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[Empiricist]

Standing there in the auditorium, something occurred to Clint - he had a gun in his hands. A light machine gun, fully automatic squad support weapon designed to lay down a frankly irresponsible volume of fire at a moment's notice. If he were to fire, right here, right now, a lot of people's days were going to get a whole lot worse. And every one of them too had something in their hands, some kind of weapon. Some he recognized, many he didn't. Anyone of them could be that dumb chucklefuck whose finger slips, fires a gun they forgot to put the safety back on, and after that, who knows what will happen. You'd think it wouldn't happen, but you'd also think your pilot wouldn't turn out to be tripping some serious balls either, and well, look where that kinda thinking got him. Hmm, well there's that one man with a shield. That looks safe enough, and hey, if worse comes to worse, maybe it'll stop a bullet. Clint starts heading over.

[Radio Controlled]

Opening up a scroll of golden shards, Madeline gave it a quick read before turning to face you. "'What am I?' That, warrior of God, is the ultimate question. You humans seek not only to pair names with strange faces but to peek at what's underneath. Despite the fact that your beliefs, theories, and mythologies have more or less colored your preconceptions of the great unknown, you are forever curious about that you do not understand. I have no doubt that what you're seeing with your own spiritual eyes have caused you to doubt, even question, the teachings of your elders. I shall put you at ease, militant servant of the Most High. The closest thing I am to according to the teachings from your youth is an archangel."

Her smile deepening, Madeline continued, "Regardless of who I really am, I am not your enemy. Now, any other questions you would like to ask?

The answer was something Roland had not seen coming at all, and despite himself he was taken aback. Was she truly a messenger from the holiest of holies? Or a clever fiend, the snake to Roland's Adam?

Don't trust this one.

The bird still didn't seem to trust her. But what if she was the real deal and Roland didn't obey... would he be denied passage forever? He wasn't sure what her deal really was yet, but taking a waiting stance for now seemed best, and if she did turn out to be filled with wickedness later on... well, the wheels of divine justice might at times grind slowly, but always grind exceedingly fine.

"Apologies, my lady, I didn't realize. If you truly serve our Lord in Heaven, then your wish is my command."

Standing there in the auditorium, something occurred to Clint - he had a gun in his hands. A light machine gun, fully automatic squad support weapon designed to lay down a frankly irresponsible volume of fire at a moment's notice. If he were to fire, right here, right now, a lot of people's days were going to get a whole lot worse. And every one of them too had something in their hands, some kind of weapon. Some he recognized, many he didn't. Anyone of them could be that dumb chucklefuck whose finger slips, fires a gun they forgot to put the safety back on, and after that, who knows what will happen. You'd think it wouldn't happen, but you'd also think your pilot wouldn't turn out to be tripping some serious balls either, and well, look where that kinda thinking got him. Hmm, well there's that one man with a shield. That looks safe enough, and hey, if worse comes to worse, maybe it'll stop a bullet. Clint starts heading over.

"Greetings brother, and well met to you. My name is Roland, and this here is my companion, Corvo the bird."

[AbstractTraitorHero]

A tightening of hands. A quiet stare with mostly black scelera and eyes. A pinprick of light green yet foggy. A hand the left one not as covered in fleshy protrusions and ore.

Not looking as much like a horror show gripped her head. It felt like a bit of a surreal bad dream. The idea of waking up in a hospital sounded heavenly right now.

Her friend beside her panicked and worried and breathing a sigh of relief was she woke up.

K-Kelly...
K-Kelly...

A tightening of hands around the pick. A feeling of dread lacing through her. Thinking of them at her funeral just staring at an empty casket.

Thinking of her own body trapped in a crevice in the mountain. Being feasted upon by animals and insects. Being smeared and bloody and rotting.

Paler then she thought possible. Gripping harder...she notices movement Stumbling after it. Finding herself by the man with the shield in...slow order.

Her leg not hurting from its limp. But a feeling of numbness subsided over it. Like it was barely there and she found herself staring up at him.

Not sure why she followed. Not sure what she's doing or what she should be doing. What she will do.

[Radio Controlled]

"You look like you could use a big helping of the Lord's mercy, girl. Are you all right?"

[AbstractTraitorHero]

"You look like you could use a big helping of the Lord's mercy, girl. Are you all right?"

Blinking slowly eyes trying to focus. Pushing herself out of her thoughts. Better to focus on something else moving to rub the back of her neck.

