Log:Barnabas Bighead, Scene 2

Barnabas Bighead 2019/12/06 	 Althea Blok Chen Magus Mercury Porter Wade 2

It's late afternoon, or perhaps one should say evening, in the Student Quarter: the sun is down already, the light is fading, and a wintry breeze whips down the streets. This is where the cheapest student housing is: almost in Harrisburg. Not that the neighbourhood is exclusively students.

Of late, quite a number of dogs and cats seems to have gone missing around here, to judge by the many flyers posted about.

Goldie is here on behalf of the food vendors in the Ming Street Market. Nasty, and hopefully untrue, rumors have been heard in the Chinese community that the missing animals are ending up in the cooking pots of said vendors. Chen is aiming to track down the missing pets, or ay least the person or persons resonsible. Thus her arrival as Goldie.

Blok has left the Hospital in search of a meal, and perhaps a friend (old or new) to share it with. He sets out in a random direction, certain that he will find what he is seeking. As he walks the houses appear less cared for, and flyers with pictures of missing pets crop up on lamp posts and fences.

Althea is walking along the student quarter as she notices the flyers. She studies them, and as she notices them to become numerous, she stops to read them. She's back in summer garb, wearing jean shorts and a tank top, though she has her metal bracers on.

Porter really needs to come up with better disguises, so he's not mistaken for That Other Guy With the Moon Pushy Thing. So he's put in some work. Is it any coincidence that he's now wandering through the fringes of the quarter as a little two-tone purple dark-on-light stripped kitten?

Actually, yes, it's complete and likely unfortunate coincidence. It's Porter. And now he's much too short to readily notice posted flyers. Not to mention much more concerned with other, more important dangers: dogs, cars, bicycles, people's feet, stray wind-blown leaves...

Wade is out for a walk, since he wanted some time to think in the brisk air, after a conversation he had earlier in the day. It's only now that he's starting to notice the sheet number of different missing pet flyers. "Huh.

Mercury has come to understand the plight of pet owners in the area, attentive as she is to even the small-seeming things posted to HeroNet, and she arrives to examine the numerous flyers to see what common traits the pets share, if any.

Blok sees a dog - a golden retriever, in fact - wandering the street. Fortunately, he's learned the proper protocol for making this type of friend. He crouches down, and extends one hand - palm down - so that the dog can decide whether to approach and greet him.

Magus had heard through several of his resources about the missing pets. He arrives on the campus, hands in his pockets and cigarette in his mouth. His long London jacket has been pulled tight around his body to protect him from the bite of the cold winter wind.

Goldie trots over to Blok and sniffs the proffered palm. Then licks it with her tongue as her tail wags. "woof... woof..."

Naturally, Mercury first takes a visual inspection of the area to see if any missing pets are immediately apparent. They are not! Familiar faces however, are. She flows in a liquid state to Althea, becoming Mercury by appearance again!

Althea is reading yet another flyer when Mercury arrives. She smiles and greets warmly, "Friend Mercury, Greetings! What is the meaning of these?" she asks, pointing to a third flyer in as many steps.

Wade is mostly oblivious...but does manage to notice Althea, who sticks out in the winter weather. That in turn allows him to notice others he's familiar with. He makes his way over toward them. "Hey there."

Blok says, "Hello, friend dog. I am Blok. Are you feeling well? You don't sound quite like Blok's other dog friends."

Althea doesn't feel the winter chill and has yet to understand how hoomans dress for the weather. She looks over to Wade as he approaches and smiles. "Ah, hello, Friend Wade. Have you met the Mercurial one yet?"

Goldie woofs again, sniffing at the ground and going into the classic gundog 'pointing' posture. .oO(How hard can this ne. Get the picture folks. Huh, Lassie never has this problem. One bark and everyone knows Timmy's fallen down the well.)

Watchoutforfeet. Watchoutfortires. WatchoutforOHGODRABIDLEAF! Porkitten gets spooked by the inanimate object neary his size and starts off in a brief blind dash... probbaly right into something... the street? and ankle? open well? waiting alligator's maw? Could be anything...

