Vigil

Herein lies the various threads in which our characters live out their lives
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Morty
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Briefing Room]

A call is sent out to Vigil members. Wenomir and Mia need help with something they didn't expect to deal with today. An intruder was apprehended after trying to steal Mia's sword, but questioning him revealed that he's on the run from another robot, who intends to take his power source. Getting his hand of five such power sources would grant him immense power. This is something Vigil needs to look into.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Briefing Room]

The instant Wenomir sends out a notice, he gets one back, from <drsarakhafir79@mail.vgl>. The response quotes the VIGIL commander's notice, but instead of containing the usual, telltale signs of the reply function, Khafir seems to have directly transcribed Wenomir's words into her response. One might get the impression that she was watching the situation unfold and simply chose to wait until the earliest possible time an intervention would be socially acceptable to say something.

The "something", in this case, is a brief, but affirmative response. She's volunteering to help look into this alleged robot-on-robot violence and its reasons for being.

A few minutes later, a second reply (<Eun_Jung_Bu@mail.vgl>) will come through, likewise interested in TANBot's story. Eun wants to see what help she can be in dealing with this problem, mentioning in her response that this sounds close to a menace on her homeworld she's gotten very good at combating and that she believes she could help with immensely.
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Re: Vigil

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Morty wrote: Oct 23, 2022 1:18 pm [Far Too Early]

Wenomir leans over with his hands resting against the table. He's doing his best to analyse this plan from a tactical point of view, without letting his opinion of Magtok cloud his judgment. After all, Magtok does know Prime better than most.

"That is a plan with many failure points. One thing going for us is that Prime and his clones will be eager to believe that they've outsmarted us. But that only goes so far."
Magtok wrote: Oct 22, 2022 4:12 am [Far Too Early]

Magtok takes a deep breath. Alright, we'd best start from the beginning. This is going to take some effort to explain in a way the Vigil leadership can understand without immediately throwing him out the window.

"Okay, as you might already know, sitting in your prison is a body Prime meant to seize for himself. It's been very deliberately designed to augment his natural psychic powers, thought in its current state, without the augments, it's little more than a grumpy old man in a cage."

"I was more than happy to see him rot there forever, but then Needs helped me find a magical sigil, one that would can be used to permanently connect a ghost like Prime to a body. See, normally if a body he's possessing dies, he can just leave it behind and fly away to do more evil ghost shit. With this sigil on a body, if he possesses it, he no longer has a way out. The door is closed behind him, he's bound to it personally. It dies, he dies, and he stays dead. But it can't be just painted on his chest, or he might just wipe it off. That's why I'm thinking we put it on the brain implant, and slot it back into that clone's head, where Prime can't remove it."

"Of course, you still need Prime to actually take the bait. That means the clone needs to escape somehow. It needs to believe it got away from Vigil and isn't being manipulated into being used as a trap. Now, my idea is to 'accidentally' let the psychic implant fall into his hands, let him slot it into his own head, and then just stand back as he breaks out of his cell and flies off to reunite with Prime. Then you send the kill team to follow after, make sure they're all warded against hypnotic brain-melting suggestion, and have them kick his stupid ass and end this threat for good," our cyborg explains.

"Obviously there are some problems with this idea. We'd need a clear path out the door so it doesn't murder anyone while it's running away, and for the prison break to be believable, so neither Prime nor his body suspect they're walking into a trap. We'd also need the kill squad ready immediately, because leaving Prime alone with that kind of power for free is extremely dangerous. Ideally, you'd have an assassin pop his stupid head the moment he seals himself into the new body, but it's more likely you'd need to get into a big ugly brawl to put him down. Still, if everyone is playing their role correctly, if all goes exactly as it should, I think Prime can be stopped with minimal casualties."
[Far Too Early]

Cessie looks to Magtok first but then her gaze shifts to Blanche. "Miss Turath, what's your take on this?" She inquires. "Do you think Magtok's plan is worth committing to despite the risks Wenomir just pointed out?"
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Re: Vigil

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Arkhosia wrote: Oct 10, 2022 5:36 pm [A Fox Can't be Cut]

"A few years? I didn't realize it would take so long to become a knight." Anastasia quirks her head, trying to think through what she assumes must be the process of becoming a squire and such. "Well uh, I bet you've learned a few cool things by now. Maybe you can teach me a few things sometime too."
A Fox Can't be Cut

Koshal nods enthusiastically.
"Well I mean they can't really knight me when I'm not even an adult yet. Maybe when I'm eighteen. But yeah it can take a lot of training. I can show you plenty when I have time."
He winks.
"And I can give you tips on building some arm strength too. My people, well. It's kind of our thing. Call it one of the not-bad stereotypes."
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Re: Vigil

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[Briefing Room]

Wenomir requests that both Khafir and Eun come to the briefing room. Between the two of them and Mia, they might be able to counter Zeeland's (he's still not sure if that's his real name) abilities and tech, allowing Wenomir to open him up like a tin can.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Briefing Room]

Khafir is the first to arrive in the briefing room, between the two of them. Despite her civilian background, she marches into the room with all the stoic rigidity of well-trained soldier. She stops in the front of the room, preferring to stand while she waits for the meeting to start. "Commander." She greets Wenomir, with a curt little nod. No further comment necessary, apparently.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Zefir »

[Briefing Room]

Mia has already prepared all they got about the Target. The technologie she is using are flying screens that you can grab like a tablet or can be moved around in the room.
One screen is a live feed of the cell, while right next to it are security footage of the fight. Those are very bad as the training area isn't covered with cammeras. Another screen offers Informations about the target with a shadow that looks like the robot in the cell. The informations are mainly about his time travle ability and his search for the ccores to power up.
A screen next to it has a map with the ocation, sadly Vigil has no live feed for the area. Questions might be asked now.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Arkhosia »

[Far Too Early]

"It is a daring plan," Blanche concedes. "However, I think there is a lot of worth here. As Mr. Godlark said, Prime is a pretty serious threat as-is, and one that we have been letting fester for quite some time now." The catgirl leans forward, choosing to address her step-dad just as formally as her boss refers to her. It seems only fair.

"As we know from his first manifestation, Prime is plenty dangerous on his own - and if there's anything we know about Magtoks, it's that they tend to be very ambitious. I have no doubt he's spent this time growing in strength and figuring out ways to work around the loss of his psychic amplifier. I think we can all agree that it is our responsibility as an organization to prevent dire threats to the Nexus, and I believe we have been lax in following through when it comes to him."

"Which is why I believe this plan has a strong central premise to it," Blanche explains. "Prime is elusive, paranoid and difficult to pin down. We can't just assemble a crack team and storm his base. We need a lure to draw him out of his element, and most importantly, we need to negate his ghost status, as Mr Godlark has suggested. That's something his suggested plan provides handily."

"The problems I have with the plan as-is, however, is the various failure points and risks you've noted." An issue Blanche had raised when Magtok suggested it in the first place and why she wanted to do this meeting, in fact. "The way I see it, the biggest failure points are either of the Magtoks in question realizing the setup, or the delivery method slipping from us and Prime being able to wreak havoc with amplified psychics. Putting in some manner of failsafe into the amplifier could work, but we risk showing our hand by tampering with the device."
"Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
SliiArhem wrote:Arkh I may be slightly delirious but I don't think that would make sense even if I was coherent.
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Re: Vigil

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[Extraction Successful]

A pink Reinholdt flies through the skies with a purple dragon, approaching VIGIL and hoping not to get shot down on account of they're technically expected.

Just in case though, he's calling ahead to Doctor Khafir and Cessie on the phone to very briefly inform the two of their arrival.
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Re: Vigil

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[Extraction Successful]

This would be the second time Ambrosia was flying towards VIGIL. But this time she would actually be fully aware of it and would hopefully end up a lot less violent.
So she certainly hoped that Klaus didn't have some teleportation device that would render all their (especially Rein's) efforts for naught. Thus the dragon will keep lightly prodding him with her tongue as to make sure that he's still there.
So far she had seen no opportunity to use her emergency measures against him so if nothing else happens she will touch down at the designated spot and carefully push Klaus out of her mouth with her tongue. He might roll around a bit but won't actually fall out as the dragon has her head almost touching the ground.

