* Last time! * The Byrds sneak up behind Elo, dress him up in a cute little tuxedo (like MCs wear), hand him some bad jokes on cards, and push him onstage with a big sign reading "LAST TIME!" in flashy lights. * Da Man chases them all off screen. Leaving Minx. * In the beginning... there was silence. Deep broody silence. * Then bird things issued karmic punishment via ambushing them, and only hitting Elfy. Err. And Carter. * Onwards, save the maiden, Annie! Whats this? An SD monster breeding lab? ( The Horror! ) * But now we're back to reality. * Tzezhin is being spacy again, and Trast is sleeping. * The rain's just recenlty stopped, and the corpses of the Aviaks from before have been moved somewhere Conveinently out of the Way. * Start! * Carter is busilly clearing some labspace for himself in the SD chamber. "Hm... got any hermetically-sealable transparent containers?" * The SD Aviak Trio minus one scurry around, trying to be of service to Carter. Looking extremely cute and being not very effective as they do so. * KaeollaRae 's sitting down and eatting popcorn with Annie. * Elonith calmly gets one and throws it at Carter. "Okay. WHAT are you doing now?" * Annie watches the two, amused. How long do you think it'll take these two to take apart and rebuild this lab and completely uncover all its secrets? * Annie nudges Kae in the rib with an elbow. "I'm betting on the one with nerdglasses." * Carter pulls something out of his jacket. It might once have been a glass test tube. Or sample jar. But now its exterior is absolutely _covered_ in a blackish-greyish-silver substance that.../writhes/ mechanically. He grins evilly. "I'm going to ... research ... our friend from that penguin ship. He really should be more careful with pieces of himself." * KaeollaRae smiles and replays "I wouldn't expect very long and I wouldn't take that bet." ( Which of us wears glasses? Carter sure doesn't need 'em. ) (replys) ( Carter has the SD nerdglasses, ne? ) ( Ah, right. ) * Elonith laughs. "Nice play there. I'm going to take a look at some of the other samples they have here..." So you're gonna bet on the other one? * KaeollaRae says "nope." It's going to be a relief to get this into something with absolute radio nullification. I must have a good half million nanites on this thing keeping it from receiving or transmitting. Not surprising. * Annie raises an eyebrow. "I'm definitely betting on that one." ( The scary thing is that Carter isn't useing technobabble. ) * Elonith looks around each of the mutations. "So, tell me Dr. Geensplice, what exactly have you been doing here?" Making brothers and sisters. It's fun. * Carter scans this chamber. Just how much chance is there of radio communications getting out of here and to the rest of the Realm? Could Carter's "guest" communicate with the rest of itself, if let out of the wall of nanites? * Elonith nods. Mmm hmmm... "So, what are your brothers and sisters, then?" <.< ( None! It's completely isolated. And you also can't get any reading past the SD barrier thingie. ) Us, but better, stronger, faster! We're gonna be a great army! Excellent. *smiles...evilly, and drops the vial into the hermetically-seallable container, and hermetically seals it* * The sample becomes active almost immediately, sloshing around and taking random shapes and stuff, within it's limited amount of movement. So you're building an army. And let me guess, you're going to conquer the Realm? * KaeollaRae seems to be enjoying her rest and popcorn, even though she doesn't seem terribly interested in the technological findings. * SD Aviak #3 scratches it's head. "Not sure on that. But we're gonna fight stuff!" * Carter chibievillooms over the container, rubbing his hands and laughing quietly, but maniacally. And begins infiltrating the nanites that had been doing the sealing duties into the sample, scanning, interacting, and generally trying to study it. * ...a doorbell rings. * Carter is especially interested in whether or not the sample can communicate with him electronically, and if it has any semblence of it's original's intellect. Like... Who's there?