Personification Life: EPIC (IC Thread XI) [CLOSED]

[Ganonsyoni]

"Oh..." Kale said, the only thing she said. She wasn't surprised really. Huddling up in a secluded space and crying things out was something she did on the first day. Of course, she came out the next day to try and tend to the plants and suffer in the garden as well. But she feared for Torii more. Kale knew that there were weapons in the house. If she got worse...

Kale visually shuddered at the thought. She needed to speak to Torii, try to help if she could. She wasn't sure if she could, Torii's relationship with Gio was much different than her own. But... she needed to do something. She looked to Katya more intently as she spoke. Maybe the both of them could work to help her...

Katya saying she was going out on a job strangely caught her interest. She heard about the gates and gathering supplies. She wondered about going out on a job before, but it felt pointless. But now... seeing Katya and Sakarias planning to go out... she wondered if it would be better for her to go. It felt more like doing something than just tending to the crops.

"What is this job you are doing?" Kale said with a tinge of curiosity in her voice.

[Torsiedelle]

Katya shrugged. "Supplies? I didn't plan on doing anything, but someone convinced me to prove them wrong about me not being useful."

Audette chimed in. "That was me!"

"Yes, well...", Katya's gaze shifted to Audette, then back to Kale. "I can't simply let somone of lesser standing dishonor me, so I'm proving myself."

There was a click behind them. A pair of blue eyes peered out, right at Kale, burning into her for a brief moment before the door slammed shit. Katya grumbled. "And to get away from that. I know she's grieving, I am as well, but she can be a tad dramatic."

[Holy Lykos]

Sakarias kept himself silent though he did give a wave to Kale. "How're you holding up, Kale?" He asked, smiling plaintively. He knew she'd risked a lot to save the lot of them a week back, especially from the rubble. She'd been so out of it when they ran from the building. He shuffled a bit, letting the rest of them talk as he scratched at his chin in thuoght. Would kale come with her? Her powers in his world would be such a lifesaver for wherever she lived. She could properly spread life across the destroyed wastes... But at the same time, was she strong enough to resist the radiation and death of his world? He had no idea.

"I think we're going to my world, Kale. Try to get some advanced technology and energy sources for us here at the building. And ammunition for me if we can find it. So yes, Supply run to A post apocolyptic wasteland."

[Ganonsyoni]

So it was a supply mission. Kale was a bit intrigued by Katya's main reasoning for going. Proving herself to Audette she assumed by the body language. Katya was a capable woman, not just looking the part. Did Audette not feel she was capable enough? She didn't know Audette well but Kale knew she was tough.

Kale caught Torii's eyes quickly and looked at them with a surprised and pitied look. Her eyes looked like ones of a wounded animal. She took a step forward before suddenly stopping when Torii closed the door. She looked back to Katya, a more sullen look on her face. "Must be hard seeing someone so... destroyed everyday" Kale said.

Kale looked to Sakarias as he spoke of more detail of the mission. So it was his world that they were going to. The postapocalyptic world where life refused to give up despite the destruction. The way she thought that it seemed... hopeful.

"Okay then... I guess I could come along and help. I do nothing but tend plants now. If this helps you and everyone else, well, I guess I should go and help y'all," Kale said, "Plus... I'm kind of interested in seeing your world. It might be barren but, there is bound to be interesting life living there despite it all..."

[Holy Lykos]

So it was a supply mission. Kale was a bit intrigued by Katya's main reasoning for going. Proving herself to Audette she assumed by the body language. Katya was a capable woman, not just looking the part. Did Audette not feel she was capable enough? She didn't know Audette well but Kale knew she was tough.

Kale caught Torii's eyes quickly and looked at them with a surprised and pitied look. Her eyes looked like ones of a wounded animal. She took a step forward before suddenly stopping when Torii closed the door. She looked back to Katya, a more sullen look on her face. "Must be hard seeing someone so... destroyed everyday" Kale said.

Kale looked to Sakarias as he spoke of more detail of the mission. So it was his world that they were going to. The postapocalyptic world where life refused to give up despite the destruction. The way she thought that it seemed... hopeful.

"Okay then... I guess I could come along and help. I do nothing but tend plants now. If this helps you and everyone else, well, I guess I should go and help y'all," Kale said, "Plus... I'm kind of interested in seeing your world. It might be barren but, there is bound to be interesting life living there despite it all..."

"Oh, there definitely is. Even up in the Boston area its coming back to bloom in Spring. Even if its more sickly than it used to be, its still coming back. Someone with your abilities would be a lifesaver in that kind of world. If your magic works there of course, it could be the blow nature took hurts those kinds of abilities too... Though I doubt it." He replied with a shrug, glancing over towards the door that Torii had showed herself in. She did not look good, for sure. She should get out and get some sun at least, being inside all the time was not healthy physically or mentally from what the synth remembered from the little health classes he remembered from way back in his childhood. Then again they also said smoking was healthy back then.... What a weird world he was from, when he compared to what he'd heard of Amanda's world and others. His was.... strange, and sounded like something out of, well, one of the comics he tended to find randomly around when scavenging. Strange those were one of the few things that survived the apocalypse, though.

[Monfrox]

Brit, lost in her own history lecture that seemed to her to be working, didn't have time to react to being flung onto the ice floor. She spun around and around, trying to focus on stopping. Digging her hooves into the solid floor worked, and finally she halted. A quick shake of the head and she was up...carefully. That's when she noticed she was near Chrys. Well...at least she was unharmed. She didn't have time to check and see whether her wounds were real or not, for Princess Platinum screeched in with her own entrance, and an arrow. At her order, Brit tried hard to focus on using her magic. And yet, just like the last day, she got nothing. Maybe a fizzled spark that wanted to make her bang the infernal thing against the ice floor to see if it worked, but no time for that.

Lacking that, she looked to the side. Clover and Platinum were skilled magicians, and Chrys had her sword. So...what did that leave her? An extra set of eyes, brute strength, and her tactical mindset. So she scanned, identifying threats and their distances from them. Well, she may not have magic, but anything that wanted to get too close was going to get a hoof or two right in the face.

[Cerillium]

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS
DIMENSION: ALPHA
LOCATION: GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
TEAM: OMIKRON

---

collab’d with Agy, Cer, Lykos, Storm, and Tilt.

The teenage girl in the wooden chair drew her mousy brown hair aside to better eye the fuzzy rabbit and his metallic companion. The Gate’s pale glow indicated that Dweezle was up to some mischief. She hadn’t been briefed, but this wasn’t uncommon. Her brow lifted as Macy joined the group just inside the Gatehouse door.

“I’m thinking it’s supplies?” she murmured as delicate fingers danced across the invisible display in front of her. “Or maybe a rerouted team? Dunno.” A shrug accompanied these words.

The glow intensified and then the Gate opened to momentarily reveal vibrant red light swirling into a more intense purple.

“That’s...weird,” was all the girl could stammer before two shapes rocketed out of the portal and landed roughly on the stone floor. Macy flinched and took a couple of steps backward, lest she be knocked over by the man in the robe. The robot Opa, having been requisitioned to drag in whatever the Gate spat out, stood its ground and turned its head so its eyes could follow the figures.

“Mild impact damage. Probable,” Opa observed, the behemoth shuffling forward atop metal feet to inspect the newcomers, “Mr. Demens brings. Us new allies.”

