"Ohhh! Aren't you sweet! You can talk, you're just a little shy! More a young man of action, I'm sure...! And does your teddy have a name...?"




Kalsk wanders over. "Why, what's going on?" Then, taking in Dulcinea, Kalsk moseys up next to Ajakstu. "Who's the, uh... lifeform?" he asks in a lower voice...

The Dukes eyes grow wide and might even look like big hearts for a second.

"You can see FOERS? He is my bestest friend."

Seems there was a little coherence coming back to the big brute. Still it was clearly a little strained at the moment.

(...Oh dear. Is Foers just a sort of program that only The Duke can see? I thought it was a literal teddy bear he carried around, but the truth makes a lot more sense.

...Well, hell, sure, what the hell, Dulcinea can see Foers. Dulcinea has convenient-for-the-GM powers.)

"Awwww, that's so sweet! I bet you've had Foers for a long time, eh?"

Following Ajakstu's call, Pesky rounds the corner.

The scene looks like a tense standoff, Duke and...whatever that is.  But the temperature is all wrong.
The Duke seems almost mesmerized.  There is an edge to the scene that is just this side of ridiculous.
Pesky decides to just be still and watch this play out.

Kalsk notes Pesky's slight perplexity. "From what I can tell so far, The Duke's found a lifeform that wants to mother him," he explains. "The big fellow's so delighted, he hardly knows what to do."

The Duke nods.

"Forever. He tells me who the baddies are and then i punch them."

17:40, Today: Ajakstu Gul rolled 12 using 2d6+1 ((5,6)). Charming.

"Duke, the lovely.....Dulcinea has remarked upon both your sweetness and um.... prettiness. It is clear that the time is now for full speed courtship!" Ajakstu suggests, with almost no trace of humor in his voice.

--AW, C'MON!
You get +1 forward when you succeed in a Charming roll that involves giving hope or cheer to someone who needs it.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:44, Fri 01 Mar.

"Courtship? But he's only a baby! He needs looking after, not a date! You're a silly-billy, Mr. Fancy Hat."

The Duke looks offended.

"The Duke is no baby! I am big and strong!"

He even flexes his massive belly muscles in a display of power.

OOC: I thought Foers was a program as well inside Duke. Alyn sensed it only because of his telepathy, but he didn't want to mess with it since it's helping regulate Duke a lot.

Alyn heard Ajakstu call for help? Backup? Moral support? Once he heard "pretty boy!" he knew he was calling for Alyn. Because Alyn was basically the team's eye candy. And also something of a naggy wife at times too.

Alyn got up from the terminal, and let it keep running its defrag and reboot and he went down stairs and outside and saw the situation before him.

"Alright you guys! What sort of slimey situation have you gotten yourselves entangled in this time? I let you run off out of sight for 5 minutes and..." he said, as he literally saw the slime-woman.

"...and oh brother. It really is a slimey situation!"

Alyn's eyes look piercingly at the slime.

"What are you? and what are you doing here with my companions? You do realize that Duke probably is interested in you because of hoiw potentially edible you are, right? Whatever you are." Alyn spoke aloud.

"Yes, baby! But you're all hurt...! You poor thing...!" Dulcinea glorps forward and gives The Duke a big, loving, comforting, reassuring hug.

(The Duke regains one health level, but has a penalty on his next roll.

(To Dear Old Gang: this is The Duke's new agreed-upon level-up perk. Dulcinea can heal The Duke a little every so often, but it gives him a penalty on his next roll.))




(Well, you were right. Dulcinea can see it anyway, though.)



(Good idea (not to).)



Dulcinea disengages from the hug, and resumes her "standing" form, pseudopods on pseudohips. "Of course this poor dear wouldn't eat me! He couldn't, successfully, anyway. My name is Dulcinea, and I'm a licensed scavenger from Gnost. I have all the permission I need to be out here!"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:24, Sat 02 Mar.

