Sector 21: Ready Player One

Camleen

I'm going to be my own kind of princess
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  2. 1-3 posts per week
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  1. Intermediate
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
In no particular order: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Modern, Magical, Romance, anime, comic books, cartoons, video games..
Sector 21: Archaide and Syrinx

Archaide is a planet in the OASIS with a barren surface comprised of vector graphics (an old style of video game graphics used in the 80's to give a three dimensional effect to a game). The planet is in perpetual darkness and some of the only surface features are a large volcano (which stays to the north no matter where you are) and multiple entrances to the inner parts of the planet. The inside of the planet is mostly comprised of vintage arcade cabinets. Some OASIS users have come to the planet and have coded their childhood arcade gaming spots within Archaide. To navigate the inner parts of the planet a user has to go through different levels seemingly arranged by the age of the systems. Starting closest to the surface are the newest Cabinets and then the farther you go the older the games are. At the center are the games Tennis for Two and Space War!.
Technology and Magic are permitted in this part of the Sector.

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Syrinx: A recreation of the world that is featured in the 1976 Rush album "2112". It was considered an experimental album, the album itself telling a tale of a dystopian future of the year 2112. The name of the OASIS planet is tribute to the second song on the first side of the album: 'The Temples of Syrinx'.
And the meek shall inherit the earth...

We've taken care of everything
The words you hear, the songs you sing
The pictures that give pleasure to your eyes
It's one for all, all for one
We work together, common sons
Never need to wonder how or why

We are the priests
Of the temples of Syrinx
Our great computers
Fill the hollowed halls
We are the priests
Of the temples of Syrinx
All the gifts of life
Are held within our walls

Look around this world we made
Equality our stock in trade
Come and join the brotherhood of man
Oh what a wide contented world
Let the banners be unfurled
Hold the red star proudly high in hand

We are the priests
Of the temples of Syrinx
Our great computers
Fill the hollowed halls
We are the priests
Of the temples of Syrinx
All the gifts of life
Are held within our walls
 
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Damagi gets a notification for two new messages while she listens to Iria with no intentions to interrupt her to answer them. She is aware of Iria is trying to do by earlier interjecting and then putting emphasis on W3ndy. Maybe calling the girl Barbie is a little too much teasing for someone she's just met. W3ndy could be much more annoyed than she's let on and Iria is expressing.

For Iria, she decides to stop calling her Barbie. At least until they all get more familiar.

Speaking of familiar, Damagi cannot help but overhear the conversation between W3ndy and Dante since neither of them had thought to make their chat private. They were hitting it off quite well, would probably make a great team already. Or more if they keep going the way they are. Damagi keeps her eyes on Iria all the while, and even manages to follow all the talk fine. Iria will see a particular grin come to her face. The grin that comes after she's had a mischevious idea pop into her head.

"You are good for a lot more than healing Iria. Gonna tell you that every day, every time you try to say otherwise." Damagi tells her and reaches over to boop her nose. She gets up out of the booth and walks to the jukebox, makes a selection and walks back in time for the song to start.

Damagi resumes talking to Iria with that grin but acts as if she didn't just do what she did. "So while I was listening to you, I got two more messages. Let's look at them together." Damagi opens her UI and makes said messages visible to her. The first from Herak was a big surprise. The guy's adventuring career was run of the mill for what Damagi has had to watch lately, but that helmet and certificate....

"Wow. If that helmet is legit, then this guy is a shoe-in. And he looks like a tank, don't you think?" Damagi asks and after Iria has said her piece, opens the next. "Well would you look at that! A flying tank is about right from what's on his highlight reel. No question he's in." Damagi sends both new applicants a message that they're accepted and given the coordinates for their meeting place here on Archaide. "Imma go show Dante and W3ndy. Or Bayonetta, as it were, their other two teammates."

Damagi walks over to Dante and W3ndy, gets their attention by clearing her throat. "Heyyy you two, glad to see you're both getting along. And nice outfit by the way W3ndy, wish I could pull it off." She shows the screen to both of them. "Check out your newest teammates. They should be here soonish, depending on if my message caught them in the middle of something or not. What do you think? In all honesty?"
 
Iria sits up a little in the booth, sighing gently to herself. Like so many times before, she decides to lose her thoughts in the task at hand. That’s a good way to go about things for her. She does glance up…and she sees that look on Damagi’s face. She narrows her eyes in warning as she sits up fully now, wholly expecting Damagi to do some stupid prank against her. She knows that look, she knows Damagi just had a good/bad idea pop into her head.

But her eyes close a little when Damagi leans towards her, and boops her playfully on the nose. She swats at Damagi with both hands, just shrugging to her words. She does wish she could believe that as readily as Damagi seems to. “Wait… what are you doing?” Iria asks skeptically when Damagi gets up. She half turns in the booth to watch as she goes to the jukebox, and Iria has no idea what she’s doing. Usually when she gets that grin, the idea is there and then it’s implemented almost immediately. But she’s not doing anything misc- oh there it is. Another sigh and Iria rolls her eyes as Marvin Gaye begins to make love to her earholes. His albums are some of her favorites. But she knows why Damagi picked that particular song. A glance towards W3ndy and Dante again, and then she half frowns as she looks back to her work.

