"They are a hydra with no head."

A light drizzle hydrated the otherwise cold and once-dry cobblestone streets of Helsann for several days on end, turning small ridges and dips in the city into ever-full rivers. Light traces of mud, in the shape of boots, reflected off the smooth surfaces. Despite the rains that whetted them, they were apt to disappear from the empty streets; there were few who trudged outside to disturb their markings. The clouds had yet to fully materialize, for now but a loose collection emptying pitiful levels of moisture. The sun was still bright in the sky, casting a rainbow far off in the distance where the true storm approached. The city was glistening, but beyond its shingled roofs and flowery gardens, the forest beyond eerily lurked, devoid of leaves and merriness.

Crows squawked in their branches, wrestling with one another for seemingly pointless reasons. The depths of the forest floor grew steadily darker despite the obvious lack of foliage, as if enchanted to forever be characterized by evil and ominous whispers of wind. To the empty streets, who bore no citizenry, such a disheartening scene was invisible, for they were all huddled in their warm homes, fueled by the burning fires in their chimneys and the embrace of loved ones.

Such a scene... was watched only by a select few.

At the city gates she stood, unperturbed by the slowly increasing rains. Her expression was one of distaste for all that she saw; a tired, unamused visage fitting for an old crone who had grown weary of living. And yet her face was young, a shame to be dominated by so unfortunate an appearance. Clad in the clothes -strangely- of a church-going nun, she left her arms limp at her sides, the waved blade in her grasp had its tip standing atop the cobble. Rain dripped down its length in an undulating fashion, following the curves of its edges. Her hood was already beginning to soak, and sagged over the ridges of her eyes, adding further to her disgruntled expression.

A distant howl broke her statue-like stance, albeit with only but a twitch of her hand, causing the metal blade to screech on the stone street. With a sniffle, she relaxed a tad more once the howl faded away.

---

Helsann City Hall

The tall and wide building of Helsann City Hall was comfortably warm inside, decorated with a colorful motif of reds and browns, reflective of an autumn season. A large fireplace built into the main stairwell blazed with heat, casting a glow over the embroidered carpets stretched out before it. Several people (generally servants, maids, and butlers) hurried to and fro at the first and second floors, easily ignoring the peculiar folk that had gathered.

The champions were motioned to head to the city hall first and speak with its mayor. Certainly, as the rains picked up, they likely relished being able to stay indoors for the time being. The entrance was clearly luxurious, but at the same time had a sort of quaint cabin-like feel to it, reflective of the homey and warm feeling the town gave off before the drizzle began. Here they would gather, and begin their proscribed mission. For the time being, the mayor seemed to be absent, and few servants were courteous enough to pause and help the guests.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



"They bend their own rules."

Almost as soon as they champions had accepted the Free Board mission, they were contacted remotely by an unknown identity. So-called Uni-Coms universal to all champions allowed for the agent to speak with each and every champion separately, and though they did not know it, all at once. The agent's voice was clearly hurried, with no time to spare with questions or conversation. He was straight to the point.

When the champions responded to the call, they were met with a hasty greeting, if one could even call it that.

"Champion. You have accepted our mission. I will be your guide and operator for the duration of the mission. You may simply call me 'Zade'. More than likely you are not currently located in the intended location I have for you. Please find your way to the Agar Mythos Hub, specifically the 5th District. When you reach your destination, I will contact you once more." The Agent hangs up without further word or sincerity.

---

Agar Mythos Hub, 5th District

The world of Agar Mythos, for the most part, was a 1:1 scale representation of the real-world city of Tokyo in Japan. The buildings, their interiors, their features, were all a carbon copy of Tokyo in the main hub. As such, it was of an obviously technologically advanced nature compared to the frequently fantastic and old-time atmospheres of other locations outside the Hub. Advertisements for Agar Mythos products flashed on screen, attempting to sell miscellaneous merchandise to champions and NPC's alike. As a true universe simulation, even the seemingly mindless entities of Agar Mythos led rather ordinary lives.

The city was highly stratified, stretching a near mile into the sky and riddled with skybridges, walkways, and outcroppings. District 5 was a specific location within the hub, of course, situated right in the middle of the city's heights, but slightly to its edges. Innumerable champions and NPC's walked along the pathway, their voices adding to the already deafening noise of city life. The champions arrived via portal, or by physical transport; whichever they could afford.

Upon entering it fully, they received the anticipated call from their operator promptly.

"Champion. Your first goal is to meet up with your mission teammates. I advise you find your way to the Rekre Mall and find the Puella Cafe. There you will meet champion Reilcall who will give you information on your target. Zane out." He once again hangs up... promptly.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



"They need... more."

"She's... difficult." A tall, inhuman figure loomed over the champions, well over eleven feet in height, but thin, lanky, and covered only by an equally preposterously long lab coat. It and the lab coat were of pristine, divine whiteness, the likes of which no real-world hospital could ever hope to attain or maintain for that matter. The lab coat's sleeves extended well beyond the creature's own hands, and the coat itself touched down to the floor itself. Everything save for the creature's blank white face were discernible. Three sky-blue electronic eyes were the only features on its surface, aligned in an 'L' shaped pattern, as if it were missing a fourth. It's voice was robotic but kind, like a shy but sincere individual who greatly tried not to step on anyone's toes.

