Union Roleplayers - Recaps, Plots and Banter.

As someone who doesn't get the chance to be on as often as I would like, I certainly appreciate the recaps. We have a very active roleplaying community and I often struggle to keep up with people's plots. Recaps here certainly help me to maintain a sense of what's going on in the world so they're definitely appreciated. If you feel that they are taking up too much of your time, then by all means cut them down (although I will miss all the gory details!).

In the same vein, I really should make the effort to post some more in this thread.

Saturday at Pocket D:

Miss Ellie, Tigergirl, Psionix, Dark Stone, Energyneer and Grav Mistress went to Pocket D, having come from GG and fancying a drink.
Miss Ellie showed them some of the newer features, like the monkey fight club... Sam (Psionix) enjoyed that (and found it oddly arousing?) while Jared (Dark Stone), Jess (Grav Mistress) were appauled by it. Yoko (Tigergirl) didn't like it too much either.
They went back up to the bar upstairs while Jess hadn't touched her wine since they moved down.
When Ellie asked Jess if she was alright, Jess replied: "Is contemplating the collaption of this dimension 'alright'?". Yup, she doesn't like the place all that much... never really did, and thinks that.. despite the location being better and the view also, it's gone down hill from the PDP it used to be...
Eventually (and after a baileys) things got better... or rather, Jess accepting the fact she couldn't change the place and she didn't really wanting to walk out on her friends.

Ellie left after a phone call, acting... rather suspiciously... and left something unintentionally behind.
Which was cause for Jared and Jess to speculate about things.

Yoko and Hannah returned from their dance, and joined Jess and Jared in their chatting. After a bit, Jess asked who'd care to take her for a dance. Jared said he can't dance, but volunteered the then arriving Sara Aegis.

Yoko left, Hannah and Jess danced before leaving too. And Jared told Jess to tell her wife to stop acting suspicious, that it would get her in to trouble.



Sunday at Pocket D:

Erik (Tower of Power) came in for a late drink and chatted a little with the one other patron at the bar: Drake Flame, who ignited his 'flaming sambuco' himself, and drank it without blowing it out.

When Number Nine came over, followed by 'Dragonfly being rather demanding... that drew both the men's attention and verbally came to the damsel's aid... the gynoid one, not the bigoted, narrow minded, opinionated, stuck up... etc, etc, 'woman'.

Ah well... the sheer injust pigheadeness, not to mention rudeness almost caused Erik to rip his suit... and he does like his suit...

In the end, he took Nene's offer to walk him home, not because he feared for his safety but because he enjoyed the company.

((lol. oh you lot are terrible. everyone listen now, contrary to popular opinion, Sabrina is a warm lovely angel with many friends and large fanclub. She will also be over to ruin your christmas. goodnight. ))

After a tough evening where Coile, Love Angel and the Sword of Truth fought in Peregrine Island streets to stop rampage by the Carnival of Shadows goons, located and closed several Council bases trying to implant and finally stopped robbery attempt by Arachnos operatives, the three heroes took a break at the Silent Tempest base.
Here, Coile summarized his evolving feelings and his relationship with Kitia, childhood friend and teen age love.
All of this was aimed at explaining how uneasy he felt with Kitia last call for help. The feral and feline Kitia, merged with the spirit of her twin sister, is calling for her friends presence on tuesday, when she will try to finally end the merge.
Coile, however, looked unsure about his feelings, mostly due to the unexpected entrance of Kitia in the already complicated Coile-Sword love relationship at that time. The feline heroine, displaying heavy empathic bonds, blurred things with her confessed attraction for Nadia Forester, the Sword of Truth.
At that time, Nadia, unwilling to hurt Kitia but unable to share Kitia revealed passion (and aware of the possible disastrous feedback due to the empathic bonds), was quite depressing.
All those events finally looked to have build some kind of resentment into Coile mind, suspecting, true or false, that Kitia involvement quite ruined his own attempt to quietly build his own relationship to Nadia.

That said, Kitia calling for friends and being still an empath, Coile was obviously unsure he should attend, be with Kitia at a moment when such delicate separation and reworking of the empathic bonds might happen.

Then, locked by his will to help any teammate in need of help, Coile long recapitulation of events (mainly aimed at Love Angel probably) was quite, indeed, a call for advice.

Sword pointed that if he is afraid of hurting Kitia by being present but if he wants to help her nonetheless, finally... not being present would be helping her.
She also told Coile to get a break from his dutiful role of a team leader.

Things were left in this state when Sword proposed to lighten the moods by going to have a drink and dancing at the dimensionnal nightclub known as Pocket D.

Arrived here, the heroes met Ly Shokan, a curious cyborg resulting from a Crey-Council joint experiment and Sabrina, also known as Dragonfly.

