Tifaria
Your Friendly Neighborhood Cynic
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Your friendly neighborhood cynic
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« Reply #299 on: December 02, 2007, 08:52:11 PM » |
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I decided to try and summarize entire "stories" separately, rather than have it jump around from character to character. I wasn't entirely sure what order to put them in since it seems like pretty much everything is happening at the same time anyway. As always, please let me know if there are any corrections I need to make! I really tried to make sure I got everything important in here, but if I'm missing something, please let me know!
Paradigm HQ:
We begin with Alex Rosewater calling Dastun in for some sort of meeting. He assures Dastun that he's not in trouble, Alex just wants his "professional opinion on some matters." A sudden crash echoes through the hallways after he says this.
In the lobby of the Paradigm Co., Angel is trying to find out any information she can without really looking for anything in particular. She hears the crash, but decides that it's not worth investigating.
As it turns out, the crash was the result of Dastun's chair flying into an antique vase. Rosewater aparrently implied that the Military Police are not well equipped enough to handle current events in the city. Dastun is a bit touchy about this subject and believes that they are fine as they are. It's odd that Rosewater even asked his opinion at all when it's obvious he's already made a decision. Dastun decides to tell Roger and goes on his way.
Somewhere in the desert:
A man named Jim and his two android friends, Kaisera and her "brother", Greystar, have kept themselves busy repairing a hangar for Jim's Megadeus, Big Avenger. The original hangar, as well as the androids' home, was destroyed when Jim wandered out into the desert some time ago. He awoke Big Avenger, who had been waiting for a new Dominus, but in the process also awoke a Leviathan in search of an android. Kaisera and Greystar's "father" died in the attack. He created them over forty years ago, but lost all memory of how he did so when everyone's memories were lost.
Since then, Jim has discovered an underground railway system that takes him into Paradigm City. He has been keeping up with what's going on there, but information is hard to come by. Jim isn't able to afford Big Ear's information, and he has stayed clear of the Union. He finds himself at the Paradigm Co. building, where he asks a receptionist to deliver a message to "a Miss Laura Atherin". His message apologizes for leaving suddenly and without explanation, and he requests that they meet that night to talk.
Elsewhere, Alan Gabriel awakens from some sort of operation. He is able to communicate lucidly despite being on strong medication. The doctors tell him to rest and that they will notify Alex Rosewater that he is out of surgery. Alan settles back to sleep, eager to see what he can do when he next wakes up.
Michael Seebach awakens in a building somewhere, alone and clad only in old, ripped bandages. He utters Big Duo's name and realizes that there is a faint glow above him, and a ladder in the room.
At Roger's mansion:
Norman prepares to make breakfast. Dorothy is off purchasing necessities, and Roger has not yet gotten out of bed. Or so Norman thinks, anyway.
Roger descends a ladder to the underground. He is confronted by Schwarzwald, who taunts him about Memories and being a murderer and the corruption of Paradigm City. The usual. Roger has a series of visions where he sees Emilia crouched over Vanguard's body, Kaisera's father passing away, and Angel being attacked by Vera. Schwarzwald continues to verbally attack him, but suddenly Roger finds himself huddled in some debris. He is wearing his pajamas and has no clue how he got there. He assumes that everything with Schwarzwald was a dream, but he can't be sure. He's guided home by a young man who never tells him his name, and arrives back at the mansion locked out in the rain. He yells for Norman, who takes a moment to get to the door, thinking that it must be a visitor. He is surprised to see Roger on his own doorstep, and brings him inside quickly. Dorothy arrives back shortly after and comments on how strange Roger is to be wandering around in the rain in his pajamas.
In Beck's not-so-secret hideout:
Angel reluctantly decides to go pay a visit to Beck. She hasn't had much luck finding Memories lately, and thinks he may be of some help. She finds Beck in his hideout, having once again escaped the Military Police. He is guffawing over that day's edition of the newspaper, which has his mugshot plastered on the front page. Angel is well aware that Beck is already building a new giant robot to wreak havoc on the city with, and threatens to expose his creation if he doesn't aid her. Beck decides not to test her and goes along with it.