The fleshy ore like protrusion on the hand she raised swiftly enough making them put it down. A breath echoing forth and then managing to speak. Dusty splotched hair being rubbed with a less ore intensive arm.

Trying to ignore the one that was on the leftmost side of her jaw.

"That's...one way to put it. I'm...feeling like my body is some...eldritch distortion from...my novella's one supposes...I don't hurt but my leg is...numb and I can barely feel it...like its barely attached."
"That's...one way to put it. I'm...feeling like my body is some...eldritch distortion from...my novella's one supposes...I don't hurt but my leg is...numb and I can barely feel it...like its barely attached."

Echoing like she was in a cavern or a cave. Deep in a tight cramped place. It's not the most unnerving thing one might have heard.

But ones mind may feel uneasy hearing an echo when logically there should be none.

[Egan_BW]

Hmm. Is it dead, or just pretending? Corvo hops onto Alicia's shoulder and starts pecking at her face, seeing if there's any good carrion there.

[Sir Elventide]

"Either way is fine. Metz is jus' a nickname some of my friends called me. dunno if it's cos of the Canadian rock band or the french town, but apparently they saw a relation between one of 'em and me, and the name stuck.
He shrugs off the name drop as if it didn't really matter to him.

"now, I won't mind cleaning up my messes. Hell, I wouldnt mind fixin holes in reality if I knew how to. But you'd have to teach me how to do that first, now wouldnt ya?"

"from what I'm getting, you know a bit more than yer lettin on bout them contorted folk. Is this some sorta test, an we're supposed to be fightin them to improve our grade with the big guy upstairs or somethin?"

"If you've been very naughty in your past life, then fighting the Contorted will improve your grade with Him," Madeline said, nodding. "As for the assistance you're offering for fixing our rifts in reality: even if humans can fix them without suffering adverse effects, I serious doubt that you will enjoy your afterlife playing the role of a custodian."

Madeline's projection drifts closer to you until she is practically within arm's reach. She then leaned forward, resting her head on her hands as she continued to regard you warmly. "You must've had big plans for your life, aspirations during your time as John Mackerfield. Shooting competitions and hunting just to name a few, anything where it's just you, your gun, and your target. You may have even dreamed of becoming a championship hunter and marksman, working hard to earn medals and pelts to hang on your wall. Unfortunately, such aspirations have been cut short when a fellow hunter mistook you for a deer or some other animal."

For emphasis, Madeline made a gesture with an index finger that resembled a trigger being pulled. She mouthed the word 'bang'.

"However, in Altera Vita, we give you the skills and tools to hunt even more dangerous game, to become the hunter of unknown horrors. If you want no part of this, I will understand. However, if you wish to essentially get a second chance in life, then don't let this opportunity slip through your fingers. So, what say you?"

Jun listens, furrowing her brow as she thinks about what she's learned. "So, like, is this place just the afterlife equivalent of a Chuck-E-Cheese?" She makes a broad sweeping motion to the whole auditorium. "If we win enough tickets by doing... Whatever, we get to go back as the reincarnation equivalent of the giant teddy bear?" She draws a vague outline of a stuffed bear in the air with her hand for emphasis. "Cause it looks like you guys have enough resources here to take out a small country. Dealing with a bunch of freaky cronenbergs should be a walk in the park." There's a pause, and she takes a breath before adding, "I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't really get why we need to be here."

"This place is more like a second life than some sort of game with a point system, my dear student," Madeline said, chuckling as she gestured to the entire audience the same way you did. "Everyone here have either had a dull and unfulfilling life or they'd been cut short at the cusp of their newfound personal purpose. Everyone have felt unfulfilled, even cheated out of their potential future, or they would not have come here. You should know that feeling better than most, Jun Yeung. Passed around from foster parents to foster parents as an unwanted child, feeling lonely and unloved, you would've easily been doomed to live an unfulfilling life if you haven't been introduced to skating. Whether it's learning new tricks or even building skateboards, you must have felt a deep sense of accomplishment at succeeding at difficult tasks. It's a shame that it all ended when you became gory goop sticking to the treads of an 18 wheeler."

After listening to you speak of how potentially powerful Altera Vita Academy are and how easily they could deal with the Contorted, Madeline smile sadly, "Dear Jun, you know so little about our predicament! Yes, you are correct: we are capable of conquering small nations. However, and if I still correct about human political entities, small nations are still... well...  small, compared to entire worlds and when you bring up more than one possibly infected world into the equation then you have a big issue. The Seraphim and I are powerful, yes, but we're so few in numbers. We cannot comb through the Animus Realm without the Contorted slipping through the gaps, not to mention that the Seraphim are still needed to keep things in working order here."

