"Hey, whatta fuck do you think.."

The man cried, collapsed a little, picked himself back up.

"What the fuck was that? What was that?" he yelled, slamming his fists against Chalybis's chest. "I oughtta rip you to pieces, you filthy robot!"

XVI: If You Prolong Your Hostile Activities Against The Form Of Chalybis, He Shall Be Forced To Reconsider The Sparing Of Your Pitiful Existence And For This Insolence You Shall Be Taxed All Your Knowledge Concerning The Systemarchs

Chalybis realized fully that this was a vicious cycle - He would punish the mortal, which would in turn react by angering Him further - but it was ultimately one which benefited only Him. He had already acquired all of the information He desired concerning these mortal weapons - enough to allow Him to craft a divine variant thereof after the Iconoclast in His realm had been removed from existence. These weapons could greatly enhance the destructive powers of Himself and His Servants in battle, but it would take some time, something which He did not currently possess. Right now, He would extract more information from the mortal, to see why it accused Him of being a Systemarch

Ignoring Tyche's remark - Chalybis could not fail - He focused His gaze upon the mortal once more, and once again the thin streak of green light shot from His eye and pierced into its mind. Although it seemed to be working slightly slower for a few moments - presumably due to the fact it had already been used on this mortal second ago - it quickly flared up again, and it was not long before the bright pulses of light, pure knowledge given form, were extracted from the mortal mind again and sent into His consciousness.

Tyche sighed and begin setting up an illusion at the windows of the store, anyone looking in would just see the place darkened with a closed sign on it, sighing and shaking his head at the irony of this. God of Chance seems to have the worst luck... he though only to himself as he consentrated on maintining the illusion.

The illusion was imperfect: the image flickered, as if unsure whether to exist or not. Tyche had neither the time nor  the tools for proper illusion magic. Still, no one wandered inside. If they saw the hideous crime being committed against the humble shopkeeper by the Realm Supernatural's equivalent of Robo-Hitler, they showed no sign. It was the City of a Thousand Hazes, after all, a City known for murders and thievery..

Chalybis suddenly realised he knew how to operate Earthborn, Supernatural, and Systemarch firearms.. there being many major differences between the three. Supernatural firearms were basic, primitive things made of black sand and heavy wood, built in the technological struggle - when the Realm Supernatural was trying, futilely, to match the firepower of the Earthborn. Earthborn firearms were highly sophisticated, and Chalybis gleaned to information as to how they were created: he knew only to pull the trigger, follow the psychic commands, and how much they were worth. Systemarch firearms.. alien and strange.. the shopkeeper had seen one, once. It had destroyed an entire continent.

The man screamed, fell to the ground, unconscious. His mind couldn't handle the strain. He twitched occasionally, as if his body was still in psychic agony.

Chalybis felt the man lose his mind. He knew there was a connection, now, and that information would soon start to flow back to him..

Tyche sighed and let go of the illusion, he would have to work on his intant-magic. "Does Chaylbis mind sharing part you learned?" he said figuring quite well what he had done seeing as what Chaylbis had said and feeling the metal energies pass between them. "Atleast about the things in the shops and how to use them. And any traps set in the place." He begins useing his magical senses to sense for anything here as well.

Chalybis heard Tyche's request, and after an instant of due consideration, decided to grant him the information He desired - or at least a large portion of it. He would not quite send all of the information though. The existence of Systemarch weapons - which were almost legendary in scope even by His standards - was best kept from Tyche, as he might be scared off if he knew of the fire power his enemies possessed. The rest of the knowledge was free for him to know however, and it would not be long before it was in his possession.


The thin streak of light flickered and blurred for a moment, after which it split in half and one of the lines turned away from the unfortunate mortal. Instead, it aimed for Tyche's forehead, and it was not long before the pulses of light began to flow through this line too - although they were now flowing from Chalybis to Tyche instead of the other way around. This was the most efficient way of teaching him what the firearms did and how they were to be operated, and Chalybis would not waste time using any other - less efficient - way. If Tyche refused, then so be it, but He would not make a second attempt at sharing the information.

