headlesshydra

[headlesshydra]

She nods- Yeah, she was given a small sum of cash too when she first got here. Everything they needed was on their smartphones, as odd as it seemed. Almost like starting an MMORPG.

She fingerspells Frisk, and then repeats the shortsign, committing it to memory with a solid nod. Their sweater must be really important to them to base their shortsign on it.

[Cute.] She grins [You have a fun name. It's a cute sweater, looks good on you.]

There's a small pause in the conversation when the waiter comes over to take their orders, ordering a coffee and a small plate of baked goods for them to share. This place had plenty to offer in terms of food- Sandwiches, light lunch platters, but her favorite was their croissants. It was weird to think about, why couldn't DC have a place like this?

Once they left, she ponders how to respond for a second, the duck thing was always a joke, and it just became part of her identity after a while.

How do you describe this in a way that doesn't make you sound too edgy, though?

[Where I come from, I was part of the military. We were given code names to use on missions. Mine is M-A-L-L-A-R-D (Duck). I get teased about it by my partner, he gave me my short sign. He also fills my work desk with rubber ducks, I have a big collection of weird ones at home now.]

She laughs, thinking about how Leon would just bring her any kind of unique ducks he would find when he was out on solo missions. It had started as a way to apologize for leaving her alone, but turned into a tradition eventually.

Frisk sits next to the kind woman, and when they do, they realise they haven't sat down in hours. They'd been roaming around looking for Chara for so long, they forgot they actually needed to rest. Frisk lets out a sigh, but looks over to find...

She's using sign language! Yippee!

'Oh, thank you, I'm pretty sure I was supplied with money by the same entities that brought me here. Please don't worry about that, I just keep forgetting to eat.' They admit sheepishly, a small smile on their face all the while.

They watch her sign, Helena, and then her name-- cute! Ducks! They wonder why. Helena's signing is also very strong and solid, like reading an instruction manual-- but there's still some personality and warmth to it.

'My name is F-r-i-s-k.' Then they sign F, and bring their fingers across their upper chest from one shoulder to another, meaning 'stripe'.

'Because of my sweater. I wear it a lot.' They just have a thing for stripes! 'Can I ask what yours means? Do you like ducks a lot?'

[headlesshydra]

Isola Subterfuge Starter call

Info posts: [Part 1] [Part 2]

Someone come get her she's a fucking menace

[headlesshydra]

Seemed the stars had deigned to give her back some of her usual strength. She's testing the extent of this by lifting up an entire sofa onto her shoulders that was sitting out for trash collection. It's not in the worst condition, but all the same she doesn't wanna hold onto it for long.

It's enough to know exactly where her carrying capacity laid- Good, slowly but surely getting back to normal.

[headlesshydra]

"Ow-!!"

She steps back, she was already stepping back when asked, the shoulder check just made it worse. "Really? Relax, you coulda stopped at asking."

She gives an almost aggressive roll of her arm, and it dawns on her that something was missing- Where's the usual muscle mass? She felt like she did a year ago, just... thinner, and she kinda hated it.

Welp, she's walked this far, may as well keep following at that original distance.

It's not until Carla finally bites into her with her words that something snaps, and she runs to bridge that gap again, whipping Carla around and grabbing her by the arms.

"None of that was my fault and you KNOW THAT. That was Derek's plot, I got dragged into it against my fucking WILL. Am I just supposed to roll over and die when a zombie's about to kill my ass?!" She practically hisses, shoving Carla backwards as she put distance between them again.

Not that she actually did the deed anyway. Leon was the one who shot Adam ultimately, and she's pretty certain Adam was aware of what was gonna happen, at least based on discussions he apparently had earlier.

Oh did she want to hit her, but something was stopping her, and she couldn't put her finger on it. That pervasive scent of C-virus lingered on them both, and she could feel the bastard in her veins throwing an absolute tantrum.

"I put it forward because I wanted to at least TRY to learn more about you. You're the only one that can give me answers to what the fuck is happening to me. It's been a year, and I'm mad that the only thing we had was a couple SD cards and some dossiers."

"What are you? A charity? Move away or I shoot you."

Carla thumps her shoulder against the woman intentionally as she passes, pushing Helena back, and away from her. There were plenty of losses to mourn on her own time, but this wasn't her own time. This was time that she was being watched and under scrutiny for connections.

"That fool sold me enough missiles to bury major cities within days."