“Yes,” Macy leaned close to them and started pointing. “I see a couple of scrapes here and here.”

The far smaller form of a particularly mischievous sentient rabbit sprang up off the floor, rebounding at an impossible-looking angle and glomming onto Opa’s left knee joint. Poking his head around the metal pillar, MB blinked, twitched his nose and traced glowing thick letters in the air with his broad, flat ears. As was his wont, he’d trailed along to find new places to cause mayhem, and a large walking metal mass ticked every box on his checklist of reasons to shadow people.

Greetings and oil cans!

“Is that alive?” Myra leaned forward in her chair to observe the strange growths cropping up from the bear-like creature. Or was it otter-like? It was hard to tell considering the creature was laying face down.

“Maybe it was alive?” the android replied.

“Life signs. Registering,” Opa momentarily stared at the creature, scanning the body to confirm its initial suspicions before continuing, “Appears to be. Badly infested with. Fungal colonies. And growths.”

Mushrooms? MB hopped onto Opa’s foot and stalked closer, sniffing carefully. Things didn’t smell too rotten so far.

The teenager rolled her eyes. “We’ve had enough fungus to last a lifetime. Maybe it’s Nifid? It doesn’t look like a reptile, though.”

“Physical features indicate,” Opa paused, turning to the teenager with what passed for confusion given his lack of facial features, “Mammalian. But does not. Appear to match. Any Terran organism. On Confederation. Database. Does not match. Known mammalian. Equivalents. In other planetary. Databases either.”

Another pause, Opa absentmindedly walking forward and shaking the rabbit around as it moved in for a better look at the alien newcomer, “Must be from. An unexplored region.”

“It- OH!” the girl drew her feet from the floor as the Alien fungus moved. “It’s awake.”

MB hissed at both the robot and the fungus creature and turned to the other one, a very symmetrical-looking human-seeming being with facial hair and a red and white headdress. He smelled nicer, but also very sandy. Nothing of the sea on him, though, no harsh salt-smell.

Soft pinging drew Myra’s attention back to her screen. It confirmed what they’d guessed: new arrivals indeed.

“The fungus one is called Venla the Bold,” she offered with a nod, “and the human is actually human. Prince Suleiman Saladin Ahmed bin-Salah of the United Arabian Sultanate. I think Volker probably has the same info.”

“A prince?” Macy grinned.

“A government official,” Opa seemed pleased at the information. Or, at least, as pleased as a robot could possibly sound with no emotional core, “Perhaps he. Has knowledge of. The Confederation.”

“Uh-uh, probably not,” the teen pointed to the display which, unless one was seated in the chair, revealed nothing but air. “They’re not even from the same dimension, and not from any known dimensions. Well, ones we know about. New arrivals from new places. Mr. Demens must have brought them here for some reason, though. Should we wake them up?”

Does Caracas grow lettuce? MB snarked obscurely, but good-naturedly. Motes of light gathered around the rabbit as he began to glow like a lava lamp. It was something he very rarely had the chance to do, as he often stayed indoors most of the time now, not greeting newcomers to the Building. If Chaos Restaurant had still been around, he might have passed an evening as a tasteful decoration; but that was not the dimension they were in at the moment.

Myra hesitantly extracted herself from her chair and tiptoed towards the fungus creature. Her boot’s toe gently prodded the creature’s leg. “Hello? Wakey wakey. You’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Reflexively, Opa raised its plasma rifle-bearing arm and a soft glow began to emanate from the end of the barrel, “Identify yourself.”

“Eek!” Macy extended her arms in front of the robot. “Please, our allies won’t be useful if they are not alive, or if they are scared.” She faced the newcomers and said, “I’m so sorry if we have scared you, we didn’t mean to.”

MB merely looked bored, and examined the plasma rifle wondering how many meals he could get from it.

The creature did stir after the prodding, blinking at the floor it found itself facing. After registering the language used and realizing it was something familiar enough, it flipped itself over to sit up. “Yes, I would prefer to stay in one piece. Now, where is this?” The voice sounded strange, like it wasn’t used to making such noises, though that would make sense given how alien it was.

The android drew her arms back. “Welcome to the Gatehouse! I am Macy, and this is Opa, and this is MB, and this is Myra.”

Opa lowered the cannon, though it kept a ready stance in case of violence, “Do you require. Medical. Assistance? Your fungal infestation. Is quite advanced.”

“Nice to meet you all, Venla is what I’m called.” The alien replied, before glancing over at the large robotic fellow, more than a bit confused. “Fungal…. No, that’s me as well, please do not harm it.” She mentioned, a tendril coiling its way out of the fungus of her shoulder before retracting. “I’d rather not get a lobotomy today.”

“Seems the prince is waking,” Myra tucked her drab hair behind her ears as she squatted to examine him. “Nasty bump on his head, and he looks kinda singed. His clothes, anyway. I’m guessing he was extracted before death hit him.”

Macy drew closer and squatted next to Myra. “Are-are you all right?” she asked the prince.

"Ack!" Myra squatted even lower as the Gate flashed once more and another body sailed out of it. It barely missed Opa as it tumbled onto the ground.

The teen stepped around the growing pile of new Residents in order to slip back into her wooden chair. Fingers danced once more. "This one is Henry Lawson, a human, and he's from yet another dimension. Musically inclined teen." Her nose wrinkled as she looked to the others. "Maybe Demens is starting a band?"

The new arrival wasn't any worse for wear. In fact, he was waking up just as quickly as the others. Myra thought to help him along. "Hey, Lawson. Wake up."

Of course, he would soon awaken to find himself surrounded by an odd assortment of characters. And soon the entire group would move out to the bathtubs in order to return to the Building. Myra was fairly certain they'd all have questions in need of answers before leaving, however.

[Torsiedelle]

Katya winced. Kale wasn't wrong, it was hard to live with Torii when she was hurt like that, but...

"If her friend really doesn't come back, I doubt she'll ever be the same."

That was all she said about the matter. Behind her, Audette did remain quiet out of respect. Katya nodded and moved forward. "Let's get going. It's a little ways to the gatehouse."

[Danceria]

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS
DIMENSION: ALPHA
LOCATION: GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
TEAM: OMIKRON

---

collab’d with Agy, Cer, Lykos, Storm, and Tilt.

The teenage girl in the wooden chair drew her mousy brown hair aside to better eye the fuzzy rabbit and his metallic companion. The Gate’s pale glow indicated that Dweezle was up to some mischief. She hadn’t been briefed, but this wasn’t uncommon. Her brow lifted as Macy joined the group just inside the Gatehouse door.

“I’m thinking it’s supplies?” she murmured as delicate fingers danced across the invisible display in front of her. “Or maybe a rerouted team? Dunno.” A shrug accompanied these words.

The glow intensified and then the Gate opened to momentarily reveal vibrant red light swirling into a more intense purple.

“That’s...weird,” was all the girl could stammer before two shapes rocketed out of the portal and landed roughly on the stone floor. Macy flinched and took a couple of steps backward, lest she be knocked over by the man in the robe. The robot Opa, having been requisitioned to drag in whatever the Gate spat out, stood its ground and turned its head so its eyes could follow the figures.

“Mild impact damage. Probable,” Opa observed, the behemoth shuffling forward atop metal feet to inspect the newcomers, “Mr. Demens brings. Us new allies.”

