Strider

Edmond addressed everyone. "Alright. So, chaos engine...that's an internet group, in canse you did not know, has decided that they're going to blow up this building. More so than it already has been blown up. A person named Deus is leading, and wants info on Aztech's blood rituals., so...the question is, are any of you the confederate that he mentioned? It would actually help if one of you is. If you can think of something from a meeting that only you would know, I can log onto chaos engine, post it in a covert manner, and try for a deal. I'm thinking that we promise to make sure that his bomb goes off, and that he gets Aztech info, in exchange for him getting us through security, and working to evacuate civilians." Edmond pulled out his phone, and grimly navigated to chaos engine, while he waited to see if any teammate would have any info.

"Lexiel's an angel, bound by perceptions of justice. Apparently, you convinced her to set aside her ideals for the greater good at the club, and it lead to this. Fixed now, but let's try not to repeat the mistake for now."

"Hmm. I see." Marisa hadn't seemed quite like that, but he would not be a good judge, as he had only talked with for an hour. "When we return, you should go see her, and at least get on speaking terms, since she mentioned being willing to help out from time to time. She sounds powerful, and if her only crime was being drunk in the wrong place at the wrong time, she does seem prudent to have as an ally. I don't expect friendship, but without meeting in a peaceful situation, things could go south when you two inevitably meet." It was a little troubling, that the two people whom he had felt the strongest about in his short travels thus far were planeswalkers, and had met each other. It would be interesting to see what happened if he ever visited Ravnica or some other plane likely to house more planeswalkers. Edmond took a moment to send what seemed like it might be a prudent text to Izumi: "No more greater good speeches for Lexiel. That was part of problem. Done my best for now, she should be alright." He also checked the unknown message that had arrived while he was talking. "Ha." "Sure" "Lexiel, take your time, but remember, there will be people willing to help." That part had seemed, well, not lost, nut not able to be processed? Edmond decided not to push it. A first hand experience of someone taking up the torch when she could not would help his message sink in. "I'm glad though. You seem much better, and we will need that. You seem to be in less pain, which is good. I'm glad you're back." Edmond smiled beneath his helmet, satisfied with how things had gone. Begin to watch the video sent in the text.

Edmond smiled, and received a feeling of unexpected joy, rather than the surprise he thought he would have felt at Lexiel's recovery. Before responding to the angel, he spoke to everyone: "Stop! Lasers, possibly allied with magic. Izumi says the hallway is impassable, but she found a door, though it might be trapped. It might be prudent to avoid the door altogether, and go through the walls or floor however. We'll have to see what investigation of the door reveals." Edmond turned his set back to the link with Lexiel. "I understand the feeling of trying to search out one universe's secrets, only for it to be revealed that there are so many other universes to see, and that I might have the chance. It's rather amazing...if I could live a hundred more lifetimes...Ha! No point in wishing for that. Tell me... Angels are an ideal then? The pinnacle of divine justice...You changed, a moment ago, in both appearance and aura, when you realized something." She changed when she rejected Izumi's "ideals". The much of a core change doesn't occur in humans when they become convinced of something, so it must be inherent to angels. And...her changes reflect the ideals. She would not do it now, but she called down the meteors when she believed that no cost was too high to pay for the greater good. And now...that would be unthinkable to her. "I'd like to know a bit more. You seem almost...bound by what you think an angel should be. That is incredibly noble." And terrible. It might be the burden of all true heroes, but being made the servant of the people for every hour of their lives, never a moment to save themselves? That might be why the greatest heroes always seem to die young. But the heroes always have a choice, whatever they might say. They can step down, and they can rebound when they lose face or make a mistake. Being a truly obligated hero, with no choice... Edmond felt a great pity for this person who was no longer a person. "You must remember though, that you have friends, people who will take up this burden, perhaps only for a little, to give you rest. You were once human. Because of that there may come a time when you cannot help the people who need it. But you must remember. There will be people, some of the same people who you help to support, who will help you. You are not the only angel ever created, or the only hero, so do not try to tell yourself that you must stand against the world alone." Would that be what she needed to hear? It was all true of course, but the truth can be either a great pain, or a joyful elightenment, or many things in between. "Ravnica. Your homeworld. It might surprise you, but I'm familiar with the name. I've been meaning to ask since you mentioned it in passing...Anyway, I met someone on the castle ship, a mage, but the name of Marisa. She wasn't from Ravnica, but she didn't have anything particularly nice to say. However, she mentioned having a run in with the cops and the bureaucracy...perhaps you know her? She seemed nice enough, but if you know her, I would like to hear your opinion of her, and the possible other side of her story." Having gotten this question off of his chest, Edmond hesitantly performed a few small experiments with the laser traps: throwing three marbles in at the same time, rolling them in at a much slower speed, using two with different velocities to see which was targetted first, and checking on other factors of the experiment, like whether the walls were damaged after the lasers fired, and whether multiple lasers ever seemed to fire at the same target.

