I don't think we should be using our time at the party to pay back Aria. This is Cass' birthday. I'd rather not mix ANY sort of buisiness with this if we can help it.

>>548876
...I don't exactly see hanging out with someone who wants your attention as business. I mean, yes, you can frame it that way (and they did, kind of playfully), but this basically amounts to not taking someone for granted.

And if Linda's already made a promise or set a date, blowing her off completely is just being mean, and burning bridges.

I can sympathize with putting Cass first, though. Obviously we can't blow her off or ignore her, and making this a good night for her takes priority.

>>548877
I think it's more that we promised her some to herself, rather than just dragging her along while we attend to Cass's party.

You take another few minutes to get your bearings, the inside of the place is new to you after all, but you quickly take off into the crowds, keeping your eyes open for "murdering" opportunities, as well as any of your friends. You'd like to catch up with a few of them while the opportunities present themselves, especially given the relatively festive mood. Although, that might make it harder in some cases...

As you enter the ninth room in your search, you watch as a pair of breakers dancing in the middle of the room suddenly and unexplainably get crushed by a chandelier. The party stops a moment, before the tinkling of bells can be heard in the distance, and Rise comes crashing in, thankfully not in her Division 7 uniform anymore. It's much plainer clothes, although a bit more flowy and less uptight than her sister's choices. Maybe that's a good thing. Regardless, the woman quickly takes stock of the situation, mutters something in japanese that you don't recognize, then spins towards another door in response to another distant crash, this time openly swearing in english.

"That fucking fairy! SIDHE! GET BACK HERE!"

And she's gone again, dashing down the corridor after the ever more distant sound of tinkling bells. You take a small amount of time to check on the crushed pair, and find them fine, their deaths barely scratching their available numbers at all. After being sure they are completely fine and won't be holding any grudges or anything, you head off in another direction, once again moving through room after room. You stumble upon nothing particularly interesting until you find a young breaker who looks barely lucid, happily drinking her sanity away. You also note that she seems terribly vulnerable and alone, so, with that in mind and the fact that you are, after all, playing a murderer, you guide her gently to a nearby window, note that somehow you'd made it up three stories, and tip her out of it. You make sure she lands with a thud. Watch her number drop by one, then she stands, suddenly a bit more lucid, and you duck back into the room and disappear into the crowd before someone catches sight of you. The whole point was for you not to get caught, after all. Still, as you exit the room and head into the next, you can't help but get the feeling that wandering aimlessly in this place isn't going to help you at all. Maybe if you knew who you were-

"Master. I have a question regarding my task."

You blink as Chris suddenly appears in front of you, and you pause a moment to get your thoughts on track before continuing the conversation.

"Sure, Chris. Let's go over here real quick first though... Alright, what can I help you with?"

"I do not understand. Am I to fight people for real?"

"Uh... no. You're supposed to be acting like a horror movie villain or something like that... you've never seen a horror flick, have you?"

"I do not understand the point, Master."

"Of course not... look, try to... 'kill' people, fake kill, maybe only kill them once before moving on, and try to do it without getting caught. Alright?"

"... As it pleases you, Master."

"Hold on! Don't go running off quite yet. I've got some things I want to talk to you about as well, if that's alright."

"... Is this about Rise Muramasa, Master?"

"Uh... yeah... basically."

"... I do not want to discuss this at all. She is not my sister anymore. I am not who she wants me to be."

"I know. I know. But I just wanted to know how you were handling things. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or threatened or anything."

"She has not tried to take my tasks from me, and she only once asked me to spar with her. Her techniques are... familiar... but she performs them subpar. I have already attempted to show her the proper methods, but it seems she lacks talent for the sword."

"Alright... look, if you ever want to talk-"

"I will now carry out the task assigned, Master."

Chris hastily retreats, clearly intent on avoiding the subject any further. Most of what she just told you was fairly factual. Perhaps the only thing was the techniques Rise used being familiar, but even that was said more as a piece of information than anything. You sigh to yourself, then turn away and start off again, once again weaving your way through the crowds. You keep an eye out for more murder opportunities, but everyone seems to be sticking to groups. It seems you'll have to get creative if you want to work on your own. You might try teaming up with one of the others on murder duty. Chris is an obvious choice, she's behind you somewhere, but there's also Nicole, Mike and a few others you'd roped into it from the general population. They'd all been told basically what to do, but joining forces might be a good idea.

Or you could try a little harder to track someone down. Or just say to hell with it and get to the drinking. You might try to track down Cass later as well.

>>>Input Command

>murder game includes actual, literal murders
...I wasn't quite expecting that, although I suppose so long as it's kept between breakers there's no permanent harm done.

Murderers are 'caught' the same way, I presume?

>murder-fairy
Well, we could hardly have expected her to stay out of it or control herself once other people started in on the game. Hopefully her day to day antics are more mischievous and less deadly.

>Chris doesn't understand
...think of it like a training exercise. We're testing people's ability to identify and stop a saboteur in their mix.

>it seems she lacks talent for the sword
Ouch. Actually, is that her being catty? It sort of has the feel of an emotional response- she's uncomfortable with Rise and finding a way maybe to lash out, or dismiss her? ...well, we're not going to figure it out or resolve it all tonight.

>Or just say to hell with it and get to the drinking
I'd say it's a little early to be bring drunk Linda to the party. Although with your tolerance you could certainly grab a drink if you wanted one.

>what do
Continue with the murder game, maybe? See if can drum up some early excitement that way, before going out with a bang. (Freeing us up to do other things after. Some of the others can hold out longer). A team up could be interesting (we don't spend a lot of time with Nic). And if we don't draw Cass into stopping you, track her down afterwards. Gotta spend some time with her at her own party, and make sure she's having a good time.

Still think we owe Elizabeth a hug when we bump into her, and we'll have to go looking for Aria after Cass, too.

Hrrm... as far as murdering goes... Maybe get a knife, hide up somewhere, then drop it onto a group, or, and this might be cheating a bit, but just get out the Rifle and plug someone, but break to cover up the sound of firing...
Hrrm. Maybe we could Someone else Raphel and start pulling Nightmare shenanigans is what I WANT to say, but I've no real idea on how to pull that off with them being asleep...And we don't have the Nightmare form's passing through walls trick or something like that to make it really terrifying.

I'd say blasting people though walls with the rifle kind of takes the fun out of what's supposed to be a sneaky game. They're supposed to have the chance to catch you. The nightmare might be a good way to get some scares in, but I wonder if pushing people's actual fears makes the game too real. (...and there's a part of me that's reluctant to use it since we only get to use that once in a while and there are still a lot of people's heads I wanna visit the next time we get to spend a night dream-walking).

The ice gun might be a quieter way to cause a slip and fall accident, but we'd have to get rid of the ice to stop ourself from being found out too soon. (Maybe we could break it away, but if people sense us breaking right next to or after a murder, that might out us as covering up evidence).

You make your way through the house, eyes scanning everything to find possible ways to drum up some excitment in this game. You hear a shout somewhere behind you, only to have Chris suddenly dash past you and disappear into another random door, a stampede of people rushing past you and halting, obviously looking for her. There's a moment of hesitation in all of them, then they all split up, heading off in different directions. You spot one of them alone, an older man who looks a bit more cautious then the others, and join him, saying it's not safe to wander alone. He seems to agree to that, and as soon as you're both alone, you take him out with a bullet to the head and disappear. Soon enough the area is in an uproar again as more people are alerted to the activities of the murder group and that yes, you were not lying about this game. Most still ignore it, but there is a decent sized group now actively hunting. You pass by a staircase and spot Cass, who's clearly not drinking alcohol quite yet, as it turns out she's become the leader of one group of them, and as soon as she spots you, there's a moment of silence that falls over the room.

"... Of course you would, Linda..."

"I couldn't resist. I mean... come on, if this wasn't YOUR party, I probably would have asked you to be one to."

"... Yeah... Probably would have done it to. Hey, guys... that's our target."

Everyone in the room turns to you, and you smile and wave before pulling the two handguns from their holsters and letting a crazy grin slide onto your face. This was going to be fun. The first group that comes charging up the stairs is pushed back easily, your aim is far better than they could hope to dodge. Cass, however, evens things out quickly by quite literally chucking entire tables at you, and some of the more powerful of the group quickly follow suit, a barrage of tables forcing you to dodge and weave between everything even as you fire your pistols, hoping to hold back the tide for as long as possible. Still, you eventually find yourself getting pushed back, and you decide it's time for a new strategy...

Partly because it has suddenly occurred to you that if you run, everyone but Cass will probably soon forget who you are and stop chasing you. Time to turn secret murdering into all out brawl.

>>>Input Command

Right. One versus crowd antics, here.

I'd suggest (after dismissing her first) manifesting Twinda behind one of your rolls or dodges behind cover. Ordinarily, she's not much good in a close in brawl (lack of creative initiative and can't take a hit) but I assume you're playing to first death here. And she could certainly buy you time and/or provide a distraction by popping out when you're somewhere else. (Suddenly you're in two different places to go after and shooting at them).

(Course, we'd have to remanifest her with equipment later, but with break generation that's no longer a big deal).

Swapping one hand to cartoon ice could also stall things out a little longer. One sweep under the feet of the charging crowd to slow em down, and jumble them up, and further uses to create obstacles to dodge around, break up your attackers, and get in the way of thrown tables (make quick pillars or blocks). (Cartoon ice beats regular mode of sculpting obstacles like this, since you can just put the 'ice' down without having to waste time or charge cooling down the surface. It just forms).

