HALO CLXXXV: The Titles End Here

[Shadowcaller]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"In this case the truth isn't important. Only what people believed happened. So who was he betrayed by exactly? According to the story." Ambrosia inquires as to her this was vital intel.

[Morty]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"True. The King in Rags isn't above using lies himself." Wenomir rubs his chin. "I think the gol-kin have stories of escaping his rule. That is, goblins and orcs. But they're not eager to share those with humans, so there's not much I could find out."

[Shadowcaller]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"Don't suppose there are any of those around here which I could speak to? I might have better luck than you even if I look mostly human." The scholar inquires. She had meet plenty of beings that called themselves goblins but just like with dragons they needed to be the right kind.

[Morty]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"Dipsnig Razortooth of MERC is the most prominent goblin from my homeworld that I know of. Whether or not he divulges this information I can't say." Wenomir shrugs slightly. "Many of his subordinates are also the same kind of goblin. And I think the lady in charge of GLoG is one too."

[Ironsmith]

[Airbase]

Seraphina looks at the phone that's suddenly in her hand, trying to figure out how it compares to what she's used to, pushing buttons and checking out jacks and everything. "Huh. Well...let me give you some advice as thanks, then. That many phones is far too many, might want to get rid of a bunch of them," she says.

Unless he's, like, some kind of secret spy and has a bunch of different identities. And all his spare phones are just burner phones or something. But that'd get confusing quick, she thinks.

She runs her tongue across her pointy teeth. And then, once she feels the tiny breeze, she stops looking at the phone and instead looks at the nearly-off manacle. "Oh!" she says. "By the way." If he's some kind of secret spy with a thousand different identities, then of course he'd be the perfect person to ask about this: "Memories. Would you happen to know any places that can help with magically-altered memories? Since I can't actually remember the real reason I came to HALO and there's a lot more oddities where that came from, that seems like the next best thing to look into."

[Airbase]

"...I'll get on that." Vlad says dryly, hiding a smirk inside his helmet. Maybe he'd oversimplified that explanation just a bit too much.

At the bit about altered memories, though, he's all business again. "Well, that... is a little beyond me." He says, stuffing a cloth into the crack and spraying the little strip of metal on either side that had yet to be worn through. "I'm sure there are a few people here in HALO who could help with that, but I'm not overly familiar; it falls outside my usual area of operation. I also know someone in VIGIL who may potentially be able to help, depending on what exactly is going on... but she's a bit skittish around magic, so I wouldn't bet on getting her help without buttering her up some first."

There's a light pop as Vlad finishes sanding through the manacle, followed by the creak of metal as he unceremoniously bends it over enough to release Seraphina's arm. "Either way... I can't really help very much. Sorry."

[Shadowcaller]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"So Glog or MERC. That gives me some direction." Ambrosia muses. "Thank you. Is there perhaps more I can do to help you develop your new style more? I could come at you as a dragon if you like."

[Morty]

[Of Swords and Dragons]

"Hmm. Yes, that would be helpful. Especially given the likelihood of my having to face down some big monster of the King's." Wenomir assumes a martial stance again. "Let's try it."

[Magtok]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

Reinholdt opens his mouth to say something more but pauses suddenly and blinks a few times. Did... did the fey just take on the appearance of his worst enemy? After a little too long to recover, Rein puts the book in Magtok's hand, but keeps holding onto it tightly.

"Well. Well. Well. You did receive my singing telegrams." All 29 of them! Magtok had to be informed about the event and Rein's expectations for him after all.

"I did. And now you've finally found me, caught me sneaking in to attend the event instead of participate in it," Magtok retorts, sounding almost proud that he managed to get this far before getting caught. His grip tightens on the book, waiting tensely for an opportunity to seize it and run off.

"Just a shame the show's over and everything seems to be wrapping up now, huh? No excuse not to let me leave. So close to pulling me into your maidly shenanigans, but not close enough," the cyborg boasts, momentarily pausing to look over Reinholdt's shoulder, as if to make sure there isn't a redheaded giant or something that might try to guilt-trip him into putting on the frilly dress. Victory is all but assured, the show is over and things seem to have settled down, so there's no way Rein could possibly get his twisted desires now!

[Reinholdt]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"Oh you're still here in time," Reinholdt growls, a broom appearing in his hand and getting shoved into Magtok's chest. "To clean up. Alone. Everyone had to help and since you weren't here for anything else, I guess that means you get to do allllll the cleaning." Only when Magtok accepts the broom does Reinholdt let go of the book.

"And since everything seems to be wrapping up, you'd better get started. Begin with those tables back there." Reinholdt points to the darkest, furthest corner from the entrance. Magtok may not have to wear a humiliating dress, but Feldamn if Rein's going to let Magtok slink out of here without any contribution.

[Thursday Violist]

[Airbase]

"...I'll get on that." Vlad says dryly, hiding a smirk inside his helmet. Maybe he'd oversimplified that explanation just a bit too much.

At the bit about altered memories, though, he's all business again. [Color]"Well, that... is a little beyond me."[/Color] He says, stuffing a cloth into the crack and spraying the little strip of metal on either side that had yet to be worn through. "I'm sure there are a few people here in HALO who could help with that, but I'm not overly familiar; it falls outside my usual area of operation. I also know someone in VIGIL who may potentially be able to help, depending on what exactly is going on... but she's a bit skittish around magic, so I wouldn't bet on getting her help without buttering her up some first."

There's a light pop as Vlad finishes sanding through the manacle, followed by the creak of metal as he unceremoniously bends it over enough to release Seraphina's arm. "Either way... I can't really help very much. Sorry."

[Airbase]

If Vlad's goal was to convince Seraphina that he's some kind of super spy who was modding his own airplane and adding secret spy equipment to it, then he was pretty successful at it.

"Yeah, so I don't actually know what caused it," Seraphina says, "whether it was magic or something more normal. Actually, there's a pretty decent chance it could've been caused by some kind of AI that gained sentience, but..." She shrugs, and brushes her white hair back. "But, I dunno. Pretty sure it was trying to escape the VR by taking over my body, or something ridiculous like that. Whatever; I'm not going back to it to find out so it doesn't really matter, but...I don't know."

She takes a deep breath, and looks to the side.
"Regardless, I'm not sure if I want to bother the people of HALO until I figure out the actual reason I ended up coming here. It definitely was an extremely important reason..." She sighs. "But if I stick around I'm sure to get known as 'that girl who claims to talk to flying sharks, who showed up almost dying and then immediately made a move on the librarian when she probably should've been resting at the infirmary'. Not really the best look, y'know?" Plus, she's still hungry.

Seraphina bites her lip.
And then winces, because, ouch: pointy teeth.
And then, she hears the sound of the manacle finally breaking open. She looks down at it.
She moves her am, and then bends her wrist, making sure it still works properly. "...thanks."

Well, apparently, there's someone in VIGIL who could help. Honestly, she doesn't know what VIGIL is. But she assumes it's something like HALO, from context. Well, at least she has a goal of somewhere to go next, so that's good.

The probably-a-vampire lady rubs her wrist.
"Well, um...okay, well, I probably ought to leave. But is there any way at all I can help you? As thanks," she says, as she holds up her wrist to show what she's thanking him for.

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

Well now that Rachel mentions it there are some different books. Like the Calculations of something called "Any Size Hotel", a Diary "My life as a stuff animal", "Why do we need pants" and some books about making your own clothes. Strangly enoougth the titels just appeared after she thought nothing of intrest is there. Mr. C also sees this change and gets some worried looks at it. Some of those books are not public.

"In a way. Let's say I don't need to work as a butler to live." he says. "There are as many ways of magic as you think of, i guess. And also so many dangers if you don't know what you do."

Mr. C can't keep her here when Rachel decides to leave. "Good luck with your project."

