[Video] [Locked to New Hires only] [TW for Punishment in the linked log.]

[bringinghopewithme]

Stacia, Armstrong, I need to see both of you in person. On the double. Five minutes ago. Anyone else with a real good sense of smell, you come see me too.

[On the camera, underneath his oak tree in the garden, Bunny has a little bit of that dead-eyed stare that comes from being reminded how thoroughly shackled they all are to the most banal form of evil. Mostly, this is just businesslike, direct. Calmly urgent, after his furious meltdown in the Executive wing got him nowhere good.]

Everyone else: Sam and Dan and I tracked what attacked Tenten and Setsuna into the Executive wing. I smelled it there recently before the suits caught us and kicked us out.

[There's no real reason to bring up their Punishment. It happened, it hurt, he hates that he dragged Dan and Sam into it, but they all knew it was likely to happen. And if anything they learned can help prevent any further damage to the kids, it'll have absolutely been worth it.]

I couldn't identify the species, but it's supernatural, and old. Older than me. Some variety of predator. Given we tracked it into areas we're not allowed to go, and it spent a lot of time wandering around there all leisurely, it either looks enough like a suit that they gave it a pass, or it can walk through walls. If I had money, I'd put it on walking through walls. I'm not ruling out both, though.

But don't worry. Jorgmund's bringing in - [he scoffs, and rolls his eyes hugely] dogs to finish tracking it.

I'm still racking my brains to see if any memory of what it could be falls out, but if any of that rings any bells for all you, I'm all ears.

Comments

[garmr]

We should. Where are you?

[hallelujahjunction]

Top deck. Needed the fresh air after the "zzzzt".

voice > action

[garmr]

Alone?

[He's frowning, Dan. He sighs and cuts the audio to go join him.

Guts certainly doesn't appear particularly fleet-footed, but he arrives up top in way less time than a human with a regular running gait would. He looks more irritated than winded, emerging from the door like some oddly stealthy cryptid.]

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan insisting everyone else stay safe? Of course. Dan immediately ignoring his own advice and jeopardizing his own safety? Natural as breathing.

Dan doesn't look great; the electrocution and the frustration of this whole situation has taken it out of him, and the hand he's using to hold his cigarette as he leans over the edge of the deck is evidently shaking. But he greets Guts with a grin.]

I know, I need a slap on the wrist. There's a bunch of maintenance crew up here, though. [He gestures with his head to the far side of the top deck.]

[garmr]

You look liked someone slapped you around already.

[Guts has eyebrows purpose-built for looking pissed, but he goes to join Dan without a lecture. There’s more important things to talk about. ]

You know magic, right?

[hallelujahjunction]

These things- [he taps his neck around where the shock collar was inserted] -ain't a joke. I don't know how the other two are holding up, but I keep drooling on myself and having little spasms.

[As if on cue, his shoulders jerk a little.]

How to do it? No. I'm one of the only people in my line of business that ain't got the ability to use it. But I know plenty about it, just only how it works on my own world. I'm not sure there's any kind of common system here.

[garmr]

[That'll do.]

The thing I got is some kinda magic... Can't really explain much myself. When things from the dark get near enough, I can feel 'em..

[A finger reaches up to touch a rune branded onto the right side of his neck, different from the nanochain. It is currently nothing more than a faded scar - but it is definitely a cursed mark.]

It's been good for sniffin' out monsters.

[hallelujahjunction]

Spidey-sense for evil, huh? What does something have to be to be "dark"?

[He thoughtfully taps his thumb against his lip. Some people here are literal monsters, like that Ickis kid. Some of them probably have done questionable things. Dan knows for a fact that he's cursed, or at least was for nine years. And the Jorgmund are pretty morally black - Dan expects at least a few are evil.]

Has it pegged anyone here?

[garmr]

Nah. Nothin’ notable among ours, anyway.

The ghosts on the Rig did, though it felt a bit different from the spirits back home. Less resentment towards the living.

The demons out on a mission did too. Corrupted creatures full of hate. Those were easy to sniff out.

Back home, demons could be tied to the masters pulling the strings. Trolls and familiars and old gods were part of that darkness in some way. It ain’t so simple here.

