Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Priscilla     August has spent three days in a cell. That is normal for someone who'd just been arrested. It could be said that in Ghirapur, even the prison cells are visually impressive, with barred doors better resembling the gates of a great cathedral, filigreed walls and floors, and luminous Aether piping. It could also be said that even in Ghirapur, a prison cell is a prison cell, because gold and gorgeous engravings hardly make life any more comfortable; the cell contains a bed, a sink, a toilet, and that's it. There is a place where a mirror used to be, but it's been taken down on short notice. What isn't normal is that he's gone three days without a real visit. There's been no talk of bail. No talk of charges.

    No indication as to where he actually is, where he's going, what he's going to be put on trial for, when, or even /if/ he is. Considering the incredibly spartan accommodations, occasional heavily armed guards, and lack of closed circuit, he isn't in a holding cell at a police station, but the lack of real wardens, exterior facilities, or even other prisoners in any other cell he can see or hear, means he isn't in a public prison either.

    Nobody has come by to inform him of anything whatsoever, until, perhaps, today. Across from August's cell door, the only entrance into the room opens up when the scanner on the other side detects correct credentials, and lets a single figure past the guards on the opposite end. His footfalls are heavy and metallic, given his sheer size and weight atop his artifact boots. His red cloak obscures most of him, and his gold mesh mask obscures the rest, but even when he stops well short of the bars, August can tell who it is by his mechanical gauntlet. Of all people, Baral had chosen to come down here.
Priscilla     Frankly, they'd never have found him without an anonymous tip. Of course, the Watch is built on those, so there's no need to feel like that's particularly a miracle. What the faction lacks in resources or manpower, it makes up for in flow of information, undercover allies, and exclusives ins and favours that others just don't have. There will always be people willing to go just that little bit out on a limb for a good cause, and the Watch will always be able to take advantage of that.

    August hadn't ended up in a state correctional facility or law enforcement station, but an 'off the grid' bunker apparently for holding and interrogating especially dangerous dissidents, which amounts to 'rogue mages'. It's a place specifically designed for the rare person who can use magic on their own, and is thus very rarely used, and basically almost unheard of. In a move of sensible city planning, it isn't directly in or under the Spire, but it isn't far either, essentially within arm's reach of Consulate brass and heavily armed law enforcement in either direction, where message could be sent by foot, or automatons sent back, in crisis response time frames.

    In yet more frustratingly sensible planning, most of it is underground, beneath a very large and heavily trafficked plaza complex full of government buildings, from general offices to the equivalent of the DMV to social services registries and even an army recruiting building. There aren't any handy back alleys close at hand, and there are a lot of civilians around. The 'tip of the iceberg' is a relatively small and simple three-storey building with a Consulate banner and externally light police presence, barely any larger than a chain bank location, with only a typical front door and locked back door for points of entry, making it extremely easy to keep track of and allowing for very limited room for any Mission Impossible capers.

    It's basically nothing more than a government employees only minor office that attracts no interest, is simple to keep people out of and easy to excuse doing so, and presents an incredibly bottlenecked entry to an underground section hidden in plain sight. i.e. what an intelligent government would do, rather than an evil overlord or something. August is simply 'somewhere below'. Guard looks to be what one would expect from 'cash delivery day on Wall Street', but only for the moment, and that certainly doesn't exclude any further Consulate or Consulate-aligned presence just out of sight.
Starbound Flotilla     George is smoking just outside the door that has opened. August might be able to detect the familiar scent of that cigarette he's got. Still somehow smells like a hospital; a little of the smoke might have gotten on Baral's fancy cloak to bring the smell in. He's waiting to head in himself until Baral sets the stage and gets done what he needs to, but he has his own business to conduct with August... The rest of the Flotilla have stopped nearby, in orbit, working on various craftworks but mostly here just so George can stop in conveniently.
Thomas Alva Edison     Standing across from George is a man with a lion's head dressed in the Red, White, and Blue of America.

    "Those things are bad for you." He says, and instead, offers George a fancy, plastic and metal looking thing that almost looks like a piccalo.

    "I call it the DCigar! All of the flavor, feeling, depth, and so forth, but none of the dangerous cancer filled smoke and addicting chemicals!" A beat, "Garunteed to be safe for all forms of life."

    Yes, Edison, ever the sales man is pushing his E-cigar on George in a prison hallway outside of a cell of a wanted prisoner. Why? Because Edison.
Yuuki Kuran Yuuki had found a chair for 'visiting' hours, sweeping in a few moments behind Baral almost silently, bare feat drifting along the cold stone. She had been surprised when the Chief of Compliance had seen August away without interrogating him on the spot, and more surprised still when it was days - not hours - later when the event did happen.

But when he WAS here, she respected his Flow. His 'look', his Ninja (Creature - Human Wizard Ninja?) Way. The man had a presence and, from one creature observant of presence to another, she made sure to not choke out his strut.

Instead, she leans over from sitting, one hand out between George and Alva. "I'll take one. I know someone who'd appreciate a clean cigarette."

Oh yeah, so many E D G Y B O I S does she know.
Nova Terra     Limited access. Tight security. Short response times. Unknown target location...

    This is right up Nova's alley. Just add a little assassination to the list and it'll be just like old times. Of course, that's only a last resort. And the reason Nova's here.

    Being the only one here with The Watch that has any serious degree of stealth, Nova has offered to go ahead of the others in order to prepare. Simple application of her cloaking device should get her through the front door without too much fuss. But getting in is typically the easy part, it's where to go from there that things start getting more difficult. The number of people in the building makes picking up on August's location difficult. Not to mention the fact that it's so loud in here. The invisible Nova moves a hand to hold her head for a moment, trying to shake off the pressure building in her head at all the thoughts assaulting her mind.

    Trying to cut through the mess of minds, Nova focuses in on the guard nearest to her, trying to probe their mind for any possible indications of August's location. A layout of the facility wouldn't hurt too.
August Kohler August Kohler has never been in jail before. He's been kidnapped, he's been wanted for crimes that'd certainly see him in jail, but he's never actually been arrested. That changed three days ago, when he surrendered himself to a squad of enemy Elites in exchange to buy his allies time and freedom.

Ever since then, he's been considering why exactly he did it. Dressed in the clothes the prison gave him, having his belongings taken away, August has been actually a model prisoner. He's only talked to answer any questions or statements the guards have for him, hasn't tried any escape attempts (as far as they can tell). He's eaten his food even if it's disgusting, and the only thing he's done besides groom himself and sit on the bed is pace when he's not sleeping, thinking to himself.

Ever since his Shadow's been realigned with him, August's had an easier time thinking about stuff. About why he makes the choices he does, about what sort of philosophy he could have. Septette had actually gotten upset (he thinks) at him when he didn't have an actual moral system, and others said it could be healthy for him. And after sacrificing himself for someone again, simply because he felt they were worth more than him...for once, he wondered if it needed to be that way. If he needed to be in jail to buy his allies a time to escape. He wouldn't /undo/ his actions, but perhaps he could have taken other ones. More direct ones to solve the problem. Perhaps he could have fought better, stronger, or worked better as a team.

He's sitting on the bed considering this, when he hears the scanners activate. That means one of three things: they've come to bring him a lawyer or bail (unlikely), they've come to interrogate him (likely), or they've come to kill him (possible, August refuses to dismiss the idea, but he assumes they'd interrogate him first).

And so, August puts on his best mask, the social kind. The kind he wore when he was in school, pretending to not care about anything. He was supposed to be peeling it off, but he didn't want to seem vulnerable to someone who was almost certainly going to interrogate him. That doesn't mean he wasn't nervous or scared - he was absolutely both, but he could disaffect it to the best of his ability.

"Chief of Compliance. I thought you were never going to show up. I like the room you gave me, though I wish I had a mirror." August tries some humor in the situation, though it's a bit stilted - an attempt to distract himself from the sweat beading down the back of his neck, the anxiety welling up. The only thing that actually helps is the smell of that familiar cigarette smoke. August considered George something of a friend, so if he was nearby, he felt at the very least that they probably won't outright shoot him.

"Are you here to interrogate me?" August assumes yes, but that might not be it. Maybe they don't think he's worth interrogating (hopefully unlikely, August /likes/ to think he's important). Either way, he'll know soon enough.
Starbound Flotilla     George examines the device. "Did you invent an e-cigarette with your ghost science? Are you... Are you trying to get me to vape?" He says, turning the thing over in his hands. "Because honestly, it's working, and I don't know how to feel about that. Sure, let's start this DC powerhouse up, I'll rip you some big puffers." Fucking brilliant. But notably, he doesn't take it as it is; he dissolves the contents of another of his cigarettes in there. It looks like... some kind of crushed pill. Whatever he's smoking, it's complex space chemistry and probably super shady. There's no way he smokes just for the fun of it; whatever he's doing is something with a highly practical end-goal.