Going nightmare might be thematically appropriate and possibly useful for crowd control, but we don't exactly have any practice using fear powers on people who are awake, and I think our guns will poof away when we change. (And I'm not sure how Cass will react to seeing that?). So it could potentially blow up in our face.

Nightmare must wait, now the Angel creates fear.
When you do the Twinda thing, maybe instead of having her shoot, have her pop out and say something like:
"Oh what a fun scene! But I'm no murderer, she is!"
and then she points to wherever you're hiding.
Or, if we want to drop the crowd, we could have her come out and say
"Hey! She went that way!"
And point in one direction, and then when the crowd goes running off that way, we take the other path. I bet many people forget Linda has a foci spare puppet of herself.

You dismiss your Twin, then manifest her again, rolling one direction even as you order your twin to manifest rolling in the other. You didn't exactly expect that to work, but it did, as Twinda executes the order beautifully. She empties her twin pistols quickly enough into the crowd, taking out a few before the clips run dry, and she drops them without emotion, just before she gets dog piled by the horde. You take the opportunity to disappear down a door, figuring that would be good enough to give yourself some breathing room. What you don't expect is Cass to suddenly tear through the wall and into the corridor in front of you. You half expect her to be in berserk mode right about now, and reload your own pistols before getting ready to focus on not dying, only to notice Cass' eyes. This is the first time they've been pointed directly at you in awhile, at least while she's in her combat mode, and you find yourself impressed. There's no sign of the berserker in her anymore. Instead, there's that cold readiness that you'd felt back at Havers, just before you'd put her brother down. You suddenly remember where you are and what you're doing, and you ready yourself, a smile breaking out onto your face.

"So. Just you and me, huh?"

"Hardly."

"Wha- Shit!"

Liu Tao almost tackles you from behind, but you manage to duck under the incoming electrical projectile that is the man's fist. He slides to a stop next to Cass, and turns to face you, dropping into a stance you can only guess is some form of martial arts. Damn it, you keep treating Cass like she's the same as she was before. Then again, you hadn't exactly seen her fight in awhile. Well, first things first, gonna have to take out Tao.

"Two on one doesn't seem a little unfair to you?"

"Hey! No one said anything about a fair fight! You just said capture the murderers. You're one of them. I capture you."

"Alright, alright... Where'd you find him?"

"Hiding in a corner. I swear, the guy barely talks at all."

"You do realize he barely speaks any english, right?"

"So? He can shout at me a chinese for all I care. As long as he's not moping around. Couldn't stand myself doing it, can't stand other people. Can we be done with the talking?"

"Yes, Cass. We can be done with the talking."

"Good."

The last word came not from Cass but Tao, and he seems to make a punching motion at you only to have a bolt of electricity arc towards you. You sidestep the attack, only to have to keep doing it as more electricity arcs towards you and they slowly drive you back the way you came. Still, you settle into a rhythm within moments, and soon, you're ready to fire back. You fire an experimental shot from each handgun in a quick one-two, only to have the sound of bullets ricocheting of metal meet your ears. You blink in surprise, and stare in amazement as you find Cass, and not Tao, standing in your bullet's path, chainsaw used like a shield.

"I've picked up a few tricks, Linda."

"... So I see."

Then, the fight begins in earnest, you finding yourself getting far more serious than you had intended. The three of you take of down the corridor, trading lightning bolts and bullets, and no matter where you place your shots, you find Cass in the way, chainsaw placed just so that your attacks are deflected away. The fight continues for minutes following that same pattern, you sliding past bolt after bolt of electricity, while the two opposing you work perfectly in tandem. Clearly, this is something they've practiced.

It's a bit like ping pong.

The thought catches you off guard for a moment, even as you burst your way into, through and out of the 16th room in your grand tour of the mansion. Still, an appropriate one. Ping pong. Albeit with bullets and lightning. You pause to consider your own points, and not that you're starting to run low. Only 14 more before you're dry. And those two across from you don't seem to be tiring out at all, at least when it comes to points. Maybe it's time for a new strategy...

>>>Input Command

Goddamn, this is beautiful. All those fights where you found yourself protecting Cass to she could cut the way forward. She's figured out how to do it the other way- cover for her partner and let them lead. She's really grown. Makes you kind of proud.

...although the fact that you're on the wrong end of the arrangement, and she's busy trying to kick your butt distracts a little from that. And you suppose you're more happy she's found someone else she's comfortable working with that you are jealous.

>bullet blocking
...does that move actually let her use weapon enviroment to apply her str to a block check? That actually gives her a faster defense than Linda. Or Chris.

>alternate plans
Not sure if the shotgun counts as cheating, and it's kind of hard to bring to bear against two opponents at once- if you got one, the other would get you before you can reload.

Ice gun cleverness, maybe? Ice conducts- can we use a clever redirect or a lightning zap to our advantage? (Ping pong becomes harder with another ball coming back at you. And if your paddle is conductive).

>When we eventually lose
The correct response is laughter, and an insufferable grin.

>14BP
From 35? Twinda cost 5, and we started with the pistols manifest. 16 reloads seems a little crazy. We must have burnt off a bunch of points active breaking stuff as part of party prep.

We're running into the weakness of Ranged Breakers-Only so much ammo before we need to reload. As Melee/Form Breakers, they can keep on fighting all day long...
Ok, sooo I've a few ideas.
We could try the Cold Magnum, and freeze Cass's Chainsaw solid so she has to remanifest the thing, and start putting bullets in Tao when she does. Alternative Cold Magnum idea is to ice the ground as we retreat, and utilize the chance as they fall on their rear. We COULD use this chance to escape, hide in a crowd, and get away from those two, as well.
Third plan, is to Remember the Fallen Cally Brooks, and see if her plasma chain-lights can fry that chainsaw Cass is using to defend with, or better yet, harrass them both with the range of that thing without needing to rely on tempo changes to alter the timing and avoid their attacks.

>a clever redirect of a lightning zap
Ie, the conductive ice-path equivalent of throwing a ball into a u-pipe. Back it goes.

>Cally form
Long metal chains! We'd be one big lightning rod.

...unless we cheated. Maybe if we broke to stack the plasma with ions charged the right way, the current would run up the chain to the rods, instead of down to us and ground. And then we could kind of crack the whip and fire lightning back from the plasma rods. (...wait, what happens if you run a huge blast of current through solid plasma?)

Assuming the physics work, that would take away his range advantage, and the chainsaw melts to plasma. They'd really have to work to get around that.

>escape, hide in a crowd
Naaah, the murderer needs to be stopped. And we don't want to play this game all night.

You holster one of your two pistols and manifest the ice magnum, firing a beam of cartoon ice at the best friends chainsaw. Let see you get out of- The burst of fire that instantly jets out to mean your ice beam quickly sends any thoughts of easily restraining that insane defense out the window, and you frown. Yeah... you can't believe you'd forgotten about that. Your momentary distraction proves to be the opportunity Tao needed, and a bolt of lightning strikes you in the chest and sets you careening into the next room. You tuck and roll to reduce the damage, and you manage to be on your feet when the momentum is finally used up. You'd managed to maintain your grasp on your weapons through out, and although the painful burns across your torso certainly aren't helping you concentrate.

The pair of them enter the room, Tao seeming to charge himself up a little more and Cass revving her chainsaw, you think just to spite you, when you hear another crash come from the opposite wall, and Chris dives through the newly made hole, ending up standing back to back with you. A group follows her in, and you quickly find yourselves surrounded. You take a look around you as well, noticing this particular room to have been turned into a bar. One of many you've seen through out the building. One person in particular catches your eye though. The man stands as the situation settles slightly, and you can't help but let yourself whistle quietly to yourself in appreciation. The man can only be described as incredibly well built, and you spot what looks like an entire array of tattoos across his left arm. Not bad looking either. If you didn't have the stigma of being forgotten almost instantly, you'd probably have gotten drunk and slept with the guy. As it is, however, he seems less concerned with what's going on around him, and more interested in the fact that Cass just entered the room.

"Hey! It's Cass! I thought you weren't planning to stop in! What was it you said?"

"...For the love of... Fuck off and die!"

"There it is! Still, I know, deep down inside, you gotta like me at least a little."

"At what point does 'Fuck off and die' mean 'I kinda like you'?"

"Well, you stopped in, didn't you? Because I remember inviting you, and you told me no, and now here you are."

"I'm not here for you, you crazy fuck!"

"Damn... got my hopes up. Anyway, if you aren't here for me, then... you must be here because of them. That's Chris there, but... who's the other one?"

"None of your business, Isaac."

"So you DO remember my name?"

"FUCK OFF AND DIE!"

The man named Isaac chuckles to himself before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. He seems to consider the pair of you and Chris, glances at the newest group, then finally at Cass and Tao. You notice his eyes narrow slightly at Tao, and he mutters something you can't quite make out under his breath before seeming to come to a decision.

"Well. I'd been hoping to simply spend some time with Cass, but... looks like I'll have to settle for helping out here."

You stare at in confusion, your mind not really keeping up with what's going on. Is he hitting on Cass? And this has been going on for awhile? You glance at Cass with an upraised eyebrow, and you can see her shy away from your eyes, looking both guilty and embarrassed. Looks like you'll have something to interrogate her about later. For now, you turn your attention back to this newest adversary, and you watch in surprise as his number, starting at 45, suddenly drops to 40. At the same time, he unholsters a large revolver, and you tense. Another gun type? You don't recognize him at all, but then, there are a lot of new people. Still, you get the sense that the moment that gun came out, his entire demeanor changed. Like he was suddenly in his element, and ready to go.