Sabrina, dressed in black, displaying a huge mohawk, was quite antgonistic with everyone but focused more her bitterness on Ly Shokan who, obviously, didn't deserve it.
Sabrina, suspecting everyone of trying to mock her, dislike her, however also shown signs of uncertainty.
Sabrina entered a surprising alternation of bad mood and sincere surprise at others' reactions to her (due to the aforementionned bad mood).
Sadly, a side effect of Sabrina hostility toward him was the departure of Ly Shokan.

As a tired Sword was about to leave (as she came for a drink, a dance and got only the former), Sabrina took her for a private chat.
There, the Chinese girl confessed her extreme loneliness, enhanced by a break up with her love.
Sword underlined that Coile and Love Angel were indeed caring about her, just by enduring her bad mood without simply going away or ignoring her.
And then, she told Sabrina should think about what she wants, who she wants to befriend with and then starts to behave to achieve that.
The private chat was interrupted with Coile and Love Angel coming, as apparently, everyone was finally tired and about to go.

Sabrina showed better dispositions and quite apologized for her antagonistic manners.

Everyone then left to their respective homes.

Hmm, Ly Shokan = Crey/Council Cyborg.
Number Nine = Crey Gynoid
Sabrina = Antagonistic towards both.
Conclusion: Sabrina has a: dislike of: machines?

Hmm, Sabrina = antagonistic towards Number Nine and Ly Shokan
Sabrina = antagonistic towards Pyranha
Conclusion: Pyranha is a machine?

No not machines, but ones with personalities, i.e Cyborgs and Androids. Even mutation and witchcraft really scare her. She's been brought up in a world of clan war in a small village and thats all she knows. Its a fear of the unknown when it comes down to these American things. However, she loves the freedom of the American lifestyle. Anyway, she's improving.

Edit: Pyranha is a machine? Thought she was just intrusive.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll keep doing these as mood and time allows. Falling behind even further, but struggling. The novel will follow, I'm still searching for the just the right beginning, and then the massive rewrite can start.

Please, don't anyone let my recaps be a reason for not doing your own if you'd like to. My writing has the benefit and fault of being from a certain point of view, and that only. While I can write 2k word recap about Coile's evening the introspection happens only to him - I can't really know what goes on in other characters' heads. I try to tread a fine line between OOC recapping with a distinct IC flavour to it and thus I am inadvertedly focusing only one character and one point of view. Even if the events are tha same, other people write about different things. One window, two people, two views, all that.

Now, with just that much ado, here's the next in line from a few days ago.

Absent families (8.12.06)

"No more nightmares, I've seen them all
From the day I was born, they've haunted my every move
Every open hand's there to push and shove
No time for love it doesn't matter"
- Queensrÿche

Nadia was again in the office until late night and tonight she expected to be so late that she'd go straight home. The most soothing company wasn't thus available and Coile considered whom to call up. There were quite a few issues to resolve with Nightsparrow and as far as company went he could have ended up worse, so Coile arranged to meet her on Talos. The end destination was a faraway island up north.

There the local Devouring Earth creatures curiously let them be as Coile set down near a blue flower and withdrew his flight field. Then he kneeled down and waited for Sparrow to sit down as well. He first explained the importance of the flower, how he and Nadia had gone to Khan Tengri where Nadia had been seemingly lost in an avalanche and how he had found the flower which he first planted in Steel Canyon. Later a Council attack had compelled him to relocate the flower to somewhere no one but he himself knew. Not even Nadia as she hadn't ever asked. Now he shared this secret with Sparrow.

Sparrow paid attention to the flower and memories of her deceased parents and twin sister started to come out front so they talked about families. About chocolate biscuits every Sunday, tough as nails goth sister, abundance of boyfriends. Also about reclusive father, robotic mother and a biological mom who had left no memories at all. Coile considered that in this city he had quite a few pals but only a scarce handful of people he saw as true friends: Nadia, Xan, Sparrow and to a certain degree Pyranha with whom he hadn't much talked in weeks and months since she fell out with Nadia.

There were no shouts, no screaming There was only a moderate amount of teasing and Coile coming up with a few feeble comeback attempts that shared one common thing, that being that each and every one of them backfired on him immediately. In this kind of mental game some people are goalies, some run defense and some offense, and some people should just stay clear out of the field on the reserve bench and be content to watch the play. What happens when someone not really equipped for the series wants to play too is that they get teased. Quid erat demonstratum. On another note the lack of arguments suggests that these two need an absence of audience to be truly amicable.

After some stargazing they headed back to main island and into Pocket D, after both had had a change of clothing. Coile got his white suit having no intentions of going back on the streets that night to bust heads and Sparrow had swapped on her civvies and went by name Melanie. Inside they met Pyranha, Inago, Sam Blayne and a guy called Mike. Could be due all the yellow paper articles but the first assumption seemed to be that Coile was having an extra-marital fling. Coile vehemently denied this nonsense and was lucky to have Melanie there to back up her master. Huh, wait? What? What master?

