HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

[Thursday Violist]

[A Singular Hallway]

Maria will put the mask down gingerly on the desk. Is this man really a member of HALO? Did he suggest this horrid room was his? What kind of monster has NO bo-

Oh, he does have books. Lots of them. Where did they all come from? Why hadn't she seen them before? Maria breathes a little easier all the same.

"Ah, uh, you're welcome. You should really put in a maintenance request to get your lights fixed. Especially in the hall outside the elevator. It's a safety hazard," Maria politely informs the unsettling jackal headed man.

And immediately starts perusing the books. Which soon makes her rather distraught again. She doesn't even like vampire books! She much prefers history books and cultural books and anything else with anthropology related value. Sometimes that included vampires, but only sometimes! Maria ends up grabbing Twilight and taking a quick glance through to see its basic premise since it seemed to be the only one not explicitly about vampires. "Ah, uhh... do you only collect books on vampires?" That would be weird, but certainly not as weird as not collecting any books at all.

[A Singular Hallway]

The jackal-faced man smiles, and places his hand on top of the mask. "I'll make sure to send in a maintenance call," he says.

The list of books available are rather unfortunate, in that - although there's many cultural books present - there's very few actual historical books about vampires. And, worse of all, every single one of the few historical books are either obvious propaganda (only some of which could be labeled pro- or anti-vampire) or are riddled with errors. Most people wouldn't be able to ever pick up on this fact, but if someone just happened to critically read a lot of history books it might catch their attention.

"I only collect what interests me," he replies.

After letting that sit for a while, he adds, "Right now, that includes stories about vampires."

Twilight, it turns out, is a teen romance novel. It pretty quickly becomes apparent that that's the case as Maria looks through it. The word 'vampire' is only mentioned in half the chapters, and even then, in all but, like, two chapters it's only once or twice in a chapter. Unless she opens up to, for example, chapter seven when the moody teen randomly goes on a google search binge of vampires, it's likely she'll just find it's a teenage romance with superpowers and a reluctant male lead, or something.

[Reinholdt]

[A Singular Hallway]

Oh no. A romance novel of trashy or quality nature! Maria holds it like one would a particularly dirty sock as she puts it back on the shelf. What mad person reads such things? There's so many more interesting topics, like the stock crash boom war of 13uo6.

Maria is torn, but ultimately decides having a collection is better than not having a collection. She does not, however, feel the sudden urge to stay here and read for the rest of her life and turns her attention back to the jackal-faced man. "Is that facial covering even yours? Or should I search for its actual owner some more? Also, what's your nomenclature? I don't believe I've seen you within HALO at any previous juncture." Not that she remembers all the people she doesn't look at while doing library things.

[Arkhosia]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - The Stunt]

Calanthe is in the crowd attending as well, sipping a cup of tea and watching the stage with a playful interest. So they're putting on a performance for the book? Observing it seems instructional. Interpretations on how to read out a story were quite useful, and my did this performance's effects seem impressive already.

[Thursday Violist]

[A Singular Hallway]

Oh no. A romance novel of trashy or quality nature! Maria holds it like one would a particularly dirty sock as she puts it back on the shelf. What mad person reads such things? There's so many more interesting topics, like the stock crash boom war of 13uo6.

Maria is torn, but ultimately decides having a collection is better than not having a collection. She does not, however, feel the sudden urge to stay here and read for the rest of her life and turns her attention back to the jackal-faced man. "Is that facial covering even yours? Or should I search for its actual owner some more? Also, what's your nomenclature? I don't believe I've seen you within HALO at any previous juncture." Not that she remembers all the people she doesn't look at while doing library things.

[A Singular Hallway]

I believe if there were any characters who regularly went to HALO's library to read its trashy romance novel collection and ended up reading the entire section, they'd be offended by Maria's assertion that they're not that interesting.

"I'm friends with its owner," the jackal-faced man says. He picks up the white mask and spins it between his fingers. "Or, rather, I suppose 'friends' isn't the best word for that. Perhaps..." He holds it in front of his face, but keeps a palm's width between his face and the mask. With a canid face, anyway, it'd be pretty hard for the mask to fit on, since it was designed for a more human-shape. "...She's my sister would be the better descriptor."

He rests his head on one of his hands, and then sets the mask bad down on the desk. "I'm called Aurelius," he says, pointedly not commenting on her statement that she hasn't seen him around. "Would you like to try it on? If you do that, I promise you'll get to meet her, too."

Aurelius waves at one of the bookshelves. "Or, if not, I suppose I could allow you to take one of my books upstairs. You can pick any of them, I don't mind. Feel free to find one you haven't read yet, if you'd like."

He says she can pick any of them, but if Maria looks back at the books, she'll see that every single one of them has been replaced with all the same book, the same title, the same cover that draws attention just as much as the mask did in the hallway. Myths of the Mhajm.

[Reinholdt]

[A Singular Hallway]

Maria and Harley may not get along very well.

"You can be friends with your sister." Maria winces a little as she considers the statement a little longer. "I'm not friends with mine, but I heard it's possible." Maybe they should start a club for people who aren't friends with their sisters.

