[Day: Sunday, June 22nd. Time: 2:00 p.m.] [Last time you ran into Daniel Hobbs, probably saving his life while simultaneously blowing Togo's last medpak charge. This may come back to haunt you, since you're all pretty well injured, especially Togo and Rose. Anyhow, then you fought Togo's old nemesis, Ricardo Valmont, only he was big and green and had four arms. Commander Kranz blew himself up to destroy it.] [Then you ran into Dr. Akira Shibamura, who seems as surprised to be there as you are.] [Oh, right, you're in a small lab. Aight? Aight.] [Start] [Shibamura immediately throws up his arms. "I surrendur."] (Any other exits from this small lab?) * Luana barks out a short laugh and shifts her grip on Jamie, who she's still carrying. * Keiko brushes her hair back with a bloody hand. "That was easy." [There is, in fact, one door besides the one you came through. That's a good thing, since the way you came is blocked off by rubble.] Think we can spread the word? (That's why I was checking!) [Akira shrugs, as much as anyone with his hands in the air can. "Why wouldn't it be? I'm the victim here."] * Jamie goes back to holding her head in her hands. * Roseli snorts faintly, training her gun on the scientist. "" she tells him in English. "" * JesseLman is now known as TOgo * TOgo is now known as Togo ( Sorry, went AFK ) * Rowyn is now known as Heinrick * Togo scowls, and nods at Rose. "And how exactly are you a victim?" * Heinrick heads into the lab carefully, adjusts his coat since it seems Roseli has the situation well in hand, and then tries to inspect the lab to find out what kind of research was done here. ["I was forcefully kidnapped from Rosencrans prison by Valmont's son. Then the Society took me under their control. I had no choice but to work for them."] (I assume Shibamura's unarmed, btw?) ( He seems to be! ) * Keiko narrows her eyes at him, then shakes her head and says, "Unless he's helping, we should be going after Cyra." She looks back at him. "Are you helping?" Good question. Are you helping us somehow? * Roseli approaches the really old man (as opposed to old man - that's Togo) slowly and by one side, not blocking the others' view and keeping her gun on him. [He shrugs. "Might be something I can help you with, yes, seeing as how I designed the sattelite."] * Togo takes a deep breath. "Of course you did. Turn it off. Or tell us how to." * Heinrick keeps working on searching the lab, but asides. "That could be useful, yes." * Roseli doesn't say anything, but at this point, she's made her way behind Shibamura and has her gun squarely to the back of his head. [He nods. "Of course, of course. Assuming, that is, you're willing to guarentee my immunity once this affair is over."] * Togo scowls more. "... assuming you help us disable the satellite. IF that happens. I'll personally guarantee that neither I nor any of my team will turn you over to the authorities." [He grins. "Well, all right then. The sattellite's located in the fourth dome. We used Zukunft's technology to make it tamper proof, so no remote nodes can access it from a distance. To shut it off, you need to manually enter the shutdown code."] * Togo nods. "Then let's get moving. You're coming with, of course." [He holds up his finger, "Ahh, one second. I also want your word than neither you nor your teammates will try to cause me any harm, as well." He smiles. "You can't be too careful in this day and age."] * Heinrick snorts and then goes to the computers to try and bring up the logs while the others are babbling. * Keiko adds, flatly, "Tell us the code. Or else Eileen will cause you some harm instead." * Jamie doesn't help Heinrick, being distracted by the roaring silence in her head and all. * Luana puts Jamie down for the time being and goes over to help Heinrick. "I'm not at Jamie's level, but I should be able to assist." * Togo nods, stone-faced. "You're safe. No harm will come to you. You have my word." [He shakes his head. "Now that would be silly. The code is the only leverage I have here." He nods to Togo. "Good. See? We can work together."] Your leverage is that Togo is stupid and nice. Give us the code. [Heinrick finds that... "The data's all been erased. Von Haupt made me do it."] (That's vampire guy, right?) ( Half-vampire :X ) (Yes.) (Right!) (Former Section 3 head, half-vampire, made of waffles.) * Togo holds up a hand to Keiko. "I've dealt with him before. And he's dealt with me before. He knows I'll honor my word, so he'll hold up his end." Rose, keep an eye on him please? Let's get moving. * Keiko looks over at Togo. "I don't care about his end. Eileen can kill him at a whim, and will." If he does not tell us, he will die. [He nods. "In fact, if you're real nice to me, I'll show you how to restore her memories." He nods to Luana. "They did keep a backup, and I know where."] Hm. Got a miracle drug to reverse the ward's damage, too? * Luana gives Shibamura a look full of contempt. "I don't need anything else. My memories are fine as they are." * Roseli holds Shibamura where he is and pats him down quickly, checking for any hidden weapons. * Togo starts moving. "Enough talk. No time. Let's go." * Heinrick snaps his fingers against the keyboard and then stands up and snorts. "Convenient." He turns around. "Well then. Was this lab used specficially for the satelite or did it have another purpose? * Keiko bites her lip, hard, glances to Luana, and then lifts Jamie off the ground, thinking at Jamie, ~He says he has the code we need.