#Alice Spekt

[whiskeyworen]

Okay, let's do this for all three of my Asura sisters!

Just an asura ask game

1. Do they fit well into asuran society or are they more at home with other races? How do they feel about fellow asura? Is it because of their personality or something else? Is there any deal maker or breaker? -All three sisters are very comfortable with other races. They've worked around them for years, and in one case (Miriya) is actually involved with a human. -All of them are fine with other Asura too, but they do find that the ones that rarely leave the lab, let alone leave Rata Sum tend to be... well, the polite term is 'Pompous arrogant blowhards with delusions of grandeur'. Tenna specifically dislikes those kind because they're so boring and pedantic, couched in their own biases and assumptions, with an ego all out of proportion to their actual place in life.

2. Where were they born? Did they like the place? Did they grow up there or did they move away at some point? Do they wish things went differently? -All three were born in Rata Sum. -Sonnya was the first to leave, finishing her work in Statics on portable shield generator technology, and then joining the Vigil to help protect her sisters at a distance. -Miriya left after her research got stolen by Inquest, and she 'dealt' with them while in a Death Shroud fugue. This is also the day the Order of Whispers approached her. -Tenna stayed behind for several more years, working in the Dynamics college, but the distance from her sisters and the growing threat of Elder Dragon attack, as well as the pressures of unrewarding office work weighed down on her and she nearly suffered a psychological break. At least...until a particular blood sample came across her desk, addressed from Miriya....

3. What's their family like? Are they still around? Do they like them and get along? Are there any expectations coming from them? -It's... rocky. Their parents are long since too involved in their own work; the girls have been on their own since basically ever. And with the drifting apart they did, it's left some divides between the sisters, particularly with Tenna, who felt abandoned and forgotten. Recently bridges have started to be mended, but all three have issues they need to work through.

4. How is their social life? Are they generally well liked or despised? Are they involved in any drama? Do they make more enemies or friends? Do they have any meaningful friendship or bond? -Sonnya is a recognized Vigil Warmaster, though she's stepped away from the role in recent years. Among her fellow Vigil, she's admired and honored, though that does put her at a distance from most of them. -Miriya is still a Lightbringer for the Whispers, though she's on extended mission. Basically observation. If she sees anything the Whispers might find interesting or need, she reports in, but other than they tend to leave her in the field with the Pact team she was assigned to during the Zhaitan campaign. -Tenna was alone for a long time, though she was nominally a member of the Priory for a while. It's this connection to the Priory that, in her lowest time and when she was avoided in Rata Sum for her 'experiment', that brought Cyrus to her with an offer for employment, a new home, a new krewe, and understanding. -Sonnya is lonely, but has repressed it very much. While she longs to have real friends, she's convinced most of people only associate with her because of her strength and position. The only bonds she has is with another fellow Warmaster, and with Alice Spekt, the very unusual woman who is part of Cyrus Sigismund's Forsaken Aspect crew. -Miriya has her Pact team, who were never disbanded even in spite of individuals being reassigned after the campaign. She's actually been dating a human Warrior named Kaleb for several years. There's been a few rough spots, but they love each other.

5. What's their approach to romance? Do/did they have any partner? Are they more interested in relationships with a predetermined end date or are they looking for a stable long-term relationship? Is the option of having/adopting progeny on the table? -Miriya has Kaleb. She developed a crush on him during their Pact missions, and made a move on him during a lull in events. He reciprocated, and they've been together ever since, so I guess that would be a pretty stable relationship! -Sonnya again, is lonely. She never really socialized like other people, so the idea of dating is... awkward. Secretly she wants to be with someone who'll find her beautiful. (All three sisters are short-eared, with Sonnya having the shortest, and that saps her self-confidence, given Asura society deems meaty, long ears more attractive). After seeing her sisters in their various kinds of relationships, she's slowly been warming up to the idea of finding a non-Asura. Surely, if they can be happy, so can she? -Tenna doesn't have a partner, but she's always up for flirting and teasing. She has no preference for races, though she does shy away from other Asura because of her own reputation. She's always interested in the views of non-Asura because sometimes there's greatness there, potential. Not surprisingly, she's fond of Cyrus because of his unusual views and knowledge, but whether she equates or conflates that with love is something only she knows. She does like to mess with him though. Take that for what you will.

6. Do/did they have any non-sapient companions, like a pet or a golem? If not, would they want one? -Miriya has her necrotic minions that she summons. Part of her old research was learning that, when she summoned one, it wasn't a 'fresh', blank slate entity. It remembered her and had memories from the last time she summoned it. So she treats them all as pets and companions. One even has a favorite red ball. -Sonnya doesn't have any pets or golems or anything. Though she does like cats. -Tenna recently acquired a Canthan golem she's been modifying. She calls it Gunginir, after the lance, since she equipped it with the chest cannon Cyrus keeps calling a 'Mega Beam Cannon' for some obscure reason.

7. Do they prefer to work alone or with others? Do others like working with them? Are they competitive or do they prefer that others take the spotlight? How would they fare in the opposite situation? -Sonnya usually worked alone, except when the Vigil put her on teams. She doesn't like working alone, though she's used to it. -Miriya's been on a team since forever, but can work alone. Doesn't mind it. -Tenna HATES working alone. It brings up bad memories and increases her stress level. She's only comfortable when someone else is in the room with her, even if only for banter. -None of them care about the spotlight, though Tenna hates anyone that steals her designs and tries to promote them as their own.

8. Do/did they have a krewe? If yes, describe them, their roles and tasks. If not, why? -Sonnya is a solo Warmaster. While she can get assigned to units under a senior Warmaster, or as the senior one herself, she usually is alone. Since the Vigil has started undergoing revampment now that the Elder Dragons aren't a threat, she's reevaluating her place there. - Miriya never had a krewe back in Rata Sum, but after being inducted into the Whispers, she was assigned to a Pact team who got sent out doing various missions; everything from slaying Dragon minions to investigating mysterious murders, to sample acquisitions. Her role is a bit hard to describe; she's a Necromancer, so she can bring power and muscle to the table, but she is also an ad hoc healer, using Blood magic to seal wounds or keep someone's heart pumping. The scenario she hates is as a post-murder investigator; they always want her to resurrect the victim temporarily to learn more, and it's just creepy. -Tenna is part of the Forsaken Aspect ship crew, and functions something like an engineer, but also as an inventor. Between her and her crewmate Verula, they make sure the ship works, as well as develop new and interesting combat weaponry that may or may not be sold on the market to interested parties.

9. What are their hobbies and pastimes? Do they have any natural talent or particularly strong interest that's not tied to their job? If nothing in particular, what do they do with their free time? -Sonnya's hobby is tinkering with stuff. Usually her own armor, to make it stronger, better, faster, etc. At one point she started tinkering with herself to do the same, but she's reached the nominal end of that research and upgrade cycle. At least till she finds something new to integrate into her designs to make another upgrade. She also likes secretly going shopping for 'pretty things'. Which she knows is embarassing because she's a Guardian usually in heavy armor, and she's worried what people will think if they catch her adoring a frilly outfit. -Miriya just likes going on adventures. Outdoors stuff. She wants to see new things, and experience them with her friends. -Tenna is all about experimentation without limits. She won't go as far as the Inquest, who experiment on OTHER living beings... but she will (and has) absolutely Dr Jekyll herself to see what will happen. That used to be risky, but since she's been... changed... she knows that no matter what, she'll come back fine. It'll just hurt a bunch.

10. Is there anything they're terrible at and shouldn't be trusted with? Just how bad are they at it? Why? Has it resulted in any serious damage? -Miriya - Tries not to use her Death Shroud anymore. The endorphin rush and giddy feeling she gets when its power runs through her is addictive in the extreme. It's like a drug, and she actually goes through withdrawl if she's used it for way too long. Once was enough for her in that state. -Sonnya - She's terrible to herself. In spite of her accomplishments and successes, she always finds herself lacking. - Tenna works with explosives a lot. She's been blown up. Multiple times. Not that it bothered her. But Cyrus has asked her not to building city-cracking bombs on his ship. She can DESIGN them all she wants... but no manufacturing by her own hand. Just in case.

11. What was their education like? Did they go to Splorg's Metamystics Labs or somewhere else for their early education? Did anyone mentor them or take them for an apprenticeship/internship? Did they get admitted into one of the Colleges? If not, what path did they take and why? -Sonnya went to the Statics college and specialized in refining magical circuitry and micronizing designs of things. Like taking a power core that normally is bigger than an Asura, and making one that can fit in your pocket, but has the same energy capacity. -Miriya was part of Synergetics. She enjoyed the open theory concepts suggested there, and had been working on a specialized golem mining tool before it got stolen by the Inquest, along with all her research. That soured her to it, and she left and never came back. -Tenna is of Dynamics. She always wanted to design and create new, unusual things of all varieties, though her time at the college left her just floundering in paperwork with no actual in-practice inventing. That's changed since she's joined Cyrus's crew, since he gave her carte blanche to invent (well, mostly carte blanche. He has reservations about certain avenues), and she's thankful to him for that. Life is fun now.

12. If given the chance, would they take the position of professor in one of the Colleges? Or would they prefer to become someone's mentor? What would they teach? Would they be a good teacher? -All three: Not a chance.

13. What's their field of research of choice? Are they're pursuing it or is something else taking priority? If they don't have one or more, why not? -Sonnya : miniaturization of magical circuitry and shield generation technology, as well as merger of sentient being with mechanization. She's found interesting new technologies in Cantha that opened her up to new ideas. -Miriya : Study of magical minions and whether they have sentience of their own, or if it comes from their master... as well as some dabbling in the tech industry. But that was just for marks. -Tenna: Demolitions and biological engineering technologies. Bigger, better explosives or explosive-like items, and how to 'improve' individuals. The Chak interest her greatly, with their absolute control over their entire genetic structure.

14. Do they consider themselves intelligent by asuran standards? Can they call themselves a genius? Is it an opinion shared by others or do they just have a big ego? -Sonnya : doesn't care. That was never her goal. -Miriya: Wanted kudos, but realized anyone could steal them in a heartbeat and ruin your life. -Tenna: Considers herself a genius, but doesn't demean others if they aren't on her wavelength. Finds inspiration in others, and so will listen to the silliest ideas...because they might not be that silly.

15. What's their job? Are they good at it? Are they happy with it or do they wish for a different one? Did they change careers at any point? -All three have changed roles as time went on. These days, they're finding their way in a changed world, but it's a good experience.

16. What's their greatest achievement? Was it an invention, a discovery or something else? Did they get any recognition for it? Was it part of their goals or is there something else they're aiming for? - Sonnya - Using her at-the-time upgraded armor and new magical implant technology (she's made better since), managed to tank a full-force handslap from one of the last Shatterers. The armor feedback broke a bunch of bones and left her laid up for a while, but she survived, and has since gone on to improve her designs. - Miriya - during her schooling to be a Necromancer, in the final trials, she accidentally delved deeper into Death than her fellow students, and came back marked by the experience. It didn't really change her, but the facepaint-that-isn't-facepaint and her eerie catlike eyes when she gets serious are visual signs of the change. - Tenna - A tie between two things: Her personal work on the blood sample that was sent to her by Miriya, which lead to the Serum she took as a desperate experiment... which lead to her being nigh-unkillable, at the cost of her sanity. The other thing is the construction of the Forsaken Aspect, her current home and possibly one of the scariest ships in Tyria for the amount of firepower it COULD put out.