“2 more? Already?”
She says softly,looking towards the UI. Intently Iria watched Herak in action, the helmet’s significance lost on her. “He does look very tanky.” She says with a nod. That’s all she can come up with at the moment. She doesn’t like to analyze people to much when she’s never met them. A recording would only tell her so much. She squints a little at the gargoyle, and she seems dissapointed for a moment. “Oh I thought that was Goliath. But it just looks like a ripoff. Still I should have a Gargoyles skin…” she shakes her head with the errant thought, and she nods. “Yeah, they look fine I guess. We’ll just have to test ‘em all out.”

Her eyes would then follow her as she moves to Dante and W3ndy, and she then quickly looks away. Another peek of a glance towards them, and she opens her inventory screens. She doesn’t have any really pretty skins she could apply. Maybe that’s something she’s going to have to invest in..
 
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Dante did notice the change in Wendy's face when she bit her lip. Dante took this as a good sign. It really did seem like they had good chemistry. Dante wondered if him and W3ndy would of hit it off so well in the real world. Probably not since Dante's real self was never this confident. Dante had some relationships in the past that took place in the oasis.

In Dante's mind he felt that what happens here isn't any less genuine than what occurs outside the oasis. In the oasis people can let go and become their true selves without the limitations of society.

Dante smiled as he heard W3ndy say that she was willing to take him up on the offer. He thought that there might be a possibility for something more here. He was also glad she was letting her accent become more apparent in her speech. Upon hearing her expectations he chuckled.

"Well of course Miss Wrekker. I might be a charming scoundrel and a master hit man, but I am also a gentleman. You are providing your lovely company so I have no problem footing the bill, besides we might all get a little richer before this is over. So it's a date then."

Dante found himself not caring about the game as he looked into W3ndy's eyes with his confident grin on his face. That was when Marvin Gaye began to play in the restaurant. Dante needed a moment to make sure that the song wasn't just playing in his head. He was certain that it was Damagi's idea of a joke. From what he saw from Iria she wasn't the time to augment/ruin a mood.

When Dante looked to Damagi to examine the two candidates that she had for the team. "Hmm... first one reminds me obviously of Hercules. Seems he killed a lower tier Yautja. That could be useful information he could have on their fighting style.

The Gargoyle looks like he can handle himself. Though I feel he is a little flashy, but I guess I have no room to talk. Not a huge fan of gunblades. Never got into them myself. Though I wouldn't mind owning a good one.

I guess that's our team: The Demigod, The Gargoyle, The Space Warrior, The Mage, The Duelist, and The Bounty Hunter. The Cyber Six."

Upon finishing his statement a voice would come from Dante's area that wasn't from him. "Well this is an interesting crew of misfits D. They might outlive your last team."

Just after that disturbance what appears to be a recording orb comes from Dante and activates. Though it begins to project a life size hologram of what appears to be 2B from the game Nier: Automata. The woman looks to all of them in the room. Dante could only sigh.

"Everyone this is Kara. She is an AI program that I have been working on for the past 4 years. I started her off on the AI programs that Gregarious Simulation Systems uses. From there I have been building and coding her myself. She is more advanced than any other AI you will meet. She is kind of the bitchy Cortana to my Master Chief."

Kara scoffed since her eyes couldn't be seen rolling in this skin.
"Oh please. You forgot to mention how you are a perv. He only has sexy female video game characters in my data base to be."

Dante looked around and chuckled nervously.
"That's not true..."

At that point Kara cycled through the alternate costumes for 2B: the damaged skin and the DLC outfit before going back to the original skin.

"There are a ton more. By the way D. It was hard to listen to you be Casanova with this girl. He has a Bayonetta skin for me too...You should probably mention that you started creating me after your oasis girlfriend broke up with y-"

Dante pressed a button on his UI screen and suddenly Kara's voice went mute as she tried to continue to talk. Kara looked furious.

"So yeah... despite her first impression she can be pretty helpful. Though usually after I give her an empty threat about deleting her or rolling her back to a previous version. So what do you think... pretty impressive huh?"

@Not_Amy

 
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Herak

Herak received the reply pretty quickly. He gathered up some things from his Marvel world New York apartment. He had made a deal with a Pymn some time back for a few miniature vehicles. One terminator Harley, one Serenity style space ship and one completely ridiculous looking portable base type van disguised as an ice cream truck. Now he had never really bothered to look in that one but it largely came free with the set.

He set up the space craft, got in and set the co ordinates. He generally wasn't someone to brag or make a show of what he could or couldn't do. He game play generally paid for the occasional upgrade which he was satisfied with. He didn't frequent too many scifi worlds and this was a bit of a weakness.

He tried to get his upgrades and leveling done on the superhero worlds to keep in character. He didnt invest much in skins. Outfits yes, skins no. He bought a new sci fi armor that would help with beam weapons and lasers. It have good room to move and fight while wearing it and he could integrate his genuine Stark visor into it.

He arrived at the designated world and landed his craft. He shrank it & put it away in the small box he used. He climbed down and jogged lightly towards the meeting place. He wore a workmans kilt, black, the signature Hercules sandals and a silk hawaiian shirt, sky blue with various island style flowers and palm trees.