When given the choice between meeting someone new or reading a book, it doesn't seem like much of a choice at all really. Sure, meeting people hasn't always been terrible. Seraphina and Tsumi come to mind. Frequently. In between books and sometimes during her rare fits of sleep. But that doesn't make Maria any more inclined to go out of her way specifically to meet someone new!

Besides, this book looks super interesting for some reason. Maybe because there's so many of them? Maria will start to reach for it, but pauses, an important question coming to mind. "This isn't going to change or disappear on me once I'm upstairs will it? I don't want to get halfway through and find myself reading something else." That would be a horrible tease. She'd rather put the mask on to meet a person than read an interesting book that becomes a romance novel halfway through.

[Zefir]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

June thinks cultists are weird.
She would not recommend becoming one just because it's 'in' right now.

Maybe it's because Rachel's enthusiasm is infectious, but June also jeers and cheers (though not quite as loud) to the performance.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

And the half dragon comes back. In one hand he got the tea for Rachel and in the other a small paper. He places the tea in front of her as he whispers "Your tea, miss.". Next he gives June the paper with the data fora temporary wlan account only active for a few hours. He then turns to the scene at the stage.

"A I see. They chose this scene. I would have thought they got for the scene from page 90 where she mets the dragon." he says in a whispering voice.

[Shadowcaller]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

Dodging or blocking the lightning bolt would strain even Wenomir's altogether unreasonable reflexes. The lightning strikes him, proving the wisdom of wearing protective clothing. He nonetheless staggers back, disoriented. That doesn't seem to have given him any particular insight. However...

When thunder washes over him following the lightning strike, it speaks to him. Jarowit deflected lightning, that's true. But he's not Jarowit. He doesn't need to deflect it. He can learn from it in another way. Thunder follows lightning and he has been described as being fast as lightning.

Without really thinking about it, he swings his sword, the movement of the blade being almost imperceptible. After a moment, another thunderclap sounds, creating a shockwave emanating from the Answer. It's weak, but it's there.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - The Stunt]

Dorota watches the performance from her spot near the tables. This will draw people's attention, right enough. Is Ambrosia remotely controlling her armor somehow? It doesn't look like anyone is in it.

[Of Swords and Dragons]

Getting hit by lighting, even with protective gear on, probably wasn't ideal for Wenomir's health in Ambrosia's mind. Not after suffering the same fate numerous times in the past.
She had thought for sure that he would dodge that or at least not get hit directly.

So her attention isn't really on his sword swing. It taking her a moment to realize that his swing was too controlled to be the random spasm of muscles caused by the lighting.

"...are you alright?" She asks Wenomir while approaching him.

[Shadowcaller]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - The Stunt]

Zhareen loudly booed as the 'King in Rags' entered the scene and is just as happy to cheer when 'Jane Everywoman' do.
"Boo! Down with the King!" She declares while giving him two thumbs down and sticking out her tongue.

The 'king' in the armor turns not to Jane Everywoman but the crowd itself and let's out a deep yet hollow laugh.
"Foolish mortals... you're not competent enough to rule yourself..."

Then he turns to Jane. "Or bring tools of violence when trying to usurp your betters." As he says this a powerful gust of wind can be felt through the event. The indoor squall ripping into maid skirts and butler uniforms alike as the winds seem to gather in a small whirlwind right before the King In Rags.
The king reaches out and grabs the natural phenomena with both hands. The whirling winds seemingly forced together by his grip until they have become the shape of a black pole. Though this shape seems to be unstable at best the way parts of it that aren't close to the 'Kings' hands swirls around and bends like a snake trying to break free.

The King then lowers his wind-weapon down like a spear before Jane. The edge of it turning into long impossibly sharp black edge. "Now kneel or die. All you have is a book."

Now it's Jane's turn to turn to the crowd.
She has watched this spectacle unfold with a look of pure determination but seems unconcerned even as this fearsome weapon is brandished towards her.
"Kids, I think you all know that this clown only exist in your mind. Much like fear. And like anything that's only in your head it can be defeated with a good book and some imagination." Then she raises the copy of The Formerly Banished King and opens it before placing her hand on the page spread and with a long smooth motion pulls out a huge sword.

This is not Ambrosia's sword however. It looks like a replica of The Answer.

The King let's out a irritated hiss in response and suddenly thrusts the spear towards Jane as to impale her. But she blocks it with the book she's holding.
What follows is series of quick motions as Jane and the King fight on the stage. The King constantly trying to finish the fight with one killing thrust yet Jane blocking or dodging it at every turn. Clearly to the annoyance of her opponent who get increasingly more aggressive. Going so far as to dent the wood in the stage in one especially wild attack.

That's when Jane sees her opening and thrusts the Answer replica in-between a gap in the King's armor.

"I-impos-sible." He states in disbelief before the armor collapses in a heap upon the stage as if it had been empty all along. The helmet with its mask coming to rest on the tip of Jane's blade.
"You never were more than a scarecrow." The heroine declares before pulling the blade away, letting the now empty mask fall onto the heap as well.

She then turns to the back of the stage as some of the stage lights turns off. Making the remaining ones cause Jane to cast a long shadow onto the paper-screen there.
"Yung Sune, it is done. He is no more."

