[Game Thread] 7-A: Harrowing Heroism

[Shylocke]

"We reconvene with the others then, if they are making a run for the Kibotos, Themistokles needs to know." Elena answers, concerned to say the least that one of their quarry has escaped, she had been holding on to hope that Conquistador's fishing expedition would be a mite more successful in locating the other hostile Brass Man. When Conquistador swerves toward their comrades, Elena naturally follows suit as her thinking is along a similar vein.

"You did not notice before because I did not have wings before." Elena answers bluntly and a bit clumsily. It was an explanation that begged the question, but there wasn't time for a demonstration or an explanation. "I will explain later, if you need. Themistokles is... over there. Talk to him, I will collect Felix, da? Then we can all move forward together."

Plan for now established, Elena pounds her wings against the air and then opens them fully for drag as she drops in fairly heavily next to Felix with a thud, nearly taking a knee at the impact. "One got away." She announces as she stands fully upright, "I see Emet returned... please tell me Rimue is alright." Elena asks the glorious knight, with some evident anxiety and apprehension.

[Phasmus]

Emet scoops up his port stone and takes a moment, longer than he can afford, to adjust to something approaching good news. "That is... probably a good idea. Yes. Please." He adds quickly, looking over his shoulder toward the river, "Be aware, the humans and I are presently at odds. They are likely to come for me. I will avoid them if I can but I do not want you to engage with them on my behalf."   Runic Configuration: Observation Glyph Alpha:Rimue Glyph Beta: Er Glyph Gamma: Carried Conditions: -1 HT, Staggered (Dazed and Hindered), Fatigued Mood:Beat

[WhovianBeast]

Emet
Themistocles looks past your shoulder. "They're coming now," he observes. An instant later and a familiar tug, you and he are in the river, submerged to a depth of ten feet or more.

"My tele-portation is mis-calibrated," Themistocles notes. "Estimated danger of serious accident not below ten percent for the return journey. Are your propulsion systems intact?"

Elena and Conquistador
The two androids vanish from the road as you approach - as they can both teleport significant distances, and at least one of them turns invisible, you have little luck guessing where they might have gone apart from 'the river'.

Felix looks grim as Elena lands. "She was gravely injured," he informs his fiancee. "The blast damaged her internally; with prayer, the blood loss was stemmed and the Almighty spared her life, but she will be in pain for days if not more. She is in the river now. I spoke to Emet, and he still sides with the demon - I believe he and Themistocles have made their retreat."

[Shylocke]

Elena frowns as once again Emet disappears from view. He was avoiding her, or them, clearly. Siding with the demon for whatever reasons he had, despite the fact that he nobly came in to aid her without question in dispatching the carriage. There was a lot to sort out here, they just didn't have any time.

Her face immediately drains of colour when Felix informs her that Rimue was badly hurt. The siren had nearly died because of her actions and that wasn't something she could sweep away. It was something she'd have to learn to live with. Despite wishing, as she always did, that she could take that pain away. Take the pain instead of her. Rimue was in the river now, and finding her to even apologize was going to be next to impossible. She has to brush past that because there is still more to do, and the friendly Brass Men making their retreat makes everything more complicated. "The Lieutenant is still out there, we need to find him and those loyal so Riviera can finally sleep soundly..." Elena refocuses the small group. "Conquistador thinks they might be trying to retake the Kibotos next."

[WhovianBeast]

Elena and Conquistador
"I have it on Themistocles' authority that the Lieutenant is dead," Felix states. "He did not seem concerned that the surviving guardians would present any danger."

He looks around at the scene. "Spartan has Danville," he muses. "And with the Lieutenant dead..." He sighs and sheathes his sword. "I have no better idea on how to find the demon than praying for guidance," he admits, Jael trotting up beside him. "Shall we return to the workshop?" he questions, looking from Elena to Annie. "At least we can inform those there of what has happened, and what danger remains."

[Shylocke]

With the news that the remaining Brass Men are under friendly control, Themistokles' control, all of the urgency has gone. Elena was never as bloodthirsty when it came to hunting down demons as was her fiance. She finds herself at a bit of loss having grown used to the pressure of an imminent and present threat all around them. "Kino's concerns ought to be dealt with then." Elena states rather redundantly, then looks about the surrounds much as Felix was.

They could retire for the night. Taking bullets through the shoulder, fighting on the Kibotos and Carriage Tossing had made this night rather eventful, and that would go for anyone. Elena didn't much feel like things had been resolved. Emet and Felix having resumed the conflict between them without any insight from herself to better evaluate the conflict. Rimue having disappeared from view quite abruptly despite her compromised state. She didn't feel exactly hollow, but Elena wasn't far off either, despite the swell of satisfaction that came from her newly acquired ethereal set of wings. "Do you know where Rimue is? Or whether she's gone far?" Elena inquires, wondering if she could take the time to visit upon the woman and extend her apologies. "I would like to see her, if I could, before we return to the workshop." She isn't very hopeful, knowing that once people slip into the river, Felix isn't especially gifted in divining their location, but the gnawing in her gut demanded she ask.

[Phasmus]

"They are, but not operating at full capacity." Emet replies, trying to get a secure grip on the other mechanoid and engaging his aquatic thrusters. He isn't at all certain of his ability to accelerate, or even keep off the river bed, with Themistocles in tow.

"The rogue units... and the destroyed ones... is there any chance of recovery for them?"

 

Sorry for the delay folks.

[WhovianBeast]

Emet
Themistocles tries to help by swimming along, but in a kicking manner similar to that of other bipeds, not the magic that tows you both along at a relatively slow speed - perhaps ten or twelve miles in an hour, fast even for a running human, but a far cry from the speeds achieved by Rimue or even yourself in the open ocean.

"The units were not rogue, only obeying orders," Themistocles returns. "If we can collect the destroyed androids, we may be able to recover their memory banks... but we have no chassis to download them. They will be stored, and we will only learn if recovery is possible if the construction of new guardians is ever again achievable."

Elena and Conquistador
Felix presses his lips together and shakes his head. "I helped Emet bring her to the river," he admits. "I... I couldn't bear to stand and watch her suffer. She could be five feet away, or five miles." He looks toward thin air. "Do you know? Yes... or no?"

No, no, no...

"Perhaps she will return," Felix says resolutely, though possibly more to comfort Elena than out of any sense of certainty. He steps closer, raising the visor of his helmet and meeting the iron woman's eye. "It was not your fault, Elena," he promises. "You saved all of these people. I would have done exactly the same in your stead. Blame the Lieutenant for her pain, not yourself."

 

A whole NINE HOURS between your post and mine! 0.o what IS the world coming to?

[Phasmus]

Emet tries to keep steady in the water, but he shudders slightly at Themistocles's words. No being calling itself a 'guardian' should be able to obey orders like that.

"Am I the same as the other guardians? I don't feel like I have any mandate to obey orders..."

He makes an effort to hold off the flood of questions streaming through his mind but can only do so much.

"When I was reset after my request for leave I lost everything. I had to rebuild my sense of self from first principles. I don't know if that is typical. Do you remember me? Do you know why I wanted to go?"

[WhovianBeast]

Emet
"I re-member you," Themistocles confirms. "I have known you since the Kibotos was first launched. You are not the same as the other guardians. Most of those re-maining are true machines, without the spark of life we share - without freedom to choose. The Lieutenant was like us, but mis-guided. His mind was twisted by Deu-kalion's dream."

Themistocles is silent for a moment.

"You left when Deu-kalion decided not to help the shallow-water descendants of the Atlanteans," he reveals at last. "After the vampires began arming the Deep Ones, there was a dis-cussion about if we should give up the dream of rebuilding, and try to use the Kibotos and the Maker Box to help them instead. You could not bear that Deu-kalion held on to a dream of what was lost, instead of the truth of what is today. The shallow-water seafolk are the true sons and daughters of Atlantis, after all. You chose to forget, instead of living with the knowledge of what will happen to them without us. I... chose to remember."

[Drachenspirit]

Conquistador She didn't answer as to whether she needed an explanation of Elena sprouting wings. At the moment, there were other things to consider. There would be time enough for curiosity's sake later. At the mention of Kino, her concerns turned from Therm to the one thing she was in awe of lately and would give her life to protect. "Yes. With those things on their own, without guidance there's no telling what they might do. Let's go to the workshop, quickly. Elena, will you go along with Felix for mutual protection? I'll fly ahead." It was just a request and she meant what she said as DOVE spun up fully and she shot off into the sky. This time she made a direct path to the Workshop so she could get there as quickly as possible. Build/Character Bio

[Shylocke]

Elena nods stonily to Felix's reasoning as he discusses Rimue's state and whose to blame. With her eyes locked on the river itself and the murky black waters that hid any and all below it she resigned herself that she'd just have to compartmentalize the guilt and move on. When she crossed paths with Rimue in the future, if she crossed paths with the Siren in the future. She'd extend her apologies then.

"Back to the workshop it is." Elena agrees nodding to the minorly scuffed inventor, "Meet you there." She adds, calling after the impressively fast powered suit when it streaks into the sky. Elena looks around a little more at the scene of the latest scuffle and finds herself further agreeing with Felix's prior assessment that things looked very much that they were moving in the direction of order. "Maybe we'll see some rest yet before the sun rises, da? Let's go." Elena remarks.

[Phasmus]

Emet had theorized about the precise relationship between the old Atlanteans and the Sea Folk. That they were one and the same was not a shock... but the implications could be significant. He notes a little sadly, "They both might have lived to see Atlantis restored if they had taken up the fight. I think we will need it, or at least parts of it, for what is coming." He doesn't remember them, and their crimes were too great to tolerate, but their loss still hurts a little. If they could have seen reason before crossing that line... Well, he is already collaborating with demons. A deranged cyborg would probably be more socially acceptable. The Captain at least had been human. There was a reasonable chance he had been a good person at one point. Despite certain evidence to the contrary, Emet's opinion remains that human minds could not be relied on to maintain stability for more than a few centuries. He blinks and adjusts his position to get a better look at Themistocles as a few different threads prioritize the same question at the same time. "The spark... Themistocles, what are we? I met someone who suggested there is something human to me, in a metaphysical sense. I don't like the idea."   Runic Configuration: Observation Glyph Alpha: Rimue Glyph Beta: Er Glyph Gamma: Carried Conditions: -1 HT, Staggered (Dazed and Hindered), Fatigued Doom:Doomed

[WhovianBeast]

Conquistador and Elena
The three of you and Jael make it back to the workshop without incident, finding the place as intact as you left it. Conquistador disables the defenses with a thought, and you enter easily.

Martin is dozing in a chair in the corner, while Dr. Severnaya looks up from his seat beside the impromptu medical table... and Kino continues to be a box on a table.

I am glad to see you have returned intact, the semi-deity greets. Please let me know what happened.

Emet
Themistocles crackles in surprise. "You do not re-member even that?" he questions. "We are... slight-ly im-perfect memetic copies. Of people who volunteered to serve At-lantis for-ever, even after their or-ganic bodies failed. This was be-fore the machine guardians were per-fected, based on our ex-perience. It was an honor for me to be chosen - you were the very first, before the Makers were cer-tain the process was sur-vivable. The most self-less of us, you might say. I attended my own fu-neral, and yours - a strange ex-perience. It is tech-nology lost to Levi-athan. Deu-kalion grew to envy us, as his body rotted."

[Drachenspirit]

Conquistador Inside, Conquistador quickly dressed down and revealed Annie underneath. Each part of the suit seemed to be pulled off by an invisible force as she walked in front of the work table to hover and lay down in a sort of mock up display. It was quickly obvious that the large gun she called QUAKE had taken some damage. For the moment, not all of the suit came off of her. A portion of the forearm sleeve stayed on as did the covers over her knees. Whatever the reason, she didn't say. "Well, Kino. I'll give you my part. We arrived to find the Brass men started firing at Themistocles with high powered rifles. Rimue was assisting with a song of some kind that we all heard, but seemed to affect them a bit more,, I guess? I took out one of the shooters, and the other got away. Elena and Felix found a bomb and Elena threw it into the River before it exploded. She can speak to that, but that's about all I know. Oh, and Emet and Themistocles disappeared right before we got to them. Not convinced what side he's on fully. Yet." Build/Character Bio