in_nomine-digest Tuesday, September 10 2002 Volume 01 : Number 2769 In this digest: Re: IN>Final Transmission? IN> Look, do yourself a favor and just read this in the morning... RE: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? RE: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? Re: IN>Final Transmission? IN> The bugginess of Rev Cycle RE: IN>Final Transmission? Re: IN>Final Transmission? Re: IN> Look, do yourself a favor and just read this in the morning... Re: IN>Final Transmission? Re: IN> The bugginess of Rev Cycle IN>Final Transmission? IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? Re: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? Re: IN> Look, do yourself a favor and just read this in the morning... Re: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? Re: IN>Final Transmission? RE: IN> Aruanah_-_Kyriotate_of_Creation,_Angel_of_The_Moment Re: IN>Final Transmission? Re: IN>Final Transmission? IN> Triad 314 - Techno Remix Pt 3 IN> Triad 314 - Techno Remix Pt 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 00:10:07 -0500 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN>Final Transmission? From: "Josh Moger" > > Actually, one alternate view of IN history (and really, we're not exactly > chained to canon at the moment) could have Lilith defecting around the same > time that the Order of Reason forms. Human Superior supporting a human > organization? At first, perhaps, but some of the methods they use are violently antithetical to her Word. Although I could see her going back in the 60s, in order to spearhead the Virtual Adepts' mass defection... You know, the more I think about it, the more Lilith as the patron saint (as it were) of the VAs has a certain appeal. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 22:42:45 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> Look, do yourself a favor and just read this in the morning... ... 'cuz whatever the below is, it certainly isn't very _nice_. You Have Been Warned. Moe "Pushing and epoxying shut people's buttons since 1999" Lane. Portable Biofeedback Enhancer VT-52317/k ("Bonsai Kittens"*) Corporeal Forces: 1 Strength: 1 Agility: 3 Ethereal Forces: 0 Intelligence: 0 Precision: 0 Celestial Forces: 1 Will: 1 Perception: 3 Toughness +2, Charisma -2 Body Hits: 3. Note that the life support system gives an additional Protection of 4, to the Bonsai Kitten only. Skills: Acrobatics/3, Climbing/4, Dodge/6, Move Silently/3 Songs: Numinous Corpus/6 (Claws) Discord: Angry/3, Paranoia/3. Note that these Discords are not normally obvious (see below). Well, it seemed a good idea at the time. When the War is all over, one way or the other, the victorious side is naturally going to want to sit down and reminisce about the Old Days. When that happens, it's certain that at least one favorite game is going to be Top 10 Statements That Were Always Guaranteed To Turn Your Bowels To Water. It's also certain that these hypothetical players - whether angel or demon - would be in universal agreement that you never, ever wanted to hear a Technologist say, 'Well, it seemed a good idea at the time'. Anything that even they thought was an official Bad Idea, all things considered... well, it usually came back to haunt people, or at least break them down to their component atoms. Bonsai Kittens were a Bad Idea. Granted, the basic idea was sound - abjectly depraved and sick, but sound. Vapula has always been interested in tweaking the capabilities of his demons: biotech has been getting sexy lately; and there is something to be said for making the whole process modular. Sure, the Genius Archangel could have grown a vatbrain or twenty - there's nothing wrong with vatbrains, Vapula swears by them - but why bother when nature will do it for you? All one really needs is a steady supply of self-sufficient biological units. There are certainly so many kittens around that nobody's going to miss a gross or two. Luckily, Vaputech cracked the problem of direct neural interface a long time ago, to the point where it's practically safe. Getting fitted with a special connector jack is child's play for Technology - they hardly ever spontaneously combust anymore - so all that was necessary was to design an adequate containment system for the Bonsai Kittens, and the project was ready to go. It worked, too. This is where the problem starts to crop up. You see, the basic idea was to essentially give the lucky 'volunteer' two free Forces that wouldn't count towards normal Characteristic limits and/or maximum number of Forces. This was actually successful: while the extra Forces do not affect Body and Soul Hits, they can raise a Characteristic above 12 and Corporeal/Celestial Forces above 6. The skills and Song that came along for the ride are similarly not s u b ject to the normal level caps. It takes (9 - Intelligence) days to learn how to integrate the added bonuses (Intelligence roll to successfully use a Bonsai Kitten during this time), but after that success is automatic. Astoundingly, this works fine. Now, the fact that a Bonsai Kitten acts as a Very Addictive, Severe Withdrawal (constant) drug might seem to be an actual problem. Nonsense. Vapula designed the things that way: he didn't want his s u b jects to accidentally lose his latest inventions, and direct electrical simulation of the pleasure centers of the brain is a proven method for assuring that such things never happen. True, this can cause social problems, as it's hard to hide the fact that one has a kitten in a glass jar stuck to his or her body, but that's why they invented turbans, long coats and very large wigs. Demons are supposed to show initiative, no? Admittedly, the mental effects were... disappointing. One unforeseen problem (see, we're getting to actual problems now) with pouring a kitten into a jar and never letting it out again is that nobody ever thought to consider the kitten's opinion in the matter. They universally didn't like it, to make a severe understatement. Indeed, they hated it, to the point that every Bonsai Kitten is both transcendentally pissed off (Angry) and suspicious of the rest of existence (Paranoid). Of course, even if the researchers had thought of it, they probably would have just shrugged. Who cares what a kitten thinks? Well, you should when you plug said kitten into somebody else's medulla oblongata. It took a while [(Celestial Forces) months] for the test s u b jects to start being Angry and Paranoid themselves (read: 'just enough time for this disaster to start going into formal production'), and guess what? The imposed Discords also aren't s u b ject to normal caps. Seeing as a lot of the s u b jects were pretty bright to begin with, a lot of them were able to successfully Run Away, and not a few of them are now doing a pretty good imitation of megalomania. Tracking them down has been a bit of a chore, and hampered by the fact that the forces of Heaven are not particularly amused by any of this. Animals is frothing at the mouth on general principles, while the rest of the Host are finding the test s u b jects to be especially irritating pains in their collective necks. Heck, the situation made Novalis frown and say, 'Oh, dear'. Demons hate it when she does that: it carries precisely the same overtones of dread as hearing the 'KA-CHINK!' of a pump action shotgun behind you - for very good reasons. Never try to piss off the Archangel of Flowers. You might get deeply unlucky, and succeed. But all of that isn't the entire problem. There's one additional wrinkle, one final bit of icing on the metaphorical cake. You see, there was no theoretical limit to the number of Bonsai Kittens that could be attached to a standard vessel. There's at least one 18 Force (natural) Balseraph out there with six of the Damned Things hanging on for the ride... Again, well, it seemed a good idea at the time. *For the record, puppies didn't respond well to the anti-growth drugs, they couldn't stop the bunny rabbits from suffering instant heart attacks, white tiger and panda cubs were too rare to be useful, koalas had an unacceptably high life support cost (so did baby harp seals), Christopher gets really, really intense when people start using babies for this sort of thing and humpback whale calves were just too damn big. ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 04/13/02(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Yahoo! - We Remember 9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 09:11:07 +0300 From: "Bergeron, Robert F., DS1(SW)" Subject: RE: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? - -----Original Message----- From: Elizabeth McCoy [mailto:arcangel@io.com] (For good adventures, I suggest looking for the one that came with the GM screen -- it's out of print, but ebay sometimes has a copy or two.) ** ** ** ** I can second this one. I've used it at two different "min-cons" at local game store and a college and it worked well. It has enough "immediacy" for servants of different Superiors to be required to cooperate. Just enough difference of opinion over what to do with the Maguffin once you've got it to keep things from becoming too much of a love fest. I've not tried with a mixed group of angels and demons, but you could do it that way, either as a double-blind or judiciously choose your Superiors so that they are all for destroying the Maguffin in the adventure and I think it would play well. *sigh* And then everyone goes back to their D20 addiction and I have to wait another year for a chance to get someone to try In Nomine. Stupid WotC. DS1 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 09:11:07 +0300 From: "Bergeron, Robert F., DS1(SW)" Subject: RE: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? - -----Original Message----- From: Elizabeth McCoy [mailto:arcangel@io.com] (For good adventures, I suggest looking for the one that came with the GM screen -- it's out of print, but ebay sometimes has a copy or two.) ** ** ** ** I can second this one. I've used it at two different "min-cons" at local game store and a college and it worked well. It has enough "immediacy" for servants of different Superiors to be required to cooperate. Just enough difference of opinion over what to do with the Maguffin once you've got it to keep things from becoming too much of a love fest. I've not tried with a mixed group of angels and demons, but you could do it that way, either as a double-blind or judiciously choose your Superiors so that they are all for destroying the Maguffin in the adventure and I think it would play well. *sigh* And then everyone goes back to their D20 addiction and I have to wait another year for a chance to get someone to try In Nomine. Stupid WotC. DS1 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 06:23:37 -0400 From: "S.D." Subject: Re: IN>Final Transmission? >(oh, and I forgot who mentioned David as the supporting superior for the >Akashics- That actually works rather well. Completely didn't see it.) [waves] That'd be me. ^^ The Akashic lifestyle and paradigm just struck me as Stone - particularly Elohite of Stone. I think they're the hardest Trad/Convention to peg, though - everyone else has at *least* one blatantly obvious Superior... ~S.D. Ryukage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us." Charles Bukowski ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 04:37:47 -0700 From: " Cameron McCurry" Subject: IN> The bugginess of Rev Cycle On Mon, 09 Sep 2002 18:45:22 -0700 Kish said unto us: >>...in, I might add, a direct violation of Dominic's dissonance conditions which he apparently feels no dissonance from. Exactly. Dominic was rushing to Judgment on the players. While the situation was still fairly dire, Dominic's reaction was highly unusual. And then On Mon, 9 Sep 2002 21:39:44 -0500 Prodigal said: >>That's irrelevant to the question of whether their actions can make a difference, however. I think that preventing the death of the holiest man in the world would have made a difference in the outcome as well. But that isn't an option that the characters can follow. As I have stated, my opinions on the flaws of the Rev Cycle are just that. Opinions. The modules left me with the impression that the players were simply there to observe what happened to their characters with the occasional dice roll thrown in to make them feel like they were participating. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 05:35:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: RE: IN>Final Transmission? - --- pbarkow@hfx.eastlink.ca wrote: > That seems totally out of character for him. Son of Ether > are mad scientist types. Not necessarily. They embrace maverick theories that the mainstream is too hidebound to endorse -- you know, stuff like Relativity and Quantum Mechanics -- until the proof becomes so overwhelming that the mainstream has no choice but to adapt. > Jean would be Technocracy all the way, they're the > orderly logical types with a strict policy against > blatant demonstration of 'science' in advance of the > current paradigm. The Technocracy is also against free will for the masses, which runs counter to Heaven's agenda. Jean isn't the only Superior who'd like for Humans to have a regimented, orderly society; Asmodeus would like that, too. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"Don't repent. Stop sinnin'." -- old cowboy saying

__________________________________________________ Yahoo! - We Remember 9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 05:45:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN>Final Transmission? - --- Josh Moger wrote: > Instead of following Heaven or serving > Hell, the Technocrats > want to bring about the fulfillment of humanity. This is, in fact, WW canon. At least that's how the Technos see themselves. Trouble is, they plan to do it by stamping out everything that they define as dangerous elements. For some Conventions (Iteration X and NWO especially) that includes free will. The Technocracy also has serious problems with racism and sexism -- that too is WW canon. Indeed, much of the genocide against Native American and African peoples is explained in the WoD as the work of the Technocracy (destroying the people who resisted their cultural imperialism). These cracks in the Technocratic armor give better openings for Hell than for Heaven. > The Technocracy doesn't even have to be aware of Heaven > and Hell. Most of them seem to be atheists anyway. Indeed. Religion is discouraged but not forbidden. Those who openly practice any religion have trouble making promotions, though. > They just believe that beings like angels > are reality deviants- well, how do you explain the loud > paradox that occurs > whenever so-called 'celestials' use quintessence to fuel > their magic? > Actually, one alternate view of IN history (and really, > we're not exactly > chained to canon at the moment) could have Lilith > defecting around the same > time that the Order of Reason forms. Human Superior > supporting a human organization? With the Technocracy's stance on free will, Lilith wouldn't have anything to do with them. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"Don't repent. Stop sinnin'." -- old cowboy saying

__________________________________________________ Yahoo! - We Remember 9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 05:52:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Look, do yourself a favor and just read this in the morning... !!! *@#$%! Moe, you're supposed to _read_ the game books, not smoke them! =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"Don't repent. Stop sinnin'." -- old cowboy saying

__________________________________________________ Yahoo! - We Remember 9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 10:43:59 -0400 From: "Josh Moger" Subject: Re: IN>Final Transmission? Technos see themselves. Trouble is, they plan to do it by >stamping out everything that they define as dangerous >elements. For some Conventions (Iteration X and NWO >especially) that includes free will. The Technocracy also >has serious problems with racism and sexism -- that too is >WW canon. Indeed, much of the genocide against Native >American and African peoples is explained in the WoD as the >work of the Technocracy (destroying the people who resisted >their cultural imperialism). These cracks in the >Technocratic armor give better openings for Hell than for >Heaven. > ::sound of brick wall impacting:: Oooomph... Darn. Didn't see that one coming. No, you're right. Huh... Well... would explain how an Elohite Archangel is the only one that can look at it and still see a chance for practical usage. As for Lilith- the way I was thinking of it was that she already isn't exactly a paragon of Freedom, despite her Word. I figured that her hypocrisy when it came to this would be enough to help her get over any lingering negative feelings she might have about the Technocracy's methods. Josh ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 10:12:14 -0500 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> The bugginess of Rev Cycle From: " Cameron McCurry" > > As I have stated, my opinions on the flaws of the Rev Cycle are just that. > Opinions. I never said they weren't, just that I disagreed with one of them. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 12:47:17 -0400 From: BC Petery Subject: IN>Final Transmission? > The catch is that a Caul normally only works if > the subject is willing So it's just an Infernal Contract with nifty(?) special effects? > Still, an interesting idea of a primordial Novalis. Might as well. The "peace, love and understanding" of the Canon Novalis doesn't fit in the World of Darkness. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 12:47:16 -0400 From: BC Petery Subject: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? > I, personally, would be interested in hearing more specifics on what > problems and pitfalls people see in the Rev Cycle - and maybe suggestions on > how to "patch" the adventure. Bug: Why is Max gaining dissonance when it is not his choice? Solution: Because, for whatever reason, he didn't have the clause about it being his choice in his vow. B: When setting up the scenario it is stated that Scamper was blasted out of existance, a little later it says it was Scurvy. On TFT108 it says it was Scamper who survived. S: Scamper survived, he just had his vessel destroyed. Scurvy was disassembled by his DP, Kobal. B: There's no continuity. The closest it comes is when characters from pervious books pop up. S: Don't even try to link the first three into the cycle. They should be played before 4 & 5 to introduce NPCs, but plot-wise they stand alone. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 10:02:58 -0700 From: Kish Subject: Re: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? Bug: The Malakim, and Dominic, hunt down and destroy any Malakite with dissonance because they don't want to risk a Malakite falling, and yet a Malakite Archangel deliberately put a Malakite in a position to gain masses of dissonance...without apparently being censured by Dominic for it. Solution: Redefine the reason for destroying Malakim with dissonance. Or remove the idea that Malakim with dissonance are likely to be destroyed. Or run an Extremely Dark game, where Heaven being hypocritical and unjust is par for the course. (A Backwards game runs into the problem that the demons wouldn't have treated Max so badly.) Or make David an utter idiot and add him to Dominic's Hostile list after FotM. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 17:06:41 +0000 From: "Sirea Theyal" Subject: Re: IN> Look, do yourself a favor and just read this in the morning... Forgive me when I say I think I'm going to be violently SICK >_< _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 17:17:27 +0000 From: "Sirea Theyal" Subject: Re: IN> Revelations Cycle = Buggy? >Bug: The Malakim, and Dominic, hunt down and destroy any Malakite with >dissonance because they don't want to risk a Malakite falling, and yet a >Malakite Archangel deliberately put a Malakite in a position to gain >masses of dissonance...without apparently being censured by Dominic for >it. > >Solution: Redefine the reason for destroying Malakim with dissonance. >Or remove the idea that Malakim with dissonance are likely to be >destroyed. Or run an Extremely Dark game, where Heaven being >hypocritical and unjust is par for the course. (A Backwards game runs >into the problem that the demons wouldn't have treated Max so badly.) >Or make David an utter idiot and add him to Dominic's Hostile list after >FotM. Ugh. If anything, it just all sounds very messy, like someone didn't read the rulebook all too well before making it. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 13:19:56 -0400 From: "Josh Moger" Subject: Re: IN>Final Transmission? >> The catch is that a Caul normally only works if >> the subject is willing > >So it's just an Infernal Contract with nifty(?) special effects? > well.... Yes and no. The Caul is less an infernal contract (which is usually what an infernalist does, not just specifically the Nephandi) and more a... well... complete corruption of the soul. With the Soldiers of Hell, there's always a possibility of redemption- for Nephandi, even their reincarnated soul is tainted, with their Avatar (the part of their soul that gives them the ability to use magic) poisoned. The Caul is more a rebirth into a new existence devoted to Corruption and Oblivion. Josh ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 10:32:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: RE: IN> Aruanah_-_Kyriotate_of_Creation,_Angel_of_The_Moment - --- Nick Ashton wrote: > His involvement with the heavenly politics of religion is > likely to be > restricted to dodging it as deftly as possible though. > no IN writeup (that > I've read anyway) has approached these areas... I can > understand why mind > you as its gotta be at least as contentious as > undermining the Catholic Church. Believe me, I know. It's a facet of the eurocentrism endemic to the gaming industry. It's getting better, though, and IN has all sorts of avenues for exploring such issues. Glad to see somebody besides me going there; I'm sure that there are those on the list who are tired of my rants. 0:> > Actually I was as much if not more concerned with > a) Whether Aru should really be an Ofanim? I was actually surprised that you went with Kyrio; a Wheel seems perfect for this Word. Of course, going with something other than the obvious can produce rewarding results sometimes. > b) How to work his attunements if he does go Archangel... With the focus that you've given, Moment Attunements might well be tied to extending the perceptions of the subject or eliminating distractions, thus increasing a Human's ability to live in (but not _for_) the moment. > (in fact would Aru serve Novalis or Blandine more > readily than Eli..?). Actually, I would've said Creationer or Blandinian IST Khalid. > c) What to throw into the scenarios to reflect the > polical maneouvrings that > might accompany the appointment of Aruanah as an > Archangel, and in > particular how this affects the PC group. That's only a factor if Aru is elevated by the Seraphim Council. If Aru is granted AA status by God, the politics will be entirely a matter of reactions. Which way did you plan to go? =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"Don't repent. Stop sinnin'." -- old cowboy saying

__________________________________________________ Yahoo! - We Remember 9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 10:36:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN>Final Transmission? - --- BC Petery wrote: > > The catch is that a Caul normally only works if > > the subject is willing > > So it's just an Infernal Contract with nifty(?) special > effects? More like Infernal Pact that only works on Mages, except in IN terms it probably grants an additional Force even if the subject already has all of his potential Forces attached. The Nephandi's masters hand out all sorts of goodies, the better to damn their servants. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"Don't repent. Stop sinnin'." -- old cowboy saying

__________________________________________________ Yahoo! - We Remember 9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 13:36:56 -0400 From: "Josh Moger" Subject: Re: IN>Final Transmission? With the Soldiers of Hell, there's always >a possibility of redemption- for Nephandi, even their reincarnated soul is >tainted, with their Avatar (the part of their soul that gives them the >ability to use magic) poisoned. - -before I get hit with the onslaught of reincarnation e-mails, I meant this in the White Wolf system. For IN, in the bit I wrote up at home, I had the Nephandic souls broken down into composite forces after they're forced into the Caul a second time (hence the forces that fuel the Caul) when they arrive in Hell after death. Josh ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 19:14:05 +0000 From: "Michael Cleveland" Subject: IN> Triad 314 - Techno Remix Pt 3 "Ok, where is he now, Xador?" The Ofanite had been racing down the road for close to an hour, and even with his resonance enhanced skills he was having trouble keeping up with the car that periodically came into view far ahead of them. The police cars that had been chasing him had long since given up, but it did little to lessen the Wheel's sense of frustration. He turned to look at the Cherub in the seat beside him, who had his eyes closed in contemplation. "C'mon, Xador! He's going to get away from us. What is this guy driving, anyway?" The Cherub looked out the window, and then whipped his head around to face Laris. "Left. Turn left, and then turn left again on the second street down. He's doubling back on us." The bald-headed angel shook his head rapidly. "Where is this guy going? This doesn't make any sense - he should know he can't shake us." >From the backseat, the other Cherub reached forward and placed his hand on Xador's shoulder. "They know they can't shake the attunement, but they may be trying to outrun the car. If they get to the Tether before we do, it's still a victory for them. Still... hmm...." >From both sides of him, the two Seraphim smacked him on the shoulders. "Still what, Jack?" He turned to look at Muriel. "Something's not right here. The data I've got from Vapunet has the Tether being in a casino that's about 20 miles north of the city, and there's several that could match that profile. But when I'm going through the maps of this area here, I'm not finding any casino close to us. Now, maybe I'm wrong - the software on this palmtop is a different version than the one I'm used to, but still..." Squavariel reached out and grabbed the palmtop. "Give me a look at that." After looking at it for a moment, she dropped in back on the seat and rubbed her hands on her pants. "Ugh. The maps are wrong. I should have expected such from Vaputech -" Jack turned to face the other Seraph, his face hardening. "Look, Squavariel - - you may not trust Vapulan designs, but one thing we did right when I was still in Tartarus was make maps. Failure to maintain acceptable accuracy meant reporting to Quality Control, and you didn't want that to happen. These maps should be fine - a Vapulan's got to be able to find a secure uplink station to transmit data back to his project leader. We always made sure that we had an escape route planned." "Well, if this is their escape route, it was definitely convoluted enough. What did you guys do, have Habbalah write up the escape plans so they could test your reasoning skills?" Jack chuckled wryly. "Laris, some day I've got to tell you about the time we left the driving to our Habbalite - now that was..." Jack twisted his head slightly, and then started fumbling around in some of the boxes on the floor. "Um, Laris - the Tether that we're heading to is north of the city, right?" The Ofanite turned back to face his partners. "Yeah... um. Wait a second. Wait a... then why is this sonofabitch heading south by southwest? Something's not right here..." Xador and Jack both closed their eyes, then snapped their heads around to face each other. Xador looked around at the trees at the side of the road worriedly. "You feel that, Jack?" The longhaired Cherub nodded as he dug through the boxes. "Yep. Surveillance. And danger. Active hostility. Can't get a fix on it yet, but I'm working on it." Muriel picked up the palmtop and focused her gaze on its screen. "Um, Jack? These palmtops don't have any active intelligence in them, right?" At seeing his nod, she continued. "Then why is this thing actively lying to us?" As the Cherub jerked his head up to look at his superior officer, Muriel swallowed audibly. "Oh my. Well, I think we know what the problem is, guys." As Squavariel turned her resonance to the machine again, both of the Seraphim nodded uncomfortably as they focused on a tiny icon at the bottom right corner of the screen. Where they had previously noted a tiny computer with flashing lights, under the power of their resonance the icon changed to a green eye, with different words underneath it as it blinked rapidly. - - CONNECTION TO SERVER 'REKZA' ESTABLISHED - - ----------------------------------------- Ceret turned to the little girl who was riding in the seat beside him. "They're onto the palmtop, I'm thinking. It's actively in danger at this point. Should we go ahead and start the procedures?" The child nodded, not looking up from the circuitry patterns that she was carving into her arm. "It's about time for us to go ahead. Are teams 4 and 5 in position?" The Djinn nodded. "Team 3 reports that they're in position close to the local Tether of The Sword to cut them off in case they try to make a run for it. Team 2 has had to return to Tartarus - they mentioned something about a bad drive on the recording equipment, so we should probably count them out for the duration. Team 1 is about 2 miles ahead, but they've lost Samir and Donalas, which means only Ariane is active." The child nodded. "All right. Transport the first device to their vehicle. I'll get the monitoring drones in place." Setting the scalpel down, she opened the laptop that was sitting in her lap to reveal a screen with a dozen different windows open, and a map with multiple red dots moving around on it. "You know, Ceret - this should be an event to be celebrated. These babies should really give us an edge up on the competition. Why, the funding increases alone will be worth the sacrifices we've made." Ceret smiled savagely. "No more sitting in the back of the symposiums while the stupid Punishers get all the credit for advancing Technology. We'll get what we've always deserved, Rekza - respect. Vapula will have to acknowledgeus this time. Still, you sure you can handle the drones? You're