Tyche was stunned at first, but as he saw it was a "directional beam" going away from Chyalbis and also his very quick words, reassured him and he drank in the knowledge while useing his own mental magic on himself to "ease" the "power-learning" and oragnise it.

Tyche soon knew everything Chalybis had gleaned about firearms, barring the Systemarch tradition.

Tyche sensed no traps, but that was to be expected: no tools, no rituals. It was safe to assume that something was in place to bar thieves, however.

Chalybis soon felt a sensation within his own mind, almost going against the current of information flowing towards Tyche.. and he knew what the shopkeeper knew of the Systemarchs: how they were rumoured to spend decades on a single perfect artifact, crafted of their own hands.. how they were rare in Niborkerese, their natural tendencies towards law and government forcing most of them to join the Conclave - the reason why they were typically distrusted and treated with suspicion in Niborkerese, though familiar faces soon were accepted as their own.. they were rarely seen, and known as 'robots' - the derogatory name given to them by the Earthborn - in Niborkerese, due to their mechanical features.. how they thought in order and systems, in numbers and patters.. a dozen legs, fifteen eyes, too much hair.. the shopkeeper, despite his prejudices, fucked - fucked, the shopkeepers word - a Systemarch once and then freaked and tried to shoot her.. he couldn't stop thinking about her for years, not until the Earthborn surgeons helped him.. are their teeth psychic? That's the rumour.. Marcento hired a Systemarch to design his most exotic narcotics..

A lot of truth, a lot of lies.

Tyche blinked a bit. "Nice." He looked around the shop, haveing the shop-keepers knowledge of the place he went to find a dagger and a hand-held firearm (preferable earthen). He now wondered about the properties of the fire-arm he had seen in the window.

XVII: This Was All The Information Chalybis Required And He Shall Now Spare Your Existence And Depart Forever After Acquiring An Item He Desires Chalybis decreed, instantaneously breaking the mental link after He had done so. The green beams disappeared, and after an instant of darkness, His 'normal' red gaze had returned to its full strength. He would keep His promise and leave the man alive - for now - and not make any further attempts at destroying its psyche unless it provoked Him again. However, He was not above taking advantage of the situation for His own improvement, and decided that this place could offer Him more than knowledge.

After going through the information He had stolen from the gunsmith in an instant, He cast His gaze over the different racks and cabinets of arms, searching for the best one. Moments later, He decided that even the best one would not be capable of satisfying His needs, and realized that there was a much more efficient way to improve Himself with the plethora of weapons found in this place. As He stood motionless, a swarm of thin tendrils formed out of His body and extended away from Him, slithering over the floor and ceiling like a perversion of worms or snakes. They spread over most of the interior, crushing glass covers, consuming steel locks, and ultimately attempting to absorb every single weapon within the store into His body...

As the weapons began to move towards Chalybis, the two Gods heard a deep ringing sound from within the storeroom of the shop - like the deep groaning of a church bell - and Tyche noticed that the glass windows begun to tint themselves black. The door slammed shut, and several clicks and whirs gave the impression that it was locking itself. Still, the dark ringing continued..

Chalybis didn't take ammunition from the place - it was held, presumably, in the store-room with the strange sound.

Chalybis's mental processes, enhanced with his recent acquisition of the knowledge of firearms, gave him a rough stock take of what he had within him:

x8 "Supernatural" Muskets
x3 "Supernatural" Dueling Pistols
x1 "Supernatural" Blunderbuss

x3 Diamond "Earthborn" Levall Revolver
x5 Plastic "Earthborn" Google Handgun
x1 Diamond "Earthborn" Google Gotd Rail-gun
x2 Diamond "Earthborn" Disney Assault Rifles
x6 Plastic "Earthborn" Disney Assault Rifles
x1 Iron "Earthborn" Smith & Wesson Revolver
x2 Iron "Earthborn" RIOTRIOTRIOT Shotguns
x1 Plastic "Earthborn" Lest Plasma Rifle
x1 Diamond "Earthborn" unmarked Sniper Rifle
 

XVIII: Too... Soon...

