Return of the Emblem Chapter Four: The Human Condition

[Phoenix]

As Raquel took the money and counted it, Chip rushed up her chest and grabbed a few coins from her hand before circling around her neck and popping up on her opposite shoulder. Going under her hair had ruffled it up but made him uncatchable for a moment. "Hey!" she exclaimed getting a shriek from Chip in return. Sighing she conceded "Fine, keep it, for running security even without your gun. I guess we'll need a replacement soon, but you're too small to use an ordinary pistol." she explained to the little monkey, who rather than listening was chewing on the coins to see if they were real as Jethro taught him to do.

[Snowy_One]

Robin glared at the woman as she left, foul thoughts stirring in her mind. "<There is more too it than just using it as a weapon, more too it than if I spend time in jail or dealing with minor domestic issues. It's about the nation as a whole! Pride, honor, loyalty!>"

A heavy scowl lined her face as she sat down, awaiting the arrival of the other guards. "How could you sell your nation out like that?" she asked to the rest of the group. "Do you only live for your paycheck? For your gold? Why did you even ask me to come with you Bron? To use as a scapegoat? Dumb country girl caught in relic heist, too bear full weight of crime while local sheep receives sudden windfall of cash, spends it all buying grass to eat?"

[Phoenix]

Broker's Office

Lyra watched closely while Robin chewed out her colleagues.

"Let's see, do I only live for a paycheck? Uh heck yeah! I'm a mercenary!" Liza yelled. "What, you think serving your country OUTSIDE the military's going to feed you or something? Well guess what, it's not!"

"Everyone just calm down for a second." Bron insisted.

"Hell no, I'm not gonna stand here and be told off just because I put my sister and myself first. Our country doesn't give a damn about us, never has never will. Furthermore, I'm hardly betraying my country by staying alive. You on the other hand are just setting a bad example. 'I'm gonna rot in a jail cell cause I'm loyal!~' That's you!" she continued. "That's just what your country needs, you locked up in a jail cell, cause heaven forbid you get out of this mess and go on to serve in some practical way!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "Gaugh!"

"Hmm, I suppose you could just concede to staying in prison for the duration of the war, but if you look at it from your country's perspective, it really doesn't do them any good, nor you. Have you ever considered what the ultimate goals of Ursium and Neviskotia are?" Lyra asked, not just Robin but all of them as a group. "In my opinion, both nations are after the same thing, total control of the northern half of the continent. Helping Ursium with its domestic issues in the capacity you're able doesn't conflict with that goal."

"Robin ..." Bron began, pausing to lean in closer and speak to her quietly. Before that though, he looked back at Lyra expectedly and gave her that "Don't read our thoughts, please?" look. She stared blankly for a moment and then turned her head away and closed her eyes, apparently complying.

Whispering in her ear he said "The best way to serve Neviskotia right now ... is to NOT end up in jail. No one's coming to bust you out so you have to keep yourself relatively free as best you can. We're not going to be fighting our own people, just Ursium criminals, criminals Neviskotia won't have to deal with later when they win the war and take over this region. That's how to serve Neviskotia right now, stay out of jail, and help punish villainy where you actually can. We'll have a better chance to escape from these people if they don't have us trapped in cuffs and in a cell. Please ... I don't want you to end up behind bars for nothing."

Edited June 3, 2011 by Phoenix

[ReformBlade]

"Who the hell is this guy?" Sammy thought out loud. Suddenly a shaman jumps out of the wagon and no one says anything? I should really stop being surprised by things I guess... Meanwhile, Nanahm had mixed feelings about the guy showing up again. Oh great, it's mister selective morals...

[Snowy_One]

"Keep away from me, dog of Ursium." growled back Robin in reply before she turned her back to Bron. Too be sent to jail, or serve as the yipping mutt of a Ursium woman? Such a choice must seem easy to people whom value only money, freedom and a chance to escape over being locked away in a dank prison. Neither choice was appealing to Robin though; sell out her homeland, or never see the sun again. A stronger person would have chosen the latter without hesitation.

But as much as she was loath to admit it, Bron was right. To accept jail was to accept death. Even if Neviskotia took Ursium in a blinding campaign, she would likely be long dead long before they could take her prison. Even then, she would be naught but a civilian woman... someone whom had done nothing for her nation except serve to drag it down with her capture.

"I will do it." she said after a moment. "As a prisoner, I am worth less than a worm. A mutt who yips at her masters command is of more value than that."