“Yes,” Macy leaned close to them and started pointing. “I see a couple of scrapes here and here.”

The far smaller form of a particularly mischievous sentient rabbit sprang up off the floor, rebounding at an impossible-looking angle and glomming onto Opa’s left knee joint. Poking his head around the metal pillar, MB blinked, twitched his nose and traced glowing thick letters in the air with his broad, flat ears. As was his wont, he’d trailed along to find new places to cause mayhem, and a large walking metal mass ticked every box on his checklist of reasons to shadow people.

Greetings and oil cans!

“Is that alive?” Myra leaned forward in her chair to observe the strange growths cropping up from the bear-like creature. Or was it otter-like? It was hard to tell considering the creature was laying face down.

“Maybe it was alive?” the android replied.

“Life signs. Registering,” Opa momentarily stared at the creature, scanning the body to confirm its initial suspicions before continuing, “Appears to be. Badly infested with. Fungal colonies. And growths.”

Mushrooms? MB hopped onto Opa’s foot and stalked closer, sniffing carefully. Things didn’t smell too rotten so far.

The teenager rolled her eyes. “We’ve had enough fungus to last a lifetime. Maybe it’s Nifid? It doesn’t look like a reptile, though.”

“Physical features indicate,” Opa paused, turning to the teenager with what passed for confusion given his lack of facial features, “Mammalian. But does not. Appear to match. Any Terran organism. On Confederation. Database. Does not match. Known mammalian. Equivalents. In other planetary. Databases either.”

Another pause, Opa absentmindedly walking forward and shaking the rabbit around as it moved in for a better look at the alien newcomer, “Must be from. An unexplored region.”

“It- OH!” the girl drew her feet from the floor as the Alien fungus moved. “It’s awake.”

MB hissed at both the robot and the fungus creature and turned to the other one, a very symmetrical-looking human-seeming being with facial hair and a red and white headdress. He smelled nicer, but also very sandy. Nothing of the sea on him, though, no harsh salt-smell.

Soft pinging drew Myra’s attention back to her screen. It confirmed what they’d guessed: new arrivals indeed.

“The fungus one is called Venla the Bold,” she offered with a nod, “and the human is actually human. Prince Suleiman Saladin Ahmed bin-Salah of the United Arabian Sultanate. I think Volker probably has the same info.”

“A prince?” Macy grinned.

“A government official,” Opa seemed pleased at the information. Or, at least, as pleased as a robot could possibly sound with no emotional core, “Perhaps he. Has knowledge of. The Confederation.”

“Uh-uh, probably not,” the teen pointed to the display which, unless one was seated in the chair, revealed nothing but air. “They’re not even from the same dimension, and not from any known dimensions. Well, ones we know about. New arrivals from new places. Mr. Demens must have brought them here for some reason, though. Should we wake them up?”

Does Caracas grow lettuce? MB snarked obscurely, but good-naturedly. Motes of light gathered around the rabbit as he began to glow like a lava lamp. It was something he very rarely had the chance to do, as he often stayed indoors most of the time now, not greeting newcomers to the Building. If Chaos Restaurant had still been around, he might have passed an evening as a tasteful decoration; but that was not the dimension they were in at the moment.

Myra hesitantly extracted herself from her chair and tiptoed towards the fungus creature. Her boot’s toe gently prodded the creature’s leg. “Hello? Wakey wakey. You’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Reflexively, Opa raised its plasma rifle-bearing arm and a soft glow began to emanate from the end of the barrel, “Identify yourself.”

“Eek!” Macy extended her arms in front of the robot. “Please, our allies won’t be useful if they are not alive, or if they are scared.” She faced the newcomers and said, “I’m so sorry if we have scared you, we didn’t mean to.”

MB merely looked bored, and examined the plasma rifle wondering how many meals he could get from it.

The creature did stir after the prodding, blinking at the floor it found itself facing. After registering the language used and realizing it was something familiar enough, it flipped itself over to sit up. “Yes, I would prefer to stay in one piece. Now, where is this?” The voice sounded strange, like it wasn’t used to making such noises, though that would make sense given how alien it was.

The android drew her arms back. “Welcome to the Gatehouse! I am Macy, and this is Opa, and this is MB, and this is Myra.”

Opa lowered the cannon, though it kept a ready stance in case of violence, “Do you require. Medical. Assistance? Your fungal infestation. Is quite advanced.”

“Nice to meet you all, Venla is what I’m called.” The alien replied, before glancing over at the large robotic fellow, more than a bit confused. “Fungal…. No, that’s me as well, please do not harm it.” She mentioned, a tendril coiling its way out of the fungus of her shoulder before retracting. “I’d rather not get a lobotomy today.”

“Seems the prince is waking,” Myra tucked her drab hair behind her ears as she squatted to examine him. “Nasty bump on his head, and he looks kinda singed. His clothes, anyway. I’m guessing he was extracted before death hit him.”

Macy drew closer and squatted next to Myra. “Are-are you all right?” she asked the prince.

"Ack!" Myra squatted even lower as the Gate flashed once more and another body sailed out of it. It barely missed Opa as it tumbled onto the ground.

The teen stepped around the growing pile of new Residents in order to slip back into her wooden chair. Fingers danced once more. "This one is Henry Lawson, a human, and he's from yet another dimension. Musically inclined teen." Her nose wrinkled as she looked to the others. "Maybe Demens is starting a band?"

The new arrival wasn't any worse for wear. In fact, he was waking up just as quickly as the others. Myra thought to help him along. "Hey, Lawson. Wake up."

Of course, he would soon awaken to find himself surrounded by an odd assortment of characters. And soon the entire group would move out to the bathtubs in order to return to the Building. Myra was fairly certain they'd all have questions in need of answers before leaving, however.

The last few moments he remembered before being rendered unconscious was racing, in every sense of the word.

His mind was racing with thoughts as he was still reeling from the revelation about his sister and father, his heart was racing too, as it registered several different definitions of the words "f*cking pissed*

And to top it all off, he was literally racing under the dark Arabian sky, in an expensive and rented car, to confront his father about his sister, and her murder and enslavement.

It would have been a dramatic confrontation, the type you only hear about in soap operas...except the young man felt another force of motion. This time being catapulted several yards into the air.

Of course his father was already five steps ahead of him, and it was an IED. Planted just to make sure that by the time he was found, it would have looked like an accident, a consequence of reckless driving in the unforgiving desert.

As he was thrown out of the vehicle, shards of metal bending around him and the inferno of the impact giving away to the gentle cool of a night under the stars, the man begrudgingly belittled himself that for roughly nine years of practicing sleight of hand, he ought to know when not to over focus. Perhaps, he wondered as his mind gave way to unconsciousness I learned what I'm good at from the slums...

This would be his (presumed) final thoughts as his body gracefully fell towards an unnatural red light.

---

To his surprise, he felt pain, which he naturally asked himself How much did I drink last night...? to which his mind would recall the events of racing under a night sky and all the emotions he felt before he should have died.

Now this emotional jolt of recollection knocked him out of his groggy state, as he heard faint voices conversing in...English?

Since the emotional side of his brain was awakened, his logical side attempted to piece together what on earth he was doing a) alive and b) not in the clutches of his father's men, who would speak his native Arabic.

