Sorana

I have a nearly finished post of him stashing it somewhere. Afterwards he'll probably go home. Does that work? If yes, I think the all purpose thread will work best

Vivi followed Willow in the room, trusting her assesment that it was safe to do so. She kept her attention on the hallway behind her, listened for footsteps, for the sounds of a fight, of someone running towards them. Instead she heard a voice. I... mean you no harm... watcher." The creature said. "Not so long as you... mean me none." She lifted her hands and rubbed over her arms to cover the shiver that ran along her body. Vivi frowned slightly and then turned towards Willow. Noone had followed them. They had decided to make a stand and in consequence she and Willow were separated from the group. Locally, that was obvious, but from now on they would be separated in their minds, too. Even if they rejoined the rest, they would never really be a part of that expedition again. She tilted her head a little to the side and then tried to orient herself. They were in a room adjacent to the outer hallway, not far into the manor. To go on, deeper inside, she suppressed another shivver and shoved the lingering fear away. Then she gently touched Willow's arm to draw her attention and nodded in a direction she thought might be the middle of the manor. The others provided a good distraction, the best they would get. And it might be safer to leave a group completely, that would never trust them to have their backs. Maybe. She wasn't sure about the last part. She lifted her hands in a questioning gesture, asked Willow for her opinion, still completely quietly so that they couldn't be overheard.

Done.

Mike wrapped his thin coat tight around his body, his hands covered in thin gloves and bit on his lower lip in thought. He was cold, but he kept his hands near his body to make sure his fingers would stay quick and flexibel. Ever since the world had changed he had been hanging in the air, without a real place to go. His gang had disbanded, or never existed, he wasn't quite sure which of it, and in the end he found that he didn't really care. He wasn't homeless and he still had his contacts throughout the city. Some were different people than before, but they still worked the same way and he knew their quirks. Who cared about faces anyway. And so here he was. Standing outside a shop selling weird stuff, watching as someone switched the lights off and closed the door. That was good. Nobody expected a thief during the day. Because the sun was shining and light made it hard to hide. But what most people didn't know, was that you could hide as easily during daylight than you could in the dark With the right clothing, you were able to vanish admist a crowd of people in a second. With the right posture you belonged to those around you, you vanished because they saw you and didn't see you at the same time. Because you were exactly as they expected you to be. Nothing more, but another nameless face in a nameless crowd. Nothing more but a part of the setting of their life. He walked towards the door, knocked and then lowered his hands towards the knob. He tried to turn it around, but it didn't move and he nodded a little to himself. He had to be careful. Maybe there were some other security meassures in place. Maybe there weren't. He lifted his right hand to knock again, while his left hand reached into his pocket and took out his tools. He took a small step back and looked at the lock, then shifted his body a little to cover what he was doing. Quickly he inserted his picklocks and moved them around until he could feel the first bolt. It took him a little while, the lock was of good quality and he had to start again at one point. But then he heared a soft click and was able to push the door open. "Thank you." he said loudly and pulled up his scarf to cover most of his face before he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He was greeted by a clean room, with a few chairs and a large semicircular desk. On the desk were some tools he couldn't quite place, but he only gave them a short glance. He wasn't here for the tools, or the schematics, or the fabrials this shop seemed to sell. With some luck the owner would notice that he had been here for a while. He paused for a moment, looked through the room to ensure that he knew the location of the windows and doors. Go to the shop, there is a lab in one of the rooms in the back. There is a safe hidden somewhere. Steal the motivator you'll find inside. His client's instructions were short, but they would be enough. And maybe - Mike moved his eyes over some of the fabrials and he considered to take one of them, too. He could sell them in a few days. But no, the more he took, the easier it would be to detect that he had been here. He walked over to a door on the other side of the room and opened it. Behind it was a laboratory, full of complicated looking tools and half finished projects. In the middle of the room was a machine weaving something, the room filled with it's quiet regular noise. In awe he looked around, feeling as if he had stepped into a story. If it worked it would be like one of the robots in the movies Alask had loved so much. Feeling a little sorry for robbing someone who was able to create such wonderful things he reached into his small backpack and took out a litte device with a wire attached on one end. It gave a slight buzz when he moved it along the floors, looking for a larger source of metal that might indicate a safe. He found one in a wall close to a corner and packed his device away again. He moved his hands over the surface in front of him and felt a little gap, carefully hidden admist the structure of the wall. There. He pushed and a part the wall moved aside, letting him see a safe. With a satisfied smile he reached into his pocket again and took out an ear trumpet. He wasn't the most skilled when it came to safes, but he hoped that he had enough time to open it quietly. He closed his eyes and pressed his ear with the trumpet against the safe, silently cursing the machine for its annoying backnoise. Slowly he turned the first wheel, waited for the soft noise that would announce the right number. Nothing. Gritting his teeth in frustration he took a deep breath and then tried again. This time he heard a very soft noise, just as the machine made a short break and was quiet for a moment. He continued and then, finally was able to pull the door of the safe open and look inside. The motivator was easy to spot and he smiled in satisfaction as he looked for some kind of alarm system before he took it out. Quickly he stowed it in his backpack and then closed the door of the safe again, moved the little wheels to the same numbers they had displayed before. Then he pushed the button again and the wall closed, hid the safe from view, before he headed towards the door, pausing only a short moment next to the machine. It looked really, really cool. Who knew what it was creating. Maybe a suit for a superhero. Podering about that possibility, he left the lab, without noticing, that when he walked past a table, a few sheets of paper gently flew down towards the floor. He closed the door of the lab and then left the shop again, quickly looking up and down the street. The man, two houses down the road was the same one than before and so he didn't take the time to lock the front door again, as it would be suspicious if he stayed too long this time. He couldn't pretend to wait for someone to answer his knocks of a shop he'd just visited. That didn't make any sense. Instead he turned to the right and kept his pace even, normal, as he walked back towards the Univeristy District. There he would place a little note with the barkeep of the Failed Exam. And then he would hand this thing over and receive his money and focus on his next job. Mike moved towards one of the larger streets, careful to appear at ease and relaxed. @EmulatonStromenkiin

