The Best Laid Plans: Gameplay Topic

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Rodak"Then let me enlighten you. The rat and the shark are crossing a river. At any moment, the shark could eat the rat... or the rat could violently explode. A tentative alliance for sure, but necessary.""I have a question for you, Saevam. In this alliance, the rat gains free transport over the river. But what does the takea shark, who is at just as much risk, gain?"

Edited April 3, 2013 by Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Palm]

IC: Kriate Toraw - Plaza Nuva - Towers"Boss needs more patrol in Ghetto's today," Kriate gave her thumb a shove, pointing it over her shoulder, the curt edge between her eyebrows seeming to raise, "I was on my way down. If you got nothin' better to do you could come with. Could use a steady hand," Kraite motioned to Y'zvan, "Heard you were good for it."

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

...~Night after night the voice recites my misdeeds

 

And puts me to sleep

 

And tells me I won't

 

Remember a thing~...

 

I dashed down the alleyway, my leather coat flapping behind me as I lept over various obstacles in my path. I'd already stashed the engine away to pick up later. No sense in just throwing it out, I'd spent good credits on that. I could hear her footsteps pounding against the cracked pavement a few tens of bio behind me. If I wanted to get away, I'd have to do it fast.

 

...~When morning comes at last

 

I rub my eyes

 

Forgetting everything and thinking

 

Only of my plans

 

My plans~...

 

With a sharp movement, and more than a bit of exertion from my elemental power, I shot into a side passage. Immediately after disappearing from view once again, I manipulated a gravitic field around my body, which sent me shooting upward at a considerable speed. There, floating a good distance above the floor of the narrow passage, I waited, not daring to breath. If luck served me well, then she'd just run down it, thinking that I'd continued on. If not, well...

 

Here's hoping she didn't have a Kadin.

 

It was dark in the alleyway, though I could see fine. Even if I'd rather not talk about how my Kanohi altered the size of my eyes in order to see, it was handy. Besides, the adaptations normally disappeared soon enough. Normally. I am not mentioning the fins.

 

...~The world is spinning 'round and I'm on the top

 

And nothing in the world can ever make me stop~...

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

Karz, he's really trying to escape this time! I ran as fast as I could as my quarry slipped into another side passage, I ran into it at break neck speed, almost crashing into one of the sides. I stopped in my tracks.

 

Where...where did he go... To my dismay, I had lost him. How had he moved so quickly? Did he have a kakama? This Toa of Gravity was...he was a Toa of Gravity right? The purple usually indicated so...

 

Wait...what if he? I looked up toward the sky, lo and behold, there he was, looking right at me again, with some huggeeeeeeee eyes. Seriously that couldn't be natural. My mask thankfully improved my vision enough that I could make him out, otherwise I probably wouldn't have seen him.

 

Elirahk didn't seem particularly concerned that I had spotted him. He was high enough in the sky that it would be rather foolish to try to get up there without a way to get back down safely.

 

A determined expression grew on my face and I leaped up onto a dumpster, followed by leaping to a nearby railing, and then flipping over it and onto the roof of the building.

 

Karz, he's still really high... I grimaced as I knew what I was about to do, if this didn't work well...it was gonna hurt. I backed up to the other side the building, Elirahk seemed to be content to just watch me, the perv. He obviously didn't believe I was gonna do what I was about to do. Most Coppers weren't that crazy.

 

Of course, I wasn't most Coppers. I began to sprint as fast as I could toward the other side of the roof, when I reached the end I jumped as hard as I could upwards. While my Le-koran agility was impressive, that alone wouldn't allow me to reach my target, a little help from my elemental powers though...

 

A powerful gust of wind carried me farther, at this point I was nearly in reach of the Toa of Gravity... Wait...why did I think this was a good idea? I desperately tried to tackle and grab Elirahk as I came just within reach at an insane speed, hoping he'd be too surprised to react in time.

 

 

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

...~10,000 years of unerasable acts

 

And permanent facts

 

And only I know

 

Who's responsible

 

Indefensible

 

Reprehensible

 

Me.

 

I watched with my giant anime-esque night vision eyes as the Copper lept from one place to another in a rather cute effort to catch me. As she continued, my eyebrow raised quite a bit. Then she reached the roof, and looked to be backing up for a running ju-

 

No.

 

She wouldn't.

 

I wasn't gonna believe it.

 

Oh ####, she would, this chick's craz-

 

At that moment, a green-armored Toa of Air slammed into me at high speed, knocking the wind out of me and nearly knocking me from the sky. Nearly. I managed to keep enough of my elemental manipulation under wraps to stop both of us from plummetting to a rather messy splat on the ground below. And so, it wasn't so much a tackle anymore as it was me kinda carrying her to stop the chick from falling. It wouldn't be good of me to just drop her, now wouldn't it?

 

"Yo."

 

No, I couldn't completely hide the grin on me face.

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

Oh, I'm not falling to my death...yay! I was relieved for only about a second, then I remembered who I was currently clinging too. Oh right...I didn't think on what to do if I got this far...umm....

 

As Elirahk grinned at me and gave me a greeting I scowled. "You're under arrest!" That was all I could think to say giving the circumstances. Of course, I wasn't particularly sure how I was going to arrest him, as I was currently holding onto him for dear life, I couldn't reach my weapons at all.

Edited April 3, 2013 by A billion cats

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

At this distance, I got a much better look at the Copper, and to say the least, well, uh huh. Aw yeah.

 

These night vision eyes weren't so bad after all, I guess.

 

"Mkay, alright then," I said, nodding in agreement to her statement about arresting me. If it weren't for the fact that she was clinging onto me, I might've taken her a bit more seriously. But seeing as she was holding on for dear life, well...

 

Have hawt copper get all clingy with me, check.

 

My to-do list was slowly getting larger.

 

"So, uh..."

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

This is it then, he's probably gonna just drop me and increase my gravity so I can't break my fall... I looked at Elirahk as if I was in control, hiding my fears. I noticed the way he was looking at me, it made me shiver. Oh great...he doesn't want to kill me, it's even worse than that. I was liking this even less and less.

 

"I'm not letting go till you land you know. So you better."

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

"Right then," I said, shrugging. It would be a simply matter of floating back over to the roof, but first, I had a few quick questions...

 

"Sure, but what's with the stalking? I mean, other than the fact that you'd jump off a building to get a chance to get all clingy with this face."

 

"I haven't done anything... yet... But still."

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

"Stalking!? I'm not stalking you! I'm doing my job! You're the one acting like you're up to no good! Cause you aren't! And you don't have a license to buy that engine! And I bet you're carrying loads of illegal weapons that you will not kill me with! And the last thing I want to see is your ugly mug! What's with the big eyes anyway!? They're creepy!"

 

As I gave him a mouthful I was squirming endlessly, trying to make him descend.

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

"I have a license, I'm carrying registered weapons, and your squirming is making it increasingly hard to hold onto you, not to mention it's distracting."

 

"And the big eyes are obviously because I'm trying to be as innocent and adorable as possible."

 

And all of that was completely true. Well, besides the eye thing. Okay, maybe I wasn't liking them so much anymore. Freaking mask.

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

I froze in place, he had a license? The only reason I believed him was because I couldn't find a reason for him to lie, I was at his mercy to begin with, whether I admitted it or not.

 

"Well..." I was starting to fumble with my words, not a good thing! I had to come up with something quick to regain composure "You still ran from me when you realised who I was, you could spend a night in a cell for running from an officer you know!"

Edited April 3, 2013 by A billion cats

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

I almost laughed at that last one. Seriously, was I really just going to stand there and have her arrest me for some crime that the rest of the Coppers would make up at a later date? I'd seen it happen to people who were more than a bit outspoken against the Suits, I've had it happen before. And I certainly wasn't going to let it happen again. I didn't attempt to explain this, though, not her. She was a Copper, they weren't know to be understanding. "Obviously. Tell me, though, if you'd been in my position, would you have done anything different?"

