Locked in the Tower ✪ Part Three: Bullet Time

[megazero_to_superhero]

Characters:	David "Little David" Puskás, and all youse guys!
Setting:	Floors Three, Eighteen, and Nineteen (Libaries and Study Room), then Floor One (Cafeteria), and later any floor.
Format:	Matching tagger's choice, but starting with Prose.
Summary:	David's doing some library research and looking for whoever's writing up a book on heroes. Then he gets lazy.
Warnings:	None come to mind!

Option A: Floors 3, 18, and 19 (Libraries and Study Room)


     It's been a problem that David's been trying to solve for months now. Namely—now that he's got his rifle put back together, just how was he going to get ammunition for it?

     Every piece of Little David's combat-related equipment requires ammunition of some sort; cartridges, shells, taser darts, grenades, rockets. Without them, he's little more than a clay pigeon ... well, okay, a sturdier clay pigeon, but nevertheless he can't effectively fight back against the tower's monsters or any villainous residents. Fists won't get a Blaster very far. That sword he lifted off the warband of mutilated humanoids during the glamour failure—well, it made for somewhat better odds ... but rather than seeking out a tutor on how to use it effectively as he probably should have done (whatever happened to the guy with the spear?), he's spent these past few months looking for some way to procure ammunition within the tower.

     Soon after the most recent dust-up with the Admins, David got a lucky break in the form of Waver Velvet, Lord El-Melloi the second.

     So now, David's making a thorough search of the Tower's libraries and study room, looking for anything on rifle cartridges. Any books, or even just an encyclopedia entry or two, that might give Waver a good idea of what they're made of and their general anatomy. He's also looking for anything he can find on shotgun shells, for the same reason. Having a flight system in his powered armor suit makes the job a little easier: with every flare of its plasma thrusters, David zips about from isle to isle, shelf to shelf, completely disregarding any ladders or stairs that might be needed to access the higher shelves.





Option B: Floor 1 (Cafeteria)


     Shortly before the latest bout with the admins, David had received a colorful letter with a request. Since Christmas, David's been trying to find whoever it was who sent the note. He's a little confused, though—when he reads the letter, he keeps reading "room two on floor one" as meaning the Cafeteria. It hasn't yet occurred to him to check the residential Floor One.

     David never really was the book smart type.

     Nevertheless, he's staking out the cafeteria again, with the letter in hand. He's also going to be nosing around the kitchens, looking for any signs that might help determine if the cafeteria really has a "room two" or not. So, kitchen staff, you might have a hero getting in the way of meal times.





Option C: Any stairways/floors


     Other times, of the day, though, you might find David elsewhere.

     Like napping in mid-air, in front of you, or in places that aren't the most appropriate for a nap, like off the side of a ledge or railing—and yet he'll be floating there as if he were lying back in a hammock. Legs crossed, arms folded behind his back, the plasma thrusters in his boots and on his back keeping him sturdily aloft. Not unlike a certain demolitions mech whose theme music is appropriate for this sort of activity.

     You could probably push him around like an air hockey puck and he wouldn't notice ... or would he?

Comments

[myblueskies]

"I know mister Enoch yes." Romeo nodded with a smile, "He's really nice." And was already in the hero book a couple of times over but Romeo would happily add another story about him in there, there was lots of room because the book could be as long as Romeo wanted it to be.

[megazero_to_superhero]

"Yeah, he's a good guy," David agrees. "Definitely got da right stuff. It was durin' da first time da glamour failed when he saved me from a pack of dem messed-up monsters—da ones dat look human, but with pointy ears an' like dey had a couple boulders dropped on 'em?" David gestures with his hands again, pointing up toward his ears.

"Lucky Enoch saw what was goin' on. He had a weapon on 'em, so he went to work bashin' deir heads in so I could get away. Best part is, he had somethin' followin' him around he called a 'retrieval unit,' an' once dose guys came runnin', da unit was in deir way. So dey tried to kill it first." David gives a bit of a wry, though grim, smile. "Didn't work out for 'em."

To put it lightly.

[myblueskies]

Romeo nodded Enoch was definitely a good person and this story was a good example. He concentrated on writing it all down. So Enoch had even saved a retrieval unit, he really was a great hero. "That's really amazing, I'm glad he saved you, monsters are really scary."

[megazero_to_superhero]

David doesn't notice that's what Romeo's writing down, though if he realized that was the impression Romeo got from the tale, he'd have corrected him. Hard to forget a sight like a retrieval unit tearing apart a pack of Orcs.

Though in David's eyes, that doesn't diminish Enoch's bravery and selflessness at all.

"Heh. Yeah. I'm gonna hafta find someone who can teach me da finer points of usin' a sword. Past time I pulled my own weight around here," David replies with a bit of embarrassment.

[myblueskies]

"Well mister Diarmuid teaches people." Romeo told him, "And so does mister Reno. Do you know them?"

If he didn't Romeo could at least tell him where to find them. "My friend Ken also teaches people but he's better with a spear."

[megazero_to_superhero]

Funny enough, David's going to run into Reno later in January once Riki asks for volunteers to fix the power—but as of yet he hasn't heard about him.

"Naw, never heard of either of 'em," David says. "I did meet some guy who was one of dem spear-usin' types an' he offered to teach me, but I ain't seen 'em in months. Mighta been Ken."