It does. If my descriptions of some details aren't what you had in mind, let me know and then I'll edit. And if you need some ideas/ input about how to find Mike then we can chat about that, of course. He's still close as I wasn't sure how you'd like to go on.

Vivi waited. She calmed her breathing, so that she could listen, her concentration on the hallway behind them. And so waited, seconds felt like hours as she took another deep breath. In and Willow replied. "If you can." She said with a slight wince when she spoke. The words sounded even more raw than they had earlier. So Vivi could help. Or at least it was worth a try. She inclined her head a little and then reached inside. Her father had spent hour upon hours teaching her how to wield her rapier, how to behave in a combat, how to read her enemy. But her mother, her mother hadn't even been able to really use her own Shardblade. Vivi gently touched the reserve within her, remembered the endless hours she had trained with her mother. She coaxed a little bit of the copper forward, kindled it until it burned steadily and finally formed it into a cloud that was just large enough to hide Willow and herself. She briefly considered to cover the whole group, but discarded the idea. They were too exposed to blind one of them and the others were too far away to include while leaving him out at the same time. So a small one for now and a larger one when they were in a better position. Next to her Willow took a deep breath, just like her mom had always done, and when Vivi saw the soft light stream from her lips she felt relieve swap over her. She had made a good choice. Just like herself, Willow had kept at least one skill hidden. And a very powerful at that. Light moved through the corridor behind them and finally, finally Willow moved and turned around. Her tension breaking, Vivi followed her motion and turned around to see what Willow had done. Darkness covered the hallway like an endless tunnel leading into nowhere. With a frown Vivi tried to recall what her mother had called this, but the name didn't come to her mind, and she lost the thought the moment a hand reached out though the veil of darkness. Fear made her heart jump when she realized that this time she was actively looking at the creature. She tried to look away again, but it drew her gaze, the too thin arm, the spindly fingers. No. She forced herself the look up at the ceiling and belatedly mimicked Willow's motion again, turned around and offered the predator a clean way to her back. It made her skin crawl as if thousands of spiders were going on a walk there and she bit her teeth together, her hand closed tightly around the hilt of her rapier. She felt so exposed, vulnerable. Run? The word appeared in the air above her, easily visible for all of them. Run. It would leave them - Willow grabbed her arm and started to sprint down the hallway and Vivi stumbled the first steps along, surprised by the motion. Again. Willow helped her again. She ran next to her, glad that she was finally allowed to do something. Her fear surged up, the act of running away too close to a headless flight and it grabbed her, made her heart hammer in her chest. Vivi reached out for Willow's arm, too, clung to her as they raced towards a door, before she was able to get a hold on herself again. She threw the door open without pausing to listen for sounds coming from the inside, but she did slow, forced the fear back. It would be worse if there was another monster in there. Panting slightly she tried to calm her breath and get a quick look at the room behind the door at the same time, only now realizing that she held on to Willow with a deathgrip and had flared her copper, too. Sloppy, her mother would say. Coward, her brother. "Sorry." she muttered in Willow's direction and reigned her copper in. "Won't happen again."

