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Post by murasaki on Nov 5, 2017 17:23:51 GMT
The battle for Sanctuary had run longer than anticipated, but the city remained mostly in-tact. Mop-up crews were still finishing off remnants of the invasion, but for the majority of those involved, life returned to normal. At least as normal as could be, with a whole new continent just across the pond.
My story was... less cut and dry.
Cue a small, cramped workshop. Parts lay sprawled across several tables, some barely scratched, others nearly unrecognizable after the beating they took. Some had claw marks, others were scorched, one or two had acid burns on them -- all had taken damage of one kind or another. It would take a while before they could be refurbished, if at all right now.
That left me with a lot of time to think -- and to listen to the fleshsacks bicker amongst themselves. They assumed I was powered down; I didn't break that illusion. Their chatter was nearly constant at times, arguments and counter-arguments filling the air as they desperately worked to return their one "prototype" back in working order:
"Dammit! Watch where you aim your torch!" "Don't sneak up on me like that, you dick!" "Cut it out! The boss is in his office. Something about the big wigs breathing down his neck to explain the recent disaster." "What's there to explain? Something broke in the prototype's programming, and we're fixing that while putting it back together." "Yeah, but what exactly we still don't know. And it came back in pieces" "Hey new kid! Step on it! Boss wants those new programs written and installed ASAP, so quit lookin' up porn and snap to it!"
Certainly not the most harmonious congregation of meat and farts I had encountered. My own thoughts and opinions on the matter, such as concerns as to why they were shoveling more into my processes, could not be voiced for fear of giving away my shrouded state. But I had them, there was no doubt about that.
For now, however, I satisfied myself with carefully picking through local files and Internet newsrooms, trying to decipher even vaguely what was happening while I lay there physically incapacitated. As long as I didn't draw attention to my activities, they should remain oblivious.
...Hopefully.
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Post by shinzo on Nov 10, 2017 23:43:23 GMT
In Sanctuary, I was far from the place I ordinarily held in bureaucracy. Rather than being one of the most powerful, well-connected individuals within the entire apparatus, I was, in the guise of my Resplendency, just a low-level enforcer within the establishment, a moderate-ranked government worker, and a member of janitorial staff. In this case, I was working within my purview as Government, and in order to keep up that appearance, I had jobs. Most of them were paper, as such, I delegated that work, simple, and boring as it was, to the secretary I created with my charms, who was able to dispense with the work with speed and efficiency. However, while I could use him on occassions like this, it was generally better to go in person. As a result, I was here, in an unassuming artificer's shop.
Entering the shop with a ringing of doorway bells I found soothing, I step up to the counter, where the employees were arguing. I cough to clear my throat and get their attention. "Excuse me, misters. I'm here with the Department of Security. I'm here regarding the functioning of this creation." I place papers on the counter, including both my identification, perfectly in order, as well as a photograph of the Murasaki. "She was rather instrumental to the protection of Sanctuary, as such, my Department is invoking it's authority to make sure this asset remains ready. After all, government money was responsible for Murasaki's production." Really, it seemed silly to be putting such a big emphasis on things when supernatural forces were so powerful...but her specifications were impressive, so I wouldn't make this judgment total. I had only glanced over the information cursorily, after all.
What did intrigue me, however, was the burgeoning "personality" described by the information on the report of this large battle that she had taken part in. Something that these individuals obviously had a problem with. Creations having more personality than expected and turning the tables on their creator was something of a fascination, since it had been the impetus for our Primordial War, so I was quite intrigued with how far this machine's personality development went. For a job mostly maintained to give me an easy path into Sanctuary whenever I needed it, it certainly seemed like the more fun things I could be doing. "So, could one of you fine gentlemen show me to the prototype? I'd like to get on with things, after all."
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Post by 0 on Nov 13, 2017 18:52:47 GMT
The security raffle.
Every once in a while businesses liked to hire out for security, for whatever reasons; perhaps they didn't have their own security in the first place, or perhaps they needed an extra hand. Whenever such a call came to Walsh's district, they held a raffle. Every officer got their name put in whether they wanted it or not, and the police chief himself was the one to pull the name of the lucky man.
Lughaidh Walsh.
He tried to be cheery about it. Tried to see it as something new to try, but...SECURITY? Really?
All he had to do was stand around all day. It was easy money, sure, but it was going to be so. damn. BORING.