When the living jello comes closer and engulfs the Duke in a soothing sweet embrace, she even smelled like jello, the massive giant can not help but give her a nice and sweet lick going all starry eyed. If one wouldn't know better one might assume the big guy was high the way he just looks starry eyed at this new wonderful creature. When she wants to release from him he clearly tries to keep her engaged in the hug. But she pulls back and the Duke clearly is a little down like comming of some kind of nice upper.

"Gnost. We got to go there."

He says in a dreamy voice.

Dulcinea tastes slightly of lime, with a hint of green tea and maybe a bit of white chocolate.

"Oh! Do you need to visit Gnost, dearie? Well that's fine, I've got enough things that I'm ready to start heading back there myself, too..."

"I'll go with you."

De Duke declares matter of factly and reaches out to hold her by a tentacle inching closer to be in her personal space.

Alyn nods.

"Well this Doombot is not scrap, so please don't try and salvage it. It's my ride." he said, his tone growing nicer once he hears she's from Gnost. And she does seem to be helping with duke's injuries somehow, in some slimey way.

"But with that said, my companions are right though: we are actually on our way to Gnost. We just had to make some pit stops first, since I had some errands to run and I also promised to help Dukie fill up our food reserves, which we did." he continued.

"Dulcinea, you said, right? I was wondering if you couldn't possibly do us a favor." Alyn asked.

"Do you know of or think you could give us an introduction to a skilled surgeon in Gnost? We heard that it's possible someone is there who could help safely remove a parasite from someone." he asked.

Alyn did not forget about Kalsk's situation. Things merely had been quiet on that front since Alyn's presence was keeping the parasite in check, but as none of them were skilled enough to remove the thing without harming Kalsk, they were in a stalemate. But he'd love to remove it and feed it to his mind moths. The thing would probably be scrumptious to them.

"Hm? Oh, well good for you. It's bigger than I can carry... and more complicated that what I normally try to mess with, anyway."




"Not for sweetie?!?!?" she exclaims, aghast. After it's explained that the patient in question is not The Duke, but Kalsk, Dulcinea calms down. "Oh, well, let's see, there must be someone... Doc Bolts is dead, last I heard... and he was better with inorganics anyway... Doctor Quasit is too unreliable... he's mad, you understand... Professor Ratch will make you feel better, but he tends to make it so you have to keep coming back to him for more treatment later... Timaeus-- no, wait, that's right, he fell off the wagon again, you wouldn't want him... I guess maybe Regina-Ra. She knows what she's doing... might be a tiny bit expensive. And you'll have to listen to a lot of her religious stuff. But if those things aren't dealbreakers... then yes, I'd say she thinks enough of me that introducing you would help..."

Alyn nods.

"Heh don't worry. Any parasite that went into the Duke would have been digested long ago. No, this is for our furry friend here." Alyn responded.

"And Regina-Ra sounds like our gal then. We may be able to convince her to do it, or perhaps do a favor for her as payment. A favor from us is quite valuable, you know." he continued.

He then considered.

"Oh, and by the way. Do you know of anyone in Gnost who happens to be an expert in quantum-mechanics and/or machine systems? We need to cross the (whatever that unstable zone is called), and I want to mod my Doom...err, my Alynwalker to it like can generate a stability field or something. Or failing that, I'd like to mod my Alynwalker so it can drill into and travel underaround as well as on land." he said.

"This second thing is as much for Duke as it is for me and the others, by the way. Because you wouldn't your beloved Dukie to get turned inside-out and then explode in a shower of flower petals or something from the Unstable-Zone's fields, would you? I could possibly make it through myself, but the attempt could equally possibly create a black hole, if I goof it up, that kills us all and sucks in Gnost and the surrounding region as well, so we're avoiding that option if possible." Alyn added.

Hopefully playing the Duke card helped motivate her to help them more.

"Well, of course. You've got Sweetie to help you. ...And a giant mecha-thing. That does give you more options, if you've got it working."





"Professional mechanics and technicians are easier to find in Gnost than qualified doctors of organic lifeforms. I can think of two or three people right off the bat. How do you know about the Unstable Zone, though? Not that I mean to pry..."