Isaac flashes on final grin, then gets down to his business. He fires an experimental shot at you, but before you can even begin to react, Chris is there, seemingly deflecting the bullet with a deft strike from her sword. The feeling of tense preparation is coming off of her like steam, and you can't help but shiver slightly. You remember your first encounter with her. She'd taken you apart with little effort. You can't help but feel sorry for anyone like you having to deal with her.

The roar of a chainsaw and crackle of electricity reminds you that there are others, including the group of... you hesitate to use the word nobodies, but that's what they effectively are. Their levels of strength are painfully low compared to everyone else here. Still, if left alone they could prove to be a problem. At least you've got an ally now.

Time to start thinking fast.

>>>Input Command

Heeey. Cass has a boy? Maybe two boys? *Grin* You are definitely giving her a hard time about that later. What kind of friend would you be if you didn't? (And you know, to be there, if she needs to actually talk about it, or some encouragement).

>Issac
A five BP revolver, huh? Stacked on some upgrades, there.

>nobodies
Well, ice is how we've dealt with them in the past. We could mix it up a little here, though.

Instead of just shooting to immobilize, we could try to stun the crowd by redirecting a lightning blast. (Ice under their feet, and make a quick spire or column of ice to catch a lightning shot). There's also the bar. Shame to waste it, but getting booze under the crowd's feet would be slippery, distracting, and conductive. (Sweep the bar with ice to have a bunch of bottles burst under the pressure? Just have Chris cut a row of bottles or a keg in half?).

>battle plan
Well, it's 3 on 2 now, but I think we can throw up ways to make it hard for Tao to bring his powers to bear without collateral damage. Chris is any gun user's nightmare... which leaves you up against Cass.

You and Chris may not have been practicing this the way Cass and Tao have, but you're both very fast and can use that to compensate, she's used to following your lead, and you've had plenty of practice with Cass backing up a melee type. See how much you can work together- she blocks for you, you cover for her. Plus, she could probably react with ice-terrain fixing better faster than you could. (Give her a surface to push off of, or run along in mid air).

Her sword makes something of a lightning rod- but that can actually be countered by firing a line of ice across the blade if and when it's hit (so the blast follows the ice to ground, rather than through the rest of the sword and her). Done right, this won't even slow her down, as her blade is sharp enough to move out of the ice like butter. (Although she could also just, well, dodge).

Just remember, you're trying to make Cass work for this, and not going down easy, but in the end, the murderers are supposed to lose.

Alright.
I'm gonna guess mister mega-gun there's got either some sweet mods (Maybe we can get ideas for the rifle?) And that it's probably best to let Chris take him on, you go for Cass, and Tao's less of a worry now-he's going to be causing massive collateral damage far moreso than the other two if he tries the lightning shooting.
Maybe we could yell orders to Tao to make it sound like he's on our side so the lesser horde and him start in-fighting!
As for Cass...Freeze her hands or her feet into place, or dodge and dance around her. If she tries to aid Tao or Issac, shoot her until her attention is back on you. Stall her as much as you can, basically, because you can't deal with that Saw without the Tank gun, and that might leave you too slow to keep out of her reach.

>yell orders
That would kind of require him to remember us, and we don't know if he does. (Besides, our actual rank doesn't matter in the terms of this game). I suppose maybe we could try the will-voice thing, but someone with weird energy powers probably has decent will.

"Chris! You deal with Isaac!"

The woman darts towards her target, blinking in front of him and cutting across with her blade. Probably because he has a lot in common with you, he manages to slide his body back just enough to avoid getting cut open, although a nasty gash appears on his stomach. He lets out a nervous laugh before getting serious again, whatever remnants of a smile he had suddenly disappearing.

"Well now. Guess the rumors about your strength weren't exaggerated."

You lose track of the pair after that, instead focusing on your own problems. A sweep of the ice magnum takes care of most of the minor people, catching their legs or feet and incasing them in the stuff. Then you turn your attention back to Cass, who's already charging you. The two of you start dancing around each other, although she doesn't have nearly the same strength as before, when she was a berserker. Instead, no matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to break her defense, although you suddenly notice that her number is steadily dropping. So, it must be a replacement for her insane killer mode from before. You'd never heard of something like that happening...

You find yourself suddenly needing to focus entirely on the fight when, out of nowhere, Tao charges in, body incased in electricity, and he joins Cass in the duel. Fighting two against one, especially with that defense of Cass', gets more and more difficult, and you find yourself glancing at Chris, hoping you might be able to get some help.

Unfortunately, you find Chris evenly matched by her opponent, if not outmatched. Unlike you, who focuses mainly on evasion, Isaac seems to be focused on counterattacks, interrupting her attacks patterns by forcing her to return to the defensive position again and again. Not only that, but instead of using the guns as his main focus, he seems to have blended it with hand to hand. An example appears as Chris goes in to make a blinding strike with her blade, only to get forced to redirect and deflect another round aimed for her head, and then only to get a knee planted in her stomach. Her uniform disperses the force, but she gets pushed back again and again. Still, she seems to be slowly settling into the rhythm of the attacks, getting ready to take him out, only for something you didn't expect to happen. Isaac seemingly discards the revolver completely and pulls out another, slightly larger gun, without his number dropping at all. The move catches Chris off guard, but unlike you, she seems to recognize the weapon, and darts behind the bar counter even as Isaac unloads the clip in her direction, tearing up the bar completely and sending alcohol everywhere. He discards that weapon as well, this time pulling out a shotgun with the same ease as before, and even as Chris starts to move again, she find herself punched in the chest as the weapon fires. She collapses against the back of the bar, looking surprised, even as Isaac pumps the weapon and shoots her again, this time, finally, "killing" her. He lets out a breath of relief, then turns to the main fight, and you, already seeing the end, decide to fuck with the lot of them.

"I surrender."

You drop your pistols with a massive, obnoxious grin on your face, and Cass, just about to take another swing at you, nearly plants her face into the ground trying to halt her momentum.

"What?"

"I surrender."

"Just like that?"

"I'm not stupid, Cass. I lost. There's no point to me dying over it. That's two murderers down. Bunch more to go, if you care to keep going."

" But... you can't just give up like that!"

"I just did. So there."

"What... THE FUCK! I WENT THROUGH ALL THAT FOR YOU JUST TO- FUCK!... Do I at least get a prize?"

"Yes Cass. You and Tao can both have one. Isaac got Chris though, so he gets that one."

"Ah... right... Isaac..."

"Hey Cass! I looked cool, right?"

"No."

"Aw! Come on! Not even a little bit?"

"NO! I'll catch you later Linda. You can find me hanging around the nearest bar if you need me. Except this one."

Cass stalks out in a foul mood, although you suspect the large amounts of beer she's about to consume are probably going to change that. Tao bows to you respectfully, then departs as well. You release the rest of the group, who all look kinda disappointed until you remind them that there are a few other murderers running about, and then you stride over to check on Chris. She up by this point, and dusting herself off. Once you've checked that she's fine and told her that she's done playing murderer for the night, she wanders off, probably to go stand by the front door as has become her custom. You start to contemplate who you should attempt to find next when your train of thought interrupted.

"Excuse me, don't mean to but in or anything but uh... hi! I'm Isaac Grimm."

You glance up to find the man called Isaac standing next to you, hand offered in greeting. He has an easy smile on his, and all the seriousness from before is completely gone. You take his hand cautiously, uncertain as how to deal with the guy, or even why he's talking with you.

"... Linda McCallahan." Not that it matters.

"Nice to meet you... so... uh... you... you're... you're friends with Cass, right?"

Ah... that would explain it. Still, thanks probably to everything you've experienced with your best friend, as well as dealing with her trauma, immediately makes you a bit defensive. You feel your eyes narrow ever so slightly as you take in the man in front of you.

"I am, why?"

"Well, uh... I was kinda... hoping... you know... you might give me some, uh... some uh... damn, this is harder than I thought. I can face down an entire UNA spec ops, but can't ask someone for advice on the girl I like..."

You blink in surprise, then smile to yourself. You're pretty sure you weren't meant to hear his muttering, but you find yourself pleased regardless. At least one person, it seems, has taken an interest in Cass for more than just her fighting skills. Still... you're not quite sure whether you want to help the guy. Maybe it's just you being possessive and clingy but...

You descend into thought as Isaac continues to stand there looking awkward and muttering to himself. It occurs to you that you know next to nothing about the man. Maybe you should question him a little first before making a decision. Then again, it might be better to send him in blind. Or more funny.

>>>Input Command

Hrrrm...
I'd like to ask him a few questions:
1-what's up with the gun cycling? That looked all kinds of cool, and as a fellow gun user, I'm kinda jealous. Personal power or just some trick you've figured out?
2. UNA spec ops? What's that all about?
3. How long have you been chasing her?
And then we'll go from there. Part of me wants to say he might be better off giving up if he's successfully managed to get on her bad side though, I guess that depends on how much he's done.

>Cass, unstoppable defense
Well, in difference circumstances we could have tried the shotgun (blocking that with a manifestation might not work so well) or just shot right through her guard with the tank-gun.

