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 Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 1:10 pm
Gale would receive, because surely, he was so extremely surprised at this point in what the content would be like, a text as following from Yours Truly: It seemed either someone was potentially extremely pissed off or they just needed to get a new cell phone. Hopefully the later, as that usually involved less missions involving failing and more failure.
And oh, by the way, it was 9:56 am Local Island Time.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 1:24 pm
Oh, for Pete's sake -
Running down the hall, Gale attempted to:
a) pull on his coat with his arms in the right places
b) try not to look like an idiot doing this,
and
c) try not to think of all the ways he was going to kill the man behind the text because that was an unproductive use of the four minutes he had to get to the Death lead's office which was a good ten minute walk away.
Needless to say, when Gale finally arrived at the office of one Caelius Innis, he was more than a little out of breath. Looking slightly harassed, Gale pushed his hair out of his face, smoothed down the front of his coat, gave a small, resigned sigh, and stepped into the office.
"Yes, sir?"
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 2:05 pm
One Gale Gentry would walk into the office of Caelius with said person and one other: a scruffy looking Death Hunter with horribly disorganized brown hair. They were both mulling over a large map on the table overlaid with several notes, scrawled lines, and a scattering of etched runes.
"I calculated this three times, alright? Clearly, the point of origin is here, so I'm telling you, since these frequencies over lap all at these exact coordinates, they would have set up their actual lair here. This is the absolute zero point." Said other Death Hunter of the non division leader variety pinned a thumbtack where they pointed right on the map.
The other of the division leader variety looked extremely unimpressed, as opposed to you know, slightly unimpressed. "Go on."
"So, assuming that we continue to chart its shift, or the shift in the radius of Fear ra... and you have a visitor." They pushed their hair - and floppy goggles over their head - just enough to eye Gale critically. "Hi boss, uh, with all due, respect, boss-sir, boss-man, did you know we have minors in our division?" With the same amount of flippancy, they turned back to their work. "Now, all we need is a tea-"
"-He is your team." Of course, only Caelius would be able to say every single word in that extremely annoyed, slightly monotone tone.
The other Hunter looked up. "Oh good I- wait what?" Goggles-guy shifted his attention back to Gale. "But- I- he- we-"
"Mark." The Death lead sat back down on his chair, disregarding the map entirely as he pulled out a Mission Request form from his long pile of manila folders. "Consider this mission a trial for you and Gale. If either of you fail, then a division transfer would be the least of both of your worries."
This Mark did not nearly have the balls to protest another word as he stiffened very straightly and beckoned Gale to come closer. "Well, hi kid, Gale, Gale-kid who I just met about five seconds ago know nothing about to make an educated guess on." A barely stifled sigh. "So what are your skill sets?"
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 3:41 pm
The Death Division Leader was in his office - but, surprisingly, was not alone. Gale stopped in the doorway, his eyes falling on...someone. A someone with dark, messy hair, a pair of goggles slung haphazardly over his head, and who was arguing with said Death Division Leader.
Confused Gale was confused. He stood there for a few moments, unsure of whether to just stand there quietly (probably a bad idea) say something (an even worse idea) or whether to leave and come back (a suicidal bad idea).
In the end he settled for the lesser of three evils and stood there waiting for the two of them to finish their conversation. It wasn't a very long wait; after a few moments, the messy haired hunter caught sight of him, and -
"...did you know we have minors in our division?"
Inside of his head, Jinhai made a snorting sound that was suspiciously close to a laugh. Gale resisted the very strong urge to roll his eyes, but he couldn't exactly argue the point since he was, in fact, underage.
His eyes did, however, widen at the word team.
What is he talking about?
<< Damned if I know. >> replied the dragon, sounding curious. << But it's Caelius, so we don't really know what goes on inside that head of his, except for hair care product labels. >>
Stepping inside the room, Gale moved over to where the floppy haired guy - Mark, it seemed his name was - was standing, feeling suddenly very exposed on display.
"My name is Gale Gentry," he said, which was stating the obvious, but then he continued quietly. "I'm an Intermediate Trainee in the Death Division. I was the first of my batch of new trainees to be promoted - "
He didn't mention that his first promotion mission had gone completely terribly.
