Domain Game Quest

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

You work your way up the stairs, doing a sort of dance, watched by all the creeps you pass.

You don't get this. Is she toying with you? You've never been that fast. Even after coming into the game you were more of a stand in the back, use wind to mess with people sort of person. You know with certainty, whoever she is, she's much faster than you. At this range, you would never be able to fight back. She would lock you down and beat you until you were nothing. Until you popped.

But she doesn't. She pulls her punches. The blows that land, which aren't many, don't have any real power behind them. But she stays close. Very close. Never letting you move outside of her strike zone. It makes you uncomfortable. And it's slow going, fighting up the stairs like this.

"Hey, wha-" you start, but in a single quick movement she holds a finger up to your lips, then pulls it away to flick her ear before jerking her thumb at the wall.

Deciding that, no, this isn't a rues, you begin circling your wrist. It's a slow way to build up pressure, but it's about the most you can do right now.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

(Are we allowed to switch control over to Armand or do we have to stick with Amanda since we chose her at the beginning?)
>Keep going till top of stairs and then search for Armand, possibly be ready to create a distraction for him to get the chest stuff out.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

BE ARMAND?

Y/N

[Celadon's Penultimate]

>YES

(And after this, can we shift back to Arthur Aardvark? )

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(Arthur is current uncontrollable, due to the things he is currently doing right at this moment in the previous chapter. I figure he's battling the Brawling Monks at this point.)

You are Armand Irving and you are the stealth master. See, this is a sneaking mission, all equipment procured on sight, and you're currently recharging your optic camouflage.

Which means you hanging out in a empty room, catching your breath. Kinetic stealth really takes it out of you, much more than freerunning ever did. You think it's knowing that if you get caught, you're a dead man.

You're in what appears to be a bathroom. The facilities are surprising modern, given they're built into a tree. You're leaning against the big wooden tub right now. And you mean big; looks more like a hot tub than a bath tub. You'd get some water, but you don't want to run the risk of someone hearing that. The door is to your left, closed but not locked.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Go ahead and get a drink of water

The base is suspiciously empty and it will probably be worth it to be as recharged as possible. If somebody does come to investigate we can activate kinetic stealth before the door is fully open and make a break for it possibly.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Oh screw it. You turn the tap (wooden, like everything up here) as low as possible. Cool water starts pouring out. You reach out to get some with your hands. It's always a little freaky watching it. You move your hands under the water and stop, where they suddenly appear. When they're full, you bring them back and the water flouts in midair toward your face. You drink it down, and it tastes so good. You decide to go for another, what the hey. The base is understaffed anyway.

Well, it can't really be called understaffed. There were, what, 130 something reds? This whole world, all of it, consisted of the two main bases and the three lanes connecting them. Along the lanes, there were 3 bases each. That was 11 bases in all. If all of them were staffed, there would be an average of.....11? 12? Somewhere in that range. And that was discounting the fact that this base was out in the middle of the map, the boondocks. Most would want to be closer to the main base. So, 11 was a little high of an guesstimate. He figured 7, at the very most.

Man, he missed Marion at times like this. She'd be able to use numbers to tell him the exact number of people in the base.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Review what we saw on the way here

Were there creeps outside this room? Have we seen any important areas that stand out? Any hunch on where the treasure chest is? How far are we from Amanda?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Last time you saw Amanda, she was at the bottom of the stairs. There are a lot of stairs. You think you pretty much have to be close to the top of this tree now, and it is massive. It's no wonder you had to rest in this bathroom (the very first room, set right into the wall on the landing. Convenient). outside is one more short flight of stairs into the base proper. You think most of the creeps that are in this tree (way to few, you note, for how long it's been) are at the moment headed for the stairs. You heard a bunch a while ago, but things seemed to have quieted down.

This base has changed since you've last been here, but you don't think they would have changed the location of the chest room. If they were smart, it would be somewhere connected to the living quarters.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Check for alternative exit
>If none found, let's head for the living quarters.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

You look around the room real quick for other exits. You don't know what you expected to find, it's a bathroom. Just to be thorough you open up the cabinet. Nope.

You crack open the door, and peek out.

Trumpeters. A pair of them, waiting at the top of the twisting stairwell. They've got their backs to you from where you are, though.

Well, begin sneaking mission then.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Leap over them

Can we do some Olympic style jump/twist over them? They will probably hear us but we should be able to make off invisibly before that is an issue right? I'll see what Wulf thinks if he posts relatively soon.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(Sorry, didn't make that clear. They're facing the stairs Amanda would be coming up. You're already behind them, and could just walk up the final flight of stairs that connects this landing to the base proper.)

[Philote]

>Back stab them both if we can take care of them without attracting too much attention
>If not, leave for living quarters

[Celadon's Penultimate]

(Indeed; handle them handily...)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

You pull your knife out of your wasteband. Amanda was going to need all the help she could get. You rush they. No need to move slowly, not with your footfalls cloaked in a veil of Non-Existence. You jam the knife into the back of one of the creeps necks. Quickly pulling it to the side, slicing the creatures head off in the process, you reverse your grip and drive it backhanded into the others face. You jerk up, slicing the skull neatly open. Like a coconut. The whole thing done in a single fluid motion. Then your visible again as the creeps disintegrate to nothing.

You decide to keep your knife out as you head for the door. It's a big double door at the top of a short flight of ballroom stairs, meticulous embroidered with decorative carvings. In fact, the whole landing gives off the impression of a theater lounge. It's when you reach the door that you stop. You can't make out what they're saying, but you swear you here voices. Two people at least, getting closer, heading towards the door.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Circle to keep invisible
>Jump through door after they exit
>Avoid fight if possible, first priority is getting to chest

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

You jump to the side as the door opens up, weaving back and forth to stay invisible. Two people, a boy with headphones  hanging around his neck and a girl in a sparkly dress walk down. They look like they're arguing.

"I'm telling you, I running water." Says Phones.

"What, you sure that's not from the fight on the Stairwell?" Replies Sparkly. "You know, it might have been blood."

"It wasn't blood, it was the faucet. I know what spilled blood sound like, and tha-"

That's all you catch as you slip through the door behind them and it swings closed. Your standing on some sort of outside walkway, the sun shining down on you through the branches above you. You walk to the edge of the railing and look down only to find yourself above the canopy, a green sea stretching out before you in all directions. The walkway looks like it circles the tree completely around, but you can see it all because of the curvature. You look up, and that's when you spot the base proper.

It's something straight out of the Swiss Family Robinson, the tree house of every kids dreams nestled in among the branches. There's a latter built into the side of the tree beside the door, leading up into it.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Head up ladder
>Note that we could run water as a distraction later.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

You head on up the latter, moving quickly and fluidly. Humming. It's not like anyone can hear you. Not while you're moving, not with the power active.

You emerge onto a balcony. There's a door heading deeper inside set into the tree house. From within, you can here two people in hushed conversation.

>COMMAND?