Accept our Terms of Service
Our Terms of Service have recently changed! Please read and agree to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy
In which swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped inside a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus
Next Post »
« Previous Post
+ Show First Post
Total: 86
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

Meanwhile, Lina is a little distracted, unhooking the speaker from her belt and then rolling it across the floor towards the corner.

Permalink

The captain and the major both cock their heads a little towards Stash, but don't actually respond.  He's not that interesting, and they're hoping that the noise will bring them closer to their [f̴̙̑ó̸̟̆o̵̫̿̄d] that mysteriously vanished.

(their responses are nearly-identical, as is their walks, stances, everything)

Permalink

"Hey Lina. What's up with those guys?"

Permalink

"Huh?" Oh huh, more DRT guys. Where'd they come from?

She reaches out to assess their attention.

Permalink

They're focused on the music.  There really isn't much that's interesting aside from it.

Permalink

The fuck?? Those guys are interested in [f̷̨̺̊ŏ̴̙̳̌̊o̶̙̼͕̊́̇̎͠d̴̋̒̈ͅ]?? And music??

She scans around. Yeah the monster minds that were over there before sure are right here now, inside those DRT guys!

"What the fuck? Those guys aren't people, they're monsters!"

Permalink

Well that's not great, considering they are neither of them combat espers, and had no reason to be armed for a search-and-rescue mission. Should have had Lancet come along for bonus guiding after all.

Maybe the DRT guys can handle it?

Permalink

"Captain?  Sir?"  One of the DRT ops waves, his weapon lowered.  "I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding, we can get it sorted out at the station."

Permalink

They don't respond, instead investigating the music box.  The squad leader looks over at Lina, looks at the captain and signs to his squad.  He and two other operatives take up an overwatch position, while the remaining two operatives get out their zipcuffs.

Permalink

It turns out that when zipcuffs aren't actually all that interesting, it's hard to avoid becoming zipcuffed.  In a flurry of action, the two dungeon-monster-people are zipcuffed into a hogtie position.

Permalink

Oh good they didn't have secret giant mouths in their torsos or something.

...or at least haven't manifested them yet. Thank you Lina for keeping them distracted.

...wait, do they even have normal mouths? "I'm gonna try taking their masks off, one sec." Unlike everyone else here, he can teleport to a safe distance if this causes them to manifest secret giant mouths in their torsos.

Permalink

The balaclava comes off just fine.  There's a perfectly normal-looking mouth there.  It's closed, though.  And the monster is wriggling around, trying(and failing) to escape its zipcuffs.

Permalink

Okay this feels kindof weird. They just look like normal guys. They're not really acting like normal guys, but that could just be Lina keeping them distracted. Do they have nametags or anything identifying on them at all?

Permalink

Lina meanwhile is peering around the corner in search of the third mind she sensed.

Permalink

"Smith" and "Ortiz".  Ortiz doesn't look particularly Hispanic, but it's not like that's disqualifying on its own.

One of the normal DRT types speaks up.  "Hey, that's not right."  He points at the epaulets.  "Look closely, that's not how our signifiers are supposed to look.  And here - those aren't actual patches.  They just look sorta like 'em."

Permalink

"That's a scarily-good fake. If some dungeon's making impostor DRT monsters that even real DRT have to look closely to tell the difference, we should radio that in ASAP. Don't supposed you already have some kind of code phrase protocol you've all trained on for situations like this?"

Permalink

"Guys there's a whole other person down this way still! Can you like, pick those guys up and take them with us or something?"

Permalink

The squad leader pauses a moment then snaps out orders.  "Carlos, Lau, guard the prisoners.  The rest of you, on me."  Many espers aren't formally part of the DRT hierarchy, but if you're disregarding your esper's suggestions, you'd better have a damn good reason.  "Lead on, ma'am."

Permalink

Lina is perhaps a slight exception to the rule, given that her backlash is literally not being able to triage between options even if one of them is biting her in the face. Luckily she is only a bit backlashed right now!

"Around this way, and then I think if we go up this exit to street level they should be somewhere near there?" As they walk, she scoops up her speaker, and eases off the monsters' fascination with music, monitoring the real DRT guys as well for sudden attention shifts that might signal danger. She wants to make sure they're in a stable position there before she's out of sustainable range. 

Permalink

The espers are bracketed by the operatives.  One left-front, one right-rear, and the squad leader checking their six intermittently.

It's less than a minute before they see the victim.  Staring absentmindedly at a black van just across the street from her.

"Hey, corporal - did you get the memo about the vans?"

"Yeah.  I did."

"We wanna radio this in?"

"We secure the scene, first.  Any others around, Lampshade?"

Permalink

She re-scans the area. Is that everyone?

Permalink

There's a rapidly-approaching set of minds.  If she strains her ears, she can probably hear the whining noises of a couple of cars approaching.

Permalink

"Cars incoming, fast! Everyone get clear of the road!!"

Permalink

The victim is now over there, well away from where a car might end up even if it jumps the curb a bit.

Permalink

Everyone can feel the wake of the vehicles whipping at their clothing, hair, and bodies.  It's a bit like having front seats at Le Mans, but with zero safety features beyond Stash's reflexes.

Well.  Perhaps not 'everyone'.  The victim Stash moved doesn't seem to have any response to 'being ten feet away from being turned into extra-chunky road pizza'.  It's not clear that they're actually conscious, aside from the evidence of them being vertical.

Total: 86
Posts Per Page: