IC: Reclaiming the Void Options

[BishopMcQ]

All

The quiet in the kitchen is broken by the slamming of doors as Papa goes running through the house, his large frame hitting walls in his haste. He slides back into place and slaps several electrode patches onto Rene. The machine begins calls for them to clear and sends a jolt strong enough to shake the shaman's body to no avail.

The medkit dispenses an ampule to be injected into him, and a gooey substance to be spread across the wounds.

It shocks again. beep beep...beep beep A thready but visible pulse begins registering on the medkit.

Beneath the soft glow of Leo's form, the puddle of blood grows wider from Etain's meek form.

[JxJxA]

"I think you can handle it from here for the time being," Uetz grumbles, upon seeing the medkit register a somewhat stable pulse for Rene. slHe moves over to Etain, his expression wincing in sympathy from seeing the injured dryad. He gently touches the most grievous of her wounds, and emerald rivulets of power gently flow into her.

[BishopMcQ]

All

The glow of power from Uetz begins to falter as a series of rasping breaths escapes Etain's lips and the dryad seems to slip away. With a look of steely resolve crossing over him, the glow becomes brighter flashing a brilliant white. There is the sound of an eagle screaming in the distance, diving for the hunt.

The spell locks into place and the shattered woman clings to the razor's edge of life.

[Buddha72]

"D'zan! Save him!"

The naked and raw need in Leo's voice echoes harshly into the loft space as he implores his companion to act. A brief look of shame and guilt washes over D'zan's face before a hard facade drops over it. He flies to the prone body - landing in the blood without any hesitation. Taking a single hand he places it palm down into the gathered fluid as he begins to sing. The blood begins to flow backwards and pushes its way back into Rene's body. It begins to jerk and spasm as the tissue is forced to knit and mend. The sound of the embedded rounds being ejected from his body are followed by his screams as pain as the magic mends the flesh. The last of the song seems to hang in the air as D'zan stops singing to speak.

"Flesh and bone, blood and breath mended now and safe from death."

His body once again shakes from the backlash of using magic in this existence and he slumps to his knees breathing heavily.

[Fenris]

Looking particularly crazy as he continues to wrestle with something most people in the room can't even see, Argent's arms begin to shake and shudder with the effort of keeping the locket contained. Still on his knees, he takes a deep breath, clasping his hands together and letting his head hang down, seeming to go still for a brief moment.

[Redjack]

Papa slides back, watching the mages work. In the background, he keeps an eye on the security cameras, his paranoia kicked up.

[BishopMcQ]

Argent

The spidery locket smashes under the weight of your will, without the life force to sustain it. Each individual link melts away, returning to the aether until nothing remains.

Papa
Scanning across the cameras, nothing is immediately obvious or out of the ordinary. The security system queries you for fire response to be called. Without a response in the next sixty seconds, an automated request for aid will be sent.

All

In the kitchen, Rene's heavy wheezing and whimper of pain is the only sound. Beneath Leo's gentle gaze, the life of Etain hangs on a thread. It is clear that something meant to cripple if not kill all of you.

[JxJxA]

Relieved to see his spell take hold, Uetz gently takes Etain's hand. He delicately clasps it while he sustains the Stabilize spell long enough for it to take permanent effect. He grabs the medkit and begins going over her wounds, trying to patch her up as quickly as possible. He wipes his brow after finishing, and then takes a deep breath and follows the spirits' lead.

"I swear, I will find the people responsible for this," he whispers, "and turn them into mulch."

[BishopMcQ]

All

The air in the kitchen ripples once more with magical energy, and Etain's body jerks up in a spasm. She coughs, the sound wet and ragged, before looking around the kitchen and collapsing back to the floor.

[Buddha72]

Leo sustains the spell on Uetz as he waits impatiently by Etain for the enchantment to bind permanently with his flesh and spirit. He whispers to him trying to console him and offer comfort.

"As soon as your wounds are mended I promise I will do the same for her."

Across the room D'zan forces his way to his feet and tries to shake off the disorientation of the recent mana weavings. His voice is ragged and tired as he speaks.

