowout?!?!? HAS ANYONE SEEN MY TEETH?!?!?!?!?"

He wheezed, running out of breath, and finally seemed to take in the other occupants of the room. His eyes showed a spark of recognition as he looked at Laurelai. He quickly reached down and removed a metal disk that was set into his peg-leg. He relaxed visibly once it was removed, and addressed the visitors in a much quieter voice,

"Oh, greetings and salutations, I am Stumped of R&D. R&D: We're not monsters we're Scientists. Or was it 'It's not an abomination if it's on purpose'?No, that one got scrapped. Anyways, please forgive my earlier urgency, we've been working on personality stamps at the same time as our chronological medallions, and let me tell you it is not a good combo. I was adjusting a cadmium meda... " 

His mouth continued to move but suddenly there was no sound. After a moment he seemed to notice and stopped. A few seconds later, words appear to come from thin air.

"...oncluded that it was actually my future paranoia based on the experiences I was going to have involving buzzards."

He bent down and adjusted another disk set into his peg-leg, then twisted a spike that went through it. "Blasted desyncs, making everything more confusing." He straightened up and looked to his blue hued compatriot.

"What was it they wanted again? Did they want cookies?"

He pulled a cookie out of his ragged white lab coat. It appeared to shimmer, as if not entirely solid, but he didn't seem to pay it any attention. 

@Voidus @ZincAboutIt

[MacThorstenson he/him]

Mac popped his head in, with his bowler hat singed and suit wrinkly.

"Sorry about this, but we are moving this lab to be next to alley 7+86i. The penguins jumped out of a storage closet down the alley a little and are now pushing forward with giant penguin mechs." He mumbled something about penguins causing more trouble than they were worth, then shut the door as a giant metal penguin flipper attempted to kick him.

He warped the lab away before the kick connected.

Edited March 7, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita felt her ears pop! and she staggered a little, feeling a bit woozy. Against her better judgment, she looked at the cookie in the short fellow's hand. Was it shimmering? How long had he been in that box? What was he saying about buzzards?

How long have I been down here? She thought, rubbing her hand over her eyes.

Lita felt hungry, and her ears were ringing, and there were penguins running around somewhere? She had about a thousand questions running through her mind. How did that man in the lab coat turn himself blue? Who did she report to? Was there any rusting food down here that was just...food?

She intended on asking these questions, but when she opened her mouth to introduce herself to the short man, what came out was, "I hate buzzards."

@Fatebreaker

[Fatebreaker he/him]

Stumped brightened at her words,

"Yeah, they have a tendency to draw things out most unpleasantly."

He noticed the new person was looking how most people looked after spending more than 1 minute in R&D. He pulled a medallion from his pocket and tied it around her wrist. Then he took a small copper spike and injected it into her arm.

"That should provide you with some mental fortitude. You haven't been here too long, so it should work just fine. After a while though, there's only so much copper can do for a member of R&D. Try not to think about too much of what's happening. Focus on the immediate details, unless those details are shadows that seem to be moving too quickly, in which case run for your life."

He patted her on the arm, then realized that probably hurt so settled for shaking her hand awkwardly. 

"But you've not been selected for R&D, your eyes ate not nearly haunted or manic enough. What can we do you for? Are you looking for equipment,  modifications, or a power so terrible that the only thing greater than your might will be to your regret?"

He shrugged, "We normally just call it option 3." He turned towards his blue companion. "Are we still allowed to offer option 3? I can't remember if that was covered in the HR meeting..."

@ZincAboutIt @Voidus

Edited March 7, 2019 by Fatebreaker

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita felt the chill of the metal inside her arm before she felt the pain. She bit down on her tongue to keep from crying out, but felt a swift new bolstering inside her mind. Suddenly, things weren't quite so overwhelming. The man, Stumped, patted her arm, then mercifully switched to shaking her hand.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm Lita, and I am definitely not looking for, um, 'option 3.' I'm joining the Counter Intelligence department so... possibly the first two?" 

She looked at Laurelai, then back down at her arm, which had started bleeding. With a small squawk of panic, she took off her fur wrap and inspected it closely. It was unharmed, thank goodness, but the right arm of her shirt was quite soaked.

"I don't suppose you have anything to get blood out of white linen?" She strongly suspected the answer was 'yes.'

@Fatebreaker @Voidus

[Fatebreaker he/him]

Stumped shrugged and pulled out a pair of scissors with his left hand and a lighter with his right.

"These seem to do the trick. If one doesn't work, the other should. Let me show you..."

He leaned forward, lighter outstretched.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita eyed the lighter and scissors and swiped her arm away. She tried to smile politely, and almost certainly failed.

“You know, I think I’ll just send this out for cleaning later, but thank you.”

[Voidus]

Laurelai watched with a wry smile, her own first visit to R&D had gone much the same. They could be an overwhelming bunch even at the best of times. Their motives weren't always clear but maybe that was due to the disappearance of their department head? She'd heard once that the Stranger was one of the oldest Denizens of the Dark Alley, but apparently had been caught up in his own research for quite some time now.

