Re: The Vivacious Deadlock: S3G6: Round One: Genreshift
06-27-2011, 10:28 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.
Phere had watched as her agent had been spotted by the kid she remembered from the introduction. The Spectator had been frustratingly vague about him, as, Phere lamented, she had been about all of her adversaries in this battle. Whatever secrets Ivan had to hide it was clear that he had seen Abys immediately. She’d told her spy to beat a quick retreat, but unfortunately she did not have a map of the castle, a fact she would have to rectify, and people kept getting in the way. Abys had rather unfortunately had to duck into a corridor which dead ended at an abrupt steel wall, probably not an uncommon design feature in this chimeric castle. Phere grabbed the nearest item, which being that she was in Tek’s room was inevitably a half-finished contraption of some kind, and flung it hard against the far wall. Tek glanced at the Empress in alarm, but her furious glare quickly turned him back to his work.
“Pass him the radio.” Phere told Abys abruptly. This situation was bad but it was not one that could not be salvaged.
--------
In a secluded dead end corridor, somewhere in the castle Abys uncloaked, standing before Ivan Norst. At once he was aware of her tight leather suit stretched across her slender frame, her tied back auburn hair, the emptiness that lay behind her dull grey eyes, and the scowl that was etched across her face. In silence she proffered him her radio. Acting more assertively than he felt, so as not to betray the fact that this was not a response he had expected, he snatched the radio from her hands. She folded her arms and continued to scowl at him.
“Yes?” He demanded, speaking into the radio.
“Hello Ivan.” Empress Phere’s voice crackled through the radio. “This is Empress Phere. I have heard the conditions for your cooperation and feel that perhaps you were unaware you were trying to broker an alliance with me specifically. Here are my conditions: firstly you would not be working with me, you would be working for me. Secondly you will tell me now what it is that you want from this arrangement.” Ivan was a little blindsided by Phere’s harsh negotiation. He hesitated for a moment and tried to pull things back into his favour.
“I could kill your spy you know.” Ivan replied. “If there’s to be any agreement I get to decide the terms.”
“No.” Phere replied coldly. “If you can kill my spy you can go ahead. I hold no attachment to her, and although it will inconvenience me it will not significantly impair my plans. Furthermore if you were a threat to her I believe you would have made your move already and got in good with the good doctor. To speak idiomatically the ball is in my court. What is it that you want?” Ivan turned away from Abys so she would not see his reaction as this negotiation slipped further away from him.
“I want protection.” He said quietly.
“Very well.” Phere replied. “Do exactly as Abys says; for the moment consider yourself hers to command. If you cooperate and are useful I am sure we will have a place for you in our little team. Pass the radio back now.” Ivan quietly turned and handed the radio back, a little unsure as to what had just happened.
“Empress?” Abys asked.
“He’s working for us now.” Phere said. “Use him as a distraction to clear out Doctor Matic’s office. Get hold of that Stolen Tome and bring it back. Bring Ivan back with you if there is anything left of him by that point.”
“Confirmed.” Abys replied, sighing internally at having been apparently placed on escort duty.
--------
At Abys’ instruction the pair began making their way through the castle, towards Doctor Matic’s office; though with one of the pair visible they had to be even more careful than Abys had been on her own, a tactic that was fine for a little while, until Tek suddenly needed her attention.
“What is it?” She asked impatiently.
“I, Lord Vandrel Reinhardt, am an experienced master in tactical planning. My armies have conquered lands far and wide and brought all that oppose us to their knees, hacking their heads from their pitiful necks to punish them for their misdeeds…”
“This message is doing something to the radio.” Tek said. “I think it’s calibrating it to send messages out into other worlds.”
“Fanastic.” Phere replied, a grim smile crossing her face.
“We shall come together and strike back at all that oppose us! Together, the empire we form shall extend across never-before-matched boundaries, encompassing dominions never before dreamed of! My friends, my allies from all imaginable walks of life, this is it! THIS SHALL BE OUR HOUR!”
Phere was silent for a moment. She had already been plotting what actions she would take when she had gained the ability to broadcast messages to other contestants. The affirmation of Vandrel’s ‘Network’ in this message made things easy for her.
“What excellent timing.” Phere said. “That Vandrel Reinhardt should bite the dust as I am ready to take his Network from him anyway. Think of all the people trapped in these battles, scattered across the, what was the word, the multiverse, devastated at the loss of poor Vandrel… hmm probably not now that I think about it. But either way a position has just opened up at the helm of this Network and I intend to take it.” She paused again, composing herself. “Do I need to do anything specifically different?”
“I don’t believe so.” Tek says. “It seems to be fully automated.” Phere clicked the transmitter on.
“Fellow contestants.” She began. “My name is Empress Phere, and I come bearing grave tidings. Lord Vandrel Reinhardt was unfortunately perished, cruelly cut down in his attempts to free you from the shackles of the Grandmasters. I submit that I shall stand in his stead, that I shall take the fight to the Grandmasters. I will expose their weaknesses and if you work with me I promise to liberate you from this awful game and return you to the lives that you have been so cruelly torn away from. This I swear to you.”
She clicked off the radio and smiled. This lasted for a second perhaps, before she was all business again. She turned to Tek, whose brow was furrowed and heavy with sweat. He had not been expecting anything as challenging as this.
“If I get you the Stolen Tome, you can make this radio do more than just this correct?” Tek nodded. “I want to be able to choose to whom I speak, and to speak to them in real time. I will not be pleased if you do not follow through with your promises.” She paused. “In the meantime rig up another radio to transmit across the… multiverse… I am going to see a woman about some surgery.”
