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 Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:29 am
Paul hesitated a moment but complied, shifting Athena off his back and handing her to Alan. "What are you checking?" he inquired.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 6:32 pm
Alan unloaded the rifle and dropped it into his shadow.
"Do you know how cyNet3 got its Council seat?" Alan asked.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 7:35 pm
Paul raised an eyebrow. "Lemme guess. Something backhanded and some serious douche-baggery. Right?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 7:42 pm
Alan shook his head. "Not quite. They demanded a Council seat, and were told that all 27 seats were taken. They asked how this would be 'solved,' and they were informed that another group would have to lose prominence.
"They promptly opened a genocidal war on a Demon Lord nobody really remembers by this point and exterminated him completely. No evidence that he or his kingdom existed remained.
"CyNet3 is not a force to toy with. They're ruthless and self-serving, and if an Athena tells them where our bases our, there will be... problems... if they decide they're better off without us."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:58 pm
Joe groaned. "Man, Legion has got some issues that he needs to handle. Why do they support him, anyways? I mean, he's just got a bunch of rookie Warlocks to serve him. Even if its Legion, I'm sure Duke Yang, his people, and the weres could take him on."
He pursed his lips. Do we have any allies like that? he asked his Patron.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:26 pm
While the Djinn replied in the negative, Roland informed Joe that the Warlock Hunters and Demon Hunters were fairly closely-tied, and they also had reasonably reliable allies in the angels, when the angelic leadership decided it was in their interest, as well as the mundane human forces.
"Yang and Legion once had a friendly duel. Yang didn't even get close to dropping Legion's shield," Renard replied with a grimace.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:25 pm
Fyrin more or less confirmed what the others had told Joe. "The confusing thing is that I belong to a demon warlord, but I'm essentially acting alongside Warlock Hunters to destroy Cabal Members. Does that entitle me to support from Demon Hunters? Given the fact that Marco isn't trying to tear me limb from limb I'm saying yes," Fyrin finished. "Aren't politics lovely?"
---
Paul nodded slowly. Why couldn't anything just be innocuous? He should've known that bullcrap was untrustworthy.
Then again, Athena had saved his life, multiple times. Perhaps he was a tool, but that was better than a neutral party.
"So I'm a tool to them. Do I count as any more to you?" Paul inquired, glancing up at Alan. Melissa shuddered a little in his arms.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:44 pm
Alan took a deep breath. "To understand my answer to that question, you have to understand what being a Forsaken - and thus, not being in possession of my still-existent soul - does to me. I experience emotions without feeling them. For instance, you could hit me in the face. I would be angry and annoyed. But I wouldn't feel anger and annoyance in the same sense you would."
--
Renard shrugged, then paused. "Wait, what?" He stared at Marco for a second and took a step back, raising his arms defensively. Bone growths were suddenly bulging beneath the sleeves of his all-organic leather jacket.
Gennady chuckled. The vampire he held was struggling much less forcefully now. "Demon Hunters mostly just prevent us from making major incursions, like the time Judeh-iyoro tried to take control of Venezuela. We're here in a small group fighting their enemy. Of course they'd ignore us."
((Off for night now, I guess.))
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:37 am
"Relax, he's right," Fyrin told Renard. "Don't you recognize him anyway? You're supposed to be the biomancer specialist."
---
Paul nodded slowly. "But that doesn't change the fact that it's a present emotion. Correct?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 6:34 am
"I sense biological anomalies, not spiritual ones," Renard shot back, breathing heavily.
--
"It's present. But it's totally abstract," Alan explained. "Also, some emotions are more tied to biology than the soul: fear, anger, and the like. Those are more concrete for me.
"All of which leads to this. You are, to some degree, a tool, because that's the only way I can think. But I have enough contact with my emotional states that I like to think I'd consider you a friend if I had the capability." He turned towards a wall and stared at it uncomfortably. "I'm sorry I can't give a better answer."
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 6:40 am
Joe sighed. We should maybe work on that. I'd like to help.
Marco, meanwhile, was smiling in an almost nasty way at Renard. "Oh? You didn't recognize me? I sure recognized you." A dancing aura, similar to heat seen in the sun, was waving around Marco.
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 6:49 am
Marco felt a wave of mana wash over and around him. Renard glared at Marco and Marco's skin began to itch.
"What do you want?" he asked.
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 6:59 am
"Hey hey, no need to be so hasty," Marco said easily. "Chill."
Joe groaned. "Can we stop in-fighting for long enough to figure out what we're doing?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 7:16 am
"I'm just asking what he wants here," Renard repeated. An intense itch arose in the middle of Marco's back and his joints began to feel stiff.
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:40 am
"Renard, relax, or I'll have Ma'Krogeyna on your case," Fyrin told him authoritatively. "We do not need to be trying to tear anyone apart. Obviously he's here because he has some ulterior motive that might involve us achieving death, but for you that matters nothing, since you'll just go back to Hell. So relax."
---
Paul chuckled. "That's better than I hoped for," he told Alan. "I suppose the best way to form a team is to get to know and love your teammates. All the war stories, it's friends they're saving.
"Speaking of which, where are my compatriots?" Melissa seemed to be doing better, and Paul felt a little like a deserter. "Should I rejoin them?"
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