Cessie and a number of VIGIL guards are already there ready to take Klaus into custody. Of course, they will adhere to Khafir's specifications on how to treat their new 'patient'.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Extraction Successful]

It turns out, calling Khafir to let her know they're coming is a bit redundant; apparently, she hasn't taken her eye off them since they left Skyside.

Her instructions are pretty standard for the most part; make sure he's handcuffed, confiscate his hotbox, cage the cat that came with him. He's to be delivered to her lab as soon as possible, so she can provide specialized anesthesia and begin the corrective procedure they discussed at the start of the mission.

For his part, Klaus still seems to be under the effects of the paralytic. Diva, however, is not. And she has no qualms with scratching up Ambrosia's tongue and generally being a small, furry annoyance.
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Re: Vigil

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[Extraction Successful]

Reinholdt has no problem letting Cessie's guards take things from here, mostly because he doesn't have any intention in digging around in dragon spit, not even to take vengeance against Diva. Instead, he'll just find a wall or something to lean against to look cool.
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Re: Vigil

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[Extraction Successful]

Ambrosia had no instructions what to do about Diva so her plan had simply been to eat her once they got back to VIGIL. But as Khafir's instructions makes it clear she's supposed to be in a cage she simply pushes the cat out of her mouth with her tongue as well. If Diva attempted to cling on the dragon might change her mind about following that order though.

Otherwise Khafir's orders will be followed to the letter as she was more in charge of this operation than anyone else.

"Is he still actually paralyzed or is he pretending?" Cessie asks the good doctor as she might know better. Dorota had said the agent would last longer than this but there was no telling how it'd react to Klaus unique physiology.

Ambrosia who is taking up most of the available space here also has a question. "Is there anything else I can do while I'm here?"
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Re: Vigil

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[Briefing Room]

"Eun. Khafir." Wenomir nods to each of them in turn. "As I mentioned in my message, we have a potential threat we must analyze and, if necessary, neutralize. Your skills are likely to be of significant help. Unfortunately, our information about the threat's exact capabilities are limited. Mia and I fought someone who might be similar, but we shouldn't assume too much."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Magtok »

[Far Too Early]
Blanche wrote: Oct 28, 2022 12:03 am"The way I see it, the biggest failure points are either of the Magtoks in question realizing the setup, or the delivery method slipping from us and Prime being able to wreak havoc with amplified psychics. Putting in some manner of failsafe into the amplifier could work, but we risk showing our hand by tampering with the device."
"That's right. Unfortunately, the reason why I'd rather not put a tracker on the implant or the host body is the same reason why I'd caution against putting a bomb inside of either: there's too high of a risk of Prime finding it, since he knows tech almost as well as I do," Magtok admits, unable to stop himself from throwing in that little (unproven) boast at the end.

"Now, if Vigil has someone who can latch some sort of invisible magical tracking device to the body, some sort of weird curse that they can later scry with their big crystal ball, I think that could work. I don't think we have any reason to believe he knows how magic works, especially since pretty much every single spellcaster I've ever met functions under a completely unique set of rules and limitations." That's the main reason why Magtok sought out Needs for this plan in the first place. A magical rune, even if discovered, could mean anything, so why worry about it? Why would Prime waste time fretting over some dumb little mystery glyph the heroes left behind when there's INFINITE PSYCHIC POWER waiting to be claimed? What could magic possibly do in the face of such overwhelming might?
"You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
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Re: Vigil

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[Extraction Successful]

"It would be simple enough to test." Khafir replies, approaching Klaus with a tiny rubber mallet. "Even with the implant, Quire will have difficulty suppressing certain responses. You may be familiar with the concept of a reflex arc; the signals from a sensory nerve travel almost directly to a motor neuron, triggering a response without once consulting the brain, regardless of whether it has been altered or not. The classic example is a kneejerk reflex; gently tap the patella, and the patient will involuntarily extend their leg. Like so."

Wop!

Khafir does not, in fact, gently tap Klaus's knee. Instead, she balls her hand up into a fist and drives it directly into his stomach, producing a pained wheeze, but no other movement, from the paralyzed spy.