Unfortunately the shotgun's range is a little short for engaging with Cass, and we were kind of hard pressed to keep dodging Tao while weighed down with the rifle.

Really goes to drive home what a difference allies and numbers makes in a real fight.

...also, if this had been a real fight, I would have had Twinda break out her copy of our x-ray glasses and started sniping through the building at the beginning of the fight (instead of wasting BP to manifest her as a decoy) and used the opportunity to try and shotgun disable one of the two down ASAP and unload battlefield instinct.

>Chris and Isaac
You know, you could have bought her a little space by throwing a bullet or two into that. They were close enough it could have made the difference.

>Advise Isaac?
Huh. I'm unsure. My first, defensive instinct was to warn him off if he's just looking for a hookup, but then I realized I'm not sure what Cass actually needs. Would a hookup be bad for her?

How about we feel him out a little, maybe? (Offer him something obvious, and then try and get him to talk a little about himself).

Well, she's a sucker for horror, if the theme of the party didn't clue you in. And you've already got handling her charming personality down. You weren't bad back there, I know just how hard it is to stay ahead of that blade. And that was a nice trick with the guns- number didn't even change.

(I'm guessing that's a personal power? Swap out one manifestation for another without a BP cost or manifestation delay?)

I'm not sure I'd press on the spec ops right now, but following up with how long he's been after her isn't bad.

(Then, if we feel like it, maybe we can feed him something more helpful).

>next
I think after we're done with Isaac, we'd want to get a little time with Cass at that bar, before one of the boys steals her attention, or she exceeds her limited alcohol tolerance.

Then we can see about finding other ways to spend the rest of our night. Aria's waiting, and I still feel like we owe Elizabeth a small apology. (And a part of me is curious to see what she gets up to at a party like this. ....maybe the freaky friends are holding a seance or something?).

"Well, she's a sucker for horror, if the theme of the party didn't clue you in. And you've already got handling her charming personality down. You weren't bad back there, I know just how hard it is to stay ahead of that blade. And that was a nice trick with the guns- number didn't even change."

"Horror, huh? Not my thing, really, but I can do horror... maybe. As for that blade... yeah, I've had a bit more experience dealing with that sort of thing. I mean, I watched you a little, and you just kinda... do. No real training in there at all. If you want, I could show you how I fight. It might make it easier to deal with the up close and personal kind of breakers. As for my little trick... numbers?"

"Ah... I can see people's... number? I don't really know how to describe it properly, but I can tell how many times people can break reality."

"Okay... Makes sense to me. The boss can do it to, I think, although he hasn't been around much, with Sonia being pregnant and all. Or rather, they think she's pregnant? Apparently someone told them she was. I don't know. Anyway, my little trick is a personal thing. And none of those weapons were my manifested weapon either."

He smiles as you look appropriately shocked. What? How was that-?

"Don't look so surprised. It's just something I can do. I call it Arsenal. I can pull normal weapons out of nowhere, as long as I sent them there first. I can't reload them or anything, but I the more weapons I have in there, the more things I can pull out. Obviously. It goes pretty well for me. Highly adaptable and all that. I do better the more time I have to prep for things, though."

"I... see. That seems a little unfair."

"Maybe. But I can't pull off any super fancy tricks or anything. I only have one focus, and I don't really use it very much. Not really my thing."

"Well, that's a cool power regardless... you mind if I ask a personal question?"

"Sure, go ahead. Don't really have anything to hide."

"How long have you been after Cass?"

"... Wow. That was really blunt. Um... I want to say a few days now? Since she got back from her trip to wherever. I mean, I usually help out with the security forces that run around the place, so I haven't really been in the city too much recently, but that day I'd been reporting back to the boss, and I was just on my way out when I saw her. She has a bunch of people talking to her, I don't know what about, but... Well, she's one of the leaders, right? Cass, she just... when she's dealing with people, it's like she shrivels inside. That confidence I've seen her have when she's out in the training area, cutting away at her opponents, she just doesn't have it when people are trying to be friendly with her. It's like she gets vulnerable, and uncertain, and... I don't know, I just... I want to hold her. That seems kinda like I'm pitying her, and I think... maybe I was, at first. And then, I don't even remember when, or what it was, or how it happened, but I remember I said something, and instead of telling me to fuck off, or go die or whatever else, she... smiled. And... it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen... And I just want to see her smiling all the time, just like she did then. So full of life...

"It must seem odd, coming from me who's only really known her for a few days. I mean, I knew who she was before, but I never really talked to her... And damn, can she be harsh when she wants to be... But, well... I guess I'm making myself out to be some sort of sappy, overly dramatic asshole or something. Sorry, I'm talking your ear off, and we're supposed to be at a party. Want a drink?"

Isaac suddenly brightens again as he hops over the bar counter and somehow manages to find a bottle of something alcoholic from somewhere, and two glasses. He fills one up, then looks at you inquisitively, the bottle hovering over the second glass.

>Arsenal
Oh, it's a hammerspace trick. Interesting twist. Of course, that means he needs access to actual weapons and ammunition (not that that's a problem for someone in a bigger organization, especially with breaking, but would have been tricky early on).

>and you just kinda... do.
Well, that's certainly an apt description of Linda's helter skelter throw yourself one way and then the other combat style.

Picking up some actual training or technique for dodging or close in combat might be a good idea (and part of the reason we brought Sonia and Jared's guys on in the first place) sometime later.

>A drink
Pff. Now that's a great use of an arsenal.

Doesn't seem a bad guy. Those are close to a lot of our own feelings on Cass. Accept the drink, and give him a little of your time.

Just remember it's still too early to let yourself get hammered, and remember you're not here to spend all night with Cass' boy. (Maybe, if he's lucky). We still gotta see Cass before she's completely wasted (and tease her about her boy situation, and see how she feels, or if we gotta say anything. Might need some support. ...she might also want to cash in on her reward). And Aria's still waiting for us (luckily, it's only like an hour or less into a several hour party, I think). And I'm still hoping to run into 'Liz.

Linda probably shouldn't be getting drunk around this guy given her antics.

>>549945
Don't forget Linda's silly high tolerance. Unless Linda drains that bottle with him and then some, we won't be seeing drunk Linda antics just yet (...just imagine how silly they're going to be when no one will even be able to remember where they came from).

"Yeah sure. Why not?"

You find a bar stool that hasn't been turned into scraps of wood by gunfire and take a seat, accepting the drink Isaac slides your way. You take a sip, figuring once done with this one, you'll head off after Cass, but you keep an eye on Isaac, who drains the glass without hesitation and fills it up again just as quickly.

"You really need to drink that fast?"

"Don't really need to. But hey, it's a party, and I can worry about the hangover tomorrow."

"True enough, I guess. Hey, you mentioned teaching me before. I thought you went out with the security?"

"I did. I got myself moved over to training detail, mostly cause I wanted to be around Cass. Course, I think my presence just grates on her nerves. Or she's just very good at acting like she hates me. One or the other. Still, I'm hoping."

"I'd wish you luck, but I don't know how Cass feels about all this. I'm about to go check on her actually."

"Really? Well, not that it matters to me. You're her friend, you'll side with her whichever way she decides to go. Regardless, I'll take what I can get at the moment. Got any more advice you'd be willing to part with?"

"... Don't pressure her too much. She hasn't had too many healthy relationships, so even if she DOES have even a passing interest in you, she's probably not going to know what to do about it."

"... Good to know... Well, I've taken up a bit of your time, and should probably stop. I think I'll drink myself into a stupor right here, but catch me sometime later and I'll see about teaching you what I know. You might want to check with some of the other teachers as well, we all have different styles of doing things, and you might like them more than mine. I think Nigel does something more like what you do, although he's actually thinking rather than just throwing himself. Not to.... you know... degrade your style or anything."

"Don't worry about it. I've never really had any training in combat, so I've mostly been going off of instinct."

"Hey, that's a style too, in it's own way."

"Well, I'll be seeing you, Isaac."

"Sure thing."

You drain what's left in the glass, then hop off the bar stool and head out. Cass said she be in another bar near by. Shouldn't be too hard to find her. After sweeping the area, you easily find her, nursing a beer, although it looks like she was expecting you. As soon as you approach and a grin starts to spread on your face, her own frown shows she knows what's coming next.

"Soooooo... Isaac, huh?"

"Damnit..."

>>>Input Command

Well, he passes the Linda McCallahan approval test, but that's just from one meeting with him, and besides-swapping out guns without taking a hit to BP caught my attention.
But enough about him! How are YOU doing Cass?

Start off with some light teasing and an insufferable grin , take whatever shit she throws at you in response, and then see if you can get her to tell you how she's actually feeling. Tailor your response based on how she's actually feeling.

Basic idea is to be supportive and encouraging, whichever way she wants to take it. He doesn't seem like a jerk (and maybe even interested for the right reasons), and he's hot, but she doesn't need to do anything she's not comfortable with. I assume she's going to be somewhat confused and unsure how she's supposed to feel, and maybe talking to Linda will help un-muddle that. More helping her understand or accept how she feels than telling her how or what to.

(It's hard to say what's right for her until we get inside her head a little, but regardless of how she ends up dealing with Isaac (or Tao) I'd like to at least make her okay with being comfortable with someone, at some point. Elizabeth did say this would be a turning point for her, and it would be sad to let intimacy close off as an option for her).

>possible teasing material
When were you going to tell me you might have a boy? Or two. I'm not sure who to be jealous of, here.