Not that wasting gas in a patrol vehicle pacing around such a peaceful, nothing-ever-happens-here district was much better--but at least he was his own man out there!
The newborn security officer stood at attention near the front doors to the building for repairs, stationed on the inside while another officer was stationed just outside, one brow twitching at the arguments of what were painfully obvious failures of mechanics. Great, and he got the GOOD posting too, didn't he? Man out there got to stand in the cold, but at least he didn't have a damn headache.
A man walked through the doors, splatting a series of papers upon the desk. Walsh gave him a glance, a subtle, suspicious glare that he often gave to just about anyone, before returning his gaze back on the glass doors, waiting for the clock to run out.
Happy days, happy days.
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Post by murasaki on Nov 20, 2017 7:13:30 GMT
Hijacking the CCTV system was a cinch. The location had been hastily set up once funds started coming in, and wasn't up to Sanctuary's usually fortress-like security; once I managed to slip past the firewall, it was easy enough to slip past the IDS firewall and into the automated camera station. Any logs pertaining to the event would be wiped after I exited via an innocuous-looking script, leaving no traces behind. With the cameras under my control, I could now see someone important entering the workshop just outside the main work area. There were multiple feeds, but the others showed nothing of interest at the moment. Several techs were frantically trying to stall the man, possibly because seeing the shining star of the news networks right now in (literal) pieces would be terrible for PR. They were not having an easy time halting his progress. Aside from that, there wasn't much to keep my interest for long. Except for one stoic-looking security meatbag (a quick database search identified them as one Lughaidh Walsh, from one of the smaller precincts). Normally, causing mischief was beneath me, but there was little else to do. I gave myself a generous number of milliseconds to decide what to do; any malicious activities would go against protocol. That didn't exactly rule out mischievous activities, however. Finding the right carrier signal was simple. His smart watch would soon vibrate or beep or whatever, a short string of messages popping up: NAME: <UNKNOWN> DATE: NOV. 20TH, XXXX --------------------- >>Hey, you >>Yeah, you >>I'm bored >>Let's play a game0 , shinzo
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Post by shinzo on Nov 20, 2017 23:26:56 GMT
As they hem and haw, I found myself more than a little bit annoyed at both the obstruction, and the fact that I couldn't just use the tiniest bit of my abilities to resolve this situation easily. This was obviously bureaucratic bullshit, and normally I'd have all kinds of ways to cut through it and get at my job. This really made this part of the job description obnoxious...but then, these were just humans. While I was dealing with the dampening, I still had my own inherent abilities...this dampening couldn't take that away from me. Not to mention, that my position within this heirarchy gave me a bit of wiggle-room now that I'd been inserted into it.
"I assume if you can't show it to me, you wouldn't mind me doing a bit of looking around, then?" I mention. "Though, I would prefer not to have to flag you as noncompliant with a scheduled inspection..." It was a fairly soft attempt at intimidation, but I figured the subject matter would be enough to cow them without causing them to grow resentful. With that, I began to walk around towards the back of the store. Left to my own abilities, I was less than efficient at this, but still able to brush past them before they changed their minds.
Walking through the back, at the business end of the shop, I believe I found what I was looking for. Disassembled, nearly destroyed parts all arranged out on a work table. Obviously needing a great deal of work to get anywhere close to usable. I daresay it might even take Kishar a few minutes. I take out a pen and notepad and begin to jot down notes on the repair progress. Nothing out of what my 'employers' were expecting...but I had gotten ab it curious. I knew a bit about the event that occurred that caused this damage...but that would certainly be a story. "You're awake, aren't you?" I murmur. "I'd like to talk to you if you're free. I can't imagine you're doing too much right now..are you?" Hopefully she'd be in the mood to communicate in some fashion. I didn't want to think she was just a bunch of loose parts, that would just be too boring.
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Post by 0 on Nov 21, 2017 0:23:11 GMT
There was an inconsolable "bwip!" Walsh squinted. That was the sound his watch gave when someone had just sent him a message.
God damn it he thought he'd put that on vibrate! Stupid feckin' technology couldn't even get its own controls right.
His eyes flickered to the side, checking to see if anyone had noticed his mistake. Everyone seemed busy with themselves, and so, after a second's pause he lifted the sleeve of his shirt, tapping one of the buttons beneath the narrow screen. He wasn't exactly social, so he expected the message to be in some manner official.