Her shadow suddenly grow larger on the screen. Taking the shape of an a dragon which takes up most of it. One that at least Rein would be familiar with.

"You've done more than I could have ever hoped for, Jane." The shadow dragon on the screen declares as it seems to bow its head in respect.

Jane mimics the gesture, bowing her head low before the dragon. "I couldn't have done it without those that believe in me. Like you, Lula-" She turns to the crowd once more. "-or our amazing crowd."

At this Zhareen suddenly calls out. "Woo! Go Jane!"

[Magtok]

Maid Café and Book Signing - The Stunt

A pair of mismatched hands join the applause at the conclusion of the story. One metal, one of flesh, both owned by an MIA member of HALO that has sneaked into the event in disguise so as to observe the proceedings without being ensnared by any sort of duties or obligations to participate as one of the maids, butlers, or other assorted volunteers Michael J. Blagtok, a totally normal NPC nobody's ever seen before. Aside from his robotic left arm, there's not really a whole lot that makes him stand out from anyone else in the room. Just a normal guy in normal pants and a purple sweater vest, with facial features so indistinct you'd swear there was some sort of magical effect on his head compelling the eye to drift away and forget every single detail of his completely mundane and average face. But of course there's no enchantment on his face, that'd be silly. Who would go to all the trouble of having a wizard craft a spell capable of doing a thing like that? Certainly not Michael J. Blagtok, the most normal man in the room, who is definitely not anyone of note you've heard of before.

[Morty]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

Mike Blagtok will bee approached by a slim, pale and blonde woman in a respectable maid costume. She's a HALO member but the odds of this man knowing her would be exceedingly low even if he was familiar with HALO. Dorota was watching Ambrosia's performance with no small amount of interest, but she feels she has to at least try to do her job here.

"Are you enjoying the show, sir? Do you need any tea or cake?"

[Of Swords and Dragons]

Clearly Wenomir has an action hero's resistance to being electrocuted. His hair seems to be standing on its ends somewhat and he has a distant look on his face. Hard to say how much of it is the shock and how much is some sort of revelation.

"...mostly. Can you send the lighting to my side this time? I think I'm onto something."

[Thursday Violist]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Sirena]

Sirena had somehow stuck around this whole time, even watching the performance and finishing all her tea.

She didn't really come here to get a book signed, though. Still, she picks it up, and then pulls up her sleeve to check her watch, so she can finally see what the alarm's beep was saying. Matching the aesthetics of the rest of her, her watch also has pink - but instead of just being pink, it's got pink energy glowing at the seams. She types out a couple things in the air above the watch, and then gets up.

Getting up, the pink catgirl (with mostly-white hair) puts the book under her arm and heads out of the room.

Once out there, though, she doesn't continue to leave the base just yet; she instead waits in the hallway and checks a few more things with her watch.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

And the half dragon comes back. In one hand he got the tea for Rachel and in the other a small paper. He places the tea in front of her as he whispers "Your tea, miss.". Next he gives June the paper with the data fora temporary wlan account only active for a few hours. He then turns to the scene at the stage.

"A I see. They chose this scene. I would have thought they got for the scene from page 90 where she mets the dragon." he says in a whispering voice.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

June watches the performance. She pulls her things tight as the gust of wind tears through the space, she gasps as the wind turns into a spear.

When the half-dragon returned, she grabs the paper. "Oh, thanks," she says. She grabs on to it, so that she can sign on and connect after the performance is over. She whispers back to him: "Oh, wow, really? Dragons are really cool, I've always wanted to meet and maybe ride one. I definitely need to read that part from the book," she says, promising to read it. "Glad you convinced me to read it."
...
Somehow, she had completely forgotten that she was talking with a half-dragon guy when she mentions how cool they are.


And then, when the performance finishes, June claps and cheers again.
"Wow, that was pretty exciting," she says.
She then remembers the important thing she still needs to do: go to twitagram and follow that account. She can't remember the entire title of Rachel's username, but she does remember "Let's see...Feline....Angel..." and searches that up; a bunch of cosplay pictures pop up, so she clicks the follow button on her screen, and says, "Okay, found it!"

She starts scrolling through a couple of the cosplay pictures that show up on it.

[A Singular Hallway]

Maria and Harley may not get along very well.

"You can be friends with your sister." Maria winces a little as she considers the statement a little longer. "I'm not friends with mine, but I heard it's possible." Maybe they should start a club for people who aren't friends with their sisters.

When given the choice between meeting someone new or reading a book, it doesn't seem like much of a choice at all really. Sure, meeting people hasn't always been terrible. Seraphina and Tsumi come to mind. Frequently. In between books and sometimes during her rare fits of sleep. But that doesn't make Maria any more inclined to go out of her way specifically to meet someone new!

Besides, this book looks super interesting for some reason. Maybe because there's so many of them? Maria will start to reach for it, but pauses, an important question coming to mind. "This isn't going to change or disappear on me once I'm upstairs will it? I don't want to get halfway through and find myself reading something else." That would be a horrible tease. She'd rather put the mask on to meet a person than read an interesting book that becomes a romance novel halfway through.

[A Singular Hallway]

"Alas!" the jackal-faced guy says, as he sets the mask back down. "She's my older sister, so I haven't seen her around much. And our mother moves around too much, so I can't even fall back on Sunday dinners with her, either."