~ * Jamie stands up, and coincidentally fills Keiko's head full of hurt. ~ Take it from him? ~ * Luana turns back to Jamie, seems relieved that she doesn't have to carry the other girl anymore, and begins following after Togo. * Keiko hisses and replies, ~Can't. He's a void.~ ["Really? Not the least bit curious?" he giggles as Rose searches him. "Careful, I'm quite ticklish. In fact, I do have a few ideas about how to prolong their lives, if not cure them. After all, Valmont's kid broke me out of prison to raise his dad from the dead. My work hasn't been for nothing."] * Jamie takes one hand off of her head and steadies herself against the wall. ~ Hurt him? ~ You'll help us with that. * Roseli grabs Shibamura by the upper left arm and pushes him forward, keeping her gun to his neck. "Walk," she orders, and starts for the other exit. "What's this band?" * Keiko replies, ~Togo is dumb. He said we couldn't. Ready to walk, or am I carrying.~ * Heinrick smirks and shakes his head. "So if he can't find one scientist, he finds another. Brilliant strategy." He then adjusts his glasses and looks at Akira. "You do realize I shall be checking all your work before anything is implemented or even considered." [The Doc follows Togo out into a corridor. "Sure. Why not?"] ~ Walk ~ * Keiko nods slightly and starts to follow Rose out. * Jamie switches held ears and follows. [He glances at his arm. "Oh, that. A little something I invented, just in case. You met Doctor Klein in Nebel, yes?"] [He shrugs at Heinrick. "Fine with me. I'm an old man. I have nothing to lose at this point."] * Roseli makes a faint 'hm' noise. "Bit of a coward, turned into a monstrous rampaging creature? What about him?" ["He had one too. I've found out how to apply American nanotechnology to German genetic engineering. I wouldn't advise trying to take it off or tamper with it, by the way."] ( Man, I expected this conversation to take a lot longer >.> ) Of course not. (Ha!) (Togo's a big softie soft soft.) (And the rest of us don't hate him except in that he won't tell me the code. :|) * Roseli keeps nudging Shibamura forward with her gun. And, well, her grip on his arm. But she sounds conversational enough: "So you could turn into a monster at any moment as well? Klein wasn't much in control." * Jamie trudges on, oblivious and unsteady on her feet. ( Togo is a white hat. Togo is also a pragmatist. Togo recognizes that there's bigger problems than Shibamura right now. ) ["Only if you try to do anything to it, or if I adjust it a certain way. But since I don't particularly want to spend the rest of my life as a mutant freak, let's just make sure it doesn't come to that, hmm?"] [You come to a thick steel door, with a small window. through that, you can see a tiny room with another thick steel door, and beyond that the tube that leads to the final dome.] * Heinrick snorts slightly. "You should have come up with a way to reverse it. Of course, I *suppose* my symptoms are more mild than yours." * Roseli glances to Jamie. She'd help her out, but kind of busy harrassing ancient scientists atm. ["Well, I hardly had the time, or the ability to work on my own projects. I certainly wouldn't have used myself as a test subject, had I any choice."] * Keiko just follows along, rubbing her arms. "Of course not. Ruining other people always works better." * Roseli nudges Shibamura. "Open the door." * Heinrick snorts at that as well, but doesn't respond any further. [He shrugs, goes over to a keypad, and hits "open." The door slides open.] * Roseli pushes him forward! Go, Shibamura, go! [He goes.] * Togo walks alongside Rose and Shibamura if possible, or just behind if not. [And then a shark attacks!] [But since it's outside the tube, nothing happens.] ( Oi.... I really thought talking to that guy would take a lot longer :X ) [You get to the end of the tube without incident.] (Don't have a follow up plan? ^^; ) * Roseli nods to the switch. Someone else can open this; her hands are full. (Also, is Jamie STILL deaf?) ( Hrm. ) (The PCs are kinda focused for time.) (A shark nomnoms on the tube! Interesting.) ( Mmm.... Well, probably. ) (Is the switch easily/obviously pressable?) (I'll just open it with my mind.) ( Yep. ) * Keiko opens the door with her mind. Audibly, as she pretty much slams the button. [The door opens into the sealed chamber. In case your wondering, this is where they drain the water if the tube gets ruptured.] (Another door?) (Yah, anything else here or did we hit a dead end? :)) ( Yah, another door :P ) * Roseli keeps going, then. * Heinrick follows along as well, hands in his pockets as he goes along. [And beyond that door is a long hallway, with a bunch of rooms on the side, and yet another door at the end.] d7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Brett (d7) and gets a natural 1 for a result of 1. [This one open, with Cyra behind it. She fires off a shot, then quickly slams the door closed. Keiko, gimma a ranged def.] (Now is when having opps works against Keiko) 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Keiko (2d8) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 9. (Nope. Another shield hit.) [It does hit the shield, which absorbs most of the impact. Most. The bullet continues on, grazing Keiko's side before making a dent in the steel door.] (That's one hell of a gun) (Especially to operate one handed.) * Keiko hisses slightly and tries to re-open the door, if it's got an obvious button. "Eileen is contageous." [It's got a handle.] * Roseli nods. * Keiko turns the handle with her mind, then! * Luana rubs at her temple with her left hand and pulls out a gun with the right. [The door opens. Cyra's nowhere to be seen, though. ] * Roseli looks up, just to make sure Cyra's nowhere to be seen. * Togo moves into the room, pulling out his assault rifle and listening for any sounds of movement. ( Gimme hearing checks. ) 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Roseli (2d8) and gets a natural 3 for a result of 3. (Soooo made that.) 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Luana (2d8) and gets a natural 15 for a result of 15. (I would, but I can't!) 2d8+4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Heinrick (2d8+4) and gets a natural 3 for a result of 7. (Shoudl have been -1. Too used to 3e.) (-4) ( Does awareness count? ) (Jamie, stop being deaf this instant!) ( Sure ) 2d8-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d8-6) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 3. ( Made by 4 ) 2d8-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Keiko (2d8-2) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 5. (Make by a handful.) [Those that made it hear a shot going off to the left.] * Togo turns in the direction of the noise, and motions to the others as he looks around. * Jamie looks left after Togo signals. * Heinrick looks that direction and flattens up against the wall, readying his blades. * Roseli keeps her grip on Shibamura as she motions for someone else to take point. * Luana readies her pistol and waits. [Nothing else seems to happen.] * Jamie looks around, but doesn't see anything. ( What's the layout of this room? ) [It's a corridor running left and right. In either direction, it curves inward.] * Jamie looks to Rose for some sort of direction. *softly* Right, I'll take point. As we go around the curves, I'll toss flash grenades ahead of us. Watch your eyes. * Roseli nods to Togo, then turns to Jamie. "Follow and shield your eyes, Jamie. If you find something we can use against Cyra, don't hesitate." (... Oh goody! Let's blind Jamie on top of all her other broken senses!) * Togo leads the way once everyone's ready, periodically bouncing flash grenades around the curved hallway as he reaches the end of where he can see. * Luana follows along cautiously. [It's not long before you reach a door at the end of the curve.] * Heinrick follows behind Togo, daggers at the ready. * Jamie managed to not get blinded too. * Keiko mutters, "People behind the door." Who? Shielded. I'll open, throw in a flash, then we'll move in. * Togo gets ready to do just that. (How does this door open.) [With a handle!] (USE THE KNOB!) ( Not during a mission. Geez. ) * Roseli nods and prepares to not blind herself. * Togo turns the handle to open the door. Assuming it opens, he reaches in with one arm and tosses in the flash grenade, waiting for it to go off before entering. [Behind the door a large computer room. At the other end is Cyra! Though she's unconscious and floating. Also there is Mitsuji Ueda, his ninja friend, and a blond woman dressed in a robe. She's got her hands up in the air, and they're glowing, probably having something to do with the giant gaping portal to who knows where. The flash gets their attention more so than blinding them.] [Akira peers into the room. "Well, now, this is interesting."] * Togo levels his gun, then lowers it when he sees who it is. Slightly. "Okay, now what the fuck is all this?" * Jamie blinks uncertainly. [Mitsuji scowls. "You tell me, Togo. What are you doing with Shibamura?"] * Roseli has a gun to Shibamura. Mitsuji can guess, can't he? What the fuck do you think I'm doing with Shibamura? We're going to disarm the stupid fucking satellite he built. ["And you're trusting him? Have you forgotten everything he's done? Have you forgotten what he's done to Mariah?"] [Akira scratches the side of his head. "Of course, she wouldn't even exist if not for me....."] [Maybe not the best thing to say, since Mitsuji raises a hand and squeezes, and Shibamura claws at his throat like he's being force choked. Which he is, essentially.] I suppose we should *not* take opportunities to disarm the deadly satelite that's threatening to be activated in progressively shortening time then. * Luana stares at Mitsuji suddenly. "What? Is something wrong with Mariah? Is she okay?" * Roseli trains her gun on Mitsuji. "DROP HIM. Three seconds!" ... remember who you're talking to. And it's lesser of two evi- oh for fuck's sakes, you stupid little twit! Wait until AFTER we disarm the fucking world-domination satellite! (Has it been three seconds yet? ;P) * Jamie blinks and instead of sitting down like she planned pulls her gun out. [He scowls, but drops his arm. akria doubles over, coughing.] ["Dammit. Fine. He can live a little while longer."] * Luana fidgets and looks between Togo and Mitsuji and wherever the next exit is. * Togo keeps his gun down for the moment. "We'll find him later. We'll stop him. More important things to deal with right now." *to Shibamura* "Enter the code. Deal still stands." (*nearest) * Heinrick 's lips thin but he remains quiet. Togo knows these people, he can deal with them. * Roseli grabs Shibamura by the back of his coat before he crumples to the ground and holds him up. "Next time, I'll let him kill you," she informs him. "Play nice." * Togo pulls a few sets of shackles out of his coat. "Luana, please cuff Cyra's hands together, her feet together, her hands to her feet, and if you can cuff something to her ribcage go for it. ( EDIT +" ) [Shibamura grins at Rose. "My lady *cough*, I am a perfect gentleman."] * Jamie lowers her gun and is now quite confused. * Heinrick eyes Shibamura. "Please. *I'm* a better gentleman than you." * Roseli nods. Of course he is. "Can you enter the code from here?" * Keiko keeps her arms crossed, gripping each forearm tightly. * Luana obediently takes the shackles and cuffs the first three, then looks at Cyra's ribcage consideringly. ["Of course not. We have to get to the sattelite first."] [Mitsuji gestures, and Cyra floats through the portal. "I hope you know what you're doing, Togo."] * Roseli eyes the leaving Cyra. "Where are you taking her?" * Keiko thinks at Luana, ~Good enough.~ * Luana blinks. "Hey! I could have figured out something with her ribs." I've always muddled through. But, um. Mariah's okay, isn't she? Last I talked to her. She has history with Shibamura. Not the good kind. Oh, okay. [The ninja and the blond woman follow Cyra through. Mitsuji pauses. "She's fine. Which is pretty fucking amazing considering what she went through in her youth. If you can call it that."] (Was that in answer to my question or Luana's?) ( Luana's ) I think the same can be said for a lot of us at this point. (Are they going to answer mine?) ( Prolly not! ) * Roseli repeats herself: "Where are you taking her?" Because, you know, that's kind of important. * Jamie sits down and puts her gun in her lap and her hands on her head again. ["Sorry. I'm sure you wanted revenge for yourself, but I a virgin who won't be missed." He heads into the portal without waiting for a responds, and it winks shut behind him.] ( I *need* ) ( Is what he should have said. ) (That's helpful.) (That can't possibly end poorly!) * Keiko blinks, then says, "He... what?" (Someone's summoning Lucifer. Again.) * Luana sighs and rubs at her left temple again. "I'm going to forget that last part in its entirety." No. * Keiko shakes her head. "No, no, no, that is the same... same reason we were at Blitzkreig." [Akira giggles. "Hehehe! For all his bluster, it sounds like Mr. Ueda isn't standing on ground that's any higher than mine."] * Heinrick looks at the portal, then looks at Togo. "Togo. What does he mean?" * Roseli shrugs. "Must be for a ritual. Shibamura. How are we getting to the satellite?" We can't -do- anything about it right now, whatever it is. We need to, to focus. (Also, can I make a roll to know, generally, what rituals that might be?) [He points at a door at the other end of the room. "Right that way. It's not far now."] ( A ritual calling for a virgin sacrifice? Could be anything :P ) ... Jesus Christ, Lazar was right about the Uedas. They're all fucking insane. ( Well, not anything. But a lot of things. ) (You take that back! Rei was not- well, okay, but Shigeru was pretty on the level!) ( It's probably not a ritual to summon cakes and dandelions. ) (Awesome.) * Roseli continues to escort the scientist on out, then. * Heinrick gives Togo a cold eye for a moment. "Togo. That's not an answer. What was he talking about? As we go." * Keiko looks over at Luana, then nods slowly and sucks in a deep breath before stepping forward. If he's doing what I think he's doing, when we get back to the surface I'm gonna track him down and track him down and finish a conversation we had about twenty years ago about not trying to summon Lucifer to earth as part of a stupid plan to bring back a dead friend. [The door leads to another corridor, and not far from it is an elevator. Shibamura leads you over there.] ( EDIT I'm gonna track him down twice! ) * Jamie stands and follows the moving people. ...summoning Lucifer. Excellent. * Luana follows whoever's in the lead. "If I survive this, I'd be happy to go with you." [You get on the elevator. Shibamura hits a button, and it starts moving up. "Just a little further."] I suppose I'll believe *anything* now. ( But none of you got on the elevator, so he escapes without you! Eee! ) Scan ahead if you can, Jamie. (Bah, I'm with him all z way.) * Heinrick waits in the elevator. [There is chintzy elevator music.] * Jamie doesn't respond. (So then the MC4 epilogue is Togo getting the MC3 crew back together and us stomping the crap out of Mitsuji, right?) [But it's quickly replaced by Tavin von Haupt's voice. "Yes, not much further. You're really going to go through with this, aren't you?"] (That's only half the epilogue. We matter too! Unless we're dead.) (Then we don't matter.) It was a few apocalypses ago. Arrogant bastard thought he could summon Lucifer to Earth and kill hi- *pauses* ( Sweet! Roadtrip! ...wait, I cannot turn into my useful form anymore.) ( Who said this was the last mission? :P I got more yet. ) * Roseli opens her mouth to say something to Jamie, realizes that she hasn't responded to anything in ages, and says to Keiko, "Tell Jamie to track that, now!" (Oh schnapps.) ["There's no point. I can hear you, you know."] * Roseli doesn't really see how tracking someone who can hear her is pointless, but she doesn't respond to that. Of course we're going to go through with this. That's what we do. We keep coming and coming and coming. And then we win. * Jamie blinks and puts her fingers in her ears and twists, scowling. * Roseli glances at Shibamura, to see if he has any reaction to all of this. * Keiko thinks at Jamie, ~Track the communicationn line there, says Rose.~ ["And what do you win, exactly? A corrupt world? Freedom for more experiments like your wards?"] (You see, if Rose didn't say it, then you're not supposed to do it! It's like a game.) ("I can make a new world! A better world! One where everyone gets ice cream in the morning!") 2d8-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jamie (2d8-6) and gets a natural 12 for a result of 6. Below us. * Togo sighs, and slumps against a wall. "I'm way too fucking old for the 'why do you want to save this crapsack world' routine. World sucks. You wanna make it suck more. We're trying to make it suck less." (ACk above!) ( fail at directions) (You only get ice cream if the universe is destroyed.) (Does that mean this world has the universe destroyed every morning?) ["That's a load of crap. I'm trying to make the world a better place."] (Right, as we were saying...) (Eight impossible things before breakfast?) ["I've been alive since Otto von Bismark led the country. I've served Germany through two World Wars and the Soviet occupation. One thing remains constant: Humans will do anything they can to achieve power. No matter who they have to tread on."] Yeah, yeah. 'If only I could control everyone there'd be no war or racism or naughty language or French people...' *coughs* And you might not wanna brag about that second World War. (Does Shibamura have any reaction to all of this?) * Heinrick smirks. "I'm afraid yours is a load of crap as well, as you put it. Or at least ill-thought through. It only takes one person with a corrupt agenda to take over your world as well." He sighs. "But I suppose 'reasoning' doesn't work well with the enemy." [He's listening, seemingly amused.] * Keiko just keeps her arms crossed and gripped. ["It doesn't seem to. I'm certainly trying it with you. You think world domination is my goal? Hardly. You don't understand the nature of the mind control code."] 2d8-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jamie (2d8-6) and gets 10, a CRITICAL FAILURE!!! "I hate being random." (Oh, Jamie. :() (... That could end well, or poorly) * Togo rubs his temples. "Okay, get on with it, tell us why your mind control satellite is special." Well, I suppose you could explain it to us. And I presume you *will*. That's customary, isn't it?" ["It's not an absolute line of dictation telling people how to live their lives. Everyone will be free to live as he or she pleases. They can do whatever they want."] ["Except. Nobody will think of committing crimes. And wars will be out of the question."] Define 'crime'. * Jamie blinks and tugs on Keiko's sleave then thinks at her. ~He's got bots. ~ ["Murder. Rape. Theft. Corruption."] ["Or are you saying you want a world where these exist?"] * Keiko looks to Jamie and then nods slightly, murmuring, "Okay," and then thinking at her, ~Does he have a video feed?~ I'm saying crimes can be anything. Depends on the rules. ["I can't forsee every possibility, so I'm only banning the most obsvious serious offenses."] ["Crime, war, terrorism... I hope to eliminate these things in my new world."] Yes. We completely trust your ability to play by ear choosing which crimes are most capital and which are not. * Jamie blinks and drops into old school terror + hate for just a moment, then the hate evaporates and she starts to panic. ~ I can't hear the counting, It's gone.~ ["As opposed to what? The chancellor? The Reichstag? The UN? They already do, you know."] * Keiko lets go of her arm to pet Jamie soothingly. ~Okay.~ ["They do dictate right and wrong, and delve out punishments as they see fit. But that's the difference. They can only punish after the fact. I have the ability to prevent it from ever occuring."] ~You stay stable. I need stable people. Okay?~ ( lol ) (Stable? wut?) * Jamie nods and curls up in a corner of the elevator. * Roseli looks at Jamie with a bit of worry. And keeping yourself in power. * Jamie listens to the cables moving the elevator as that's a nice mechanical sound that she can hear now and concentrate on instead of panicking about everyhing breaking and trying to hurt her going wrong. * Keiko crouches slightly, putting one hand on the floor and one on Jamie, and looks up at Rose and just shakes her head slightly. The rest only have limited ability to do so. ["And? I already know I won't abuse it. Or would you rather set up a system of voting, so that some day someone WILL decide to use it for his own gain?"] * Roseli frowns and tilts her head to Shibamura. She needs to keep an eye on him. Oh, you know you won't abuse it? Well, then forget everything. Let's go home folks. He's assured us that absolute power won't corrupt him in the slightest. * Roseli then says, "What about the rest of the Society, von Haupt?" [He smiles at Rose. "It's nice to know your inentions are appreciated... By the way, did you know Zukunft stole their genetic research from Asahara? They used to deal mainly in robotics."] * Heinrick sighs and shrugs. "I certainly know *I'm* convinced." (Wait, we can see him? I thought we were just hearing his voice.) ["What about them? As I understand, you've killed most of them off."] ( That was Akira :P ) (I think that was Shibamura) ["I can prove it. I've served Germany for three hundred years. In all that time, has history ever once told you of Eine Furhur von Haupt? I didn't think so. If power was my goal, I could have risen to it long ago."] * Roseli looks to Shibamura. "No. Didn't know that." * Togo chuckles. "You're a bloodsucker, van Haupt. Only part, but it's there. You hunger. That's what you are. Play at human all you want, but the hunger'll eventually show itself." Germany has not exactly had the most stellar history during these last 300 years. Not quite enough to inspire confidence. [He nods. "It's true. They were years behind us, but around 2042, Asahara started to fall apart, and other companies in the cartel made a grab for its assets -- did you know there's a cartel? -- anyhow, Zukunft is the big leader now."] Maybe not for blood. For power. You won't be able to control it. Nobody can. * Keiko says lowly, "Power is not your position, or your name. It is what you can do. You always have it." Or do not. * Roseli responds to Shibamura: "Zukunft has a lot to answer for. Much like Asahara did." [He sighs. "Then you would rather crime, war, and terrorism instead of trust... So be it." The elevator dings as it reaches the floor, and he says, with an air of sadness, "I knew I wouldn't be able to convince you."] * Jamie stands up. * Keiko murmurs, "There are bots around." * Roseli steps out, Shibamura secure enough. "Get the bots, Jamie." * Jamie mutters. "Can't." * Roseli actually does a double take. "Can't?" [Unfortunately, Rose is unable to exit the elevator. The room beyond hasn't finished loading yet. And it won't until next session! AAH!] [End]