exsiliumlogs | Operation: Roll Out

Entry tags:

Operation: Roll Out

Date & Time: January 31st - February 4th, Present Day Exsilium Time
Location: Neo Las Vegas, in what formerly was called Turkey.
Characters: All Transports!
Summary: Transports have been sent to Neo Las Vegas to gather information on the origin point of the United Earth and the UE AI. Conference sabotage and the rest is expected and invited!
Warnings: Gambling and alcoholic beverages quite likely! Please PM the mod account for anything else.

By day, the landscape isn't desert, precisely, so much as it is dry. Winter's settled in and found in the biting chill of the wind when it finds you standing on the street. Hovercars and taxis thrum down the cobblestone streets, cavorting and honking like a noisy crowd of inelegant, overweight geese. Men walk by on stilts half in make-up, on their way back to their stage for the next night. Walks of shame are taken proudly in this district, one of the few approved and sanctioned vacation zones in the United Earth.

Evidence of law enforcement can be found all around, but they seem altogether too pleased to be there too. Talk with any one of them about crime rates, and they're liable to laugh at the idea. Those who come to gamble know the house is rigged to win. It's not about making or breaking the bank -- people whose funds dip too low are politely escorted back to their rooms and given a set of normal playing cards -- but it is about enjoyment.

Of the flesh too, and it'd be difficult to find anyone working in Neo Las Vegas who suffers from modesty, or anyone visiting who seems unwilling to politely ask visitors and staff if they'd like to keep them company for the night. In fact, Transports may find themselves needing to turn down multiple such requests! The refusal is always taken well. These are people looking to have a good time, and that's all.

No chance taken, nothing gained, right?

At night, the city really comes alive, the lights in all the hotels and casinos turning the Neo Las Vegas Strip into a carnival of sensation. Drinks and recreational drugs are freely passed around, men and women engage in a variety of sexual and other hedonistic excesses without regret, and the beautiful interiors and ostentatious or playful exteriors of the buildings hide and reveal a rich tapestry of events, delectables, and desires waiting to be fulfilled.

Neo Las Vegas is a fun place, and it is a safe place, and it is Where the Conferences For Our Future Are Made. Playtime is on, gang.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Its been a while since she's felt anything warm like that, when it wasn't squirming desperately for life under her hand. The wrist is a good place to take note of his pulse--

At which point she releases him (just a bit too quickly) and...glares expectantly at the person behind the bar as she waits for another drink. She hopes this one is stronger. She's not nearly intoxicated enough to keep up with this conversation.

Which is why the second he hands over the drink, its gone in one gulp. So much for culture. She rests a hand on her hip and gestures at him a bit accusingly.]

I trust you are aware that I will not be carrying you back to your room.

[ his hand hovers there after she's let go, as though he doesn't know what to do with it; after a second's pause, he pulls it back. it's as good a time as any to finish his own drink, and he chuckles into the empty glass at her comment. ]

Of course. [ as if he ever would. besides, he's nowhere near gone enough for that to be a concern-- he's pretty sure, anyway-- maybe. he has been leaning on something for support for quite some time. the point is, he's not worried. ] Are you going to keep changing the subject?

[Another drink. Yes, she would love to keep changing the subject. They've brushed against uncomfortable territory, territory she's wholly certain she doesn't want to be treading with Marduk.]

There is not much else to tell.

[A lie, but a decent one. She throws him something obvious that she thinks might not be so obvious thanks to his alcohol intake.]

Much of the Ebon Blade fights their natures -- like Koltira. I do not. It has earned me a great deal of resentment.

[ is that it? he has his chin propped up in one hand now, expression easing into something more thoughtful. he's waiting for her to continue, and is visibly disappointed when that's the end of it. well. ]

That's a shame. [ his voice is earnest; he really does mean that. surprisingly enough. ] No sense in fighting it-- it doesn't change what you are.

That's not quite it.

[She traces the rim of her glass, gently forming a small layer of ice there. Nobody is watching except the bartender and Marduk, so she doesn't really care.]

Our nature makes us subhuman -- beasts. Monsters that function on instinct.

[Seviilia takes a drink and leans back against the bar.]

Things we are meant to be above.

As though anyone else is different.

[ somehow, he has managed to coax both a fifth and a sixth drink out of the bartender, and both are rapidly disappearing. he rambles on as he drinks, of course, even if it's hard to properly articulate his thoughts on the matter. it's something he's thought about at length, long prior to seviilia; another idea considered, but never expressed. ] Everyone is the same, just, maybe-- more subtle, with it. Bloodlust is messy, and honest; not appropriate. Two things are antithesis of society. [ shit. he skipped a word. ] That are. [ ... where was he? ]

-- Look at this place. [ he waves an arm back towards where they came; he means all of vegas. ] You think this would exist, if they were different? The vices are different-- or the same, milder-- ones they can pretend are better. And aren't. The city is dressed up in lights and gold, but it is as full of animals as the wild.

[ he makes a disdainful noise, here. there was a specific conclusion he was gearing up for, but it's slipped his grasp in the midst of... that. marduk drags a hand down his face, gripping what's shaping up to be his last drink rather tightly. ] There is nothing to be above. Impossible to be. The concept only exists to give everyone peace of mind.

