...Well, that's facsinating.
So, the LR, while having few breakers, has been getting torn apart by their fights when they DO happen. And Don here is seeking a tear...Is he responsible for it?
Let's see how much we can sell our information on Tears for-we don't like them that much either. Unless a Tear is buying the Don's business and is the reason for him being here but...I think he feels personally about the LR fighting, and wants them gone the same as we do.

Aria- internal information time. Do you know anything about tears, besides what Linda told you?

>"The person I'm hunting is a tear."
I will assume that you then have some means of dealing with this tear should you locate it.

Then you may get your meeting sooner rather than later.

(Because if the others get in trouble with a tear, and he has a means by which they can be combated, well, the solution is obvious. Unless, Linda finds some way to subdue it on her own. Unlikely, but she is an interesting and surprising individual for a reason).

Contact Linda over the comm system, let her know what it is. (Let Castillo hear a name. He'll think it's free information, but it'll be interesting to see how long he can remember it without having met her).

That also means the good Doctor's senors can't distinguish between tears and breakers. (Or that at least one tear is capable of posing as a breaker). Someone should pass that information along to him. (Potentially useful- best case, this means our network can give us advance warning if McCarthy tries anything).

Then switch perspectives.

Bone Monster Aria Galliana 2013/11/10(Sun)00:54 No. 547330 ID: d77784
File 138407369658.jpg - (65.21KB , 529x765 , abara1.jpg )

"Then I would assume you have an effective way of dealing with it should you locate it. You may be getting your meeting earlier than you expected. Ms. McCallahan?"

Barely a second passes before your current interest responds, her voice sending a small shiver of joy down your spine. Ah... you were always like that. Something catches your interest, and even the barest mention of it or the sound they make gives you joy. Still, you shake yourself from your reverie to focus on the task at hand. You notice out of the corner of your eye as well that De Castillo's eyes narrow slightly. Yes. Have yourself a bit of information. It won't stick for very long.

"What's up, Aria?"

"I've received information that the one you are currently hunting might be a tear."

For a moment, only silence.

"Fuck. Thanks Aria. See what else you can get out of the group for me. I'll keep looking. Bastard is fast... See if you can get him down here with us as well. If they're hunting him, they must have a way of dealing with him."

The line goes dead, and you turn back to De Castillo, who's looking thoughtful. You allow him some time think, but after a few minutes, you cut into his thoughts, hoping to hurry this along. You don't like the idea of your lover(hopefully) getting herself fighting something she's ill prepared to fight.

"Don de Castillo. While I regret having to ask anything of you at all, our leader wants your help dealing with the issue. We believe we've located your tear, and supposing you have a way to deal with him, we would require your aid in defeating or restraining him."

"... Is that so? And I suppose I'll receive payment for the service?"

"Don't you want the tear caught as well?"

"I do. But I hardly see the point of joining with you. I could easily acquire the information as to his whereabout on my own."

"Then I suppose you have something you want as well."

"Of course. A meeting with the one you call... what was it... Ms. McCallahan?"

Of course he would. You feel your eyes narrow in a sort of protective jealousy, another odd trait you exhibit when you've find something your interested in, but you push the feeling down. Linda requested a meeting as well. This should be fine. Besides, you've grown stronger since your last meeting with this man. If need be you are certain you can put up a much better fight than last time. And you have allies now.

"Fine then. But first, we sniff out this tear of yours. He's said to be in the downtown area."

"Downtown, is it? That certainly narrows the search doesn't it? Shall we be off then?"

A mere ten minutes later, you stand along the main street, acting as a coordinator between de Castillo and Linda. The two are using their fellows to shepherd the target onto the main street, where they hope to cage him in. Still, you can't help but feel tense. De Castillo said he'd be the one to take the man down, which you understand as simply being a way to show off to Linda. Probably in hopes of appearing more powerful or dominant. A tactic to gain the upper hand. Regardless, you find yourself debating whether you should cut in and help "apprehend" the target, just to undermine the asshole next to you, or whether to simply stand aside and observe, in case you have to fight him later.

An explosion rocks the street before you can really come to a decision, and you watch as a woman skids onto the main road, one of de Castillo's, handguns firing relentlessly, only to get taken out by a bolt of lightning. Or was that a...?

The answer comes quickly, as the lightning coalesces into the form of a man, body sparking and crackling as electricity courses down his form. With barely a hint of hesitation, de Castillo moves forward, body already bulging outwards in places. For a moment, that seems it will be all, then in an explosion of gore, Raul flesh seems to tear apart, and what emerges is an almost alien form, covered in bone like armor and spiked protrusions along the carapace. You remember fighting this thing. It's not his first form, his most familiar form. He stole this one from one of his first rivals, and uses it as his primary one because of it's intimidation factor. Regardless, you feel a slight shudder as the skeletal form braces itself on the ground, then leaps, catapulting itself towards it's target, boney blades growing out of it's forearms. Whoever this man is, he ticked off the wrong person. The lightning man barely evades the attack, seemingly leaping through the air with an explosively electrical charge then takes him across the street, Raul landing leaving a crater in the street. The two are soon facing off, and you can tell they are speaking, although what is being said is beyond you. They'll be at each other's throats soon enough, however, judging by the body language and the bony growths that are continuing to grow out of Raul's form.

Which leaves you with the question of whether or not you wish to intercede at all.

"Hey uh... Aria? The bone monster thing is on our side, right?"

"Yes, Ms. McCallahan. Unfortunately, it is on our side."

"That's good... thing is kinda creepy... In a cool, yet exceedingly terrifying sort of way."

>>>Input Command

Linda's alone. Looks like she had the sense to have Chris grab Elizabeth and get out / back off.

Ask Linda: I take it a peaceful approach was unsuccessful? (You're not sure that would even be possible, but if the tear had surrendered, or better yet, come running to our group for sanctuary or safety, that would have been nice to stick in de Castillo's eye).

>Something catches your interest, and even the barest mention of it or the sound they make gives you joy.
Ah, but when did she catch your interest? That first night, when a green breaker was willing to stand so boldly before you? When you returned, and discovered what she'd made of herself? Or was there something at work before, that influenced why you even chose to approach her in the first place?

>lightning
That's different. No tear we've seen before has had an active, themed powerset like that. A form elemental seems more a breaker kind of thing (see: fire, lightning, windy).

This guy does feel like a tear, right? You didn't sense breaking when he did that stuff? (Last thing I want is him playing us with a lie so he can hunt and murder some breaker he was chasing).

Now sure how Raul plans to do this. Rip and tear physical damage against electricity? And how does he plan to stop himself from simply being torn apart and unmade when he gets within touch range of the tear? (As much as you personally might enjoy that).

>cut in, or watch
Which raises questions about how you would fight as well. Your own fighting style is close range, and you'd be waving a piece of metal around. (Even if you do have the protection of a large lightning rod). And you lack whatever knowledge or plan de Castillo has to protect himself, or actually subdue the tear.

That said, I also don't trust him being in complete control of the situation. Even ignoring his attempt to show off, I don't like a foreign power coming in and hunting people on our turf on their own terms. Or him having full claim on his prey when this is over.

I'd say let the fight go a bit before cutting in. Don't let him have his glory or control. Perhaps draw Ms. McCallahan into supporting you (Linda with a Dance for Two bonus sounds impressive. ...and we can freeze a lightning bolt, right?). It's her city after all, and seeing the one her was trying to impress outdo him might be even more satisfying than doing it yourself.

You stride forward as the woman, whom you identify as Linda, stands, brushing herself off, she notices you and gets a little uncertain, her body language transmitting as much, you suspect from her uncertainty regarding your own actions and feeling regarding her. Still, you'd promised not to push the issue, and you had no intention to do so. At least, not right now. You wouldn't drag her down the rabbit hole unless she invited it herself.

"Uh... hey, Aria. Found him."

"So I see. I take it a peaceful approach was unsuccessful?"

"For the most part. He was running alright, and we barely spotted him before he decided to get violent. So, that's our new friend, is it?"

"NOT a friend. At least, not mine."

You do nothing to hide the venom in your voice, and Linda's eyebrows go up in surprise. Maybe because you were usually polite to everyone, but it must come as something of a shock to her for you to be this unhappy. Regardless, you push the conversation onwards, hoping to avoid discussing the issue, at least for now.

"Still, I didn't think tears had such simple affinities such as lightning. It seems a bit odd to me."

"Hm. I agree. The guy is certainly off, but... it's not the same off as a tear. I get the feeling that this new guy either lied to us, or actually thinks he's hunting a tear."

"Well then... we can't have him causing problems in your city, now can we?"

"Are you suggesting we break up the fight?"

"Perhaps."

"... Let's do this!"

Linda happily springs forward, pistols drawn and ready to go. You pull your rapier from where it's resting back at your room, the break easily performed with your abilities. Even as you step forward, on line with Linda, you feel another of your own affinities start to take hold, and without really thinking about it, take up a position slightly to the rear of your companion. By the time you've reached the target, Castillo and the Lightning Man have already traded blows, and expectedly, the Lightning Man fell back first, a bone spike protruding from his chest before he restarted, waking up hurling a bolt of lightning that struck Castillo across the chest and sent him into a nearby lobby. Ms. McCallahan wastes little time in opening fire, and the Lightning Man is struck a few times before he is awake and moving again, darting forward to try another of his punches. That does little for him, however, as you react without thinking, taking hold of Linda's shirt and pulling backwards into a ballroom dip, her body supported by careful placement of your arm and legs. She seems surprised for a moment, then the crackling fist of your opponent traces an arc just above her face, saving her the death, and even as he moves past her, you pull Linda to her feet and twirl around her, rapier flashing across to stab the man through the chest. He stumbles forward as he dies, putting some space between the pair of you, and you retreat a few steps, back to back with Linda, even as you fall back into a ready stance with your rapier. You also grimace slightly, as the stab you'd just performed sent a backlash of electricity along the rapier, and your arm, resulting in the slight loss of feeling in the appendage. Nothing major, but it certainly didn't feel pleasant.

"What the- How the hell did you do that?"

"Years of practice with my avatar. I've learned to do it naturally with any of my companions, although few have been as lovely or as interesting as you."

You don't get the opportunity to check her reaction, as the Lightning Man is up and moving again, jumping around you with his lightning form, like an angry grasshopper, and you find yourself focused on pulling yourself and Linda out of the way of his attacks, while your companion focuses on the offense. Time consuming, perhaps, but effective. The monotony of the actions, grants you time to think on other things. Like when it was you first developed your interest in Ms. McCallahan.

That first time... the initial contact had little to do with it. You were attempting to gather information on Connor, and she, a newborn within the breaker community, had provided the best opportunity to talk to someone who hadn't been tainted quite yet. Her lack of fear had been more amusing than anything, but then again, you doubted she really understood the danger she was in at the time, and you'd hardly put up an aggressive front. What caught your interest in the romantic sense, however, had happened upon your return to her side, here in Sun City. Most notably, the fact that she not only defeated Connor, but also destroyed any effect his plan had had by literally rewriting the fabric of reality, established the second most powerful and widespread breaker group within the UNA, and had certainly come into her own, jumping from her somewhat subdued and uncertain state when you'd first met her to a much more confident young woman. Then again, even your own thoughts are mere guesses. You have met no one in your life who has ever been able to tell you, to the exact, what made them fall in love. And you yourself can barely describe your own feeling as interest. Whether or not what you have will develop further has yet to be seen, but you relish the opportunity regardless.

Your thoughts are interrupted as Castillo slams into the ground nearby, bone arm snapping out to smash into the Lightning Man and send him tumbling off course and across the street. He's far from done, however, given Linda's stance, and Castillo is already moving forward, one arm shifting into a jagged thrower of spear-like bones. He begins firing, and almost in instant response, lightning begins dodging from side to side, even as black clouds begin gathering in the skies above. Perhaps you'd better find a way to finish this quickly. Or get to cover.

"Hey, Aria?"

"Yes?"

"You think we should help the bone monster out? I mean... doesn't look like he notices the clouds up there."

Your own feeling on the matter are clear, and you are left to wonder whether or not leaving the man is really a problem. You know for a fact that simple lightning bolts from the heavens won't kill the man for good, and it might damage his reputation in Linda's eyes... still, not helping him might damage yours... how... frustrating...

>>>Input Command

"He's holding back his best form, and that one shouldn't be killed by that lightning strike, so I highly doubt we NEED to warn him... And I wouldn't mind seeing him knocked down a peg. He did the same to me, once."
Admit the rivalry, and be honest- she probably would appreciate honesty.

>is lightning man actually a tear?
No signs of unraveling, and he seems to actually die rather than regenerate around damage. That implies death avoidance, and breaking.

Taking him alive may be tricky with his powerset, and the fact he must have normality cloak. Or else Linda's break sight would have made him as a breaker before.

>got violent
Even if he's not a tear though, we can't let a violent breaker run throughout town. Although to be fair, if he's been running from Castillo, he may have good reason to be jumpy about pursuers.

>dance fighting
Hehe. Nice.

>letting him get hit may hurt his standing in Linda's eyes
Nowhere near as much as if it turns out he's trying to play us with hunting this not-tear. After Marc and the business with the outsiders, she's very touchy about being used. Especially to hurt people.

I'd not that if the lightning man is committing himself to a big attack, that provides us an opportunity to try and end this. His power occupied, and his concentration and attention is elsewhere.

The obvious question though is how best, between you and Linda, that the lightning strike could be countered and the lightning man disabled.

>>547565
This.
Also, Linda: now is absolutely, positively the time to put your cosplay breaking practice with Cass into action and break yourself a combat-ballgown.

Honestly, I think rescuing him, and ending the fight, on you terms or Linda's, rather than on his, will irk him a good more than allowing him to take a hit. Forget making him look good or not, that puts McCallahan in a position of control- deciding what to do with his prey, and to confront Castillo (he's either wrong about this man being a tear, or he mislead you. Either puts him, as an information broker, in a bad light).

For a quick finishing- I wonder how well the ice gun would work. Can it freeze something metaphysical (break lightning) the way it can a person? Ice is also made of water. It might not just immobilize him, but temporarily ground or short him. Trap him human and vulnerable long enough to be knocked out or subdued, certainly. That, or if we can catch him off guard and get Linda close enough for a shotgun blast, his breaking would be completely offline, allowing Aria the chance to knock him out.

As for the clouds... well, we can either move Castillo out of the way (a literal rescue is appealingly humiliating), or we can divert the blast. (Break the damaged architecture into providing some kind of lightning rod across the street? Dump the energy harmlessly into existing conduits to ground. Or more interestingly- can we dump the energy into powering anything, a counter attack of some kind?). Aria's built to support some absolutely awesome active breaks (spirit 8 + limit break), we should exploit that.

>combat-ballgown
A entertaining, if wholly inappropriate idea. (Also, unfortunately, the last time we tried to adapt clothes for combat it ended in a complete wardrobe meltdown).

...Linda should definitely make some kind of overture to Aria after this fight and the immediate stuff with Costillo, though. She had fun dancing with her. And last night.

"He's holding back his best form, and that one shouldn't be killed by that lightning strike, so I highly doubt we NEED to warn him... And I wouldn't mind seeing him knocked down a peg. He did the same to me, once."

Not a complete lie, he HAD knocked you down a few pegs once. Given, it had been in response to you attempting to kill him, but you were younger than, and much less cautious or uninterested in combat for combat's sake. Regardless, you quickly draw the conversation in another direction, namely, how the fight might be finished quickly. You have a few ideas pop through your head, but you'd rather make a lasting impression on Linda. You do, after all, have a third member in your little group, ready to appear as needed. Not only that, he's made of metal.

"Still, the fight has gone on long enough, and I hardly think you need more damage being done to your city. A moment, if you will, Ms. McCallahan."

You begin humming to yourself as you begin your work, the first step being to divert the storm above you. The lightning bolts that are sure to emerge can be easily directed where you want them, and your certain the power grid can handle the sudden increase in power. It is, after all, designed for such things. A snap of your fingers, and you watch the world move to your will. Metal and stone from the rubble around you shift and form into what you need, become a massive spire built to focus the electrical storm above. Almost immediately after you're finished, the a bolt rains down, clearly meant for Castillo, but is instead consumed by the spire and the power grid underneath. You hardly pay either any more attention however, as you begin striding towards the creator of all the commotion. He seems surprised by what just happened, but you just smile, trying to keep things friendly.

"I don't suppose you'd care to surrender now, would you?"

The Lightning Man shakes away his surprise and his body begins crackling with electricity again, clearly still hostile. You sigh in mock frustration, even as your will extends to your partner across reality, calling him to your side.

"I thought not."

Golem emerges in an explosion of stone, and the man darts away, towards you. You take a stab at his leg, hoping to slow him down at least, but he slips to the side of you as well, somehow managing to curve his body around your's, which is an odd thing to watch. What he can't dodge, however, is the shotgun blast to the face, and he drops to the ground, throwing up on the floor, as his form is suddenly and unceremoniously dropped. Linda stands over him, looking pleased and a little vengeful.

"Stop blowing up my city."

--------------

You glare down at the man as he continues to chuck his breakfast, lunch, whatever, all over the ground. Aria, from her position opposite you, looks mildly impressed, although you're still not sure how you should take that. Regardless, the target is easily restrained after that, Aria's avatar picking the man up in one massive arm, and you release the shotgun's hold on him. The man doesn't even try to struggle, apparently aware of the metal form of his guard, but you ignore him, in favor of the decidedly latin man moving up to you.

"Well, that was... interesting. What did you do to him, if I may ask?"

"All I did was-"

"I would suggest keeping any answers you might give to yourself, Ms. McCallahan. Don Castillo's business is information."

The man glares at Aria, clearly not happy that she just got in his way, which just earns him a venomous smile from the woman, before he turns back to you, a more pleasant smile on his face.

"Forgive me. I tend to pry into things I'm not meant to pry into. Raul de Castillo, at your service, Ms...?"

"Linda McCallahan."

"Ms. McCallahan, then. I understand you're the leader of the breaker group here in Sun City."

"Yes. And this man isn't a tear."

"He isn't the one I'm looking for."

You blink in surprise, but it's clear Raul isn't willing to elaborate. At least, not yet. Regardless, you can't stay here. The normals will be here soon. And you still need to decide what you want to do about this information broker...

>>>Input Command

First of all remove any focii the lightning guy has. Then lets move to a better location for a chat.

Questions to ask:
What does the tear look like?
What does he want with you and your organization?
Mention that there is one tear you know for sure around. The D7 guy.

>you're still not sure how you should take that
How'd you take the dance-fighting, though? That was interesting, yes?

>can't stay here
We have support in place, don't we? People who helped us herd the lightning guy. Call in the troops to see the mess normalized and cleaned up and stuff while we move on.

They can take the prisoner away too if he's in no state to talk (George or someone needs to find out what he was running from, why he attacked on sight, what he said to Raul, and then we can decide whether to let him keep his focus).

As for you and the new guy, you can walk and talk. Aria should stick around, even if they don't seem to get along. She knows him, and that's useful. And it's probably not a good idea to have a conversation alone with someone who's likely going to forget you. Having Aria there gives the memory something to remain around. (So he may remember talking to your proxy if not you. Having diplomacy between factions disappear could be awkward, after all).

>shotgun
So... did that produce a blue potion? And in what manner? We haven't live fired that since we converted it from tubes to shotgun. Be nice if the improved version put the fluid in a capsule (shell? bottle?) we can pump out of the gun and carry / transport for later use rather than a fluid that sits in the barrel and disappears when we dismiss it.

>information broker
If that's what he trades on, note to yourself what a potential goldmine your faction would be for him. There's you (information no one can know, and that removes itself), Elizabeth (a literal seer), and Jacob (a human encyclopedia). Don't let anything slip about the last two.

