main plot The Taste of Death

[Voidus]

7 minutes ago, AonEne said:

...they're all twirling stuff in their hands all at the same time, though. If I saw that and didn't know what Alleycant was I'd just be creeped out

Quote

They also have a bunch of metal spikes stabbed through them, occasionally in areas where organs should be. If they were trying to not creep people out then they chose the wrong guild.

"Mmm." Laurelai hummed with agreement. "Things have been a little chaotic out there. Have you seen anything particularly interesting? Or were you busy with the evacuation? May as well swap information while we wait."

The information might be useful, but more importantly she needed to know where he'd been, what sort of situations he'd been exposed to. Any danger that his choices might have put him in. He didn't seem to be a particularly strong combative force himself, otherwise he wouldn't have suggested running away when that creature had attacked. But it was always better to be safe.

She gave him a mildly interested smile as she took a sip from her cup.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voidus arrived in an Alley a short distance away, brushing some ash from one shoulder. He'd taken a more dangerous route than usual, through a couple of the burning Alleys. Hopefully any HR tails would either be dead or too distracted cataloguing the various OH&S risks that the burning Alleys presented to pursue. Should be safe now.

He let out a long, relieved breath, taking a brief moment to relax as he waited for the others to arrive. Hopefully none of them got dragged into another seminar about safe handling of spikes.

[Sherlock Holmes he/him]

Quote

Timeskip, I think.

@AonEne

[MacThorstenson he/him]

Mac carefully walked out of the alleys next to Voidus, looking left and right to ensure that no one followed him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see anyone except for Voidus. 

"Storm it Voidus. Why do we have HR? I didn't know it was possible for something to have less soul than a lawyer." He shook his head sadly. "Well, at least we are here now, all safe and HR free." He reached up and rubbed his mustache, as if checking to make sure it was on right. "I poked my head by HR, to ask for clarification on recent safety policies, I know, I know, it was a necessary evil. They are trying to remove all the chairs from the alleys, and have somehow gained the ability to sense the location of chairs, so I would be careful. I know that I am switching all of my chairs to short benches with arm and back rests. Hopefully that technicality throws them off." He shook his head again, feeling his heartrate slowly lower after his near seminar experience.

[Silva]

Eiran swallowed. He knew her phraseology wasn't intentional, but the word 'seen' came with a double connotation to him. "Mostly evacuation. Some other stuff as well." Like that thing that kept changing shape and form. Lord something. Everyone always turned away from his view before he could try and read from their lips what they said after the honorific. 

"What about you?" he asked, trying to turn the attention off himself as quickly as possible. Despite the tentative truce, Eiran wasn't in any hurry to let on too much about his ability. It was an unnecessary risk for afterwards. He was a behind the scenes kind of guy. Having a lot of knowledge on him in the DA would not be in his best interest.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

37 minutes ago, Silva said:

"What about you?" he asked, trying to turn the attention off himself as quickly as possible.

He's holding something back, Lita sent to Laurelai and KanMien. Unsurprising, but irritating. Must be quite worrisome, his pupils are quite dilated, heartbeat sped up after he mentioned the 'other stuff.' 

"We've been monitoring the city," Lita said aloud. "Getting reports from a few in the field. I'm sure we don't need to tell you it's quite a warzone out there."

She tipped her head back, draining the rest of her coffee and Tin, then setting the cup down on the nearby counter. "How much of the city has been evacuated into the tunnels already?"

@Voidus @kenod

[Voidus]

"They were just there one day." Voidus replied with a resigned sigh, though his eyes did seem to shift subtly at the mention of the topic.

There was a small chance that he'd accidentally approved the HR department back in the departmental rush when the DA had still been new. Department creation requests were flying all around the place, plenty of overlapping departments were inadvertently created and then they fought over which department was responsible for what. It'd been a tiresome process and at one point he'd been approving requests without reading them. He'd lived in fear since that day that he'd accidentally approved HR.

"So this is where the field agents are?" He asked, shifting topics suddenly. "Meeting with TUBA?"

Even as he asked he turned his head towards the nearby building, confirming what Mac had already told him. They were out of the barrier now, he'd have to be a little more circumspect about the matter in the event that there were eavesdroppers about. And he'd have to ensure that he didn't show any open favouritism or others might grow suspicious as Mac had.

"They've done good work recently." He said offhandedly. "Perhaps a promotion is in order."