Instead, the message showed an unknown name and number for the sender. Walsh squinted again. A hacker? Or a technological possession--no, couldn't be: no energy signatures were going off.... Maybe a prankster who was just sending random messages to random numbers. A scam artist would usually be less subtle, wouldn't they...?
The most important question, however, was undoubtedly: should he respond to it? Under normal circumstances he wouldn't, but...these weren't exactly normal circumstances. He was dead bored.
Glancing up for a moment, Walsh lifted his other hand and typed back a simple reply through the numerical keypad: >>No. He had been tempted to answer otherwise, but his fingers soon showed him that he couldn't deny his job, much as he might despise standing around and doing nothing.
Although he halfway hoped that the sender was a stubborn sort and try to prod him for more.
After trying to turn it onto vibrate (and uncertan of whether he succeeded), Walsh turned the screen off, slid his sleeve back down, dropped his arms, straightened his back, and returned to the stiff at-attention stance he'd been holding for a while now. His break should be soon, but whoever was to replace him in the meantime was taking his sweet-ass time.
He glanced over towards the front desk again, noting that the man who'd waved the papers around was now pushing his way past the workers who were busy arguing. He watched his movements carefully, noting his position before letting his gaze drift again.
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Post by murasaki on Dec 3, 2017 19:01:24 GMT
Commotion caught the attention of several technicians within the inner workshop area, whom glanced up at the new intruder. The befuddled workers trying to stall the director were left flabbergasted but unable to retort for fear of having such sanctions actually put into practice; they did quickly signal to the others to get back to work. They quickly returned to their toil without comment, remaining wary of the official's presence but ignorant of his question. The reply left on Walsh's watch SMS when the noise ceased was a simple one: >> Oh? Suddenly the gadget began blaring some schmaltzy 80's pop song, flaring in multicolored lights, and vibrating like a tumble drier set to maximum. Not for terribly long -- just long enough to cause a stir. One of the lead brainiacs glared at him, but returned to his work instead of giving the man a proper chiding. >> Just a little game >> Maybe after that >> other dope gets here >> Slowass taking a shit >> and txting w/ his gf
I had nothing to say to the official for now, despite having heard their request for communication. Between spoofing Sanctuary's probing AIs, managing my energy to retain appearances of inactivity, and toying with the cameras, texting with even one individual was more trying than it should have been. Still, my interest was currently stronger than my sensibility, and instead of cutting the "game" short I pushed the limits, ignoring the director for the time being. The one camera in the workshop swiveled to observe the official; or more specifically, what they were jotting down. None of it seemed particularly of interest, much of it stuff that likely could have been handed to them without comment if they just asked elsewhere. Which just begged the question of why they were here. And more disconcertingly, how they might even think that I remained active. It was possibly they were just guessing, but the certainty they displayed was unnerving. If they knew, did the others know? I could not say, although no one else seemed to be noticing the oddities occurring (besides the painfully overt, of course).
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Post by shinzo on Dec 5, 2017 8:19:13 GMT
Boring. And here I was so sure that something fun was going to happen. Drumming a hand on the table as I take notes through a rather pointless display of dexterity, balancing the notepad on my small finger as my thumb and index use the pen, along with slight nudges from my small finger as I write up the report. An idle way to pass the time, a bit of a handicap could make even the mundane interesting. I had, of course, grown well used to this sort of thing. It was just a job, just a thing I needed to keep up in the role I carved out for myself in this heirarchy. And I had been managing to stay sane in the context of stifling, boring bureaucracy for millenia. It was something that I had to get used to, or grow utterly mad.
With that bit there done, I continue to walk around the area, noting that, yes, everything was in fact up to specifications, and no there wasn't a problem with the diagnostics that should have meant I didn't need to record that information, nor with the backups to those diagnostics. Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy never changes. That being said, there was certainly a good deal of information I could jot down for the side benefit...plenty of information to bring back to Kishar once I was ready to take another working vacation.
That was when the music started playing. Taking it as an excuse to distract myself by giving the unfortunate man a bit of grief, I use it as a way to probe more into the strange, magic-less world around me. It really was the strangest experience, a world so diminished that could still shine so bright. "Well now, having a fun conversation? Is it a girl?" I say, grinning as I probe into the security man's personal business. It was always so fun to do that...and honestly, judging by the glares he was getting, it would probably help him in the long run. He'd get looked at as both being picked on by higher ups, as well as taking the heat off of them and their mistakes. "Now we both know the rules say you need to have that silenced in the workplace, buuuut, well, I can appreciate a man that has the right priorities. Anything juicy?" I try to take a peek.
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Post by 0 on Dec 5, 2017 22:06:36 GMT
The watch vibrated as another message came up. He didn't have a chance to look at it before music was ringing out into the air. Instinctively he might have jumped, but tr helped him to tighten his muscles instead.
Walsh pushed his sleeve back up to glare at the infernal device, the terrible noise cutting out on its own almost as soon as it started. More messages began to pop up, Walsh only glimpsing the nonsense sentences as they sped by, his gaze flickering around the room to see whether he was to be reprimanded for this.
Well, someone was approaching.
Returning both arms to his sides, he pushed a button on a device that hung just beside his watch-bearing wrist, leaving it to scan for traces of magic. Although hacking was the more likely scenario, possession was still a possibility. From the messages' contents, it sounded as though the perpetrator could be in this very building.
And here was the visitor who'd been waving the documents around, now teasing him more so than truly chiding him. Still, Walsh couldn't stop the utter shame from rising in him; after all, he'd been the one to push the prankster into acting out.
"No, sir," he replied, getting the sense that the man must have been some sort of official. His muscles tensed as the stranger leaned in for a look at his watch, the cuff of his sleeve curled just so over it, leaving the narrow screen in full view, but dimmed as it began to automatically turn itself off. "Just a...," his voice trailed off as a distinct sound pierced the air around him: beepbeepbeep!
Walsh's eyes widened, instantly realizing the implications. Something had been detected the second the stranger had come so close. His distal hand instantly reached for the taser hooked near it. The stunning device was by default on a positive logarithmic setting, which would have gradually increasing intensity the longer the trigger was held.
Walsh ripped the taser from its holster and swung it around towards the man, hoping to press it directly into the stranger's shoulder or side. He wouldn't hold it there for very long, only enough to subdue something slightly stronger than the average human, suspecting him to be some low level entity for having gotten in here in the first place.
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Post by murasaki on Dec 7, 2017 0:54:53 GMT
Things escalated rather quickly; I could hear the beeping even from here, and through the camera I watched as the Enforcer grunt responded instantly. Stopping the signal was impossible; that would require enough steps that someone on the other end would know it had been intercepted, even with my incredible processing power. It was, however, possible to redirect the message long enough to difuse the situation before more personnel could arrive.
Besides, the little wake-up alarm did pique my interests in this newcomer.
Instead of taking control of the building's power system, I instead decided that encrypted blips would be seen as less of a threat. A small power surge would not look untimely, given how much damage had been done to the city recently -- both by demons, and those trying to "protect" it. Using the remote management service, the building's lights began to flicker, backup power units kicked on for a few seconds, and the alarm chirped for a moment. The logs would falsify a 240% increase in power for about 3 microseconds, lending credibility to the overcharge theory. Soon enough, everything was back to relative normal, though with quite a few scared and confused technicians.
A few bits of underlying code in my next response caused the weirdness alarm on the man's to warble drunkenly before ending, hopefully removing some of its credibility. I had no way to stop the Enforcer from attacking the official, but it made for some great pictures if it turned out to be just a fluke.
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Post by shinzo on Dec 7, 2017 3:48:14 GMT
Well, that was about as inconvenient as things could possibly be. Not only did I not get to sneak a peek at the guard's phone to give him grief, but then a detector went off? Really, just how annoying could things get? If they hadn't detected me before...why did it suddenly work now? Sheesh...what a mess. Still, I couldn't let him just taze me like that. As such, I make the lightest possible movement to evade his strike, then looked at it in surprise. I wasn't sure what to do...until circumstances turn back to my favor. The warble of the alarm sputtered and popped, and it looked far more like equipment malfunction for it to be impossible to ignore as a possibility.
"What in the..." I say, affecting surprise perfectly. It must have looked like extreme luck...but just at the same time, the alarm seemed to warble down. With that, I adopt a rather common, for it existing at all here, martial arts stance. "I...I might not look like much, but if you're going to taze me over some faulty equipment without warning, I'll put up a fight!" I made sure to look as pathetic as I possibly could as I did so. I didn't want to fight him, not at all...but I wanted to look like nothing more than a harried bureaucrat put in an absurd situation by a power surge. "I didn't get my green belt for nothing!"