Where exactly is the motivator within the shop? Or should I come up with something?

It would be great if someone could take a look at Mike. Thank you!

Alright. In that case I'll use a PC. I'll convert the character sheet to E6 and will post as soon as a mod looked him over.

Will those posts happen in the Technotic Shop, or can you maybe tag me when you'd like for the motivator to be stolen? And you have a preferece regarding PC or NPC? I can write both depending on what works best for you.

Sorry, for the late reply, only saw that now. Holidays and a closed child care kept me pretty busy. If you still need someone, I could do it. If not, that's perfectly fine. Just figured I can offer some help in case you're still stuck.

Malsam whirled past her, towards the hallway behind her and Vivi was about to turn her head and look where she was going. There was tension in the air, a nervousness of danger approaching and drawn weapons and it had made her draw her rapier again, if only to hold it in her hand and draw some reassurance from its weight. It was the kind of tension that led to mistakes, the kind that made you stab a friend because you were so focused, waiting so strongly for something to happen, that you would react to anything. And so, when Willow moved towards her at a crazy speed she flinched slightly in surprise, but didn't do anything threatening. She had been trained for these situations. Willows arms held her for a moment, pushed her back another step, away from Malsam, turned her so that faced the other way. Vivi knew that Willow was ready to fight, recognized the stance, even though it was a little different from the ones she had seen in her time in the canton, it still had the same basics. "Look forward. Not at it, not until it is right upon us. Hear. Wait. Patience." Willow ordered and Vivi hesitated for a splint second, then decided to throw her lot in with her completely. To trust her. She stayed where she was, listened. You don't need your eyes, her father had always told her. You can learn as much using your other senses. He had been good at fighting with his eyes closed, but Vivi always found that unnerving. She prefered to see what she was fighting. Exhaling she forced herself to relax her tight muscles, to be ready to fight when her ears told her to. Or when Willow would act. And yet, there was something else she could do. Hesitating she looked at Willow's face for a split second. She had protected her. Warned her. Vivi bit her lip and then made a decision. "Can we hide?" she asked, only to rephrase her question immediatly. "Is it beneficial to hide from senses based on investiture?"

Vivi took a step forward, and then another. The change was incredible. Like the pocket world she had owned to place her animals inside, the whole hallway twisted changed it's shape. Or maybe like the paper book she had made years ago. When you pulled on a part, all of it changed and you could read a new page. Open mouthed she stared as new doors appeared, other sections vanished completely. Vivi was just watching a door appear next to another, when a shape appeared. It was tall, had long arms, or at least she thought that it were arms, although she wasn't able to get a good glance on it. Without thinking she drew her sword and shifted her weight, so that she could place her feet in a defensive stance. The monster vanished again and she relaxed partially, but kept her sword in her hand. ”It will go on for another few minutes,” Cobalt announced and she looked quickly over to him, saw that he checked a watch. Minutes. She had expected that the change was scary, that it was some weird thing, but this, this was amazing. With a grin she looked back at the hallway, but didn't let it catch her full attention anymore, the picture of the thing jumping her from behind too vivid in her head. But then - if they only attacked when you looked, then she should stop to worry about her back and worry more about what was in front of her. The idea disturbed her, it went against everything that had been drilled into her. When the change continued for another while she relaxed a little more and finally put her rapier back into its sheath. Then she opened her bag and pulled out a brightly wrapped jelly. It was soft, easy to be chewed upon. She popped it into her mouth and started to bite down, the slight sour flavor welcome on her toungue. She grimaced slightly when she could feel the sharp taste of copper only shortly afterwards. Quickly she swallowed it, felt the familiar reserve appear inside of her. Who knew. Maybe her copper could be useful later.