talking about being in multiple places at once, right?" The girl shook her head, her head twisting slightly further than it should have been able to. "No, we're not talking about multiple manifestations here. These are enhanced, of course, but the technological base is standard mortal remote control, with laser beams to track the target and maintain a relatively constant distance. Humans have been using this sort of thing for a while, just not to this degree. It should be safe, although it may give me a headache. Still, if it works as we predict, it'll give us the ability to match a Kyriotate in terms of surveillance. I've got a good lock on the target area. All drones report nominal. We're set." The Djinn reached back into the backseat and opened a box containing a silvery disk. "Ready?" The girl nodded as the Djinn made a few motions with his hand and the disk began to dematerialize. Reaching out for a headset, she spoke quietly into the microphone, her high-pitched voice falling into an unnatural and unmistakable cadence. "This is Rekza. Target is in position. All teams begin sequencing." - ---------------------------------------- Squavariel was the first one to react at the disturbance. "Something is happening. Disturbance, to the left of us. Moderate range. Song use. I -" Without warning, a metallic disk about the size of a frisbee appeared in front of the car, causing Laris to swerve wildly. Falling onto the hood on the car, it flew backwards toward the windshield, vaporizing as it touched the glass. The stunned Ofanite gunned the engine, forcing the car ever faster down the road. "Everybody okay back there?" Xador nodded. "Yeah, it looks like it... wait a second. Do you feel something weird, Squavariel?" The Seraph nodded, her face contorting in dismay. "Yes. Discord - we have been bound somehow. It must have been that device. It would seem that they are no longer willing to be chased, but intend to initiate some action of their own." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a pistol. "We should prepare ourselves for violent action. Do you concur, Muriel?" Muriel reached into a cooler on the floor and pulled out a bottle and a gun. "I concur. Are there any objections?" The two Cherubim shook their heads in the negative, while Jack opened a box and pulled out an oddly shaped contraption that radiated an almost palpable aura of destruction. Squavariel swallowed an oath, her eyes tracing their way around the edges of the boxy-shaped weapon. As the Cherub slammed a clip into the device whose length nearly equaled her forearm, she tapped Jack's arm. "Just out of curiosity, are you not supposed to give all Technological weapons to Lightning once you've captured them?" Jack nodded. "This isn't a Technological device. It's a worthless hunk of junk at the moment. If and when it becomes a weapon, I'll be sure to let you know, Most Holy." He knelt on the seat, cradling the device in his arms lovingly when he was knocked back into the other Cherub in the front seat, blood streaming down his face from a hole over his left eye. Xador immediately twisted in the seat, attempting to shield Jack from the apparent sniper. "Are you all right? Speak to me, Jack! Come on, just hold on a second, Jack! Stay with me!" "Ow." The Cherub slowly raised himself up, glaring into the trees, his eyes focusing in on an oak with a hunters stand in it. "All right, you little jackass. Two can play that game." Shuddering as another slug slammed into him, the two Seraphim began shooting in the direction of the stand. Jack tapped the Ofanite on the head, "Stop the car." "But -" "Stop the car, Laris." Laris pulled off to the side, keeping the engine idling. The wounded Cherub waved his hand in front of the two Seraphim, who stopped shooting and looked incredulously at him. Raising his voice into a shout, "You are hereby charged with the crime of attempted murder. Do you wish to enter a plea?" Another shot rang out, this time striking the Cherub in the arm. Looking down at his companions, "Guilty?" The two Seraphim looked at each other, raising a eyebrow, then nodded in the affirmative. An additional 2 voices from the front seat made their votes clear as well. "You are hereby found Guilty of this crime. There is but one punishment that can be carried out under these conditions." As the object in Jack's hands began to light up with angelic sigils which glowed a neon blue, Jack looked down at Squavariel, a smirk on his face. "Now, it's a weapon, Most Holy." Turning back towards the tree, he called out to the figure scrambling to get out of thestand. "SENTENCE!" The weapon in his hands flared, and the Symphony roared its approval loudly in the ears of the angels as the figure and the trees closest to him vaporized in a ballof luminescent flame. The Ofanite started the car up the hill again, whooping wildly as the Cherub sat down in the seat to be attended to by the ladies on either side of him. Laris turned back to face them as he sped downthe road. "Well, screw me - the thing actually does something!" Jack nodded as reached into the cooler. "Hey, I've never been able to test it under field conditions. I'll have to make sure I don't fire it at close range, though - but the antimatter generator does work, if you give the thing enough electricity. I'll make sure to thank that Impudite I stole the song from if I ever find him again." Squavariel nudged the Cherub slightly. "While I hate to interrupt this self-congratulatory experience, there is another pressing concern. We are still bound, although I feel this will not last forever. More pressing at the moment is that we still have enemies out here, and your wounds are not closing, Jack. My Healing is not taking effect on you for some reason, and if we do not find some way to repair the damage to your vessel, sooner or later you will die. And there is no reason to believe that the rest of our enemies are not similarly equipped." The five of them looked at each quietly, and then looked at the would on Jack's head which was slowly but surely turning an angry reddish color as blood oozed from it. Laris finally turned back to pay attention to the road, and spoke what was