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

"Like riding a bike, sure." Rachel glances at the bookshelf to see if there's anything interesting on it, but she suspects none of it is particularly her type of book. "Are you saying you're rich and just enjoy pretending to be a maid?"

Rachel finishes off her tea and starts to get up. "Speaking of, I should probably get my stuff back so I can at least take pictures outside. Maybe I can turn it into a cosplay in the forest day on twitagram."

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

The catgirl June doesn't need to read books on why pants are important; she already knows: they're comfortable.
Books on that bookshelf evidently aren't really for her.

"If there really are an uncountable number of magic, it just makes sense that I'd be able to learn at least one of them," she comments.

June looks over at Rachel.
She bites her lip.
And then, smiles and waves. "Oh! Bye, have fun taking your pictures!" she says. "I hope they look great."

[Maid Café and Book Signing]

'Jane' opens her mouth as the balding man pushes his book up but don't even get a word in before she's too cut off by the blonde woman.
Not sure how to handle it she simply watch them bicker. Her small smile looking increasingly forced.
"...alright. But I was actually asking if I was signing this for you or your kids." 'Jane' can finally clarify once she's sure she isn't going to get cut off again.
Her gaze moves between them. "I assume these copies are for yourself then?" She opens the man's copy and casually flips through the pages. Trying to figure out why this one looked so different from the others.

[Maid Café and Book Signing]

'Sadly, he's single," the blonde woman says. "Me, however, I'm hoping that once my kids finally choose to give me grandkids, they'll read it."

The balding man sighs. "Yeah. Yeah, basically just for ourselves," he confirms, answering what 'Jane' is looking for.

As she looks through the book, 'Jane' would be able to note several things - especially since she's been looking at several different books recently. First, the book has different margins, spacing, font, and so on. Formatting things. Second, the book actually matches up with an earlier draft of the story instead of the final draft that's been printed: there's a couple minor errors and issues that would reveal this fact. Third, the book has illustrations that match up with the story: clearly not made by a professional, in colored pencil. And, fourth, the binding and cover isn't nearly as perfect as the normal books, but it's definitely colorful. And has pressed flowers as part of it.

Actually, most of the other cultists' books are similar; and all of them have similar cloaks, too.

Anyway, these two cultists in front of 'Jane' just wait expectantly.

[Shadowcaller]

[Maid Café and Book Signing]

That was rather odd. How would these two have gotten their hands on drafted copies?
She will sign both the books but before she hands them over, 'Jane' poses a question. "These copies are unique. Collectors items perhaps. How did you get your hands on them?"

[Morty]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"There... is a lot to clean, yes."

Dorota is confused right now. Magtok's tenure at HALO was before her time, or mostly so, and as such she's not familiar with him. So now she's really not sure if this strange song and dance is a way to draw out the infiltrator or if Magtok and Reinholdt are just like that with each other.,

[Magtok]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"Oh you're still here in time," Reinholdt growls, a broom appearing in his hand and getting shoved into Magtok's chest. "To clean up. Alone. Everyone had to help and since you weren't here for anything else, I guess that means you get to do allllll the cleaning." Only when Magtok accepts the broom does Reinholdt let go of the book.

"And since everything seems to be wrapping up, you'd better get started. Begin with those tables back there." Reinholdt points to the darkest, furthest corner from the entrance. Magtok may not have to wear a humiliating dress, but Feldamn if Rein's going to let Magtok slink out of here without any contribution.

Magtok looks like he's about to argue, to defy the broom and cat. Asking him of all people to clean? Just who does this lowly creature think he is, ordering us around like that? There's absolutely nothing obligating him to go along with this, no social ties or friendships or moral hangups that weigh on his conscience, no greater good preserved by asking the cyborg to mop up like some sort of actual maidservant. He can just shake his head and leave, he doesn't have to-

A glance over Dorotha's shoulder reveals a head full of red hair passing by. It's not Felandria's, it's not nearly tall enough to be her, but the cat reports to her, doesn't he? She's still a leader here or something. There's no way this snub won't be passed along to her, and gods know we don't have the time or energy to unburn that bridge.