At its feet, a much less pleasant appearance made itself... herself apparent. Dreary, pale, and devoid of any clear happiness, the girl was a definitive antithesis to the cheery doctor towering above. The doctor attempted to introduce her as, "Delphia," but she returned no response, not even a nod. The doctor gave a heavy sigh, his back arching.

The champions had arrived at the location in which they'd "pick up" the so-called program detailed in their mission outline. It appeared, then, that this program appeared as a flesh-and-blood one (as far as virtual reality went, that is) rather than some disk or cube. Courteous as the champions might have been, Delphia offered nothing but a crimson stare and a grim outlook. Whatever the champions were supposed to monitor in her didn't look to be too promising at the time.

"We request that you have Delphia accompany you during your daily activities in the Hub. We hope that multiple champions can offer a greater range of experiences to her," the scientist cast a long, wide look over each champion, one by one, "and subsequently, result in a greater amount of data to look forward to." With a slight nudge, the doctor urged Delphia forward, closer to the champions. "It should go without saying, but we expect you to maintain her safety as well," the doctor said, a much more stern tone in his voice.

The girl slowly picked up her feet, standing before the champions as if completely uncaring of being stared at or in the center of attention. She herself looked to each champion one by one, stopping at the champion Averus, whom earned a particularly long gaze from her red eyes. The moment was fleeting however, and she quickly returned to one of indifference, turning instead to the floor, staring at something entirely unimportant.

"Do we have any questions?" the doctor proposed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



"WE"

Aurora Transfer Tower

The update and expansion had come several months ago, unleashing a new series of locations in Agar Mythos that spurred on an entirely different sort of competition in the game -and one that caused flight ticket purchases in the real world to skyrocket. The "Aurora" update was highly anticipated, for it put forth a macroscopic competition into the game like no other. Whereas champions in the Hub and surrounding locations went day to day working on single missions and small-scale battles, Aurora featured multiple "nations" that players aligned to. From there, bidding proceeded, and eligible champions were selected to join on a specific team and fight for that nation as mercenaries alongside loyal NPC's. As each nation was its own "Planetoid" floating high in the sky, great aerial battles took place upon the backs of flight-capable creatures and upon the decks of massive ships. During the height of seasonal battles, entire airports in the real world become inundated with passengers wishing to take hovercraft into the sky to view such battles.

The Aurora Transfer Tower, located in the heart of the Agar Mythos Hub, was the only possible way to enter the Aurora location. The deck that the champions attended to the Event Horizon mission, however, found the place strangely empty. For all of its popularity and traffic, their specific flight deck was completely and utterly devoid of other souls save for themselves. Outside, the bustle of the city could be clearly heard, but the interior of open-window floor gave off a strangely quite tone, as if things were purposefully hushed.

For a few minutes, the gathered champions were alone with one another, free to talk, but in time their conversation was cut short and their loneliness averted. A man with rather strong eyes, donning glasses, had stepped into view, seemingly from nowhere amidst the empty flight deck. Bringing a gloved hand to his mouth, he coughed quietly, clearing his throat, and began to speak.

"Good to see you made here, champions. I assume the Mission Board did not totally butcher the mission statement if you are all here," he smiled, fixing his glasses, "The corrupted information was quite intentional, you see. This is not a mission issued by a human or corporation, but by a fellow AI. It is off the record, so to speak, so I advise you maintain that everything discussed here and thereafter remain a tight secret." The man took a few steps towards the open window overlooking a section of the city and continued. "I must not go into details as to the background, but I will say that it is for a worthy cause." He turned back to the champions.

"I have in my possession a sealed data box that needs delivery into Aurora. I cannot go myself, so I request that you all safely deliver it to its intended location. A certain Princess Manabusa is who you will look to give it too." The man snaps his fingers, materializing a solid black box in his hands, its edges outlined in a dark green. "This item is undetectable by most sensors in Agar Mythos, but that does not mean you should keep it out and about. Guards will identify it as a mystery gift from the Aurora Opening Event, but if given time could potentially see it as foreign. Keep it safe." The man approached the group, hand with the box outheld, awaiting for one of them to take the responsibility of holding it on their person. His face turned to one of absolute neutrality.

Marian took her sweet time picking a mission from the Free Mission Board. One caught her eye, a 'Wanted Dead or Alive' type. With her particular set of skills bringing this guy alive to the contractors would be a piece of cake. She runs her right hand through her long black hair before saying. "Heh. Easy money and something to kill time with." She says with her usual pokerface as she pokes the mission on the board to accept it. The call, though abrupt, didn't surprise her in the least and if it did, then she was damn good at hiding it. She listened carefully to what Zade had to say, but at the moment the guy told her to move locations she clicked her tongue. "Damn, why can't they host this things nearer?" She continues to talk to herself as she directs to the nearest portal station. Once there, she pays the required fee to use it and sets her destination. The teleporting device activates and engulfs her with a bright light, in which she suddenly disappears, already having moved locations.

Once upon arrival to the 5th District of the Agar Mythos Hub, she steps out of the portal station and heads over to the location this 'Zade' guy picked. "Why district 5, anyway?" She wonders about it for a bit, but her mind quickly changes subject to the mission. 'Which personality should to get this stupid? I don't have any kind of info on him so it is hard to decide on what I should act like before him. I just hope this mission is worth something, I don't like having to waste money just on transportation to get to another pitiful district. And what's even more stupid, just to receive orders I could have received anywhere else in Agar Mythos.' Being the stingy girl she is, she now regrets being so lazy as to not just walk or something cheaper to get to the 5th District. She sighs and waits for further instructions.

All of a sudden, another incoming call gets to her. She listens to it with her usual disinterested look, but as soon as she hears the word 'teammates' she clicks her tongue once again. "Tsk. Do I really need to do this with others? I could have done an excellent job on my own, but now I'll have to watch myself around this fools." She listens to the rest of what the guy has to say and waits for him to hang-up. "Aghh... I'm regretting soooo much having picked this mission now. And now I need to go to a magical girl cafe! Just great!" She starts walking towards the cafe Zade, or Zane, not so sure about it now, talked about. As she walks, she massages her (face) cheeks slowly and in circular motions, as to get them to relax.

When she enters the cafe, she is still rubbing her cheeks, she even continues to do it when she sits at one of the tables of the cafe. After another while like that, she finally stops, finally opening her eyes which she had closed after sitting on the chair. Someone would expect for her to at least smile after such a long sessions of cheek muscle relaxing, but she is as cold as ever. She crosses her legs and takes the menu from the table. By the way, the way she was massaging her cheeks before was just to prepare for when the others arrived, but until they did, she would continue to have her pokerface on. After scanning through the menu with her eyes she makes a try of a frown, since her pokerface doesn't allow her to do more. She raises her arms to call the waiter. As the NPC waiter with a flashy pink dress with lots of ribbons arrives she coldly and bluntly says. "I'll have a glass of water, please. And a discount coupon, if possible." Though joking, her face didn't let others know so. The waitress, with a confused look on her face, leaves and shortly arrives with Marian's glass of water. She apologizes for not bringing the discount coupon, since the manager wouldn't allow it. 'This girl... She actually thought I was serious. Well, who can blame her.' Marian thanks the girl and she leaves. She then proceeds to look at the girl ever now and again to check if any Champion entered the cafe, whether it was the one Zade talked about or one of her teammates. Another try of a frown. "Just thinking about it irritates me."

Mai walked with a slight discomforting expression, trudging along the incredibly long streets with only a slight haste. She looked up to the blue sky off the balcony, hoping that it wouldn't get anymore unbearably hot as it was now. As if in spite, she noticed the temperature rise from her sensors, though just slightly. It couldn't get worse, with having to walk and avoid the mobs that jostled through the streets.
The transit ride there was almost equally as fun... if that was the definition for horribly crowded and deafeningly loud. She almost wanted to just burst open the metal cars from all the racket, but managed to hold her rage in. Luckily she brought some earphones, putting them on and slipped out to the top, sitting upon the speeding bullet train with a bored expression. This was absolute misery, being outside, and having to go to a far-off district all the while missing her favorite shows.

Whatever her sister had dragged them into, it better be worth it.

Her eyes glimmered for a moment, having barely putting the effort to the this guy named "Zade's" mission breifing. It didn't matter to her as long as there is going to be some reward at the end of this. Even her sister, as much as she liked her, couldn't persuade her to endure so much misery just for "love."
She stopped in her tracks, looking back and forth, peering over the crowds with her surprising height. Most people wouldn't have expected her to be a little over 6 feet tall from the picture they used to represent her. It didn't matter, she couldn't be asked to take another.

After searching for another minute or so, she sat down at a bench near a clothing department, deciding that she was completely lost. She tried harder to recall what Zade said, but all that stuck were the words Maid Cafe and meeting people there.

Maid Cafe... huh? How cute, I wonder if they'll greet me with "Welcome home, master~!" like they do in the anime! Man, that would be so fun!

She pondered, smiling as the thoughts of having herself surrounded by cute girls was a sweet distraction from the world around her. It was certainly something she'd always wanted to visit, but never really got the chance. What she'd do to for a day like that. Her eyes grew somber, but of course, if it was related to a corporation there would be nothing but straight business. No one spent their time having fun, and that Zade was a perfect example. His voice was all rushed, sounding like he was pretty thirsty. She bet he wasn't having a fun time at all.
Glancing around one more time, she set up a link, pointing her finger into the air. Quickly downloading a local map available to the public, she flipped it open, the light screen apearing inside her mind. She only looked once at the numerous walkways, floors, and stores that were labeled there, in that building alone, before sighing as she waved it away.

She blinked, and was back there sitting on the bench out in the crowded streets. It was all too complicated, and she didn't want to try and decipher such a headache, slumping over on the handrest.

Looks like I'll never find it... well, at least I'm in the right place. I'll find it sooner or later... plus, sis has me on her contact list. She'll know how to find me.

Sariel, on the verge of going mad from her discomfort, silently sat in the first dry thing she's touched in the past hour; a sofa in front of a blazing, pleasantly warm fire. Her trip to Helsann's city hall was a miserable one, leaving her, from shoes to hood, completely soaked in rainwater. She hadn't thought to bring an umbrella, and using her telekinesis wouldn't have been worth the energy. As she took in the warmness of the fire, her figure cast a long shadow on the floor behind the couch, her undulating, red halo almost appearing "drawn", floating above her head. Strangely enough, not even the light from the flames pierced the shadows covering all that was in her hood. Sighing, the girl pulled one of her arms into her hoodie, and attempted to wring the empty sleeve out of any excess water. It was as she did this that the girl was approached by one of the many maids wandering around the room. Laying atop her hands was a plain, fluffy and white towel, which she held out to Sariel with a bow. Taking it, the girl nodded in acknowledgement.

"Thank you." She muttered somewhat quietly, not wanting to disturb the current peace of the hall. She was enjoying the simple sound of the crackling firewood and murmurs of the staff around the room. Once her sleeve was simply damped instead of soaked, she put her arm back into it and grabbed the towel which she placed on her lap. Letting it flop on top of her hood, she let it sit there for a moment before actively drying herself off with help from the heat from the fireplace. As she did this, she took the time to shoot a glance at the large door behind her, across the hall. She was growing slightly impatient at the Mayor's absence, though she supposed she could take the time to familiarize herself with those who'd she'd be working with. With a small sigh, she returned to facing the fire, removing the towel from her head and letting it lay on her lap.

With a small mumble, she lounged back in the seat. "I hope this doesn't take too long..."

Ulysses HAMMERJUSTICE, The Fire Titan.

It was said there was a champion, almost mythical in nature, capable of rending entire galaxies in two, capable of annihilating worlds with but a glance, clearly, the strongest of all of them.

What a load of bollocks.

No, our champion is not nearly so powerful, not nearly so hyped. No, our champion is merely a very big metal man with a lot of guns. And he was glorious. Today was like any other day, wake up, grab a two-liter of Cola (Not that he needed to eat, being a cyborg and all. Though, mercifully, the scientists had it set up so he could still taste the stuff. Besides, the water could be filtered out to fuel his reactor core), head to the mission board, punch it in a random spot, and go where it told him. For this reason, our hero was loathed by other champions more often than not. Nothing is less fun than having to do a stealth mission along with an eight and a half foot tall iron juggernaut covered in glowy lights with a pair of flame throwers and a severe case of no volume control.

Our Hero, who shall henceforth be known as Ulysses HAMMERJUSTICE (always all caps, very important), was on just that sort of ill-suited mission today. Some kind of flying creepy scientist was presenting him, along with a group of other champions, a small, extremely creepy girl. Of course, Ulysses hadn't read the board so he had no idea what he was doing. this spectacle merely confused him. the doctor just kept talking, so he spaced out and studied everyone else. There was a blue haired man, who Ulysses might have seen before somewhere, but not in person. Apparently the guy was important or something. Then there was some other guy. Like a tiny version of himself, a cyborg. Although this guy was still wearing his helmet. Anyway, creepy scientist had just finished talking, and was asking if anyone had any questions. Ulysses simply raised his hand and asked. "Yeah, what do I shoot and when do I shoot it? With all due respect we've been standing here for a while and you just kept talking and talking and I still don't see what I'm supposed to blow up." If it was there, Ulysses would be completely oblivious to any looks of shock directed at him.

Gaul Keldran hated rain, It was messy, made the roads more difficult and the water would collect in the back of his eye sockets and make an unbearable sloshing sound. He had to constantly remind himself why he was here, otherwise he'd have turned around and went back. The town of Helsann was as dismal as the sky and more empty than one of his skeletons heads. He spared a moment to survey the walls and check to see if there was any obvious weaknesses and then headed to the town hall.

When he arrived he saw the other two Champions had beaten him there which didn't bother him overmuch. One of the few downsides to undeath is a loss of speed that can lead to some late introductions. As he entered the Foyer Theow asked if anyone had been to Helsaan before to which Gaul replied "I came with my old tutor a few times when the old man could be bothered to leave his tower" Gaul said as he shucked the soaked outer robe and handed to the skeleton that he had accompanying him "But if memory serves it was a little more lively in those days" he finished as he strode over to the fireplace.

Gaul stared into the fire for a second as he tried to recall what it felt like to be warm but then he quickly shook the errant thought away as he gingerly pulled his skull off of his neck with a slight pop. bending over slightly Gaul turned his skull face down over the flames and shook it lightly as a stream of rainwater poured out and hissed into the fire. After getting all the liquid out of his head he placed his skull back on with another slight pop. He noticed the mortified looks some of the servants were giving him and slightly embarrassed he strode back over to his skeleton envoy and the two slunk off to the corner to await the mayor.

Beringer approached his handler with a dignified gait, gazing at her tiredly, he offered his gauntlet forward, the sharp claws facing upwards. His helmet was under his left arm, eye contact made the transfer of thoughts and memories more direct, with less interference. His Handler set her data-node in the palm of his gauntlet, the information he had acquired over the past week was transferred to the laptop, at-least, what he wanted to show his owners. His objectives were then relayed to him via eye-contact, no words were spoken, and thus no secrets could be heard. Beringer gave the delicate data-node back to the Handler, turning with a nod, he walked the way he came out of the back alley.
-+===+-
Beringer stood at the designated mission area before any of the other champions arrived, standing in a frozen stance he waited a good 30 minutes before anyone else arrived. As the others arrived, he began to analyze them without probing their minds, they would feel it otherwise. Without a word he gazed at the accompanying champions. His helmet was faced to the scientist, but a camera from the side of his helmet took surveillance and streamed directly to his HUD. He was somewhat taken aback by Ulysses's presence, simply because of his incompatibility with the given mission. He also noted a girl, he could instantly recognize her rather anti-social tendencies, not that it was all that unusual, but it seemed she was more distracted by a basis other than her alienation from those around her, he believed her name was Koemi, he had heard of her before, she seemed somewhat distinguished. After quickly going over a quick analyses of the other champions, Beringer analyzed Averus with a great amount of interest, he was, in fact, the original objective of Beringer's mission, he needed information on a couple of siblings, Averus was his next lead.

Beringer turned his attention back to the frontal camera as the lab-coated AI introduced a girl named Delphia, to his dismay, this was their objective. Things might be tougher than he had originally anticipated, an AI wouldn't allow him to access its data as easily as a device or string of code. Beringer let out an inaudible sigh, waiting for the scientist to finish his introductory speech, the scientist didn't interest him so much as the girl herself, but Beringer humored the scientist and analyzed him while he talked anyway. Beringer smirked when Ulysses spoke up, the large man allowing himself to look like such a fool, so soon, he also noted Koemi's step away after Ulysses's question. It seemed that almost everybody here except Hammerjustice scorned each-other to a certain degree. "You mentioned her safety, why would there be any threat for an unknown girl to simply be out and about? Does she have a hit on her, possibly?" Beringer looked at Koemi, tilting his head, but remaining silent, turning back to the scientist.

Ekho never minded the rain, but once she stopped moving and had settled into the warm room, the water began to sink into her fur clothes. It waited heavily on her, and combined with the heat of the room, she began to sweat and feel clammy. Wiping her forehead underneath her headdress, she openly scowled at anything and everything. The wooden staff of her spear creaked in protest of her overly-tight grip and she slightly eased up. When she heard that poor guy ask if the other champions had been here before, Ekho took this moment to loudly complain and not give anyone a chance to respond to the person who answered before her.

“This place is too small and really boring! When is that mayor dude going to come and talk to us? That pig taking his time – who does he think he is?!” The wild woman exclaimed loudly so everyone in the room would here and maybe then some.

She stood up and began pacing around the room, growling under her breath like a feral animal backed into a corner. “I mean, it’s considered rude to keep people waiting, you know! I bet that man just thinks he could stride in here whenever he wants like he owns the place! Well, he probably does, but that’s not the point. I ought to kill him, y’know. Wasting my time like this – I have places to be, too. I say we should leave this rotten village to the beast.” Despite her talk, Ekho had no intention of leaving her mission – that was not the type of person she is. But she enjoyed complaining and she enjoyed talking loudly and she enjoyed the others having to listen to her because they themselves couldn’t leave.

It seemed that human scientists had odder tastes for their virtual avatars than did programmers. Averus wasn't exactly sure why this particular scientist decided to take such a...contrary appearance in consideration to his tone. Really, it was an eccentric and frankly useless design. Why would you design an avatar to have three eyes if they were all going to be placed in the same location? For better depth perception? Yep, definitely a useless, pointless design. Then again, he was probably only this critical due to the fact that he's pretty much seen every single design for champions, and yet, he has yet to see anything as...pointless as this one.

Maybe it had lasers though. Laser eyes for surgical cutting.

Not exactly listening to what the scientist was saying, Averus instead paid attention to this new AI in front of him. Much more dreary and emotionless than even the most badly-programmed champion, but that was to be expect. If he was a scientist tasked with creating an AI that had the potential to do things on a universal level, he wouldn't want to give her irrational things such as emotions either. Tightening his scarf around his neck, which had reached down to the middle of his back, the blue-haired 'young' man then focused on his 'teammates' for this Research mission.

Beringer, the information thief, Koemi, the crow woman, and Ulyssess, the...

Fuck.

Why the hell is Ulysses here?

Averus made a very, very, very visible grimace as he watched the infantile harbinger of destruction make his stupidity terribly obvious. Sure, Ulysses was someone that he would have loved to party with if they were doing something like SET EVERYTHING ON FIRE, but a research mission, in which they were to essentially go out on a date with an all-powerful program...it would be terrible if she learned ANYTHING from Mr. Hammerjustice. God knows that Agar Mythos didn't need another trigger happy pyromaniac roaming the streets, nuking everything ded.

Koemi's question, was, thankfully, less mind-shatteringly idiotic.

“Patience, Ulysses. This seems to be shaping up to be a Protection mission as well, so you'll probably have your fun making things explode and doing millions in collateral damage soon. That being said, I realize that you want her to gain new experiences, but out of curiosity, is she programmed to have emotions? Or is she simply a bottom-up AI that has yet to learn anything outside of the basics of speech?”

As Gaul seemed to, for some reason, show off the fact that he seemed to be completely undead, Sariel stared at him, slightly curious of him and how he came to be. Of course, she was much too shy to simply ask, Gaul's rather intimidating appearance not helping. Still, as he shook his own skull above the fire, she couldn't help but tilt her head slightly as her curiosity grew. She was even a tad bit jealous; Having detachable body parts seemed like it could be convenient in some situations. However, her silent observation as she suddenly heard a woman shouting, her voice reverberating through the room and causing Sariel to jolt slightly.

Turning to face the yelling woman, Ekho, Sariel waited for her to finish her tirade. She found her rather annoying and whiny, seeing her almost as an impatient child who was shouting about not getting what she wanted. Sighing slightly, Sariel shakes her head in disapproval before finally speaking. "You shouldn't speak of the mayor in such ways. It's not very polite, and your whining isn't going to make him arrive any sooner."

With a small huff under her hood, the shadowy-faced girl returns to facing the fire, somewhat exhilarated of what she just said. It wasn't often that she expressed her annoyance with people, especially so other champions. However, it would seem as though her voice would continue as she heard the third fellow champion in the room speak up and ask a question directed at everyone else. Turning to face him, Sariel shakes her head at his inquiry, having never been to Helsann before today.

"It's my first time here, actually." She answered, finding herself slightly intimidated by his appearance, and his reputation. Even for her, who didn't often go out of her way to find out about fellow champions, Theow was a familiar and famous face... Or rather, helm. "How about you? Have you been to Helsann before today?"

Ekho shook in anger at the interruption of her tirade - she wasn't even finished! Rage filled her as the hooded girl continued on talking, totally ignoring her obvious fury. Her spear fell from her hands as she approached the girl. Snarling, she grabbed the girl by her hood and glared at her up close.

"What did you just say to me?" Ekho demanded, not one to be talked to like that.

What right did this girl have? To talk down to her like that, to act as if she was more important than her? To have the gall to say she was whining? No, she wouldn't let this champion call her that. No one could talk to her like that.

"You have ten fucking seconds to apologize to me, you little no good -." Ekho had to take a moment to calm herself, unclenching her jaw and letting go of the girl's hood. She pretended to dust it off for a minute before speaking rather loudly, "I can talk about a mayor who has no respect for his guests as rudely as I please, weakling. And I hope you don't test my patience - no one walks over me like that and doesn't get a beat down. But we are teammates in this, so I'll excuse it this once."

Ekho wanted to pat herself on the back: she was never good at controlling her anger, but she did it quite successfully this time. Now she just hoped that the other would get the hint and realize that Ekho was not a force to be reckoned with, ever.

Ulysses HAMMERJUSTICE

Ulysses wasn't really aware of what anyone was really saying, seeing as he tended to tune out sentences that didn't have words like EXPLOSION in them. Although he was sure the blue haired guy had said something to him. Maybe. Probably not important. Oh, there was the crow lady! He hadn't seen her yet. Well, he'd seen her before but he hadn't seen her here before. There was that one time these crows were following him around, and he caught one and named it tom, fed it cheeseburgers. She didn't like that.

In any event, he was getting a bit worried, and not because the creepy robot guy was being creepy, but because he might have ended up on another one of those missions where he didn't actually shoot anything. If anything, a repeat of that last mission where he had to sneak into a factory of some kind was not acceptable. Taking a swig of his coke, he noticed something; the creepy girl was still here. "So, uhh, why's she here?" He asked.

"The young man gently brushed his dirty blonde hair behind his ear.... 'It's Andy.' He said. 'Andy Mitchell.'" Ki read aloud to herself, closing the book. It was only the fourth time she had read it through- this week. She didn't want to feel like she was wasting money on books, and yet, she spent most of her idle time when alone lost in their worlds of fantasy, science fiction - and whatever else she could get her hands on. "Why must I loathe for social interaction, so much? It's quite a nuisance, really." She complained to the window of a book store in front of her. Tapping the window, a bright list of books in the store were brought up into her field of view. Satisfied, she walked inside, buying the last novel of her current series, handing the previous book to someone on the way out.
Before she was even on the transit, she was already on page twenty, and then page fifty by the time she was stepping off, walking towards her destination. She put her bookmark in her book as she stepped into the mall, storing it away inside of her jacket. She looked around, doing a complete spin before going down the escalators. In the few moments she was on the escalators, she had already set up a TrakLink to her sister, a green pulsating arrow on the corner of her vision, pointing her in the right direction.
What did that eh.. Zade ish guy say? Something about a cafe? There have to be hundreds of cafes here. And, in no time, she was already lost. The traklink was malfunctioning, not moving up or down on her vision, instead just staying on the right side of her vision, even after turning in a full circle.
Ki terminated the link, downloading a public map of the mall in seconds. Her sister was painted on the map in green, and so Ki navigated her way through the crowds, occasionally stopping to make idle chatter. The day had gone by reasonably well, the last book in the series was hers, as she had grabbed the last copy just before someone else got to it. She was ready to fight something, and that would come soon enough - and the aspect of pay, on top of that, made her optimism shoot through the roof.
And so, she sat next to Mai on the bench, pulling out her book and going to page 67.

When Ekho finished her rant there was a Very long and Very awkward moment of silence that Gaul was absolutely relishing before he broke it. "Righhhht..." Gaul said as he began hurrying his skeleton out the door "I'm gonna go do some actual work while you lot waste time in Mayor Tardy's house" with that he shut the door behind him and began striding towards the town gate and the woman who until very recently had been responsible for defending this town.

When he arrived he found her standing guard at the gate and it was obvious she had been there awhile. "Hello ma'am I'm Gaul Keldran and i've been contracted to assist in the defense of your town" he opened "If it's not to much i'd like to know exactly what has been attacking this town the past few nights and anything else you might know about these creatures and their master"

Gaul saw her clothing and silently hoped she wouldn't try to smite him immediately, He had only dealt with holy magic once and it had been the first time since his turning that he had felt pain in all its horrid glory.

Of all the options on the mission board the mysterious redacted one by far sounded the coolest. But looks are deceiving as Synthia would soon find out. The trip to the tower was relatively quick, especially since Synthia's motorcycle only had two speeds: fast and faster. Outside the tower was crowded, but not as much as inside. Sounds of busy people permeated through the first floor. Synthia peered over most of them, standing more than 6ft tall. The elevator up leaked passengers as it went up and up until only Synthia remained to exit on one of the upper floors. Stillness and silence saturated the area until disturbed by sound of Synthia's black boots on the floor. Her entire outfit comprised of blacks and greys, with all the color concentrated on her long, voluminous, gravity defying hair.

The other champions who showed up all looked like little anime girls. Damn, appearances don't mean much in this world but they'd better be as tough as they are cute if this team thing was gonna work. Synthia was leaning against a wall as she sized them up. Hopefully their bite was worse than their bark.

Eventually a mystery man appeared and briefed them on their mission. So they were gonna be glorified delivery girls, not exactly as exciting as she'd built up in her mind. There was probably more to it but she wasn't getting paid to pry. She really hoped it wasn't a bomb that blows up once they deliver it.

Amidst the ruckus inside, argument had diverted attention away from the single elderly individual in the city hall. So hunched and slow, quiet and unobtrusive was he, that the man approached Sariel, Ekho, and Theow completely unnoticed. Only when he coughed a few times and a butler hurried to his side with a glass of water did their focus finally return to the situation at hand.

The mayor, presumably, was of such an old age that they might have figured him to be powered by the very necromantic machinery of Stitchenstein himself; how else was he standing? With a weak but genuine smile, he greeted the three that were present, head and arms shaking as he suddenly looked confused. In a soft, wheezing voice he began.

"There are... three of you? I heard there would be a fourth, no?" he asked. The mayor reached for the glass of water presented to him, and with some aid, took a small sip before exhaling with satisfaction. "I'll simply assume they are late, and you will brief him in my stead." Wetting his lips, he continued on, eyes closed under wrinkled bags and thick eyebrows. He hunched over a wooden cane shaped as a gnarled tree branch, clothed in ruffled and faded wear that looked as if it were layered over several other uniforms to keep warm.

"I'm glad we have received aid. Poor Fran has had her hands tied doing our dirty work for quite awhile now. She will surely appreciate some extra aid." The butler had since disappeared and arrived again with a wooden stool, placing it behind the mayor and urging him to sit. With a heavy sigh, he relieved himself from standing and spoke in much more strong voice. "As I'm sure the mission board has notified you, we under duress by the vile monster Stitchenstein. Or rather, his creations. We ask of you to help us in defending against the abominations until Stitchenstein inevitably leaves, for leave he will." The mayor coughed, sipped some more water, and continued, "There will be no need in venturing outside the town, but if it suits your work... so be it. We only wish for our people to be kept safe. You should find Mother Fran out by the Northern city gates. Do any of you... have any questions?"

---

Unfortunately for Gaul, the jangling of bones and his coated appearance did not make for a pleasant approach. By the end of his question, the priestess had turned to find herself met with a skeletal visage; not exactly the thing she was hoping to be caught with her back turned towards. With speed quick enough to dodge the drizzles of rain falling, her sword found its way to Gaul's vacant neck. Being of the living dead, Gaul could sense a tingling in his bones at the very spot, testament to some sort of holy magic bound to its steel.

With a brief moment of consideration, however, Fran realized the necromancer was unlike any of the modified undead she had been fighting for days. He was simply a cloaked necromancer, a champion at that.

"Forgive me, I hazarded from your appearance..." she trailed off, "I presume you are the champions who have accepted our mission?" Casting a glance over his shoulder, it was clear Fran was searching for the rest of his crew, and finding none became a tad confused, or rather, disappointed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



Ulysses outburst was met with a stare so neutral in understanding or consideration, that even with the doctor's featureless face, it was clear he comprehended little of Ulysses' words. He was a programmer, and not a psychologist, so trying to make sense of his intents were lost. The doctor, foolishly, neglected to consider he was actually that rampant and stupid. How could he have possibly accepted a mission such as this? At a loss for words, he moved on.

The doctor cast his overhead gaze upon Koemi, swinging his loose lab coat in a wide arc despite the short movement he underwent. He took very little time to answer, but seemed almost suddenly devoid of emotion as compared to before, as if his words were common knowledge and he were speaking to a computer itself. No doubt he was traumatized by the previous individual's behavior.

"We know of no hits on her, not that it would be something to be expected so earlier in her existence here in Agar Mythos. Nevertheless, there is always someone or something that wishes to hinder scientific progress in this world, or to otherwise hinder our progress specifically. Certainly keep a lookout, but do not let it keep your nerves on end."

Upon Averus trying to placate Ulysses, it became clear to the doctor that the armored man truly did wish for destruction to occur at some point in this mission. It did not calm his nerves, and his darting glances between Averus and Ulysses reflected this. Averus's much more intelligible and relevant questions managed to soothe him, albeit slightly. The doctor's eyes kept themselves traced upon Ulysses as he responded.

"It is... a bit more complicated than that, I'm afraid. I will say that Delphia is possessing of emotions, subdued and difficult to bring about as they are. You will find that she learns quite quickly," his leer strengthened upon Ulysses as he continued, "so be careful what you offer her." Upon Ulysses persisting in his speech, the doctor could muster only a palm to his rounded face, revealing spindly, mechanical arms underneath his lab coat sleeves.

"I advise you hurry along," the doctor tried to remain respectful.

Mai's dull eyes brightened when she felt a familiar presence sit beside her, perking up. She looked at her sister, who was, of course, reading a new book.

She was like a child, grinning cheek to cheek, "Hey, Ki! I thought you'd never come in time, but here you are! Is that the newest book of that series you said you liked? Uhh.... what was it's name again...?"

Scratching her forhead, she suddenly made a pouty face, "You know, I was waiting here for so long... I hope this cafe we're supposed to go to sells some ice cream." the girl was already smiling again just thinking about it, but a concerned thought crossed her eyes, "Speaking of which, do you even know where it is? I tried looking for it earlier, but all of the words on the map gave me a headache."

Mai clutched her head even thinking about the huge metropolis map that she looked at, fearing the very notion of doing something like that on her own. It would be an absolute nightmare. She had no idea what today's mission was going to be about, but hopefully it would be something at least exciting for all of her efforts of getting there. Sighing, she nearly fell over in boredom, but peering at her sister, Mai tried to make a sort of list on what else was fun to do to keep her mind going positive. She didn't want to ruin the trip for her, especially owing her a favor of sorts for what happened last time.

Fighting was fun, she supposed, Sleeping was fun too, and so was cute girls.

Another daydream where she was surrounded by cute girls as she slept was what really kicked her forward about this whole cafe trip, the girl grinning happily from the image.

Quickly standing up, she beckoned excitedly to her sister, jumping a few times to get her attention, "Alright, lead the way, Ki. I'm actually looking forward to this now."

DATA CORRUPTED... CANNOT ACCESS INTERNAL INFORMATION

Confusion, and mild irritation became clear on the AIs features as the thick bolded letters hovered above the mission board. While the words were only visible to Vydia's eyes, the missions corrupted information was clear for any Champion to see. AM Maintenance Crew had warned all AI security to be on the look out for glitches, or faults in the new worlds. However it had been months since anything odd had occurred in Aurora, so as the woman read over the obscure mission statement once again she couldn't help but feel her interest and suspicion spark. Noticing three other names highlighted in the player section, Vydia raised her hand to the mission bored and signed her name for participation. Before she reported this maintenance, the AI wanted more intel of what was really going on.

Arriving at the Aurora Hub deck, Vydia's eyes widened as she noticed the lack of Champions. Walking silently into the desolated area, her eyes quickly fell upon a single, exotic looking AI leaning against the wall. Standing at a measly 5'3", the other woman towered above her as her intimidating gaze hardly broke through Vydia's bland expression. Assuming the other woman was here for the Event Horizon Mission, Vydia gave a polite nod to her soon-to-be teammate before her attention was pulled back to the elevator as two other Champions arrived. Greeting the other two with the same nod, the woman decided to investigate a little more before their mission was issued to them. Stepping away from the other three, she stood beside the windows before getting to work. Raising the palm of her left hand up, the stitches along her arm glowed a dull white as her ACL was activated. A small transparent screen hovered above her palm as she skimmed through the data uploaded on it.

AURORA HUB DECK: 4 Entities
AREA: Unrestricted

Her eyebrows furrowed in heavy suspicion as she locked onto the small bit of information. This posed a red flag in the AIs mind. Despite the Aurora update being relatively new, along with the area being marked unrestricted as well, Vydia couldn't help but wonder what was really going on. Hesitant to issue her concern with maintenance, a deep voice cut through the unsettling silence, forcing her attention up from the data to the source of the noise. Quickly deactivating her ACL, the screen disappeared once her stitches returned to the normal black color. Taking a spot beside the other Champions her eyes sat along unfamiliar AI as he began to fill them in on the Event Horizon Mission.

"The corrupted information was quite intentional, you see. This is not a mission issued by a human or corporation, but by a fellow AI. It is off the record, so to speak, so I advise you maintain that everything discussed here and thereafter remain a tight secret." A second red flag rose in her mind now, despite this, Vydia kept her mouth shut and her expression just as neutral as the man. As he finished his words and brought forth the item they were to deliver, the woman eyed the odd black box before casting her gaze to both of her teammates. Taking a calm step forward, she raised her hand, and gave a curt nod before gently taking the cube from his hand. "Understood." Taking her place beside the other women once again, Vydia's kept her gaze fixed on the unknown AI as she tucked the box beneath her arm. Deciding to try to get more information out of the man, Vydia spoke up in questionable tone, "Will we be faced with any opposition on our way to Nihon?"