Law of the Sword (Worm/Destiny Quest)

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Chapter 23 New
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    • I need to
    [X] go to Roman and
    -[X] demand answers. (8 Votes)
    =={==========-- | --==========}==​

    Saturday, March 12th, 2011
    3:35 AM

    I laid on the filthy alley ground for longer than I should have, before I managed to pull myself up and return to my base. My journey is a blur, but I manage to make it back to the bakery.

    Laying on my sleeping bag, I feel like a bundle of pain. I'm deaf, the right side of my face if burned, my left arm is broken, my throat is a bit sore from the choking, and that's just the stuff from this fight. In addition, I can feel the blood covering me drying out and caking to my person. There isn't a shower here, and I know I should at least clean my wounds, but I can't even muster the power to roll over.

    I can feel the sirens call of sleep nipping at the edge of my mind and can't bring myself to fight it off, because if I sleep then at least I will be free from this pain for a moment. So I let my eyes drift closed.

    -/¯\-
    -\*/-​

    My eyes open onto the same monochrome plane as the last time I slept. I can still feel the pain from my body, but it is muted enough that I can ignore it. The screaming wind whips around me and I can feel it seeping into my injuries, the not-cold adding to the numbness. Looking up, there is no city this time, just open air. Turning my head around, I can see nine completely black corpses, splayed out behind me like a mockery of a shadow. Each one has a two-tone white and black creature the size of a trash can biting and gnawing at it, all moving in perfect sync.

    Looking closer, the thing's head is shaped like a playing card spade and I can see huge jaw muscles opening out to either side focusing into a single point like bolt cutters. Their abdomens are shaped like a long skinny water bottle, ending on a tail that waves behind them like a sea anemone. Instead of rear legs I see a tripod of jagged spikes and in place of arms I see jagged, clawed, wings. I know they are not getting any nutrients from their biting as I watch their mouths pass right through the shadowy bodies.

    I want to move but last time that led to me being attacked and the things, I don't know what to call them, so I just settle on Vultures since they're eating what I think are corpses. They haven't noticed me yet, so I decide to stay still and just look around.

    I have no idea what this place is, I came here last time I slept and when I forged Malum Caedo. I should name it something, Forge World sounds nice, but it doesn't fit, I only built one thing here and that's not its main function because otherwise I would have woken up with something new when I slept at home.

    Pushing the matter to the side for now and let myself relax a bit. It is strangely peaceful here, the monotony of the howling wind lets me tune it out for the most part, and the otherwise dead environment is soothing to something in the back of my lizard brain. Before long I start to feel myself walking up, right before I do all the Vultures look up, still in perfect sync, and tilt their head like a dog would.

    -/¯\-
    -\*/-​

    I wake up to a wall of pain.

    All the aches that I went to sleep to avoid are just as present now as they were before I slept, not only that I feel hot like I have a fever. What's more, I can feel that my bicep has swollen up a bit, and even shifting a bit while laying down sends rivers of pain through my nerves. I still can't hear anything, a dull ringing that has my eardrums pulsing, and I have to force myself to think.

    My arm is definitely broken, which I suspected, but I think it is worse than I thought. My fever and the swelling means it probably got infected, most likely from the blood covering me. This is bad. I can't just wait an infection out, and I know how to give myself a rudimentary split for my arm, but I think it's a bad break which means it's not going to just heal on its own.

    I am going to have to get healing. If I want to be on my feet with any speed, I can't heal naturally. My mind spins as I start thinking of how to get healed. There is Panacea, but her waiting list is super long, and she only does ER stuff occasionally. The other is Othala, but she only does Empire capes and I have no idea where she is to force her to heal me either. Leet has to have made some kind of healing device, but the same problem with Othala comes up in that I have no idea where to even start looking for him.

    The Protectorate and Wards definitely get healed by Panacea, but they'll just lock me up because my DNA is all over— My gun! My fingerprints are all over the gun I left behind at the scene, fuck! I can't even play dumb about that, so the Protectorate and Wards are out.

    Whatever I decide, I will have to clean off a little bit first anyway. My bones feel heavy, but I manage to stand and stumble to a sink in the back. I strip out of my filthy clothes, but my lack of hearing means I don't know how quiet I managed to be when I tried to raise my arm to take off my shirt. With slow movements, I manage to get free of the blood caked outfit and start to use the washcloths already in there to try and clean myself off.

    As I do, I run through my options for healing. I'll have to leave Malum Caedo here because it's just too conspicuous.

    =={==========-- | --==========}==​
    Now, let's choose how the next steps in the quest shape up. Can you guys believe you nearly went to Iowa at the start?

    Where do I go?
    [X] Nowhere, try to tough it out.
    [X] The hospital, even if Panacea doesn't show up, there are doctors that that can treat 'Adam'.
    [X] The Empire. Pretend to be a recruit for Othala's healing, though I don't know how well I'll be able to handle myself among enemies…
    [X] Go to the heroes, even if I get locked up, at least I'll be alive.
    [X] Write-In:
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    • [X] The hospital, even if Panacea doesn't show up, there are doctors that that can treat 'Adam'.

    Say we were attacked by some gangsters and are having trouble with our memory? Not sure here.
     
    [X] The hospital, even if Panacea doesn't show up, there are doctors that that can treat 'Adam

    This is the best option, however we do need an alibi as to why we are wounded, just in case they ask.
     
    Chapter 24 New
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    • Where do I go?
    [X] maybe try and find something to kill like a rat or something and see if we can make ourself strong enough to survive the wound on our own. If that doesn't work then go to the hospital. (7 Votes)
    =={==========-- | --==========}==​

    Saturday, March 12th, 2011
    1:35 PM

    As I clean myself off, hearing in my left ear comes back a bit, but I am still deaf in my right one. Both eardrums still hurt, but I am just glad it came back, even if it is still a bit muffled.

    I don't want to go to the hospital if I can avoid it, and I get stronger from killing, right? What if I kill some bugs or rats or something? I know there are some rats below the floorboards, I've heard them scurrying about. They've never bothered me though, so I didn't mind them, now though, I need one.

    Putting on some joggers and a tee shirt, but I don't even try to get my broken arm through its sleeve and fashion a makeshift sling from another shift and then pull my first shirt over it. Shuffling over to Malum Caedo and picking it up I am a bit surprised at how light it is even in my weakened state.

    I don't know how much space there is below the floorboards, but I should be able to hit something on the end of my sword. I feel Dreadnought slowly, almost lazily, spread through me, the strange energy distracting from my pain a bit. With only one arm I have to leverage the blade against the edge of a hole. I then hold very still and listen.

    After what I guess was about twenty minutes I hear them start to skitter about again, I wait until I hear them get closer before suddenly thrusting forward echo flowing behind me. There is a squealing sound and I feel two distinct notes of energy flow into me, it weird though. It is like hearing a radio station from a few channels over. The energy is the wrong… Frequency is the best word I can find, for me. I feel it flow away to where ever the rest of my kills go and Dreadnought fade away.

    I am then rushed with two waves of malcontent hunger, an inverted feeling of absence almost, that then fades after about a minute. Message received, won't be trying that again.

    Ultimately, I decide on going to the hospital, the nearest one being the Covenant Medical Park, which everyone just calls the CMP, which is too far way to walk. I'll have to ride a bus, but I don't want to use a bus stop near my base because that would just raise scrutiny on the area. There should be a neighborhood nearby if my mental map of the city is right, which means if I go from a bus stop over there and Occam's razor will have them looking at those houses.

    I want to bring Malum Caedo along, I really do, but I also know that doing so would be downright moronic. Instead, I hide it between two kitchen machines whose names and purposes are beyond me. As I leave I feel a heavy reluctance to leave it behind, even thought I know I have to, my feet start dragging before I force myself forward.

    I stumble into the alleyway, squinting at the daylight that is pounding down. As I walk, I start to brainstorm a lie to go alongside my injuries. Making it gang related is obvious, maybe saying that a lack of money in my wallet turned a mugging rough? Say it was a tweaked out meth head works too, the Merchants are a good scapegoat for this. How do I get out of paying, though? Run away afterward? Probably, I don't think they can saddle a teenager with debt, but I don't want to test it. Well, I'm already on the run, so what are some debt collectors going to do?