Murder and torture are not equal to greed or finer pleasures, Marduk. Moral ground aside, most of society understands the former as reprehensible, and the latter forgivable and...normal.

[That much, she understands. She understands that her lifestyle is wrong. She has come to understand that she is weak for not being above simple desires -- no, not simple. Simple desires are what the things Marduk listed off.

She looks between the bartender and Marduk, reaching instead for a bottle of wine after she finishes her drink. Afterward, she pulls out a large sum of cash to cover whatever they had drank (she doubts its enough) and stands. She is starting to feel something at least, but not enough without the bottle in her hand.

He looks like he's had enough, though. She's also rapidly growing tired of the conversation -- its exhausting.]

Where are you staying?

Most of society spends its time trying to convince itself it is no longer savage. But willing to embrace the reprehensible as soon as it becomes beneficial enough.

There are plenty in Sharn that would call those finer pleasures. Make their fortunes off it. I am sure-- here is no different.

[ humans are the same everywhere, aren't they? not to mention, to him, all wants are equally simple; perspectives and all that.

he slams the now empty glass down, briefly considers another, and then realizes how absolutely unnecessary another drink would be tonight. marduk considers her question, and then shakes his head. ] I thought there would be no carrying.

I do not disagree with that. But it is different, when your origins lie as mine do -- as all other Death Knights do.

[She eyes that glass, slightly disappointed that it didn't shatter, before looking back to Marduk. She just...reaches over for the bartender's corkscrew wordlessly and opens it before stepping backward away from him.]

There won't be. You will be walking. Or dragging your belly, if it suits you.

Right. [ he finally pushes up from the bar and promptly clutches the edge of it for balance, again leaving deep gouges in the wood where his nails dig in. ah.

he sways there a moment, trying to sort out a plan of action. he looks at seviilia after a distinct pause of that, having come up with approximately nothing. ] For one regarded so poorly by her cadre, you keep their words well. [ half a jab; half curiosity. he's not sure what to make of it. ]

[She takes a drink after that and moves to walk off toward her own room which is, of course, conveniently attached to the casino. She stumbles a bit and frowns before peeling off her heels and looking back to Marduk.]

Do you not understand what is at stake if I choose not to keep their bloody creed?

[Its accusatory -- angry, enough that her accent begins to slip through her words. Seems he's finally struck a nerve, as she's stepping back toward him. Its not entirely graceful, but without the heels, its much easier.]

They will kill me. Or worse.

There is a difference between keeping their creed and believing it. [ but; he holds up a hand. her fears-- that's what they are, aren't they? fears?-- aren't unfamiliar to him.

there is a reason he's never even tried to go home, after all. his turn to have the moment of understanding, then; he just says, sad and solemn: ] I know.

[ with that, he relinquishes his hold on the bar. he faces seviilia now, apparently unfazed by the way she appears to be bearing down on him. it's funny. he's not even scared of her now. just tired, and all too sympathetic towards someone who has been all to eager to show him his own insides. ]

[Maybe he is right -- that is always what she thought, until Koltira had a much better argument. She doesn't stop approaching until she is just mere inches from him, twitching to just. Punch him. Shove him. Something. But he's given her something to think about, and its confusing her.]

Our design is what shackled us to the Lich King. It is our bond to him, it keeps us his slaves even in the face of his death --

[Her jaw goes tight, her grip around the bottle goes tighter. She's just parroting what Koltira had said to her, she's realizing. Does that make it any better?]

No. You don't know.

[Maybe he does -- she doesn't want to believe anyone has any idea what it is like to be tethered for your survival. Without the Ebon Blade, she is just a Death Knight -- and nobody cares for stray Death Knights. Stray Death Knights end up dead, because there is always a chance they will turn Scourge. She's been on that side of the fence too.

That tone of his -- is that pity? How dare he.]

Thought this came up earlier-- I know more than you realize.

[ he has been through all of it. he knows as only the dead do. ]

You can deny it all. But it will not change.

[ he knows. ]

How can you know what you have no memory of?

[Yeah that's right. You made her forget about her wine. You're more drunk than she is, and now you're using that pity tone with her. She's completely furious with you, Marduk.]

Every ounce of my service, I remember. My death, my resurrection, and everything after, right up to this ridiculous conversation I am having with you now.

[Says nothing about what happened beforehand, though.]

Because it is written, and I-- remember everything, now.

[ there's a definite tinge of bitterness to his voice. initially, he'd jumped at the chance to recover his last time, to have more to show for it than words on a page. a nice gift at the time, but the things he remembers-- it's how things happened, not the actual experience of it; it's a minor distinction, but one that chafes more every time he thinks of it. his memories can barely be called his, and while he's far too drunk to be able to sort his thoughts out for further retort he bares his teeth all the same.

but then, he is not too drunk to miss the lapse in her words. marduk has a hunch, anyway, one helped by a previous topic of the night, as well as the fact that he's already thinking about it-- ] Only your death. And onwards. Is it?