"You want to take Sweetie into the Unstable Field?!? No! I simply won't allow i... Well... Hm. If you're planning to drive the giant mecha in there... that much metal might actually give you some protection. With the right adaptations, I mean. Especially since it's a thing of the ancient past. ...I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask the professionals in Gnost about it. If it can't be done, then maybe they can talk you out of it. ...Why does Sweetie have to go through the Unstable Zone, anyway? What's in there-- or on the other side-- that you folks need?"

Ajakstu waited fir the response. The Cloister? Maybe, it seemed that there was payment involved. Helping Kalsk? Off the table, what with how his kind had rudely imprisoned his most innocent self.

"Unstable Zone sounds quite pricey for expert assistance such as I provide," he clearly stated.

Alyn nodded.

"Actually, Dukie is going willingly. I'm not forcing anyone. All of us are going willingly. Although we need to talk to Kalsk and our elemental buddy here soon about what they want to do after we deal with the parasite, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." he said.

"As for the unstable zone...it's a really weird story. But let's just say we met a reliable source that warned us about the reality-warped terrain and the ongoing warping fields in the area. But we're looking for something that is semi-mythical to most people. It's called the Cloisture, and is supposed to be the other main hub of humanity on this world. It's sort of a sister to the Ziggurate is my understanding, or it may have come first. I don't really know that much about it beyond the basics." he said.

"But Dukie, Ajakstu, and I all have reasons to want to find it. We have a shared goal of trying to re-establish contact between the Ziggurat and the Cloisture, for the simple fact that there are only 2 bastions of humanity and it would probably boost every human's morale to know there were other human colelagues out there to connect with." he continued.

"I know many think the Cloisture is just a story myth, but the same source who primed us about the unstable zone also believes the Cloisture exists somewhere on the other side of it, somewhere out there, by itself. But the Ziggurate humans have lost a lot of human history and knowledge, and by reconnecting with the Cloisture we're hoping to try and get that back and try and get a better understanding of this strange world we're living in. Cus no one fully seems to know WHY all the various weird things that are going on have happened."

The Duke looks at Alyn when he tells they are voluntarily and simply chimes in.

"I ate to much and they send me away. I think they don't want me to return. People where always mean there. But my friends are nice so i help them and make sure we have enough food in the cooler."

With that he taps his trusty cooler. He seems to be thawing out a little but is still looking at Dulcinea like he could eat her.

"Elemental?"

"Hey guys," says Vult, still a vaporous gas, floating over.

"Oh, a Shifter? I've met them before. Let me guess, you're a teenager."

"Yeah, how'd you-- how can you tell?"

"Well, the voice, I suppose... but mostly because only a teenager would be hanging out with these people."

"Yeah, my family-- all the adults, I mean-- are totally square," agrees Vult. "But look, humans! Real humans! I found some!"

"Humans?" repeats Dulcinea. She looks at The Duke. "These are all humans?!? But they're so... adorable!!!" Then she turns and faces Alyn, Ajakstu, and Pesky again. "...Well, I guess it varies a lot from individual to individual."




"Eh? Oh, The Ziggurat, I guess I've heard of that. Some sort of trading colony down to the southwest, huh? Not sure I ever really believed there were humans there. I've heard legends of a place called The Cloister, though... Is that the same place? Never heard where it was, nor that it involved humans, though."



"Well, that makes sense. So it's a family/species thing. Instinctual. I can understand that. ...Oh! Maybe there'll be other children like Sweetie there! Now I kind of want to go and see!"




"Whaaaat?!? Sent you away?!? That's outrageous! We'll have to make sure you get all the food you want! There'll be plenty of food in Gnost, though. Um... if your friends have enough money."

The Duke looks confused.

"Money? Why do i need money when there is food?"

He turns to the majestic hat.

"Lets get the car and see what they have!"

"To buy more food, sweetie. You're a growing boy."

The Duke flexes his muscles.

"The gladly feed me."