[IC] Symphony on High

[The World]

Marrie Knight

It was a good thing that the job was posted with time to spare. It meant that Marrie had time to rest, after another day of training. The last time she'd given herself a break was when she and Walking Church had met Oliver, so a two day break leading up to today was a welcome relief. It also gave her time to buy ammunition, just in case. After all, if it came down to humans being the problem, as unlikely as that may be, it was better to be prepared than have to save mana. She glanced over the details of her mission one more time, and the two she had rejected as well. It sucked that she had to turn down Raphael's version of the job, but...

If Marrie had her way, she'd save both of the behemoths. But was she really going to fight other espers, G.E.M.I.N.I. directly, to save a monster that would almost certainly not survive against them? And what if she tried and failed, or the monster ended up being evil? She couldn't risk that. This was her trolley problem, to choose to sacrifice herself trying to save something that was presumably doomed or to try to save something that was likely to survive. Her id and superego both wanted so badly to choose the former, but rationality won out in the end. She'd save the one who could survive, and hope that the other avoided combat in the first place. And if all went perfectly, maybe she'd get her wish anyway. Preferably with little to no bloodshed on any side, though she knew that was a pipe dream.

Which meant that she was headed to meet up with Maverick Alternative once again. As she biked her way to the meeting place, she couldn't shake the thought that things would go exactly against how she hoped. That the behemoth she expected to fight G.E.M.I.N.I. would be the kind one, and that the one she would presumably interact with first would be the evil one. But she held out hope that together with Maverick, they'd save them both regardless of her preconceptions. Regardless of what was sure to be reality.

Marrie had ducked into an alleyway to transform before continuing biking her way to where she was told to go. When she turned the final corner, she couldn't help but stop her peddling and freeze in place. A dragon, a real, genuine dragon, sat on the roof of where she was going. She could only stare in amazement up until the thought of it getting hurt burst its way into her mind. But that just meant she had a bigger target than usual to protect, and she wasn't going to allow herself to fail this time, regardless.

Picking up her bicycle and walking the rest of the way, she would have waved if her hands weren't full as she called out to the golden dragon and what seemed to be the only other person, presumably an esper as well, that was with it.

"Hey! How's it going? Here's hoping for an easy time, for once." She placed her bike against the front of the garage. She'd prepped for the mission when she transformed earlier, donning her kevlar coat and hiding it under her Style, making sure her tungsten rod and pistol were within easy reach and that the gun had plenty of ammo. Now all she needed to do was wait for any other allies and make sure she kept everyone and everything alive that she could. Barring any evil garbage that might be involved, of course.

Stats

19 | Female | Freelancer | Misty Steps
Apotheotic Predator, Fenrir | Dagger | Physical | Heavenly Chained Eater of God's Hand
Arctic Storm | Masking
Step of the Monsoon | Wind | Riding the Currents
After You Get Smacked Up | Gunstock
[Storm (4), Flight (6)] Damage (2), Damage X (6), Slow Fall (4), Blink (4), Transplace (8), Magic Sense (6), Heal (16), Stabilize (0), Portal (8), Rain (2), Bounce (0), Homing (2)

DAMAGE: C | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: C | 1000

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: B | 1000

[Nakushita]

______________________________________________________________________

@BrokenPromise@Vertigo@The World

Himiko had decided to try something a bit different this time around. She had spent a fair bit of time messing around with Puddy and Gemini already.

She still had business with Puddy to handle, not to mention the Clockwork Killer. Though she supposed she should also eventually get around to the current team leader of Gemini as well, Tighty Brighty. But that could wait until later.

It was time to see what Maverick had to offer in comparison.

Though she had no real affinity for either organization, both had their issues after all. Issues that she couldn’t see either ever taking care of or changing.

But they paid well enough and it provided her with more than enough entertainment to keep her busy. Which was what mattered the most at the end of the day. Besides, it also allowed her to take care of her own business and do some of her own scouting in person.

Having made her way to the meet up location in no real hurry. She arrived with a little time to spare. Though from a distance she could already see there was something far more interesting than she could have ever dreamed for.

A golden dragon, now that was something that put inspiration into her own golden heart of greed. A wide grin hidden beneath her mask formed as she tilted her head to the side. She just had to make him her own somehow, no matter the price or task. She just couldn't pass up this golden opportunity, she couldn't believe her luck.

It was show time, the other two espers had already arrived.

One she recognized from before during the operation to secure the water. She hadn’t really had the chance to speak with her for too long, but she was the bold and brave type. The one that would throw herself into the fray at a moment's notice. That would make Himiko’s job a fair bit easier at the very least.

Though the other esper wasn’t one she had encountered before. Meaning she must be the Maverick representative, along with that Golden Stallion of course.

With that observation made, she decided to circle around a little bit and approach from the other side of the Golden Dragon. Moving with a swift, almost graceful silence as she leapt atop of the Dragons back. Peering down at the Esper who seemed far more interested in her phone then she was anything else.

“Ditch them?, my my, that isn’t very nice, I would have missed out on this glorious golden creature, that just wouldn’t do….so what’cha looking at? Some cute boys? Maybe one that is as cute as a button? Orrrrr are you more of those Tick Takers, or whatever that thing is called….” putting her hands on her hips as she turned her gaze up towards the Dragon and away from Ciri.

“Now as for you my handsome lizard boy, with such golden glory that you are bestowing upon this world, it is only right that you join my team and we become partners, it would only be natural…we would make a perfect dynamic duo” Her own golden eyes seeming to glow at the mere thought of having a Golden Dragon around. It would just match all her aesthetics after all, it was like destiny.

“Oh…one more thing, since you're golden and all,would your insides also be golden? you wouldn’t happen to have golden blood would you? I heard it can really knock you for a loop if you aren’t prepared,enough so that you might start carrying around a pet rock, orrrrr that is at least what I heard from someone one time….Anyway….that isn’t important, sooooo how about my offer?” The mission being pushed to the back of her mind. Only the thought of having a golden dragon by her side consumed her. Just how glorious it would be to ride in, double golden revolvers blazing away atop a golden dragon. It would be so much better then her beat up motorcycle that she had struggled to slap fake gold on it that would stick for too long.

[BrokenPromise]

"For someone who’s always complaining about having something to react to, Ashley sure didn’t give me much to work with…"

— Mika Fang

@Ponn@Majoraa

Mika would have picked up Finn first. When she first decided she was going to do this, he seemed like a cool, if not very well put together individual. Basically, someone very similar to herself. But after that happened it was clear that they didn’t have that much in common after all. Perhaps any of the new agents could have been picked up first, but Mika didn’t trust them. They were new hires and could have been plants from the mole. As much as Mika hated to admit it, Ashley was the lesser of two evils, and so she swung by her first. Not only that, but she had some aversion to letting Mika and her neighbor interact. It sounded stupid, but it meant that Ashley could show up a few blocks away from her home en route to someone else.

She didn;t exchange any words with Ashley. The door to her mother’s van swung open and she was able to step in out of the rain. Then she was off again. The wipers were working overtime to keep the window clear. After driving for a few minutes, they entered a more affluent part of Pax Septimus where Finn’s home was. But again, Mika couldn’t get too close. This time it was because of police directing traffic away from the homes, as the area was suspected to be hit directly by the hurricane. Once fin was inside, Mika started driving again.

"I told you guys we have a mole." She had told Finn before their “date” at the fair, and she had told Ashley in person just a day afterwards. She made sure both times she was away from HQ so that nobody would know. But she hadn’t told them much more than that. "Someone sent Dante stuff about Timekeeper the day of the operation. I saved it in the glove box." If Ashley cared to look in the glovebox, she would see a single page dossier on Finn. An outline of his abilities, his appearance in both esper and normal form, as well as his close family and notes about his behavior. "I think the nuns were told about me and Oros too. We were told about our jobs a day before. There aren’t a lot of people the mole could be…"

---

@Vertigo@The World@Nakushita

The rain hadn’t quite set in over Boteg and Ciri yet, but as the clouds started to move in, he extended his wing over the oni so that she would stay dry. When she asked if they could ditch them, Boteg pulled his head back as if she had just farted.

”Big tech ask me to wait for signal. ” Boteg looked out ahead. ”Time is important. If thy scares cannot assemble before the signal is shown, methinks it would be best if we enacted the plan ourselves. ”

What plan hadn’t been said yet, which was a maverick standard. Billy was very big on winging things, and likely knew Ciri wouldn’t have the willpower or attention to repeat everything to the freelancers. That said, it was anyone’s guess was to why Boteg was left with the plan. He was a flight risk, and he had a tendency to turn everything he said into something incomprehensible.

Before long, the Freelancers started to show up. The first of which was Marrie, who greeted everyone on her arrival. Boteg’s expression immediately brightened, and his tail swung side to side. ”Methinks thy quest will be difficult, but thy optimistic attitude tis most pleasing!” An observant eye might have noticed a nervous twitch in Boteg’s eye. Even now, he was really nervous around espers.

And he didn’t feel any better when Himiko showed up. First she badgered Ciri, then she started half-flirting with Boteg, which was about as effective as Ciri’s puns when she tried to sway Boteg last week. ”Beg pardon!?” The conversation only got stranger as Himiko went on about what his blood was made out of and asked him to reconsider her offer. Was this a threat? Boteg’s eyes went wide and he looked to Ciri, silently pleading for her to save him from the tiny human on his back that was interested in his blood. and companionship.

[Ponn]

Okay, time for a difficult conversation...
-Ashley Avenir

As Ashley walked the short distance from her apartment to Mika’s van, the light drizzle rapidly intensified into a torrential downpour. Thankfully, like Olivia, she had remembered to bring an umbrella, and so her seat remained relatively dry after she stepped through the van’s front passenger door. A quick look around the vehicle’s interior revealed that she was apparently the first agent to be picked up, thus, the ensuing ride to their next destination passed in a predictably awkward silence. However, that all changed once Finn stepped inside. As soon as they had begun moving again, Mika brought up the possible mole in their ranks, noting that she had recovered info about Finn from the ruins of Dante’s diner. Opening the glove box as she was directed, the Knight of Tomorrow found the dossier in question and began reading over it. The information it listed was troubling enough, but that wasn’t the only thing that concerned the high-tech heroine…

“Does Director Moller know about this?” Ashley inquired, although she was pretty sure she already knew the answer. A part of her could understand keeping the information out of the hands of a potential spy, but if the mole was actually the director herself, then they were in far more trouble than the Knight of Tomorrow cared to imagine.

“As for potential suspects, and as much as I hate to admit it, I think the most likely candidates are Faith and Binky. The later was recently held captive by The Hand, and it’s very likely that The Hand was responsible for inserting the former into the Diver as a power source. In addition, they both have access to a great deal of sensitive information, including most of Director Moller’s plans. Now, I don’t mean to say that they are knowingly betraying us,” she hastened to clarify. “It’s very possible that they were brainwashed, or were simply implanted with some form of hidden surveillance equipment. That said, there’s one other significant possibility.” Pausing for a moment to take a breath, she continued. “While Betty isn’t a part of GEMINI’s command structure, you’ve been spending a lot of time with her, Finn,” she noted, turning to face the young agent. “Have you told her any potentially sensitive information? On a related note, I was just informed by my neighbor that, in addition to giving her tours of the city, you also revealed to her that you were an esper. I sincerely hope you didn’t tell her that you worked for GEMINI as well, or mentioned any classified mission details, but even if you didn’t, can you see how that was still a massive security risk?” she inquired, her eyes and voice filled with a mixture of disappointment and concern.

Although this really wasn’t a conversation Ashley wanted to have, it was better to get it out of the way now, as opposed to after the other agents were present as well.

---

18 | Female | GEMINI | Vision of Tomorrow
Implements of Tomorrow | Wand, Shield | Arcane | Tune of Tomorrow
Raiment of Tomorrow | Stride of Tomorrow
Light of Tomorrow | Light | Power of Tomorrow
PRO-TEK 4000 Defensive Surgery Implement | Kevlar Coat, Kevlar Padding, Medical Supplies x 2, Flash Bang, Tazer, Clip Light
[Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Shield (4), Reflect (4), Heal (6), Major Heal (18), AoE (2), Powerful (0), Piercing (2), Purify (6), Homing (2), Avoid (2)

DAMAGE: A | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: C | 1000

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: B | 1000

[Majoraa]

"Aaaaaaaand it begins. Fun."
_{Corruption:???%}

Soon as Finn climbed into the back of the Van, Mika had brought up the mole issue. When she went on to explain how Dante had a literal dossier on him, Timekeeper and all, he couldn't help the frown that formed on his face. He was set up! Why can't they just see that already?? It was a good thing Mika had found it before it got into someone else's hands, but that doesn't change the fact it was there. It was scary to think about. Doesn't help that whoever was behind it set up the ambush at St. Bianchi's too. Finn quietly listened to the conversation between the other two agents, including Ashley's theories on who leaked the information.

And then the topic turned...targeted. The Timekeeper gave their glorious leader a pointed look as she went on about how Betty and fucking Olivia of all people could be suspects too. Just cause of their association with him. The machine sharply breathed in through his nose, then dryly chuckled.

"Y'know, you can just accuse me of being the mole. Makes things much easier." He crossed his arms with a hateful grin. "Since I'm already such a liability and all? Come the fuck on, Orion, for how much bullshit Betty's been through I somehow doubt she'd still be working for the very same people who kidnapped and enthralled her and god knows what else they could've done." Unless Ashley was accusing Betty of being a sleeper agent. That'd align with the current peanut gallery with both Faith and Binky having been in contact with the Hand too. "Compared to the rest of you assholes she's been the one of, if not the best to me. Unless you're saying I've been too reckless with who I trust?" Betty had been aware the whole time she had been controlled, according to her. She knows how much he'd gone through hell and back to save her, why would she suddenly betray him after all that? He had rose a brow, then his grin dropped to a glare.


"Especially if you think an innocent girl like Olivia can be a threat? I didn't tell her jackshit beside that I'm an esper, okay? Even then she could've tried to kill me in the catacombs when we went down there if you're somehow worried about that but she didn't. She just talked to me about stuff like her school and her partner." ....That he barely paid attention to. Hopefully mentioning that Olivia's taken doesn't give Mika anything to make a snide remark about though. His eyes then widened in an exaggerated tilt of the head, eyes boring holes into Ashley's skull. "Frankly if you think she's such a threat why don't you go ahead and go kill her yourself after this, hm~?"

Letting the tension simmer for a moment, the machine leaned back against his seat, reeling himself back. "Though having a potential sleeper agent does make sense. Had either Faith or Binky acted strangely over the past few days?"