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Post by doctorzero on May 17, 2012 21:52:26 GMT -5
Later, in the Medical Ward...
"So, who is she?" Evan asked. He and Miranda were looking through the window into the ward at Frankie, who was being examined by a pair of medics. She seemed to be treating the whole thing rather well, all things considered.
"She said her name was Frankie," Miranda explained. "I decided that it would be better to ask more questions after she's been looked at."
"The name's appropriate," Evan observed. One of the medics was examining her headphones, thinking they were screws, only for the second medic to whack him on the head. "Think she--"
"I asked her if she knew anyone named Ralsis as soon as she came into the building," said Miranda, showing her seemingly clairvoyant abilities (of which she had none). "She didn't recognize the name at all, and according to Namia," she gestured to said immortal girl, who was a few feet away looking at Frankie, "she's never seen her before. In other words, she's unrelated to our current issue."
Evan nodded and looked back at Frankie. "Speaking of which, Kavma and I have agreed we need to know more about this Ralsis before we can choose a course of action."
"Even though this guy isn't in our archives and we know jack squat about him other than that he 'claims' he's Staccato's kid."
"Kavma said he was going to look through Staccato's old things, do some investigating on what she was up to during her insurrection."
Miranda looked doubtful. "And you think he might find something? This is Staccato we're talking about."
"And this is Kavma we're talking about," Evan countered. "He works fast. He promised to call back in an hour, tops." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry, Miranda, it's just..."
Miranda placed a hand on his shoulder. She understood that Staccato was a delicate subject with him, considering the things she did.
"Don't worry about it," she reassured him. "We can talk about it after Kavma calls back."
Almost immediately the television suspended from the ceiling above the glass burst into static, then cleared up to show--surprise surprise--Ralsis sitting at his desk with a smug look on his face with the letters RATV in the bottom right of the screen.
"Citizens of Dimensional Island," he said grandly, "I am assuming direct control."
"Ooooor we could talk about it now," said Miranda.
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Post by ryocker on May 18, 2012 5:47:57 GMT -5
Even though Frankie was sniffling, snuffling, and had raw red feet, She couldn't shake the feeling her headphones were picking up something they shouldn't have picked up. As soon as the television screen started to static, she cringed- then took them off, revealing her nearly elf-like ears. "B-bad phones," she stuttered, finally looking at the screen in front of her. "... What that?"
Namia Quickly took notice of what she was doing, then paid attention to the screen. "I get the feeling her headphones are a lot more than just a fashion accessory," the small red head blurted as quick as she could. "They picked up whatever was hitting the television-"
That's about the time when Ralsis had popped up on screen. "-screen."
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Post by doctorzero on May 20, 2012 1:04:23 GMT -5
The arrogant smirk Ralsis had was almost insulting.
"It may have occurred to some of you that contact between the main island and the Orbital Lab above you has ceased. This is because of yours truly, you see.
I have taken hostage all of the people who are aboard the lab, and have contacted Crystal Room Limited and made demands of them--if they are not met, I will set off the explosive charges all over the lab, sending the whole thing plummeting to the island below.
Some of you may get the idea of coming up here to prevent that. What may not occur to you is that if ANYONE attempts to come up here, for any reason, I will know about it and will detonate the whole thing out of spite.
Crystal Room Limited has thirty hours to meet my demands. If they do so, I will leave the lab and its inhabitants unharmed. If not...well, I'm sure I've made that clear. And again--don't try to come up here, any of you vigilantes. I'm sure your pride isn't worth more than the lives of millions of people.
Any complaints can by made to the Crystal Room at the Void City Plaza. And with that, I hope you enjoy your day."
The screen turned off.
"Let me guess," Miranda sighed, "he managed to hijack every single communication device on the island."
"Most likely," Evan replied.
"And we're going to get a crowd of rioters outside, which will most likely include a certain Gantz Gun."
"Knowing him...yeah."
"Wonderful."
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Post by ryocker on May 20, 2012 7:33:41 GMT -5
Frankie, practically unknowing of the incoming events, stared through the looking glass, sniffling. And right on cue, she began to sneeze, her meter twitching just as before. Fortunately her electric blast was... somehow contained, possibly through a generator.
"I understand I'm of no high importance to the corporation as a whole," Namia sighed, glancing at the two operatives. "but it might be best to go through with his dema-"
STOMP
She looked around. "Am... I the only one who heard that? It didn't sound like-"
RROOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!
Most everyone no doubt froze in place, but not Frankie- she seemed to take the roar as words. "Hmm? Is brother here?" she cooed, attempting to get up- raw feet notwithstanding.
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Post by doctorzero on May 21, 2012 1:39:12 GMT -5
Miranda's com rang as soon as the roar ceased. "Ma'am? There appears to be a Frankensteinesque creature outside the building. Do you want us to see what it wants?"
Miranda rolled her eyes as he answered. "Negative, I'll do it myself, just make sure there's some backup at the door if something goes wrong. I swear, sometimes it's hard to tell if the people on this island want to kill you or make reservations." She headed toward the door, yelling to Evan, "Can you go get Strahl? I want to talk to him later."
