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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 15, 2018 3:39:52 GMT
It was rare for a storm of this magnitude to make its way to Mival. Often, it was a small weather system, a light rain or at worst heavy downpour that would cascade upon the city. Larger systems would either swing toward the islands or farther up north and slam into No Man's Land and the grasslands below.
This, however, was an anomaly, a full on hurricane that had surged into the city. It was midday, and yet no light broke through the black clouds that hung overhead, none that wasn't the clashing strikes of lightning which crackled above. The streets flooded with torrential downpours, and most inhabitants were safely indoors.
And yet, despite the glass rattling thunder and bright flashes of electricity, not every business in the city had been closed down. places like the library and the Violet Bar were still open for those caught out in the rain to stay warm in and be provided shelter, so long as they followed the rules by their owners. The Blue's Stars was also open, but as several figures ran to the doorway, the door closed and was shut locked, and the sign was switched to closed. They were already filled with those who needed the warmth and dryness of indoors.
A few blocks from there, a lonely figure sipped a glass of water. The voice belonged to a woman, two inches above six feet, with short grey hair with a few violet strands interspaced. She had a blue baseball cap turned backwards over her head, with the image of a dolphin wearing a helmet interwoven on it.Her grey tank top and blue jeans gave her the appearance of a hard mechanical worker, while the glasses on her head and the ring on her hand suggested a different kind of occupation.
She looked out the window, at the downpour that had engripped the city. Thank goodness she had still been in the capital building when the storm had hit. The restaurant on the bottom floor made for a peaceful getaway. There was no reason for her to depart the capital building, when everything she needed was right here... except for Arnett and Theresa. No doubt they were still out in the rain, doing their jobs as best they could, and hopefully not complaining. Well, Theresa would never complain, but Arnett would definitely be swearing up a storm.
The woman giggled at the thought of it all. She leaned in at the table she was seated at. What a terrible night to be out in the rain with a temper...
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Post by Stage on Oct 15, 2018 4:46:02 GMT
The entrance nearest to the small restaurant burst open, and a tall, pale figure, well over seven feet tall, stood in the wind and rain, backlit by flashes of lightning. It lurched suddenly, seemingly trying to duck its strange, rectangular head under the top of the doorframe, but it only succeeded in knocking its brow against the building several times over. Metallic crashes, almost like ringing of a church bell, rang out with each impact, followed by a muffled, filtered voice.
"Dammit!"
The gangling figure hissed violently, but the sound did not come from its maw; it came from its chest. The puffed out, cratered breast of the thing lifted, revealing a large cavity in its torso that seemed stretched all the way to its groin, perhaps well beyond. Water splashed out of this hollow, followed by a stout, pink human shape. A bare foot slapped wetly onto the ground. It was not followed.
"Stupid rain," the person- a young woman- muttered venomously from her wide, pouting mouth. A face, round and pink and childlike, turned towards the woman in the baseball cap, damp hair that did not reach the shoulders plastered to either side of it. As the rest of the young woman turned to match her chubby face, her body actually quite strong and muscular, if not especially bulky, it began strikingly obvious that she was missing her left arm and right leg. She began to hop over.
"That seat taken?" she asked, her voice high and slightly whiny in pitch. Without waiting for an answer, she plopped heavily into it, scattering water droplets onto the table.
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 15, 2018 4:56:00 GMT
The woman raised an eyebrow at the sight of the newcomer. Seems like the storm had washed in quite the catch... and a rather interesting one at that.
"No, this seat's free. Really, they all are. Almost no one comes by at this hour, lucky us." She chuckled. Her eyes drifted from the woman, to the machine she had carried herself in, back over to the woman. "That's quite the contraption you have there. A mechanical suit, not water proof sadly. Shame you were out in the storm in that."
She leaned back in her chair. " But yeah, seats are free. I was getting bored holding a one woman conversation with myself. The heat's turning on in here, and you should be nice and toasty soon."