"Them would be the Smoking Mirror - a group of deep dark mojo slingers who like to see blood in their work. Friends of yours Uetz?"

[JxJxA]

"Thank you," Uetz says to Leo, visibly relieved at the spirit's offer. "She has a kind heart and should not have had to suffer so."

When he hears D'zan he cracks a pained smile and chuckles softly.

"What is the idiom? 'With friends like those, who needs enemies?' No companero, they are no friends of mine. I thought only the Chimalli were after me, but I am unfamiliar with this 'Smoking Mirror.' Perhaps they are connected, perhaps they are not.

"You are likely aware that the Nahualli tradition is often one of blood, yes? There are those who worship the darker gods, and those covetous sponsors demand sacrifice. I follow the wisdom of Quetzalcoatl, one of the Nahuatl pantheon who does not require human blood. It could very well be that I am targeted for my faith.

"Regardless, I am grateful to all of you for helping to save me and my friends. I apologize for the danger you faced and the wounds you suffered. I will do what I can to treat them, and---if you so desire---seek out those responsible and visit vengeance upon them."

[Redjack]

Papa cancels the emergency response request as he walks over to the frige and looks for a beer. He also checks the house computer system for his father, checking how the last few days went at his house now that the situation is under control here.

[Fenris]

Groaning, Argent drags himself up off his knees. "What the fuck?"

"So, some chica showed up and vamped your friends with some weird astral construct locket? That's why they were all weird, and came with the fire?" He shakes his head. "This house is never going to recover at this rate."

He helps relocate the unconscious and severely wounded to couches and beds, and returns to the burned out kitchen.

"Hey, I know this is some kind of end of the world thing, but are we even getting paid for this?"

[Buddha72]

Leo stays with the wounded and looks over Rene before speaking to Uetz. His voice apologetic as he speaks.

"I am sorry. She has already been healed with magic so I will be unable to do anymore for her at this time. You may want to consider finding a doctor or clinic for her to recovery at. My worry is the severity of her wounds may take more than simple bed rest to heal in a timely fashion."

D'zan hovers over to Argent hearing his last statement - his flight is less energetic than usual.

"As to the money - we could make some the old fashioned way and see if any of the locations where these items are have other things we can take and sell or I could try to sell the regents we received but I'm not sure we'll get the full value or rather some of you might be less than happy with the people I could sell them to for full value and what they'll do with them."

[BishopMcQ]

Papa

Looking through the feeds and home node, it appears that your father has been untouched by the incidents here. The smart-fridge has a number of items to be ordered from the market and is awaiting your approval before placing the order. The cleaning bots are fully operational and the security logs don't show any evidence of hacking attempts on the home.

The fridge for the team shows scratches from the thorny vines and evidence of several days of hard partying. It is nearly empty, except for an open half full jar of mayonnaise which is knocked over and slowly seeping out onto the shelf. The keg from the party also appears unscathed. Designed to survive, it's clear that a mind-blown eco-hippie could do no worse than frat parties and go-gangers.

[Fenris]

The 'shifter sighs, slumping against a charred countertop. "So we're back where we were before the kitchen burned down and Uetz's friends sprouted holes from their chests? Legwork, basically?"

He was already spinning the controls on his comlink. He didn't think Naiomi would suffer another call this late at night, so he sent her a message to contact him when she was available in the morning.

"I'll rustle the leaves down around Horizon way, see if I can wrangle a a look for us at their archology library. Anybody else got any bright ideas? There were a couple of places we mentioned..."

[Buddha72]

Leo watches closely as the spell finishes repairing the damage done to Uetz with a small smile on his face, taking pleasure in at least one thing going the way he wanted today. As soon as he is finished with the working he flies to where Papa is.

"Let me take care of your injury please."

He sings again this time speaking of rest and renewal, of the flesh healing itself and being restored. The gentle glow gathers and travels to the site of his burns and begins to mend the damage done. His face is suffused with joy at being able to undo some of the damage Locket has brought to their home. The song ends and Leo concentrates to hold the enchantment till all the flesh is unburned.