" - and I'm trained in using a sniper rifle, which is my weapon. I have experience in using runic weapons; more specifically trapping guns and chains, and I've been in charge of small teams of other Death trainees before. I've attended several missions to Halloween before, with and without the use of a golem, and I've helped casually train a few of the newer trainees."
A slight pause.
"I'm also smaller, which means it's easier for me to maneuver."
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 4:15 pm
Mark crossed his arms, a couple of pencils and a protractor still stuck between his goggles and clumps of hair and nodded slowly as Gale explained himself, very slowly.
NOPE.
The Death Hunter turned around, grabbing a few things on the table. "Oh well, look at the time, I forgot I have those, other stuff to you know, analyze, yeah, oh boy, time sure goes by fast when you're having fun."
"Mark." Said Hunter got as far as the door before they froze, loose papers dripping out of their arms, and turned around, almost dramatically slowly, to face their apprehender. Caelius did not bother looking up, still filling out the first of the two forms in neat print. "If your proposed that this mission is indeed as important as you ******** say it is, then you will be responsible for the important ******** consequences as well."
Said Mark opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "Well see, I didn't say what time, this is purely left for nego-"
Snap went the pen in said division leader's hand.
"Hi Gale, its a pleasure to meet you!" Somehow, Mark had managed to snake a free hand through his pile of stuff to proffer. "Those are some, well, what awesome skills, yeah. Hooray. I look forward to working with you together. This is going to be awesome, so awesome." The words were slowly dripping into a very sarcastic monotone, "I just can't wait to work with someone who has casually helped train a few of the newer trainee-... and Caelius is gone."
No really, the Death Division lead somewhere, between the monologue and the more monologue had pretty much vanished. Again.
Awkward silence.
Mark coughed and then cleared his throat, shuffling a little closer to Gale to whisper conversationally into the trainee's ear. "You know, sometimes I think he's a figment of my imagination."
Another moment of silence.
"A very angry figment of my imagination."
Another pause.
"I shouldn't have called myself fat."
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 4:28 pm
Why did he feel as though he were talking to a brick wall.
Lifting a hand, Gale rubbed exasperatedly at his face, rolling his eyes behind his fingers where neither Caelius nor Mark could see (hopefully) - before dropping it and folding his arms across his chest.
Mark, meanwhile, had the expression of a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.
"Pleasure," said Gale dryly, taking ahold of the man's hand and giving it a small shake before he folded his arms again, wondering if it would be possible in the near future to throttle him without actually getting in trouble for it.
Why do I get the feeling I'm being made fun of?
<< No idea whatsoever. >> came the all-too-cheerful reply, Jinhai sounding much too lighthearted for his own good. Meanwhile, the sarcasm was dripping thick and heavy from Mark's voice -
"...and Caelius is gone."
Gale blinked. Then he stared blankly around the room. Sure enough, the black and white haired head of Caelius had disappeared - along with the rest of him, leaving Gale and this Mark hunter standing alone together in Caelius' office.
Talk about awkward. Especially since Mark, was, well...
Weird.
"Yes, well, if he were a figment of your imagination, I imagine he wouldn't be nearly as grumpy," said Gale - then turned his head as if half expecting Caelius to come back at that exact moment. But when no "boss-man" appeared, Gale sighed and turned back to Mark.
"So what's the mission?"
Another pause.
"And you're not fat."
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 4:59 pm
"No no no wait, stop wait, no, hang on." The half-in-handshake hand was raised up again, a few more articles from the pile fluttering onto the ground. "I think therefore I am. The mind is a greater power than the consciousness, which means that...." A lightbulb practically went off in his head. "You're a figment of my imagination too."
Pause.
"Man I should stop watching all those Harry Potter movies so late at night."
Bending down to pick up a few of the dropped folders - only of course, to drop practically everything in his arms - Mark hummed and hawwed a little longer before taking the chance to finally explain. "So we're having a little dispute. See, I was right last time, and that gloating bas- errr - and well, basically I was right okay. So I'm just going to assume that because you are inherently a part of me, being my imagination and all, that you know what the Four Clans project is. Anyway, post project, they found that the Four Clans base had several branches. Lairs, hives, all hidden in the human world. Usually a non-issue, but the natives are getting restless you see. All that destroying the Death Star stuff. With Vader gone, the storm troopers are... yeah that was a horrible analogy. Undo, man, undo. Okay, anyway, numbers are short and thin these days, with the whole Insanity business and all, so this project, well, mission now, isn't really something hugely intensely taxing. The only reason it even pulls up in our worklist is because there is something else there as well."
Mark took a second to stare at Gale with a long sort of look, probably the greatest moment of clarity he had shown the trainee so far. "See, what if this Insanity had merged with the remainder of some of those Lairs? What exactly would we be dealing with in that case, considering that they still are emitting Fear levels that are beyond regular authorization level in the Human World. This is something entirely different altogether."
Somewhere between the talking and more explaining, the Death Hunter had gravitated back towards the map, where his thumb tack was, drawing more circles around the tack. "There are two theories so far. My theory is that the Insanity, being an unstable compound, is attracted to something more stable, that is Fear. It attempts to replicate and multiply the Fear, well long story short, everything would turn extremely Silent Hill, which is cool but annoying cuz of you know, that problem Insanity has." Despite it really, being Caelius's map, Mark was having a grand old time drawing little Pyramid Head doodles all over it now. "So we, um, I mean you, cuz I am by far too important and busy to do something like this, will collect surveillance information on the Lair, to see what exactly is going on. The rest of the information is extremely disrupted, so we're going to do it the good ole hands on style. So far so good, mini figment me?"
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 6:45 pm
"I'm a...what," said Gale blankly.
Did he just....
<< ...call you a figment of his imagination? Yes. Yes he did. >>
...I don't even -
With a small sigh, Gale folded his arms back across his chest, wondering if it was possible for Mark to use any more series references than he already had. However, beneath the Harry Potter, the Star Wars, and something about Silent Hill, there was actual information, and Gale listened silently, every once in a while making a mental note to remember a specific piece of it. Mark's explanation left a lot to be desired, and there were holes here and there, but the basic gist seemed to be about the Insanity.
"So," said Gale, as though Mark were, in fact, not doodling little triangle-head figures all over the map (which was probably Caelius', Gale realized, since they were still in his office). "Insanity is something that tries to become FEAR - tries to duplicate it - but something goes wrong and everything goes..." What had been the reference again? "...everything goes all Silent Hill."
"And you want us - me - to go and figure out what's really happening," finished Gale. He idly twisted the ring on his finger, frowning a little as he pressed his lips together. "So far, so good. Where is the Lair?"
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:39 pm
"Whoah, whoah whoah, slow down mini-me," The fourth Pyramid Head doodle lay unresolved, "Why are we talking about Insanity again, I thought you got the memo that whatsherface, you know, blonde, mean, Clarice the Vampire Slayer?" He put on his best Life Division Assistant face, which really, just looked exactly like himself as he mimicked the words in a horrendously exaggerated falsetto that really sounded nothing like Clarice. "Chaotic, emotion-based energy is called Insanity."
Mark rolled his eyes, as his doodles turned slightly more feminine and of the Life Division assistant variety, though there may have been slight exaggerations to the size of her boo- er, sword as per scaled drawing accuracy. "Buncha kooks down at the Life Division, god, don't ever start an argument with them on thermo-nuclear Rune-condensed energy, waste of my freaking breath and good riddance, I'm telling you. Look, Insanity yes, it has its Silent Hill effect, which is fun and interesting and all that if you have ten hours, but the real good stuff is about what it is created from. You know, cause and effect. Fear makes Insanity. Insanity is the byproduct of Fear. Insanity, the unstable element, does not just try to duplicate Fear, its original form, see its a much more interesting compound than that. Insanity continuously evolves. I personally believe it consumes Fear as well because of its inherent chaotic nature."