[Phoenix]

Wait Is Over

Gabbie had been leaning up against the wall right beside the door with her arms and legs crossed, lance leaning up beside her, and bag on the ground at her feet. The door's locks began to go off one after another prompting her to get off the wall and be there to face the person coming out. Once the physical locks began clicking and the door handle turned, she squinted. Was it really Craig or someone else? She couldn't help but wonder just then.

When the door finally opened, a tall man in navy blue attire stepped out but immediately halted since Gabriella for all intents and purposes was in his way. "Well? Are you just going to stand there?"

"I need to ask you for a favor."

"Aren't there more important things to worry about than your living arrangements?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"It's rather obvious. Hmm, since you're here, there is actually something you ought to pass along. There's been a development in the serial killer case. As we speak, the investigators are making preparations for an ambush to capture the killer." the man explained.

"Did they foind out who he's gonna take out next?"

"Possibly. Given the order and areas the murders have taken place in, I'm willing to bet that number eight on the list is next." he said. "They may have figured out who the other scientists are. If that's the case, they can either pick one to set their ambush up around, or they can simply set up traps around all of them and wait. Given the situation and uncertainty however, I'm positive that if they do know about the scientists, they're guarding all of them, if for no other reason than to put an end to this guy."

"What are the odds that this is an AH project these guys are workin' on, you think?"

"The signs of an artificial human are white hair, and magenta colored eyes. Shades of white aren't a terribly uncommon hair color, and neither are magenta eyes, but together they're far less common, and we've been on the lookout for anyone with those features. We won't get anymore field reports back until tonight though. I just came in early because what I found out about the police investigation was too important to wait. They may act as early as tonight, and for them that's wise because they're running out of scientists to protect, but for Raquel and the others it means their only sources of new information, the killer and his targets, are in serious danger." he explained. "When you get a chance, tell her that the situation is getting worse, and they need to get a move on."

"They're lookin' for another place to stay, probably out in the suburbs roight now. It'll be quoite awhile before I can talk to them again." Gabbie replied half jokingly.

"This is too important, Gabbie. If the killer gets all of the scientists we know about, the others will stay underground and we may never be able to locate them again. We can't trust that the assassin knows anymore about these people than we do, so he might leave the job half finished."

"So you do think that-" "Yes, I think this is an AH project." he interrupted with an answer. "Furthermore, if the assassin gets killed, that'll shift their focus entirely on Raquel's group by the time she's involved, and trust me, you don't want that. If they've started manufacturing stronger artificial combatants, your friends might be overpowered by them. What you people need to do is get to one of these scientists before the killer does, and keep an eye on them. When the killer shows up, clarify your intentions and find out why he's doing this. Be prepared for a confrontation if it comes to that."

"What if the guards have the scientist covered?"

"Then volunteer the group to help guard the scientists and do your job until the assassin shows up. You won't be able to interrogate the scientists with so much attention on them anyway, so start with the assassin."

"This ... sounds loike one big cluster fuck just waitin' for us to hop roight in." Gabbie said sighing.

"If the killer is better than the people waiting to ambush him, this could turn into an inner city battle, rather than a simple manhunt. What's worse is we have no guarantee the scientists won't have a plan of their own to counter the assassin. Indeed, this could explode into a large battle. A lot of people are probably going to die."

"Okay, now let's move onto the good news."

"The good news was that you've still got a little time left. The bad news is that we don't have enough information on the scientists to confirm anything new about them, so you people are going to be running around in the dark here. Oh and before I forget. Two things. Sabina, that Neviskotian mercenary, she's been hired to kill the assassin so she'll probably show up to take him out the moment he arrives. Stop her by any means necessary until you confirm the assassin's intentions. If he can handle her himself, let him take her out."

"Sure."

"One more thing ... why is Connor with you?" he asked, wondering why he wasn't with Raquel and the others.

"I could sleep on a roof or in the wilderness if I had to ... or even some lousy old rundown inn ... but I wouldn't dream of putting dear Connor through something loike that, which is why I was wondering if we could have some money to stay in a noice hotel." she explained in a silly manner.

"That hotel you people were arguing in front of earlier? I'll make your reservations for you. Right now you need to get over to Raquel and the others and get them off their butts. You're running out of time here."

The Inn

A couple of hours of double checking the map while stuck in some late afternoon traffic saw the group eventually reach the inn they picked out. It was apparently a larger one, likely with more rooms than a standard one, and the pricing suggested it wasn't rundown or poorly kept. Seeing it with her own eyes when they pulled up, Raquel was reassured. "Okay, everyone, we're here. Time to find out how many rooms they have and then decide how to divide everyone up." she said to the party.

Amon was actually more pleased by these surroundings. Away from the metropolis, he could move about without interacting with anyone traversing the street and sidewalks. He had much better potential and freedom of movement in a place like this.