"...Fine. If I hear you gloating I'm half-assing this, though," he insists, taking the broom and relinquishing the book, hurrying towards those tables. The sooner we get this done the sooner we can get out of here and put this ungodly submarine behind us.

[Reinholdt]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

Reinholdt fails to gloat, watching Magtok scurry off to see to the task with slightly narrowed eyes. He'll set the book aside near the entrance so Magtok can pick it up on his way out when he gets done.

"Well there you have it," Reinholdt tells Dorota. "No one worth worrying about," he assures her as he turns to go back and start closing up.

[Morty]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"Uh... hang on." Dorota scurries after Reinholdt, casting worried glances back at Magtok. "Is that the real Magtok, not a fey impostor?"

[Reinholdt]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"It's the real Magtok alright," Reinholdt says, not looking at Dorota while he does a quick inventory count of how many books were distributed. "No one else could be as insufferably smug about being lazy." Though Rein still hasn't a clue as to how he didn't realize who it was earlier.

[Ironsmith]

[Airbase]

If Vlad's goal was to convince Seraphina that he's some kind of super spy who was modding his own airplane and adding secret spy equipment to it, then he was pretty successful at it.

"Yeah, so I don't actually know what caused it," Seraphina says, "whether it was magic or something more normal. Actually, there's a pretty decent chance it could've been caused by some kind of AI that gained sentience, but..." She shrugs, and brushes her white hair back. "But, I dunno. Pretty sure it was trying to escape the VR by taking over my body, or something ridiculous like that. Whatever; I'm not going back to it to find out so it doesn't really matter, but...I don't know."

She takes a deep breath, and looks to the side.
"Regardless, I'm not sure if I want to bother the people of HALO until I figure out the actual reason I ended up coming here. It definitely was an extremely important reason..." She sighs. "But if I stick around I'm sure to get known as 'that girl who claims to talk to flying sharks, who showed up almost dying and then immediately made a move on the librarian when she probably should've been resting at the infirmary'. Not really the best look, y'know?" Plus, she's still hungry.

Seraphina bites her lip.
And then winces, because, ouch: pointy teeth.
And then, she hears the sound of the manacle finally breaking open. She looks down at it.
She moves her am, and then bends her wrist, making sure it still works properly. "...thanks."

Well, apparently, there's someone in VIGIL who could help. Honestly, she doesn't know what VIGIL is. But she assumes it's something like HALO, from context. Well, at least she has a goal of somewhere to go next, so that's good.

The probably-a-vampire lady rubs her wrist.
"Well, um...okay, well, I probably ought to leave. But is there any way at all I can help you? As thanks," she says, as she holds up her wrist to show what she's thanking him for.

[Airbase]

"Ah, it's nothing. You made my afternoon a bit less boring is all." Vlad waves a massive metal hand dismissively. "But if you've really gotta pay me back, we'll just leave it at 'you owe me a favor' for now. I haven't got a whole lot in my life that needs doing."

The engineer in the mechsuit starts back over toward the plane he'd been working on when Seraphina came in, kneeling to resume his old position. "Good luck, whatever you do."

[Thursday Violist]

[Maid Café and Book Signing]

That was rather odd. How would these two have gotten their hands on drafted copies?
She will sign both the books but before she hands them over, 'Jane' poses a question. "These copies are unique. Collectors items perhaps. How did you get your hands on them?"

[Airbase]

"Ah, it's nothing. You made my afternoon a bit less boring is all." Vlad waves a massive metal hand dismissively. "But if you've really gotta pay me back, we'll just leave it at 'you owe me a favor' for now. I haven't got a whole lot in my life that needs doing."

The engineer in the mechsuit starts back over toward the plane he'd been working on when Seraphina came in, kneeling to resume his old position. "Good luck, whatever you do."