one everyone's mind - "So, what do we do now?" Michael Cleveland Gulf Coast Geotech _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 19:14:22 +0000 From: "Michael Cleveland" Subject: IN> Triad 314 - Techno Remix Pt 3 "Ok, where is he now, Xador?" The Ofanite had been racing down the road for close to an hour, and even with his resonance enhanced skills he was having trouble keeping up with the car that periodically came into view far ahead of them. The police cars that had been chasing him had long since given up, but it did little to lessen the Wheel's sense of frustration. He turned to look at the Cherub in the seat beside him, who had his eyes closed in contemplation. "C'mon, Xador! He's going to get away from us. What is this guy driving, anyway?" The Cherub looked out the window, and then whipped his head around to face Laris. "Left. Turn left, and then turn left again on the second street down. He's doubling back on us." The bald-headed angel shook his head rapidly. "Where is this guy going? This doesn't make any sense - he should know he can't shake us." >From the backseat, the other Cherub reached forward and placed his hand on Xador's shoulder. "They know they can't shake the attunement, but they may be trying to outrun the car. If they get to the Tether before we do, it's still a victory for them. Still... hmm...." >From both sides of him, the two Seraphim smacked him on the shoulders. "Still what, Jack?" He turned to look at Muriel. "Something's not right here. The data I've got from Vapunet has the Tether being in a casino that's about 20 miles north of the city, and there's several that could match that profile. But when I'm going through the maps of this area here, I'm not finding any casino close to us. Now, maybe I'm wrong - the software on this palmtop is a different version than the one I'm used to, but still..." Squavariel reached out and grabbed the palmtop. "Give me a look at that." After looking at it for a moment, she dropped in back on the seat and rubbed her hands on her pants. "Ugh. The maps are wrong. I should have expected such from Vaputech -" Jack turned to face the other Seraph, his face hardening. "Look, Squavariel - - you may not trust Vapulan designs, but one thing we did right when I was still in Tartarus was make maps. Failure to maintain acceptable accuracy meant reporting to Quality Control, and you didn't want that to happen. These maps should be fine - a Vapulan's got to be able to find a secure uplink station to transmit data back to his project leader. We always made sure that we had an escape route planned." "Well, if this is their escape route, it was definitely convoluted enough. What did you guys do, have Habbalah write up the escape plans so they could test your reasoning skills?" Jack chuckled wryly. "Laris, some day I've got to tell you about the time we left the driving to our Habbalite - now that was..." Jack twisted his head slightly, and then started fumbling around in some of the boxes on the floor. "Um, Laris - the Tether that we're heading to is north of the city, right?" The Ofanite turned back to face his partners. "Yeah... um. Wait a second. Wait a... then why is this sonofabitch heading south by southwest? Something's not right here..." Xador and Jack both closed their eyes, then snapped their heads around to face each other. Xador looked around at the trees at the side of the road worriedly. "You feel that, Jack?" The longhaired Cherub nodded as he dug through the boxes. "Yep. Surveillance. And danger. Active hostility. Can't get a fix on it yet, but I'm working on it." Muriel picked up the palmtop and focused her gaze on its screen. "Um, Jack? These palmtops don't have any active intelligence in them, right?" At seeing his nod, she continued. "Then why is this thing actively lying to us?" As the Cherub jerked his head up to look at his superior officer, Muriel swallowed audibly. "Oh my. Well, I think we know what the problem is, guys." As Squavariel turned her resonance to the machine again, both of the Seraphim nodded uncomfortably as they focused on a tiny icon at the bottom right corner of the screen. Where they had previously noted a tiny computer with flashing lights, under the power of their resonance the icon changed to a green eye, with different words underneath it as it blinked rapidly. - - CONNECTION TO SERVER 'REKZA' ESTABLISHED - - ----------------------------------------- Ceret turned to the little girl who was riding in the seat beside him. "They're onto the palmtop, I'm thinking. It's actively in danger at this point. Should we go ahead and start the procedures?" The child nodded, not looking up from the circuitry patterns that she was carving into her arm. "It's about time for us to go ahead. Are teams 4 and 5 in position?" The Djinn nodded. "Team 3 reports that they're in position close to the local Tether of The Sword to cut them off in case they try to make a run for it. Team 2 has had to return to Tartarus - they mentioned something about a bad drive on the recording equipment, so we should probably count them out for the duration. Team 1 is about 2 miles ahead, but they've lost Samir and Donalas, which means only Ariane is active." The child nodded. "All right. Transport the first device to their vehicle. I'll get the monitoring drones in place." Setting the scalpel down, she opened the laptop that was sitting in her lap to reveal a screen with a dozen different windows open, and a map with multiple red dots moving around on it. "You know, Ceret - this should be an event to be celebrated. These babies should really give us an edge up on the competition. Why, the funding increases alone will be worth the sacrifices we've made." Ceret smiled savagely. "No more sitting in the back of the symposiums while the stupid Punishers get all the credit for advancing Technology. We'll get what we've always deserved, Rekza - respect. Vapula will have to acknowledgeus this time. Still, you sure you can handle the drones? You're talking about being in multiple places at once, right?" The girl shook her head, her head twisting slightly further than it should have been able to. "No, we're not talking about multiple