[hallelujahjunction]

Reckon nothing stays simple when you're mashing a bunch of different worlds and peoples together. Useful, though. [From the look of the mark, Dan figures it wasn't come by happily.]

In my world, we call it The Weird, and some of it's light, some of it's dark, and a whole lot of it is neutral. I suppose the stuff you'd classify as dark would be our blood magic witches, necromancers, wraiths, soul-eaters - the ones that either choose to or can't survive without killing others, and it warps them. Use enough blood magic and necromancy or eat enough souls and eventually they all end up the same distorted formless evil energy.

[Dan's whole life was permanently derailed by a blood magic witch. He tries not to judge whole categories of people, but even just saying the phrase makes him look like he just tasted something bitter.]

[Action-ish]

[kingofneworleans]

[Remy's been keeping an eye and an ear on things, even if he hasn't been the most talkative about it. Doing so from the shadows is just his way.]

[So when he notices that one of the guys who had gotten shocked is on the top of the Rig, he starts looking for him. Because Remy likes hanging out there, too, and if the guy is as badly off as he's saying? He probably shouldn't be there alone.]

[Which means when he does find Dan, it's at the end of THAT pronouncement. Enough to make him pause, but...Dan did say something about mashing worlds and people together.]

Can't say as magic is my forte. You wanna know 'bout stuff like dat back home, you'd go to Tante Mattie. 'Least, you would in New Orleans.

[He raises a hand in greeting them both. He has his shades on because it's bright topside.]

Dere's a lotta different types of magic back home, though. An' it's way too easy to run into t'ings dat are way above your pay grade.

[garmr]

Hey.

[How long has Remy been standing there???]

The witches I knew said somehin' about layers? You got your physical world with humans, then the astral world... That one's supposed to be a place where thoughts have a stronger power. The deeper you go in, the weirder it gets.

So all the hatred and fear forms together into what you'd call the dark part of it, I guess...

[Guts is very clearly out of his element trying to make sense of it anymore than that. He just cuts shit with a sword. That part is easy.]

Then you get your monsters and evil spirits, wanderin' around in the sludge and overlapping into ours. If you're a witch, you can interact with all that stuff and make magic, somehow.

[hallelujahjunction]

[Hello, tall drink of water. Dan doesn't mind people surprising him from the shadows if they look like that.] Howdy, stranger, I don't think we've had the pleasure. I'm Dan. Quite the fan of New Orleans, too.

[Of all the cities where you can have a wild time if you go looking for it, New Orleans is probably only a little bit behind Vegas. But Dan gets serious again.]

This whole thing is beyond anyone's pay grade, I reckon. But... [he presses his thumb on his lower lip again in thought] ...what Guts is saying here about a plane where thoughts got stronger power, that sounds like the way people have been explaining the Stuff to me. That it's magic or a quantum glitch or whatever that forms itself off of thoughts.

Not that I'd put a dime of a bet on it, but [he shrugs] maybe someone on here's thinking the intruder to life.

[kingofneworleans]

Mmm. Soun's like de astral or somet'in' like dat. Only ever known telepat's dat could access it. I got a lotta skills, me, but dat ain't one of 'em.

[Remy finds a place to sit, managing to make it look graceful in a jumpsuit that's at least two sizes too big for him. And long in the legs, somehow.]

Does soun' a bit like what we're dealin' wit' here. Ain't really somet'in' I've dealt wit'. Known a couple of people dat got stronger 'cause of de t'oughts 'round 'em, but none of dem've had de same...mechanism for it?

[Well, something had to explain the Starsmore kid, after all.]

[garmr]

[Guts continues, oblivious to the respectful ogling Dan was doing over there.]

Could be some kinda thought monster, or it was made like that and then started actin' out on its own. Could be some weird ritual we don't know about. Demons are real particular about that.

Guess you'd have to ask a witch for specifics.

[hallelujahjunction]

I guess all we're getting around to is that we still don't know anything. [Dan wipes the back of his hand across his mouth as he realizes he's drooling again.] Christ, sorry. Can't wait until that side effect stops.

But what I'm thinking is that it's possible that whatever the intruder is, if it's made of Stuff, it's being made out of someone on this rig's thoughts or memories. Either of you know if we got any telepaths in our little crew?