The terraine in this place was a bit wonky, but he got used to it fairly quickly. He came to the co ordinates. An old style pizza place with a big arcade. He liked it.

" Greetings to all my potential companions !"
 
Wow. Miss. Lovely company? While W3ndy considers herself a resilient and effectively deadly combatant on the battlefield, such words were very much her kryptonite. Long(often uncomfortable) talks with her mother have taught her the telltale signs a guy was genuinely interested in you. Dante has hit about 7/10 of them in the short time they've been playing/talking. All the more reason to survive this excursion to Yautja Prime. Maybe this was the start of something longterm and beautiful. Maybe just a victory drink at the Distracted Globe, and something else afterwards....maybe something real. You could never know for sure after all.

W3ndy was about to say something, but she stops and forgets it all when Marvin Gaye comes out of the jukebox. She can't stop herself and thus her avatar from blushing. This also causes her to die in the game. Just as well, since it appears things were starting to move along with the group. It was hard to be mad at Damagi for the very obvious move to break the mood just now, because W3ndy is also very amused by it. The compliment also tamps down any ill feelings she has. “Oh thank you. Your...monkey suit is nice too.” She replies and checks out the two additions.

After Dante has said his part, W3ndy nods in agreement. “Yeah looks like we got a good team.” and she is startled by the voice that comes from Dante. Throughout the banter between Dante and his AI, W3ndy was processing a lot. It was impressive he could make such a realistic AI on his own, if that were true. And being told and shown how Dante was possibly a pervert wasn't a big shocker. Those are rampant all over The OASIS and W3ndy herself has had to fend off her share. It does however put his motives in a different light. W3ndy changes back to her default appearance just after Kara was silenced.

“Uh yeah, really impressive. Good work so far.” W3ndy gives Dante a thumbs-up and sets the lightgun in the holder when Herak enters the pizzeria. She tips her hat in his direction and smiles. “Howdy and welcome!”
 
The message notification comes up in Jerick-O's UI while he's gliding in the air within sight of the teleporter hub at the point between two zones of Disney World. He lands and opens the message, grinning wide at the unexpectedly prompt response. “We're in business.” He waited in line to enter a teleporter, and once inside entered the coordinates for the meetup. He was very thankful to be in just the adjacent sector, so it was cheap to jump over. In a flash, Jerick-O steps out of the teleporter near the coordinates given, below the planet surface. Being a small ways off, he at first starts walking towards the the blip on his map. Only ten steps forward, he looks up and around at the cavern and decides to have some fun with the journey. He leaps up, digs his talons and claws into the stone, and climbs his way throughout the caverns to his destination.

When the the destination, a nondescript pizza place among others, came in sight, Jerick-O' sees a muscular individual enter throug the front doors and weighs his options for an approach. Making an impression is the best option for him, he decides. The Gargoyle crawls the cavern walls until he's many feet above Happy Jack's, and drops from that height. He uses his wings to glide in circles down to the roof and land with a loud thud. He smiles thinking how that was a surprise for those inside and jumps off the roof to land at the front doors. He has to duck to get through the doors but manages.

“Hello everyone. Came soon as I got the message. For once I had nothing better to do.” He says to all assembled moments after they've introduced themselves to Herak. He folds his wings around himself like a cape and takes stock, as it were, of the team as it was. The leader, Damagi, was smaller than he'd estimated from the video. Even in the furry skin, he recognizes her face easily. There was another female avatar, a guy in a snazzy if unfamiliar skin beside her, and his eyes fell on the only other avatar of an unuals color like himself. The one he had seen in the video and been stricken with. Something about the earnest demeanor had stood to him. He winks at her while the others make their introductions, not quite looking at them but aside at her.
 
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“Nice assessment.” Damagi says closing the window. At the sound and appearance of Kara, Damagi smirks and silently watches their back-and-forth. By her estimation this Kara was certainly a well-made AI. His boast of it being the most advanced AI they will ever meet might be a stretch, but that'd be a conversation for later so Damagi only responds “I'd say that's quite an accomplishment Dante. I'd like to see how far you go with that.” She says with a teeth-flashing grin at her insinuation.

When Herak enters, Damagi allows others to meet and greet him first before coming forth to shake his hand. “Welcome to the team Herak and glad you made it here so quick.” She is about to ask to see the Yautja helmet he'd shown in his application when there is a loud thud on the roof. “Huh?” She looks up, annoyed that someone would jump on her place. It couldn't be damaged, sure, but it was the principle of the thing. Whoever it was, they were lucky this was not a PvP area or else he'd get a Galick Gun to the face. Then the culprit jumps from the roof to the front door and enters greeting everyone. Again Damagi stands back while the others greet the Gargoyle.

“Hey welcome. But just so you know, I built this place.” Damagi says to him pointing down at the floor, then up with her thumb. “So I'd appreciate it if you don't land on it, alright?” She smiles and points with her thumb back at Renee, who just then comes from the (nonexistent) back with a pizza and Pepsi. “That's Renee, order up some grub on me while I have a word with my second-in-command.” She gestures at Iria and walks over to her, opens a private channel. “So I'm going to take a wild guess and say you didn't see him giving you 'The Look'.”
 
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She leans forward a little in her booth as she hears a new voice, seeing the manifestation of the AI. She’s seen that skin somewhere before.. a Nier game, she thinks. Lots and lots of Rule 34 stuff about the AI’s image. Or so she’s heard. She loves the idea of a really advanced AI, a constant partner. Well she does actually have a constant partner, even if she feels like dead weight sometimes. But she rolls her eyes when Kara starts to cycle through the other skins. She now goes back to the tablet she’s writing on, and resumes her search of the OASIS.

While she seems to want to focus on her work, she can’t help but discretely watch the growing group out of the corner of her eyes. Herak walks in, and she recognizes him as their tank. Well one of them. Her intention is to build a good team.. but a diverse team. One that will be ready to switch up things when need be. And a couple of good tanks could be the key to that. But while the group does seem to be fairly well rounded, there’s something that is bothering her. Well.. there’s always something bothering her. The kind of team they have.. it could very well prove ineffectual considering where they’re going. It’s possible she’s been thinking to laterally. Maybe that’s why she’s pulled herself away from the group, perhaps with the hopes of coming up with solutions for a problem that may or may not exist. And while she does want to tell the others about her theories, she’ll keep them to herself until she has more of an idea of things.

Herak is dressed kind of goofy, but she likes it. She puts his mindset in the manner of.. wanting to be friends first. He’s not wearing battle gear, which she expects most tanks to when meeting them. Some like to make overdone first impressions, showing off their best or most rare armor. It’s about then that the Gargoyle strides in, making his own kind of flashy entrance. She smiles a little at that.. so far their candidates seem to really want to be a part of this. Maybe even to be pals when all this is over. Her eyes linger on the group, and she notices Jerick-O wink.. and what’s her first thought? Huh.. poor fella must have something in his eye. Or his skin is glitched. And nothing else as she looks back to her work quietly.

Out of the corner of her eyes she notices a furry figure moving towards her, and she knows the stride even in her peripheral vision. The private channel alert comes on, and she switches it on. And as she listens to Damagi..she gets a rather confused/clueless look on her features.

“I’m sorry?”

She asks curiously, and she leans back in her booth to look towards Dante. In her current mindset, she presumes Damagi means that Dante was giving her ‘The Look’, which would be just terrific. She shakes her head slightly and looks towards Damagi… and then towards Jerick-O as she speaks over the private channel.

“Uh… the look? Did I make him mad? Do I know him? You mean the Gargoyle? The Jerick-O fella? Do I owe him money? Oh no is he the guy who’s ship I hit last week?”

And then ran away since no one was around.

“Did he come here to find me cause he saw me in your video?!”

Now she starts to get a little worked up.

“Well he can’t hurt me since it’s not PvP! He knows that, right?! I don’t have any summons to use! Should I run?! Distract him!”

In something of a panic she slides out of the booth.. a little to quickly for her feet to catch her. With a little whimper she slides right out of the booth and right onto floor, landing on her butt. No matter in which world she’s in… she always seems to be a clutz.

“Distraction!”

She exclaims, pointing towards Jerick-O. Of course Damagi knows there’s zero reason for that. But Panicky Iria is panicky, and will convince herself that she has wronged anyone that looks at her just a little oddly.​

Lucky Jerick-O.
 
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Dante couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed with what Kara showed everyone. He wouldn't say that he was a perv. He simply enjoyed the female form. It was a lot better now. Back when he attended a physical high school he would just stare at a girl that he liked and never said anything. That is an invitation for bullying.

When he transferred to an OASIS school on Ludus Dante was overexposed to beauty of the body and was able to get over his awkwardness. Here in the OASIS attitude and personality were everything.

Dante gave W3ndy a smile. "Thanks."

Dante hoped that W3ndy didn't change because of him. Dante looked to Damagi to speak on what she was insinuating. "It's not like that..."

That would be all that Dante could get in before Herak arrived in some interesting casual gear. Dante definitely got the vibe that this guy likes to play the part of a hero. Dante would walk up to Herak with his holographic AI Kara in tow. Dante himself was a little shorter and slimmer in frame compared to broad shoulder god-like build Herak was sporting.

"Hey man it's good to meet ya. I'm Dante and this is my AI, Kara. Coded her myself. Anyways I saw the video. It's awesome you took down one of the promotional Yautja."

Kara was finally able to unmute herself. "Dante if you mute me again I'm changing the language on your UI to Aramaic again and keeping It there..."

Kara looked up at Herek who was roughly a foot taller than she was. "Wow I bet your tough one. See Dante this a real man... So Herak do you ever find yourself needing... support."

Kara looked up to Herak with her covered eyes in her 2B skin, seductive grin on her face. Dante rolled his eyes and pressed a button on his screen and Kara appeared next to him again.

"Sorry about that. She has a mind of her own, which is what I was going for... still a pain in the ass at times."

That was about all the interaction he got with Herak before Jerick-O entered. The Gargoyle appeaered to be taller than Herak. There was something about what he said that Dante felt he needed to comment on. "Oh well since you had nothing better to do we are definitely grateful for your presence."