And she would have, gladly. There's no hiding the vitriolic pleasure or delight in the admission. Carla walks a little faster to get a few paces of distance between them. She moves her hand to present the world around them. People were talking, but they were also itching, tired, achy.

Helena was still on her tail.

"Do you always put your saint foot forward or is that to compensate for killing a world leader?"

A shame Harper hadn't killed one of the more active ones.

[headlesshydra]

She backs up a step and puts her hands up at the sudden jump from the other, coffee held loosely in her hand by the rim before she slowly wrapped her hand around the base again and brought it close to her chest. "Easy, Easy, I was just passing by and noticed what you were doing." She grins, a sheepish laugh leaving her as she nodded a bit.

She totally understood that. Crowds freaked her out too, but this shop had become a usual haunt for her now. it was busy, but still pretty quiet, and she could use more places like that lately.

"Yeah, constantly being surrounded by noise kinda sucks. I don't blame you. It's really nice seeing people actually enjoy things that relax them here, where I come from it's a lot of chaos, people work too much." She nods, her left hand coming out in a sort of concerned motion as she fished her pencil out of her tea cup. It was almost cartoonish in it's absurdity... but she lets her continue, quietly nodding as she spoke.

"No no, you're fine. I wasn't looking to do any commissions- I kinda just got here, so, I'm short on cash as is." She frowns, giving a light shrug and a sigh, adjusting to this place was a bit of a process, and she had no idea if she was even doing it right. "Maybe in the future though, if you ever open them."

The peace here is unusual to you. Back at the Digital Circus, any moment of quietude could be broken by one of Caine's adventures, and then you'd be sent off on whatever crazy activity he cooked up for you. It was preferable to languishing in boredom and solitude, sure, but never peaceful. You're still not used to it here. You can't let your guard down completely, because you never know when something or someone is going to-

Thankfully, you don't yelp or scream when someone interrupts your train of thought. But you do drop your pencil into your tea, which is... Well, it could be worse.

Instinctively, you throw your hands over the papers on your table. It's just little sketches of whatever's on your mind, usually the people you see in the city, or the friends you miss from the Circus.

"Huh? Wh- My art? You- O-oh. Uh, sorry. I was kind of... distracted. Not really used to so many people, I guess..." you say, shrugging. You pull away from your drawings; these ones are fine for other people to see. You keep the indulgent stuff in your sketchbooks.

"There weren't many quiet places like this where I come from, so it's nice to just... get away from it all once in a while." You snake one of your arms around the pencil in your teacup and fish it out, shaking droplets away.

"And drawing's relaxing... It's nice to just be able to do whatever I want now, mostly. Oh, um, sorry... I didn't mean to ramble or anything..." For a moment, you draw a few loose circles on the paper, just making sure the lead isn't too damp to keep drawing. "You weren't, um... I-I'm not doing commissions or anything like that, sorry..."

[headlesshydra]

Ah- Well that hit a bit close to home. The way they cover their ears immediately has her frowning, and her hand hovers at her side, behind their back in a loose bit of comfort while they practically jogged across the street.

Once inside, she's quick to claim an empty table with her bag before more people can flood into the space, setting it down into a chair on the opposite side before pulling the one closest to her out for her new friend to sit in. Her eyes are immediately drawn to their hands though- 'thank you', oh, they know sign- and almost as if on instinct, she signs 'Thank you' back (You're welcome), and then [No problem].

Wow, she hadn't done that in AGES.

Seeing them starting to struggle with trying to speak, she opts to just continue in sign. [Yeah, big storm. Should be over soon. You hungry? I'll buy.] She grins, unable to stop a sheepish laugh at the sound of their stomach growling.

[My name is H-e-l-e-n-a] Finger spelled, and then coupled with her shortsign that Leon would usually use for her, the letter H and then the sign for Duck. [What's yours?]

Frisk feels a bit relieved that the woman is kind enough to let them take temporary shelter. The downpour keeps steadily on, making the sounds of the cars passing by unbearably loud for Frisk. They wince, covering their ears, just barely catching the womans gesture to the cafe close by.

Frisk nods, keeping their hands tight over their ears, and walk beneath the umbrella the best they can until they get to the cafe.

Thankfully it's only half filled, though more people are getting the same idea and taking refuge in the warm dry building. The air smells like fresh baked goods and coffee, reminding Frisk that they hadn't eaten in over 10 hours. No wonder they felt so lethargic.

Still, Frisk manages a warm smile toward the young woman. They start to sign 'thank you' before realizing they don't know if she would understand.

