Observations

[thelordsage]

Characters: Sephiran and YOU!
Setting: The Cafeteria and a hallway in the tower.
Format: Starting in brackets, but I'll follow you!
Summary: Sephiran observes some of the strange doings of the worker units around the tower. One of them attacks him.
Warnings: A little violence and possible bruises/blood in the hallway prompt.


Cafeteria
[Sephiran didn't really mind the nutrition bars. He had a bit of apathy in general regarding the food; this was his place of punishment, after all, so what reason was there to care what there was to eat?

When he got to the cafeteria this time, though, the worker units who normally served the food were behaving oddly. One was moving at an incredibly rapid pace, making it a mere motion blur to Sephiran's eyes. Another was just staring at a wall, its back turned to everything. Partly puzzled and partly finding a little gallows humor in the worker units functioning oddly, he couldn't help but just watch the units go (or not go, in the case of the one by the wall). He might occasionally pull someone over and say:]

Look at that. Isn't that something?





Hallway

[While walking through the tower, Sephiran seems to have encountered a particularly aggressive worker unit. Brandishing his Ellight tome, he prepares to do battle with it and hopefully come out alive. Being a squishy mage isn't always fun and games... boy, does he wish there was someone to help him fight this thing off.]

Comments

Hallway

[neverbeamemory]

[Rounding the corner, Sephiroth notes the worker unit right away, or more like the way it's going for that other guy just a little further down the corridor.

When they are doing the jobs they're supposed to be doing such as cooking and cleaning it's very easy to overlook the worker units. So it makes it all the more obvious when they start doing things they shouldn't be. Case in point, attacking another resident. Isn't that something only retrievals do? And only then if you actively resist them?

It just adds to the general concern about what was going on recently. First Jason's announcement and now this? Well really, if this was supposed to be tormenting them the the surgeon was losing his touch. For this reason alone he will intervene. Keenly and instantly Sephiroth's grip fastens around Masamune as it's made manifest from nothing and he charges for the worker unit. Aiming a sweeping strike at the worker once he's in range, from floor to ceiling.]

[thelordsage]

[The unit takes the blow hard. It falls down, then slowly crawls away. Sephiran heaves a heavy sigh of relief.]

Thank you for dispatching that so swiftly.

[neverbeamemory]

Don't mention it.

[Sephiroth replies almost as an after thought, he's too busy carefully watching the unit crawl away. Wondering what on it could mean, for them all to be acting so strangely.]

You'd think they have enough monsters to throw at us already. [Small smirk is shot at Sephiran. It's quite clear from his manner though, he wasn't about being a hero.]

[thelordsage]

Yes, that would certainly seem to be the case... but now the worker units are attacking, too. I don't know how much longer my magic tomes will last, at this rate.

[neverbeamemory]

Tomes? Like books.

[Sounds similar to Ienzo, with that almighty book of his when they went monster hunting. Odd, Sephiroth hasn't seen the kid around for a while...

Regardless, it's good to know as many other people's skills as possible. You never know when such info will be needed.]

I wouldn't be counting on that if retrievals started attacking like that though...

[thelordsage]

That's right. Where I come from, we need tomes to cast magic. [Beat.] I'm afraid that I haven't much else to "count on." I have never been the strongest physically, and while I do have a staff, I don't think that it would be best for combat.

[neverbeamemory]

[Ah. Another squishy.

Sephiroth would never understand why such obviously flawed persons would be drawn into this Tower in the first place. Why anyone, in fact, would be so specialized and not trained in both disciplines. Not just magic, not just physical combat. Magic, Materia, Tomes, Foci - it's all the same thing.]

Well then, I wouldn't be idly wandering around.

[Masamune is held fast in one hand, curled backwards with the flat side lining his arm all the way up and the point extending over his head. With workers acting up like this, there is no way he was going to disarm himself, or even spend more than a few moments not being aware of his surroundings. Sephiroth breaks from the conversation to take a careful look around in case of other workers that might act up suddenly.]

[thelordsage]

I did have a destination in mind. The worker unit simply caught up to be before I made it there. [Beat.] Do you see any others?

[neverbeamemory]

Not for the moment.

[Indeed, the corridor is clear. Sephiroth isn't really much for idle chit-chat and so with a confirming nod to Sephiran he heads past the magic-user alone.

He doesn't mean to play hero after all and now the worker not attacking anymore there isn't much reason for him to stick around.]