"When were you going to tell me you had a boy? Or two. I'm not quite sure who to be jealous over right now."

"I just... I hadn't really... I never got the... Wait... TWO? Isaac I get, but... who's the second?"

"Tao!"

"Tao? He's more like a teacher in my opinion. I mean, sure we get along, but I don't think of him like that, and I'm pretty sure he's more worried about getting the breakers from China over here."

"Alright. Fair enough. That's just leaves Isaac~"

"Oh god..."

"Come on! Spill!"

"Get the damn grin off your face. It's annoying. And there's nothing to tell!"

"Riiiiiiiight... That's not what I hear from the other side."

"Of course you would've talked to him first. Look, just leave me alone about it, alright?"

"Nope. Leaving you to stew in it isn't going to help anything. Come on, Cass. We both know you're confused about this whole thing. And teasing aside, I'm here for you, even if all you need is someone to listen to you rant. Besides, he's HOT. You got to give him that."

"... I make no comments."

"So you did notice?"

"How can I not notice? I mean, I'm still a woman, damn it. And yeah, my love life isn't exactly what one would call stellar, but fuck, I'm not blind!"

You settle into a chair, already seeing the beginnings of one of Cass' rants. You wave the bartender to give you something to sip on as you listen, then turn your full attention to your friend, already guessing that a lot of this is going to sound redundant.

"Fuck, he comes up to me one day, don't even know the guy, and introduces himself. I figure, what the hell, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, right? Can't hurt to at least be a little friendly, shake his hand, give him my name. Nothing really all that dramatic or anything. Next day, guy starts trying to flirt with me. He's not even awkward about it or anything. No lead up. Just bam! Right there, in my face, nice and blatant. And I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with that. Hell, I barely no the guy! So I say, fuck it, I'm done already, let's back out while we still can. Then, fucking hell, the next day the guy shows up again anyway, happy as you please, and doesn't look the least bit put off by conversation the day before. And I still have no fucking idea what to do. Tao showing up helped a little, he stays away when Tao's around, but... fuck, Linda, I don't think I'm ready for any of this intimate bullshit. I can barely call myself ready to deal with sorta leading sometimes, and I hate doing that. Part of me thinks I'm never gonna be ready to deal with someone like Isaac."

"... But you admit he's hot, right?"

"For the love of- YES, Linda, if it makes you happy, I will admit I think he's hot! Fuck! Is that all you can think about!?"

"No. But you must have more on your mind than just that. Come on, Cass. Spilling it all now will make you feel better."

"... Shit, Linda. You know me way too well... I... I... guess... I sorta like Isaac. He doesn't seem to care... about me being... so stand-offish. He doesn't seem to care that I'm crude with words, or... generally not pleasant to be around... And hell, I know I'm not pleasant to be around for a lot of people. The inner circle knows me, and takes my words with a grain of salt, but the rest, they don't take to me too well. For the most part anyway, there's a few here and there. Isaac... is one of em. He just... ignores it, for the most part. Treats it like it isn't there... And I just don't know what to think, or do, or... feel... or even how I would go about figuring it out... I guess the scars dear old 'Dad' left behind are still there. Just dug in deeper than I thought.

"Kinda annoying, in it's own way. I tell him to fuck off, and he gives me that damn grin, same one you do sometimes, that tells me he knows I'm bullshitting, and keeps right on going. Fuck, you two are similar...

"And no, that does not mean I secretly want to sleep with you, Linda."

"Aw. That's a shame."

"How is that a- Wait... seriously?"

You flash her that insufferable grin you've perfected, and steadfastly refuse to answer the question, even as Cass proceeds to try to pry an answer out of you. Unfortunately for her, you've had tons of practice infuriating her over the past few months, and can practically do it in your sleep. Which gives you the opportunity to think on how you want to advise your friend.

>>>Input Command

>similar / don't want to secretly sleep with you / shame / seriously
Pfff-haha. Good work setting that one up for us, Cass. That was perfect. I wanted to tease her on that, but didn't know how to word it.

>Tao
Oh, so Isaac was glaring over him for blocking, not for being the competition.

>Advise
Well, if you sort of like him, and that he sees past the gruff exterior and treats you like you... that's good, right? Enough not to push him completely away, anyways. Don't worry about anything you're not ready for or comfortable with. Nothing says you have to go there, and it's not a race. Your head will sort itself out eventually.

I mean, maybe you confused him a little with the mixed messages, but there are plenty of ways to put on the breaks, or take things at your own pace. If he was willing to weather your abuse, he's probably willing to wait. And if he's not, well, that's his loss.

tl;dr- Basically we're trying to tell her it's okay if she likes him but doesn't know what to do about that. She's allowed to take things slow or put up boundaries. She's hardly the first person coming off a bad situation who needs a little time and space to come to terms with her own feelings. And hopefully, he'll get that. Especially since we warned him.

...feel free to rework and not quote me exactly on this stuff. Tricky dialog.

>Of course you would've talked to him first
...and for what it's worth he talked to me first. Someone was all nervous trying to ask about a certain girl he liked.

"Cass, if you sort of like him, and he sees past the gruff exterior and treats you like a normal person... that's good, right? Enough not to push him completely away, anyways. Don't worry about anything you're not ready for or comfortable with. Nothing says you have to go there, and it's not a race. Your head will sort itself out eventually. I mean, maybe you confused him a little with the mixed messages, but there are plenty of ways to put on the breaks, or take things at your own pace. If he was willing to weather your abuse, he's probably willing to wait. And if he's not, well, that's his loss. Besides, I don't think he's any more secure than you are. After all, a certain somebody came to me, nervous and anxious to the extreme, to ask for advice about the girl he likes."

"... Seriously?"

"I'm serious Cass. Don't worry so much. Take it as slow as you need. He'll either wait, or he won't. I have a feeling, though, that'll he'll stick around awhile... Well, I think I'll leave you to think and/or get smashed. I'll talk to you later. You haven't seen Elizabeth around, have you?"

"No, the littler space cadet it god knows where. I would say in her room, but that doesn't exactly exist at the moment. I'll catch you later, Linda."

"See you around."

You head off, disappearing into the crowds of people once again. A good half-hour of wandering and you are no closer to finding your errant daughter than you were before. As you come to a close in your search, however, you do stumble upon a small dance hall, a band happily playing whatever anyone asks them to. Now it seems to be a gentle jazz routine, and most everyone is gently swaying to the beat. Those that aren't populate the seats that are placed along the walls, and it's here you spot another person you'd hoped to run into. Aria is currently in conversation with a few other people, smiling politely although you can see she is entirely uninterested in the conversation. Her eyes light up, however, when she spots you, and she breaks off her conversation as you approach.

"Good evening, Ms. McCallahan. Enjoying yourself?"

"For the most part. I think I might have just helped my friend maybe get on the track to getting a boyfriend, but we'll see."

"Really? We're talking about Miss Geld, I would presume, and her most prominent suitor, Mister Grimm. I doubt she's even noticed the others at all. Regardless, I doubt that's what you are here for. How can I help you, Ms. McCallahan?"

"Help? Oh. Yeah, I do seem to go to you a lot, don't I?"

"I take that as a compliment, Ms. McCallahan. It means you trust me enough to come to me directly when you need help. Still, I agree, you do seem to come to me quite a bit."

"Well, nothing tonight. I came to repay those favors you did for me. I don't want to seem ungrateful."

"You've never seemed ungrateful, Ms. McCallahan. At least, not in my eyes."

"... I see..."

"I apologize. I must be putting you in an awkward position. Allow me to correct myself. Please, sit. Enjoy the atmosphere. The night is still long from ending, and the party in full swing."

"Right... right..."

You take a seat, taking a long breath in to relax yourself, and order something from the bartender that's only mildly alcoholic. You still have things you want to do tonight, after all, and you aren't sure getting drunk would help that at all. On top of all that, you don't think being drunk when you are trying to repay Aria is a good thing. Which brings your thoughts back around to the other woman.

Maybe because you have been around her a lot more, but you've begun to pick up on some thing you weren't really noticing before. The most prominent is that even with you, she's extremely polite. You've never heard her use someone's first name for anything, unless referring to them while talking with someone else. And you never really heard her talk about anyone with real anger in her voice, except with Raul. Another thing you find yourself noting, after reviewing your meetings with her in your head, is that she doesn't ever talk about herself. When asked directly, she almost always answers something bland, then redirects the conversation away from herself.

You get the feeling like she almost doesn't expect to be around for long. You're not sure how you feel about the attitude, but something tells you that she's always like that, with everybody.

Well, this is supposed to be repayment, not you sitting her silently. Maybe you should ask her something now. Or come up with something to do.

>>>Input Command

Hrrm...Perhaps a more in-depth discussion about things she finds interesting?
I suspect she's kinda the 'thrill seeker' type, and doesn't want to sit around being bored, but wants to live a really fast-paced life.
The issue with that and Linda, is that she has this breaker group to oversee, as well as the bigger issue that should Linda disconnect with this group she disconnects for good-Reality would happily make everyone forget about her, in time-it's a one-way trip, doing that.
Then again, there IS something potential interesting we've found-a cure, of sorts, for Nonexistance- if we find a foci and tune it and give it to another breaker, they can remember us completely, according to Doc...
Hopefully that works with you, seeing as you're an Avatar type...On that note...What does Golem look like when it's not activated?

