Domain Game Quest

[Philote]

(Are we controlling someone else now? That was command for Arthur and group to use one of his words of power to cover their tracks)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(Well, you aren't commanding someone else. It appears that these people can here you, though. Slightly.)

[Celadon's Penultimate]

>INQUIRE OBJECTIVE (they seem to be aware of their presence in the Domain Game, maybe they have some knowledge the others don't)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Another cold feeling shoots through the back of the one that's called Iris's head. She does her little twirl again, scanning the room. Meanwhile, Est keeps humming along, seemingly oblivious. He's taken the parts of the jacket, and begun to sew it back up.

Suddenly, he asks, "So Iris, how goes the secret mission? You know, shadowing those Blues? How is life in that little cave of theirs. Oooo, are they together? I have a wager with Herbert."

"Est, is now the proper time?"

"Of course, we never see each other anymore, what with you spending all your time with them, and I've had a hell of a time making sure Jessica doesn't know your gone. Do you know how hard it is to insert you now and again? If she finds out I'm doing it, she could end me with a thought!"

"Est, shut up."

"All I'm saying is that I'm sticking out my neck for this little coup and..."

"ESTEBAN, SHUT UP!"

A flock of birds alight from the top of the temple. Esteban has the jacket almost halfway sewn up, but almost drops his special needle in surprise. Iris had a habit of being very quiet, even when everyone could see her. She did not raise her voice lightly.

"Iris, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, this place just...." She looks around again. What in the world was this feeling? "This place gives me the creeps, is all. Just hurry up, please?"

Esteban says nothing, and silently goes back to his work. He and the girl had worked closely together during the war against the Blues, on a special mission. He had never seen her act like this.

>SUGGESTION?

[Celadon's Penultimate]

>EXIT CAVE, WITH ESTEBAN AT REAR FOR SAFETY

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

There it was again! That feeling, like something was passing through her head. Esteban was nearly done, but quit suddenly. He looked at Iris.

"Maybe we should leave."

Iris is able to work through her own building discomfort enough to ask, "Why do you think that?"

He look remarkably confused at that question, and his eye flicked about the room as he tried to find a reason for it. "Because," he finally settled on, "because you're so upset?" But the word were unsure, as if it wasn't a reason so much as an excuse or justification. But it was honestly the best he had come up with.

"Just finish. If Jessica finds out the surviving blues are here, they'll never get away. We need them for Cassie's plan to work."

"But.." he started, but the look in Iris's eyes told him that this was not a matter of debate. This was something that needed doing, and it was getting done come hell or high water. This was the Iris he knew; the mission before everything. Red team before everything. Nevertheless, something was telling him that they should leave, him following her. He began to stand up.

Then he stumbled as if overtaken by sever vertigo. In a way that's what it was, because darkness extended in all directions around him, to eternity. There was one thing that he could see, and that was the jacket. "Iris! you know I hate this!"

"Finish it, Esteban."

"Well, well," he stuttered, tried to think up a way to get her to leave (she had to leave before him, he had a very clear picture of that, him at the rear for safety), found his ideas wanting, and gave in. "Well, I can't very well work if I can't see myself."

He looked down, and his hands appeared. Just his hands. She had given them back. The needle and thread still occupied them. He felt his way back down to the floor and began to work.

In Iris's mind it wasn't stealing. You could not steal something that was already stolen goods. At that point, it was just trading owners. Some people might not consider looking at something to be stealing it, but you were taking it into your eyes and throwing it into the burlap sack of the mind. In a way, she reasoned, she was like a big dog. Big dogs keep things from being stolen. So she stood in the perfectly well lit room and watcher the Tailor finish up.

Esteban held up the complete coat and gave it a tug or two. Nicely held back together. You couldn't even tell their had been a cut. "There, now give it back!" Stolen goods were returned. Esteban let go of the coat and walked over to her, finger raised. "Why do you always do that? What do you not trust me or something? All I was..."

But she wasn't listening. She was watching the Janet. She watched it hang in the air, as if suspended on some invisible model. She watched it expand. She watched two legs descend from the underside arms snake their way out of sleeves, a head being born from the collar. It bore a very familiar expression, but was difficult to look at for to long. Maybe it was that the eyes were slightly to far apart, or that the face was a little to symmetrical. This, she decided, must be the uncanny valley effect.

"You screwed up his head."

"Best I could do. The only times his head was in it was when he put it on. I had to sew in some of my own to fill in the blanks."

"Will it be noticed?"

"No, shouldn't be. He didn't have to many friends."

The Malcolm before them stared blankly ahead.

"You don't think," Iris started, displeasure apparent in her voice, "that someone will notice him acting like that."

"Don't worry about that, doll. All we have to do is nick a few memories from the people at the base and patch them in. I will, of course, need your help to avoid prying eyes while I go about it."

"And that will work?"

"He'll act exactly as they remember him acting."

This satisfied her. If there was anyone who knew memories, it was Est. Besides, her mission was over. The little math freak had finally made her move, wherever she was. Her time observing the two remaining blues was over. Now, thee real fun could begin.

"Lets go then. This place gives me the creeps."

She walked out the door, Esteban walking close behind her, Malcolm moving slowly and deliberately, like a puppet. On their way out, Iris realized what that feeling in the temple was. Not the icy feeling she had no clue about that, the other one. The one that had been bothering her ever since the Blues had left. A feeling that, with her power, she had almost forgotten about.

The ancient, base instinct that she was being watched.

INTERMISSION: END

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

CHAPTER I: RESOURCE GATHERING

The hike through the Jungle is rough on you. The ground is uneven and muddy, it's sweltering, and the thick canopy keeps the heat from escaping, turning it into a sweat box. But the fatigue doesn't wear you down nearly as much as the knowledge that you have, at this moment, a whole army out for your head. This is only enforced by the treks frequent stops so the Armand could scout ahead. No one speaks, your companions communicating in hand gestures.

finally, after a long, sweat inducing stretch of time, you come to a cave. The Blues make their way inside.

The cave is sparely decorated, you can see that from the glowing fungus of the roof. A few crates and a pair of sleeping bags are all that blue team has left to it's name. Armand takes a deep breath, and sighs.

"Be it ever so humble. Make yourself at home Arthur. You can have my bag tonight." he says, digging through a crate by the wall and pulling out another blue shirt and a dirty looking towel. "Me, I'm going to go clean myself off. Amanda," He says, eying his partner, "Don't scare him off."

Armand disappears farther into the cave, leaving you and Amanda staring awkwardly at each other. You decide to sit down on a crate and break the ice with the girl who suggested killing you.

"Soooo," you begin, "You guys have a show..:

"A river. We have a river. It runs through the cave."

"What do you eat?"

"Fruit. The fruit that grows here regrows overnight and none of it is poison. Same with the water, completely safe."

The silence descends again, as deep baritone singing can be heard from the rear of the cave. For a while, it's the only sound. Until, at least, Amanda speak again.

"Soooooo," she begins this time, looking nervous "you, uh, you saw Marion? Like, actually saw her and talked with her and junk, right? That is what you said?"

>REPLY?

[Celadon's Penultimate]

>UM, YES?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

>UM, YES?

The tension falls out of the girl, and she sinks to the floor.

"You, uh,  you wouldn't mind telling me...well...how was she? Was she okay?"

...Have To Know....Even the worst....please be okay....

[Celadon's Penultimate]

>REASSURE THE BEST

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

>REASSURE THE BEST

"As far as I could see, she was fine. A little thin and tired looking, but she wasn't injured and seemed" you think back to your encounter with the strange girl and her manner, "energetic?"

The relief on her face was palpable. She almost  smiles. "I'm glad," she says, barely audible.

Suddenly, the moment is interrupted by a load buzzer, wailing at the top of it's lungs. The look of peace on the witches face evaporates, and shes on her feet in an instant.

"What the hell in that?"

"I don't.." But you look down at your arm and you do know. The klaxon is coming from the arm computer.

"Turn it off! do you want someone to find us?"

>COMMAND?

[Celadon's Penultimate]

>TURN IT OFF, INQUIRE WHO WILL "FIND US"

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Who will find us?" you shout over the din, frantically pushing buttons to try and silence the machine.

This earns you a blank look, before mindless anger overtakes her features.

