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quote:Hakurei Industries Internal Memo --- The basics are easy to work out. Hakurei Industries is always investing in weird projects like this with as much money as they can extort from shareholders and business partners. Project Madukkarai seems to be a device that shifts an arcane space (or at least its border) into a pocket dimension or something to make it harder for nasty things with tentacles to intrude. There are a lot of words like "decohere" and "asynchrony" and "harmonics" thrown in there. It is very ambitious and very likely not going to work, but if it did it would get them buckets of money from the sort of people who can spend thousands of dollars on wards. Governments, mostly. The drive itself is full of occult mathematics, meticulous diagrams, hundred-page documents, spreadsheets, budget reports and legal documentation. It would take a while to sift through, but here's the good news: You can just have Takemikazuchi or Haxz0rl33t palm it off on someone else in the Soul Network if you want, and even if you do want to take the time to sift through it and throw some dice at it, you can do that back in Dubai while sipping coffee and watching the fireworks or whatever you do to celebrate! You can also make a copy that won't explode at midnight. So, what do you want to do next? The byakhee will give you a ride to any other location in the city, and the Disciples will probably be unable to track you. If you decide to take a look at the material yourself don't start rolling dice yet, unless you want to risk sitting in this compromised hangar all night. I want to see you guys get your ROLEPLAY on.
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# ? Feb 12, 2013 12:00 |
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 07:27 |
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Sharon Sharon keeps staring at Maximina devouring something living, something thoroughly saturated with arcane energy. Hmm.
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# ? Feb 12, 2013 12:18 |
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Da'ud As Maximina's vest falls to the ground, Da'ud freezes, something like a deer in headlights. He blinks, half-stunned, and then turns very red. "Ah..." He coughs, then turns away, trying to watch something that isn't her as he takes his jacket off. It's a little ripped, but nowhere near as badly as her own clothes. "Um. Max? Here." Sure, she's ripping into a barely-dead Byakhee, but still. (Da'ud's version of events may involve slightly more sparkles than, say, Sharon's.) Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 15:40 on Feb 12, 2013 |
# ? Feb 12, 2013 15:34 |
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Arthur Durandall FP 0/1 He ought to be feeling triumphant, what with having dived into a interstellar space swarm and set them up as easy marks for flak, but concern for Maximina takes priority; Arthur saw her flying through the warehouse wall like a crash-landing fighter, and glide-dives through the same hole to check on her. And oddly, he's not offput at all by what he sees. He doesn't even blink at her clothing damage, and heck, as a Tager, that byakhee she's chowing down on does smell a little like food. Granted, it wouldn't be his FIRST choice, and he'd probably throw it up as a human if he ate it like that, but he'd have to ask for a sample of jerky or something sometime. "Glad to see you're holding up," Arthur chuckles, as well as a Tager can chuckle. He flies back out and flips in the air, landing on the ground like a gymnast as he transforms back to human form. As he stretches his now wingless arms and starts walking back inside the hangar, he sees Da'ud looking towards Maximina, holding out his jacket, and blushing tomato red. He glances between the two, and whispers to him, "she's not that attractive." Da'ud, by comparison.... He starts walking towards Mina as quickly has he can, holding his hand to his mouth like he's deep in thought. He is thinking about the data on the drive, and what secrets Mina's not-boyfriend nearly died trying to find, but it also hides his smirking at Da'ud's good looks. When he steps over the last chalk line between him and his tablet, he claps his hands. "So, Mina, what are we looking at?"
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# ? Feb 12, 2013 22:14 |
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Sun Yue Yue watches Maximina chow down with a combination of amazement and nausea. "Wow, that's gross!" She shakes it off, and puts her sword away. "Those things are tougher than they look! Also tastier, I guess. Anyways if we go the stuff off the drive we should totally get it to Takemikazuchi boss lady and then hit the town! It's New Years you know! We should celebrate." She looks back at Maximina again. "Also more stuff might come after us here, and Max is probably gonna be full after that so we probably don't want to be here when they show up."
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# ? Feb 12, 2013 23:05 |
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Sharon "Yes," Sharon says in a flat tone. "We should go."
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# ? Feb 13, 2013 01:10 |
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Mina Fisher Mina quickly makes a few copies of the data and distributes it amongst the group. "What we're looking at is wizard poo poo that doesn't entirely interest me. You guys are free to look at this magical Narnia garbage if you want. I vote we hightail it out of here, drop it off with the Network, and then go eat some fried street food and get drunk and then steal something expensive."