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Post by 0 on Dec 7, 2017 4:06:09 GMT
He didn't much like it. He missed, the lights started flickering, AND the detector started making some weird noises, warbling, popping, hissing like it was breaking. It made things confusing and potentially doubtful for him, but at the same time...his watch going wankers thanks to some hooligan, now his detector on the fritz right after this guy had leaned in so close to it. He wasn't sure what to be suspicious of.
Walsh quickly pulled back the tazer, hooking it back onto his belt while quirking a brow as the stranger adopted...some sort of fighting stance. Probably some sort of Chinese thing--it didn't look too intimidating.
"That's fine," said Walsh, his voice a mixture of amusement and bewilderment. He tried to stifle the suspicion from it, but it was hard to tell whether it was working at that moment. The man had dodged his attack so deftly, and yet now he posed so goofily. Perhaps it was mere luck.
He rolled a finger over the detector, shutting it off. "All this new tech seems to be malfunctioning lately. Thought you were dangerous," he explained, his aversion to lying overriding his suspicions. It was his best guess thus far. Good thing his replacement during break should be arriving soon; perhaps he'd be able to get some of the equipment looked at then.
Walsh eyed the man carefully as he slid the sleeve more fully down over his watch, returning to his usual security position of standing stiff and still.
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Post by murasaki on Dec 11, 2017 5:10:06 GMT
Huffing and puffing, Walsh's replacement finally rounded the corner, looking quite flustered. "The hell's going on?!" he exclaimed, trying to catch his breath as he buckled his pants. "Lights started flickering and shit, then-- oh!" The replacement guard gave a quick salute to the director, still not quite sure why the two were squaring off and oblivious to the tension between them. I watched as the techs struggled to split their time between responding to the "false alarm", the suspiciously-timed power spike, and their scheduled repairs. Looked like ants scurrying around, was at least fun to watch. To the suit, a string of messages would show up on their phone: >> You have my attention. >> Perhaps we can call things even >> if you keep quiet & don't tell >> the techs that I'm still awake.
>> So what do you want, suit?
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Post by shinzo on Dec 11, 2017 6:27:55 GMT
My feigned utter patheticness seemed to have borne fruit, in a display that could make any observer that knew it's existence assured I had mastered the Black Claw's style of convincing everyone that the user was utterly weak and helpless compared to the attacker...and I didn't need to prostrate myself and make use of demonic-sourced style to do it. It was a pretty decent bluff, all told...but it wouldn't have been possible without help from that strange, all-too-perfectly timed outage that had hidden the results of that out-of-nowhere alarm. The timing behind them both was just way too suspicious, just suddenly the alarms and systems were able to pick me up at any degree of effectiveness, and just then fate conspires to save my bacon? Sure, it was all but sure to happen if I was allowed to use my abilities, it wouldn't even be a question. But -without- them?
Relaxing the pose, I let out a series of loud, panting gasps, as someone who had just been faced with potential death likely would. Especially a bureaucrat with no real training or experience with anything of the sort. "Hah...well...I'm glad you saw the error of your ways!" Puffing out my chest in a faux display of pride, it was hard to tell just how many levels of irony I was on, but it should be an effective con. It was, after all, just what a person of moderate pride and ambition would try to do to affect full confidence and lack of fear. "Well, you shouldn't go out with malfunctioning scanners. I could sue!" As the replacement comes in, I breathe an audible sigh of relief. "Am I glad to see you. I think your friend needs a break, he nearly tazed me over a false alarm from his scanner! Me!"
At that moment, the phone appears with a message, and I resist the urge to smile. Instead, I type up a quick reply.
>Sounds good to me. I just wanted to confirm a hunch...and then, if I was right, ask what a lovely lady like you was doing in a dump like this~ >Surely, one of the city's saviors deserves a bit better, doesn't she?
She all but certainly knew that I wasn't normal, but that made it more fun. We both weren't doing what we should be doing...it was always nice to have something in common with women. Made things easier.
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Post by 0 on Dec 11, 2017 6:51:29 GMT
Walsh flicked a strand of hair as his replacement finally appeared, as though tipping an invisible hat. Once relieved, he swiftly and silently skedaddled on out of there, off to get his equipment checked over in the security offices before retreating to the break room. Assuming he wasn't let off from the job he'd so utterly screwed up.
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