Strider

After leaving the Armory, Ena headed outside, carrying the rifle over her shoulder. She was going to attempt to calibrate herself to the rifle. After surveying the area, feeling a bit starved for nice targets, Ena set down the gun and trudged off. When she was fifty meters away according to her internal odometer, she set up a small pile of stones next to a shrub, both of which could serve as targets. She then went on, and did the same at a hundred and two hundred yards. Returning to the gun she had left on the ground, she picked it up, fiddled with the slide and the safety until she had deduced how this gun in particular worked, and then began to take shots at her makeshift targets. Before each shot, there was a slight whir as certain motors locked themselves into place, giving her a steady control of the gun. She would take a few shots, visually zoom in on the target, and incrementally change the movements of her servos in order to hone in on her target pebble.

Ena also headed directly for the armory upon arriving. Afterwards she planned to go check out one of the computers, but for now, she was interested in the weapons available. After entering, she saw the man with the gas grab a few pistols, but that was not important. She saw a set of weapons available for her own use, and inspected a few. A few seconds to process, and then she picked up two grenades (one flashbang, one frag) and the DRM. She then headed to the entrance of the armory to go outside.

"I'm thinking we should probably ask Armsmaster first, doubt he'd appreciate us playing too much with the local villains, at least when we've got a choice. As far as trust goes, Kusuke, how much do you know about Proddy's. . . abilities? Think he would be able to determine how trustworthy she is?" Harry opened his mouth to say something else, then shut it. Being in a fast food restaurant, it occurred to him that he hadn't eaten since he'd arrived in this world, and who knew about the people back at the warehouse. He pulled out the phone that he'd gotten, and sent a text off to Mirri and Satomi. <"Hey, are you hungry? I realized I havn't eaten at all yet, and we have enough money. Be sure to ask anyone nearby.">

Ena hadn't noticed the snake before the man had stepped on it. Disappointing. However, she simply had to help how she could. "Vitor. May I remain behind and kill or distract the Taipan? Venom is no issue, but must I worry about anything else?"

"I am Ena. A law enforcement robot. But I do not police for murder, I police those who break the fundamental laws of my universe for their own gain. Priority targets include people capable of creating time travel devices/plan to use such a device too often, space warping, and certain forms of magic. I am equipped to enforce my universes laws onto any, to the extent I'm aware, whether of not they are a destabilizing force. This ability is draining, and utilizes large reserves of power. It must be applied sparingly." What else should she say? Introductions to the IFPP Board would have been simpler. Context would have been present, and terms would not require explaining. After a few microseconds, she settled on what to say next though. "Additionally. I have received calibrations for hand to hand combat, and am armored advanced titanium-steel and carbon nanoweave plates." Ena carefully pointed to the slightly disjointed segments of matte metal on her arm. "I should not fail in social situations. But they are not my focus, and others must be better suited."

"I understand." Ena stated flatly following along. "For your information, we were sent here as part of a multiversal task force. Goal is to stop creatures called trespassers from ravaging worlds across all universes. We're supposed to help prepare worlds for this incursion, that they might stop trespassers through their own strength. Our employer, DR. DOOM, stated that you were to be the last of our number."

Liliya: "Healing's good, nukes are good. So long as you aren't hitting any of us." Liliya smiled. They seemed like nice people, and useful ones. "So, uhh, I know Oppenheimer, right? Scientist guy, worked on the atomic bombs 'I am become death, the destroyer of worlds', and all that. But I'm not too familiar with Joan Crawford? Mind telling me a bit about her? And don't worry about rambling. I didn't take nearly enough history classes, but I'm definitely interested in learning."

Ena strode over to the man who they had met on this world, head rotating a hundred and eighty degrees in an attempt to search out the location of the sniper. "Overwatch Agent Vitor. You said there was a safe house to the west. Should we begin heading in that direction, once the rest have made it here? Additionally, that sniper is an ally of yours?" Hold Actions, b/c Ena has no range.

"Paying your way isn't quite how I'd put it, but I'm glad to hear we can count on that. As far as Armsmaster goes, I think we should be able to secure his cooperation. Might require a bit of bartering, maybe if you've got some info on this Coil person, or. . . How big a criminal do you think you are in their eyes? If Armsmaster isn't too keen to hand over dimension hopping tech, we might be able to leverage the fact that you'll be leaving the city?" There were logistics to work out certainly, but it seemed that this might work. So long as Proditor was capable of reading her mind, she'd be a reliable source of extremely useful information. Proditor might even be able to wipe this Tattletale's companions' minds, though Harry doubted they'd agree to that. "So, if you don't mind, who are the other options? Are they even worth thinking about if we've got contact with Armsmaster and Dragon?"

"Well, I can't deny any of that. Now, I'm curious. Will you be wanting us to take your companions off-world with us? Since they might also be in danger from this Coil person? Interrogation, punishment and the like." He gazed intently at the mind reader, curious. This would reveal a fair bit about how she treated her allies. Would she try to protect them, even if they personally didn't want the protection, or would she leave them to deal with the problem themselves? There wouldn't be any firm conclusions simply from her answer, but it could give at least a bit of info. "Since the lunch money is supposed to be ours no matter what, I'm guessing you've got a fair stash somewhere? Basically, are you okay with either spending that yourself, or letting us spend it in order to get off world? Finding someone who can get us out of here is gonna be expensive and difficult, not to mention stocking food for the trip." Immediately following this, it occurred to Harry to wonder whether the teenager knew that they were working with the protectorate, and whether she, as a criminal, cared. However, he soon recollected that she had mentioned knowing about their 'playdate' last night.

"Cool, it's been a while since Axew got to battle." Shelly reached down to the pokeball at her waist, hefted it, and then released Axew. "Hey Axew, you ready to fight? We're gonna need to take down that Crabrawler right there." Axew crouched forward, letting out a guttural growl. "No, not that one, the other one! Now go get em!" Axew seemed to find the correct target the second time, and dashed into battle. Just with a slight bit of waddle, Axew approached the Crabrawler with a gleeful glare around her tusks. She drew back her stubby arm, and swung it at the eyes of the creature. And again, with the other arm, claws out. After the first two strikes, the Axew sped up, unleashing a flurry of cutting blows on the crab pokemon, before attempting to retreat to moderate safety. Action: Scratch on the male Crabrawler, power 40.

Harry stared, not quite processing what she was asking. So he simply responded to the final remark first. "You know, the whole calling someone by their name when you don't know it thing isn't half as effective when we suspect you're a psychic, and you admit it beforehand. . . It just kind of loses some of the flair, you know?" Harry sighed. So the option was letting the girl either come with them for at least a bit, or die. She was a criminal, but that didn't lessen the guilt he expected would be felt if they didn't bring her along. "Well, why don't you tell us what the two and two you put together equals then? Might be good to give us an idea of how much you can help us. You're obviously serious about this, since you basically just made an all or nothing bet, revealing everything to your friends. A bit troubling though, that you're willing to lie to these people who seem to trust you."

"I'm willing to hear you out. Though, whether you'll admit it or not, this smells a bit like a bribe. People have a tendency to want to reciprocate when they've been given something, whether or not you call it a bribe. Pretty standard piece in the repertoire of a con man. . .I don't mean to imply anything by that." Harry's scan of the restaurant had revealed nothing, so either this place was used to this sort of thing, or anyone watching them was well trained. "So, what is this proposal? Something nice, I hope?" "And, do we get to keep the lunch box?"

As they entered the restaurant, Harry swept it over with his eyes. He was searching for anyone suspicious besides the group with the cocky teenager. If anyone spent too long--or at least longer than might be expected from the oddness of Kusuke's attire--staring at them, he would make a note of it. In a similar way, he made note of those who spent too little time staring at them. The first was the sign that someone's curiosity had been significantly piqued by them, while the second action would imply that someone was already expecting them. Either a spy, or insurance for the group they were here to meet. When they had sat down, Harry had considered leading off the conversation. He hesitated though, considering what Kusuke had said earlier. The guy's temper had been over the top, and Harry still felt what he had done was justified, but there seemed no harm in letting someone else take the lead. He could hopefully talk things over with Kusuke later, but in the meanwhile, he hoped that remaining silent would alleviate tensions a bit. And then Jun spoke, and that hope departed rather quickly. Harry couldn't help but agree with Kusuke's sentiment. His volume was far too high though. Harry peered past the individuals on the opposite side of the table, trying to determine how many people had taken notice, or might be eavesdropping behind the opposing group. Then on the pretext of glancing at the menu above where people were being served, Harry did the same thing for the people behind them.