Or a department head? No that might be too soon. But a pay rise is well deserved surely?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not giving away much are you. Laurelai thought, still smiling as she regarded the man from TUBA.

Well she had something to work with at least, he'd been nearby when she'd collapsed that building onto the creature that was attacking them. If he'd simply been standing somewhere a little differently then he could have been caught up in it. But it might be a stretch, if he could sense danger in some way then that would have been a very unrealistic history, it wouldn't last long enough for the death to be permanent.

She received a message from Lita, confirming that he seemed to be holding something back. Having a tineye around was certainly going to be useful, confirming someone's personality without needing to stamp them would certainly be helpful.

Laurelai put the problem to one side for now, choosing to simply watch him and gather what information she could without agenda. Sometimes watching without bias could reveal more information than watching for something specific.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

5 minutes ago, Voidus said:

"They've done good work recently." He said offhandedly. "Perhaps a promotion is in order."

Mac glanced at voidus. "Maybe," He started carefully, "I could handle that. Most of them work for me anyway, and it would be unusual for you to handle individual promotions that far down on the ladder. I can give them bonuses for these recent jobs, does that sound good?"

[Fatebreaker he/him]

The Stranger's head emerged from a nearby garbage can, a banana peel on it.

"Is the coast clear? I just burned every chair I owned."

He waited a moment to be safe, then stepped out of the trash, dusting himself off. He looked to his two compatriots, shaking his head.

"HR showed up without so much as a warning. We've never been able to determine their place of origin or how they even got here. One thing is for sure though, they fear nothing. Not death nor pain can stop them, they are immovable in their pursuit of efficacy."

He turned towards the building and assessed the investiture signatures within, identifying those present. He listened to the conversation for a moment, then said,

"Doesn't sound like anything important is being discussed, should we head in or wait a moment? Also, should we all enter at once, or stagger our arrivals? We don't want to cause any heart attacks at the moment."

[MacThorstenson he/him]

Quote

Do we assume that Aylitha is coming along for the ride? Kenod's time zones don't really line up with ours, which will make this next little sequence difficult.

 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita was about to request another cup of coffee when she felt an odd sensation against her right ankle, almost an...itching?

I wonder... she thought, halting her brass storage to check the Coin. She nearly bit her tongue in half as a bright circle of fire lanced against her anklebone, and she immediately began storing some heat again, swallowing a whimper.

Something dangerous out there, Lita sent to Laurelai and KanMien. And close, too. I'm surprised my whole rusting shoe isn't on fire.

Lita raised her right leg as casually as she could, pretending to adjust her sock as she slipped the Coin into her palm. That'll leave a scar, she thought, then blinked, mind whirring. She smiled a bit, tapping a small sip of gold, and felt the pain in her ankle vanish.

I could get used to that, she thought, keeping the Coin in the hollow of her palm, facing away from the TUBA member. The less he knew about that, the better.

@Voidus

[AonEne he/him]

Quote

NOW SEEMS LIKE A GOOD TIME TO SHOW UP

Deteca turned a corner, relieved to see Didgeridoo right where it should be. The relief quickly disappeared when she saw a few very recognizable figures [and possibly one who's not, depending on whether or not scary-black-fox-lady came along] standing in front of the doors. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that TUBA and the DA had a truce, and besides that, several Denizens were already inside - none of them would risk Voidmaking or Alleymatics or anything on that level of destruction so close to their own.

Glad that she had Tena behind her and wasn't alone, Deteca stopped in front of the [three or four, undetermined] department heads with a wry turn of her lips. "Hello, gentlemen, didn't expect you to be joining this meeting - if indeed that's what you're doing?"

[MacThorstenson he/him]

2 hours ago, AonEne said:

Glad that she had Tena behind her and wasn't alone, Deteca stopped in front of the [three or four, undetermined] department heads with a wry turn of her lips. "Hello, gentlemen, didn't expect you to be joining this meeting - if indeed that's what you're doing?"

Mac yelped, yelling "I'm authorized to be doing this!" as he turned around and saw that it was only Deteca. "Oh good, no DAHR people. Err um Joining the meeting yes. Uh yeah what meeting is this exactly? The one between the TUBA and DA reps? Yeah sure uh we will come I think right? Er sorry give me a second." He took a breath, calming himself down, reminded himself that there was no HR people here, and then continued talking. "We came by to pick up these people who are meeting with you, after the meeting was done, so we will just walk in after you guys and sit in the back till all's said and done." He glanced at Voidus and the Stranger, "Sound alright?"