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# ? Feb 13, 2013 09:14 |
Maximina von Gilgamesh FP=3 The sound of desperate mastication slows to a few low chomps as Maximina looks up from the Byakhee she's crouching over. The ominous red glow slowly fades from her eyes. Almost daintily, she wipes at her mouth with the back of her arm, smearing blood. *urp* Then she looks down, and notices what she's (not) wearing. "Gaaaah!" She snatches Da'ud's jacket and tugs it on. "Stop staring at me. It's not as if you've never been hungry before." Old Kentucky Shark fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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# ? Feb 14, 2013 04:08 |
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Sun Yue "Not that hungry. I'm with Min. If Max is done being gross and shirtless let's go party! Maybe not with the stealing."
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# ? Feb 14, 2013 04:22 |
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Da'ud "I, ah...right. Sorry." Da'ud was trying hard not to stare. "You can give me the jacket back later, no rush." Pause. "...so, my family has an apartment near here we can stop at so you can get cleaned up." Da'ud coughs, then glances over at the surviving Byakhees. A thought strikes. They seem docile. "We can ride there in style, even. And then have some drinks while we look at...whatever data we got.."
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# ? Feb 14, 2013 04:27 |
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Arthur Durandall FP 0/1 Arthur looks over the data transferred to his tablet, then towards the waiting byakhees outside. "Huh, they can defect, too," he observes as he tucks his computer back into his coat. "Well, looks like they're all for you guys, and maybe some emergency rations for Maxy. I can fly already!" He bends his not very thick arm and rubs the not very impressive bicep before continuing. "But Da'ud's right; we've spent enough time here, let's find a place with a liquor license."
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# ? Feb 14, 2013 04:44 |
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Mina Fisher Flicking out a cigarette and lighting up, Mina just stares at the fallen byakhee for a moment. "...poo poo, fine, let's ride giant space bird wizards."
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# ? Feb 14, 2013 05:42 |
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Sharon "Yes. Ride. And not eat."
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# ? Feb 14, 2013 06:11 |
"You guys suck," Maximina grunts, pulling the jacket closer around her shoulders and purposefully ignoring Da'ud. She climbs aboard a cowed Byakhee, growling as it cowers.
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# ? Feb 15, 2013 00:03 |
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Co-opting from a lovely game, pretend it's a night scene! Thursday February 9 2119, 9:51PM UAE, Chinese New Year's Eve Location: al-Din Apartments, Level 108, South Tower, Dubai Arcology Aspects: The Latest In Leisure Technology, Hidden Stashes, A Family Megacorporation, Byakhee Squad The byakhee are faster than taking the Metro across the massive bridge linking the Arcology to land and riding an elevator up, but you are so lucky Da'ud's apartment has a balcony. Unlike most arcology apartments, which settle for being comfortable and give the illusion of size, this one is actually pretty big. The lounge and dining room are linked into one big room, with the lounge and balcony down a handful of unnecessary steps and lined with huge windows; it's very roomy, but you get the feeling inviting the byakhee in here is a terrible idea. There's also an open kitchenette and minibar if you feel like human food, a high-tech bathroom if you want to clean up before the party or get your waste to be analysed for medical problems, and some fancy bedrooms if you want to sleep or do something that'll get you made fun of in the peanut gallery. And an aquarium in the wall, why the gently caress not. Also, touchscreens everywhere! The enormous home entertainment system has screens, the walls have screens with readouts of room climate, local weather and current news, the coffee table is a screen, the fridge doors are screens, there are e-books and data pads... All of them have internet access and let you transfer files from one to the other easily, so killing time here should be a breeze. You have some files to check out and time before the big midnight party! What do you do? (You can use the computers to browse the internet, check on news or forums, etc., especially if there's any setting stuff you want to find out.) Feel free to start throwing dice around too.
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# ? Feb 15, 2013 06:30 |
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Sun Yue Yue immediately finds a bed to jump up and down on. "This place is the best!"
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# ? Feb 15, 2013 06:37 |
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Sharon Sharon heads into one of the bedrooms and dials up something suitable for the evening on the closet clothes-fabber. Dumping the pattern off her headware takes only a few seconds, but it'll take a while longer for the fabber to finish its work. Also bedrooms are good for braiding each other's hair and talking about boys. No cannibals allowed.