[thelordsage]

[Well gee, someone isn't good at ending conversations. Sephiran nods back and adds:]

Thank you again.

Cafeteria

[bowandblade]

[Archer had taken to supplementing the rather tasteless nutrition bars with whatever he could find roaming the floors and then dragging it back to the kitchen for butchering. Messy business and something that he was more akin to the servants of his time handling, but he would not be much of a hunter if he did not know how to clean and care for the meat he slaughtered.

Even if the beast he had just finished butchering was a small bull with fairy wings.

He looks over when he hears the long-haired man drawing attention to something, blinking when his eyes first fall on the rapidly-moving worker unit.]

Such odd behavior. Does this happen often?

[thelordsage]

[Sephiran shakes his head.]

Not to my knowledge, no. Normally they move at a reasonable speed. This is strange indeed. [Beat.] Might I ask how long you have been here?

wow, I thought I responded to this. sorry!

[bowandblade]

[He laughs lowly at the question, as if the answer should be obvious.]

I 'arrived' here last month. But I have not been paying much attention to these ... workers.

cafeteria

[terreifying]

Look at what?

[Rei throws a glance back at the semi-familiar man. Wasn't he the one who talked about inviting the judgement of a goddess a while back?]

[thelordsage]

That worker unit over there. See how fast it's moving... does that strike you as odd at all?

[Sephiran recognizes Rei a bit, too. Wasn't she on floor 100 with him when that strange mist struck a little while back?]

[terreifying]

[She looks closely at the worker unit before giving a big nod.]

Yep. It really is a little odd!

[Though there seemed to be quite a few drones doing that nowadays.]

[thelordsage]

And that other one... why is it just standing there? I would see if it responded to anything, but I certainly don't want to get in the way of that other one. Have you seen others behaving like this, too?

[terreifying]

A little. Almost makes me wonder if they're playing games.

[thelordsage]

Games... these seem a little too dangerous to just be games. Why would these units want to play games that could potentially hurt the residents?

[terreifying]

Well...they do work for people like Jason and Ruana.

[thelordsage]

That makes sense, I suppose, especially given what Ruana did a few months earlier. I was lucky enough to not be chosen for those deadly games, but I suppose I shouldn't count on my luck much longer.

[terreifying]

The games aren't the worst part. I'd say it was when she ate Dax.

[Given Rei's constitution, she found the games rather fun.]

[thelordsage]

Ah... that. [Sephiran saw the recording, alright, but he didn't really know what to think of it.] So Dax was the man in that video... can you tell me anything about him? I never got to know him well, but it seems that others here hold a high opinion of him.

[terreifying]

I dunno either. I've only seen him once. But I hear from everyone else that he was nice.

[thelordsage]

Yes, that's what everyone else has told me, too. It's a shame that I didn't get to see more of him... but I suspect I will experience more than enough of the others to make up for it.

[terreifying]

I think Zo replaced him. After all, we still change administrators every month.

Hallway

[idkworldruler]

[He had been tracking the various drones for a few days now, noting their behaviors and patterns. Every now and then he would come across a violent one, though when that happened he always preferred to stand back and attempt to observe it like the rest. So when he noticed one getting a bit too violent with another resident his initial response was to hang back and observe as per usual.

Though this person did not look as though he could hold his own in a physical combat. Now while he was more than eager to see what would happen after one of the drones beats a person into a puddle of goo, he was less inclined to whiteness a supposedly one-sided fight. So after much internal debate over the pros and cons of helping him, Mitch decided on helping the bystander. So, in slinging his gun, he took a shot at at the drone's knees.]

[thelordsage]

[The shots hit, and the drone crumples to its knees. It drags itself off by its hands, apparently disarmed. Sephiran relaxes visibly.]

Thank you. Those shots seem to have brought it to its senses, or at least forced it into a retreat.

[idkworldruler]

[Well now that was oddly, and sadistically amusing. He watched as the worker began to crawl around with a bit of an amused look, before quickly dropping it. He is most certainly not a sadist, is what he tells himself.]

Hm? Oh, yeah, sure you're welcome. [He quickly walked over to the downed creature and moved to slam the butt of his rifle at the back of its head repeatedly.]

You should be more careful of where you walk.

[thelordsage]

[Sephiran watched the display with dismay. Humans could be such violent creatures...]

I was simply on my way to the one of the lounges. This one followed me out of the cafeteria, it seems. [What does where he was walking have to do with this? He doesn't see it.]