|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:35 am
Niter didn't want to job hunt that day. He told himself that, if he wasn't going to look for another job to work alongside his current one, then he had to do something else equally exhausting. Or, really, anything that he could call 'work' so that he didn't feel bad when he sat down to play video games for the rest of the evening. After becoming Niter in the alleyway next to his apartment, he set to wandering as his thoughts wandered.
He didn't know what kind of job he could do. Anything with computer stuff seemed okay, he could just sit around and go unbothered by management while he did server maintenance or whatever. But as far as he could tell, they wanted the applicant to have a degree for that. Then there was game design, but again, they wanted some kind of degree for that (and Niter didn't like the idea of spoiling the magic about video games by learning how they work). Most of the jobs he found that would let him sit and have a nice 9-5 included a degree, somehow, and the only jobs he found that didn't need a degree required talking to people and being friendly (which was already too much at his current job). So… Did he actually have to go to school?
Niter sighed. Changed direction. Started for the university campus.
The cold air nipped, but it wasn't enough to redirect his thoughts. As Niter made it onto campus proper, and stared up at the brutalist buildings and the newer ones with weird architecture, he wondered how other people didn't feel like the university was a prison. It basically was, as far as he was concerned — they'd try to control how he lived his life, and tell him that it was for his own good and it instilled discipline and whatever. And Niter knew that, if he went to school, he'd just keep his head down and nod along and throw away all the good years of his life that he could've spent building his Twitch persona and getting followers while actually enjoying himself. It seemed stupid.
But here he was, stuck on a mostly deserted campus with only a few bundled-up college students occupying the benches in this concrete-ridden recreational area. There was maybe three trees in a good fifty square feet of area, like they wanted to cut landscapers off the payroll or something. One of the kids sat by the one tree, while the other two were huddled together on the bench. The three weren't in line of sight of each other, so Niter made for the loner and hoped he sounded like a student passing by behind them.
It was easier to drain when there were more people around, when it was easier to blend in, but life didn't want to take it easy on him anymore.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 5:39 am
One of the advantages of being dressed like a businessman that had gotten stuck in the worst hurricane of his life was that the weather didn't particularly bother him like this. Most students would take to the tunnels between buildings, probably, and the select few were the types who either needed to be on the surface or who desperately needed sun. It, unfortunately, wasn't sunny, Hydor noted, but for those types even a cloudy day or straight-up nighttime was better than staring at the interior of these miserable buildings more. It made no difference to him, in all honesty; he hated the outdoors as much as he hated the indoors. It was just another environment. And it was just another environment at risk on this campus, evidenced by the feeling of the chaotic signature ******** was why he patrolled here though, ******** wasn't it. He didn't know which college student had gotten roped into this s**t this time, or if it was just someone who realized draining already drained college students made life easier because there would be few explanations needed for their exhaustion, but it didn't ultimately matter. He changed course, heading to the embarrassingly barren quad and spotting the one entity that stood out like a goddamn sore thumb. He couldn't've blended in even if he tried to, and hiding wasn't the most possible around here-- He wasted no time talking, advancing on the senshi with the intention to jar him enough that it interrupted what he was doing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2023 4:17 am
Oh. Oh. That felt distinctly unfriendly, Niter realized, when a new aura erupted in the area. Not that Niter had ever known the White Moon to be any shade of friendly to him or any other officer, but this one had a distinctly problematic rank attached to it. And he wondered, very briefly, if the White Moon had ranks the way the Negaverse did, but then he decided it was better to avoid asking, because either the person wouldn't answer him in the first place, or it would invite them to punch him even more for having the audacity to pry.
What caused him to freeze hadn't caused the college students to look up from their studying. The one from which he'd skimmed only yawned into her hand, remaining steadfastly buried in her book. Niter figured she must have had earbuds in, though he couldn't see them underneath her majestic and powerful hair.
A fight seemed worse than having to look for a new spot to skim energy. The campus was big, and there was no guarantee that Flashy White Moon nearby would follow him anywhere. Niter turned and started back the way he came, hoping that it was both away from the ubiquitous aura and more towards new draining prospects. Not that he wanted to be efficient, but he didn't like walking and wanted to do it as little as possible.