Lastly, the glue that bound the two halves of the brain together, the sarcastic subconscious, offered a suggestion; Why don't you get off your ass and see where you are? to which he gradually did, much to the protest of his nerves and body.

Looking up he saw two young women, a slightly glowing rabbit, and a robot with a rifle. Yep, it's a rifle.

You have to hand it to the man, he had his priorities correct despite waking up from a concussion.

"Erm...you...spoke English, correct?" he asked in a slightly Anglophilic accent, since running away and shooting his way out were not options, he'd try his silver tongue.

[Torsiedelle]

And on to the gatehouse!

"Come, come!", Katya prodded her friends along. Sakarias was ahead of her as she shooed them, while Audette, in her typical manner, hung back, hands interlocked behind her head. She glanced at Kale. Was that girl really going on a dangerous mission with them?

"You need a weapon for this?", She asked the tiny girl. "Maybe a big'ole revolver? A knife? A big stick?"

....

The group shuffled in, just in time to encounter the others who had gathered to grab the Arab boy and...whatever that hideous thing was.

Katya practically burst in, still babbling. Audette had barely finished her offer to Kale before her words slipped into a long whistle. Whatever the alien being was, it sure reminded her of a roadkill possum.

"Fancy meeting you all here!", Said Katya, "Onward to adventure as well? Funny, I didn't even-"

She eyed the alien - a strange thing, though not surprising - and then the boy. She stopped smiling and stuck her nose up, as if he was the more offensive looking of the two new arrivals. "Yes...I see, extractions. Well, I shouldn't pry about the details. We'll, um, be preparing. Don't mind us.", She said, motioning towards the lockers kept inside the building.

---

Meanwhile, in...place.

"What's this?"

A town deputy watched curiously as the ranger plastered a small, indistinct poster to the side of a building. The Ranger considered the question, and decided to indulge the man. "Can't work alone on this one, as much as I'd like to. Sometimes, more minds can be better than one, which is why I intend to grab a few volunteers to help fight these bandits."

The deputy nodded. "Well, good luck with anyone around here. Not saying anything bad about the people here, but we're trying not to get killed."

The Ranger shrugged. "Understandable. If nobody wants to help, they don't have to, but you never know..."

The deputy nodded. "True. Well, good luck. I have a patrol to get on, so see ya 'round."

The Ranger gave his farewell and continued down the street to put up another poster. Just maybe...

[Saldinado]

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS
DIMENSION: ALPHA
LOCATION: GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
TEAM: OMIKRON

---

collab’d with Agy, Cer, Lykos, Storm, and Tilt.

The teenage girl in the wooden chair drew her mousy brown hair aside to better eye the fuzzy rabbit and his metallic companion. The Gate’s pale glow indicated that Dweezle was up to some mischief. She hadn’t been briefed, but this wasn’t uncommon. Her brow lifted as Macy joined the group just inside the Gatehouse door.

“I’m thinking it’s supplies?” she murmured as delicate fingers danced across the invisible display in front of her. “Or maybe a rerouted team? Dunno.” A shrug accompanied these words.

The glow intensified and then the Gate opened to momentarily reveal vibrant red light swirling into a more intense purple.

“That’s...weird,” was all the girl could stammer before two shapes rocketed out of the portal and landed roughly on the stone floor. Macy flinched and took a couple of steps backward, lest she be knocked over by the man in the robe. The robot Opa, having been requisitioned to drag in whatever the Gate spat out, stood its ground and turned its head so its eyes could follow the figures.

“Mild impact damage. Probable,” Opa observed, the behemoth shuffling forward atop metal feet to inspect the newcomers, “Mr. Demens brings. Us new allies.”

“Yes,” Macy leaned close to them and started pointing. “I see a couple of scrapes here and here.”

The far smaller form of a particularly mischievous sentient rabbit sprang up off the floor, rebounding at an impossible-looking angle and glomming onto Opa’s left knee joint. Poking his head around the metal pillar, MB blinked, twitched his nose and traced glowing thick letters in the air with his broad, flat ears. As was his wont, he’d trailed along to find new places to cause mayhem, and a large walking metal mass ticked every box on his checklist of reasons to shadow people.

Greetings and oil cans!

“Is that alive?” Myra leaned forward in her chair to observe the strange growths cropping up from the bear-like creature. Or was it otter-like? It was hard to tell considering the creature was laying face down.

“Maybe it was alive?” the android replied.

“Life signs. Registering,” Opa momentarily stared at the creature, scanning the body to confirm its initial suspicions before continuing, “Appears to be. Badly infested with. Fungal colonies. And growths.”

Mushrooms? MB hopped onto Opa’s foot and stalked closer, sniffing carefully. Things didn’t smell too rotten so far.

The teenager rolled her eyes. “We’ve had enough fungus to last a lifetime. Maybe it’s Nifid? It doesn’t look like a reptile, though.”

“Physical features indicate,” Opa paused, turning to the teenager with what passed for confusion given his lack of facial features, “Mammalian. But does not. Appear to match. Any Terran organism. On Confederation. Database. Does not match. Known mammalian. Equivalents. In other planetary. Databases either.”

Another pause, Opa absentmindedly walking forward and shaking the rabbit around as it moved in for a better look at the alien newcomer, “Must be from. An unexplored region.”

“It- OH!” the girl drew her feet from the floor as the Alien fungus moved. “It’s awake.”

MB hissed at both the robot and the fungus creature and turned to the other one, a very symmetrical-looking human-seeming being with facial hair and a red and white headdress. He smelled nicer, but also very sandy. Nothing of the sea on him, though, no harsh salt-smell.

Soft pinging drew Myra’s attention back to her screen. It confirmed what they’d guessed: new arrivals indeed.

“The fungus one is called Venla the Bold,” she offered with a nod, “and the human is actually human. Prince Suleiman Saladin Ahmed bin-Salah of the United Arabian Sultanate. I think Volker probably has the same info.”

“A prince?” Macy grinned.

“A government official,” Opa seemed pleased at the information. Or, at least, as pleased as a robot could possibly sound with no emotional core, “Perhaps he. Has knowledge of. The Confederation.”

“Uh-uh, probably not,” the teen pointed to the display which, unless one was seated in the chair, revealed nothing but air. “They’re not even from the same dimension, and not from any known dimensions. Well, ones we know about. New arrivals from new places. Mr. Demens must have brought them here for some reason, though. Should we wake them up?”

Does Caracas grow lettuce? MB snarked obscurely, but good-naturedly. Motes of light gathered around the rabbit as he began to glow like a lava lamp. It was something he very rarely had the chance to do, as he often stayed indoors most of the time now, not greeting newcomers to the Building. If Chaos Restaurant had still been around, he might have passed an evening as a tasteful decoration; but that was not the dimension they were in at the moment.

Myra hesitantly extracted herself from her chair and tiptoed towards the fungus creature. Her boot’s toe gently prodded the creature’s leg. “Hello? Wakey wakey. You’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Reflexively, Opa raised its plasma rifle-bearing arm and a soft glow began to emanate from the end of the barrel, “Identify yourself.”

“Eek!” Macy extended her arms in front of the robot. “Please, our allies won’t be useful if they are not alive, or if they are scared.” She faced the newcomers and said, “I’m so sorry if we have scared you, we didn’t mean to.”

MB merely looked bored, and examined the plasma rifle wondering how many meals he could get from it.

