Hallucinogen was standing behind Essex, waiting. Realizing he was about to touch her back, he jumped backwards, blushing slightly. "Wife's Away. . .?" he muttered to himself. What could that mean? One thing he was pretty sure it did mean, though. The robots were in on this, and it had been carefully planned.
OOC: =D Hehe.
BIC: "Whoever made those noises are gone now," Archlich said as he sheathed his sword. "But I believe they are long gone now as a strong wind whipped past me as I lay in wait for them. They must have used an enchantment to turn themselves into said wind to escape."
Turning around, Archlich motioned for Andrew to follow him as he walked in the direction of the explosion.
"Come. If you are as you say then you will greatly aid my search for the culprits of this crime."
I hate this. Archlich thought.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Hey! Whats going on here!? came a voice from outside the gate. It was a man dressed in a police uniform, obviously one of the authorities helping in the investigation. He drew his handgun and pointed it at the intruders near the laboratory gate but who wouldnt get a bit suspicious of a guy in silver armor, an android(both with swords mind you) and a guy in a trench coat in the dark of night? I heard an explosion. Who are you?
((So the three of you(Archlich, Andrew and 2.0) are there with the TacOp in hiding.))
As he waited for Essex, Hal forced himself to stop looking at her and look around the room. He paid particular attention to how tidy it was . . . if the robots were really cleaning this place all day, then it should be spotless. If it wasn't. . . then perhaps they were busy with something else.
At the sudden appearance of the member of the authorities, 2.0 almost hit his PDA to enable his armour. However, he shook his head, and removed his hand. "Sir, I am John Ballard, editor of the Paragon City Times, and tech-geek. Please, do not fire..."
Although the house is very tidy, one might be able to tell the home wasnt completely spotless. With a quick glance at the windows(giving a fine view of the front lawn) one could see a spot here and there on the glass.
~~
The press? the officer asked as he replaced his gun in its holster. What are you doing out here? Shouldnt you be interviewing someone or something, the man asked quizzically.
John looked from side to side, as if thinking. "Uh... Well, yes, but I am more of the 'hands-on' type of reporter... Heh... I always, y'know, go right on in. You get the story quicker if you do it yourself, eh officer?"
He chuckled nervously.
"I am the Silver Knight," Archlich said to the officer. "I am here to investigate the explosion as much as you are, sir. This android is assisting me in my task. I cannot speak for the reporter, however."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
The officer paused a few moments more, examining the group. "Okay then. I'll call for some back up while you start investigating."
Andrew, relieved that the officer was not going to ask more questions, looked around. Judging from the scorch marks, Andrew found he room which the explosion took place in. He saw...
((You haven't posted any details about that room. I'm waiting for some.))
((Ill assume you went deeper into the laboratory to where the explosion was then.))
Inside, an odd mix of alchemy equipment, computers and various large machines and decorated with faintly glowing crystals and magical runes of mending, binding and forging. A door leading into another separate lab could be seen with the glass looking into the room shattered. Inside that room were scattered remnants of some sort of machine or magical device. A large crystal core which seemed fused to the floor and down into the ground with various cables coming off of it but this was now ruined. With a spell, one could see what it once was but without knowledge of how the construct was built it could not be repaired.
((So, is the large crystal core off in that side room, or in this current explodey room? I'm confused.))
John cringed, and audibly groaned. "...Oh god... It actually hurts to see magic powering this awesome stuff..." he muttered, slinking over quietly to look at the technological pieces in there. "Hm... Well the power cores are apparently badly damaged... Unless magic makes stuff look useless on purpose... So I can't exactly look through these to find any files..."
He looked through the shattered glass to the apparently destroyed power core. "...And even if I could, I doubt that thing is getting repaired any time soon."
"A travesty of nature," Archlich muttered to himself as he looked around the room, fury building. The urge to completely eradicate this building was tempting indeed.
"Do not touch the runes," he said in a commanding tone. "Manipulate the technical devices as you will but leave the magic to me."
