Illin

Archaic Circuitry: Old Code, Young Blood

Marsala observed the situation, making note of everything going wrong for Alfredo and why. They were grateful Alfredo had at least managed to stay clung to Vhoth, but it wasn’t enough. If they had been less cautious, more willing to get in the way, they could have helped already.

It seems less hesitation will let me make my own openings.

With that thought in mind, Marsala began taking off their gloves as they watched the scene in front of them unfold. The gashes on the under belly, the nail lodged in its side, and the stone-horn being held down on both its front and back. All of their allies were taking the opportunities presented despite also getting in each other’s ways.

Less hesitation, right?

They began making their way forward as a gunshot rang out again and the stone-horn dropped its defensive storm. As sudden as its apparent defeat, the stone-horn began thrashing about.

Worry courses through Marsala first. Both for the fellow tossed about, and for the girl who was still within stomping range of the beast. The man likely has a couple heavily bruised, if not broken, ribs and the girl, quasit or not, would still be in trouble if the beast stepped on her. The second thing Marsala processes is that the beast is now missing an eye. The gunner had succeeded in hitting his mark and taking out the eye. And rats can fit anywhere that they can get their heads in.

Priorities and plan set, they hurry to the girl to try and get her to her feet, and out of the way of the beast. Or, well, I suppose feet isn’t the appropriate word here. Get her to her prosthesis? Marsala can check on the man once significant injury is avoidable.

While kneeling to help Penni, Marsala finds the ground covered in blood and catches sight of Cambrian slinking out from under the beast. The blood covering him, his only give away.

How can anyone stand to have so much blood and dirt on them?
Marsala is immediately aware of the blood now covering their pants, the blood and dirt now scattered across Penni, and their uncovered hands. They have to hold back a gag as they help Penni, once again grateful for their mask as they cannot keep the disgust off their face.

During this, Alfredo lets out a squeak towards Vhoth and pats the man’s arm before running towards the only proper opening on the stone-horn, its eye. Alfredo works to get his head inside the eye socket, wiggling and clawing his way far enough in to release the poison. And, hopefully, work to delay the beast’s reaction times.

The sooner it’s poisoned, the sooner we don’t have to worry about such a violent thrash again.

Archaic Circuitry: Old Code, Young Blood

Marsala was finding it more and more difficult to concentrate not only on Alfredo’s movements but also their own as the battlefield picked up in chaos. This would be something they would have to improve on, and fast if they were going to be a V.E.T.

Chalk it up to lack of battlefield experience. Perhaps I’ll be able to get pointers on that later.

Marsala had, thankfully, managed to pick up on the beast’s watchful eyes and wariness that accompanied it. As such, they had opted to keep themself out of the fight for now. Focusing more on Alfredo’s movements within everything, keeping the stone-horn on its toes, and observing their allies to better assist them seemed to be more productive than getting in their ways. Their teammates seemed to be more comfortable around physical conflict and Marsala didn’t want to be a hindrance. They were worried that the others would find it distasteful to have a rat step on them during the fight. Worse than that, they may find it distracting enough to get injured. Marsala themself didn’t find the reward enthralling, but obviously some on the field would or surely the captain wouldn’t have suggested it. And, Marsala was not about to squander another’s reward.

Marsala watched as the battlefield changed. One ally replaced by another. Someone underground, making the footing unsteady. Metal cloud clatters and turns into opposing rock cloud. A small opening in its side, made through opportunistic teamwork. Two allies colliding forcefully. A bullet ringing out and working to obscure the creature’s vision.

Nothing worked to create an opening for Alfredo to wriggle his little self inside and the stone-horn had hunkered down to be more defensive. The only opportunity came from Cambrian at its head. When the stone-horn would have gone to bite him as it did Vhoth, Alfredo could jump in then. But the wasteman didn’t stay for long as he began searching for a new focal point.

He was quickly replaced once again by Vhoth. Marsala wasn’t worried too much over the quasit’s health, as most others tend to heal significantly faster, but Marsala had taken note of where he landed. They had seen him get sent flying and crash into Germ, and had seen no hostility from Vhoth directed at the rat wasteman!

Surely he wouldn’t mind Alfredo climbing on him if he didn’t mind coming into contact with the rat wasteman! Alfredo is small and cute, smells like wildflowers, and is clean. Plus he wears a little hat. All of these should be favorable traits compared to one that is… lacking some of his tail.

Alfredo weaved around the debris on the field to get to Vhoth, making haste in scampering up his leg and along one of his arms currently keeping the stone-horn’s mouth clamped shut. Coming face to face with the obstacle that was a closed mouth, Alfredo stopped on Vhoth’s arm. He pawed at the stone-horn’s mouth while looking back at Vhoth with lifeless, glass eyes and letting out a short squeak. It needed to get inside of the stone-horn and administer the poison if Marsala was going to induce delayed response times. Marsala wouldn’t have to worry about being in anyone’s way if the beast’s openings last longer.

Archaic Circuitry: Old Code, Young Blood

Marsala woke suddenly to the sound of rust-gnats and shot up to see the damage they had been able to do. A clang rang out as Marsala fell back on the ground clutching their head.

Perhaps sleeping under the operating table was, in fact, not the smartest move.

They rolled to one side through a sheet that was hanging to the floor and double checked that they were no longer at risk of colliding with anything before popping up. The room around them was surprisingly lacking in gnats compared to how many it sounded like were in the room with them. They had worried the gnats had somehow found a way under the fabrics Marsala had used to cover certain surfaces. The gnats were, thankfully, swarming the trash bin and a few sparsely populated shelves on the other side of the room. They had learned from their last ‘clinic’ to never leave the important surfaces, like the operating table, uncovered. You’d be quick to find yourself without a usable… anything really.

Not wanting to risk the gnats finding a way through any fabric, Marsala made a clicking noise at the rat curled up on an old pillow tucked away into a nearby corner. The rat looked up with its blank stare and flicked its ear before Marsala motioned towards the rust-gnats. The rat stretched and began bounding in the direction of the gnats, jumping through the swarms to disperse them. Once done it sat in the middle of where they had been with an imitation of glee, an imitation of life.

With that done, Marsala began tidying up the ‘clinic’ as best they could. The new resident would be arriving sometime this morning and Marsala wanted to leave the place in a better condition than when they were hired on. Once done, they scooped their belongings out from one of the cabinets, donned a pollution mask on themself and a little bucket hat on their rat, and made for their new life.

Well, soon anyways...

Marsala had been warned by their employer against getting to the job too early, so here they were strolling through the streets looking for a halfway decent market during the swarming. They had been told, once upon a time, about the importance of bringing something to a new job, but they were having a hard time thinking of what they should get. Food and clothing was out of the question, as was something too expensive - they had spent a pretty penny preparing for the new job and getting Alfredo (their rat) a cute hat fit for an adventurer. A lot of their clientele had been fans of candy or stickers, but would V.E.T.s?

Mulling it over a bit, and checking their chips, they reasoned that anyone would be happy to receive something. They had enough chips to get about ten or so pieces of candy and a couple sticker sheets without breaking the bank, now all they had to do was find a shop selling them…

Ten pieces of candy and two small sticker sheets later...

The shop had taken some time to find, but find they did. Now they sat at the HQ in a room with a few other individuals, making note of small details about each of them. When the captain began speaking and mentioned sitting in her lap, Marsala tried their best to mask their grimace.

It’s rude to grimace during the first meeting, right?

The screech outside had Marsala looking at the door as the guard burst into the room and Marsala found themself nodding in response to the guard’s report and the captain’s initial order. Alfredo wriggled in Marsala’s arms at the excitement in the air as they stood to leave. The mention of touch again had Marsala openly grimacing despite their best efforts, but left to the location nevertheless.

At the location, the stone-horn was becoming agitated but was ultimately focusing on the two guards and the weapons trying to keep it at bay. A flurry of shrapnel and other weaponry had Marsala acting. With a quick pat to Alfredo’s head, Marsala took his hat off and they were off toward the beast in two separate directions. Alfredo went towards its face and Marsala went to try to get in its blind spot behind it.

Archaic Circuitry: Old Code, Young Blood

Name: Marsala
Age: 23
Species: Quasit
Height/Weight: 5’2”/ 142#
Sex/Gender: AFAB/ NB (they/them)
Appearance:

Marsala

They are fairly pale, bit too wide of a mouth, and a bit too lifeless of eye.
Yellow green eye that lacks the glint of a normal eye.
They have deep red hair with a deep teal streak on the left that curls into “wings” at the ends. They typically keep it cut to about shoulder length, but it curls up no matter the length.
Many mouths, all of them with teeth sharp enough to cut. Besides the mouth where a mouth should be, they have a mouth in place of their right eye that they keep an eyepatch over to attempt to pass as more numam. The other mouths are in the small of their back, behind their left knee, and over their sternum.
They wear baggy clothes to keep from getting fabric in their many mouths and because it keeps filth further away from their skin. They wear gloves and masks when in large groups of people (10+).

Personality: They are a major germophobe and panic whenever filth touches their skin (although they try to control they’re outward emotions, they fail most of the time).
They grew up eating mostly bland foods because their “parents” had damaged tastebuds and never cared to spend chips on something they couldn’t taste anyways. Now they have an intense interest in different foods and are willing to risk life and limb to find new and interesting recipes to try.
Marsala has a hard time understanding what creates a relationship between people and other creatures, but has a deep seated desire to be near them and attempt to forge these connections. This often leads to them finding themselves in awkward situations where the others find them either overbearing or too distant. Being a medic has allowed them a closeness to people without much issue (people tend to get a little chatty when they know you’re going to be opening them up and helping them) and, as such, they have managed to learn how to better navigate social situations (they still suck at it though).
During their time as a medic, they have come to learn about multiple different types of anatomy and have heard many stories from their clientele. Some of these included talk about the extinct or near-extinct animals having been used as pets in the far past. With a desire for companionship, they set out to find the animals (dead or alive) and find ways to keep them as pets and new friends for their pet rat, Alfredo.

What Are You Looking For?: Old text logs of the anatomy of different creatures and recipes.

Capabilities: Medic, Hand-Hand (focusing on getting hits in and aiming for pressure points), and Blood Magic.

Magic Form(s): Blood Magic

Basic Kinesis ability: That Doesn’t Taste Right
Marsala is able to induce minor poisons through the blood they infected.

Magic Stain: I Can Bleed Too
Marsala’s wounds tend to reopen from time to time even after being almost completely healed.

First Spell: I Thought You Said You Wouldn’t Leave
Marsala is able to necromatize the small dead creatures and control it similar to a puppet. These creatures cannot think, move, breathe, or feel.

Magic Stain: I Can Empathize
Marsala’s poisons tend to affect themselves once they have ended on their intended target.

Archaic Circuitry: Old Code, Young Blood

Name: Marsala
Age: 23
Species: Quasit
Height/Weight: 5’2”/ 142#
Sex/Gender: AFAB/ NB (they/them)
Appearance:

Marsala

They are fairly pale, bit too wide of a mouth, and a bit too lifeless of eye.
Yellow green eye that lacks the glint of a normal eye.
They have deep red hair with a deep teal streak on the left that curls into “wings” at the ends. They typically keep it cut to about shoulder length, but it curls up no matter the length.
Many mouths, all of them with teeth sharp enough to cut. Besides the mouth where a mouth should be, they have a mouth in place of their right eye that they keep an eyepatch over to attempt to pass as more numam. The other mouths are in the small of their back, behind their left knee, and over their sternum.
They wear baggy clothes to keep from getting fabric in their many mouths and because it keeps filth further away from their skin. They wear gloves and masks when in large groups of people (10+).

Personality: They are a major germophobe and panic whenever filth touches their skin (although they try to control they’re outward emotions, they fail most of the time).
They grew up eating mostly bland foods because their “parents” had damaged tastebuds and never cared to spend chips on something they couldn’t taste anyways. Now they have an intense interest in different foods and are willing to risk life and limb to find new and interesting recipes to try.
Marsala has a hard time understanding what creates a relationship between people and other creatures, but has a deep seated desire to be near them and attempt to forge these connections. This often leads to them finding themselves in awkward situations where the others find them either overbearing or too distant. Being a medic has allowed them a closeness to people without much issue (people tend to get a little chatty when they know you’re going to be opening them up and helping them) and, as such, they have managed to learn how to better navigate social situations (they still suck at it though).
During their time as a medic, they have come to learn about multiple different types of anatomy and have heard many stories from their clientele. Some of these included talk about the extinct or near-extinct animals having been used as pets in the far past. With a desire for companionship, they set out to find the animals (dead or alive) and find ways to keep them as pets and new friends for their pet rat, Alfredo.

What Are You Looking For?: Old text logs of the anatomy of different creatures and recipes.

Capabilities: Medic, Hand-Hand (focusing on getting hits in and aiming for pressure points), and Blood Magic.

Magic Form(s): Blood Magic

Basic Kinesis ability: That Doesn’t Taste Right
Marsala is able to induce minor poisons through the blood they infected.

Magic Stain: I Can Bleed Too
Marsala’s wounds tend to reopen from time to time even after being almost completely healed.

First Spell: I Thought You Said You Wouldn’t Leave
Marsala is able to necromatize the small dead creatures and control it similar to a puppet. These creatures cannot think, move, breathe, or feel.

Magic Stain: I Can Empathize
Marsala’s poisons tend to affect themselves once they have ended on their intended target.

We Are the Crystal Gems

@Akayaofthemoon I'm sorry that you've had a rough day, I wish I could help.~ If there is ever anything that you need and I can help, feel free to say something, Lovely.~

We Are the Crystal Gems

@Akayaofthemoon I'm well Akaya!~ I hope you are as well along with everybody else!~

@Raijinslayer Sorry I keep missing you, but happy birthday Raijin!~ Hope you had a good one!~

We Are the Crystal Gems

@Loony Hey little Loon!~ I'm so happy that you are okay!~

We Are the Crystal Gems

*Cricket noises*

We Are the Crystal Gems

@Raijinslayer pretty please with cuppycake on top!~~