But... it's a game, is it? Trading information instead of moving money. It's not exactly what you do, but you might be able to play the game. At least make sure you're not taken. That's what Aria made a point of- not letting you tell him anything for free.

>not a tear
That would also explain why Elizabeth didn't see that surprise coming, even though you had her with you. Good to know she didn't miss something like that.

>He isn't the one I'm looking for.
Yet you were more than happy to attack him, and he appears running at the same time and place as you show up hunting. You're telling me this is unrelated? A coincidence? (It's possible, but coincidences are suspicious).

An obvious question would be to ask him what he wants with us. After all, Aria said he wanted to meet with you (paid to meet with you, after trying to lay low). Surely he has something to say? (Logic to try to circumvent paying him to tell you. Also, may give you an idea what he wants to know- what you can use to trade).

The other obvious question is what he's doing hunting a tear here. Or hunting a tear at all. He has a means to neutralize one of those? (That's information we'd be interested in. We're going to end up paying for that, though).

>Mention that there is one tear you know for sure around.
If we're playing his information game, we shouldn't give McCarthy's identity for free. Trade it.

You glance at the damage around you, but thankfully, Cass seems to be on it, already having a cellphone pulled out and yelling angrily at someone on the other end to send some people to help clean up the rather large mess down 4th Street. You give her a nod of appreciation, which she waves away, and you turn to start striding away from the scene, gesturing for Aria to come along with you, just in case.

"Walk with me, Mr. Castillo."

"Raul will be fine, Ms. McCallahan."

"That so? Raul, then."

As you start your walk and distance yourself from the chaos behind you, you pop open your shotgun, extracting from it a small vial, looking vaguely like a beaker, only smaller. It's filled with the same clear liquid as before, and you pocket the tiny vial even as both your companions watch with interest. You ignore them both for the moment, instead dismissing the shotgun and bringing the conversation around to Raul.

"I assume you meeting with me, or even wanting to meet with me, means you have something to say?"

"Hardly. But what better way to hunt something in a major city than acquaint yourself with the dominant group in that city?"

"So your just using me and mine?"

"Mostly. Although I hardly think you lose out in the deal, either way. You don't want a tear in your city, I want to find the tear and kill him."

"And that guy back there wasn't him. Any reason you still attacked him? Because forgive me, but I hardly see that him running and you hunting at the exact same time is merely coincidence."

"Believe what you want, Ms. McCallahan. Regardless, I attacked him mainly because it seemed he was causing you trouble. It seemed a good idea, in my opinion, to get into your good graces by helping out."

"I... see... And why, might I ask, are you hunting for a tear?"

"Now that, me rosa bonita, is a question worth charging for. A trade, as is my business. I'd assume from your reactions, or lack thereof, that you have some knowledge regarding tears. So, if you like, I'll tell you my business with this particular tear, and even throw in his name, if you'd be so kind as to give me an account of your own encounter with one."

You glance at Aria for confirmation of the trade, and to your surprise she gives a grudging nod before moving closer to whisper in your ear.

"He is... good for it. If nothing else, he will always attempt to preserve his reputation. His business would do him little good without it."

"... Alright then, Raul. I'll agree to your trade."

"Magnífico! I shall go first then. A pair of individuals came into the LR, fleeing your own country with a rather valuable disk containing large amounts of information regarding this Division 7, including the locations of a number of their bases, as well as information regarding the support they were getting from numerous important individuals, both normal and breaker. Or at least, so I was told. Before payment and the handoff could be performed, both were assaulted, left bereft of any memories regarding the disk and it's contents, and the disk itself was stolen. I barely picked up the trail of the assaulter, made even more difficult because my agents were simply... ceasing to exist. Memory of them was not gone, but any trace of them vanished. After a few days of searching, I tracked the disappearances, and encountered a man by the name of Jean Bisset. He felt... dangerous. Frightening. I could do little to understand what it was that made him so, at least at the time. I spent merely an hour in his company. I thought I'd had him trapped. I thought I'd had him cornered, and all that was needed was the final blow. He tore through my forces with ease. Mere touches of his hand were deadly, even to breakers, and I could not begin to comprehend. I only found out what he was later through my information networks. A tear. Anathema to our own existences... I eventually found his trail again, and tracked him here. I am hoping I could enlist your cooperation to hunt him down."

"...I see. And you have a method of killing him?"

"Now... that would be telling, wouldn't it? Unfortunately for you, there is little you could offer me to give up that information. I want to see the man dead myself. Not by someone else."

"... I suppose I should make good on my own promise then, shouldn't I?"

"If you would be so kind."

You give him a summarized version of the few encounters you'd had with McCarthy, leaving out Cass' more personal episode, and the man looks thoughtful. The silence that follows is a little unnerving, but eventually, you and Aria split from Raul, who says that he'll let you think on the matter for a time. There is no hurry now. You're not quite sure why, but Raul seems certain that this Jean Bisset won't be leaving anytime soon. Still, as you make your way back home, you can't help but feel like Raul hadn't really been telling you everything he'd known...

"Ms. McCallahan?"

"Hm? Oh. Aria. Sorry, was a little distracted."

"So I gather. You nearly missed a call. Thankfully, I picked up for you, as your liaison for the moment. It seems there's an issue with the base..."

"What do you mea-"

You round the last corner before you reach your base, and halt in your tracks, as you stare the literal lightning storm that seems to be surrounding your home... you hadn't expected that. Hadn't expected that at all... that could be a problem. You watch a pair of lightning spires rise out of the ground with a snap of your companions fingers, and take the opportunity to sigh some of your frustration. This was going to be annoying.

"It seems our guest is doing this unintentionally. The call before was from Ms. Reed, and she's already vouched that he's not even in contact with his focus."

"Just great."

"Yes. Well, I suppose I should leave you to your tasks. I've taken up enough of your time as it is. Do come calling if you ever feel the need to burn away some stress in pointless fun."

Aria strides off, disappearing into the base, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You have a lot to think about, although maybe you'd take the opportunity to talk to her later. For now, you have things to take care of and, hopefully, plans to set in motion. You always did think best in high stress environments.

>>>Input Command

...Hrrrm...
See now would have been a sweet time to have a breaker with lightning powers...
Wait, why was thunderboy causing trouble again? Thought he could lord it over the breakers or some other reason? And do we need to take any action regarding this storm?
For now at least, I suppose he's off to the jail, unless he can explain why he was being a pain in the neck sufficently...
As far as Raul...The guy seems like a headache, and it's not helpful that Aria is the only one who knows him and is wary about it...
Hrrrrm...
Longer term plans, if we need them...
With the new defense system, we might want to try joining the 'getting breakers trained' efforts for a round or so every three days-make them more capable so everything isn't on your shoulders.
Hey, our group doesn't have a name! Get higher-ups (the lieutenants) see if they can come up with anything. If it's left to me I'd probably be tempted to name them something anime inspired...Maybe something about the 'Godkiller' fandom?
Hopefully we won't just get called something bland like 'Western Breaker Coalition." Not a bad name but...Rather stuffy don't you think?
What else...Hrrrm.
We might want to try talking to Maria and see if we can't open negotiations with the Fixers over her. I don't like it much, but it'd be good to perhaps come to an understanding regarding them, or perhaps find a way to maybe trade her back, in exchange for something like a 'leave us alone' policy or something...Because it's either that or Shotgun BP drain+headshot to execute her, and for all your rage...That sort of thing isn't really appealing. TEMPTING, but...Maybe a trial for her? Well, the problem is there's little to really work against not shooting her in the face...

>Jean
...Jeeze, he's here already? That was fast. And Jager and Lira already made it to the LR? I'd have expect Rise heading west would have taken less time than then getting safely across the border and setting up a deal with Raul.

>explained McCarthy
...this explanation did come with the all important fact talking or even thinking about him too much seems to draw his attention, right?

>Do come calling if you ever feel the need to burn away some stress in pointless fun.
Thanks for the help, Aria. And, uh, I did have fun. (Admit it, that crazy dance fighting was cool).

>It seems our guest is doing this unintentionally.
So... he's like Raphael then. Side effects he can't control. Only instead of giving people he sleeps near nightmares, it's thunderstorms. Great.

First thing would probably be to ask Elizabeth for insight as to what's going on with his powers. Second would be to have someone talk to him (George maybe, or ourself if he's feeling cooperative). Figure out what he was running from, why he jumped to violence so quick, if he can be reasoned with and treated as a person now that the initial misunderstanding is over. Decide if he gets off with a warning, or if we're depowering him. Then find a way for him to cope, or to safely shut him down.

Maybe the doctor can do something? Or he just needs a way to safely blow off extra steam (part time job making us free electricity?). Or maybe there's a focus in the vault that he could use to balance out his powers? Killing him would do the trick, but he really didn't do anything to merit it. Especially if he was only driven to being alone and lashing out because his powers have kept him alone. That's the same boat Raphael was in before Marc took advantage of him.

>>547737
>Negotiations with Fixers
Currently they're east coast while we're west coast, and we're too busy consolidating ourselves here to push east (and they seem to be dealing with local problems too). And our worldviews are fundamentally incompatible- our whole thing is about treating breakers like people, finding a way to live, trying to establish some kind of stability. Their view is that every breaker in the world needs to die, themselves included (at least the leadership. Every member of the rank and file may not know the whole philosophy). We've got a non-starter for negotiating positions.

>organization name
Linda's got more important things to worry about for now, but something we could brainstorm in dis (even Conner never really bothered to name his organization). I'm not sure if we want the Godkiller openly associated with the organization? I'd rather have other powers wondering than knowing. And it gives our mech more autonomy if we're not seen as representing the faction. (Keeping it secret is probably impossible, and too much work, but there's no need to advertise).

>trial for Maria
That would be an absurd sham. We don't have anything like an established legal system, or even formal laws. We'd be making one up for the show. And there's no way we could field an impartial jury. And what do we charge her with? Murder? Hypocrisy. Pretty much every active breaker in our organization is guilty of that. Why's Cass get a pass and not Maria? Even Linda's killed in cold blood, and in cases where she had a choice.

Let's not pretend we're something we're not. We may be trying to hard be the good guy in a messed up broken world, and we may rule with the consent / support of the governed (or, at least we did before most of them forgot we exited), but we still hold this position by force, not by the merits of an established legal framework or government. What we chose to do with her is on us, and we can't use no sham trial to shift responsibility.

...and she's an enemy soldier, a POW, not a criminal. You treat them differently.

>Shotgun BP drain+headshot to execute her, and for all your rage
Without her foci, execution is kind of trivial. No draining would be needed. Not that I'm a fan of a cold blooded execution, or giving into how she pokes Linda's injury / emotional weak spot and the rage that brings.

Oh! Another thing. This Jean Bisset Raul mentioned has a connection to D7? (Hunting down and erasing information about them). Try running that name by Jacob. Maybe there's something about him in the records he remembers.

...did we get any XP from that little scrape? Still working on saving up enough to tune forget-me-not foci for our close allies.

Hmmm... I wonder if the storm(s) aren't caused by lightningboy. He seemed surprised at the bolt, but it may just be surprise that one occurred rather than it missing. There may be yet another party at work, one subtle enough to slip under your breaker radar. Were there any flare-ups nearby the fight and the base that aren't accounted for by the combatants?

You did tell him about McCarthy's rather... disturbing... ability to sense when people are thinking about him. Or it. Or whatever Given, it was incredibly roundabout, as you had to keep thinking about him to a minimum. In fact, that entire conversation was rather roundabout. Made it rather difficult to discuss the topic at all, really. Still, you think you got your point across, for the most part. Hopefully.

You quickly get yourself into motion however, as you have things to get done today. Especially if you plan on carrying through with your plans for Cass' birthday. You will NOT let that pass without celebrating in extremely over the top and unnecessary ways. With what is most likely going to be disproportionate amounts of booze. Or something similar. You're still wondering to yourself if doing something halloween themed would be too out of season, and are almost tempted to say fuck it and do it anyway.

Still, you pull yourself away from getting off track again in favor of hunting down your daughter. She waiting patiently in the main lobby, apparently expecting you, and as you arrive in front of her, she's already answering your question before you ask it.

"The Storm God is not broken, just as the Nightmare was not broken. They are normal. To change him would be... bad."

"... I... see. I'll keep that in mind."

You frown a moment, a little surprised that Elizabeth would answer you without you actually asking the question, but dismissing it as part of her oddities. You start to leave, but Elizabeth's voice stops you, as she continues speaking.

"Be wary, Angel. Something is hiding within the Sparkling City. Something... broken. Something... unsafe. Do not like it. Can not SEE."

"... I'll be careful, Elizabeth. But you keep yourself safe as well. I don't want you getting yourself into anymore danger."

The girl is already off in her own world, although she seems to nod her understanding. You stare at her a few moments more, but she seems too far gone to notice, so you turn and head downstairs, thoughts whirling around in your head. You are given directions to another improvised holding room, but you ignore it for the moment, instead ducking into Jacob's room to talk to him.

"Hello, Jacob."

"The one who cannot be remembered. Linda. McCallahan. Remember. Last meeting was... uninformative Recall little of use. Asked about Subject 23. Makoto Muramasa."

"Yeah. That was me alright. Listen, I know I keep asking you a lot, but..."

"Don't mind. Many ask me things. I answer. Simply way things work."

"Alright... Do you recall anything about a Jean Bisset?"

"Jean. Bisset. Special Agent. No record of family or past life. Interested in... experiments. Unreliable as an agent. Paired with Subject 86. End Report."

"Subject 86?"

"Subject 86. Male. No name present. Little information regarding Subject, as was personally crafted by Agent Bisset. Seems to rise out of shadows when called. End Report."

"... Thanks, Jacob."

There's no response, as the boy seems to have lost interest, and you take your leave. This time, you do head towards the newest prisoner's room, and upon questioning the guard, you find out that he hasn't really been resisting much. Apparently, after it was made apparent that you weren't trying to kill him, he stopped striking back and gave himself up freely. You take that in, then, upon giving it some thought, decide to enter yourself.

The room you walk into is simple, and hastily prepared, but the man that sits quietly on the floor, cross legged, seems content. His eyes snap up to meet your gaze once he hears the door open, and after a moment, of consideration, you grab a nearby chair and take a seat. Finally getting a closer look at the man, you peg him as at least partly of some asian nationality. He's clearly fairly young as well, maybe about your age, give or take a few years. Got a nice body as we- NO. You are not thinking about that right now. Besides, you have Aria to deal with at the moment. Definitely not time to be sticking your nose into something else.

"Hello. I'm Linda McCallahan."

"..."

"... Uh... okay... You got a name?"

"... Am... Liu Tao."

"Liu Tao... Pleasure to meet you, Mr... Liu."

It takes a moment for your mind to catch up, but if you remember, family name first in a lot of asian cultures... you hope you got that right, otherwise you just made yourself look like an ass. There's no real response from him, however, so you continue talking to him, slowly getting him to open up. It becomes apparent very quickly that his english isn't very good, he pauses often to think through his words and seems intent on pronouncing them correctly. His accent isn't particularly strong either, although that may just be because he's trying his hardest to be understood. Still, you spend nearly an hour just talking with the guy, and over that hour, you slowly piece together his story.

Tao is, so it seems, a refugee from China, specifically, a runaway from a Chinese Triad group. Apparently, the group had been collecting breakers like they would guns or other weapons, and using them to fight against other gangs and expand rapidly. He was an old member, who'd woken up one day with lighting running down his arms and storm clouds following in his wake. The Triad had put him to work quickly, using him as effective means of "bombarding" enemies with lightning. After years of work, Tao evidently found out about other breaker groups forming through out the world, and, growing tired of the work he was doing, had resolved to flee to one of them. He'd eventually made his way here, after two years of running, after he'd heard of a group that sought to protect it's members.

In essence, Liu Tao was seeking asylum with your group, in exchange offering his own help however he could provide it. He was also extending the offer on behalf of a large number of other chinese breakers, who were similarly seeking to flee the Triads they were being forced to work for.

You find yourself stuck with a dilemma, mostly regarding what to do. On the one hand, yes, your aim was to create a safe haven for breakers. On the other hand... did you really want to tick off the criminal element? And could you even trust the man's word? He did just try to kill you... given, he had good reason to be afraid(or so he says).

>>>Input Command

Hmm, I say allow him in. Criminal gangs that use breakers are going to meet bad ends. Either by the breakers themselves or the enemies they'll pick up.

There is a chance he is actually a spy sent to check us over or sabotage us but that can be checked out by our various people who can look into his mind and soul.

One problem is his lightning storms. We're gonna have to see about helping him either learn control or setting up someplace remote for him.

>Jacob
...aaand now I feel bad about how we're treating him, again. I'm tempted to ask Elizabeth if he'd actually be a threat to her if he had more freedom. There's gotta be a better arrangement than holding him prisoner and using him. (Really runs too contrary to what we're doing, and hits close to home with the way other people might have used Elizabeth).

>And could you even trust the man's word?
We don't have to. We have ways to check things. Twinda could poke around, see if she can find any evidence online that backs his story (assuming the Triad didn't normalize all their messes. And even if they did, we could probably find suspicious 'natural' lightning storms). We could ask Elizabeth if it's true. We could have George verify if Liu Tao believes he's telling the truth. We could check his dreams the next time Raphael is recharged. We could find someone within our faction who speaks Chinese for better communication, and see what they think (we've got dozens of breakers at the base, and more in sun city and the west coast working with or under our faction. Gotta be someone who can work with him). Heck, we could even trade Raul for information about the Triad, if nothing else works.

Provisionally, I'm inclined to believe him, though.

>did you really want to tick off the criminal element?
You are the criminal element. Ever breaker gang is. (The way D7 treats you, I wouldn't be surprised if the UNA legally qualifies breakers as non-citizens, or non-human). And it's not as if your 'inheritance' of Marc's funds was entirely legal. Or as if you paid taxes on that. ...or any of your earnings, really, with all the shell companies and the fact you don't exist (even if the businesses and investments are themselves on the up and up).

But more to the point, yes. We don't have the resources to cross the sea and go to war over this right now, but your whole thing is about treating people like people. Breakers don't deserve to be used and exploited and forced to constantly fight to survive. Normals don't deserve to be exploited and caught in the cross fire.

If the Triad is treating people as involuntary shock troops, little better than D7 treats it's subjects, well, that's not something we approve of. (Although, finding a solution for D7 is kind of a more immediate problem).

>He did just try to kill you... given, he had good reason to be afraid(or so he says).
You have allies who have killed you, and the list of friends you haven't put a bullet in is a short one. Don't forget that trying to talk with him kind of turned into setting a trap once we got Raul's false alarm about a tear.

>One problem is his lightning storms.
Yeah. We'll need to find out how the Triad dealt with that, or if the Doc or anyone has a better solution or means for him to manage that.

Hrrm...Hard to say, really.
On the one hand, lots more breakers for us, and with different cultural perspective, thus different qualifications/weaknesses...
That said, let's accept him.
We've lots of breakers, and we're training any and all volunteers-we should be fairly strong-and with The Demon being a threat to Reality itself, we're interested in bringing it down-calling in the Triads will aide that, especially if we hand them the tear information.

If he has any interest in botany, he could move between various farms and parks (with lightning robs in place nearby) to help with irrigation.

You let all that information sink in for a few minutes, thinking everything you can through before making your decision. After the time is passed, however, you come to much the same conclusion that you always do. Your aim, and the aim of your swiftly growing group, is to protect breakers, and turning him away wouldn't feel right at all. You let him know that you're letting him into the group, but that you'd appreciate it if he let himself be cleared by a few tests. He readily agrees, and you nod your acceptance, before getting up and heading out. You let the guards know to treat him as a new member, and to tell George to screen him for possible trickery of some kind. You also ask them to hunt for someone who speaks chinese, as that would probably help tremendously, and to have Tao's focus ready for him when the screening is done. No point in separating him from them.