As it was revealed to others by Melanie she was her master's love slave and he was not a child molester. A few angry looks and shouts later Melanie had to admit that Coile was not her master. But only because her master made her say so. Mike who had no clue who these people were was a little apprehensive and tried to get solid information from Pyr. Coile went to talk to spiky-haired girl called Zeyna and tried to appeal that he didn't really look like some weirdo. His success could have been more stellar.

Mel had to go someplace and so a master was left without his servant. Coile was a little miffed about the performance as just a day before Sparrow had promised not to tease him any more. Apparently there was some misunderstanding or he was just too delicious a target. Mike left too which was a shame as his pal Jimmy (Corvus Corone) arrived a bit later having missed his roomie.

Just as Love Angel walked in to see if she could spot this Mariah woman she was supposed to drag to Silent Tempest meeting some real trouble reared its head. A New Mafia goonette Pistol walked over to Coile with her usual flunkies but this time she was way more prepared than usual. There must have been at least twenty New Mafia thugs present to show off their numbers. Pistol told Coile to stay out of her way this coming Thursday as she and her cohorts would march to Siren's Call with an intent of killing a Militia girl, Dragonfly.

Seeing as Coile had had no idea about any of what Pistol was talking about her tactics left even Coile baffled. If she wanted Coile not to come, surely revealing the upcoming conflict was not the smartest move. While smarts was not his biggest strength some amount of bravery and good heart were and if Pistol could read people at all she would have seen that trying to threaten Coile out of the conflict would not work. Hence, that had been an invite, for some obscure reason, and not a very classy one at that. Not that Pistol herself was a very classy woman so at least it was all consistent. Good for all that she took her muscle and left.

Coile took a small break, this time alone without endophin high, and when he came back he noticed that so had Nightsparrow who was having a shouting match Dragonfly. He had no idea what the feud was about but it seemed to run deep. Sparrow used Coile as a good distraction and got him a drink. Having had not an entirely unpleasant experience with Steel Guard's whiskey recently Coile gave in and Sparrow managed to get him to drink one. All at once. The result was a hoarse voice for a time and lots of coughing. Stick to the sodas, man!

And beware teasing women who try to get you drunk.

Like, in the future.

X-mas bash is coming.

The missus won't be there.

Sparrow will, rumouredly wearing only wrapping ribbons.

<facepalmage galore>

12.12.06 - Monday at Pocket D:

After a long day indoors Sabrina decided to make another attempt at a social life and made for the interdimensional nightclub, Pocket D where she hoped upon hope to meet again the girl in green trechcoat. Over the weekend she had only made herself look like a common drunk and was determined to rectify the image, especially with the girl in green trenchcoat.

She sat on her favourite sofa at the far end of the nightclub with no-one but insocial ravers and known villains for company. A chance she took to play about with a lighter belonging to the girl in green trenchcoat which she had purposely held on to it. She had even had her hair done up and now dressed similarly to this girl in green trenchcoat.

Her train of thoughts and fantasies were abruptly cut as an orange-clad Cyborg introduced himself as Ly'Shokan from the Militia's ally organisation, New Heroes Union. Sabrina reluctantly responded to the cyborg as it prompted casual conversation about his origins. It explained how he, Ly'Shokan was once with his species at war underground with the Sankes of the Mercy Island but ended up a victim of Crey Industries, trapped inside a machine body designed by their scientists.

At one point, he revealed the hideous monster under his helm and Sabrina had to work hard not to vomit. He replaced his helm as Coile and Love Angel entered the bar. An opportunity Sabrina made to escape.

Reluctantly introducing the cyborg to Coile and Love Angel, she sat and ordered a drink. Sword of Truth arrived in brand new clothes, looking as beautiful as a model as usual. This reminded Sabrina of her first days here in America when she also dressed to impress.

Somewhere along the lines she realised Coile had a problem with the way she continually shuned the cyborg, who was only trying to make conversation. Even Love Angel commented on how rude Sabrina was behaving. To which Sabrina snapped, dismissing the schoolgirl as a child not worth her attention.

A debate ensued on Sabrina's behaviour, with Coile identifying with Nightsparrow's views. This shocked Sabrina and upset her more. She realised that once again she was the centre of bad attention and so threatened to leave as she was neither wanted nor welcomed, questioning why she was always challenged for being herself.

In the heat of the argument, Coile let slip news of the pending assasination. "New Mafia are going to assasinate you on Thursday" but when Sabrina questioned him further, he held his tongue. She decided to brush it off as some cruel joke. At this point, the stage had drifted near to the stairway.

Love Angel was most persistant in making Sabrina realise the wrong in her ways, both in her new dress-sense and social tactics. Sabrina finally decided to argue with the girl, stating her point of view that she cannot force everyone in the world to dress smart or act nicely and sensor their speech how she does. To which Love Angel blushed in embarassment. At this point, the cyborg left.

Sabrina heard the three heroes planning to retire home and took her chance to ask the Sword of Truth aside for a private chat. She had once advised her on her relationship with young Meriam Kesser, The Masked Angel.

Here Sabrina removed her defensive armours, symbolically speaking and collapsed into tears. Sword placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Sabrina revealed that she's been feeling incredibly lonely, with all her family now deceased and living in a strange land as a complete alien. She explained that back in China, all she knew was hate and war, raised solely to kill the enemies of her clan. Sword advised her to take the opportunity here to start a new life, but that is all Sabrina had been trying and failing miserably. Her downfall was that she did not really know how to be friendly, only a vague idea, and now everyone seems to hate her, even her now ex-girlfriend had not seen her since returning from China. In the end, Sword convinced Sabrina to give in and instead of repeling people around her with all her negativity, to try and show a nicer side.

Coile arrived to collect Sword as it was now getting late, aparantly they had intended on dancing through the night. Oh well maybe another night, so long as Sabrina and all her drama is not present.

Sabrina showed signs of improvements as the couple left. She had stuttered and stammered trying to word an apology but at least she managed a smile as Love Angel offered to take Sabrina shopping.

[ QUOTE ]
Please, don't anyone let my recaps be a reason for not doing your own if you'd like to.

[/ QUOTE ] Total agreeage. Always good to get lots of write-ups from different people to cover different perspectives and missing events.

[ QUOTE ]
In the end, Sword convinced Sabrina to give in and instead of repeling people around her with all her negativity, to try and show a nicer side.

[/ QUOTE ]
Good to hear! Even despite their somewhat edgey start, Number Nine will still probably chat to 'Dragonfly again, seeing as she is trying to learn about human socialization.

Speaking of which... . Just .

A-ah! You played Number Nine. Oh I shudav known. ¬¬

*mutters* 'buy you and make others procreate with you' *mutters* honestly. ¬¬





Oh btw *giggles* a message for Coile, FieryFire, Inago and co. Silent Tempest under attack! :O

I play many characters. The alt list over on the GGWiki went over 50 characters and is about 6 months out of date. Sure gets crowded up here. *Taps forehead*

Well, Sabrina was mentioning buying Nene and using her chronomanipulation abilities, as that is what she was created for, so a natural logical jump is to reverse that with something Sabrina said she wouldn't do. She has a twisted sense of logic at times.

good sense of humour to. I couldn't stop laughing. afterwards I kinda thought, "hmm, Sabrina really landed herself in that one" lol

[ QUOTE ]
Sabrina finally decided to argue with the girl, stating her point of view that she cannot force everyone in the world to dress smart or act nicely and sensor their speech how she does. To which there was a short silence.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually there was a response. Love Angel offered to tutor Dragonfly in English and decorum, and that she'll show her some good second-hand shops with nice and cheap clothes.

We had all the time in the world (12.12.06)

"All of my dreams are fading away
Why is it happening to me
Life is pain when you're going to die"
- Nightingale

A call came through on Silent Tempest channel. Love Angel was frantic. Kitia was in the medbay in base and there seemed to be something wrong with her, really wrong. Andre and Nadia answered the call and hurried over. The tension was almost suffocating. It had been building for a few weeks now and tonight Kitia's fate would be set, one way or the other.

Andre had tried to make Nadia promise that if Kitia wanted to establish a link or a bond with her she would refuse. As he had gotten no such promise he was so on the edge that anything more would have been a cutting wound. He feared so much what his one-time friend could do, how much damage she could inflict on Nadia who was too much a hero, if such a thing existed.

Kitia was in her cat-form. She had changed so much since they arrived Paragon City all those months ago, late April. She had been just a girl then, all human, a teenage love interest, training partner and despite Andre's wishful thinking to the otherwise, she had been a friend. Then the changes took place, she mutated into a cat with a tail, beastly hindlegs and ears and all. She also changed inside, or perhaps let her inner self surface. Now Andre felt just apprehension towards that creature.

Kitia barely able to speak and again asked for the help of her team mates. The spirit of her long dead twin sister Kitalia within her would have to be released tonight or the quantum states within the one body would rip it apart and they would both die. For that they would need to venture into Thorn caves and locate two altars or confines for artifacts and destroy them at the same time. The released energy would drive the spirit through a soul crystal that they had acquired a week before and into a cloned body of Kitia's. All this filled Andre with sheer dread. Bonds, links, souls and crystals and there was no telling how magic would work in practice. No telling what would be required of those present.

He made Kitia to make a promise that neither Nadia nor Love Angel would come to any harm. He left himself out on purpose, not because of false humility but because he suspected that all this strange and disturbing business might need someone to sacrifice something, and it would sure as blazes not be Nadia or Angel. Kitia was saddened to see how much Andre had grown to hate her but Andre corrected it to be fear, not hate. Both accepted the situation as the status quo. Nothing more was needed for this to proceed. At that moment their common past started to catch up and a form of wordless, voiceless, instinctive understanding was formed. The friendship that had been all but destroyed along the long, gruesome months started to manifest again.

The first indication of things not going just according to the plan was the caves being filled with Banished Panheon husks, not Thorn mages. Kitia just speculated that maybe the Pantheon had stolen the altar artifacts. She could walk but any fight that she had had in her was now out. Andre noted this but had no real time to think, just fight and blast the opposition to dust. The first relic was found. Then the other. Kitia was on the verge of collapsing.

Looking at his oldest friend Andre finally saw things for what they were. Kitia was bidding her wishes for luck and farewells just in case. Nadia was having none of it. She was talking about how afterwards they would go to have a day at the beach before she left. Friends together. She was always so sincere and there was no veiled fear in there. Andre saw that Nadia didn't know what was coming. He hoped to be wrong but inside he knew that there was just one path forward.

Just in case something went wrong he ushered Nadia and Angel to tend to the other relic. The possible cataclysm would happen here, not at the other end. He would not lose any more friends and team mates than were destined to fall. The girls left, with what hopes and fears there was no telling. Andre told Kitia to step back and she did. It settled the matters and everything was agonizingly clear in his mind. He waited hovering in mid-air waiting for a ready signal. He lifted his arm and took aim. An energy buildup was forming and there was no missing the target. With a completely level voice and dead calm feel inside he issued the command to the other team and let go. The artifact shattered, and with it so did some spirits, futures and plans.

Kitia screamed but it was not in pain. Even if it had been so it would not have cut any deeper. Andre went to his friend and took her into his arms whispering quietly that he was there. She was no longer the cat-being that the Thorn magic had mutated and warped her into in those early weeks. Now it was the Kitia who had met Coile and Coila in Atlas Park ready to dash off to adventures with her friends. Then not even the sky had been a limit.

Now it was all over. What was left was just seeing where the pieces fell. As Nadia and Angel got to the scene he was already crying quietly holding an echo from the past and the clearly absurd situation slapped them in the face. They had just done as was asked, and now both Kitia and Kitalia would live. So, why was Kitia all but powerless and Andre shaken to the core with grief?

Kitia had always been a nature's child. Now some aspect of that manifested and called itself Gaia. To Andre it did not matter if this was a goddess, a projection from Kitia or a figment of his own imagination. She was real enough and she would not help the situation. Kitia's time was up, for now, and with a very flimsy possibility of her returning in her original form some years further down the road she was allowed to say her last goodbyes. Nadia was completely broken and Angel was screaming at Gaia that such cruel gods are no gods at all.

Then Gaia was gone. And Kitia was gone. Love Angel broke down finally and it was left for Coile to be the strong one this time. He ushered the sorrow-stricken girls out of the caves. Once out they just sat down. They knew that their task was not over yet. Kitia was now gone but Kitalia's spirit had been released and now inhabited a body. Nadia spotted a shimmering cat-form running up a slope. Andre turned to look but Angel had fallen into dulling indifference. Seeing it was still needed Andre took their hands and flew them after the cat. On the hill they finally found her, Kitalia.

It was yet another blast from the past for Andre. Kitia had moved to Dakota when her mother and twin sister had died, a decade ago. This small girl now was just as that Kitia, the new girl in the neighbourhood that he and Andrea had spotted on one winter day. That was years before their powers would come, when they were still kids. Innocent. Now Andre was the last one left.

Kitia had clearly expected Andre and Nadia to look after Kitalia, but it was impossible. Nadia was going to leave, perhaps for months. Beside which she was now emotionally incapable of taking Kitalia under her wing. Andre felt much the same even if he didn't say it directly. Losing Kitia had torn open the wound that Coila's death had inflicted. On the practical side two heroing parents were not what a girl of this age needed. She needed stability, not the inhuman hours that the Tempest life demanded and parents who would be gone for twenty hours straight at times. Most days.

However Andre had an idea. There was this farm where a young child could live in peace, learn to harness the powers that would eventually come and be safe from the tumultuous world. All he had to do was get his father to agree to let Kitalia live there and construct an ND-unit for her. Kitalia asked if there really were robots on the farm and Andre promised that there would be hundreds. She agreed to come and see as Tempest would venture to Andre's birthplace in a week.

Love Angel took Kitalia to Tempest base where Phiseeque and Star Crusader were waiting. Andre took Nadia home. They were both completely exhausted to the core. The emotional maelstrom that kitia had inflicted on them for weeks and weeks was now over and they had both lost a person that they had, in the end as it was with Andre, cared about so very deeply.

****

[u]Andros County team status check:[u]
ND-3: deactivated and decommissioned.
ND-4: missing in action
Coila: deceased
Kitia: deceased
Coile: active

GirlStuff Equinox, Galaxy City. Thursday 14th December, 12:07pm.
Odd looks came from all directions at her as she strolled through the rather pink and sparkly womans fashion store, hands drifting through the rails of clothing, eyes searching on a mission. Teenage girls looked on in disbelief, mothers kept their young children close and the store assistants had a look best described as 'What the hell do we do?' on their faces.

For metallic gynoids did not often come in to shop, and they most certainly did not come into the eveningwear section.

