Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Takosher]

Kira

Verna perked up when Kira said she wasn't upset. "Of course I care." she insisted, "I..." She raised her hands as if to guard herself, her gaze shifted away from Kira in embarrassment, and her face turned three shades redder. "I like you." she squeaked quietly. For once, her emotions didn't just instantly jump to the next topic, instead her embarrassment seemed to intensify. A few more shades of red rushed to her cheeks and words splurted out of her. "OmigoshIsaiditIgottagopeeonmycatnowbye." she said as she rushed for the door. She didn't seem to realize how thin the door was, because as soon as it shut she shouted, "Fuck! I don't even have a cat!" Before running off.

Doc looked annoyed. A notable upgrade from what Verna had her feeling, seeing as it was her default state. She sighed and sat down in her usual seat. "In answer to your question: Nothing changed, I just thought it was best to at least let you two talk before we actually consider trying something that might get you killed." she explained, "If she refuses to help, there's no point in considering the risk in the first place."

Eilyth

"Nah she's cool except for that." Laurie shrugged again, "She doesn't do it a lot, and it seems pretty random to me." That wasn't very reliable, Laurie had not proven very good at reading the intentions of others.

Laurie flipped through the notebook again, showing Eilyth all five number incidents. Curiously, they were all from within the last year. All together they came out to this:

"19 9 17 22 3 1 16 5 2 3 21 17 21 6 10 17 22 16 17 4 16 21 17 21 14 17 21 15 3 10 16 4 14 10 11 5 16 9 21 12 10 17 22 3 20 6 5 17 22 3 21 17 15 16 1 10 3 21 21

8 3 21 3 10 21 3 9 12 6 5 14 10 17 3 10 17 14 12 10 21 23 14 17 17 23 3 4 12 6 21 14 10

17 22 3 11 14 19 19 3 5 14 10 11 12 20 15 16 1 4 6 23 17 14 21 17 21 8 22 14 21 18 3 5 8 14 4 2 3 1 8 12 5 1 21 12 10 17 22 3 17 3 15 18 12 5 16 23 8 14 10 1 21

17 22 3 9 14 10 20 12 5 15 6 21 17 22 16 17 9 12 6 16 5 3 10 12 17 17 12 19 3 17 5 6 21 17 3 1

6 21 6 5 18 3 5 6 21 6 5 18 3 5"

Monika

The young man glanced up at Monika is surprise. "Oh, uh, sorry." he said submissively, "You must be Sydow, Ehman noticed that he was low on some supplies that he might need for your weapon, so he's back in the storehouse getting them. We're not really supposed to meet yet, but I guess it's a bit late for that. I'm Carlos."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

"Ah, that would explain it. But please, you can be formal once he returns, for now just call me Monika" she replied, making her way closer to Carlos as she glanced around the forge, "So, I assume you're Ehman's apprentice? Learning the forging process and all that?"

[Takosher]

Monika

Carlos laughed. "Don't be silly." he said, "I'm going to be your sacrifice."

The door at the back of the forge creaked open and an elderly man walked in. He was surprisingly spry and seemed to be having no trouble carrying the large box he had in his arms. He had one sparkling green eye, while the other had strange blue and red patterns all across its surface. He set the box down and waved politely at Monika before going over to a sink and washing his hands and arms.

Once he was cleaned up he approached Monika. "Sydow, welcome. I apologize for the delay." he said with a short bow of his head.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

For an instant, Monika was silent at Carlos' casual declaration. She had expected hers to be a bit more apprehensive about the process... She had heard it was extremely painful. But, after thinking about it for a second, she let out a small giggle, "Right, that should've been pretty obvious in hindsight" she stated. After all, what was painful to her might not be anything more than a day's work to someone like him.

Monika didn't have time to continue that train of thought, however, as an old man came out of the back door. It was obvious to the young girl that this was the Esteemed One... Which meant that the forging process was about to begin, "Well, I hope you do your best. I'm counting on you, Carlos" Monika said, quietly enough so that the Esteemed One couldn't hear, all while giving her sacrifice a short wink before turning her attention back to the old man, who had finished cleaning up and was approaching her,

"It's all fine, Esteemed One. I wouldn't want to start this without you being prepared" Monika replied shortly after Ehman bowed his head, folding her hands behind her back in order to keep them out of the way for now.

[Chevaleresse]

Kira

She gave a small, slow nod at Doc's explanation. The conversation, such that it was, hadn't felt particularly constructive. Kira was still sorting through her thoughts about the first love confession she received being from a murderously violent enemy soldier, but other than that it had gone almost nowhere. "Are you worried she won't help?" It certainly seemed like a possibility. "I don't believe the first time did any damage." A thought occurred to her. "Is Tayla available? She could check."

[Takosher]

Monika

"Your grace is appreciated." Ehman said, raising his head. "It's unusual for a woman to meet her sacrifice before having her pattern analyzed, but it should cause no problems. Please give him your offering and then take a seat on that table over there." Ehman pointed to a clean metal table nearby. "You know how the next step goes, yes? Top or bottom?" Although the question was inherently uncomfortable, he said it with such dispassion that he may as well have been asking about the weather.