As you head back upstairs, the day winding to a close, you feel the weight of everything finally fully hit you. By the time you make it to your bed, you're beyond any level of care. Bastards already sneaking around the city. Another tear already on your doorstep. A birthday party to plan. What else was going to rear it's ugly head?

----------------

Thankfully, the next three days are relatively quiet, allowing you time to recuperate mentally from everything. Most of your day was split between paperwork,hanging out with you friends, and planning this party while doing everything you can to keep Cass in the dark. You'd made quite a bit of progress, and with three days left till the party, you were certain you'd be ready. Liu Tao had settled in nicely, and was deliberately refusing to use chines, intent on learning the language of his benefactors. He barely remembered you, if at all, but he remembered Aria, and was quite happy to show others in your group some of the fighting techniques of his home. Cass in particular seemed interested, taking surprisingly well to the rigid discipline and self-control required. It was a massive leap from her destructive tendencies of before, but was quickly becoming a common sight.

You'd just been settling in for the day as well, getting ready to go over the paperwork that needed your attention, when you got a call from the Doc. Another blip on the radar. Two actually, although they were together. Normally, as was quickly becoming custom, a "greeter" would be sent out to make contact, and they would handle the issue from there. The issue they were having, however, was that Raul de Castillo had moved in as well, apparently something worth his attention between the two, and perhaps more interestingly, one of the blips, according the the greeter, was an avatar without a wielder. And she was letting off massive amounts of breaker power. Uncommonly massive amounts. A woman with them, a self proclaimed Rise Muramasa, was the seeming dominant personality of the two, however, and was asking, rather politely, to meet with the leader, and, if possible, a Makoto Muramasa.

"She added that she had something to trade for the meeting."

"... I see... give me a few minutes, I need to... think..."

"Linda? I don't think you really need to get involved. I can go handle this."

"Nicole, this is... personal, for Chris."

"Ah... I... alright."

"Chris? What do you want to do?"

"... I am not Makoto. Won't ever be again. Don't even know if I want to be. Will leave it up to you, Master."

"How many time- We'll get into that later. For now... need to make a decision, don't need the whole base going. Don't want to start another pointless fight like Tao. Raul is already over there?"

"The greeter and his team are trying to keep Raul from getting his claws into the poor woman, but it's hardly surprising that he'd want to stick his nose where it isn't wanted."

Even now, the venom that drips from Aria's voice when she talks about Raul is... surprising. And a little chilling. She clearly has it out for him, although you've avoided asking anything about it. Not something you wanted to bring up in the few minutes you'd spent talking with her the past few days.

Regardless... a decision on who goes. And a plan to deal with Raul... maybe you could-

"Angel."

"Hm? Elizabeth?"

"I must... go somewhere. Without the Angel."

"What? Why? This have something to do with what happened while I was gone?"

"No. Yes. Sometimes. Maybe. Cannot say. Must go today. Only works today."

Of course it does. Why does everyone have to pick the same day to do everything. It's like the world is trying to split up everybody in your group or something...

"Alright, hold on, give me a moment to think... Can I send someone ELSE with you?"

"Yes. Just not Angel."

Well, you definitely weren't letting her do whatever it was she was going to do by herself. The question remained then... who to send where?

>>>Input Command

I say send Cass and Tao if he's up for it(Nicole otherwise) with ElizabethIf he'd betray her, Elizabeth should know in advance. Otherwise, I think his powerset is a good match for Cass, as she can hold the line and he can quickly get to and hit targets in the distance. If she's taking to the training then she probably at least doesn't have horrible chemistry with him either.

Chris and Aria with you. While Aria definitely doesn't like Raul and that could cause problems, he's a foreign power, specifically an information broker so we know he's crafty, and she has experience with him. She'll be good for keeping us on guard around him.

>Cass takes when to formal combat training, self control and discipline
Oh hey. There's an idea we had way back on how we might help her. Nice to see it working. And that we were right. (It's going to be real interesting to see how the 'new' Cass fights the next time the two of you get into something big).

>meet with Rise and fairy
...she's your sister, Chris. Or she was. Not really sure how to look at that. But if she wants a meeting, I think she deserves that much. (And she doesn't need to pay or trade you for that. You're not Raul. If she decides to help after, that's different).

Also, if Chris' sister is running around, that means someone else has been freeing D7 subjects. Possibly with more success than you if she's running around with memory intact, and no 'master'. That might be of some interest to you.

Maybe we should feel out bringing Michelle? She's kind of the avatar-whisperer. Could be useful to keep things from escalating on that front. (Unless you think she's going to feel the need to challenge it).

I'd think we'd want to bring Chris, but have her hold back when we make the initial approach. Just to keep emotions from flaring up while we're trying to diffuse the situation. And because it might be easier to warn her what to expect than confront her with it directly. If we need to keep Raul from interfering: (stuff to tell him) there's no trade or deal taking place here. This woman came here to meet see her sister, and you intend to facilitate that. If she wishes to speak or deal with Raul later, that is her own concern. But for the moment, she's in your city, under your protection, and you'd appreciate if he let her be.

(Dunno if we want Cass or anyone else to tag along. We're not looking for a fight, here).

>whoops, another time skip
>only spent a few minutes minutes talking to Aria in all that
Damnit, Linda. You couldn't give her any of your attention? You skip past the chance for us to say anything to her before sending her out, after coming back, and then for the next 3 days. You're avoiding the issue, just like Raphael (well, not just like. There's less fighting).

>Elizabeth must go somewhere
For today, right? Not a longer trip? (If it's for longer, we might have to use some of our saved XP to tune forget-me-not foci for them to take. Trade some of our random foci for more bullets off of Mac).

It's got to be her deal from before. The observer has her going something, and part of whatever needs doing requires your ignorance. I'm not exactly happy with that.

Elizabeth? I trust you. I know you can't always tell me everything. But if that thing from before is involved, you warn it. After Marc, I'm done being used. And I'm not going to let anything happen to you. And if I need to, I will find a way to make it regret it.

As for who to send, Nicole is good and reliable, and in need of more XP. I'm tempted to send Aria too- she was with Elizabeth last time. And if there's someone you can trust to try and pay attention to what's really going on, try to read between the lines for what's interesting, it's her. (Although yes, that does deprive us of being able to use her to try and keep Raul on edge).

In fact, if we send her, I'd pull Aria aside and actually ask her to watch out for that. There's something you're not supposed to know, and you get that, but you'd feel better if you weren't just trusting the observer. It's something to keep her interested, and a gesture of trust. That'll mean something to her.

...and maybe work some thanks in for putting up with an obviously uncomfortable situation with Raul on your sake. And your taxed and rather divided attention.

I wouldn't send Tao, really. Cass having someone else she's comfortable working with is interesting, but he's kind of untested in non full on combat missions, it's a lot of trust to place on him so soon, and I'm reluctant to send the refugee of war into an optional battle at the first opportunity.

Hrrrm...
Chris to meet Rise, if only so Rise can move on from the 'death' of Makoto. I think Linda should come along for that, as well.

Aria& Michelle should go meet the fairy-I'll bet Aria will take well to that avatar-Michelle's just for security.

Aaand for Elizabeth's honor gaurd...Nicole, and...While we COULD send Cass, I want to do something with some of the forgotten second-stringers-how strong is that fire-breaker we met on our first mission, Matthew, again? Him and...Maybe Rodreguez the priest can go with Elizabeth, if they're still around.

>>548013
Sidhe is with Rise. They're not separate meetings, they're the same one.

Mathew was (when last we talked to him, way back in the hotel) not terribly interested in combat. The fact we haven't seen much of him since would seem to support that. And it seems silly to send out our healer on an escort mission when we have a so many better suited to protecting Liz.

>>548011
>to keep emotions from flaring up while we're trying to diffuse the situation
And how! Linda, the first words out of your mouth to Rise better be "Your sister's mind and personality were scrambled by D7. The person she is now chose not to regain those memories". Because you'll probably never get a word in edgewise after that, let alone a proper explanation. And the minute she hears Chris call you 'master', you're probably going to get killed at least once. Might be best to leave her at the base and call her out later.

>Raul
If you happen to meet him first, let him know in no uncertain terms that if he attempts to interfere, he will be escorted from the city and unwelcome to return. Threatening him with violence probably won't work, but threatening to withhold from him a big juicy melting pot of information? That'll do it.

>>548023
I wouldn't be quite that blunt, but it's the right idea. She's got to have some familiarity with D7's control and brainwashing techniques, having survived them herself.

As for Chris, I'd have nearby, not at base. So she can come forward after we've warned Rise, and in case things do turn to violence. (Somehow resolving their issues with a duel doesn't seem an impossible outcome).

>And the minute she hears Chris call you 'master'
*wince* I still can't get her to stop that, no matter how many times I ask.

"...she's your sister, Chris. Or she was. Not really sure how to look at that. But if she wants a meeting, I think she deserves that much. If for nothing more than to put her feelings to rest."

Chris makes no comment, but seems to descend into silent contemplation. You think it best to let her work through her own thoughts on the matter, and instead turn to your other companions, already selecting people to go places and moving them around in your head as you consider different possibilities. Finally, you come to a decision, based mostly off of what you've seen and heard, more than anything else.

"Nicole, you go with Elizabeth. You took care of her while I was gone, I want you to keep looking out for her. I'll send someone else with you, but I need to talk to them first. Chris, I'll go with you. I'll go ask Michelle if she can come along as well. We might need bigger guns for this one. Everyone else, stay on standby and prepped to go."

Everyone gives there affirmatives, then heads off to get ready. You intercept your daughter before she can leave the room, and wrap her in a hug before she can come up with some excuse to escape.

"This trip of yours is just for today, right?"

"Yes."

"I trust you. I know you can't always tell me everything. But if that thing from before is involved, you warn it. After Marc, I'm done being used. And I'm not going to let anything happen to you. And if I need to, I will find a way to make it regret it."

"..."

"Alright. Get going. I've got others I need to talk to... Just be careful. I don't want to lose anyone else."

"Understood."

The girl leaves, and you take a moment to compose yourself before you head down yourself, seeking out Aria. Elizabeth had gone to her for help before, actually asked for it, and your hoping she'll help again this time. You find her already getting ready to sit down, but upon seeing you walking up, she pauses clearly expecting you to make a request of some type.

"Hi again, Aria. I need to ask a favor."

"Of course, Ms. McCallahan. What can I do for you?"

"I need you to go with Elizabeth and Nicole. Look out for them. Whatever deal Elizabeth made, I think it has something to do with this, and I don't like it."

"I will do my best. Can I expect another reward from all this?"

"... Yeah. Yeah you can. And another on top of that, for putting up with Raul. It couldn't have been comfortable dealing with that."

"... A part of my past I am not proud of. Perhaps I'll tell you about it sometime. For now, I shall go prepare myself. See you later, Ms. McCallahan."

Aria starts off, humming to herself, although for some reason, you get the feeling she being far more serious about this than she might have before. Perhaps actually voicing your thanks got her going. Regardless, you breath a little easier with Aria helping out Elizabeth, and turn away. One more visit to make before getting ready yourself.

Michelle is eating breakfast with your brother when you find her, and as you approach, she glances up at you and smile shyly.

"Good morning, Linda. How's the party planning coming along?"

"Who's this?"

"A friend, brother. Keep eating."

"Oh. Alright."

"Hey, Michelle. It's going great, for the most part. Still can't get anyone to help me set up a zombie invasion, so we might have to skip that, but..."

"Hehe. I don't think anyone wants to deal with zombies."

"So I've come to gather. Cass would have enjoyed it though. I think. She seems to like all that horror stuff."

"Why not play a demonic possession game? Or... you know... something like that..."

"Demonic... possession?"

"Yeah! Like that Mafia game... only with DEMONS!"

"... I might do that. Hm... would be really grand scale to, with all the people... Wait! Not why I'm over here! I need to ask for your help. We have another new person coming in, but they are specifically asking to see a leader and... they asked for Chris. It's Chris' sister. Anyway, we have that information broker trying to butt his head in as well, and I don't know how well the talks are actually going to go, so..."

"I'll come! Moth wants to get stronger, and Levi is hungry, so..."

"Thanks. We're leaving in a few minutes, so you can finish eating if you like and meet us out by the cars."

"Alright!"

After everyone has gathered, you see Elizabeth and her two guards off before leaving yourself, hoping you left her with the right guards. You doubted either one would let her be harmed intentionally, but you can never be perfect on the battlefield. You shake those thoughts away, however, as you pull up to the meeting point, Raul de Castillo waiting for you. As you get out, he's already making his way towards you, but as his mouth opens to speak, you cut in, making your position clear.

"This is not a trade of information, or money, or anything like that. Nothing you say will change that. One of my members is meeting with her sister. You will NOT interfere. If she wants to talk to you later, that is her business, but for now, she's in my city, under my protection, and I'd be a lot happier if you left her alone. If you choose to turn this into a fight, then I WILL have you banned from this city, and I will chase you out if I have to. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, Ms. McCallahan. Crystal."

"Good. Now stay out of my way. Chris."

"Yes, Master."

"I'm going to meet with your sister now. You stay out here till I call for you. I'd like to explain the situation before things get out of hand."

"Understood, Master."

"Master?"

"Don't, Raul."

"Right. Right."

"Michelle, can you stay close by as well?"

"Yes!"

"Thank you."

You take a moment to steady yourself, Raul eyeing Chris with interest. You decide to ignore that, certain that Chris can take care of herself, and you enter, meeting up with the Greeter first, a younger man with an easy smile, who shows you the way to a table in a small restaurant/cafe area of the building. The woman you find there is dressed in Division 7 combat armor, a massive sword slung over her chair, who's having a rather one sided conversation with a small fairy like thing on the table.

"Yes, I think this is the best course of action. They said that someone matching her picture was seen in the city, and that she worked with the new group. No, I do not think simply asking was a bad idea... You never do listen, do you?"

The woman's chair suddenly collapses under her, and she slams painfully onto the ground. For a moment, there's silence, and then the sound of tinkling bells is heard, which is quickly followed by the fairy taking to the air upon your approach.

"Um... excuse me? Are you alright?"

"Hm? Oh... yes... yes I am. It is the little ones form of entertainment."

"Little... one?"

"Sidhe. That one there."

The woman gestures to the floating fairy, and once you focus on the tiny thing, you suddenly feel it. The pulse of reality. Threads woven together and yet apart. It's like... she's both alive and not.

"So then... that would make you Rise Muramasa, right?"

"I am. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The woman suddenly sits on her legs, then bows, pressing her forehead to the ground. You blink in surprise, not quite sure what to do, but she ends it quickly enough, and instead chooses to stand and take another chair to sit in. She is silent for a moment, before she turns to you, concern on her face. She presents a picture to you, and seems almost meek as she asks the only question she probably cares about.

"Do you... do you know this woman?"

That's... That's Chris alright. How to break it to her gently though...

>>>Input Command

Well, that confirms he's strong enough to remember you three days after a short meeting. It would have been inconvenient if he'd already forgotten you.

>The pulse of reality. Threads woven together and yet apart. It's like... she's both alive and not.
Is that different from the feel you normally get from breaking? Or an avatar? Does she feel like the raw reality, maybe?

>Do you... do you know this woman?
I do. Although I don't know how much of the woman I know is the one you knew.

Division 7 really did a number on her. We've tried to help, and she's better than she once was, but whatever they did to her isn't all gone, either. I'm sorry. Her past is still something that's pretty difficult for her.

...although I'm guessing you have a more personal understanding of what they do to people than I ever will.

Not sure how to structure the dialog off-hand, but we'll also need to cover the awkwardness of the new name (we didn't know hers, and though a name had to be better than a number). Probably should address how she seems to have recovered (maybe she can help more than we can?). ...really not sure how to broach the master thing.

I uhh, alright, you were almost reprogrammed by D7 right? She...Wasn't so lucky. I had to wrest control of her away from her, and when I did...There were no memories left to work with so she's completely forgotten her past, save for her swordsmanship-She's a ninja.

Whatever we say, I think we need to mention that the way Chris feels about this seems to be that she's a different person now, and doesn't want to become somebody else.

"I... I do. Although... I don't know how much of her is the woman you knew."

"What do you mean?"

"Division 7 had her. I... had to wrest control of her from them. It wasn't easy, and... her time as a puppet didn't do her memories any good. She's better than she was, and I'm trying to help her further, but... The past is something she doesn't seem too keen on remembering. I... don't really know what else to say..."

Rise is silent, her face tense, as she mulls over what you'd just told her. In the meantime, you find your attention drawn to the little thing fluttering a few inches above the other woman's shoulder. The little fairy seems just as interested in you, although it keeps it's distance. You stare for a few minutes, working through the odd feeling it gives you, and finally conclude what feels different. Breaking feels... broken, somehow. You can't describe it very well in wards. Avatars feel the same, just less. Raw reality, on the other hand, feels full, brilliant, practically burning with possibilities. This fairy... feels like breaking, only... more. Not more broken, just... more. Fuller somehow. Like it is somehow more closely linked to reality than breakers. Your thoughts are interrupted, however, when Rise starts speaking again, and you quickly return your attention to the woman.

"Is my sister... close by?"

"Yes."

"Can I...?"

"See her? Yes. But, I want you to be aware. She isn't who she used to be. She goes by the name Chris Wayenright now, and she sees to think I'm her master."

"... I understand."

"Alright. I'll call her now. Chris, you can come in now."

A few minutes later, the woman walks in, and takes a seat across from her estranged sibling. Rise's eyes never leave Chris, and even the fairy, hovering gently, vacates her chosen place and gives the pair some room.

"Makoto?"

"..."

"Makoto!"

"Makoto, please... answer me..."

"I am not Makoto. I am Christin. I do not remember you. I have no desire to remember you. I serve the master now, and have no intentions to do anything else."

Chris' words are cold and emotionless, although the weeks you've known her have taught you that she isn't trying to be hurtful at all. Still, you can see Rise start tearing up. She quickly tries to wipe away the tears in her eyes, but fails and ends up breaking down. Chris, uncertain on how to act, looks to you for guidance, but this time, you have no advice to give. It's only her own decisions that matter. Minutes pass in awkward silence filled only by the occasional sob, before Chris, for whatever reason, simply stands again and leaves. You catch a flash of an almost pained expression on her face before she slips away completely, but you decide to stick around, if for nothing more than company. Rise eventually quiets, the takes a ragged breath in and settles herself.

"Thank you. I... I am in your debt. There is... there is the matter of payment. Some friends of mine gave me this cd. I think you might want it. Also... I would... I would like to know if I may join your group. I... have no where else to go... and I would like to stay near Mako- Chris. Um... if you have any questions of me, I will gladly answer them."

Sidhe drift dow to rest her body on Rise's shoulder, placing a small hand against the woman's neck in what you take as a comforting gesture. Rise, for her part, leans slightly into the small thing's touch, obviously drawing strength from it.

>>>Input Command

...I'm sorry. She makes a point of drawing a line between who she is now and Subject 23, and between 23 and Makoto. I think it's a way to protect herself, but it comes at the cost of her past.

>cd
If you think this will help, I'm grateful, but you don't owe me any payment for seeing her. And you're more than welcome to stay, if that's what you wish.

>if you have any questions of me, I will gladly answer them
I never quite expected find someone in that uniform so... together. I don't suppose you know, well, why you aren't the same as her? (She'll explain she really doesn't know, and just seemed more resistant to their mind control. Which might be useful for George to examine- someone who had a natural defense or how found a way to fight off the disease. Understanding or seeing that might help in treating others. Don't get Rise's hopes up though- I think the bigger obstacle to further recovery right now is that Chris doesn't want to face her past).

You could ask her about the CD (which then leads to the realization this is the same information Rual lost to Jean. Her friends- they went to the LR? How did you know? Because two people tried to sell information that matches that description, only to be attacked, have it erased, and wake up with no memory of ever having it. This could also lead into Rise telling us what she knows firsthand about tears).

Could I ask about the little one? She's welcome too, but I think some of my friends will be very curious about her. She's independent? (Aria will be interested, I'm hoping Michelle will be friendly, and the Doc will definitely want a look, if Sidhe agrees to it. Remember: treat her like a person, not a specimen, or a thing).

>oh and
Before it eventually comes up, I'm sorry but I don't know where your brother is.

>tragedy of family that doesn't remember you
...yeah, that one doesn't hit home a little too personally at all. That's what you likely face, if you're ever reckless enough to put your parents in danger by going home.

>Can I join.
As long as you don't cause trouble you're welcome! Both of you, assuming that fairy isn't too much trouble- but I can say there's more than a few individuals who might be interested in an....autonomous Avatar? Anything in particular she wants to be called or something?

Old Style Tear Linda McCallahan 2013/11/16(Sat)00:22 No. 548386 ID: d77784
File 138459017160.png - (137.30KB , 400x250 , the_card_dealer_by_fenixthedesign-d5g70s9.png )

"...I'm sorry. She makes a point of drawing a line between who she is now and Subject 23, and between 23 and Makoto. I think it's a way to protect herself, but it comes at the cost of her past."

"It... it is fine. I simply... need time to think. And some part of me still believes she is my sister, regardless of what or who she says she is now. But that is for another time."

"Alright. Well, feel free to stick with us. Sidhe as well, I have no problems with either of you. Which reminds me... can I ask about her? What is she? An independent avatar?"

"I honestly don't know. I... feel like I should. But... I don't."

Sidhe begins hovering again, positioning herself on the table before performing a little curtsy. You blink, then start to give a slight bow in return, only to hear the tinkle of bells mere moments before the sound of the ceiling cracking. You throw yourself back and the ceiling lamp misses you by scant inches, crashing to the ground where you'd just been sitting. There's silence for a moment, then more tinkling bells.

"Sidhe! How many times have I told you!? You cannot just go hurting people like that! NO! I do not care if you think it is funny! Other people do not!"

"What... just happened?"

"Sidhe is based off of old stories about fairies and the like. And in those stories, fairies were not exactly nice people. She is no where near as bad as those stories, but... she does have her mean streak."

"Uh huh... yeah, I think... she should be careful with that. I have an avatar user who's got demons in her head."

"I will be sure to keep her in line."

"That would be good... Well... guess I'll just ignore the broken lamp for now. Um... next thing. I'm grateful for this cd and all, but payment really isn't necessary. Still, if you think it'll help me, I'll take it... you wouldn't happen to know what's on it, would you?"

"No. I never looked into it... after my friends gave it to me, I never had access to any computers, and given who I was trying to run from... I did not think it wise to access public computers."

"Smart. Which brings me to my last question for the moment. How come you're so... together. And not brainwashed."

"You are referring to the Division 7 uniform I wear?"

"Yeah."

"I do not know. For whatever reason, the mind control programs don't really work on me. Division 7 tried looking into it as well, but... I do not think they ever came to any decisive conclusions."

"Huh... I have someone who's an expert on the mind. He's a breaker like us. Would you mind if I had him take a look at you? I'm thinking you might have a particular reason for being resistant to it. Maybe if we can figure that out..."

"We might be able to help others with the same problem."

"Right. I don't want to get your hopes up though. Chris' main problem, I think, is that she's denying her past completely. Doesn't really want to deal with i-"

"Linda! Linda?!"

Michelle bursts into the room, looking frightened and practically choking the dolls she has in her grasp. Chris isn't far behind, blade already drawn and whole body tense. The atmoshpere is something you've gotten used to though, and you sigh a little as you realize that, once again, something is happening in your city. Can't you ever have a simple meet and greet? No, everything has to go to...

"Calm down, Michelle. What's going on?"

"There's a man out there, just... just... came out of nowhere.! Levi doesn't like him at all, and neither does Moth, and... and... that LR guy seemed to know him! Didn't seem happy with him either. They're talking right now, but..."

"It is likely they will be coming to blows, Master. And the new one is a tear. Feels weaker than... my old master."

"Son of a- Michelle, you stay here. All of you stay here. I'm not risking any of you to try fighting him. I'll go see what's going on... Second thought. Chris, take Rise, Michelle and Sidhe and go home. I'll meet you there."

"Understood, Master."

Chris quickly gather up the others, but by the time they are ready to go, you've already left the room and gone outside. The first thing you notice once you spot the mass of people nearby is that something feels wrong. McCarthy wrong. Not anywhere to hit level of power, and oddly enough, there's an undercurrent of... something... that feels familiar about this feeling. Like something you should know but don't. Regardless, you push through the small crowd of Raul's people and find the man standing opposite another man, who's dressed in a very old style. You find yourself holding back slightly, waiting a moment as the two continue to converse, Raul in a rather angry tone, while the other is almost preternaturally calm, almost as if he playing a game. The man absentmindedly shuffles a deck of cards as he talks, and seems to be more interested in that than anything else.

"-ook it from them before I could get it! I at least want to information that was on it!"

"That information was not for you. It was never meant for you."

"No information is MEANT for anyone! I'll have you pay me back, in that or some other form of information, or I'll be sending you to whatever hell you bastardos have waiting for you!"

"Is that all you ever do? Talk I mean. We've been at this for almost two minutes now, and I have yet to see anything even vaguely threatening."

Raul is close to the breaking point, and you can already see bones starting to sprout from his back. You've also come to the rather obvious conclusion that the tear must be Jean Bisset. Still, the group around you is getting themselves ready to dog-pile the tear, and you get the feeling that now is the time to step in, if you want to. Of course, you could just let Raul deal with it. Might even get to see how his method for dealing with tears works...

>>>Input Command

...But you meant for me to have it? Why? And for that matter... You're this Jean Bisset I've heard about? What are your goals in giving this to me?

Anyhow, Raul, back off- I've got the information, so let's see if we can negotiate a deal. I'm sure we can figure something out.

>pranks
...well, honestly, if they're kept small, I don't see them being that much of a problem. Certainly not enough to put off those who are going to be interested in her.

>get everyone else the hell out of here
Smart. Exactly what I would have ordered. We can't have our allies fighting anyone who can unravel with a touch.

>Tear
I have a few ideas for fighting one of these if it comes to that. One was the nightmare (if they have a mind, we can attack it). Might be recharged after a few days. Then there was Elizabeth, and the Warden's comments about our latent ability to work with raw reality, ourself. If we could see. Asking Elizabeth to lend Linda her sight again could give us the means to fight these things on the level it matters, or to counteract unraveling. Unfortunately, we can't ask her for that while she's busy with whatever important thing she's doing.

There's also nonexistence. Might be some protection against a tears powers, since they're made to destroy things that exist.

>Of course, you could just let Raul deal with it
...yeah, no. He just looks angry, not like he has a plan. If he attacks, and his people dog pile in, a lot of them are going to be killed, and you don't know what kind of damage is going to be done to the vicinity, or reality, if a tear cuts loose, or if Raul unleashes whatever he plans to do. I say we step in.

Excuse me. It almost looks like you all are about to start a fight in my city.

...and I'd very much like to know what the hell you think you're doing here (to Jean).

>>548402
All OOC information. Linda doesn't know Jean wanted only her to get the intel, or that Rise gave her the very information Raul lost, yet. If Jean reveals that, it certainly gives us the chance to ask why, or to try and lure Raul into not fighting now (looks like you should be talking to me then, not him), or to ask Jean what happens if the person 'meant' to have it shares anyways.

Are we still holding the CD? If so, break-teleport it back to the base (ideally direct to Twinda). That is NOT something we want lost or damaged in a fight.

>>548411
With instructions to then take it to the Doc, and help him start digging through the data. And to keep an eye on the sensor network instruments, since there's potentially about to be a chance to gather direct data on a tear in action, here. (Understanding would be nice, as would be a way to detect or track them).

"Excuse me. It almost looks like you all are about to start a fight in my city."

Both parties halt as you step between them, not having to try hard to look a little pissed. Seriously, does everything have to result in tearing up the city? Fighting is all well and good, but honestly, you wished you could just get a break from it all. Sighing, you ignore Raul for the moment, as you find yourself far more interested in what this Jean Bisset wants.

"And I'd very much like to know what the hell you think you're doing here."

Jean grimaces in what you think is either pain or annoyance, it's difficult to tell, before he wipes the expression from his face, bowing in a very courtly fashion, hat swept from the top of his head and hand reaching out to yours to grasp it. You flinch slightly, some part of you thinking an attack is coming, but all you get is a knowing smile and a chaste kiss on the back of the hand before the man straightens himself, replaces his hat and takes a single step back, obviously intent on showing he means no harm.

"A pleasure, Ms. McCallahan. I've heard... almost nothing about you. Jean Bisset, at your service."

"You're not answering my question."

"I've no intention of doing so. My business is my own, Ms. McCallahan. You'll get your answers soon enough, I'm sure. You have it out for McCarthy, after all. And the rest of us tears, I'm sure. Hopefully not me, when this is all said and done."

"I don't like you, Mr. Bisset."

"Hardly my fault. I can only be what I am. Nothing more, nothing less. Besides, the only reason you interjected at all, I think, is because you didn't want to cause a scene."

Jean glances at the barely restrained Raul before smirking. Then that pained expression again. He frowns afterward, rubs his forehead gently for a few seconds as if thinking, then sighs and shakes his head at nothing.

"No, now is certainly not the time to talk to her. I intend to deal with issue myself, so she doesn't have to. And no, before you ask, she doesn't need to know... I don't care how important she is, she can wait a few more days, till I'm satisfied with the results... Fine, fine, I'll at least..."

Jean turns his attention back to you, grimacing again. You stare at him like he's crazy a moment, then get to your own thoughts.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Aren't we all Ms. McCallahan? Some of us just have it worse than others. For now, thanks to your timely interruption, I'm no longer in the mood to deal with Castillo. I was hoping to remove his influence from the game, but... it looks like his piece remains on the board. A good day to you, Ms. McCallahan."

"Hold on! Where do you think you're going?"

"Wherever I please, Ms. McCallahan. As good as your Doctor is, he hardly has the knowledge needed to keep track of my kind. But, I suppose, we two lost souls will meet again eventually... with that meeting in mind, I leave you with a question.

"What do you think a tear, such as myself, actually IS?

"I hope to hear your answer when next we meet, Ms. McCallahan. Have yourself a good day. And, as a parting gift, a piece of advice. You might want to watch that Watcher in your midst. They can be ever so... meddlesome."

Jean bows once more before turning on his heels and starts to walk away. Raul practically lunges after him, but you step into his path again, anger clear on your face. He shrinks back, looking completely surprised, and for some reason, he seems almost... cowed.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Um... I... uh..."

"THIS IS MY CITY! You do not start fights in my city unless you want me to kick you the hell out! I don't care if he's a tear or not! You understand me?"

"Clearly, Ms. McCallahan."

"Good."

You swing back around to chase after Jean, only to stop as you realize he's simply gone. He was there one minute, walking down the street without a care in the world, then he simply wasn't. Damn it.

Still, his last words start nagging at you immediately. A Watcher? That was something like that angel avatar from before. There was one in your group? How the hell were you supposed to track that down? Hell, what the hell did it want to mess with anyone. You got the impression they just watched things unless they felt the need to go talking to someone, and the only people you knew who could probably do that were you and-

... Aw... shit... Elizabeth...

>>>Input Command

I am kinda disappointed Aria wasn't here to see that if nothing else she would have loved seeing us tell Raul off like that. Also when need to work on more ranged breakers it seems like the handful of ones we have found ended up killed.... by us. But yeah like almost all of our main team seems to be either extremely close range fighters or have incredibly unique and specialized powers. And with how often we will likely have to split up for missions I would be a lot more comfortable if the had ranged support. Just look how useful Linda is.

>a chaste kiss on the back of the hand
One of the very few bits of information you have on tears is that they can kill with breakers with a touch and you let get close enough to... well.

>You have it out for McCarthy, after all. And the rest of us tears, I'm sure.
Hardly a fair characterization. We have it out for McCarthy because he has it out for us. And because he seem to be a sadistic bastard and a outright monster. It's who he is that's the problem, what he is is just an unpleasant extra that makes him harder to kill. And up until very recently, Linda didn't even know there were other tears.

>Doctor, tracking
He knows about our sensor network.

>What do you think a tear, such as myself, actually IS?
Not really a fair question. It's not as if Linda really understands what a breaker is, either. Or what she is, since she became non-existent.

>Raul, for some reason, cowed
...well, he did just witness you walking up to one of the most dangerous things in existence, allow it to touch your hand, and basically stare it down.

If we need to talk to Raul further or he approaches us again (why we stepped in, etc): I saw a man controlled by his anger, not with a plan. I'm pretty sure I just saved the lives of a lot of your people, and probably yours as well. And the important distinction is last time you had my leave to start something, and this time you did not. For now, be content what little information he gave us, and the fact he will be back.

>... Aw... shit... Elizabeth...
I'm confused as to what Linda just realized.

That if there's a 'watcher' in our group, it's a danger to Elizabeth (or involved in whatever she's doing today)? Or that Elizabeth might be the watcher?

...Hrrrm. Calm down and think about this.
So the Watchers are meddling eh? The problem with that is last time they got involved Nightmare got killed for it.
This 'Jean' person clearly is at odds with them, so it basically comes down to who will we side with...
Here's my take on it. Yes, it sucked the angel avatar was used to fry the Nightmare, but she also gave us recompense for her mistake. Whereas Jean is actively trying to breed mistrust between us and the Watchers-that to me isn't a good thing, that he feels the need to reach out and attack our bonds with others.

Yes, obviously we can't take an attempt to divide us at face value. Linda doesn't have any idea how much she can trust Jean's words, or what he's trying to accomplish.

Huh. I don't know why Linda would assume he's talking about things from outside reality. No one has ever called them Watchers- we don't have a name for the man in the room, the angel called herself a Warden, and Elizabeth called the thing she confronted an Observer. And he made reference to other observers.

...and shit. He calls her a little watcher in that exchange. And going over that again, you could read that exchange as the Observer dressing down a subordinate.

Okay, perspective time though. Fundamentally, it doesn't matter what Elizabeth is, so long as you know who she is. Maybe she's connected to those things somehow, but so long as Elizabeth is Elizabeth, and it hasn't all been an act, it doesn't matter. You still love her, you trust her, and you still want her to come home safe.

And you know it's not an act. You've seen the way she looks at you. You've helped her grow from a child who was left crying and terrified by what she saw into a daughter you're proud of- who can stand up and face what she has to, and take action (even without you). Heck, you've seen the inside of her dreams. They're not good enough to have faked all that so completely. She's real.

...or another way to read that what Jean said is as a threat.

Party Time Linda McCallahan 2013/11/18(Mon)04:37 No. 548857 ID: d77784
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You let the information sink in a little bit before shaking it away. Thoughts whirl in your head about what Jean COULD have meant, but in the end, it's all just speculations. There isn't anything else you could do. Besides, you were tired of all this bullshit. You needed to do something that had nothing to do with work. Like planning a party. That seemed like a good idea. You barely give Raul another passing glance before you depart, a pathway forming in the group like you were some kind of vengeful angel. The trip back home is thankfully uneventful, and when you do make it home, Cass reports that Elizabeth and her group were still out doing... whatever they were doing.

You take the opportunity to head down to Doc's lab with the disk in hand and get him started on sorting it all out. The next few minutes are filled with the sounds of a keyboard and muttered comments here and there, before a massive computer screen breaks into existence and the Doctor brings up a map of the UNA on screen. He taps a few more keys, and then dots start lighting up across the map. Most seem centered in the east, with large clusters around the capital and a few other major cities. The dots start to thin out as they make their way west, until there is literally only one on the west coast.

"What's this, exactly?"

"It seems, Linda, that this is the location of every current Division 7 base. Or rather, was the location about 1-2 weeks ago. Furthermore, the disk contained data that suggested that the bases I've just highlighted," A number of dots start strobing gently, blinking in and out of existence, "are do to be shutdown, and their members folded into other bases located in the east. I don't know what they plan on doing, but I doubt it bodes well for us. At least we can be reasonably sure that the data isn't a fake or somehow doctored. The data is authentic to an almost startling degree, and came to us already scrubbed for most signs of foul play. Whoever lifted it and encrypted it for safekeeping knew what they were doing. Regardless, this is just the most obvious data, I have yet to even venture into the project files, prime target locations and operations data."

"You're telling me this is information lifted straight from Division 7?"

"Yes. This base specifically." A single dot starts blinking on it's own. "I'd also like to mention that this data would be... very valuable to anyone who hoped to oppose them. At least until they realize something was taken. If they realize something was taken. As I said, whoever did this knew what they were doing."

"... What does this mean for us, though?"

"At the moment? Likely nothing. This base data might not even be accurate anymore, as I said, Division 7 seems to be abandoning the west for now. Likely because of your influence. After all, I highly doubt they figured you into whatever plan they have cooked up."

"That's a comfort, at least. I'm suddenly the monkey wrench in the evil plot."

"Your sarcasm does you little good."

"Sorry. Been a long day. And I still have things to do for the party this week. See you later. Keep me posted on anything knew out of that disk."

You head out and check on the group you sent home next, to find Chris silently watching over her chosen group, Michelle happily talking with her demons and munching on something that looks sugary and unhealthy, and Rise watching over Sidhe, who you can tell is trying very hard not to prank every last person she can see. The opportunities must be endless with so many people around. You smile a little to yourself, before heading up to your room and starting up the planning again. There was that game that Michelle suggested, although you think she might have just done that without thinking. It was a good idea though. Something to liven up the party a little. Not to mention everything else that'll be going on. Maybe you could...

The planning continues late into the night, and Elizabeth and her crew finally get back at around midnight, just before the day switches over. The girl offers no explanations into what she was doing, and when you take the time to ask the two that went with her, neither can provide you with answers.

"All she really did, Linda, is go around and watch things. People, places, objects, that sort of thing. Nothing happened that I could see, nothing changed. She just stared at things."

"Yeah... thanks anyway. I was hoping to figure out what she was doing, but..."

"Well, don't think about it too hard. She is 17 already, and as much as she acts like a child, she's not. I think you should put a little more faith in her."

"Thanks for the advice Nicole. I'll think about it."

"You do that. Goodnight Linda."
--------------

Three days later, as nightfalls, you're prepped and ready to go. There was no specific dress code, and you hadn't thought to put one in place, seeing as the point of the party was to have fun. You had kicked everyone out though, except for the people you needed help from, namely your daughter, Aria and the Doctor. They needed to turn your home from it's normal, apartment complex/fortress into a literal haunted house. A massive haunted house. It looked rather small on the outside, but the wonders of having powerful breakers with you, and the inside was vastly larger, spanning what was effectively three mansions in the space of one. A few effects, and everything was set. The look Cass gave you upon her return, however, was not quite what you expected.

"You're not turning yourself into some creepy baroness of doom, are you? Because if you ARE going the same way Marc did, I'm telling you now, I quit."

"NO! Cass, it's July 26th!"

"Yeah, so?"

"... Seriously?"

"What? Was it something I said?"

"It's your BIRTHDAY, Cass!"

"Oh... that was today wasn't it?"

"And now it's my turn... Seriously?"