D'zan throws in his opinion while the group talks.

"Legwork I can do about these Smoking Mirrors or one of you blessed folks carrying the Oracle from the Market can ask them who they are and maybe see if it knows why they tried to burn us out of house and home? I'll need to head back there anyway to pick up supplies but first I want to rest and clear the old noggin. Leo can get to work on fixing the damage here to the homestead while all that's going on and it's going to take some time to use mojo to do it. Someone lay out a plan please before something comes along and tries to kill us."

[Redjack]

Papa graciously accepts the healing as he accepts the grocery order and commits it for delivery. He ignores the mayo, but smiles at the keg. "Military tech does have some valid civilian uses." He checks the keg's level while looking for a cup, or two, to hold beer. As the would begins to heal, he reconsiders and looks for a third glass offering it to Uetz if there is beer to go in it.

[Fenris]

"Well, first things first, we need to zip up home base. Let's get the rest of the people we can patch up, patched up, and put most of this to right." He looks in dismay at the countertops and the scorched fridge.

"Looks like there's going to be a party share coming off of whatever we salvage for the next while." The general greedy gleam comes back to his eyes as he shakes it off and turns to planning for the future.

"Hey Papa, any chance you had anything recording that fight? I know I could always use a little more Connection, and a 7' tall flaming pillar of fire should net us at least a few subscriptions. In the meantime, I know you're tapping into two different sources of information here. Wake up the little voice in your head and ask it and your Matrix connection what they know about the Smoking Mirrors or the girl that was here. Someone that hot, someone's got her on a camera somewhere. And toss the pictures we do have out on PiTO and offer up a connection from you and I for anyone that can come up with more info on her. We're not exactly two steps from Horizon VP's, but there's just as many people below us as above us on the chart."

"In the meantime, " he rounds on Uetz, "Your room gets to be the new infirmary. Shuffle your friends off and try to child-proof the room. They'd need to recover, and kicking them out on the street isn't conducive to that." He straightens his jacket, clicking the contact lenses back into place over his eyes.

"We're going to need to sleep at some point. Let's get the kids packed away," he jerks a thumb towards the two unconscious hippies on the ground, "And get some sleep before we get rolling on this thing. D'zan, Leo, is there anything you can do to stop magical creepy crawlies from wandering into the house without our permission? Is there anything you need from us to do it? I'm tired of leaving the doors unlocked for every weird thing that wants to step out of the metaplanes."

He's been dialing on the contacts as he talks, fingers dancing over the controls on his commlink. His face lights up as the connection is complete and AR space begins spooling out in reactions to thoughts in the 'shifters head.

"Ahhh...sweet, sweet AR. Did you miss me, baby?" Anyone watching the AR space around Argent can immediately see a flurry of windows opening up, streaming all of his current PiTO subscriptions, messages from random strangers trying to cadge connectivity, requests for invites into PiTO...and the fox beings to hum, keeping an eye out for conversation as he begins to pitch in to clean what can be cleaned.

[Buddha72]

D'zan nods as Argent speaks.

"We can ward the place later. Right now I need to sleep off all of this then I'll see to making this place a little more secure."

With that said he flies up to his rooms and makes for the bed. Flopping down face first and finally letting the tension flow out of his body he intertwines his thoughts with Leo.

See what you can do about the damage downstairs please.

The flow of concern and care moves between the two as Leo flies to the epicenter of the destruction wrought by the spirit in the loft. He opens his mouth and begins to sing of home and hearth, about the security and comfort found there. Hearing it makes you think of your childhood and the places you called home. The ripples of light from his body stretch out across the room, lapping over broken and burnt surfaces like a gentle tide leaving less damage in their wake.

[BishopMcQ]

All

Several hours pass, as members of the team rest and others work to restore the house back into a semblance of its state before the burning and the pain. The astral space within the kitchen is a wreck of overlapping remnants from the hundreds of workings performed there recently. It like the wounds amongst you will take some time to heal. With the rising sun, the last threads of the locket shaped enchantments wash away, unable to stand against the purging of a new day.