Kira

Doc shook her head. "Talya's power is entirely medical, she doesn't have the framework to understand something like this." she explained, "There's really no way to predict what will happen if Verna uses her power again." her face softened, "I don't really want to go through with this. If it were my choice, we'd stop right now and forget you existed at all before you woke up in this room. It would easy enough for me to get you into a protection program, given how cooperative you've been. You'd start over again, somewhere safe and away from the battlefield."

Doc looked like she was on the verge of tears. Over the past few days Kira had learned to read the woman's emotions well enough, despite her apparent singular expression at times. But this, one of the most complex expressions Doc had shown her, was more inscrutable than any look of annoyance.

"I made up my mind from the start. I'm going to let you do this." she said, "It's the best option, I know it is. But damn it all, it's irresponsible. So it comes down to Verna. I won't encourage her, but if you can convince her to help, I won't stop her either." Doc glanced at the door. It was pretty obvious that she was thinking, If she comes back.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

"Right, I've got that down" Monika replied, pulling a vial of red liquid from her pocket and handing it to Carlos, right before taking her seat at the table. For most, handing off what was in that vial would've been embarrassing, coupled with the question that Ehman posed to her shortly after she sat down. Monika wouldn't deny that she was nervous, but even as she unbuttoned her shirt for the next step, she maintained her calm demeanor. It was simply how things were, and she could handle a bit of awkwardness.

"Top is fine with me."

... That being said, there were still some lines that she had to draw.

[Chevaleresse]

Kira

A protection program? She hadn't even considered the option. It was an appealing thought on its face. Katria was her home, supposedly, but she had little attachment to it, and often felt that it had little love for her. Kira was a scarred, broken human being who didn't even have the benefit of having a powerful weapon to make people pretend to like her. It was something to keep in mind, but. . .

"I told myself I wouldn't forget again. I'm. . . happy that you're concerned," she said, stumbling over her phrasing, "but I won't be able to just leave this behind. I have to know. I can't just disappear and turn into a new person again." Kira looked down, this time out of a genuine emotional display rather than belated concern for the other person's comfort. "I'm sorry, but if there's even the slightest chance, I have to try."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Eilyth
Having been shown yet more of the messages, She was almost certain that it was some variant of the classic A1Z26, though applying it to the message in it's entirety revealed gibberish similar to what she'd gotten on her first attempt.

Code: [Select]

s i q v c a p e b c u q u f j q v p q d p u q u n q u o c j p d n j k e p i u l j q v c t f e q v c u q o p a j c u u

h c u c j u c i l f e n j q c j q n l j u w n q q w c d l f u n j

q v c k n s s c e n j k l t o p a d f w q n u q u h v n u r c e h n d b c a h l e a u l j q v c q c o r l e p w h n j a u

q v c i n j t l e o f u q v p q i l f p e c j l q q l s c q e f u q c a

f u f e r c e f u f e r c e
There had to have been something else beyond the basic letters to numbers. Something she was missing that make it even somewhat intelligible. Perhaps some type of coefficient, but no, no... the numbers present were too low for that to be a realistic possibility. Which meant... it was probably the resultant letters that were the key. Eilyth, put quite simply, fucking hated that. She would've much preferred to go down a spiraling rabbit hole of mathematical equations than struggle for the next few minutes trying to break what had gone from a a1z26 to a substitution cipher.

But curiosity (and a little stubborn resolve... alright, a lot of stubborn resolve) at her back, she did it anyway. loathed every last moment of suffering it brought with every fiber of her dyslexic being, but did it anyway. She didn't know how many methods she tried. Perhaps it was through sheer luck when she found a potential substitution that actually made sense of some of the message, and applied it to the rest to find it still fit. Or perhaps Miss Perry could go fuck herself, with how she always told her she was as a dumb as a brick and would probably end up as cannon fodder someday.

"Yeah, you old bitch, smart enough to do this, even with letters fucking me up. Smart enough to figure out how to stop the most powerful woman in the world too...by the goddesses, if I could've seen the look on your face when the news broke... I could almost die happy."

An look of almost smug satisfaction flashed across her face at the thought. Miss Perry or not though, she was fairly certain she'd finally gotten the final result:

Code: [Select]

BY THE DARKEST SUN THAT CASTS ITS MENACING RAYS ON THE FURTHEST MADNESS

WE SENSE YOUR INTENTIONS LITTLE COUSIN

THE GIBBERING OF MAD CULTISTS WHISPER WICKED WORDS ON THE TEMPORAL WINDS

THEY INFORM US THAT YOU ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED

USURPER USURPER
"..." Despite being fairly sure the end result was correct- it was far too coherent to be a dud, Eilyth didn't bother to share her findings with Laurie. Instead she simply stared at the girl, her face an unreadable mask of neutrality, much as it had been since the day began. Behind the mask though, she was working overtime to figure out if the brat in front of her really was a snake in the grass, waiting to bite.