"What? I never really celebrated my birthday as a kid. I don't know if you've forgotten, but my family life was kinda messed up. And don't you lot give me THAT look! I've dealt with it already, we're all good. Put all that to rest and all that sappy bullshit... Is that alcohol?"

Cass finally smiles, already making a beeline for the intoxicating substance, but you head her off, intercepting her and dragging her onto a makeshift stage someone pulled out of nowhere.

"Now hold on, Cass. We can't have you getting smashed quite yet."

"But it's my damn party."

"Yeah, well, we're giving you a party damn it, not a drunken stupor. We all got you presents... well, actually, I think I just bought you a shit ton of stuff, and everyone else just put their names on random things, but whatever. Anyway, first off, I'm letting you know, that all this is not just for show. I let loose a couple of our friends in the mansion up behind me, and they'll be prowling around trying to 'murder' people. Anyone who can catch one of them without getting tagged by them gets a prize! Which is a surprise for later, but whatever... and none of you are even paying me any attention are you... Whatever. Go get drunk, you ungrateful asses."

THAT gets you an enthusiastic and loud cheer, which is quickly followed by people charging the house, others grabbing alcohol and still others(surprisingly) hooking up into teams to go hunting for these murderers in the house. You smile to yourself. Everyone is lively as hell, but you glance at Cass to find her looking uncomfortable. You frown slightly, then give your friend a one armed hug and smile at her, trying to cheer her up.

"You alright, Cass"

"Yeah... I don't know about this, Linda. I'm not a party person usually."

"Not what I remember from back east."

"Come on! That was the one time!"

"You french kissed me, Cass."

"The ONE time!"

"See? You're already cheering up! Just don't worry so much Cass, and have yourself some fun! I'll come check on you every once in awhile, if you want. I've got things to do as the host, after all."

"Yeah... We'll see."

Cass wanders off, still looking a bit put off from everything, but you ignore it. You asked a couple of the others to look out for your best friend as well, so hopefully they could drag her from her shyness. Regardless, you have a couple of options to choose from to do with your time.

You could find what of your fellows to hang out with. In the past three days, you'd been busy planning after all, and besides customary visits to your friends, you hadn't really visited with anyone. You had promised Aria some of your time to herself, to make up with all the things you'd dumped into her lap recently, and she was happy to collect on that. You could also see about joining any number of activities around the place, such as the dance off over there, or the laser tag arena that somehow managed to get set up in the space of about five minutes.

Or, you know, you could do your hidden job as a "murderer" for the evening.

>>>Input Command

Hrrrm...Murderer funtimes? Murderer funtimes.
...Oh I hope we got Sidhe into the funtimes, that would add beautifully. Alternatively, if we didn't? keep an eye out for things happening that add to the atmosphere that weren't planned- I HIGHLY doubt she will be able to resist the temptation.

>I think you should put a little more faith in her.
Nic is probably right. As much as you're supposed to truth Elizabeth, sometimes being afraid for her, or trying to protect her, gets in the way.

...in fact, you may have been kind of a jerk with that warning you gave her, especially if the idea that she's connected to the outsiders has any merit. You probably owe her a hug, or an apology, later.

If you have to choose between a friend telling you to trust your daughter more, and a seemingly crazed unknown of questionable motivation telling you to scrutinize her, it doesn't take a genius to figure out who to listen to.

I feel a moment's sympathy for Aria, though. Elizabeth's mission was less interesting than I hoped, and she missed seeing Raul get put in his place.

>if you ARE going the same way Marc did
I expect you to hit me upside the head. Repeatedly, if necessary, until I stop it. (Assuming Marc actually ever believed the ideals he sold us on, that he fell or snapped rather than made it all up, his mistake was isolating himself. He had no one close enough to him to trust, to reign him in, to keep him from losing perspective. He was all alone at the top of his ivory tower with that damn doll whispering in his ears. Linda's not making that mistake).

>forgotten birthdays
Hey, you certainly know about making rare birthday celebrations count when they happen.

>What do?
Well, if we bump into Elizabeth, there's that hug and apology I think we might owe her (because I should trust you, and when I worry, I don't think I do enough). Maybe we could check in on Chris, too. I doubt she's entirely comfortable at a party, and I kind of want to see how she's holding up with Rise being around, now (although this isn't exactly the best venue for the amount of work it takes to get her to lower her defenses).

...then you could see about doing some murdering. (That might get Cass engaged).

I'd save Aria for a little bit later in the party. You want to be sure Cass is having a good time first and the party is going well in case things with Aria end up being particularly distracting. (Taking her up on a real dance might be interesting, after seeing her skill from before).

I don't think we should be using our time at the party to pay back Aria. This is Cass' birthday. I'd rather not mix ANY sort of buisiness with this if we can help it.

>>548876
...I don't exactly see hanging out with someone who wants your attention as business. I mean, yes, you can frame it that way (and they did, kind of playfully), but this basically amounts to not taking someone for granted.

And if Linda's already made a promise or set a date, blowing her off completely is just being mean, and burning bridges.

I can sympathize with putting Cass first, though. Obviously we can't blow her off or ignore her, and making this a good night for her takes priority.

>>548877
I think it's more that we promised her some to herself, rather than just dragging her along while we attend to Cass's party.

You take another few minutes to get your bearings, the inside of the place is new to you after all, but you quickly take off into the crowds, keeping your eyes open for "murdering" opportunities, as well as any of your friends. You'd like to catch up with a few of them while the opportunities present themselves, especially given the relatively festive mood. Although, that might make it harder in some cases...

As you enter the ninth room in your search, you watch as a pair of breakers dancing in the middle of the room suddenly and unexplainably get crushed by a chandelier. The party stops a moment, before the tinkling of bells can be heard in the distance, and Rise comes crashing in, thankfully not in her Division 7 uniform anymore. It's much plainer clothes, although a bit more flowy and less uptight than her sister's choices. Maybe that's a good thing. Regardless, the woman quickly takes stock of the situation, mutters something in japanese that you don't recognize, then spins towards another door in response to another distant crash, this time openly swearing in english.

"That fucking fairy! SIDHE! GET BACK HERE!"

And she's gone again, dashing down the corridor after the ever more distant sound of tinkling bells. You take a small amount of time to check on the crushed pair, and find them fine, their deaths barely scratching their available numbers at all. After being sure they are completely fine and won't be holding any grudges or anything, you head off in another direction, once again moving through room after room. You stumble upon nothing particularly interesting until you find a young breaker who looks barely lucid, happily drinking her sanity away. You also note that she seems terribly vulnerable and alone, so, with that in mind and the fact that you are, after all, playing a murderer, you guide her gently to a nearby window, note that somehow you'd made it up three stories, and tip her out of it. You make sure she lands with a thud. Watch her number drop by one, then she stands, suddenly a bit more lucid, and you duck back into the room and disappear into the crowd before someone catches sight of you. The whole point was for you not to get caught, after all. Still, as you exit the room and head into the next, you can't help but get the feeling that wandering aimlessly in this place isn't going to help you at all. Maybe if you knew who you were-

"Master. I have a question regarding my task."

You blink as Chris suddenly appears in front of you, and you pause a moment to get your thoughts on track before continuing the conversation.

"Sure, Chris. Let's go over here real quick first though... Alright, what can I help you with?"

"I do not understand. Am I to fight people for real?"

"Uh... no. You're supposed to be acting like a horror movie villain or something like that... you've never seen a horror flick, have you?"

"I do not understand the point, Master."

"Of course not... look, try to... 'kill' people, fake kill, maybe only kill them once before moving on, and try to do it without getting caught. Alright?"

"... As it pleases you, Master."

"Hold on! Don't go running off quite yet. I've got some things I want to talk to you about as well, if that's alright."

"... Is this about Rise Muramasa, Master?"

"Uh... yeah... basically."

"... I do not want to discuss this at all. She is not my sister anymore. I am not who she wants me to be."

"I know. I know. But I just wanted to know how you were handling things. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or threatened or anything."

"She has not tried to take my tasks from me, and she only once asked me to spar with her. Her techniques are... familiar... but she performs them subpar. I have already attempted to show her the proper methods, but it seems she lacks talent for the sword."

"Alright... look, if you ever want to talk-"

"I will now carry out the task assigned, Master."

Chris hastily retreats, clearly intent on avoiding the subject any further. Most of what she just told you was fairly factual. Perhaps the only thing was the techniques Rise used being familiar, but even that was said more as a piece of information than anything. You sigh to yourself, then turn away and start off again, once again weaving your way through the crowds. You keep an eye out for more murder opportunities, but everyone seems to be sticking to groups. It seems you'll have to get creative if you want to work on your own. You might try teaming up with one of the others on murder duty. Chris is an obvious choice, she's behind you somewhere, but there's also Nicole, Mike and a few others you'd roped into it from the general population. They'd all been told basically what to do, but joining forces might be a good idea.

Or you could try a little harder to track someone down. Or just say to hell with it and get to the drinking. You might try to track down Cass later as well.

>>>Input Command

>murder game includes actual, literal murders
...I wasn't quite expecting that, although I suppose so long as it's kept between breakers there's no permanent harm done.

Murderers are 'caught' the same way, I presume?

>murder-fairy
Well, we could hardly have expected her to stay out of it or control herself once other people started in on the game. Hopefully her day to day antics are more mischievous and less deadly.

>Chris doesn't understand
...think of it like a training exercise. We're testing people's ability to identify and stop a saboteur in their mix.

>it seems she lacks talent for the sword
Ouch. Actually, is that her being catty? It sort of has the feel of an emotional response- she's uncomfortable with Rise and finding a way maybe to lash out, or dismiss her? ...well, we're not going to figure it out or resolve it all tonight.

>Or just say to hell with it and get to the drinking
I'd say it's a little early to be bring drunk Linda to the party. Although with your tolerance you could certainly grab a drink if you wanted one.

>what do
Continue with the murder game, maybe? See if can drum up some early excitement that way, before going out with a bang. (Freeing us up to do other things after. Some of the others can hold out longer). A team up could be interesting (we don't spend a lot of time with Nic). And if we don't draw Cass into stopping you, track her down afterwards. Gotta spend some time with her at her own party, and make sure she's having a good time.

Still think we owe Elizabeth a hug when we bump into her, and we'll have to go looking for Aria after Cass, too.

Hrrm... as far as murdering goes... Maybe get a knife, hide up somewhere, then drop it onto a group, or, and this might be cheating a bit, but just get out the Rifle and plug someone, but break to cover up the sound of firing...
Hrrm. Maybe we could Someone else Raphel and start pulling Nightmare shenanigans is what I WANT to say, but I've no real idea on how to pull that off with them being asleep...And we don't have the Nightmare form's passing through walls trick or something like that to make it really terrifying.

I'd say blasting people though walls with the rifle kind of takes the fun out of what's supposed to be a sneaky game. They're supposed to have the chance to catch you. The nightmare might be a good way to get some scares in, but I wonder if pushing people's actual fears makes the game too real. (...and there's a part of me that's reluctant to use it since we only get to use that once in a while and there are still a lot of people's heads I wanna visit the next time we get to spend a night dream-walking).

The ice gun might be a quieter way to cause a slip and fall accident, but we'd have to get rid of the ice to stop ourself from being found out too soon. (Maybe we could break it away, but if people sense us breaking right next to or after a murder, that might out us as covering up evidence).

You make your way through the house, eyes scanning everything to find possible ways to drum up some excitment in this game. You hear a shout somewhere behind you, only to have Chris suddenly dash past you and disappear into another random door, a stampede of people rushing past you and halting, obviously looking for her. There's a moment of hesitation in all of them, then they all split up, heading off in different directions. You spot one of them alone, an older man who looks a bit more cautious then the others, and join him, saying it's not safe to wander alone. He seems to agree to that, and as soon as you're both alone, you take him out with a bullet to the head and disappear. Soon enough the area is in an uproar again as more people are alerted to the activities of the murder group and that yes, you were not lying about this game. Most still ignore it, but there is a decent sized group now actively hunting. You pass by a staircase and spot Cass, who's clearly not drinking alcohol quite yet, as it turns out she's become the leader of one group of them, and as soon as she spots you, there's a moment of silence that falls over the room.

"... Of course you would, Linda..."

"I couldn't resist. I mean... come on, if this wasn't YOUR party, I probably would have asked you to be one to."

"... Yeah... Probably would have done it to. Hey, guys... that's our target."

Everyone in the room turns to you, and you smile and wave before pulling the two handguns from their holsters and letting a crazy grin slide onto your face. This was going to be fun. The first group that comes charging up the stairs is pushed back easily, your aim is far better than they could hope to dodge. Cass, however, evens things out quickly by quite literally chucking entire tables at you, and some of the more powerful of the group quickly follow suit, a barrage of tables forcing you to dodge and weave between everything even as you fire your pistols, hoping to hold back the tide for as long as possible. Still, you eventually find yourself getting pushed back, and you decide it's time for a new strategy...

Partly because it has suddenly occurred to you that if you run, everyone but Cass will probably soon forget who you are and stop chasing you. Time to turn secret murdering into all out brawl.

>>>Input Command

Right. One versus crowd antics, here.

I'd suggest (after dismissing her first) manifesting Twinda behind one of your rolls or dodges behind cover. Ordinarily, she's not much good in a close in brawl (lack of creative initiative and can't take a hit) but I assume you're playing to first death here. And she could certainly buy you time and/or provide a distraction by popping out when you're somewhere else. (Suddenly you're in two different places to go after and shooting at them).

(Course, we'd have to remanifest her with equipment later, but with break generation that's no longer a big deal).

Swapping one hand to cartoon ice could also stall things out a little longer. One sweep under the feet of the charging crowd to slow em down, and jumble them up, and further uses to create obstacles to dodge around, break up your attackers, and get in the way of thrown tables (make quick pillars or blocks). (Cartoon ice beats regular mode of sculpting obstacles like this, since you can just put the 'ice' down without having to waste time or charge cooling down the surface. It just forms).

Going nightmare might be thematically appropriate and possibly useful for crowd control, but we don't exactly have any practice using fear powers on people who are awake, and I think our guns will poof away when we change. (And I'm not sure how Cass will react to seeing that?). So it could potentially blow up in our face.

Nightmare must wait, now the Angel creates fear.
When you do the Twinda thing, maybe instead of having her shoot, have her pop out and say something like:
"Oh what a fun scene! But I'm no murderer, she is!"
and then she points to wherever you're hiding.
Or, if we want to drop the crowd, we could have her come out and say
"Hey! She went that way!"
And point in one direction, and then when the crowd goes running off that way, we take the other path. I bet many people forget Linda has a foci spare puppet of herself.

You dismiss your Twin, then manifest her again, rolling one direction even as you order your twin to manifest rolling in the other. You didn't exactly expect that to work, but it did, as Twinda executes the order beautifully. She empties her twin pistols quickly enough into the crowd, taking out a few before the clips run dry, and she drops them without emotion, just before she gets dog piled by the horde. You take the opportunity to disappear down a door, figuring that would be good enough to give yourself some breathing room. What you don't expect is Cass to suddenly tear through the wall and into the corridor in front of you. You half expect her to be in berserk mode right about now, and reload your own pistols before getting ready to focus on not dying, only to notice Cass' eyes. This is the first time they've been pointed directly at you in awhile, at least while she's in her combat mode, and you find yourself impressed. There's no sign of the berserker in her anymore. Instead, there's that cold readiness that you'd felt back at Havers, just before you'd put her brother down. You suddenly remember where you are and what you're doing, and you ready yourself, a smile breaking out onto your face.

"So. Just you and me, huh?"

"Hardly."

"Wha- Shit!"

Liu Tao almost tackles you from behind, but you manage to duck under the incoming electrical projectile that is the man's fist. He slides to a stop next to Cass, and turns to face you, dropping into a stance you can only guess is some form of martial arts. Damn it, you keep treating Cass like she's the same as she was before. Then again, you hadn't exactly seen her fight in awhile. Well, first things first, gonna have to take out Tao.

"Two on one doesn't seem a little unfair to you?"

"Hey! No one said anything about a fair fight! You just said capture the murderers. You're one of them. I capture you."

"Alright, alright... Where'd you find him?"

"Hiding in a corner. I swear, the guy barely talks at all."

"You do realize he barely speaks any english, right?"

"So? He can shout at me a chinese for all I care. As long as he's not moping around. Couldn't stand myself doing it, can't stand other people. Can we be done with the talking?"

"Yes, Cass. We can be done with the talking."

"Good."

The last word came not from Cass but Tao, and he seems to make a punching motion at you only to have a bolt of electricity arc towards you. You sidestep the attack, only to have to keep doing it as more electricity arcs towards you and they slowly drive you back the way you came. Still, you settle into a rhythm within moments, and soon, you're ready to fire back. You fire an experimental shot from each handgun in a quick one-two, only to have the sound of bullets ricocheting of metal meet your ears. You blink in surprise, and stare in amazement as you find Cass, and not Tao, standing in your bullet's path, chainsaw used like a shield.

"I've picked up a few tricks, Linda."

"... So I see."

Then, the fight begins in earnest, you finding yourself getting far more serious than you had intended. The three of you take of down the corridor, trading lightning bolts and bullets, and no matter where you place your shots, you find Cass in the way, chainsaw placed just so that your attacks are deflected away. The fight continues for minutes following that same pattern, you sliding past bolt after bolt of electricity, while the two opposing you work perfectly in tandem. Clearly, this is something they've practiced.

It's a bit like ping pong.

The thought catches you off guard for a moment, even as you burst your way into, through and out of the 16th room in your grand tour of the mansion. Still, an appropriate one. Ping pong. Albeit with bullets and lightning. You pause to consider your own points, and not that you're starting to run low. Only 14 more before you're dry. And those two across from you don't seem to be tiring out at all, at least when it comes to points. Maybe it's time for a new strategy...

>>>Input Command

Goddamn, this is beautiful. All those fights where you found yourself protecting Cass to she could cut the way forward. She's figured out how to do it the other way- cover for her partner and let them lead. She's really grown. Makes you kind of proud.

...although the fact that you're on the wrong end of the arrangement, and she's busy trying to kick your butt distracts a little from that. And you suppose you're more happy she's found someone else she's comfortable working with that you are jealous.

>bullet blocking
...does that move actually let her use weapon enviroment to apply her str to a block check? That actually gives her a faster defense than Linda. Or Chris.

>alternate plans
Not sure if the shotgun counts as cheating, and it's kind of hard to bring to bear against two opponents at once- if you got one, the other would get you before you can reload.

Ice gun cleverness, maybe? Ice conducts- can we use a clever redirect or a lightning zap to our advantage? (Ping pong becomes harder with another ball coming back at you. And if your paddle is conductive).

>When we eventually lose
The correct response is laughter, and an insufferable grin.

>14BP
From 35? Twinda cost 5, and we started with the pistols manifest. 16 reloads seems a little crazy. We must have burnt off a bunch of points active breaking stuff as part of party prep.

We're running into the weakness of Ranged Breakers-Only so much ammo before we need to reload. As Melee/Form Breakers, they can keep on fighting all day long...
Ok, sooo I've a few ideas.
We could try the Cold Magnum, and freeze Cass's Chainsaw solid so she has to remanifest the thing, and start putting bullets in Tao when she does. Alternative Cold Magnum idea is to ice the ground as we retreat, and utilize the chance as they fall on their rear. We COULD use this chance to escape, hide in a crowd, and get away from those two, as well.
Third plan, is to Remember the Fallen Cally Brooks, and see if her plasma chain-lights can fry that chainsaw Cass is using to defend with, or better yet, harrass them both with the range of that thing without needing to rely on tempo changes to alter the timing and avoid their attacks.