This formal repayment thing is getting silly. Aria's right that when we come to ask things of her, it means we trust her. And while we're grateful, she doesn't need to earn time with us. We'd be happy to spend time with her, it's just running this place gets our attention way more divided than we would like. And I appreciate her patience in that regard, at least. (C'mon, if we don't attempt to brush off a little of the formality, or at least turn it into something more playful, this is never gonna work).

Sorry that the last favor proved to be uneventful. I guess I read into there being more than there was. (Sometimes it's a hard guessing game, with Elizabeth).

>ask her something?
Could I ask... what were you after, way back when you first asked me to spy on Marc? If she expresses any surprise as to why we're asking that after all this time- well there's some part of me that still wonders how much of what he told me was a lie. If he ever believed in the cause and lost himself, or if it was all an act. It's the kind of thing that occurs to you now that you sit atop the ivory tower, and reality does it's best to isolate you.

That, and it was sort of the start of a lot of everything. That meeting is why Aria's here now. It was our first hint not to trust him. She pointed in the direction that lead to us finding Elizabeth, which lead to coming to this city to keep her safe, and then everything after. You unintentionally had quite the impact on the arc of my life. And I still don't quite know what it was about.

(First part is a bit of a downer, but it lets Linda open up a little to her. The second part is more positive, and it does kind of interestedly tie them together).

Something else I'd sort of like to bring up, if she doesn't mind a personal question, is Golem. I don't think we've gotten to know any other avatar user without, well, their avatar making it clear what they thought of us. Amelia displayed distrust and jealously that grew to hate, Leviathan had a respect that's grown into a kind of debt of loyalty out of gratitude for getting him back to Michele and/or to atone for killing Elizabeth. Golem... hasn't shown any interest, despite your getting closer to me. I don't think you even mention him, on purpose.

(Actually, does Linda even know his name is Golem? We know from the wiki and descriptions of events, but I'm not sure Aria's even said his name aloud).

Or, oh! We could ask her what's up with the child form. That's more a fun topic. (Best possible outcome, it results in Aria trying to show Linda how to do it, and some silly antics).

>something to do
We could always ask her to dance. See what the two of you can manage when there's not lightning being thrown at your head.

>>550259
I wouldn't bring up the possibility of the forget me not foci until we're actually ready to hand them out. (Pity we haven't won any XP in a while, we could only tune 2, right now).

Although it does sort of raise the interesting question- she's all right getting to know someone she may forget about completely, some day? We're kind of unintentionally holding her memories hostage. Be kind of interesting to see what she's thought of that before letting her know about our possible solution - up to this point she's had to have thought it's all or nothing, and she knows that she's likely going to leave, eventually.

>We could always ask her to dance.
This, but in the cheesiest possible "Well, there is something I came to ask you for" way.

There's silence for a few minutes more as you organize your thoughts, but before you finally decide to ask her about something, you figure you could do with something more party-like before discussing things with her. So, after downing the alcohol, since you rather not leave it there, you turn to your companion.

"You know, Aria, there IS something I kinda needed your help with..."

"Anything for you, Ms. McCallahan. How can I be of service?"

"Well, you could dance with me."

Aria looks surprised for a moment, then laughs happily. She stands and offers her hand to you, a pleased smile on her face.

"Of course, Ms. McCallahan. It would be my pleasure."

The two of you head out onto the dance floor, and while you get a few confused looks(mostly due to the various people around you wondering who the hell Aria was dancing with) you ignore them, in favor of the fact that Aria has started leading you in a slow dance that goes along with the music, gently swaying both your bodies with the rhythm. A few minutes pass of silence, and then you decide to start talking, mostly because you're feeling a bit uncomfortable with the silence.

"Aria?"

"Hm?"

"Could I ask... about what you were after when you first asked me to spy on Marc?"

"I would hardly call it spying, Miss McCallahan. I simply wanted you to observe. But... I don't believe I understand the question. What exactly are you trying to understand?"

"Well... I just want to know if everything Marc told me was a lie. Did he ever believe in what he was saying, or was he just acting? It's... the kind of thing I find myself thinking about now that I'm the leader of this group."

"... Ms. McCallahan, I never had a very high opinion of Conner's methods. He was ruthless at pursuing what it was he desired, and uncaring of other people's opinions of him. And that was before he became a breaker. But... his end goals were always for the betterment of humanity. I don't know if you've ever taken a look at the companies he controlled, really taken a look, but most of them have some part of them devoted to humanitarian efforts. He wasn't a bad person at heart, back then, and I believe that some part of him still believed in safeguarding other breakers. Still, that avatar of his did not help his outlook at all."

"... So you think he actually did believe in what he was doing?"

"At some point, yes. Yes, I believe he did desire to help others. When it was he lost that, I can't say."

"I see."

"You really must stop thinking about such depressing things, Ms. McCallahan. Today is a party, isn't it?"

"You're right. You're right. Still, I can't help but think about it with you around."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're the one that lead me to Elizabeth, which lead to me coming here, which lead to me doing... all of this. It's safe to say that you are the person who lead to me becoming what I am today."

"... I'm not quite sure if that was a compliment or not, given what you are."

"It's a compliment, Aria. I don't regret the things I've done. Not yet anyway."

"Than I shall simply say, you're welcome."

"Than I should say thanks. Anyway, I should probably focus on other topics. Like about your avatar-"

"Golem."

"What?"

"Golem. His name his Golem."

"... Golem than. I haven't heard his opinion on any of this."

"And you won't either."

"Why?"

"... We are starting to get into a topic I don't particularly enjoy talking about... follow me."

Aria suddenly disconnects from you striding purposefully towards an exit. She still keeps a pleasant smile on her face, probably a facade for those around you, but you can sense she's... unhappy. Still, you follow the other woman out, and through a series of other rooms, pausing only so she can say some passing remark to someone she knows, or for her to seemingly check the route. Soon enough, however, you find yourself on a balcony, secluded from the rest of the mansion thanks in part to the rather boring nature of the rooms surrounding it.

"Here we go. We should have some privacy here."

"Uh... Aria, if you don't want to talk about it-"

"Ms. McCallahan. I've told you that I won't drag you down the rabbit hole unless you invite me to. I intend to keep my promise. Still, you're getting dangerously close to that rabbit hole, and I'd rather like to make sure you are aware of what you are getting into."

Aria find a chair from somewhere and sits offering you one opposite her. You take it, expecting another long conversation. And you don't find yourself disappointed.

"Golem... my avatar. A companion. A friend. A ally. A servant. And a leash."

"Leash?"

"To understand that, I'm going to have to go into my family history a little bit. Now, I doubt you know, but the Galliana family is of noble origins. Have been for a long time. I don't remember exactly when or why, but that is beside the point. My father, mother, two brothers, all of them believe strongly in traditions. Noble blood begets noble blood and all that. And that one should always act properly. I don't hold myself to that. I've never been one to put much stock in traditions. Of course, my family, being who they are, don't particularly care. My brother will inherit all the riches and properties, but as for me... I'm expected to marry to the benefit of the family. Honestly, not something I'm looking forward to, but in my own way, I'm well aware of my responsibilities. These little adventures are my way of living my own life, at least until father calls me back. And in my own, twisted, broken way, I created my own reminder of that."

Her avatar is suddenly behind her, silent and imposing. A leash and a friend, all in one.

"Still, I don't resent my family or what is expected of me. I have accepted my fate ever since I could understand what I was destined for. I just hope to live my own way until it's required that I live for someone else. Or at least, see as many interesting and amusing things as possible in the time I have for myself. Not that my parents actually realize I'm off fighting against evil organizations. They think I'm touring the world in search of the finest teas... or was it china?"

>>>Input Command

>Marc believed
Hmm. Hard to say if that's more encouraging or discouraging. On the one hand, it means we weren't completely snookered trusting him. On the other, it's a grim warning for ourselves. And we have no idea when it was too late. If we could have said or done something to get through to him but missed our chance, or if he crossed his Rubicon before we even met him.

Oh well. Aria's right, we shouldn't dwell.

>the rabbit hole
Jeeze. Another mirrored injury. She's compelled to fill a role you were denied. That doesn't sting... much. (Interesting the effect it has on motives, though- yours drove you to be a protector, hers, to get out there and experience what she can).

Although that in and of itself doesn't explain Golem's aloofness. He doesn't involve himself, or care, because we're irreverent to the outcome?

...we could also make a joke to try and break the tension. I can think of any number of reasons why we wouldn't meet her family's standards (American, lower class, nouveau riche, sterile, female, and oh yeah, nonexistent).

Also: interesting thought. If Aria did get a new avy the way Michelle did- would it be another leash, or something pulling in opposition?

>response
I can't decide what or who is important to you. If or when you decide you have to leave, I won't stop you. I won't even hold your memory of me hostage, if I can help it.

But, if you ever change your mind, or stop being so accepting of it, well, let's just say I'm not such a big fan of leashes. Even the ones we make ourselves. It wouldn't be the first time I've helped someone slip a leash (Cally, Cass, us with Conner, Raphael, Levi, the Warden...), or grabbed one away from someone else (we leashed Cass until we could set her free, and we still hold Chris'). Or even the first I've changed fate.

(Watch yourself. That might get Golem's attention).

Not going to sell it much harder than that (though I could) because I don't want her to take offense at being pressured, or us assuming her choices are wrong. Although if she does ask about the changing fate bit, we can go into more detail. I don't think we ever actually told her how we ended up nonexistant. (That night I called you, the night I turned against Conner. Elizabeth was supposed to die. Reality said so. She saw it. It happened- he killed her. And then I made it not happen. It's not my choice here, but I think you might be surprised just how much we can change, if you want it enough, or are willing to pay the price).