It's sad.

Aurelius sighs.

He looks back up.
"No, it won't change or disappear," he says. "Books are meant to be read, stories are meant to be heard. If a book just disappeared then it would be just the worst."
While Aurelius does promise that the book won't disappear on Maria, he pointedly does not say anything about the book changing. Since, in fact, the things written in the book slightly change every single time it's read, in the infuriating way that makes you think you're misremembering what you read, and makes it difficult to discuss the details with others.

He smiles.
His fangs glint in the light.
"That book you're about to choose is a nice book, however. I wrote it myself, so I guarantee its quality. I wouldn't mind if you let other people read it, too. As an author, it makes me happy whenever someone draws out something from my stories."

[Reinholdt]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"Thank you Jeeves," Rachel says with a smile as she takes her tea. It makes it harder to clap during the performance, but Rachel will just have to make up for it with more enthusiastic cheers.

When it comes to a conclusion, Rachel will turn her attention back to June. "I wish I had known you could pull objects out of books like that. I might have actually paid attention in school." It is very unlikely that she would have paid attention in school even then. Too distracted thinking about boys and drawing heart doodles in her notebook and passing notes to Sarah. A sword in a book would not have changed that. She's no sword girl, alas. "Really good special effects for just a play."

Rachel's twitagram has a number of cosplays from a variety of nerdy mediums. Rachel's cosplay of Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagann might be one of her most popular because it also features a crossover, real actual mecha from cosplay legend Magtok Godlark. Rachel seems small next to it so it's a perfectly scaled cosplay too and you just can't beat out props like that. Plenty of other pictures of her in that cosplay without the mecha at various angles. She's also done witches, clerics, maids (if today's pictures count), a stupid incredible Yuna from FFX with actual water magic it looks like rather than the usual photoshop or greenscreen. It looks like she's been doing this for at least five years.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Watching Snakes]

Reinholdt's focus during the show is primarily Artie, watching her various reactions to the show. But Rein does notice a customer in need of some service and starts heading towards Michael J. Blagtok. Only to be rudely interrupted by the show's sudden gust of wind kicking up his skirt. "Kyaaa!" Rein has to hold it down as Michael J. Blagtok sees more than he's meant to and Rein is left extremely red faced. This interruption lets Dorota get to him first and Rein does his best to pretend he was actually heading somewhere else past Michael J. Blagtok. Rein'll just reposition and continue watching Artie, hoping this embarrassment would never come up again.

[A Singular Hallway]

"Wait... if you haven't seen your sister around, why do you think I would see her by putting on that?" Maria asks with some confusion and pointing at the mask. These two ideas seem to be counter-intuitive.

Maria still grabs a book while looking at Aurelius, unable to resist the lure of a hard bound piece of literature. "Oh... you wrote it? Can I ask what the Mhajm are? Like... is that the culture where you're from?" Even if it is a modern author, if the inspiration was his culture, a lot could still be learned from the myths. Myths were often a reflection of a culture's identity and values at the time period.

[Keeper]

Maid Cafe and Book Signing - Watching Snakes

If Artie is some sort of secret fey agent sent to take down Ambrosia she certainly isn't acting like it. She's busy with helping customers in her little corner of the room. Or in her case apologizing yet again after somebody tripped over her again. She's aware the show is a thing that was scheduled to happen so she's scarcely paying it any attention other than to look over and clap at appropriate times.

[Magtok]

Of Swords and Dragons - Watching Snakes

[Of Swords and Dragons]

Mike Blagtok will bee approached by a slim, pale and blonde woman in a respectable maid costume. She's a HALO member but the odds of this man knowing her would be exceedingly low even if he was familiar with HALO. Dorota was watching Ambrosia's performance with no small amount of interest, but she feels she has to at least try to do her job here.

"Are you enjoying the show, sir? Do you need any tea or cake?"

Michael J. Blagtok visibly flinches when Dorota addresses him. The spell that Needs cast should make him completely imperceptible, an invisible non-entity forgotten and disregarded by every sapient being in the building. It's how he was able to sneak all the way here without any fuss, without dealing with that stupid cat or his shapeshifter wife or the tall redhead or anyone else that would make witnessing the show difficult. Who is this maid, and how is she capable of speaking to him?! Needs was very clear; the spell wouldn't start fading and shedding layers of magically-induced anonymity until he felt a jolt of pain in his eyeballs, a sudden stinging sensation a few seconds after the decay sets in. That certainly hasn't happened yet.

"It's been fun. HALO clearly put a lot of work into it. And I'll have just tea, thank you. I'm not-" Mr. Blagtok past Dorota and witnesses something he absolutely did not want to behold today. Of course that awful cat had to wear a skirt and play the role of maid. Wretched, awful, wicked thing. There's a stinging sensation in his eyes as he tries to purge that from his memory, to pretend that didn't just happen as he quietly tries to recall the nearest eyewash station for exposure to harmful irritants.

[Ironsmith]

[Airbase]

"Specieologists are, ironically, perhaps the most endangered species of them all," Maria notes. It's tragic how their culture was usurped by a bunch of scientists too.

