Through the Astral Sea

[Nightingale]

You're sitting at a table in a restaurant, the person in front of you checking their phone and looking bored. You shift nervously in your seat, antsy to learn really anything from them. You're about to speak up, when the front of the restaurant lights up, and you hear the stomping of multiple pairs of feet.

You look up to see several members in full body SWAT gear, and they aim directly at you. You're terrified, and you gaze back at the person across the table from you, who looks strangely.... calm?

"You are under arrest for the crime of possession! Surrender and die!" You turn your attention back to the gun wielding swat, at their proposition. You could have sworn the command should have been "surrender or die", but you're under the assumption that doesn't matter much to them. How did you even get here?
-
Oh yeah

Spoiler: A moment of your time

I would also like to point out here that Sendi (username "Sendicard") is cowriting the quest with me. So we handle different parts of it, and alternate between playing hot potato with the updates. So the narrative is sure to change multiple times during this. Hopefully for the better.

 

[Nightingale]

[X] Jewel thief
________________________________
Ah that's right.

It was three days ago. Three days ago you were doing business as usual, living your life the way you were and not letting anyone tell you how to do it.

And then it changed

And then you died

Something dramatic.
_________________________________________
In a metropolitan area in a nondescript city, three days ago

Standing near the ice cream stand you grab your cone and begin lapping at it, gracious to earn some reprieve from the hot summer sun. Walking some ways down the street, past an abandoned church and some really interesting hedges, you stop in the shade and watch as some kids play in the water spraying from a fire hydrant.

Wistfully sighing, you wish you were ten again, living without the cares of adulthood and splashing around in a puddle. Then it dawns on you how much of a creep you must look like staring at children and sighing wistfully.

Moving on while trying to convince yourself that hey, maybe nobody else thought you were actually being a creep either? As you reach a bench, you sit carefully, so as not to disturb the person next to you too much. Tapping your fingers in a seemingly innocuous way, he looks up from his newspaper and casts a sideways glance at you. "Really? That's what you choose as a signal? You're so simplistic sometimes." He mutters and turns his eyes back to the paper.

You smirk and nod. "Mhhm. But I don't think we're here just to play catch up, are we?" You joke, and he lightens up a bit. Leaning in a little bit closer, he slides the small laminate card to the edges of the pages, tucked inside the front page and the sports section.

Holding up a cigarette he offers it to you with a smirk on his face. Leaning over and taking both the cigarette and the card inconspicuously, you're about to palm it when he nudges you're sides and mutters "sell it"

Narrowing your eyes you grab a light from him and take a drag and exhale. "What about payment?" You ask, more than enough cash on hand to deal with his prices.

"Hmm... you'll know sooner or later what I want, so I'll find you when I make up my mind." He says indifferently, and you're more than dissatisfied with his answer.

"So many things I'd rather hear than that, and if your were anyone else I would have canceled the deal and stopped all contact with you. But fine. I have a party to plan anyways." You pout and stand to walk away.

"A party to plan, or crash?" He asks, that same damn amused smirk plastered on his face. Ignoring him, you continue on your way, a smirk making it's way onto your face as well.

-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --

Getting "home" you open the door and kick off your shoes, checking the "fake I.D." box off your whiteboard. Looking at your newly acquired identity, you note that all the details seem to be accurate besides your name and contact info.

-----------

[] (name)

[] (age)
-[] (Gender)

[] (general appearance I.e hair/eye color)

[] (organ donor?)

[] (other optional details aka write ins)

-

Sub vote!

[] smoker

[] non smoker

[] quitting

 

[Sendicard]

Winning vote

[X] Talpo Tosada

[X] 24
-[X] Female

[X]

Spoiler: Mafia!

[X] Not an Organ Donor

[X] Likes suits. Really, really, really, likes suits. Oh, also, coats and keeping herself FABULOUS.

-

[X] Non smoker

Remember kids!

Smoking's not cool.

It's for fools.



Also, our name's an anagram!

Click to shrink...

-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Talpo Tosada, huh?" You shrug as you put down your ID. The bastard chose a weird ass name for you, but well, on consideration you suppose that it would be weirder if he didn't. If three is a pattern, his antics turned into written law a long time ago.


You stand and stretch out a bit, taking a moment to enjoy the movement, before heading to your wardrobe. A pleased smile makes its way onto your face when you remember that this party is fancy enough to make your truly high quality suits appropriate. You know just the one you want to wear for the occasion, having been hurting for a chance to use it. So you find it quickly, laying it down on the bed without a moment wasted.


With that done, you head to the bathroom, quickly brushing your teeth to purge the putrid smell of tobacco off your breath. You then take a shower, and your special scentless shampoo makes your entrance back into your room quite the spectacle to the senses of your nonexistent audience. The jewel thief life of riches and 'infamy,' if it could even be called that, is surprisingly lonely. You can't even own a pet, as their scent or fur on your clothes could give you away.


It is too bad, as your damp and long pink hair splays itself down your back, you reflect that with the correct posture and timing, the sight could make quite the dramatic entrance sequence. At-least, if the mirror is to be believed.


With nothing left but the party to think about, it dawns on you that you have very little clue how you are going to get into the vault. The response team to the vault entrance will probably be less than a minute if you try to force your way, and your intel says the entrance downstairs is a code lock. You suppose getting the code won't be too difficult, but even the right code sets off a silent alarm, so getting out might be the problem. You suppose you could just improvise at that point.


In the movies, gaining the invitation to the fancy party was always some grand display of dramatic forging and reconnaissance. Here, in the real world, despite what your dramatic flair and less than normal features say, it was more a matter of checking the mail. You take a moment's pleasure in the fact that your real name wasn't on it, meaning whoever sent it (presumably your client) didn't know who you really were.


That left you the only two real problems. The first, is figuring out what you are actually stealing, the client being needlessly vague. Well, that and making your getaway. Honestly this is a problem on at-least half your heists, now that you think about it.


You have a party to attend! Throwing on your suit and grabbing a mask in the shape of a swan, you head off in search of adventure! Only to be reminded of that second problem. You walked home from your meeting, because you couldn't find your car keys.


[]Where to search for your car keys?

-[]Medicine cabinet

-[]Toilet

-[]Under the rug

-[]Neighbor's cat

 

[Nightingale]

Watch, he's gonna be totally pissed that I'm telling you this and come assassinate me tonight)

Click to shrink...

I'll give you a hint, my pay back includes buying a whole sleeve of paper and a lot of glue.

[X]Where to search for your car keys?
-[X]Neighbor's cat
-

Sighing and shaking your head you begin to wonder where your car keys floated off to. They have a mind of their own sometimes it seems. Checking in the kitchen drawers you find nothing. You're actually surprised when you find nothing because there had previously been silverware in there. Oh well you shrug, and wander to the fridge, checking inside for your car keys.

Opening it to find your car keys aren't in there either, you realize your fridge is also empty. You could have sworn you bought groceries, but you suppose it's not too big of a deal, considering there will be fancy little snacks at the party anyways.

And thus you head to the bathroom, poking your head in to see your tub overflowing with water, a bubble bath drawn, the bubbles arranging themselves to form the words "Just relax babe" on the surface of the sudsy water finding nothing but sadness, the steam from your shower still clinging to the air. Shrugging, you assume your keys aren't here either. Leaning against the wall in between your bedroom and the bathroom, your kitchen is sprawled in front of you like an architects bad dream. You mutter and begin to think about how late you're going to be, and start talking to yourself in an effort to compartmentalize and figure out where your damn keys are. "Where are my keys?" You wonder aloud, hoping that this inane wondering would prompt your brain into finding the object of your desires.

However it doesn't and instead you're just left staring directly in front of you at the cat toy left on your countertop. Strange, you don't remember having a cat. Actually, you know for certain that you don't have a cat. However after a moment of deliberation you do remember your neighbor has a cat. Grabbing your coat, you open your window and take a breath, that silent switch in your mind telling you it's time to get serious. As you slip outside your window, the sounds of the city and the wind whistling past are music to your ears, a low tone sound of applause to the brevity and tenacity of every action of yours. Dropping to window below, and grabbing the ledge instinctively you pull yourself up slowly with considerable effort. It's left open so slipping inside again is easy, and you quickly scan the dark apartment for signs of life. You can't see anything at first, but for a moment you feel like you have eyes on you. With this kind of life you can normally tell when someone is looking at you, like your brain has a sonar for it.

But after a moment of straining your eyes, you start to hear a low purring sound. "Gotcha!" you think to yourself as you look in the direction of the sound of contentment. As your eyes adjust to the dark, you see the shining light of the cats eyes in the dark as it reflects the minor bit of sunlight coming in, the sun setting outside the window. Spotting you as you spot it, the kitty mewls and headhumps your hand as you pat it. "Sneaky little devil. How is it you get my keys?" you ask it, almost expecting a reply but getting nothing because it's just a cat. hearing the slight jingle of your keys as he moves you assume he's sitting directly on your keys.

Shoeing the cat away lightly and grabbing your keys from underneath him, you're about to slip back out the window and into your own home when the front door to the apartment swings open, and the resident walks in and flicks on the light. Normally the light wouldn't bother you, but when your eyes adjust even something as tame as a night light can hurt. As you feel like your heart stops, you shield your eyes as you slowly turn your head to him and smile awkwardly.

"Did muffin steal your keys again?" He asks, and you pocket your keys and shake your head sheepishly. "Of course not, I was just here to rob you." You reply, his only response being an amused smile.

"Want some coffee while you're here?" he asks, and you're almost tempted to stay and have coffee, before you remember that you have a party to attend. Shaking your head you slip out the window and climb back into your own window, sitting down and leaning your head against the window ledge when you get inside. "Maybe another time then..." He mutters, and closes his window.

Looking at muffin he chides the small cat and smiles. "I don't know how you do it, but you need to leave her alone muffin. She's too much of a shut in to get this much attention." he laughs, and pats the cat gently on the head.
-
Later in your car, racing to make it on time to the party!
-

Resting your head on the wheel, you crank the radio and try to drown out the sound of yelling as two sour drivers fight from their windows, engaging each other in a verbal jousting match. Pressing your foot down a little bit, you're almost surprised when you move a full 8 feet ahead of you.

Looking around at the sea of cars ahead of you, you almost consider just getting out and running there, but it wouldn't do well for you to be sweaty and smelly when you get there. So instead you do the lazy thing and continue on waiting for the car ahead of you to move an inch forward, constantly pressured by the car behind you to pay attention.

"Todays traffic reports aren't great I'll tell yah, nobodies moving anywhere at this speed. If I were a downtown driver I'd simply ride a bike or walk today." You hear over the radio. Sighing again and leaning your head back you turn the station to something else. After cycling through pretty much every local station you decide you're going to plug in your phone.

-
What are you listening to?

[] Write in (optional)
-

Sitting back and listening to your favorite songs helps ease your stress a little bit, before you glance at the time and groan to yourself. Fuck. Traffic.
-
At the party, and only slightly late

You arrive not in style, but in a hurry. A change of plans is always invariably a bad thing for you, but you go ahead with it anyways. The large parking lot was full of vehicles, and even then it didn't take away from the decor, which was all too captivating in it's strangeness. "Gothic space pirate, huh?" you mutter to yourself, looking at a lawn "Gnome" sitting a few yards from the entrance.

Heading up the large steps to be greeted by the...greeter, you hand over your invitation and wait patiently for him to pass you on. You're oddly nervous, which is odd, considering this is the first time you've gotten a legitimate invitation to this sort of thing.

The man, an older gentleman with a pencil mustachio who looked like he was constantly smelling a bad smell, looked you over and went to say something over the radio he was holding, before an older gentlman burst through the large large entrance doors to see him and stops his hand. "Let the poor girl through, she has her invitation Vince." He mutters, and the older gentleman, now labeled as Vince, crinkles his nose and nods, all the while you're trying not to panic at the mans rather sudden entrance- or rather exit. "Yes, Mr. Richard." And he lets you pass. You recognize the older Gentleman as your mark, and nothing screams it's a trap more than this, but you go along with it anyways, as backing out now would be more than a little suspicious. Entering the large foyer, you hear the muttering of everyone around you and grab a glass of champagne from a servant boy, and sip on it lightly. Now it was simply a matter of getting access to the left wing, which is where the vault was "hidden". However heading straight there would also be suspicious. You need to blend in, get their attention off of you, as you can feel all eyes in the room on you. Well, at least all the eyes you don't want to see you.

You spot at least nine partygoers who are a tad bit too interest in other people's business to not be security, and their attention automatically shifted to you when you entered. Despite the job, you can't help but feel like everything here is a bit... weird.

The decor is odd beyond belief, and sometimes even a bit gruesome in it's depiction. You spot a vase with the depiction of a pack of wolves devouring a half wolf-man with a party hat on his head. You can only assume that one was custom made. Lining the shelves are assorted animal skulls painted the colors of the rainbow, and from the looks of it they're real. The Chandeliers look like they have... Monkeys? Hanging from the chandeliers are Capuchin monkeys, sitting around and obsessionally yawning. Maybe it was past their bed time...

The music was odd as well, something you've never heard before. Not bad, but also rather odd.

However the weird feeling went past the decor, and the music, and the oddly shaped dishes. You dismiss it, as you don't notice anything out of the ordinary, but it continues to nag at you the longer you stand there alone with a glass of champagne in your hand.

-
Vote Time!

[] Conversation with people (Eww)

[] Starting drama between people (OoOooh)

[] Starting your own drama (Ohhh....)

-
It's not two weeks worth of great, but it's progress. As I mentioned this quest has been way slower going than I had hoped. So hopefully I can be like one of those annoying QM's who update faster than I can read their updates, and by the time I get to the last point I stopped at they're 30 updates farther... *Grumbles*

 

[Nightingale]

([X] Reflection (Mirror Night) - V.K.) (Car vote)
[X] Starting drama between people (OoOooh)
-[x]Flirt with Everyone
---
"Well, this could have gone better." You grumble as you are "persuaded" away from the main room and up the stairs by one of the 'guests,' or very obviously a member of security in disguise. Their disguise is so-so, just by looking at them you wouldn't have figured anything, but their behavior was too obvious.

Then again, at the moment you feel that train of thought is a little hypocritical. Note to self, dye your hair or something the next time you decide to create a distraction by attracting attention to yourself. That way when you pretend you are another guest and this is all a misunderstanding, security can't pointedly glare at your hair while tapping their feet like an array of impatient school children. Well, that's if the fact that you are being led upstairs instead of removed from the premises doesn't mean you are going to be killed. Really that would be a bit far, it isn't like you hurt anyone. Even if your rather mesmerizing attempts to flirt with the unappreciative swine this party calls 'guests' did leave more than one poor sap unblinking and unable to comprehend he is supposed to be flattered.

Don't even get you started on the other girls, they were even worse, one even had the nerve to douse your passionate flame with her drink.
You must admit, you're rather bitter from the experience. But distracted for a moment from your escort, who was a lot more cordial than escorts past, you peak into some of the rooms you pass. One, filled entirely with glass skulls has a painting of Napoleon eating a sandwich. Okay, that's weird.

As you pass another you smell pasta sauce, and peer in to see something weirder than the last room. A room, filled to the brim with collanders, and little figurines, all seemingly made of spaghetti, arranged in a large coronation of a king spaghetti figure. Above this grand spaghetti coronation is a scaled model(Made of spaghetti still) of what you can only describe as a... Flying spaghetti monster? Hung by a wire on the ceiling, he seems to be presiding over the spaghetti king coronation. Clearing his throat, the security member closes the door and looks at you.

"I'm afraid we don't have time to admire the place, sir." He says, and you feel indignant for a moment.

Finally, after what feels like an unbearable amount of walking - because the fact that this is a mansion needed flaunting so much you had to walk in a circle around it to get to your destination. "Yes I did notice Mr. totally incognito security officer who's mask isn't even on right!" You arrive at a needlessly large door. "You know this would be ominous if I hadn't had so much time to stop pretending I care on the way." You remark, and your escort chuckles. It appears he appreciated the detour about as much as you did. So then why did he make you take it? Now thatis ominous.

"Enter." The escort commands, while pointing at the door. It appears he isn't coming with. It is about this moment you are beginning to have second thoughts about this, perhaps you should have ran away instead of following him. You still could run, though. As you play with the thought for a moment the escort looks at you impatiently. You reach for the door handle and pull.

The sight that reaches you upon the door's grudging acceptance of your pull - transmitted to you via communication method of squeaky hinge - is so utterly disappointing you find yourself wanting to close it and try again. Inside the room is bereft of decoration, besides a lone oak desk with scant few papers on it, and an oversized pencil, and the back of a fine leather chair. You count to three as you move forward, the door politely deciding not to squeak this time as it closes on its own, betting that when you make it to- "three." you announce, and sure enough the chair spins to dramatically reveal- none other than the one guy you were expecting.

On the bright side, there is no man as rich as him that would dirty themselves with blood when they could have someone else do it, so you suppose that means you're am safe for the time being. Than again, you have also heard he is even more tastefully eccentric than you are. Perhaps this will be amusing. "I have been expecting you." He says, and it echoes around the room deeply. Oh, that's why the room is so empty, so there's nothing to block the reverberating of the sound. Smart, if not a rather large amount of effort to achieve something pointless. Than again, perhaps you are being unfair, at-least the room isn't painfully dark or bright like in some kind of over the top spy movie.

"I would hope so, it took over ten minutes to get here." You remark, and he has the nerve to laugh at you. "If that walk was purely so he could set up here, I am going to hit someone with a pan before I leave."

"I am sorry about that, but I had to be sure you were who I thought you were." Ok, now he is being needlessly cryptic.

"And how exactly did boring me achieve that?"

"Quite simple really, if I was to ask your escort he would tell me with pure honesty that he took you straight here, and the walk was only about thirty seconds." Must, fight, urge, to, fry.

"The very fact that you actually remember the trip here, despite the attempt to subvert your mind with magic, tells me you are in fact tainted by the Astral Sea. Yet here you are, confused and staring at me like I have grown an extra head." Damn straight you are- magic, astral sea?

"Most humans cannot survive with enough Astral energy in them to counter illusions so effortlessly, and yet here you are, not even aware and entirely unaffected. That is why you have been sent here, my associate and I believe you are perfect for a job in the Astral Sea."

"You hired me?" You ask, unable to contain your surprise, but luckily not actually spilling why you are here. Just in case.

"No, but I was informed you were coming, and recognized the energy sticking to you immediately. I must say I appreciated your attempts to flirt with my guests, but in the future, please refrain from wasting such brilliant efforts on idiots who can't appreciate it." Never-mind, you love this guy. Must, not, cry.

"So, what will it be? Will you take me up on my job offer, or will you walk back the way you came and leave empty-handed?"
---
[] Take the job offer(or at the very least temporarily say yes to see where this goes)
[] Leave while you still can!
[] Do something unexpected (This is the vote where you let me have some fun)

 

[Nightingale]

Spoiler: Tally

[X] Details! We need details before we can accept contracts!
No. of votes: 3
Hannz, ChildishChimera, Orisha91

[X] Do something unexpected
No. of votes: 2
Nevill, KnightIcarus

[X] Details! We need details before we can accept contracts!
[X] Do something unexpected
No. of votes: 1
Umbra

[X] I am a newb who over-complicates simple questions for kicks, and should learn a lesson from my hellmates that sometimes the worst punishment is simplicity.
No. of votes: 1
Skewfiend

Spoiler: Look hurr

Nightingale wuz hear

[X] Take the job offer(or at the very least temporarily say yes to see where this goes)
No. of votes: 1
Erehwon
-
So all in all it looks like everyone wants to garner details from this mysterious dude who has given no indication of ever being on your side. Why does everyone have to be so smart, it just makes my job harder than it has to be.... *grumbles to self*

-----

[X] Details, essentially.

-----

You look at the man and smirk. "You very well know a world weary professional like myself would scarcely ever accept a contract I don't understand." and he shrugs, apparently not thinking you would say no for even a moment and hoping that you would just go with it because the QM is growing a bald spot because of you..

Chuckling he leans forward in his chair, his expression worn and tired. He's an older gentlemen surely, but not as elderly as your first assessment of him. His hair has streaks of brown in between the gray, and he looks much cuter in this lighting. Which consists of a low ceiling fan that wasn't there before, decorated with... monkeys? Them again? Following your confused look Mr. Richards looks at the ceiling fan and casts a confused look back at you. "What are you looking at?"

You can't help but think he's messing with you, but with how the night has proceeded you simply come to the conclusion that you are in fact the crazy one here.

"Anyways, the details are murky for reasons, the pay is vague, and the risk is probably way too high to comprehend with the mortal mind. Does that answer any of your questions?" He answers, and you are very dissatisfied with the answer. What ever happened to "Hook, line, sinker"? Does this man have no business tact? How is he even rich?

Rising from his seat, he passes you and gestures for you to follow him. You disagree and shake your head. "I need some palpable details, but all you've given me is nothing. I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline." You say, and he smirks in response.

"It's the kind of thing you have to be shown, not told about. It makes the reveal all the more... dramatic." He says, slightly piquing your interest. "I'll bring you to the vault, and show you. And I'm confident you won't be able to pass it up when you see it." he says vaguely, and alarm bells are ringing inside your head, all the while some force compels you to follow him down the long, well lit halls to his vault almost as though the QM is tired of dragging on with the intro and wants to get to the interesting bits now.

The walk is considerably quicker than the one to his office, however you still have some time to take in details. The carpeted floor softens your footsteps, and you quickly notice that some of the windows have been left open to let some of the summer heat out. The mansion is definitely old, Gothic in style and Victorian nobility on opium in decor. Every now and again you think you can hear the sounds of a party in the distance, and you realize he's leading you back to the foyer you had entered, where the party was ongoing. Before opening the doors he stops to check his watch. It's a simple action, but one that takes seemingly forever. Hearing the music and the murmur of party goers, you can only assume he's going to make a grand entrance, and you're right, as the musical piece reaches it's crescendo he bursts through the door, and you follow him, outstretching your arms to maintain FABULOUSNESS.

However you very quickly realize there is nobody there. The musicians are all gone, the partygoers themselves seem to have never been there in the first place, all the decorations gone and the catering uneaten. The large staircase looks especially large now that no one is here. Following him down the stairs and to the right you arrive at a decoration of a skeleton in a tuxedo and a party hat. Taking the jawbone in hand he pulls it like a lever and a hidden door opens next to it. Alright that's definitely not where your contact said the vault would be.

Following him down what seemed like an endlessly long staircase you reach a flat floor finally. Kind of looks like a dungeon, based on how dark it was...
...
...
...
...

You very much hope it is not in fact a dungeon.

As he snaps his fingers, the lights turn on and the area is illuminated to reveal that it is fact not a dungeon. It is a vault. The vault door looks like it could survive a bomb, and it probably would. Punching in a code on a keypad to your right, Mr. Richards opens the vault, and steps inside quickly. Inside you expect to find a literal mountain of gold, as this man is notorious for frivolously spending his money on whims, so he had to have a very large reserve... Right?

Except the only thing in his vault is a single stand, with a glass case on it. Walking up to it, you look around the rest of the vault incredulously. "No more secret levers?" You ask, more than a little disappointed at the sight before you. Shaking his head he simply gestures to the empty vault. "Take anything you want. I have plenty." and you can only assume he actually is the crazy one here. Inspecting the case a little closer you see...

A freaking cat toy. You went through all this trouble, to find a damn cat toy.
-

[X] Take the cat toy, go home, cry in a corner.

[X] Grab the cat toy

[X] Steal the cat toy

[X] Grab the cat toy vivaciously

[X] Make the cat toy your waifu

[X] Make the cat toy your laifu

[X] write in

[X] do something unexpected

 

[Sendicard]

[X] *beat*
-[X] Squeeee!! Instant snuggles!
--[X] Tell him that you accept the contract. You will accept any contract! Can we please take it home?
------
You bat the cat toy, similar to how a cat would, the urge to snuggle it exploding out of you like some form of potent fact of life. A moment later you are snuggling it without pause, but you're no longer where you were, suddenly in a much darker room, a small warehouse if the shelving and boxes are anything to go by. Looking to your left and right, all you can see from your very limited vision are rows upon rows of shelves.

You give the cat toy an intense look of suspicion, before going back to your strange antics.

A few moments later, you hear the loud sound of boots against the floor, followed a blinding light hitting you from across the warehouse. As it gets closer you begin to make it out from between your squinting, as, some sort of square device. Was it a bomb?

Even closer, step, step, step, it becomes more and more clear, the pain from the light lessening until eventually it fades completely a few feet from you. After a moment, and some strange sounds, the light turns back on, revealing itself to be a bomb phone. The phone's light illuminates a form dressed in

[]An tan old duster, making him look like he's out to fight crime, or cause it, by any means necessary. It's possible he's even got a pistol on him.
[]A green trenchcoat, because he couldn't look any more edgy.
[]A black mantle, covering his whole body, with a demonic looking mask covering his face, its wicked smile unnerves you, and you subconsciously squeeze the cat toy.
[]A boring set of street clothes.
[]Write-in

"About that payment." An ominous voice speaks out, his voice reverberating around the enclosed space; and you almost flinch back, ready to act, when you realize you recognize that voice. Upon closer inspecting upwards, you notice

[]The strangely white haired form of your childhood friend, strange given his hair was not that color earlier today when he was giving you your id. You suppose he has always enjoyed his gags.
[]The strangely green haired form of your childhood friend, strange given his hair was not that color earlier today when he was giving you your id. You suppose he has always enjoyed his gags.
[]The strangely purple haired form of your childhood friend, strange given his hair was not that color earlier today when he was giving you your id. You suppose he has always enjoy his gags.
[]The perfectly normal black haired form of your childhood friend, just like when he gave you your id earlier. Strange, he tends to enjoy dramatic reveals more than that.
[]Write-in

"It's been maybe a few hours." You point out, and he laughs, turning the light off on his phone and snapping his fingers, the lights in the warehouse illuminating the area.

"Sorry, that was three days ago." At the distrustful narrowing of your eyes, he chuckles darkly. "You'll get it." Motioning for you to follow him, he walks towards a door, presumably leading outside.

"Just one question before we leave; How long were you just waiting here in the dark?" You ask, his comment about the time sparking your interest. He stops dead in his track and checks his phone.

"About three days."
---
outside the warehouse

You walk by his side, refusing to show respect for his latest stunt by following, even if you have no idea where you're going. It's okay, your legs will guide you, not anything like silly directions. He humors you by purposefully making his step sound louder so there's no possible way you could lose track of him. It'd be sweet if hadn't just kidnapped you to what appears to be an alternate dimension. The jerk could have at-least asked. You look towards the sky of these city streets to sea something out of a pastel painting, the sky blending into a whirlwind of color beautifully mixed into each other. There are still clouds, and you assume it's water, but something about the display is weird.

Turning your attention back to him, you wonder what he's doing here. More importantly than that, you wonder what you're doing here. "So you aren't going to tell me what's going on?" You ask, for perhaps the third time in the past minute.

Once again he deflects. "I already told you, something is going on." As he says this you look around at the city, things looking relatively normal. Well, relative in the same way that an octopus is the same thing as a squid. Speaking of squids, in the corner of your eye you're pretty sure there's a squid trying to start that car, but its suction cups keep sticking the whole key. Well until some form of humanoid dog, like you'd see on a children's show, takes pity on it from the passenger's seat and puts the key in the ignition. You'd think if it couldn't put the key in, it couldn't drive, but, well.. Who are you to judge the road capabilities of squid?

You shake your head, pretty sure you've at the very least been recreationally drugged. You think down to the cat toy now on your key-chain, sure it is the source, but let it go. Nothing that cute could ever be malicious. Right?

"I mean it, why am I here?" You are not begging for answers, you do not beg. People who say you beg are wrong. In between this train of thought a haughty look crosses your face, and your friend looks at you with an annoyingly amused smirk.

He laughs. "Because we want you here. Why, you don't want to hang out anymore? We could hide in stray buildings or something." As if on Que a building across the street bursts into flames, and you hear an unnatural slimy screech that's vaguely female. "My babies are in there!" You turn, instincts flaring at a potential threat, and see a half fish with human legs holding a bag of groceries gawking up at the flames. As a group of people wearing masks walk out of there sneering at the woman and hastily retreating, you hear sirens in the distance.

"No, I think I'll stay down here." You answer weakly, now actually following him as he leads you, somewhere, without a care. He sadly looks at the building as you pass it.

"Crime in this city is too much of a problem nowadays."
-
About an hour later, with a lot of strange events on the way

You enter a restaurant, oddly named 'The Flying Noodle,' and are pleased to see no actual flying noodles as he leads you to a table near the back. You sit silently as he flips through his phone for a few moments, before you try again. "Why do you want me here?" You ask, and he looks up from his phone for a moment, giving you a look of almost incomprehension. You know he's screwing with you, but it still makes you antsy.

"You're needed for a job." He finally answers, and you resist an eye-twitch. Both at his unneeded vagueness and the fact that you have yet to have a waitress stop at your table.

"That much was obvious, why all the vagueness?" You ask, the amount of patience you were exerting only matched by the amount of frustration he was causing you.

"Well, for one, we're in a public restaurant." You almost blush at having messed that up. But you don't, because you don't blush. Anyone who says otherwise is just mesmerized by the sheer awe factor you put off and seeing things.

That does however raise another question. "Why are we in a restaurant?" you say and gesture to the quaint little place, rather rowdy at the moment. The waitresses are going to and fro with orders, none of which even glancing at you, and you can't help but feel that this is too mundane of a place, all things considered.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I tend to be hungry when I go three days without eating." Again with that gag, like you're honestly going to believe any more than a few seconds passed. Though how you got here that quickly does raise other questions.

You shift nervously in your seat, antsy to learn really anything from him. You're about to speak up again, when the front of the restaurant lights up, and you hear the stomping of multiple pairs of feet.
woah, Deja Vu
You look up to see several members in full body SWAT gear, and they aim directly at you. A feeling of terror fills you, and you frantically turn your gaze back to your 'contact' across the table from you, who looks strangely.... calm? He's not even putting down his phone.

"You are under arrest for the crime of possession! Surrender and die!" You turn your attention back to the gun wielding swat, at their proposition. You could have sworn the command should have been "surrender or die", but you're under the assumption that doesn't matter much to them.

Right before you're about to say something, perhaps something stupid given your contact's nonchalant manner of dealing with this situation, the table shifts. It stands, a high pitched wail rising from it as your contact palms a large blade and jams it through the back of the wood. It falls to its, legs, wails continuing for a brief moment before the deafening sound of gunfire directly next to you blows your senses out of whack for a moment. The only thing you can hear are the terrified screams of other customers.

With your table in more pieces than you're sure is reasonable, your contact picks up his surprisingly intact knife, sliding it back into his deceptively small sleeves.

The men in SWAT gear appear to say something to him, but he doesn't bother even putting down his phone, simply choosing to wave his left hand at them like this is a completely casual event.
-
"So is there any reason you insisted we leave before we got our noodles?" He asks as you walk behind him down the street to, wherever his next destination is. He doesn't seem to grasp that this is not at all normal.

You resist screaming at him, barely. "Maybe it was when our table started bleeding out." you say through your teeth, and he stops long enough to seem like he's recalling the event.

"Yeah, that was weird, specters don't normally bleed." He answers back, pretending not to notice your seething form.

You push down your shock and righteous anger. "Could you maybe answer anything?"

"I have answered everything you've asked. You could even say I've given a cocoon of words here, in the astral sea." Must not punch childhood friend for mocking you. Woo, glad you have self control and all jazzy stuff.
--
A little later, you're led to large, luxurious apartment complex. He uses a keycard to enter the locked front door, which you take to mean he actually lives here.

After a bit more walking in the hall, he approaches a door without a number on it, marked

[] His name

Definitely his place you note. As he opens it, you're hit with a layer of dust, as if he hasn't been here in a while, or maybe dust is just stronger and more lasting here, a table was just murdered, why do you even care about dust? You don't, you agree to a new fact as you sneeze, and then follow him down into the living room, as he flicks on the lights.

"Alright I'll give you the tour." He says, and you look around the relatively open space. It's roomy, and there isn't much in the way of decoration, but it's definitely a nice place. "Over there is view of the city." He grandly says, pointing the very obvious large window

"Over there is my bedroom; no girls allowed. And right there is the pantry, and over there is the guest bedroom where I keep my pet rock."

"I expected something a bit..." You trail off, not sure where to go with this statement.

"More?" He asks. "Yeah, well, here in the Astral sea you kind of have to scrounge. Taxes are pretty high, actually, and, well you'll see."

He walks over to a board, which he proceeds to flip over, and then sits down in an armchair, pointing for you to do the same. "You asked me about the job."

You actually do twitch this time. "Yes."

"Well." He points to the board which has a bunch of rather artistically rendered building designs. It looks sort of like a-"we're gonna rob a bank."

"We?" You ask, looking around.

"Eh," he looks to sofa and gestures to the other people that likely should be there "they'll be here, lots of things can make you late in the Astral Sea, you have to learn to be patient, and plan to be early."

[]Screw this-you just leave.
[]Stay, he's never led you astray before. Well, except the recent kidnapping.
[]Something elses

 

[Nightingale]

Spoiler: The Prevailing votes

[X]A black mantle, covering his whole body, with a demonic looking mask covering his face, its wicked smile unnerves you, and you subconsciously squeeze the cat toy.

[X]The strangely white haired form of your childhood friend, strange given his hair was not that color earlier today when he was giving you your id. You suppose he has always enjoyed his gags.

[X]The Scandalous and Alacrit Mononoke, or SAM for short.

[X]Press him to give you some actual answers now that you are in private. And with this update we will slowly five a whole load more of exposition and infodumps. Just in small pockets. Occasionally.

So it occurs to me that neither Sams age or appearance came into the question, so for times sake let's assume he's around MC's age and a little bit older looking.
-----


You look at him incredulously and press the bridge of your nose "I don't have time for this Sam, you know better than anyone that I hate being led on." You mutter, and he stretches out casually while grinning. His stupid white hair hanging to his face a little bit, he clasps his hands together. You feel as though he knows a whole deal more than you, and nothing annoys you more than that.

"Alright here's the deal. You're in another dimension where the rules don't apply and nothing makes sense. At least most of the rules at first. Stick around a little while and things will start to make a little bit more sense." He says, in a rather straightforward, blasé fashion. You shake your head and look at him with slight contempt, as that explanation has very little actual explanation.

Getting comfortable where you sit, you eye him and shake your head "And what makes you think I'd want to stay here?" You reply, gesturing to the open window, and indirectly to the unusual events that are most likely happening down there. You have the faintest feeling that you want to explore and navigate this most exotic of places, but another part of you gets the feeling that doing so might lead to an unusual and unexpected end.

Rubbing the side of his head, he points out the large window to your left, to something vaguely visible on the horizon. Squinting, it kinda looks like a massive arch, and you can see another one next to it, almost like they're circling the city. Tendrils of blue lightning are periodically hitting the arches from outside, and beyond the arches you see a sky of nothingness, and everythingness. It all seems to spin and crash together in a plethora of ways. Looking away from the scene you rub your eyes, the possibilities in your head making it spin. What a confusing thing it was.

"Outside of those arches is the Astral Sea proper. It's a vast space of energy so potent that it'll turn any living organism it touches into a puddle of a gibbering aberrant. Not that it would be much different from how you normally act." He finishes, his jest at you being almost casual in it's presentation. Gesturing to the tumultuous and rather confusing way the sky convoluted into itself, he starts again "That artifact that got you here is a one way trip, which means you won't be able to go anywhere until the astral storms pass. Which can take upwards of a year."

Soaking all this information in, you realize that you're probably going to be stuck here for a while. As a professional criminal the thought of staying anywhere for too long makes you uneasy, but Sam seems to be fine with it, so for you it should also be relatively fine. You'll have to start making arrangements here, like a couple of places to lie low. Speaking of...

"Wait a second, how does the economy work here? Because if it's somehow linked to th-" you begin, grasping at straws and hoping to all the deities in the colorful sky that the 30 million
([] currency) you have accrued isn't entirely worthless to you here. You shift uneasily as Sam just looks at you with a blank stare.

"It's all independent. So in other words, you're broke." He says, and now you can't help but feel like it's his whole life's mission to ruin your own life. Moving on, you gesture to the space on the sofa where his other contacts are supposed to be. "Well, what kind of help do we have on this job? You have to give me details." you say, letting go of the fact that he kidnapped you to a dimension where you have no contacts and are completely broke, and focus on the job. Probably for your own sanity.

"We're robbing a smaller bank, just a job to keep the funds from drying up. Well, for you I guess it's to keep you from staying in poverty." He chuckles sheepishly and you glare daggers at him. "The plan is simple, we get in quiet, we leave quiet. We have a systems specialist who'll give us a little bit of leeway, a driver who'll get us away quickly should we need it, and another person. Their job is... well let's just say we hope that we don't have to rely on them at all." He says, and you can't wait to see what kind of "help" he's scrambled together.

Standing and moving to the kitchen to grab coffee, he grabs two cups, and you actually think a cup of coffee sounds wonderful. You don't bother telling him how to make it because he knows, and if he has any decency as a human being he won't mess with your coffee on purpose. However you find it rather strange that he pours a cup before ever making any.

[] How do you like your coffee?

As he brings it back you taste it to make sure he did it right. Narrowing your eyes you look at him and nod. "Good. I needed a cup." to which he chuckles. Which is suspicious considering his latest actions.

"I figured. This place can be a lot to take in. Honestly you've handled it rather well. Anyways, I might as well give you a heads up about the people you'll be working with. The specialist-" He starts

---

[] Is a bit erratic. She's good at what she does though, but she tends to leave in a few fail safes even for her own team. Been burned too many times to make that mistake again, I suppose.

[] Is a bit of a idiot savant, she has no problems navigating the codes and sequences to make the appropriate action made, but actually figuring out what she needs to do is the problem. She requires a more thorough instruction, but she'll handle it better than anything.

[] Is the most insufferable person alive to work with. She has nothing better to do than chide and sneer at everything you do and will drive you to the brink of madness. But she can cook like a champion and isn't bad at hacking either.

"So she'll take some getting used to. Honestly it's hard to find a good systems specialist in this town." He says, and he pauses for a long time, seemingly deliberating on what he's going to say next. "Alright, well the driver is-"

---

[] Quiet. He doesn't say much, doesn't give much input, and doesn't really say anything even if you say something to him. He's a bit difficult to work with, as you can't really coordinate with someone who doesn't say anything.

[] Obnoxious. He tends to chat incessantly while driving, so much that it becomes difficult to even think, let alone speak. You'll find yourself constantly wanting to push him out of the vehicle.

Lastly is the... other person. You aren't quite sure what their role even is. However he just seems to skip over them, and looks over at you. "I'm sure you already know what your role in this operation is, my friend."

---

Pick Three!

[] Infiltration

[] Persuasion

[] Stealth

[] Precision

[] Inconspicuous

[] Agility

----
A/N: And now it's on Sendi. He'll be uber-busy this next week, so the next update will probably come sooner rather than later.

 

[Nightingale]

Spoiler: Prevailing Votes

[X] Dollar (With no indication as to from what country, as the dollar is a currency used in multiple countries around the world, but I'll assume it's america)
[X] Is a bit erratic. She's good at what she does though, but she tends to leave in a few fail safes even for her own team. Been burned too many times to make that mistake again, I suppose.
[X] Quiet. He doesn't say much, doesn't give much input, and doesn't really say anything even if you say something to him. He's a bit difficult to work with, as you can't really coordinate with someone who doesn't say anything.

[X] Inconspicuous
[X] Persuasion
[X] Infiltration

[X] Half-cafe scolded almond-milk latte, 4 pumps vanilla, 1 pump cinnamon with an extra half shot, sweetened with Agave nectar at 167 degrees with room for cream

A/N: So this has been one really long afternoon, but here it is, the contents of my brain spewed upon this public forum in the form of numbers and code, translated to letters and statements.
-

"Obviously I'll be the one gaining access to the vault. So how is it we're going to get the money out of there?" You ask, having done your fair share of heists. Normally walking out with a sack full of cash is a problem, so having a plan to where the money was going to be brought was always appropriate. Thinking it over, you look at the floor layout of the bank and think that it looks rather straightforward. The entrance was small, and the whole bank was nestled in between other buildings. You immediately think that knocking out the walls might be your way out of there.
Inconspicuous gain at rank Novice
Infiltration gained at rank C
Persuasion gained at rank D
"The plan is to teleport out." He says simply, and you can't believe it's that simple to rob a bank here! He'll probably go on an explanation about how here in the astral sea the mind has more room for mental development than the normal world, and that abilities that otherwise defy the logic of reality are commonplace. However instead of explaining this he glances at you before bursting into laughter. "Wait you took me seriously? No, we're going to have to do this the hard way. We'll be busting out the walls." You can't help but feel like he's the biggest asshole alive, but you're not sure you want to elevate him to that kind of status.

Standing and walking to the door, you think to yourself that he's about to leave for some weird reason, before he opens the door, and three people walk inside. Odd, you didn't hear anyone knocking. What's even more odd is the fact that there's a snake person, a person made of water, and a man who's skin and hair are white as snow. You're not sure what's up with any of this, but it's actually not the strangest thing you've seen so far. Introducing you to all of them, he stands and points at each of them individually.

"This is Fang, our systems specialist. She'll make sure that we have the time to get in undetected." He says, looking at the snake woman. She sighs, very reptilian sounding, and curls up on the couch, the bottom of her body being a muscular snake tail, the top being very damn you fireaxis, now every snakewoman in my mind is a waifu to me! humanoid, her hoody only showing slight bits of scale here and there. If she had her hood concealing her face, you probably wouldn't even be able to tell she was a snake person.

[] Ask her about snake people

[] Respect her privacy as a snake person, and don't trigger her. Probably because she most likely has poison spit.

[] Make casual references to snakes and hope she picks up on the fact that you're uncomfortable with snake people being a thing.

Before you can have much time to talk to her, you are introduced to the water man as "Thomas" or the driver of this little op, cooly sitting in his chair and checking his phone. You can only assume his case is water proof. He simply nods his head and makes a watery kind of noise as his neck vibrates. Probably a noise of affirmation, you figure. Wonder if he would fit in a bucket...

You wonder about all of the water based shenanigans to be had with this watery man, before being snapped out of your daze as he introduces you to all of them. "And this is..."

[] Name

You bow in front of this group, and grandly stand up. If there were wind in here and you had a cape on, you'd think it would have been perfect. However neither of those criteria were met, and you were instead left to boring old impressions. Sitting back down and crossing your legs, Sam looks to the last person. "And this is Sendicard, Sendi for short." QM intrusion Ho!

The man is pale, his pink eyes giving way to the fact that he's probably an albino. Poor thing. However he has a sharpness in his eyes that makes you uneasy. "Sendi here will play security. If anything goes wrong, he'll make sure it dies quickly." He says briefly, and Sendi merely nods. So many quiet people in this one room is making you uneasy? Doesn't anyone here know how to be FABULOUS?

But the plan is quickly explained to you as everybody listens as well. Sam plays the mastermind in this little play of his, and you know just how much he loves that role. He's the only one who's ever been as FABULOUS as you are. Except you're much more FABULOUS than him and he should just accept that as a fact of life already.

"Fang and Thomas, You'll be waiting in the van for the rest of the team, you're job is to make sure they get out of there without too many kinks. Sendi, you'll be waiting close by." He finishes, being oddly vague about his instructions to Sendi. Suppose he just knows what to do then? "So now that we know what we're doing, time for prep!" Oh right, you forgot that a proper heist required *gasp* time and precision put into it!

"The items we need are sixfold, but we should be able to do it without a kink. Since we have the interceptors to deal with, we need a defense against them should they be a problem. There's supposedly a frequency that the banks use to control them. Based on a few bits of info I've gotten, it's being held at at a tech lab downtown. It's a small place, nothing that should pose a problem for you all." He says, stretching as he stood, walking back into the small kitchen and making another cup of coffee.

Fang is the first one to speak. "Do you expect us all to go there?" She asks, her eyes narrowing at Sam as he sips his coffee. "Why would all of us need to go to something that's supposedly a cake walk?" She asks, her suspicion leaking into her tone.

"Go alone, or go together, I don't really care. You can play rock-paper-scissors over who gets the thing for all I care. But things are always easier with a good team to have your back." And with that Sam pulls his cloak from off of the coat rack, slipping on that unnerving mask of his.

"Wait, where are you going Sam?" You ask, as you realize he's just bossing you all around and reaping the rewards afterwards.

"I'm off to take care of the other five things we need." nevermind.
----

Now who's going to that lab to grab the thingie?

Multiple able to be selected
[] Fang
[] Akima Thomas
[] Sendi(card)
[] You
-
(optional)

How does it get decided?

[] Rock-paper-scissors
[] civil conversation
[] ???
[] The pet rock
[] Write in

----

A/N: So it's been one really long afternoon...

 

[Sendicard]

Wow, this as been a crazy month. I could explain it, maybe it would convince you to put down the pitchfork.
But instead, I'm going to throw one hell of an update at you.
----
[X] Respect her privacy as a snake person, and don't trigger her. Probably because she most likely has poison spit.
[X] Marvelously Artful Robber In Aether, or Maria for short.
[X] Sendi(card)
[X] A raunchy game of Snek and Ladders. Winner has to go grab the thing.
----
Surely if they've been working with Sam, they'd have a system in place by now for when he decided to do something like this. But instead, they all stare at each other a moment, almost as if the topic is an awkward one. It's like this for about two minutes of everybody staring at each other, which felt much longer than it really was. Fang was simply leisurely looking at her phone, seemingly on an internet forum, her tail tucked under her torso. Pulling her hoodie up a little bit, it's kind of weird seeing her wear a hoodie but no pants, but hey who are you to judge? Sneaking a peak at what she's doing, you find it strange. You thought only social outcasts frequented forums, but here there was a well-adjusted(if not a bit eccentric) snake person casually browsing. Did all snake people browse forums? Maybe all internet forums were secretly a plot to hide their snakeperson activities under the guise of social rejects! You make a mental note to spy on their snake activities later when you get the chance. "So, how do we decide?" You ask, looking at the three others expectantly.

Fang, looks up at you with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes, her tail stretching out from underneath her and swishing about, her hood widening as her tongue darted in and out . "I figured we could play a more intense game of Snakes and Ladders." She begins, and you have no choice but to feel like you'd be getting yourself into a very dangerous game if you said yes. You contemplate the idea, as no other seems to be popping up in your puny human brain, and it seems that nobody else has any objections, until you see Sendi stand up and grab his coat, a long leather duster that has been dyed white.

"Alright, you don't have to beg, I'm on it." You hear Sendi mutter as he heads to the door, and grabs a bag on the way out. You know better than to question what's in the bag, but no matter how many times you see people with mysterious bags, every single time you have to hold back your inexplicable curiosity.

As the door clicks behind him, you look to a now dejected looking Fang. "What just happened?" you ask, unsure of why he would so eagerly agree for what was very obviously grunt work. Her mischievous demeanor is gone now, and she's curled her tail underneath her again, looking at her phone and sighing. Was she sighing? It was either that or she was muttering an ancient curse on you and all of your descendants.

"He's a poor sport," Fang replies shortly, voice laced with disappointment.

Thomas, who was quietly looking at his own phone up until now has his head in his hands, apparently exasperated. Kinda hard to tell how he feels when all his facial expressions are watery. Sitting up straighter he looks at you directly and puts a serious face on. "I don't think you realize the gravity of what just happened. We. Are. Boned." He says dramatically, and you can't help but feel that he's overreacting. How can one person screw something up so badly? Which you actually ask them.

"If only it was so simple as him screwing up..." Thomas says in a watery tone. Or maybe it was just all of his tones that were like that. Regardless he doesn't seem happy, but Fang seems perfectly fine with the outcome, which leaves you very very confused.

"I still want to play Snakes and Ladders." Fang pipes up, and you shrug your shoulders, honestly not even completely sure what that is. What's the worst that could happen?
--
As the phone rings, Sendi impatiently tries his best to will the person on the other end to pick it up. However, no amount of magic can compel that to happen. "Pick up..." Sendi growls, from where he's standing on top of a large building, The facility he's supposed to be breaking into. And after the third, lazy ring, as if his phone can't even be bothered, there's the click of the line picking up.

"What could you possibly want this late at night, Sendi?" The man on the line asks, in a hushed and groggy tone.

Sendi looks up at the sky, noticing that the synthetic night is not activated. Which makes his compatriots comment especially... confusing. "It is broad daylight." Leaning against a wall he nods to himself, noting that his friend has indeed gone crazy.

This prompts the man on the line to ask. "Is it really? That actually makes a lot of sense now that you mention it." He sounds quite surprised to hear this, piquing Sendi's interest to his friend's whereabouts.

"Yes, it is very bright." He gestures to the sky, where the astral energies of the sea brighten everything and create a sense of "Daytime".

"Are you sure? Because it's pretty dark where I am." The man on line informs almost snarkily. It wouldn't be a casual phone call if he didn't reply like that, though.

"I hear an echo," Sendi states, less of an accusation and more appropriately as a fact of life. "Are you in a dungeon?" He finishes, his interest being piqued even higher.

"There was this girl." There is no incredulous tone, no speak of explanation, just that.

Sendi nods in understanding. "I see, are you having fun?" He asks.

"Honestly they haven't even figured out I'm here yet. I stole the warden's food right off his plate earlier, boy was he confused."

"Quite..." Sendi responds. "So there's this tech lab." He kicks the roof he's standing on lightly. "Any ideas?"

"Stealing something?" The voice responds.

There's a smirk as Sendi apparently appreciates the question. "Yes."

"Just channel your inner me, go in, make sure no one identifies you, and get out."

Hanging up he grins to himself "I think I can do that." Sendi responds to the air as he finishes removing the battery from his phone, depositing it in a pocket. Opening up the bag he pulls out a diamond cutter and gets to work on the window with one hand, casting a telekinetic spell with the other, keeping it in place and from dropping down and shattering below. "Time to get sneaky!" He excitedly says, hopping inside.
---
A little while later

"Honestly, being Aaron is pretty easy," Sendi remarks as he stares at the large, hologram interface in front of him. "I have no idea why he is always bragging, all I had to do was climb down some stairs, sneak around a corner, dispose of seven sets of eyes, freeze the door, kick it open, find out it wasn't locked, and then march in here to stare at this computer. Oh well, time to learn to hack without slashing!" He excitedly exclaims as he stares at the overtly complicated computer system.

"Do you need any help?" A voice sounds behind him, and he has to resist the urge to immediately impale the noise with a shard of arcane ice as he turns to take in the man. He's human by the look of him, in a lab coat and all seems to work here. But his eyes, they're dark, large bags underneath them. He looks like he hasn't slept properly in a week. He's a younger man, probably just out of college and trying to make the best of his new job. Poor guy. Probably even literally, based on the smell.

"I would like to know where our frequencies are saved." Sendi doesn't even try to add some further inflection in his tone, simply hoping his luck would guide him all the way to victory. He's ready to end this man's life in an instant, in about forty different ways, but the man doesn't seem perturbed in even the slightest way. He even seems to be devising his own plan, and Sendi is moments away from striking when the look passes on the man's face and he reaches for a clipboard, jotting some things down.

"Oh." The man nods as he clicks his pen closed and makes his way to a cabinet. Opening it, he removes a small flash drive and hands it to Sendi. It's almost disappointing, but alas there it is in his hands, with almost no effort at all on his part. A bittersweet victory if there ever was one.

"Thank-you for your help. Do you happen to know who I am?" Sendi asks, recalling Aarons advice earlier on. At this point, he has mixed feelings about this man, as he had been instrumentally helpful, though by the looks of it hasn't realized it. On the other hand, though, he has made this job so much more pointlessly boring. It almost makes Sendi angry at how easy it was, but his lazy nature quickly overtakes this feeling, and he internally debates on whether he wants to kill this man as he deliberates on his answer.

The lab coat wearing man looks him up and down, seeing an unusually pale and strangely intelligent man in a large white coat, albeit not in the typical design, the a purple fleur de lis is stitched into one of the arms. "IT Intern?" He guesses wrong, luckily enough for him.

"Yes." Sendi dryly replies, a little bitter still but resolving that this man gets to live. And just as he thinks that there's an alarm as a pod behind them opens, releasing what appears to be a mech of some sort. Looking at it a little closer, it looks extraordinarily similar to an environmental suit, if it was a little beefier that is. It also seems to have a large plasma based weapon.

"Oh yeah, the flash drive releases the security as well..." The guy says in a disconnected fashion, almost as if the situation was unclear to him. "It's also programmed to disable and dismember anything within the vicinity." He finishes as the automaton comes to life, pulling itself from the stasis chamber. "Save us, intern!" The man yells and Sendi isn't entirely sure if the man is tired or simply on a lot of drugs.

"Time to channel the intern." He replies as his hands burst into flame, and fire spews from his palms, encompassing the automaton.
--
Simultaneously

"This is really weird! Thomas what do I do!?" You shout as the wind picks up, the items inside the apartment being flung to and fro.

"Just roll the dice!" He shouts back in a panic, beating back Fang as she tries to put the lifesaver around his head

"I'm rolling the dice! it's not working!"

"ROLL THEM HARDER!"
--

Sendi is relatively glad he kicked that door open before all of this, as the calm grace with which he almost picturesquely slides across the floor from being punched by a giant robot, well, really would have been a lot less elegant if he had gone through a door as well. "Was that really necessary?" He asks as he picks himself up, his hands already glowing a soft yellow as he goes over his face, which quickly takes to mending the broken bone structure, and just as quickly returns his sight as the blood stops pooling in his eye. All the other scientist take no time in getting away and leave their desks in a hurry, some of them grabbing seemingly important tech on their departure. Only one man stood behind...

"Do something intern!" The rather clueless scientist shouts as he makes his way to hide behind Sendi again, the giant metallic entity getting all the closer, while ominously making noises.

His hands instantly glow a blue-white as frost seeps from his very soul, and bolts of ice shoot out, scraping against the feet of the robot and getting stuck in the ground as they slide off. Understanding that isn't going to work, a stream of pure white frost leaves those same hands, wrapping around the floor, its legs, its feet.

Its approach slows as it gets closer. Ten steps, eight steps, six steps, and it finally twitches to a stop. "You did it!" The scientist exclaims behind him.

"I doubt it." Sendi replies, as the arm with the cannon, aims at their feet. Sendi spins, catching the scientist over his shoulder, and leaps to the side with another burst of light, this time from his feet, just as a giant green glob explodes out of the cannon.

They are perhaps twenty feet away, as they both take in the chaos that green goo brought in its wake. The wall to the side is melting, the floor below it is just gone, the goo sinking into and eating the dirt beneath with alarming efficiency. There's even a mist flowing into the air above it, like steam, as it bubbles. Except, it's obviously not steam, as the ceiling is beginning to bubble as the two touch. "How does it even contain something like that?" Sendi asks, expecting an answer from the man behind him.

And he's given one. "It uses a Hastelloy B Internal casing that projects the material using a very complicated Teflon expulsion system, thus leading to the corrosive material, and an extra layer of very expensive titanium on the exterior casing."

Sendi nods in understanding, his eyes sharpening as he takes in the details of the automaton which is currently readjusting its aim and trying to swivel on its frozen heels. "It doesn't look like it could hold that." He notes, and mentally prepares a spell in his left hand, his palm swirling into a new color, and purple lighting emanating from it like a small ray of hope

"It couldn't, the container is only a small part of it, building the whole thing like that would be a lot of money." the man says, so very sober in this moment that his knowledge is actually useful, that Sendi has a hard time believing this man isn't actually an evil genius. However, he dismisses the thought as he clearly isn't, due to his actions.

A massive grin spreads Sendi's face. It's apparently unnerving enough for the man on his shoulder to speak up. "What are you going to do?" He mutters, staring at him pointedly, well as pointedly as he can while half terrified and half passed out.

"Something amusing." He replies, a clear wolf of all things erupting from the ground in an explosion of energy and rushing the automaton.

Oddly enough the robot doesn't consider the spectral wolf a priority, and fires on them again, contorted in such a way that it would have connected. The scientist screams as Sendi does not bother moving from his position, the green glob quickly exploding out of the weapon and hitting the wolf just a few feet from the barrel, as it jumps in the way.

The goo explodes on contact with the spectral beast, the thing explodes into a purple static energy that enters the barrel of the weapon. It seems very anticlimactic until the Automaton starts glowing brightly, crackling electric sparkles as more than a few magical elements pour from its circuitry. Charging at Sendi and the Scientist in its last moments, Sendi casually jumps back from each swing of its large metallic arms, until he's up against a wall. Jumping up and kicking the wall, he expects to be sent flying forward, but instead, the wall flies out behind him and the automaton charges into the next room, rooting itself in a wall slightly. Freezing it in place with a stream of white-cold frost, Sendi raises a magical shield in front of himself as the automaton grows brighter and brighter.

As the energy burst from the machine and the very foundation of the building shakes, the Scientist loudly screams into Sendi's ear, and in Sendi's opinion, the moment would have been a lot more cathartic had he not been practically bleeding in one ear during it. "Now that's more like it," Sendi says contentedly, half the building melted, the other half blown away into the next block.

In a few more seconds, which definitely could have been just a little less scream filled, if the white duster clad mage had an opinion."You know." Sendi responds as he finally allows the man off his shoulder. The poor guy is shaking. "You would think you would have some sort of emergency deactivation code."

Judging by the suddenly horrified look on the guy's face, Sendi is suddenly very amused "You do, don't you." Sendi asks, and the man slumps in on himself. "You are so fired aren't you." He asks again, and the man just nods to himself with a low groan.

"Man, now I'm definitely not getting a raise..."
-
"Drop the girl, I got it," Sendi says as he enters the apartment, holding up a flash drive, and taking in the sight in front of him, which is weird to say the absolute least of the situation.

There is a giant fan blowing air(and the contents of the apartment) around, Thomas has actually put down his phone and instead has taken to, with a look of blank, traumatized trepidation, rolling the same dice on the table over and over.

Fang is on the couch, a big, satisfied grin on her face as she looks to be halfway dozing through the experience.

And Sam's new girl, the one from the regular world if he recalls correctly, is held up in the air wrapped around by Fang's tail. Her arms are outspread, and she's desperately clutching a pair of dice, tears in her eyes as she continuously chants 'rolling the dice, rolling the dice.' Honestly, it really raises a lot of questions, but either way, they're not his concern. "Fang, drop Maria," he mutters as he sets the flash drive on the coffee table and turns the giant fan off from his seat, so he can hear himself think.
-
That gets attention from Fang, who drops you gently, and you quickly take to the opposite end of the couch from Fang. "Her name isn't Maria..." Fang says, before looking to you. "What even is your name," she asks inquisitively, and you can't help but feel like your privacy is being majorly invaded. And she's a snake person so that probably doesn't help very much.

The blank look the girl gives them is statement enough. "It's Maria. You should know better than to invade somebodies privacy, Fang."
-
An hour or so of waiting later, Sam arrives and you have mostly recovered from your endeavor, one you will likely never talk about, ever. Not even in internal monolog. Never again.

There's a bag in his hand, and he places it on the table in front of you. This is a shop bag. Did he buy the other five items? Could you just, find them at a store? You suppose you can't be too annoyed, you didn't get the flash drive either, but then... If you had you'd be pissed. You look to Sendi to see if he's come to the same conclusion, and he doesn't seem to mind. Honestly, he's had this big grin on his face since he got here, you really have to wonder about that guy.

"What's in the bag, Sam?" You ask, and he just grins. You never like when he does that, as it will almost invariably make you angry. When he pulls out five masks from the bags, five, you can't help but feel like he's the biggest asshole imaginable. "I got the other five items we'll need." He mutters as he replaces them in the bag, and everybody glares at him, aside from Sendi that is.

"So who got the drive?" Sam asks, and everyone, including you, look to Sendi, who takes out the drive again and slides it on the table. "You guys sent Sendi... Alone?" He asks, his tone showing a plethora of emotions that are not at all positive and probably not good at all.

There are a series of nods and Sendi shrugs. "It was fun." He replies, and Sam does not appear to like that answer. It couldn't have been that bad, could it?

"Turn on the news." Sam orders and Fang instantly does so, a remote just appearing in her hand, do tech skills include tech warping, Well, you suppose you weren't exactly looking at her.

The screen takes to the sight of a burnt, fragmented, smoking building behind a man in a white lab coat. He looks really, really tired. Poor guy probably needs one hell of a nap.

"Knowing you were the only survivor of this grisly massacre, will you be continuing your co-workers' research in their stead?"

He quirks one of his eyebrows. "I wasn't the only survivor, there was that super intern, honestly that guy needs to be hired on full time."

"What intern?" The reporter asks, this detail apparently not having been mentioned before.

"The one with the fire, and the wolf, and the-" There's this growing expression of pure horror on his face, as comprehension sets in. "Holy crap that guy didn't work here!" He shouts.

Sendi bursts out into a series of laughs, as Sam gestures for Fang to turn off the TV, putting his face in his hands and breathing out in a long manner more than likely indicating stress.

"I am going to pretend that didn't happen." Sam allows as he gestures to the bag. "Inside you will find your masks, they are labeled, please do remove the labels..."

Inside the bag, your mask is [] What does it look like?

"Now to go over the potential plans. Mine is of course, as you all know, except-" He looks to you to see what you even want to be called right now, and you glance at Sendi, before just going with it. "Maria." You answer back.

"Except Maria." He apparently finds that comical. "We go in through the front, Sendi locks it down behind us. We hack the system, Fang uses the frequency recovered to keep the security off of us. From there, once we get to the vault, we'll move the goods aside, blow open the fault, where Thomas and Fang will be waiting on the other side. We load it up, get in, we signal for Sendi to follow, and then we get out of there."

"I, of course, voted against that plan," Thomas informs. "It is too risky, I say we just blast through the back of the vault, load up, and leave. It's quick, and leaves very little time for retaliation."

"And the money on the other side?" Fang asks snidely.

"Some losses are kind of a given, it's not like we'll have time to load it all up normally anyway." Thomas answers.

"Wait," Sendi speaks up. "Money? We're getting paid for this?" The stare everyone gives him is only mirrored by your own, as you simply cannot resist. "Sweeeeet." He finishes, looking even happier than he did moments before.

"What do you think?" Sam asks you. "Unless you had some other idea?"

[]Vote Fang!-I mean, Sam's plan, Sam, duh. His plan.
[]Plan Thomas
[]Vote Sendi-??? Wait, he didn't put one forward.
[]Write-in(Will possibly be debated and vetoed by other team members.)