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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:20 pm
The bills were piling up, there was no denying it. With the weight shift, Marcus had had to dig deep to buy the majority of a new wardrobe. And that meant he needed to keep working.
Marcus, most of the time, filled his wallet with lost things. One of the first things Ganesh had taught him was how to meditate, and to gather knowledge about things. Marcus had figured people would pay for that information, and he had been right. At the moment, he was looking for a retriever pup. The family lived in the Scene, and had put up lost ads with almost three hundred as a reward.
The dog was on the edge of the Scene and Downers. Marcus had meditated that afternoon on it and saw the dog in his mind, in an alley, sleeping. The divinations were much strong than before; for years usually he could pick up a location, but not a vision like this time. It had taken a much shorter time, as well.
In his pack he had a cloth and a leash, depending whether the dog wanted to be carried or walked back. With the amount of animals Marcus rescued these days, having his own pet supplies came in handy.
His coat still felt weird to wear. Only his real arms were in his sleeves. Marcus' 'other' arms holding the jacket closed around them. It still had some getting used to, he feared.
Marcus, Ganesh chimed in suddenly. Another godling is about. I can sense them.
Marcus' eyes snapped up, looking around. Three years, and it all began now.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:22 pm
Writ was gnawing a squirrel bone as a coyote pup. Squirrels were always plentiful around Downers, but they were always in those tiny, way out of the way places that a grown coyote just couldn't reach.
The particular squirrel he was chewing on had been given Writ some trouble- the cheeky b*****d thought it could slip into a basement window and lose a full grown coyote, but with a quick change of size, Writ got his dinner.
Recently Writ had been roaming the streets as a coyote more and more. The newfound publicity had made him a target of a medley of people, from fans to conspiracy theorists to the local police. He was starting to miss his life of secracy, he hadn't had a moment's peace in a whlie.
Writ curled up into a fuzzy ball. At least this form gave him some solace.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:32 pm
Marcus began to sense what he believed his god felt, but had his doubts, too. Shouldn't they be sensing me, too? Marcus had assumed that any godlings he found would be as cautiously curious as he was about a meet up. He crept along to where Ganesh was mentally tugging him.
They are stationary, Ganesh pointed out, And have not moved since my initial warning, If they were trying to hide, this is a very poor attempt.
As Marcus passed one building, he noted that the feeling had changed direction: the feeling was coming from down the alley to his left. But there wasn't anyone there...
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:45 pm
Writ yawned, and scratched the back of his ear. He stretched out his legs and padded outside the alleyway before going back into his sleeping fuzzball position. It was a clear, cold day, but at least the sunlight made things a little bit bearable for the pup. was much warmer out on the streets.
His ears pricked up when he sensed a godling in the area, but he didn't think much of it. He knew most of the godlings that lived in the Scene, Fish, Quinn and Vale among them, and they were more or less friendlies in his book.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:01 am
The other godling was on the move. It was a slow pace, though, and Marcus was far faster at his normal pace. He followed, trying to appear as nervous as he was. Around the next corner the godling stopped, and Marcus caught up. Ready to see another misshapen semi-human, Marcus found himself looking around, and then down.
Marcus' divination-aided eidetic memory brought up the words written on the documents in his desk just as Ganesh did: Shapeshifter.
"The 'dangerous' Mr. Campbell, I presume?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:42 am
The godling was getting closer, but Writ was content to stay where he was. At least, until that certain godling blocked his sun. When he heard his name, he growled, it looked like he was bound to run into somebody even if he was in a form nobody knew about. Except for a few choice godlings anyway. At first he thought it was Quinn intruding on his free time, but this person's scent was different. It was someone new.
Writ looked up to see the new godling tower over him. He cocked his head to the side, studied him for a second, then went back into a ball.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:55 am
At least the growl was something. It confirmed it was the man he saw in the photograph, if not in his usual body, and he didn't like the sound of his own name at that moment. Marcus could use that, or at least he hoped he could.
Fact check: Can the rest of the godlings do what I do to mask my appearance? Marcus was using his god like an encyclopedia, but it didn't matter.
No. Ganesh was quick; Marcus knew that the God was reading his thoughts. It is like individual human skills. While there is some overlap, most gods and devas can do different things, or similar things in unique ways.