As He acquired the entire inventory of the store, Chalybis could feel that something was not going how it should be. His original form - the one which had remained within His own realm - had disappeared from existence, apparently slain by the Iconoclast even after it had been destroyed. This meant that it would not be long before His existence here would come to an end as well, and He already felt that part of His body was beginning to collapse from the inside out, falling apart into a nigh-infinite amount of minor components which faded into nothingness themselves.

Although there was nothing left He could do to stave off His demise - for it had already happened to Him elsewhere in the past, and this was merely the universe erasing His existence to comply with reality - He would not go without finishing what He had started. Even whilst He was falling apart on all sides, He continued to draw the weaponry towards Him, until it became one with Him, and started to fall apart itself. As the cone of light itself began to dull, Chalybis cast one last look at Tyche - the one sentient being He had begun to accept during His time here, wondering whether He would ever see him again.


And then, He was gone - disintegrated into a cloud of rust that faded away into the void beyond...

Tyche frowned at the first sign of the alarm of course there was a trap that he didn't sence even when he looked for it. Tyche focused... hard. And dissapeared.

As Chalybis disappeared, so too did the weapons held within him, cast ever into the void.

--

Tyche found himself on the roof of the shop, overlooking the lower slums of the city.

Tyche took a moment to clear his head from the teleporting and then began to walk/teleporting short distences when needed just getting away from the area... he would then leave the city for now. With no friends in sight and someone mostlikly seeking revenge of somesort for Chalybis actions, he didn't think he would stay.

As Tyche left, he saw an explosion behind him - at the shop.

That was the self-defense system: cleansing fire.

Tyche appears near the enterence to the bath-house he had left. He looks around the make sure the place is safe(ish) and to see if there are any interesting characters here.

Everyone was an interesting character in Niborkerese.

Of especially interesting note was the young man with purple dragon-tattoos inked on his back; the Systemarch woman who had affronted Chalybis, currently 'servicing' another God; an elder man with a long gold cane; a man with a large frown, round glasses, and bright clothes; and a floating orb of silver.

Tyche not seeing Chalybis dissapears.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:08, Thu 17 Sept 2009.

Niborkerese cared little.

Grumblar walked into the room and seeing his target smiled grimly.

"I am Grumblar and I am here to revenge myself on your kind for the indignities you have inflicted on me."  He yelled loud enough to be heard in the inn below.

He leaned close and whispered, "I work for Raelis, play along until we get out of here" before sending a stool flying across the room to smash against the wall.

"No, no, no!" cried Bahd, hands rushing to his head for protection as he scrabbled about the inn. "I told you, I told you, I don't know what happened.."

He screamed a little, ran sideways into an adjoining corridor, the stench of his fear lingering in the room..

Grumblar/Raelis is given an alien thought.. Meet me, then.. third door on the left is my room.

Grumblar smashes a few other items for good measure and stumps along to the room indicated, feet pounding the floor heavily.

"Come here spider and let me squash you."  He bawled.

Grumblar comes upon a wooden door - the door he knew Bahd to be behind. Within he heard a sort of bawling. The other patrons of the Inn gave them both a wide berth. This was obviously some criminal revenge killing or something - something they, wisely, didn't want any involvement in.

Come in..

Grumblar hurls the door open and strides in, slamming the door behind him.  Raelis slips out of his chest cavity and smiles briefly at Bahd while grumblar holds a loud conversation with himself to confuse listeners.

"Hail Bahd, I am Raelis of the Conclave.  I was told to find you and I am here."