>a clever redirect of a lightning zap
Ie, the conductive ice-path equivalent of throwing a ball into a u-pipe. Back it goes.

>Cally form
Long metal chains! We'd be one big lightning rod.

...unless we cheated. Maybe if we broke to stack the plasma with ions charged the right way, the current would run up the chain to the rods, instead of down to us and ground. And then we could kind of crack the whip and fire lightning back from the plasma rods. (...wait, what happens if you run a huge blast of current through solid plasma?)

Assuming the physics work, that would take away his range advantage, and the chainsaw melts to plasma. They'd really have to work to get around that.

>escape, hide in a crowd
Naaah, the murderer needs to be stopped. And we don't want to play this game all night.

You holster one of your two pistols and manifest the ice magnum, firing a beam of cartoon ice at the best friends chainsaw. Let see you get out of- The burst of fire that instantly jets out to mean your ice beam quickly sends any thoughts of easily restraining that insane defense out the window, and you frown. Yeah... you can't believe you'd forgotten about that. Your momentary distraction proves to be the opportunity Tao needed, and a bolt of lightning strikes you in the chest and sets you careening into the next room. You tuck and roll to reduce the damage, and you manage to be on your feet when the momentum is finally used up. You'd managed to maintain your grasp on your weapons through out, and although the painful burns across your torso certainly aren't helping you concentrate.

The pair of them enter the room, Tao seeming to charge himself up a little more and Cass revving her chainsaw, you think just to spite you, when you hear another crash come from the opposite wall, and Chris dives through the newly made hole, ending up standing back to back with you. A group follows her in, and you quickly find yourselves surrounded. You take a look around you as well, noticing this particular room to have been turned into a bar. One of many you've seen through out the building. One person in particular catches your eye though. The man stands as the situation settles slightly, and you can't help but let yourself whistle quietly to yourself in appreciation. The man can only be described as incredibly well built, and you spot what looks like an entire array of tattoos across his left arm. Not bad looking either. If you didn't have the stigma of being forgotten almost instantly, you'd probably have gotten drunk and slept with the guy. As it is, however, he seems less concerned with what's going on around him, and more interested in the fact that Cass just entered the room.

"Hey! It's Cass! I thought you weren't planning to stop in! What was it you said?"

"...For the love of... Fuck off and die!"

"There it is! Still, I know, deep down inside, you gotta like me at least a little."

"At what point does 'Fuck off and die' mean 'I kinda like you'?"

"Well, you stopped in, didn't you? Because I remember inviting you, and you told me no, and now here you are."

"I'm not here for you, you crazy fuck!"

"Damn... got my hopes up. Anyway, if you aren't here for me, then... you must be here because of them. That's Chris there, but... who's the other one?"

"None of your business, Isaac."

"So you DO remember my name?"

"FUCK OFF AND DIE!"

The man named Isaac chuckles to himself before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. He seems to consider the pair of you and Chris, glances at the newest group, then finally at Cass and Tao. You notice his eyes narrow slightly at Tao, and he mutters something you can't quite make out under his breath before seeming to come to a decision.

"Well. I'd been hoping to simply spend some time with Cass, but... looks like I'll have to settle for helping out here."

You stare at in confusion, your mind not really keeping up with what's going on. Is he hitting on Cass? And this has been going on for awhile? You glance at Cass with an upraised eyebrow, and you can see her shy away from your eyes, looking both guilty and embarrassed. Looks like you'll have something to interrogate her about later. For now, you turn your attention back to this newest adversary, and you watch in surprise as his number, starting at 45, suddenly drops to 40. At the same time, he unholsters a large revolver, and you tense. Another gun type? You don't recognize him at all, but then, there are a lot of new people. Still, you get the sense that the moment that gun came out, his entire demeanor changed. Like he was suddenly in his element, and ready to go.

Isaac flashes on final grin, then gets down to his business. He fires an experimental shot at you, but before you can even begin to react, Chris is there, seemingly deflecting the bullet with a deft strike from her sword. The feeling of tense preparation is coming off of her like steam, and you can't help but shiver slightly. You remember your first encounter with her. She'd taken you apart with little effort. You can't help but feel sorry for anyone like you having to deal with her.

The roar of a chainsaw and crackle of electricity reminds you that there are others, including the group of... you hesitate to use the word nobodies, but that's what they effectively are. Their levels of strength are painfully low compared to everyone else here. Still, if left alone they could prove to be a problem. At least you've got an ally now.

Time to start thinking fast.

>>>Input Command

Heeey. Cass has a boy? Maybe two boys? *Grin* You are definitely giving her a hard time about that later. What kind of friend would you be if you didn't? (And you know, to be there, if she needs to actually talk about it, or some encouragement).

>Issac
A five BP revolver, huh? Stacked on some upgrades, there.

>nobodies
Well, ice is how we've dealt with them in the past. We could mix it up a little here, though.

Instead of just shooting to immobilize, we could try to stun the crowd by redirecting a lightning blast. (Ice under their feet, and make a quick spire or column of ice to catch a lightning shot). There's also the bar. Shame to waste it, but getting booze under the crowd's feet would be slippery, distracting, and conductive. (Sweep the bar with ice to have a bunch of bottles burst under the pressure? Just have Chris cut a row of bottles or a keg in half?).

>battle plan
Well, it's 3 on 2 now, but I think we can throw up ways to make it hard for Tao to bring his powers to bear without collateral damage. Chris is any gun user's nightmare... which leaves you up against Cass.

You and Chris may not have been practicing this the way Cass and Tao have, but you're both very fast and can use that to compensate, she's used to following your lead, and you've had plenty of practice with Cass backing up a melee type. See how much you can work together- she blocks for you, you cover for her. Plus, she could probably react with ice-terrain fixing better faster than you could. (Give her a surface to push off of, or run along in mid air).

Her sword makes something of a lightning rod- but that can actually be countered by firing a line of ice across the blade if and when it's hit (so the blast follows the ice to ground, rather than through the rest of the sword and her). Done right, this won't even slow her down, as her blade is sharp enough to move out of the ice like butter. (Although she could also just, well, dodge).

Just remember, you're trying to make Cass work for this, and not going down easy, but in the end, the murderers are supposed to lose.

Alright.
I'm gonna guess mister mega-gun there's got either some sweet mods (Maybe we can get ideas for the rifle?) And that it's probably best to let Chris take him on, you go for Cass, and Tao's less of a worry now-he's going to be causing massive collateral damage far moreso than the other two if he tries the lightning shooting.
Maybe we could yell orders to Tao to make it sound like he's on our side so the lesser horde and him start in-fighting!
As for Cass...Freeze her hands or her feet into place, or dodge and dance around her. If she tries to aid Tao or Issac, shoot her until her attention is back on you. Stall her as much as you can, basically, because you can't deal with that Saw without the Tank gun, and that might leave you too slow to keep out of her reach.

>yell orders
That would kind of require him to remember us, and we don't know if he does. (Besides, our actual rank doesn't matter in the terms of this game). I suppose maybe we could try the will-voice thing, but someone with weird energy powers probably has decent will.

"Chris! You deal with Isaac!"

The woman darts towards her target, blinking in front of him and cutting across with her blade. Probably because he has a lot in common with you, he manages to slide his body back just enough to avoid getting cut open, although a nasty gash appears on his stomach. He lets out a nervous laugh before getting serious again, whatever remnants of a smile he had suddenly disappearing.

"Well now. Guess the rumors about your strength weren't exaggerated."

You lose track of the pair after that, instead focusing on your own problems. A sweep of the ice magnum takes care of most of the minor people, catching their legs or feet and incasing them in the stuff. Then you turn your attention back to Cass, who's already charging you. The two of you start dancing around each other, although she doesn't have nearly the same strength as before, when she was a berserker. Instead, no matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to break her defense, although you suddenly notice that her number is steadily dropping. So, it must be a replacement for her insane killer mode from before. You'd never heard of something like that happening...

You find yourself suddenly needing to focus entirely on the fight when, out of nowhere, Tao charges in, body incased in electricity, and he joins Cass in the duel. Fighting two against one, especially with that defense of Cass', gets more and more difficult, and you find yourself glancing at Chris, hoping you might be able to get some help.

Unfortunately, you find Chris evenly matched by her opponent, if not outmatched. Unlike you, who focuses mainly on evasion, Isaac seems to be focused on counterattacks, interrupting her attacks patterns by forcing her to return to the defensive position again and again. Not only that, but instead of using the guns as his main focus, he seems to have blended it with hand to hand. An example appears as Chris goes in to make a blinding strike with her blade, only to get forced to redirect and deflect another round aimed for her head, and then only to get a knee planted in her stomach. Her uniform disperses the force, but she gets pushed back again and again. Still, she seems to be slowly settling into the rhythm of the attacks, getting ready to take him out, only for something you didn't expect to happen. Isaac seemingly discards the revolver completely and pulls out another, slightly larger gun, without his number dropping at all. The move catches Chris off guard, but unlike you, she seems to recognize the weapon, and darts behind the bar counter even as Isaac unloads the clip in her direction, tearing up the bar completely and sending alcohol everywhere. He discards that weapon as well, this time pulling out a shotgun with the same ease as before, and even as Chris starts to move again, she find herself punched in the chest as the weapon fires. She collapses against the back of the bar, looking surprised, even as Isaac pumps the weapon and shoots her again, this time, finally, "killing" her. He lets out a breath of relief, then turns to the main fight, and you, already seeing the end, decide to fuck with the lot of them.

"I surrender."

You drop your pistols with a massive, obnoxious grin on your face, and Cass, just about to take another swing at you, nearly plants her face into the ground trying to halt her momentum.

"What?"

"I surrender."

"Just like that?"

"I'm not stupid, Cass. I lost. There's no point to me dying over it. That's two murderers down. Bunch more to go, if you care to keep going."

" But... you can't just give up like that!"

"I just did. So there."

"What... THE FUCK! I WENT THROUGH ALL THAT FOR YOU JUST TO- FUCK!... Do I at least get a prize?"

"Yes Cass. You and Tao can both have one. Isaac got Chris though, so he gets that one."

"Ah... right... Isaac..."

"Hey Cass! I looked cool, right?"

"No."

"Aw! Come on! Not even a little bit?"

"NO! I'll catch you later Linda. You can find me hanging around the nearest bar if you need me. Except this one."

Cass stalks out in a foul mood, although you suspect the large amounts of beer she's about to consume are probably going to change that. Tao bows to you respectfully, then departs as well. You release the rest of the group, who all look kinda disappointed until you remind them that there are a few other murderers running about, and then you stride over to check on Chris. She up by this point, and dusting herself off. Once you've checked that she's fine and told her that she's done playing murderer for the night, she wanders off, probably to go stand by the front door as has become her custom. You start to contemplate who you should attempt to find next when your train of thought interrupted.

"Excuse me, don't mean to but in or anything but uh... hi! I'm Isaac Grimm."

You glance up to find the man called Isaac standing next to you, hand offered in greeting. He has an easy smile on his, and all the seriousness from before is completely gone. You take his hand cautiously, uncertain as how to deal with the guy, or even why he's talking with you.

"... Linda McCallahan." Not that it matters.

"Nice to meet you... so... uh... you... you're... you're friends with Cass, right?"

Ah... that would explain it. Still, thanks probably to everything you've experienced with your best friend, as well as dealing with her trauma, immediately makes you a bit defensive. You feel your eyes narrow ever so slightly as you take in the man in front of you.

"I am, why?"

"Well, uh... I was kinda... hoping... you know... you might give me some, uh... some uh... damn, this is harder than I thought. I can face down an entire UNA spec ops, but can't ask someone for advice on the girl I like..."

You blink in surprise, then smile to yourself. You're pretty sure you weren't meant to hear his muttering, but you find yourself pleased regardless. At least one person, it seems, has taken an interest in Cass for more than just her fighting skills. Still... you're not quite sure whether you want to help the guy. Maybe it's just you being possessive and clingy but...

You descend into thought as Isaac continues to stand there looking awkward and muttering to himself. It occurs to you that you know next to nothing about the man. Maybe you should question him a little first before making a decision. Then again, it might be better to send him in blind. Or more funny.

>>>Input Command

Hrrrm...
I'd like to ask him a few questions:
1-what's up with the gun cycling? That looked all kinds of cool, and as a fellow gun user, I'm kinda jealous. Personal power or just some trick you've figured out?
2. UNA spec ops? What's that all about?
3. How long have you been chasing her?
And then we'll go from there. Part of me wants to say he might be better off giving up if he's successfully managed to get on her bad side though, I guess that depends on how much he's done.

>Cass, unstoppable defense
Well, in difference circumstances we could have tried the shotgun (blocking that with a manifestation might not work so well) or just shot right through her guard with the tank-gun.

Unfortunately the shotgun's range is a little short for engaging with Cass, and we were kind of hard pressed to keep dodging Tao while weighed down with the rifle.

Really goes to drive home what a difference allies and numbers makes in a real fight.

...also, if this had been a real fight, I would have had Twinda break out her copy of our x-ray glasses and started sniping through the building at the beginning of the fight (instead of wasting BP to manifest her as a decoy) and used the opportunity to try and shotgun disable one of the two down ASAP and unload battlefield instinct.

>Chris and Isaac
You know, you could have bought her a little space by throwing a bullet or two into that. They were close enough it could have made the difference.

>Advise Isaac?
Huh. I'm unsure. My first, defensive instinct was to warn him off if he's just looking for a hookup, but then I realized I'm not sure what Cass actually needs. Would a hookup be bad for her?

How about we feel him out a little, maybe? (Offer him something obvious, and then try and get him to talk a little about himself).

Well, she's a sucker for horror, if the theme of the party didn't clue you in. And you've already got handling her charming personality down. You weren't bad back there, I know just how hard it is to stay ahead of that blade. And that was a nice trick with the guns- number didn't even change.

(I'm guessing that's a personal power? Swap out one manifestation for another without a BP cost or manifestation delay?)

I'm not sure I'd press on the spec ops right now, but following up with how long he's been after her isn't bad.

(Then, if we feel like it, maybe we can feed him something more helpful).

>next
I think after we're done with Isaac, we'd want to get a little time with Cass at that bar, before one of the boys steals her attention, or she exceeds her limited alcohol tolerance.

Then we can see about finding other ways to spend the rest of our night. Aria's waiting, and I still feel like we owe Elizabeth a small apology. (And a part of me is curious to see what she gets up to at a party like this. ....maybe the freaky friends are holding a seance or something?).

"Well, she's a sucker for horror, if the theme of the party didn't clue you in. And you've already got handling her charming personality down. You weren't bad back there, I know just how hard it is to stay ahead of that blade. And that was a nice trick with the guns- number didn't even change."

"Horror, huh? Not my thing, really, but I can do horror... maybe. As for that blade... yeah, I've had a bit more experience dealing with that sort of thing. I mean, I watched you a little, and you just kinda... do. No real training in there at all. If you want, I could show you how I fight. It might make it easier to deal with the up close and personal kind of breakers. As for my little trick... numbers?"

"Ah... I can see people's... number? I don't really know how to describe it properly, but I can tell how many times people can break reality."

"Okay... Makes sense to me. The boss can do it to, I think, although he hasn't been around much, with Sonia being pregnant and all. Or rather, they think she's pregnant? Apparently someone told them she was. I don't know. Anyway, my little trick is a personal thing. And none of those weapons were my manifested weapon either."

He smiles as you look appropriately shocked. What? How was that-?

"Don't look so surprised. It's just something I can do. I call it Arsenal. I can pull normal weapons out of nowhere, as long as I sent them there first. I can't reload them or anything, but I the more weapons I have in there, the more things I can pull out. Obviously. It goes pretty well for me. Highly adaptable and all that. I do better the more time I have to prep for things, though."

"I... see. That seems a little unfair."

"Maybe. But I can't pull off any super fancy tricks or anything. I only have one focus, and I don't really use it very much. Not really my thing."

"Well, that's a cool power regardless... you mind if I ask a personal question?"

"Sure, go ahead. Don't really have anything to hide."

"How long have you been after Cass?"

"... Wow. That was really blunt. Um... I want to say a few days now? Since she got back from her trip to wherever. I mean, I usually help out with the security forces that run around the place, so I haven't really been in the city too much recently, but that day I'd been reporting back to the boss, and I was just on my way out when I saw her. She has a bunch of people talking to her, I don't know what about, but... Well, she's one of the leaders, right? Cass, she just... when she's dealing with people, it's like she shrivels inside. That confidence I've seen her have when she's out in the training area, cutting away at her opponents, she just doesn't have it when people are trying to be friendly with her. It's like she gets vulnerable, and uncertain, and... I don't know, I just... I want to hold her. That seems kinda like I'm pitying her, and I think... maybe I was, at first. And then, I don't even remember when, or what it was, or how it happened, but I remember I said something, and instead of telling me to fuck off, or go die or whatever else, she... smiled. And... it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen... And I just want to see her smiling all the time, just like she did then. So full of life...

"It must seem odd, coming from me who's only really known her for a few days. I mean, I knew who she was before, but I never really talked to her... And damn, can she be harsh when she wants to be... But, well... I guess I'm making myself out to be some sort of sappy, overly dramatic asshole or something. Sorry, I'm talking your ear off, and we're supposed to be at a party. Want a drink?"

Isaac suddenly brightens again as he hops over the bar counter and somehow manages to find a bottle of something alcoholic from somewhere, and two glasses. He fills one up, then looks at you inquisitively, the bottle hovering over the second glass.

>Arsenal
Oh, it's a hammerspace trick. Interesting twist. Of course, that means he needs access to actual weapons and ammunition (not that that's a problem for someone in a bigger organization, especially with breaking, but would have been tricky early on).

>and you just kinda... do.
Well, that's certainly an apt description of Linda's helter skelter throw yourself one way and then the other combat style.

Picking up some actual training or technique for dodging or close in combat might be a good idea (and part of the reason we brought Sonia and Jared's guys on in the first place) sometime later.

>A drink
Pff. Now that's a great use of an arsenal.

Doesn't seem a bad guy. Those are close to a lot of our own feelings on Cass. Accept the drink, and give him a little of your time.

Just remember it's still too early to let yourself get hammered, and remember you're not here to spend all night with Cass' boy. (Maybe, if he's lucky). We still gotta see Cass before she's completely wasted (and tease her about her boy situation, and see how she feels, or if we gotta say anything. Might need some support. ...she might also want to cash in on her reward). And Aria's still waiting for us (luckily, it's only like an hour or less into a several hour party, I think). And I'm still hoping to run into 'Liz.

Linda probably shouldn't be getting drunk around this guy given her antics.

>>549945
Don't forget Linda's silly high tolerance. Unless Linda drains that bottle with him and then some, we won't be seeing drunk Linda antics just yet (...just imagine how silly they're going to be when no one will even be able to remember where they came from).

"Yeah sure. Why not?"

You find a bar stool that hasn't been turned into scraps of wood by gunfire and take a seat, accepting the drink Isaac slides your way. You take a sip, figuring once done with this one, you'll head off after Cass, but you keep an eye on Isaac, who drains the glass without hesitation and fills it up again just as quickly.

"You really need to drink that fast?"

"Don't really need to. But hey, it's a party, and I can worry about the hangover tomorrow."

"True enough, I guess. Hey, you mentioned teaching me before. I thought you went out with the security?"

"I did. I got myself moved over to training detail, mostly cause I wanted to be around Cass. Course, I think my presence just grates on her nerves. Or she's just very good at acting like she hates me. One or the other. Still, I'm hoping."

"I'd wish you luck, but I don't know how Cass feels about all this. I'm about to go check on her actually."

"Really? Well, not that it matters to me. You're her friend, you'll side with her whichever way she decides to go. Regardless, I'll take what I can get at the moment. Got any more advice you'd be willing to part with?"