But this is just what Nene was doing. Her eyes focused on each outfit, each dress and each combination of clothing, processing, mixing and matching colours and using in-built variables and logic gates to find something that would suit her. She stopped in front of a mirror, holding a pretty black skirt and top combo against her dark red suit, processing the visual information to translate it into an image of what she think she'd look like in it.

With a final glance around the shop, and a quick comparrison to the other items of clothing she had in her 'maybe' section, she nodded to herself and headed to the checkout, placing them in the counter, with a bank card on top.

"W...would you like to apply f-for a s-st-store card... miss...?" the shop assistant asked somewhat nervously and cautiously, taking the items to scan through.

"Analyzing: Terms and Conditions. Calculating: Credit Rate and: Interest Rates... No: Thank you." Nene stated, her eyes catching the racks of accessories by the till.
"Excuse me: One moment. I would like to: Purchase accessories to: compliment this: Outfit."

The girl on the till nodded, almost pacing on the spot as the gynoid browsed the selection and finally brought some pieces back. "Add: these items to my: transaction please."

"W-will that be all?" the shop assistant asked, quickly scanning the items in and putting them into the bag, before swiping Nene's debit card.

"Yes. I reqiure: No further purchases." Nene said, her face as expressionless as her synthesized voice. She took her reciept, card and plastic bag as they were passed to her.

"T-thank you, p-please, come again..." the assistant said, waving as the odd 'woman' headed out of the store.

"You are: welcome."

Last Night

In Siren's Call

Sam Blayne answered a call for help from Subaiku to keep an eye on Coile. The entire place was a war-zone, and some odd temporal effects could clearly be ascertained as reality itself began to stutter from the titanic forces being unleashed by both sides. Sam followed Coile up to a rooftop under stealth and heard only a [censored] of conversation before lead began to fly. Sam barrelled gamely in to try to assist but was blasted from the high rooftop to lie shattered and slowly regenerating in the crushed remnants of a burnt out car far below.

In Steel Canyon

Doc met up with Number Nine for dinner and drinks as part of her quest to further understand humanity. They talked about a lot of things, life, the universe, everything, christmas presents and the life of cities, over wine and pasta, and then during a walk along the shore of Silver Lake, Doc attempting to convince her that her original Crey heritage need not define her if she didn't wish it to.

Last night:

Fusebox headed to Siren's Call to help after hearing the radio transmission on public frequencies, but was called away before the start of the battle to deal with some Outcasts who got dangerously close to accidently shutting down the Steel Canyon Children's Hospital's generators by accident.

Number Nine waited by Galaxy Girl statue for Doctor Temporis, dressed very nicely in a black skirt and top combo, and even wearing jewellery and perfume. The two had a pleasent evening, discussing work, christmas, polyamourism, circumstances, Doc's girlfriend, her incident with 'Dragonfly in Pocket D, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and Doc also helped Nene to transcend the boundries of her current programming limits, when telling her that if she did not want to be known as a Crey creation, she did not have to. After some deliberating, Nene said that she was Nene, created by herself and that she worked for DATA, as well as not having any code, designation or batch number. She sounded less hesitant, less stalled when she spoke, and a pleased Doc continued their chat. Redemption and second chances was mentioned twice, the beauty of artifical creations like the city and of reflections, and as they went for a walk to and around Silver Lake, discussed humanity, feeling alone in a crowd, crime and deviance before reaching the station, where Nene gave Doc a kiss on the cheek and a curtsey, thanking him for the evening, before the two parted ways.

Last night;

Timekeeper met up with Red Commissar where they went off to valiently save Baby New Year from his perdicament, leading to some showing off from Timekeeper's elite guard as they showed off their guns and their techniques. Red's flamethrower coming in useful for melting more than a few big snowmen types.

Afterwards they retired to the Chalet for drinks, conversation and plenty of hero company. Poisoned Hyena popped by at one point declaring his intent to gather his gang together to become a vigilante group as the season and festive spirit had led him to ask why he was in fact a villain in the first place.

She also talked to Hana Li a little before wobbling off to bed, happily full of eggnog though she's not entirely sure what it is made of exactly.. eggs.. well... mainly eggs..

meanwhile Pinkinatrix was hiding at home, ashamed of the xmas outfit she has to wear since she lost a bet with Serge at Icon..

Last Friday a new Scrapbook entry was pushed live and Friday means a new issue of Paragon Inquirer as well.

I hope the alledged cartoon mentioned by Doc T draws its inspiration from some place else than yellow press.

Glitch in the System? Monday 18th December, 23:10

Nene's brand new black heeled shoes clicked on the dancefloor as she headed up to the bar on the 'Heroes' side of Pocket D, her expression its usual stoic, conservative one. Heading to the barman, she placed a folded note down on the table, with twenty dollars tucked inside.

"Excuse me, would you please give this to the heroine known as: Nightsparrow when she next: frequents, and assign the money within to a tab for her?" Nene asked, her eyes focusing slightly on the polite man behind the bar.