~ * Elonith looks over at the ladies. "Could one of you get that?" * Carter isn't a mad scientist. Honest. * Annie stands up. "It's not Alex... I wonder who it is?" * KaeollaRae let's Annie find out. * Annie turns to Kae. "You want to come with me?" * Elonith goes about looking through the collected data they have on each of the... specimens. (Isn't the door within visual range of everyone?) ( No, you're in an underground SD lab which you enters via going through solid wall. =p ) * KaeollaRae replys "Sure. Why not." and walks up to Annie. * Elo: There's samples of just about everything. Dragonsblood, psionic genetic triggers, alien DNA, etc. * KaeollaRae says "I wonder if it's cookie sellers, or maybe perfume." * Elonith nods as he looks over them, pulling out his laptop and one-hand typing on it. * Of Unknown Native Species #27, there's nothing marked definitively except: Magical talent, phase-shifting? * KaeollaRae says "Well, as long as it's not a vaccum salesperson, it'll probably be okay." ( Kae: #doorbell ) * Kae and Annie exit the SD lab. * Elonith hrmmms and points at the tube... "Where did you find this sample?" *distractedly* ...huh? Not you. Them. ...oh. Uh... we found some tissue samples in an excavation site near the Generically Painful Evil Forest. Ah, that would definetly explain it. I strongly suggest you don't 'make' any more siblings. But thats our job! But thats our mission! Do you want me to hurt you like I hurt your boss? Come to think of it, where's #1 again? (Aviaks all together "Yes!") (Aviaks all together "Wait! Wait! We me no!") (Aviaks all together "Wait! Wait! We mean no!") (Aviaks all together "It was a trick question.") Boss is gonna kick.. oh, wait. We already went through that. Oh, don't threaten them, Elonith... Yes, yes we did. Just suggesting. Being a 'test-tube baby' is no fun, let me tell you... Neither is finding out someone could just make 10 million duplicats of yourself. (duplicants) ( Duplicates, you mean? ;) ) (Yeah. :P) We can't stop, anyways. It's built into our genetics. * Carter looks concerned for a moment, then breaths a sigh of relief. * Elonith sighs. "Well, if you need to, do it. Just stay away from this particular strand, okay?" He points, once again, at the tube. Okay. We're having trouble with that strand, anyways. It's spontaenously vanished a couple of times. * Carter , without turning away from his own work, says, "Elonith, would you mind taking as much data on that strand as possible? Dimensional shifting might be useful to developing a functional Demon Gate." * Elonith laughs, although you can tell it's forced. "Yeah. It'll do that." (#1 in LOE "Someone....anyone?") ( ? ) * SD Aviak #2 wanders off to do some maintenence and stuff. * SD Aviak #3 wanders off to a corner of the room, where there's targets, and starts flame-blasting them. ( How cuuuuuute. ) * Elonith walks over to Carter. "I have all the information you'll need on the subject..." Oh. Thanks. * Dicesuke throws the bones for Carter (2d6-2) and gets 7. So, find anything out? Sort of... Hey, Elo... you know about AIs, don't you...? Yeah. What do you need to know? Not as familiar as, say... hacking, but I know a bit. I did my Sophmore term paper on it. The residual in here's being...stubborn. I'm trying to subvert this sample so it will listen for it's old master, but not report back to him. And trying to expand on it with some of my own. Need me to 'log in,' as it were? If you like. More...I'm looking for pointers. I think this is something I have to do myself, if it's to work right. Okay, let's see... First thing you have to remember is, even though it's 'intellegent', it is still a computer. Given the proper information, you should be able to predict the results. ...are you sure of that? I suspect that it is no more a computer than I am... well, maybe a bit more, without the core, but still... People work on a very similar principal, except they tend to try to surprise you and go against the flow. This is also a predictable pattern. * Elonith smirks. "I speak from experience." ... * Annie and Kae come walking back in. So, are you interested? ( Oh, Jex? Shary's site must not have the log of that omake anymore... ) I'm looking forward to facing Shia, myself. More of an academic interest, really. *blush* ( I bet the sites just down ATM. ) * KaeollaRae sits back down and replys "Not really. Afterall he's cheated me once, what should I believe his so called mystery prize isn't a booby prize. Something underhanded will certainly happen there." * Carter looks at Elonith. "Perhaps we should find out what the irresponsible troublemaker is talking about?" Quite. * Elonith walks over to Kaeolla. "What did you find out? * KaeollaRae asks "So who's this Shia person?" * KaeollaRae looks towards Elonith and replys "Oh, it was just a delivery for Annie." * KaeollaRae looks back at Annie. Shia... a legendary warrior in his own world, and just as legendary here. Tall and good-looking and strong... and... *blush* Um. He's rumored to be in the tournament, and I want to face him. It's a purely academic interest, of course. * Carter continues regarding