    And that's why Baral entered mostly wreathed in dramatic mist that had been filling the hallway outside. We get it, you vape. Okay, done with that business. George keeps a keen ear out, and will shortly be heading in once Baral is getting into things.
Bodyn Ddynol      Bodyn Ddynol is not here to rescue August Kohler.

     Bodyn Ddynol does not know who the hell August Kohler is.

     Bodyn sort of understands that the Guildmaster is in danger. Bodyn understands that a Guildmaster is a person who is in charge, and that as a member of the guild, Bodyn should go help when the Guildmaster is in danger. That is an Adventure. Helping the Guildmaster is an Adventure.

     And with Adventures come *Shinies*.

     That is why Bodyn is here. It does it for the bling.

     The strange, definitely a human for realsies, person, turned invisible almost the moment it met Nova. Just, it was there, and then it was gone. Its mind is a confusing cavalcade of thoughts and feelings that frankly make no sense, its eyes are strange and luminous under the heavy cloak it wears, and it's probably better to just not ask questions.

     When Nova sets a hand to her head, so does Bodyn. When Nova stops to survey the room, so does Bodyn. After a bit, though, Bodyn stops mimicking her directly and starts searching the room for shiny things. It's being quiet about it, nimble fingers picking up pens and paperclips, vanishing them without a trace.

     There is a nonzero chance it is also looking for keys.

     In fact there is a one hundred percent chance it is looking for keys. This is because keys are for chests, chests are for shinies, and shinies are for Bodyn, unless the chest is also a Mimic, and then the chest will be awkward when it tries to eat Bodyn. And also keys are for cells and cells sometimes also contain loot.

     Bodyn has studied much.
Thomas Alva Edison     Yuuki is handed a second DCigar, because Edison of course packed two, and of course is always ready to handle /any/ situation.

    "Ha! E-cigarette? NO! The DCigar! Because it is the superior product!" Edison says, getting this similar joke pose out of the way, before everything is derailed by this many references packed into a single joke! Edison would slap the top of this metaphical car, because so many jokes can be put in here.

    Hmm...this invention seems to be a success...now here is hoping that nobody explodes from it! Of course, he'll not mention that it's untested! Yet...
Staren     Staren is supporting the renegades in all this. And whatever beefs he may have had with August in the past, he's sure not leaving the man in the custody of a freaking corrupt, evil, tyrannical government. Staren hopes to not be caught underprepared again. He's a robot today, but as usual while visiting Khaladesh he's wearing a colorful cloak so even with the armor on he just looks like A Kinda Bulky Guy In A Hooded Cloak. Five figures follow him, not in lockstep but varying their movements with slight randomness -- more robots, to be assigned to slow persuers down or whatever. Together, they kind of circle the block outside while waiting for the signal from Nova. Staren's heavy firepower, but not great at stealth.
Priscilla     Stepping out of the cloud of smoke rolling into the room, Baral stops just outside of arm's reach of the bars, staring down at August in the way only a man of his height, and only a man with a strange and impersonal mask like his, can. Much like how he hadn't deigned to arrive for days, he doesn't speak for several long, drawn out moments, almost as if the eyeless stare is enough; it almost is, in the way that he fills the entire room with that silence, oppressive to the point that the almost imperceptibly quiet whine of the Aether lamps becomes nearly deafening.

    "If only it did." he says, in that low, gravelly, slightly echoing tone, to August. "Then when you looked into it, you might take a long, good look at yourself in it. You might have used this time to consider how you don't belong in this city, or perhaps why you do the things you do -the things you've already done without thinking. You might even catch a glimpse of what is /wrong/ about you, and why it can't be allowed to run wild."

    A pause. "Or you might not. Time makes little change to naturally criminal dispositions. If you were capable of reflection, you wouldn't be here. You might even consider that you were destined to be here -that it became fixed the moment you became the aberration that you are. A thing with the ability to burn down everything everyone has worked for, and that misuses it only for its own selfish, delusional purposes."

    "If you think I need to be here, you're sadly mistaken. There'll be no rehabilitation for you. No 'correction'. Being a violent criminal was already encoded into you. You'll be like that until the day you die, and only the fact that the Grand Consul thinks there's something to be gotten out of you is responsible for that not having happened already. I only wonder what compels things like you -deformed creatures wielding fire and self-righteousness, power without responsibility or restraint- to put your petty impulses above the welfare of everyone else. This city doesn't need people like you, and yet you came anyways."

    "All I think is that, before you're shipped off to where you'll be staying for a very long time, I might gain something from hearing whatever childish thoughts you had that told you this was a good idea. That is, if you even thought at all."
Priscilla     Being invisible is being invisible, not intangible. Nova (and by extension Bodyn, but this is more his natural inclination than anything) have to wait until someone checks in at the front door to sneak in behind them before said doors shut. There'll be no opening them right in plain view of the guards around them. The inside is even structured like what the outside purports it to be, with the Kaladeshi equivalent of offices and cubicles comprised of curtain dividers, teak panelling, sliding doors, the hum of dozens of Aether lamps, and the clicking of as many typewriters. It's cramped and severely at risk of someone simply accidentally walking into an invisible lurker, given little space to do otherwise.

    The guards up top know nothing about what's going on below. That is to say, they know there is a below and what goes on /generally/, but they are carefully not informed about specifics, as jobs are divided quite cleanly between urban security and government secret security. More annoying common sense decisions. She can, however, pick up the minds of those moving around under the floor, getting at least a fragmented map of some of the routes they trace, as well as the person she'd followed heading down.

    Bodyn is legitimately spoiled for choice. It's Ghirapur. Practically everything is shiny. Someone's dipping bird desk toy can be turned around and sold as avante gard art for triple digit credits somewhere else. This works to his disadvantage in distraction, but also to his advantage in that people here use little metal 'keycards' that are inserted into clockwork wall readers and scanned for extremely complicated, multi-layered hole punching, but they're also shiny and gold and have big stylistic key-shaped engravings on them, making them a looting target anyways. Having one would make navigating many doors incredibly easy, but they can only be taken from the guards actually posted near the stairwell Nova locates at the rear of the building, who will almost certainly notice, even if they can't actually see him, since they keep them on fairly secure chains that aren't just dangling off their backsides. It's a bit of a test of finesse.

    For a moment, Nova also feels something very very Bad. Just for an instant. Something that tells her this is a Bad Place, with Something Bad in it, and that she shouldn't be here. Something that makes her lizard brain suggest leaving Right Now. It goes away quickly.

    Staren's robots go more or less unnoticed outside. Even civilians have their own clankers as assistants and couriers around here, and he isn't making them obvious. The only benefit of being a crowded civilian plaza is that he can blend in with said crowd. Nobody guarding the building seems to pay a small group of five much mind, especially when said guards can only see two at a time.
Bodyn Ddynol      Shiny keys! What an innovation! The whole place is full of gold and Bodyn isn't! Oh, what a marvelous dream!

     A dipping bird desk toy disappears. A solid gold mug vanishes into the ether. Everything goes flawlessly as far as Bodyn is concerned. Looting is great! No wonder other definitely real humans do this stuff.

     It is after some of this careful looting that Bodyn realizes that the keys that are shiny are *also* on other humans. This is terrible. Other humans are hard to steal from. They pay attention to their shinies, probably. The weird treasure chest wobbles thoughtfully for a moment before it turns back in the direction Nova was in, then turns in the direction of the guards, and then considers.

     And then its demeanor changes entirely. Where before it was invisible, now it's invisible and *sneaking*. Before it was sort of bumbling along quietly. Now it is invisible and moving like a professional. it slinks, creeps, and slips its way up to the guards. Shiny key. Shiny key. The whole of Bodyn's mind is on the shiny key. It is important. It wants the shiny key. It *needs* the shiny key. Help Guildmaster with shiny key, Guildmaster will let Bodyn keep shiny key.

     Bodyn grabs one with a nimble motion. Swift, professional, and flawless. Not a bit of noise, not a bit of wind. It's like it was *born* to do this.

     ...and then it grabs another.

     ...and then another.

     .../and then another./

     It holds up the four keys, looking at them eagerly in the light. Looking at them in the light, and not stuffing them into its invisible cloak. Looking at them in the broad, shining, glinting light.

     Riiiight behind the guards.

     ...yep.

     Yyyyyep.
August Kohler As Baral stands over him, coming out in a cloud of smoke, August moves to stand up and face him, listening to what he has to say. The man is intimidating. August knows he's dangerous. August knows that Baral could kill him in a heartbeat. Yet, despite all the stress, August tries to will through it. He tries not to frown, though he slightly does, and he moves to keep his mask on. And even if his face may show hints of fear, August's words, what he prides himself on, are still strong.

"What does it matter? You've made your mind up on me. I'm an aberration. Even if I said it's because I believed in the cause of these people, you'll brush it away, treat it like nothing. Even if I say it's because I wanted to do the right thing, no matter what consequences I faced, you'll tell me that I was wrong. There's no win in this situation." But, August sighs.

