Oblitus Magia: Verse 1 - Fateful Encounter in the City of Fools

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Passing by an elevator that seemed to be heading to the surface level, the prison group arrives at the prisoner storage chamber.

Though the chamber has mostly junk, important items from most of the prisoners are held in tagged lockers...Xias weapons and items among them.

Also a large crate marked with "Omu" that seemed to contain an over-sized novelty hookah.

Xia's heart started to race when she say the locker with her name on it. She reached inside and started pulling stuff out. The clothes she had been wearing when she was arrested and detain were placed on a nearby box, neatly folded with her boots next to them for when she found a private area to change. Next, she slowly reached inside again and pulled out the only other thing that was inside: the handcrafted wood and metal scabbard. Meticulously and painstakingly sculpted, it was a thing of beauty that only a master could create. Yet, the blade that was kept inside was even more so.

She pulled the dao out just enough to see her reflection in the blade. A brief golden glow emanated from her hand and passed over into the blade. As soon as it appeared, the glow was gone and she snapped the sword back into the scabbard. With it in her hand once again, she no longer felt naked. She sighed contently and grabbed her clothes with her empty hand so she could find a place to get dressed. Growing up on the streets killed what semblance of shame she may have had otherwise. She wasn't particularly well-hidden from prying eyes, not that she cared.

She emerged from her changing spot dressed in a peculiar outfit for someone who had proven herself a hand-to-hand fighter. She carried her sword, but had the rifle she picked up slung over her shoulder. "Now what?" she asked Mulvric. "You're going to show us how to get out of here, right?"

As she spoke, she pulled out a monocular and an old journal and shoved both in her jacket pockets.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

" Jacob, I could probably make someone other than you notice me if I possessed one of the people here. However, I won't do that because that is strictly taboo. Wicked spirits are the only ones who go around possession the living. It's an invasion of privacy on a spiritual level," Rhea said telepathically.

" Jacob, I'll retrieve your weapons from this storage room, you go on ahead with these guys," Rhea said telepathically. Rhea quickly heads towards the storage room.

[grampagen]

"Tragically, the only ones equipped to read that are me and Mulvric." En responded with disappointment. ".....You risked yourself for that information.....and I wish we were in a position to utilize it better, but we'll need to rely on your memory in another way."


Owen doesn't detect anything from the acending elevator....however he faintly catches something in the immediate area, something strong.

".....aha....eh....?" En sounded confused in response to Kinus speech. "I....I didn't understand any of that but you sound fired up......a...actually I'm kinda fired up too..." En voice seemed a tad more hopeful. "Ok....Ok we can do this. Drop off a team to pick up Mulvric on level 3, but don't waste time hunting down anyone....get in and get out. Our goal will be to get as many people as we can down to level 7, there is a Maintenance access that connects to some sub level sewers and then into the slums. We have a couple more minutes before I have to disconnect from the system...so we're going to lose radio contact soon. Ange and Mercer will take point after that."

Rearing back from her stoop, with a self-satisfied nod and swagger, Kinu flit her view over to the two members of the EN organization that led them here in the first place. At the tail end of her impassioned words, in equal measure as she was to see it done, she also came to a sudden realization.

...I have no idea what Mulvric looks like.

Of course, they had at least half a dozen who did, in and around the crowd. They got as much on the line as they do...if they're as good as their word.

Yet somehow, she'd gotten through to En on the other line, and it seemed the scale of...everything, began to escalate.

"What was that about sub levels? Is this thing breaking up?" A garbled grunt puffed out of the paralyzed smile of her mask. Pulling 241 people or more down a freight elevator huh? If they coulda gone underneat them, they would have.

"Clock's ticking, Gee Gee," Kinu said, wiggling Mercer's talkie in front of her. "You got 'em into this mess. You tell me in front of em all, that EN's gonna bail them out!"

With a ding, the empty elevator opened.

Power flares once again in Owens mind.....something is drawing closer.

"You tell me now, who's going to step up, and who's going down-!"

Using Identify alongside his Odin’s Eye, Owen looks around.

“Something is coming. It’s getting closer.”

His hand drifts to his hidden revolver.

When Owen began to scan around the terminal, Kinu's attention was for the moment pulled from the lift, and almost callously she lobbed the communicator back to Mercer, leaned over with her hands upon her knees as she started limbering up.

Might need both hands free for this one...whatever it is...?

...wherever it was, because she didn't see the faintest thing.

[The Chou Lives]

“ Hmm?? Can you tell what it is? Do not want to grease a good guy, again.”

As he did not turn on fire gloves either, but focused on what it could be.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Passing by an elevator that seemed to be heading to the surface level, the prison group arrives at the prisoner storage chamber.

Though the chamber has mostly junk, important items from most of the prisoners are held in tagged lockers...Xias weapons and items among them.

Also a large crate marked with "Omu" that seemed to contain an over-sized novelty hookah.

What was inside the storage room was of little immediate interest.