"... Don't pressure her too much. She hasn't had too many healthy relationships, so even if she DOES have even a passing interest in you, she's probably not going to know what to do about it."

"... Good to know... Well, I've taken up a bit of your time, and should probably stop. I think I'll drink myself into a stupor right here, but catch me sometime later and I'll see about teaching you what I know. You might want to check with some of the other teachers as well, we all have different styles of doing things, and you might like them more than mine. I think Nigel does something more like what you do, although he's actually thinking rather than just throwing himself. Not to.... you know... degrade your style or anything."

"Don't worry about it. I've never really had any training in combat, so I've mostly been going off of instinct."

"Hey, that's a style too, in it's own way."

"Well, I'll be seeing you, Isaac."

"Sure thing."

You drain what's left in the glass, then hop off the bar stool and head out. Cass said she be in another bar near by. Shouldn't be too hard to find her. After sweeping the area, you easily find her, nursing a beer, although it looks like she was expecting you. As soon as you approach and a grin starts to spread on your face, her own frown shows she knows what's coming next.

"Soooooo... Isaac, huh?"

"Damnit..."

>>>Input Command

Well, he passes the Linda McCallahan approval test, but that's just from one meeting with him, and besides-swapping out guns without taking a hit to BP caught my attention.
But enough about him! How are YOU doing Cass?

Start off with some light teasing and an insufferable grin , take whatever shit she throws at you in response, and then see if you can get her to tell you how she's actually feeling. Tailor your response based on how she's actually feeling.

Basic idea is to be supportive and encouraging, whichever way she wants to take it. He doesn't seem like a jerk (and maybe even interested for the right reasons), and he's hot, but she doesn't need to do anything she's not comfortable with. I assume she's going to be somewhat confused and unsure how she's supposed to feel, and maybe talking to Linda will help un-muddle that. More helping her understand or accept how she feels than telling her how or what to.

(It's hard to say what's right for her until we get inside her head a little, but regardless of how she ends up dealing with Isaac (or Tao) I'd like to at least make her okay with being comfortable with someone, at some point. Elizabeth did say this would be a turning point for her, and it would be sad to let intimacy close off as an option for her).

>possible teasing material
When were you going to tell me you might have a boy? Or two. I'm not sure who to be jealous of, here.

"When were you going to tell me you had a boy? Or two. I'm not quite sure who to be jealous over right now."

"I just... I hadn't really... I never got the... Wait... TWO? Isaac I get, but... who's the second?"

"Tao!"

"Tao? He's more like a teacher in my opinion. I mean, sure we get along, but I don't think of him like that, and I'm pretty sure he's more worried about getting the breakers from China over here."

"Alright. Fair enough. That's just leaves Isaac~"

"Oh god..."

"Come on! Spill!"

"Get the damn grin off your face. It's annoying. And there's nothing to tell!"

"Riiiiiiiight... That's not what I hear from the other side."

"Of course you would've talked to him first. Look, just leave me alone about it, alright?"

"Nope. Leaving you to stew in it isn't going to help anything. Come on, Cass. We both know you're confused about this whole thing. And teasing aside, I'm here for you, even if all you need is someone to listen to you rant. Besides, he's HOT. You got to give him that."

"... I make no comments."

"So you did notice?"

"How can I not notice? I mean, I'm still a woman, damn it. And yeah, my love life isn't exactly what one would call stellar, but fuck, I'm not blind!"

You settle into a chair, already seeing the beginnings of one of Cass' rants. You wave the bartender to give you something to sip on as you listen, then turn your full attention to your friend, already guessing that a lot of this is going to sound redundant.

"Fuck, he comes up to me one day, don't even know the guy, and introduces himself. I figure, what the hell, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, right? Can't hurt to at least be a little friendly, shake his hand, give him my name. Nothing really all that dramatic or anything. Next day, guy starts trying to flirt with me. He's not even awkward about it or anything. No lead up. Just bam! Right there, in my face, nice and blatant. And I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with that. Hell, I barely no the guy! So I say, fuck it, I'm done already, let's back out while we still can. Then, fucking hell, the next day the guy shows up again anyway, happy as you please, and doesn't look the least bit put off by conversation the day before. And I still have no fucking idea what to do. Tao showing up helped a little, he stays away when Tao's around, but... fuck, Linda, I don't think I'm ready for any of this intimate bullshit. I can barely call myself ready to deal with sorta leading sometimes, and I hate doing that. Part of me thinks I'm never gonna be ready to deal with someone like Isaac."

"... But you admit he's hot, right?"

"For the love of- YES, Linda, if it makes you happy, I will admit I think he's hot! Fuck! Is that all you can think about!?"

"No. But you must have more on your mind than just that. Come on, Cass. Spilling it all now will make you feel better."

"... Shit, Linda. You know me way too well... I... I... guess... I sorta like Isaac. He doesn't seem to care... about me being... so stand-offish. He doesn't seem to care that I'm crude with words, or... generally not pleasant to be around... And hell, I know I'm not pleasant to be around for a lot of people. The inner circle knows me, and takes my words with a grain of salt, but the rest, they don't take to me too well. For the most part anyway, there's a few here and there. Isaac... is one of em. He just... ignores it, for the most part. Treats it like it isn't there... And I just don't know what to think, or do, or... feel... or even how I would go about figuring it out... I guess the scars dear old 'Dad' left behind are still there. Just dug in deeper than I thought.

"Kinda annoying, in it's own way. I tell him to fuck off, and he gives me that damn grin, same one you do sometimes, that tells me he knows I'm bullshitting, and keeps right on going. Fuck, you two are similar...

"And no, that does not mean I secretly want to sleep with you, Linda."

"Aw. That's a shame."

"How is that a- Wait... seriously?"

You flash her that insufferable grin you've perfected, and steadfastly refuse to answer the question, even as Cass proceeds to try to pry an answer out of you. Unfortunately for her, you've had tons of practice infuriating her over the past few months, and can practically do it in your sleep. Which gives you the opportunity to think on how you want to advise your friend.

>>>Input Command

>similar / don't want to secretly sleep with you / shame / seriously
Pfff-haha. Good work setting that one up for us, Cass. That was perfect. I wanted to tease her on that, but didn't know how to word it.

>Tao
Oh, so Isaac was glaring over him for blocking, not for being the competition.

>Advise
Well, if you sort of like him, and that he sees past the gruff exterior and treats you like you... that's good, right? Enough not to push him completely away, anyways. Don't worry about anything you're not ready for or comfortable with. Nothing says you have to go there, and it's not a race. Your head will sort itself out eventually.

I mean, maybe you confused him a little with the mixed messages, but there are plenty of ways to put on the breaks, or take things at your own pace. If he was willing to weather your abuse, he's probably willing to wait. And if he's not, well, that's his loss.

tl;dr- Basically we're trying to tell her it's okay if she likes him but doesn't know what to do about that. She's allowed to take things slow or put up boundaries. She's hardly the first person coming off a bad situation who needs a little time and space to come to terms with her own feelings. And hopefully, he'll get that. Especially since we warned him.

...feel free to rework and not quote me exactly on this stuff. Tricky dialog.

>Of course you would've talked to him first
...and for what it's worth he talked to me first. Someone was all nervous trying to ask about a certain girl he liked.

"Cass, if you sort of like him, and he sees past the gruff exterior and treats you like a normal person... that's good, right? Enough not to push him completely away, anyways. Don't worry about anything you're not ready for or comfortable with. Nothing says you have to go there, and it's not a race. Your head will sort itself out eventually. I mean, maybe you confused him a little with the mixed messages, but there are plenty of ways to put on the breaks, or take things at your own pace. If he was willing to weather your abuse, he's probably willing to wait. And if he's not, well, that's his loss. Besides, I don't think he's any more secure than you are. After all, a certain somebody came to me, nervous and anxious to the extreme, to ask for advice about the girl he likes."

"... Seriously?"

"I'm serious Cass. Don't worry so much. Take it as slow as you need. He'll either wait, or he won't. I have a feeling, though, that'll he'll stick around awhile... Well, I think I'll leave you to think and/or get smashed. I'll talk to you later. You haven't seen Elizabeth around, have you?"

"No, the littler space cadet it god knows where. I would say in her room, but that doesn't exactly exist at the moment. I'll catch you later, Linda."

"See you around."

You head off, disappearing into the crowds of people once again. A good half-hour of wandering and you are no closer to finding your errant daughter than you were before. As you come to a close in your search, however, you do stumble upon a small dance hall, a band happily playing whatever anyone asks them to. Now it seems to be a gentle jazz routine, and most everyone is gently swaying to the beat. Those that aren't populate the seats that are placed along the walls, and it's here you spot another person you'd hoped to run into. Aria is currently in conversation with a few other people, smiling politely although you can see she is entirely uninterested in the conversation. Her eyes light up, however, when she spots you, and she breaks off her conversation as you approach.

"Good evening, Ms. McCallahan. Enjoying yourself?"

"For the most part. I think I might have just helped my friend maybe get on the track to getting a boyfriend, but we'll see."

"Really? We're talking about Miss Geld, I would presume, and her most prominent suitor, Mister Grimm. I doubt she's even noticed the others at all. Regardless, I doubt that's what you are here for. How can I help you, Ms. McCallahan?"

"Help? Oh. Yeah, I do seem to go to you a lot, don't I?"

"I take that as a compliment, Ms. McCallahan. It means you trust me enough to come to me directly when you need help. Still, I agree, you do seem to come to me quite a bit."

"Well, nothing tonight. I came to repay those favors you did for me. I don't want to seem ungrateful."

"You've never seemed ungrateful, Ms. McCallahan. At least, not in my eyes."

"... I see..."

"I apologize. I must be putting you in an awkward position. Allow me to correct myself. Please, sit. Enjoy the atmosphere. The night is still long from ending, and the party in full swing."

"Right... right..."

You take a seat, taking a long breath in to relax yourself, and order something from the bartender that's only mildly alcoholic. You still have things you want to do tonight, after all, and you aren't sure getting drunk would help that at all. On top of all that, you don't think being drunk when you are trying to repay Aria is a good thing. Which brings your thoughts back around to the other woman.

Maybe because you have been around her a lot more, but you've begun to pick up on some thing you weren't really noticing before. The most prominent is that even with you, she's extremely polite. You've never heard her use someone's first name for anything, unless referring to them while talking with someone else. And you never really heard her talk about anyone with real anger in her voice, except with Raul. Another thing you find yourself noting, after reviewing your meetings with her in your head, is that she doesn't ever talk about herself. When asked directly, she almost always answers something bland, then redirects the conversation away from herself.

You get the feeling like she almost doesn't expect to be around for long. You're not sure how you feel about the attitude, but something tells you that she's always like that, with everybody.

Well, this is supposed to be repayment, not you sitting her silently. Maybe you should ask her something now. Or come up with something to do.

>>>Input Command

Hrrm...Perhaps a more in-depth discussion about things she finds interesting?
I suspect she's kinda the 'thrill seeker' type, and doesn't want to sit around being bored, but wants to live a really fast-paced life.
The issue with that and Linda, is that she has this breaker group to oversee, as well as the bigger issue that should Linda disconnect with this group she disconnects for good-Reality would happily make everyone forget about her, in time-it's a one-way trip, doing that.
Then again, there IS something potential interesting we've found-a cure, of sorts, for Nonexistance- if we find a foci and tune it and give it to another breaker, they can remember us completely, according to Doc...
Hopefully that works with you, seeing as you're an Avatar type...On that note...What does Golem look like when it's not activated?

This formal repayment thing is getting silly. Aria's right that when we come to ask things of her, it means we trust her. And while we're grateful, she doesn't need to earn time with us. We'd be happy to spend time with her, it's just running this place gets our attention way more divided than we would like. And I appreciate her patience in that regard, at least. (C'mon, if we don't attempt to brush off a little of the formality, or at least turn it into something more playful, this is never gonna work).

Sorry that the last favor proved to be uneventful. I guess I read into there being more than there was. (Sometimes it's a hard guessing game, with Elizabeth).

>ask her something?
Could I ask... what were you after, way back when you first asked me to spy on Marc? If she expresses any surprise as to why we're asking that after all this time- well there's some part of me that still wonders how much of what he told me was a lie. If he ever believed in the cause and lost himself, or if it was all an act. It's the kind of thing that occurs to you now that you sit atop the ivory tower, and reality does it's best to isolate you.

That, and it was sort of the start of a lot of everything. That meeting is why Aria's here now. It was our first hint not to trust him. She pointed in the direction that lead to us finding Elizabeth, which lead to coming to this city to keep her safe, and then everything after. You unintentionally had quite the impact on the arc of my life. And I still don't quite know what it was about.

(First part is a bit of a downer, but it lets Linda open up a little to her. The second part is more positive, and it does kind of interestedly tie them together).

Something else I'd sort of like to bring up, if she doesn't mind a personal question, is Golem. I don't think we've gotten to know any other avatar user without, well, their avatar making it clear what they thought of us. Amelia displayed distrust and jealously that grew to hate, Leviathan had a respect that's grown into a kind of debt of loyalty out of gratitude for getting him back to Michele and/or to atone for killing Elizabeth. Golem... hasn't shown any interest, despite your getting closer to me. I don't think you even mention him, on purpose.

(Actually, does Linda even know his name is Golem? We know from the wiki and descriptions of events, but I'm not sure Aria's even said his name aloud).

Or, oh! We could ask her what's up with the child form. That's more a fun topic. (Best possible outcome, it results in Aria trying to show Linda how to do it, and some silly antics).

>something to do
We could always ask her to dance. See what the two of you can manage when there's not lightning being thrown at your head.

>>550259
I wouldn't bring up the possibility of the forget me not foci until we're actually ready to hand them out. (Pity we haven't won any XP in a while, we could only tune 2, right now).

Although it does sort of raise the interesting question- she's all right getting to know someone she may forget about completely, some day? We're kind of unintentionally holding her memories hostage. Be kind of interesting to see what she's thought of that before letting her know about our possible solution - up to this point she's had to have thought it's all or nothing, and she knows that she's likely going to leave, eventually.

>We could always ask her to dance.
This, but in the cheesiest possible "Well, there is something I came to ask you for" way.

There's silence for a few minutes more as you organize your thoughts, but before you finally decide to ask her about something, you figure you could do with something more party-like before discussing things with her. So, after downing the alcohol, since you rather not leave it there, you turn to your companion.

"You know, Aria, there IS something I kinda needed your help with..."

"Anything for you, Ms. McCallahan. How can I be of service?"

"Well, you could dance with me."

Aria looks surprised for a moment, then laughs happily. She stands and offers her hand to you, a pleased smile on her face.

"Of course, Ms. McCallahan. It would be my pleasure."

The two of you head out onto the dance floor, and while you get a few confused looks(mostly due to the various people around you wondering who the hell Aria was dancing with) you ignore them, in favor of the fact that Aria has started leading you in a slow dance that goes along with the music, gently swaying both your bodies with the rhythm. A few minutes pass of silence, and then you decide to start talking, mostly because you're feeling a bit uncomfortable with the silence.

"Aria?"

"Hm?"

"Could I ask... about what you were after when you first asked me to spy on Marc?"

"I would hardly call it spying, Miss McCallahan. I simply wanted you to observe. But... I don't believe I understand the question. What exactly are you trying to understand?"

"Well... I just want to know if everything Marc told me was a lie. Did he ever believe in what he was saying, or was he just acting? It's... the kind of thing I find myself thinking about now that I'm the leader of this group."

"... Ms. McCallahan, I never had a very high opinion of Conner's methods. He was ruthless at pursuing what it was he desired, and uncaring of other people's opinions of him. And that was before he became a breaker. But... his end goals were always for the betterment of humanity. I don't know if you've ever taken a look at the companies he controlled, really taken a look, but most of them have some part of them devoted to humanitarian efforts. He wasn't a bad person at heart, back then, and I believe that some part of him still believed in safeguarding other breakers. Still, that avatar of his did not help his outlook at all."

"... So you think he actually did believe in what he was doing?"

"At some point, yes. Yes, I believe he did desire to help others. When it was he lost that, I can't say."

"I see."

"You really must stop thinking about such depressing things, Ms. McCallahan. Today is a party, isn't it?"

"You're right. You're right. Still, I can't help but think about it with you around."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're the one that lead me to Elizabeth, which lead to me coming here, which lead to me doing... all of this. It's safe to say that you are the person who lead to me becoming what I am today."

"... I'm not quite sure if that was a compliment or not, given what you are."

"It's a compliment, Aria. I don't regret the things I've done. Not yet anyway."

"Than I shall simply say, you're welcome."

"Than I should say thanks. Anyway, I should probably focus on other topics. Like about your avatar-"

"Golem."

"What?"

"Golem. His name his Golem."

"... Golem than. I haven't heard his opinion on any of this."

"And you won't either."

"Why?"

"... We are starting to get into a topic I don't particularly enjoy talking about... follow me."

Aria suddenly disconnects from you striding purposefully towards an exit. She still keeps a pleasant smile on her face, probably a facade for those around you, but you can sense she's... unhappy. Still, you follow the other woman out, and through a series of other rooms, pausing only so she can say some passing remark to someone she knows, or for her to seemingly check the route. Soon enough, however, you find yourself on a balcony, secluded from the rest of the mansion thanks in part to the rather boring nature of the rooms surrounding it.

"Here we go. We should have some privacy here."

"Uh... Aria, if you don't want to talk about it-"

"Ms. McCallahan. I've told you that I won't drag you down the rabbit hole unless you invite me to. I intend to keep my promise. Still, you're getting dangerously close to that rabbit hole, and I'd rather like to make sure you are aware of what you are getting into."

Aria find a chair from somewhere and sits offering you one opposite her. You take it, expecting another long conversation. And you don't find yourself disappointed.

"Golem... my avatar. A companion. A friend. A ally. A servant. And a leash."

"Leash?"

"To understand that, I'm going to have to go into my family history a little bit. Now, I doubt you know, but the Galliana family is of noble origins. Have been for a long time. I don't remember exactly when or why, but that is beside the point. My father, mother, two brothers, all of them believe strongly in traditions. Noble blood begets noble blood and all that. And that one should always act properly. I don't hold myself to that. I've never been one to put much stock in traditions. Of course, my family, being who they are, don't particularly care. My brother will inherit all the riches and properties, but as for me... I'm expected to marry to the benefit of the family. Honestly, not something I'm looking forward to, but in my own way, I'm well aware of my responsibilities. These little adventures are my way of living my own life, at least until father calls me back. And in my own, twisted, broken way, I created my own reminder of that."

Her avatar is suddenly behind her, silent and imposing. A leash and a friend, all in one.

"Still, I don't resent my family or what is expected of me. I have accepted my fate ever since I could understand what I was destined for. I just hope to live my own way until it's required that I live for someone else. Or at least, see as many interesting and amusing things as possible in the time I have for myself. Not that my parents actually realize I'm off fighting against evil organizations. They think I'm touring the world in search of the finest teas... or was it china?"

>>>Input Command

>Marc believed
Hmm. Hard to say if that's more encouraging or discouraging. On the one hand, it means we weren't completely snookered trusting him. On the other, it's a grim warning for ourselves. And we have no idea when it was too late. If we could have said or done something to get through to him but missed our chance, or if he crossed his Rubicon before we even met him.

Oh well. Aria's right, we shouldn't dwell.

>the rabbit hole
Jeeze. Another mirrored injury. She's compelled to fill a role you were denied. That doesn't sting... much. (Interesting the effect it has on motives, though- yours drove you to be a protector, hers, to get out there and experience what she can).

Although that in and of itself doesn't explain Golem's aloofness. He doesn't involve himself, or care, because we're irreverent to the outcome?