"But I'll tell you anyways. I wanted to help people. I wanted to make a change where people needed it, be the person who could stand up for those who can't fight. I wanted to, I think, be their knight. But I'm no knight in shining armor, am I? Now I'm in jail. But that doesn't matter."

August smiles. It's not a happy smile, and it's not a strong smile - his nervousness can still be sensed behind it. But he's trying his best to smile. "Because Renegade Prime isn't. And she won't be. They can replace me, but her, she's smart. Smarter than I am. And she has loyal followers, and the rest of my allies will support her. And unlike you, she's doing this for the right reasons, to help people who are being treated unfairly, not to help those who stuff their pockets at the expense of those they don't care for." August takes a step back, moving to take a seat back on the bed.

"And when I die, like you said, I'll do so with the thought that at the very least, those worth something are still fighting, and will never stop fighting, and never stop /winning/."
Priscilla     "Yes. I have, and you are." Baral says, no nonsense, the moment August claims that no matter what he says, he won't change his mind. He does not pretend he expects August can come up with any conceivable reason that could possibly be legitimate enough to sway him. When he actually hears it, the man's deep, mask-echoed answer, like cold gravel in a brass grinder is no less simple.

    "Then you are a child. Naive enough to believe that selfish wants matter more than progress, and that setting fire to those who don't give them to you is acceptable and just. Children will fall for anything. There is no one better to misuse dangerous power."

    With that, he turns and then leaves. Cloak billowing, he vanishes back into the thick smoke, and a while later, his heavy, tromping footfalls disappear into the deeper complex.
Starbound Flotilla     George wanders in around Baral. He doesn't like a single word of what Baral says, nor how he says it, nor who he is, nor why he does the things he does. But he knows a man like that enjoys the knowledge of a hated enemy being tormented by people he knows, and so as he wanders in, he gives a little wave to August as he tosses his cigarette (the normal one, not the DC-powered one) and stomps it into the ground. He gives a short, knowing, easygoing grin to August, and then a look to Baral -- he's expecting some violence from the man, or some petty act of emotional trauma applied to August -- and intends to wait that out before he speaks his piece.

    "Heya, Gus. Fancy seeing you here." He says, winking and grinning. "How's life?" He leans nearby and counts something on the odd device Edison gave him. "You know me, I'm not here to give you a harsh judgment on a hard decision like what you wound up doing here. I'll admit though, I just had to come on down here, on account of the fact that I think you wound up misunderstanding something a lot." He pokes and prods at the thing, putting no attention to August himself.

    "Now, full disclosure Gus, I can't say I really do know all of what's going on, but when you live the life I've lived for as long as I've lived it, you get an ear for the noise and a nose for the smell when something starts happening like what seems like is happening. You're a young kid doing what young kids do, which is always the same stuff adults do, with less years to back it. So I wanna lend you a couple of mine and see if it settles on your head. Now I know you're gonna be stuck in this cell, then another, then maybe another one, rottin' for the rest of your life, for sure -- and that's a damn shame, you know." His eye briefly gleams as he blinks in a knowing expression. "But I still think it's worth trying before you head on out. Just for the principle of the matter."
Nova Terra     It's true that more people means more difficulty for Nova to move around. If she was only relying on her cloak she'd probably have bumped into a few people here and there. But her training and experience have left her far more graceful than that. She slips in between people, around office objects and the like in order to move through the building. Unfortunately though, this building's overseers are smart about information compartmentalization. The guards up here aren't aware of what's below. However, that does at least confirm for Nova that there is an underground facility, which she quietly relays to her allies, "Confirmed underground. Likely target location." Nova's mind goes into overtime as she plots possible infiltration routes, methods of handling the guards, acquiring access to the underground...

    Nova pauses in her planning, listening to something through her radio. She quickly looks over in the direction of the guards at the stairwell, noticing the chained keys floating in the air, held by an invisible clearly-human. She invisiblly rubs the bridge of her nose. Alright, change of plans. She wants to get rid of all these people anyway and the most non-obtrusive way to do it... She looks around and then finds her objective.

    Nova sneaks her way over to the nearby wall, pressing herself up against it to avoid someone who just walks by without seeing her. Once the person is out of whispering range, Nova quietly radios to her ally outside, "Prepare to move." She then reaches an invisible hand up to the ornate fire alarm on the wall, pulling the lever on the device to trigger an evacuation.
Staren     The fire alarm goes off? That can't be a coincidence. Staren and his machines press through the (hopefully fleeing) crowd. "Volunteer fire department, coming through." He doesn't stop to explain. Anyone who's /really/ persistant about details like 'But Ghirapur doesn't have a volunteer fire department' or 'I can't leave, this definately human person just stole my keys' gets tazed after the crowd leaves. Following Nova's directions over the radio, he and his bots rendezvous with the Ghost and the Mimic. "I don't think getting out the same way will work -- they're gonna know what's up as soon as we take August, if not sooner. Do you have a plan for getting out, or are we... improvising?"

    Staren is certainly capable of improvising holes into walls, or buildings into rubble, so there's that.
Thomas Alva Edison     Baral smells of 'politician' and 'Evil' as well as 'Stick up his ass'. It's probably the vape from his own device that lends him this opinion. Edison does not like these things, but right now he's a legit leader in a country that isn't America. Maybe he could pull strings to get this kid sent to a American Prison, where it is flawless under Edison's direction. Get him a trade skill, some good hard labor to work out that rebellious streak, and make him a productive member of society again.

    Edison, however, is beaten to this talking to by George. Edison is a patient man, and can let George go first. It's not like August is going anywhere. Right?

    Right?!

    "Hmmm..." Edison says after a long moment, perhaps trying to sound thoughtful.
Yuuki Kuran Yuuki Kuran had come to say some shit to August, and had even practiced (in front of a mirror ((yes she can do that she's not that kind of vampire)) at least twice) what she wanted say. What words she wanted to inflict upon him.

Like a whip, tipped with spikes, or a claw, to lash out, to cut him, to wound him and watch him squrim like she had been wounded. It was a difficult impulse to control, because she had felt it so strongly. To crush Kohler, to squeeze until he made a funny squeaky sound, until his breath hung in his mouth, as he choked on the --

Yuuki turns the DCigar over in her hands, checking the chamber, the slim, compact design, and George's EPIC CLOUDS off the COTTON GIN.

She focuses on her hands, and she breathes, and it's not so bad. The vapor hides the wavering glow of her eyes. It's soothing, in a chemical way. Something else for her to focus on, the smell of the chemicals. She could pluck each out of the air, and it was interesting trying to categorize them. A task for her mind, to lash her attention to should it waver.

She rises as Baral leaves and his heavy, thunking bootfalls recede from hearing.

George is up to pitch first, and then, as he reaches a break, Yuuki draws in a breath, to begin her own blasting of August, her own venting, her own (restrained, edited, filed down) cutting remarks.

Then the fire alarm goes off, and Yuuki turns her attention to George. "Did you really vape that much? Is it so good that you triggered their fire alarm? In a prison for pyromancers?"
Thomas Alva Edison     "Oh is that what that is?" Edison's head comes up, "It was rather disturbing of my thoughts." He then looks around. "I think that's the problem of the people here, right? I mean, it's not like he set the fire."
August Kohler Baral doesn't get a reply. August just remains sitting. It's only when George comes in that any of August's stress goes down. Even if George can be frustrating, kind of intimidating, and hard to read, August also considers him a mentor. So when George asks 'How's life?', August actually responds. "Pretty good. I'm getting fed and have a place to sleep, and that's all you can really ask for, right?" It's said totally sarcastically, August trying to defuse the rest of his nerves, even if he knows that's not all you can really ask for.

When George says August misunderstood something, though, he perks up, curious. As George speaks, August nods, speaking clearly. "Yeah, I did. I've had three days to think, not keeping this stuck to a phone screen, so I've been thinking and thinking. I misunderstood a lot. I want to understand your philosophy, but I wasn't smart enough to understand your riddles. But I want to know. And you know a lot. I'm still young, I have /atleast/ a few years to chew on whatever you give me, right?" And then Yuuki mentioning that the fire alarms went off causes August to raise his eyebrows, but he doesn't suspect anything. The fact that she's here, though, is probably not good for him, even if he didn't notice her about to cut him down.
Starbound Flotilla     George decides to do his normal smoking, instead of the e-cig smoking. He starts fussing with a lighter that just won't spark. "What I think is worth knowing here is that there's two kinds of bad situation, Gus. Now, the kind you're used to is easy. It's when something shifts bad off the status quo, see, and you gotta set it right. When something about the way things are sticks, and you gotta get it unstuck. A tyrant takes over. A dictatorship locks in. That sort of business. Now, that's where you and your Watch just /shine/, Gus. Because if there's anyone in the world who can jiggle the handle, it's the Watch."