Warnings given, Archlich bent down to the first runic line and started reading it. It should only take him a little while, but he'd figure out what this room was meant for even if it took him years.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Experiment rolled his eyes. "'Manipulate the technical devices...' Pfft... Yeah sure, I will manipulate the frickin' devices. Why dontcha go ahead and manipulate a shattered crystal." he quietly muttered to himself, moving to the nearest computer.
He glanced it over, and sighed. "This thing was made to be powered by magic... It would take me weeks to calibrate it to the technology I have... Ugh... This is why people don't mix magic and tech..."
Andrew quickly walked over to 2.0. "Listen," he said, getting as close to 2.0's ear as possible, "I've been concelaing this from that knight over there, I get the hint that he doesn't like tech and magic mixed." Andrew opened his left hand to show a small network of magnesium lines in a magic arrangement. "Ian's dad put this on me a few months after I moved in. I could probably interface with that machine, if you don't mind."
Overhearing Experiment's complaint, Archlich snapped his fingers, causing several runes on the computer Experiment was looking over to light up. The computer started humming as it activated.
"Simple usage," Archlich said in explanation as he went back to examening the rest of the runes throughout the room.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
After the others went back into the lab, the officer turned away, his face contorted in anger. He drew a fan that looked like it was made of paper from the holster his gun was only a moment before. Opening it, a strong wind grew and died and in front of him were three males kneeling before him with black ninja garb with some sections accented by dark green. They werent normal ninja though, their skin(what could be seen beyond their masks) were odd colors(one green and the other two red). Their noses were longer than a normal and ended in a sharp point. Various tools, including a sleek katana strapped to their backs, were concealed around their dark costumes. Not that it matters but, eliminate them. Ill make sure this is safe, the officer said as one of the three assassin handed him a sack.
As you wish, they all said in unison and quickly flew through the laboratory entrance.
This was unexpected but they cannot learn of our plan. With a wave of the fan, a cloud of large feathers swarmed around the man, revealing his true form. A beautiful woman, wearing the same colors of the other three but showing more of her light orange skin and while the other three males had long pointy noses, hers was normal sized(just making that clear). A thick mantle made of feathers fell from her shoulder and down her back and a sword at her hip. She would make sure no one would escape from this laboratory alive.
~~
((To clarify, there is a room with tech and magic all around. Another door with a broken glass window leading into the room with the crystal core is were the explosion took place. In that room, mostly everything should be destroyed to barely be recognized although not impossible.))
Stop where you are! said a squawky, high pitched voice. If you know whats good for you, youd surrender now so your death will be quick and painless." Weak winds began to build up before two ninja dressed creatures appeared near the entrance to the room.
Brought out of his interface by the sudden appearance of ninjas (This is a very odd day), Andrew was slightly disoriented but jumped at the nearest ninja, aiming a downward swipe at his arm. He jumped back and held forth his left hand, forming a bolt of dark energy that screamed towards the ninja.
((The bolt of dark energy was supposed to be from the scrapper Dark APP.))
Experiment turned his head back, chuckling at the sight. "Heh.. Ninja... Oh goody... Wow, this is priceless..."
He shrugged turning back to the screen. He tapped for a second, before letting himself into a few files, while the others were locked by some kind of encryption which looked entirely foreign to the hero, most likely magical. "Hmm..." 2.0 looked at the information, then looked around at the area. "...Long range... That would mean whatever this place was sending power to couldn't be here..."
Then, 2.0 turned back to the Ninja, realizing something. "These guys must be guarding the area so we don't realize something... that would make sense..."
He then turned to the shattered glass. "...Of course! The crystal in there... That would most likely be the power source... If we could figure out where it was sending..."
He fully turned to the enemies, smirking. Spines ripped through his trench coat easily from his arms and tops of his wrists. "Well then, may as well find out some info... How about whether you guys use Ninjitsu or Ninjutsu?"
Archlich pored over the runes but kept getting the same results. Something had tampered with a certain rune, one created for power containment, erasing several of them from the overall pattern. And while runic magic was powerful, it was also very rigid, making the loss of even a few runes devastating. In this case, devastating enough to cause-
[ QUOTE ]
Stop where you are! said a squawky, high pitched voice. If you know whats good for you, youd surrender now so your death will be quick and painless." Weak winds began to build up before two ninja dressed creatures appeared near the entrance to the room.