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Post by Stage on Oct 15, 2018 5:15:13 GMT
"He should be waterproof," grumbled the woman. "Normally he's proofed to just about everything. Even radiation. But some big... lizard-y thing bit it, so now..."
The woman merely jerked her head over to where the machine stood as a slim silhouette in the misted over glass door.
Large, brown eyes turned curiously towards the other woman. Now that she was closer, the gray-haired woman could see that her new tablemate also wore a tank top: a dirty, thin one that seemed several years overdue for replacement and several sizes too small. Similarly filthy, fitted shorts rode up as she swung her only leg onto the neighboring chair. "Does the sky... do this a lot? Pour water?"
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 15, 2018 5:21:32 GMT
The woman nodded. "It loves to rain here in this tropical environment. But rains like this are rare. Usually these kinds of storms avoid Mival but... I guess we're just unlucky today."
Light green eyes shifted back to the machine. "Shame about your machine. Thankfully, my laboratory is upstairs, and I might be able to repair it, if it's close enough to the Enforcers here in blueprint. Than again, you don't seem to be from around here, and you need better clothes."
She looked back at the woman. "I'm Lillie. I'm this city's lead scientist and physician. Normally I have a lot on my work plate, but I have a nice lull to focus on my preferences rather than mandatory medical checkups."
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Post by Stage on Oct 15, 2018 5:45:27 GMT
A doubtful huff escaped the woman. "Can if you want to, but Illusion is special. Even back where I'm from, where they know dominos. I was just going to find my personal mechanic Anara. She's somewhere around here. Maybe you've seen her? Curly hair? Big nose?"
The pink face of the woman split into a frown. "Anyway, what's wrong with my clothes? Illusion is normally my skin. These are just... carryovers."
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 15, 2018 5:51:50 GMT
"I'm afraid to say, the name and description don't ring a bell." Lillie shook her head. "I don't really leave this building, so I'm not familiar with a lot of the people in Mival. Just those that come and go from here, hehe."
"As for your clothes... they seem ratted out and small. I get not really needing them if you live your life in that thing,but, it's just not healthy. You can really ruin your body by not changing clothes often."
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Post by Stage on Oct 15, 2018 15:21:38 GMT
The woman shot her tablemate an impish smile and waved the stump of her left arm erratically. "Not much left to ruin."
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 16, 2018 1:44:18 GMT
"That... that can also be fixed, either with prosthetics or with cellular regeneration like a salamander or starfish"
Lillie puffed out her chest and smirked. "Either one can be done upstairs with my equipment, if you miss your leg and arm. Then again, you have your... domino, so I guess that's not too important an issue."
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Post by Stage on Oct 16, 2018 1:59:31 GMT
The other woman's cocky smile faded into a look of confusion. "Pross-stead-ic? Star fish?"
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 16, 2018 2:21:10 GMT
Lillie fixed her seated posture to be more upright. " A prosthetic is a fake arm, usually mechanical in nature. It won't perform as well as the real deal, but you can still grasp and operate things with it. It's the cheaper of the two options, and the faster. And a starfish is a kind of sea dwelling invertebrate, or boneless animal, shaped like a star. When you cut off a section of it, not only will the original starfish regrow that lost section, but the section itself, if large enough, can regrow into its own creature thanks to genetic memory and acute regenerative processes. Of course, if we go with the cellular regeneration option and that arm gets lopped off, it won't regrow into a second you, don't worry."
Lillie burst into laughter. " It would be amusing, but also far too chaotic to control. Don't want an endless skeleton scenario to pop up, after all."
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Post by Stage on Oct 16, 2018 2:49:04 GMT
"Oh," the woman said simply, a touch of thickness entering her voice. Her eyes too became slightly hooded. She stretched her remaining leg out as far as it would go and leaned back, against the wall, laying across both seats. "Illusion is sort of like a prostedic then. He's my arm and leg when I'm inside him. And two Natas would be no good." She yawned deeply. "I'm already the best around."
The pink-faced woman closed her eyes and was quiet for a few moments, and it seemed she might have fallen asleep, but then her lips parted.
"Hey," she said, and her eyes did not open to match her mouth. "What's a sea?"
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 16, 2018 4:23:55 GMT
"Of course you are. The original is always the best." Lillie smiled, kicking her legs back and forth. "And the sea... The sea..."
She exhaled. "A sea is a large body of water that usually seperates a large landmass from other large landmasses. Usually they're filled with chemicals and minerals that make the water salty, but freshwater seas are possible, if not abnormal. When a sea becomes really big, it's called an ocean. The creatures you find in an ocean or sea are quite different from those in a lake or a pond. Also, you cannot drink seawater or ocean water. It will only make you more thirsty."
She raised an eyebrow. "I take it you don't come from a place with large bodies of water, do you?"
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Post by Stage on Oct 16, 2018 4:51:36 GMT
Short, light brown, frayed hair swayed as Nata shook her head. "Nope. We don't even have an atmosphere. We're stuck underground. Most people have never seen a star either. Only people crazy or good enough to have the toughest job in the world get to see the sky."
A large, brown eyes cracked open, only to wink a moment later. "And I'm number one."
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 16, 2018 5:04:06 GMT
"No... atmosphere?" Lillie's head tilted a few degrees to the right. "What did your kind do to warrant living in a world without atmosphere?! I- I don't think I've heard of anything like that even being possible or... just how!?"
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Post by Stage on Oct 16, 2018 5:15:15 GMT
Nata's eyelid lowered once more. "Cleptarius. 'Thief.' An asteroid. It came down and torn it apart. Plus it brought the peraptors. They're here now too, but you probably don't know them. I have a friend to has a world for them: 'golems.' Living stone."
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 16, 2018 5:27:03 GMT
"I... I see." Lillie muttered. The jovial nature of her voice had dropped to a more serious, slightly deeper tone. A world rendered inhospitable because of an asteroid impact. That wasn't unknown to her, but even the atmosphere being stripped away by the impact, AND alien creatures being brought with it was unique to say the least. That was a streak of bad luck if Lillie ever knew of one...
Or perhaps it wasn't bad luck.
" These peraptors... What exactly are they like? Where I am from, we have golems of our own, but I doubt they're like your peraptors..."
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Post by Stage on Oct 16, 2018 5:35:00 GMT
"Every shape and size back home," Nata answered, seemingly unfazed by the grim topic. "The ones I've seen here are four-legged and squat. Not small though. About the size of a horse. And much heavier. They eat other rocks, but attack people too. Don't know why. They're slow and stupid, but can be hard to see. And if they sneak up on you-"
The ruddy woman kicked up the stump of her leg, bringing it over the table leg and into view.
"Chomp."
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Post by Executus Gira on Oct 17, 2018 1:32:13 GMT
"That... I'll have to take note of that." Lillie mused. "The Mival guards are hard at work as is with ensuring outside threats don't harm anyone inside or people coming and going from here, but they cannot be everywhere at once."
She took another sip of her water as lightning clashed outside, flooding the room with light. The light illuminated the left side of her face, the side facing the window. "How tough are these peraptors to take down usuually? Anything to make the guard's job easier with knowledge..."
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Post by Stage on Oct 17, 2018 1:44:22 GMT
"Pretty much impossible if you don't know where to hit," Nata explained.
Raising a finger, the woman mutely tapped her forehead, then the center of her chest, which depressed her thin tank top and emphasized the outline of her not insubstantial breasts for a moment.
Two things because obvious to the other woman in that second or so: firstly, that Nata was not wearing anything beneath the dirty shirt, and secondly, she had been chilled by the rain.
"They have nerve centers in their head and body cavity; hit those and they drop easy."
Nata returned her hand behind her head. "I wouldn't worry though. I've only seem them up north. They seem to like where it's dry."
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