"Yes, perhaps just some simple equipment for now? One of the Spanreed pens? Maybe a copper medallion for learning Alleycant if there are any left?" Laurelai suggested. "Though she has also expressed an interest in things that shouldn't work but do. Got anything flashy we might be able to see?"

She winced even as she'd finished talking. The last time she'd asked R&D to show her something flashy, one of them had immediately opened a gateway towards an empty pocket dimension and shown her the sun they were building in there. It had taken almost a week for her to recover her eyesight after that.

The blue-skinned researcher from earlier nodded in response and started rummaging through the crate he'd pulled out with one hand, with the other he absent-mindedly started patting down the pocket that was still emitting a stream of smoke. When he pulled his hand away it seemed as though the tips of his fingers were starting to dissolve into smoke.

"Aha!" He yelled, pulling a small cluster of pens in a variety of sizes from the crate. "Spanreed pens, all joined up to the central comms room. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer a spike for learning Alleycant? It's how it was originally developed you know. Nice and traditional. Or I think we might have a modified chasmfiend around here somewhere, you could try learning with that instead?"

Laurelai didn't want to contemplate how the researcher imagined that they could nonchalantly twirl an entire chasmfiend around in their hand, but simply shook her head.

"I was thinking something simple to start with. Any preferences Lita?" She asked.

@Fatebreaker, @ZincAboutIt

[MacThorstenson he/him]

6 minutes ago, Voidus said:

Laurelai didn't want to contemplate how the researcher imagined that they could nonchalantly twirl an entire chasmfiend around in their hand, but simply shook her head.

Quote

*cracks knuckles*

Challenge accepted

 

Edited March 8, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita nodded, looking up at the mention of her name. "Simple sounds wonderful," she said, tapping brass now that the chill of the room had started to cool the blood on her shirt sleeve. "And I think a medallion is just fine for now, but thank you."

At least until I can buy a few more blouses. It was hardly fair, stabbing a woman through the sleeve of her second-best linen blouse with no warning. She tried not to think too hard about the little spike in her arm. It had been surprisingly less... violent than she had imagined. All the old stories about the World of Ash spoke of blood and axes, Steel Inquisitors with spikes through their eyes gleefully slaughtering helpless peasants. The people before her were most definitely odd but they hardly seemed dangerous.

Don't be a fool, she told herself, watching the blue-skinned man pat down his smoking pocket. You don't look dangerous either, but you managed to kill a man. She had a feeling that these people could do far worse than kill her, and they'd do it with the same bemused smiles they were giving her now. 

Now don't sell yourself short, she thought. I'm sure they'd be far happier than 'bemused'. They'd probably throw a party. A tiny trill of hysterical laughter escaped her mouth. She closed her mouth quickly, clearing her throat and burning tin. Lita focused on the clean, sharp pain in her arm, the light of the room, the shine on the little Spanreed pens in the blue man's hand. One breath in. One breath out.

Lita looked back at Laurelai. "Yes, I think simple is best to start with."

@Voidus

[Inky]

Aliela walks in here, looking for supplies

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

A voice trails from a distant room, screaming. "Don't join the DA! It's not worth it!"

Quote

Unless you already have, in which case consider this as a joke and not a declaration of war.

 

[MacThorstenson he/him]

On 3/7/2019 at 6:58 PM, ZincAboutIt said:

Lita nodded, looking up at the mention of her name. "Simple sounds wonderful," she said, tapping brass now that the chill of the room had started to cool the blood on her shirt sleeve. "And I think a medallion is just fine for now, but thank you."

At least until I can buy a few more blouses. It was hardly fair, stabbing a woman through the sleeve of her second-best linen blouse with no warning. She tried not to think too hard about the little spike in her arm. It had been surprisingly less... violent than she had imagined. All the old stories about the World of Ash spoke of blood and axes, Steel Inquisitors with spikes through their eyes gleefully slaughtering helpless peasants. The people before her were most definitely odd but they hardly seemed dangerous.

Don't be a fool, she told herself, watching the blue-skinned man pat down his smoking pocket. You don't look dangerous either, but you managed to kill a man. She had a feeling that these people could do far worse than kill her, and they'd do it with the same bemused smiles they were giving her now. 

Now don't sell yourself short, she thought. I'm sure they'd be far happier than 'bemused'. They'd probably throw a party. A tiny trill of hysterical laughter escaped her mouth. She closed her mouth quickly, clearing her throat and burning tin. Lita focused on the clean, sharp pain in her arm, the light of the room, the shine on the little Spanreed pens in the blue man's hand. One breath in. One breath out.

Lita looked back at Laurelai. "Yes, I think simple is best to start with."

@Voidus

Mac walked into the room, missing a bowler hat and a wrinkled suit. He grinned, and tried to tip his hat at the R&D member, then realized he didn't have one. He scowled then turned to Lita and Laurelai.

"Laurelai, I see you are getting Lita sorted out with a few things. Thats good. The penguins have been contained again, so now I am free for a little. Once you get Lita sorted out I can teach her the basics of alleytravel, if you would like. Or you can do it." 

@Voidus

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Quote

You don't actually have to rp this if you're both very busy, you can just tell me what to do if needed. I would be happy either way so whatever works! @MacThorstenson @Voidus