"Thank you, for your- ahem- your help." They try to clear their throat politely, still unused to speaking a lot. "The rain came quickly--," And then they're interrupted by their stomach. Frisk gasps and covers it, like that will do anything to stop the noise. Ugh-- embarrassing!

[headlesshydra]

She's used to weird and fantastical creatures at this point. TV headed dogs and birds with megaphones for faces quickly became commonplace after a few days of wandering. Shocking at first, now they're just nuisances.

THIS, however, earned a solid jump out of her- A floating orb of some kind of sentient purple gas coming out of the shadows of a nearby alley. It gets a scream out of her before it suddenly licks the full length of her body with that cartoonishly long tongue.

The numbness that followed was enough to knock her knees out from under her, and she collapses to the ground as the tingling sensation of TV static washed over her in the most uncomfortable way. She watches it dart away, growling a bit under her breath as it suddenly vanishes into the ground- Into this new persons shadow, and prompting them to come over to her side.

Well, at least someone noticed.

"I've.... I've had worse, believe it or not." She coughs, rubbing at pressure points in her hands as soon as she got control of her limbs again, rolling over onto her back in order to sit up slowly.

Not too fast- the sensation still lingered.

"That thing a friend of yours, I take it? What the hell was that...?"

@headlesshydra !

In the darkness creeps...well, a Gastly. What would be considered extremely goofy looking to Matsuba might cut a frightening figure in the shadows of this place, a large pair of cartoonish eyes staring out of a pit of black before a long tongue sweeps out to mischievously plant a wet, dog-like kiss to the face of whoever is closest by.

Unfortunately for her, that happened to be Helena this time. Gastly cackled a laugh as it managed to land the gesture, sending a zinging buzz of numbness temporarily through her - and then it disappeared into the dark, darting away to leap into the shadow of his trainer.

If she looked at it as it fled, it would stop long enough to laugh, a raspy noise that caught the attention of Matsuba long enough for him to look at her sheepishly.

"Oh - uh. Sorry?"

[headlesshydra]

It's weird being on the other side of an eclipse for the first time. Seeing people practically getting spit out of thin air at least made her situation make more sense now. Seems the 'Stars' think it's funny to just yank people out of whatever they're doing and put them into a proverbial dollhouse.

Run the hamster wheel, entertain us- Sure, whatever, just let me go home.

This Eclipse brought a lot of strangeness with it, not only the roars of dinosaurs, but now a rainstorm to boot. There's a faint rumble of thunder, but it didn't seem that intense, so she grabs her umbrella before it has a chance to get worse then a few drops... And the action seemed to bring another surprise- Something smaller then her bumping into her leg and huddling up under the shelter the umbrella provided.

A kid...? One of the fresh arrivals.

The downpour picked up fast, she barely had a moment to process what was happening, but she waves her hand in a sort of 'no worries' gesture.

"Hey, don't sweat it kiddo, you okay?" She has to raise her voice over the oncoming roar of rain, looking up at the sky and practically glowering at it- Like it was so rude for interrupting them.

"We should get inside, there's a cafe over there we could camp out in for a bit." She points behind her, turning slightly and gesturing for the newcomer to follow. Seemed a bunch of people had the same idea, but it was better then being stuck out here in the deluge.

@headlesshydra ♥'d for a starter!

It wasn't the first time Frisk was disoriented from falling into a new place.

At least this time, the fall wasn't as long or painful.

Frisk slowly sits up and takes stock of their surroundings, immediately finding themselves overwhelmed by the noise of traffic. The honking of cars and chattering of people all around buzz in their ears, and they can swear they feel the vibrations in their brain rattling around.

And, when it can't get any worse, it starts raining.

It starts out light, but only for a moment, a downpour picking up within moments. Frisk looks around, people bringing out their umbrellas as if they expected the storm. Out of instinct, they quickly scamper beneath one as a woman opens it.

"Sorry..." They say, so quiet it can barely be heard over the raindrops spattering against the pavement.

[headlesshydra]

150lb. Carrying capacity

Upgraded damage dice for unarmed strikes (1d4+5)

Advantage on grapples

[headlesshydra]

“I can’t fathom thicker sports drinks would have any benefits… What the hell?”