"It is warming to hear you address me by name rather than youngling," Mercury offers, seeming pleased by the look of her posture. "These are notices of beloved friends and, in the hearts of some, family, that are worryingly missing. It is why I am here now. To perhaps help to find them." Her head turns as Wade's presence is made more clear by Althea. "GOod day," she offers. Her head turns then back to Althea, "When this many have gone missing in a short time frame, it is undoubtedly a matter of a criminal act."

Wade smiles and nods to Althea, "We've met, I believe." He gives Mercury a small wave, "Nice to see you again."

Blok looks in the direction where the dog is looking so intently. "Is there something there, Friend Dog? Maybe we should go look." Blok climbs to his feet so that he can follow.

Magus approaches Althea and the others. "Now there's a familiar face." he says. "And good to see you again too." he says to Mercury.

Goldie nods her head, ".. bark.. bark.." and follows the train sniffing at the ground, tail whipping back and forth.

Althea gasps. "Missing family members? We must help reunite them!" she says righteously.

Blok continues to follow Goldie.

Althea's head suddenly snaps in a direction. "Energy weapons? There's an attack!" she says just as she was about to say hello to Magus. The over-enthusiastic Godflora starts to float off the ground, flying in the general direction of the noise.

Taking on a more solid form over most of herself, Mercury offers Wade a lift before chasing after Artemis at high speed to catch up.

Goldie tracks the scent into an alley, then it changes suddenly.

Goldie says, ".. woof..?"

Wade accepts the lift from Mercury. He heard something odd, but...couldn't tell what it was, exactly.

Blok says, "Is something wrong?" He looks around from his higher vantage, "I do not see anything unusual."

There may also be a startled/pained squeaking squawl, too. Possibly a small roundish purple furry puddle stuck to the dead end of the alley, too. At least momentarily, before peeling off and falling. Not unlike one Mr. Coyote after strapping an ACME rocket to his back.

Goldie says, "BEEP!" followed by, "The cat trail I was following ends here, Blok. In this pile of ash. That's what's left."

Now Blok is confused. He's pretty sure that dogs as a species do not speak English. He crouches down to look at the pile of ash, even touching it to try his Diagnostic Sense. "I've never met a dog that spoke like that before."

Por-kitten may well wonder if he got hit a bit hard on the head there. Because he seems to be looking back at 3 rats. With freaking laser guns. Well, some kind of energy guns. They seem to be designed for rats to fire, two-handed.

Goldie is kind of angry but not at Blok. "You've met shapeshifters though. Like little old Chen Li. If you're looking for missing pets what better way to get the people doing it out in the open than to be a pet wandering on her own? Only.. I'm also smelling rats. A lot of rats."

Por-kitten shakes out some of the flattening to puff out his fluffy self. Hopefully this also clears the little floating things from his eyes as he tries to figure out what just happened. He's pretty sure that most bike tires don't zap, and until it was someone like Sentinel or Commander Perrault, feet would singe like -oh, poopy.

Already on his haunches, his front paws go up. Over his head. Consider it a reflex. Rats? With laser guns? Wait... isn't there a holiday season ballet about something like this?

Althea tries to follow the sound, by she wasn't close enough to pinpoint more than a general direciton. She slows and listens.

The rats seem surprised that the kitten is still conscious. "Set guns to kill - fire!" orders one.

The rats flick a switch and take aim again....

Blok says, "Chen? Rats?" He thinks back to the last time he saw Chen. "Rats. From Starguard?"

Magus follows the others. A look of shock crosses over his face when spots the rats. "What the bloody hell?" he says startled.

Goldie remembers the squeaky sound, and looks that way toward the end of the ally.

Goldie says, "Yeah. Pretty sure."

Goldie tells Blok, "I heard a noise. Didn't know what it was at the time. Now you've reminded me. It was from these rat weapons. Althea was right. Energy weapon fire. You're probably needed there. I'm going down the rabbit hole." Changing form to a snake shape she wiggles down into the rat hole.