The creature did stir after the prodding, blinking at the floor it found itself facing. After registering the language used and realizing it was something familiar enough, it flipped itself over to sit up. “Yes, I would prefer to stay in one piece. Now, where is this?” The voice sounded strange, like it wasn’t used to making such noises, though that would make sense given how alien it was.

The android drew her arms back. “Welcome to the Gatehouse! I am Macy, and this is Opa, and this is MB, and this is Myra.”

Opa lowered the cannon, though it kept a ready stance in case of violence, “Do you require. Medical. Assistance? Your fungal infestation. Is quite advanced.”

“Nice to meet you all, Venla is what I’m called.” The alien replied, before glancing over at the large robotic fellow, more than a bit confused. “Fungal…. No, that’s me as well, please do not harm it.” She mentioned, a tendril coiling its way out of the fungus of her shoulder before retracting. “I’d rather not get a lobotomy today.”

“Seems the prince is waking,” Myra tucked her drab hair behind her ears as she squatted to examine him. “Nasty bump on his head, and he looks kinda singed. His clothes, anyway. I’m guessing he was extracted before death hit him.”

Macy drew closer and squatted next to Myra. “Are-are you all right?” she asked the prince.

"Ack!" Myra squatted even lower as the Gate flashed once more and another body sailed out of it. It barely missed Opa as it tumbled onto the ground.

The teen stepped around the growing pile of new Residents in order to slip back into her wooden chair. Fingers danced once more. "This one is Henry Lawson, a human, and he's from yet another dimension. Musically inclined teen." Her nose wrinkled as she looked to the others. "Maybe Demens is starting a band?"

The new arrival wasn't any worse for wear. In fact, he was waking up just as quickly as the others. Myra thought to help him along. "Hey, Lawson. Wake up."

Of course, he would soon awaken to find himself surrounded by an odd assortment of characters. And soon the entire group would move out to the bathtubs in order to return to the Building. Myra was fairly certain they'd all have questions in need of answers before leaving, however.

It was all a blur and mess in the weak and confused eyes of Henry. The sudden change of scenery from playing the piano after a another day of failed attempts to try and find a job that didn't consider him "too qualified" to being thrown to the ground and facing a large crowd. The frequent conversations and voices of these numerous individuals caused him to rise up and observe his surroundings.

What he was were faces of strangers which consisted of two women, a silver or metallic-colored rabbit, a android, fungal-like otter alien, and a Arabian prince. Henry groaned and held his head in pain. It felt like he was having a hangover or something. He should've been use to those by now, but they still feel like hell.

Upon rubbing his head, he finally realized what was going on: he's in an unknown location with some strangers that could do God-knows what to him if they were given the chance. His heart started to race and he started to panic, though he didn't show it. The only thing he did was pull a glasses case out of his pocket and open them. Once he did that, he put on his glasses, which miraculously survived the impact. Hopefully with those, he could prove whether or not he was really in the situation that he was in now. His glasses weren't playing tricks on him, so he decided to go with the classic way of seeing if this was true. He slapped his self pretty hard on each cheek. He was still in the same predicament that he was before. Either unfortunately or fortunately for him, this was real.

All he could do was look at everyone, still trying to grasp the entirety of this moment. He didn't say anything to anyone but just thought to himself while getting up from the ground. His face became paler and the only way that he could calm down was pace back-and-forth. He still didn't say anything to anyone.

[Stormwrath]

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS

DIMENSION:
LOCATION:
TEAM:

ALPHA
GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
OMIKRON

---

Another person had shot out of the gate, a human male in his late teens, barely missing Macy by a few inches. She watched as the newcomer crashed to the ground. "I do hope they are okay with this," she muttered to herself. As far as she was concerned, no one wanted to tumble into a place. That Henry fella seemed okay, there weren't any serious injuries that she saw.

She gazed at his face and saw that he was a handsome fellow. Perhaps very handsome. If anything, Salah was the most handsome singed person that shot out of the Gate. Are these what Arabian human males look like? They must be really lucky, blessed even.

"Ummm," Macy blushed a little. "Yes, English."

She extended her hand and helped him up. "So what happened to you? Why are your clothes burnt?"

[Danceria]

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS

DIMENSION:
LOCATION:
TEAM:

ALPHA
GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
OMIKRON

---

Another person had shot out of the gate, a human male in his late teens, barely missing Macy by a few inches. She watched as the newcomer crashed to the ground. "I do hope they are okay with this," she muttered to herself. As far as she was concerned, no one wanted to tumble into a place. That Henry fella seemed okay, there weren't any serious injuries that she saw.

She gazed at his face and saw that he was a handsome fellow. Perhaps very handsome. If anything, Salah was the most handsome singed person that shot out of the Gate. Are these what Arabian human males look like? They must be really lucky, blessed even.

"Ummm," Macy blushed a little. "Yes, English."

She extended her hand and helped him up. "So what happened to you? Why are your clothes burnt?"

The gentleman stood up and smiled "Thank you very much, my car underwent an...accident and I was thrown, quite literally, into wherever we are now..." he was quite charmed by the young blonde who seemed roughly his age. Not quite like the other woman who stuck her nose up at the other bloke and himself, he had a few words for her "Pardon me miss, but you shouldn't stick your nose up at someone who isn't wearing a suit and tie. Chances are he works harder than you..." he smirked at the other, more uniformed and commanding blonde "Plus they aren't afraid to break a nail..."
Snobs...you've seen one, you can pick 'em out anywhere in the world... he thought grimly. Speaking of, he turned to the one who was currently doing the old "slap my face if this is a dream" test.

-This is a snip, you know what you posted Sal-

The gentleman leaned down towards the seated gentleman and offered a hand, "Looks like we're in the same mess," he chuckled "The name's Sully, what's yours?"

[Highfort]

RotLB

Sandy eased the jeep down the Building’s long gravel driveway, and inched through the Burrows’ shopper-crowded main street. “Nick, would you like to drive?” His grin suggested mischief. “No? I didn’t think so. Would you like to know what it’s like? Hop up in my lap.” After picking his way around a group of women at a clothing stand, Sandy tugged a shirt-tail free, so Nick could make contact. “Just don’t move around too much until I get used to it again. But when we’re in Ascalon, I’d really appreciate another pair of eyes and ears. We’ll be in a rough area, and I’ll want to know what’s going on around us.”

The cat accepted the invitation - not aloud, but by clambering up Sandy's leg and finding the accessible patch of waistline. Even before Nick was actively transmitting emotions, his contentment with the arrangement was clear. “Purrpurrpurr…” <Purrrfect. Comfy, no need to stretch…warm up here...> He assumed Sandy would remember how to quickly render the connection two-way, and hence try to reply mentally.

A couple of weeks, and we're posing as scholars. I'm posing as a pet, I guess. Still - weeks possibly at the best library in the ancient world… “Does posing as scholars mean we get to read the books? Please tell me they allow cats!” If not, maybe I'll use that flesh mask. Whatever a flesh mask is. His expression would be familiar to any cat owner who'd ever been cajoled into handing over the table scraps.

“Reading is very much the idea”, Sandy replied with a laugh. “We won’t have long in the Library to find anything we want to save. We’ll have to do our best to remember anything else we come across; the Librarians don’t like foreign scholars… making… copies... Ooooh!” Nick, solidly in contact, glimpsed what Sandy was envisioning: contact lenses containing tiny cameras. Pure science fiction in his world, but here? Maybe.