his...experiment. His tongue is sticking out of his closed mouth. What a cute nerd-chibi he makes. * Elonith smirks to that, too. Sure it is. I don't care about the prize, though. It's just some sphere. * KaeollaRae leans back and says "Well, good luck. Maybe you'll get lucky and it won't be rigged." * Elonith walks over to Carter. "Also, AI's learn *very* quickly, evolving intellegence at an alarming rate." I don't think that's a problem with this. Not enough hardware. Remember how much mass the core had. This is only a small sample. * Dicesuke throws the bones for Carter (2d6-3) and gets 5. Hmm, true. How about either of you? * Carter regards the sample, as it assumes a minichibi form of a penguin, which is quickly stomped by a giant (by comparison) boot. He giggles like a schoolboy. "Cool." Huh? And even if you don't want to participate, it'd be fun to watch. What, now? In several days. There's a tournament in Hvvrt going on soon. So _that_'s what... definitely have my attention, now. Wait, come again? Sorry, wasn't paying total attention. * KaeollaRae looks towards Carter "I'm amazed. Mr. Techno wants to be in a fighting tournament?" * Carter steps between Kae and the sample, pretending to ignore her as the sample forms into a semblence of her sitting on a stool with a dunce cap on. * Annie blinkblinks. "There's a tournament starting in a couple of days, with a secret prize. But I don't care about some silly sphere. I want to see how I fare against Shia. You could, too. Or even just watch. He's amazing to watch." Sphere? Go on. * KaeollaRae replys "Mmmm...Maybe. Depends on the other warriors. I mean if he's so good and the others get beat up with out much of a contest, then it'd be boring, don't you think?" No way am I entering a fighting contest... * Carter laughs self-depricatingly. "Do you honestly think I'd last 5 minutes in a ring? You've seen me fight." He rolls his eyes at his own battle incompetance. Sphere? Oh, that's the secret prize. I talked to one of Arutamars helpers who was setting it up, and he showed it to me. *she starts describing something thats exactly like the sphere ye got before* * KaeollaRae chuckles and says "Not really." I...see... ( This coming from Berserk Carter? ) ( Do we still have ours? ) ( Yep! ) ( <_< Berserk Carter? I know of no such thing! Really. Why are you looking at me like that? ) * Elonith sighs. Maybe we should just go back to figuring out how to get out of The Realm, hmm? Oh... *looks dissapointed* * Annie shakes it off quickly, though. "Did you have any ideas?" * KaeollaRae leans over towards Annie and with her hand beside her mouth says to her "They always have ideas. It's kinda scary." Actually... Elo... Much as I want to get out of here, I'm concerned about what those two Shadow Lords are planning. Whatever it is, they want to keep it secret, so it can't be good. And they're not above using people to accomplish it. In fact, it sounded like they were about to cause the death of at least one Lord of Light. A war between those powers would certainly ultimately delay our departure. * Annie shudders at Carters words. "You have no idea." And... given what RB3 concluded from the data he stole from us... both sides would be seeking our involvement, too. Awww... shit. I don't like being stuck where a war's going to break out... I'm sorry.... I was careless. I let my personal interests take precedence over my job for a moment. Especially not when you could be a power piece in the chess game...and not know who makes your moves. *shudders* Of course, I'm sure _you_ just find this incredibly amusing, Kaeolla. * KaeollaRae replys "No, it's a little boring, really, watching you do tech stuff and all, but that's okay. It's yur baby." Do you want to go to the Lords of Light? I'm sure all but Anya would listen and try to help. Alex is going to report to them anyways, from what you told her you overheard. That's just it, though. Did you hear what RB3 concluded about our little group? And what Lord Cephiro had to say about it? * Annie thinks, then nods. "Yes, I remember now." * KaeollaRae looks at Annie and asks "Actually I have a questions. Just exactly who are the members of the Lords of Light and who are the members of the Lords of Shadows, or whatever their groups are called, anyways?" We're going to be _expected_ to choose sides. While we've so far seen that the Lords of Light are better than the Lords of Shadow, can we be certain that that is true for each case? * Annie looks from Carter to Kae. * KaeollaRae smiles. I can't say for sure which of them is better, all I can say is that the Lords of Light are more just, and