    I realize that I don't have my wallet on me and have to turn around to grab some money for the bus fare and feel a migraine building.

    Back on track, with five dollar coins in my pocket, head over the backrest, I don't have the energy to get back up to look at the route map. Thankfully there is an old man sitting on the bench as well, I blearily realize that I probably look like a meth head myself but can't find an ounce of care right now. I crack an eye open and look at him.

    "'scuse me."

    "What." He all but barks, glancing in my direction.

    "This bus goes to the CMP, right?"

    "Not the next one, but the one after that will." His tone softens quite a bit, but he still sound like a hard ass.

    "Thanks." I say, letting the conversation die.

    Sitting on the bench could be called basking, and probably would have felt nice if I didn't feel like I was full of toxic sludge. I hear the old man get up, shortly followed by the squeaky sound of an old bus stopping too fast. It then takes off and I fall into a trance like state, I am far too drained to be active, but I just slept so can't fall back asleep. The bus next bus pulls to a stop in front of me, much slower than the last one, and force myself into a standing position.

    "PMC?" I ask squinting at the driver.

    "Six stops." She says in a bored tone, which I take as a yes and climb aboard, dropping a coin in the slot as I move to the back and drop into a seat.

    As soon as the bus starts driving, a wave of motion sickness hits me and I nearly bite my tongue off, clenching my teeth. I take in a deep breath and force it out. It's just a fucking bus ride, I'm not going to hurl. The stops seem to drag on, and it feels like traffic quadrupled, but I make it without throwing up or drawing any extra attention to myself.

    I stumble through the ER doors and get into line. Thankfully it moves pretty face and I find myself looking at a far too cheerful receptionist.

    "Name and reason for your visit today?" She asks with a smile, fingers hovering over her keyboard.

    "Broke my arm, pretty sure I've got an infection too."

    "Alright, and your name?" She asks again without an ounce of annoyance.

    "Right. Sorry, Adam Wittamore." She types it out and glances up.

    "Lucky for you, we have Panacea in for the day." She prints out a sticker with my fake name on it with Patient' above it, and passes it over. "Nurse Arndt will take you back. Next." I step out of the way and put the sticker on my chest.

    Another far too happy looking person waving at me, so I make my way over. I realize that I am being snippy in my head because I'm in pain, so I don't offer any small talk. They're probably just happy that Panacea is here today.

    The room that I am led to is a half converted internal lobby thing with a rug as opposed to the normal tile and some soft looking chairs. I am far from the only person here and there seems about thirty or so which fills up most of the room. There is still a spot for me to sit, though, so I fall back into it and wait. The room fills up and not long after the robed figure of Panacea enters the room accompanied by a nurse causing the idle chatter to become more animated. The order she is treating people puts me towards the end of the line, so I close my eyes and lay my head back again to wait a bit more.

    "Do I have permission to heal you?" I open my eyes to a bored expression and dead eyes. Part of me is instantly curious but the rest of me sums it up as 'Not my clown, not my circus'.

    "Yes." I say holding out my right hand.

    She grabs my hand, and she blinks before her gaze sharpens on me and starts growing a bit worried looking. A moment later her face falls into a forced calm as I feel my pain vanish completely, and I can almost feel everything shift into its proper place. She leans in close and whispers in a quick voice.

    "I need to talk to you privately, it's about your health." Before straightening out and turning to the nurse. "Please take Mr." a glance at my sticker, "Whittamore to a separate room." Before moving onto the next person.

    Fuck, how if Panacea recognize me? I've never been anywhere near her! I stand up and walk to the nurse, who is considerably less energetic than the other two I interacted with. She steps into the hallway and I debate about running. I'm healed, so mission accomplished, but I kind of want to see what she's talking about because there should be no way she recognizes me, so this has to be about something else. Right?

    =={==========-- | --==========}==​
    So there are two reasons the rat didn't work, one in universe and one meta. If you want to know, I've spoiler-ed them. And don't forget that Roman is his own character, and so you can't write in 'start killing everyone' or something outlandish and expect it to stick.