After a long pause to clear the last of the shoppers, Sandy added a hesitant postscript. “I... think cats were still held in high regard in Ptolemaic Egypt, but... then and there was not the main area of my research. But if so, you may be allowed anywhere you want, and the Librarians may think us lucky because a cat is always with us. Hmm….” And with that, the jeep crossed out of the Burrows, and Sandy shifted up into highway gear.

The jeep rumbled up the highway, joining other merging traffic as it crept over the hill. Its passengers - the ragtag band of a sorcerer, a historian, an ex-time cop, and a cat - peered out through the fog, the towering spires of Urbem Ascalon greeting them. Unfortunately, the glistening jewel of the Main City was not their intended destination.

Instead, the wasted shell of the Uppers met them behind the steely-eyed gaze of the checkpoint guards. Officer Kleo gestured for the jeep to pull forward, and the group was once-again on its way following knowing glances and a suspiciously-brief once-over by the guards.

Pulling up the streets, dodging around trash and homeless people curled up near oil drums, the group was stopped by the familiar, fingerless-gloved hand of Boris. Scratching the greasy whiskers on his chin, the vagrant eyed Baron Primordial strangely for a moment before throwing an empty vodka bottle at a nearby wall, awakening some of his fellow street urchins. Primordial eyed him back coldly as though he was watching an animal expecting it to do some very amusing trick.

“Huh, fucker makes me itchy. You watch yourself,” Boris sniffed, before turning to Sandy, “Rudy let me know you wanted directions to Lumba’s. Gimme one of your phones.”

Sandy leaned over to clumsily pull his phone out of a pants pocket, then placed it in Boris’ dirty hands.

Boris returned the phone with the screen covered in a thin layer of grime, the open map app now displaying directions to Lumba’s, “And if she asks, you didn’t get it from me. And if you say you did, I slit your fucking throat.”

A pause. Then, a nervous laugh.

“I kid, I kid. You have a nice day now. And if you see Kleo, let her know I’m still free for that date,” and with that, the acclaimed information broker of the Uppers disappeared back into the alleyway shadows that he called home.

The group sped away from Judge’s Palace and past the Junkyard toward the seedy market district where Lumba’s was located. Kov waved at them from atop the rusting body of an old mech, his other hand slowly and methodically picking away at the metal corpse like a vulture.

Sandy returned the scavenger’s wave, then juggled his phone and the jeep’s wheel as he navigated the unfamiliar neighborhood. Nick, if you could keep watch while I drive, it would be a big help now.

<I can help? Sure!> He turned, focusing. <Not Sandy's eyes, mine. Don't lose contact. Don't - you don't want me to show you that stuff, right? I wonder if -> A cartoonish image formed in Sandy's mind, a cat driving a car.<Sorry, watching. I know you're nervous.>

As they drove down the street Primordial double checked his pockets still had all of the currency he had entered the city with. He wasn’t sure when someone would have taken it, but his paranoid manner got the best of him. He wasn’t entirely comfortable driving through these lower class areas without any weapons or his trusty friend Aegis, but given Insidious’s tale he thought it unwise to bring anything more than a few elder crystals.

Dora sat back, breathing evenly and ignoring most of the other surroundings. With her eyes closed, she was only focused on getting a sense of which way the car was going, when the turns happened. All else was in Time’s hands.

After a short drive, the group was assaulted by the loud cries and oppressive heat of the Uppers Market Square. More like a chaotic mess of tents than a true mall, the square held cheap supplies of all sorts. It bordered a huge field of fuel stations that had been visited by the first team to explore from the Building.

Navigating slowly through the crowds, Sandy’s jeep caught the eye of many seedy faces as the sea of smelly residents parted before him. The team eventually arrived - in one piece and with nothing missing, fortuitously enough - at a gaudy building decorated with neon signs and flashy posters inviting unwary buyers to enter and peruse the goods.

Lumba’s Emporium, it read high above as the group made it’s way to the entrance. The colors on the sign were as loud as everything else on the building. In the night, it’d likely stood out as a beacon from high above; fortunately for the residents and the city’s power grid, Lumba would close as soon as the bars around began to fill.

For now it was open, of course, and standing at the building’s entrance was a tall and lanky alien with very delicate features. Its suit shimmered between midnight and cobalt blue, the kind of shimmering effect only made possible when light was captured just so. The alien had no hair - none that was easily identifiable as such - but looked to be fine and metallic like Christmas foil, and the blue/green hue moved in a slow wave that was styled sharply around the alien’s thin neck. Unblinking golden eyes with tiny squares of black flecks stared impassively at their new guests.

“Greetings,” the alien spoke in a melodic tone, as delicate as its features. One could misconstrue the alien as a female, but there was a slight rumble in the alien’s voice that might have suggested otherwise. The alien’s outfit shimmered into a medium blue, only brightening at random intervals, and as the group got closer, its hair changed color to a bright and solid green. In its elongated and delicate hand was a copper device; it held another hand out to stop the group from progressing past it.

“Welcome to Lumba’s Emporium. Before you proceed, will you concede to a biometric scan?” The alien sing-songed and continued, “All customers are expected to comply before entering to ensure Lumba’s privacy as well as the consumer’s safety.”

[Torsiedelle]

Katya smirked. "That's funny. I'll have you know I'm not carrying this sword to look pretty.", She patted the hilt of her rapier.

Audette was grinning wide. She didn’t know what to make of the girl's new attitude. Katya was weird, in a good way!

Katya turned back away. "Interesting, though, seeing a...Moslem, of all people, popping in. I sure hope you're from the age of Ali Baba or Lawrence of Arabia."

She waved for Kale and Audette to follow. "Anyways, we have little time to talk. I believe we're off to a job?"

"Oh, right.", Audette chuckled. She stepped by, giving a playful salute towards Sully. "She don't like ya 'cause you're a haji, pardon my language. Russians are kinda like that.", She nodded. "Catch me for a drink later if ya want, Sug. I don't discriminate too much!"

"Audette!"
"Comin'! Jeeze...ya bitch."

Katya ignored her American counterpart while Audette reached the lockers. She swung her AK into her arms and kicked back to give Kale and Sakarias prep time.

[Saldinado]

The gentleman leaned down towards the seated gentleman and offered a hand, "Looks like we're in the same mess," he chuckled "The name's Sully, what's yours?"

He stopped his pacing to see the young Arab man offer his hand out. He was unsure of what to do with it first due to being confused at the moment's notice; but after a few more seconds, he finally got the gist of what he wanted.

He offered his hand and shook it firmly still a little uneasy. "Why yes, we are." He awkwardly chuckled. "Hello Sully. Nice to meet you. I'm Henry.". He then let go of his hand as he began to access and analyze the situation around him. At least I'm not alone on this one, so I know I won't look crazy. Well, more crazy. He thought as he looked at the other strangers.

[Tiltjuice]

The rabbit shifted into a blindingly light green outlining a softer interior shade of the same color, and leapt off the floor, steering directly for Henry's face. Lime highlights reflected off the man's glasses in every direction possible before MB's angle to the lenses shifted as he got closer.

It had been a long time since he'd been out of the apartment and able to stretch his legs. Watching nearly every science fiction movie he could a dozen times over got dull; but now he could reenact them with others.

[Danceria]

The gentleman leaned down towards the seated gentleman and offered a hand, "Looks like we're in the same mess," he chuckled "The name's Sully, what's yours?"

He stopped his pacing to see the young Arab man offer his hand out. He was unsure of what to do with it first due to being confused at the moment's notice; but after a few more seconds, he finally got the gist of what he wanted.

He offered his hand and shook it firmly still a little uneasy. "Why yes, we are." He awkwardly chuckled. "Hello Sully. Nice to meet you. I'm Henry.". He then let go of his hand as he began to access and analyze the situation around him. At least I'm not alone on this one, so I know I won't look crazy. Well, more crazy. He thought as he looked at the other strangers.

"Nice to meet you Henry..." he leaned in and whispered "So who brought the zombified otter to the party...?" he gestured over to the fiercely fungaly infected flipper creature to his left

Katya smirked. "That's funny. I'll have you know I'm not carrying this sword to look pretty.", She patted the hilt of her rapier.

Audette was grinning wide. She didn’t know what to make of the girl's new attitude. Katya was weird, in a good way!

Katya turned back away. "Interesting, though, seeing a...Moslem, of all people, popping in. I sure hope you're from the age of Ali Baba or Lawrence of Arabia."

She waved for Kale and Audette to follow. "Anyways, we have little time to talk. I believe we're off to a job?"

"Oh, right.", Audette chuckled. She stepped by, giving a playful salute towards Sully. "She don't like ya 'cause you're a haji, pardon my language. Russians are kinda like that.", She nodded. "Catch me for a drink later if ya want, Sug. I don't discriminate too much!"

"Audette!"
"Comin'! Jeeze...ya bitch."

Katya ignored her American counterpart while Audette reached the lockers. She swung her AK into her arms and kicked back to give Kale and Sakarias prep time.

"Sorry, from 2016, Lawrence was a good movie though and I can tell you parts of the Arabian Nights. Does that make it better?" he called after the two girls who were walking away. "By the way, where in the heck are the new folks supposed to register-or you could just walk away, that's fine, that's cool..." his sarcastic side was getting a sure workout as he turned to the otter from "The Last of Us", Henry, and blondie numero tres. His mission was broken up into three parts 1) find out where he is, by the amount of blondes, he would joke that it was the Nuremberg Rally 2) stick with Henry, he seems like a decent chap and 3) find Audette and cash in on that free drink opportunity. A supplemental fourth mission was to put that pontificating bitch in her place by snapping her precious firepoker before she could say "blintzes".

[Holy Lykos]

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS

DIMENSION:
LOCATION:
TEAM:

ALPHA
GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
OMIKRON

---

Venla glanced over at the others who seemed to have just arrived, noting that one seemed signed and the other believing he was in some sort of dream. The alien meanwhile had just assumed she'd been either kidnapped or taken somewhere. She really couldn't remember the last few hours very well, though she felt like it'd involved some sort of fighting or running. Either way It'd come back in a bit. Or in a few hours. Or never, didn't really matter, because this was what was happening now.

"So, mostly Humans here? What world are we on? Must be part of the Federation or whatever they're calling themselves right now...." She trailed off a bit, thinking, before shifting herself to move to a standing position, drawing up to her full height and surveying their surroundings. Definitely no familiar architectural style at all, Human, Huvidu-Zaan, or anything.

One of her small ears twitched as she heard the other two who seemed to be new arrivals as well, and she turned to face them. "If you're doing Introductions, I am Venla. Pleasure to meet the both of you." She gave a small nod that could have been a miniature bow. She seemed to extend a fungal tendril from her shoulder again, sending it towards the two. "Ah, Handshake, I believe humans call their greeting? My hands aren't quite suited for it, so this should do, yes?" She asked, the slightly purple glowing tendril splitting in two to go towards each of them.

"Also, I am no zombie. I'm familiar with the mythical creature from human legends, but I'm fully sapient like I assume the rest of us here are. Its impolite to whisper about another being when they have good hearing you know." she said, her snout shifting into something like a smirk before she let out a noise that sounded much like a laugh, though much more growly. "Nor am I an 'otter'. I'm Huvidu-Zaan."

---

Sakarias watched the strange scene, the alien catching his attention for a bit before he glanced over at Katya. "I'm good to go. I don't have much in the way of equipment anyway, and I'm already suited to wherever we may go." He said simply. He didn't really need to do much else aside from just follow Katya and Audette into the portal when they got it opened for them.

[Danceria]

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS

DIMENSION:
LOCATION:
TEAM:

ALPHA
GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
OMIKRON

---

Venla glanced over at the others who seemed to have just arrived, noting that one seemed signed and the other believing he was in some sort of dream. The alien meanwhile had just assumed she'd been either kidnapped or taken somewhere. She really couldn't remember the last few hours very well, though she felt like it'd involved some sort of fighting or running. Either way It'd come back in a bit. Or in a few hours. Or never, didn't really matter, because this was what was happening now.

"So, mostly Humans here? What world are we on? Must be part of the Federation or whatever they're calling themselves right now...." She trailed off a bit, thinking, before shifting herself to move to a standing position, drawing up to her full height and surveying their surroundings. Definitely no familiar architectural style at all, Human, Huvidu-Zaan, or anything.

One of her small ears twitched as she heard the other two who seemed to be new arrivals as well, and she turned to face them. "If you're doing Introductions, I am Venla. Pleasure to meet the both of you." She gave a small nod that could have been a miniature bow. She seemed to extend a fungal tendril from her shoulder again, sending it towards the two. "Ah, Handshake, I believe humans call their greeting? My hands aren't quite suited for it, so this should do, yes?" She asked, the slightly purple glowing tendril splitting in two to go towards each of them.

"Also, I am no zombie. I'm familiar with the mythical creature from human legends, but I'm fully sapient like I assume the rest of us here are. Its impolite to whisper about another being when they have good hearing you know." she said, her snout shifting into something like a smirk before she let out a noise that sounded much like a laugh, though much more growly. "Nor am I an 'otter'. I'm Huvidu-Zaan."

---

Sakarias watched the strange scene, the alien catching his attention for a bit before he glanced over at Katya. "I'm good to go. I don't have much in the way of equipment anyway, and I'm already suited to wherever we may go." He said simply. He didn't really need to do much else aside from just follow Katya and Audette into the portal when they got it opened for them.

Sully blinked at the Huvidu-Zaan "Well...Venla..." he bowed as well "I hope you don't mind my caution around...unusual fungal tendrils that happen to glow..." he explained weakly "Nothing personal. So, you're a bona fide extraterrestrial, huh?" he greeted with a smile "Are there more...Hoovadoo-Zahn around here? Or are you a part of the "suddenly splat" club with Henry and I?"

[Saldinado]

"Nice to meet you Henry..." he leaned in and whispered "So who brought the zombified otter to the party...?" he gestured over to the fiercely fungaly infected flipper creature to his left

He snickered from Sully's little comment. He needed a little comic relief from all the crap that's going on at the moment. "I have no idea to be honest. I'm surprised someone brought me to the party." He laughed. It was a hardy laugh, making him sound a little older than he looked.

