• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

IDS Yīnghuā - Log 1.0: Swift as the Wind and Quick as Lightning (風馳電掣)

What the hell did I just walk into.

Oumijia tried not to stare too long at any one person in the virtual space Jun’s absurdity, Yang Ju’s smugness, Hoshiko’s royal tension—but it was like watching a high-speed shuttle veer off-rail in slow motion.

Wen's imploding, Xian’s trying to keep her head above the water, and Yang Ju just poured them drinks like this was some kind of aristocrat’s wake. And me? I’m a goat with basic infantry training and a half-formed opinion on imperial protocol, sitting front row to a power struggle between the dynasty’s most trusted officers.

Oumijia kept his avatar’s face impassive, the same way he kept his expression blank under fire, but inside his mind was sprinting.
 
Within the halls of The Forbidden City, the group of Daqinren perfectly marched in single file, staying to their 'traffic' lane. Their walk was almost like clockwork, their faces expressionless, the sight of them being no different than a clip of human-made propaganda against the 'evil bioroids'. But inside the shared virtuality of their minds, the truth couldn't be further.

The horned old woman's expression soured as she began to stare daggers at Wen again.

"Just as I was hoping there was hope for the young," Yáng Jù bitterly remarked. Angrily taking back the cocktail glass from Wen, she quickly gulped down the contents and wiped her lips on her sleeve. "You're practically a poster-child for the problems we've been having! Arrogant! Inflexible! Prideful!" she accusingly pointed a finger at him. "The Empress herself thought better of you right until now, and look at how you're whining! At least she knows to keep her mouth shut!" the short scientist accusingly pointed a finger at Xian.

"Ugh. Why don't you flash the new guy? You're a princess now, so your udders probably have princess power," Hoshiko bitterly snapped at Jun. As they bickered and argued, the tiger princess's tail flicked and swished back and forward in frustration. Arms crossed in their virtuality, she began tapping her foot, but in meatspace? She stared daggers at them from behind. Walking single file, she could only stare at Wen's back. It was no wonder he was stuck at a dead-end assignment! Hoshiko's frustration boiled over as she thought of him catching fire, chanting in her mind for him to burn, burn, burn, burn -

In meatspace, the surface of Wen spontaneously combusted, flames licking up from him like he was dry firewood!
 
"Wait really?" Jun asked, thinking about the power she held for a moment as Wen caught on fire.

Xian would be quick to draw her sword. Sure the pistol and sword combo were ceremonial here but it seemed that she was getting plenty more use out of both than she had intended. She'd keep the blade facing downward, holding the flat side out infront of the princesses to keep them back from Wen. There was heat coming off him, which meant the fire was as real as it could be, but without a visible fuel or ignition source Xian wasn't about to risk letting the group try to put Wen out with their hands.

What if the fire spread from bodysuit to bodysuit?
 
"The problems we are having? I am trying to solve them! Who is the pot calling the kettle black here? Just admit that you made a mistake and failed to tell us everything we needed to know! Do not blame the youth for what the old guard wrought!" Wen huffed and bit back at the older goat form, pointing back at her.

His argument only paused briefly when his meat body spontaneously ignited. "The fucking devil is this?" He asked incredulously in virtual form, while his meat body reacted mechanically, dropping down on the floor and rolling around in an attempt to put out the fire. No source of fire, his armor of course was made of fire retardant material, oxygen in the air was at normal levels, what was going on? The ox-form was far more puzzled and annoyed than anything else.
 
The tiger princess gasped like a person desperate for air, and in an instant, the fire went out.

Trying not to swoon, Hoshiko struggled to stay on her feet as her VR lobby avatar flickered with static and vanished. As Sakamoto turned to look at the others in worried confusion, Hoshiko heaved and fought back the urge to vomit, small, fire suppressing turrets popped out of their recesses in the ceiling, their tiny red lights ominously beeping. Just as quickly however, they vanished, retracting back into the cold, dimly lit panels of the facility.

Blankly looking at them all in meatspace, their faceless visors looking back, Hoshiko felt the hallways of The Forbidden City feel all the more joyless.

"Sorry...I got mad at Wen," the low-ranking princess reconnected in shame.

"Ah. You were thinking too hard then, I see," Doctor Yáng noted. "Another thing to get while you negotiate then. Aos'Si training manuals," she dispassionately remarked.
 
Wen took a few seconds to realize what was going on. Princess Hoshiko was an Aos Si at birth. She had "magic" powers, whatever the hell it was, and she decided to use it... on him.

The meat form of Wen was completely unfazed, and kept walking forward. However, in virtual space, his whole body sagged, a balloon with hot gas in it, moments before full of fury, but now hurt, petered out, hurt more than that confrontation with the water monster.

"Princess..." Wen asked in a low voice. "Do you despise me this much? That you literally wished to set me on fire? I am just trying to do my duty."
 
Xian KEPT her blade in between Wen and the Princess, still with the flat side facing outward. She would quietly send a message to Oumijia,

"You understand our first duty is to protect the Princesses?"

She would keep her attention on Wen, but kept her expression stoic. She wasn't here to make a judgement call based on her feelings.

---


Jun, on the other hand, was trying hard to contain herself after seeing Hoshiko set Wen on fire WITH HER MIND. She wasn't about to jump into this tense moment between her friend and Wen but she just had to know if this power could work for others. She focused HARD on Wen, focusing her mind, picturing what she wanted while mentally chanting, Money. Money. Money. Money. Money
 
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