He's actually thinking of Kain Highwind. Alas, the perils of having similar names ...

[myblueskies]

"Well I can ask Ken for you! He's my best friend." Romeo told him proudly. "I could teach you but I'm not really that good yet, I need to practice more."

[megazero_to_superhero]

"Sure," David says with a grin. "I'd appreciate dat. Though—what about dat Deer-mud guy? Is he more da sword fightin' type?"

[myblueskies]

"He fights with lots of weapons." Romeo told him with a smile, "Swords and spears and other things, he's a knight and a really great hero!"

[megazero_to_superhero]

Another hero, eh? David can drink to that. If he had bothered to get a drink earlier. Good thing it's not February yet!

"Huh, so he'd prolly be da better guy to go two on sword fightin', you think?" David says in a wondering tone. He's also struck on how the guy's name sounds Irish to him—after being exposed to all the stuff going in in Salamanca, he'd always wanted a chance to talk it over with an expert on ancient magical stuff.

[myblueskies]

"I think so." Romeo nodded with a grin, "He's really nice so if you ask him I'm sure he will help you!"

Oh man, I had a tag written up for this and never posted it. D'oh!

[megazero_to_superhero]

The more David hears about this Deer Mud guy, the more he sounds like he's should be everything a hero ought to be. All the more reason to meet up with him.

"Arright," David replies. "You know where I can find 'em usually?"

tis okay <3

[myblueskies]

"He lives on the fourth floor." Romeo told him, then remembered the mans mistake from before. "The fourth bedroom floor not the room with the chairs and the windows."

[megazero_to_superhero]

David gives a sheepish grin when Romeo takes care to point out which of the floors he meant. He's going to have to remember to ask that from now on when people give him directions around the Tower ...

"Okay, apartment floor number four. Got it." He pauses for a moment, realizing something. "Which room, though?"

[myblueskies]

"Um... one of the bigger numbers I think. Sixteen or fourteen or..." Romeo frowned, "All the names are on the doors."

[megazero_to_superhero]

"Oh! Arright, dat makes it easy den." David grins at first, but his face falls in realization: he can't pronounce Gaelic names to save his life, even though Deer Mud's name was pretty straightforward. Was it spelled that way, though?

"Uh ... his name ain't spelled da way it sounds, is it?"

[myblueskies]

"Um..." Romeo frowned for a moment and then remembered something. "Lots of people put him in the hero book." He rummaged through the papers. "Here." He copied the name on a spare piece of paper carefully. "It's like that."

[megazero_to_superhero]

"Man, dat guy must be in da real big leagues den, like a King Arthur or somethin' ..." David murmurs in response as he leans over to look at the paper. In a softer voice, he spells out the name to himself before nodding.

"'Kay, got it. Is he Irish by any chance? 'Cause dis definitely reminds me of some Irish stuff I've ran into back home."

His tone of voice doesn't imply any disdain, just curiosity.

[myblueskies]

"He is yes! He was telling me about where he came from." Romeo grinned at David, "Are you from Ireland too?"

[megazero_to_superhero]

"Heh, naw, I'm from America. An' I think my ancestry's mostly Hungarian," David explains. "But back home dere was a lot of magic stuff goin' on dat people told me came from Ireland."

[myblueskies]

"America! That's way across a huge ocean. They have flying machines there, Rory told me. Is that why you can fly sir?" Romeo grinned at him.

"I'm from Ticino, that's part of Switzerland and I lived in Italy for a while. Do you know where they are?"

Wow, Dreamwidth has been sluggish about notifs recently ...

[megazero_to_superhero]

"Italy an' Switzerland? Sure," David says, returning Romeo's grin. "Always thought it was funny how Italy's kinda shaped like a big boot."

His grin becomes a little tentative at Romeo's question about the flying machines. Definitely an indicator that Romeo's from an earlier time—probably, from the sound it, just a little after the Wright Brothers made that maiden flight.

"As for how I can fly, heh, well, sorta. In my time flight's a common thing worldwide. Been so for a hundred years." He looks at Romeo more directly. "It was 2012 when da Tower took me."

Re: Wow, Dreamwidth has been sluggish about notifs recently ...

[myblueskies]

Romeo grinned, "It was... um the year began with a eighteen." He told him, Doctor Casella had told him which year once. It took a moment for him to try and remember, "Eighteen forty three I think. We didn't got flying machines but there was trains! They went really fast but not as fast as a race car."

[megazero_to_superhero]

Oh ... Romeo's from an even earlier time? Ninteenth century—David's reminded of the Civil War and Nemesis aiding the Confederate Army. Not that it changed the outcome. But Romeo's from Europe, and the only thing he can think of happening back around then was Napoleon's dreams of conquest.

"Heh, yeah, trains're still a big thing in my time, too," David says. "We got some in da city I live—well, not like trains, but dey work kinda da same. Kinda like smaller trains for shuttlin' people around, 'cause da city's so big."

[myblueskies]

"Milano was big too but it didn't need trains, your city must have been huge!" His eyes were wide and he grinned. "Rory said that in America everyone was free and no one sold kids, but I think that might be a future thing because Ken's from Japan and he said the same thing but I never met anyone from Italy except mister Italy but he disappeared and I never got to ask him."