The trepidations and tremors of the truck had insteadd Jalia felt comfortably into a nap, her glorious feminine and voluptuous body on display. Head on Sapphire's lap, she had passed out, half an hour earlier, after having devoured two big McDonald's Hamburgers, french fries, a milkshake and a soda.

Been originally from canadian ascend, it was like a return to a well known world, but plunged in a mist of magic and fantasy belief and vision now. She had been a charm model, and more, but now, the sculptural blonde with blue eyes, scandalously barely covered with a bikini made of steel scales and mail, fur boots, and reinforced brass forearms, was like a sleeping beauty.

As Sapphire, Pierre and Ben discussed, she woke up, rubbing her eyes, and yawned largely, stretching her back felinely. The heavy makeup she usually wore to enhance her genuine beauty smeared a bit, but she didn't seem to care.
Sitting up, she smiled around, and looked at the road behind us.

"It's like been in the belly of a metal golem, Saph'. Without the bile and crushing aspects, ha ! I hope we will cross one of those Edeinos people ! I was told they look like humanoids dragon without wings !"

Matthew listens to the conversation intently.  He still was not quite used to people of this sort.  He still was not used to being a person of this sort.  But he was glad he was.  Now that he has seen the errors of his ways and that of the Empire he knows he has a much greater purpose.  A destiny perhaps.  These people were a part of it, and he of theirs.

"It reminds me of home," Matthew adds, late in the conversation, as he looks across the vista.  "But only a reminder.  More... mundane."

"Oh!  No offense," he says with an embarrassed look as he rests his hand on Ben's shoulder.

Seeing Jalia awaken reminded Sita of their earlier lunch stop. She had not liked that "McDonald's" establishment. While the various fried meats had smelled quite delicious, even to a vegetarian like her, she had vague pre-Transformation memories about the food, from when she'd been a Core Earth medical researcher. Something about its chemical content, perhaps?

Ever wary of the Power of Corruption, she'd gone with the salad instead.

Seeing Sapphire's current discomfort, she mentally reviewed the belongings that she carried with her, to remember if she had any pills or tonics that would help. No, she thought to herself. Not in her medical bag . . . or her *other* bag . . .

No. But she suspected the symptoms would subside rapidly on their own, now that the vehicle had stopped. She sent Sapphire sympathetic thoughts, until then.

In reply to Sapphire (msg # 4):

Pierre switched to English, although it was obviously as foreign to him as Elven was. "Your slug thing sounds like a nanomachine assemblage of some kind. Industrial nano is usually weak to thermal pulse, often deliberately so. Nobody wants a 'grey goop' incident on their name after all. Military nano would usually be more robust."

"For myself, I am from Paris. It is part of Earth, but we have recently had the True Faith brought to us from another world, and one of the things that it brought was magic. The other, of course, was cyber." He brought up one arm, cycling it into weapons mode and back to manipulation mode to demonstrate.

Sita sits up abruptly, her eyes widening at Pierre's display. Not because of any fascination with the limb itself, though it was surely a wondrous thing, but at the thought of the medical skill that would have been necessary to attach it. Controlling sepsis, integrating existing nerve fibers and muscle tissue. Amazing.

"Pardon me", she says quickly, her English coming out with a clearly Indian accent. "I must ask, is the medical skill required to attach such a device a common thing where you are from? Is it also used to treat, ah, illnesses? Severe illness?"

Please say yes, she thinks. Please say yes.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:11, Sat 20 June 2020.

Sapphire was starting to feel better. The world was no longer spinning, although her stomach still felt as though ... her mind veered away from the possible consequences of continuing that thought.

She nodded to Jalia's comments. "Mind you if these humanoid wingless dragons are as bad tempered and arrogant as your average dragon, we might have problems. Still we must not judge by appearances. Perhaps under their scaly exterior they are Folk who care and love and cherish. Just because they oppose us at this moment, doesn't mean they are Corrupt. I still have hope we can talk with them, and resolve matters peacefully"

Sapphire knew Sita was some sort of 'doctor' which she understood was often a healer. She recognised the look she was given as the 'do I need to do something' assessment, and gave a 'thank you' gesture to the doctor. She concurred with the unsaid assessment.