[Maid Café and Book Signing]

"Oh, I wouldn't call it that; unique, maybe, but definitely not a collector's item," the dyed-blonde woman says, while waving dismissively. "Homemade would probably be the better word for it." It does look a little rough, not quite professional.

She answers the question she thinks 'Jane' is asking, by saying, "I did the cover and binding myself," she explains, "but for the typesetting and the pictures I asked Sa–"

She gets cut off by the balding man with a very audible sigh. "Oh, you blonde ditz, that's not what she was asking about," he says.
He rolls his eyes.

Then he sighs loudly again, and gives the answer to the question he thinks 'Jane' was getting at. "We got the text from one of our priests; he's got a master copy that he sent to everyone, and he received the book as part of a divine revelation," he says.

Though, it does raise the question: what kind of god gives their priest an earlier, in-need-of-an-editor, draft of a random book instead of just giving them the final draft of it?

Shortly after the books are handed back, they thank 'Jane' and move out of the way for anyone left to get their copies signed.


[Airbase]

Seraphina nods: yeah, of course. That works. "Sure, a favor," she says.

She does sort-of wonder what sort of favor a super spy (who works on modding his own airplanes) would need, but also figures it may be a while before they meet again so there's not much to be gained from speculating.

"Thanks," she says.

She turns around, and tries to find her way back to the teleporter she took to get here. Not completely remembering the way does make it a bit harder, but eventually she should make it back.

Luckily, it also gives her time to figure out the phone and put Maria's number into it and to try to memorize the number, too.

Seraphina debates calling Maria to tell her she's leaving, but figures that can wait until some time later. After all, Maria's probably exhausted and resting right now, or something like that.

Once back in HALO's undersea base, she backtracks until she finds her way back to the shuttles.

Seraphina yawns.
It's been a long time.

Sure, it might be nice to stick around a little longer, but (1) she's thoroughly embarrassed herself here, (2) she's still hungry and doesn't want to drain someone else more, and (3) so much of the base is made of glass.
For good measure, she puts her cloak and its hood back on so she doesn't have to see herself for much longer.

Oh, and (4) she's actually a little eager to figure out which of her memories are real and which aren't. She's betting on being a princess to be a real one, and the talking, flying shark to be a fake one. The robo dinosaur is probably real since she confirmed the existence of the scar she got afterwards, and actually so are all the other ones that she has still-fresh wounds from, but they can't all be real, so to balance things out she's putting Khannie in the 'probably not real' category for now just because it's too coincidental to randomly run into the same girl three separate times all in the middle of nowhere but each time she seems to be completely different, biologically speaking. Plus, she did meet that nonexistant shark one of those times, too, so that's more evidence against her.

[Morty]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"I don't think I've met him before. Why did he come here in disguise if he's one of us?" Dorota pauses. "Maybe I should go ask him."

[Reinholdt]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"Probably to avoid dressing like a maid. Which is pretty dumb seeing as how he already dresses like one anyways..." Reinholdt grumbles to himself. "I'm sure his answer will be much more colorful." Rein waves his hand to let Dorota run and ask Magtok whatever she deems necessary.

[Morty]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

Dorota goes over to Magtok and clears her throat.

"Ahem. Mr... Magtok, was it? I'm Dorota Glińska, an alchemist here. I don't think we've met before."

[Magtok]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"Hi, Ms. Glińska. If Reinholdt thinks he can exploit a loophole by asking you to gloat on his behalf, please let him know I said he's wrong and dumb," Magtok politely informs Dorotha, taking a wild guess as to her purpose in greeting him as he's clearing tables and wiping down surfaces.

[Morty]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"Err... no." Dorota straightens her glasses. What is she supposed to say, actually? She might not have thought this through. "No, I just wanted to introduce myself. I've heard a lot about you but never met you. I wasn't sure if you're actually affiliated with us."

