Walpurgisnacht [IC/PG-16/Conditional Acceptance]

[radio414 936]

No More Apocalypse Father

Sarah shifted her grip on her recorder, holding it closer to Override to make sure it picked up everything it could. “That’s interesting,” she said. “The last we saw of Arcturus was out of the Horseshoe. She seems to keep popping up. But we haven’t seen head nor tail of Lucky Cat in the intervening time between those two attacks. It’s probably nothing, but it’s something to be on the lookout for. Arcturus may have her own allies, and our profile on her suggests, well, she’s ambitious, I’ll give her that much.

“But when I asked about this morning, I meant your dual pair of assignments. You were asked to interview the Archangel regarding Cassandra’s prophecy, and I understand you also have been commissioned by The Zodiac in general and Ophiuchus in specific to look into the matter. To put it as succinctly as I can before delving into further details, what are you going to tell him?”

Uncloudy Days

Clotho muscled her way to the front of the group as everyone around hooted and hollered, making stupid faces into Sibyl’s cell phone camera. She was doing much the same, of course, she just wanted to do it where she could catch up with the hero of the moment. “Woo!” she cheered as she crashed in front of the third picture of everyone. “Never any doubt at all that you were okay.” Her face hardened a touch. “You are okay, right? Adrenaline’s probably wearing off, any major cuts or bruises we need to worry about? That steam seemed pretty hot from what we could see, any burns?”

But once Clotho had confirmed that everything was alright, she embraced Sibyl in a hug. “I want to tell you to go celebrate,” she said. “But we do have to talk a little bit about what you saw in there. Caesar’s dead, and we need to start picking up the pieces.”

Rats and Roses

There was a long pause before Atropos said, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she still wants to kill you.”

“She wants to kill you,” Lachesis shot back. “You talked back first. You’re the one with the knife.”

Atropos sighed and took off her blindfold, looking Thessa right in the eyes. “Okay. We’re not- I’m not going to try and deflect responsibility by reminding you Caesar’s death was G3’s call, not ours,” she said. “It was my knife, and I did agree with the request. Nor am I going to try and use that fact to try and call you complicit. Obviously, you’re not -- we wouldn’t be having this conversation if you were. And I certainly wouldn’t remind you that we’ve got a truce on still until probably the end of the day. You wouldn’t care. For all these things I can’t do, I can’t apologize either. I don’t think you would forgive us even if I could. But, if it means anything, I don’t think it will happen again.”

But neither of them seemed particularly concerned with the awkward energy that permeated the elevator lobby and eventually Lachesis said, “Oh right, someone broke the elevator,” and both of the Fates walked over to the stairwell and started the long march up five basement floors worth of stairs.

---

OOC

Spoiler

Subtitles are from a band called "WE ARE WINTER'S BLUE AND RADIANT CHILDREN"

Small little snippets to keep the conversation going. I vaguely expect the day's debrief to finish up this next round (but I've been wrong before), so maybe start thinking about what you'll be doing the rest of the day before the jump, but no pressure if not.

-r

 

[LordCowCow 877]

Thessa didn't butt in when the sisters discussed which one she would kill. Truthfully it would probably have been a spur of the moment decision. Whichever one was nearest at the time. But she figured she'd let them wonder about it on their own. Maybe they'd learn something through it.

Atropos...made excuses? No, she said she was specifically not trying to do that. Gave information? That might be the best way to put it. In any case it didn't entirely surprise her that it was G3's call. Though she did wonder why the sisters went along with doing it. After all G3 did like to think that they were pragmatic even if they clearly didn't always know what was the right or wrong call.

She wondered if she should talk to them about this too and remind them of their place but she didn't think that conversation would get anywhere different anyway. And she had already told the sisters so someone knew already.

Said sisters were starting to head for the stairs and Thessa interrupted them. She followed up what had been said about not doing it again with, "I'll hold you to that. Speaking of holding, want a lift?"

She couldn't help but smile that the two were caught off guard by this. Didn't she already say she didn't like grudges?

"Uh, sure, I guess?" Lachesis said.

She took the two under each of her arms, carrying them like sacks of potatoes, and stepped into the elevator shaft. She knew that the power boost would be dwindling but she had enough for this yet and she leapt up into the air and through the opening to the first floor.

As she set the two down they seemed somewhat deliriously winded and Thessa snorted and waved goodbye to them. She strolled through the front door and kept going past any cape or authority that were doing whatever it was that they did after these sorts of incidents. If someone stopped her she'd talk but it was clear that she wanted to keep going before long.

