exsiliumlogs | MISSION ONE: STRIKE AGAINST THE GREEN WALL

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MISSION ONE: STRIKE AGAINST THE GREEN WALL | Closed

Date & Time: Monday, August 26th, 2013
Location: New York City
Characters: Rosette, Chrono, Tempest
Summary: THE FINEST IN GATHERING MISSIONS, also known as culture shock, the log.
Warnings: ~~srs rpers!!~~ NONE

[Three Transports are discretely dropped into a back alley, a few blocks away from a friendly, neighborhood corporate Walgreens. Dumpsters and service doors to various stores facing the roadway line the box filled alley. Above them, metal fire escapes curve up and up, scaling floors of the large concrete buildings.

At the sole exit to the alley, light pours through, as well as the roar of the crowds and traffic beyond.]

So, okay guys. Cool, collected. Businesslike.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He's torn between the desire to whisper (Won't they obviously stand out? Shouldn't this be a stealth mission? Just thinking about how missions normally go at home, he's struck by the very justifiable fear of What if they unravel space-time) and the need to shout over the din of ambient city noise.

These conflicting impulses leave him quite immobile and silents, simply staring gap-jawed at what little of the city is visible beyond the alley- and then Rosette talks, and the spell is broken.

(Except not entirely, because when he whips around to retort, he hisses it as quietly as possible. Like New York City won't find him if he does so.)]

—I don't want to hear that from you.

[meanwhile . . .

Tempest doesn't hear either of them. She's awestruck by what she can see of the city, and can't help but tilt her head all the way back to look up. It was odd, being unable to see the stars, and she squints and frowns and squints again, as if they may help, but it doesn't.

Then it's back to the lights of the city that can be seen out of the alleyway. She reaches back for the hood of the sweatshirt she picked up and tugs it up]

[Rosette is looking everywhere but the opening to the alley. As if she just needs to keep her focus... Nothing out there even sounds remotely normal, or even natural, the bits and pieces of languages over the crowd isn't always English, and occasionally, a bus trundles by with enough speed and noise to shake the air around them.]

This is a mission! Since when have I failed a mission's objective!?

Success or failure have nothing to do with professionalism and- [He breaks off abruptly, because. Professionalism. They can argue the point later.]

Nevermind! Let's just get this over with, with as little incident as possible, okay? [How do they even pay back a building or automobile in this day and age, in the (almost inevitable) event Rosette trashes one? They can't even do it in the 1920s, and now everything looks like it's a SuperCar.]

[Tempest blinks out of her staring and glances at the two of them. She barely resists rolling her eyes; the squabble like a couple, not like partners. But she isn't about to say that aloud. Even if it would be funny to watch the reaction.

She clears her throat]

Are you two bickering again?

[Professionalism is the fact that Rosette is not pulling on Chrono's cheeks from a headlock RIGHT AT THIS VERY MOMENT. YOU'RE WELCOME.]

Not at all~

[She strides, full of confidence for the sidewalk and draws up short, for a long moment. What she couldn't see of the skyline, neon lights and buildings becomes a panorama of unreal landscape, stretching out in lines of small marvels of things too heavy looking to be up there, to delicate looking to be so bright...

And gets elbows out of the way by a trio of businessmen in the midst of a power walk to some after work engagement. She vanishes from immediate sight, but you can still hear her...]

HEY WATCH IT!

Edited 2013-08-30 01:45 (UTC)

[He gives Tempest a significantly more grumpy look.] We're not bickering, it's just-

[It seems he's never going to finish a sentence today. He turns from Tempest as soon as he hears Rosette complaining and scurries after her, not very unlike a mother cat who's lost sight of one of her kittens. (He'll spare some thought for their alien surroundings after he's hooked her by the collar and tugged her out of the line of pedestrian traffic.)]

That's not being cool and collected!

[she just snorts, shoving her hands in her pockets and watching for a moment, eyebrow raised. They were . . . something. Entertaining, yes, annoying, not as much as she thought . . . and absolute children. Professionalism or missions or not.

Sighing, she waits another moment, then follows after, head ducked down a bit. At the very least, it was easy enough to slip into the moving crowd and follow after them]

[Sheltered by a tree planted in the sidewalk, it gave them a bit of an oasis amidst what was very, very clearly a sea of people around them. It would have, perhaps, been more difficult for Tempest to find them if they weren't quite so them.]