The Office

"You don't have to be so gloomy about all of this." Lyra commented quietly when suddenly the door made a sound, and she hopped away from it to avoid being knocked out of the way when Patricia inevitably thrust it up. With her were at the very least six guards, three visible at the top of the stairs, and three coming into the room with her. Those guards circled around and checked the brokers body while Patricia approached the Neviskotians.

"Your decisions?" she asked expectantly.

"We'll do it ... all of us." Bron said.

"Oh wait, question! Do we get paid for this?" Olga cut in.

Raising an eyebrow, Patricia responded saying "No. I said you were indentured servants, didn't I? That means your food and board will be provided by me for the time being."

"Does 'food' include alcohol?" she asked.

"... doesn't take long to get to the point with you, does it? I suppose I could allow it, but you'll not exceed the budget I set for you, or there will be consequences, understand?"

"Yep." Olga replied, suddenly alright with the whole turn of events.

"If there are no other questions, please wait outside. I'll be there shortly. Lyra, go with them." Patricia ordered.

"Ma'am." Lyra nodded, before heading out first.

[Mercakete]

As soon as Raquel gave the command that they were free to start talking about sleeping arrangements, Bert took that to mean he was free until Raquel called for him to work for his maces again. "I'llkeepanearopenbye!" with the rushed sentence, Riz took off at her rider's command and they were flying away -- and out of Gytha's pistol range -- before anyone could stop them.

"Should we go pick out a room now?" Gytha asked Synthia as she hopped off the wagon's roof and began stretching her legs. Maw waited atop the wagon, watching Gytha and waiting to see where she'd be going so she could tag along.

[Zsword]

Shadrak nodded at the news. The quiet, out-of-the-way inn would be a nice place to meditate with his new tome for awhile... either would be nice. He didn't really care who he was stuck with, he knew most everyone well enough, or could atleast tolerate them for a night or two. He quietly stepped to the back of the party and started listening for what were the naturally forming groups.

[Snowy_One]

"Simple question. Where will we be staying? I doubt you are going to let us keep the inn rooms that we had before, correct?"

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, they made it to an inn in the suburbs after all. And looked like they could be sharing rooms as well. 'Sharing rooms?' John thought. 'Do we have to? I guess so... then, who...?' He looked around at the others. 'Or should I wait for one to ask me first...?' He wondered.

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

Connor tried to follow what Craig was saying, though it was an awful lot of information all at once.

"So, if we're going to try and protect these scientists from the killer, we'd have to know who these scientists are right? Wouldn't that sort of information be classified?" he asked Craig.

[Phoenix]

Checking For Rooms

Raquel quickly headed into the inn and Chip hid underneath her cape as he sometimes did. Once she reached the innkeeper, she was greeted with a small wave and a smile. "Good'ay to ya."

"Good day. Um, do you have any rooms available?" she asked shyly.

"Of course. Just you or is that crowd I saw when you came in with you as well?" he asked leaning to look past her again even though there was nothing to see with the front door closed.

"Yeah, they're with me. I actually need to know how many rooms are available in total so we can decide how to divide them."

"We're gonna have a full house? Hah! It's been awhile if I do say so myself ... which I do ... anyway we've got eight vacant rooms last I check ... ... ... that gonna be enough?" he asked, sounding slightly worried. Just then a couple came down the stairs and stood up beside Raquel.

"We're heading out now. Thank you for your hospitality, Mister Laurence." the man said handing the innkeeper a bag of silver and gold which he quickly counted up.

"Oh come back anytime you're in the area, you two." the innkeeper shot back with a wide smile.

"Oh, we will. Well, take care."

"Have a safe journey." He said before looking back to Raquel. "... nine rooms."

"Okay thanks, I'll be right back, I just have to speak with them about this." she said, turning to head out front. Once she made it back to the wagon she cleared her throat as if about to make an announcement. "Okay there's nine rooms available. Can people actually be divided to fit that?" she asked.

"I can stay out here with the wagon if needed." Amon said, which got a glare from Raquel he wasn't expecting. "W-what?"

"Just because you can sleep in the dirt and not complain doesn't make it a good idea. It's okay to be all selfless and put others first but let's wait and see if we actually have a problem with the nine rooms before we go and chuck people in the dirt for the night." she explained with some anger in her voice.

Also Checking For Rooms

Replying to Robin, Lyra said "The Major General will probably want you to stay at Fortress Nature ... the south one if you don't know which is which. Though, if we got the five of you tagged, it would probably be alright if you stayed wherever you want provided it's close by."

"Tagged?" Bron asked, suddenly nervous.