care more. * KaeollaRae waits for her answer. * Carter nods. "The Lords of Light sound more like what Lords should be, at least." Cephiro, The silver lord. Christy Talisei. Xelph Greyholmes. Sacramento Unduliant. Thanatos. Anya Greyholmes. And Loki. * Elonith nods. * KaeollaRae keeps listening. Garos. Ridler. Fenfir. Clay. Serena. Space Axe, and RB3. I don't know about you guys, but I like the names of the Lords of Light more. Space Axe? I'd not heard of him. Or Xelph Greyholmes. Is the latter Lady Anya's father? Space Axe. He's a loony. And he has a horrible sense of humor. He's strong, just as strong as the other Lords, though. * KaeollaRae says "Names don't mean much. A person could easily call themselves 'Righteous Mary' yet be a truly evil person." Xelph is Anya's father, yes. *mutters* Maybe we should introduce Kaeolla to Lord Space Axe... That, although tempting, would NOT be in our best interests. * Annie glances at Kae ever so briefly. Who said we'd stick around to see the results? * KaeollaRae smiles. * Elonith smirks. ( Can anyone sense the bitterness that Carter holds? Can they? Huh? Is it too subtle? ) ( Pump it up a few more notches. ) (Carter is just a stressaholic ; ) ) (Elo's got the same bitterness, just not *as* high. I don't think.) ( ...point being? ) * KaeollaRae replys "You two should learn to have a little fun and appreciate life more." * Carter chibiflops, looking exhausted. And hungry. "When is this tourney, Miss Annie?" The sample in the container behind him looks like a hungry emoticon. There's an alternative... but I'm not sure if it'd be a good idea. Also in Hvvrt, is a group of people who wish to overthrow the Lords, but lack the power to do so. "Overthrow"? I was told that the Lords of Light refused to rule, and prevented the Lords of Shadow from so doing. * KaeollaRae says "She means theyr'e jealous." * Carter begins eyeing the remaining SDAviak, and it slowly takes on the cartoon image of a cooked chicken. They also settle major disputes. *turns to Kae* Like that dragon that followed you when you got here. There's always another side of the story. * KaeollaRae says to Carter "Reading between the lines is an artform. Don't worry...I'm sure you'll get better at it." ( _That_ will be the day. *rolls his eyes at his own PC's blindnesses* ) * KaeollaRae looks back at Annie "Oh, well, they didn't have to worry much about that since it got blowed up real good." If the Lords of Light try to rule, the Lords of Shadow would fight back. But they don't. It's a good balance that's existed for a while now. Not that I would mind if the Lords of Shadow tried something and lost. A land needs a ruler. But only if that ruler is just. You don't suppose they've got anything to eat down here, do you? Some soap on a fried plastic wrap and aluminum foil would really be good about now... Oh, yes. The tournament is going to be held at Hvvrt. * Elonith eyes Carter. Hvvrt. What kind of place is it? It's flooded, from what Miss Alex told us. An adventurers town. And also the home of most of the surviviors of the conflict between the Lords, so anti-Lord sentiment there runs high. It's the site of Cephiro's Bane, that lake that Lord RB3 said held the key-- oh? Are my archives incorrect? .... Cephiros Bane. Thats where Hvvrt used to be. They moved the city, then? More like it was destroyed and rebuilt. Ah... Mass Destruction. Ah. Of course. The Lords of Shadow were using it as a base of operations to mass and supply their forces. Cephiro eliminated it. Anyway, I wonder why Lord RB3 thinks the lake holds the key to Lord Cephiro's destruction... Reminds me of the time I got sent back to right before the bomb dropped... The site haunts him whenever he visits it, and that is why it's called Cephiro's Bane. Hrmmm... That is a personal secret, but I think you should know, given your situation. I want you to trust Cephiro, but I won't force it upon you. * KaeollaRae smiles. He... seemed trustworthy, at least. He _felt_ like a Lord should. I- I only hope, if I am to be a Lord, I can be as worthy as he seems. I trust him a *lot* more than any of the other side... * Annie bows gently. "Would you like a guide to Hvvrt?" Uh... Sure. Are there any of the monoliths on the way? ^_^ I-- I don't know. Lord RB3 is heading to Telcentia, to do God only knows what ( there's a distinct impression he's not taking that Name in vain, either... ), and he's planning to 'sneak in' to ... Hvvrt, I think. This tourney? No. None of the monoliths are near any of the major cities. And there's no way he could get into Hvvrt unrecognized. He's a shapeshifter. I'm sure he'll