Willow smiled. It was only a short expression, one that was gone nearly as quickly as it had appeared but it made her float. She'd made someone smile with something her mother would have scolded her for, her brother would have rolled her eyes at her and maybe her father, maybe her father would have nodded, but he would have gotten it all wrong. Vivi swallowed at the thoughts, their reactions too painful to ponder any further and she pretended to straighten her backpack to cover the shadow crossing her face. It was so easy to pretend, to be happy about a gift and to make a lighthearted, honest comment. But it would be foolish to believe that she would find anything more than some money here. Nobody would be willing to take in an orphan, she had to keep that in mind. Better to face the reality now than to live some dream. Her eyes darted over to Willow again and she couldn't help to wonder if she maybe could find something else. A friend maybe. Someone who understood. The thought was wonderful and she allowed herself to enjoy it for a while, before she forced her eyes away. She let them move over the others, wondered what they thought about her, if maybe they would be willing to look at her and see more than a child. She followed the others, listened to suggestions, but stayed quiet. She had no idea how to deal with this house, and so she would observe and listen until she had some kind of idea how she could contribute to their cause. And even more important, how she could act without getting herself killed immediatly. "We could use the time to prepare." She suggested and mimicked Willow's step away from Byron nonetheless. The idea to be trapped in a bubble while the house did things, while some monsters sneaked up from behind was scary. She prefered to keep an eye on her surroundings and stay in control of them.

Vivi smiled at the sight of the knife, a true honest smile that made her eyes shine in delight. It was a simple blade, but it was more than she could afford and a thousand times more important: it was a present. A keepsake for her first mission alone.And the coolest present she had ever been given. "Thank you." She replied quietly and took it from Willow, weighed it in her hand. It would work well should the need arise. She paused, tried to come up with a good place to keep it and finally opened her bag. There was a small pocket at its side one she could reach easily and quickly. Her eyes rested on Rainbowglow for a moment and she considered another place, one nobody would look, but then she couldn't bring herself to do it. Rainbowglow was too important a keepsake on its own. Vivi tried to remember what she had learned about fighting with a knife, but the only thing that came to her mind was the part about the distance. She had to be close, preferably without her opponent even seeing the blade at all. Well, she would think of something should the need arise. "I'll remember to bring one in the future." She told Willow with an earnest glance, deciding that she liked her. Willow was like that plant, the one with the beautiful blossoms and the tiny spikes all over its seed capsules. It was so beautiful as deadly. She remembered her mom getting rid of it, once she learned that the plant she cultivated in a pot could easily kill her children. Vivi had been sad, that the plant had to die, she'd liked it. The name eluded her, but she would have to look it up later, maybe find out Willow's adress and send her one. Leaning a little towards Willow she added quietly. "And I'll practice. I've got to be able to hit my target correctly." Her fingers touched her side, right over the liver and she gave a slight wink, then stepped back again. It was a good day. @Voidus

So this is just an idea and I'm not mad if you don't like it. The part about him, where he wants to feel valued, I would use that. You can either stress it, turn it into an "I will be mad if you don't value me, I need to be valued in order to function" (exaggerating so that you can understand more easily what I'm aiming at). Or you go the other way and have him be like "I don't need to feel valued, I know that I'm good and useful". Or you go along a third path and have him find a plce where he feels valued and is therefore satisfied. All three possibilities offer a way for him to change and to evolve and you can easily use them for a corruption arc, too. "I have/ need/ want more power, so I don't need your validation." for example (although that one doesn't really feel like him to me, but I hope you can understand what I'm aiming at.)