[kingofneworleans]

[Remy scratches his chin, fingers rasping against near perpetual five o'clock shadow.]

Know dat Rogue's taken some 'paths on board back home, but dey ain't powers she can really access, I don' t'ink. But she's de only person 'round here whose powers I really know, ot'er dan my own.

[Sure, he has an inkling of a few others, but most of them are just powers that they already had back home, at least.]

[garmr]

Kerrigan can do some kinda mind magic, but she's only been here for a little while. Made a real memorable first impression.

[It is hard to forget when a bunch of monsters get their heads burst open like eggs. ]

You should avoid gettin' on her bad side, that's for sure...

[hallelujahjunction]

I try not to get on anyone's bad side. It never pans out well when I do. [Dan's grin there can best be described as "impish".]

Anyway, not to get into details, but I have on good authority that at least a few folks gave new powers too here - maybe ones they don't even know they got yet. [He does, but he doesn't want to tell anyone, because sometimes a guy likes to keep secrets for the sake of having them. And when your power is pretty strategically useless, it seems like a small crime to neglect to mention it.] One way or another we're going to need to round everyone up and understand what sort of firepower we have, if not for this intruder than the next threat or mission.

[kingofneworleans]

[Remy's grin can certainly match Dan's for impishness. Or just straight out devilry.]

Me, I try not to get on anybody's bad side, neither. It's jus' dat I got a talent for it.

[He produces a deck of cards from...somewhere. One moment his hands are free, the next, he's shuffling a deck.]

Least dis place was kin' 'nough to leave me wit' de powers I came wit'. Be a mite more trouble if I really had to t'ink 'bout 'em. But knowin' what people can do would be a good idea. Jus' for everyone's safety.

[garmr]

[Guts does not grin, because he is Guts. He does silently wonder what other street performing tricks Remy was keeping up his sleeve, though.]

Yeah, it would. By the way, another feature of this thing on my neck is that it attracts the demons to me. So if I can sense her comin', then she'll probably be able to tell where I am.

[hallelujahjunction]

[Even though Dan absolutely does not intend to let others in on his powers, he nods with Remy anyway.] Agreed.

[Dan's face lights up at the cards, and he pulls out his own pack, which he's been using for games with Beckett.] And I reckon I should invite both of you to poker nights at the library. Me and Beckett have got a good thing going. Just drop by any time after ten and B.Y.O.B. if you want it.

[He has another muscle spasm again, as if his own body is reminding him to stay on topic. He gets serious again as he looks at Guts.] That seems like a bit of a double-edged sword. My condolences.

[kingofneworleans]

[There are parts of Remy's powers that he likely won't mention to people. But that's more because of WHO might be listening more than the fact that he wants to hide it.]

[Besides, Rogue already knew. That's what's important to him.]

[He grins widely as Dan produces his own cards.] Poker night, huh? Been a while since I've played a frien'ly game. [Friendly being the key. He's less cut-throat if it's friendly.]

[He turns his head to look at Guts' mark with a frown and a...strange flash behind his glasses.] Dat don' seem de bes' t'ing to be havin' right now. Though, if we ever need t' be doin' de whole bait t'ing? You might be de best one to be takin' de lead dere.

[garmr]

Quit screwing around.

[Guts’ voice is sharp, annoyed with the sudden change in topic from both of them. He fixes on Dan with a bit more grave intensity. ]

I didn’t tell you because I wanted pity - it’s a warning so you aren’t blindsided.

[ He looks away, mouth creased with distaste. He can’t be too harsh - Dan was the one who was actually hurt here.]

Remy’s right. If it works the way it’s supposed to, then we ought to get that in order and figure out what our attack’s gonna be. Right now, it feels like we’re just grasping at the dark.

[and well, maybe he was just feeling a bit more tense than usual]

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan gets serious again. If the situation weren't so dire, he might try and defend himself and Remy by bringing up the benefits of team-building and levity - but Guts is right. They are kind of just fucking around when the next killing could be nigh.]

Are you suggesting we try to do a bait thing without consulting the others? I can't imagine they'd take kindly.