"Humans; however, are far, far numerous. In both large and small groups, you can more reliably seek out and destroy the Contorted wherever they're hiding. You will receive the necessary training and skills to help you succeed in your endeavors and the academy will function as your home base and place of learning. How does this ties into why I'd said you're all here? Just think of all of this as similar to your life among the living: you found yourself being born into circumstances that you didn't choose or don't have complete control of. However, only by overcoming adversity and finding your purpose can you truly be fulfilled. Perhaps you may soon find satisfaction in surmounting even bigger challenges than just brainstorming which skateboards to build next."

Unsummoning her scroll, Madeline clasped her hands together. "So, are you willing to meet the challenges ahead?"

"Apologies, my lady, I didn't realize. If you truly serve our Lord in Heaven, then your wish is my command."

The headmistress chuckled. "No need to be so formal, Roland," she said. "You're not one of my Seraphim after all. Just act like you normally do and get stronger. All I ask is that you help defeat the Contorted and respect your fellow students. That is all."

Before you turn to leave, Madeline eyed Corvo with interest. The crow, meeting her golden gaze, turned away. "I sensed that your familiar has obtained an object of mysterious origin. A gold watch, am I right little birdie? Perhaps you should research its properties after I finished the tour, Roland. It just might come in handy in battle!"

Somewhere in Corvo's pocket dimension, a gold watch is floating in the ether. Though the crow loves it because it's really shiny, even he is clueless about its origins...

[Empiricist]

"Greetings brother, and well met to you. My name is Roland, and this here is my companion, Corvo the bird."

"Roland huh? You a priest?"

[Dustan Hache]

"I'm not asking to go around fixing holes and leaks my whole life, I'm asking if it would be possible to learn how to fix any holes or leaks that happen while I'm close by. Keep the mess I an' any I work with make to a minimum, ya know? As for adverse effects, since when was life completely safe?"

"bit shallow to assume that's all I want in life, isn't it? Shooting is a hobby of mine, but it isn't everything to me. I'm sure you know a bit about farming, and how there's pests that try to hurt or eat the animals and crops under your care."

"I'll hunt, that's not the question. It's more of "what is the next target", be it mental or physical."

[AbstractTraitorHero]

Hmm. Is it dead, or just pretending? Corvo hops onto Alicia's shoulder and starts pecking at her face, seeing if there's any good carrion there.

Slightly warm when they land. The pale skin hard to land on but the fleshy ore they grip onto is an easy enough perch. Pecking into her skin and provoking a reaction a jump back.

A shake of the head. Flowing crimson a trickle of life's nectar. Pale fingers gripping and bringing the blood to her face.

Memories flashing past. Covered in her own blood. Trapped and unable to even squirm as it left her. As beings drank it.and she was unable to move away.

Green foggy pupil's dilated panicked submerged in feeling the sensation of bleeding out like a phantom pain.

[Egan_BW]

Apparently, she just looks like death.
Corvo, satisfied for the moment that this woman isn't food, CAWS and bumps his head against the wound he had made in her cheek, apparently trying to make it better.

[Radio Controlled]

"Aww, see, Corvo likes you! I'm sure you'll be fine, little girl, just have faith and everything will work out in the end."

[Hibou]

As the headmaster talks about Jun's experience with foster care her body language tightens, and even though she tries to hide it it's evident that the subject is still a bit of a fresh wound. She slowly loosens up as Madeline talks more in depth about the nature of the Academy's predicament. At the end, she takes another minute to consider what she's learned, and then leans back in her seat. "Alright. I'm game." she says. "Just one last question: Are these things mandatory?" she asks, pulling at the collar of the school uniform shirt.

[Radio Controlled]

"Greetings brother, and well met to you. My name is Roland, and this here is my companion, Corvo the bird."

"Roland huh? You a priest?"

"Not exactly, no, such laurels are quite above my station. I am but a humble servant of Him, and prefer to proselytize with sword and fire... Well, I will once I get some of those."

[Devastator]

Lemmy doesn't look impressed at the light show and the talk about how whatever you want in the world, the one and only solution to all your problems is right here.  He also looks unimpressed by all the dewey-eyed people around him, behaving as if this is some kind of personal fulfillment.

"So we're all immortal here?  Does that mean we can do whatever we want?"