There was sarcasm in his words but he felt it was lost on the gargoyle. That was when he heard Iria fall out of her seat. Dante walked over to Iria who was sitting on the floor and pointing at Jerick-O. Dante held out his hand to Iria. "Hey Iria you alright. Did you fall out of your chair IRL or something?"

Kara took a moment to look at Jerick-O before speaking. "So when you log in do you ever find that you have been drawn on or had funny props around you."
 
A small laugh escapes is stifled when Damagi makes a kind of crass insinuation about Dante and his AI. She immediately feels bad and plans to apologize to Dante later. If and when they got some proper time alone. That in mind, she does keep herself from laughing when Kara makes it seem as if she'd prefer to be Herak's companion, as if she actually had a choice in the matter.

As to Kara's comment about 'A real man' W3ndy has to disagree with the AI. W3ndy herself wasn't about muscles, real or not.

W3ndy
is walking towards Herak to make a proper introduction when the loud thud from above startles her. She looks up and on reflex reaches for the sword sheathed on her back, but stops short of drawing it when she remembers this isn't a PvP area, so there was no possible danger. Her hand falls away and she watches the Gargoyle enter. He was easily the tallest at seven feet, so even she has to look up to look him in the eye when she looks from Herak to Jerick-O.

"W3ndy_Wrekker, pleasure to meet you boys." She says to both moments before her attention is taken away from them to Iria's rather animated reaction to....something involving Jerick-O? W3ndy tries to read the avatar's lips but can't get the word. Almost looked like....erection? No that....was just ridiculous. The OASIS was hyper realistic, yes, but it wasn't that realistic. Had to be something else completely. W3ndy doesn't concern herself with it when it appears Dante had the situation under control. So she turns back to the pair of newcomers. "Um...she's very excited? I think?"
 
Herak is wearing a very friendly face while meeting Damagi, Dante and W3ndy. It didn't take long for Jerick-o to show up just after he did though. There was just enough time for everyone, or most everyone to say hello.

"Hello Master Dante, Miss W3ndy and Miss Damagi. I'm Herak, very pleasant to meet you all. "

He gives a friendly nod to the A.I. with a playful wink.

" Nice work Dante."

He carries a duffle bag with the stuff he has that he thinks he needs for the trip. He'll inquire about more gear before they go. He hasn't been spending much of his in game money and this trip will be worth the effort. He looks over at the impressive Gargoyle skin nodding a greeting of sorts to Jerick-0. In his mind, he knows skins are just a façade for the program to display. His own was of course a choice. A character he had meant to play. As such, he had been focusing on more primitive or superhero worlds. The D.C. World was a disaster as there were way to many irate acting Wonder women who saw him as a villain. He had been focusing on stuff his proposed character would know best. He had thought it would help him understand the character more.

He took a moment while everyone's attention was on Jerick-0 or the other girl who seemed … oddly weirded out by Jerick-0 to approach the waitress and get some Pizza and a beer. He sat down with his intended meal at a small table across from where Dante was comforting ? Iria. It was an odd crew. But his last two companions proved to him that his time as a solo guy were done. These alien things were dangerous, but he was certain they would be profitable for both his private search for unusual treasures of this world and monetary units to continue improving his character's situation. He was not someone who bragged, neither in real life nor here. That was the only flaw in his Hercules portrayal. He was a quite man. He took real life breaks from the game, to procure food, to sit in the garden's of his family's estate. Attend family functions, such that they were. He felt a need to balance now and again. He even followed his doting mother's advice about exercise and procured weird stationary bike - weight thing. He did make sure it would allow him to continue gaming of course.

At some point during his meal he remembered to take out the Alien helmet and set it on the table. It was, he thought the only reason he was allowed here after all. They deserved to see it. In his own mind it was a weak excuse for a prize, but it meant something to him. It represented a crossroads. A small achievement. He knew this particular NPC alien was a weakened version. Any that this group found would be profoundly more dangerous. Meanwhile... He ate his pizza and drank beer.

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@Ms.Ezra @Camleen @Sir Kaltao @Not_Amy @Zadok shadows
 
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“My apologies, won't do it again.” Jerick-O apologizes to Damagi first of all and licks his lips when she offers him free food. That was a rarity these days. Which means Damagi's player must be fairly well-off. In a movie this would be the appropriate time to put in the not-so-well-off character refusing the offer on grounds of dignity, and other such nonsense.

But dignity doesn't fill your belly

Even though she was an AI, Jerick-O still answers Kara's question out of habit. It's a common question after all. “Yeah, I see myself on Instragram and Snapchat. Think my favorite one is this luau people threw around me while I was logged off and sleeping. Logged on in the middle of a limbo contest. That was a fun surprise for everyone.” He laughs at the memory and looks over Kara, admiring the work that had to have been put into her. As for Dante's sarcastic jab, Jerick-O only replies with a smirk. He likes this guy already.

Before he could approach Renee to make his order however, Jerick-O witnesses Iria's very strange reaction to something about him? She was point at him after all. Or so it seems. Could be something in her real world space for all he knew. At least he hopes. He'd hate if his wink at her moments before had caused such an adverse reaction. When it appears Dante has her covered, and W3ndy offers an explanation, the Gargoyle shrugs it off for now.

