Elfen High 2 (War OOC, Closed, Great rps are forged in fire)

[Nationstatelandsville]

The problem with the RP format is the players.

G was forced to intervene a lot to keep things from crashing, which killed the plot.

Indeed.

Again, as a book, it'd be very good. It was inspired by Neverwhere, if I'm going to blunt. (Though it was obvious, I just changed the setting to America).

I was incapable of noticing at the time, for obvious reasons; which made it evolve into a different beast.

I think it could be better described as more noir-like, or perhaps a modern Western.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Indeed.

Again, as a book, it'd be very good. It was inspired by Neverwhere, if I'm going to blunt. (Though it was obvious, I just changed the setting to America).

I was incapable of noticing at the time, for obvious reasons; which made it evolve into a different beast.

I think it could be better described as more noir-like, or perhaps a modern Western.

Oh, definitely. I'm a fan of Westerns anyhow, so it worked.

[Olthar]

Watch this anime. It is the best thing.

Link leads me to YouTube's main page.

Yeah. I fixed it.

[Nationstatelandsville]

I was incapable of noticing at the time, for obvious reasons; which made it evolve into a different beast.

I think it could be better described as more noir-like, or perhaps a modern Western.

Oh, definitely. I'm a fan of Westerns anyhow, so it worked.

The Western as a genre interests me; it's a lot like the knightly tales of old, but pumped full of desolation and hardship.

Watch this anime. It is the best thing.

Link leads me to YouTube's main page.

Same.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Link leads me to YouTube's main page.

Yeah. I fixed it.

Oh, Ghost Stories! That shit was awesome.

I still get paranoid when going into the bathroom every once in a while.

For entirely unrelated reasons, but yeah.

[Olthar]

Yeah. I fixed it.

Oh, Ghost Stories! That shit was awesome.

I still get paranoid when going into the bathroom every once in a while.

For entirely unrelated reasons, but yeah.

"Monsters only kill Republicans, and we're not old enough to vote!"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

I think AWB lost something when it was moved out of the US.

I intended to show how supernaturals can work in different cultures - and Montreal is far different from Las Vegas or San Francisco.

But while we had good ideas, it ultimately didn't work.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

I think AWB lost something when it was moved out of the US.

I intended to show how supernaturals can work in different cultures - and Montreal is far different from Las Vegas or San Francisco.

But while we had good ideas, it ultimately didn't work.

Actually, I think AWB could work in Mexico as well. Mexico is definitely closer in culture to a Western than Montreal would be.

[Nationstatelandsville]

I think AWB lost something when it was moved out of the US.

I intended to show how supernaturals can work in different cultures - and Montreal is far different from Las Vegas or San Francisco.

But while we had good ideas, it ultimately didn't work.

Actually, I think AWB could work in Mexico as well. Mexico is definitely closer in culture to a Western than Montreal would be.

I wanted to take them to Mexico in a prospective Arc 4, you might recall.

Especially since one of the vampire clans (forget their name) was from there.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Actually, I think AWB could work in Mexico as well. Mexico is definitely closer in culture to a Western than Montreal would be.

I wanted to take them to Mexico in a prospective Arc 4, you might recall.

Especially since one of the vampire clans (forget their name) was from there.

It was the hive mind one.

There's likely many clans. I vaguely recall that I had ideas for a Sephardic Jewish clan of vampires or werewolves, refugees from Spain who came to the New World.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

The City of London itself is tiny.

[Nationstatelandsville]

I wanted to take them to Mexico in a prospective Arc 4, you might recall.

Especially since one of the vampire clans (forget their name) was from there.

It was the hive mind one.

There's likely many clans. I vaguely recall that I had ideas for a Sephardic Jewish clan of vampires or werewolves, refugees from Spain who came to the New World.

I think it was a bad idea to give me control, in the end; I knew I loved AWB, but I didn't know why, so I faltered when it came time for Arc 3.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

It was the hive mind one.

There's likely many clans. I vaguely recall that I had ideas for a Sephardic Jewish clan of vampires or werewolves, refugees from Spain who came to the New World.