Another Observer Linda McCallahan 2013/12/03(Tue)08:42 No. 550621 ID: d77784
File 138608897851.jpg - (161.99KB , 1000x1226 , xxi3.jpg )

"I can't decide what or who is important to you. If or when you decide you have to leave, I won't stop you. I won't even hold your memory of me hostage, if I can help it. But, if you ever change your mind, or stop being so accepting of it, well, let's just say I'm not such a big fan of leashes. Even the ones we make ourselves. It wouldn't be the first time I've helped someone slip a leash, or grabbed one away from someone else. Or even the first time I've changed fate.

"Not that I'm trying to pressure your or anything. Or force my own opinion on you. It just seems wrong to me, to be constrained by what other people want you to do. Everyone should have the right to choose their own path. Ah... Now it does sound like I'm forcing my opinion on you. I'll stop now."

Aria is silent, a look of quiet thought on her face. She seems to be lost in her own mind, and you sit with her for a few minutes before starting to consider that maybe you should move on and leave her on her own. Just as you start to think about leaving, however, Aria stirs from her thoughts and refocuses on you, a gentle smile returning to her face.

"I... see. My own choice, was it? Well, if I ever feel the need to break away from my fate, I'll be sure to come calling, Ms. McCallahan. Still, I think I've used up enough of your time tonight, and I doubt we'll have much more fun just between us to. I'll let you go now. Ah... if you're going about your usual habit of finding every person you can, I do believe your little seer is upstairs in the attic, avoiding all the commotion. The last time I bumped into her she didn't seem all that pleased with all the noise."

"Thanks Aria. Just remember. If you ever need me..."

"I'll be sure to go to you first thing."

"Alright. See you later, Aria."

"A goodnight to you as well, Ms. McCallahan."

You stand and head off, offering the other woman a wave in farewell before you start another tiresome journey upwards. It takes much longer than you thought it would, in no way helped by all the people who are steadily getting even more drunk. You spot Nicole in one room, already completely smashed and brawling it out in some kind of makeshift arena. Cass is spotted as well, not nearly as drunk as you expected, although you get the impression that she's deliberately keeping herself out of the groups of people around her. Probably thinking about what you said before. Still, eventually you make it to the much quieter upper floors, and then soon after, you find your way into the "attic". The room is mostly just a few tables and chairs scattered around, and there really isn't anyone around. Still, a quick search reveals you daughter to be hiding herself away in a corner, and she turns as you approach, cocking her head curiously.

"...Mother."

The words catch you off guard, and you stare in surprise a moment. She simply waits patiently as your thoughts catch up, and you find yourself smiling happily, wrapping your arms around the girl and hugging her close to you. This feeling. You're never going to get over this feeling.

"Mother... I can't... breath..."

"Ah! Sorry, Liz. Didn't mean to. Don't like the party much, huh?"

"Much too... noisy..."

"I know. Still, doesn't explain what you're doing up here."

"Waiting."

"... Waiting?"

"Yes."

"For what exactly?"

"For you."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because they wish to see you."

Elizabeth's eye flashes with light, and then you suddenly SEE. Around you, what was once empty and devoid of life is filled with those tendrils of glowing threads. Still, what surprises you most is that seated in a chair next to your daughter is what appears to be an old man, of african descent, strumming a banjo wordlessly. He glances up at you a moment, nods his head in acknowledgment, then continues his task without comment. You continue staring in surprise, before you hear Elizabeth break into your thoughts.

"Angel. Sit."

You sit as instructed, your mind wrapping around what's going on, and then you get angry. You get very angry. You told Elizabeth to tell these types to keep their noses out of your business. And here one was, putting its nose where it wasn't wanted.

"What the hell are you doing he-"

"Wait."

The words weigh on you like a truck, and you feel yourself silenced. This ones strength of will far outmatched yours, but he keeps strumming away wordlessly. After a minute, he pauses, then turns to you, eyes simply staring at you. No, at something behind you.

"Is true then. I can't see you at all. I know you're there. Can feel where you'se supposed to be. But can't see you. Can't hear you. Can't touch or taste or smell you neither. Funny feeling, that. Still, I aim to talk to you, before the other say their pieces and start doing things they'll regret. Cause I ain't got a doubt, they start mixing themselves up in all this, and you'll make em regret getting near you. Now, you will to hear me out, little miss, or you just gonna spring off the handle and tell me you ain't got no time for ol'Jack?"

You glance at Elizabeth, who simply shrugs. She has no advice, only here to facilitate the process. The Observer notices her shrug, though, and quirks his eye in question.

"She is hearin me, ain't she?"

"Yes."

"Good. She listens to me, an I'll answer a few questions that I can answer. That seems a fair trade to me. You let her ask her questions first. I'm gonna keep right on with my weaving, if she don't mind much."

The old man begins to strum his banjo again, this time humming along, although you get the feeling now that simply playing isn't all he's doing. Still, Elizabeth is staring at you intently now, waiting patiently for you to get over your shock and say something.

>>>Input Command

>Aria
...kinda not sure how to read that reaction. I'm not sure if that pushed her away, or not. It certainly gave her something to think about.

>Observer
Well. On the one hand, they're in our business. On the other, I much prefer them coming forth and talking to you to trying to manipulate you behind your back, or through your daughter. This is an improvement.

Honestly, it looks like the warning had the desired effect.

Questions:

What do I call you, then?

Are you the one who came after my daughter? (He'll probably say no). If anything comes up about her being 'supposed' to be dead- no, she isn't. It wasn't reality's 'plan'. She only died because one of you, from outside, interfered. The Warden stepped inside reality without realizing what the consequences would be. I forgave her that. But I will not forgive any of you trying to make us pay for one of your mistakes. I already paid enough, correcting it. (We lost a friend, and a part of ourself).

(There's also the fact she's the reason you are nonexistent. Perhaps the reason you're useful to them).

Ask what it is they want of you. You know enough that you factor into their plans, somehow. I just gave my opinion on leashes. And I'm done serving masters of unknown plans. If you want my help- I want to know what you want of me. Give me something to trust.

...speaking of which, I don't much appreciate my daughter being forced into whatever an agreement in exchange for her life. What she chooses to help with or agree to is her business, but I won't have her bound, or forced, or used to try and control me. (Tricky bit here- trying to tell them off and protect her while not belittling her choice. Elizabeth is mature enough to make her own decisions, and Nicole is right that we should trust her more).

tl;dr- the terms for our (possible) cooperation are trust and information. No more manipulation.

There's also the question of what part the tears play in this. Jean obviously knew of the Observers, and had plans regarding them. And the question of what tears are. (Did they start out normal? Can people break as well as tear, or are they something else?).

And since we want information, yes, obviously you should listen to what he has to tell you when he goes to tell you.

>is Elizabeth a...?
Don't ask this one. Because, honestly, it doesn't matter. She's Elizabeth, she's your daughter, regardless of any seeds of doubt Jean may have tried to plant.

...I still think we owe her a small apology when we're done. I'm sorry. I should trust you more, but I worry, and that gets in the way.

Sooo Banjo man. I'd personally more like a friend, not an enemy, but that Marc jerk kinda burnt me pretty badly. All the worse thanks to your Warden's interferance. Cost me a friend, and my ability to be remembered.
Sooo I'm not friendly to you guys because of that. Was it a mistake? Yes. But at the same time it hurts. Doesn't help that you came after Elizabeth just to 'correct' something that SHOULD have happened, if only because you interfered-if it was just Marc with Leviathan, we might have not had such bad losses.
Now, I'm willing to look beyond that and work with you guys-I don't like the thought of Reality getting damaged worse than it already is. At the same time, I do not need more cloak and dagger crap. Be open with me and I'll do the same. Ooooor you can attack me and I'll shot you until you die or break or whatever it is gaurdians of reality do when killed.

He already seems to know we mean business, and we can't give him a telling-off directly anyway. Better cut the the chase of who he is and what he wants before flying off the handle.

>>550635
Woah, yeah, that's too much anger, and not enough questions. I'm all for letting them know how unhappy we are with they handled Elizabeth, but I want Linda in control, making a bargain, setting terms on how they deal with us, not blowing up at him. Simmering maybe, when touching on certain things, but not blowing up.

I mean, he did heed our warning, and approached us openly and directly. That's a big improvement around sneaking around and trying to manipulate us.

"What do I call you then?"

You figure you'd like something to refer to him by. You're not quite sure how well this is going to work, but even as you speak, Elizabeth is quietly repeating your question, and the Observer seems to catch everything she's saying, even over his own music playing.

"Hm. I suppose ya could call me Ol'Jack, if ya really want a name. I've got others to. Picked up here and there. But Ol'Jack'll suit me just fine."

"Are you the one that came after my daughter?"

"Nope. Ain't done nothing like that. Us Observers, we all got the same end goal, but our methods always differ, and some us just can't stand not meddling with things. I'm a part of a rather small group that just wants to leave ya alone. You'll do what ya do, and everything'll work out in the end. Still, most don't believe that. So they got me to come here an ask ya not to murder them the minute the stick their noses in your business. But I honestly don't care what ya do with them. What I want ya to do is be weary. The world is changing fast, and reality is gettin pulled right along with it. And no matter who ya ask, everyone thinks yer at the center of it."]]