Edmond: "Yes, we did ask the last servant we encountered whether there was a way to break them from their enslavement without killing them. I don't think there's anything special we can do to interrogate them, unless you think you could do something by just shouting at them while you fight them." It hadn't worked for him, so he doubted they would have success. "What does the NO stand for in NOPD?" Liliya: "Don't be stupid. We're here to fight people, so anything we need to know about your powers is good." It really sounded like she was one of those types who always thought they were a nuisance to other people, questioning themselves way too much. Which could actually get annoying in it's own right, of course. "So, uh, who's your persona, I guess?"

"Fine. Try to not do that though? Unless they attack us or something?" While it was obvious that Harry wasn't being serious, there was certainly a small hint of vexation in his tone. "I'm ready when everyone else is." Harry directed this towards Soma and Jun. "So. . . mind telling what you spent the last hour or two doing?" That seemed like something that would provoke a sort of 'is that any of your goddamn business' type remark, so Harry followed up with clarification. "Or, at least, is there anything that we should know?"

This actually shook Harry a bit. He had the nerve to bitch about this after what he had just pulled? But the one thing he had said was certainly true. He couldn't tell Kusuke what to do. He had no way to do so, and neither did anyone else in the group from what Harry knew. It would be best not to push this into a confrontation. "Look. I know I'm not in charge, Kusuke. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't control you." Not strictly accurate, but it was at least mostly true. "You've got to consider, you ran off, and I didn't know if or when you were planning on coming back. And even if you did, tensions would be, and obviously are, high." Harry was doing a decently good job of keeping his annoyance in check. Even though he was genuinely pissed that the time traveler had started a pointless fight, and then run off for a good two hours to who knew where, leaving everyone else to clean up in his wake, he had to consider how tired the guy likely was. Harry knew he was extremely exhausted himself, so who knew. "What's the problem with the clothes though? You understand why I wanted you to wear them, right? It's fine though. You're better than most of us were as far as standing out. . . maybe." Harry glanced him up and down, frowning at the inordinate number of zippers and belts. "Anyway, as I said, we need to be prepared for possible mind readings, and since we've got time. . . As for me, I don't think I've got anything I'd be averse to you knowing. There's small lies that I've told people over the years, but I--I hope--don't have anything that should piss you all off too much."

"You will need more than simple grenades to destroy me." It was entirely unclear to whom Ena was addressing this, as she spoke at her standard volume. Not quite a mutter, but not really loud enough for the crazy genadier to hear, even if he hadn't jumped from the rooftop. Ena continues to run.

((I'm working off the assumption that we've got at least a few minutes before the meeting starts, since the plan was to leave for Goodwill at 1:30, and I doubt we spent more than a half hour in there before going on to the meeting.)) For a second or two, Harry was furious. So the man who had started a fight, and run off for two hours to who-knows-where expected to be incorporated back into everything without complaint? He'd indirectly gotten punched in the face due in part to Kusuke. And the fight had left everyone scattered, making any sort of coherent work impossible. But, it was not entirely his fault. Satomi, and to a greater degree, Mirri, had also caused similar problems, and Kusuke hadn't had an equal chance to explain himself. Harry remained annoyed though. He'd expected more from this time traveler. Even so, he was an asset that Harry did not want to make an enemy of. "Not quite, we've got a few minutes. Could you come over here please? We need to talk--all of us--before this meeting starts." He waited for Kusuke to approach, and then walked a bit himself until they were far enough from the restaurant to hopefully not be seen or heard. "So, there's at least three things I need to say. First of all, you being here is problematic, Kusuke. We agreed to come to meet with unknowns, and said there'd only be three people. Did Proditor not tell you to skip?" Harry sighed. He had hoped to be able to rely on the ethereal to get this done. "It might not matter though, due to the second point. The person we're meeting might be a mind reader. So they would know that we didn't mean anything by bringing four people. This brings up more problems than it solves though. Before going into a meeting like this, we all need to know anything that might cause. . . problems in there. Secrets need to be on the table, if they're something that could turn us against each other." Harry glanced specifically at Soma. He didn't think Jun had somehow been eavesdropping, and Kusuke obviously wouldn't know. It was something that she would need to mention. "Oh, and the final thing. Those clothes you've got are going to stand out here. I bought more than one pair of the standard stuff here for myself, so if you're set on coming in to the meeting, please wear those, alright?"