I think it was a bad idea to give me control, in the end; I knew I loved AWB, but I didn't know why, so I faltered when it came time for Arc 3.

You handled arc 2 very well and it proved to me you were actually competent and a good writer, rather than someone who I tended to brush off and ignore.

In any case, if I hadn't, AWB would have just died due to my busy work. It died eventually, but we got quite a lot done.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Oh! An explanation may be in order; Khan and I did this together over TG's, so as to convey D and Dai's relationship in a way that didn't bog down the Arc 3 IC.

I put everything together, though, which is why it's pretentious.

Ding!

"Fuck."

D rubbed his eyes and glanced up from his work - the basic genetic structure of the common angel, which he had been in the midst of using to construct a probable model of angelic anatomy (or seven). This was surprisingly easy work, when you knew the forces behind angelic genetics, and no one knew them better than Franklin Jameson.

By "surprisingly easy work", I, of course, mean that it was "very nearly impossible". But "very nearly" wasn't good enough to stop D.

"What?" the boy demanded, raising his coffee mug to his mouth. He tipped it back and grimaced - empty, save for a scant few drops. Cold drops. It was... seven days old? No. Six. Damn.

"Can't you see I'm busy, Daisuke?" D grumbled as the elevator doors peeled open into his (nearly) reconstructed laboratory. It was more or less nothing more than a desk in an abandoned classroom, but it had plenty of brains in jars and other such fancies of the scientific leanings. Einstein's pinkie, for one. Rasputin's little "monk", for another.

"I should never have had that installed," D spat. He spoke of the elevator, but that went for the little monk too. It freaked him out.
Daisuke walked off the lift, glancing at D, and then the monk. Einstein's pinkie was also dancing, for some reason, which was somewhat terrifying to all who looked at it. Sanchez occasionally borrowed it when he needed to torture people - the dancing pinkie of Einstein was a strange weapon.

He sat down in a nearby chair. "D," he began, then just sighed and rubbed his eyes, looking very tired. "I assume you're aware of this, or perhaps you aren't. Your father is in Elfen High right now. Or perhaps an alternate version of him. That's something I assume you'd be interested in, you know." Daisuke gave a thin smile. "Chance to see him again, even if it's a different him."

"I am aware," D said, "and I am also aware that there is a duplicate of your father currently..."

D glanced at his watch. The watch didn't actually hold any form of display, it just looked cool.

"...giving David Cameron a blowjob in a Bangkok opium den," D said, "Give me a second to erase that mental image."

He blinked, "Point is, my father is dead. I have no interest in meeting a shadow."

This was a lie.

"The man running around looking like my father," Dai said, "Is nothing at all like him. This man is a lot like yours. Your mother certainly feels so."

D smashed the mug down onto his desk. It cracked.

"What the fuck do you want?" he demanded, shaking.

Daisuke glanced at his friend, looking almost offended. "I was merely trying to help you." he said, with a shrug, picking up a newspaper and briefly glancing at the headlines. Hmm. There was a headline stating Taka-Jameson stock was going down. He'd look at that soon, after this discussion had ended. "Don't pretend you don't want to meet the alternate version of your father."

"What I do with my family is my own business," D growled, "and I would thank you not to attempt intervention again. You can't control everything, Dai."

D failed to realize the irony in this statement.

"Now, tell me why you're really here, then fuck off," D said.

Daisuke sighed. "Alright then. I'm really here for one frank reason." he sat down in a chair, resting for a moment. "It would have been my dad's birthday today, if he had been alive." He gave a brief smile. "I didn't know him very well. You knew him better than I did, at the end. What was he like?"

D laughed.

"I don't know, Dai," he said, calming a bit, "He was an asshole, frankly. Different way than everyone else around here, but it's a survival skill."

D paused to consider his words. He had never done this before - it made his head hurt, really.

"I guess you already know the bulk of his flaws," D said, "Drank a lot, you might not have known that. Calmed down towards the end - guess he could never get any with Crowley and my dad running about. But, he was... I mean, he was strict. He was orderly. He was basically OCD. A lot like you, I guess."