Maria starts to scream as her arm is sawed in two before realizing it isn't necessary as she isn't being horribly dissected. Then she just looks sheepish for making a noise that's like a scream or a death wail but cut off before reaching its crescendo.

"Thank you," she mutters before moving away from the chain and the chainsaw man before there's a massacre.

[Airbase]

Seraphina watches the saw blade, and immediately decides it'd be better to not go with that option. She doesn't cut vegetables with a blade aimed at her hand, so she doesn't want to cut metal with a blade towards her hand either. Doesn't matter that it doesn't actually cut Maria.

After Maria's finished and Vlad approaches Seraphina, Seraphina looks at Maria as if pleading for her to help her. "A-actually I'm already low enough on blood as is, I've been cut by enough blades recently, I'd rather go with the acid solution," she quickly says, holding her hands up and forward, as she takes a step away.

She looks down at the saw in his hand. "Besides, I really ought to be on the lookout for assassins: What if someone tampered with your tools so they fail the second time they're used?" She is, after all, probably some kind of princess who has had her memories altered for some inexplicable and unknown reason.

[Airbase]

Vlad gives Maria a little nod of acknowledgement as she mutters her thanks, before turning her attention back to Seraphina

"That would be quite the risk to take." Vlad notes, with all the confidence of someone who's given the subject far too much thought. "They would have to know that you'd need my services- mine, specifically- and that you'd be going second, and that you would be the only time I would use this tool since they would last have a chance to alter it, or at least account for all other uses. Not to mention they would need some reason to not have it go off on Maria, as well, which could compromise their anonymity and incriminate them after the fact. And even if the saw did malfunction, the odds of it killing you, or even permanently injuring you, are very small. I'd say you're safe from any such schemes."

Even as he says this, Vlad wraps a pair of sponges around Seraphina's elbow and wrist, before producing a small spray bottle and gently spritzing the manacle with its contents, filling the air with an acrid smell as the solution starts to bubble and the manacle starts to discolor.

[Morty]

[Of Swords and Dragons - Watching Snakes]

Whatever powers of perception Dorota might have that saw through Michael J. Blagtok's disguise, she entirely misses Reinholdt's skirt incident as she reaches for a teapot and a teacup to serve the tea. To her credit, while she's otherwise clumsy, years of lab work gave her steady hands when it comes to handling hot liquids.

"Of course, sir, here you- uh, is something wrong?"

[Zefir]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

The wind does what the wind does, but Mr. C has no shirt to blow open. Still there is something else, his pants. and to stay right the wind pushes the pants at the half dragon so there is no room for imagination what they hide.

"I am happy to make another point on my board for that." he replies to june while also claping when the performance ends.

"I doubt school would teach you that miss, unless you got a magic book and a magic school." he tells June and it sounds like he tries to think where he might have seen that.
"Oh and I'm not 'Jeeves', but if you wanna learn my real name you might need to meet me again after this event."

[Thursday Violist]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"Thank you Jeeves," Rachel says with a smile as she takes her tea. It makes it harder to clap during the performance, but Rachel will just have to make up for it with more enthusiastic cheers.

When it comes to a conclusion, Rachel will turn her attention back to June. "I wish I had known you could pull objects out of books like that. I might have actually paid attention in school." It is very unlikely that she would have paid attention in school even then. Too distracted thinking about boys and drawing heart doodles in her notebook and passing notes to Sarah. A sword in a book would not have changed that. She's no sword girl, alas. "Really good special effects for just a play."

Rachel's twitagram has a number of cosplays from a variety of nerdy mediums. Rachel's cosplay of Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagann might be one of her most popular because it also features a crossover, real actual mecha from cosplay legend Magtok Godlark. Rachel seems small next to it so it's a perfectly scaled cosplay too and you just can't beat out props like that. Plenty of other pictures of her in that cosplay without the mecha at various angles. She's also done witches, clerics, maids (if today's pictures count), a stupid incredible Yuna from FFX with actual water magic it looks like rather than the usual photoshop or greenscreen. It looks like she's been doing this for at least five years.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

The wind does what the wind does, but Mr. C has no shirt to blow open. Still there is something else, his pants. and to stay right the wind pushes the pants at the half dragon so there is no room for imagination what they hide.

"I am happy to make another point on my board for that." he replies to june while also claping when the performance ends.

"I doubt school would teach you that miss, unless you got a magic book and a magic school." he tells June and it sounds like he tries to think where he might have seen that.
"Oh and I'm not 'Jeeves', but if you wanna learn my real name you might need to meet me again after this event."

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"Oh, I would love to be able to pull things out of books like that, too," June tells Rachel.

While looking at the pictures, June does start to wonder if it's still considered cosplay when you have an actual mecha. Probably? To be honest, she doesn't really know that much about cosplay, still.

Once she's scrolled through a lot of them, June puts down her phone. "Actually, a magic school would be pretty cool to go to, too," she says. "Unfortunately, I think for most of them you need to know magic before you enroll."

She looks back at the half-dragon butler. "Oh, I see," she says, "Makes sense." She nods. "For privacy reasons you can't tell people your real name while this event is going on."