"THE REDS YOU SLACK-JAWED IDIOT! HAVE YOU EVEN BEEN PAYING ATTENTION? I THOUGHT LEARNING WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR WHOLE GIMMICK!?"

Finally you find the right button. The alarm shuts down, but you notice a few blinking lights on the screen. You look at what appears to be three such dots overlaid on some sort of map. They are shaped like treasure chests. You wave your hand to Amanda. She comes over and you point out the three chests. Suddenly, a concerned voice rings through the cave.

"Hey, what's going on out here?" It's Armand, the voice sounds close by, but you can't see him anywhere.

You both look around. "Armand, where are you?" you ask.

"Right here," says a voice from the corner. You can here a rhythmic stamping coming from it.

"What are you doing?"

"Jogging in place. You know, for modesty. What are you doing?"

"Marion sent us some type of chest tracker. Little genius." Amanda interjects. She hold your hand in hers, staring intently at the map. "This is a map of the surrounding jungle. Three more chests just spawned, early! That's got to be some sort of sign. Go get dressed and get out here, we need a plan."

The footstep head back into the rear of the cave. Armand returns a minute later, damp but smiling.

"Alright," Amanda starts. "There are three chest that just spawned in the river temple, the gully, and the nearest red base. Now, these are the second set to spawn today. That Never Happens!"

"So, more like him?"

"Right."

"Awesome!" he shouts. "Pick one Arthur!"

"What? Why him?"

"The right man in the wrong place."

This shuts her up. She turns to you. "At least let me tell you where they are."

>HEAD FOR: RIVER TEMPLE
>HEAD FOR: GULLY
>HEAD FOR: RED BASE
>LEARN MORE ABOUT LOCATIONS?

[Celadon's Penultimate]

>GULLY

[Philote]

>HEAD FOR: RIVER TEMPLE
>LEARN MORE ABOUT RED BASE

[Celadon's Penultimate]

>AGREED

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Unsure of what gives you the right to make this kind of destination, you point to the chest that's the farthest away.

"The River Temple? Are you serous? We're going to come back to base just to walk that far back?" Amanda says, clearly displeased.

"I think it's a good choice." Armand says, encouragingly. "It may be far, but we have less chance of encountering red resistance there."

"So, on top of the walk, we don't even get the satisfaction of popping any reds? Cause that's what I just heard."

"Well," you say, we could always attack the base."

"No way would we be able to take them right now." Armand says.
"You're just a coward. I heard the commander is a complete wimp and the place is understaffed." Amanda replies.
"Well, better safe than sorry, right?" you say.

Both you and Armand are looking at her. Finally, she folds under the increasing weight of the peer pressure.

"Fine, but we aren't going to be able to do anything else today. We have a long trip ahead of us."

"At least,"Armand says, "We won't have to deal with anything that could give away our position. Just Feral Creeps, at most."

It doesn't take long for you all to pack. Amanda fills a few bottles with water, Armand fills a bag with the fruit. You all eat, drink, and Amanda goes to take a bath. Then, when you're all prepared, you head out of the cave into the afternoon sunshine.

>COMMAND?
>QUESTIONS?

[Philote]

>CONCEAL BASE
>TAKE ALTERNATE ROUTE BACK

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Armand quickly takes some tree branches and covers up the cave mouth, before moving to his position in the front of the group.

"Okay guys, we're going to be taking the scenic route back." Amanda groans, but you just have questions.

'Wait, that place were we fought Malcolm is the river temple?"

"No," Armand says, shaking his head. The River temple is past it."

"You know, next to a river." Amanda adds, sardonically.

"It's an offshoot of the Purple river." Armand enplanes as you walk. "It's not really purple, it's just called that because it's the river that divides up the red and blue starting territory. Offshoots of it flow into the zones."

You make your way through the humid jungle for hours, until you break through the trees and discover the river temple.




Unfortunately, the mood is ruined by Amanda.

"I never got why it was called a temple. That's more of a shrine, if anything."

"And for all we know it could be infested with feral creeps," Armand warns you. "So, you hold onto that book."

>COMMAND?

(Discovery: I can put hyperlinks in pictures!)

[Celadon's Penultimate]

(Awesome!)

>APPROACH WITH CAUTION (STAY ALERT)