• 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 3.0: "...make him believe you are close."

Aitana had stepped between the child and the angel, then leveled her pistol at the creature's head, but she hesitated. She had intended to support Wen and Xian, but with Sakura in the mix, she didn't have a clear shot. Instead, she watched the massive bull collapse to the ground, then approached him and nudged his slack limbs.

"Is he dead?" The albatross asked, her tone more curious than concerned. "Mister Wen, are you dead? How many fingers am I holding up?" She held a hand in front of his face, but it was difficult to count her fingers among her dense plumage.

"...How did this man earn his rank again?" She wondered, a bit more quietly.
 
Wen's eyes went blank while his body tried to understand what just happened. His internals and body suit worked at the same time: his suit quickly shrunk to seal off the bleeding from his arm and leg stumps. Adrenaline and painkillers pumped through his veins to maintain rational thought, what little he had. In a few seconds, after the Angel disappeared, Wen's eyes blinked, and he looked up at Aitana.

"Four fingers. No, 我沒死 (I haven't died). Very funny." (Four and Death are pronounced the same in Chinese) He looked up the albatross.

At the same time, in virtual reality, Wen's form shuttered for a moment as his brain dedicated resources elsewhere, then returned to full. He crossed his arms with self-righteous indignation.

"... Because I'm the imperial scapegoat, and I'm willing to do what others won't." He declared. "No one was willing to fight on the problem with the Chongwu, so I did. No one was willing to fight this messenger of some eldritch god, so I did, and what did I earn for that?"

He pulled data from his suit's systems, and displayed it. "Fucking knowledge. I have a microsecond by microsecond log of what that creature did to my body, and how it did it. Atmospheric readings, space time anomalies, zero point energy fluctuations, everything. Now, instead of us having to make guesses on what our adversaries are capable of, we can prepare more aggressively. We won't be surprised on the battlefield. Instead of entire companies of Daqinren getting wiped out by magic we don't understand, we now have years to prepare ahead of time. No tit-for-tat compromising dance with the Aos Si to squeeze out information. No catonite tributes to a glorified voice box."

"I was hoping that I could just murder that bastard, but what I got was even better: a full display of its capabilities. All that, for my limbs, which I can grow back anyways. I call that a bargain."
 
VR Reina is the face of complete disbelief, "In exchange for your limbs? What about the possible deaths of everyone here? Your charge? What about the mission that we were sent on in the first place? I can't believe you'd risk all of that! And don't delude yourself and say it was for the Daqinren. It was because of your PRIDE that you risked everything here."

She puts a hand over her face, "You are so deluded that you would grasp for any justification? No... you are a gun who justifies its own use, good or ill," she removes her hand from her face and stares him down, "Fuck you Wen," her avatar appear right in front of his, "I'll make good on my promise you fucking asshole."

VR Reina appears on her side of the table again and goes silent.

In the real, Reina struggles to an upright position and stares down at the bull, gets a venomous look on her face and makes a snipping motion with her fingers, "And so everyone can hear, Fuck you."
 
Last edited:
Sakura, gasped as she expected to be slammed down hard on the floor, only to be gently landed on her back. She scrambled to her feet, into a fighting crouch, ready to engage Wen, but he was down, on the ground, his limbs cut short.. Her eyes darted to the bird creature, watching in disbelief as it repaired itself on the spot.

Rage filled her as Wen spat his justification in VR, balling her fists in the virtual cafe, snapping, after Reina. "You absolute idiot!" she hissed. "You almost got the entire mission team killed and threw all our objectives, everything we have been working for, our entire purpose being here, out the window so you could get your damn limbs cut off and get a little info?! Holy fuck they may still kill all of us for what you just did! You've risked all our lives and especially the life of our princess"

She walked up to Wen in the VR cafe and slapped him across the face. It wasn't the same as hurting him in meatspace, which she was very tempted to do, but held back from actual physical violence. Rather she turned to Hoshiko.

"Zhōngxiào, Permission to place him under arrest until he can be properly delt with after the mission?"
 
"They're made like this on purpose," Hoshiko answered Aitana. "In a hot war with front lines, Wen and Xian's ilk would be spent like ammunition, which is always needed in vast quantities," the small-tiger sourly pointed out. "Except we're not in a hot war, you're both just rotting on the shelf, and shot our diplomacy in the foot." Looking at Wen, then Xian, she gave her decision for now. "I will have you two be given the Mother-Empress's judgement, and hope that she is merciful this time. In the meanwhile, I will defer to the others for your beratement - " Hoshiko then looked at Sakura as well. " - and your arrests."

Lady Nimue's dscerning eyes glanced between the Daqinren.

"It would seem we have come to a consensus then. That your two compatriots are idiots." The dark skinned Aos'Si had spoken up rather sternly, a sharp glance towards both Wen and Xian for emphasis. Her hands were now settled onto Nimdorn's shoulders to comfort him, but given the quiet, blank stare the boy had, his ability to deal with having his perception of reality broken was neither great nor terrible. A guard slowly, carefully opened the door and stuck his head in to look. "We're fine," she hissed, gesturing for him to leave. "They cannot connect to our, uh, person to person communication," she briefly explained, having needed to pause and search for something more scientific to call their mana based communication by.

"Yes. Yes, he is an idiot," Hoshiko removed her helmet. "I take it polite relations between our nations are off the table now," she noted, a statement of resignation rather than a question.

"No. Namely because you have - very effectively - revealed some truths we have forgotten," she admitted. "Even so, there is one of several somethings that we would want for that. Namely, unfettered and unlimited communication with my first-cousin-twice-removed. Viz Istenno."

"I'd like that too," Hoshiko admitted, brushing her hair back. "We'll send for diplomats to set up embassies." She hoped that the Aos'Si woman heard her, as she had now come to stand in front of Nimdorn and knelt.

"Nim," she began, "I know it's heartbreaking to find out there is no Heaven for us to go to. That we won't see everyone again," Lady Nimue tried to explain. "But, knowing this, we can make the present - where we live - better. Can you do that with me?"

He stared at her blankly.
 
"Ok ok, everyone calm down. We've all tried to kill Wen before. This is nothing new." Jun said in the virtuality, pausing for a moment to think about who's actually tried to kill who.

"Well most of us have. Point is he isn't going anywhere like that." Jun would give a soft kick to Wen's legs to emphasize her point.

She then made her most important point.

"Who's gonna carry him anyways?" Jun said, realizing she only had a few moments to react.

"NOT IT!"

Xian didn't have much she could do in the situation. AFter being scissored by Hoshiko, she couldn't exactly lift a finger to fight her superior officer. She'd go down without a fight, and do her best to hold her breath as she was choked out.

"Wen started the fight, but the fight did start. We should always try to win those engagements." Xian stated simply.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top