"Blok heard that noise also. Be careful, Friend Chen." Blok stands and leaves the alley, heading toward where the sound came from.

Chen finds the way is dark, and there's little but smell to rely on. But there does seem to be a main rat trail, despite a number of branches.

Goldie wiggles along following the scent of the most rat traffic. She's in hard as a rock mode in case of an rat ambush. The the ratty kind of thing they would do.

The rat smell gets stronger. Also the sewer smell.

Wade continues following Althea, "So...what was it you heard, exactly?" He's still pretty clueless. "Energy weapons?"

"Three energy weapon shots," Althea explains, hovering at at a loss. "In this general direction, but I know not where exactly," she says worriedly.

Of course, the three further shots fired at Porter change that!

The Brave Little Kitten That Could ..Surrender suddenly blinks at the rat's orders. Eyes go as wide as saucers of milk for a split second before he hits the dirt (he hopes that's dirt) and covers his head with paws. When the sizzles stop and the smoke clears, he opens eyes to peek out of the one unsinged spot in a meter radius.

It seems the rats aren't completely stupid: they know something is up when the kitten survives a second round of fire. "This is no ordinary cat! Retreat!"

Blok is now close enough to spot Wade and Althea, and moves to join them.

Goldie continues down the rabbit hole, okay, rat hole. Sniffing and listening. Thinking dark and angry thoughts.

Porter is at the end of a short, dead-end alley. Halfway between him and the mouth of the alley are the three armed rats. In the street the alley leads to are most of the heroes; the last round of fire has told them where the weapons fire was from. Goldie is entering a sewer from a hole in a second alley. Blok is making his was from the second alley to the first, which is unfortunate involvement-wise.

Wade follows the sound of the weapons fire, and rounds the corner into the alley. He sighs a bit as he sees teh rats with the weapons. "Of course." He continues running, getting over close to them, but he does roll up his sleeve as he moves, and he turns on his shield.

Goldie pauses in her advance. She recalls at least some of the rats speak English. "I know you can hear me," she says. "Listen. If you continue acting like this you'll end up in a war of extermination against the humans. A war they will win. You'll be dooming not only yourselves but the other intelligent rats in the city who have been living in peace with the humans for years. You have a choice. An alternative. Open a dialog with the humans. Come to a mutually beneficial agreement with them. Otherwise you and your offspring will die."

Magus says, "moves up the mouth of the alley and uses the edge of a wall to take cover. He gazes down the alley and sees Wade move and engage the rats. He extends his will down to a rat in the back and whispers, "Shoot your friend, he stole your cheese." "

The rat raises its gun at the head of its companion....

Por-kitten thought rats shooting at him with laser guns was a little odd, but now that he thinks about it, is it so odd? He IS a cat. Rodents and cats don't have the best track record, now do they. And now there's Goldie! Maybe, if dogs and cats an rats can all get along... Unfortunately, unlike Goldie, he can't sound like anything other than a kitten, but he does his best to try and convince the rats they're not a threat to them.

Goldie makes herself as presenceful as possible to convince the rats to think seriously about her words

Two of the rats scarper - the third shoots the ostensible cheese-thief in the back...

... or would if he were a better shot, or the other rat weren't running so fast.

The hole the rats ran down is damaged.

It takes a moment before the rats, evidently awed by Chen's speech, react, but at last a leader speaks. "We have no fight with the humans. We have lived beside them for many generations. Their cities are our cities. And though the humans may be hostile, we are not. But the nooks and crannies, those are our territory. Why have you come here?" A soft hum of a couple of dozen charging energy weapons rises, and the eyes of many more rats can be seen in the faint resulting glow.

Althea summons her shield and flies into the alleyway, confused by what she's seeing. Rats with laser guns. A kitten. Doggo. And treachery in the rat ranks?! "Be this one of Bezad's schemes? Who be the ones in need of rescue?" she asks as she hovers above.

Goldie replies, "Because you are killing the pets of humans. Do you know what pets are? They are companions to humans. Many humans consider pets as part of their families. By killing pets you are effectively killing humans in the eyes of many of the humans."