Phere had watched as her agent had been spotted by the kid she remembered from the introduction. The Spectator had been frustratingly vague about him, as, Phere lamented, she had been about all of her adversaries in this battle. Whatever secrets Ivan had to hide it was clear that he had seen Abys immediately. She’d told her spy to beat a quick retreat, but unfortunately she did not have a map of the castle, a fact she would have to rectify, and people kept getting in the way. Abys had rather unfortunately had to duck into a corridor which dead ended at an abrupt steel wall, probably not an uncommon design feature in this chimeric castle. Phere grabbed the nearest item, which being that she was in Tek’s room was inevitably a half-finished contraption of some kind, and flung it hard against the far wall. Tek glanced at the Empress in alarm, but her furious glare quickly turned him back to his work.
“Pass him the radio.” Phere told Abys abruptly. This situation was bad but it was not one that could not be salvaged.
--------
In a secluded dead end corridor, somewhere in the castle Abys uncloaked, standing before Ivan Norst. At once he was aware of her tight leather suit stretched across her slender frame, her tied back auburn hair, the emptiness that lay behind her dull grey eyes, and the scowl that was etched across her face. In silence she proffered him her radio. Acting more assertively than he felt, so as not to betray the fact that this was not a response he had expected, he snatched the radio from her hands. She folded her arms and continued to scowl at him.
“Yes?” He demanded, speaking into the radio.
“Hello Ivan.” Empress Phere’s voice crackled through the radio. “This is Empress Phere. I have heard the conditions for your cooperation and feel that perhaps you were unaware you were trying to broker an alliance with me specifically. Here are my conditions: firstly you would not be working with me, you would be working for me. Secondly you will tell me now what it is that you want from this arrangement.” Ivan was a little blindsided by Phere’s harsh negotiation. He hesitated for a moment and tried to pull things back into his favour.
“I could kill your spy you know.” Ivan replied. “If there’s to be any agreement I get to decide the terms.”
“No.” Phere replied coldly. “If you can kill my spy you can go ahead. I hold no attachment to her, and although it will inconvenience me it will not significantly impair my plans. Furthermore if you were a threat to her I believe you would have made your move already and got in good with the good doctor. To speak idiomatically the ball is in my court. What is it that you want?” Ivan turned away from Abys so she would not see his reaction as this negotiation slipped further away from him.
“I want protection.” He said quietly.
“Very well.” Phere replied. “Do exactly as Abys says; for the moment consider yourself hers to command. If you cooperate and are useful I am sure we will have a place for you in our little team. Pass the radio back now.” Ivan quietly turned and handed the radio back, a little unsure as to what had just happened.
“Empress?” Abys asked.
“He’s working for us now.” Phere said. “Use him as a distraction to clear out Doctor Matic’s office. Get hold of that Stolen Tome and bring it back. Bring Ivan back with you if there is anything left of him by that point.”
“Confirmed.” Abys replied, sighing internally at having been apparently placed on escort duty.
--------
At Abys’ instruction the pair began making their way through the castle, towards Doctor Matic’s office; though with one of the pair visible they had to be even more careful than Abys had been on her own, a tactic that was fine for a little while, until Tek suddenly needed her attention.
“What is it?” She asked impatiently.
“I, Lord Vandrel Reinhardt, am an experienced master in tactical planning. My armies have conquered lands far and wide and brought all that oppose us to their knees, hacking their heads from their pitiful necks to punish them for their misdeeds…”
“This message is doing something to the radio.” Tek said. “I think it’s calibrating it to send messages out into other worlds.”
“Fanastic.” Phere replied, a grim smile crossing her face.
“We shall come together and strike back at all that oppose us! Together, the empire we form shall extend across never-before-matched boundaries, encompassing dominions never before dreamed of! My friends, my allies from all imaginable walks of life, this is it! THIS SHALL BE OUR HOUR!”
Phere was silent for a moment. She had already been plotting what actions she would take when she had gained the ability to broadcast messages to other contestants. The affirmation of Vandrel’s ‘Network’ in this message made things easy for her.
“What excellent timing.” Phere said. “That Vandrel Reinhardt should bite the dust as I am ready to take his Network from him anyway. Think of all the people trapped in these battles, scattered across the, what was the word, the multiverse, devastated at the loss of poor Vandrel… hmm probably not now that I think about it. But either way a position has just opened up at the helm of this Network and I intend to take it.” She paused again, composing herself. “Do I need to do anything specifically different?”
“I don’t believe so.” Tek says. “It seems to be fully automated.” Phere clicked the transmitter on.
“Fellow contestants.” She began. “My name is Empress Phere, and I come bearing grave tidings. Lord Vandrel Reinhardt was unfortunately perished, cruelly cut down in his attempts to free you from the shackles of the Grandmasters. I submit that I shall stand in his stead, that I shall take the fight to the Grandmasters. I will expose their weaknesses and if you work with me I promise to liberate you from this awful game and return you to the lives that you have been so cruelly torn away from. This I swear to you.”
She clicked off the radio and smiled. This lasted for a second perhaps, before she was all business again. She turned to Tek, whose brow was furrowed and heavy with sweat. He had not been expecting anything as challenging as this.
“If I get you the Stolen Tome, you can make this radio do more than just this correct?” Tek nodded. “I want to be able to choose to whom I speak, and to speak to them in real time. I will not be pleased if you do not follow through with your promises.” She paused. “In the meantime rig up another radio to transmit across the… multiverse… I am going to see a woman about some surgery.”
Heaven Help Us | Make Room!!!! | I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You