    As far as I've been able to tell we have no idea if the Sword Logic works on animals, but I think it is closer to their ability to impact change and the only things that can impact true widespread changes are sapient. So for now, those are the only things it works on.
    In my drafts I could never get the math to work out right, either it was so little it wasn't worth tracking or it was too much, and you could get formidable speed just by crushing a few bugs.

    What to do?
    [X] Get out now, no reason to risk it.
    [X] Stay, I want to know what she is talking about.
    [X] Write-In:
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    • [X] Stay, I want to know what she is talking about.

    I wanna know what she saw and we can just leave if she is going to call the prt.
     
    Chapter 25 New
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    • What to do?
    [X] Stay and hear what she has to say but also be ready to leave if you expect something fishy is going on or if the thing she has to say isn't really that important because our time is valuable. (4 Votes)
    =={==========-- | --==========}==​

    Saturday, March 12th, 2011
    2:45 PM

    I push the desire to run out of my mind, if the world's greatest healer says she needs to talk to me, then I should probably listen. If anything fishy seems like it is going on, like the PRT showing up, I can make a break for it.

    The nurse takes me to a normal room and then leaves with barely a 'please wait'. I start to speculate on what might be the issue. Panacea can't do brains, so maybe there is something wrong with mine? Wait, isn't there a thing in parahuman's brains that gives them their powers? Did she feel that and think it was a tumor? Do I have a tumor? What would I have to kill to get rid of a tumor? I can feel my hand subconsciously reaching for Malum Caedo even though I know it's nowhere nearby. It's probably not that I am a cape, because Shade Skip told me the rules stop people from being unmasked. Panacea doesn't have a secret identity, though, so is it different for her?

    I don't have to wait long before the door opens and the healer steps in. Now that I am able to see her properly, the biggest thing that stands out to me is her intense gaze that quickly meets mine.

    "Alright. Can I have your hand again?" My brow furrows, but I oblige her.

    "Brain tumor?" I ask, my tone a bit more relaxed than I thought it would be.

    "No. I need you to answer some questions honestly, the safety of the city could be at risk." Her voice is flat and pointed, remarkably close to a blade, some part of me thinks. The other part of me wonders what the Hell she is talking about.

    "What do you mean?" I am ignored though as she moves right to her questions.

    "Have you had any blackouts or noticed any gaps in your memory over the last few days?" What?

    "No? What is going on?" I ask again, growing a bit agitated at the lack of answers.

    "How exactly were you hurt?"

    "No, what the Hell is going on? I need something here." I demand, listening past the door for any sort of movement that might indicate people are about to break in but hear nothing.

    "I'm not sure how much I am allowed to say." She says, looking a little unsure of herself.

    "Okay, then you can tell me what the issue with me is though, right?"

    "I am not going to tell anyone you're a cape," she says, ignoring me again, "patient confidentiality and all that, but I need to know what your power does."

    At this point I withdraw my hand and start getting ready to make a break for it because this feels like a stalling tactic before the PRT gets here. My building annoyance must have shown on my face because she lets out an aggressive sigh, which just makes me even more annoyed.

    "Look. I need to know this stuff, so I know if I need to get the PRT in here." Her tone is snippy, which makes me just want to just walk out, and can't stop that thought from passing my lips.

    "Or I could just leave." I can almost feel her roll her eyes.

    "Alright fine. There is something suspended in your blood and throughout your body that my power is unable to interact with, in addition a few of your injuries were not healing normally and would have resulted in something like chitin I think. I'm not sure about that though. I need to know if that's part of your power or if you need to be looked at by Armsmaster or something."

    Something being suspended throughout me is unsettling, but I don't find myself really surprised. She is probably just seeing my power spread through me from the kills. As for the chitin, I don't really know what that is, and I don't really want to ask either because Panacea is actually a pretty annoying person.

    "Is it life-threatening?" She crosses her arms and I almost expect her to growl.

    "I. Don't. Know. Is it part of your power or not?" Says like she is talking to a child, and I feel my internal position change to more confrontational.

    "Why does it matter?" I snip back.

    "Because if it was put inside of you by someone else, you need to get to the PRT HQ right now."

    "Why though?" And what does it have to do with the city's safety? I mentally add.

    "I already told you, it's classified."

    "No, you said you didn't know how much you could tell me. Not that it was classified." She mumbles something under her breath that sounds very rude before speaking up again.

    "Look, are you going to answer my questions or not?"

    "Are you going to give me something more to go off of? Or are you just going to keep saying classified like some wannabe CIA agent?"

    She starts pacing the room, clearly thinking. I cross my arms too, Panacea isn't anything like I thought she would be, not that I really had any theories going. She must have landed on something because her arms drop back to her sides, and she turns to face me.

    "Alright, I'll tell you a little bit, but you have to keep it a secret."

    "Sure." I say easily. Who would I tell anyway? Malum Caedo? I doubt it would care.

    "Can I have your hand again?"

    "Why?"

    "I can tell if you're lying." Shit, what does that have to do with healing?

    I try to think back on what I said when she was holding my hand earlier but can't dwell on it for long with her waiting. If I say no, then I'll look super suspicious, so I'll just have to be extra careful with how I say things. I offer up my hand, and she snatches at it.

    "Swear you won't tell anyone what I tell you?" I take a moment to word my reply.

    "I swear I don't have any intention of telling a person what you say." It seems to mollify her though and I see her relax slightly.

    "I can't say much. A few nights ago there was a murder downtown, well one done by a parahuman, and then last night there were more. The PRT thinks they might have been done by a group they have on file. One of the members could have put some stuff into you, and that's why I need to know."

    I feel my stomach drop because I could be the one they're looking for, killing those fucking Empire goons last night. I might not be too, since I have nothing to do with whatever happened downtown. Shit, if she has a way of knowing if I lie, does that mean she can see my reaction? Deflect, deflect.

    "You think I might be being targeted? Why?" Hopefully her power will register that as fear.

    "No idea. You going to answer my questions or not?"

    I'm stuck in a corner here. If I say no, then she is just going to call the PRT, but the police are probably already looking for me. If I say yes though, with her ability to see if I lie, I'll probably get outed as the one that did the killing last night. I don't know for sure that it's my power I guess, I feel like it is, but I don't have a way to be sure. The weird growths or healing or whatever she was talking about, I have no idea, so maybe it isn't my power? She asked if I had any gaps in my memory, but I don't, when would it have been put in my body? I don't feel anything wrong, in fact now that I'm not in pain I can appreciate how much better I feel with my fresh Growth. Well, it couldn't be whatever the PRT is thinking, since I was the one that did the killing last night and am not part of any organization.

    =={==========-- | --==========}==​
    Fell asleep, so sorry for later chapter. Also, hope I got Amy's altitude right, not sure.

    I'll…
    [X] take off, this isn't really my problem, and I'm already being looked for, so nothing really changes.
    [X] answer the questions, no reason to put another target on my back.
    [X] Write-In:
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    • [X] Tell her you are not going to explain your whole power, but confess it has improved your body, you don't need as much sleep as an example. Thank her for her concern, but the chitin and blood thing is probably a part of it you did not had a chance to see until now, as you had no contact with any cape that could have "infected/inflicted/affected" us with something like that (the blood and chitin thing), or gaps in our memories or whatever. If she asks more questions about other things, make a break for it, that's none of her business and she isnt a investigator, cop or whataver. Try to come off as having authority issues if you can. Stuff like not trusting the cops (maybe it will even be true, isnt Roman minority?)
     
    Vote closed New
  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by ecoolasice on Apr 26, 2024 at 2:24 PM, finished with 1 posts and 1 votes.
    • [X] Tell her you are not going to explain your whole power, but confess it has improved your body, you don't need as much sleep as an example. Thank her for her concern, but the chitin and blood thing is probably a part of it you did not had a chance to see until now, as you had no contact with any cape that could have "infected/inflicted/affected" us with something like that (the blood and chitin thing), or gaps in our memories or whatever. If she asks more questions about other things, make a break for it, that's none of her business and she isnt a investigator, cop or whataver. Try to come off as having authority issues if you can. Stuff like not trusting the cops (maybe it will even be true, isnt Roman minority?)
    Click to expand...
     
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    • [X] take off, this isn't really my problem, and I'm already being looked for, so nothing really changes.

    She probably was 1) informed of a killer cape and wants to disable Roman with her powers or 2) her shard really wants to look at his biology. Either sounds bad, what rotten luck to meet Panacea for a broken arm.

    Also, wanted to say I really like this quest. It's nice to see the character being forced to act in order to grow.
     
    Chapter 26 New
  • Threadmarks
    • I'll…
    [X] Tell her you are not going to explain your whole power, but confess it has improved your body, you don't need as much sleep as an example. Thank her for her concern, but the chitin and blood thing is probably a part of it you did not had a chance to see until now, as you had no contact with any cape that could have "infected/inflicted/affected" us with something like that (the blood and chitin thing), or gaps in our memories or whatever. If she asks more questions about other things, make a break for it, that's none of her business and she isnt a investigator, cop or whataver. Try to come off as having authority issues if you can. Stuff like not trusting the cops (maybe it will even be true, isnt Roman minority?)
    (3.5 Votes)
    =={==========-- | --==========}==​

    Saturday, March 12th, 2011
    3:05 PM

    I'll tell her some stuff, not everything, of course. I'll have to be sure to word everything right though since I can't lie right now.

    "I'm not going to spill my guts or anything, but I'll answer some of your questions." I say.

    "Good. Now, your power?" She sounds impatient, and I almost want to change my mind and answer nothing.

    "What you're seeing is probably my power. It's made my body a bit better, but I haven't had a chance to test by how much." I answer truthfully. She starts to respond, and I take the chance to cut her off for some petty revenge at her ignoring me. "The chitin is probably part of it too, since I don't have any memory gaps or whatever you were talking about."

    "And how did you get hurt?" I mentally flip the context of last night so that I don't lie.

    "Some Empire goon punched me with brass knuckles, I probably only survived because of my power." Panacea presses her lips together, and I can almost see the gears turning in her head. Something nudges the back of my mind to push the lie further, so I do. "Look, thanks for the concern, but I'm not part of the cape community," true, I only know Shade Skip and I guess Panacea now, "and I already promised that I'm not going to tell anyone about whatever this is." I say broadly, gesturing to her with my free hand.

    She sighs and lets go of my hand, which I take as a good sign, and steps back.

    "If you notice anything like that, or anything odd, report it to the PRT right away."

    "Yes ma'am." I say a bit sarcastically. "Am I free to go?"

    "You weren't being detained to begin with." She snips before leaving the room.

    It sure felt like I was being detained. I don't say that of course because there is no reason to tempt fate. I make my way out of the hospital, tossing my name tag in the trash, and now no longer being bombarded with pain signals don't find the receptionist nearly as grating.

    The fresh air is nice, and the sun feels even better, since I've been stuck in my base or only out at night for a more than a week now and don't really want to go back right away. The only thing ruining this is that I can't wear Malum Caedo out, the constant nagging in the back of my mind that something is missing.

    I realize that I don't have much of a plan, kill the Empire of course and then probably the ABB after that, but they're only really doing stuff at night. I can't go out during the day… Or can I? It's not like there are cops on every corner of the city, and if I buy some makeup or something, I can probably make a pretty good disguise for myself. That would leave the entire day to go out and do something, which I can probably put to use somehow. Right now, though, I need to get back to base because I only have four dollars on me, which isn't enough to do anything with.

    Getting onto a bus heading back to the neighborhood that I left from in the first place and subtly look around for anyone suspicious, but the nearly empty interior fails to generate anything noteworthy. The bus pulls to a stop and start making my way back to base.

    I know I shouldn't be, but I still am amazed at just how good I feel, all the little pains that were overshadowed by my big injuries are even gone. Thinking of injuries brings to mind how I am lucky to be alive. I need to find a way to take out, like, one or two people at a time until I can Grow more. My mind then returns to the phone I took last night that had all the plans on it. Arriving, I slink into the interior and do a walk through, finding nothing disturbed and Malum Caedo right where I left it.

    Then I search through my bloody clothes to find the phone last night, the cash I gathered and the device that Shade Skip gave me. I'll have to return that last one at some point, but for now I just turn my attention to the texts on the phone to see what I can gather.

    The majority of it is talking about their patrol schedules for last night, so I can check, but they are probably useless, not to mention each of them has at least four people. There are two things that I do take note of, though. Firstly, there is going to be a rally on the 15th where apparently they'll be introducing some new capes, which makes a pool of anger churn right under my lungs at the Empire gaining more firepower. The second is that apparently there's going to be a pit fighting tournament on the 17th that the former owner of this phone was planning on going to watch. Both are good to know, but I can't really do anything with that info at this stage of my development. What if I went to scout? I don't know if I would be able to keep myself from lashing out, though. Something to think about.

    In the meantime, I have the rest of the day to kill, what should I do?

    =={==========-- | --==========}==​

    Plan for the day, you can choose two (2) activities until nighttime. (Note: Activities may be interrupted! The highest vote will happen first, unless that wouldn't make sense.)
    [X] Go and buy some stuff to help disguise myself.
    [X] Practice with Malum Caedo.
    [X] Wander around (attempt random encounter).
    [X] Go to…
    -[X] Write-In:
    [X] Attempt to meditate on my power like a Jedi?
    [X] Buy something else…
    -[X] Write-In:
    [X] Write-In:
     
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    • [X] Write-In:
    - [X] Go to the gym and ask if you can do a 1 day free trial (if not ask if you can pay just for the day). Try to test the limit of your body (running, lifting, striking power) while being as inconspicious as possible. This will help in the future to establish not only the physical baseline (in universe) but also if working out is really useful for your enhanced body.
     
    [X] Write-In:
    - [X] Go to the gym and ask if you can do a 1 day free trial (if not ask if you can pay just for the day). Try to test the limit of your body (running, lifting, striking power) while being as inconspicious as possible. This will help in the future to establish not only the physical baseline (in universe) but also if working out is really useful for your enhanced body.
     
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    • Scheduled vote count started by ecoolasice on Apr 27, 2024 at 7:18 AM, finished with 2 posts and 2 votes.
    • [X] Write-In:
      - [X] Go to the gym and ask if you can do a 1 day free trial (if not ask if you can pay just for the day). Try to test the limit of your body (running, lifting, striking power) while being as inconspicious as possible. This will help in the future to establish not only the physical baseline (in universe) but also if working out is really useful for your enhanced body.
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    • Chapter 27 New
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    • Plan for the day, you can choose two (2) activities until nighttime.
    [X] Attempt to meditate on my power like a Jedi? (5 Votes)
    [X] Practice with Malum Caedo. (5 Votes)
    =={==========-- | --==========}==​

    Saturday, March 12th, 2011
    3:30 PM

    I settle on trying to meditate like I did before I made my Malum Caedo and hopefully I won't be interrupted by an urge to do something like last time.

    Grabbing my sword I take a seat on the front counter and lay my blade across my lap. I let my eyes fall closed and I start to measure my breaths, the sounds of the city just beyond the boarded up storefront lulling me down. My mind starts to open up to slowly open up to me, like a flower seeing the sun. I can see, for lack of a better word, a level below me, separated by caricatured waves of calm. It isn't as hard as it was last time, I don't have to force myself down below whatever the lower part of my mind would be called, and instead am able to simply sink below the membrane.

    It isn't black of Darkness and it isn't white of Light or any mix of the two, as though I am suspended in a place of nothing and the absence of nothing. I don't know how long I've drifted in this calm, but it comes to an end as I begin. To. See.

    I am moving through the black of space and see, backlit by the accretion disk of a black hole, an armada of pyramid shaped ships. I am on a collision course for one of the smaller ones, but before I hit it factures like a pane of glass and there are four pyramids whose tips are all circling a point. The same point I would have collided and now am passing through. As soon as I pass the razor thin tips my sight changes.

    I am in a place bathed in a dim green light, the air nipping at my bones in the way only that monochrome place does. I look around and see a chipped throne, carved of a single stone larger than anyone I've ever met. I hear the sound of massive doors being opened and spin around to see the same towering form that I spoke to when I made Malum Caedo, this time made from flesh and chitin and not shadow.. He takes a single step into the room before his head snaps to me and I am looking into three eyes. I blink and I am somewhere new again.

    I am standing at the end of a long table, there are four figures sitting at it. One is in dark robes and has the same three glowing eyes I just saw sitting by themselves, one is mechanical with a spike coming from its head, one is a male with blue skin that almost looks like it whisps floating off, lastly is the only normal looking one, a woman with dark skin dressed in purple robes. On the table is a hologram of a double circle set into a nearly flat wall. Their conversation starts to slowly come into tune like a bad radio.

    "…Hidden are reporting similar things." The dark skinned one says. "Perhaps a Strike could be in order?" She looks to the blue one who is clearly thinking.

    "Could Atheon be back? This is the Vex we're talking about here." The robot says in an exaggerated conspiratorial tone.

    "More than likely not. This behavior is different from the reports we have from before Atheon's defeat." The woman responds. The heavily armored one speaks up.

    "A scouting Strike, ideally composed of at least one Warlock, would give us more information to work from. For all we know the Vault of Glass is finally collapsing in on itself." His voice rumbles out.

    "Yeah right, if that's what's happening I'll eat my—"

    The one sitting by themselves suddenly springs to their feet, a glowing green ball clutched tight to their chest, and begins scanning the room. The other three look at her with some levels of confusion but the woman's eyes widen soon after and she starts looking around too.

    "Ikora," they say in a voice like a raspy wail. "Do you feel that?"

    "I do. We are being watched." The second half of the sentence is directed to the remaining two who are looking confused but ready. At her words though they both stand and start looking too, though with less pointed direction.

    I suddenly feel Dreadnought fill me, as my eyes lock with the cloth covered glowing ones of the dark robed one. Her head tilts and—

    I am standing on a ledge with a city starched out below with walls encircling it. Looking up there gigantic sphere of white, the bottom scraped away to reveal mechanical internals, hovering over the city. Malum Caedo is a comforting weight in my hand as Dreadnought continues to hum through my bones. I feel something different, something warm, something like the sphere above me, trying to seep into me, I recoil from the invasion and can almost feel my echo repelling it.

    A blink and I am standing in a strange place with cube-like formations, lush with all kinds of greenery. In front of me is myself, a buzzing in the back of my mind makes me look down and see that I am offering a sword. I look to my right and see my echoes stretching, I look to my left and see my echoes stretching, we are holding Malum Caedo. The sword being offered is not Malum Caedo. The buzzing grows louder.

    I am suddenly thrust back into my body in the bakery, my sword is hot in my hands and I can feel burns start to form so I quickly set it aside as I feel Dreadnought start to slowly, almost reluctantly, spool down. I move to stand up but have to abort the motion as a sudden rush of dizziness hits me. What the hell was that? I know I didn't really have any expectations about what meditating would actually do but whatever that was, was something else. I have no idea what to make of any of it, the only thing that is stopping me from thinking that it was all a dream is the fact that Dreadnought activated. Also, the entity that gave me this understanding of the world is still out there? Part of me really wants to find him, but I have a gut feeling that he is further away than I can reach right now. I do have this new sense of being close to a new level in my Growth, though I'm not sure what for. I think I'll have to let that whole sequence settle before I can start making sense of it.

    The dizziness fades and I am realigned with my body so I get up. Checking the Empire phone I see that it is already five forty and I also note that the battery is only at sixty eight percent. I should get a charger for it. Speaking of other things I should do, I need some practice with my bladework since I know that I have a long way to go. Well, I'm not going to be going out for the rest of the night with the vision or whatever that was still bouncing around in the back of my brain, so I may as well get some practice in now.

    I start to move through some basic kata, there is barely enough space to perform full motions if I stand in one corner of the store. As I move I can feel my mind start to fall into sync more with my power, feeling more instincts start to manifest. I don't know if that is from practicing or from whatever that dream was but there's no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth. I let myself fall into a far calmer trance.

    =={==========-- | --==========}==
    Updates might be a bit slower the next while, I have a 52hr week, then a 56hr week, then a 52hr week. This chapter was done at work so I apologize for any mistakes! ^-^

    What should I do tonight?
    [X] Go hunting using the patrol routes from the phone (slightly deeper into Empire territory).
    [X] Go hunting in Merchant territory.
    [X] Go hunting on the ABB and Empire boarder.
    [X] Go hunting on the Empire and Protectorate boarder.
    [X] Write-In:
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