"Sure, why not?" Evan retorted after her. "Want me to do your laundry afterwards?"
"You're still bad at being passive aggressiveness."
"Love you too," he said sarcastically.
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Post by ryocker on May 21, 2012 6:01:33 GMT -5
And of course, Frankie was held back from getting up, being told not to wear out her feet. Namia became a bit curious when she started trying to fight staying put. "... I'll be sure to come out and help later, Miranda," she assured her, before she could leave.
-----
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr...
No doubt the staff in the crystal room were scared- an enourmous, huge armed man was standing like a gorilla outside, snarling intently at the building. "I know she's in there," the thing said. "Where's. My. SISTER?!" Of course, he couldn't speak actual english, so it just came out as:
Grrrrroooooooaaaaaaaaaaalll!
Not even a second after Miranda stepped out, he stopped yelling. He even bent down rather close to her, apparently sniffing her. Once he was finished doing that, he backed himself to the other side of the road and eased himself into a sitting position. One of his enourmous arms were then raised, the finger tapping on the ground for her to notice. He then pointed straight up, allowing her to see something rather unusual;
His finger was sparking, just as quickly as morse code. "HOPEFULLY YOU KNOW MORSE CODE" he clicked. "I CAN'T TALK WITHOUT A TRANSLATOR STOP HAVE YOU SEEN MY SISTER STOP" In the case Wrights couldn't speak morse code, he'd have to find other means of communication- civil or not. "Let's hope she's as smart as she looks..." he growled.
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Post by doctorzero on May 21, 2012 23:22:11 GMT -5
"Thankfully, Miranda had learned morse from her parents, so understanding the creature's message wasn't hard.
"Your sister?" she asked. She held up a finger, saying "One sec," and turned to the agents at the door.
"Someone get me a translator. And for God's sake, not one who speaks Wookie like the last one."
She turned back to Victor. "Let me guess, young girl, looks a bit like you, not good with words? She came here sick, we're treating her at the moment. I'll take you to her, but only if you're civil, got it?"
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Post by ryocker on May 22, 2012 6:27:01 GMT -5
He didn't say a word, only nodding. He bent down, trying to find a way inside- considering his giant physique, it looked like a pipe-dream at best to get him in there. "Grrrrrrr..." he growled, translating his words to morse code- "HOW AM I GOING TO GET INSIDE HERE MADAM" he flashed, looking at Miranda.
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Post by doctorzero on May 23, 2012 2:03:23 GMT -5
It took her a second to mentally translate--it had been a while since she had dealt with Morse code. "One second--Thorndyke!" she yelled to the inside of the building. "Press the switch!"
"There's over a dozen switches! Which one?!"
"The red one."
There was a moment of silence, then Thorndyke yelled, "Okay, done!"
Miranda turned to Victor. "Try going in now. It'll feel weird but you'll fit through the door. Yeah, I know it looks like nothing's changed, but we've fitted a dimensional anomaly into the building that lets large lifeforms inside without getting stuck. No, I have no idea how it works, you'll have to ask the R&D guys back at our HQ. And where's that translator?!"
(bigger on the inside, in case you're wondering.)
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Post by ryocker on May 23, 2012 6:14:42 GMT -5
"..." His red eyes were giving nothing but blank stares at the moment. But not wanting to cause a ruckus, he went in anyway- quite surprised he could fit. This is almost like something the doctor would try to come up with, he thought, looking around.
"Allright, everyone get out of the way! This girl wants to see her brother! MOOOOOOVE!"
No doubt, everyone in the building was currently focused on Namia, pushing Frankie down the hall in a wheelchair. Surprisingly, it didn't look like Namia was exerting herself, but that was most likely for mystic reasons. As for Frankie, well...
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! I like! Go fast! go faaaaast! Heeehehehee!" she yelled, wiggling her hands up high.
Giving her a smile, Namia looked ahead- "Frankie, grab hold of the chair-" she tried to say, coming to a screeching hault. Frankie was still in the chair, of course, just... a bit spun. "I'm guessing this big guy is Victor," Namia guessed, looking at him. "Frankie already told me that he doesn't speak in a proper language- she's the only one here that can understand him."
The adrenaline and her cold catching up to her, Frankie began to wheeze. Over exertion's bad for the sick- and wheelchair or not, she let herself run wild. "B-brother..." she smiled.
Victor looked down at her, feeling her face with his finger. "...Ggrrrrooooooowllll..." he grumbled, scanning her.
"I guess IS hot... fever not bad, is it? I'm fi- AH!" THAT, was her reaction to him poking her feet. "...I no have blisters, I fine..."
"Grooaaagh!"
"But I do... on't... have any..."
Victor looked at Namia. picking up he wasn't talking to her, Frankie began to say words- not in her traditional way of speaking. "You, red head. Take Frankie back to room- she should'n be out here..." she huffed, her face turning red. "Victor... also say thank you... Miss Wrights..."