manage. There's too many people there who curse his name daily. * KaeollaRae winks "There's always a way. Sometimes it just takes imagination and courage." * KaeollaRae says "And there's that." Or rape of an innocent woman... * Carter looks almost angrier than he does hungry. ... He...learned something about terrans, from his study of me. And that there's another terran on this world. And he knows where she is. This seems like a place where the law of conservation of mass and energy doesn't apply, so... Does she know he knows where she is? * KaeollaRae says "I've always hated laws. They just get in the way of the fun stuff." I doubt it. Where is she, then? Me or one of my sisters will see that she gets some protection from the Lords. Where was it.. The Lighthouse in Lifa? No. I've not been able to contact her. She's in Lifa, yes. Alex can take care of that, then. Her name's Julia. Oh, can you get a physical object to her? *looks very hopeful* You want her to research that sample? * Annie closes her eyes, looking thoughful. "Julia, barkeep of the Lighthouse. ... and... Anya's in Lifa." * Annie opens her eyes again. "A physical sample? No, I'm afraid not." Blast. I wanted to send her scans of Lord RB3 so she could recognize him, regardless of form, actually. If only I can... *turns back to his experiment...then collapses, apparently having fainted. He's all chibi-deflated, and his stomach has a smoke-squiggle rising from it as it growls* * Annie grins. "Julia's safe... from the other Lords, at least, while Anya's in town." How will Anya stop the other lords? * Annie tilts her head at Elo "You haven't met her, have you?" x_x Her mere reputation is enough to scare people off. She blows stuff up. Very well, and she's not very careful about it. * KaeollaRae chuckles. * KaeollaRae says "Sounds like she knows how to have fun." Eh... Oh dear. Not one of *those* types. She's gotten better as she's grown up. But she's not getting along with her dad right now, so that makes it worse. ( Carter would make a comment about how sad that is, if he were conscious. ^^; ) * Annie looks at the obviously starving Carter, as if she just noticed him. "How about we break for a meal, then be on our way?" * Elonith sighs. "Carter, you overwork yourself..." * KaeollaRae stands up and walks back and forth over Carpet Carter a couple of times and says "Kinda reminds me of a bear carpet but with out the pointy bits." * KaeollaRae rolls Carter up into a Carter Scroll. And I hope the chibi antics stop soon. It wears very thin on my patience... * Annie bows gently to Elo and Kae. "Our destination after our meal?" * KaeollaRae says "Makes no difference to me. Oh! There's a fly!" **SWATS AT AIR WITH CARTER SWATTER** *CHOMP!* (Heh Heh) * Carter mindlessly starts chewing on Kaeolla's arm, too. * Annie steps back, sweatdropping, eyes wide. Yes... And we need to wake up the other two as well. *CHOMP, CHOMP* * KaeollaRae says "Oh! He's like a bug zapper without the zap!" *Knaw on Kae's arm....* * KaeollaRae throws him down and stops up and down on him **STOMP STOMP STOMP** * KaeollaRae says "Take that you pancake!" @_@ * Elonith eyes the other two, then talks to Annie. "I know them *only* by coincidence. Honestly." * KaeollaRae walks away with a **HMPH** * Carter stumbles off screen for a moment, then returns, picking feathers out of his teeth. Now, where could Aviak #2 have gotten to...? * Annie nods understandingly. ( Aww, you ate the smart one. ) ( #2: Here I am! He ate #3!) Carter, Eat LATER. We need to get moving. Go wake them up while I fix up something, okay? There's a fire still going by the entrance that I can fix some stuff on. Meet me up there. Very well. Let me collect my sample. * He sets about setting up a firewall about the hermetic container, then follows.* Sure. * Annie goes to do that. * KaeollaRae follows along with Annie. * Elonith snaps the others awake, then leads the groggy two fighters over to the fire. I really need to learn that telekinesis trick some of my classmates had. *grumble* * Session end (Y)/(N)? (y) ( z.z ) (Y) ( 2 outta three ain't bad. o/~ ) I'd teach you if it wasn't inherent. Welp, see everyone next time * Endz. Not end! Blah. That was very very blah. My version would be gravitically driven through my nanites, just like my flight, anyway, Elonith. You broke the fourth wall again, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?! did not! Eeek. * Jex spot-fixes the 4th wall, casually dropping a couple of bricks from it on Elo and Carters heads. * Elonith dodges, because his stats are sick like that. * Carter is unnaffected, 'cause he didn't break it today.