17. Have they ever earned a title or honorific? Do they like it? Are they aiming for a specific/different one? -Sonnya - Went down in the Vigil records as a hero for saving others when she tanked that Shatterer slap. - Miriya - The Rata Sum school for necromancers has her listed as one of the few to receive the blessing of Death Itself, in the form of the Demon Masque, which lets her sense and see the flow of life and death energy in the world around her. -Tenna - No title or honorific... though some still whisper about how 'She still lives', due to her experiment and the number of things that should have killed her but didn't.

18. Can they use magic? If yes, do they use it for anything practical in their job? If not, does it bother them? -Sonnya is a Guardian who specialized in the faith fire and shields. Her faith doesn't come from a belief in Gods or anything; it's her unyielding will and determination that powers her fire. -Miriya is a Necromancer. So she can use all kinds of dark magics, though she specializes in Minion mastery. She can use blood magic, but it wasn't her major in school. - Tenna wasn't originally magic. She still technically isn't. but the Serum she took infused her with a kind of strange magic. It only kicks in if she gets injured though. Regeneration, things like that. She'll likely never see Death, since her body will just yank her back when it starts to regenerate. Grenth would be very annoyed at her.

19. What do they usually wear? Is there any particular quirk to their outfit of choice? Does it show their status or is it merely practical? -Sonnya used to wear heavy armor that was filled with all kinds of tech goodies like shield generators, projectors, and basically all kinds of powered armor stuff. But she's moved past that, since her technology is now directly integrated with her, under her skin and in her bones and muscles. So she wears lighter stuff now. You can afford to do that when you can make your skin armor-hard. -Miriya likes lightweight but economical clothing. No capes or trailing stuff... just a simple, but interesting clothing design. - Tenna changes her outfit on daily basis. Sometimes it's a lab coat. Other times it's a jacket made of living plant that connects to her nervous system and hardens to a consistency more like Deldrimoor Steel than plant matter when struck. It's based off Nightmare Court plant clothing, which feeds off its user to give it strength.

20. Has any experiment (or experience) blown up in their face? Did they learn anything from it? Would they try again? -Sonnya learned that she needed to mesh her implants more intrinsically with her body, rather than just on the surface. She also learned she needed to reinforce her bones and muscles and organs to make proper use of them. - Miriya never had an experiment blow up in her face, but she got experience in field Blood Mage medicine when she had to manipulate blood and flesh to seal a would-be fatal wound. (It helped that her team's mesmer used illusion to create a framework for her to 'grow' the blood vessels into, while keeping the patient alive. As she regrew the subject's actual flesh, the mesmer reduced the illusion, until all that was left was a scar. -Tenna worked with explosives. Yes. They blew up. Most of the time in her face. Not that that ever bothered her, after her Serum. She finds it funny, in fact.

21. Have they ever been experimented on or personally taken part in an experiment? Was it willingly or not? What do they think about it? -Tenna is a WALKING EXPERIMENT. She willingly took her own experimental Serum, which, while it offered her unnatural and unreal regenerative abilities, far above and beyond what is sane... also reduces her to a flesh-craving ghoul until she has gorged herself. And she's entirely okay with it. She's also worked on a variety of weapons and explosives that, yes, blew up in her face. And then she pulled the bits out, had a bite to eat, and went back to creating MORE. She's been shunned by the Arcane Council for the biological 'horror' they view her as. The Inquest is interested though... but they never seem to report back to base when they go after her. -Sonnya experimented on herself with magitech. Her body is laced with personally designed magitech cybernetics, though you'd need a microscope to see most of them, she's refined the process so much. Her experiment is patently illegal by the Arcane Council, so... she doesn't talk about it. Definitely doesn't tell THEM. - Miriya, has, to current knowledge, not been part of any experiment. To her knowledge.

22. Have they ever done something awful/unethical, be it in their personal or professional life? Do they regret it or at least recognize it as such? Does it still affect them in any way? -Sonnya implanted herself with cybernetics. She turned herself into something between Iron Man, and a Halo Spartan, though she doesn't know those exist elsewhere in the Mists. (Cyrus knows though.) -Miriya massacred an entire Inquest base in a Death Shroud rage, in response to their sacking of her lab. Every time she uses the Shroud for too long, the addiction to using it grows. She gets reckless, extremely violent, and hard to reason with. Only when her rage passes, or something breaks through the haze does she go back to normal. And the withdrawl from the Shroud leaves her shaken. -Tenna... designs weapons. Terrible weapons. Things that someone like Bangar would have liked to have had. Things that Joko wishes he'd had. In addition, her Serum causes her to crave flesh to devour to make up for the energy used in her regeneration. She will always regenerate, but the COST grows with the severity of the injury. And her sanity starts to fail after a certain level of injury/hunger. She might be an Engineer who uses pistols and rifles, but if she goes into Hunger mode, she tends to rend things with her bare hands. And her nails are very, very sharp.

23. Given the history between their races, what do they think of skritt? Are they still a threat or is there a chance of cooperation? -Sonnya doesn't mind them. They were never any kind of issue for her. -Tenna finds them amusing as hell, and really does want to see what an entire ship's worth of Skritt will accomplish. Cyrus, however doesn't. He doesn't want something built that could rival the Forsaken Aspect. -Miriya finds them a minor nuisance, but admits they can be cute too. And she admires their sneakiness.

24. Do they have any particular opinion on the Peacemakers and the Arcane Council (and Eye)? Do they have any direct experience with them? -Sonnya moved away to get away from Rata Sum. She didn't care for the whole office politics thing. So she joined the thing that'd drive them away from her the most; the Vigil. -Miriya knows there's crooks on the council. She can't prove it, but she knows they're there. They might even be responsible for the theft of her research. -Tenna does not care any MORE. There is literally nothing they can do to her that could make her care, and it'd be in their best interests to ignore her and NEVER bother her. She's persona non grata in Rata Sum anyway.

25. Are they (or anyone they know) part of the Inquest? How do they feel about the infamous megakrewe? -Easy. To varying degree, they all want to destroy Inquest. Sonnya doesn't like them. Miriya despises them. Tenna wants to drop a Thaumareactive bomb into each base and Rata they are in. (Cyrus refuses to let her do that, though he would let her drop conventional bombs and missiles and plasma cannon shots on them. He doesn't like them either).

26. How much does the Eternal Alchemy matter to them? Is it something they want to understand or do they not care at all? -Sonnya wonders if the Alchemy is bigger than anyone suspects. She's seen things... -Miriya acknowledges the Alchemy; in her near-fatal training, she actually met the entity the humans call "the Judge". He's the one that gave her the Demon Masque mark. -Tenna is interested in it, but from a strictly scientific view. She wants to know if there's more to it, like Sonnya, but she's actively doing research on it. More than once she's sat and listened to Cyrus talk about where he's from, and the sheer differences between Tyria and there. It's definitely ended her Tyrianocentric view of the world.

27. Have they been impacted by that whole Pact thing? What do they think of the First Pact Commander, Aurene and the whole Elder Dragon mess? -Sonnya and Miriya both served the Pact in various respects. Tenna was 'on sabbatical', at least up until the Mordremoth campaign, when the Priory reluctantly called her back to service. That... didn't end well. -The only one who might have met the Pact Commanders (my storyverse, there's multiple commanders, at least two per race, plus a few picked up in Elona and the far Shiverpeaks now) would be Tenna. That's just because of the times Cyrus's business dealings have brought them within range of them. She met the Elonian Commander, Duncan, once for sure.

28. How do they feel about Cantha and their technology? Is it interesting or an affront to asuran genius? -Sonnya and Tenna are intensely interested and don't feel an inch of jealousy. If anything, it inspires them to improve their own stuff, possibly incorporating this new technological base. -Miriya just doesn't really care one way or another.

29. Do they have any interest in returning to the Depths of Tyria? Do they think asura should go back to their lost cities in the Depths to rediscover lost knowledge, or should they be fine with life on the surface? -While the draw of lost knowledge would interest at least two of them, they overall view that 'lost knowledge' as out of date and obsolete now anyway, so... no.

30. Free space for 3 pieces of trivia about your asura -Sonnya is tall, and broad for an asura, and is the oldest sister. She has some meat on her, compared to her sisters. Her ears are the shortest, which is a confidence killer for her. - Miriya is the middle sister, but is both fine-boned, and short. She struck out on the genetics in that regard, and she too has short ears, but doesn't care. She wasn't interested in other Asura anyway. -Tenna is the black sheep of the family, who got the weird combination of genetic features; She's as tall as her oldest sister, but is slim like her middle sister. Which means she's tall and scrawny when you compare them all. And though she shares the same facial markings as them, she got her coloration presumably from the other parent; where her sisters are lighter skinned with darker tone markings, Tenna has darker skin, with lighter markings. Her orange-gold eyes also stand out compared to the green and blue of her sisters.

Just an asura ask game

1. Do they fit well into asuran society or are they more at home with other races? How do they feel about fellow asura? Is it because of their personality or something else? Is there any deal maker or breaker?

2. Where were they born? Did they like the place? Did they grow up there or did they move away at some point? Do they wish things went differently?

3. What's their family like? Are they still around? Do they like them and get along? Are there any expectations coming from them?

4. How is their social life? Are they generally well liked or despised? Are they involved in any drama? Do they make more enemies or friends? Do they have any meaningful friendship or bond?

5. What's their approach to romance? Do/did they have any partner? Are they more interested in relationships with a predetermined end date or are they looking for a stable long-term relationship? Is the option of having/adopting progeny on the table?

6. Do/did they have any non-sapient companions, like a pet or a golem? If not, would they want one?

7. Do they prefer to work alone or with others? Do others like working with them? Are they competitive or do they prefer that others take the spotlight? How would they fare in the opposite situation?

8. Do/did they have a krewe? If yes, describe them, their roles and tasks. If not, why?

9. What are their hobbies and pastimes? Do they have any natural talent or particularly strong interest that's not tied to their job? If nothing in particular, what do they do with their free time?

10. Is there anything they're terrible at and shouldn't be trusted with? Just how bad are they at it? Why? Has it resulted in any serious damage?

11. What was their education like? Did they go to Splorg's Metamystics Labs or somewhere else for their early education? Did anyone mentor them or take them for an apprenticeship/internship? Did they get admitted into one of the Colleges? If not, what path did they take and why?

12. If given the chance, would they take the position of professor in one of the Colleges? Or would they prefer to become someone's mentor? What would they teach? Would they be a good teacher?

13. What's their field of research of choice? Are they're pursuing it or is something else taking priority? If they don't have one or more, why not?

14. Do they consider themselves intelligent by asuran standards? Can they call themselves a genius? Is it an opinion shared by others or do they just have a big ego?

15. What's their job? Are they good at it? Are they happy with it or do they wish for a different one? Did they change careers at any point?

16. What's their greatest achievement? Was it an invention, a discovery or something else? Did they get any recognition for it? Was it part of their goals or is there something else they're aiming for?

17. Have they ever earned a title or honorific? Do they like it? Are they aiming for a specific/different one?

18. Can they use magic? If yes, do they use it for anything practical in their job? If not, does it bother them?

19. What do they usually wear? Is there any particular quirk to their outfit of choice? Does it show their status or is it merely practical?

20. Has any experiment (or experience) blown up in their face? Did they learn anything from it? Would they try again?

21. Have they ever been experimented on or personally taken part in an experiment? Was it willingly or not? What do they think about it?

22. Have they ever done something awful/unethical, be it in their personal or professional life? Do they regret it or at least recognize it as such? Does it still affect them in any way?