Blok hustles to catch up with the others.

The rat leader sighs. "That was not... policy. Not approved. But some young hotheads - you know how they get. Their friend is eaten, and they want revenge. They cannot accept that it is the way of things."

Goldie sighs too, "My teacher, Master Chung, would say an eye for an eye leaves all blind. I understand but it has to stop or there will never be any hope of peace. As sentient creatures you have a right of self defence. But intelligent beings like yourselves should be able to protect yourselves without having to kill."

"It is an easy thing to say," replies the leader, "though humans, too, killed most of the dangerous animals larger than themselves. But I will do what I can. Chief Bighead did not give us these guns to go on such hunts, but to defend ourselves. I will take them from the hotheads - and send them to the temple. Perhaps there they can teach them the True Way of Eleven, that the best weapon is the weapon used sparingly."

Goldie says, "I will leave and tell the humans what has been spoken here." She don't have to turn around. Changing shape her head becomes her tail end and her tail end becomes her head. Thewn she starts to wiggle back up the rat tunnel.

Magus says, "peers down the alleyway and sees the one rat left. He closes his eyes for a second and chants, commanding the forces from beyond to wrack the last rat with fear. "

The rat looks suddenly terrified.

"I will tell the younglings of what was spoken here. They will be made to understand."

Por-kitten now tentatively makes his way back towards the mouth of the alley. He still does his best to look harmless, non-threatening, and general cute and snuggleable. Mostly because he can just say 'Hey, you do you, I'll do me, please don't shoot, step on, or run over.'

The last rat runs for cover under the rubbish of the alley, not even daring to follow its companions (including that cheese thief!) down into the tunnels!

Althea lands, looking very confused. "I was told family members were killed. If they were the culprits, why let them go?"

Goldie returns and finds the group. She relates what happened in the tunnel, why the rats were attacking pets, and what she and the rat leader spoke of.

"I think by family members they were talking about pets" Magus says to Althea as she lands near him. "Families tend to view their pets as family members around these parts .. meaning earth."

Althea nods once. "Then they are murderers who should be brought to justice!"

The last rat quivers in its hiding place.

Wade raises a brow, "Or at least their weapons taken away. Uh...anyone speak rat?"

Goldie points out, quietly because its Wade, "Uh, they understand and speak English just fine."

Blok says, "Did not rats at Starguard spoke English?"

Well, everyone's calmed down, gone on their way, not shot/run over/chopped/stomped on anyone... or almost everyone? The purple kitten gives the lone rat a wide berth, shaking ...alley stuff from his paws as he goes straight for the heroes. Since the rats might change their minds. And the heroes provide much more cover, not to mention are on his way to the street. He does stop to look up at them, offering a hello that sounds very much like a tiny meow.

Magus walks down the alleyway to where the rat is hiding. He takes a drag from his cigarette and then bends to look at the rat straight in its beady little eyes and says .. "Boo!"

Blok turns and crouches down. "Hello, Friend Kitten. I am Blok." He holds out a finger just out of the kitten's reach. "Would you like to come with me?

The rat dashes from Magus, terrified, almost braining itself as it squeezes through a tiny hole to escape. In its panic, it drops its gun.

Althea looks down at the tiny meowing Kitten. "Was this to be another family member slain?!" She crouches down and carefully reaches for the kitten, palm up to coax it so she can pick it up.

Wade takes a look at the weapon. Presumably it's the kind SG uses?

Mercury isn't really of mind to stay away from the rat hole, and enters. She cannot allow this to continue. She is now on the hunt for the weapons, which have limited hole options, unlike the rats that can fit into much tinier openings.

The gun is definitely not Starguard issue. It's built for rats, to be fired two-handed while standing on one's hind legs, with a loop that allows it to be carried when on four legs. It's clearly new, despite being dirty. In interior design it resembles the Starguard weapons, but impressively miniaturised - clearly some reverse engineering has been done.

Mercury soon finds the rat tunnels have many branches....