D smirked, "Yeah, actually. He was a lot like you. Maybe a bit dumber in some ways, but a lot smarter in others. He was... wise. Like a wizard, only not like a real wizard, because real wizards are shitheads. He wasn't always nice - but he was always good. He was the best man Elfen High ever had."

Daisuke nodded with a brief smile. "Aye. Attended my twelfth birthday party, actually. He had a drink in his hand, but the fact he showed up was quite the surprise. It was two years before my mom died, and I was surprised she let him back in after their fights. But he left early, since the school year was beginning soon in Elfen High. He gave him a hug before he left, and actually left me with a small toy of Optimus Prime." Daisuke automatically paused to explain the pop culture reference to D, who had a 50/50 shot of understanding them.

"Prime's an Autobot, a good guy robot who can shapeshift into vehicles and stuff." he explained in case D had no idea what it was.

"You know, like the one I made in the lab a few years back. Anyway, I was fond of him, Prime. It sparked my interests even further in robotics. Then dad went back to Elfen High. Think that was the year that Loki invaded the school, actually." D chuckled. "Hell, our dads met that year. Crowley started being slightly less of a shithead then too. I found an old archive tape of your father confronting him about that, actually."

Daisuke set up a video projector in a few seconds, and they watched together.

Daisuke chuckled. "Astonishing how it seemed to have helped, if only a tad."

D smiled, "You know, if anyone else had this video, it would be creepy. With Crowley, the unsettling thing would be if he didn't record it. How many times do you think he's orgasmed to it?"

"Probably eight or so. He wouldn't care to make it get weird." Daisuke snarked. "You know, I always used to wonder...why Crowley? Why would my father end up so loyal to that man? But he seemed to have a serious reaction after my dad died. He's changed. I didn't know too well before then, just met him a few times. But I've watched the old tapes, and he's different now."

"Aleister Crowley is a magnet for the broken," D replied, "He's like catnip. Elfen High is the... litter box? I don't know, I don't 'do' pets. Point is, the shattered are naturally attracted to him. Reminds them of their fathers, if they're women, I guess. Besides, he's a good friend to have.

The problem is when Crowley likes them back. That complicates things significantly."

Daisuke gave a nod, looking at the tape. "Aye." he sighed. "I admit I was never sure what made my own father so broken. He never talked much about his life in Russia or his own family. I suppose his father abandoning him might have started something along those lines, or perhaps it was just being in Russia." he smiled. "It's interesting in a way how we don't really know all that much about our fathers, or at least I don't."

He fast-forwarded the tape a bit, now watching an interaction between Richard and Minh.

Minh sat in his desk, grading term papers while Richard swept around him. "You missed a spot-" Minh began when Richard whacked him over the head with his broomstick. A bleeding hole appeared in Minh's head, healing soon after. But a few drops of blood spilled onto the floor. This resulted in Richard swearing profusely in a variety of languages while Minh cracked a rare grin and hid his laughter.

"Fucking prick." Richard growled. Minh just waved him off, smiling.

"Apologies for that, Richard, but it was quite the amusement. How's Aleister doing?" he asked, his tone casual, but very forced casualness.

"Some change. Lewis' speech to him seemed to get a message through. He's cleaning stuff up now. Allen's death - well, I can call him Valaran now- hit him hard. I'm glad I'm not Loki right now, and Loki should be glad he's locked up. If Aleister knew where to find him..." Richard shook his head. "He's a very human man, and I think that his humanity is why Loki would be fucked."

Minh nodded solemnly. "Alrighty." he said, his levity gone. "And Lewis?"

"Off in Ireland right now, I think. He'll be back, don't worry." Richard chuckled. "I have a feeling about that."

---

D suddenly soured visibly; his childish grin turned to the scowl of a battle-hardened man, and he leaped to his feet with a hurried sense of purpose and an energy unexpected.

"You're wasting my time," D grumbled, turning back to his diagram, "I have work to do and so, I am sure, do you. We're going to war."