"...Of course, even the kneejerk reflex can be suppressed if the patient is expecting it. Especially so if they've disciplined themselves for that purpose. It is much more productive to examine a response that was not discussed moments before testing." Khafir continues nonchalantly, setting the mallet aside. "You may safely assume that the paralytic is still in effect. Give Dorota my compliments the next time you see her; this is impressive work."

Finally, to Ambrosia, she gives a curt little nod. "You are momentarily dismissed. Stay nearby in case we have need of your services again, but there is nothing for you to do here, just this moment."

Meanwhile, Diva is not at all eager to be caught and caged; as soon as she's out of Ambrosia's mouth, the cat bolts for the nearest item of furniture and hides underneath it, hissing and swiping at anybody who comes close. That she's covered in dragon spit doesn't seem to bother her, at least not as much as the idea of having to sit in a cage does.


[Briefing Room]

"So noted." Khafir replies evenly. "This would not be the first time either of us has had to deal with potentially homicidal robots that possess unusual capabilities. I understand Doctor Bu is something of an expert on the subject."

Eun, who hadn't been stated to arrive yet but presumably walked in at some point, goes completely pale and busies herself with something on her tablet.

"By my understanding, we are holding one of said robots in our custody, correct? Would they consent to an OS dump?" Khafir continues. "Historically, we have found that our primary advantage when dealing with machines is their artificial nature. A targeted DDOS attack is usually sufficient to incapacitate them; all we would need would be a basic understanding of the target's system architecture and a method of delivery."

"...It, um... wouldn't need to be anything all that elaborate." Eun chips in. "We could have a working virus ready within an hour of receiving the needed specifications. Then we just upload it to one of the parts they're trying to steal, and when they plug in to use it..."

"Imminent system failure." Khafir finishes. "At which point all combat-related abilities become irrelevant."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Raptors!]

There's an unusual sight in Vigil today. A very small, fluffy green raptor is scurrying about the flying island with enthusiasm. Running up to people, making little "wok" noises and exploring every nook and cranny. She's got a collar on and Wenomir is following behind her to keep her out of trouble and explain that she's his new pet. Her name, he will explain with a stony face, is Coco.
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Re: Vigil

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[Extraction Successful]

Reinholdt is taken aback by the physical violence before falling into a scowl. Klaus was Khafir's patient, wasn't he? The whole premise around this mission was to rescue him from his own implants. Reinholdt's reluctantly willing to resort to violence when necessary, but this didn't seem necessary and felt almost personal. It was certainly rude and maybe a great deal worse. As tempted as he is to say something and jump in immediately like he would in just about every other circumstance, today he holds back a bit, looking at Cessie to gauge her reaction first. This was their organization after all.

He does at least speak up regarding Diva. "The cat is something akin to Klaus' personal pet, or as close to having one as he'll accept. Please treat her with care and don't harm her." Granted, she's much more likely to harm them, but still.
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Re: Vigil

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[Extraction Successful]

Cessie's expression is neutral up to the point where Khafir decides to punch Klaus in the stomach.

"You couldn't just have bumped his other knee instead?" She could have just told her to watch Klaus right knee and then went for the left one. "I understand your sentiment but we're supposed to be saving him here and that felt a tad... much." She wouldn't say unprofessional as that might provoke a debate that she didn't want to have right now. "Just please try to fix him now, doctor. Any damage we cause to him can just complicate this situation even further."

The dragon's eyes focuses on Khafir though unlikely Cessie her concern isn't regarding the treatment of Klaus. "'Dismissed'? I'm not at your beck and call, doctor. I'm simply repaying a debt." Her gaze shifts to the cool-cat leaning against the wall. "Rein, may I speak to in private for a moment?" Not sure how 'private' a discussion with giant dragon can be though...
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Re: Vigil

Post by Zefir »

[Briefing Room]

Mia looks at them a bit confused.

"I'm not sure if that is an option. The part he is hunting for is an essential part of other robots. From my understanding to get them you have to disable the owner of said object. Futhermore these object seem to me more a mechanical part, I can't say for sure as we only had a look at it from outside." Mia says.