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# ? Feb 15, 2013 06:40 |
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Da'ud "Make yourselves at home, everyone. Max, why don't you check out the walk-in closet? I think some of Fadwa's clothes are in there from last time she visited." Now, Da'ud is in his element. He moves among touchscreens easily, having learned long ago where every control is in the apartment. Music, some nice lighting, a light bit of pine scent. That's better. Then he turns one of the windows into a display for the Hakurei data. Madukkarai...that's Indian, isn't it? A place. Perhaps something important to know based on that... 6 on Anthropology, to figure out what's up with Madukkarai. I will Lore-nerd later, probably, about the magic involved if this doesn't cut it.
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# ? Feb 15, 2013 06:43 |
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Arthur Durandall FP 0/1 Byakhee might fly, but Whispers fly faster, as Arthur is only too proud to demonstrate by flying loops around the rest of the group as they head for Da'ud's apartment. Once they arrive, he takes a moment to shower off the dust of the trainyard and hangar and pour himself a glass of baijiu before turning back to the Hakurei data. It does sound like something the NEG would be contracting them for...maybe one of the attached documents has something unusual? Hell, it's not like he didn't do exactly this back with the OOI. Rolling scholarship to see if Arthur can't get some more interesting information off the documents under the cover email. Examining Hakurei Docs Scholarship: 4dF+3 3
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# ? Feb 15, 2013 07:17 |
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Mors Rattus posted:6 on Anthropology, to figure out what's up with Madukkarai. I will Lore-nerd later, probably, about the magic involved if this doesn't cut it. It's definitely a reference to the Madukkarai Wall. It's an ancient wall that marked the boundaries of the Three Crowned Kings, a triumvirate of ancient Tamil kingdoms. It was said to be erected in a night by the goddess Sellandiyamman so everyone would stop having border disputes. There are two important things Da'ud can get from that: 1) It's a reference to the Project's desire to erect a new kind of magic boundary around an arcane space; 2) Hakurei is running out of project names. It's not super relevant, but Da'ud is getting the ol' braincells working, so I'll give him the maneuver Threes, Huh... Davin Valkri posted:Rolling scholarship to see if Arthur can't get some more interesting information off the documents under the cover email. Examining Hakurei Docs Scholarship: 4dF+3 3 I HOPE YOU LIKE WORDS!! quote:PROJECT MADUKKARAI quote:September Status Report quote:October Status Report quote:November Status Report quote:December Status Report quote:January Status Report
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# ? Feb 15, 2013 13:47 |
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Da'ud Interesting, but not especially enlightening. The spell, perhaps, will be moreso. Da'ud begins to trace out the arcane symbolism of the magic Hakurei is using. A rule of threes, perhaps... Lore 5, tagging Threes, Huh... to up it to 7.
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# ? Feb 16, 2013 00:35 |
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Arthur Durandall FP 0/1 Wow, lots of documents. But it doesn't even take more than a cursory reading to see some red flags going up as the old analyst gears turn again. Three out of five of the project leads sounded like prime Disciples of the Cold Ones material, and it looks like relations deteriorated really quickly. Even their liaison seemed to be pulling his hair out...what, not ten days ago? Ah, for the full backing of the OOI--no, he left them precisely because they'd never allow him to go to retrieve the drive. Just sit at base and let the OOI response teams go out and pass you by...bleh. Perhaps most interesting is the final document. "Ghazali and Minovsky are having everything moved into Genjii. Watanabe has since amended his earlier promise to Chinese New Year’s." The full device wout be tested in just over two hours? Something about Watanabe's actions throughout the project history seem really odd, and why would Minovsky be so close to the project when his section of the schedule literally hasn't begun? Arthur might not be an arcano-scientist, but he gets the very odd feeling that Dr. Watanabe's intent when starting the project isn't exactly what Hakurei had in mind. This would be so much easier if he knew where "Genjii" was. Where's the maps on this drive. "Hey, Da'ud, Mina, everyone!" he says as he gets up, removes his coat, and grabs the alcohol and the tablet computer. "I think I got something interesting here!" Is it a scholarship roll to find where this "Genjii" place is? Where is "Genjii"?: 4dF+3 1 I hope it isn't...
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# ? Feb 16, 2013 04:06 |
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Mors Rattus posted:Lore 5, tagging Threes, Huh... to up it to 7. Dau'd would probably agree with Hakurei that this isn't happening. It's theoretically possible, just not something it's in Hakurei's best interests to bother with. It's a lot of work for a ward that isn't foolproof anyway. Also, these formulae are a little strange... If Da'ud compares the unedited theory work with the edited summary, it becomes more obvious. The original notes are overly complex and confusing, and when actually compared to the cleaned up version submitted to Technology Assessment, Da'ud realises they have subtle differences. In the edited-for-superiors version, someone has done the occult equivalent of changing a couple of signs and decimal places here and there on the last third of most of the important equations and diagrams. It takes him a few minutes, but if Da'ud looks specifically for the unedited third pieces (or makes obvious corrections in the original work), he can piece it together. Those parts are mostly from Watanabe's theories, all heavy on the angles and higher mathematics. Put them back in their proper places, and the misdirection becomes obvious: The ritual isn't going to shift the room into another dimension. It's going to turn the room into a portal to another, unknown dimension. Davin Valkri posted:Is it a scholarship roll to find where this "Genjii" place is? Where is "Genjii"?: 4dF+3 1 I hope it isn't... The Genjii facility seems to be an old test facility of Hakurei's out in the desert, but specific coordinates aren't given. You might have to do some digging or find someone in Hakurei to tell you where it is!
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# ? Feb 16, 2013 04:52 |
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Sun Yue Yue gets bored with jumping on the bed pretty quick. She wanders back out to the kitchen to find a snack, getting the house network to show her the news while she digs through Da'ud's fridge, the newsfeed following her around on the apartment's screens. Yue comes back with some left over shawarma and a cream soda. She perches on a counter as she munches and checks her mail. Little kirin pop into existence and deliver scrolls to her pda when she opens her sun.yue@shibusen.drm.edu address. Dreamworld to internet interface really could use an upgrade, having these Ghost guys around might be nice.
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# ? Feb 16, 2013 06:37 |
Maximina von Gilgamesh FP=3Mors Rattus posted:Da'ud "Shower first," the blood-spattered Maximina calls, heading for the bathroom. Finding, to her own amusement, that the shower walls are also screens, she sets them to searching for old friends and acquaintances, seeing if any are passing through the city at the moment. Quite a while later she walks into the kitchen, toweling off her hair and wearing a breezy white blouse over denim shorts. The remains of her tactical vest have been scavenged to make low-slung hip-holsters. "Does he have yogurt?" she asks Sun Yue. "I could murder a yogurt." Rolling Contacts + Old Boys Network to see if Maximina can scrounge up someone from her past or the Hunter's Lodge had had any run-ins with Hakurei: Contacts: 4dF+4=6.
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# ? Feb 16, 2013 18:24 |
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Arthur Durandall FP 0/1 "Welp, so much for a quiet lunar new year," observes Arthur as he puts food and computer down on an end table. "Guess we'll just have to settle for breaking into Da'ud's party budget." He quickly goes into the kitchen and tosses Maximina a carton of yogurt. "Better you murder that than murder me! Heh, so, what does anybody here know about a Genjii facility owned by Hakurei?"
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# ? Feb 17, 2013 00:57 |
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Mina Fisher "We're putting off the fried food to crash this joint, right? Because it sounds like they have some expensive stuff to grab, and this Watanabe sounds like a tool, so we should screw him over because screw him. Also it's probably dangerous? Yo fly-boy, toss me a yogurt too." In the corner of her eye, Mina has a completely different screen open as she idly types with one of her hands, hacking into some of Du'ad's available wifi access points and improving their security while inserting a tiny worm keyworded to give her access when she needs it later. You know, as a hobby. She isn't even really hiding it.
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# ? Feb 17, 2013 17:58 |
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Sharon Sharon comes back out wearing something surprisingly tasteful and a wig that might be a natural hair color for someone somewhere in the world. She paces a bit, keeping to herself. It is pure coincidence she keeps Arthur interposed between herself and Maximina at all times. "So when are we leaving?"
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 01:49 |
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Da'ud "Ideally, some time soon. This isn't a warding ritual. Watanabe told them it was, but...no. He doctored his work. Well, but not well enough for someone who understands it. This is a ritual to turn a room into a portal. I could not tell you to where, except that it's outside any dimension or realm I have ever heard of." Da'ud frowns. "This is going to put a crimp in our plans for the night. We might be able to use the Byakhee to hunt down the rift once opened, but that's the kind of thing we're meant to prevent."
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 02:25 |
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Sharon Sharon violates a large part of her training and conditioning and frowns. Things have gotten that serious. "Are you really going to open a portal of questionable origin and destination on a night with tremendous arcane potential?"