D took another sip of his coffee, forcing down the last drop, "If you really want to help me, get the angels to stop sucking each other's weepy dicks and bring them down here for examination."

Daisuke shrugged. "Alrighty then." he said. "You're right, I'll get them in a momen- Wait, what's this?" he asked, looking at one of the videos. He waved his finger at the projector, thrusting it at the video he wanted to click labelled "Minh and Lewis Family Chats."

---

It was a fairly simple video, showing Lewis and Minh drinking far too much vodka, sitting at the desk in Minh's beer room. "So, how did you and Megan meet?" Minh asked, not intoxicated yet but looking as though he was quickly trying to get there.

---

"Stop this immediately!" D roared, lobbing his mug into the screen, "What do you aim to prove, Daisuke? Hmm?"

---

"Fuck ye', that's where!" Lewis replied. He was, quite obviously, dangerously drunk.

He promptly keeled over and vomited in Minh's lap.

Daisuke paused, trying to turn it off. He couldn't. "I'm trying to shut it off, but I think there's been a jam..."

---

Minh punched Lewis in the face. "Bugger off." He muttered, drinking a solid bottle of vodka in a gulp. "No, but really. You? Settling down?"

"Settle?" Lewis laughed, "Maybe not the right wo-"

---

D tore his pistol out of his desk.

"SHUT! UP!" he roared, firing twice into the screen, which exploded into glass.

"Shut up!" he added weakly, throwing the gun away from himself. He crumbled into his chair, face devoid of any emotion. A rare thing for Franklin Jameson, he stared blankly into the abyss.

Daisuke sighed. "I apologise. I'll look at it some other time on my own." he said, standing up. Well, his robot body standing up. He walked over to D, awkwardly giving him a pat on the back and a half-hug before starting to go out of the door. He paused suddenly.

"Will you be alright, D?"

A simple question. Just that. And a surprisingly loaded one.

D grit his teeth, "They took my sister, Dai."

He rose, "They took my sister. My father died for her, and I can't even find the opportunity to do that. Uriel has attacked my family, and there's nothing I can do to get back at him. Of course I'm not alright, you idiot."

D paced.

"I need to fix this," he said, "I need to get her back. Talking to you, nostalgia, won't help with that. You're wasting my time."
Daisuke nodded. "You're right." he sighed. "I apologise for distracting you." he stood up, looking at D. "Let's check our finances. I'll see what I can raise." he pulled out his phone, checking Taka-Jameson's current state of affairs.

D frowned.

"So I'm guessing that arrow should be going up," he said, "and that number should be positive. I mean, it was before. Maybe we've just entered a new realm of success?"

D glanced at Daisuke's face, "I'm guessing 'no'. Well, at least the company will survi- oh, never mind. Five months. Maybe I did the math wrong, but let's be honest, I didn't. A dozen of them, huh? All gone."

Daisuke stared blankly at the screen, then at D. "We're doomed." he said bluntly. "We're doomed." he paced a bit, walking back and forth. "The company won't last five months, D. I give it two at the most. We'll have to use so much of our savings just to fight the war. We're dammed. I promised that this would last, and it won't." he took a few breaths, composing himself.

"Well, I still have Damien's money," D said, "Keep it in a separate account, haven't touched it much except for that one Christmas party - but I'm not sure if any purchases on that day are legally binding.

Anyways, I'm fairly certain that, if the serial numbers on half of those bills are ever seen again, we'll be in much deeper shit than we already are. So pumping that back into the company probably isn't a good idea."

Daisuke sighed. "Yes, I know." he rubbed his hands on his temples, massaging them. "OK. Get me a beer, right now." he barked, a door opening in the side of D's room, Daisuke's real body in wheelchair rolling in. The android then paused, no longer online. Daisuke himself looked in terrible shape, obviously not having slept as long as D or longer, his eyes red with exhaustion. "Beer." he demanded.