manifestations here. These are enhanced, of course, but the technological base is standard mortal remote control, with laser beams to track the target and maintain a relatively constant distance. Humans have been using this sort of thing for a while, just not to this degree. It should be safe, although it may give me a headache. Still, if it works as we predict, it'll give us the ability to match a Kyriotate in terms of surveillance. I've got a good lock on the target area. All drones report nominal. We're set." The Djinn reached back into the backseat and opened a box containing a silvery disk. "Ready?" The girl nodded as the Djinn made a few motions with his hand and the disk began to dematerialize. Reaching out for a headset, she spoke quietly into the microphone, her high-pitched voice falling into an unnatural and unmistakable cadence. "This is Rekza. Target is in position. All teams begin sequencing." - ---------------------------------------- Squavariel was the first one to react at the disturbance. "Something is happening. Disturbance, to the left of us. Moderate range. Song use. I -" Without warning, a metallic disk about the size of a frisbee appeared in front of the car, causing Laris to swerve wildly. Falling onto the hood on the car, it flew backwards toward the windshield, vaporizing as it touched the glass. The stunned Ofanite gunned the engine, forcing the car ever faster down the road. "Everybody okay back there?" Xador nodded. "Yeah, it looks like it... wait a second. Do you feel something weird, Squavariel?" The Seraph nodded, her face contorting in dismay. "Yes. Discord - we have been bound somehow. It must have been that device. It would seem that they are no longer willing to be chased, but intend to initiate some action of their own." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a pistol. "We should prepare ourselves for violent action. Do you concur, Muriel?" Muriel reached into a cooler on the floor and pulled out a bottle and a gun. "I concur. Are there any objections?" The two Cherubim shook their heads in the negative, while Jack opened a box and pulled out an oddly shaped contraption that radiated an almost palpable aura of destruction. Squavariel swallowed an oath, her eyes tracing their way around the edges of the boxy-shaped weapon. As the Cherub slammed a clip into the device whose length nearly equaled her forearm, she tapped Jack's arm. "Just out of curiosity, are you not supposed to give all Technological weapons to Lightning once you've captured them?" Jack nodded. "This isn't a Technological device. It's a worthless hunk of junk at the moment. If and when it becomes a weapon, I'll be sure to let you know, Most Holy." He knelt on the seat, cradling the device in his arms lovingly when he was knocked back into the other Cherub in the front seat, blood streaming down his face from a hole over his left eye. Xador immediately twisted in the seat, attempting to shield Jack from the apparent sniper. "Are you all right? Speak to me, Jack! Come on, just hold on a second, Jack! Stay with me!" "Ow." The Cherub slowly raised himself up, glaring into the trees, his eyes focusing in on an oak with a hunters stand in it. "All right, you little jackass. Two can play that game." Shuddering as another slug slammed into him, the two Seraphim began shooting in the direction of the stand. Jack tapped the Ofanite on the head, "Stop the car." "But -" "Stop the car, Laris." Laris pulled off to the side, keeping the engine idling. The wounded Cherub waved his hand in front of the two Seraphim, who stopped shooting and looked incredulously at him. Raising his voice into a shout, "You are hereby charged with the crime of attempted murder. Do you wish to enter a plea?" Another shot rang out, this time striking the Cherub in the arm. Looking down at his companions, "Guilty?" The two Seraphim looked at each other, raising a eyebrow, then nodded in the affirmative. An additional 2 voices from the front seat made their votes clear as well. "You are hereby found Guilty of this crime. There is but one punishment that can be carried out under these conditions." As the object in Jack's hands began to light up with angelic sigils which glowed a neon blue, Jack looked down at Squavariel, a smirk on his face. "Now, it's a weapon, Most Holy." Turning back towards the tree, he called out to the figure scrambling to get out of thestand. "SENTENCE!" The weapon in his hands flared, and the Symphony roared its approval loudly in the ears of the angels as the figure and the trees closest to him vaporized in a ballof luminescent flame. The Ofanite started the car up the hill again, whooping wildly as the Cherub sat down in the seat to be attended to by the ladies on either side of him. Laris turned back to face them as he sped downthe road. "Well, screw me - the thing actually does something!" Jack nodded as reached into the cooler. "Hey, I've never been able to test it under field conditions. I'll have to make sure I don't fire it at close range, though - but the antimatter generator does work, if you give the thing enough electricity. I'll make sure to thank that Impudite I stole the song from if I ever find him again." Squavariel nudged the Cherub slightly. "While I hate to interrupt this self-congratulatory experience, there is another pressing concern. We are still bound, although I feel this will not last forever. More pressing at the moment is that we still have enemies out here, and your wounds are not closing, Jack. My Healing is not taking effect on you for some reason, and if we do not find some way to repair the damage to your vessel, sooner or later you will die. And there is no reason to believe that the rest of our enemies are not similarly equipped." The five of them looked at each quietly, and then looked at the would on Jack's head which was slowly but surely turning an angry reddish color as blood oozed from it. Laris finally turned back to pay attention to the road, and spoke what was one everyone's mind - "So, what do we do now?" (to be continued) Michael Cleveland Gulf Coast Geotech _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2769 ********************************