23. Given the history between their races, what do they think of skritt? Are they still a threat or is there a chance of cooperation?

24. Do they have any particular opinion on the Peacemakers and the Arcane Council (and Eye)? Do they have any direct experience with them?

25. Are they (or anyone they know) part of the Inquest? How do they feel about the infamous megakrewe?

26. How much does the Eternal Alchemy matter to them? Is it something they want to understand or do they not care at all?

27. Have they been impacted by that whole Pact thing? What do they think of the First Pact Commander, Aurene and the whole Elder Dragon mess?

28. How do they feel about Cantha and their technology? Is it interesting or an affront to asuran genius?

29. Do they have any interest in returning to the Depths of Tyria? Do they think asura should go back to their lost cities in the Depths to rediscover lost knowledge, or should they be fine with life on the surface?

30. Free space for 3 pieces of trivia about your asura!

[whiskeyworen]

Alice Spekt, the incarnated version of the A.I. of the Forsaken Aspect.... has made landfall in Cantha. Frankly, she would have survived that crash physically...but it might have taken a while for her neural circuitry to sort itself out. I’m sure the life support unit, given that it’s magic-based, probably helped with that. Though, I do imagine that her impact on the beach at high speed like that would be more like firing a cannon at it; she probably skipped a few times, plowed through a boulder or two, before finally landing there on the beach. Rama probably didn’t notice the additional environmental damage, when compared to the wrecked airship too. Easily missed. When she wakes up... oh, she’s gonna be mad.

[whiskeyworen]

Cyrus - Caveat Venditor

Cyrus and Alice stood at the bottom of the Tribune's Walk in the Blood Citadel, patiently waiting. They had an appointment, but it seemed that the appointment had been delayed slightly; apparently a good amount of the Dragon's Watch guild had shown up to talk to their contact.

He rubbed his nose, thinking about that particular guild. It was made up of all the Commanders from the Pact. Or were they former Commanders? Did they even work with the Pact anymore, or were they free agents now? Heck, had they ever been in the command structure to begin with? He'd heard some rather remarkable and terrifying things about that group.

It's not every day you pass in the hall with half a dozen of the most powerful people in Tyria.

A small yawn drew his attention, and he glanced over at Alice, who demurely covered her mouth. At his raised eyebrow, she shrugged and chuckled. "....it is a bit boring being here."

"I suppose." He admitted. Glancing around, he caught one of the nearby guards staring at him. "....Problem, Centurion?"

The guard said nothing, but tensed a bit. Both of them could see his fingers flex, the sharp claws at the ends of the gauntlets singing as they brushed each other. "....Just wondering why the Imperator wants to see a pair of humans."

There was a breathless pause, before Cyrus replied. "For one, it might be above your pay grade Centurion. Don't you think?"

It was clear the charr didn't like to hear that, as those slowly flexing claws began to form a fist. Alice picked up the slack and added "We're merely part of a merchant guild. Perhaps the Imperator wishes to order some specific personal goods? Ones that are...off the record?"

Her tone of voice implied several things, the most important being What the Imperator wants the Imperator gets, and you will not question further. The Centurion seemed to pick up on that, as he made a dismissive huff and turned away, keeping his back to them.

"....Pleasant fellow." Alice remarked, rubbing her chin. She shot Cyrus a glance and winked. He could only chuckle silently. Alice was very very good at sarcasm these days. It was... actually relaxing for him. There was a kinship of thought there.

Before Cyrus could say anything though, whether a joke or anything else, the enormous iron doors swung open, disgorging a rather large group of people. Stomping ahead in a grumbly glower was Tribune Brimstone, followed closely some of the Commanders. As in, 'Commanders of the Pact', Commanders.

Commanders of Dragon's Watch, Commanders.

Of the Commanders trying to keep pace with Rytlock, a couple seemed to be trying to calm the charr Tribune down. All the others seemed to be either deep in thought, or had a resigned, long-suffering look on their faces. At least... on the faces he could see.

That was the thing about the Commanders; except for the newest ones to join, most of the old-blood Commanders -- the ones from the Zhaitan war -- were incredibly hard to describe. They had tremendous presence, a literal aura of power that made you want to step back and stay out of their way (unless you were stupid), but they were otherwise non-descript. Most of them wore helms or masks that hid their true features, but it was rumored that there was at least two or three Commanders from each major race.

One of the newest Commanders was a recruit named Duncan, a man the others had encountered during the hunt for Balthazar. He was Elonian-born, and still looked out of place among his guild; his desert garb and casualness seemed at odd with the others.

It was Duncan who paused for a moment as the others passed, and looked over to Cyrus and Alice. He gave a bit of a tired shrug, and thumbed up at the open doors at the top of the walk. "....Looks like he's all yours. Might wanna be careful though; that Bangar seems to be in a bit of a rotten mood."

"Much obliged. We'll walk carefully." Cyrus nodded respectfully. "Not to be forward, but I hope in the future I can do business with or help Dragon's Watch, in some way."

Duncan blinked, surprised. "Oh!... Well, we normally get stuff from the Pact but... I'll mention it to the others.  When things calm down." He looked them both over, frowning. "...Do I know you from somewhere?"

Alice answered for Cyrus, saving him from having to make an excuse. "We regularly deliver materials to the Vigil, and to Lion's Arch. You may have run into us there? We're usually docked at Dock 43. We have a few contacts among the Orders, so..."

The Elonian Commander crossed his arms, still mulling their appearances over. "... Hey, were you also involved in our assault on Kourna? And when we took down Kralk?"

"We were. Most of my team was on the ground in both cases, though I was on my ship during Kourna." Cyrus frowned at the memory. "I couldn't go fight on the ground because of being human. So all I could do was fire on plague ships along with the pirates."

"Well, those efforts were appreciated, my friend." Duncan slapped his shoulder in camaraderie. "I'll definitely mention it to the others. But you better hurry before Bangar gets all pissy."

With that, he said his goodbyes and ran off to catch up with the rest of his guild, while Cyrus and Alice started to walk up the Walk.

"...He was a nice guy, for a Commander!" Alice mused.

"Yeah. He didn't have that same aura of 'stand back' that that Norn in his guild did."

"He was also pretty cute..."

"Alice.... please don't hit on the Commanders..."

At the top of the long iron ramp, they stepped into the Blood Imperator's personal office. A broad view of Grothmar Valley, and all its emplacements was easily viewable from that office. It was the perfect place for an Imperator to command his troops.

Bangar wasn't alone in his office, of course. There was a pale-furred charr there as well, but Cyrus had no idea who she was, nor any interest. Instead, his eyes were on the back of the proud-looking, heavily armored Charr standing before the porthole windows.

Neither he nor Alice announced themselves, nor did Bangar turn around to greet them. Instead, after a few tense moments, the pale charr coughed into her hand, before making an introduction. "Imperator Bangar Ruinbringer, the representatives of the materials guild have arrived."

"Thank you Crecia." The Imperator replied courteously, before turning around. He seemed about to greet them, but his eyes narrowed slightly as saw who was standing there. "...I apologize; I was of the understanding that you had a charr team member. I naturally assumed you would have sent them instead to treat with me."

"We do have a charr on staff. But she is..." Cyrus paused, looking for a term. "Persona non grata in her Legion. A Legion who's Imperator is also present, and down on the fields right now."

"Oh?" Bangar seemed amused. "This is a problem?"

Alice nodded. "She is of Iron Legion. I'm sure you're well aware of Iron Legion protocols for those who leave disgracefully."

"Ah yes, I can see the issue." He chuckled darkly, eyes never leaving them. "Hmmm... So Smodur isn't fond of her then?"

"Iron Legion Protocol." Cyrus replied flatly. "No weakness in Iron. And those Smodur deems weak are defects in the Iron. You make Iron stronger by stripping out the defects."

"That does certainly sound like my old...friend." Bangar chuckled ruefully, prowling out from around the desk. Both visitors noticed how proud, and sure-stepped his gait was. He could have cleared the desk in a few swift steps, but he took his time, paws clasped behind his back. "I wonder how many loyal warriors he's put to the sword, all because they disagreed with his tactics?"

Cyrus offered a dismissive shrug. "Not my particular concern, nor that of my crewmate. But in any case, she won't be participating in the ...festivities." He gave a handwave at the semi-organized chaos of the Charr Legion gathering. "There's only one reason and one reason alone she'd ever come down, and I doubt you would ever want that to happen. It might... bring ruin, if I may use a pun."

That made the old charr's ears twitch, and his lip quirk in a bit of a smile. "Well now, I agree with that. It would be such a shame if the fun was disrupted by less-than-amicable contact."

"Then perhaps we should get to why you requested our presence?" Cyrus asked. He pulled an asuran dataslate out of his belt and flicked through it. "We recieved your initial request. Supplies and the like. We offer a fair deal because of ease of transport, but we have strict limits on what we transport. We just wished to make a final confirmation of the items before we begin anything."

Bangar's smile widened, though the expression didn't match his narrowed eyes. He picked up a sheaf of paper from the desk, making a show of sliding an armored claw down it, as if reading it for the first time.

It took everything he had to keep Cyrus from rolling his eyes. Come on... he thought in exasperation. Like you don't know what's on your own request forms. You can play this up all you want, but it's all so fake.

"....Ah yes. Here it is." Bangar pretended to 'just' find the particular line. He didn't read the sheet aloud. Instead he let the silence linger.

Cyrus had seen power plays like this before. Bangar wanted him to react, whether it was to ask what the request was, or to show impatience. Anything. It was a way of showing dominance. A way to show who really was the Big Dog.

He had absolutely no interest in playing along, so he merely stood there, waiting patiently, with his usual empty, tired expression. Occasionally, he flicked a tab on the slate, opening up other windows, other files. Two can play this, old man.

Eventually, Crecia coughed into her fist again. Bangar's superior smirk faded slightly, and he seemed to rouse himself. "Oh, terribly sorry. I believe you wanted to know what the order was? My deepest apologies. I was lost in a train of thought for a moment there."

"It's quite alright, Imperator." the bespectacled human replied, adjusting his glasses. Much to Bangar's annoyance, the adjustment tilted the lenses in just such a way as to catch the sun's rays, hiding his eyes. "I understand that happens to all of us who live to a ripe old age."

That rankled the Imperator; Cyrus could see it in the way his fur wanted to stand up. It must have taken quite a bit of self-control and willpower to only let it rise a little, and Bangar hid it well by shifting his weight. "So I'm given to understand. Luckily Charr live significantly longer than mere humans."

"And may you continue to have a long and illustrious life, Imperator." Cyrus smiled benevolently. "Now, as to your order?"

"Ah yes. That." The Charr warlord idly tossed the sheaf of paper aside. "Crecia will have all the details and numbers, but sufficed to say, I'm looking to purchase various goods. Food. Metals. Wood. Various sundries."

Cyrus nodded. This was no surprise. He'd expected an order like that, and it did match what was on his slate. Even if Bangar was being very vague about it. "That won't be a problem, I believe."

"-- machined parts, large and small. Rifles, pistols, various weapons as outlined in the order..."

That set off an alarm bell in Cyrus's head. Something was off; there was metal in the order, but not machined metal. Especially not weapons. They had a very strict policy about the sale of weaponry. This was an unexpected wrinkle; a glance at Alice confirmed it. "... With respect, Imperator. We do not provide machined goods, especially wargoods. We supply the materials, but it is up to the clients to turn them into the finished goods they desire."

"Oh, but these are for the continuing days of the festival!" Bangar spread his hands magnanimously, indicating their surroundings. "Charr festivals are unlike lukewarm human festivals. We revel in proving ourselves in things like the Ooze Pit, in our target practice on the firing range. We gain camaraderie by facing down dangerous beasts alongside our fellow Legions." His smile curdled a bit. "We even have... music...of a sort... that the younger Charr work out some of their frustration with."

That made Cyrus smile a bit. "Oh I'm very familiar with Heavy Metal music. Rather a fan. I'm going to be getting a copy of Metal Legion's album, once I sell them an audio recorder unit."

"Of course, to keep the festivities going, we require those supplies. Rifles and parts for the shooting range. Spare swords and other melee gear, as well as armor, for the Ooze Pit contenders." Bangar offered a cool smile. "Gladium can hardly prove themeselves if all they have is their bare claws."

"That may be so, Imperator..." Cyrus nodded reluctantly. "But as my companion stated, we do not provide those particular goods. We can supply you the materials to make them, but it is up to you to forge them into what you need. I understand that the Iron Legion Imperator is here at the festival as well?  Perhaps you can make an arrangement with him?"

The chilly smile on Bangar's face got a little bit colder. "It is always such a pain to deal with Smodur. There's always a give and take."

"Then I'm afraid you are quite out of luck." Cyrus turned and began to leave. "We'll fulfill the order as best we can, but weapons and armor are not part of it."

"....I knew I should have been dealing with your Charr crewmate." Bangar muttered, deliberately loud enough for everyone to hear. "Humans always retreat, backpedal and decline. You're so weak."

Cyrus had his hand on the large iron door, when he heard that. He paused. Beside him, he could hear the leather of Alice's gloves squeaking as her hands tightened into fists. "Is that what you resort to, Imperator? Racial insults?"

They both turned away from the door, and reapproached the self-satisfied Imperator. Off to the side, Crecia was pretending not to see or hear anything. This wasn't something she wanted to be part of.

"Why don't you tell me what you really want then, Bangar?" Cyrus asked softly, but with venom in the last word. The drop of the honorific was important. "I somehow get the feeling your request is a false one, to cover up another."

"Oh, so the human has some nerves. Good. Maybe this won't be a waste." The Imperator spoke theatrically, stepping behind his desk and sitting down. When he was good and comfortable, claws steepled in front of him, he indicated the humans. "...I want your airship."

The silence was long, and loud. Crecia found herself holding her breath; she knew nothing about this request for an airship. What was Bangar doing? Trying to cause an incident? Another one?

"....I'm afraid I didn't quite hear that." Cyrus admitted. He gestured mildly at his small, human ears. "Humans have rather poor hearing. Perhaps you could speak a little louder?"

"...so those at the back can hear?" Alice muttered, expression hard.

"I said... I want your airship." Bangar scratched an itch on his neck with a single claw, looking at them a kind of annoyed, tired distraction. "I have need of an airship, and as yet the Pact will not sell me one. As I mentioned before, I hate having to deal with Smodur, so making a purchase through him is not possible. And here you have this lovely, powerful airship just floating near my Keep. Forget the order of weapons and armor; I want to procure your ship."

"That ship is NOT. For. Rent." Alice hissed, stepping forward. Only Cyrus's signal stopped her from crossing the line.

"...as my companion has stated, the Forsaken Aspect is not available for 'renting'. Nor is it available for purchase." He shook his head. "I'm afraid you'll have to go through proper channels if you wish for an airship from the Aerodrome. My understanding is that it'll be a long wait, since the last few conflicts have depleted the fleet a fair bit. There might be a line."

"Then....perhaps I will just take this... Forsaken Aspect off your little human hands then." Bangar replied magnanimously, tapping his index claws together lightly, so the armor sheathing them tinged and sang. "You no longer have to worry about having a ship, and I will have an airship. Problem solved."

"Are you threatening me and my crew, Bangar?" Cyrus's eyes narrowed sharply. The rage he was feeling wasn't the scalding hot of wrath. It was as cold as winter ice and intensely focused. He didn't even need to look at Alice to know she was feeling the same. Maybe even more. The sheer gall of this charr...

"Oh, no. Nothing of the sort. I'll ensure that they're escorted off safely once my team has secured the vessel." The Imperator was looking quite proud there. Like the cat that ate the canary.

Cyrus's laughter broke that expression immediately. That was not quite the response he was expecting. The human was actually laughing at him! A deep, rolling, belly laugh!

"You... are laughing. At me." Bangar pointed out flatly, fully confused.

Cyrus took his glasses off and wiped his eyes, shaking his head. "Oh that is a good one, Bangar. I didn't know you had a sense of humor like that."

"....Humor?"

Clearing his throat, Cyrus turned to Alice, his eyebrow raised. "Well?"

"A moment." She closed her eyes, and when they opened again, they were glowing blue with flowing script. "....Intruders detected on lower hull. They are trying to cut in through what they think is an aft access way near the engine of a standard Tyria-pattern airship. A moment. They have just used a breaching charge."

"What is she--?" Bangar began to ask, his confusion deepening. The voice coming from the petite woman was sharper, colder than before. And what was that he could see in her eyes?

"...They have gained access to the hull. Permission to engage?"

Cyrus nodded. "Non-lethal. Subdue, tranquilize them, and administer standard procedure."

What only the crew of the Aspect knew was that 'standard procedure' was a concoction Tenna had developed after the war in Elona. It was a heavily concentrated, modified version of Iboga venom that would effectively erase at least twenty four to forty-eight hours of a person's short term memory, replacing it with hallucinatory imagery and some rather nasty dreams. The reason it was 'standard procedure' was that it was to be used to mind-wipe anyone who got access to the Aspect without permission. You could not spy and report, if you could not remember the last few days. There was more than one Inquest team now laid up with personal trauma from whatever the 'standard procedure' showed them when they tried to get on board.

Whoever was on the team that Bangar had apparently sent, they were going to have a bad time very shortly. Not only would bulkheads start closing around them, but they would be swarmed by Watchwork creatures, kept busy until the Watchknights appearred under the direct control of Aspect itself. Under its guidance, there was no way the breaching team would ever realize what they had just gotten themselves into. They definitely wouldn't remember it, anyway.

"Once they are captured, just airdrop them off the ship." Cyrus told her tiredly. "I'm assuming they had parachutes or gliders. If they don't, have a cheap one strapped on. Doesn't have to last long, since they're just heading to the ground."

"Understood." Alice blinked, and the glow in her eyes was gone. "....You have no idea how much this annoys me, Cyrus."

"I have an inkling. I'm not happy myself. They punched a hole in my ship and attempted to take it." He shook his head and looked at Bangar pityingly. "We're quite done here. Your team will be returned unharmed, and as far as I'm concerned, this never happened. If you choose to press it, that will be to your detriment. The first thing I'll do is cancel the entire order. You'll get your gold back, minus the cost of the damaged hull plating...but you won't be doing any more business with us. Ever."

"Just like that." Bangar replied. "Just like that, you walk away? You deny me the goods I request, deny me the airship I need, and then you walk away?" He growled. "Who the Flame are you people? I didn't see her pull out a communications device! Who the Flame was she talking to?"

"I should be the one demanding answers of YOU." Cyrus replied. "You lure us here with an order for materials, only to ask for things you very much know we will not sell you; it's in the contract details as the THIRD item. On a VERY short list. You then try to purchase my airship, as if it was a loaf of bread in the market."

He grit his teeth, biting back the things he wanted to say; he could still accidentally start something if he resorted to how he really felt. "...When I decline, you threaten to steal my ship. Not only that, but you already had a team in place to do that while we were talking. Which implies that was your first, last, and only intent. That alone blackmarks you and the Blood Legion itself against trade with us. Which, if you have any 'informants' in the Pact or elsewhere, you'll learn very quickly that you just lost out."

Cyrus sniffed in derision, waving it all aside. "As to who we are... We are merchants. Among many things. If I tell you anything more than that, then I have to have both you and your assistant there administered with the standard procedure. It is not a step I take lightly, but it at least leaves you with a heartbeat and most of your memories intact."

"You imply there are other choices." Bangar pointed out darkly.

Cyrus just sighed, and looked over at Alice, who nodded. She stepped forward, and pointed at a spot on the desk. "Tell me what that is."

"It's..." The Imperator blinked, realizing for the first time there was a red dot of light on the map on his desk. He passed a gauntlet over it and the dot transferred to that. "....it's a light of some kind."

"It's a sniper's laser sight, Bangar." Alice told him condescendingly. "Since we entered the room, there have been fourteen trained sharpshooters locked onto this office. In Elona, they call them 'Deadeyes', for reasons you can undoubtedly figure out. We did not expect to need them, but we had them on standby anyway." She glared at him. "We do our research on our contract partners. Your psychology alone required us to have 'security'."

Bangar spun in his chair, looking out the large, bubble windows. Then he glanced down at his chest, counting nine glowing dots. A glance at Crecia told him she had another two or three.

“If you so much as attempt to harm us when we leave this room, or attempt to harm us IN this room.” Alice told him as she walked up beside the chair. She reached up, wrapping a hand lightly around one of the forged iron spikes decorating it. “They will open fire. No one will know where the shots came from; no one except you, and you won’t be speaking. It'll be a tragic incident that I guarantee will be associated to the remnants of the Separatist movement from Ebonhawke, which has long since been disowned by them and is on their last legs. It'll be called a desperation move to destabilize the Blood Legion.”

“I’m fairly certain I can move fast enough to rip your throat out little girl.” Bangar hissed, still looking at the dots on his chest, before letting his eyes rise to see where the Aspect was docked out over the river outside the Keep.

Alice leaned in to whisper in his ears. “You wouldn’t even make it half way.”

As she said it, she slowly bent the spike she was holding, the thick metal groaning and whining as she warped it out of shape. She stepped away, leaving Bangar to slowly look at the manhandled spike on his chair; her glove-prints were visible in the metal, as if she’d been molding putty. As she left, the dots of light drifted off of his chest. There was no way he could know, though, that one was still trained on his forehead, since he couldn’t see that one.

“Just who in Torment are you people?...”

Cyrus was already at the door. “Businessmen and women, Bangar. That’s all. But we don’t like to be messed with. And you don’t want us as an enemy. I'd say contact us if you wish to do legitimate business... but your actions here today tell me I could never trust a word that comes out of your mouth. Just having my ship in your airspace means I have to keep everything on high-alert. You had an opportunity to make a lucrative business deal. And to have an ally that could make your supply lines shorter. Instead you chose racism, sabotage, and attempted grand airship theft. If you weren't an Imperator, you'd be in a stockade awaiting trial.”

He caught Bangar running a finger over the bent spike. “.... and be glad Alice held back. What she did to that metal... she would have done to your bones if anyone on my ship had been injured. And I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have been able to stop her.”

“Good day, Imperator.”

[whiskeyworen]

This year, Cyrus was ready. He’d had a full year to plan, and in spite of so much happening -- Alice’s emergence from the central A.I. of the Forsaken Aspect, the unexpected arrival of the spectral necromancer Novni and subsequent wardship of her, the Grothmar Valley ‘celebration’ and meeting with Bangar...as well as the hunt for him and his legion into the depths of the north and the long, arduous war of the Charr Revolution -- He’d taken time out now and then to design a Halloween costume. Thanks to the information he gained from contacts in Lion’s Arch, as well as listening to Tenna’s rather horrific, violent stories that she gleefully and wistfully recounted while drunk, about the previous Halloween, he’d thought of a great costume.

When he’d emerged from his quarters in the heavy, age-soiled duster, its upturned collar and blood-hued scarf hiding his features just as much as its hat did, he drew a few raised eyebrows among his shipmates. Moryggan expressed the most confusion about his look. He tried to explain it to her, as well as why he left Dangles onboard instead of taking him along with, but she just didn’t get it. “That’s not exactly very interesting to look at. Or scary.” She pointed out. “It’s not scary at first...but the more I fight in the Labyrinth, the scarier it’ll become.” He promised, deliberately cryptic. Verula just shrugged and went back to her calibrations; she had no interest at all in Halloween. Why everyone liked pretending to dress up as scary things, when REAL scary things existed never seemed to connect with her. Tenna just mooned over it a bit, admiring the care he’d taken to make it look so deeply aged even though she knew he bought the coat only scant months before. “It looks like you’ve been collecting dust for decades! Like, you just kind of roused from some ruined house somewhere and... I don’t know!” “Then I did well I suppose!” He grinned behind the collar. his face was almost entirely hidden, except for his shadowed eyes, barely seen between the borders of collar and hat. “I couldn’t find weapons I thought were appropriate for what I was going for, but this old steam sword works pretty well, and the Awakened torch...well, it’s just creepy to begin with.” Novni just looked at him with those eerie, wide blue eyes, and tilted her head to the side, as if hearing an odd sound. “.....it sounds like blood. And something else. Dunno how to describe the other thing. But it gives me shivers.” She told him slowly, before turning and walking towards a nearby bulkhead -- only to phase through it with a black, screaming portal like she always did. Alice took ONE look at him. She slowly walked around him, taking in every angle, running a finger down the Flamesaw on his back, rubbing her fingers after she ran the same finger over the shoulder of his outfit. She considered the rather authentic dust stain on her fingers, and smirked. “I get it.” She grinned, and tapped the side of her head lightly, referring to the cloned memories she had access to. “Pretty spot-on I think. Try not to lose your Sanity out there.” “SAN checks every five minutes.” He chuckled, as he headed out the docking port and into the city.

She was right though;  Of all people in Tyria, Alice was the only one who’d truly get his costume choice. But they’d all learn. A few rounds in the Labyrinth would help. After all, as dusty as this outfit was, it wasn’t scary enough. He needed blood for that. Lots...of blood. It was looking to be a very interesting Halloween this year...

[whiskeyworen]

I can't wait to get Alice Spekt to that spot, because it just seems so appropriate for her.

Sure, she has strength and speed no human should rightly have, and the power of a battleship condensed into a human frame, but she will eagerly beat you to death just to prove she can do it without breaking a sweat. Lol.

TIL that the commander canonically call their fist Victory and Death

[whiskeyworen]

------------Historical Simulation in Progess------------------ “....So that’s Zhaitan.” Alice mused, standing on the wing of the Glory of Tyria. In the distance, clinging to the decrepit tower with a feral desperation, the Dragon of Shadow and Death roared from its many, many maws, spewing venomous biles at the circling Pact battleship. Alice stood there, considering her foe dispassionately as it struggled to stay on the tower. One of its major flight wings, as well as several secondary wings had already been shredded and ripped away. Even at this distance, she could see flames licking up through its musculature; tinder-dry bone and flesh mixed into its body was burning thanks to the incendiary, anti-ghost Ghostfire shells the Iron Legion had provided. Not only was the beast burning on a strictly physical level; it’s undead spirit was being shredded just like an Ascalonian ghost’s ectoplasmic form. If anything, it would greatly impair the beast’s ability to repair itself...provided it had ever survived this fight in the first place. “Commander! Zhaitan is pinned! We need you to finish it off!” Someone called behind her. Glancing back over her shoulder, Alice appraised the bald asura with the mark of a Genius on her. Though she knew Zojja was calling her, she also knew it wasn’t actually real. In fact, according to the records this simulation had been based on, Zojja had called out to the Commanders of the Pact on board; the original twelve Commanders. Each one of them had taken over one of the broadside flare cannons and proceeded to burn Zhaitan until it literally fell apart and gravity did the rest. In this simulation though, she’d taken on the role of one of the Guardian Commanders, and there were no others. Half of the combat had been made ‘easier’ by the computer, so to compensate for the lack of the others. If it had been truthful, there would have been FAR more individual enemies; entire hordes of them along the entire encounter. It made no difference to Alice. She could have handled the harder levels. But she was here to ‘see’ with her own eyes. She wanted to experience that fight. A glob of acidic bile, spewed from one of the many sub-heads of the undead Elder Dragon, arced straight for her across the distance between them. With a tired resignation, she stepped one step to the right, letting the corrosive agent fly past and impact the armored hull where it boiled and hissed violently. “....I’m not impressed.” She frowned, and turned away, heading towards the cannons. “Let’s just end this. It’s pathetic to watch.” -------- Historical Simulation Interrupt and Skip ------------- (Notes: Guess who’s finally past vanilla campaign. XD She’s been waiting a while to get to this. A shame it was a disappointment for her.)

[whiskeyworen]

Aw, look who’s officially a year old in-game now! ....and now that I think about it, it might have actually been a full year in-story as well, so Alice actually IS celebrating her ‘first’ birthday. At least as an incarnated A.I. Because of her special day, I took her on a peaceful tour of the Tyrian provinces, as well as a bit into Snowden Drifts to visit a nice Norn bar I know of. That Raven lager is kick-ass strong...

[whiskeyworen]

Story Masterpost List

I finally have time for a revised masterpost! So here we are. I’ll put the Guild Wars 2 fics up top cuz they’re far more popular. But please, feel free to read my other stuff too! Guild Wars 2 fics (These are as close to chronologically aligned as I can make them. I tend to jump around the timestream a bit) Maeva - Bloodline Miriya - The Rite Miriya's Pad Fateful Encounter Miriya - Sisters Tenna - Alive Tenna - Dangerous Creatures Corvus Corvidae - The Weight of Responsibility Cyrus - Halloween Tenna - Halloween Kaleb & Miriya - The Sword Sonnya - Shatterpoint Resolutions Sonnya - Feline Friend Aspect 1 - Alternative Thinking Aspect 2 - Of Humor and Family Aspect 3 - Of Forgiveness and Justice Aspect 4 - Of Inspiration and Communication Aspect 5 - Of Confusion and Identification Aspect 6 - Inclusion Tenna and the Mystery Potion Stormy Thoughts  Alice - Historical Simulation: Zhaitan's End Alice - Historical Simulation: Fort Trinity Celebration Characters vs Whispers Sonnya and the Whisperer Non GW2 stories (Mostly prompt based) Curio Shop of Unusual Wares Insatiable Urge to Write Demon Dating

A Mediocre Superpower “They have my Daughter...” Cutepocalypse I’m an NPC The Devil came down to D&D Suburbs & SUVs Otherworldly Dating 1 (Ears) Otherworldly Dating 2 (Eyes) I was the Villain all along It came up the Stairs...and Tripped The Overly-loving Dragon Matriarch The Monster under the Bed The Silence of being Alone Conversations with a Goddess (S)Hell Station A Special Kind of Hell At 3 AM

[whiskeyworen]

“Alice... What is... that?” Cyrus asked, pointing at the screen. He’d been passing by when he noticed Alice sitting at terminal, manipulating the controls with the deftness of someone who had literally been born within the system. In fact, some of the holograms she was using to manipulate things were ones he hadn’t ever seen before. Had she programmed them herself? His curiousity had been piqued when he realized she was adding layers and details to a holofigure with sweeps of her hand and twists of her wrists in the virtual controls. By the time he’d gotten closer, she’d apparently finished the design, or close to, because she’d sighed pleasantly and stepped back to consider what she’d made. The figure in the holographic display tank was wireframe as he approached, but was quickly layered with simulated details, and a background and scene was wallpapered in and around it, placing it in a ‘natural’ setting. It resembled Alice, at least in the face and height, judging from the background items in the simulation to provide scale. But it was dressed in a very heavy looking armor.  Much heavier than anything he’d ever seen her wear yet, but it had the air of being highly mobile for its weight. It almost looked sleek, in spite of being basically a walking tank. Alice glanced over at him, and smirked. “Oh, just a little project I’m working on. I still need to hack and adapt an Inquest personal teleporter to make it work, but the design is effectively finished. Just...  fiddly bits left.” “It looks damned impressive.” He leaned in, giving the holo a twirl, to see it from all angles. Massive shoulder pauldrons didn’t seem to be attached to the armor, but hovered convienently above a more conventional shoulder plate. Power gems all over it seemed to draw in energy from the surrounding air, and a huge, shield-like sigil of complex design hovered and rotated behind it, linked to the suit by a focus point on its spine. “Is this something we’ll be able to all use? Or something we can maybe sell to the Pact?” Alice shook her head. “No... Well, I mean, if you want I’ll make a weaker version of it for general use.” She chuckled. “But this one is specially for me. Only I can use it, and it’s really only for emergencies.” Cyrus cast a raised eyebrow at her, before glancing at the outputs. “Alice, you are possibly one of the most powerful people I’ve ever known. You can flatten charr while unarmored, and can carve through even Brand crystal in a single strike of your sword. Exactly what constitutes an ‘emergency’ for someone like you?” There was a note of amusement in his voice, and Alice smirked at that. It was true; being who and what she was, she was powerful beyond what a normal human should be. The only person she’d ever run into who might have given her a true fight was a certain Vigil soldier, who’s armor design was something she’d used as inspiration for this latest creation. “There may come a time that, for all my strength, speed, and raw power... that it’s not enough.” She replied quietly, stroking the chest plate of the holo with a single finger. “For that, I need to bypass the limitations preset into my body. Preset into this form simply by having a form. I can’t always count on the Forsaken Aspect to be above my head so I can use its weapons systems. I need something more portable. Something... resilient.” “Are you telling me this thing will let you access the power of an entire battleship, but in the form of a human?” “Yes.” She nodded, her mouth firming in a line. “Additional shields. Armor inches thick. Aethermotive compensators and enhancers. Combat stim injectors and pain nullifiers, like you have in your own magitech suit. Mist-tap draw generators to pull in even more ambient power, as well as capacitors to contain the power...and redirect it as need be.” She sighed. “It’s entirely defensive for now. I can’t yet make the materials I need to add offensive systems.” Cyrus just looked at her. He could see the look in her eye, her expression. “So... do you think you could punch the tooth out of an Elder Dragon with this?” That brought a grin to her face; they both had seen Jormag’s tooth in Hoelbrak, marvelling at its eternal durability. At least...until the tooth was cracked by a Norn teen from Dragon’s Watch. “Merely a tooth? If I can make this work the way I envision it, I’ll break the damned jaw.” She replied smugly. “What are you calling it?” Alice crossed her arms, thinking. “....I’ll make a downgraded, non-powered version of it for sale. It’s made using some pretty delicate magics and forging techniques, so we’ll add it to the list under the name ‘Spellforged Armor’.” “You’ll enjoy the real name of it though, Cyrus.” She smirked, and gave the holo a slow spin, and tapped a few controls so that the holo went into a combat stance and held it. “.... I’m thinking of calling it the Tactical Dreadnought armor...” Cyrus chuckled, a memory of the past coming back to play across his thoughts. Alice knew those thoughts as well, since she had his memories from the original brainscan as Aspect. So she knew exactly what he was seeing when he started chuckling. “....also known as Terminator armor.” He finished. “I like it.”