[A Singular Hallway]

"Wait... if you haven't seen your sister around, why do you think I would see her by putting on that?" Maria asks with some confusion and pointing at the mask. These two ideas seem to be counter-intuitive.

Maria still grabs a book while looking at Aurelius, unable to resist the lure of a hard bound piece of literature. "Oh... you wrote it? Can I ask what the Mhajm are? Like... is that the culture where you're from?" Even if it is a modern author, if the inspiration was his culture, a lot could still be learned from the myths. Myths were often a reflection of a culture's identity and values at the time period.

[A Singular Hallway]

"The mask doesn't fit on me," the jackal-faced man answers, as if that's the most obvious thing in the world.

He taps his fingers on the desk in a rhythm, pretty similar to the same one that the elevator played. "They're a people from where I'm from, yes," he says. "I lived with them for a long time." More accurately, he created them, but that's irrelevant to trying to convince Maria to take the book up the elevator and out of this space, so that its stories can exist outside of here.
"Maybe some context would help you with the book," he then adds.
Aurelius leans back in his chair.
"The Mhajm are a seafaring people. Unfortunately, they don't have a written language - every story they have is told orally, through song. As such, much of their history has been changed, as every new storyteller adds something new." He smiles, his pointed teeth glinting again. "Actually, one of their beliefs is that their life is a song, and as long as someone still sings their song, then they're never really gone." He barks a laugh: "One of the more interesting afterlife beliefs I've heard, which you no doubt would be able to glean from reading some of the stories. Do you sing? I feel that someone who can sing would more be able to appreciate the rhythm of their stories."

[Airbase]

Vlad gives Maria a little nod of acknowledgement as she mutters her thanks, before turning her attention back to Seraphina

"That would be quite the risk to take." Vlad notes, with all the confidence of someone who's given the subject far too much thought. "They would have to know that you'd need my services- mine, specifically- and that you'd be going second, and that you would be the only time I would use this tool since they would last have a chance to alter it, or at least account for all other uses. Not to mention they would need some reason to not have it go off on Maria, as well, which could compromise their anonymity and incriminate them after the fact. And even if the saw did malfunction, the odds of it killing you, or even permanently injuring you, are very small. I'd say you're safe from any such schemes."

Even as he says this, Vlad wraps a pair of sponges around Seraphina's elbow and wrist, before producing a small spray bottle and gently spritzing the manacle with its contents, filling the air with an acrid smell as the solution starts to bubble and the manacle starts to discolor.

[Airbase]

Seraphina opens her mouth to counter.
. . .
It takes a few moments to think of something, but even as she does say something, her voice admits that Vlad's reasoning is correct.
"The...the odds of a robot dinosaur going crazy and attacking, or the odds of a VR machine suddenly gaining sentience, or the odds of some guy turning an MRI machine into a bomb as I walk by are also very small," Seraphina says, looking down and away, "but even so, I wouldn't be that surprised if a small saw suddenly grew eyes and a thirst for blood while it was being used, either."

But, yeah, he's totally right. No way anyone could've predicted everything that led up to this situation happening.

She exhales.

Seraphina tries holding her breath to not breathe in that smell. It's not exactly a pleasant smell.

[Magtok]

[Of Swords and Dragons - Watching Snakes]

Whatever powers of perception Dorota might have that saw through Michael J. Blagtok's disguise, she entirely misses Reinholdt's skirt incident as she reaches for a teapot and a teacup to serve the tea. To her credit, while she's otherwise clumsy, years of lab work gave her steady hands when it comes to handling hot liquids.

"Of course, sir, here you- uh, is something wrong?"

"Something got in my eye for a second; I'll be fine." Mag Blagtok explains, rubbing his completely normal human eye with his hand. His voice is starting to lose that magically-induced anonymity, inching towards being familiar and recognizable for anyone who's heard of the MagCorp CEO before. It won't be long before someone recognizes him, as soon as he's done with his tea he'll need to get out of here right away before there's another incident.

"You know, I'm surprised a certain fae or one of his envoys haven't shown up to spoil the festivities. Or at least, if they have, it's been contained so well the audience hasn't noticed it," Mag remarks as he sips the tea. Maybe the King in Rags just doesn't want to be seen getting in a fight with a bunch of ridiculous-looking security maids? Magtok himself certainly wouldn't want to be seen taking a fist to the jaw from a dainty-looking catgirl in maid cosplay.

[Shadowcaller]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

Clearly Wenomir has an action hero's resistance to being electrocuted. His hair seems to be standing on its ends somewhat and he has a distant look on his face. Hard to say how much of it is the shock and how much is some sort of revelation.

"...mostly. Can you send the lighting to my side this time? I think I'm onto something."

[Of Swords and Dragons]

He certainly took it better than Ambrosia did given the thunderclap.
"Well, if you're sure..." She raises her hand.

"Prepare yourself for another one."

She'll wait a moment and take a step back.

Then lighting strikes again. Not at the same place but certainly close by. Perhaps a bit further away than Wenomir had intended but probably still good enough for his purposes.

[Morty]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

Wenomir springs into motion immediately, not quite managing to act in sync with the lightning but managing a remarkably close approximation. He swings his sword in a downwards chopping motion; this time instead of thunder it causes a powerful gust of wind, which emits from the weapon like a blade of air.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Watching Snakes]

"Perhaps he'd rather avoid-" Hang on. Dorota pauses in the middle of an explanation. They didn't make it publicly known that the book is an effort against the King in Rags. "I- I mean, I don't know which fey you mean, sir." She tries and fails to give Blagtok a polite, inquiring smile.

[Reinholdt]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"Why would you know magic before going to a school that teaches you how magic works? That doesn't make sense to me. Even if that's how it always works in the books. It shouldn't!" The books were backwards!

"You should consider getting a nametag with what you do want us to call you if not your name or Jeeves," Rachel helpfully suggests to the nameless dragonman. Otherwise she may end up sticking with Jeeves anyways.

[A Singular Hallway]

"Oh... yeah, that makes sense." Aurelius makes a compelling argument.

And now he's starting to sound much more fascinating. At least, these Mhajm are. Maria sadly does not have her notebook with her to start writing all this down, but she's eager to get back to the library and do just that. The eagerness is dampened a little. "Ah, I don't... know? I've never really tried singing before. I doubt I'd be any good. But I do have a knowledge of the shared musical fundamentals." So the rhythm part might not be completely lost on her.

"W-well, thank you for the book... I think. And... give my regards to your sister? If you ever see her. I suppose."
Maria awkwardly shuffles in place, not sure how to end this.
"Bye?"
She'll start inching towards the elevator.

[Airbase]

Maria takes a moment to slide a piece of paper in Seraphina's hand. The free one that's not all chained up. Maria also doesn't make any eye contact as she burns a hole in the ground with her gaze, cheeks getting a healthy red back. Eating must have helped considerable. "Uh, if you... err... need ritual help again... or... with s-something else..." Maria trails off and shuffles in place for a moment. "I-I'm just going to go rest now and get back to the library." No one's watching the front desk! Just a quick nap.

Really quick nap. Maria seems in a hurry to leave as she turns and briskly walks away, glancing at Vlad for just a moment before returning to the ground before her.

Seraphina will find the paper just has ten numbers on it. How useless.

[Shadowcaller]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"I'm going to guess you've never been able to do that before?" Ambrosia inquires the wheat raises up after getting nearly blown away by the wind. "Since I'm wondering if you're copying or leeching off the energy produced? I can't quite tell."

[Maid Café and Book Signing]

Now that the 'stunt' is done 'Jane' will get off the stage and start signing books for everyone and anyone who wanted their copy signed by the protagonist herself.

[Zefir]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"Oh, I would love to be able to pull things out of books like that, too," June tells Rachel.

While looking at the pictures, June does start to wonder if it's still considered cosplay when you have an actual mecha. Probably? To be honest, she doesn't really know that much about cosplay, still.

Once she's scrolled through a lot of them, June puts down her phone. "Actually, a magic school would be pretty cool to go to, too," she says. "Unfortunately, I think for most of them you need to know magic before you enroll."

She looks back at the half-dragon butler. "Oh, I see," she says, "Makes sense." She nods. "For privacy reasons you can't tell people your real name while this event is going on."

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"Why would you know magic before going to a school that teaches you how magic works? That doesn't make sense to me. Even if that's how it always works in the books. It shouldn't!" The books were backwards!

"You should consider getting a nametag with what you do want us to call you if not your name or Jeeves," Rachel helpfully suggests to the nameless dragonman. Otherwise she may end up sticking with Jeeves anyways.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"There is a difference between knowing magic and able to use magic." he says. " A school should teach you how to use it so if you can't use magic you properbly can't visit such a school."

He sights slightly. Well he is no real human so his weak flirts might be overseen. He should read those 'Dating tipps for starters' books he never touched.
"Well, you could say it's a bit more privat, but also we usualy don't do this.... or at last I didn't. It is a bit more comfortable then such a big event."

He then points at Jane. "Now might be your chance to sign the book."

[Ironsmith]

[Airbase]

"Unless it also grew teeth, you'd still be pretty safe." Vlad points out, scrubbing the manacle with a piece of sandpaper. "Since the saw I use involves mixing centripedal force and magnetic attraction to cut electroconducive material in particular. It simply isn't sharp enough to break your skin, not unless you start swinging it round really hard."

He glances down at the paper Maria handed Seraphina, then back up at the retreating librarian. "...Well, well." He chortles, a bit hesitantly. "Lucky you. Getting Maria's phone number is something that's been in the back of my head since I got here. Congratulations."

[Morty]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"This is certainly the first time it's happening." Wenomir still sounds somewhat dazed and uncertain. "I don't think I'm leeching it, though. The energy comes from within me. I'm just imitating what I've seen."

[Shadowcaller]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"Interesting. So what are you imitating exactly? Try to describe the process to me. Thunder is just sound so is it hearing it that inspires you?" Ambrosia inquires as she approaches Wenomir.

[Morty]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"It's..." Wenomir waves his hand in the air. He's having trouble putting it into words. "Thunder follows lightning. A flash of force, then a roll of thunder. I try to do the same thing. A flash of my blade, then thunder."