Satisfied by its contents Vivi closed the backpack again and slung it over her shoulders. She took a deep breath, repeated all she'd learned about the creatures in her head and then walked over towards the others. She positioned herself close to Willow, but not so close that it would be too obvious what she was doing. Leaning against a wall she tried to hide her nervousness behind a relaxed posture. She could do this. She had trained with her rapier, she had her bag as well as a backpack. Don't look, don't be spooked, don't scream like a little girl she told herself. She was twelve, she was old enough to stand on her own feet. Vivi pressed her lips together when she wished for her brother to be here. He would know what to do with such a house. She shooed the feeling away. He hated her. Hater her, because she had inherited something he yearned. Vivi forced herself to relax her face. Copper. She had inherited copper. No usefull flashy skill, but copper. It had it's place, but most of the time she wasn't sure what to do with it. It wasn't as if she had a soothing parlor to hide from the authorities. Maybe it would help her inside, hide her from the monsters. Or it wouldn't. Her fingers reached for her rapier. Better to rely on this. If she fought well enough, it might even ensure her survival. Maybe. She shifted her weight. All of this standing around got on her nerves. It was time to take a look and see what waited for them. Her eyes moved over to the man who would go with them. Better to keep an eye on him, too. Who knew what his real orders were. Her fingers found a piece a sparkling chewing gum in her pocket and she popped it into her mouth. She would ace this. And then nobody was allowed to ever look down on her again. And maybe, maybe they would be proud of her, too.

To start with this: If you want him dead - it can be done. It's your character and with some planning he can easily go out a hero protecting someone else, get eaten by a monster or killed by another PC. But, more seriously, I'm not sure if killing him off is a good way to go. You mention that you would like to corrupt him. Did you already think about the 'in what way' part? What part of him will be the 'tinge of evil'? I know that rp can lead to a lot of things, but it helps me if I've got a rough idea what attribute of my character's character I want to change. Which part of their personality, is maybe a better phrasing?

"Thank you." Vivi took the pack from Willow, surprised that she had decided to bring one over for her. Willow didn't seem to be the type to do this kind of thing. She met her eyes for a moment, wondered what went on in Willow's head and then looked away again. She would have to be careful. Everybody here was a potential enemy. Her gaze moved over to manor's lady and she forced herself to include her in that list. Better to assume that this was nothing but a trap. Only then did she focus on the backpack in her hand. It was heavy, but she thought that she would be able to carry it. If it held provisions for a week for an adult, they would last her longer and she would never give up an edge like food. Setting it down on the floor she opened it and looked through the contents, checked if everything was packed securely and that the food was alright to eat. She used her obvious study of the provisions to cover her search for a hidden pouch or something like that. What better way to track them, than a backpack they would need to keep close all time. Or to hurt them in a critical moment. "Will we be able to find water inside?" she asked loudly and looked towards Cobalt. Food was one thing, but you could go a while without. Without water things would be critical far sooner. @ZincAboutIt

And she'd pushed her to her border. Vivi hid a satisfied smile when Malsam's reaction was a bit sour. "I have been called...delicate. It is somewhat accurate, my bones break very easily. I have been cosseted enough, though. And I'm at least as good with my sword as you are with your rapier." But she'd still spilled her weakness. Vivi lifted her hands a little to pacify her, but then the woman went on, her smile genuine again. "That would be an interesting contest. Your sword looks well-made, and especially for you." A duel? Had that really been an offer for a duel? Vivi had heard stories of the duels that happened in the city, it was exactly the kind of story her father would tell in the evening. She felt her smile falter and then slowly, taking care that her gesture couldn't be mistaken as offensive, she drew her rapier partially and turned a little so that Malsam could see. "My father had it made for me." It was lighter than the usual weapon, a bit thinner, a bit shorter. Perfect for someone her size and strength. Gently she put it back and blinked her eyes a few times to get rid of some unwelcome tears collecting there. He was gone. Couldn't she finally get over it. He'd been gone for too long already. "When we fight," she changed the topic quickly, "If you want to, we can try to position you to the side or the back of the enemy, not directly at the center. That way you can move and evade and don't need to rely on blocking some blows." If her bones really broke quickly, that might be wise. And if she prefered to do otherwise Vivi wouldn't stop her. Every blow someone else caught wasn't caught by herself. She looked through the room, tried to sort them all a little, depending on the skills they had spoken about and the way they held themselves. The first dangerous situation would most likely show more, she would need to reevaluate later. Willow checked her knives, some worn openly, some hidden, Byron was still confident that he should scout the house on his own. The others were silent now, probably preparing. Vivi looked back at Malsam and made a quick decision. "If you'd really like to see who's better, we could meet again once this is over." Then she gestured towards Willow's sentence. "I agree. We should prepare and start. If we need to be out by sundown, the earlier we're inside the better." @Ookla the Quark