He'd heard teleportation was worse and more rigorous, but given that he hadn't figured out teleporting yet, he hadn't tried it to confirm. It still sounded far better than just walking. Especially if he was going to be stalked around the entire campus by a nosy White Moon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2023 5:38 am
The agent had at least some sense of self-preservation, noticing him and beginning to move. To be honest, Hydor wasn't sure if that was worse or better. On one hand, he was leaving already tired students alone. On the other hand, they may have been off to try somewhere and someone else, hoping that he'd drop the pursuit after just once. Hydor had no desire to be part of this war, but that didn't mean he lacked the patience and determination to pursue where the aura had gone. Best to at least chase him off the ******** campus. The other was a super by his estimation and looked gaudy enough from even a distance to fit the bill. He couldn't quite say he had gotten much of the gaudiness associated with magical outfits, but he couldn't say he minded that, either. Let his targets be easy to find sore thumbs. It made his life easier if he didn't have to think too hard about where someone was once he found the aura. Perhaps the campus being relatively quiet helped the situation. Not sure if the agent would rely on teleportation, he picked up his own pace. If he scared them and they teleported off campus to not deal with him, great. Successful patrol. If they teleported within campus, he'd just have to keep looking like a pursuit predator. And if they didn't teleport at all, well, he'd sure catch him faster this way than a casual ******** stroll.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 5:57 pm
O-kay. Whoever was around him either had business in the same general area that he was going, or wasn't going to leave him alone. That was fine, though; Niter could keep walking. Make a big ol' square around the campus to double back to where he was. And as he headed away from where he thought the Super Senshi was located, Niter realized that he could probably skim a bit of energy here or there along the way. It wouldn't be as much as he could get if he actually stayed in the same spot, but it also meant he wasn't completely shut down by White Moon Stalker.
So that was nice. And, as a bonus? He was heading toward some place that said 'student union' on it. Most of it looked shut down, though, and was probably locked. Maybe he could get in via a window and power down if he had to, but Niter didn't think he wanted to go looking for a window left open in the middle of winter. Maybe the student union was less exciting than he thought.
The coffee place around the side of it was closed, too. Didn't university students pull all-nighters all the time? How were they going to do that with no coffee? Oh — maybe they used drugs instead.
But drugs meant more energy, soooo… Where was he going to find college kids on drugs? Sighing to himself, Niter kept moving — and looking over his shoulder.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 2:25 am
Niter was smart to keep watching because Hydor wasn't leaving him be. Like a pursuit predator was the aptest phrasing that had come to his mind. If the senshi would not simply teleport away from the campus and out of his patrol range, he was going to make staying on campus difficult. Unpleasant, even. And once the senshi started to flag, he'd advance on them and make staying on campus painful on top of it. He had learned from the schools of violence and Earth defense, and no corrupt senshi was going to keep him from that. There was a moment where he thought he heard the voice of that damn cat--Faust probably would have been proud of him long enough to tell him to keep doing that before snarking about something or other. Didn't matter. He needed to figure out when he got in a decent range to pursue some magic usage to reinforce his point. The point he of course thought was obvious, considering this senshi was draining civilians and Hydor started to pursue him once he noticed that. Before then, really, because he had already sensed the aura. It was too bad the higher ground in this place was more spread out than he generally preferred. By rule, things moved faster by bird's eye; that was mostly inaccessible in this area of campus. He'd need a better way. "Senshi!" bellowed Hydor, immediately regretting how it felt to speak. "Campus is mine! ******** off!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 6:58 am
The shout made him jump, but as Niter looked around, he couldn't find anyone in line of sight of him. There weren't many kids around — most of them had gone inside by now — but the rest? They were looking up and wondering what was going on. The few that were around dwindled further. That wasn't helpful.
But without any immediate repercussions, Niter relaxed and kept moving. "No it's not," he muttered under his breath.
Speaking of breath, it was cold out. He was cold, what with all the windows of skin that decorated his outfit. But with the coffee shop and the union closed, there weren't many other places to go. The library was definitely closed — who read books at this hour? — but there was that weird building thing connecting the two big towers full of windows that were probably dorms. Maybe that was unlocked? As he checked behind him for signs of his stalker, Niter darted across the way to try the door.
It rattled in his grip. No luck.
That seemed like a good enough time to call it. He wasn't getting much more energy with everyone else gone inside, and he couldn't get inside himself. Maybe if he could teleport, but…
Sighing a foggy breath, Niter made to leave campus. He needed to warm up, needed to figure out another place to go when he was up late at night. Maybe the bars where the college kids went after tests? That sounded nice. But warm blankets sounded nicer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