Edmond: Immediately after the handoff had occurred, Edmond frowned. "You misunderstood me. I didn't mean to imply that you were in any way subservient, simply that since you work together with Isobel, it was necessary to at least get her opinion on the matter. Which we did. I'm sorry that I didn't make that obvious." Edmond then held the AI rather gingerly, as it began to rant at the two newcomers. Liliya: "I dunno about a place to rest, but if you asked around, they could probably find you a spot in this castle? And game plan, well again, I'm not the best person to ask. But I think there were a bunch of corrupt servant things, and there are three left that we have to defeat, to end this war. If you want actual strategy, you'd probably have to go talk to those people." She pointed towards LOTUS and Edmond, frowning. Hadn't there been more leaders? Well, there wasn't any law saying they all had to congregate together. . . She shrugged. "So you said you do healing stuff, Perlita? That's pretty cool. Magic, or tech? And what about you, Gabriel, what do you do?"

"Sounds terrible. I know how sickening that stuff can be. Took a while to get over it myself, and it was really only exposure, and knowing what to expect." Harry glanced down at the thing that Soma had created. She hadn't noticed. Somehow. Well, no need to cause problems now, so Harry said, "Shall we get going then?"

"Oh, your team got the full dose of the paranoia mist then? That must have been unpleasant. Are you feeling better now then?" Harry asked Isobel. Edmond looked pensive for a moment before responding. "I'm alright with that, so long as Isobel is. I can't make any guarantees whatsoever, and my tools and the parts I picked up in the last place are all in the castle, but I can certainly talk it over. I suppose. . . this also hinges on the assumption that you have blueprints or at least knowledge of your own design? I wouldn't really be comfortable fiddling around in a blind attempt to fix your problem." "It's probably going to require some form of multiversal comms, I expect? We'll have to ask Mar about that, I think. Even if he can't help, I think he knows most of the people who could help. Tesla and Alexandria are also options. I haven't seen any of them though, so I'm guessing they're stuck in the castle."

"What'd the stock exchange papers do, if you don't mind the question?" Following Soma's answer, Harry nodded, and headed over to the checkout to pay for his goods. He handed over a sum of money that would pay for his pairs of clothes and the book that he had picked up, and headed outside to the front of the store, waiting for Jun and Soma to exit. "So I'm thinking we get a taxi to a block or two from Fugly Bob's and discuss the game plan, in a sense, on the walk from there to the restaurant?"

"Thought it seemed like a load of self help bullshit. But if you say so, I guess. Probably not much money in the long run, and I suppose we could always use it to fuel a fire if it's useless. . . And if all our magic users are gone." Harry picked up the book, stuck it in the bag with his clothes. "So, what would actually happen if you did your thing on this book? Do you just get a bunch of extra paper? Would the words repeat? Or would it just make the paper thicker or something?"

Edmond: "Good. I'm glad to hear it." Edmond shuffled his feet a bit as he waited for the others to depart. Rather than just stand in silence, it occurred to him to ask this,"So, how did things go with you two? I'm guessing there weren't any casualties, or you would have mentioned it. Was there anything of any note?" Edmond addressed this question to both of them. Liliya: "Don't worry about it since it's a bit chaotic here. No one dead on your side then? We were scraping pretty close at the end, but that Servant, Nobunaga? Finished things up for us." Liliya turned to the man who had addressed them."I'm Liliya. And yeah, with the bigger group. I think I was still one of the later ones though, since the group already had that interdimensional castle tank thing we were defending."