Malsam smiled at her, despite her rude question and it made Vivi wonder whether she was always this nice, or if Vivi had some bonus because of her age. Whichever it was, it was good to know that she had some leeway with her. Who knew when she would need that. She smiled brightly at the woman, made sure to straighten full of pride when Malsam mentioned that she wore her blade well. A part of was tempted to reply that of course she did, she was trained and the rapier had been crafted specifically for her, but she kept quiet. It would only lead to questions about who had trained her and why and she didn't want to talk about that. It would mean that she had to admit that they were gone for good, that she lost them. It was one thing to know and another speak the words loudly. And so she nodded at the statement that she was a hired sword, despite the strange feeling the label caused. She had been taught to fight to protect, to do something good, not to hire her skills out to some old woman in a changing manor. But the really weird part was, that she didn't mind. It was her blade, her skills, she would use them to survive, to conquer a place for herself in this city. All noble morale would have to wait for someone else. Vivi chewed on her feeling for another moment and then decided that she could delve deeper into this matter at a later time. "I'm glad to hear that stairs won't be a problem." she replied brightly to Malsam, focusing back on the topic at hand. "Is there something I should keep in mind? If its less safe you without it, what situations are dangerous for you?" She asked curiously. @Ookla the Quark

Don't stay after sundown. Vivi considered the implication of these words and wondered how she would be able to track time inside of a changing and moving manor. Maybe there would be light falling in through the windows - if the rooms they would be walking through had any windows. More importantly, the short sentence revealed that Willow might be one of the only ones who knew a little more about the house or its creatures. It would be wise to stay close to her. Malsam rolled over to Willow and her, her eyes resting on Vivi's blade for a moment. "Nice sword." She said. "How good are you with it?" Next to her Willow shifted in the sublte way of someone trained to fight, improved her position now that she was standing close to two others instead of only Vivi. Her father had always done the same, usually without even realizing it. One more reason to stick around her. She smiled at Malsam, careful to stay exactly where she was. It put Willow at an advantage, but that was fine for now. She had to assume that Willow wasn't planning to turn on the rest of them. Not immediatly at least. "I've trained a lot with it." she replied to Malsam. "I know what to do with it." "Will you be able to follow us?" she asked Malsam curiously, before cringing slightly. That hadn't been too nice. "I'm sorry." She apologzied. "I simply wondered about the stairs we'll most likely find inside." @Ookla the Quark

The woman took the sandwich with a small nod of thanks. Relieved that she hadn't reacted angry, Vivi considered to walk away again, she didn't like to intrude too much on others, although her brother claimed that she did it all the time. Vivi swallowed around the knot in her throat, when the woman lifted her chin a little to show Vivi her scars. They were huge and crude and most likely the reason she had been so quiet so far. Then she started to write on the board she held and turned it a little so that Vivi could read it. Thank you. You hold your blade well. Vivi read and straightened proudly. Few people took the time to even judge her skill. She was usually dismissed because of her age alone. You may call me Willow. was added after a short pause and Vivi smiled. "Hey, Willow." She replied with an honest smile. "I'm glad to meet you." Vivi tapped gently against the handle of her rapier. "I trained a lot, for years." She told Willow quietly. "I know that nearly everybody in this room will neglect me, because I'm so much younger than they are, but I can defend myself. I'm not as helpless as they think." It didn't change the part where she was shorter, lighter and weaker than her opponent, but skill could make up for some of her disadvantages. And surprising her enemy usually helped as well. As well as her usual try to evade a direct confrontation with someone much stronger. "Do you have some information about the manor?" she nodded towards Willow's blueprints, but didn't lean over to take a closer look to avoid prying. "To be honest, the lady sounds as if she doesn't expect us to succeed. Or if we do, she suspects that some won't leave again." Vivi could partially understand that, those who had gathered didn't quite look like heros, but then - the thought that their employer didn't care at all if they lived or died made her cringe inwardly. Her thoughts turned back to her disadvantages and she sighed. If she was honest with herself, her chances to leave again weren't exactly that high. @Voidus