Meanwhile, Emilia Townshend, a recent graduate of Paradigm University and daughter of a Paradigm Co. executive, is visiting her mother's grave. She seems to bear quite a bit of resentment toward both of her parents. Somehow or other she has learned that her mother is not really dead and that her father lied to her about it. Emilia changed her appearance because she was bothered by how much she resembled her mother. Emilia leaves a bouquet of white roses on the empty grave and is escorted from the cemetery by an assistant of her father's. Her father is a higher-up at Paradigm Co. and doesn't seem very concerned about his daughter.
Emilia arrives at Paradigm University to see a former professor of hers, the school's librarian Mr. Vanguard. They greet each other warmly and Vanguard mentions a boy she's been seeing, one that he considers to be trouble. Emilia assures him that she's broken off contact with him for some time now.
Vanguard is in possession of some sort of Memory, and he confides in Emilia that he has realized he doesn't have much longer to live and he would like her to have it when he dies. Emilia tries to protest, but Vanguard suddenly becomes panicked, and belives that there may already be someone else there in the library with them. Vanguard quickly tells her where he has hidden his Memory, and Emilia goes to retrive it, hoping for an explanation, but it's too late. Vanguard dies of a heart attack and Emillia is left only with a book called The Secret Garden and an indecipherable Memory.
Angel and Beck arrive at Paradigm University. Beck, as it turns out, attended Paradigm U at some point, and was involved with Emilia Townshend. Angel intends to use Beck to persuade Emilia to give Vanguard's Memory to Angel. Beck is under the impression that they are there to see Vanguard himself and tells Angel that the old man has no fondness for him any longer. He is startled to see Emilia in the library instead.
Emilia briefly recollects her past with Jason Beck. Her father disapproved of him, and that made him more attractive to Emilia. Beck didn't necessarily care for her, but found her to be something of an amusement. Beck's recreational activities often involved things that "she was sure would've killed her father or more than likely would've caused her father to kill Jason." Beck became disgusted with her father and the way he treated people he saw as beneath him. He gradually began defying authority, which led to his life of organized crime and his parting with Emilia.
She can't help but notice that Angel bears a resemblance to her own mother, and wonders if Angel is a foreigner too. Emilia knows why they are there and angrily tells Beck that Vanguard is already dead.Beck informs Angel that bringing him to the library was a dumb idea, because Emilia is going to be even more stubborn about giving the Memory to Beck than anyone else. He leaves the two women and exits the library.
Angel and Emilia go back and forth about the Memory for a while, with Angel finally telling Emilia that if she doesn't give the Memory to Angel, Emilia's father will take it from her. After all, he works for Paradigm.
Meanwhile, Alan Gabriel makes his way into the library, passing by Beck, who is standing in the hallway smoking. Beck has a bad feeling about him and tries to prevent him from going into the main room, but his attempt at a distraction doesn't work and Alan simply brushes him off.
Back inside, Emilia realizes that she's seen Angel before, working for Alex Rosewater. She begs Angel to tell her the truth about why she wants the Memory. Angel tells her that she's only doing her job, and that she understands why Emilia is being so stubborn about holding onto it... but that if Emilia is going to keep the Memory, she can't let Rosewater have it either.
Emilia suddenly notices someone behind Angel, and asks if Angel is sure that she and Beck came alone. Angel carefully turns around to face Alan and yells at him to stop. Alan has a brief flashback of another time Angel told him to "stop right there", in their earlier days.
Alan wonders aloud if Angel has already taken care of Vanguard for him. Angel notices that there's something different about him, and catches a glimpse of a bandage under his collar. She asks him what he's done to himself "this time".
Beck interrupts to point out an odd young man who has wandered into the scene, nose in a book. He is completely unaware of anyone else in the room. Emilia notices him too.
The distraction allows Alan to snap up Vanguard's book. He shoots a nearby window and escapes through it, telling Angel before he leaves that she's still not quite who she thought she was.
Angel fires her gun, but it hits nothing, and Alan escapes.
Emilia panics as she realizes that Vanguard's Memory is gone. She informs the others that the old man was afraid of the Memory and that he had told her that belonged to someone who had died, and had been used to construct an android. The android may be able to decipher Vanguard's Memory, if they can find it.