"As for connection to them, They do have audio and video sensors. We couldn't identify other means so far but I would guess we might find a hidden port. Sadly that might not be easy to connect."
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Re: Vigil

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[Far Too Early]

"I'm not comfortable relying on our enemy not knowing something. Yes, it's likely he underestimates any kind of power that he doesn't possess, but he's not stupid. He might have learned something since he came here." Wenomir shakes his head. "If we wanted to track him, we can try obtaining a scrap of his clothes and using a tracking animal. Or a part of his body and using scrying magic on it. It's still a risky plan, but Blanche is right that a frontal assault won't do us much good. We should at least consider it." Blanche's assessment means more than Magtok's to him.

[Briefing Room]

"Mia is right. We can't remove the part he's looking for without killing our prisoner," Wenomir confirms. "Could we create a fake? Probably not, since we can't take a close look at the original."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Extraction Successful]

"Sentiment does not enter into it." Khafir deadpans. "Any other reflex test would have run into a similar problem. Rest assured that an abdominal contusion can be repaired trivially and presents no risk to the patient's health." She wheels over a device resembling a dental lamp, clicking it on and pointing it toward Klaus's face. "You may find that the implications of an oath to do no harm are far more expansive and lenient the more 'harm' is trivialized. Therefore, if you find my methods disturbing, I would suggest you leave."

Strangely, the idea that the other people present might get in her way and keep her from doing her job properly doesn't seem to bother her. Despite the fact that she's apparently preparing for surgery.

Meanwhile, Diva is still hiding under the cabinet and swiping at anybody who comes near, though she's calming down as those present seem to more or less ignore her.


[Briefing Room]

"Um... well, that's... not entirely true." Eun stammers. "Doctor Khafir and I both have access to intensive scanning devices. We could get a good look at our captive's power core without harming them in any way. The hard part would be passing off the replica as legitimate, since we can't just plug in a false core over top of the real one, and it would be suspicious if VIGIL apparently dismantled a captive."

"That is a considerable overcomplication." Khafir replies with a little frown. "This is a task that could be accomplished with the addition of an implanted memory device no larger than an office paper clip. We would simply give our guest a backdoor to prevent them from crashing themself, and still have a trap planted for their assailant."

"...Even so, this wouldn't be our first line of defense." Eun points out. "If we leave our captive unguarded, it will give away the presence of a trap immediately, and since the assailant would probably rip out the core to use it, the virus would kick in too late to save them. We would still need a more traditional solution to layer on top of this, but if all else fails, we can ensure they never get any further than this."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Reinholdt »

[Extraction Successful]

Reinholdt gazes quietly at Cessie, Klaus, and Khafir for a time before finally addressing Ambrosia. "Certainly," Rein says, pushing off the wall and following Ambrosia to... wherever she considers private enough. He'd imagine she'd shift out of dragon form to keep her voice lower, but maybe she's more comfortable as she is. Rein knows he prefers four paws and a tail. They could both always take to the sky and hide in the clouds. That would be pretty private.

"That was a very neat thing you did with that rocket by the way. Very impressive." Not many people take the deflect rocket feat.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Shadowcaller »

[Extraction Successful]

Ambrosia does not shift into her humanoid form as that's not something she can do. That will be something she needs to make clearer to Rein though considering what she wants to tell him.

No, instead she's suddenly smaller. But rather than shrinking before their eyes she seems to steadily jump down in size categories when they aren't looking until she's 'only' the size of a van. It does allow her to be hidden by the building they're standing behind as long as she's down on all fours.
She bows her head respectfully at Rein's compliment.

"Thank you, it's actually a trick I learned while training in my human body. I just learned to apply it to a different limb." She smiles, displaying just enough of her teeth to not come across as completely terrifying. It also helps that her voice isn't as LOUD as before either.

"It's one of the advantages of using two forms I suppose. You can learn a lot by seeing from a different perspective. I'm sure you're far more nimble than the average human while not a cat for instance."

She shakes her head. "But what I wanted to talk to you about is simple. I have thought about it and I think I'm ready to join HALO. I've actually already picked out a cave near your base that would make an excellent lair. So while I wouldn't want to connect my home lair to HALO it would do just as well once I have set things up."