 

Perhaps I wanted to make a point by running, even though I really hadn't done anything. Again, yet.

 

"Or maybe I just didn't want you to catch me with eyes the size of my fist."

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

I found myself a bit speechless, what would I have done if I had been in his shoes? I bit my lip, if this guy was really a killer, he would have let me drop by now. I mean, don't get me wrong, I knew he was a no good hoolgan that probably was selling illegal weapons and drugs and Great Beings know what else but...he spared my life...

 

"FIne...you're free to go..." Hahaha you're hilarious Leyana. "But with a warning!"

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

...

 

Okay, either I'm waaaaaay better at public speaking than I knew, she can't stand the thought me rotting away in a cell, or I'm about to get shadowed by an officer for the rest of my life.

 

"Just like that?" I asked, skeptically. There were a few things you didn't do around these parts, steal from a thief better than you, get in the way of a Skakdi looking for breakfast, and trust a Copper. Perhaps I was more than a bit surprised. "Not that I'm arguing with that."

[Hanako Herupa]

IC: (Journal of Adala)

 

Beep.

 

Beep.

 

Beeeeeep.

 

BEEEEEEEP!

 

My hands fumbled around on the nightstand next to my bed, fingers fumbling as I searched for the karzin' off button. I didn't even bother to raise my head up from my pillow, frankly I didn't want to, last night's hurrah had been anything but kind to me. The next two minutes were agonizing, it took way longer to turn it off than normal, probably due to what people consider "excessive" drinking. My breath steadied as I turned over in the bed towards my clock, red lines on a black background. 11:30 AM. I sighed and almost immediately after that groan I felt like my skull was being battered with steel girders. I groaned more, rubbing my temples before finally tossing the blanket off of me as I sat up.

 

"Oh ######. This is not a good way to start a day." I grumbled, swinging my feet rightwards off the bed and pushing myself off the bed. I felt a little uneasy on my own feet for a few seconds but quickly found enough balance to stumble my way towards the bathroom, the room was still dark and at the moment I was far too tired and lazy to even consider turning any of the few lights I had in this place on. I flipped the switch, a yellow light flickering own, illuminating the the dingy bathroom, walls caked with dirt. a clear mirror by the sink my eyes found it and I saw it.

 

In front of me stood a Toa of Earth, she had black skin like all Onu-Toa, black as a starless night. She had a Rau, with tall, pronounced cheekbones. Her eyes a shade of lavender, tired and exhausted from a rough night of drinking, bags beneath her eyes at the moment.. She had the figure of an athlete, the kind of one that keep themselves fed well enough and worked to remain in shape. Her muscles were toned perfectly Adorning this figure were a yellow tank top, and shorts that frankly looked like she grew out of them ages ago. She's the kind of girl that would turn heads, Karz, she still did but not for those reasons as much anymore.

 

You already know who the reflection is, I didn't do much to really hide it, huh?

 

That girl, she's me. A girl that was going places, a girl that people loved, a girl that made her father proud, and probably would have made her mother as well.

 

Thing is I'm not that girl anymore. Life tosses enough curveballs, fastballs, and other references to sports you couldn't prepare for. It changed things up much far too often. It stopped playing by what you considered the rules. So the game of it got all twisted and absurd, and honestly felt like it wasn't worth playing anymore. I had lost everything, family, career, respect, love. My life had been a steady progression of failures and misfortunes, that seemed to escalate with each new issue. I should have stopped, I really should have, but I couldn't I just couldn't.

 

Now don't think I'm asking for your pity, I'm not fishing for compliments like a hundred other people in my position. They want your pity, I don't. Pity isn't going to solve any of my problems like: Which people can I trust? What is the real cause of all theses problems? Will I be able to feed myself with the next job?

 

That's why pity is useless, and by now I've finished showering and grabbing my favorite clothes. Black jeans that clung snuggly around my thighs, a tank top in the colors of my home, red as blood. Then my favorite little jacket, I smirked slightly as I looked in the mirror, the bags under my eyes finally gone. Sipping really cheap coffee without any cream, I winced as I sipped. Great Beings, the stuff tasted like motor oil. I sighed and flipped through my notes, so far nothing really to go on. I sat at the dinky little desk I got, arching my back as I stretched, yawning before writing down some notes. I had to start somewhere, might as well started with Plaza Nuva. Much easier on the eyes than this squalor that I currently lived in.

[Simulacrum]

-IC: Saevam Ensis, Plaza Nuva-

 

"Forgive me if I presume you make a comparison of yourself and the Takea, Rodak, but I dare say it is hardly so. Your funding enables you to remain as mysterious as you wish to be. We are of a mutual agreement, Rodak. I assure you, you certainly do not "get the short end of the stick", as I believe the saying goes," as Saevam spoke, his voice as flat and uninterested as ever, he paused his typing, to give his attention to another screen.

-IC: Y'zvan Milnkhejt, Plaza Nuva-

 

"Your information is truly formidable," Y'zvan replied, her aloof stare never wavering. As she finished speaking, she stood, slinging her sniper rifle over her shoulder, and her pistol in to its holster with deft, practiced movements, actions she had no doubt had preformed thousands of times. "I will reinforce your patrol."

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

OOC: Alright Darkon, I'll pull free here so Rodak is free. Best of luck with whatever you're doing.

 

IC: Rodak | Plaza Nuva

 

"You catch on quickly, but I'm afraid you miss the point. The point is, the Takea does gain something - access to the outside world. The surface world. The rat watches for the shark, and helps the shark fulfill its goals once the shoreside is reached. And I... I am not the shark - you are the shark. And the funding I slip you under the table to pursue your endeavors is the rat. I have no part in this tale - but if you keep turning your head up and snapping, rather than send in reports and answer calls, you will find a lava rat doing what they do best."

 

"Keep to your work. You, just like all the others like you, are my little horde of sharks in the river of Phan-Metru. You carry my funding so I can have an influence on the other side of the river, per say. But I am not the rats. I do not need to reach the other side. I could care less."

 

"Let. This. Sink. In."

 

The computer terminal returned to normal. Or, at least, it would. What was once a murder in the works had now hit is fruition in a most gruesome way.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

The Toa of Psionics mulled over the information for a bit, looking through the benefits and disadvantages. On one hand, it was most certainly a job in the legal gray area. But it was also one she could charge a decent price for...

 

"Alright, here's my side of things. It'll cost you about eight hundred widgets per day, because Stab n' Grab's a rough area. The extra to the price covers potential medical bills. If you agree, I'll find the shipment for you. But what I won't do is retrieve it for you. That moves out of the gray area, to the point where I could be charged with possession if I get caught.""Those are my terms."

[Padishah Mehmet II]

IC: (Enaltai)

Well, every day certainly wasn't like this. Every day wasn't one where you not only got free food, but witnessed an exchange that was so distinctly illegal. Not that I cared. I'd witnessed many illegal things in my life and done a few to boot. I was no saint. In this city, everyone tries to survive how they can.

 

This was Boom, though. This was a substance that had driven so many lives off the cliff of self-destruction. I didn't really care if the guys out on the streets felt like smoking something funny after school, but Boom was anything but funny.

 

Of course, I wasn't gonna do anything to harm Song, she was paying for my food.

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

"Yeah, just like that! Now hurry up and land before I change my mind!" This situation was beyond embarrassing as it was, the sooner he put me down and we parted ways, the sooner I could forget this ever happened.

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

And that I couldn't disagree with.

 

With a slight mental push, I subtly altered the field of power stopping the both of us from plummeting, changing the direction of the gravitic pull from less of a carrying force to a moving one.

 

It pulled me, along with the cop I was carrying, back over to the roof. I'd once heard that it was a somewhat nausiating experience, having the direction of your gravitic pull altered so suddenly, though I seemed perfectly fine with the change in what my body thought as "down". Reaching the rooftop, I set the Le-Toa down, though I remained floating a few inches off the floor. With that, I looked pointedly at her, but didn't say anything.

[Simulacrum]

-IC: Saevam Ensis, Plaza Nuva-

 

Turning from the monitors, Saevam, apparently unmoved by Rodak's speech, stared at Vod expectantly. "I believe you wanted something." He said, his voice containing traces of impatience, but his gaunt features remaining perpetually dispassionate.

[Hitoshura]

IC: CralCral sat by the side of a building, tired. He did not know why he was out here, just plain weird to him.

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

Being a Le-Toa, heights didn't really bother me, changes in my gravity weren't so bad either, but I did feel a slight fluttering in my stomach. I sighed when we landed, I was quick to take a step back from Elirahk, just because he'd put me down didn't mean I trusted him not pull something else.

 

"Well, goodbye then, stay out of trouble, not that I really expect you too." I had let him off this time, but had a feeling next time would be quite different, I'd catch him doing something eventually.

[Hitoshura]

IC: CralCral stood up and started walking away from the spot he sat at, then-he ran. Just ran, around the corner and streets. No reason why, he was in no rush for anything. Maybe he was. He stopped, tired. And then kept walking somewhere, he'll find out later.

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

"Aw come on, this face couldn't do anything bad," I protested.

 

Yes, my eyes were still gigantic.

 

Thanks for noticing, Universe.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

IC: "Oh I would not have insisted you accomplish the retrieval," Gumokk assured Song in his baritone voice. He thought he was being soothing, not sounding like a very large rock in a blender, "In all likelihood it has been used up. I merely wish to have the perpetrators of such a crime encounter a little...righteous justice." His grin grew a few molars wider, "By which I of course mean that I would alert the Coppers to their activities and whereabouts."

 

 

IC: "Well. That went well," Krax buzzed in Leyana's ear. Through the radio at least. Krax himself had been maintaining a position on the rooftops. He'd been preparing to knock the perp's Kanohi off if he'd gone any higher

[Snelly]

IC: Leyana

 

"Yeah sure, whatever..." I cringed as I heard Krax's voice in my ear, I'd almost forgotten he'd been watching the whole thing.

 

"Well, be on your merry way, buying questionably illegal engines or whatever..." I turned to walk away, ending toward the edge of the roof, I activated my comm. "Your input is appreciated." I said dryly to the Skrull on the other line.

Edited April 3, 2013 by A billion cats

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

...I bet that's a fancy comm...

 

No, stop. Bad. You just got off clean.

 

Without a word, I shot off silently into the air, once again under the power of my element. My upward arc reached a peak of a few bio, before I floated down towards a fire escape haphazardly bolted onto the side of the building. Sliding down two rusted ladders, I dropped the rest of the way to the street below. No one really payed attention to me, I was just another one of them, another one of The Rabble. A quick double back towards they alleyway to retrieve the engine, and then I'd head back home.

 

Ryjak would have to wait a bit longer for his banana shipment.

[Palm]

IC: Kriate Toraw - Plaza Nuva"Sounds good."Kriate clasped her hands together, a "thwap" sounded from her hands."Let's go."

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

Yeah, I want a life that doesn't suck. But to say that the chances of that happening are slight, is like saying that the conflict between the Suits and the Rabble is just a little spat.

 

I don't respond verbally to Saevam, instead, I turn to one of the nearest computer monitors, and with a few taps on the controls, change the images on the screen from a loop of security footage from the Ghetto to the solemn face of a Gumshoe news reporter. Across the bottom of the screen, in bold, red lettering, sits the headline:

 

DEPUTY MINISTER STILL MISSING - NO LEADS, SAYS POLICE

 

"... Deputy Minister zzzzzzt Etolin has been zzzt for a full week now," the news reporter said. "Authorities are still looking for information on the whereabouts of Mr. Etolin or anything zzzzzzzzzzt assisting the police in recovering him. The police are zzzt treating this as a missing persons case, though after a week with no leads there's no doubt they will rule it otherwise soon. Stay zzzzt news about of a shallows cat prowling about zzzt..."

 

With a scowl, I look back at the ever-dispassionate Toa and say, "We have a situation."

 

Now there's a real understatement.

 

-Void

Edited April 3, 2013 by Emissary to the Void

[Visaru]

Ic: Eyes sharp, body loose.

 

As Zarembo undid the latches of the backpack and tossed it aside he saw a man approach him. He seemed alright and apparently was an indirect victim of the hole in the chute high above them, though notably better off than... some of the others who fell from it. "You know what happened here?" the man asked.

 

"Hey handsome," Zar said and kicked his foot loose from the parachute. "No, I don't know much," he admitted, "though I would wager that they had a speeder accident inside," and pointed at the wreckage of a couple vehicles, heaped and mangled beyond mere destruction. He warily looked around the area; still no sign of the Coppers or Gummies; he could linger a little and figure out what happened, if only to satisfy his matoranitarianism. But as soon as the authorities came he would have to bolt. He took no chances.

 

"Any more questions?" he asked as he stepped forward to investigate the wreckage himself, though he stole a glance up high to see if anyone else was coming out of the chute like he did. Not that there was too much he could do about it if anyone was...

 

IC

Jek glanced over at the wreckage. Was it just him, or did one of those speeders look very familiar…?

"Um… well, I could ask why you had a parachute on while riding a chute, but I won't." Anyone smart knew that asking too many questions got them in bad places. That's why the Gumshoes' death rates were so high.

His eyes slid around once again, and Jek noticed that Zarembo was doing the same. The Toa was wary too, but he didn't look much like most of the Rabble. A Suit, maybe? Or possibly one of the few civilians that was well off, living near the Plaza. Jek didn't ask about that either.

Instead, he took a deep breath and sat down on a protruding metal pipe, still shocked he was able to do so. Jek's brush with death made him very thankful for access to the rest of his body. He subconsciously rubbed his hand over the maskless face the stranger had just called handsome, as if he was making sure it was all there. Jek wasn't a fool or soft, and he had been close to death before. Never that close. The memory of that open expanse beneath the chute, the misty clouds below, the feeling of all that emptiness… Jek shivered slightly at the thought of just how he could, and probably should, have been down there now. Not to mention his second experience- getting shot out of that broken chute. He cursed the racers who had impacted it. That was just reckless. Worse, bad driving. No one minded if you took risks, but they did when you hurt them. Thus, Jek felt justified hated them. Poor drivers were always annoying (In this case, downright deadly). Then again, he wasn't quite in Gearheaderville, where all the good ones hung out… Was he? After his crazy journey here, Jek was a bit lost.

"I've got a question." he told Zarembo as the Toa walked over to investigate the wreckage. "Exactly how close to Gearheaderville are we?"

Edited April 3, 2013 by Visaru

[Relapse]

IC:"Okay, I'm not taking any chances this time. I'm calling in a demo." He tapped a few buttons on his communications device, and the nearest explosives men- at most as few blocks away -faded into materialisation. They all had hefty backpacks, alleviating any extreme suspicion, and there were maybe fifteen of them across the city. Two of them had shown up. Explosives were hard to come by. "What do we have as far as remote explosives go?""I have a few remote-controlled bombs, and some fire starters.""I have explosive powder, as well as plain gun powder.""Alright, spred your materials throughout the crates. If we lose possession of these, we can't just let them go. I'd rather see them in flames than any of us in jail."The men nodded and began their work, soon planting hidden explosives throughout the stolen items. Ryjak nodded in silent approval, then contacted Elirahk again."Where are you?!"

[Hitoshura]

IC: CralCral walked for quite a while. He saw a pile of rubble, and two Toa near it. Intrigued, he walked towards them, wanting to ask what happened.

[sunflower]

IC: Elirahk

 

It wasn't long before I was back reclining in my floaty chair, with the head-sized engine spinning weightlessly in the air infront of me. Yes, now that I was back in relatively bright lightning, my eyes were back to normal. I hadn't taken any other detours on the trip back, not wanting to waste any more time. And I did scan myself for any electronic bugs.

 

Call me paranoid, but you can't blame me for being thorough, especially when it came to The Coppers. I knew exactly what kind of tech they were packing, even the stuff that they weren't carrying yet.

 

To say the least, when the comm built into my guantlet, quite a handy thing that I should've done ages ago, went off, I wasn't all that surprised when I saw who it was.

 

"Something came up. Starts with C, ends with P, and has a little O in between," I said calmly. "Nothing serious, probably had my face logged 'cause of that unpaid ticket, calm down, Shorty."

[Hitoshura]

IC: CralCral approached the two, and looked closely at them. One of them was actually not a Toa, but looked like one. The other was a Toa, and they seemed to be studying the wreckage."Hello. Could I ask...what happened here?"

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Volanara"You wouldn't be king of the Ghetto if you couldn't." she replied. "I'll wait until I see the place to thank you, of course."

 

OOC: I'll take the opportunity and expand on this post; I did want the chance to work a little more on it, after all.

 

IC: Volanara | The Ghettos, Empty Apartment

 

The Toa of Lightning continued. "I'm starting to get worried. I've tried my best to keep focused on these rallies and speeches, and getting the people ready for the inevitable revolt. But if another incident like Sub-District 1745 happens... I worry for the people who live in the borders of Phan-Metru."

 

-Toa Levacisu Zehvor

[EmperorWhenua]

Ic: "It's Gearhedville," Zarembo corrected. "No 'r.' But based on the architecture and smell of oil... we're pretty close," he replied to the stud who walked behind him. "The district's borders are probably no more than a couple kio away thataways," he said and shot his finger ahead.

 

His fingers pulled a spanner from his toolbelt and he twirled it in his fingers as he approached the wreckage and gave his offer to those standing around. "It may not be much use anymore, but I'm an engineer and can help if there's someone needing an extra hand."

 

"Nuu," came the glum reply of an old timer at the wreckage. "Iiiit's done fer. They're deader than a freyin' pen," he said, referring to the unrecognizable corpses who occupied the melting wreckage.

 

"What happened then?"

 

"Racin' in them there chutes!" the old man scoffed. "These fellers were at the back of their there racin' line. Prelly get too clerse and BINGO, big berm, crash and bern. Rerned a few good men's lives, eh, di'n't?"

 

"Heh... yeah," Zarembo said as he slid his spanner back into its holster and looked to Jek in sadness.

[Visaru]

IC

Jek met Zarembo’s eyes with a similarly upset expression, then looked at the ground. The city was getting worse and worse. So many pointless deaths, so much poverty, sickness, sadness. It was all around. It pervaded the city- at least all the parts Jek frequented. It had stopped bothering him, but every so often it’d get to him, like now, reflecting on the futile deaths of both the racers and the more unlucky chute travelers.

He sighed slightly and knelt down towards the wreckage. That wizened old man was right- nothing salvageable here. Just a pile of junk. He picked up a piece, turned it over, and wondered why one of those shapeless hunks of metal seemed so familiar. Déjà vu? Probably.

Jek stood back up. Nothing else to see here. Just more sadness, more destruction.

He met the eyes of a new traveler, a tall, muscular Toa of stone, who asked a question almost identical to both Jek’s and Zarembo’s: "Hello. Could I ask...what happened here?"

After another quick feeling of Déjà vu, this one less mysterious, Jek answered with a shrug. “Someone screwed up.”

Then he remained standing there, unmoving. Jek's insane falls that had just occurred were still foremost in his mind. Right now, he just needed a few seconds to recuperate. He just didn't have the energy to go find a place to sleep or his next meal. Right now it was enough to know that he wasn’t dead, and that amazed Jek more than anything.