[Magtok]

Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue

"Technically, yes. Felandria is a very adroit negotiator," Magtok answers acerbically, stuffing some more garbage into bags so it can be...huh. You know, Magtok never thought to ask how a submarine base disposes of its waste. Is there a big trash furnace elsewhere? Is it all teleported offworld, to a big crater in the surface of the moon? He presses a small tracking device against a half-eaten muffin when he thinks Dorotha isn't looking, and lets it sink into a bag full of similar garbage. Very silly of him, seeing as he could probably just ask someone where the garbage goes if it matters that much to him. Heck, he could even ask the alchemist talking to him right now and she might know. It'd be a lot faster than this ridiculous process.

"The cat and I don't get along, however, and he spends a lot of time here, so in the interest of civility, I stay off-site whenever possible. So while my contributions to HALO are limited this way, the alternative is the two of us constantly feuding and looking for opportunities to stab each other in the back. Not the best for HALO's reputation, and certainly less than ideal for anyone hoping to get things done, as I'm sure you understand," the cyborg explains matter-of-factly. He leaves out the details of why he and the cat don't get along. People tend to either disregard him as a crazed loon or shrug it all off as irrelevant prehistoric nonsense, but even if she does believe him, what good would it do? It'd just make the cat mildly annoyed, maybe enough to find some equally meaningless way to retaliate.

[Shadowcaller]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

'Jane' (whose described here) approaches Rein, briefly catching a glance of Magtok as he walks off.
She gives the man a curious look as he didn't look like any cleaners she had seen around here. In fact, she was pretty sure she had seen him in the crowd earlier. But of course, her purpose here was Rein. "Excuse me, Rein. Can I talk to you for a moment?"

[Reinholdt]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Tongue]

Reinholdt holds her up for a moment as he finishes counting the donations for the alleged fundraiser and putting it all into a cash box before looking up.

"Yeah? What's up? I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with your concern from earlier." That's what he guesses this is about. But Artie showed no signs of being anything but the perfect maid.

[Morty]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

That's... a very complicated interpersonal dynamic. Dorota is curious why Magtok holds so much enmity for Reinholdt, but she suspects he'd lie if she asked. And what is he doing to this muffin?

"That's a shame. I've heard a lot about you, especially your cloning projects. Creating life this way is the dream of many alchemists. I've created a golem, but he's not really the same thing."

Did she refer to that golem as "he"?

[Shadowcaller]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Tongue]

Then perhaps she had at least been undetected. Hopefully.

But she needed to be sure-

-wait, this hadn't been why she wanted to talk to Rein.

"...erm, actually, while I do like to discuss that there were two unusual characters at the book signing. They had books which seemed to be drafts of the story rather than the finished product. Yet neither of them were members of HALO. I figured you should know since you lead the project." Sort of.

[Magtok]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Forked Tongue]

"Clay, magic, and a scroll to breath life into the construct, or a less traditional golem, like those nasty meat men, or the iron golems I've seen some pretenders build before?" Magtok asks, apparently taking a very dim view of flesh golems, as well as anything that could be described as 'robots but totally not robots because I used magic.' Warforged, iron golems, any sort of constructs that look like they'd be robots if the setting was sci-fi instead of fantasy. Clay is totally fine though, apparently. So long as it doesn't look like something Magtok's own technology could be responsible, the magicians of the Nexus can do whatever the hell they won't and he'll only dislike them the usual amount.

"Either way, that dream can quickly become a nightmare. It's easy to take that kind of power for granted, to get reckless or irresponsible with it. As Frankenstein tells us, the ability to sculpt life into being doesn't necessarily give you control over it," Magtok shoots a brief glance towards the cat, recalling just one of a few terrible decisions where he cloned something that ought not be cloned, because he had the foolish idea in his head that he might gain some brief strategic advantage out of it. The fewer non-Magtok clones in circulation, the better.

[Reinholdt]

[Maid Café and Book Signing - A Slip Of The Tongue]

"Ah yes. I'm familiar with them. I waited on their table and go to their church. Uh, going to their church. I mean I'm going to go to their church." Future tense. Big difference.

Nothing bad ever happened from going to a cultist's church, right?