[Thursday Violist]

[Maid Café and Book Signing]

Now that the performance is over, the two cultists - the overweight, balding man and the woman with dyed blonde hair and her roots showing - get up and get in line to get their homemade and hand-bound books signed.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"Why would you know magic before going to a school that teaches you how magic works? That doesn't make sense to me. Even if that's how it always works in the books. It shouldn't!" The books were backwards!

"You should consider getting a nametag with what you do want us to call you if not your name or Jeeves," Rachel helpfully suggests to the nameless dragonman. Otherwise she may end up sticking with Jeeves anyways.

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"There is a difference between knowing magic and able to use magic." he says. " A school should teach you how to use it so if you can't use magic you properbly can't visit such a school."

[Maid Café and Book Signing - Catgirls and Eye Candy]

"You're right, it doesn't make sense," June tells Rachel. "The only other schools that work that way are, like, higher education. And all the ones in stories are for first-time magic users."

She addresses the half-dragon man who's not named Jeeves, and continues. "If you can't use magic, then how are you going to learn if the only places that teach it don't teach how to do it? It's not really fair, at all," she says. "It's like...it's like...if some technomancer said you're not allowed to use phones just because you've never used them before."

[A Singular Hallway]

"Oh... yeah, that makes sense." Aurelius makes a compelling argument.

And now he's starting to sound much more fascinating. At least, these Mhajm are. Maria sadly does not have her notebook with her to start writing all this down, but she's eager to get back to the library and do just that. The eagerness is dampened a little. "Ah, I don't... know? I've never really tried singing before. I doubt I'd be any good. But I do have a knowledge of the shared musical fundamentals." So the rhythm part might not be completely lost on her.

"W-well, thank you for the book... I think. And... give my regards to your sister? If you ever see her. I suppose."
Maria awkwardly shuffles in place, not sure how to end this.
"Bye?"
She'll start inching towards the elevator.

[A Singular Hallway]

Aurelius smiles sinisterly.
Or, maybe it's just the fact that he's got multiple pointy teeth.
And his shadow acts weird.

"Skill in singing is less important than knowledge of the fundamentals," he claims.

He places his hand on the mask, and it cracks and then vanishes, as if it was never there.
He keeps on smiling.
"Good-bye."

Once Maria goes in the elevator, the doors close, and the smooth bossa nova music starts up again. The elevator seems to travel up, but for a good deal shorter than it went down, and then opens up in HALO proper.
The hallway she took to get to the elevator appears to be not there. She's just back in a regular hallway, with regular lighting and no dripping of water.

The book seems to still be intact, even if it feels a little less, a little lighter - as if she was carrying something up with the book, and now that it's arrived here, it no longer sees the reason to stay in the book.

[Airbase]

Maria takes a moment to slide a piece of paper in Seraphina's hand. The free one that's not all chained up. Maria also doesn't make any eye contact as she burns a hole in the ground with her gaze, cheeks getting a healthy red back. Eating must have helped considerable. "Uh, if you... err... need ritual help again... or... with s-something else..." Maria trails off and shuffles in place for a moment. "I-I'm just going to go rest now and get back to the library." No one's watching the front desk! Just a quick nap.

Really quick nap. Maria seems in a hurry to leave as she turns and briskly walks away, glancing at Vlad for just a moment before returning to the ground before her.

Seraphina will find the paper just has ten numbers on it. How useless.

[Airbase]

"Unless it also grew teeth, you'd still be pretty safe." Vlad points out, scrubbing the manacle with a piece of sandpaper. "Since the saw I use involves mixing centripedal force and magnetic attraction to cut electroconducive material in particular. It simply isn't sharp enough to break your skin, not unless you start swinging it round really hard."

He glances down at the paper Maria handed Seraphina, then back up at the retreating librarian. "...Well, well." He chortles, a bit hesitantly. "Lucky you. Getting Maria's phone number is something that's been in the back of my head since I got here. Congratulations."

[Airbase]

Seraphina looks at the thing Maria's giving her...and sees it's just a paper. "Oh, um, yeah, if I ever get some other lingering curse I know who I'll come to first," she says. "H-have fun sleeping," she adds.

Once she's gone, Seraphina looks at the paper.
Oh.
Ten numbers.
"Oh, so this is her phone number," she says once Vlad mentions it. Seraphina looks at the paper again. Where would she get a phone to call it, anyway? she wonders. "Question. How common are pay phones around here?" she asks. A pay phone is much simpler than asking someone to borrow their phone, after all. Maybe she should call her? When would be an appropriate amount of time to wait? At the very least, should she wait until she gets this whole memory thing figured out? If she does, then hopefully she'll remember why she originally came to HALO, since what she remembers (a flying and talking shark invited her to visit) is obviously also part of the false memories.

Seraphina sighs.
"Oh, great, now I'm imagining saws growing very human-like teeth out of them," she says, as she tries to hold the manacle and her hand as still as possible. "I hope that never happens, it sounds really horrifying."

[Shadowcaller]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"It's..." Wenomir waves his hand in the air. He's having trouble putting it into words. "Thunder follows lightning. A flash of force, then a roll of thunder. I try to do the same thing. A flash of my blade, then thunder."

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"Conceptual." Ambrosia remarks, Wenomir likely now able to see her tome hoovering around now. Taking notes.
"Does it correspond to your fighting style as well? Thematically I mean."