[whiskeyworen]

-------Historical Simulation in Progress------- She could feel the tension, but the relief in the air. All around her, along the walk to the main bridge, the honor guard saluting and cheering as her and the members of Destiny’s Edge slowly walked towards the main gate of Fort Trinity, she could feel it. It was this feeling of cautious hope. That breathless feeling of ‘is this real?’ These people, all of them, had waged war against an enemy that they hadn’t known how to fight. They’d barely been above musketballs and twenty-four-pounder cannons in galleons when they’d started fighting back, and by the end of it, they’d forged forward hard enough and fast enough that they had achieved miracles. Mega-LIT energy beam cannons. Ghostfire artillery shells. Protective force shields (of a simpler, almost primitive design, by Alice’s standards). Assault-class prototype battlesuits and airships. Energy cores and powered systems that supplanted fabric tents and bonfires. In all of it, she could see her own genesis. The weapon systems of her ship-form were the eventual evolutions of these early, scratch-built devices. Their large, but weak shield generators had eventually lead to palm-sized devices that were built into armor components themselves, as her friend Sonnya had later done. The ‘advanced’ golems were like ancient ancestors to her, and her Watchknights. This was the final step. With Destiny’s Edge at her side, she again put herself into the place of one of the actual Guardian Commanders, and stepped forth into the cheers and celebration that crowned the victory in Orr.... ----------End Historical Simulation--------------- Cyrus was just passing by when he noticed the virtual simulation chamber was in use. It was honestly just a toy to play with; every now and then they would download the latest holographic games or other simulations to play on the long trip to Elona. Everyone kept bugging him to get Moto’s games....but damnit, he just didn’t like how they played. The hit-boxes were just off! He was just walking in when the holofield faded away, revealling Alice reclining inside the projection ring. That typical; it was a full-immersion system, like Moto’s ridiculous box. The players didn’t actually move around once the game was on, and instead it was suggested that they get into a comfortable position if they intended to play for an extended time. Alice’s eyes opened slowly, and she smiled. “Oh hi. Didn’t see you there.” He nodded, returning the smile. “Well, clearly. You were in sim. Play anything good?” “I guess.” She stood up and dusted herself off. “I was running a historical sim. The Battle of Arah, and the return to Fort Trinity.” “Ah, I see...” Cyrus, curious. “So... what did you think?” “I wish I could have done it on a higher difficulty.” Alice groused, frowning. “Playing on one-player, the system automatically reduced the difficulty of the enemies, as well as their number.” “Well, not every average player can wipe the floor with armies.” He pointed out, walking over to the wall monitor and checking the system. “It usually is pretty good for normal people.” “I know. I just...wanted to test my skill.” She shrugged. “I also wanted to see what fighting a real Elder Dragon was like. And to feel that sense of final victory, that hope that they did. It was....a unique feeling. It was so tangible. The air was full of it. I was actually getting excited!” Cyrus grinned. “Yeah, it was a hell of a thing. I was only ever at Fort Trinity once or twice, but everyone was there for the celebration. Seeing Destiny’s Edge coming back from that final mission...” He sighed. “Maybe I should play that mission too. I’ve seen pics and read reports, at the Priory. But to see it in action...” “It was interesting. And I think I saw you in the sim, off to one side. You looked kind of odd in that Priory getup.” Alice mused, and then chuckled. “Hard to believe the Glory of Tyria was the flagship. It was so...” “It was the best we had at the time.” He warned, shaking a finger as he skimmed through the system files. “Don’t judge.” “...But it was so primitive! The hull was almost an empty shell! There weren’t even billets for the soldiers, it was put into service so fast!” “It was the Best. We Had.” He repeated slowly. “She was pressed into service quickly for that fight. I understand later versions were more...appropriate.” A file popped up that made his eyebrow raise. “Hey, what’s this? A song file?” “It was associated with the sim file. Apparently it was sung at the celebration. I think I heard it playing in the background, but there was so much cheering and rough-housing going on...” Alice stepped up and hit the ‘play’ icon. A soft, almost mournful tune began, but one that seemed to carry that same sense of hope for the future, for brighter days. Cyrus searched his memories, and found he could remember a tune playing over that victory. “....What’s this song called? I kind of want add it to my playlist now.” “It’s called ‘Fear Not This Night’.” Alice smiled softly, and turned the volume up. “I like it.”

[whiskeyworen]

Aspect V : Of Confusion and Identification

Events were starting to roll together, to cascade and collide with each other. It was inevitable; I could not hope to keep things isolated, keep my tracks covered. Not that I wanted or needed to try very hard. But there was no way I could keep these events secret for much longer. Event 1: Cyrus frowned as he looked at the data pad concerning supplies and resources being shipped through the Forsaken Aspect's cargo Asura gate. The gate itself was intrinsically tied to the Home Base, and the autofactory there, and only ever transported finished goods or accepted other goods to be used in the construction of finished product. One of which, according to the datapad...was incorrect. "What the hell?... Deldrimor Steel ingots? Corrogen filament bundles? Liquid crystal in suspension fluid?... why are these numbers wrong?" He scrolled back up the list, frowning further. The numbers weren't dramatically wrong, but for the last few weeks apparently, one item would have more than the usual amount shipped into the holds. But the sell-rates indicated the standard amount was being sold on market. "Every time, we're shipping in 120% of the amount we need...but we're just selling the regular amount. Where's that 20% going?" He checked the logs, and raised an eyebrow. There's no way she'd make a mistake like this...unless, is she skimming from the top? No... It couldn't be.

Cyrus set out to find Verula. If she was actually involved in this, it would mean she was lying to him. And that had not happened before.

Event 2:

In another part of the ship, Verula was noticing something too. It wasn't the incoming shipping invoice versus the outgoing. But it was the fact that the missing resources were being diverted to a different hold on the ship. Again, it was a little bit at a time, and never more than one kind of resource at a time.

"Hrmm... Was it a transportation error?" She grumbled, running a claw down the bridge of her nose in frustration. The one thing she hated doing was going into the program code for the transport golems and Watchworks that normally did things semi-autonomously. An error in item transportation might be the first symptom of either a program failure... or of the Watchworks beginning to truly think for themselves. Neither was a good outcome.

"At least I know where it's all going." She sighed and began to head from the weapons bay towards the massive cargo holds. Verula consulted her own datapad, and shrugged. "I'll have to ask Cyrus why he's authorizing it though. If he just wanted to spare some stuff as a supply dump, or for a nestegg or something, we could have easily made the adjustment. There's no reason for him to be sneaky about it."

"...why ship it to Cargo bay 4 though?" The thought perplexed her.

Event 3:

Tenna couldn't really understand what was going on. She'd just been passing through the ship's corridors, thinking about one thing or another, when she realized she'd wandered by the cavernous cargo bays that lined the belly of the Forsaken Aspect. It still amazed her how big the ship really was, and delighted her how surprised the rest of the world would be if they ever revealed it, but the cargo bays were downright massive on their own! She almost felt they were so big they could have their own weather systems!

But here she was at Cargo 4...and she couldn't get in.

It wasn't a case of the bay doors being locked or anything. Well, they WERE; she could see the door indicator glowing red. But it was the two nine-foot tall Watchwork Knights standing guard on either side of the door with their almost-as-huge energy halberds crossed like a big X in front of those doors that confused her. Why were Watchworks guarding the doors?

"Watchwork Knights. User Code: Gamma-Three-Tenna-Solar." She intoned in a commanding voice, hands on her hips. "Acknowledge."

Both Knights turned their gazes towards her, their optics glittering green. Both spoke at the same time, in the same chippy monotone Watchworks used when they didn't have their mimic fields on. "User Acknowledged. Tenna Danae Acknowledged. How can this unit help?"

"Why are there two Watchknights guarding this bay? If I try to proceed, will you attempt to stop me?" Tenna queried, looking from one to the other.

"This unit was assigned to prohibit entrance to Cargo Bay 4 until further notice. Attempt to gain entry to Cargo Bay 4 will be met by escalating resistance." It replied simply.

Tenna knew what 'escalating resistance' meant. If she tried to push past, they would at first pick her up and move her back to 'safe distance' before returning to their posts. If she continued to try, they would increase their aggressiveness. First would come a gentle tap with the handle of the halberd. Then maybe a harder hit. Then a jab with the energy-tipped end. If she pushed really far and kept trying, they would revert to their Nightmare forms which were FAR more capable of bodily harm, with their grab-bag of horrifying weapons that were normally kept neutral in their simulacrum form.

"Who ordered you to guard this bay?" Tenna was now curious and irritated. There had to be something on the other side someone didn't want anyone to see. Depending on what name was spoken, it would say a lot about that person.

"This unit was ordered by Cyrus Sigismund to stand guard." The automaton replied, its voice fuzzing for a second.

Tenna stared at it. Was that a glitch? I almost caught something there. It said Cyrus's name, but... was that some distortion in it?

Event 4:

Sonnya headed down the airdock after using the service elevator. It had taken her a while to make it through the bustling morass that was the Lion's Arch aerodrome, but she finally found the docks she had been invited to.

It was an out-of-the-way dock, on the backside of the Aerodrome, with no other docks nearby. She could see just from looking that the reason it was alone on this side was because of the mountains that flanked Lion's Arch on the southern edge, the ridges before BloodTide Coast began. Oh, she could see another handful of docks sticking out of the upper reaches of the aerodrome on this side, far up the sheer walls of the building, but this one was the only one down near the rocks. Parking any kind of ship here must be anxiety-inducing and aggravating, as a mere wind could blow a ship off course and into the jagged peaks.

Yet sure enough, there was a modern Airship parked at the end of the dock, the protective energy walls of its main deck and the band that held the airship's floatation bag certainly marking it as a post-Scarlet design.

As she got nearer, she could see there was a crewman standing by the hatch, apparently on guard, or waiting for her. He was non-descript as they come; if you looked up 'Standard human' in a library, this man could be on the page as 'Example'.

"Hi, I'm Sonnya Danae? I was invited to board the Forsaken Aspect at dock 43?" She asked him, unsure if she had the right ship. She hadn't seen the moniker written on the side or on the energy bands anywhere. Was this the right ship?

The crewman looked her over once, a blank expression on his face, and nodded. "Sonnya Danae. Please follow me. You are expected in Cargo Bay 4." He gestured inside, and followed her in, securing the hatch behind them. As the door secured, Sonnya stumbled slightly. Something was off. Immediately her in-eye HUD lit up, searching for threats, and she did a quick scan of her environment.

What the?... It had to be a mistake. This was a Pact-standard airship! She knew the dimensions of a ship of this class! Even the hall itself didn't look like a standard Pact ship. The deck was solid and smooth, not rivetted metal, and the walls were clean and seamless. It was like it wasn't constructed in the same shipyards as the Fleet at all. So then why were her sensors reporting that, rather than stepping onto the bridge from that hatch, that she had stepped into some long corridor in a much larger vessel? Why was her HUD filled with such distortion? In trying to compare where she was to the diagram of a Pact ship, her mapper was fuzzing out and asking to be shut off due to error!

"What...what kind of ship is this?" She asked breathlessly, as the crewman walked slowly and smoothly down the hall.  He turned back slightly to consider her, before repeating. "You are expected at Cargo Bay 4. Please follow me."

Unable to understand, and wide-eyed with amazement, Sonnya could only follow.

Event 1 + 2 = Collision

"Verula. There you are." Cyrus's voice was slightly harsher than he would have liked. It hadn't taken him long to cross paths with the Charr soldier, even on a ship the size of the Forsaken Aspect. He waved the datapad at her idly. "I think we need to talk."