"So... what is it you actually want, then?"

"For me? Nothin. Just do what you want to do. Others though... there are three factions in my opinion. The first is mine, we just want to leave ya to yer tasks. You'll fix things on yer own. The second wants to work with ya, or manipulate ya. Whichever it can. Most want to manipulate, but they're losing ground quickly. Seems yer warning was received and understood. The last wants to be rid of ya. Don't like the fact they can't observe you. Don't like the fact they can't watch ya and know ya. Be careful of them."

You pause in your questions to take in this new information. So the Observers were just as divided as any normal group of humans. How... expected. Still, it was at least good to know where you stood. For the most part.

"... And what about these tears? Where do they stand?"

The Observer's eyes narrow dangerously, and there's a snap as one of the strings on his instrument snaps. He glances at it for a moment, then sighs and places the instrument to the side.

"Tears. Tears are... an anomaly. Anathema to reality. They consume and feast upon the torn threads they create, growing stronger as they do. The are the opposite of breakers, observers, of reality itself. What they desire I cannot say, and what they truly are I can only guess at."

As he was speaking, the observer's appearance shifted from it's original to someone even older and more tired. He sighs before standing, looking slightly ill.

"I've drawn the attention of one, it seems. I'll be taking my leave before it gets here. If it gets here. Little One, I'll be coming by next week, as planned, to continue to show you what I know. Try not to let the Hunter affect you too much."

"I understand."

"Good. Goodbye... Angel, was it? We shall not meet again."

The Observer disappears from your sight, and you frown as his last words hit you.

"Teach?"

"Must learn to understand, to manipulate. No one better than Observer."

"Is that what you agreed to?"

"No."

"... Well fuck... So... anyone else want to talk to me now?"

"No. But you have questions I might be able to answer. Or we can do... Mother/Daughter things..."

Elizabeth looks a little uncertain, and embarrassed, but you also note that she seems more lucid than she had before. You find yourself smiling at that, even as you ponder what she meant.

>>>Input Command

Sooo Observers and Tears...
Any good way to deal with a Tear that you've been told?
Observers-they all SEEM human enough, but they're not right?
Are they in any way simmilar to Tears?
Anything about them I should notice aside from the fact I'm like a ghost to them?
Have they told you anything about how Breaking interacts with Reality?

The answer to her question is obviously both.

>answers through Elizabeth.
That's interesting. He couldn't perceive you at all. The Warden could (because you met outside, or in your mind, or in a dream? Or because that was right when it started?).

>you'll make em regret getting near you
>ask ya not to murder them the minute the stick their noses in your business
Okay, that may be the most interesting bit of information we picked up in that exchange.

He just told us we can murder Observers who get in our business.

Up till now, we didn't strictly know that was an option. I knew we could oppose them by not doing what they wanted, or by opposing their ends. I suspected we could find a way to bring a tear to bear if we really had to (the Observers have been shown to fear them). But power to hurt or kill them ourselves? That's new.

In general though, I approve the sentiment. If they're willing to do us the courtesy of approaching us openly when they need to, we're willing not to shoot them out of hand.

>teaching
...I suppose that's a good thing. She needs every advantage she can get, especially with the Hunter trying to use her.

Just be careful, okay? I know you won't tell me the terms, but a deal is only good so long as you believe it to be. Don't let him force you into anything you really don't want. And I'll be here if you need help.

>But you have questions I might be able to answer.
...is there something you wanted me to ask? (Half serious- laughing to yourself about trying to game like that, but honest in that she sort of seems to want to tell us something).

We could confirm what Jack told us. If one of them comes after us, or after her, we can murder em?

In light of how human the Observers are seeming (factions? Squabbling? Mortal?) asking if they start as normals doesn't seem so crazy. Ditto for tears.

I don't suppose she knows why we're so important to everybody and everything? And now her too. Every side wants a piece.

...there's also still Jacob. I still kind of want to know if he's actually a danger to her. Still trying to figure out what to do with him, but we're help back by her reaction to him, and worrying what might happen if their powers crossed wires.

>Or we can do... Mother/Daughter things...
*Slow smile* What did you have in mind?

>>550709
Having it both ways™, a recurring character trait, and now an official trademark of Lindacorp (or it would be, if we didn't have all our holding distributed and buried in layers of shell companies to hide from the government hunting us).

Also, just in case we're getting near the end of the party updates here: remember that you have to ambush Cass with cake and signing before the night is over. :V We haven't even said happy birthday yet!

(nothing wrong with getting her near the end, so she thinks she ducked the embarrassment).

"... Is there something you wanted me to ask?"

You say that half-joking, not really expecting any real response, or for your daughter to brush it off. What you get instead surprises you.

"Yes."

"... Excuse me?"

"You are excused."

"... O... k... um... something you want me to ask... Do... do Observers and Tears start as normal people?"

"Observers, some. Tears, no."

"Alright... uh... um... Why am I so important to everybody?"

"You are unknown factor. Can't see, therefore can't guess what your actions will be. If your actions can be manipulated or assured in some way, then makes future actions more likely to work."

"So, what, they want to use me to further there own aims? Easy as that?"

"Yes."

"Well then, what the hell do they want?"

"Now that, Mother, is a good question. The observers are missing an important piece, due to the Demon."

"A piece?"

"They need a new Seamstress."

"Wait. Hold on, they want a what?"

"A Seamstress."

"You mean like... makes clothes and stuff?"

"No. Weaves reality."

"... I see..."

"Questions done. Bored."

"Wha- Hey!"

"Mother-Daughter things now. It's a party, isn't it?"

For a moment, you catch a flash of lucidity in your daughters manners, and she actually displays the emotion of impatience. You find yourself smiling to yourself, even as you sigh at her for moving on without you. Well, that's the way it is.

"Alright. Let's go. I'll hang out with you as much as you like tonight. Oh! But first we gotta ambush Cass. We need to break out the cake and embarrass her by singing happy birthday!"

"I like cake."

"You'll get some, don't worry."

The pair of you head downstairs, but at the same time, you can't help but glance back into the empty room one more time. A Seamstress, huh? Now who would they want to do that...

It's been three months since the party, and by now, the entire organization has finally settled and gotten into a clockwork habit. You usually find yourself doing paperwork or helping out with training, even participating a bit yourself, now that Isaac is around. He's shown you a couple of his tricks, like using counters to put yourself in a better position instead of just dodging all the time, and you've taken to it quickly. You've also watched with no small amount of amusement as Isaac hits on Cass every chance he gets, and instead of completely shutting him out, your best friend actually attempts, rather horribly, to flirt back. Giving the guy a chance, it seems. Isaac seems perfectly thrilled, regardless of how bad she is at the actual flirting part, while you can barely keep yourself from laughing while the two do their odd little dance, although you don't pull any punches when making fun of her for it later.

Nicole is quickly being seen as the go between for you and the rest of the organization. Still, because of her duties, she's frequently making sure your orders are being carried out. Surprisingly, someone else steps in to take over as your immediate secretary. Aria seems to enjoy the her new task immensely, and while she's careful to keep herself business oriented while at work, that hasn't stopped you from spending some of your spare time with her. Little seems to have changed in how she acts around you, but her avatar, Golem, is starting to make this odd rumbling noise in whenever you come into view. You can't say it doesn't unsettle you.

Everything else remains business as usual, and that's what you expect on this particular day, when you are just sitting down in the morning to get some more paperwork done. Aria should be coming in at any moment, which is why you're surprised when Cass crashes in, looking concerned.

"Hey, Linda. You need to see this."

You follow your friend into the living room area, and are directed towards the TV, which is showing some sort of presidential address. You vaguely remember who the president is, another guy with a military hard-on, like most of the presidents. Still, you watch out of consideration for your friend, and with growing concern as the words being spoken start to hit you.

"-nswer any questions you all have to the best of my ability."

"Mr. President, are these so called 'Breakers' dangerous to the general population?"

"Based on the initial findings by the government, we believe so. We urge the public to report anything odd or suspicious as soon as possible, and to stay calm. The government has already put in place a new Division to deal with the growing threat. Again, we urge everyone to remain cal="

You tune out the rest of it, mind going into shock. That... wasn't good. Wasn't good at all. If the government was getting involved...

"Linda... that the crazy bastard, isn't it?"

You glance back up at the TV, and you spot the one person you really wish you weren't seeing. Standing behind the president is McCarthy, and the minute your eyes fix on him, you can see a smile slowly spread across his face. He knows you know. And he's thrilled.

This is not good at all.

>Is there something you want me to ask? "Yes."
Now the question is, did we actually ask it.

>Special because unknown factor? Easy as that?
Makes sense, but I suspect there's more. It doesn't explain the interest before we became non-existent, and McCarthy was definitely treating us as more than an ordinary breaker well before we broke what we weren't supposed to.

>Some observers start as normal people
Which given her particular powerset and involvement with them, means Elizabeth might well ascend some day. Which in and of itself wouldn't be a terrible thing, especially if that's what she chooses... but I hope that doesn't come anytime soon.

>A Seamstress
An obvious candidate might be Elizabeth (although their wanting her dead seems inconsistent with that. ...unless one has to die to ascend).

>President
>there goes the masquerade
>>>This is not good at all.
Fuck. Trying to keep the normals safely out of our business just got a lot harder.

Well crap. Initiate plan Media Blitz, and begin to accrue (more of) a publishing empire?