[Khafir and Cessie]

"'Disturbing' is a strong word. 'Unnecessary' would be more appropriate." Cessie remarks, showing no signs of wanting to turn around as they take Klaus away. "I know that you have trouble with these sort of thing Khafir but as a leader I constantly need to think about perception. While you would have been right at home with the old VIGIL in the new VIGIL your actions reflect on me and what reflects on me reflects on the entire organization. For instance, I consider a good relationship with HALO to be important and Reinholdt happens to be an important part of that organization. So if he believes that VIGIL treats their captives poorly well that is going to make it harder for us to work together. Especially if we say, want them to turn over an important prisoner to us. So while your methods might be perfectly logical and justified they can still paint us in a bad light and that is negative for us long-term. The same goes for Ambrosia who has already proven herself to be a useful ally to us."

[Far Too Early]

Yes, there was a reason Cessie had asked Blanche to give her assessment. She had formed a strange bridge to Magtok which they hadn't have access to before thanks to her mother. Who knew that Magtok's thing for catgirls would work out in their favor one day?

"Alright, I think it's safe to say we're onboard with the basics of the plan for now then." Cessie concludes as she listened to the others arguments. "But I think we still need to hammer out some of the details. Since while tracking him is a concern a lot of the plan also hinges on that we make this clone believe what we want it to believe. Since if it has suspicions the entire plan might fall apart. So Magtok, how exactly were you planning to have the chip 'accidentally' fall into his hands?" She raises her hand. "To clarify, I don't expect you to have a full plan for it yet but it would be good to hear a basic idea at least."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ironsmith »

[Khafir and Cessie]

"...I see." Khafir replies with a little nod. "All quite logical from your perspective, as well. I see no particular flaws in your reasoning." She stands up a little straighter. "Would I be correct in assuming, then, that there will be some form of disciplinary action imminent? If you wish to give HALO the impression that treatment such as mine would be atypical and not tolerated within the ranks, that would be one method for doing so."

Fortunately for Cessie, she doesn't sound too put out by the prospect. After all, it's all very logical and impersonal; Khafir made a mistake and that is going to have consequences. Simple as that.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ember »

Morty wrote: Nov 01, 2022 6:33 pm [Raptors!]

There's an unusual sight in Vigil today. A very small, fluffy green raptor is scurrying about the flying island with enthusiasm. Running up to people, making little "wok" noises and exploring every nook and cranny. She's got a collar on and Wenomir is following behind her to keep her out of trouble and explain that she's his new pet. Her name, he will explain with a stony face, is Coco.
An equally unusual sight today is Iamar, bleary-eyed from what is a far later morning than she ever could have expected. She's walking through her morning routine as though she wasn't mysteriously absent for many months, and lets out a little "oof" as a small green raptor runs up to her, sniffing her legs.

"Ah, pardon me," she says. "I was unaware you had found a companion."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Raptors!]

"Iamar! Where have you been? We were quite concerned." Wenomir approaches the woman as the raptor backs away from her, making little "wok" noises. "But yes. This is Coco, my new pet."
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Re: Vigil

Post by Ember »

[Raptors!]

Iamar blinks at Wenomir like that was the oddest thing she had ever heard. "I do apologize for my late start, but I do not know that it warrants such a reaction - I only slept late." She crouches down in front of Coco lips curling up into a little smile. "An appealing name. Is it acceptable to touch her?"
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Re: Vigil

Post by Morty »

[Raptors!]

"It has been several months since I last saw you." Wenomir is growing increasingly concerned. What happened here? "But yes, you can pet her. She's quite friendly. I've only just begun training her. She needs to get to know this place." Coco sits back, fluffing her feathers to appear larger and makes a cooing sound in Iamar's direction.
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Re: Vigil

Post by Reinholdt »

[Extraction Successful]

"Hmm... yes, I suppose." Reinholdt had always just assumed that humans were naturally clumsy and slow, incapable of understanding the basics of balance. If everyone had just spent a year as a cat, they would clearly advance substantially in their evolution.

Reinholdt smiles. "Ah, that's excellent news. We are delighted to have you on board. I'll send a technician over to that cave you picked out whenever you're ready for them." Reinholdt would shake her hand, but that would likely end with his entire arm lacerated, so he manages to refrain.
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