<@Brett> [Date: Tuesday, April 12th. Time: 1:30 p.m. Location: In front of the July column in Paris, France.] <@Brett> [After the African Shenanigans, you came back to Paris, the place where you originally agreed to work for Alysha. Since meeting Athena, Alysha promised you an explanation for what was going on. And she did, by gathering you here and announcing Alysha Johnson is dead.] <@Brett> [Start!] <@Brett> ( and brb ) * Gordo blinks at Alysha. "Eh?" * Montana blinks but doesn't flip out. Instead, he asks fairly reasonably, "Since when?" Seems an important question. * Shiho nods at Montana's question and looks back to 'Alysha'. /me lets Montana ask the necessary question! * Nigel raises an eyebrow to Alysha and waits. * Sonia (androirc@66-87-115-109.pools.spcsdns.net) Quit (Quit: AndroIRC - Android IRC Client ( http://www.androirc.com )) * AndroUser (androirc@66-87-115-109.pools.spcsdns.net) has joined #mc5 (I always suspected that Sonia was actually a bot all the way down.) (!) ( :/ ) * AndroUser is now known as Sonia <@Brett> ( Back ) (Welcome back!) <@Brett> [Alysha considers. "Since almost twenty years ago. Actually, it might be better to say Alysha Johnson has never existed in this reality."] * Nigel nods. "I think you better start from the begining, then, miss... er whoever you are..." * Shiho shrugs. "As long as I'm not supposed to be guarding anyone else." * Gordo shakes his head. "Just glad I didn't fail ta notice a switch." * Montana relaxes a bit, not that he looked particularly tense in the first place. <@Brett> ["My name is Iris," former Alysha says. "Iris Koenig."] <@Brett> ["One of the last survivors of the old world."] * Sonia narrows her eyes. "You said that name before. " (wb Iris I guess) (Unfair) * Montana glances at Sonia. She did? he doesn't ask, then looks back at Alysha. <@Brett> [Alysha, or Iris, rather, nods. "Alysha's aunt. Her mother's my best friend. We were in Blitzkrieg together, albeit different sections."] * Shiho develops an annoyed squint. "So, how old are you, then?" That's, uh, kind of really fuckin' complicated. Also, how in the world is that "old world", unless you mean... like, World War 2. And... fer those of us behind on these things... how many worlds we have? <@Brett> [Iris nods. "It's more complicated than that. It's..." she pauses, folding her arms in thought. "Okay. Remember what Athena said?"] * Nigel looks just as confused as everybody else, for the record. * Nigel nods. "She said an awful lot. What specific piece of information are you referring to?" 'bout the world endin', or not being able to talk about it unless you somehow know the world is endin' without someone talking to you about it, or something else? The Mandala thing. (Shiho is pissed off that 'Alysha' is such a pain in the ass to watch over and she doesn't even have being a teenager as an excuse.) <@Brett> [Iris nods at Sonia. "Right. This isn't the first time people have been after that."] (Right?) (No kidding.) (Haha, she should ask her about that.) (That's why she asked about Iris's age!) * Nigel shrugs. "Seems plausible." <@Brett> ["The players were a little different last time. Everything's a little different. Else this would be easier."] <@Brett> ["Suffice to say, the world's been changed. Or rather, our old world was destroyed and replicated with a nearly exact copy."] While all of us were alive, too. Wait... who's we? And how'd we even tell if we're from the new or old? Wait, what? Seriously? * Nigel waits calmly for Iris to continue. <@Brett> ["You wouldn't. You'd have no idea. Like I said, it was destroyed and replaced nearly exactly. You've been replaced with copies of yourselves, right down to your memories." She pauses. "Maybe replaced isn't the best word for it."] Uh. * Montana gets about as far as that, because really, he can't parse this. <@Brett> [Iris taps her chin. "It's more like, you're living the same life now that you were before." She grins. "Or rather, you were up until I recruited you."] <@Brett> ["It's not just you. It's everyone. Almost."] * Gordo shakes his head again. "I need either a lot more, or a lot less of that vodka for this ta make sense." <@Brett> [Alysha frowns. "Sorry. I'm doing my best to explain it, but we're dealing with forces humans were never met to understand. I only know as much as I do because of what Athena told me last time."] Not that I know whether to believe you or not, but who did alternate me end up guarding after Harry took a desk job? Out of curiousity. * Montana says to Gordo, "More. Definitely more." <@Brett> [Alysha shakes her head. "I don't know. I wasn't with the company last time."] So... y've been through this before. <@Brett> ["I joined for two reasons. The first was to search for the keys..." She frowns, "Which, by the way, Natascha stole the one I was carrying, that bitch."] I have another question, since you've always let us speak our mind...? <@Brett> [She nods. "Go ahead."] You've got to be at least forty in total years, right? So -why are you so irresponsible with your safety-. You're not a teenager, you don't have any excuse! * Shiho looks like she's been holding this back for a while now. Please consider the difficulties you put us through! <@Brett> [Alysha frowns. "Sorry. It hasn't exactly been easy for me. I'm in the body of my best friend's kid. I went from being an extremely powerful psychic to having no powers at all. And what's more, Alysha's body is messed in ways you couldn't understand."] <@Brett> ( It's got these things called hormones :D ) You've been in it for roughly twenty years, isn't that enough time? (Iris had to deal with them in the past! Admittedly, maybe she dealt with them in the same way.) <@Brett> [Iris frowns at Shiho. "No. It's not. It's really not."] So *why* are you in someone else's body? * Shiho warns her, "Unless you tell me to stop, I'm going to be extremely straightforward with you from now on." * Nigel shakes his head, trying to parse all of this. "Montana's question is a good one. If we all ended up in duplicates of our own bodies, why did you end up in someone else's? Also... my question is... who got the mandala last time?" Let's ... go inside, sit down, and find something for this headache I've suddenly got. Right now w're street theater. <@Brett> ["Karin was more than a friend to me. She went to wizard school. She could have done anything she wanted. But she chose to come back to Germany, to get a job working with my sister, Cyra, whose mind I thought I'd destroyed. And now I get to wake up every morning staring at the face of her daughter, MY goddaughter, who can't exist because of me. So no, it doesn't get any fucking easier!"] <@Brett> [Alysha pauses, rubbing her head, and nods at Gordo. "Yeah..... Let's do that."] * Nigel nods and goes inside. <@Brett> ( Inside what? ) (THE WORLD) * Sonia (androirc@66-87-115-109.pools.spcsdns.net) Quit (Ping timeout) (I thought we were in front of a restaurant for some reason) (Nix that) (Looks like the place is surrounded by hotels, so whichever one's closest.) <@Brett> [You head to the lobby of the "Hotel le Kirb"] * Montana walks in and beelines for the most vacant section of the lobby. * Gordo follows Monty and rubs at his head. <@Brett> [Alysha, or Iris, takes a seat on a sofa.] * Nigel follows and sits down somewhere so they can continue. (I need to switch computers so I can lie down. I am suddenly not feeling well.) (Be right back) * Shiho sits by Iris. * Nigel is now known as DreFK <@Brett> ( To wait or not to wait...? ) (He'll be quick.) (But I can also paste to him!) (So keep going if you like.) * Gordo stops, turns around and heads over to the concierge to get get some headache meds. Hey, Gordo. <@Brett> ["Last time wasn't a man at all," She says. "It was a ghost."] * Nigel (TwistedRid@173-21-242-96.client.mchsi.com) has joined #mc5 * Montana pulls a small bottle of not-quite over the counter pain medication out from an inner coat pocket and tosses it to him. * Gordo catches them and checks the bottle. "Thanks, going to need these." <@Brett> ["Sounds crazy, I know. But there was a spirit who sided with Zukunft. He promised them control over half the world in exchange for his revival. And control over the other half."] * Gordo dry swallows two and tosses the bottle back. * Montana catches it and shakes two out for himself. He rattles the bottle, looking to Shiho and Sonia. <@Brett> ["His name was Akira Shibamura. A scientist who once worked for the defunct Asahara corporation. He was killed twenty years ago, but his spirit lingered in the abandoned underwater lab Germany has in the North Sea."] * Shiho holds up her hand towards Montana. Wait, twenty years ago or twenty years *before* the twenty years ago? * Montana tosses the bottle to Shiho. * Montana then swallows his own meds, because what the fuck. <@Brett> ["2082."] (That's MC3, then?) * Shiho takes two pills, pockets two more, and tosses the bottle back. <@Brett> ( No, MC4. ) <@Brett> ( You were there :X ) (Right, but she said that last time it was a ghost, so I assumed that last time was MC4, which meant that he'd have died in MC3...) (Hence my confusion!) Right, okay. <@Brett> ( No, he died in MC4 :X ) <@Brett> ( HE was stabbed by Tyrfing ) (Yeah, I remember!) (I'm just trying to understand that it was live Shibamura and not Shibamura possessing someone or uh something.) * Montana catches the bottle and pockets it again. * Gordo sits and waites for them to kick in. <@Brett> ["But he only got there an instant before us," says Alysha. "I was able to stop him from recreating the world in his image by throwing myself into the mandala." She shudders. "My body was ripped apart. I kind of just assumed I was going to end up dead."] * Montana rubs his forehead, trying to remember just what the fuck he was doing twenty years ago. <@Brett> [She claps her hands on her knees and shrugs. "Instead I wound up in Alysha's body. I don't know how or why, but if I had to guess it's probably because of her magic. It's highly out of line. Karin told me once that if a pregnant woman uses magic, her child could have side effects. Usually it's just minor things. Pointed ears, pale skin..." She grabs a lock of her hair, stretching it out. "White <@Brett> hair that grows unusually quickly."] <@Brett> ["In Alysha's case, she can also see magic But she can't use it herself. Although I suspect her ability to master languages quickly is a part of it."] * Montana nods, like that makes as much sense as anything else. Well, it does. "Y'said 'us'?" <@Brett> [She blinks at Montana. "You don't think I tried to stop them myself, did you?"] * Montana shrugs. "Fuck if I know. This whole story is pretty out there, uh... ma'am." If it wasn't fer yesterday, I wouldn't even be trying ta belive a world of it. (Huh. That's kind of neat, in a going back to Alys way where she learned languages absurdly quickly.) (Yeah. ^^) * Nigel nods. "Who helped you then?" <@Brett> ["Well I didn't," says Iris. "I help. One of which was Pavla. She practically begged Fritz to join me. Which at the time..." She pauses, then says, "Pavla was dying. I can't believe Fritz would let her go in her condition. In fact I think it's more likely she left without letting him know."] (+had up there.) <@Brett> ["And there were two more. An Interpol agent named Masaru Kusanagi and a powerful wizard named Herman Jensen."] (Haha, Herman and Masaru, too. That makes sense.) (I wonder if Nigel would know the Jensens off the top of his head, given he's all Occult-y.) <@Brett> ( Prossibly! HE can roll for it. ) (Give me a sec) 2d6+11 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+11 for Nigel and gets a natural 7 for a result of 18. <@Brett> ["Masaru's been keeping in touch, helping us find the keys this time around. And Pavla.... well, you know what she's doing."] <@Brett> [She sighs. "As for Herman, I have no idea. I've heard nothing from him since. Not that I knew him that well to begin with...."] <@Brett> ["I never would have gotten a job with VA if not for Pavla. Even with Alysha's superior language ability, there's no way Fritz would have put Karin's kid in danger."] Why'd you want it? Just to be close to Pavla? * Nigel shrugs. "The Jensens are a long line of very powerful wizards. Each more powerful than the next. They're pretty famous in magic circles. Herman himself was supposedly a reincarnation of Merlin." <@Brett> [Iris shakes her head. "Because I needed a way to travel the world. And an excuse to recruit more people to help us."] Uh... yeah, okay, if that's true, then he sounds like a pretty good person to have on your side? Shouldn't we be looking for him? <@Brett> [Iris grins. "Sure. Have at it. Maybe you'll have better luck than we did." Her grin subsides. "We're talking about the man who's arguably the strongest wizard in the world. Who knows what he's up to? Maybe he's not even on the planet. Or in this reality."] (But he probably has a pipe.) (There are no pipe-less realities.) (Hahahaha most likely. XD Although I think he'd lost it by MC4.) (Noooo don't tell me that) (It was in the trunk of his car. <--better?) This's an odd sorta question... but if we send you back home... We ... can't get paid on account of none of use existing anymore and being on some other timeline where we didn't work for you? (Yes thank) <@Brett> [Iris raises an eyebrow. "That is an odd question. But no, if you 'send me home', it's not going to bring back the old timeline. But on the other hand..... Now that you know what's at stake you're still focused on the money?"] Man's gotta live on somethin', even after he saves the world. * Montana grins. "Actually, 'specially, on account of still being alive." <@Brett> [Iris grins. "Well, if we manage to stop the others from reaching the Mandala this time, I'll see to it you get a nice bonus."] I c'n accept that. <@Brett> [She frowns. "But seriously, we've got a lot of factors in play. Sebastian was there last time, too, and the fomori and Cult of Apep. And there's one more."] <@Brett> ["She didn't go into detail, but Athena mentioned the Whore of Babylon."] (What, we're taking on a metaphore for the entirty of Rome!) (We sure are.) * Montana blinks and then looks at Nigel, like he'd have special knowledge of this particular prostitute. <@Brett> ["Her name was Hiyoko Taltosh. She's of a breed of demon's that's born human. They don't know they're demons until their powers begin to manifest in their late teens or early twenties. Once that happens, they can no longer remain on our earth."] * Nigel goes to open his mouth, but Iris explains it plenty well. That's crap luck. * Gordo rubs his temples. Soooo she's from Babylon? <@Brett> [She frowns. "Hiyoko worked with Interpol. She even helped prevent the rise of Asmodeus once. But when her powers manifested and she was dragged to hell, she found many enemies waiting for her. Long story short, she's spent the past fourty years as a baby factory. Now --- soon, rather --- she'll return, and hunt the Mandala."] <@Brett> [Iris pauses, then says, "She's.... not happy with humanity."] <@Brett> [She glances at Montana. "And no, she's from Japan."] Right. Babylon's in hell, then. <@Brett> ["I think it's more of a symbolic title," Alysha says.] * Nigel nods. "Okay? so that's enlightening then, isn't it? On a logistical note, what would you like us to call you?" <@Brett> [Iris shrugs. "I've been going by Alysha for almost two decades now. Either name is fine."] * Nigel nods. "Right. So where do we begin?" Wait, before we begin, uh... why us? <@Brett> ["I needed some capable people," says Alysha.] * Montana nods. "And not to be bodyguards. That makes the most sense out of alla this." (MC5: Some Capable People) (Yup!) (The best squad of all.) (Go us, we can usually fight our way out of a paper bag!) (Unless the paperbag is in the dark.) <@Brett> [Alysha sits forward. "I've done my research. You all have reputations of one sort or another. And I've had six months to see you in action for myself."] (Nope, Sonia and I can totally fight in the dark.) (Bet Shiho can, too.) (As long as it's melee, yup.) * Montana nods, accepting that and currently thankful for the meds that have totally kicked in. (And dicey doesn't decide to parade crit fails) That is the first thing you've said today that made any sort of sense. (I um? I think I need to go to sleep. I feel really sick. I'll see you guys later. And I'm logging on the other computer. I can read what goes on there) <@Brett> ( Alright, we're almost done anyhow. ) <@Brett> [Alysha claps her hands on her knees. "Well! Assuming you're still on board..."] (Night, feel better) Just... get better at explaing what ya need us to do. <@Brett> [She pulls out her cell phone, talking as she flips through it. "There's still two keys left. One is in Granbia, in the hands of Ares. I'm going to return to LA for the time being and figure out with Pavla how we can get his key from him."] * Montana nods, still trying to mentally adjust. "Right." <@Brett> ["The other," she says, setting the phone on a table and hitting the button to display a holographic image of the world, with a dot marked Hong Kong, "Is here. I need you guys to go to Hong Kong and retrieve it."] * Shiho stiffens. "I'd." She swallows. "I'd much rather go to Granbia." <@Brett> [Iris raises an eyebrow. "C'mon. One is in the hands of a literal god and the other's in the hands of just some guy."] I. I left some extremely bad memories in Hong Kong. I would really like to never go back there. Ever. * Shiho folds her hands together tightly. <@Brett> [Iris blinks a few times. "Oh. I didn't know. Sorry."] You wouldn't. I don't ever speak of it. <@Brett> ["You don't have to go." Alysha glances at the others. "I'm sure they can handle it."] I don't. I don't know. I'll think about it. I'm... sorry. * Montana looks at Shiho, concern clear. "It's all right, Shiho." * Shiho stands abruptly. "Excuse me, I need air. Montana, if you wouldn't mind catching me up later?" Yeah, no problem. Holler if you need anything. <@Brett> [Iris nods. "I know I haven't been fair to you guys, and I'm sorry, but...." She stops at that.] * Shiho nods and leaves for outside. <@Brett> [Alysha leans back and sighs. "I can't believe I didn't know. There's no record of her having ever been in Hong Kong."] * Gordo rubs his face again. That'd be why. Don't worry about it. Most of us have shit we don't wanna talk about. Including you. <@Brett> [Iris nods. "Yeah... And I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Pavla thought I should have -- she hinted at it back when we were in Serbia, when she mentioned my 'aunt' was missing."] * Montana shrugs, still thankful for modern medicine. "Dunno if I'da believed ya, ma'am." I wouldn'tve. <@Brett> [Alysha nods. "I'll make preparations for you guys. You can enjoy the city for the rest of the day."] <@Brett> [She frowns. "And see if you can't convince Shiho to go. I don't want to force her, but.... well, it's kind of important."] * Montana nods. "Ain't gonna make any promises, but I'll talk to her." He tips his hat, then heads off to do just that. <@Brett> [END]