A little surprised, Shelly took the pokeball that was offered to her. She had expected them to recieve pokemon in an official ceremony at the Aether Academy. Why would she turn down he pokemon though? With a shrug, and a growing feeling of elation, Shelly pressed the button, and there was the signature burst of light that formed into her Axew. She knelt down, and smiled at it, happy to just be in its presence. Then with something bordering on a smirk, though it would be difficult to tell with Axew's tusks, it kicked Shelly in the leg. Not hard, so Shelly laughed it off, and grabbed Axew. She lifted her, groaning almost inaudibly at the weight. "I'd...forgotten how heavy you Axew are."

APB...a warrant of some kind. Edmond listened carefully, nodding, and paying careful attention to the tone of each sentence as he moved with the group. He picked up a few of his marbles, and tossed them out in front once more. At times, as the angel spoke on, he felt the slightest shadow of tears. Saying all this with no inflection, a forcibly dispassionate tone... Edmond was silent for a moment after she had finished. "You do d...anyone willing to make the sacrifice, willing to give their own life so that others may live theirs free from fear, is a good person. You cannot claim that because of previous actions, you did not deserve angelic status! People change, with time, and a person's situation can force them to do things they would not have. You cannot regret saving the school? Suppose you had starved on the streets, or taken a different path in life...you would not have been there, to help those people. We do the things we do in life, and no one can change them after the fact. We can try to remedy the results, but the action becomes an immovable object of the past. When you have once committed a crime, the best thing you can do, is move on, do everything you can to help people in the future." Edmond felt the buzz of his phone, but ignored it for the moment. "I will not claim that our mission can be considered a success after this. But I will ask, if we finish this mission, if we destroy the book, will this world be better off than if we had never come? I say yes. This is no excuse not to try our hardest, no excuse not to regret our actions, no excuse to celebrate a victory that was at the cost of so many lives, but all we can do, after each and every failure, is to learn, and to push onward, and try to redeem ourselves." This seemed the most prudent way to go. Guilt was a natural feeling, and trying to pretend that it could be ignored was foolishness. However, it, of course, could not be allowed to devour one's self, and prevent them from any good in the future. Edmond could see, in her final words, that she quite obviously blamed herself for what she told others was the Phyrexian oil's fault...It sounds terrifying. Supposed to be immune, but wasn't...either the pure mana, or perhaps...restrictions on her will? "Tell me little more about angels. You said that a few things could expose someone to the influence of the oil. So angels are beings of pure mana? What about the other reasons? You aren't metal of course, but do you have restrictions of mind and body? The oil...three years ago it was? Does it take so much time to corrupt? You have changed, Lexiel, in the day and a half for which I've known you. If so much could happen in that time, there must have been something to trigger this change. Remember stopping with a group of addicts to reform them on a roof while we thought police were after us? There has been a change, but the question is why...It could be the world, I suppose...I don't know if you've ever been to a place like this before..." This reminded Edmond: he hadn't asked her about Marisa, who had given him a bad impression of Ravnica. He wasn't certain whether he should try to sneak that into the conversation or not... "I will do my best to help you though. We'll try to make sure this doesn't happen again. And I will search for the names of the deceased, if you wish it, and if we survive. We can at least pay them our respects. But for now, perhaps you could tell me about your life since Mirrodin. You say you haven't 'won' a good cause...if you can, please tell me." Realizing something, Edmond turned to the sentient bullet for a moment. "I don't know your name. How should I address you?" He had saved this bullet from a dire situation, but had neglected to introduce himself. In general, as Edmond talks, he walks forward, keeping slightly ahead of Visrii, and tossing out marbles at intervals. >>>>>>>>Take pictures of George as it eats your various lab assistants....FOR SCIENCE!

Edmond plodded along in a sense, somewhere near the middle of the group. He knew he was probably making a mistake in trusting the others to properly handle danger, but this was far more important. However, just to be careful, every so often he would toss out one of the marbles he had bought at the Stuffer Shack. Those should at least activate any motion detecting, sound detecting, or pressure sensitive traps... In any case, Lexiel had some form of oil inside her, and Visrii burned it. Lexiel immediately perked up, though it seemed forced. It must be that...the oil was something to blame her problems on then... "I know, I know...I'd like to make an apology. I've made so many mistakes since we've arrived here...not making a point of sharing my vague knowledge of this world, not choosing to get the SIN for myself...I've been hesitant, and we've all payed for it. I am so, so sorry for not paying attention, not noticing your blindness. It was idiotic and has had its consequences. I'm trying now, trying to get us to finish this job, but I don't know if I can..." Edmond tossed a few more marbles out. "I need to do this right, and to do that, I need to know more, I need to be prepared. Tell me what happened, with the oil I saw, and with the comets, maybe even the full story, as you know it, of everything that has happened since you entered the Arcology. I need to know so that I can make this work."

Edmond nodded as the pieces came together. The way forward was empty. Possibly a trap, but possibly not, and it was their only option. And of course, Lexiel had the comms crystal now, and Visrii seemed to be acting far less violent and rude than what Edmond had seen from him before. Edmond braced himself for whatever impending doom would spoil his small success. They would have to move out now. To Halley, he himself said with a sigh, "We simply had to wait for Sif's recon results. We're good now, moving on, search for the elevator shaft. 'Aztech specializes in magic, so watch out, not everything can be seen' " "Thanks Visrii, I'll do my best. We're moving out now." Edmond held up his hand, gave a wave in the direction which they would be going, and began to move, going into the presumably empty hall. Now for the most important part. Edmond was uncertain where to begin with this endeavor, so he began in the simplest way possible. "Can you hear me, Lexiel?"

"Don't leave yet. We're not splitting up again." Edmond caught the crystal, and handed it to Visrii. Edmond first set the frequency of his suit radio to connect up to Visrii's main crystals. This way, he could speak for a time without others hearing. "Lexiel needs help, that much is obvious. I don't know much about magic, but we both know lies. Lexiel is either lying to prevent us from worrying, or she's lying to herself. I know a person who might know something that could help her, however, that can't be done until we're out of here. For now, I want to be able to talk to Lexiel one on one. I think that's probably best, and would allow me to better understand what is happening. To do this, I need you to give Lexiel the crystal set that you have on your armor. In order to keep in contact, you can use Halley's crystal. This way, I should be able to give the sense of privacy that might be necessary." Edmond then set up three preset channels on the radio, one to Halley, one synced in a strange manner to Visrii's armor plate crystals, and one to the spare crystal. Edmond waited for Visrii to give the set of crystals to Lexiel.

"Would it be possible to link a single crystal with the comms unit in my suit? Is your magic compatible enough to do that? In any case, we'll need the other crystal. Halley! We're going to need the comm crystal. For now, try establish a radio connection with my suit. For the most part, we can speak in the open, but in the event that we need to sneak up on someone or something, we need everyone connected to at least one other person through some form of silent communications." Edmond spoke inwardly to his suit computer. "Try to assist in establishing a connection with Halley, the AI over by the door." "And Visrii, if you can do absorb the mana without significant harm to either of you, it sounds like a good idea. Get consent though first."

"We do our job correctly from now on, and we do our best to stay alive. That's all anyone can do. When we get out of here, we can spend some time recuperating, recovering our power. I have a contact who, if we destroy the book, will be willing to shelter us until we get picked up. I need a communication device though. And Visrii, if you need magical strength, to perform some form of communication spell, I can lend you some." Edmond was uncertain if he had enough of his own magic to help. His guess was that the book which Marisa had given him was more of an assistant, opening the gates of magic in a person. It wasn't that he was somehow gaining magical power, he was simply learning how to take it and use it. Edmond pulled out the book, placed his hand upon it, and felt that frail spark that he recognized as his magic. He placed his hand on Visrii's chest, and slowly poured the strength that he could into the worn and battered figure. "Are there any communication spells which you can do with that amount of magic?"