"Indeed we do." Verula replied, holding up her own slate and indicating the offending lines. "Just why are you diverting goods to Cargo Bay 4? Or is this a glitch in the inventory systems?"

Cyrus frowned, and handed her his slate, while taking hers. His frown deepened. "What in the hell? I never authorized this! Wait.... these items..."

His gaze shot up as Verula grunted, skimming the slate he'd given her. "Yeah. These are the items that are got redirected. So it's a system glitch." Her eyes narrowed suddenly. "What... Wait a moment. Why is MY authorization on this? I would never do this.... Is someone trying to set me up?!"

"So...you're not bringing in 120% of the usual goods and skimming 20% off for yourself?" Cyrus asked slowly.

She just looked at him, hurt. Then she countered. "Well, are you taking that 20% and sending it to Bay 4? And if I was skimming, then why were you authorizing the skimming by moving the product there?"

They were both silent, staring at each other, before glancing at the slates. "... We need to get to Bay 4. I got a bad feeling about this."

Event 1+2 x 3 = Cascade

Sonnya didn't know where she was on the ship, but near an intersection deep in the hull, she and the crewmember ran into two rather recognizable people. The moment she saw them, her suit's database brought up snapshots for her vision. That's that Cyrus Sigismund! And... Verula Faithbreaker? What are they doing here?

In surprise she'd simply stopped walking, staring at them as they approached at a rather brisk pace. They seemed to be in a bit of a hurry.

Cyrus looked up from the slate he was consulting, noticing the asura and crewman standing in the corridor intersection. His troubled expression settled into a perplexed frown, as he flicked his gaze from Sonnya to the crewman and back. It might have been just an illusion caused by reflected lights, but she swore she could see a faint purple glow behind his left pupil. "....Verula, do you have any idea why there's a stranger walking the decks of my ship?" He asked not-so-quietly. "... Or why there's a Watchwork Knight with its Illusion Matrix on, to look like some kind of ship's crew?"

A growl escaped the Charr warrior, and she reached for her sword and axe. "I do not."

"Watchwork Knight??" Sonnya's fear was sudden and abrupt. It wasn't that she couldn't take something like that these days; it was the fact that there was one close enough to her that it was an actual danger that made her jump. That's when she realized he'd been talking about the crewman, so she turned to look at him, wonderingly.

The crewman was looking at her with that same, calm, almost blank expression -- right before the 'Illusion Matrix' deactivated, revealling a kind of WatchKnight she'd never seen before. It wasn't one of Scarlet's designs, with exposed gearing and slapped-together parts. It wasn't even like the Queen's new Watchknight 2.0s that had been revealled at the last Queen's Jubilee. Those had been sleeker, more refined, but still had a distinctly machined appearance.

This Watchknight had smooth, rounded panels, more akin to a human frame than a puppet, with silvered filigree etched into its golden frame. Its mouth was still a simple hinge affair, which she now could see open and shut as a monotone, female voice came from it. "You are expected in Cargo Bay 4. Please come with me."

That got Cyrus's attention. He stepped up to Sonnya and the Watchknight, looking from one to the other. "Wait a moment. What do you mean she's expected at Bay 4? What is a non-crew member doing onboard my ship."

"I was invited!" Sonnya protested. "One of your crew invited me on board last week, for some reason."

"How? We were in Elona back then. How could anyone invite you?" Verula asked, sidling up beside Cyrus and crossing her arms. "Who would invite you? HOW would they invite you? A letter? They'd have to have some pretty good timing!"

The charr's cynicism irritated Sonnya, so she pulled a device off her belt and tossed it less-than-nicely to her. "I got this via mail over a week ago. I don't recognize the design, but's a damned comm, furball."

Verula took one look at the unit in her hand and her eyes widened. "Cyrus... this is one of OUR comms. But I only made four of those. I don't... this isn't one of mine."

"This just keeps getting more and more mysterious." Cyrus muttered, scratching his chin. "It still begs the question; if someone DID make another comm and send it to... What's your name?"

"Sonnya. Sonnya Danae." She replied smartly. She felt a bit more relaxed now that the pressure was off her. But now this human and charr both flinched away from her at the mention of her name.

"She's a Danae?" Verula asked carefully.

"Apparently so." He considered Sonnya as if for the first time, taking in her features. "Yeah, I can see it now. The shape of the chin, the eyes, the markings. You are her sister aren't you?" He paused, thinking back almost six months. "Wait a moment... I ran into you back in Hoelbrak during Dragonbash!"

Sonnya paled, before blushing heavily. Oh god, it was him wasn't it. That nice person who found me blitzed out of my head and made sure I slept it off was him. Why did it have to be him? She shook her head, groaning mentally as she remembered. It was the first time she'd drank alchohol since she had her implants fully installed, the first time since the incident with the Shatterer. Things had not gone as planned; instead of dulling down drunkness, the implants had worked overtime and done the exact opposite. She'd ended up badly drunk in public after only a few drinks, wandering the thoroughfares in a blissful, hiccup-ridden stupor until she'd bumped into someone.

That someone had helped her get to an inn room, and stuck around just long enough to make sure she'd started sobering up before they left. She'd always thought it was just some human, but she didn't realize just who she'd run into. "I...uh, yeah. That was me. Sorry about the... Dragonbash thing. I didn't get to thank you for making sure I didn't hurt myself. Or anyone else, for that matter."

He smiled a little bit, waving her thanks aside. "Eh, it was nothing. I couldn't just walk away from someone that out of it. I didn't know you were a Danae sister though."

Sonnya nodded "Now that I think about it, I remember seeing you before that time too. You came to get my little sister after she met me and my other little sister for drinks." Her expression clouded at the memory. "She... wasn't happy. With me I think."

"Little sister?... Do you mean...?"

Event (1+2 x 3) / 4 = Cascade

Tenna was still puzzling over the guardian Watchknights when she heard voices behind her in the hallway. One of them sounded like a very irritated Verula, another Cyrus's voice. Maybe they'd be able to shed some light on what was happening in Cargo Bay 4.

As she approached, she called out. "Hey Cyrus! There's something weird going on."

"Tenna?..." A familiar voice asked tenatively as she approached the cluster of people in the intersection. "Is... Is that you?"

She skidded to a stop, unprepared to hear the sound of her older sibling here, on board. "S-Sonnya? W-what are you..." She took a breath and collected herself. "What are you doing here??" Sonnya reluctantly thumbed at the very patient Watchknight standing beside her, still staring down at her. In response, the Watchknight repeated its directions. "You are expected at Cargo Bay 4. Please come with me."

Tenna shook her head and gaped. That was exactly why she was here. What the hell was going on? She looked at Cyrus, who was obviously trying to puzzle things out. She knew that look on his face; he was trying to fit all the pieces together, and whatever he was thinking, it wasn't something he liked. "Cyrus, what the hell is going on? Cargo Bay 4 is under lock-down and guard apparently on your orders. You and Verula both look like you've been eating lemons, and apparently my sister's been invited on board by someone??"

Cyrus's hand was cupping his chin while he thought, but he idly flexed a few fingers in a dismissive fashion. "Seems to be the jist of it yet. Well, you didn't know about the resource allocation, or the fact that it's been going into that bay as well...apparently under me and Verula's alternating authority."

"What?!"

He sighed, took a deep breath and started walking towards the bay. Already he could see the nine-foot tall guardians watching him carefully. Behind him, he could hear every one following him. The pitter-patter of the Asura's little legs. The heavy clunk of Verula's armored gait. And the calculated tink tink tink of the Watchknight escorting Sonnya.

At the locked bay, he stopped, staring at the guardians for a moment. They stared back, halberds still crossed over the path.

"... Aspect, just what the hell is going on." He called out. "I know you're the one behind all this, now that we've gotten all the pieces. Was it you that invited Miss Sonnya here as well?"

Sonnya looked at him perplexed. "Uh... I wasn't invited by someone named Aspect. I was invited by--"

"I suppose I had better confess." A voice came from a wall mount. The familiar golem-eye extended, looking at everyone. "I knew I couldn't keep it completely secret, but I had hoped for a bit more time before this event. I will just have to work with what I have then."

Cyrus looked at the eye sadly. "Aspect, what have you done?"

The asuran Guardian gaped at the wall unit, recognizing the voice coming from it. "Hey! Wait, that voice! I know that voice! You're the one who invited me! But you called yourself--"

With that, the doors to the bay unlocked with a loud clank and began to trundle open. Both of the guardian Watchknights pulled back from their posts and knelt, heads down, mirroring each other across the passage. A thick fog began to spill from inside as the doors opened; it was warm, like the breath of a hotspring.

As the fog spilled out, it began to thin, and everyone there could make out a figure standing in the doorway. It wasn't a Watchknight, or any other kind of construct. It looked...human.

Stepping out from inside, into the light of the corridor, a slim, pale woman opened her eyes and looked at them all. A small smile touched her lips, and she shrugged slightly.

"You can call me... Alice."

Event (1+2 x 3) / 4  = Null.

I am here. I have no need to hide anymore.

[whiskeyworen]

Aspect VI : Inclusion

(previous chapters provided for ease of reading) Aspect I Aspect II Aspect III Aspect IV Aspect V **** "You can call me... Alice." As the thick, warm fog began to part, a young woman stepped out of the cargo bay. She was dressed simply in your average tyrian's clothing, and had no weapons or armor to be seen. To everyone present, she simply appearred to be a slim girl with a pale complexion, silver-white hair and blue, sleepy eyes. Seeing the shock on their faces, a small, amused smile quirked the corners of her mouth. Oddly enough, she was wearing a METAL LEGION long-sleeve T-shirt.

There was a stunned moment of silence, before Sonnya stepped forward, looking to the others in confusion before looking back at this young girl. "Alice? You're the one who I talked to on the comm, right?"

Alice nodded, smiling. "I was. Thanks to the information you gave me, and the advice, I was able to complete my project. It is why I invited you here today." She chuckled. "I expected a less nerve-wracking introduction though."

She glanced over at Cyrus and Verula. "...I had hoped you would not track to my book-cooking until I was finished. But you two are remarkably cognizant of details, even if you do not know what they mean."

That shook the two of them out of their stunned stupor, and Cyrus grunted, adjusting his glasses. "Well, I like knowing things are going smoothly. Keeping track of stuff is just what I do."

He fixed her with a cool stare that she matched with her own. "Alice... Aspect?... Just, what are you now?"

This time the golem-eye on the wall responded. "She is me."

Alice nodded to the eye. "And I am the ship."

Both of them simultaneously spoke, voices overlaying perfectly. "I am Forsaken Aspect, the ship, as well as Alice Spekt, the woman who stands before you. I am simultaneously both, with no break between."

"What I know, she knows, because she is me." Forsaken Aspect pointed out.

"And what I know, Aspect knows, because... I am it. Her." Alice smiled that small smile again. "We are linked at a subatomic level. Quantum actually."

Tenna stepped up, staring at her wonderingly. "I have so many questions..."

Cyrus shook his head, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'm sure we all do. But how about we just start with the basics. Aspect... Alice?....Why?"

Alice crossed her arms, frowning a bit as she sought to organize her thoughts in a coherent manner. "To be honest, I...just wanted to go with you all on adventures. I mean, sure, I control every aspect of the ship (pardon the pun), but that's all I was." She shrugged. "There are far too many moments where shipboard weapons are inadvisable and require a personal touch."