This IS blending in [she cups her hands around her mouth to shout at the salarymen, almost completely out of sight.] BECAUSE APPARENTLY IT'S NORMAL TO BE RUDE!

[As people turn to stare (glare, laugh) after her, and one guy in particular turns to shout something back, (Chrono could not be asked to reproduce it), he reels Rosette in, hooks Tempest's sleeve with his free hand, and tugs them both in a relatively less congested direction.

He can almost feel the space-time continuum trembling around them.]

Blending in by standing out doesn't work the way you think it does.

[it may be too loud for either of them to hear her murmuring, maybe not; the only thing for certain is, the one who turned back to yell? Just tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face, causing the crowd to turn their attention to him.

Tempest pulls her arm away the moment she has a chance, fixing them both with an unimpressed look]

I will cast a silencing spell on the both of you if I have to. Are you two quite done?

[NO ANSWER.]

Don't even think about it.

[He releases Rosette as well, stepping back.]

Let's just get this over with by interacting with as few people as possible. Okay? [That includes casting spells on people, Tempest.]

Do not give me reason to think it, then.

[she glances around; at least the distraction interrupted her staring at everything like an idiot]

Where is this place we need to find?

[That causes Rosette to scratch her temple and look around carefully. Nothing really bore any resemblance to what she was used to in the slightest.]

We should look for apothecary globes, maybe?

[For the first time, he allows his babysitter-like attention to splinter to the city itself. Eyes rake high-rise buildings, flashing lights, lines upon lines of modern cars...

It's still very obviously New York, but it's a New York that's gotten a strange, alien makeover. Having to locate one specific store in this sprawling jungle suddenly seems more like the daunting task that it actually is.]

Maybe we should... ask someone.

[of course, someone would suggest asking. Tempest sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose for a moment. This entire world was alien to her, and it was so damn loud that she was starting to get a headache. What sort of city was this loud anyway? Honestly.

But . . . asking someone meant they'd get this over faster. But between the three of them . . .

She heaves a sigh]

I will ask someone.

[Her agreement is distracted and really, almost non verbal for the "mmmm" it was.

Instead, she's caught sight of an enormous pick up truck with cab and suspension so raised it could easily BE a monster truck for the wheels it accommodates.]

What is THAT...?

The future has odd taste . . .

We'll just... wait for you, Tempest.

Right here. Without moving or talking to anyone.

[Because he doesn't really want to approach these people and Rosette will likely start a fist-fight with random passerby if she tries.]

See that you do.

[with a deep breath, Tempest heads down the sidewalk a bit, an eye out for anyone who looks at least decently friendly.

So of course she comes across a group of young men out for a night of bar-hopping.

With a sigh, Tempest decides that they may be her best bet. Chrono and Rosette may even hear the sigh, before she approaches the group, and in the most pleasant voice they probably have ever heard from her: "Excuse me, but I'm not from here - could you assist me in finding a store . . . ?"]

[Rosette huffs as the young men talk amongst themselves a few seconds before one of the taller one's scratches his cheek and points up a few blocks.]

Honestly! Treating US like children and then making all nicey nice with strangers.

[Chrono, meanwhile, is applying the ostrich technique of if I can't see them they can't see me and not looking too closely at anyone or anything. The earlier eye-raking has left him without enough to process without adding more.]

But she's getting the job done. Stop complaining.

[Tempest, meanwhile, treats the whole exchange likes she treats most everything else - like business. It isn't hard to pretend to be friendly and lost - the latter being true, it's just a matter of putting on the shy "I'm not from here" act to get what she wants. She doesn't know what "blocks" are, at least, the way the word is being used but pretend she does, listening intently as they give her the right directions. Four up, two to the left. Big sign. Shouldn't be too hard to find.

She turns down an invitation to join the young men and thanks them for their time, then turns back to join Chrono and Rosette. She looks entirely smug with herself, her demeanor returning to what they're a bit more familiar with. You know, with the added smugness]

They said that there are two on a road known as "Broadway".

[She brightens easily enough, shaking off the bristle quickly.]

Two? This will be easy.

Lead on!

[He can't help feeling mildly impressed. Maybe this is what that feminine wiles thing is all about. It's actually kind of convenient.]

Why would one road need two of the same store... Do you think it matters which one we go to?

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