The coffeemaker automatically begins brewing a fresh pot. Cleaning drones sweep through their routines. Overnight PITO ratings are in and both Argent's and Papa's scores have climbed.

In the living room, the trid has the map of LA with possible locations laid out, based on a direction and known libraries.

Papa
Several messages have been left by researchers at Cal Poly and UCLA regarding the footage you recorded. Both universities have made overtures of exclusive contracts with you for the original uncensored footage and information about how you traveled bodily with recording equipment.

[Redjack]

Papa provides Argent with raw footage from the fight then sets about running edits, checking on refills for the team's refrigerator, running a health check on the house cluster, checking delivery on food at his own home, scheduling a refill for the keg, catching up on social networking feeds as well as technical feeds and updating on his favorite hacker blogs. As the data streams in and out, he wonders how people kept caught up before toys like his attention coprocessor. He takes a short, deep nap, compliments of his sleep regulator and wakes up raring to go.

He considers the incoming details from the universities and begins correspondence to work the best deal between the two. He is careful to insure that he need not expose details about people involved.

[JxJxA]

Still shaken and starting to flag with the rush of adrenaline wearing off, Uetz grasps his focus. He invokes the familiar spell of shapes and feels his body grow stronger and stouter. Upon assuming the the shape of a powerful silverback gorilla, he bends down to gently lift Etain. He cradles the wounded dryad in his powerful arms, holding her as a father would carry a wounded child.

When he hears Argent crack wise, he shoots the fox a glance and curls back his lips slightly to reveal his massive canines---a look intended to convey the now-mute magician's disdain for jokes at a time when he is surrounded by his fallen friends.

He maneuvers slowly yet nimbly through the house, taking care not to jostle her any more than necessary. He climbs the stairs and opens the door to his room, where he carefully places her on his bed. He covers her with a spare blanket, making sure not to disturb her unhealed wounds. He sighs sadly before going back downstairs to fetch Rene

Carrying the troll is a more difficult task than carrying the waif of a dryad. Straining slightly, Uetz manages to lift the massive troll and carry him up the stairs. He tries to carry Rene as gently as he carried Etain, but the troll's bulk makes it tough. However, he manages his way up the stairs and back to his room. He thinks about placing Rene on the bed, but decides against it just in case he manages to roll on top of Etain. Instead, he fetches a spare quilt and lays it on the floor. He sets Rene on top of it, and covers him with another blanket.

Satisfied that he has done everything he can, Uetz releases the spell and returns to his human form. He sits down and slumps against the wall, hissing in pain when accidentally brushing his wound. He closes his eyes for a moment, and then passes out.

He wakes up an hour later, his head feeling a bit clearer, and suddenly has an idea. He fiddles for his comlink and scrolls up Dr. Caballero, one of the few Serpent's Feathers in the LA. He punches the dial button, and crosses his fingers.

Please pick up...

[BishopMcQ]

Sunday -- July 17, 2072

All

Through an unstated accord, the team spends the day puttering around the house lazily. The occasional nap is only interrupted by smells of lunch being made by the autochef. Groceries are delivered to various addresses, and the beer is again chilled. With Leo's unwavering attention to the house, it is looking mostly repaired though in honest need of some paint and detail work.

Uetz

The call is answered by Dr. Caballero's assistant, Marta. "Good morning. The doctor is with a patient at the moment." In the background you hear Caballero's voice firmly telling a patient to hold still, and a scream of curses in several languages. The screams falter, sounding as if the patient fainted.

"He's available now. One moment..." The sound of a hand being placed over the receiver and then "Yes, Caballero here. Who is this?"

Argent

Around two, your commlink rings. The visual ID shows Naiomi, dressed to the nines. The camera appears to slightly above her, framing her against a dark leather office chair.

[Fenris]

"Naiomi! Looking simply delicious as always. Is that real leather? Who'd you have to kill to get that as a bonus? But seriously, thanks for the call back. Look, I've got some information I need to root around and dig up, and was wondering if you could swing me a couple of hours worth of access to the company's arcology libraries? The real paper stuff, not just digital repro's."