After Edmond had driven his fist into the man's face, there was a satisfying thunk as the drones fell lifeless from the air. Edmond turned to the sentient bullet, and spoke without opening his helmet. "No time for pleasantries. I'm on your side, and we need to go. Get on my back." Edmond turned, allowing The Bullet to latch on. Edmond tested his grip, then launched off. Down the hallway, past the corpses--Edmond shuddered--, and into the pit. Rocketing past employees in a flash, Edmond was rapidly approaching a wall of solid black rock, magically created, he supposed. Edmond swerved as he approached, almost scraping against the edge of this gaping hole as he skirted the floating monolith. Down a little more, and Edmond pulled in above a small group of people heading into a floor. He cut the engines and landed. "Fancy meeting you all here" he quipped. Then, realizing that his identity was hidden, he said, "It's me, Edmond, but I won't be taking off the helmet." Edmond turned to Izumi, with a sad, unseen smile on his face. "I couldn't leave. And..." A quick glance revealed Izumi's latest text, "There is no real exit plan. We can only do our best to get rid of the book, and perhaps fly out through the rather large hole." Edmond let The Bullet off, and turned to the party. "I'd like to make a general apology. I assumed that you could perform your tasks without knowledge of this world." Of course, I thought that you would make the effort to get that knowledge if you didn't have it... "As you see, things have gone very poorly because of that. Now, we need to finish this mission properly. I suggest that whenever any of you decide that you want to do something, unless someone is actively shooting at you, ask either Izumi or myself first. Going forward, let's use the elevator shafts to get to the basement. Izumi, you have a bird, correct? Can you keep that stealthy, and out in front? Visrii, I want you in the back. You have the wall of rock which could stop anyone following us. Use it sparingly though, as we need to be able to get out through these halls. Uh...Bullet? I'm sorry, I don't know your name. You and Lexiel should remain in the center, keep an eye on Visrii. I'll be on point, though behind Izumi's bird." This didn't seem likely to work, but Edmond concluded that almost any organization would be better than the chaotic attack they had initiated. Now he needed..."What's Halley doing? We need her with us. And, I have a method of communicating with Izumi silently, which can be useful." Turning to Visrii and Lexiel, Edmond continued. "Do either of you have some form of magic that can facilitate silent communication? It may be vital, saving us a few moments before an enemy notices our presence."

Decker. For now, Edmond ignored the drones, and ignored the sound of a thousand speeding meteorites raining from the heavens. The Bullet would simply have to avoid the flying buzzsaws for another few seconds. Edmond hadn't even met this thing before, and had only seen it briefly on Chaos Engine. Angling himself towards the overweight man by the server, Edmond once more ignited the thrusters. Propelled by the furiously roaring engines, Edmond shot towards the man, tackling him out of his seat, and pulling the cables from his datajack. To finish him off, Edmond gave the man a few solid punches, pulling them slightly to avoid killing him. >>>>Slap some sense into your lab assistants, I mean it's only a Class 20 Memetic Anti Sanity Mutating Emotion Feeder, I mean sure the scale only goes up to 5.....but that is no excuse for a lack of professionalism and inquisitional spirit!

Oh. Hello, friends. I should have expected this...I don't see The Bullet down there. Makes sense that he would be up here, based on the man's wounds...I'll have to find it first. As Edmond concluded that he would have to join up with the main group at a later time, he realized something. "In the building, in robotic suit. Don't shoot if you see me." Edmond sent this off to Izumi, then, noticing the hostile guards down the hall standing around a door, concluded that the bullet was there. It seemed that they had noticed him too. Might have had something to do with the comet storm that had occurred in his general direction. Edmond made a split second decision, and launched himself directly towards the group. He accelerated, gen out in front, providing cover fire. Human instinctual fear should be enough to get them out of the way. When Edmond pulled up at the door, he leveled the gun, and attempted to blast out the door.

"Nice to meet you." Shelly said. "Which academy did you attend? Can you tell us a bit about yourself? My name's Shelly, by the way." Shelly had settled on doing her best to oppose Radovan in his attempts to make the recruit feel uncomfortable, so she had immediately launched into the only bit of conversation she could think of.

"We did that. We left a note saying that Zeta would be back soon, and that if he needed to find her, she'd be at the Academy." Shelly turned to the Aether Employees. "When we arrived here, she was already here. She seems a little naive about society, and has lived here all her life. It's kind of odd, so I think the Academy should investigate?" Shelly then took one of the energy bars, and munched on it, listening to the others.

Liliya-Servants' Quarters "Uh yeah. Liliya." She made a confused gesture towards herself. "Nice to meet both of you." Liliya unconsciously flinched at the appearance of what seemed to be a talking squirrel statue. Probably one of the oddest things she had seen today...But it was also the thing who had just brought "healing food" for Samantha. It seemed nice enough. "What do you two do? i mean, magic or fighting wise? And how'd you get the injury"

"Euhumerous... humerus is the arm bone...better not just be a pun." Edmond removed ejected the PDA, and shoved it into his bag. After a momentary scan of the room to determine whether there was anything else that might prove valuable, he--wait. Edmond stared at his visitor for a moment. How had the man gotten into the room?! he seemed to be the same man whom Edmond had noted in the Stuffer Shack, and who had been on the roof of the gun store. Either he's quite fast, to get from the Stuffer Shack to Weapons World in short enough time to set up the bomb, or he's a twin... Edmond gave a small wave. "Evening to you, too." Edmond braced himself for instantaneous action, and began to step slowly over to the door, in as composed a manner as he could manage. If the man made any sort of sudden leap or aggressive move, Edmond was prepared to have his gun up in a moment to fire. When he was at the door, he used his mirror to peer outside, then, if the hallway was clear, turned back to the Austrian man. "I wish you luck with finding clues." With that he would step out into the hall, and search for the signs of carnage that he knew the group would leave in their wake.

Liliya-Outside->Inside Under the broiling sun, Liliya began to dig, taking up shovelfuls of dirt. She wasn't nearly as fast or as strong as the others, so her work went much more slowly. After only about three minutes in the sun, she was beginning to feel dizzy. The arid wastes were nothing like her usual climate in terms of temperature, which may have been compounded with the fact that she had had very little to drink yet. "Excuse me. I'll be back in a moment." Liliya wandered back to the castle, and upon entering, immediately felt a little better. First she stopped by the kitchen, ignoring the chaotic madness of alchemical crafting occurring, and grabbed a drink. Satisfied, she left the new strange creatures behind her--they hadn't seemed hostile--and began to head back outside. She ran over, as anyone would, when she caught sight of the injured woman stumbling through the halls. There was a fair amount of blood, but Liliya had no clue what battle this red-haired woman had been in. Perhaps she was a new arrival, transported after being wounded? Or maybe just more infighting. The number of battles which had occurred during her hour or two present had been unnerving. "Shit. You need help... I don't have anything I can do. Just hang on a moment, and I'll try to get you to someone."

The roar of twin engines dissipated as dropped the final six inches to the floor. Edmond pivoted his head to look around the cubicle which he found himself in. There was a corpse; killed by blunt force trauma it seemed. Not Visrii then, it isn't his style. I'd expect more blade wounds and blood from him. Not Lexiel, I hope. For an angel of justice, that wouldn't make sense. Halley likes her blaster. Izumi perhaps? There was also that other sentient bullet thing...that would make a bit of sense. Good, no need to conclude that there's someone else here killing people in Aztech. Edmond pulled out the mirror out of his pack and peered around the corner out of the doorway. When he had observed that there was no one approaching the cubicle, Edmond turned to the computer. First he checked whether there was anything resembling external data storage...flashdrives were a thing in this era... Edmond then turned to the computer which seemed to have just exited a video call, and began to search through the files. Check computer for files, and if there is an external storage device, download the contents of any files relating to Aztech or illicit dealings.

Liliya-Smithy Liliya had scarcely passed through the arch of the main entrance when she abruptly spun on her heels and reversed her motion. With only the slightest hesitation as she recollected the direction in which the smithy lay, she returned. The room was now empty as far as she could tell, but at a glance, she found the shovels which Mar had made. She picked one up, hefted it, and then set out again, hopefully with no more delays. Hellfire Shovel obtained She approached the group, testing her step each time, to ensure that she did not fall into any pits that might already be hidden. "Hey Mar! Any place I can help dig?"

"I suppose...there's nothing else to do for now." Shelly watched as the Nexus drill landed with its characteristic disruption of the tranquility, and when Zeta and Kai had exited, Shelly left a brief message of her own before following. "Contact us at the Aether Academy if necessary." With that simple addition, Shelly felt that there was less chance of the "father" panicking when he found the house empty with a large hole in it. She followed along behind Zeta and Kai, casually eavesdropping, though she wouldn't admit that to herself. She simply thought of it as following in a subdued manner and accidentally overhearing what was said.

Liliya-Servants' Quarters "Yes, I have. He's not going to listen to me though. Mar might be able to give him a talking to? He's a veteran, so he might be more respected." A brief glance informed Liliya that the man would be fine. For a moment, she considered not helping Mar with his dig due to Andre's presumed presence, but eventually she decided to honor her commitment, and exited the castle with a brief, "I'm gonna be helping Mar with the digging."

Liliya-Servants' Quarters "Fight broke out. Masaru here was insulted by something Andre said, mind control stuff, and asked him to stop. There was more stuff, and then Masaru attacked Andre, and got the shit beaten out of him. This kid here's healing him..." Liliya gestured to the boy behind her. Yet another person who's name she didn't know. He seemed busy though, and was patching up the man quite well. She turned to the newcomer, and asked, "What's you name? I'm Liliya."

Liliya-Servants' Quarters "You might have to do heal him without consent. He just got beat up pretty well by Andre. Some sort of insult...anyway, I'm Liliya, by the way." This boy seemed to believe he had the power to heal Masaru, and, while Liliya was rapidly losing trust in the people here, he seemed nice enough, and kind.