Jerick-O goes up to Renee and happily tells her “A large pizza with jalapenos, and a Mountain Dew.” He stands at a table adjacent to Herak as he waits for his meal and, seeing the Predator helmet, he whistles, impressed. “Very nice trophy you got there. You uh...take it down by yourself, or did you have help?” He asks.
 
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“N-no....like the look...oh come on Iria!” Damagi tries to correct and calm Iria down to no avail right up to the point her friend falls out of the booth and makes a little scene. Damagi kneels down and helps Iria up smiling at Dante “Yeah she fell out of her chair, happens to the best of us.” She tries to explain the little scene away. “Not me though. I got a full athletic rig, you know for my martial arts.” She feels the need to clarify then has an idea to change the subject, hopefully, as she makes dusting motions over Iria because that's what you do when helping someone up off the floor. The Saiyan puts her attention on Dante “What about you? What gear are you rocking?” and uses her private channel with Iria to tell her “Calm down Iria. Pretty sure Jerick-O gave you a wink cause he likes you is all.”

Renee comes up to Jerick-O with his pizza and drink in hand, setting them on the table in front of him “Enjoy the heartburn and tongue scorch, sir.” Dante says to him and walks through the kitchen door for a quick second, coming back out with Dante's pizza and drink. “Here you go sir....sorry for the delay. The pizza places in your area are like run by chimps or something. No offense, D,” She apologizes to Damagi as she sets both on a nearby table and looks over at Kara, scoffs and says “Suuuuubtle.” before returning to the register and her issue of Weekly World News.
 
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It’s a reaction that is minute, at best. And one that is brought forth from the friendliest of gestures of help. Iria finds herself on the floor next to her booth, having made such a little commotion. Damagi is right there, as often she is. It isn’t to Damagi, though, that Iria reacts. It’s when Dante reaches out towards her. Her eyes widen and she draws her hands back in defense, a soft gasp coming forth. A reaction of utter fear, if it lasts for just a moment. As if Dante were about to strike her. But that passes very quickly, as if subconsciously she were trying to hide that reaction.

A sigh then escapes her lips as Damagi helps her up, her hands grasping one of Damagi’s forearms and the edge of the table. She laughs softly, nervously. “No no I’m sorry, I’m okay. I thought I heard a mouse or something here. I mean in my room. I was afraid it was gonna attack me or somethin.” She says with another nervous chuckle, now standing. She smiles a little to Dante “Thanks, though. I wholly appreciate it.”

And for those in doubt of what Iria might do on the battlefield… have faith that she is far from this nervous thing when there’s action. She is normally calm, she tries to be a thinker when in battle. And sometimes her ideas have helped the group, she would be proud to say. She’s almost a different person when she goes into a fight with her friends…

Towards Damagi she looks out of the corner of her eyes, and responds on the private channel, concern in her tone. As usual.

“Well.. well.. why? Because we’re almost the same color?”

She blinks, her head tilting to one side as she looks towards Jerick-O.

“Is that racist? Um… speciest? Is that a word?”

She looks towards the group and takes a deep breath, about to ask the question to the group out loud. Buuuuuuut she thinks better of it suddenly. She shakes her head, looking down a little with a quaint smile, speaking a final time on her the private channel with Damagi.

“Nah, I doubt he likes likes me. He’d just be dissapointed anywho.”

And with that she looks towards Damagi and starts to move away from her as she starts the gears talk with Dante. Her gaze lingers on Dante and Damagi a moment as she moves in the general direction of the rest of the group. She stops next to W3ndy, smiling as she folds her hands behind her back. Her crystal blue eyes shifting from one to the next. “The encounter was part of a cross promotion for the new content. I’ve been lookin over some of the video feeds. Also found some.. really interesting.. stuff on our quarry.” Her eyes linger on Jerick-O a few moments as she thinks to herself, and then towards W3ndy before looking towards Herack. “You’re darn good if you got a trophy from it, and didn’t become a trophy.” She doesn’t finish the thought, as she didn’t want to downplay Herak’s accomplishment.
 
Dante took a moment to admire his work as his AI interacted with everyone as though she was a real person. It was his goal to develop true AI so anyone could have companionship in the oasis. Though to be honest he only started this project because his girlfriend on the oasis had broken up with him, but it was more than that now.

Dante was brought back from this inner monologue on his progress to address a question Damagi gave him. "Oh I am running a haptic suit, omnidirectional treadmill, and some of the most up to date oasis visor and console. I have a sit down rig as well. All of it I have customized and rebuilt myself. I have a lot of extra parts in my closet."

Dante pulled out his ray gun and examined it. "I, much like Luke Skywalker, don't use a targeting computer. I have my aim assist disabled. I go to the gun range outside my city each weekend and practice. Every shot I make is all me. Like I said all killer no filler."

Kara decided to chime in. "You forgot to mention the other equipment in the closet the Uber Bet..."

It was that point that Kara disappeared and the recordingdrone that was projecting her returned to Dante's inventory. "Despite how she is acting she really cares about me. When I'm out on jobs she chimes in worried. She seems to of taken up some Tsundere parameters. When I'm done each AI seed with be spawn a random AI personality."