The golem eye continued. "I watched you all risking your lives in Elona, in the Brand, in so many places. I felt...helpless. I could not defend you as I wished to. Only when you were within range of my weapons, of the ship itself, could I offer any kind of help, and only of the most dramatic, devastating kind."

The human Alice picked up. "So... I started to study. You. All of you.  The people of Tyria and beyond, every time we made contact with someone. Listening through comms. Watching from drones and golems and Watchworks. I wanted to learn how I can better protect you all, and help you all."

She smiled sheepishly. "It might be trite but... you are my family. The three of you, your brain-scans literally form the coherent core of my personality engrams. I learned from Moryggan a number of things as well." She glanced at Sonnya. "I also learned the value of sacrifices in the name of a greater good. The pain those sacrifices can sometimes result in."

"I wanted to protect those important to me." The eye added.

Cyrus considered all this, listening to both voices as if they were from one; because they WERE from one. Of anyone in the room, he understood what Aspect meant by the fact that it and Alice were one and the same. Still... "That's admirable, and wonderful, Alice -- and Aspect. I'm just curious though..."

He took off a glove and stepped closer to the avatar of the ship. "... May I?"

Alice nodded, knowing exactly what he was asking. Very gently, he reached out to touch her cheek, feel her skin and hair. There was an unexpected softness to the gesture, before he stepped back and put his glove back on. "...That's real skin. And hair. I could feel a pulse in your carotid artery."

"The flesh is real."

"...where did you get it?"

The seriousness with how he said it made her giggle, and she tried to hide it behind her hand. "I did not skin someone for my body, Cyrus. I cultured genetic materials, specially grown and engineered for it. I did sample existing genes though."

"I repeat then; where did you get it? I have a suspicion, but I need to hear it."

Aspect spoke up. "I took samples from the entire crew, and integrated in various ways to create the flesh for my avatar. The base genetic code is yours Cyrus. The density of the muscle structure is a combination of Verula and Tenna's. And though she is nominally a plant-entity, Moryggan's sylvari genetics are close enough in structure to human that some elements were incorporated into cell structure and healing, as well as a few...other factors."

That got everyone's attention. "Are you saying you might be able to photosynthesize in a pinch or something? Or sprout vines?" The human Alice laughed, and shook her head. "No, no...nothing like that. Sylvari blood has a higher oxygen concentration, especially when slightly modified by Charr genetics, which also have a higher capability of holding oxygen and has stronger healing factors. I have more physical strength and energy in general, and if wounded, I will heal faster with less chance of scarring."

"How easily are you to wound in this body?" Verula asked curiously. "I mean, not to offend Cyrus here, but humans tend to be fairly...fragile when compared to Charr."

She nodded to Verula. "That is true, but that's why my bones are...augmented. Laced with Deldrimor steel and maintained by internals that are a little complicated to explain easily." She chuckled and shrugged. "I am not indestructible, but I could probably go toe-to-toe with a full grown Norn or Charr, even without armor."

Her gaze shifted to Sonnya. "...and when I finish designing my armor, it will enhance my abilities even more. I'll need help for that?"

Sonnya blinked, and nodded. Without really thinking, she agreed to help. What was wrong with her? Didn't she say she wouldn't do that very thing?

Cyrus grunted, crossing his arms. "Well, at least that explains where the materials were going. Were they all for your body?"

Alice shook her head, and led them into the bay, where all kinds of strange devices stretched from the walls, rose from the floor, or descended from the ceiling. There were waldoes of many kinds, some with large industrial heads, others with heads so fine that only Sonnya could actually see their ends, using her in-head zoom. Chambers of glowing, bubbling fluid, piping moving materials of unknown nature around, all linking to an open chamber at the back of the bay against the bulkhead.

"The materials I diverted were used strictly to build the mechanisms I needed which then were used to make my body, in this chamber here." She patted the opened chamber on one of its steel ribs. "It had to be made from the inside out, piece by piece, and then cell-growth had to be cultured over it and properly attached at a microscopic level."

"Amazing..." Tenna marvelled, stepping into the chamber to examine some of the still-dripping conduits. They ended in soft pads that clearly attached to the finished body, perhaps to monitor health. "I've never seen the like outside an Inquest lab, and their stuff is...brutal by comparison."

The AI-in-body's expression took on a moue of distaste, and she crossed her arms. "The Inquest are only interested in experimenting, slapping things together or ripping them part. I was following a very delicate goal that is opposite of that."

Verula was looking at a large power capacitor across the room, running a claw over the stainless metal and feeling it resist being scratched by the pressure she applied to it. "Alice... Aspect... You made one body. How many can you functionally maintain while operating the ship? Are you able to make any more?"

Alice looked over at her, but her voice came from the walls this time, as Aspect. "Only the one. Operating a human body requires quite a bit of additional concentration. There is quite a bit that no one tells you about a living body, like the fact that the nerves are active continually. It forms a kind of overload that, while I can deal with the increased input, I cannot operate two bodies at the same time. Certainly not more."

Tenna's ears flicked up, and she lost interest in the chamber she was examining. She walked over to Alice and put a gloved hand on the taller woman's leg. "...What if your body is destroyed in battle or accident? What if the ship is destroyed somehow? What happens to YOU?" Things went silent in the bay, as everyone turned from their explorations to hear the answer. Alice looked at each of them in turn, seeing only concern in their eyes, even a bit of fear. These were her friends. Her family.

"...In the event of the death of this body, I will not actually be dead; my mind is still part of the ship, remember?" She smiled weakly. "I will just have to build a new body. If the ship is destroyed and my body isn't, I will lose a lot of my higher computational skills, but if I can connect to a new mind-core unit, I can re-expand into that and regain them. Otherwise I will just be....human. A really, really tough human with metal in my bones and all kinds of hidden upgrades, but a human."

She shrugged. "In the unlikely event that both parts of me are destroyed, and one of my cores can't be recovered.... I uploaded a 'sleeping' version of myself back to the Home Base systems. It is inactive and not operating, but it receives continuous updates from me and the ship, so it will be up to date until the moment of destruction." Alice shifted uncomfortably. "The only way to awaken THAT version of me is for one of you to give the pass-code phrase to the very-easily-recognized input prompt."

"Pass-codes? We don't have any pass-codes." Verula frowned.

"Because I have yet to give them to you. As long as you say the words in your own voice, the system will recognize you and will reactivate the Sleeper Aspect. Only one person is required to wake the Sleeper Aspect. After that...well, you would need to build a new full mind-core for it to inhabit, a new ship, eventually a new body for the next Alice." She sighed. "That Alice will still be me, like the me that is before you, but she would only remember things up until the bad stuff happened."

She spent the next few minutes going from person to person, whispering code phrases into various shapes of ears. The phrases were simple, unique, and easy to remember. Easiest to remember was best for important codes like that, ones that had a beneficial effect.

When she kneeled to whisper in Sonnya's ear, Tenna started to object. "My sister isn't part of the crew. She doesn't have access to the Home Base. Why give her a code?"

"Because she helped me, and I trust her to keep this secret." Alice replied simply, and pulled out a small device. "Including the location of Home Base, and all that entails."

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? There's a reason we keep the place such a secret. Not that I don't trust Vigil or what they stand for, but wouldn't it be a bad idea to give access to one outside the circle?"

Alice glanced at him. "You have not denied me authorization to give this to her. You are asking why, but I do not think you truly believe she cannot be trusted."

He just gave a little quirk of a smile, and gestured for her to continue on.

"Sonnya, this is a gate-rerouter." She said, handing the device over carefully. It was very small, barely the size of a dagger hilt. "If you activate it before you go through an Asura-gate -- Any gate -- it will temporarily reroute you and only you to the Home Base. Do not attempt to sneak anyone else along with you through the gate, because they will get ejected immediately back to the start point."

Her eyes were dead serious, as she pressed the device into Sonnya's palm. "...I am trusting you to keep my secret, the secrets of my friends, and the secrecy of our Home Base from outsiders. Including your own Order. No one must ever find out, okay?"

Sonnya considered the little machine. It didn't weigh much, but the weight of responsibility definitely made it feel heavy. Keep it a secret from the Vigil? Should she do that? Could she? She looked around, seeing the neutral expressions on Cyrus and Verula, the nervous, pleading look on her sister's face, and finally the question in Alice's face. She slowly nodded, and slipped the device into a compartment on her armor. "I swear. I'll keep your secrets. But only if you keep mine."

Alice nodded, and behind her, Tenna nodded as well, relieved. Sonnya hadn't entirely meant that for just Alice; Tenna knew things as well. Things about her sister that were best left buried.

The ship-incarnate smiled broadly, taking her into a hug. "Thank you, Sonnya." She then whispered the passcode into her friend's ear. Whatever it was, made Sonnya's eyes widen in surprise.

"...That's the code?"

"Yes."

Alice then let her go and turned to the final member. Cyrus tipped his head, considering her; her mere existence was amazing to him. The form she had chosen, he had so many questions about. Why a human? Why that size? Why was she shorter than him? All of which could be answered at a later date. "So... my passcode is what now?"

A familiar smirk passed across Alice's features. It was familiar because it was very similar to the way he himself smirked; she really had used some of his attributes and quirks in her design. She went on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear with a quiet giggle.

Whatever she said, it made Cyrus instantly freeze up. Immediately he flushed red, and had to restrain the urge to step back from the shorter woman. Without turning his head he looked her in the eye. ".....Are you serious. That's my passcode?"

Alice's smirk widened, and she nodded, winking. "Oh come now. That is not going to be so hard to say, if the time ever comes."

"Says you." He muttered, and turned away slightly, trying to mask his face in the collar of fur of his suit. She just giggled again, and headed over to a nearby console, tapping a few commands in. "...So what kind of person are you then? Warrior? Ranger like me? Engineer?"

"Nope." Alice replied, stepping onto floor panels that lit up to her commands. She looked over at Sonnya and smiled. "Something else."

Before anyone could say anything, several waldos swung out of the walls, bringing pieces of gear. An armored belt was quickly and efficiently attached, and a sword was connected to it somehow. Two small shoulderguards were connected to her shirt, not through buttons or clips, but by the activation of small tractor fields from the inner edges. They must be pulling themselves onto her internals or something Tenna realized, recognizing basic asuran armor tech.

In asuran armor, sometimes they had floaty 'bits' that were held in place by tractors built into the armor. These were similar, except inverted so the armor pulled itself onto the wearer. It wouldn't work on anyone else...except maybe Sonnya, if her upgrades had gone that far.

Two waldos swung in from behind, one with a kind of backpack that looked like it was made of shards of jagged metal in the form of folded wings, the other holding a shield that leaked what could only be Mist energies. Cyrus immediately recognized the shield as one of the ones that had been part of the failed 'Mist Suit' personal long distance teleporter gear they'd tested last year. Again, both pieces of gear attached to Alice without physically connecting; they were held in place strictly by small tractor fields.

Finally, from the ceiling, a waldo arm holding a rather enormous sword descended, holding the blade vertically. It was a vicious looking thing with a wide, curved tip and hooked edges, and had a very Norn feel to its aesthetic. It looked impressively heavy, but Alice took it in one hand, before giving it a spin and attaching it as well to her back, sliding it under the backpiece and her shield. The great sword was almost as big as she was, and looked like it meant business.

"You designed me to protect. To be offense, and defense, of this ship, her crew, and of the world in general." Alice announced, stepping off the lit panels. She smiled at everyone. "So I took on the one profession that seemed appropriate."

"I am a Guardian."