    "But there's another kind of problem. It's the kind where nothing's gotten stuck, where nothing's busted. It's the kind of problem where the world's working the way it was built to work. Where all the interlocking pieces are working, and they're working /right/. And the more you change things, the more you set 'em off the way they work -- and the worse they'll snap back to normal when you're done. That's a time when you can't much change the world, not the way you're doing it with the Watch, August."

    Something blares; the fire alarms go off. George seems to disregard them, but they work almost like a punctuation to what he says next. "That's a time when you need to change the way the world works. When you need to make something -- and then slot it into the rest. When you need to make something that fits into the norm, and use it to change what's the status quo." He flicks one final flick and the cigarette starts. "When it comes to times like these, you have to add something to the mix. A new ingredient. A new part. Can't just fight what's there -- you find a way to make it want the new, all on its own. That big network I taught you about before... you have to bring something new, to every node, every cell. Change it from the ground up. And that'll change what it forms, change its status quo. There's a lot of reasons I'm here doing what I'm doing, August. Now, I don't know all of what'll happen when it hits, but I've got a hunch it'll shake up what needs shaking."
August Kohler August considers what George has to say. "Change it, huh? Mind giving me an example? Like you did with the dictatorship or the tyrant. How would you change one of those problems where it's all built to work?" August follows instructions and then edits them to fit him, usually, so he's trying to work off that.
Priscilla     Given, the upper offices aren't arranged to deal with trained spec-ops professionals, even if one is a walking treasure chest looking to stuff itself full of gold and jewels, trinkets and baubles. When an entire quartet of mirror-polished Consulate gold keycards float up into the Aether-light though, it'd take an actual idiot not to notice. As confused as they are, the guards who previously had them scramble into action pretty quickly once they check themselves and notice they're gone.

    They are, of course, actually armed, because mall cops with flashlights aren't sufficient for a prison. Unlike the guys with spears outside, these guys have mechanical, extending batons that sort of look like taser sticks, but when one takes a swing at where he estimates Bodyn is, it's actually an entirely lethal voltage, sufficient for instantly frying robots. Another shows up to try and grab the keycards ASAP because those are actually really important. One sticks by the door. The fourth goes to hit the actual backup alarm, but the fire alarm goes off first.

    People leave in a pretty orderly fashion, all things considered. Not in the know, the average employees do exactly what they're supposed to do with a fire alert, taking the closest exit and forming up outside in the plaza. There are burly enforcement professionals for the reality of what 'fire in a mage detainment facility' can sometimes mean, and just for that reason, a detachment starts coming over from the nearest police station, with gilded titanium fire suppression 'bots (that are also armed, because). Nobody really stops to do more than give Staren a weird look or two until he's at the door, where the exterior guards cross spears (which have the same effect as the shorter batons better suited to indoors environments, except being also really sharp) and ward him out, telling him that he isn't authorized to volunteer here either. If he sics his own robots on them, they /absolutely will/ cut down and/or fry a couple of them before they get gang-tazed, because they are competent guards with anti-automaton weapons.

    There is one other person still inside though. When the one guard goes for the backup alarm that actually goes directly to the Spire, a near-faceless man made of white shell and blue glow steps smoothly out of his cubicle and grabs him from behind, wrestling him into a chokehold and then pulling a rag soaked in not!chloroform over his face until he passes out. Producing his own card, he waits for a believable length of time, then disables the alarm with a building admin code.

    "There you are. Your benefactor would definitely hope for a more professional touch than this, but the agenda is set, and you won't be backing out now. You have ten minutes until the police secure the building and ascertain what has happened here, and fifteen until crisis response arrives. You will of course find some already in the basement level. The third sub-floor is where your friend is being kept, at the far south end. Hurry it up would you? I will attempt to hide the bodies for the time being."

    Well, their 'anonymous tip' turned out to be a little complicated.
Starbound Flotilla     George says, "Easy, August. Think about it. Way back in the day, long time ago, you couldn't get a proper education. After all, only the nobility, the scribes, and a couple'a monks knew how to read or write, right? Sure, you could fight for a just educational system, but it'd snap back soon as a couple generations passed. And then here comes a printing press -- slot in the new tech, the problem evaporates, because it forces the status quo to change. Bring something in from the ground up, disrupt on a personal level, and the whole system /wants/ to reconfigure from tip to tip." Then he gives a proper answer to Yuuki. "What can I say? I harvest bushels, Director. Sounds like something went off though. Want me to go get that fire put out? Might could give it a go with the proper extinguishing stuff."
Yuuki Kuran Yuuki thinks about this. About building something more. About the words that George says, his 'riddles', his professed MO, what he tries to share with August.

When George asks if he should go check it out, Yuuki raises a hand and favors George with a little pleased smile. "No, that's fine. I'll go. You're having a good moment. The words I say... Well, they'd make /me/ feel better, but not be useful. I'm trying to be a little less selfish."

She turns back to the heavy door that accesses the cell area and slips out with a little wave. "Presiking Edison, please, go ahead. I'll have George fill me in if there's anything I need to know after." She indicates, before slipping out through the door and moving to the stairs.

"You know, for all the chemicals, I don't smell any fire. Maybe it's an aether malfunction? But Aether... It smells like fake blue-raspberries."
Bodyn Ddynol      Nova sets off the FIRE ALARM. Loud noise! Shrieking! Shrill alarm! Intruders across the Master's threshold! Prepare for combat!

     The instant the shrill shrieking noise goes off Bodyn just *vanishes* the cards into its invisible cloak. In reality they've vanished into Bodyn's strange part-spirit body, locked away inside the chest. They can be retrieved! Feel free to stick a hand down there. It's probably safe.

     And as Bodyn is swallowing the cards, Bodyn gets tazed.

     Electricity! LIGHTNING BOLT! HEAT! FIRE! *WIZARD!* Fear instincts that were already primed from the alarm go *completely* off the rails at the prospect of potentially being set on fire as electricity rocks through Bodyn's metal parts and heats up the wood. The room fills with an unearthly shriek of terror, pain, and suffering, a noise like an electronic cheese grater getting stuck on a hunk of lead. The invisibility drops instantly.

     The guard is left looking at a...person?...in a heavy white cloak, baggy pants, gloves, a turban, and heavy boots. Lenses flicker inside the shadowed cowl.

     And there's a set of *incredibly* science-fiction headphones and some beautiful blonde hair to go with it. The white cloak is flared with science-fictiony-glowing-blue bits. The boots are heavy and black.

     And from under the weird cloak comes what is clearly an old-timey musket with a sniper rifle scope, blue flair lines, and a combat mag.

     "WIZARD!" Bodyn shrieks. It moves forward like a dancer, its awkward shape belying tremendous (stolen) grace as it shoves the rifle up against the man's mouth and pulls the trigger with a loud *bang*.

     The rifle disappears. The cloak is still smouldering. Bodyn stares at the man for a long moment, then repeats, in the exact same cadence, "Third sub-floor is where friend is being kept, at the far south end. I will attempt to hurry it up." It's like listening to the human version of a magazine-cut-out death threat.

     And then Bodyn is off to the races, running its weird, ungainly gait without even checking to see if Nova is following.

     Adventures are scary! Fire and wizards!

     But so much loot!

     Bodyn snags another desk drinker on the way past. Shinies. Must get shinies.
Staren     Minor miscommunication somewhere -- Staren thought this was a minor government building on the same tunnel network as the prison, not a direct extension of the prison. So he finds himself confronted by, y'know, actual guards sooner than expected. He goes loud but not lethal, using electricity and globs of fast-hardening foam (note to self, he thinks, put contact drugs in the foam for ops like this) to take out the guards. The rebellion hasn't killed yet and he'd prefer not to start, even if going easier on them costs him a couple robots. He grabs the fallen bots' taser-bullet-smgs and has his surviving bots drag the guards and the fallen bots just inside -- off the street -- and leave them there.

    Later multiversal investigators will find that the bots are a common model of Synth from transhuman space matching open-source blueprints. No surprise there. But technically, anyone could have done this, even if it was probably almost definitely who-are-we-kidding-here Staren.

    As an afterthought he puts their armor in his matter manipulator. Might need to equip August and fellow dissidents when they get in, who knows?

    And hey, they have a faceless helper man on the inside! "...Thanks. That's a lot longer than I expected, actually. You're doing good work!" Staren runs after Bodyn.
Nova Terra     Nova did not miss the guard going for the alarm. But before she can get to him he is quickly dealt with by an unknown. It's not until the alarm is deactivated that Nova finally shows herself, her form appearing with the wash of blue light as her cloak is deactivated. She gives the supposedly 'friendly' agent a dubious look for a moment. She briefly touches on his mind and thoughts, but finds no cause for concern. Although it is an odd experience, this person clearly no ordinary one.

    Nova reaches back to grab her rifle from her back. She corrects the agent, "Not my benefactor." She chambers a round in her rifle, "I'm not here for your rebellion." Nova turns to continue, but does pause after taking a step, saying, "But, thanks for the help. I might consider paying it back some time." Nova moves off into a run.