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 03:57 |
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Sun Yue Yue points at Sharon. "Mm hmm mmph hmm!" She stops, remembers to chew, and repeats, "He's not, these guys are! And we're going to stop them. Heroically."
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 04:25 |
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Sharon "Oh." Sharon considers this new information. "I don't see how that's better."
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 04:39 |
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Sun Yue "It's the best! We get to save the world and fight monsters and evil wizard people." She glances at Da'ud. "You're a good wizard so you're cool." She eats some more of the stuff she stole from Da'ud's fridge. "So how do we find it? Before like some giant squid headed thing rises out of the desert." Yue uses her free hand to make the universal sign for horrors from another dimension by putting it in front of her mouth and making tentacle-y motions. "Though that would be kind of cool too. Probably would lead to a bad performance review though."
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 05:00 |
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Arthur Durandall FP 0/1 "Well, to stop them, we first need to know where they are. Maxy's checking out her old boys network; till they get back to us I suggest we eat and drink our fill. Don't want to get hungry and start eating byakhees raw mid-raid, eh?"
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 05:01 |
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Comrade Gorbash posted:Yue gets bored with jumping on the bed pretty quick. She wanders back out to the kitchen to find a snack, getting the house network to show her the news while she digs through Da'ud's fridge, the newsfeed following her around on the apartment's screens. A selection of stories from her aggregator: quote:Kirisame Optical Laboratories "did not purchase Migou technology" (Wired) quote:Magical Girl Ibuki-chan enters rehab (Lucky Star Network) quote:Mars shoots down peace bill (GNN) quote:Muvian relics on display at Miskatonic Museum (Sorcery Plus) quote:Cosplay Party! (Xotaku AEF) quote:Senators ask for President's birth certificate (Earth News) quote:This blog is no longer available. (Truth Network) quote:Revelators of Glaaki "Nothing to be concerned about" - Chicago-Milwaukee mayor (The Wall) quote:Population Zero still on! (Stupid Bullshit) Old Kentucky Shark posted:Rolling Contacts + Old Boys Network to see if Maximina can scrounge up someone from her past or the Hunter's Lodge had had any run-ins with Hakurei: Contacts: 4dF+4=6. The great thing about the Wolf Lodge is its members come from all walks of life. Some of them are accountants, some of them are homeless, some of them work for the security hypercorp Scarlet Gatekeeper Security that has the contract to guard most Hakurei Industries sites. Maximina gets Genjii coordinates - it's out in the desert of Dubai, far enough from populated areas to meet legal requirements while staying as close as possible to save money. She can only get coordinates and not information on the project or help getting past the guards, though. Ettin fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Feb 18, 2013 |
# ? Feb 18, 2013 06:35 |
Maximina von Gilgamesh FP=3 Maximina digs to the bottom of her yogurt cup to get at the fruit, because that's the best bit. Then she flicks a blueberry at Arthur's head. "In other news: I found your dumb science facility where they're building the gate. I guess we should probably go visit it, unless you want to wait until it starts a resonance cascade so we can kill whatever pokes its head through." Her eyes gleam. "That could be pretty fun."
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 09:46 |
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Mina Fisher "We COULD run in guns blazing, or we could do this the smart way and sneak in until we find their dumb ritual and crash it."
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 15:40 |
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Arthur Durandall FP 0/1 Arthur barely manages to get his hand in position to catch the berry centimeters from his nose. Maxy was fast, but he's just fast enough. "Somebody's feisty," he laughs as he pops it into his mouth. "Anyways, no reason we can't do both, Mina. Use some of the byakhees here to distract security and draw people away from the main facility while the rest of us fly in and drop down on the roof. Little spoiling and special forces action there." He takes one last sip from his highball glass. "Part of me says we should get satellite maps of the place, but the rest of me wants to stretch my wings again. Anybody else need to do anything, or should we be off?"
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# ? Feb 18, 2013 16:32 |
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Arthur Durandall FP 0/1 "To hell with it, I'm taking off. Catch me if you can, stupid Byakhee!" Dropping his glass and plate on an end table, he takes off for the balcony at a full run, tucking his tablet into his coat before making a flying leap off the railing. He enjoys the sensation of freefall for a few beautiful seconds before transforming into something more aerodynamic, speeding off towards the Genjii site.
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# ? Feb 20, 2013 02:51 |
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 07:27 |
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Mina Fisher Mina moves to her own giant wizard space pterodactyl while making a face. "Show off."
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# ? Feb 20, 2013 07:09 |