"Of course, sure thing... Nene, wasn't it?" he said, taking out a post it note and scribbling a reminder down.

"Yes, I am Nene, and thank you." she said, a hint of sounding pleased slipping into her usually monotone synthesised voice.

"ALright, take care Nene, and see you around." he said, flashing her a smile. With a wave, Nene turned and made her way downstairs to the elevator. That sense of... well, Nene couldn't even define it was still there, and it even -scared- her a little. Or would if her Emotione Emulation Engine was running.

Had she really felt guilt? Really felt upset? That wasn't scheduled for five more versions of her programming, and even then it was just a tenative slot date for developing them. She needed to work on her memory problem more first. Shaking her head, she stepped into the elevator.

"Heyyyyy there gorgeoush... you wanna shnookie under da mistletoe?" a rather burly man slurred, staggering towards her and pressing her to the wall, mistletoe held high above her head. Nene's expression almost, almost looked annoyed, despite no change in her fixed facial features.

"Heyyyy there gorgeoush... you wanna-" the man was back where he was standing again.
"Heyyyy there gorgeoush... you wanna-" with another flicker, he returned to that point as the elevator made its way down, constantly repeating those two seconds until Nene got off the elevator.

"No, I do not." she said, walking off, striding somewhat dangerously through the crowds. The man blinked as the elevator doors closed, a moment of confusion on his face before his cheeks bulged, finding a corner to releave the contents of his stomach.

The barman opened up the note, to find a twenty dollar bill inside. Putting it in the register, he curious glanced at the note. The writing was neat, precise, almsot like it had been printed onto notepad paper, though the blue ink clearly came from a fountain pen.

"Dear Nightsparrow,
I am sorry for any: offence I may have caused you earlier, and wished to: apologise. There is now a: $20 tab for you at the bar, I hope you: enjoy.

It was rude of: me to act like that because you could not: remember my name. I admit I am getting: sensetive about my origins, and my wish to be refered to by: name instead of: species may have adjitated my: tongue, so to speak.

I must admit: I felt... I am uncertain how I felt when you: departed. Perhaps 'guilt' and 'upset', though this would be: confusing, as my: emotion emulation engine was not: online, and it does not usually yield such: responses and 'feelings' from me.

I hope you: enjoyed the remainder of your night. I also hope that: we may talk more civilly, without me making a 'fool' out of myself.

Kindest Regards,
Nene Ninnezt, DATA Rikti Translation Unit."

The barman blinked, carefully folding the letter up and tucking it besides the till, ready to give to its intended recepient.

No real recaps as other writing commitments hog the time. In brief:

- Tuesday 12.12. Kitia died.

- Wednesday Coile tried to patch up things between Nadia and Pyranha. Results were slim.

- Thursday there was a massive war in Siren's Call between 200-300 heroas and villains (counting henchmen). By stupid luck Coile beats the leader of villains, Wu Long 'Shin, in combat and confiscates his sword for no other reason than to disarm a madman. Apparently the sword holds some importance.

- Coile and Nadia had a small fallout in Pocket D and Coile stayed for quite long talking with Nightsparrow who expressed her interest in a very clear manner.

- Friday Nadia left on her soul quest but in a manner that left Coile feeling like he was unable to carry on with their relationship. This feeling deepened until he saw the affair as being over. The evening was spent with Nightsparrow. So was the night.

- Saturday

(Takes place 16.12.2006)

Morning after she went away

When he opened his eyes the room was already filled with faint light from the outside. If the morning was this far he had slept way more than he had intended. Andre sat up rubbing the sleep sand from his eyes and let the morning drowsiness settle. Piece by piece the reality made itself known once again.

He looked around the room. There was no one else in there. Oh yes, Nadia had left yesterday morning on her quest of self-discovery and would be away for who knew how long. The separation hadn't gone all that well and for the first time in months Andre was horribly aware of the fact that his future was uncertain.

For months at first he had known for an unalterable fact that Nadia would be there with him. Then she had said she would leave him once they found the other Nadia that she was a copy of. Certainties, even if directly opposite. All this had behind the conscious mind shredded his meager sense of trust and confidence. When Nadia was leaving all his doubts had surfaced with a vengeance and he found out just how thinly he was now stretched.

He wanted certainties, guarantees of the future. A simple promise from the woman who said she loved him and would be with him. A promise she couldn't give. So she just walked and left him with his doubts and terrible feeling of emptiness.

Now the future was unknown territory. No promises. No certainties. Just possibilities and probabilities that shifted as events took place, even unexpected events. Especially unexpected events. Unexpected feelings. He buried his face into his hands and listened.

Clatter of plates. Music, or maybe singing? There was an aroma of freshly made coffee in the air. He got out of the bed and slipped into the civvy clothes. Then he pulled the bedroom door open.

"Good morning.", the woman said smiling happily.

Finally the most recent events from the last night flooded back. "Morning, Melanie.", Andre replied.