    Catching up to Bodyn, Nova admits to the obviously-human, "That was an impressive move." She had seen the definitely-not-a-thing take the guard out with the rifle. Although she had also seen the strikingly familiar bits of appearance, once more making her question just what the hell it was. But now is not the time to dwell too much on it as Nova heads down into the underground facility, reminding the others, "Third sub-floor. Expect resistance."
Thomas Alva Edison     "Hmm? Alright, don't do anything crazy...buuuuut..." he says, reaching into his portable lab and producing a hand held DC powered squirt gun, that somehow doesn't shock him as he holds it, nor would it shock anything. "If there is a fire, use this and put it out. If it's a chemical fire, put it into 'chemical fire mode by pushing the button next to the trigger. If it's electrical, then probably best not to use this at all and instead tell us." Edison says, with a firm nod.

    Moving inside the room, Edison stands tall. "Your friend is mostly correct. Change comes, it comes in ways you don't expect, in ways you don't always percieve the fullest extent of. I know this better than anyone." he says, offering a hand to August, "Thomas Alva Edison, we were not properly introduced." He says, in the tone of well, one might expect of a president meeting someone.

    "You don't change regimes by overthrowing one government with another. There is a old saying from my country, later in it's life, of 'All hail the new boss, same as the old boss'. More than that, you inspire anarchy. Those who want the old way of life, those who want to go farther with the new way of life, and madman in between the cracks set fire to what they can."

    "Instead, you look at how the situation came in the first place...and bring something into play that can either address it, or prove that the issue is indeed fixable."
Bodyn Ddynol      "This am being Bodyn Ddynol also human saying thankings to other also human!" Bodyn's weird disjointed voice rambles as they run, strange rifle over its shoulder, hair and cloak flowing behind it. "Resistance," it repeats in a voice close to Nova's, then switches to an entirely female voice, "'Do you think we'll find him down there? Can we trust that man?'"
Staren     Okay, this new Watch member talks funny, but hey, so does Biteblade kinda. "No idea, honestly." Staren replies. "Might be a trap, but it's better than wandering around hoping we find him."
Priscilla     Whatever the Consulate guard was expecting, it obviously isn't what he got. He is so taken aback by the bizarre thing happening that he is sadly not in time to avoid being shot in the head, and thus the Renegades have their first semi-associated blood on their hands. The mysterious Aetherborn contact appears to have zero issues or compunctions about cleaning this body up either. In fact, he seems like he's done this before. A lot.

    "If you are here at all, it is because he wished it so." says the Aetherborn to Nova, as plain and dismissive as it gets. "You cannot claim to have no benefactor when operating off of information given by one to your benefit." There are only two guards left in the building, which are easily overwhelmed by the Elites present. When the keycard is accepted into the complicated hole punch slot, and the heavy, almost nautical-looking turn crank door opens up to the steel steps beyond, the Aetherborn meticulously dragging bodies around says: "Don't worry. You will be paying it back regardless of what you do from here. Please give Mister Kohler regards from Gonti." just before the door closes.

    Because it is the fire alarm and not the intruder alert going off, the basement floors are less bad than they could be. People working down here aren't the kind who get to orderly leave through the nearest fire exit, being paid too much and having too much clearance and training to leave a potentially burning building. They are in fact trained and equipped to deal with stabbing a pyromancer in the middle of a roaring blaze if they have to. Nova can navigate around a number of them with mind powers (as with Bodyn to the extent allowed), but pretty soon someone has to come out to check what's going on.

    More importantly, there are people here who aren't on a rotation plan. If they want to move fast, there's lot a lot they can do about (or really do to detect) the doorway that blares a shrill tone when they step through its invisible scanning field with weapons on them. The sealed bulkhead on the bottom level can be dealt with via the stolen keycards, but there are more heavily armed and dangerous personnel right beyond to meet them, and a laser grid beyond that of the variety that target's people's equipment and then attempts to fry it. The noise will inevitably draw more people, though they have two mercies here: one is that none of these cells are occupied with potential crossfire victims, and the other is that Baral is currently nowhere to be seen.

    Too bad there's three other people likely to get in the way.
August Kohler "So, basically...invent." That's what August gets from George, as he considers it in his head. "When there's a situation like this, invent. Come up with something new to add, not just tear down...am I understanding correctly? Because the way I see it, I'm a person who destroys. I tear things down. That's what my abilities are geared for. That's what I could have done, huh." The gears spin in August's head, as he stands up and nods to Edison, though he doesn't shake his hand, mostly because of the bars. "I'm not sure I want anarchy. I just wanted better than situations like this. I mean, hell, they're not even giving me a trial and instead have me in some sort of maximum security prison. Can't you understand why I'd want to strike against this?" August moves to sit back down after a few moments. And then, there's the noise of a commotion.

"But maybe I still have a chance to do things better, you know?"
Yuuki Kuran Thouroughly armed with the LATEST in FIRE PREVENTION (as long as it's not a filthy, AC electricity fire), Yuuki Kuran gives Alva a fond little 'oh thanks, you too!' before her disappearing towards the stairs.

As a VIP, she gets waved through checkpoints, since clearly she didn't do things and also she weilds what amounts to a very ostentatious DIRECT CURRENT (somehow) fire extinguisher and she's moving at a 'don't bother me, I'm clipboarding' pace.

But going up three sub-floors takes a long-ass time, by foot, while she gets wanded down at every bloody checkpoint, and they have to check her badge every time, and by the time she's on the same detention level as Nova and Bodyn, she's thouroughly through with their shit.

"Where's the fire? I don't even see the fire, or smell it, and you're not evacuating, so there's clearly no problem." She complains openly to one of the Elite Guards, as she juggles her VIP ID, her DCigar, and the Fire D(e)Combustinator, because formal female clothing still egregiously lacks pockets for items of the bulk of a fire extinguisher and she's very ephemerally woobie today.

She hates it, but you can't tell, becuase she's got a 3-dot specialty in passing off dissatisfaction at something specific with dissatisfaction with the eternal immortal purgatory that is her life.

AKA Resting Vlad Face.
Bodyn Ddynol      This is unlike any place Bodyn has ever been. It's a dungeon, but it's clean. It's neat. It's well-kept. There's no monsters, just humans. Humans! Humans in a dungeon who AREN'T exploring it!

     The HUMANS are the encounters! And Bodyn is a Real Adventurer now!

     What a rush!

     And it's even a Mimic-appropriate dungeon, full of fire wizards! Not that that matters. Bodyn's definitely not a Mimic. But if it WAS a Mimic, it would be super appropriate! And also super scary. Bodyn is super scared. If Bodyn had a biology it would hear its heart pumping.

     Running with Nova, though, is a rush. it has COMRADES! ALLIES! It's in a PARTY! It's ACHIEVING OBJECTIVES!

     It's YUUKI KURAN!

     Yuuki Kuran comes into view and Bodyn doesn't even pause. In mid-stride, Yuuki, Nova, Staren, and a dozen confused guards see Bodyn's 'eyes' expand into dinnerplates, see streaks of brown hair appear in its already flowing blonde locks, see its chest bulge slightly outwards, see the lace just sort of *add* itself onto the cloak like it's a living thing, see a long, flowing dress grow over the heavy sci-fi boots, and see the gun in its hand expand into a scythe still colored with Nova's odd sci-fi bits. The dress and lace also pulse blue at odd intervals. There's the suggestion of a low-cut blouse and lacey straps underneath the heavy cloak, and black criss-cross armbands wrapped around the white gloves.

     And then suddenly Bodyn stops and puts a hand to its 'chest'. It looks around, as if suddenly realizing something.

     It is made of wood.

     It is made of wood and this is a prison for fire.

     It is made of wood and this is a place THEY KEEP FIRE.

     Tears well up in Bodyn's now-massive dinnerplate 'eyes'. It clutches its hand to its chest as its hair swings to the side in a marvelous slow-motion. Its hair swings to the other side. But...but...

     But with fear...fear is scary, but you have to push onwards...to rescue the Guildmaster, you need courage! What is a dungeon without obstacles? What's a battle without fear? What's loot without risk? Doesn't the gold taste sweeter?

     Yes...yes, the gold! The shinies! The glorious, beautiful shinies taste all the sweeter when you win them! when you wrest them from the hands of certain doom! When you have challenged the unchallengeable!

     The tears in Bodyn's eyes sparkle slightly as it steps forward and brings the scythe flashing upwards, whirling it like an expert. "This..." It says, its voice sounding choked-up, "This am being Bodyn Ddynol also human declaring go! This am being Bodyn Ddynol also human looking for Guildmaster! This am being Bodyn Ddynol also human dramatic statement of determinationing with also determination and passion and comrade friend also other human!"

     It points the scythe at Yuuki. "This am being Bodyn Ddynol also human asking," its voice shifts entirely sounding like an angry man, "'Get out of the way! I don't want to fight you but I will!'"