The boy who wandered in, Michale, finally reacts to what's going on around him when he hears the gunshots. The Military Police arrive at about that moment, and Michale suggests they escape through the underground tunnels that run between buildings at Paradigm University. The group manages to escape before the Military Police get into the building.
Outside, Dastun notices a dark figure escape through a window and sends a group after him. The rest surround the building, taking care in case there are hostages.
Angel, Beck, Emilia, and Michale wander through the tunnels, hoping to come back up through one of the other buildings and escape. They see signs of human life for a while-- graffitti, abandoned objects-- but eventually find themselves at a fork in the paths that looks unfamiliar to Michale. The young man has been reading the whole time, engrossed in a book he found in the library. The group fears they may be lost.
Meanwhile:
Vera sits on top of an apartment building, legs dangling over the egdge. She hums a tune under her breath as she muses on the destruction of Paradigm City.
Harold Werrington, private eye, looks over a note he is in posession of. The phrase "A world in flames" looks like print at first, but is actually just very neat handwriting. Harold isn't sure whether or not it may be linked to a series of arsons that have remained unsolved. He retrives a cigarette from his briefcase and sits back to think.
Somewhere else in Paradigm, a man in a gasmask jumps across rooftops, flamethrower in hand. He settles on an antique shop as his target, and is confronted by the owner sleeping inside. The owner is killed when he falls down the stairs, and the masked man steals a pocketwatch from his corpse. The watch is engraved with the word "METRON" and inside shows the time as 5:00 on one side and a photo on the other. These are actually fake covers that conceal "a green almond shaped ring being orbited by a white square and red triangle, with a black background." The knob on the bottom of the watch is able to manipulate a digital gauge inside, and as the knob is turned a number appears in the center to show what frequency it is on. Certain frequencies show names under the numbers, with messages. The masked man copies this display with "machine-perfect writing" and slips it into his own pocket. He then leaves.
Harold wakes up in his office, having dozed off. His cigarette is missing, and he now has a drawing in front of him, showing the circular displays from the watch. The note says simply "Find this code".
Harold begins the search for the code that his alter-ego requires. A government paper trail leads him to Electric City. He finds an array of watches that match his in an old cabin, all of them sending out what appear to be distress signals. It occurs to him that they are connected to the Megadeuses. A sudden smell gets his attention, and he finds a skeleton under the table, a hole in its skull and a gun next to it.
A box in the cabin holds an intact book of codes inside of it, and Harold begins trying each one with his watch. Five hours later, he finds the correct code, but the signal is scrambled. He becomes angry all of a sudden and tries to smash the watches, but a repellant hidden in one of them sprays his eyes. He goes to the top floor of the cabin to smoke, but the sound of a bugle in his head causes him to black out.
The masked man runs through the domes again, flamethrower ready. The man, who has named himself Irwin, goes into and up a building.
"Foreigner," he says.
Vera, still sitting on the roof, turns around to confront him. Vera sarcastically asks him how he knows she's a foreigner. Irwin wants to know why she is there and who she is. He uses his flamethrower to create a line of unignited napalm between them.
Vera doesn't see the need to explain herself to him, and reaches for her weapon. Irwin empties an entire tank of napalm onto the roof, but does not light it. A ticking noise, followed by static, fills the air, and Irwin quickly pulls out his watch. The watch is trying to find a new frequency. Vera takes the opportunity to lash at him with her whip, which forces Irwin to ignite the napalm. The roof is ablaze, and Irwin turns around to run back out of the building.
Harold stands up, tears off the gasmask, and lights a fire to block the path behind him. He disposes of his coat, but is unable to do anything about the flamethrower. Harold makes it out of the dome and back to hi s apartment in one piece.
In a secret underground base:
A man named Snake Mercato has been living in the base for some time, trying to figure out why he is there. He was never supposed to be released from the tank he was frozen in, but something failed along the line. He isn't sure if it was programmed to release him, or if someone wanted him out. He wonders if it may be someone named Julia, but realizes he doesn't know where she is. He has an android, Barthow, that he found there, but the android tends to get on Snake's nerves, so he tries to avoid him. Snake passes by his Megadeus, Big Soh, on his way out of the base. He drives to the Speakeasy, presumably to gather information of some sort.
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