She had too many of those vermin in her life already.

[Takosher]

Monika

Although the pattern analysis was a bit uncomfortable, it didn't take very long. The patterns in Ehman's eye were swift to stabilize, perhaps even quicker than expected, because for a moment Monika swore he looked surprised. Regardless, it was done, and he pulled back to return Monika her dignity.

"Carlos, come." he said, and Carlos stepped forward. "You have already met, but I would still like to introduce you. Carlos, this is Sydow."

Carlos shot Monika a bemused smirk and said, "Nice to meet you, Sydow."

Ehman looked Monika in the eyes. "Carlos may be making a great sacrifice for you today." he said, "I know that he is beneath you, but please thank him properly." He left on that note, he had work to do in applying the pattern and there was nothing more for him to say. From this point onward, it was between Monika and Carlos.

Kira

"I know." Doc said. She resolved herself for what was to come, she couldn't just be passive. She'd promised to help, and she was damn well going to help. "I'll go find Verna and drag her back."

As it turned out, Verna hadn't made it far. The first person Doc asked about a screaming moron was able to point her to the nearest bathroom, where Verna was holed up in a stall. It didn't take much coaxing to get her to come back, she wasn't a very stubborn person. Doc had returned within ten minutes, a slightly more subdued Verna in tow. She looked a good deal calmer now, although that could change at any moment.

"Doc says you needed my help with something important." Verna said, "I'm sorry, again, I didn't mean to run off I just..." she trailed off and started turning red again. It looked like just keeping her around was going to be a pain.

Eilyth

Laurie decided to read whatever she wanted into Eilyth's stare. "I know right, it's really weird." she said, "But I wouldn't worry about it, there's lots of people who are way weirder. There's this girl in my maths class, Fenatyri, she's always talking crazy stuff about how the goddesses are actually aliens and the Church is hiding the truth from us. Compared to her, some weird numbers are pretty normal, right?"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Eilyth
"Yeah, I guess so," Eilyth said, shrugging "Anyway, we're just about done here, so..." And she was right, the little numbers tangent aside, she had more of less finished arranging the last of the chairs. From what she'd already seen, she knew the kid wouldn't get the cue to shove off and find someone else to bother. One simply didn't miraculously develop that kind of perception out of nowhere.

But after dealing with a fucking substitution cipher of all things, and having grown rather tired of her inability to shut up, Eilyth was really hoping just such a miracle might occur.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

"A pleasure, Carlos" Monika greeted, partially buttoning her shirt back as she gave Carlos a nod, returning her gaze to Ehman before the Esteemed One went to work on the next step. It took all she had to repress a sigh at his words, as understandable as they were. She knew most of her peers thought of men as little more than cattle, due to their role in society. As for her, she could never think of men like that, and in fact had a great deal of respect for them. After all, they dutifully went on with their roles in society, despite how unfair it was.

It helped that Monika was a woman who liked to 'admire the scenery', and she had seen plenty who had features that drew her eye every once-in-a-while.

"Thank you, truly, for your service" Monika said, giving Carlos a slight bow of her head as a gesture of her thanks. Something that, as far as she knew, very few women had done for their sacrifices, but Monika didn't care much for tradition.

[Chevaleresse]

Kira

"It's fine." She wasn't sure how else to reassure Verna; it seemed that her comings and going were largely outside of Kira's control. "Did she tell you what we wanted to try? I think you're the only one that can do it." She tried to take a gentle tone, but Kira couldn't really tell if she'd managed it or not.

[Takosher]

Eilyth

Laurie sighed heavily. "Thank Allia." she groaned, "That was so hard." It didn't look to Eilyth like Laurie had found the task very difficult at all, but that didn't stop Laurie from acting like it was the most difficult thing she'd ever had to do. "I hope they don't make us do anything else."

Monika

Carlos shrugged. "It's no big deal, I've done a lot of these." he said nonchalantly, "But thanks, it's nice to be appreciated."

Carlos wasn't the nicest looking man Monika had seen, but there was a sort of rugged beauty to him. His bronze colored skin was laden with scars, especially around his hands and lower arms, his near-black green hair was short and unstyled but still managed to fall into a decent-looking position naturally, and his large orange eyes seemed soft and welcoming, like a warm fireplace. With the casual friendliness he exuded, he would have made a perfect servant. It was too bad he'd ended up in a manual labor job.

Kira

Verna once again perked up at Kira's reassurance. And even more at the idea that she might be the only one who could help. "No, what is it?" she asked excitedly.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Eilyth
Of course she wasn't going to get that lucky. Miracles didn't happen for people like her. For strugglers. It was in her very nature to have to fight tooth and nail to get by; there was no such thing as a divine intervention that would come offering aid. If anything such interloping would only be to present even greater tribulations.
    "Oh they probably will," Eilyth said, "Still a lot of stuff to do, ya know? But... if this was too hard for you, you're free to bow out. I can probably handle anything else just fine."