[headlesshydra]

Isola Subterfuge Starter call

Info posts: [Part 1] [Part 2]

Someone come get her she's a fucking menace

[headlesshydra]

"Yeah- I know, I know." She sighs, reaching up to accept the offered hand and get back to her feet, nodding her thanks. She's glad she somehow missed impaling herself on every protruding ornament on his outfit- Who was this guy?

This is stuff she expected to see people wearing when the Anime convention came to town in the summer... but he wore it as if it was just his every day outfit. Either he's used to the weight, or there's something else going on with him.

It's NOISY, too, every jerky movement making bones and metal grind together, and the harsh scent of sand on his cloak almost attacks her senses... What a fascinating person.

"Uh- Yeah, I just arrived last night, I guess." She sighs, grabbing the collar of her shirt and fanning it a bit. They look wet still- Not as wet as the night before, but they definitely didn't dry all the way before she was forced to put them on again, almost like she got thrown in a pool and then fished out. "The Stars? That some fancy name for something? Stars can't... exactly grab people..."

The eclipse came and went the night before. Whenever that celestial event occurred, some of the citizens of Spirale vanished, and others took their place. Witnessing this the first few times had been a point of anxiety for Legato. When would they come for him? Was he going to be next?

Now, it is no different than a thunderstorm rolling in, or a heat wave boiling the wards.

He thought nothing of it as he left his apartment for the day, turning the key and locking the door behind him. There was much to do on his day away from the studio, and he planned on spending it entirely alone. How blissful and--

-- How unpleasant to start it all by smacking into somebody in the hallway. A young woman falls onto the ground, and Legato takes one step back, a quiet sound of surprise escaping him.

She is on the floor. He is standing, but she asks if he is okay. The irony is palpable.

" You might want to consider paying attention then. There are not a lot of reasonable people in this building, " Legato hums, tone flat, but not annoyed. He reaches down and offers his hand to help her onto her feet. In doing so, the sound of bone on steel is heard when the ornaments on his coat clack against each other. His movements are stiff and slow-- like a creature who was still rehearsing how to move like a human.

" I do not recognize you. The Stars must have brought you here last night. "

[headlesshydra]

Did this guy just manifest a hand out of thin air...?

Okay, maybe the LARP costume wasn't just for show.

She's shocked by the sight of it, but she's able to put it to the side for the time being. This isn't important, getting 'home' and too safety was.

"Yeah, Undead roaming the streets is like my 9 to 5 at this point, but I didn't expect it to follow me. This place looks disturbingly utopian during the day." She hums, shrugging a bit. "I haven't been over to Archimedes yet, but I've heard it's nice."

"Oh- Can I take a look at the device? There's a way to fix the map on north, that way only the arrow representing your location turns. it's effected by where you point the phone itself... It's annoying to me, too." She reaches out to offer her hand and accept his phone, pausing in their walk and smiling at his introduction.

"Heh- Likely, I apologize ahead of time for my roommates, they seem like the rowdy types." She sighs, mulling his name a few times in her head- almost like the name itself was a tongue twister. "Mordenkainen... Can I call you Kai for short? I'm Helena, Helena Harper. Good to meet you."

It's unlike any name she'd ever heard- It didn't belong to any common vernacular back home- It's almost alien, but... So were most people in this city.

"What good fortune indeed," he says.

With a small gesture, he re-casts the Mage Hand to carry the phone beside him, a small replica of his hand, almost completely transparent but with a faint violet outline of glowing light, sprung into existence to do as it was bid.

He takes a few strides forward to walk in step with the young woman, "I appreciate the assistance."

"I found myself in the Archimedes Ward first," he explains, "and I ran into a little trouble there with a manner of undead. That had to be handled first and foremost, and I've only just now tried to find my lodgings. I had no idea that it was on the complete opposite side of where I had ended up."

The Mage Hand shifts the phone, and the map app shifts the map display around. Mordenkainen frowns, the severity of his brows making him look far more furious than the tone of his voice.

"... And this blasted thing won't stay still long enough for me to get my bearings. There's not a paper map in sight, either."

He pauses, as if struck by another thought.

"I suppose if we are neighbors," Mordenkainen drawls, "then we will probably be seeing each other more often. My name is Mordenkainen."

[headlesshydra]

[headlesshydra]

Death was meaningless here... Oh but it probably still stung when it happened.

She didn't need to greet it's icy grip a third time.

She as to do a triple take at Carlas next words, though- The whole town was infected? Again? And with C-virus no less? And it'll trigger around nightfall like clockwork... None of this made sense. Does the world just hit a proverbial reset button or something? How in the world does ANY of this make sense?