Sapphire had heard the words 'True Faith' before. Many times. Usually in children or younglings that had had their first religious experience. She too had felt the same way once: 'there was only one way', but then she had grown up. A slightly fond smile made it to her lips: such naivety was harmless, and she hoped he enjoyed it while it lasted. She wouldn't be the one to prick his bubble

Instead she focused on his interesting observation about the creature. She hadn't thought about it for a long time, a century perhaps. She had to use the sort of mental tricks the elves had developed over the years to handle long ago memories. An onlooker would see her deep in thought as she relived the moment in her mind before she replied to Pierre's comment "I know little of these 'nano' things. Would it sense as being alive?" she asked. "In the same way that I can feel the life in you and the others, I could sense the life coursing through it. It burned so very bright in my mind, and did not have that sense of hatred you would feel in a demon, or the void of unfulfillable hunger of a ghoul."

Then Sapphire saw the weapon mode.

Everything changed. It was as if the world had tilted. As though the background music in a traveling play had come to screeching halt. Her rate rate doubled. Tunnel vision came slamming in as adrenaline shot through her almost hurting her with its intensity

If it hadn't been a traveling companion who obviously demonstrating something she have unleashed her most potent magical death in his direction. That weapon violated the most fundamental principles of honor. She'd seen how effective these gun's could be: almost as potent as a powerful wizard throwing lightning. Having one built into one's body was as concealed as she could imagine a weapon being. Surely only the most henious Corrupt person could do that, and even if they weren't when the choice had been made: constantly carrying it would taint Pierre's soul in a way that took the vilest magic's to hide.

As she moved backwards a step trying to ramp back her instant 'fight or flight' response, Sita's words were almost lost to her. She was too busy trying to stop her hands moving through the patterns of destruction.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 15:31, Sat 20 June 2020.

Ben gave Matthew a shrug and smiled "Nothing wrong with being mundane."

He glance at the elf who seemed to be about to freak about something "These lizard dragon people are the enemy. It doesn't matter if they have feeling, family or kids... they are an aggressor invaders that launch the most devastating attack without provocation or a proper declaration of war. Millions are dead, million more are refugees, how many would survive winter without shelter and food?"

Those were dramatic words, proper government propaganda, no matter that it was true but Ben knew it was never that simple and with his ability to feel other people emotions... could he really go and kill someone when he could feel their fear? when he could feel how they cherished their young, loved their spouses and friends... Ben gift or curse gave him an edge on other people but it also came with a cost. He could never look at an enemy like it was a monster, not when he could tell what the other person felt.


He was not sure why she responded in such dramatic way, she was an elf so perhaps she had a pet dragon back home or something of the sort. He wasn't even trying to read her she was emanating such a strong vibe it took all his mental control not to flee the truck.

"Hey..." he said softly reaching his hand toward her "...it is going to be alight... I am sure we could find a middle way..." he tried a soothing voice, like his Grandmother sang to him when he was little and had nightmares.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:01, Sun 21 June 2020.

Jason hadn't immediately exited the truck once they stopped. He had made sure the emergency brake was in place, the truck was turned off, that everything was it should be so the truck wouldn't roll off on its own or anything - or be easy pickings to steal.

He climbed down from the cab and heard some of the passengers talking. He gave a long and mighty stretch, raising arms over his head, hands linked, then bent over for a moment as well, twisting this way and that, before straightening once more.

"What's going on, folks?" While they mostly all had strange accents to his ear, he was sure he sounded strange to them right back. His eyes, as usual, were first involuntarily drawn to the gorgeous and barely-clothed supermodel-turned-barbarian, but then his eyes moved to Ben and Sapphire. "Everyone alright? Sorry for the bumpy ride, but between the truck and the roads not being kept up..." He gave a shrug. "I find a little walk usually helps if anyone's interested."

He hesitated to make sure things were alright before wandering around though.

Koharu opens the passenger side door and slides out on the other side.  She has no strong feelings about the truck either way; it's a bit clunky, but it does its job.  But she's not one to ride in the back of a truck.  Taking in the tension, she just tilts her head slightly and watches quietly.

"Ben," Matthew replied with some concern, "they, as a whole, are the enemy, but as individuals it could be anyone's guess.  Don't forget that I too was on the wrong side in earlier wars."

"Ah yes, a walk would do these bones some good," he says as he exists the truck.

"Well yes, of course." He brought up a picture of a man in a wheelchair, all withered limbs and pallid flesh with most of the chest and face missing. "Me, at my last birthday, few months ago now. Very little that a nano-tank can't handle and that which it can't do a download and clone. It is expensive though."

When Sapphire went into fight-or-flight he whirled round, stepping forward to place himself between the non-combats and the potential threat, eyes searching for the enemy. "Where is it?" he asked, frustrated.

Ben's words were exactly what Sapphire needed.

In her head she knew this wasn't Aylse. It had been explained to her that she could not rely on the evidence of her senses anymore. That explaination might have hit her brain, but reactions didn't go through the brain. Natural Selection was alive and well in Aylse and people who didn't react fast, usually ended up dead.

Ben's words gave her brain the time to catch up with her bodies response. And the chance to feel embarressed. It wasn't Pierre's fault that he didn't know doing such a thing in Alyse was in practice an automatic death sentence. Especially since they weren't there now

"Thank you" she said to Ben. Then tried to explain to Pierre. "Automatic reaction. Concealed weapons carried by a person who looks as nice as you do, back at home are a sign of such vile and evil magics that I do not want to even describe them. I ... well ... if you go there you will be tainted and corrupted by carrying it."

"But we aren't there. And I did not mean to startle like that."

She made a serious attempt to brush it under the carpet, and just move on. Obviously she was embarressed about the whole thing

"That was you, you say. Impressive stuff. I can restore the body of a person to their natural state by amplifying their life force, but I couldn't fix this. Changing a person's natural state from that to your current form would take an Archmage. I only know of two that could do it" It was hard to keep her attention away from the no longer concealed weapon, hard for her not to scream 'assassin' but she was trying.

Sita speaks, her voice more somber and serious than anyone's ever heard her, these past two weeks. She faces toward Sapphire, but her eyes avoid meeting anyone else's gaze.

"Some weapons cannot be displayed before they are revealed. Please try to remember that, when . . . when the time comes."

Sita looks downward then, contemplating this incident. If Sapphire reacted like this to Pierre's firearm, how would she react to Sita, when--

Stop, she thinks. It doesn't matter. Her hand drifted down to the heavy bulge in her "other" bag. Sita had a solution already prepared, if it ever came to that . . .

Pierre blinked, then shrugged. "Aliens are alien" he said, mostly to himself. "Um, okay, but do remember that there are laws against carrying a weapon openly in most places. 'Brandishing' it is called."

He turned back to Sita. "From your reaction there is someone that you would very much like cured of something, yes?"

Sita blinks, coming out of her reverie. "Oh. Yes. My sister. She is very ill."

Sita swallows, and continues. "Her prognosis is not good. She probably only has a few more months left. I-- I do not believe Core Earth has developed a cure, so I have been searching for an answer from the invading realms."

She removes an old-fashioned journal and writing instrument from her pack. "The medical technology you described sounds most promising." She makes a note in the journal about the Cyberpapacy. She also notes that "Archmages" in Aysle may also be able to help, and that Sapphire is acquainted with two of them.

"Of course, there are many logistical issues, even should I find a workable treatment. Transporting my sister to the site of a cure, safely navigating any storm boundaries, arranging to receive the process in a way that does not put her or I in the debt of a disreputable benefactor."

Or in a way that causes her to lose her soul, she adds to herself. She sighs, and gives a tired smile. "It all sounds like a Herculean task, but I am not without hope. Never that."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:16, Mon 22 June 2020.

"So called 'cybertourism' is big business for France, you can probably just put her on a plane. What is the actual issue?"

"Endstage pancreatic cancer. Metastatic."

She purses her lips. "I am not sure it is as simple as putting someone on a plane. Forgive me, I am not an expert on reality mechanics, but it is my understanding that since she has already been converted once, to Orrorshan reality, then behavior that puts her at further risk of transformation might make her vanish entirely, into 'what if's'.

"It seems risky to put her on a conveyance beyond her axioms, then transport her across two reality storm boundaries, and then finally deliver her into the tender mercies of this 'CyberChurch'. The danger of having an actual device beyond her axioms installed inside her, such as an artifical pancreas, seems extreme. The cure ideally would be a . . . what is the Core Earth term? A 'one and done' endeavor.

"And there is always navigating 'the catch', whatever it may turn out to be. I do not know how things work in other realms, but in Orrorsh there is always 'a catch'. I would not want to see her converted into the service of an invader, for example; or face some form of indentured servitude for the rest of her life, to whoever aided her. There are many different factors to consider."

"Yes, Doctor, that certainly is a risk.  A very real and permanent one," Matthew says as he stretches his legs.  "But if you can't bring her to the cure, perhaps you can bring the cure to her."

He knows that priests and priestesses in the Empire have been graced with the gifts to perhaps help her sister.  However, he has seen these "representatives" of the gods turn down aid to their own allies.  So finding one that was not dedicated to the Pharaoh, and was not too afraid to turn their back on the Empire, and willing to make the dangerous journey...  The "ands" were seemingly endless.  But he also knew that if it was possible, it could be figured out with enough planning, thought, and aid.

Matthew gives Sita a sympathetic look and says, "Not an easy task dear Doctor, but one we should keep at the front of our minds."