     "For...for many many shinies!!"
Staren     Oh great. More guards. And an alarm is going off. Staren chucks something spherical into the room. It emits a blaring whine (Which Staren can filter out) and detects eyes and lenses aside from his own to shine bright light at them. Hopefully that's enough to incapacitate them, but Staren and the bots will supplement it with taser gel bullets and those missiles that explode into riot foam. He doesn't really need to /KO/ the guards as long as they're incapacitated enough for him to dash by, right? So he hopes, anyway.

    If he runs into Yuuki, he just briefly looks at her in passing -- the skull faceplate is unreadable -- and leaves her alone as long as she doesn't fight.

    He's not sure what's up with their new... shapeshifting? friend. If it... she? decides to fight Yuuki he's sure the XO can take care of herself.
Yuuki Kuran There is a swirl of flower petals (no there isn't) as Bodyn reveals himself with his big, soulful, dinnerplate eyes. He transforms, and appears, like a magical girl. The whole sequence plays out outside of time, like a sparkling magical girl appearance as (s)he(?)'s covered in a cladding of skintight sparkles (again, no, there isn't).

Yuuki stares down the hallway, and the breeze picks up (seriously, it doesn't) and the camera (what camera?) focuses on just them.

Yuuki's eyes.

Bodyn's eye.s

It pans between them. The field is pink light, and the breeze picks up both of their hairs (pure fiction).

Yuuki raises the DCombustinator, flips the safety off it (A DIRECT CURRENT... OF CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR HEALTH) and hoses down Bodyn with a completely blank expression, filling the hallway room with a thick, white smoke-dust.

It makes it pretty easy for Nova and even Staren (who isn't even noticed) to slip past Yuuki.

"I'd say you shouldn't take things that aren't yours, but that would be childish and hypocritical." She calls, that sort of flat 'this isn't happening and I better not see this when the smoke clears' tone of deadpan.

Then she's fucking flashbanged, which sends her reeling by MYSTERIOUS SKULL!

Damn you, Mysterious Skull! Her retinas may heal the ocular nerve damage, but she doesn't get along with bright lights at all, even if it's not HATEFUL SOLAR RAYS.
Nova Terra     Nova is moving pretty swiftly through the corridors as she attempts to lead the others while avoiding the guards. It helps that she can sense their minds and thoughts, choosing just the right moments to duck behind corners as they turn their heads to look. However, as she's running towards a doorway ahead of them, the HUD on Nova's visor lights up with a warning as the security system is identified.

    Nova quickly comes to a stop at the first obstacle. It's probably something her cloak can overcome... And there's likely to be additional trials ahead of them, more of which can probably be avoided through the same. So with that thought, blue light washes over Nova as she once again fades from view. Just as her face is the last to go, she gives Staren a smirk, "Good luck." Nova is gone.

    Alarm door is bypassed. Bulkhead is opened using previously acquired key. Additional cell key is acquired from guards further in. Nova herself is already beyond Yuuki when the Mimic of Love and Justice goes all speachy. The invisible Ghost does pause for a moment, turning to watch with some disbelief. Seriously, what the hell is that thing? Nova moves on after a moment.

    Coming across the occupied cells, Nova slows down. Considering this appears to be a pretty high security prison, these are no doubt some dangerous people... They could come in handy. From the prisoners perspective, it'll probably look rather strange as a key card suddenly appears floating in the air, and starts to slide into the locks on the cells to open them up.
Starbound Flotilla     "Invention's sure one way to do it, kid. You can do it a lot of ways, though. Sometimes, it's just a matter of playing the right angles and knowing who to back. Change context, shift content. It's the way the movers and shakers move and shake." He takes a long drag of the cigarette, and fills the cell with the smell of hospital. "I don't know for sure, but I think what's coming up is gonna--" And then he hears the commotion too. "...The fuck...?" He mutters. He puts a finger to his earpiece, and says, "Guys. Gut feel. Beam in, near as you can get to me."

    He draws a heavy shock pistol from his Matter Manipulator and heads out. Time to go see what the business is. The others are likely to be popping in shortly, to compound the issues. They're about to fill the hallways with their tiny miniboss ways -- but lucky for Nova, none of them can detect her, and this means George isn't going to be in the area when she gets to August.
Thomas Alva Edison     There is the sound of a flash bang, and Edison's head snaps up, his ears flicking.

    "Hold on to that thought, young man." he says, stepping back outside, and closing the door. And then locking it. and then grabbing a Robot Secret Service man, and putting him infront of the door. Nodding once, he walks out into the field of his DCombusternator, a mimic-magical girl, Staren and ignores Nova, because OP cloak. He is outside when the doors open, and the Secret Service Robot stands infrot of the bars.

    Sighing, Edison...Edison is forced to do something. It's in his contract. He moves a hand out, and lets loose a giant ROAR. Obviously they did not come alone, and his NOBLE PHANTASM rings out.

    A Giant spotlight illumiunates the area, aiming to shine light on magic, bullshit, God stuff, and magic bullshit godstuff, aiming to try and remove it from the field. It also shines down (unsurpsingly) on Mimical Girl Bodyn. Suddenly the effects that weren't there and only imagined before, are actually there because this is a real thing.

    "STOP! I am Presiking Thomas Alva Edison, King of Inventors. You are all under arrest, for breaking an entering, causing a public commotion, attempted breaking into a government facility, illegally being a magical girl, and attempted jail breaking!" he booms.

    He looks at Yuuki, handing her a pair of shades to help with the flash bang.
Bodyn Ddynol      Ahhhh smoke dust! It's adjacent to fire! It's cold and it's not burning but it reminds of fire because it's the opposite! But it's too late to back down now!

     Its comrades are past. Good. That means it can fight with a clear heart! As the spotlight shines down on it and the dust clears, the Definitely A Human feels the pressure down on it. The pressure to perform. The pressure to succeed. The pressure to struggle in a world of fire and loud noises and not as many shinies in easy reach as upstairs. Upstairs was...upstairs was great memories. The spotlight shines, and its strange little mind reels backwards. To killing that man with the rifle. To Nova saying 'those were some impressive moves.' To running with Nova and Staren, hair flowing, flowers bubbling around it in the freeze-frame. Those precious moments...

     And down here is...is fire. And bad things. And now it's broken the law! It's broken the *law!* What kind of life for a young Mimic is jail? In the prime of its life it's going to be cut down to size. It'll never get to tell Nova how important it is that they're friends. That they're in a party. That she was its /first/ friend. Its /first/ party member. The light is oppressive. The light strips away secrets. It should've told her how important she was to it! How important their friendship was! It should've told her...but...

     And then suddenly it's got a mane. And its 'face' bulges outwards. And a lightbulb just explodes into being over its head. The spotlight expands to grab Yuuki, too. The camera (there's that word again) pans around and around - just the two of them, both alike in dignity, two predators in lace. They're both man-eaters in the most literal sense of the word. Determined. Strong. Full of heart. With wide eyes they face the world and prepare to eat it.

     The spotlight effect expands again as a star grows on Bodyn's chest. Yes. They're alike. And that means that even if it broke the law, it should fight on. It has overwhelming power, too. The power to throw things at range, the power to...to do *magic!* Magic? Magic spells!

     At range!

     The spotlight (from Bodyn, not from Edison) flickers and dies. Bodyn swings its fingers up at her and Edison.

     "Wizard!" It says in its strange disjointed voice.

     Nothing happens.

     "Magic!" It says.

     Nothing happens.

     The huge dinnerplate 'eyes' sink slightly as it looks up at the spotlight and clutches its hand to its 'chest' again.

     And then it shrugs and goes charging forward, swinging that scythe-rifle-blunderbuss like a true hero.
Thomas Alva Edison     Thomas Alva Edison is not sure what the hell he is seeing right now.

    He is not sure what is going on, except for the fact that there is a SECOND SPOT LIGHT.

    Someone is copying him...someone took his hard work and made it their own! Huh...this is kinda ironic, and...

    No! This is not the time to fall back into these kinds o-SMASH.

    The scyche-rifle-blunderbuss smacks Edison, taking him from his feet and swining him into a wall, where a lion shaped dent is formed. Growling, Edison peels himself from the wall and breaks the pieces of the wall on him off. He charges back, aiming to litterally get back into the scrap with DC POWERED BOXING GLOVES! He swings, left, right, up, down, left, right and then...wait how do you swing B?

    This causes Edison to attempt to grapple the Colony of machines, and attempt to SUPLEX!

    "LETS ADD RESISTING ARREST TO THE CHARGES, HA HA!"
Staren     Staren runs, but there's one man not so easily flashbanged. One LION... man. Staren points his right arm at the Presiking and fires -- two particle beams and two miniaturized HEAT missiles launch from the forearm. "OPRESSOR!" Staren shouts, after firing. He pulls a laser rifle from his bag and cycles between the energy weapons as they cool down. "You call yourself an INVENTOR. A man of PROGRESS. But you withhold technology from the PEOPLE. It's all to benefit YOU. You're a DISGRACE to the Paladins! You'd be a disgrace to the CONCORD! If you only make the world better for YOURSELF... then the world is better off without YOU IN IT!"