...we could also make a joke to try and break the tension. I can think of any number of reasons why we wouldn't meet her family's standards (American, lower class, nouveau riche, sterile, female, and oh yeah, nonexistent).

Also: interesting thought. If Aria did get a new avy the way Michelle did- would it be another leash, or something pulling in opposition?

>response
I can't decide what or who is important to you. If or when you decide you have to leave, I won't stop you. I won't even hold your memory of me hostage, if I can help it.

But, if you ever change your mind, or stop being so accepting of it, well, let's just say I'm not such a big fan of leashes. Even the ones we make ourselves. It wouldn't be the first time I've helped someone slip a leash (Cally, Cass, us with Conner, Raphael, Levi, the Warden...), or grabbed one away from someone else (we leashed Cass until we could set her free, and we still hold Chris'). Or even the first I've changed fate.

(Watch yourself. That might get Golem's attention).

Not going to sell it much harder than that (though I could) because I don't want her to take offense at being pressured, or us assuming her choices are wrong. Although if she does ask about the changing fate bit, we can go into more detail. I don't think we ever actually told her how we ended up nonexistant. (That night I called you, the night I turned against Conner. Elizabeth was supposed to die. Reality said so. She saw it. It happened- he killed her. And then I made it not happen. It's not my choice here, but I think you might be surprised just how much we can change, if you want it enough, or are willing to pay the price).

Another Observer Linda McCallahan 2013/12/03(Tue)08:42 No. 550621 ID: d77784
File 138608897851.jpg - (161.99KB , 1000x1226 , xxi3.jpg )

"I can't decide what or who is important to you. If or when you decide you have to leave, I won't stop you. I won't even hold your memory of me hostage, if I can help it. But, if you ever change your mind, or stop being so accepting of it, well, let's just say I'm not such a big fan of leashes. Even the ones we make ourselves. It wouldn't be the first time I've helped someone slip a leash, or grabbed one away from someone else. Or even the first time I've changed fate.

"Not that I'm trying to pressure your or anything. Or force my own opinion on you. It just seems wrong to me, to be constrained by what other people want you to do. Everyone should have the right to choose their own path. Ah... Now it does sound like I'm forcing my opinion on you. I'll stop now."

Aria is silent, a look of quiet thought on her face. She seems to be lost in her own mind, and you sit with her for a few minutes before starting to consider that maybe you should move on and leave her on her own. Just as you start to think about leaving, however, Aria stirs from her thoughts and refocuses on you, a gentle smile returning to her face.

"I... see. My own choice, was it? Well, if I ever feel the need to break away from my fate, I'll be sure to come calling, Ms. McCallahan. Still, I think I've used up enough of your time tonight, and I doubt we'll have much more fun just between us to. I'll let you go now. Ah... if you're going about your usual habit of finding every person you can, I do believe your little seer is upstairs in the attic, avoiding all the commotion. The last time I bumped into her she didn't seem all that pleased with all the noise."

"Thanks Aria. Just remember. If you ever need me..."

"I'll be sure to go to you first thing."

"Alright. See you later, Aria."

"A goodnight to you as well, Ms. McCallahan."

You stand and head off, offering the other woman a wave in farewell before you start another tiresome journey upwards. It takes much longer than you thought it would, in no way helped by all the people who are steadily getting even more drunk. You spot Nicole in one room, already completely smashed and brawling it out in some kind of makeshift arena. Cass is spotted as well, not nearly as drunk as you expected, although you get the impression that she's deliberately keeping herself out of the groups of people around her. Probably thinking about what you said before. Still, eventually you make it to the much quieter upper floors, and then soon after, you find your way into the "attic". The room is mostly just a few tables and chairs scattered around, and there really isn't anyone around. Still, a quick search reveals you daughter to be hiding herself away in a corner, and she turns as you approach, cocking her head curiously.

"...Mother."

The words catch you off guard, and you stare in surprise a moment. She simply waits patiently as your thoughts catch up, and you find yourself smiling happily, wrapping your arms around the girl and hugging her close to you. This feeling. You're never going to get over this feeling.

"Mother... I can't... breath..."

"Ah! Sorry, Liz. Didn't mean to. Don't like the party much, huh?"

"Much too... noisy..."

"I know. Still, doesn't explain what you're doing up here."

"Waiting."

"... Waiting?"

"Yes."

"For what exactly?"

"For you."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because they wish to see you."

Elizabeth's eye flashes with light, and then you suddenly SEE. Around you, what was once empty and devoid of life is filled with those tendrils of glowing threads. Still, what surprises you most is that seated in a chair next to your daughter is what appears to be an old man, of african descent, strumming a banjo wordlessly. He glances up at you a moment, nods his head in acknowledgment, then continues his task without comment. You continue staring in surprise, before you hear Elizabeth break into your thoughts.

"Angel. Sit."

You sit as instructed, your mind wrapping around what's going on, and then you get angry. You get very angry. You told Elizabeth to tell these types to keep their noses out of your business. And here one was, putting its nose where it wasn't wanted.

"What the hell are you doing he-"

"Wait."

The words weigh on you like a truck, and you feel yourself silenced. This ones strength of will far outmatched yours, but he keeps strumming away wordlessly. After a minute, he pauses, then turns to you, eyes simply staring at you. No, at something behind you.

"Is true then. I can't see you at all. I know you're there. Can feel where you'se supposed to be. But can't see you. Can't hear you. Can't touch or taste or smell you neither. Funny feeling, that. Still, I aim to talk to you, before the other say their pieces and start doing things they'll regret. Cause I ain't got a doubt, they start mixing themselves up in all this, and you'll make em regret getting near you. Now, you will to hear me out, little miss, or you just gonna spring off the handle and tell me you ain't got no time for ol'Jack?"

You glance at Elizabeth, who simply shrugs. She has no advice, only here to facilitate the process. The Observer notices her shrug, though, and quirks his eye in question.

"She is hearin me, ain't she?"

"Yes."

"Good. She listens to me, an I'll answer a few questions that I can answer. That seems a fair trade to me. You let her ask her questions first. I'm gonna keep right on with my weaving, if she don't mind much."

The old man begins to strum his banjo again, this time humming along, although you get the feeling now that simply playing isn't all he's doing. Still, Elizabeth is staring at you intently now, waiting patiently for you to get over your shock and say something.

>>>Input Command

>Aria
...kinda not sure how to read that reaction. I'm not sure if that pushed her away, or not. It certainly gave her something to think about.

>Observer
Well. On the one hand, they're in our business. On the other, I much prefer them coming forth and talking to you to trying to manipulate you behind your back, or through your daughter. This is an improvement.

Honestly, it looks like the warning had the desired effect.

Questions:

What do I call you, then?

Are you the one who came after my daughter? (He'll probably say no). If anything comes up about her being 'supposed' to be dead- no, she isn't. It wasn't reality's 'plan'. She only died because one of you, from outside, interfered. The Warden stepped inside reality without realizing what the consequences would be. I forgave her that. But I will not forgive any of you trying to make us pay for one of your mistakes. I already paid enough, correcting it. (We lost a friend, and a part of ourself).

(There's also the fact she's the reason you are nonexistent. Perhaps the reason you're useful to them).

Ask what it is they want of you. You know enough that you factor into their plans, somehow. I just gave my opinion on leashes. And I'm done serving masters of unknown plans. If you want my help- I want to know what you want of me. Give me something to trust.

...speaking of which, I don't much appreciate my daughter being forced into whatever an agreement in exchange for her life. What she chooses to help with or agree to is her business, but I won't have her bound, or forced, or used to try and control me. (Tricky bit here- trying to tell them off and protect her while not belittling her choice. Elizabeth is mature enough to make her own decisions, and Nicole is right that we should trust her more).

tl;dr- the terms for our (possible) cooperation are trust and information. No more manipulation.

There's also the question of what part the tears play in this. Jean obviously knew of the Observers, and had plans regarding them. And the question of what tears are. (Did they start out normal? Can people break as well as tear, or are they something else?).

And since we want information, yes, obviously you should listen to what he has to tell you when he goes to tell you.

>is Elizabeth a...?
Don't ask this one. Because, honestly, it doesn't matter. She's Elizabeth, she's your daughter, regardless of any seeds of doubt Jean may have tried to plant.

...I still think we owe her a small apology when we're done. I'm sorry. I should trust you more, but I worry, and that gets in the way.

Sooo Banjo man. I'd personally more like a friend, not an enemy, but that Marc jerk kinda burnt me pretty badly. All the worse thanks to your Warden's interferance. Cost me a friend, and my ability to be remembered.
Sooo I'm not friendly to you guys because of that. Was it a mistake? Yes. But at the same time it hurts. Doesn't help that you came after Elizabeth just to 'correct' something that SHOULD have happened, if only because you interfered-if it was just Marc with Leviathan, we might have not had such bad losses.
Now, I'm willing to look beyond that and work with you guys-I don't like the thought of Reality getting damaged worse than it already is. At the same time, I do not need more cloak and dagger crap. Be open with me and I'll do the same. Ooooor you can attack me and I'll shot you until you die or break or whatever it is gaurdians of reality do when killed.

He already seems to know we mean business, and we can't give him a telling-off directly anyway. Better cut the the chase of who he is and what he wants before flying off the handle.

>>550635
Woah, yeah, that's too much anger, and not enough questions. I'm all for letting them know how unhappy we are with they handled Elizabeth, but I want Linda in control, making a bargain, setting terms on how they deal with us, not blowing up at him. Simmering maybe, when touching on certain things, but not blowing up.

I mean, he did heed our warning, and approached us openly and directly. That's a big improvement around sneaking around and trying to manipulate us.

"What do I call you then?"

You figure you'd like something to refer to him by. You're not quite sure how well this is going to work, but even as you speak, Elizabeth is quietly repeating your question, and the Observer seems to catch everything she's saying, even over his own music playing.

"Hm. I suppose ya could call me Ol'Jack, if ya really want a name. I've got others to. Picked up here and there. But Ol'Jack'll suit me just fine."

"Are you the one that came after my daughter?"

"Nope. Ain't done nothing like that. Us Observers, we all got the same end goal, but our methods always differ, and some us just can't stand not meddling with things. I'm a part of a rather small group that just wants to leave ya alone. You'll do what ya do, and everything'll work out in the end. Still, most don't believe that. So they got me to come here an ask ya not to murder them the minute the stick their noses in your business. But I honestly don't care what ya do with them. What I want ya to do is be weary. The world is changing fast, and reality is gettin pulled right along with it. And no matter who ya ask, everyone thinks yer at the center of it."]]

"So... what is it you actually want, then?"

"For me? Nothin. Just do what you want to do. Others though... there are three factions in my opinion. The first is mine, we just want to leave ya to yer tasks. You'll fix things on yer own. The second wants to work with ya, or manipulate ya. Whichever it can. Most want to manipulate, but they're losing ground quickly. Seems yer warning was received and understood. The last wants to be rid of ya. Don't like the fact they can't observe you. Don't like the fact they can't watch ya and know ya. Be careful of them."

You pause in your questions to take in this new information. So the Observers were just as divided as any normal group of humans. How... expected. Still, it was at least good to know where you stood. For the most part.

"... And what about these tears? Where do they stand?"

The Observer's eyes narrow dangerously, and there's a snap as one of the strings on his instrument snaps. He glances at it for a moment, then sighs and places the instrument to the side.

"Tears. Tears are... an anomaly. Anathema to reality. They consume and feast upon the torn threads they create, growing stronger as they do. The are the opposite of breakers, observers, of reality itself. What they desire I cannot say, and what they truly are I can only guess at."

As he was speaking, the observer's appearance shifted from it's original to someone even older and more tired. He sighs before standing, looking slightly ill.

"I've drawn the attention of one, it seems. I'll be taking my leave before it gets here. If it gets here. Little One, I'll be coming by next week, as planned, to continue to show you what I know. Try not to let the Hunter affect you too much."

"I understand."

"Good. Goodbye... Angel, was it? We shall not meet again."

The Observer disappears from your sight, and you frown as his last words hit you.

"Teach?"

"Must learn to understand, to manipulate. No one better than Observer."

"Is that what you agreed to?"

"No."

"... Well fuck... So... anyone else want to talk to me now?"

"No. But you have questions I might be able to answer. Or we can do... Mother/Daughter things..."

Elizabeth looks a little uncertain, and embarrassed, but you also note that she seems more lucid than she had before. You find yourself smiling at that, even as you ponder what she meant.

>>>Input Command

Sooo Observers and Tears...
Any good way to deal with a Tear that you've been told?
Observers-they all SEEM human enough, but they're not right?
Are they in any way simmilar to Tears?
Anything about them I should notice aside from the fact I'm like a ghost to them?
Have they told you anything about how Breaking interacts with Reality?

The answer to her question is obviously both.

>answers through Elizabeth.
That's interesting. He couldn't perceive you at all. The Warden could (because you met outside, or in your mind, or in a dream? Or because that was right when it started?).

>you'll make em regret getting near you
>ask ya not to murder them the minute the stick their noses in your business
Okay, that may be the most interesting bit of information we picked up in that exchange.

He just told us we can murder Observers who get in our business.

Up till now, we didn't strictly know that was an option. I knew we could oppose them by not doing what they wanted, or by opposing their ends. I suspected we could find a way to bring a tear to bear if we really had to (the Observers have been shown to fear them). But power to hurt or kill them ourselves? That's new.

In general though, I approve the sentiment. If they're willing to do us the courtesy of approaching us openly when they need to, we're willing not to shoot them out of hand.

>teaching
...I suppose that's a good thing. She needs every advantage she can get, especially with the Hunter trying to use her.

Just be careful, okay? I know you won't tell me the terms, but a deal is only good so long as you believe it to be. Don't let him force you into anything you really don't want. And I'll be here if you need help.

>But you have questions I might be able to answer.
...is there something you wanted me to ask? (Half serious- laughing to yourself about trying to game like that, but honest in that she sort of seems to want to tell us something).

We could confirm what Jack told us. If one of them comes after us, or after her, we can murder em?

In light of how human the Observers are seeming (factions? Squabbling? Mortal?) asking if they start as normals doesn't seem so crazy. Ditto for tears.

I don't suppose she knows why we're so important to everybody and everything? And now her too. Every side wants a piece.

...there's also still Jacob. I still kind of want to know if he's actually a danger to her. Still trying to figure out what to do with him, but we're help back by her reaction to him, and worrying what might happen if their powers crossed wires.

>Or we can do... Mother/Daughter things...
*Slow smile* What did you have in mind?

>>550709
Having it both ways™, a recurring character trait, and now an official trademark of Lindacorp (or it would be, if we didn't have all our holding distributed and buried in layers of shell companies to hide from the government hunting us).

Also, just in case we're getting near the end of the party updates here: remember that you have to ambush Cass with cake and signing before the night is over. :V We haven't even said happy birthday yet!

(nothing wrong with getting her near the end, so she thinks she ducked the embarrassment).

"... Is there something you wanted me to ask?"

You say that half-joking, not really expecting any real response, or for your daughter to brush it off. What you get instead surprises you.

"Yes."

"... Excuse me?"

"You are excused."

"... O... k... um... something you want me to ask... Do... do Observers and Tears start as normal people?"

"Observers, some. Tears, no."

"Alright... uh... um... Why am I so important to everybody?"

"You are unknown factor. Can't see, therefore can't guess what your actions will be. If your actions can be manipulated or assured in some way, then makes future actions more likely to work."

"So, what, they want to use me to further there own aims? Easy as that?"

"Yes."

"Well then, what the hell do they want?"

"Now that, Mother, is a good question. The observers are missing an important piece, due to the Demon."

"A piece?"

"They need a new Seamstress."

"Wait. Hold on, they want a what?"

"A Seamstress."

"You mean like... makes clothes and stuff?"

"No. Weaves reality."

"... I see..."

"Questions done. Bored."

"Wha- Hey!"

"Mother-Daughter things now. It's a party, isn't it?"

For a moment, you catch a flash of lucidity in your daughters manners, and she actually displays the emotion of impatience. You find yourself smiling to yourself, even as you sigh at her for moving on without you. Well, that's the way it is.

"Alright. Let's go. I'll hang out with you as much as you like tonight. Oh! But first we gotta ambush Cass. We need to break out the cake and embarrass her by singing happy birthday!"

"I like cake."

"You'll get some, don't worry."

The pair of you head downstairs, but at the same time, you can't help but glance back into the empty room one more time. A Seamstress, huh? Now who would they want to do that...

It's been three months since the party, and by now, the entire organization has finally settled and gotten into a clockwork habit. You usually find yourself doing paperwork or helping out with training, even participating a bit yourself, now that Isaac is around. He's shown you a couple of his tricks, like using counters to put yourself in a better position instead of just dodging all the time, and you've taken to it quickly. You've also watched with no small amount of amusement as Isaac hits on Cass every chance he gets, and instead of completely shutting him out, your best friend actually attempts, rather horribly, to flirt back. Giving the guy a chance, it seems. Isaac seems perfectly thrilled, regardless of how bad she is at the actual flirting part, while you can barely keep yourself from laughing while the two do their odd little dance, although you don't pull any punches when making fun of her for it later.

Nicole is quickly being seen as the go between for you and the rest of the organization. Still, because of her duties, she's frequently making sure your orders are being carried out. Surprisingly, someone else steps in to take over as your immediate secretary. Aria seems to enjoy the her new task immensely, and while she's careful to keep herself business oriented while at work, that hasn't stopped you from spending some of your spare time with her. Little seems to have changed in how she acts around you, but her avatar, Golem, is starting to make this odd rumbling noise in whenever you come into view. You can't say it doesn't unsettle you.

Everything else remains business as usual, and that's what you expect on this particular day, when you are just sitting down in the morning to get some more paperwork done. Aria should be coming in at any moment, which is why you're surprised when Cass crashes in, looking concerned.

"Hey, Linda. You need to see this."

You follow your friend into the living room area, and are directed towards the TV, which is showing some sort of presidential address. You vaguely remember who the president is, another guy with a military hard-on, like most of the presidents. Still, you watch out of consideration for your friend, and with growing concern as the words being spoken start to hit you.

"-nswer any questions you all have to the best of my ability."

"Mr. President, are these so called 'Breakers' dangerous to the general population?"

"Based on the initial findings by the government, we believe so. We urge the public to report anything odd or suspicious as soon as possible, and to stay calm. The government has already put in place a new Division to deal with the growing threat. Again, we urge everyone to remain cal="

You tune out the rest of it, mind going into shock. That... wasn't good. Wasn't good at all. If the government was getting involved...

"Linda... that the crazy bastard, isn't it?"

You glance back up at the TV, and you spot the one person you really wish you weren't seeing. Standing behind the president is McCarthy, and the minute your eyes fix on him, you can see a smile slowly spread across his face. He knows you know. And he's thrilled.

This is not good at all.

>Is there something you want me to ask? "Yes."
Now the question is, did we actually ask it.

>Special because unknown factor? Easy as that?
Makes sense, but I suspect there's more. It doesn't explain the interest before we became non-existent, and McCarthy was definitely treating us as more than an ordinary breaker well before we broke what we weren't supposed to.

>Some observers start as normal people
Which given her particular powerset and involvement with them, means Elizabeth might well ascend some day. Which in and of itself wouldn't be a terrible thing, especially if that's what she chooses... but I hope that doesn't come anytime soon.

>A Seamstress
An obvious candidate might be Elizabeth (although their wanting her dead seems inconsistent with that. ...unless one has to die to ascend).

>President
>there goes the masquerade
>>>This is not good at all.
Fuck. Trying to keep the normals safely out of our business just got a lot harder.

Well crap. Initiate plan Media Blitz, and begin to accrue (more of) a publishing empire?