@Voidus @Fatebreaker

[AonEne he/him]

Deteca would have been amused to see Mac like this, but she was too worried that they might've led someone from DAHR to a TUBA building. "Fine, then."

[Voidus]

Something dangerous out there, and close, too. I'm surprised my whole rusting shoe isn't on fire.

Laurelai's smile faltered as she received the message, but she managed to replace it quickly enough. Smiling politely over the rim of her glass she cast her gaze to the door, trying to catch any hint of what danger Lita might be sensing. Had TUBA decided to ambush them here? Or was it something from Plasmacore?

Be ready to run. She signed back. Though she suspected they needed no warning for that.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voidus' expression calmed as he saw someone approaching them, he recognized her from the meeting earlier. The one who'd been with Sudiov. His expression darkened for a moment as she had a small exchange with a still-shaken Mac but he managed to replace it soon enough.

"Good morning." He said briefly in greeting. "As mentioned, we're here somewhat incidentally to speak with some of ours after the meeting is done. But as we're here we may sit in as well."

They may as well keep TUBA up to date while they were here, if things ended up poorly at the Plasmacore building then they'd probably want to evacuate it or some such.

[kenod]

Alyitha yelped when the HR department showed up, and dissolved into a large mass of unidentifiable matter, slithering away in all directions. She could swear she'd heard her heartbeat at that moment, despite not having one. When she finally reassembled in a distant alley she sighed, and left the alleys.

Seeing the city around her she softly touched the wall of the restaurant, trying to figure out how long it had been since she'd last wandered the world. Shaking her head she walked into the restaurant just as Voidus started speaking. Grabbing a chair she sat down with the others, and started staring at the ceiling.

[I think I am here. he/him]

Quote

Since you guys skipped to dinner, I assume that would be reasonable time for Lusk to arrive at the place for the meeting?

“Thank you for coming to this meeting,” Lusk said, as he emerged from a dark shadow created by the bright “DIDGERIDOO” sign above them.

His frown deepened when he saw some of the most powerful beings in the universe hanging outside the restaurant. Quickly he messaged Zokora: You really outdid yourself, and he stepped into view.

“The Ghostbloods have a a lot of information regarding PlasmaCore, the vortex, and what the hell they’ve been doing up there. We’d like to share it with the rest of the Allied Guilds - which, I presume, includes the DA?”

@AonEne

@Voidus

@others at the location

[Silva]

There were people, Eiran noted as he peered through the window. A lot of people. Way more than anticipated. Some more DA people - was that Mac?! - along with a man he recognized as a Ghostblood.

He shuddered. Something was going to go wrong. There was no way they'd be able to get along long enough to prevent the imminent doom. There was too much pressure and not enough time. The Vortex was going to grow. It was going to expand. It was going to fill the streets with more not-abominations.

There wasn't a way to prevent it.

The Alleyverse was doomed with them still inside it.

No. It's not. he reminded himself. There's still hope.

Eiran walked over and pulled the door open. "Come on in. Better to be indoors. Lower chance of being attacked by frying pan creatures and easier to communicate," he paused. "And we have cookies." 
@Ark's Boyfriend @Voidus @I think I am here. 
@AonEne

Quote

My @s are quite screwy this morning. Sorry about the weird formatting of them.

[I think I am here. he/him]

1 hour ago, Silva said:

Eiran walked over and pulled the door open. "Come on in. Better to be indoors. Lower chance of being attacked by frying pan creatures and easier to communicate," he paused. "And we have cookies." 

“I’m sure you do,” Lusk said, entering. Quickly he moved over to where it seemed people were congregated. He brought out his Ghostblood messaging device, and quickly entered a long and winding passcode.

“Due to the recent incursion into PlasmaCore territory, the Ghostbloods have been able to recover information about PlasmaCore,” he said. The fact that he, a Ghostblood Council Member was willing to give up secrets spoke about the gravity of the situation. “If we really want to take PlasmaCore down, we need to be transparent, and starts with this images.”

Laying the device flat on a table, it began to emit a sort of hologram, for the guild members to see. It was a holographic projection of the photograph Zokora had took of the Vortex. It lay, purple and pulsing, a field of energy that seemed to dwarf even the Space Marine in the picture near to it.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita spun as the TUBA member walked towards the door, clenching her fist around the Coin instinctively and letting the spike up her sleeve drop into her other hand. She heard his breath quicken, his heart beat faster.