    The Presiking espouses ideals and then does the exact opposite. Staren has absolutely no respect for people like that. Also he's using lethal weapons now because he's pretty sure this guy can take it. If not he'll try to res him after and give him a proper stern lecture in VR.

    Oh, and let's not forget the completely preposterous 'illegally being a magical girl' nonsense. "You even lay claim over who can be a warrior of hope and love... you make me sick!"
Nova Terra     Nova finishes releasing some of the other prisoners to act as a diversion. It should help to give the authorities outside something to deal with during the escape. She moves on, letting the other two handle the tougher opponents who have shown up. She almost runs in to George as he is the last to exit the cell. But she goes still as she waits for him to pass by and move to join the kerfuffle some distance away.

    It's only once George is sufficiently out of range that Nova acts. A blast of telekinetic force is launched at the robot guarding the entrance to the secure room, sending it flying and hopefully buying Nova the time she needs.

    The door opens, remaining that way for a few moments before closing again. Finally Nova decloaks just in front of August's cell, looking a little amused as she looks at him, "Looks like you're in a spot of trouble." She slides the keycard into the cell door, unlocking and opening it.
August Kohler August nods to what George says. He's going to consider it, but with all the commotion...he doesn't think he'll have to do so from within a jail cell. As everyone moves out to deal with attackers, August just waits, until the telekinetic burst sends the robot flying. As Nova decloaks, August blinks several times, sighs, and then laughs. "I owe you one."

Once the door's open, August stands up and heads out, not taking his time to admire the cell. "Got a mirror? Hell, a pistol or a knife would work, too." If Nova arms him, August moves to try and escape, though he lets Nova lead the way out if he can't find a mirror in the facility to summon his Persona with. Either way, he wants to avoid conflict if he can with the heavy security, focusing on trying to get out of here.
Yuuki Kuran Yuuki Kuran feels awful. Her eyes flashed by a mysterious operative, she knows that this...

Is probably the Watch's fault. They have so many TACTICAL OPERATORS that OPERATE TACTICALLY that she can't blame anyone specific, and 'a rakish youth in a skull mask' is kind of a who's who of freedom fighters. She can't keep track. Heck, he even talks like...

Ssssomeone she knows. Gosh darnit.

Yuuki is occupied, though. Occupied with... Bodyn.

There's a jarring sense of looking at a mirror for long moments, before (s)he starts changing again. From Magical Girl Bodyn to Little Lion Man. Little Invention Man.

Presi-Yuuking.

He shouts and points, but the suppressive magic of Edison's Noble Phantasm stops Yuuki's own powers from being used against her as the magic talking box shouts about Magic!!! and Wizards!!!

But when (s)he charges Yuuki and Edison down with a copy of Yuuki's Artemis Scythe stapled on to the blundebuss rifle club, the strike that should be completely meaningless to her bites into her extended, blocking arm, and bites with a lingering pain, leaving blood running down the asymmetrical lacy bits and stylish ribbon-wrap of her arms.

There's a flare, as a blast of force and air blows a clean hole in the smoke cloud from the Fire DCombustionator, dispelling the sparkling, fire suppressant air as her eyes glow brightly, tracking Bodyn. The moment when something goes from 'an annoyance' to 'a threat'.

Yuuki's arm swings, the DCombustionator arced like a club with her freakish strength to send Bodyn back, away, before she drops the weapon and nurses her wound that just doesn't close /quite/ right, blood hovering around her in droplets like rain stopped in time.

"Those are mine. All that, it's mine. It's me! How dare you cherry-pick from me?!"

For all her anger, there's the dark spectre of pain as well. How /could/ you, Bodyn-chan?!
Nova Terra     At the request for a mirror, Nova snerks, "Sorry, don't usually take the time during a mission to check whether I look good or not." Instead she reaches back, pulling a combat knife out of somewhere and handing it over to August, "Best I can do. Unless you want to try this thing." She shifts her rifle to grip it with both hands and smirks. Nova doesn't wait for a response though, as it's obviously a bad idea!

    Turning to lead August out, Nova says, "Let's go."

    With a tagger along now, Nova doesn't both with stealth. She raises her rifle to put a bullet in the robot previously guarding the cell, if it's still moving. She then begins to head back the way she came. The path should be clear... Until they reach the current battle going on just ahead.
Bodyn Ddynol      The flare of power from Yuuki sends Bodyn's cloak fluttering. It's wearing more clothing underneath, but it still instinctively tries to force it down with one hand. It also sends Bodyn skidding backwards, waving its arms and off-balance. Standing is *hard* without the organs for balance. The DCombustinator hits it *right* in the chest and there's a loud and nasty *crack* sound as it goes flying backwards and hits the wall and goes *thump*. And then Edison grabs the limp little thing and POWERS it upside-down into the ground. It just sort of lays there, feet swung forward, cloak and hair and borrowed bits all over the place, lying limp. It's completely limp through Yuuki's tirade.

     It is probably stuck in its own head.

     And then over the radio Nova gives it the signal. It springs up to its feet, crouches on all fours, and stares at Yuuki and Edison out of dinner-plate eyes as brown and blonde hair fall down around them. Its eyes are big and empty things. There's no pupils. Just...white. Eerie, weird white. Like saucers. Or antennae.

     The gun-scythe vanishes back into its body. It was told to go so it is time to pull out something flashy, and something flashy means something bright.

     And the best way to do something bright is to get out of Edison's range.

     Bodyn goes scrabbling sideways in a completely unexpected manner. It's like watching a hermit crab move. It *scuttles* rapidly in that way that humans definitely do because it is a human. It scuttles *juuust* out of the light, juuust enough, while Edison is distracted with Staren's tirade.

     And then WHAM

     A grainy film layer plays over the field. The world turns greyscale. The words

20TH CENTURY BOX

emerge from the shadows.

     The words explode into dazzling, brilliant rainbow color as Bodyn says to Staren (in Nova's voice), "'pull out.'" before it goes into an awkward run of its own.
Starbound Flotilla     Around the time Nova gets into the battle is the time when the Starbound Flotilla starts converging on the situation. They've armored up properly, including George now. Moonfin, the fishman, is in elaborate full-body durasteel armor that looks like a powered cross between a diving suit and a samurai's armor, glowing cyan at the faceplate. Biteblade, the humanoid plant, is in durasteel plating with elaborately carved wood and bone ornaments over glowing powered components that glow an intense green. Pavo the bird-girl wears a divine-aesthetic set of mesoamerican-style armor, with yellow runes and inscriptions lighting up on stylishly gleaming golden armor and robes. Albert the monkey-man is wearing what looks like lab technician gear with extensive sets of tools and chemical protection, which integrates thin, resilient plates of durasteel, and lines of bright white. George (just plain human) wears a futuristic combat EVA hardsuit that glows a gentle red at the flat faceplate. Seft, the robotic Flotilla member, is wearing full-on medieval knight armor with a soft energized blue glow below the plates on her body, and especially around the eyes. Each has a heavy industrial-yellow two-pronged plasma-cutter-like tool strapped to their side, a Matter Manipulator.

"Of course they slip a secret behind me."
"Anxious. Isn't that the woman you helped before?"
"Great! Means I get a couple bullets she owes me."
"He's been released! Quick -- strike before the machine threatens us!"
"With pleasure! I'll take the little heretic down myself!"
"Hey, cat friend isss here! Hi cat friend!"
"Fire on him! Do not /play/ with this matter!"
"Opening fire. Use the lion's effects."

    They're blasting. Assault rifles, bows, katana-slices, shotgun shots, laser pistols, the works. The mook gang is here to gangmook, and they're drawn directly to firing on... Dangerous words! Originally Nova, but Bodyn sure is drawing a lot of attention. Staren may need to deal with similar stray fire, and August may need to drive off Pavo charging in particularly intensely with a cutlass, but the distractions aren't exactly /ineffective/ when they're so aggressively focus-grabbing. The Flotilla still make use of technology primarily, though, so the antimagic effects are lost on them. Driving any particular individual off enough to open an escape route shouldn't be too tough, though!
Thomas Alva Edison     Edison is now stuck in his own movie.

    Well, this is unpleasant, but he will make due, even as Staren charges at him, even as shots fire off of his body, while other forces retreat. Edison weathers the blow, blow after blow, as damage is replaced with bad black and white special effects.

    These things slam into the Presiking, but Edison is made of some very /stern stuff/. Even as he bleeds, and that is all he does is bleed. Even as his body burns from the assault from Staren, he takes a step forward.

    Black and white words play for the audiance at home, as he speaks.

    "I have done nothing but give to the people, I continue to give to the people, even now. My /existance/ has been nothing but service to the people of the world, and my current service is to that of my country!" He booms, voice loud and commanding. He takes another step towards Staren, and another.