"They're these little devices we've been testing for a few years now. The designs aren't perfect but they were for what we need them for. They'll make you think twice before trying to run out on us. That's all you really need to know before ever getting fitted with one." she explained.

"... gooood grief." Bron muttered, a new frustration taking over.

"You should relax. It's not nearly as bad as I might have made it sound ..."

"I want a violet one!" Olga yelled. Having gotten more attention from that than she was expecting she quickly clarified. "... t-to match my robes ... you know? ... heheh ... heeeehhh ..."

Checking For Information

"We only want to protect them if they aren't actually creating artificial human beings. If they are, then it's up to Raquel and her mercenaries to take out the rest if the killer can't. If they aren't doing anything that warrants this killing spree though, the killer is the one you've got to deal with. As for the scientists? All their information is in that file Weyland gave to Raquel ... the information was classified, but for us that just means 'bring your wallet when you ask'." Craig clarified. "For now, we just want them alive until we know what's going on for certain."

"Boy, I sure hope no one in the military is protecting these guys ... though I guess if they were, they'd send more than just some investigators out to foind this guy." Gabbie muttered.

"Why are you still here? Get going while you still can." Craig demanded.

"What? And leave Connor behoind?"

"I highly doubt you'll be sticking him on the front lines if you know what's good for you. I'll bring him to the hotel room on my way back to investigating. Not even the killer can harm him under my care. You have my word."

"That alroight with you, Connor?" Gabbie asked conceding a bit.

[GoD]

Chelsea sighed as she approached Nanahm, after all that happened, some small talk would be nice. Riding Nesha up to him, she asked. "So, who are you rooming with?"- she got off her steed, and ordered him to the stables to rejuvanate his energy." And I noticed Shadrak. Amazing he's still alive, wouldn't you say?"

[Snowy_One]

"So we will be tagged then? A leash for us to carry about our necks? Bah. Fine." grumbled Robin, a soured look upon her face. "You wish to use us to hunt down Ursium criminals and to tag us to ensure that we do not bite our new masters. Fine, so be it. Hurry up and tag us. If I am going to live my life in Hell, I would rather not spend extra time waiting around before being thrown into the cauldron."

Then, she bent down and, in a hushed tone, whispered unto herself "Io didn't make this place seem so bad. I hope she was right; this is already the worst day in my life, and I don't wish for it to become any worse."

[ReformBlade]

"I dunno, may be by myself if there's 9 rooms... eh who'm I kidding? Probably one of the other guys just to avoid any shenanigans or something, which I can respect." He said in response, wondering if she was going to be having more problems any time soon. Of course she will, she just seems.. weak like that... "Oh Shadrak? I'm not really surprised he's alive so much as surprised he found his way back to us. I'm kind of baffled, but hey, it doesn't take much to baffle me, to be fair." Nanahm said in all honesty.

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"It's all right with me, Uncle probably wants me to stay away from the action anyway. Try to be careful Gabbie, with this killer and maybe artificial humans and who knows what else it's not going to be very safe out there," he said.

Nadya

Nadya wandered around the city for a little while, before she decided to head back to the group. Unfortunately, she didn't really remember where the group was. She had planned to just head outside the city and meet up with them later, but she had underestimated how big this city was. Sure she had been in towns before...but this place just seemed to be filled with people. She thought she saw that other healer girl...Synthia was it? nearby, but she looked again when the woman was closer and it was someone she hadn't met before.

[Rothene]

Ranyin pondered on who should he share a room with as it was the more cost effective method and he was used to sharing a living space with others at the academy. He managed to narrow his options to Amon, John and Nanahm. Amon seemed to prefer his own company. Nanahm was an interesting choice and with any luck, he could observe the big man do some carving. John presented an opportunity for him to learn a bit about wyverns. Ranyin always had this fascination about flying and had been dismayed to find out that thus far, no Kigen mage had discovered how to efficiently use Wind magic to fly. Levitation was a waste of psychic energy to pull off and supposedly nothing like flying.

Maybe if we get along well, he might let me ride on his wyvern, mused Ranyin thinking about John. With that, he went towards John and asked, "So, anyone you'll be sharing a place with?"

[Zsword]

Shadrak yawned as he looked around the crowd, everyone seemed to have a few ideas, but nothing major. He had spent a lot of time thinking, mostly about the emblem and Raquel's leading, but there was something else, something that kept bugging him in the back of his mind, and it needed to be confirmed. With a quiet sigh he walked over to Nanahm and Chelsea. "I'd hate to interupt..." he said, his expression obviously revealing he felt pretty awkward about what he was doing. "But are you to rooming together? I have a few questions for you Chelsea, and I figured tonight would be a good chance as any if you aren't paired up with someone already..." Shadrak chuckled lightly at himself, nervously scratching the back of his head.