"Get your own poison," D waved him off, "Listen, Dai. I love you, but I can't help you here. My need for the company ends with the construction of arms for the invasion. That I can easily finance myself, if I must. Neither sentimental value, long term profit, nor your personal pride are worth a damn compared to my sister's life. I cannot, and absolutely will not occupy myself with it. You may, if you like, but it's not my problem. Do you understand?"

"Sure, D," Daisuke said. He returned the way he entered, the door closing behind him and locking. D glanced absentmindedly at Daisuke as he left, as though he meant to say something - but what, he couldn't know. He quickly turned his attention back to his work.

D coughed, loudly and harshly, the sheer force of the movement making his throat hoarse. He coughed again, and again, and again, with increasing violence and rapidity. Bent over his desk like a tree in the wind, he hacked and hacked and hacked; the edges of his vision blurred and his thoughts were erased by physical urgency. With an awful retch, he coughed his last into his elbow. Bubbling black tar, which once perhaps had been blood and was now used in its place, stained his sleeve.

D went immediately back to work.

---

"Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."

- William Butler Yeats, "The Stolen Child"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Actually, I think AWB could work in Mexico as well. Mexico is definitely closer in culture to a Western than Montreal would be.

I wanted to take them to Mexico in a prospective Arc 4, you might recall.

Especially since one of the vampire clans (forget their name) was from there.

The Calacas (Skulls). This one remembers. -Nods-

[Nationstatelandsville]

I wanted to take them to Mexico in a prospective Arc 4, you might recall.

Especially since one of the vampire clans (forget their name) was from there.

The Calacas (Skulls). This one remembers. -Nods-

I remember who they are, of course; I think the Calacas were pretty good villains, all things considered.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Oh! An explanation may be in order; Khan and I did this together over TG's, so as to convey D and Dai's relationship in a way that didn't bog down the Arc 3 IC.

I put everything together, though, which is why it's pretentious.

Ding!

"Fuck."

D rubbed his eyes and glanced up from his work - the basic genetic structure of the common angel, which he had been in the midst of using to construct a probable model of angelic anatomy (or seven). This was surprisingly easy work, when you knew the forces behind angelic genetics, and no one knew them better than Franklin Jameson.

By "surprisingly easy work", I, of course, mean that it was "very nearly impossible". But "very nearly" wasn't good enough to stop D.

"What?" the boy demanded, raising his coffee mug to his mouth. He tipped it back and grimaced - empty, save for a scant few drops. Cold drops. It was... seven days old? No. Six. Damn.

"Can't you see I'm busy, Daisuke?" D grumbled as the elevator doors peeled open into his (nearly) reconstructed laboratory. It was more or less nothing more than a desk in an abandoned classroom, but it had plenty of brains in jars and other such fancies of the scientific leanings. Einstein's pinkie, for one. Rasputin's little "monk", for another.

"I should never have had that installed," D spat. He spoke of the elevator, but that went for the little monk too. It freaked him out.
Daisuke walked off the lift, glancing at D, and then the monk. Einstein's pinkie was also dancing, for some reason, which was somewhat terrifying to all who looked at it. Sanchez occasionally borrowed it when he needed to torture people - the dancing pinkie of Einstein was a strange weapon.

He sat down in a nearby chair. "D," he began, then just sighed and rubbed his eyes, looking very tired. "I assume you're aware of this, or perhaps you aren't. Your father is in Elfen High right now. Or perhaps an alternate version of him. That's something I assume you'd be interested in, you know." Daisuke gave a thin smile. "Chance to see him again, even if it's a different him."

"I am aware," D said, "and I am also aware that there is a duplicate of your father currently..."

D glanced at his watch. The watch didn't actually hold any form of display, it just looked cool.

"...giving David Cameron a blowjob in a Bangkok opium den," D said, "Give me a second to erase that mental image."

He blinked, "Point is, my father is dead. I have no interest in meeting a shadow."

This was a lie.

"The man running around looking like my father," Dai said, "Is nothing at all like him. This man is a lot like yours. Your mother certainly feels so."

D smashed the mug down onto his desk. It cracked.

"What the fuck do you want?" he demanded, shaking.

Daisuke glanced at his friend, looking almost offended. "I was merely trying to help you." he said, with a shrug, picking up a newspaper and briefly glancing at the headlines. Hmm. There was a headline stating Taka-Jameson stock was going down. He'd look at that soon, after this discussion had ended. "Don't pretend you don't want to meet the alternate version of your father."

"What I do with my family is my own business," D growled, "and I would thank you not to attempt intervention again. You can't control everything, Dai."

D failed to realize the irony in this statement.

"Now, tell me why you're really here, then fuck off," D said.

Daisuke sighed. "Alright then. I'm really here for one frank reason." he sat down in a chair, resting for a moment. "It would have been my dad's birthday today, if he had been alive." He gave a brief smile. "I didn't know him very well. You knew him better than I did, at the end. What was he like?"

D laughed.

"I don't know, Dai," he said, calming a bit, "He was an asshole, frankly. Different way than everyone else around here, but it's a survival skill."

D paused to consider his words. He had never done this before - it made his head hurt, really.

"I guess you already know the bulk of his flaws," D said, "Drank a lot, you might not have known that. Calmed down towards the end - guess he could never get any with Crowley and my dad running about. But, he was... I mean, he was strict. He was orderly. He was basically OCD. A lot like you, I guess."

D smirked, "Yeah, actually. He was a lot like you. Maybe a bit dumber in some ways, but a lot smarter in others. He was... wise. Like a wizard, only not like a real wizard, because real wizards are shitheads. He wasn't always nice - but he was always good. He was the best man Elfen High ever had."

Daisuke nodded with a brief smile. "Aye. Attended my twelfth birthday party, actually. He had a drink in his hand, but the fact he showed up was quite the surprise. It was two years before my mom died, and I was surprised she let him back in after their fights. But he left early, since the school year was beginning soon in Elfen High. He gave him a hug before he left, and actually left me with a small toy of Optimus Prime." Daisuke automatically paused to explain the pop culture reference to D, who had a 50/50 shot of understanding them.

"Prime's an Autobot, a good guy robot who can shapeshift into vehicles and stuff." he explained in case D had no idea what it was.

"You know, like the one I made in the lab a few years back. Anyway, I was fond of him, Prime. It sparked my interests even further in robotics. Then dad went back to Elfen High. Think that was the year that Loki invaded the school, actually." D chuckled. "Hell, our dads met that year. Crowley started being slightly less of a shithead then too. I found an old archive tape of your father confronting him about that, actually."

Daisuke set up a video projector in a few seconds, and they watched together.

Daisuke chuckled. "Astonishing how it seemed to have helped, if only a tad."

D smiled, "You know, if anyone else had this video, it would be creepy. With Crowley, the unsettling thing would be if he didn't record it. How many times do you think he's orgasmed to it?"

"Probably eight or so. He wouldn't care to make it get weird." Daisuke snarked. "You know, I always used to wonder...why Crowley? Why would my father end up so loyal to that man? But he seemed to have a serious reaction after my dad died. He's changed. I didn't know too well before then, just met him a few times. But I've watched the old tapes, and he's different now."

"Aleister Crowley is a magnet for the broken," D replied, "He's like catnip. Elfen High is the... litter box? I don't know, I don't 'do' pets. Point is, the shattered are naturally attracted to him. Reminds them of their fathers, if they're women, I guess. Besides, he's a good friend to have.

The problem is when Crowley likes them back. That complicates things significantly."

Daisuke gave a nod, looking at the tape. "Aye." he sighed. "I admit I was never sure what made my own father so broken. He never talked much about his life in Russia or his own family. I suppose his father abandoning him might have started something along those lines, or perhaps it was just being in Russia." he smiled. "It's interesting in a way how we don't really know all that much about our fathers, or at least I don't."

He fast-forwarded the tape a bit, now watching an interaction between Richard and Minh.

Minh sat in his desk, grading term papers while Richard swept around him. "You missed a spot-" Minh began when Richard whacked him over the head with his broomstick. A bleeding hole appeared in Minh's head, healing soon after. But a few drops of blood spilled onto the floor. This resulted in Richard swearing profusely in a variety of languages while Minh cracked a rare grin and hid his laughter.

"Fucking prick." Richard growled. Minh just waved him off, smiling.

"Apologies for that, Richard, but it was quite the amusement. How's Aleister doing?" he asked, his tone casual, but very forced casualness.

"Some change. Lewis' speech to him seemed to get a message through. He's cleaning stuff up now. Allen's death - well, I can call him Valaran now- hit him hard. I'm glad I'm not Loki right now, and Loki should be glad he's locked up. If Aleister knew where to find him..." Richard shook his head. "He's a very human man, and I think that his humanity is why Loki would be fucked."

Minh nodded solemnly. "Alrighty." he said, his levity gone. "And Lewis?"

"Off in Ireland right now, I think. He'll be back, don't worry." Richard chuckled. "I have a feeling about that."

---

D suddenly soured visibly; his childish grin turned to the scowl of a battle-hardened man, and he leaped to his feet with a hurried sense of purpose and an energy unexpected.

"You're wasting my time," D grumbled, turning back to his diagram, "I have work to do and so, I am sure, do you. We're going to war."

D took another sip of his coffee, forcing down the last drop, "If you really want to help me, get the angels to stop sucking each other's weepy dicks and bring them down here for examination."

Daisuke shrugged. "Alrighty then." he said. "You're right, I'll get them in a momen- Wait, what's this?" he asked, looking at one of the videos. He waved his finger at the projector, thrusting it at the video he wanted to click labelled "Minh and Lewis Family Chats."

---

It was a fairly simple video, showing Lewis and Minh drinking far too much vodka, sitting at the desk in Minh's beer room. "So, how did you and Megan meet?" Minh asked, not intoxicated yet but looking as though he was quickly trying to get there.

---

"Stop this immediately!" D roared, lobbing his mug into the screen, "What do you aim to prove, Daisuke? Hmm?"

---

"Fuck ye', that's where!" Lewis replied. He was, quite obviously, dangerously drunk.

He promptly keeled over and vomited in Minh's lap.

Daisuke paused, trying to turn it off. He couldn't. "I'm trying to shut it off, but I think there's been a jam..."

---

Minh punched Lewis in the face. "Bugger off." He muttered, drinking a solid bottle of vodka in a gulp. "No, but really. You? Settling down?"

"Settle?" Lewis laughed, "Maybe not the right wo-"

---

D tore his pistol out of his desk.

"SHUT! UP!" he roared, firing twice into the screen, which exploded into glass.

"Shut up!" he added weakly, throwing the gun away from himself. He crumbled into his chair, face devoid of any emotion. A rare thing for Franklin Jameson, he stared blankly into the abyss.

Daisuke sighed. "I apologise. I'll look at it some other time on my own." he said, standing up. Well, his robot body standing up. He walked over to D, awkwardly giving him a pat on the back and a half-hug before starting to go out of the door. He paused suddenly.

"Will you be alright, D?"

A simple question. Just that. And a surprisingly loaded one.

D grit his teeth, "They took my sister, Dai."

He rose, "They took my sister. My father died for her, and I can't even find the opportunity to do that. Uriel has attacked my family, and there's nothing I can do to get back at him. Of course I'm not alright, you idiot."

D paced.

"I need to fix this," he said, "I need to get her back. Talking to you, nostalgia, won't help with that. You're wasting my time."
Daisuke nodded. "You're right." he sighed. "I apologise for distracting you." he stood up, looking at D. "Let's check our finances. I'll see what I can raise." he pulled out his phone, checking Taka-Jameson's current state of affairs.

D frowned.

"So I'm guessing that arrow should be going up," he said, "and that number should be positive. I mean, it was before. Maybe we've just entered a new realm of success?"

D glanced at Daisuke's face, "I'm guessing 'no'. Well, at least the company will survi- oh, never mind. Five months. Maybe I did the math wrong, but let's be honest, I didn't. A dozen of them, huh? All gone."

Daisuke stared blankly at the screen, then at D. "We're doomed." he said bluntly. "We're doomed." he paced a bit, walking back and forth. "The company won't last five months, D. I give it two at the most. We'll have to use so much of our savings just to fight the war. We're dammed. I promised that this would last, and it won't." he took a few breaths, composing himself.

"Well, I still have Damien's money," D said, "Keep it in a separate account, haven't touched it much except for that one Christmas party - but I'm not sure if any purchases on that day are legally binding.

Anyways, I'm fairly certain that, if the serial numbers on half of those bills are ever seen again, we'll be in much deeper shit than we already are. So pumping that back into the company probably isn't a good idea."

Daisuke sighed. "Yes, I know." he rubbed his hands on his temples, massaging them. "OK. Get me a beer, right now." he barked, a door opening in the side of D's room, Daisuke's real body in wheelchair rolling in. The android then paused, no longer online. Daisuke himself looked in terrible shape, obviously not having slept as long as D or longer, his eyes red with exhaustion. "Beer." he demanded.

"Get your own poison," D waved him off, "Listen, Dai. I love you, but I can't help you here. My need for the company ends with the construction of arms for the invasion. That I can easily finance myself, if I must. Neither sentimental value, long term profit, nor your personal pride are worth a damn compared to my sister's life. I cannot, and absolutely will not occupy myself with it. You may, if you like, but it's not my problem. Do you understand?"

"Sure, D," Daisuke said. He returned the way he entered, the door closing behind him and locking. D glanced absentmindedly at Daisuke as he left, as though he meant to say something - but what, he couldn't know. He quickly turned his attention back to his work.

D coughed, loudly and harshly, the sheer force of the movement making his throat hoarse. He coughed again, and again, and again, with increasing violence and rapidity. Bent over his desk like a tree in the wind, he hacked and hacked and hacked; the edges of his vision blurred and his thoughts were erased by physical urgency. With an awful retch, he coughed his last into his elbow. Bubbling black tar, which once perhaps had been blood and was now used in its place, stained his sleeve.

D went immediately back to work.

---

"Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."

- William Butler Yeats, "The Stolen Child"

Added.

The Calacas (Skulls). This one remembers. -Nods-

I remember who they are, of course; I think the Calacas were pretty good villains, all things considered.

Mexican vampires who are physically rotting and share a hive mind?

How can that not be great?

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The Calacas (Skulls). This one remembers. -Nods-

I remember who they are, of course; I think the Calacas were pretty good villains, all things considered.

Yeah, I know. I chimed in because you didn't remember their names.

[Nationstatelandsville]

I remember who they are, of course; I think the Calacas were pretty good villains, all things considered.

Yeah, I know. I chimed in because you didn't remember their names.

No, I understand.

They aren't really threatening, on the grand scale of this universe; but they don't need to be to be interesting.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Yeah, I know. I chimed in because you didn't remember their names.

No, I understand.

They aren't really threatening, on the grand scale of this universe; but they don't need to be to be interesting.

Indeed.

Certainly more interesting than a program with a dictatorial temperament.

[Nationstatelandsville]

No, I understand.

They aren't really threatening, on the grand scale of this universe; but they don't need to be to be interesting.

Indeed.

Certainly more interesting than a program with a dictatorial temperament.

Leviathan was Khan's idea.

Let's all mock him and call him names.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Indeed.

Certainly more interesting than a program with a dictatorial temperament.

Leviathan was Khan's idea.

Let's all mock him and call him names.

You thought it was beautiful, you fuck.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Indeed.

Certainly more interesting than a program with a dictatorial temperament.

Leviathan was Khan's idea.

Let's all mock him and call him names.

It kind of reminds me of I, Robot a bit.

The movie, not the book. Clarifying so no one feels complimented.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Leviathan was Khan's idea.

Let's all mock him and call him names.

You thought it was beautiful, you fuck.

Sure; but I will burn a hundred works of art, curse a million good ideas, and be branded iconoclast a thousand times over to call you names.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Links to IC posts are preferred if I need to reply.