[/ QUOTE ]
Train of thought disrupted, Archlich looked over at the pair of ninjas and snorted contemptuously.
"You are not worthy of my time," he said and briefly sketched a rune in the air with his left hand. The rune pulsed once and then shot out a series of weak energy bolts. However, the bolts were aimed at a particular piece of equipment near the entrance that Archlich had deduced as being explosive. The explosion wouldn't be that large, maybe taking out the two fools and the doorway. But Archlich could always teleport out later.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Andrews sword was deflected by the waiting ninja and the follow up blast of dark energy shot toward the same enemy but seemingly changed direction just before it hit and smashed into a computer terminal. Its ninjutsu you fool! the red skinned ninja hissed as he prepared a ninja spell with a few quick hand movements. Air began to wisp around the room before it grew into a strong gale that picked up tables, chairs, machines and chunks of the wall. The tornado of debris was swirling right in the direction of Andrew then 2.0.
Archlichs bolts of energy that came close to the two ninja was deflected by the same invisible force that Andrews dark blast was stopped by although this just aimed more shots toward the piece of equipment Archlich originally was aiming for. The resulting explosion threw the ninja that conjured the tornado into a pile of equipment while the other quickly moved away. Not worth your time eh? Well see about that, the green skinned pointed nose assassin laughed. Without much preparation, the ninja pulled a handful of leaves from a compartment in his belt. The leaves danced around his hand before flying at the sorcerer. As unintimidating as leaves may be, these didnt follow the same rules as your normal plants and easily cut through sturdy metalic machinery on its way to rend Archlich the same.
(([EDIT] I wonder if that TacOp is still out there with the female ninja...))
Andrew was stunned by the blast, and fell back. He saw the leaves heading for the Silver Knight ((hehe)) and aimed another blast at them, then jumped to his feet and lunged at the remining ninja with his sword straight out. If he hit, he would surely impale the ninja to the wall.
". . . Something's wrong," said Hallucinogen.
Essex was still hooked into the robot. . . but there was something going on in the next room. . . the others were in danger. . . but. . .
But he couldn't leave Essex. "Phantasm, come," Hal said, and a being formed of light appeared beside him.
Haha. What is it this time?
"You already know," Hal sighed. "I want you to go find out what's going on in the next room. . . while I make sure Essex is safe."
Essex, Essex, Essex. Is she all you think about?
"Please, Phantasm. No banter right now."
Get a sense of humor. Sheesh.
The Phantasm flew out of the room, heading towards the source of the commotion. . .
Essex's eyes dimmed, her wires hooked into the magitech droid. It was surreal looking, the cute little girl in the orange chiffon dress with the ribbons and lace, hooked into a sleek magitechnological device by dozens of wires that came from her neck, back, and arms.
Her lips moved nearly silently as she interfaced with the robot, her dim eyes distant in concentration. Every once in a while, a few words made themselves audible.
"(Direct Guests to Banquet Hall. *Cancelled*)
(Serve refreshments to guests in the Banquet Hall. *Rescheduled*)
(Aid Guests needs. *In Progress*)
([Program: Wifes Away.] *In Progress*
~OVERRIDE~ 01000001011001000110110101101001011011100110100101 1
10011011101000111001001100001011101000110100101101 1
11011011100010000001000011011011110110010001100101 0
01110100010000001000111011011110110110001100100011 0
01010110111000100000010001000111001001100001011001 1
10110111101101110011001100110110001111001. *Process Locked*)"
"(Steam smoke odor from drapes and carpet in library. *Incomplete*)"
"[Banquet Hall]
(Current status: Incomplete. Guests detected in vicinity in the last 10 min.)"
"[Guest House]
(Current status: Incomplete. Guest detected in vicinity in the last 10 min.)"
"[Laboratory]
(Current status: Error. No available data )"
"(Bullet casing found in Sitting room. Repairs may be required.)"
"({[Error! Unregistered data template. All other data is protected by encryption enchantment.]})"
Essex shook her head slightly, her eyes still dimmed.
"...Detail runtime parameters of program: Wife's Away."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace