NeoAJ

Corrected and Connected

Jam and done, @Genkai. Thanks for being patient while I deal with the waning throes of work and the social obligations that come with the preamble of an impending move. Speaking of which, if things en story progress on the weekend, I'll need until Monday before I can respond, what with the whole moving thing (Finally getting off the couch!) But then I'll be in the middle of nowhere, so distractions will be limited in the future and be more conducive to quicker posts.

Corrected and Connected

Despite her misgivings about how peaceful this temple haven really was, Atomik didn't keep her gun at the ready like she probably should have. It hung casually in her right hand as she tried to take in as much info on the area and it's surroundings as she could. After the leader posited that this was something akin to a game given that the three of them still had access to their weapons, Atomik frowned. "If whoever did this is toying with us, that makes me just hate them even more..." she said softly to herself. Toying was just another form of bullying. If these people had any kind of malicious intent, they would pay.

Following the sounds of Crystal's armor on the golden floor made it easy to keep pace with the team, but the surroundings were definitely doing their best to distract Atomik. It was easier to focus on the large building as they approached though. The closer the trio got, the harder it became to ignore it's omnipresent stature above the surrounding valley. As they approached the inner room, she nodded as Crystal laid out the plan of operation. It seemed simple enough. Stay left and keep going until I run into Bre. I can do that. The surprise was taken out of the task when the candles started lighting up in the room around them, and the light didn't put Atomik's mind anymore at ease. Someone or something definitely knows we're here and is trying to lead us somewhere...but why?

BreGle beat her to the bookshelf, a surprising finish considering the larger man's usual lumbering gait, but it meant he got first crack at the book that sat on the bookshelf. He turned to the diminutive blaster,

"Cover me, if it explodes or tries to eat me. Or something jumps out of it... You know along the lines...."

Atomik gave a two-finger salute. "Got it. Standard random object protocol. Just try to cover your ears." Atomik set her gun to 3 and pointed it squarely at BreGle's hands.

Turned out to be a false prep. Touching the book did nothing. Opening the book similarly resulted in nothing. As BreGle read the words out loud, it just seemed like a rough copy of a TED talker's guest speech. One that was trying REALLY hard to go viral but wasn't going to get there. It ended in a riddle though. Standard sphinx fare. BreGle handed Atomik the book and she read it over again, trying to find anything she might have missed. All right, c'mon Atomik. You're good at riddles. Let's see... Protected like a child. Something valuable. But spread like a disease... so it's easy to catch, and if caught it's bad. It's not going to be money or something. Too obvious... People spend lifetimes chasing me...I will set you free... The truth? It could be something corny like that. And people will chase it and it will spread fast. Like a video or something...It's worth a shot.

The tapping of metal on rock distracted her for a moment as Atomik looked up to see Crystal scratching at the dead end above them. The book also said time couldn't be rushed... "Hey, Crystal? You might want to come back down from there for a few minutes. I don't think you want to be up there according to this...and bring your spear. I think I need it for something." Her gun wasn't going to get the carving job done, that's for sure.

Pokémon: Warriors of Sengun (Up To Four Spaces Open)

The punk girl who said she was from Castelia as well didn't seem to be as thrilled to be representing the Big Cream as Robyn was. Sounded almost like she was dissing the city. Now there was credit where credit was due. Robyn didn't like people taking pot shots at her home burg, but at least she was a native. Natives had the right to go after it. One of those Kalos types, they would have beef on their hands. If this girl lived the life and got out though, well there was no faulting that.

"Only thing stuffy was that dinky tub ride over here," she announced to her fellow Castelian. Now that she thought about it, she did look like she spent an awful lot of time across the inlet near Virbank. They were all about that grunge life over there. Didn't know street living, but whatever. It was a scene. "I dunno bout the city though. This is my first real...trip outside Castelia, so maybe I can't say nothing." Robyn preferred to leave it at that. There were more important things to focus on than being Castelia's unofficial public spokesperson. There were Pokemon to catch, gym leaders to battle, prizes to be won.

Corrected and Connected

I've got a post in the works as well but this extended period of me not having a room and sleeping on a couch has wreaked havoc with my already off-kilter energy levels. I've drunk myself to sleeping while it's dark out though, so hopefully tomorrow brings a productive day.

Pokémon: Warriors of Sengun (Up To Four Spaces Open)

@Krauxis Is Venipede currently out of it's ball? If so, that has a direct effect on half my response post.

Elementals: The Scarred World (Semi-Open)

Considering it's either do as he says or get chucked into the light show, it's a pretty easy decision.

Pokémon: Warriors of Sengun (Up To Four Spaces Open)

Listening to the overview of Verdan Forest, Robyn shouldn't have been too surprised. It sounded an awful lot like Pinwheel Forest back home, lots of Bug and Grass-types, and it meant she probably wouldn't find much to her liking in there. I already have Nina. I don't need another Grass-type if I've got her. It was clear the Ilexes were holding all the cards to their chests. Well, so much for being prepared for this. She was ready to get going now.

The girl with the new Torchic seemed to be getting to know her new charge as the kid led the party out of the lab. Regala was no Castelia, but it was still rather large, so she was thankful to have someone guiding the way through the city. Nina seemed at ease with the hustle and bustle, but the dropped headphone probably helped matters as well. The sounds of Cirrus served as calming notes for most of the trip and they wouldn't stop now. If it was anyone else playing, Robyn might have missed the question.

"What about the rest of you? Where'd you all come from?"

"Castelia City, born and bred," she proudly proclaimed. "Got that Unova swagger, you know? Gonna use it to dominate this place. Nina's gonna clean up." Nina was still bobbing to her own sounds, the Petilil's leaves swaying side to side as they traveled to the gate.

Elementals: The Scarred World (Semi-Open)

The thought of food definitely appealed to Nataly so she was part of the crew that headed to the mess hall soon after being dismissed by the Commander to their own devices. She was disappointed with the food on offer, though it made sense that a ship more attuned for practical purposes wouldn't exactly be offering the finest fish to it's clientele. She had a decent enough meal and went back to her quarters to try and rest up...until the alarm sounded.

As Nataly bounded up to the deck, the Scar was the furthest thing from her mind. She was more worried about a possible attack on the ship, and the plummeting to the ground that might occur from it. Upon arriving on the deck though, she couldn't help but be captivated by the sights in front of her. "Wow..." There were stories about the Scar, told by sailors from the south and mages from the north. They weren't able to capture the beautiful dance between fire and ice, between ice and shadow, earth and light, everything was mixing together like the universe was making a cake. It was a sight to behold, one even Nataly didn't think she could properly put into words. So when Commander Hayes said he wanted to fly right through the churning dervish, that kind of statement is what it took to snap the Northerner out of her trance.

Right through the thing? That's crazy! The choice was already made though. Forces were scrambling around them, cannons were the obvious defence mechanism of the ship as the large barrels were being tended to. It was clear the Commander intended to fight his way through the storm. All right, fine. I'll get some daggers out, I'll hit some stuff. That's what they want? I can do that. Yeah. Totally. It'll-

"Nataly, would you help me?"

"Hmmm?"

Eve explained the plan she had to strengthen the hull of the ship with ice gather from both their powers as well as the air around them. Yeah, that seems like a smarter plan actually. "OK, yeah. Definitely. Can totally do that, Eve. Let's do it. Gather all the ice!"

Elementals: The Scarred World (Semi-Open)

So many glares on this ship, I'm surprised J.J. Abrams isn't the captain.

Corrected and Connected

Maya Hajsafi hated the cold. One could blame the Persian blood that coursed through his veins, one could blame his general distaste for the real world and all the trappings that came with it. Maya blamed the fact that the cold was terrible in general and he needed no explanation for it. It was this tendency to avoid the frigid wind and rains of the winter that almost led him to skip the breakfast meeting this morning under the guise of an illness or something of the like. But Meadows-sama really wanted everyone to be there, and he couldn't turn down an order like that. Especially from one of the few people he actually respected and somewhat liked. She was a breath of fresh air in the Tokyo sector when she came in, and for her and the group, Maya would endure Mother Nature's chilly temper tantrum.

The discussion had soldiered on without many contributions from Maya. There wasn't much for him to say. Spending a bunch of time locked in a flat, studying coding languages and eating whatever the daily special was of the rotating stable of delivery places around Aoyama didn't make for a gripping narrative. He could talk about his latest excursion into the DgtWld as a patron. He made a couple alterations to the beach side cabana in Antigua he frequented, merely by subbing the Arty remix of "Piece of Mind" in the playlist out for the Myon and Shane 54 Summer of Love version, but he doubted that was stirring either. The plan was to merely eat his hash browns and drink his orange juice, nodding in time when it was called for and contributing some brief opinions. The buzzing of everyone's phones at once was almost welcome as it meant an opportunity to work and actually be productive for a change, although it did mean he would be doing it hungry.

After Meadows-sama led the way to a nearby cafe, Maya plunked down on one of the forest green bean bag chairs in the corner and logged in, materializing behind the others as digital forms replaced flesh ones. Atomik was a bit confused at first to see the gentlemen in the sunglasses standing before them. "This doesn't seem-" she started to say as static filled the area around them. "What the..." It was more than a random burst of interference as the man soon disappeared in a cloud of data, dispersing into the ether. Even if this agent wasn't Gvn-sanctioned, there's no way he should have been cut out so easily...

As the suit faded away, Crystal seemed willing to take control of the situation herself. Atomik would have offered the opinion that she didn't think he'd be coming back soon after that, but she never had the chance. The static from before seemed to be manifesting itself audibly now, and it was downright painful. She was normally sensitive to other sounds, but this was overwhelming even for Atomik. She instantly dropped to her knees and held her hands to her ears, trying desperately to block it out, at least long enough to try and make an escape, but it was too much. She couldn't even move. She could barely think! It wasn't long before her body was completely shut down and she collapsed onto the grid below.

Crystal was talking as she came to. About what, it was tough to say for now. Atomik was just concentrating on rebooting her body after such a dreadful experience. She was splayed out on the ground as she woke up and she struggled to get up into even a push up position. The soft violin and piano music playing in the background helped assuage matters somewhat, it was definitely better than that horrible screeching, but as she rolled over to see Crystal sitting up, BreGle still groggy and...no one else, she grew worried about the fate of the other two.

The leader was convinced of Hacker work at the root of this problem, and Atomik saw no reason to disagree with that assessment. Crystal reached up to the sky as if to get a feeling for the surroundings around them. "It feels better than winter, that's for sure..." The breeze and the sun worked in conjunction with the surroundings to try to generate a sense of calm, and it was working for the most part. The terrain suggested a Himalayan retreat, the buildings suggested a restoration of Angkor Wat, and the statues around them...almost seemed like Ancient Egyptian deities? It was a weird mishmash of cultures and it kept the sense of unease alive in Atomik. It wasn't prevalent but it was there. And other questions persisted. If we were Hacked, why were we brought here? What Hacker would want us so at ease? Why would they go through such lengths to create this for us? Atomik was clearly puzzled.

The plan seemed to be to move on, try and locate Cypher and Apex and get some bearings on where they had been sent. Atomik finally clued in that maybe her cannon would be a good thing to have on this excursion and luckily it rested near where she landed. Crystal had settled on the large building with the halo surrounding it. Surely whether it held a vantage point or the head honcho it would provide some answers. Atomik settled in line behind Crystal and started to move behind the leader, weapon drawn and set to 4 for the moment. Keeping quiet was a bit more of a challenge though in the face of all these questions running through her head. "Crystal, what is this? This place, it's nothing like I've seen before in the DW. I'm pretty sure it can't be all sunshine and eagle dudes."