"I could go for some tacos." Thessa said and set out in search of a taco place. It was a bit of a distance away but there was The Cantina she could go to. Maybe they'd have something she hadn't had in a while there.

On the way her thoughts turned towards the day and the situation at hand.

She couldn't say she was sad that specifically Caesar was dead. It was a shame that she wouldn't get to watch him grow older and see what silly ideas he tried to make reality as he grew up. But there was always the other city leaders for that.

Well, most of them. She frowned as she thought about Ophiuchus. If any of them had to go she would rather have seen that one gone. Though of course they'd just put someone else in his place who was just as boring.

She considered the sisters' argument. That people needed to be made to change. She supposed she had noticed that it took quite some time for big changes to happen. If she had been more proactive would things have sped up by now?

It could be. But on the other hand if she did change things herself then did that really count? Or would it just be as barely interesting as changing her own hairstyle?

She let out a long sigh. No, why should she worry? She had plenty of time still. After all there was this whole end of the world thing going on, that was new, that was big, and she hadn't needed to make it happen herself.

But maybe it was fine to think about it now and then.

"Right, tacos." Thessa had been standing in front of the taco joint for a few minutes by then and she walked in and ordered. "Oooh, with mac and cheese? I don't think I've tried THAT yet..."

[Skaia 611]

After Sibyl had taken enough photos, her current employer had walked over to her. As they expressed concern for her, Sibyl patted the Fate sibling's head as they embraced her letting out a hearty laugh, "all that happened in there was that I got one hell of a steam bath. Nothing I couldn't handle, haha, see." The girl stretched out her arm to show that she hadn't actually been wounded in the slightest, though it was incredibly evident that her skin was a bright red from the heat exposure. In addition her movement of her arm seemed to be a bit sluggish in comparison to the vigor she was speaking with. Truthfully, though, Sibyl hadn't been thinking much of it but now that her adrenaline had settled she felt unbearably exhausted. She usually had a bottomless well of stamina, so to speak, but having partaken in three major fights and gone through a sauna that clearly wouldn't pass any kind of regulation even she couldn't deny that a nap was looking pretty good right now. "Well, just spot me a water bottle or three," the girl joked. 

As they were asked about what had happened inside the giant she grinned. "Oh, inside that thing? It was crazy, like some kind of weird monster robot thing! Like, it had all of these pipes and metal and stuff, but it was like, also weirdly fleshy? If I wasn't a bit of a monster myself I'd have been pretty weirded out," the girl let out another hearty laugh. Curious the girl said, "though, I don't even know what those pipes were even for. It's like all the big guy had going through him was steam, steam, and more steam. It could even turn steam into like, people or something and use other people's powers. It was pretty cool but fighting a soulless hunk of steam just isn't the same you know?" The girl shrugged saying, "well, for how big it was all I needed to do was punch a machine in the middle of it and then it just died of a heart attack. Wonder how much money I just totaled." With a grin on her face the girl said, "that good for a report Clo, I could really use something to eat. Like, maybe a whole pizza for myself. Oh, but maybe I should lay off the hot foods for now, hahaha."  

[Chaos Sonic 454]

“That’s interesting. The last we saw of Arcturus was out of the Horseshoe. She seems to keep popping up. But we haven’t seen head nor tail of Lucky Cat in the intervening time between those two attacks. It’s probably nothing, but it’s something to be on the lookout for. Arcturus may have her own allies, and our profile on her suggests, well, she’s ambitious, I’ll give her that much. But when I asked about this morning, I meant your dual pair of assignments. You were asked to interview the Archangel regarding Cassandra’s prophecy, and I understand you also have been commissioned by The Zodiac in general and Ophiuchus in specific to look into the matter. To put it as succinctly as I can before delving into further details, what are you going to tell him?”

Override simply sighed at hearing what Sarah asked. "First: we interviewed her, she gave us the information in regards to the 'end of the world' prophecy via the whole Nihil versus Astra and Zorro..." he said, before shifting slightly. "...that's when we were attacked by the Gibbons, led by Hellhound. As for your second question..." Override fell silent again, before sighing. "That was Ophiuchus' request in order to sign the treaty for this truce. He wants to know why Cassandra and those helping them were willing to break one of the more sacred truces. That's it...and if memory serves, we needed the assistance of both the Fates and the Zodiac...considering the Gibbons are pretty much out."