    "I give to them, so they can rise above the barbarity of the centries I grew up in, where I watched one world war, and another start as I died. You call me selfish, on what grounds? Because I support a legitimate government? Because I got angry at your /man/ for saying it should be burned down? What replaces it, boy? Anarchy? Disorder? You threaten to burn down a government, instead you refuse to change it. You refuse to work within the law, and instead bring disorder, disonance, and /death/! War! There is no reason for man to fight, if their needs are met, and while tyrany can spring, the PEOPLE can always PEACEFULLY throw down a tyrant!" He booms, before he stands over Staren. He's tall, imposing, and his natural charisma and presence are overpowering. His eyes, full of anger look down at Staren. "You lecutre me, as you stand in this building, trying to break a prisoner out, and threaten to reek havok on a citizenry." he says, and the center of his chest glows...with an awesome power.

    "BEGONE, SPARK OF WAR! BEGONE BRINGING OR WAR AND DEATH! BEGONE, ONE WHO WOULD PLUNGE CIVILIZATION INTO THE FIRES OF REGRESSION!" And then a beam of AMERICAN ENERGY fires from his chest blaster, colored with the lights of RED, WHITE, and BLUE!

    "Fester this land no more!"
August Kohler August takes the combat knife as he moves to escape, following after Nova. August doesn't want to get involved in the big fight, but the Flotilla drops in, and Pavo decides to try and kill him. August Kohler is no master with a knife...but he still taught himself to knife-fight when he was roughing it in Tellus. He probably knife-fought a bear once. (It probably went horribly and required him to summon his Persona midway).

As Pavo comes at him, August decides to trade blows, though he does try and duck out of the way of getting stabbed in the face, instead getting his face cut, causing him pain and dripping blood. August trades this by moving to try and stab in a crack in Pavo's armor if he can, looking for a hit-and-run blow to the side, something not really threatening or lethal but annoying enough to give him a distraction to run past. "Aim better, Pavo!"

If August gets a chance while he's making his running battle, he /will/ try and take Pavo out temporarily, though. He doesn't want to kill her or anyone else, not tonight. Better to get home with his conscience clear.
Staren     Nova says to leave. And then the Captains show up. There's gunfire everywhere -- he turns on his forcefield and some stray shots ricochet off it.

    And then Edison clarifies what he meant. Behind the mask, Staren glares angrily at him.

    So, Presiking Edison wasn't talking about everyone having power that couldn't be taken away. He was talking about establishing civilization, where people don't HAVE to fight eachother to survive. It was just... the word choice, and the context... But Staren can't exactly stand here and dramatically argue about semantics and word choice.

    It's another one of those matter-of-degrees conflicts. Where people with strong beliefs aren't completely wrong or right, even by Staren's subjective judgement. The things August's done... they weren't things that there could never be any call for. He just jumped the gun and did them when things weren't QUITE so bad, by Staren's count.

    Edison is right too. It's better for people to not have to fight. To settle disagreements perfectly. But...

    ...But, well, Staren's being AMERICA BLASTED! The impact shatters much of his forcefield, makes something under his armor spark and explode, and sends him reeling backward.

    It's time to go. August is escaping! Staren grunts as he stands, and throws one of the (taser bullet with underbarrel missiles-that-explode-into-foam) SMGs to August. He turns to go, reaching into his bag and then flinging out two tablets, one to slide across the floor towards August with its reflective, glassy screen, and one to slide towards Edison. It's turned on. Staren runs.

    His voice comes from the speaker. "Not always. I hope for another way, but if we do not fight, the future will be decided by those who will. We did not interrupt service. We did not demand that people ignore their neighbors we don't like. August isn't tearing this city down. It's doing that to itself. We want to cut out the cancer, not kill the patient! Would you turn away the surgeon because he holds a blade?"
Nova Terra     Nova only pauses for a moment to observe the strange battle. The world explodes into greyscale as large words take up most of the space. She's not sure what an old box has to do with anything, but it does appear to be working as a distraction. So Nova starts running again.

    The intervention of the Flotilla doesn't go unnoticed, Nova of course being aware of who they are. It's not the first time for her that once allies are now enemies. In some cases she even regrets it. But that doesn't mean she goes easy on them. Such as this case, Nova dashing forward fast to leave the hail of bullets, arrows and laser beams behind her.

    A few of the shots do find their mark, slicing or burning through parts of her suit. She returns the favour, leveling her rifle in the direction of the group and pulling on the trigger. The large weapon barks out multiple rounds in the Flotilla's direction as Nova runs, laying down some deadly cover fire to cover their retreat.

    Breaking through to the other side, Nova makes sure to check that August has kept up. A glance is likewise spared in Bodyn's direction. Assuming they're both still keeping up, Nova informs them, "Combat extraction will be ready once we're outside. Just keep moving until then!"
Yuuki Kuran Yuuki still has a nasty, lingering and bleeding slice across her bicep and forearm where she had blocked the gunderbusscythe, but the 'issue' that Bodyn represents quickly evacuates itself, being suplexed into the ground and staying mostly out of the way after that. Yuuki hangs her head, her hair sadako-bangs'ing around her face as she takes deep, steadying breaths. It looks far, far more threatening that it really is, with the blood droplets that already had collected around her like small cardinal moons orbiting her torso at a slight cant.

"Fine. Let them go. I think I read a post about this on social media." She mutters, to Alva if he can hear her, but more likely to the air.

Spending her 'combat action' binding her bicep with a fancy black neckerchief and actually bringing her forearm up to her mouth to 'lick' the wound, she steps aside people start making their exit.

August, who actually has to pass her, gets an Attack Of Opportunity taken in his direction in the form of words from a downcast glowing-eyed vampire princess. "Kohler. Put more thought into when you act. I had to learn too."

Staren's tossed Dialogue-Tablet almost gets smashed to bits in a fit of pique, but that would be Alva's call, and she spent her Reaction on August. Instead, she starts pulling out more cloths (these white) to gather up the spilled blood that gathered in her aura.
Starbound Flotilla     A big heavy stab from the cutlass comes towards August, but with deft maneuvering he keeps it from being lethal; surging in, he plants the knife clean through. "Ghhhhhk! Little bastard! Your problem is that you aim low, you damned heretic mortal!" She's stuck stumbling back though; the armor has the knife firmly lodged in it, and she's trying to keep the pressure on. No doubt the Flotilla will one day be trying to return that to Nova, in a friendly or hostile way.

    George is blasted by Nova's rifle, knocked onto his back with a web of cracks over his armor, and Seft has to bring up the tower shield to cover him while Moonfin intercepts the stray shots with his swinging katana. This gives her well enough room to evade Biteblade's bow shots and Albert's rifle fire, who can only crossfire so hard with Bodyn's distractions keeping their volleys diverted. Damn that Kohler, getting away agaiiiiin!!
Thomas Alva Edison     Thomas Alva Edison looks down at the device slid at his feet.

    He listens, and did get a lot of that annoyance out of his system when Staren was blasted with pure America, but right now he looks down at it.

    "And your methods are just as likely to kill the patient, as it is to save them. You operate with what you think is right, with what you know what COULD cure it...but without thinking of other ways. Ways that might be harder, and take longer, but would not hurt the patient so bad that other things would kill it. You are radiation, to a tumor, not a percision operation. Now.."

    "If you want to discuss this more, I will DIRECT you to another time and place, but right now you are a criminal here in this world." he says, and points at the electronic.

    Firing a beam of DIRECT CURRENT through it, aiming to give Staren a taze on his way out. Though it might be more of a 'kick in the ass', to encourage running and less talking.

    Turning towards Yuuki, his body already healing of his wounds, but he would need time to fully recover. "Maybe you need a moment?"
August Kohler Losing the knife to Pavo, August considers summoning his Persona now...but they're getting away, and he's too distracted by what Yuuki has to say. So instead of doing that, he scoops up the tablet by kicking it towards him and grabbing it (he assumes it's not super fragile, because it's Staren-make), moving to take it with him outside. He'll return it to Staren afterwards.

"When to strike, huh..." August considers the words. He's in a place where he needs to consider stuff, after all, though while he's mostly talking to himself, Yuuki's senses could probably pick him up. It sounds like he's putting thought into them. For now, though, August moves for the door. Once he's gone, he's going to head straight for the warpgate (after giving Staren his stuff back, including the SMG he was tossed), get a radio, and post status updates - after he eats and sleeps and the pounding in his heart stops. For now, he never wants to do that again.
Staren     The ectos aren't made to stand up to weaponsfire or anything, but they're not fragile.

    When Edison wants stuff tazed, though, it gets tazed! It's a DC device, but it's also designed to work within a very specific range of voltage and current. It's turned into a smoking brick, and Staren's radio burns out. "Gah! What the hell... I HATE it when people can do that! Stupid Loros..." He mutters to himself as he keeps running, and pulls out some other communications device and sticks it to his face for any further coordination with the Watch on the way out.