Dante looked to everyone in the room. "So with all of us here I think we should probably all know what we bring to the table given what we are about to do. As I said my main skills is that of guns. I worked as a combat medic for the clan I was once in. I currently work as a Deleter on the oasis, meaning I am paid to zero out people's accounts. I recently knocked off 4way Slicer, the fighter in Neo Noir. I work with dangerous men."

Dante looked to the group. He chuckled a little bit. He guessed that he preferred to not beat around the bush and talk serious strategy about the potentially suicidal mission to be the first to beat the challenge on a newly released planet. "Sorry for being kind of melodramatic. It's just that id rather be upfront about my occupation and concerns. We are going into uncharted territory with strangers so i guess i want to know who and what exactly has my back. Poking around the forums and people are saying it's gonna be a tech only zone. If it doesn't get powered by electricity it won't be working there. So naturally I am worried cause it looks to me that half of us might be incline to use magic. I never dipped into those skills."
 
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Since both of the newcomers were more interested in their pizza, beer, and each other W3ndy goes over to the jukebox and browses the large selection while they have their own conversations. She doesn't really read all of it. She's thinking about the energy that had sparked between her and Dante minutes ago. In her mind there was a guy expressing interest, and then there was what Dante had done. Offered assurances, advice to even get her accent to come out. W3ndy likes it. Maybe even loves it.

All the more reason to make sure Dante specifically makes it through this quest.

Hearing Dante take charge makes W3ndy turn around. He talks kind of like the leader. Now normally W3ndy doesn't buy the take-charge 'Alpha' types.

Normally.

"I actually haven't dipped into magic much either." W2ndy says stepping forward between Jerick-O and Herak. She extends her left arm and equips her Duel Disk but it remains in its off position. "See this is a loophole. I can use spell and trap cards kind of like one would magic, but they're generated by technology so they will work on Yautja Prime." She equips the long one-handed sword on her back. "I'm best at close melee combat, but I can use an energy weapon in a pinch too. Damagi will attest I got great reflezes too. She uh...threw a punch at me as a test." She giggles at that and looks at Damagi "I'm no Barbie doll." She says with a smile and laugh.
 
Herak

Herak is eating pizza and drinking beer mostly. He can hear someone ask him if he had help.

" There were three of us. On a Tolkien world. A magus and a scout, neither as experienced as I . There were rumors of an attack on a merchant caravan so the three of us went to check it. Whatever hit this caravan, did a good job. Nothing but bodies. It didn't take long for us to hear moaning in the distance. We investigated carefully, checking for perhaps a survivor. A body was restrained in a clearing. There seemed to be the sounds of moaning coming from it. The body wasn't moving a bit, but making sound. Didn't seem … right somehow. Needless to say, it was a trap. The other two in my party provided distraction so I could get in close. My strength too is close in, with my hands. I have concentrated on martial arts for the most part. Honoring the character & skin I chose. "

"Anyway, I grappled with it, surprising how effective a wrestling hold can be. I held it down, while the scout stabbed it. We found out later that the one we had didn't have any of it's tech. Damned dangerous enough without it. They are smart, fast, strong and tough. With tech on top of that.... We'll have our hands full. "

"As for me, I am good with my martial arts, not bad with certain melee weapons, can use bows or crossbow type weapons. I've been mostly on lower tech metahuman style worlds or medieval / magic worlds. I don't do magic myself, just a warrior. "

He resumes eating for a bit.

" Anyway, you guys can have the helmet. I came here pretty quickly after leaving the last world, I haven't had time to prepare my gear for this trip yet. I have a fairly basic armor I can use. I could use something for range. "
 
"Hmm." Jerick-O listens to Herak and the others while eating his pizza and taking frequent drinks of his soda. He makes it through three slices of his pizza before IRL his drink goes dry and the gargoyle asks "Another, please?" of the AI Renee before he has another bite. He loves jalapenos, but he is not a fool to keep eating them without something to kill the burn. Herak feels like an upstanding kind of guy, even before he graciously offers up his own trophy to the group. W3ndy seems chipper. Iria, obviously the shy type, but he was sure this had no bearing on her ability in combat. He caught that look in his direction but was careful to not meet her gaze just yet. Wouldn't want to cause a repeat of the first time he'd shown the slightest interest.

Now Dante and Damagi. Those were interesting players. Damagi was the one who had called them here, so it was a surprise to Jerick-O that Dante was taking charge somewhat. On top of his admission to being a Deleter. Interesting to see how this plays out.

"A Deleter." Jerick-O starts and looks at Dante incredulously. "Funny. I'm primarily a bodyguard. Suppose we're on opposite sides of the same racket, eh? Can't say I've encountered you before. Any deleters I've met in my line of work, I've zeroed out or they turned tail." He shrugs, smirks and addresses the rest of the group. "I'm kind of a generalist for combat. Melee, firearms, but I've come to favor shields if I can. Just something about that look on an avatar's face when they see a shield coming at them." He chuckles "Gets me every time."
 