Ben blinked as the conversation turned metaphysical, he heard the terms axiom before. It was no secret that tech and magic didn't work properly at all places. He even heard that in the US people got affected psychologically and stop acting like a group... it seemed odd but what wasn't odd these days.

"I am sorry about your sister..." he said after a moment because in the end, this was all about that. The doctor was trying to save her sister and all the mambo jumbo scientific bits were just the cover.

“When death smiles to us, the only thing that we can do is to smile back at it” Jalia comments as she gets out of the truck, grabbing her satchel and broadsword that she placed on her shoulder. She eyed Jason with a direct smile of her pearly white teeth, and brushed her blonde mane a bit wild. She obviously loved to be admired for her formidable physique.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:18, Fri 26 June 2020.

Koharu looks thoughtful, clearly doing a bit of math in her own head, if hers is quite different from Matthew's practice.

"So you are here seeking miracles?" she asks, suddenly.  "I have heard this wilderness is the place for them.  If you find one, I can, as you say, put it on a plane, though Indonesia is.. an unpopular destination now.  I'm sure we could work out the details."

"Or we could go to any city in Aylse, that follows Queen Ardinay. Which is about a hundred times safer than France or Indonesia." Sapphire said lightly. She was pleased the conversation had moved on and was allowing her to relax a bit. She was a little more serious when she explained why "The Cyberpope's inquistions will torment you as soon as look at you. They will burn me at the stake twice over: once for being a 'witch' and once for worshipping 'false gods'. The lands of Indonesia are ... not pleasant. But I think you know that better than I... I've just heard the BBC World Service" Sapphire observed "I myself can channel divine power and pray for the healing of little wounds, but I have no skill with diseases. With magic I can heal things that the body could naturally heal: wounds, broken limbs, even damaged organs.. although not severed limbs or failed organs. This though is different: the body cannot naturally heal it.  We call your cancer 'The Crab' because it feels like a crab's claws constantly nipping. Sometimes it is called 'Do not cut'for the obvious reason. Treating it is normally simple when detected early, but if you leave it a long time you might need to go to a cathedral and focus the prayers of a thousand people or more. That focused spiritual might is what I think you need here. I don't know the words you used other than cancer. They sounded serious, but" her voice became a little wistful as she remembered the euphoric feelings when she last led such a prayer service "the prayers of thousand people in a place of holy virtue can move a mountain"

She paused wondering how much to explain at once. Things that were normal and simple to her were complicated to these people from other Cosms, and vice versa.

"Perhaps this is a place for a miracle" this was in reply to Koharu's comment. Her tone implied she was thinking about it seriously, rather than dismissing it "It has the advantage that we are here now. My feeling though is that the main people worshipping here are the lizardman, and how you would get a thousand of them together for this I do not know. How you would persuade one of their priests... again I don't know

"I do know there is a simple way to do it, with a good chance of success. Short form: get her and us alive to London and keep her alive until the next Sunday .. the holy day of Dunad ... and she will be cured. There are complications... nothing is without complications... but those can all be overcome or accepted." She was obviously willing to be asked for details, or let the conversation drop, depending on what the others wanted to do

Ben eyes shifted from Pierre to Matthew "All the portents we followed led us to Ohio. " he turned his gaze to the Indian doctor "Look, doc I am all in favor of finding a cure for your sister, I feel for you but there is a bigger picture. There is a global war..." he spread his arms wide "bigger than that and my colleges and I got here cause all the signs directed us here to help stop this invasion. "

He paused, he was being a jerk and he knew it but he also had family and friends and they were all under the Pharaoh knife "I am saying I'll be glad to help if it would come to that but I am on a mission and the safety of the world come first."

"I do not think I will find the miracle I was looking for here", Sita says with a shrug. "The Living Land inhabitants that I made contact with were, ah, not inclined to help.

"But perhaps elsewhere. Sapphire, I would be happy to speak with you in more detail later, in private, about possible avenues of assistance from within Aysle."

Sita looks around at everyone, smiling. "I thank you all for your kind words, and for your generous offers of assistance. It means a lot to me.

"However, as Mr. Altman has pointed out, we have a job to do in the here and now." With a last cautious glance at Ben, being wary of his seemingly hard-line stances on various issues, she then occupies herself by recording these latest findings in her journal.

You have been working on the truck and supplies for a few days. Getting to know each other has been tricky considering your disparate backgrounds, but you seem to have made a team.

A military jeep pulls into camp with a passanger. The Airman driving calls out to Jason, "Hey, how soon are you making that next run?  This is Gavin Little and he needs a ride through, as close to Maine as you can get him."
OOC you all figure its a little over a week of prep before you go