Suddenly the little exaggerated Clarice doodle developed a giant pyramid head doodle over its already poofy ink hair. With a sigh, Mark pushed back the chair he was sitting on - Caelius's chair, readjusting his goggles to get a better look at Gale. "Okay yeah, so this is how its gonna work. I'd love to send you in there doing whatever, but you know, I've kind of grown fond of you, mini-me, you remind me of myself. So, I'm gonna give you instructions okay? First, you got to go find, um, the Sun Division is crazy about it, that Japanophile stuff, oh right, your Inner Peace. Rest and s**t. Take lots of breaks, smoke pot, do yoga, find Killzone, have a beer, you know, relax. Not that Deus is the most stress free environment, but at least try for the sake of trying. The more anxiety you bring into an Insanity-infected environment, the more the compound will prey on your own weakness. It basically turns your insecurities against you like, you know, flipside mirrors. Fun things. Well okay, rest for a day, and tomorrow, I'll get you the fun stuff, all of the equipment things. And oh, maybe like, bring some buddies, maybe like a few to help you out."
Mark scratched his half-shaved chin, wondering if his figment of his imagination would have any better figment-friends.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 11:05 pm
"Right, yes, excuse me," said Gale, in a very dry sort of voice as he waved a hand, rolling his own eyes when Mark turned away from him, his attention back to drawing a very large set of...well, either way Gale felt his face flush a pale red and he cleared his throat irritatedly, rubbing his temples.
Somehow Mark was giving him a headache.
"Insanity is its own thing, got it. Created from Fear, its byproduct. Now I've 'got the memo' remembered again. Jolly good. So it's kind of like raw, undiluted chemicals before they're put into things and diluted."
Passing a hand over his face, Gale frowned a little. Clarice had left Deus for the next few months to spend time in Amityville studying the Insanity - as Mark had so eloquently reminded him, which meant that this was a priority for headquarters. But the Isles should have been destroyed completely, which also meant that something wasn't quite right if the Fear levels were higher than allowed within the human world.
It was all very confusing. Gale glanced sideways at Mark, arching one pale brow.
"You want me to...find my inner peace, smoke pot, have a beer, and do yoga. Right then."
Though really he couldn't disregard everything that came after that. His mind was already running, back and forth, left and right, diagonally everywhere, his thoughts all tumbling over one another. If the Insanity really was as unstable as it sounded, he could not afford to let himself be afflicted by it - especially with everything being the way it was.
"Right," said Gale again, and nodded, his jaw set. "I'll...well, my methods might be a tad...different than, er...having a beer, but I'll do my best to find my...inner peace."
That sounded so weird saying it out loud.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:19 pm
Why did mini-him keep on correcting everything he said incorrectly? Since when had he mentioned chemicals, no those compounds were-
- His weapon gave the mental equivalent of eye rolling and what sounded very much like more eye rolling.
Well, fine then. No-one appreciated his genius. Everyone took but noone ever gave back, noone ever thought of the horrible grunt work he took daily, of the suffering and pain at the hands of-
< SIGH >
"I get it already!" Mark's rather poignant outburst was accompanied by all of the things flying into the air dramatically. "I bet you and you," Here, he pointed to Gale and then to his own head, "Are allied together, you two think you can get the better of me huh, huh?! Well, let me tell you something, you can control my brain all you want but you'll never control my mind!"
Wait...what-
"I MEAN IT!" The Hunter gave one more angry fist shake at Gale before running out the door dramatically. Or well, that was the idea, before he came back a few seconds later, head poking in. "Oh also, can you step out you know, this is boss-man's office. Security and all that."
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:31 pm
And suddenly things flying everywhere.
Gale took an involuntary step backwards, startled at the sudden outburst, and ducked as a series of papers flopped all over the room with a loud rustling noise - along with a few thumps as several books joined the papers.
"Me and - what?" asked Gale, thoroughly confused, a slight scowl on his face. "Wait just a second, I never -
"...wait aren't brain and mind - "
Except apparently he was talking to no one, since Mark pulled the same disappearing act as Caelius - though not quite as...creepily. Gale stood there in the middle of the office, surrounded by papers, books, and various writing utensils, and tried to figure out just what the heck had just happened.
Mark's head appeared again. Gale gave him a look. Then he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face again.
"Right, yes, I was just leaving," he said dryly, and rolled his eyes as he stepped out of Caelius' office.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:35 pm
"Righty-right then chap, cheerio!" Mark closed the door behind the trainee while doing his best to imitate Gale. "Chop chop along then, ole chap ole fellow, I'll see you tomorrow for crumpets and tea."
A smart salute. "Twas a pleasure meeting you my good sir."
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