What the heck are you doing? There's no way they could be the same person, dumb-ass

[Acacia Sgt]

''Hm?'' John noticed Ranyin had approached him, interrupting his thoughts. ''Well, haven't really decided yet.'' He answered. ''And how about you? Got someone already in mind?''

'Might as well try asking if he doesn't.' He thought. 'Better to get this over quick.'

[Rothene]

"Me? Nope, no one yet, that's why I asked you," said Ranyin and continued, "So are you fine with sharing with me?"

[Acacia Sgt]

''Sure, I guess.'' John answered. ''Don't mind either way.'' 'Well, that settles it.' He thought.

[Phoenix]

Lyra

"You know Robin, you seem dead set on justifying your dislike of Ursians. It's not like every person from this country you run into came to your house and kicked your dog at some point." Lyra said to the archer. "Anyway, you're not going to be tagged yet. There are other things we need to take care of first, like seeing if you're even going to be needed tonight. If not, we can just have you stay in the fortress and postpone that until later on."

"Needed? Just how dangerous is this killer you're after?" Bron asked cutting in.

"We've got conclusive evidence that he can dodge projectiles of any kind. Arrows, bullets ... anything that's been thrown at him thus far." she answered.

"Have you tried blowing him up?" Liza asked thinking of the grenades she had on her person.

"Err ... not yet." Lyra replied nervously. Why does she have those?

Luca

Luca was surprised when they returned to where they had left the group and didn't see them there. Not a horse or human in sight. Maybe they joined another herd, there were so many of them in this city, it may have just been too tempting for them. Or perhaps the wyverns they tried to ride ate everyone alive and then flew away. Rest in peace. He supposed they were on to make new friends, but the surroundings were tall and obscuring everything, not to mention there were humans everywhere, just plain everywhere.

Not too far away a quick young man came running as fast as he could. Luca was wondering why the guy was heading his way but didn't have time to move, and the thief slid underneath his legs and kept on running. Well that was too close for comfort. And here we go again; another human was coming up, effortlessly maneuvering through the crowd, until he reached Luca, who was not being slid under again. Putting a front and hind leg closer to the gap, he made sure the person couldn't slide under. Reacting to this, the man jumped into the air ... a lot higher than Luca was expecting, he was going to get clean over without touching him. He was not going to be a jungle jim today! Rearing as high as he could, he blocked the high flying man and both of them came down hard. As the man tumbled back down, Luca caught a glimpse of two pistols holstered under his coat. Surprisingly the man recovered and landed on his feet.

"... okay. This is new ..." the man muttered. Luca took a few steps back, not realizing he had just knocked down what may or may not be an enemy combatant.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya was humming a tune to herself when she noticed some guy sliding on the ground under her. He then got up and ran away like he had somewhere very important to be that wasn't here. Before she could think about why he was running away, there was a sound behind her and she looked back to see Luca blocking a man in the air. Both of them landed on their feet luckily, and Nadya saw that the man had two pistols under his coat. Is this guy a cop or something? He's not really dressed like one...maybe he's supposed to be undercover?

"Uh, sorry about that, sometimes Luca gets a little antsy around strangers, lots of people around here and all," she said to him quickly, stepping in between him and Luca. "If you're hurt I'd be glad to heal you. Free of charge!" she said, attempting to sound enthused. Mercy, uh Nature, whoever the hell handles this sort of thing, please let this guy not press charges. I bet there's a big fine if your horse hits someone.

[Phoenix]

"Ehhh, no real damage done. I'm not getting taken out by a horse." the man said smiling at the two of them. Luca was on defense but still giving the man a glare. Unbeknownst to the man however, he did have a slight cut on his forehead from the impact that was beginning to run down his face. A CRITICAL HIT!, thought Luca. "Okay I'm fine, but maybe you can do something about it anyway?" he added.

[-Cynthia-]

"Well, not by a horse Luca's size anyway. Good thing I'm not some knight riding a great warhorse, eh?" Nadya said, attempting to make polite conversation as she applied her staff to the man's head, stopping the bleeding and sewing up the wound. He was smiling, so she figured he wasn't terribly miffed at taking a hoof to the head. "Though maybe you could take one of those too, seeing as how you're armed to the teeth and all. Guess it never hurts to be prepared, you can always run into a pickpocket or a wild horse out on these mean streets," she said, taking her staff off and examining her handiwork. Looks good as new. Have to remember to tell Luca not to hit guys with guns in the future.

Edited June 4, 2011 by -Cynthia-