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS

DIMENSION:
LOCATION:
TEAM:

ALPHA
GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
OMIKRON

---

Venla glanced over at the others who seemed to have just arrived, noting that one seemed signed and the other believing he was in some sort of dream. The alien meanwhile had just assumed she'd been either kidnapped or taken somewhere. She really couldn't remember the last few hours very well, though she felt like it'd involved some sort of fighting or running. Either way It'd come back in a bit. Or in a few hours. Or never, didn't really matter, because this was what was happening now.

"So, mostly Humans here? What world are we on? Must be part of the Federation or whatever they're calling themselves right now...." She trailed off a bit, thinking, before shifting herself to move to a standing position, drawing up to her full height and surveying their surroundings. Definitely no familiar architectural style at all, Human, Huvidu-Zaan, or anything.

One of her small ears twitched as she heard the other two who seemed to be new arrivals as well, and she turned to face them. "If you're doing Introductions, I am Venla. Pleasure to meet the both of you." She gave a small nod that could have been a miniature bow. She seemed to extend a fungal tendril from her shoulder again, sending it towards the two. "Ah, Handshake, I believe humans call their greeting? My hands aren't quite suited for it, so this should do, yes?" She asked, the slightly purple glowing tendril splitting in two to go towards each of them.

"Also, I am no zombie. I'm familiar with the mythical creature from human legends, but I'm fully sapient like I assume the rest of us here are. Its impolite to whisper about another being when they have good hearing you know." she said, her snout shifting into something like a smirk before she let out a noise that sounded much like a laugh, though much more growly. "Nor am I an 'otter'. I'm Huvidu-Zaan."

---

Sakarias watched the strange scene, the alien catching his attention for a bit before he glanced over at Katya. "I'm good to go. I don't have much in the way of equipment anyway, and I'm already suited to wherever we may go." He said simply. He didn't really need to do much else aside from just follow Katya and Audette into the portal when they got it opened for them.

And now his attention was towards the fugal-alien, or as they called themselves, a "Huvidu-Zaan." The tendrils sprouting from the creature seem to worry Henry a little; he's seen a little to many certain comics to know what happens with these types of appendages. But he didn't want to be rude, so he decided to bow. "Yes. As my counterpart has said before, I would like to be caution of the tendrils. With all due respect." He said politely. "But as we're doing introductions, I will tell you my name. I'm Henry. Nice to meet you Ven-"

The rabbit shifted into a blindingly light green outlining a softer interior shade of the same color, and leapt off the floor, steering directly for Henry's face. Lime highlights reflected off the man's glasses in every direction possible before MB's angle to the lenses shifted as he got closer.

It had been a long time since he'd been out of the apartment and able to stretch his legs. Watching nearly every science fiction movie he could a dozen times over got dull; but now he could reenact them with others.

The blinding light interrupted his conversation with Sully and Venla. The reflection of the light off his glasses was too much for Henry's sensitive eyes, and caused him to squint and rub his eyes in pain. The sight of the rabbit heading towards him made him raise his left eyebrow in confusion. The sight of the rabbit and his little light presentation was a little spectacular and instead of scaring him, intrigued Henry. However he was still a little uneasy and paranoid with it as he didn't know the reason for such a sight.

[Ganonsyoni]

"No, I don't need a weapon. I'm fine on my own," Kale said to Audette as they walked to the gates. Audette might not know, but the girl had a lot of power packing within her. The obsidian necklace on her neck might have been suppressing her powers, but she could easily take it off when the situation calls for it.

Arriving at the gatehouse with the rest of the group, Kale looked over the new arrivals there. An Arabian man, a boy, and a strange looking alien. She was a bit odded out by the alien, but shook away the thought. She met things just as different before, recalling the giant tardigrade that she took affection too. She wondered where the animal was.

Regardless, Kale took a quick moment to look in the lockers for anything she could use. Scanning over the equipment, she quickly grew dissatisfied with the selection. Nothing she would or knew how to use. Not even a protective vest to go over her leather attire. It would have been nice to keep it from being damaged.

Closing the locker she was looking in, she caught the end of the conversation between Katya, Audette, and the Arabian man. She gave a glare towards Katya, clearly reading the racial language in her speech. She wasn't really surprised, hearing Torii's opinions from a long while ago. But she was still angered by it. Even after everything that happened and the near impossible quest they were all on, she still held onto racial prejudices. They needed everyone they could for this and to be united, not divided by petty racism. They would be hopeless to survive if they were.

She grimaced and took a deep breath, keeping the anger inside. She needed to focus on the mission ahead. Chewing Katya out could wait until later. "I'm good to go," she said, following behind Sakarias with the group.

[Holy Lykos]

OPERATION: NEW ARRIVALS

DIMENSION:
LOCATION:
TEAM:

ALPHA
GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
OMIKRON

---

The alien simply returned the appendages into her mass, smiling softly. Not really a natural expression for her but humans had difficulty reading the body language of her species from her experience. The light was a bit disorienting but at least it wasn't right in her face. She frowned a bit, wondering what kind of creature could make itself glow like that and seemingly at will. Her glowing was simply from biology. "No offense taken. Most humans are taken aback by my race when they first meet us. Something about not being used to seeing something that looks unhealthy to them, but is perfect symbiosis for us." The alien mentioned.

"By definition of the term, yes, I am an 'ET'. But that also includes almost the entirety of the universe, from those races of Lykos to even the new human capital of Nova Terra. I'm guessing you're not from the Federation then are you? I wasn't aware of any other human colonies that weren't brought together after their diaspora."

The alien noticed a few more humans arriving, though they seemed to be heading out rather than coming to meet them. Was this some sort of hub world? This looked like no space station at all, and she couldn't fathom what else it could be aside from the mentioned "Gatehouse". But a gatehouse to what?

[Tiltjuice]

True to form, MB blinked and his fur palette-swapped from the electric green to jet black, the sort of color invisible in deep space. Glomming onto Henry's face above the man's mouth, he wrapped all four paws tightly around Henry's head.

Now I have attention... He curled both ears into balls that looked somewhat like Princess Leia's circular buns, if Princess Leia's circular buns had been shifted to the top of her head and the Imperial torture droid had decided lowering her into a vat of shoe polish head-first while upside-down would have induced her to talk. The gesture was equivalent to clearing a throat in someone who could talk; though, naturally, the newcomers couldn't be expected to know this.

As his ears shot out straight again, wobbling slightly with the momentum, MB picked up on his signing again. Big Feast is also called Opa. Women are Myra and Macy. He pointed at himself, twitching his nose. MB is pleased to meet you all, Fungus Water Dog, Glasses, and Headdress Man.

He paused. Landlord man Demens has room ready for you. Demens knows all. All your things are moved in already.

[Stormwrath]

OPERATION NEW ARRIVALS

DIMENSION:
LOCATION:
TEAM:

ALPHA
GALLIMAUFRY MUNDI
OMIKRON

---

"Oh, we still have to take you there," Macy told the prince who preferred to call himself Sully. "To the Building. There you will be registered."

Venla raised a valid question, one that the android felt she should answer for the extraterrestrial, and one that made her chuckle a bit. "Well, this world doesn't only have Humans, for there are other people that live here like talking horses, magicians, and other things. This world," she extended her arms outward, "is called Gallimaufry, and you are now in the Gatehouse. The Gate behind you is where we go to have adventures in other worlds and maybe get people to come here. But I guess Mr. Demens decided to bring you all here on your own."

"Shall we be going?" she asked the newcomers. "I think you will like the Building very much."