This is it, she thought, bringing her tin back to a near-flare and storing as much heat as she could. Then, the warmth in her hand sort of...changed. It dimmed a bit, almost pulsing. The feeling was familiar, more akin to how it had behaved back in Alley 0...

Oh, great.

Lita peered over the TUBAist's shoulder and out the door, feeling her stomach flip over once. Three familiar silhouettes stood outside the restaurant, accompanied by a few unfamiliar ones. Someone slipped in through the door, a woman she didn't know, and sat quietly looking at the ceiling. 

Another Dark Alley member? Lita wondered, chewing her lip. She slid the spike back up her sleeve and lowered her tin slightly, distracted from her fear of the three DA leaders by the appearance of another somewhat-recognizable man.

He carried himself with the haughty, brusque efficiency of someone who was used to being listened to, appeased, and obeyed. Another guild head? And where had she seen him before? He began speaking, quickly outing himself as a Ghostblood, and set some kind of flat device down on the table. 

“Due to the recent incursion into PlasmaCore territory, the Ghostbloods have been able to recover information about PlasmaCore,” he said. “If we really want to take PlasmaCore down, we need to be transparent, and starts with this images.”

Lita stared at the image with both fascination and terror. So, here was the answer to all the questions: this thing, violet and pulsing, had been in the same building where she'd been drinking and talking just two days ago? The thought made her flesh crawl, and her mind whir.

"There's no way they built this in the last 48 hours," Lita said quietly mouth moving before she could stop herself, "so why did they court us for a partnership?" She paused, realizing too late that she'd spoken aloud, and pressed her mouth into a line. Hell.

@I think I am here. @AonEne @Silva @MacThorstenson @everyone else

Edited June 20, 2019 by ZincAboutIt
Minor description edit.

[+Doomstick he/him]

Quote

Why is this thread’s title part of  the last line of a WoT song?

 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Just now, Doomstick said:

Why is this thread’s title part of  the last line of a WoT song?

Quote

Idk, I didn't make it up. I'm just here for the hemalurgy and the secrets.

 

[+Doomstick he/him]

Just now, ZincAboutIt said:

 

Quote

The title should be “Trust”

Spoiler

“Trust is the taste of death”

 

 

[Silva]

Eiran froze at the sight of the picture. It wasn't that he'd never seen anything like it before, it was because he had. Too many times.

"In the building," he said softly, "was there any mention of a Lord something?"

[kenod]

1 hour ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Lita spun as the TUBA member walked towards the door, clenching her fist around the Coin instinctively and letting the spike up her sleeve drop into her other hand. She heard his breath quicken, his heart beat faster.

This is it, she thought, bringing her tin back to a near-flare and storing as much heat as she could. Then, the warmth in her hand sort of...changed. It dimmed a bit, almost pulsing. The feeling was familiar, more akin to how it had behaved back in Alley 0...

Oh, great.

Lita peered over the TUBAist's shoulder and out the door, feeling her stomach flip over once. Three familiar silhouettes stood outside the restaurant, accompanied by a few unfamiliar ones. Someone slipped in through the door - was that a giant fox? 

Dark Alley for certain, Lita thought, chewing her lip. She slid the spike back up her sleeve and lowered her tin slightly, distracted from her fear of the three DA leaders by the appearance of another somewhat-recognizable man.

He carried himself with the haughty, brusque efficiency of someone who was used to being listened to, appeased, and obeyed. Another guild head? And where had she seen him before? He began speaking, quickly outing himself as a Ghostblood, and set some kind of flat device down on the table. 

“Due to the recent incursion into PlasmaCore territory, the Ghostbloods have been able to recover information about PlasmaCore,” he said. “If we really want to take PlasmaCore down, we need to be transparent, and starts with this images.”

Lita stared at the image with both fascination and terror. So, here was the answer to all the questions: this thing, violet and pulsing, had been in the same building where she'd been drinking and talking just two days ago? The thought made her flesh crawl, and her mind whir.

"There's no way they built this in the last 48 hours," Lita said quietly mouth moving before she could stop herself, "so why did they court us for a partnership?" She paused, realizing too late that she'd spoken aloud, and pressed her mouth into a line. Hell.

@I think I am here. @AonEne @Silva @MacThorstenson @everyone else

Quote

Aylitha should be in human form right now, given that she's sitting on a chair.

 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Just now, kenod said:

 

Quote

Thank you, will fix!