The two guns already acquired were already pushing the boundary of 'tolerable', the feel of the assault rifle in particular as she gripped it with hand and claw bordering on painful. Yet there was an old adage that perhaps served. Inside every tool is a hammer. So at the very least; should the decision to sell them not prove sufficient she would get the worth of them one way or another.

Eyeing a crate full of clothing, interest was found.

Moving the gun to be gripped by tail, quick work was made of the threadbare clothing as it was torn into a mix of long and short strips; which then were fashioned into makeshift wrapping and knotted lengths. The knotted lengths were used to secure the guns, which could both be slung over shoulder, with the remainder of the strips being used to wrap hand, wrist, foot... and interestingly, the last was tied around the neck and slipped beneath the shackle- which some might see for a collar- that remained clamped around her neck.

Work finished, the Dragon grunted.

"We done here?"

[The Dog]

Selma finally found the people she'd heard talking, and gripping the kukri tightly in one hand, she moved closer to a nearby set of shadows and called out "Hey! You wouldn't happen to know where the survivors of A-9 are, would you? I'm kind of hoping to find some of my family there."

[Noldere]

"Tragically, the only ones equipped to read that are me and Mulvric." En responded with disappointment. ".....You risked yourself for that information.....and I wish we were in a position to utilize it better, but we'll need to rely on your memory in another way."

Figures... and with Mnemosyne still being unresponsive, I don't have a way to convert the information into anything useful.

"Well, it wouldn't a right and proper first day off without everything I try failing, would it?"

Strangely enough, despite the words themselves suggesting otherwise, Lucifer didn't seem all that dejected- as if it had happened enough times before that he was used to it by now.

Selma finally found the people she'd heard talking, and gripping the kukri tightly in one hand, she moved closer to a nearby set of shadows and called out "Hey! You wouldn't happen to know where the survivors of A-9 are, would you? I'm kind of hoping to find some of my family there."

I've heard that voice from somewhere...

"Are they not here?" Lucifer asked as he looked for the source of the new voice and, after a moment, found it- rather, found her, residing near the shadows, rather odd weapon in hand.

Oh, it's one who was singing earlier. So she's managed to find her way here no worse for wear.

"Admittedly, my memory of what happened before that is spotty, but with you here, just about everyone I remember actually being on that ship is now accounted for. Which, now that I think about it..."

While it wasn't exactly likely that in a random group of a couple hundred or so out of a couple dozen thousand you'd have multiple members of the family together, standard evacuation protocols would generally result in somewhat non-random groups. After all, it wouldn't make sense for family or other individuals in close proximity to each other to be separated unless there was simply not enough space to hold everyone... or the others simply weren't rescued.

"Where are the other ships with the survivors from A-9? Because there were only a few hundred people on the one I got off of, which doesn't sound right."

[Tami]

Figures... and with Mnemosyne still being unresponsive, I don't have a way to convert the information into anything useful.

"Well, it wouldn't a right and proper first day off without everything I try failing, would it?"

Strangely enough, despite the words themselves suggesting otherwise, Lucifer didn't seem all that dejected- as if it had happened enough times before that he was used to it by now.

Selma finally found the people she'd heard talking, and gripping the kukri tightly in one hand, she moved closer to a nearby set of shadows and called out "Hey! You wouldn't happen to know where the survivors of A-9 are, would you? I'm kind of hoping to find some of my family there."

I've heard that voice from somewhere...

"Are they not here?" Lucifer asked as he looked for the source of the new voice and, after a moment, found it- rather, found her, residing near the shadows, rather odd weapon in hand.

Oh, it's one who was singing earlier. So she's managed to find her way here no worse for wear.

"Admittedly, my memory of what happened before that is spotty, but with you here, just about everyone I remember actually being on that ship is now accounted for. Which, now that I think about it..."

While it wasn't exactly likely that in a random group of a couple hundred or so out of a couple dozen thousand you'd have multiple members of the family together, standard evacuation protocols would generally result in somewhat non-random groups. After all, it wouldn't make sense for family or other individuals in close proximity to each other to be separated unless there was simply not enough space to hold everyone... or the others simply weren't rescued.

"Where are the other ships with the survivors from A-9? Because there were only a few hundred people on the one I got off of, which doesn't sound right."

Still standing nearby Lucifer, Matthias also noticed the new arrival. He had not realized it until now that Lucifer was an A-9 Refugee, which makes his actions in the prison seem even more reckless though admirable.

Overhearing Lux's comments about the other ships, his natural curiosity took hold. Taking a few steps away to get a better view of the terminal, he began looking it over, as well as looking over the people still milling about. Studying the area, Matthias tried to figure out if what was said is accurate. If there was more than one transport ship, then where were the others? Also, what happened to those who disembarked from the ship along with Lucifer and the Blond-haired woman? More importantly, why haven't the authorities descended on them like a strait jacket by now?

