[Yesterday was Rei's birthday. She got a lot of freaky stuff, and is probably having so much fun with it that she didn't bother to come to work today. Neither did Peter; maybe he wants some presents too. But the rest of you are in the club room! Yay!] [Session Start] * Maria is in the club room! On the wall! * Chie walks into the club room, humming something. Off-key, of course. * Maria nods to Chie. * Chie stops humming and waves. "Hey, Maria." * Chomei is, strangely enough, reading a book this time. He looks up to Chie as she walks into the room, then goes back to reading. * Lazar is doing something unusual... he's STANDING and playing with the Slinky. People who look might notice the 'tattoo' on his forehead looks different... the scribble going from right to left after the glyphs is gone, and the second glyph appears to have been completed. Laz! Did you go and visit the Kaba... Kab... the Jewish mystics? * Maria frowns. I think he did. His forehead looks stranger. Kind of. No was really Kabbalist, but knew enough about golems to do third rune part. How are you feeling? Need real Kabbalist to do final rune, though. That toughest part. ( In Japanese terms, it's like comparing katakana to kanji :P ) * Lazar shrugs. "Bit of headache from chisel being pounded into head with hammer for half hour. But good... before, feel like always lag between think do something and do. Like soul and golem no in sync. Now... feel in sync." * Maria giggles. "Yeah, that looked like it would've hurt." * Chie nods. "Sounds like it turned out well, then. That's great! Well, not the headache part. But you knew that, I think." * Lazar shadow-boxes a bit. "Moving feel smoother now, easier. Is good." * Chomei doesn't seem to be paying much attention. Then again, when does he? * Maria nods. * Makoto slips in through the door. He looks like a darkly-tanned South Pacific Islander with straight, shoulder-length black hair dyed in yellow streaks. He's frowning thoughtfully as he spins a yo-yo in his right hand. * Chie looks around. "So... where's everybody else? Rei, and Makoto, and the prof?" * Chomei points at Makoto. "Makoto's over there." Feel like can do more like when I was human... more skill, no depend so much just on strength. * Maria grins. "That's good." * Chie turns and notices the new arrival. "Makoto? Hey, nice hair!" She gives him a thumbs-up. * Lazar eyes Makoto-brudda-man, and waves. * Chomei puts down the book. "So, does anyone have a clue as to what we're doing tonight?" * Makoto smiles faintly at Chie. He looks amazingly more handsome in this shape than he does normally. After the briefest of pauses he returns Lazar's wave with his free hand. And has the Prof finally taken a look at that staff? * Lazar shrugs. "No seen Rei or Peter. Peter usually one who get missions. Thanks, Chie. Lazar, what's with your forehead? ( Patients, Chomei. God is thinking about that problem as we speak. ) * Maria blinks at Makoto. "Nice hair?" [The phone rings!] (Go get it Chie!) I'll get it. * Chie walks over to the phone and picks it up. "Yo." * Makoto offers Maria a wan smile as well. He winces when the phone rings. "Yeah. Hi, Naomi! How are you?" "Ugh. That does suck. But I'm glad that you're doing better. So, what's up?" * Lazar mmms. Chie said Naomi; it must be a mission! * Makoto does not react in any apparent way when he hears Naomi's name. "Hmm... actually, I don't really play them that often. But I don't dislike them. Why d'you ask that?" * Maria blinks. ( "The Beatles have been resurrected as zombies. You must stop them." ) ("Noooo! The horror!") * Demotafk is now known as Demota * CharleSleep is now known as Charles "You're kidding me. *How*, exactly?" ( A video game has come to life. I just know it. ) "Wow. That's... different. So, what exactly are we supposed to do about it?" ( We are the Knights who say Whee! ) "Hmm. What'd they have to say for themselves?" "Got it. Anything else we should know?" "Okay. That's all?" "All right. Well, hope you feel better fast. Talk to you later." * Chie hangs up. So? This oughta' be good. We've got an interesting one, guys. Any of you ever hear of a video game called "Raze?" * Chomei looks at Chie and raises an eyebrow. "What's up?" ... Raze? ( Gaming (video games)! ) A what called what? Huh? ( It's ironic that Rei's not here. ) Well, that's three out of four "no's," so... 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Makoto (2d6) and gets 8. ( Heh. Apparently not. ) Raze is some sort of first-person shooter game. Pretty popular. * Maria blinks. A FPS? Wouldn't seem too unusual... except for the fact that people have been dying while they play it. Their hearts stop. * Lazar tilts his head. "... that probably no supposed to happen." Well that's not right. * Maria blinks again. "That's not supposed to happen, right?" So we go to arcades, smash all machines? Nope. Apparently it happens during the multiplayer mode, and at only at night, though at varying times. * Makoto watches the nearly hypnotic spiral pattern on his spinning yo-yo. No, Laz, we don't. First off, it's probably a home game, not an arcade game. ( Of course, this is Japan, the land of seizure-inducing cartoons. Shouldn't be *too* odd... ) Naomi said that they think a supernatural is involved somehow. Multiplayer? As in, there's somebody else on the other end? Somebody the victim can't see? That's the idea. That's very possible, Makoto. Huh. ... so who I supposed to hit? We could set up a trap. Any idea who the culprit is? I think they keep records on the web about this kind of stuff. Apparently the makers of the game have been questioned about this. They don't know the cause, but they will recall the game if this keeps up. (Where the hell is Rei when we need her?) Naomi said we could try and talk to the programmers at the local branch. ( She's doing schoolstuff. ;.; ) ( She's playing right now! :P ) Or we could log on ourselves... but she seemed to think that was pretty risky. * Makoto hasn't taken his eyes off the yo-yo, though he seems to be pretty attentive to the conversation. (I know Ard's doing schoolwork. She's across the room from me. ~_^) (*throws textbook at Chomei*) ( *blink* Right. Dug. ^_~ ) Well, if someone stands next to the plug and unhooks the thing when trouble starts, we'll be alright... right? Oh, okay. Let's go chat it up with some geeks, then. Or we could do that. (* Kevin gets pegged by a book and watches Ard walk around trying to get her foot to wake up.) I think... yeah. * Lazar nods. "Better to talk to people who know what doing." So, all in favor of trying to talk to the geeks? ( I resemble that remark! Yep. ;p) Uhm. Works for me, I guess. * Lazar raises his hand. Yep. Now we've got to figure out how to get Lazar there. Okay. Now we just need to figure out where this place is. And since Rei's not here... anybody got a phone book? * Chomei nods. Uhm... maybe there's one in here? * Chie frowns. "Where *is* she, anyway?" * Maria seeks phonebook! Makoto? You heard from her? * Makoto still doesn't look up from the yo-yo. "Actually, no. I was hoping she'd be here." I know the prof wasn't feeling all that well last night, so I can understand him not being here, but... ( Nobody asks where Peter is, mind... ) She's not here, and she didn't tell any of us... hm. (I just did, actually. ;p) * Maria frowns. "I hope nothin' happened to her." ( Yes, but you didn't say it faster than the speed of cynicism. ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-2) and gets 1. * Chie frowns as well. "Yeah. Hey, is that staff thing still here?" * Chie looks around for the staff. [Maria finds, buried underneath a huge pile of papers and magazines and other junk... a phone book!] Righto. Who makes it again? [The staff is still there. Unless someone moved it.] Okay, it is still here. I guess that's a good thing. Oh, it's GCJ that makes it, Maria." * Lazar hmms. "Peter need stronger coffee." * Maria looks up the address of GCJ. ( The phone book says: For address, look online. ) (*facepalm*) [Maria finds it! The old fashioned way still works! Yay!] ( Good. c.c; ) (Hooray for old fashioned stuff! ;p) Got it. Erm, how're we getting there? Is it close to here? [It's 30 minutes away!] * Chomei cracks his neck. "So we go there, talk to some geeks, then... what?" Yeah. 'Bout... uh, a half hour, if you walk. Maybe they can help us with the trap? Or help find who do it. Or that. Either way works. Let's get going. Yeah. Let's go, talk, and then make plans. Right. * Maria heads out. For adventure! * Lazar nods, and heads out. * Chomei goes out the door. to... GCJ! * Chie taps Makoto on the shoulder before he can leave. Mm? * Makoto snaps up the yo-yo and looks at Chie with big brown eyes. Is something wrong? * Makoto offers a little shrug as a response. Just got a lot on my mind today, I guess. I promise I won't slow us all down too much. I'm not worried about *that.* I'm worried about you. But, well, your business is your business. Just... if you feel like talkin' about it, I'm here. [Time: 9:00 p.m. They park in a parking lot next to the GCJ building.] * Makoto nods, and follows Chie out before the GM crushes him with the fast forward button. ;P ( Too late! ) ( Dangit! ) * Maria is standing there in the parking lot. She walked, thankyouverymuch. [The building is three floors high.] [Time: 9:00 p.m. They walk to a parking lot next to the GCJ building.] And, we have arrived. Wonder what their visitor policy is? Does it really matter? ( No solicitors. ) Nope. Just wondering how much resistance to possibly expect. Then again, this isn't Asahara. * Maria smirks. "If they don't let us in, it won't stop me." * Lazar shrugs. "No know 'till we try." [They all have nice shiny badges. They got them off screen.] ( Wai! Shiny! ) (Shiny is good.) Plus, can just show Interpol badges. Forgot about those. Eh. Don't wanna get all official. Should be a last-resort thing. * Lazar nods, and heads for... the DOOR! Yeah. * Makoto pats his pockets as he follows the group. * Maria follows for THE DOOR. * Chomei follows the big man to... THE DOOR! * Chie pulls hers out briefly and chuckles. "The irony." She then follows them to... THE DOOR! ( THE DOOR is made of iron. So yeah, you could say it's irony. ) Oh, I still have mine. Rei borrowed it to use as a spare wheel for her mobile drinking bird slinky toy invention. I forgot whether or not I took it back. (... Right.) * Chie laughs. "I can so see her doing that." [Actually, the door is made of glass, which slides open when you walk up to it. The building is open for another hour.] * Lazar heads for the front desk or whatever. * Chomei follows Lazar. [There's a secretary at the desk.] ( Now the important question: is the secretary cute? ) * Maria heads up to the front desk. (Maybe you should first ask what gender said secretary is.) * Secretary would probably be cute if she let her hair down and didn't look so business-ish. ( Doesn't matter. Makoto can hit on guys as well as he can on women. ) (True. But does he want to?) (I want to see that. ;p) * Secretary files her nails and doesn't look up. * Makoto clears his throat as he appraches the desk. Excuse me, ma'am. Pardon... we here to see Raze programmers. Investigating deaths. * Secretary still doesn't look up. "Do you have an appointment?" Of course. Name? Should be under "Imagawa." * Lazar eyes Makoto. * Chie hangs back and lets Makoto do his thing. * Secretary sighs and stops filing long enough to look through a database on the computer. "I'm sorry, but I don't see your name on the list." She goes back to filing her nails. Could you check it again? We called ahead a few days ago, in connection with the whole player death scare. Figured we'd wait until some of the media circus died down so we could ask some questions that would help the investigation. I'm sure we should be on there. * Secretary sighs and rolls her eyes, then checks again. "I'm sorry sir, but you're not on the list." * Maria gives up and sends a 'What the hell are you trying?' look to Makoto when the secretary isn't looking. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Makoto (2d6-2) and gets 1. * Chie puts her hands in her pockets and rolls her shoulders. [Maria succeeds, as the secretary is doing a lot of not looking. * Chomei suddenly finds the ceiling of the foyer very interesting. (It could be a shiny reflective ceiling! ...or maybe not.) * Maria blinks and looks up. Is it possible that the meeting was falsely canceled? Mister Ikari told me he was looking forward to our meeting, and I'm certain that none of us called to reschedule. [Chomei and Maria see a nice ceiling. With lights. And the occasional camera.] * Chie keeps her hands in her pockets and resists the temptation to follow the crowd and stare at the ceiling. * Lazar taps his foot. * Secretary sighs and rolls her eyes, then throws up her hands in frustration. "Fine! Fine! Go ahead in and see him. Jeez!" * Makoto carefully ignores Maria's look, and everybody else's uncomfortable fidgeting. * Makoto smiles charmingly at the irritable secretary. * Secretary leans back and starts filing her nails again. Thank you. * Secretary is not charmed by Makoto, because she hasn't bothered to look directly at anyone the entire time. * Lazar shrugs, and heads for whereever it is they're supposed to go. * Chie takes her hands out of her pockets and follows the others in, ignoring the secretary right back. ;p * Chomei shrugs. "Let's go already." * Makoto leads the way to the elevator. * Chomei follows. * Maria follows. o/` So where do they keep the geeks around here? [There is an elevator in the back!] * Makoto waits until the elevator comes down (he hit the 'summon elevator' button), then waits some more until everybody is inside the elevator, then presses the button for the third floor. Probably all over the building, Chie. But the important geeks are always at the top. [The elevator groans when Lazar steps onto it. It starts to slooooowly head to the third floor.] Of course. Should've guessed. * Makoto gives the incognito golem a worried look. He forgot about the weight problem. I shouldn't have underestimated your way with women, Makoto. You were quite smooth, back there. * Chomei snickers. * Chie smirks briefly, but doesn't say anything. Would have been easier to just hit her. That woulda' been mean, tho, Laz. * Makoto grins crookedly at Maria and nods his head slowly, as if to acknowledge the complitment. "Thanks, Maria. I pride myself on my ability to get people to do things for me that they wouldn't normally do." ... was joking, little one. * Maria grins. "I know." * Lazar blinkblinks. [The elevator finally gets to the top floor. The doors open with a *ding!*] * Maria steps off the elevator. When we get to the top, we're going to room 311. Guy's name is Ginji Ikari. ... How do you know that? * Lazar steps off, still trying to figure Maria out. ( Magic ) * Chie gets off the elevator. "Okay... wait, how'd- what Chomei said." * Makoto holds the door until everybody else gets out. * Chomei gets out of the elevator. ( Get in the EVA, Ginji. ) Look, you guys kick ass and I take names. It's part of the job description. Let's just leave it at that for now. * Maria giggles. "If you say so, Mak. Now c'mon." * Chie chuckles. "Oh, of course. How silly of me to forget." * Chomei eyes Makoto. "Sure." Don't think we'll be doin' much ass-kicking tonight, though. ( Do they have Ginji armor for sale here? ) Hopefully not. I always feel bad for beating up geeks. Yeah. They don't put up much of a fight. * Makoto grins and follows everybody into the hallways and toward the office that is their destination. Yeah. It's like kicking puppies or something. * Chomei nods. ... what is 'geek'? [Room 311 isn't far. It's the 6th room on the left ('cause the even numbers are on the right). A man is in the room sitting behind a desk and writing something. (For description purposes, he looks like Shinji wearing glasses and 30 years older.] * Secretary is now known as Ginji ... I'll tell you later, Lazar. (What about those of us who don't know who Shinji is?) * Maria looks around the room. (Evangelion.) ( Eat a banana. ) (Oh, that Shinji. ^^;) * Makoto knocks on the door frame with the backs of his knuckles when the group arrives. (The "Ikari" wasn't a clue? ^_~) Excuse me, Mister Ikari? * Ginji looks up from his work. "Huh?" We're investigating the Rave... incidents... and we hoped you could spare a moment to help us eliminate any possibilities that might incriminate the work you guys do here. Rave? Why would we be incriminated? If people like our dancing game that much, that's great news! Err, sorry, I must have misspoke. I said Raze, Mister Ikari. The one that some people say kills people? Oh. Ooooohhh... I don't know anything about it! It works fine in overseas markets... Heck, it works fine in the rest of Japan! * Maria blinks. "But not here in Tokyo?" I don't know why. The CEO asked those of us who programed it if we had any idea what was happening, but none of us do. * Maria frowns. "Not even any theories?" Is any common thing to people who die? It's not a flashy enough game for them to have seizures, and I don't know what else could stop their hearts like that. Play at same time, against same people, anything like that. * Chomei scratches his head. * Ginji shakes his head. "None of us know what it could be, and we've asked everyone! Uh, except for Gil." Oh? And who's Gil? Gil Bates. He designed the weapons and monsters for the game. He's not with us anymore, though; he got laid off a month ago. ( Hah! Gil Bates! ) Sounds like he'd have a grudge against you. But I don't see how he could possibly be doing anything with the game. ( Ah! You used it before I could. ;.; ) * Lazar grins. "That our job to find out. Know where he live?" Yeah, he wasn't happy. I heard he's doing well, though. Gil? Sure! * Ginji rats off an address. "Used to go drinking with him and the other guys after work." Huh. Anything weird about 'im? Anyhow... He's got his own company now. J14. He's supposed to release his first game soon. ( All we need is Jerry Orbach and this could be a Law & Order ep! =P ) ( *snickers* ) ( "Calls the game "Nodachi". Taken 'em forever to build it." ) Really fast, too. But I heard that another company really liked his idea, and they're providing him funding in return for a share of the profits. Huh. Hm. Know name of other company? Doesn't sound too odd, but might want to look there too. Hmmm.... I can't think of it off hand. It's one of those companies that makes things you don't think about much, like hairdryers and irons. Y'know? * Chie blurts out. "Asahara?" Hey yeah! That's it. Ah. Congl-- It is? * Lazar facepalms. Asahara. Always forget that name. ( Someone call Sam Waterston! ) * Maria shakes her head sadly. ... Right. Next time, look at your iron. * Chie grins. Mister Ikari, do you have any idea why Mister Bates was laid off? ( Actually, because he was such a good programmer, he insisted on being called 'Master'... ) (...) ( Hah! ) ( Master Gil. Silly name. ) Oh, we were downsizing a while back. GCJ is trying to be more local, and the head office is in America, so... ( *Hits Jesse upside the head with a '88 Ford LTD* ) * Makoto nods. That's the way things work, I guess. Thank you for help, sir. Hopefully, we can solve this, and clear name of you company. * Ginji blinks. "Well, sure. That'd be great. I still don't see what Gil has to do with anything, though." Have to check all leads. * Makoto nods. * Chie nods as well. "Yeah, thanks." Well, if you say so. * Maria nods. "We do." I have one last question, Mister Ikari. How easy is it for somebody to find out where another player physically is while they're playing? I mean, if you and I were playing the game, would it be very hard for me to find out where in the city you were? Well... If you track the IP address, I suppose you could. Okay. Just making sure it was possible. * Makoto looks around at his companions. Anybody else have anything? * Chie shakes her head. Nope. Back to the elevator. * Maria waves to Ginki and smiles. "Have a nice day, sir!" * Chomei shrugs. "Let's get going. Good evening Mr. Ikari." * Makoto turns back to Genji and offers the man a friendly smile. "Thank you for your time, Mister Ikari." Sure. Yeah, thanks, and have a nice night. * Lazar follows. * Makoto waits for everybody else to head back to the elevator, and gives Mister Ikari and the office one last look. It might come in handy to mimic a geek some day. You never know... * Chie waits until they get back into the hall, then says, "Asahara. It's always Asahara. Why is it always Asahara?" * Makoto follows the group, and catches the end of Chie's question. ( How many evil corporations do you WANT? c.c ) ( Three. ) ( Five! ) (*snickers*) ( Three! ) * Chomei catches up to the group. "What?" Well, makes things easier. If Asahara name comes up, know things be fish-like. True. But it also means this guy's got some pretty serious resources backing him up now. Yup. They want something more than a few percentage points, obviously. Let's get back to the club before we make our next move. * Chomei nods. And Lazar, that's fishy, not fish-like. ... ah. Fishy. Got it. On the upside, we got info out of a geek, and I didn't have to pretend to like him. This is a good day for me. * Lazar chuckles nervously. I feel your pain, Maria. I feel your pain. * Maria nods. ( You guys don't like ANYONE c.c ) * Makoto grins at Lazar and then shoos everybody into the elevator when the doors open. Let's go. (On the bright side, we would've killed people like Taro.) ( Nonsense. Makoto likes EVERYBODY! Except maybe Francine. ) ( Brett, that's because everyone we've met (almost) has been trying to kill/wound/maim us. =P ) [Time: 10:30 p.m. You go back to the club room, where you find Rei, sitting in front of BOX, and Peter, who's inspecting Rei's staff.] * Chie smiles. "Rei! Prof! Hey! Glad you made it! We've got a new assignment from Naomi!" * Peter is inspecting Rei's staff, as you already heard. ( ...ew. ) * Peter looks up. "Oh. Indeed? What happened?" * Rei yelps and looks up from her computer. "Oh, hi Chie! Was wondering where you were." She goes back to her computer. "What's the assignment?" ( *snerks* ) Hey, Rei! Peter! Gladja' showed up! Investigating a video game that kills people. Well, looks like ya showed up. ( ... .hack//INFECTION? ) ( Aaaaaahahahaha! *laughs until he cries* ) ( Oh dear god. Nobody go to Chosen Hopeless Nothingness, or we'll all die. ) (Nope. ;p Although that's been devouring my time lately.) ( And if you see a little girl, run for your life. ) A.. game that kills people? How cliched. * Makoto nods, and then has to flick some hair out of his face. He's not used to being a guy with hair longer than an inch or two. Really? What's that? I hope this isn't one of those false alarm seizure things that involve flashing lights and floating rodents. ( Well, he's right at that part :P ) It's a first-person shooter called Raze. People's hearts stop. But only in the Tokyo area. Really? My heart hasn't sto- wait, WHAT? * Rei hits the killswitch on BOX. Yeah. And only in the multiplayer mode, and at night. [BOX dies ;_;] You were just playing it? The programmer we talked to says that he talked to everybody except this one guy who got fired. Said terminated employee now runs his own company, which incidentally is getting funding from Ashahara. * Rei looks at Chomei, just a little shaken. "Yeah. It's really a very fun game, they did a lot with the graphics engine and- wait, just at night? Vampire Raze?" Just in case you didn't think the situation was suspicious enough to begin with. * Rei looks at Makoto and blinks a couple times. "... Makoto?" Naomi said she thought a supernatural might be involved. * Makoto smiles warmly at Rei. Yeah, sorry. I sometimes forget to change back. * Lazar shuffles over to Peter and points to his newly-glyphed forehead, grinning. * Chie grins at Makoto. "I still think the hair's great." * Rei laughs. "It's okay! Just stop doing that, you're gonna confuse me one of these days more than I already am and then my brain would turn into silly string instead of silly putty which isn't as easy to form into a thumbprint." Vampire Ra.. What happened to you Lazar? Found guy to do third rune. Still need Kabbalist to do fourth, though. Nice. Now, what is this about Vampires? It's not really a vampire, prof. It's a video game. * Chomei nods. "People playing it die from a heart attack. Only at night, and only in Tokyo." And only in multiplayer mode. I was just playing it, actually. If stuff only happens in multiplayer, I could set it up for one player, but... * Makoto grins at Rei's comments about sully putty, and then pulls himself back to conversation at hand. It's nothing like fragging human players? Fragging? Why would it... hrm. So the entire programming team didn't have anything to do with it? That's when you blow them up, Chie. Boom! You're out. Actually, Rei, the programmer didn't say that anything would keep us, and by 'us' I mean 'you,' from checking on the IP address, or whatever it's called, of somebody else we're playing with. * Maria blinks. * Peter looks confuzzled. ... why we no go to Ashahara programmer house and hit him? * Rei whistles and turns BOX on again. "Check IP addresses! I wouldn't do a thing like that!" Of course you wouldn't, Rei. * Maria smirks. "Sure you wouldn't. What's an IP address?" Oh really? It's kinda like your 'net address, Maria. It's a signature. Usually you don't want people to see it, 'cause that means they can hack into your puter and track you and trip you up. * Lazar turns back to Peter and whispers. "Man who worked on computer game was fired. Now working for Ashahara. Game making people die. We think there link." Ah. Ah. Thank you. * Lazar nods, then turns back to the group. "So why we no hitting him?" So, if you find the guy's IP address, we can track him down and do unto him. * Maria nods. If it's a single person. Uhm, dunno, actually. Because he might not actually be involved? Or at least make sure this is the same guy as the programming guy you were talking about *or*, possibly, find out whoever else is involved. ... we have address. And he work for Ashahara. ( Technically, you already have his address. ) * Makoto nods. Like Lazar said, we also have this other programmer's home address. Well, we can't just burst into his home on a suspicion. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6-3) and gets 3. Yeah, aren't there laws against that? Yeah. Could be he doesn't know what his work's bein' used for. Unlikely, but possible. We Interpol. Of course we can burst into house on suspicion. Prof? Eh. I guess we just shouldn't, or something. Not unless we have to. Well, yeah. But just because we *can* doesn't mean we *should*... and this guy isn't necessarily a demon or vampire or anything like that. If we did, it would only be if we have reasonable proof. We have nothing more then a guess at the time. We could... do both, couldn't we? Stake out his house and try to lure him out by playing the game? He could be totally unaware of what Asahara's really up to. Though, like I said, I still think that's unlikely. * Lazar mutters. "Sorry, Mr. Dracula. Please wait until we get warrent... bah." * Maria giggles. * Makoto chuckles at Lazar's remark. * Chie grins sympathetically at Lazar. "Yeah, I know." * Chomei chuckles. "Only if we're absolutely positive that there's something up over there." Uh.. Rei. Is there any way you could program some sort of.. computer controlled player? Something basic that we could use to lure out whatever is doing this without putting someone at risk? * Maria hums. "That'd be different, tho. I think Dracula would have a long enough rap sheet to automatically warrant suspicion." * Rei types some more. "A bot?" That... might work. A what? A huh? Computer controlled opponent. Oh. Oh, what Prof suggested, that's called a bot? Makes sense. A.. bot? If that is the word, then yes. Sure. Doesn't have a heart to stop. Yeah, I can see what I can come up with. I've got a few bots, just need to modify one to play Raze. You want me to just monitor it for anything funny? It's not like I can tell if its heart stops or something, since it doesn't have one. * Chie files that away, along with "frag." Her technological vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds tonight! Can you make it realistic enough to pass for human? Try to keep track of anything funny, yes. Anyone with extrasensory powers, try to notice any build up of magical or spiritual energy. ( Soon, Chie will be l337. ) Can you.. err.. record this.. bot's progress? That would be me, I guess. * Rei types some more, then digs in her backpack and pulls out a minidisc. She pops it into BOX and opens another screen, then starts typing away. "I can try. It's not like anybody talks on that game anyway... I'll just have it say OWNZOR J00 whenever it kills things and ogogogogogog right before the game starts." * Chomei snickers at that. Spirits in the wires... ( We should put the floating eyeball in front of the computer. If it drops dead suddenly, we'll know its heart stopped. Wait... does it HAVE a heart? ) (No killing Joe! ;_;) (Ask Brett.) * Maria blinks. "Ownsworu juu? The hell?" Ogogogogog? What in the world does -that- mean? L33t sp33k, if I'm not mistaken. 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6-5) and gets -1. [Rei mods a bot.] * Chie eyes Chomei, who apparently has started speaking in tongues. Need more accent on the t, Chomei-kun. l337. See? ( Night of the living noncombatants! ) * Maria blinks. "Liitu spiiku?" Oh, right. |_337 5P33|<. * Chie does not eye Rei, because pretty much nothing Rei can do would surprise her. r0xx0rz! What language is that? * Chomei cracks up. ... * Rei hums cheerily and starts up Raze again. "Okay, Mr. Frankenbot... I want you in this game and this one and this one..." * Rei types away. (With my next CP, I will by Linguistics (Golem Grunts) and Linguistics (l33t sp33k). ) I really should get back into that. I probably suck by now though, for not playing so long... * Maria blinks in confusion. Get back into what? Geekspeak? * Chie just shakes her head. No, leet speek. [The game starts! There's a lot of explosions and a tough military- looking guy blasts a monster into kibbles with a shotgun. Then the title shows up.] (http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=9 is just perfect for this scenario ^^;) ( I'm sorry, I was too busy making out with girls to get into video games. Is leet speak a good thing? ) It's a language computer players use to bypass any chat-filters. So, I should start trying to sense something now? Chat-filters? What the hell is a chat filter? * Lazar plays with a Slinky! It's not like a coffee filter, is it? It's there to make sure you don't say anything out of line. Like what? * Rei presses a button, then another one, having her bot join multiple games. Swears. * Makoto produces a yo-yo and begins spinning it, and making it do tricks. * Maria watches from the wall. This is a game where people pretend to kill each other, and they get mad if you swear? Sure do! Yup. Somebody's priorities sure are fucked up. ( This'll be fun ^^ ) [Rei sends the bot into a multiplayer game! "Mr. Frankenbot has joined."] " hi." * Rei names Franken's avatar "Abraham Lincoln". (*snickers*) "Hey man." * Rei names another one of the avatars "Batman". 'Cause Batman don't use guns. They can't stand to have their little ten-yearolds swearing, but it's just fine for them to be fragging other things that look like people. * Rei types in for Frankenbot, since it's still under her control, "Yo." [Mr. Frankenbot runs around and blows someone apart with a rocket- launcher.] * Rei lets it go! * Chomei stands back and watches. "Nice bot." * Chie shakes her head. "Yeah. Further evidence that people are idiots." " OWNZER J00!" YAY! * Rei cheers. "Make your momma proud, Frankenbot!" ... and people play this game? Why? " Aw dammit. Some lamer stuck a bot on the server." * Chie looks over at Peter. "Prof? Is now the time I'm supposed to start sensing stuff?" Err. Why? Do you? Guns? Rocket launchers? Lame. Not yet. Just checking. " Dammit. How lame. I'm leaving." If I sense anything, I'll let you know. I remember a mod that had lightsabers and laserpistols. * Makoto doesn't look up from his yo-yo-ing. How's it going? * Rei whistles. "It's not workin'. I made the bot too simple." Is-- oh. * Chie blinks. "Lightsabers? Cool!" Yeah, add some more lamercode. Nah, I think I need to program a full AI for this sucker. That could take time. Hm. Do we have time? Make it wait in ambush right next to where people come in. That'd piss people off, I bet. [Just as Rei says that...] Yeah, and it'd be in character. * Chie blinks. "Hey... I'm getting something. [" KIRBY WILL EAT YOU!" "wtf is tat weapon?????"] It's... not quite like a spirit. Feels different somehow. Like... it's not really there. * Rei narrows her eyes and turns her attention to another window. ...a un-spirit? A place where a spirit should be, but isn't? * Chie concentrates harder, trying to pick up more. [Mr. Frankenbot rounds a corner and a gal dressed in a lot of leather fires what looks like a Kirby beam at him (a weapon which, as far as you know, doesn't exist in the game). The bot manages to dodge twice, but then gets hit by it. A black screen appears with a skull and crossbones and the words, "Blargh! You am dead!" Then the bot is kicked from that server.] ...It's gone. * Chomei scratches his head. "That was a hack, I'm sure of it." ... * Rei blinks. "Gone? It got my bot? Wait." She types some, trying to see who's still playing in that game. The spirit, I meant. * Makoto glances at the screen and catches a glimpse of the text. .. Hm. I'll say it was a hack. Couldn't put together a decent sentence to save his live, it looks like. ... Was that it? The.. err.. death? I was running another program to check for anything weird, and as soon as that girl showed up, everything started to go seriously wonky. Think it's a virtual spirit or something? ...I am *not* exorcising computers. Half code, half spirit? You're not supposed to be kicked from the server when you die. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6-2) and gets 8. * Maria frowns. "Weird. ...I think." Very weird. Yup, weird. And if we think it's weird, then it's definitely weird. * Rei stares at the IP address, then facepalms. Can trace to who using? Hm? What's wrong, Rei? What's up Rei? What is it? Rei..? It's a fake address. I thought it looked kinda funny, but if you look at it a certain way and take away this number and this one and that one and that one over there and those two, and then rearrange things a little, it says, "Kirby IZ leet." ... I didn't know you could fake those. Sure you can! ... Right. I was wrong. It's not always Asahara. Sometimes it's Kirby. ...Kirby is what? Leet! Nevermind. Leet. I think it means 'elite,' but with horrific spelling. If there's that girl in there thing and the spirit thing we don't have time to waste. Got the address for this guy? Yup. ( But sometimes Kirby's on your side. ) Oh. ... so now we do things old fashioned way? Looks like it, Lazar. * Lazar grins. I think so. * Makoto tells Rei the address that Mister Ikari gave. Guess we're gonna have to make a house-call. Wait. How are you sure this man is the person behind this? To be honest, Professor, I don't think we are. There are clues, though. * Rei checks up on the address. "I'm not. Can't guarantee you anything, Prof, the world of the 'net's a shady and twisted thing." But it's the only lead we've got now. * Peter sighs. "Fine. But we are going to ask him questions, not burst in and end up getting shot." 'Sides, it won't hurt to check up on it. We're just concerned citizens about this whole nasty heart-stoppage thing. And I want it to end now. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6-3) and gets 4. ( Look what happened to the last group to do that :P ) ... so no can break down door? That favorite part... Who said we'd get shot? * Maria nods. For one thing, the man we talked to said that they talked to all the programmers who worked on this game except for one. We're taking it on faith that all the guys they already talked to are clean. For another thing, that one guy they didn't talk to is taking money from Ashahara, and we know they're bad. S'okay, Laz. We'll let you get the door next time. Anyway. Let's go. And I'd like to *avoid* getting shot again, thank you very much. Ehem... Let me rephrase that. Who said we'd get shot at? Nobody, but there are prior occurances.. * Rei grins madly. "Victory. Guess you aren't that good at covering your tracks after all. Sucker!" A buncha strange people come to your house in the middle of the night and attack, and you've got a gun? Chances are you'd use it. With that in mind, I think I'll guard the rear when we go in. Find something, Rei? Rei? You got 'em, Rei? Ya got a lead Rei? The IP address traces to this guy's house address. Okay. I think that's all the proof we need, don't you? It's all the proof we need that he's kicking people from servers, anyway. It's a good idea, but I think we should use as little force as neccessary. * Rei looks at that odd code one more time, then goes about saving various things and shutting down BOX. ... This seems a little too easy. THat's what you said he did, right? I.. think this may be a trap. ... so now can I break down door? Sorry, Laz, but I'm gonna go with Chomei on this one. If someone can program a game to kill people, wouldn't he cover his traces better? [Kirby says "Byeeeeee!" as Rei shuts down BOX.] You're right about that Prof. Aww. Prof, who's gonna track him if they're dead? We are, that's who. * Makoto gives Chomei a flat look. I mean... we're not dead, but... right. * Rei nods as Chie says that, then tucks BOX away. She stands up and pulls at the necklace Chie gave her for her birthday. Please don't say it like we're already dead. * Peter sighs. "If we could come up with this, chances are someone else could as well. This person is obviously not an idiot.." We aren't dead. LIke I said, I'd know. Are you saying we *shouldn't* go, Professor? Not at all. But we can at least go there and scope things out. Maybe I'll feel that spirit thing again. I'm just saying, we should be cautious. ( But Professor! Compared to you, most people are idiots anyway! ) I'm not disagreein' with you there, prof. * Rei winks at Peter. "Cautious is my middle name. My *other* middle name. Rei Chelsea Cautious Ueda, that's me." Silly Peter. Is always trap, remember? Since when have we not been cautious?.. Don't answer that. You have a middle name? I'm jealous. I don't have one. * Makoto makes a mental note about Rei's middle name. ( Chie's middle name is Sleepy. ) I don't even like my real first name all that much. * Maria frowns. "Well, so it's a trap. We walk into those all the time." And we've been lucky so far. We can't keep depending on luck. No, we've been good. So we go, but we don't charge in, guns... err... bows and swords and fists a-blazin'. We check it out, then decide. It works. So let's get moving. Maybe we could just shut off the electricty to his house and call it a night. * Rei snickers. * Chomei chuckles. "Sounds good." That is a concept actually. What if he's got a battery, Makoto? Well, I guess I could go in and knock out everything possible. Hmm. * Lazar mutters. "Ha, we make sure Dracula can no watch TV. That show him. Bah." If we shut down his power, perhaps we could confirm if he is the guilty party or not. And let's not forget, there's that spirit thing, too. I wanna find out more about that. * Makoto brightens when Peter seems to approve of one of his ideas. How? It's not like he'd necessarily have that code invade every game. Would he? We'd have a lot more dead geeks if he did. He might. He was a programmer on the game itself. Maybe he set it up so he could fiddle with it later, and nobody else would know. I'm just looking for a way toa void violence. * Makoto shrugs. Unless he picks and chooses his targets. Avoiding violence sounds like a fine idea to me, too. ( *Avoid* violence? Awww. I wanted to kick ass!) Violence is very very bad. We should love instead o/~ Sure. I can sneak in, steal his computer, and get out wihtout any violence at all. ( ... *throttles Rei* ) Sure, then he'd get another puter and start it all over again. We'd be sure he was the one, however. And once we got that, we can go in and waste him. * Makoto facepalms. Okay, let's just go kick some ass, or whatever it is we always do. Or we go in, break computer, I break all his fingers, he no can type no more. *biggrin* First we investigate. *Then* we kick ass. * Chomei nods. I'm with Chie there. * Peter facepalms. If there is an ass that needs to be kicked. We are supposed to find nonviolent solutions if possible. * Rei bites her lip, then frowns. "I just don't want anybody else to die 'cause of this stupid program." She folds her arms and looks out the window. Alright, alright. Then can we go ahead and investigate then? * Pocky-kun has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) ... was joking, Peter. I get idea. Whatever we do, do it now, 'cause that... that THING is out there killing people now! Yeah. Let's *go*. ... Rei. I have an idea. * Peter sighs. Let's get over there. If he's a geek, he's probably not physically violent in person. We could probably get away without hurting anybody if we do this right. If you want to keep it from killing people, overload the system with bots. * Rei looks at Chomei for a moment, then turns to Makoto. "I'm going with you. I'll overload the system and get them to shut down the servers for tonight while you drive us there." Hey, that's a really good idea. * Chomei nods. "Let's go." Then maybe sneak in as spirit, look around? Sure. * Makoto nods. "Sounds like a bloodless plan. I like it. Let's go. Professor?" It works, and I like. Shall we? Okay. Let us go. * Makoto heads out to the parking lot. He gets to drive Rei around! Yay! * Chie heads off to the parking lot. "Who's ridin' with me?" * Lazar heads for the van. * Rei walkruns after Makoto, worried look still on her face. * Maria follows! * Chomei looks at Makoto and Rei. "I'll go with ya. Don't want to intrude on Makoto and Rei." * Chie grins. "Good idea. Let's go." Uhm... I'll, er. I'll just go with Mak and Rei. * Chie turns to Maria. "Actually, might be best to give them some alone time. I'd take you, 'cept Chomei beat you to the punch." She grins. Be happy to take you on the way back, though. * Peter heads for the van. * Chomei heads down the stairs for the parking lot. [Time: 11:00 p.m. The address leads you to a very small house in the cramped suburbs.] * Maria shrugs. "Alright. * Maria rode with Laz and Pete, then. I'll wait here with Rei. Do not do anything drastic. Right, right. * Makoto hesitates. You want me to see if I can pick up that spirit thing again? Please. * Maria heads for the door. Should I wait out here, too? Or do we need somebody to do the talking? 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rei (2d6-1) and gets 6. I doubt I'd be of use in there unless you get in trouble. Well, when you say it like that, it sounds like you'll definitely need me to do the talking. * Rei stays right there. "I've gotta make sure this still works, y'know? I'd better stay. Chie should go, 'cause she can do the sensing thing. Does anybody else have any clue how computers work?" Uhm, no. All I know is how to run a program. Not a clue how to make one. * Lazar heads for near the door, not even bothering to answer the question. =P Okay, off I go, then. Um... what should I do if I *do* feel it? * Makoto hesitates a bit more and then goes for the door. Cough. * Rei sighs with near frustration. "'Kay. Chomei, you should go. The prof can cover my ass if something comes out here, but you need to cover theirs." She grins at Chomei, then looks at Chie. "Uh... I dunno. That spirit banishing thing?" Well, I'll try Makoto's alert system first. Tie up, then call police? And then, we'll do that, and then I can banish it. If it's necessary. * Chomei looks at Rei, and smirks a little. "So you think there'll be trouble then? Guess I should hop along for the ride then." So. Shall we knock? Or should we go around back and go in through a window or something? Come, Chomei. Perhaps Makoto will need a translator for that leet thing. * Chomei chuckles and smiles. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Maria, you might want to check the back. I think the rest of us should knock. * Maria nods. "Gone." [The door waits.] * Makoto knocks on it. * Maria vanishes, going around back. [After a few minutes, Makoto gets no answer. But a light is on in one of the rooms, so...] * Lazar stands a few paces behind Makoto. * Chie joins the group at the door, trying to sense the spirit-thing. * Chomei is with Lazar. * Chie coughs. Loudly. Right. Ring the bell, or break the door down? Life is full of so many challenging questions. Perhaps we could get Maria to open the door for us? That is, if she remembers us . Yeah. It would be nice if we could catch him in the act. Chie, you still got a bead on him? * Chie nods. "Spirit's in the room with the light on. Probably where he is, too." * Lazar hrms. "Could maybe break through door quiet-like..." Okay. I'll give Maria 'til the count of twenty. Then maybe we should just bust in there. Or else Chomei can run around and tell Maria to let us in. * Chomei looks up to said room. "That could work. I'm counting fast. Chomei, go see if Maria will do the honors. Otherwise, I think Lazar should work his magic on the door. Don't bother, I'm right here. Gkk! !! * Makoto puts a hand to his chest. ... Right. Well, that answers that question. * Chie is not startled this time. "Well, that's convenient. Will you do the honors, Maria?" Nothing in back, but I think someone may be in there. Might as well break in the front. * Maria grins. "Of course." I swear, somebody should tie a bell around your neck. Spirit's in there too, Maria. In the room with the light on. * Maria giggles. "I'd have to find out how to be sneaky with a bell on, then." * Maria pulls out her lockpicks and goes to work. Don't worry, I'm sure you could do it. * Lazar wiggles his fingers. I think she could be sneaky with a bell on, don't you? * Makoto grins and shakes his head, and waits for her to finish her sneaking. Probably. * Chie blinks at Chomei. "Hey, cut that out." Itching for action, Lazar? * Chomei chuckles. "Cut what out?" * Chie grins. "You're thinking like me. Or I'm thinking like you. Either way, it's scary." * Lazar nods at Makoto. "No am used to subtle approach, really." 2d6-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-6) and gets 2. [Maria unlocks the door quite easily.] Well I guess I'd better rotate my brain ninety degrees so I think in another direction. * Maria unlocks the lock, and opens the door, holding it open for everyone. * Makoto nods and pats Lazar's arm. We'll try to compromise tonight. * Chie grins at Chomei, then follows Makoto inside. * Chomei smiles back at Chie, and walks in after Lazar. * Makoto leads the way through the house, toward the room with the light on. * Chie keeps her senses alert, just in case the spirit does something. [Inside looks like a normal house. Since you're going to the room with the light anyhow, I won't bother describing it.] ( Fair enough. ^_^ ) * Lazar attempts to be as quiet as an 800 lb golem can be. * Makoto enters the lit room, but cautiously. [When you get to the door, you can hear someone talking behind it, but you can't make out the words.] (* Chie trips over something. "Ow, dammit! Doesn't this guy ever clean? Or does he just sit at his computer all day?") ( Oh. Door's closed... Nevermind. ) ( He sleeps in the open. 'Cause it's good. Do you want to sleep in the open? ) ( I guess not. ^_^;; ) * Makoto stops at the door and puts his ear to it, just in case there's anything to be heard clearly. (Thankfully, we have Makoto doing that and not Chomei.) * Chomei doesn't even bother trying. * Lazar shrugs his shoulders in a "What now?" sorta motion. ( I was going to make a snide comment about that, but Chomei's near the back. ) [Makoto still can't make it out. Sounds like there's two people, though; a man and a woman.] * Makoto holds his hand up in a fist, with two fingers extended. Hopefully the people behind him can work out what that means. ( Computer programmer? With a woman? INCONCEIVABLE! ) ( Makoto: ^_^_v ) * Maria raises an eyebrow and shrugs. (Ironically, I'm both. ;p) ( Exactly. ^_^ ) * Chomei nods, then blinks after realizing what that means. Obviously, this guy's got lots of money. * Maria pulls on her knuckles of mighty punching +1. Or something. * Demota is now known as DemoSleep * Lazar makes a punching motion towards the door... * Makoto waves Lazar forward, and stands on his toes to whisper to the golem. "Try opening it gently first. If the knob doesn't give easily, bust it down." * Chie whispers. "Something about that spirit still feels odd..." (It's wired!) * Chomei whispers back. "Feels like a half-spirit or something?" * Lazar nods, places his thumb and index finger on the doorknob, and slooooooooowly tries to turn it. * Makoto backs away from the door a bit, to give Lazar some room. Yeah. Like it's not all there... hope it doesn't try to escape through the computer lines or something. [The door, against all odds... opens. And it wasn't even locked first c.c] * Chomei shakes his head. "It shouldn't be able to. The servers are down." Think spirits obey the laws of electronics, Chomei? This one might. [In the room is a nerdy-looking guy with his back to you, sitting in front of his PC.] * Ginji is now known as Gil * Makoto whispers quickly back to Chie. "Can you ward the computer, or the wall jack, or whatever... at the first sign of trouble, just in case?" He then quiets and peeks around Lazar into the room. * Lazar steps in and picks up the guy by the scruff of his neck. Sure. Ah. * Maria skulks in silently. Hi. We law. You in trouble. * Chomei walks in calmly behind Lazar. * Chie walks in, pulls a medallion out of her bag, and sticks it to the computer, whispering the activation words as she goes. * Gil is grabbed! He turns his head to look at Lazar. All 180 degrees. And he speaks in a male and female voice simultaneously. "People! Eek!" ( Roll init ^^ ) * Makoto grins and quits his attempts at stealth. He gets closer to Lazar again and looks the geek(s)... * Lazar blinkblinks. Wha? * Maria doesn't comment, looking instead for the second person... and stops, eyeing the guy. d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (d6+7) and gets 9. d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Makoto (d6+7) and gets 10. d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (d6+7) and gets 13. d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (d6+7) and gets 11. He's possessed! d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (d6+7) and gets 12. [Gil, Chie, Maria, Lazar, Chomei, Makoto] * Gil twists his entire body by his neck to reach out and kick... d4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Gil (d4) and gets 2. ( Makoto! ) ( Curses! ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Makoto (2d6) and gets 5. (Reach out and touch someone!) [Makoto moves out of the way of the overly-flexible man.] [Chie's turn!] * Chie starts chanting. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6-3) and gets 6. [Chie begins to exorcise Gil. Maria's turn!] * Maria hops over to kick Gil in the gut. She has a different approach to exorcism. 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-5) and gets -1. [Maria kicks Gil in the gut and... her foot bounces off like he was made of rubber.] [Lazar's turn!] Hwah? [Gil's stomach goes, "Wubbawubbawubba..." where Maria kicked him, too.] * Chie would make a comment on the general freakiness of the situation, but she's a bit preoccupied. * Lazar blinks, growls, then tries for a good ol' punch to the face with his free hand. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-3) and gets 2. * Chomei raises an eyebrow when he does that. "Weird." That is SO not supposed to happen! No kidding. [Lazar punches him in the face! His fist goes right in as though the man had no skull. He doesn't seem to mind at all.] [Chomei's turn!] ... that never happen before... well, that one time with big green rubber man with red horse... * Chomei puts his hand out to his left and summons Rownal. "Alright. You want to play that way?" (*snicker*) (End turn.) [Makoto's turn!] * Makoto reaches into one of his pockets and produces a nice, heavy combat yo- yo. [Gil's turn!] Lazar! Try to hold him down 'til Chie does her thing! [A pair of etheral feathery wings sprout from Gil's back and rip themselves off, flying towards Maria. She needs a defense roll at +1!] 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-3) and gets 7. ( Gimme a body roll at +3 o/~ ) 2d6+3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6+3) and gets 12. [The wings hover there and tickle Maria. She's at a +2 to all actions for a while due laughter.] [Chie's turn!] * Maria blinks. "Gah? Bwuh... mweheheh... hehehehestopithehehe!" * Chie tries to ignore that as best she can and keeps on doing her thing, as Makoto put it. * Lazar ...'s. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6-3) and gets 4. * Chomei concentrates on the fight. He doesn't even hear Maria's laughing. [Gil starts to screech as Chie does her thang...] [Maria's turn!] * Maria doesn't bother attacking again; she just tries to get away from the tickling, giggling the whole while. * Makoto is a little distracted by Maria laughing hysterically. But just a little. [Unfortunately the wings follow Maria. No relief!] [Lazar's turn!] * Lazar eyes Gil. "No is gentlemanly to tickle little one without dinner and movie first." He proceeds to bear hug Gil, squeezing very very very hard. ( Just a little. Suuuure, Makoto. ^_~ ) [Lazar squeezes Gil really hard, really easily. He squishes and elongates!] [Chomei's turn!] ( h_h *whap* I see that! ) ( See what? *glanceagain* h_h ) ( *snickers* ) * Chomei moves off to the side and takes a shot at Gil. Electricity cackles through the air as it follows the arrow to it's intended target. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (2d6-2) and gets 7. * Gil crackles when he's struck with the bolt! ... So does Lazar, who's holding onto him. * Chomei curses very profusely when that happens. [Makoto's turn!] (Lazar's a rock. He's grounded.) * Makoto realizes that he can't do much good here, so he just waits for an opportunity to be useful. He's... supervising. Yeah. Supervising. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-4) and gets 7. [Lazar nearly loses his grip on Gil, but manages to keep a hold of him.] [Gil's turn!] ... ow. Are you okay Lazar? * Lazar gives Chomei the Golem Grunt of Impending Doom (TM). (Chomei doesn't speak Golem Grunt, so is unaffected.) ( Nice knowin' you, Chomei. Didn't think spirits conducted electricity, though.) ( I understand alcohol conducts electricity nicely. ) * Gil stretches his neck to look right at Lazar's face, and opens his mouth wide with jagged pointy teeth. He raises his arms, his nails having grown into claws and says... "Boo!" ( Lazar, gimme a soul roll! ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6) and gets 9. ... GAH! [Chie's turn!] * Chie decides that this is getting ridiculous, and keeps on exorcising. Eh? 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6-3) and gets 7. * Lazar releases Gil and scurries back. Lazar? [As Chie exorcises, an etheral spirit, female, screeches and floats out of Gil's body. Gil meanwhile collapses unconscious.] * Gil is now known as Spirit Got you! Hehehehehestophehestopstopstophehehehe! [Maria's turn!] * Maria springs off a wall in a desperate attempt to beat the wings to the other side of the room. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-2) and gets 3. [Maria springs all the way to the other side of the room and buys herself a few seconds of freedom as the wings hurry after her.] [Lazar's turn!] * Lazar grabs a lamp and chucks it at the spirit. "Getawaygetawaygetaawaygetaway..." 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-2) and gets 1. [Lazar beans the spirit with the lamp. The fact that it actually seems to have been affected says something.] [Chomei's turn!] * Chomei lines up a shot for the spirit, and shoots an invisible arrow at it. The arrow screams through the arrow, and a loud bang is heard once it nears its destination. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chomei (2d6-2) and gets 6. [Boy was that arrow loud! Good thing nobody was close enough to the spirit when it hit. The spirit, for her part, doesn't seem too happy.] [Makoto's turn!] * Chie winces. * Makoto tries to lasso the spirit with his yo-yo. At the worst, it'll just go harmlessly through... 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Makoto (2d6-2) and gets 8. ( Like that... ) [No, at the worst, Makoto will just miss.] [Spirit's turn!] * Spirit tries to dive through the computer, but it doesn't work 'cause there's a ward there.] [Chie's turn!] * Chie grins and keeps exorcising. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Chie (2d6-3) and gets 7. [Chie finally fully exorcises the spirit, and it vanishes.] * Chie lets out a breath, then grins over at Makoto. "That was a good idea, telling me to ward the computer." * Makoto smiles, a bit warily. * Maria nods and takes several deep breaths, her giggling finally winding down. Thanks, Chie. Maria? Lazar? You guys okay? * Chomei relaxes his stance, then runs over to Lazar. "Shit man, I really didn't think that would happen. You'll get better, right?" [Lazar's no longer scared, and Maria's no longer laughing.] * Lazar relaxes, and sags visiblu. "... stupid spirit. Mess with head..." It's okay. We got it. ( Hurry up silly people. Is late! ) * Chie points to Gil. "So, what do we do with him?" Take'em to the hospital? We don't know how that spirit ended up with him. Could've been a forced possession, could've been he invited her. * Lazar elbows the wall in frustration. Can I kick him a few times now that he isn't rubberized anymore? No, Maria. Let's get him to a safe place now. We'll talk to him when he's well. Awwwww. * Chomei nods. * Maria pouts exaggeratedly. "You're no fun." * Makoto waggles his eyebrows at Maria. "You wouldn't say that if... Oh wait, there are other people in the room." * Lazar picks up the guy over his shoulder and moves to go down the stairs, smacking Chomei upside the head as he goes. * Chie smirks. "Yes, Makoto, we're still here. Would you like some privacy?" * Maria eyes Makoto. * Maria grins. "No, he wouldn't. He may *think* he would, but..." * Chomei is smacked, and he now has a red spot on his forehead. "Well, I guess that's the least I deserve." He starts walking down as well. You're right. I try not to seduce women who can crack my skull and all my limbs in the span of two minutes. ( Do too! ) Exactly. He's a smart guy. Plus, I'd kick his ass after you were done, and then I'm sure Rei would have a few things to say. So, let's go. It's a good policy, Mako-kun. * Makoto looks around for anything Rei or Peter might want to take a look at. Like... evidence. * Chie grins, and walks out. ( Well, you're right. I do. But it's a good idea to SAY that I don't.) * Maria follows everyone else. o/` Oops, almost forgot. ( Makoto finds a big pile of sekrit documents... Uh, nope. ;P ) The computer? ( Meanie. ;P ) * Chie ducks back in and takes the ward off the computer. "There we go." * Chomei nods. "... Right." [Session End]