Sarah frowned. "Right, I remember reading last week's debrief," she said. "Ophiuchus also contacted you earlier today reiterating this assignment, right? I don't remember any of the Ophiuchi being particularly patient sorts. When he comes calling your way, are you going to tell him about the church? That you believe Cassandra was warning us about our lack of piety? Or maybe Cassandra had foreknowledge of Project Rubicon, and the aftereffects of this war?

"More importantly, though, Cassandra had helpers, are you going to tell Ophiuchus about us too?"

"I already gave him said information." Override shook his covered head slightly. "I told him, and I quote...'By this, it seems that Cassandra's prophecy and the religion we find ourselves in tune with here, may end up providing the same results. I understand it's not much, but, perhaps you may be able to gleam something more from this'." He moved a bit closer to Sarah. "You happen to be prying hard over here...I gave most of this information to the director, or rather P.I.X.E.L. did...so how about you delve into further details and tell me why it feels like you happen to be interrogating me."

"It's important to get all this on the record. And he's going to ask again, for more next time." Sarah said, undeterred by Override's sudden advance. "It is a debriefing, after all." But then she switched off her recorder and fidgeted a little with a bit of string just visible around her neck, eventually giving in and pulling it out to reveal a small pendant -- a marble wrapped in wire. "I'll ask you again: how much are you going to tell Ophiuchus about us?"

"I should've known..." Override simply said, looking at the pendant. Things were starting to click in place, not well mind you, but just enough. "That depends on one thing and one thing alone: who the hell are you, what the hell is that, and what does it mean? First the Tinker...now you. I'm going to need answers..."

"I'm just Sarah, nobody special. It's just a pendant, a signifier at most. But what it means is a group of us trying to keep hope alive. And if Ophiuchus finds out, he's not going to want to play ball."

"...that's not a lot to go off of..." Override sighed from under his helmet. "Secret organizations and the like, I swear...do you at least have a name for this?"

Sarah blushed like Override had just stumbled on some point of contention within the organization. "It's just Cassandra's Circle. And don't worry -- we will be in touch. Perhaps, even, you'll find us."

"Fair enough...fine...if anything, I'll omit anything from the reports dealing with the circle specifically." he sighed once again, before nodding. "You have our word."

She took off her necklace and presented it to Override. "If you find someone you think is in the know, show them this." With that, and her debrief complete, she was off. Override simply looked at the pendant...contemplating for a moment what he was truly getting in the middle of...

---

BGM

Override was able to finally return to his workshop for a small reprieve... Victor finally recalling the nanites to his watch for a moment as he placed the watch on a mannequin, only to snap his fingers and have the nanites immediately cover the mannequin to present the suit. He needed to upgrade the suit's defenses...the one thing he was not expecting to deal with today was the "tech ghost" trying to hack into his suit. If something like that did exist, he needed to up his defenses on the NOVA suit.

Shoving another bite of a cheeseburger in his mouth, he tapped away at the keyboard next to him, running scenarios of the footage that P.I.X.E.L. ended up getting from their mission today. All the while, across the room of his workshop...those words echoed once more...

"In six months, the world will end."

He looked at the footage that was still being analyzed, before glancing at the pendant he was given by Sarah...the symbol of Cassandra's Circle. That was something he needed to look into, but he doubted that anything would've properly turned up...even after P.I.X.E.L.'s initial search after his talk with Tinker earlier. That was one whole issue...but then at the same time...

Nihil...Zorro...Astra... a trio fighting eternally for the fate of the world according to the Archangel...

Now whether he was a believer in the faith right now or not, that was irrelevant...this was a huge issue that he was dealing with. He glanced over at his computer screen and looked at the files titled "NOVA". They were the upgrades he had put in place for just in case, of course he had his one project up...one he called NOVA Mk 18 - "DEUS Breaker". Victor sighed before closing that and opened up the next one...NOVA Mk 19...the one he called "Satellite"...it was an armor for deep space. It was an idea he was tinkering with but never implemented for the moment. However...the more he thought of what the Archangel said to him and the others...the more he saw Satellite as a potential necessity.

"Looks like we're gonna have to work double time on things..." Victor sighed, before running his hands through his hair. "If anything we can make the nanites able to adapt and merge with the upgrades from the other suits. An instant transformation of suits by downloading the upgrade...guess we'll have to run some tests..."

...and hopefully it won't be too late...