[KingofPie]

Passing by an elevator that seemed to be heading to the surface level, the prison group arrives at the prisoner storage chamber.

Though the chamber has mostly junk, important items from most of the prisoners are held in tagged lockers...Xias weapons and items among them.

Also a large crate marked with "Omu" that seemed to contain an over-sized novelty hookah.

"They dumped out all my shuriken, the bastards..." Omu grumbled. "Well this thing could have it's used too, I guess."

[The Dog]

Figures... and with Mnemosyne still being unresponsive, I don't have a way to convert the information into anything useful.

"Well, it wouldn't a right and proper first day off without everything I try failing, would it?"

Strangely enough, despite the words themselves suggesting otherwise, Lucifer didn't seem all that dejected- as if it had happened enough times before that he was used to it by now.

I've heard that voice from somewhere...

"Are they not here?" Lucifer asked as he looked for the source of the new voice and, after a moment, found it- rather, found her, residing near the shadows, rather odd weapon in hand.

Oh, it's one who was singing earlier. So she's managed to find her way here no worse for wear.

"Admittedly, my memory of what happened before that is spotty, but with you here, just about everyone I remember actually being on that ship is now accounted for. Which, now that I think about it..."

While it wasn't exactly likely that in a random group of a couple hundred or so out of a couple dozen thousand you'd have multiple members of the family together, standard evacuation protocols would generally result in somewhat non-random groups. After all, it wouldn't make sense for family or other individuals in close proximity to each other to be separated unless there was simply not enough space to hold everyone... or the others simply weren't rescued.

"Where are the other ships with the survivors from A-9? Because there were only a few hundred people on the one I got off of, which doesn't sound right."

Selma shrugged as she said "I honestly don't know. I just know that they grabbed me and led me away for "questioning", most likely about what happened at A-9, before I had a chance to actually search them out." Her lips tugged downward in a frown as she continued "I just hope that they made it out OK, I'm worried sick about them."

The frown then morphed into a scowl as she muttered "Hell, I don't even remember what happened there, just that one minute I was living my life and next thing I remember clearly we're on a ship headed here and according to the government bureaucrats the Ruin has destroyed it."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"They dumped out all my shuriken, the bastards..." Omu grumbled. "Well this thing could have it's used too, I guess."

For the first time the woman seemed to notice the massive centipede. "A big scary bug." The voice was soft, almost a whisper. "Should I run?"

Tilting her head, she seemed to... sniff in his general direction before seeming to grin. "No... I don't think I will."

What the girl meant, why she was smilining, and what she intended to do with this new information? Who could say.

[Yun Lao]

"... so your own side is fighting itself?"

She groaned to herself, resting her face in her hands where she mumbled, "... what a clown show..."

It was during the confusion that she chose to step away from the others. Saved by the Administratum from the destruction of her home only for malicious purposes only to be saved by accident by a seemingly incompetent and selfish rebellion, Sigourney's emotions had been flipped and flopped to the point where only cold apathy remained. Returning to the path they had originated from, her gaze followed the signs in hopes of finding some form of clue as to the fate of her family.

If the guard from earlier was correct, they were all dead and while the thought filled her with sorrow, there was a relief in that knowledge. Either she would join them or carve out her own path in this chaotic world, but it was that knowledge that she needed. She could still hear the panic and violence from that hallway, but the trance-like state she had adopted no longer gave waver in her steps.

[Melon God]

Morgen joined the gang at the elevator.

[KingofPie]

For the first time the woman seemed to notice the massive centipede. "A big scary bug." The voice was soft, almost a whisper. "Should I run?"

"...Somethin' I can help you with?" Omu inquired, barely noticing the soft spoken voice of the girl who had acknowledged him .

Tilting her head, she seemed to... sniff in his general direction before seeming to grin. "No... I don't think I will."

What the girl meant, why she was smilining, and what she intended to do with this new information? Who could say.

"Voice is familiar. ..oh hey!" He came to a realizations, quickly swiping two of his legs together to emulate a human snapping their fingers. " Yer the new transfer, right? Remember you cryin' out for help... 'Course, not many helpless damsels require high security prison transfers to my knowledge. "

[The Dog]

"...Somethin' I can help you with?" Omu inquired, barely noticing the soft spoken voice of the girl who had acknowledged him .

"Voice is familiar. ..oh hey!" He came to a realizations, quickly swiping two of his legs together to emulate a human snapping their fingers. " Yer the new transfer, right? Remember you cryin' out for help... 'Course, not many helpless damsels require high security prison transfers to my knowledge. "

Selma stared in surprise as she turned to the new voice and saw a massive centipede talking to a girl who'd apparently joined this motley crew.

"That is the second biggest bug I've ever seen." Selma said as she looked at the giant multi-legged arthropod, before rubbing her chin as she added "Though it is the first bug I've ever seen capable of talking to people. Usually they just crawl away, maybe bite you, or in one occasion gave a horrible screech and sprayed a hot noxious acidic chemical directly from its butt."