“Specieist is a word dear, and no, you're just making an obversational question. I think.” Damagi says to Iria over their private channel while also listening to Dante talk about his gear. Which sounds like a pretty awesome setup, and more impressive if he was actually able to customize it all. When Kara almost betrays Dante's other equipment Dante giggles and says nothing of it, only listens to him talk about the unique points of his AI project. Renee had been difficult to construct with the same tools at her disposal. So far she was functioning as intended though.

Then Dante unexpectedly takes charge. Damagi tries her best to not appear miffed he had unintentionally(she assumes) stepped over her toes. She was the leader after all. The one with the tickets they needed to get in early at all. She lets everyone have their say. Then she jumps on top of the nearest table to stand over the others as she speaks. Renee looks up from her magazine and shakes her head, mumbles something inaudible and brings Jerick-O his refil as requested. In the real world a drone delivers said drink to his player.

“I'm a fighter, through and through. Trained in Hung Gar primarily, with some Muay Thai. I can use a sword well enough if I really need to, but I love getting up close, in my opponent's face. My main skill, Ki Control, won't work on Yautja Prime so I'll have to dip into the small arsenal I've gathered while kicking ass. Got some Ballistic Fists, a Pulse Fist that should give me the right power to pulverize a Predator. And I'll even open it up to the rest of you. Got all kinds of toys to play with.” Damagi bumps her fists together and goes on to explain. “However, Iria and I are lacking one key element: We need a dedicated hunter or tracker type for this mission, seeing as our targets will have cloaking devices. So, sit tight, while we look around for someone to fill that spot.”
 
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Iria shrugs a little with a small smile on her lips with Damagi’s words. Speciest… that’s a weird word. And why is she lingering on it? That’s even weirder.​

She stands silently near W3ndy, kind of hating the looks she’s giving Dante. Oh come on Iria. You knew that wouldn’t be a thing. It never is. As each of those gathered give their brief resumes, Iria’s eyes would linger on the one speaking. But when Dante is speaking, Iria watches Damagi out of the corner of her eyes. She’s not gonna like be upstaged like that. Iria already knows this. So she has it in her head she’ll intervene if need be. While what Dante says holds merit… well this is Damagi’s party, in Iria’s mind. He just has to go about things differently. But Damagi does something that doesn’t surprise Iria. She gets right up and puts herself in the spotlight while she speaks. Iria can’t help but grin a little at the bravado.

It’s like this everyday around here, folks.

Damagi falls silent now… and at the count of 3 Iria now steps forward. Her shoulders are arched upwards a little, her head cast down a little. As if afraid people might really see her. They can see her cheeks getting a little darker as she speaks. “I’m… mostly magically based. But I’m also smart enough not to make that my only thing. Usually I’m a Summoner… and I do healing. But in this fight… well I think I know what role you all will take.” She glances towards Damagi as she continues. “This is Damagi’s party, and she’s entrusted me to help her build it. With that…” she blinks and looks down again as she continue “I mean… my suggestions….” she seems almost painfully shy, doesn’t she? A psychological side effect of some of the problems in her real life. She motions to Herak “You’ll be our main tank. So it’s your job to keep our targets eyes on you.” She motions to Jerick-O, her eyes averting from his a little, her smile widening slightly. “You.. um… you’re the backup tank. So…” she pauses “When Herak needs a break or one of the others are under attack, it’s your job to get the opponent’s attention on you. Being able to fly will make it easier for you to move around the battlefield and get baddie’s attention.” She motions to W3ndy “You.. you’re support and DPS. Support first, I think. You have trap cards, we’ll need them.” She motions to Dante “You’re DPS, and my backup healer.” Her voice gets a more stern tone to it. “So if I can’t keep up with healing Herak, you’ll help. Or if someone else needs healing, you do that. Damagi..” motions to Damagi with her thumb “She’s our straight up DPS. She knows all about letting tanks establish hate, and how to spread out her attacks to not build much aggro.”

So… Iria is a little shy butterfly, right? Painfully shy. But when she’s talking this kind of thing… she almost seems more comfortable. The way she talks… this isn’t her first rodeo.

“While I’m mostly magic… I’m also a healer. And I have healing gear for tech thingies. So yeah, I’m the main healer. My lil buddy will also be able to see a cloaked Yajuta, but not until it’s pretty close. And that’s why Damagi is working on recruiting another.” Her hands now fold in front of her stomach as she continues. “Once we’re sure you’re staying, Damagi will give you each a pass for the planet. We also have transport. I’m gonna get a few more healing items and pass them out. I… I have a basic strategy in mind… I think I’ve found something no one’s picked up on yet about the planet..” She feels her cheeks darkening once more, her eyes looking down a little. “I’m the weakest here, I’m the most vulnerable. But I’ll hold my own. Damagi’s taught me some basic self defense stuff. I’ll never win a one on one fight with anyone, especially tech based only. But… I’m way better with magic. I have a backup healing buddy too. So.. yeah…” She hopes she’s able to show them what she’s really capable of someday. Iria then looks towards Damagi and smiles a little as she wraps up. “If anyone has any… um.. questions? Or if you have better ideas…” she then looks in Jerick-O’s general direction, a small smile upon her lips. “I think we have a good group..”