[Sun above and Shadow below, he is just like Aelaidas, minus the attachment. Minus the lack of shame. Everything else lines up in ways that are beginning to sicken her.

For a moment, she quivers in anger before she seems to deflate and take one stumbling step backwards. Because of she doesn't, she's going to toss him over the railing.

Her lip curls as she prepares a retort that never comes. He remembers -- she does not. She was wrong, and so she has nothing to stand on.]

Yes. Alright?

[It sounds more like an admission of defeat than an answer. She glances over to the bar, unsurprising that the bartender had finally fled, before looking back to Marduk for one last stare. They've probably gone to fetch security. Awkwardly, she starts to shuffle back down the hallway that will lead her to the skywalk that will bring her, eventually, to her room.

No goodbyes. For all she knows, they are staying in the same hotel. But she doesn't care. She just -- needs to move.]

[ he doesn't even have time to react before she's gone. something about that seems distinctly unfair; only a little sullen, marduk manages to drag himself to the top of the stairs and no further. they're just too daunting of a task right now, and he elects to sit down instead. much easier.

it bothers him, not being able to get the last word in a situation like that. thankfully, mandatory missions mean mandatory tablets. it takes some fumbling and lord is typing a chore, but he manages a text: ]

alrihgt;

[ fuck. maybe another? ]

Did you reall just
leave me here
Thats rude.

[ ... ]

Thanks for not
Breaking my wrist ,again
Last tim e
meant to say that.

[ text number four is, from the looks of it, entirely in deep speech. it's too poorly typed for the translator to work on it. text number five is not. ]

Sorry
About

[ ??? at least there's a delay before yet another one: ]

ignor e that

[ aaaaand so on. ]

[Seviilia by and large ignores the buzzing of her tablet. She takes one look, and notices that its the man she just left behind, but doesn't address it beyond that. She spends the entire portion of Marduk's conversation with himself pacing with her bottle of wine, occasionally stopping to peer out the window at the circus going on down in the streets below. And she drinks. And drinks. Fully intent on ignoring that buzzing. But it keeps going. And she knows every time it goes off, it has to be him. Just to be sure, she checks at least once more -- and she's not wrong.

Its distracting. She can't even lapse into a peaceful train of thought because she keeps routing back to that awful encounter. Eventually, when she nears the bottom of the bottle, she sighs in a bit of defeat and checks her tablet again.

"Left him there". So he hadn't moved. Of course he hadn't.

She's considerably less sober when she reappears in the hallway. She doesn't bother with the pretense of heels, or even her disguise. The sapphire choker that sat around her neck is gone, leaving her in just the dress and her dead-self.

She has to use the railing to get over to him, and just sort of glares down expectantly.]

Are you really going to do this to me all bloody evening?

[She already knows the answer, which is why she reaches down and tries to grab him by his collar, enough to drag him back on the landing.]

[ by the time seviilia makes it back out there, he's all but fallen asleep. the gradually deteriorating quality of his texts reflects that. when she hauls him up, then, he's not expecting it; he yelps in surprise, clutching his tablet for dear life. marduk cranes his neck around to look at her, can't decide if he's pleased or apprehensive about her lack of hologram, and settles for a puzzled frown.

no, wait. make that an infinitely more concerned frown. seviilia in a public space usually isn't too frightening, except for the fact that there's certain lack of care that results in showing your true self in this kind of place ...... ]

-- Don't throw me off the edge? [ haha. um. pLS? ]

[She doesn't. Instead, she starts to drag him like a man with a limp might try to drag a sack of potatoes. She's way too drunk for this shit.

Once they're directly out of view, she will let go of him and force herself to stand straight to glare down at him.]

Why are you still here?

[Her words slur just a bit. Something sneaks out in agitated Thalassian just before she polishes off the bottle and. Throws it. Luckily, it shatters when it hits the bottom of the trash can she chucked it in rather than a random wall, which will keep most of the attention off of the top floor.]

[ he cringes a little when she makes to throw the bottle, and more when he hears it shatter; when he figures out that none of that results in any immediate injury to him, he finally relaxes, resting his head on his knees as he peers up at seviilia. ]

Where was I supposed to go? [ huff. you led him up stairs, man. accusingly, he adds: ] You ran off.

Back to your bloody room, obviously.

[She realizes he never told her where that was, so she can't even drag him there!! It doesn't occur to her that he might...not have a room.

She ignores his accusation. Nope. Totally didn't run.]

[ marduk goes from staring up at her to staring off at... something else not her. that's the important part. he stays completely silent. good answer, right?

no-- he knows it's suspicious as fuck all, but uh. he is really not keen on admitting his lack of lodgings, even if his response makes it obvious what the situation is. ]

[She waits for a few moments until the conclusion is obvious even to a drunk.]

You are an incredible waste of space.

[Thank god there is a mini bar in her room, because she still isn't drunk enough for this. But she isn't about to leave him here for someone to find, so that he may drunkenly babble about the entire evening. She manages her balance and reaches down for his collar again.

Regardless of comment, she will then begin to drag him all the way back to her room, unless he makes an effort to stand on his own.]

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