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Post by doctorzero on May 23, 2012 21:44:04 GMT -5
"Oh, um...you're welcome." It's just one of those days, Miranda, she told herself.
"Strahl."
Wilhelm looked up at Evan, distracted from relating his somewhat amusing anecdote of when he snuck aboard a giant sentient warship to Crona. "Oh, Carmichael. What's going on outside?"
"We have another unexpected guest. A couple of frankenstein people."
Wilhelm raised an eyebrow. First the candle guy, now this? Is it Halloween or something?
"Anyway," Evan continued, "Miranda wants to talk to you about something.
"About...?"
"Not sure. Mind coming with me for a minute?"
Wilhlem grumbled as he stood up, glancing at Crona. "I'll come back to tell you the rest later, kid. See ya."
As he and Evan walked out of the theater, Evan said, "So what were you telling him, anyway?"
"Oh, it was crazy. See, there was this giant sentient ship..."
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Post by ryocker on May 23, 2012 22:05:57 GMT -5
Crona gave him a somewhat worried look. "A-alright..."
-----
With Franky back in the medical room, Victor took to laying against the wall, trying to relax. Don't worry, Vic, he told himself. Frances is a powerful little trooper- she'll make it. She'll make it...
Namia stared through the glass at Frankie, watching her body spark with each cough. "Alright Miranda, be honest with me," Namia began. "Do you always get odd ones, or is it just us?" This managed to attract a look from Victor, his red eyes shining like a pair of ruby lightbulbs. "Hey, don't count yourself out- I'm ancient, your sister has huge hands, and you're a very large, intelligent beast of a man. Tell me you're not odd now."
Victor smirked, smiling with his eyes.
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Post by doctorzero on May 24, 2012 1:08:10 GMT -5
Miranda chuckled. "Let me make it simple for you...
"As a member of Crystal Room Limited, it's actually part of my job description to be involved in extremely weird stuff. I have a naga for an accountant, for heaven's sake. CRL members pretty much HAVE to be weird. I've seen, met, fought, killed and befriended everything from talking bears to magic horses to gods. At the end of the day, if something actually manages to surprise me, it's a surprise in itself."
Evan then entered the room, with Wilhelm in tow. "Here's your monkey butler, Miranda."
Wilhelm willed himself not to give Evan an exceedingly rude hand gesture and turned to Miranda. "You wanted to see me." It wasn't a question. "I really hope it involves some sort of paycheck or compensation for all the crap I've had to deal with all night."
Miranda looked at the others, then to Wilhelm. "I'd rather we talk outside."
Wilhelm shrugged. "Fine."
After they left, Evan turned to see that the others were looking at him.
"...eh, definitely not as weird as Naked Wednesday." He sighed wistfully. "That was a fun day."
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Post by ryocker on May 24, 2012 6:11:45 GMT -5
Though it wasn't heard beyond the glass, Frankie was asking if they really had something to make her cold feel better. Namia, meanwhile had taken to sitting in one of the facing chairs. "So the whole organization is made to counter and mix with weird... Interesting..." Glancing at Victor for a moment, she returned her gaze to Evan. "... I take it you're not going through with his demands?"
Victor just up and sighed. With Frankie behind glass and his electrical powers at risk of damaging the building, he had no proper way to communicate. The facial expression he made proved it, alerting Namia. "Hold on for a moment- Victor, yes? It's on your collar." He turned to face Namia, waving. "Can you speak sign language?"
Right then his hands went into a bunch of actions. "Of course I can- I've been alive for centuries. If I didn't know a few extra things from my life, there'd have been no reason for me to ask, now would there?" Namia answered him. Victor just made a toothy smile in response.
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Post by doctorzero on May 25, 2012 21:30:30 GMT -5
Evan pinched his nose at her inquiry and sighed. "...we can't. One of the things Ralsis wants--it's too dangerous to give to him. And there's no way we're going to hand you over to him. We're waiting for our boss to call back so we can formulate a plan."
Wilhelm stared at Miranda. "A hostage situation. And what's stopping you from just going up there and beating the crap out of him?"
"Weren't you just listening?!" Miranda said exasperatedly.. "He has explosives. And we know nothing about him, we need information before charging recklessly."
"And I suppose just giving him the girl and this casket thing is out too. What's the deal with the coffin, anyway? Why's it so important?"
"That's classified information," she snapped. After a moment, she sighed. "I'm sorry, Strahl, really. It's just...it's been a while since we've had such a horrible situation."
Wilhelm shrugged. "Understandable, I guess. Anyway, why're you telling me this?"
Okay, here we go. "I would like you to stay on base, in case we need your help," she explained. "I'm willing to pay you as much as you ask. Name your pri--"
"No charge."
"...what?"
Wilhelm's face seemed to darken. "That son of a bitch broke my arm and deprived me of a paycheck. No way I'm going to let him get away with that. And I'm more than willing to take whatever he has for compensation."
"You do realize that anything he has will be confiscated for evidence," Miranda pointed out.
"Don't give a damn."
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