"I'll be fine, ain't the first time I've been without ammo and only had my fists." She sighs, sliding her hands into her pockets as she closed the gap slightly, just to be in more social distance.

The way she threw that cup was all she needed to really read her emotional state.

"Well, last I heard of him he was using a new virus in water from the great lakes to turn people into Bioweapons. Claimed you could control these ones like animals, something about making a whole army of them to sell on the black market. BSAA tracked him to New York and stormed his headquarters in an effort to take him into custody, and he killed himself with his research... Were you close? I'm sorry."

Carla hadn't touched her tea since Helena started to speak. Bringing to her lips and pulling it away repeatedly was all she did while she walked and listened. Distracted behavior, and utterly banal compared to what she had done not even a week and a half ago.

"Well, allow me to welcome you to this Wonderland. Death isn't permanent here. Not in how you think, either. It's absolutely meaningless."

She extends an arm to "present" the world as she understood it.

"You die, and wake up in your bed."

Finally, she sips the tea, using it as something of a crutch so the bite to her words doesn't come out in lashes and hisses.

"And this town is infected with C-Virus. When they die, they wake up, they get infected all over again."

She doesn't slow down for Harper at all.

"By night, we'll have a repeat of the last few days. Zombies everywhere. And there's something else wrong with this place as of late. Everyone's acting strange. Getting false memories..."

She huffs.

"Better find a weapon before sundown, honey. Your failure's gonna be a lot more painful here."

She tosses the disposable cup in the trash with quite a bit of force, and wheels on her heel.

"By the way, whatever happened to that "Glenn Arias" you tripped over your own feet about?"

[headlesshydra]

"If I knew why I was here I'd be back home by now. I was in the middle of a damn investigation and my partner was in the fucking hospital." She practically spits. It's not anger at Ada anymore, the initial shocks worn off, and she brings a hand up to card her bangs out of her face, smoothing her hair back.

"Then I fell into Lake Superior again, next thing I knew I was collapsing in the middle of town."

Ada doesn't care, why're you running your mouth again?

"I- Fuck, you can let me mourn my situation for a second, can't ya? Ain't like we're actively being chased again..." A sigh, and she finally loosens up her posture. "Sorry, you're right. Anything you can tell me about why the people keep turning into zombies here every night?"

and the world just keeps on spinning, doesn't it? another day, another new face, though this one wasn't as....unpleasant as the others.

even if she was shouting.

ada remains unfazed, merely observing the agent. so she still held a grudge about her sister, huh? it makes sense– who wouldn't be distraught over their flesh and blood turned into a monster from a virus and then shot down? even so, it's been years. the dead cannot be brought back and for someone who has seen just how far the c-virus went, one would think she'd have understood by this point.

guess not.

" Shouldn't you be asking that question to yourself, Agent Harper?" she doesn't reach for the gun on her hip nor her grappling gun on her thigh. emotional anguish aside, helena won't shoot her on the spot. not after everything.

" If you can't keep a level head, then you won't last here. Trust me– this isn't my first rodeo in this place."

[headlesshydra]

"Golden huh? I got set up in an apartment there, so you'll be right in my neck of the woods." She hums, finally standing up a bit straighter. There's a quiet acknowledgement there, it seemed. Their respective infections didn't matter, but they absolutely both had a taste for mayhem.

"You're already speaking my language. Faster I can get my hands on something heavier then this, the better, especially with the zombie outbreaks happening every night lately." She sighs, tilting her head a bit at the second bit. A Shooting gallery, huh? With actual weapons?

Better then a range, at least these targets move.

"Sounds like a fun time. If you need help, I'm brand new here, so, definitely looking for work. Know my way around firearm maintenance, or hell, even if you just need someone to look pretty handing out prizes."

"It's part of the trade," he says.

It's not, but no need for her to know the real cause of his keen senses. The man shifts the bag on his back, and reaches for a canteen to drink under the privacy of the purple scarf he wore.

After taking a small sip of clean, metal-tinged water, he caps the canteen, and places it back in the spot on his pack.

"Though, you do look like a lady that also might do with a little recreation, eh?" The Merchant jests, "I'm in the midst of setting up shop in the Golden Ward myself, heh heh. A little permanent fixture for ease... with a place you can trade in those children's toys for something higher caliber."

"And," he continues, "A little themed shooting gallery to boot. Good place to relax and show off your skills- or keep in practice. Whatever suits you."