- A crossdimensional Freakshow goon kicks the living daylight out of Coile who meets Love Angel and Xan in Tempest base. Angel's friend Inuit X came to visit. Apparently it was wrong of Coile to have instructed Xan to watch adult channels to better understand his relationship to Sword and Nightsparrow. [u]Chat Log[u]

- Sunday Love Angel learns that Nadia left Coile and decides to fix him with Nightsparrow, and gets him a suit for the x-mas bash.

- Monday Angel gets a letter from Nadia and goes to full reversal. Still Coile goes to the party with Sparrow wearing the suit that Angel got him. Another long takes place, this time hanging in the air under a huge rock formation, away from prying eyes and Inquirer reporters. Coile goes and admits having certain strong feelings. Sparrow doesn't go home that night either.

- Tuesday

(Takes place 19.12.2006)

She's not my date, just a friend

Another evening together. Another night, as well. Another morning with breakfast.

Andre was unsure what to say and nibbled the toast absentmindedly. Things had not so much spiraled out of his control than plummeted far beyond salvage. A week ago things had been so very different. A kick caught his ankle. "Hey, I woke you up already once this morning. Looking for an encore?" He became again aware of the presence of Nightsparrow and tried to comprehend what she just said. The woman broke into a smile. "Geez Coile, we talked about not getting all uncomfortable afterwards, whatever happened."

"Sorry Melanie, just a lot of things on my mind.", he said quietly. She huddled a coffee mug between her hands and leaned forward. "Is that so?" She had found a perfect shirt that conferred to the 'dress decently' rule while allowing maximal exposure of her natural assets. "You didn't by any chance get any thinking done during the night?", she asked.

A half-eaten toast was hanging from his fingers as he searched for an answer that he could give. Melanie snapped her fingers. "I have your attention now which is good but eyes up here when I talk to you." His only reply was a querying, "What?". The vigilante woman snapped her fingers again. "Look into my eyes when I'm talking to you and leave my boobs alone for a second. Or otherwise I have to put a quota on how much you can spend time with them. I asked you something."

After a night with too little time for sleep his mind was always stiff in the morning. Finally a sluggish train of thoughts arrived at a station. "No, sorry. I really have to, you know, go and bury Kitia first. I guess she meant more to me than I thought and I just have to close the childhood chapter finally. Then it's time to think what I'm going to be." After a quiet moment he added quietly, "And who I'm going to be with."

He actually wanted to break the eye contact, for two reasons. Talking about Kitia was getting him emotional again and the burning sensation behind the eyes was a sign of an outburts of grief that he would rather have avoided. He also was not entirely comfortable with all the things that had happened since they met for the party last night. Talking about possible futures. About feelings. Admissions of them, even. Using one word definitions about lasting commitment in a two person relationship. Andre blinked but just could not look away.

If Melanie was ready for a marriage she was more certain of herself and her feelings than Nadia had ever been. Why else, reasoned Andre, would she refuse the last step, time and again? Once more his facade of composure began to crack. No wow of commitment would stop this now. When Nadia had walked away his world had collapsed. Now he would take his time to rebuild it, all on his own. As he had explained to Melanie, he could not be with anyone before he could be with himself. That is why he was going away and leaving his old life behind.

She held the gaze without mercy and his eyes in it. "Remember, I won't wait forever."

- Coile had a talk with Lady Cobra trying to learn what goes on in Nightsparrow's head and if in her opinion Sparrow is (or even can be) serious about commitments. An hour laterTempest members Coile, Subaiku, Love Angel, Kitalia and Phiseeque leave for North Dakota to hold a funeral for Kitia. [u]RP thread[u]

- Wednesday the funeral is held.

A few things come to close in the funeral. Nadia leaves the place with a sort of a break-up letter in her pocket. Phi tenders her temporary resignation to the ranks and leaves to rest over at some relatives. Coile's last duties as Silent Tempest leader have been completed save for a notification to all about his likely departure.

Subaiku, Phiseeque, Dustine, Nadia and Star Crusader leave the farm. Coile, Kitalia and Love Angel stay, supposedly over the Christmas holidays.

All is peaceful and quiet then. Right? Yeah, riiiiight. Angel meets up with Coile's dad. The result is a three hour marathon screaming and shouting angrily. I'm willing to bet good money that Angel's voice was a bit hoarse after that.

The especially loud shouts

I swear if there was a way to harness the power of an angry teenaged girl the world's energy problems would be over.

Will Coile return to Paragon soon? A certain psychopath is looking for him.

[ QUOTE ]
Will Coile return to Paragon soon? A certain psychopath is looking for him.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had to wait and see how things turned out last night before having an idea about this. In a word 'no'. Unless I have FC / Portal Corp call him to assist a few things (meaning: running missions tomorrow or day after) but that would still exclude most forms of social interaction.

After the holidays - well, wait and see, but don't go on counting on Coile loitering around Pocket D.