That meant that the cub before him was the best equivalent Campbell had to Marcus' human illusion. And Marcus knew from the chatter in the streets that Campbell was quickly approaching rock star status. He was starting to think maybe this guy was just dog tired.
It was time for Marcus to use some trump to see what was in this guy's hand. Let's see how he likes information.
Marcus crouched a little. "Y'know, for the first person involved in the Game that I've met, you sure don't seem interested in it."
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:02 pm
Writ rolled over on his back. It was his way of saying, "I don't know about what I look like, but you sure look pretty ridiculous talking to a dog like that." He turned around, away from elephant boy. The pup gnawed on his bone. He wasn't quite ready to talk, or turn back into a form that could talk. As much as Writ liked meeting new godlings, there just came a time that he just wanted to chill out on his own. So instead of formal introductions, he decided to mess with the kid for a while, maybe if he played this angle long enough the godling would give up and go home.
Writ doubted that.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:43 pm
Marcus shrugged as the coyote pup put on his display. By the mutt's earlier reaction, Marcus knew the b*****d was understanding every little word he he said. Leaning against the wall to brace himself as he slid into a sitting position, he pulled out a dog leash. Of course he made no move towards the other player; it was for show for anyone who would give the scene a second glance. Just a guy with his dog.
"I suppose I figured you would be curious as to why I wasn't some pre-teen runaway like most." Let him gnaw on that bone for a while.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:47 pm
The kid was right about that one. Though Writ was too lazy to really figure out why exactly this kid had been under the radar for the past two years. It didn't take much to find a godling in this city, granted you had the sense for it; but whoever this guy was, he had been playing long enough to have grown at least a little, and he probably didn't panic when those growths started to set in, or Writ would've found him ages ago.
Writ's ears pricked up when a trash can fell at the other end of the alleyway.
He smelled someone familiar.
Nuka.
It figured. Writ wanted a moment to himself, and strangers and friends alike happen to be in the neighborhood. He figured the coyote was hunting for squirrels same as he was.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:52 am
Marcus spun at the sound, trying to crane over from his sitting position. He quickly realized, though, that he didn't sense anything from the alley that it was a godling. It was a strange sense, to be sure, that kinship with the pup in front of him. A feeling barely ten minutes old, and suddenly Marcus was discounting things he could not see.
But the whatever-it-was in the alley was really out of place. This early in the morning, there were so few people about that Marcus had maybe seen three besides the godling next to him since he had woken.
One of his false arms clutched a steak knife under his coat. He didn't want Campbell to see one of his abilities 'for free' as it were, and didn't want to startle his only new resource into thinking he meant the mutt harm.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:40 am
Writ turn his head to look down the alleyway. If he could shrug, he would have. Instead, he yawned and scratched his ear. He didn't seem overly concerned about Nuka doing anything brash. Assuming that the godling in front of him doesn't try anything. Considering that this guy hadn't taken advantage of his helpless form, it was assumed that this godling wasn't crazy; but it still didn't make up for the fact that elephant-boy was disturbing his nap.
Annoyed, he got up, and started trotting down the street.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:54 am
This was getting Marcus nowhere. Getting up clumsily, he put the leash away. Ganesh said I have to prove my use to these people, and they're damn well going to see it. Looking around, he saw a cardboard box on the side of the street, about the size of his backpack - or Campbell. Meet the obstacle maker.
With that, Marcus merely glanced at the box, and it was open and on its side right in front of the retreating canine's path, only a quarter inch in front of the dog's nose. He likely even wouldn't have time to slow down.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:52 am
Bamf. The box fell right on him. Writ whined.
Damn you, you cardboard prison! Damn you-
Wait a second.
Writ changed back into his human form, and he found himself still in the dark. Then he realized that the box was over his head. He pulled it off and tossed it. He walked over to the new godling and looked down on him, arms crossed.
"Man, you can't let a sleeping dog lie, can you?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:08 am
Marcus crossed both of his arm sets in return. The second set just felt right, there was no point in it for show. "I catch dogs for a living. If I let them lie, I'd be the one in the cardboard box." Marcus looked the man in the eye. The b*****d does look older than me. He remembered the photograph. "Besides, I've stayed on the sidelines far too long now." Marcus considered probing his mind, but he thought the better of it for now. If this guy could sense it, things could go horribly wrong. Besides, allies were better.
Marcus stuck out a real hand. "Marcus."
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