Operation: Roll Out

[initiates]

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.

Comments

[oversleeps]

If I have to.

[ not that there's any problem with that. it isn't like he has anywhere better to be. he waits; hopefully whatever tempest has brought along isn't something she's particularly attached to. ]

[hyanaimne]

[the only thing she owns that she's even close to attached to is her cloak, and she left that back in Exsilium.

When she comes back, she's dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a jacket, far from the glitz and glam that seems to be the norm, here. And her boots, because she has yet to be introduced to anything that would even dream of replacing those]

Much better.

[oversleeps]

It really is. [ he nods once, approving. turning away, he beckons tempest to follow as he sets out down the street, looking for an alley secluded enough that they won't run the risk of being mowed down by an errant driver or five trying to head underground.

finding an alley is easy. finding one not already occupied is a lot harder. somehow, they manage, and he gestures down to the (still closed) manhole cover. ] After you.

[hyanaimne]

[she stares down at the manhole like it's something foreign to her. And it is, no surprise there. She kneels down to get a better look, then looks over her shoulder at Marduk]

What, does it just open?

[oversleeps]

Well-- probably. [ sewers are kind of a universal constant, aren't they? he thinks they are. helpfully, he shrugs. ] Give it a shot.

[hyanaimne]

[she gives him a long look, as to say "Why aren't you doing this?" but turns back to the manhole and . . . stares at that too. But not for too long; she finally, after a bit of struggling, pulls it open and slides the cover to the side with a face]

[oversleeps]

[ he just grins and shrugs again, like-- tempest, do you see these arms? he ain't gonna be lifting anything, probably ever.

clearly, she didn't need his help anyway. marduk is immediately peering over her shoulder once the covers off, trying to see if there's anything life-threatening waiting to jump out. (seems unlikely.) ]

Can you see in the dark? [ he's not too good with half-elves, alright. ]

[hyanaimne]

[if there is she will move aside and let it at you, just saying]

For the most part. Can you?

gives up. uses regular icons here too. PRETEND 8'(

[oversleeps]

[ how lucky for both of them there isn't! (but omg, rude.) ]

For the most part. [ he gestures downwards. again-- after you. ]

NEVER!!

[hyanaimne]

[she's a rude kind of girl.

She can't help but roll her eyes, but she peers down into the hole once more, then goes ahead and just jumps on down. Who needs a ladder?]

8'( !!!

[oversleeps]

[ he does. marduk doesn't quite share tempest's enthusiasm to go down, hovering near the end of the ladder and frowning down at the walkway beneath him. this probably could've been a better destination, but--

oh well. too late now. ] At least there really isn't anyone down here.

[hyanaimne]

[it isn't enthusiasm so much as that's just how she is. She glances up and squints a bit, then raises an eyebrow]

Are you coming down here or not?

[oversleeps]

Fine, fine! Shit, don't know why you're in such a hurry.

[ he touches down next to her, scowling into the darkness. ] Left or right?

[hyanaimne]

[she makes a vague gesture, shrugging a shoulder]

I've no preference. After you.

[oversleeps]

[ damn. very well; left it is. marduk sets off without another word.

for a while. ] Why were you even dressed up? Back there. [ he talks mostly to hide the fact that he's uneasy, as any sensible person should be in an enclosed space like this. ]

[hyanaimne]

[stop bringing up the dress!!]

Because someone convinced me to. [and that's all she's saying about it]

[oversleeps]

[ but it was right there!

-- another crossroads. again, marduk simply chooses left. harder to get lost that way. ] Really. With what argument?

[hyanaimne]

[she stops for a moment, then, in the sweetest tone she can manage:]

If you do not stop asking about it, I will leave you down here. [and a flash of her most charming (dangerous) smile]

[oversleeps]

[ jeez! he has to look over his shoulder at that, just in time to see that smile. it's definitely the sort he recognizes, that's for sure. ]

You pick a subject, then. [ if you're gonna be like THAT about it. ]

[hyanaimne]

[dresses are serious business Marduk don't you know. At least for Tempest, and it's bad enough that she had to wear one. Talking about it? Out of the question]

Fine, then. Why didn't you dress up?

[oversleeps]

Why would I? It's not like I want to be here.

[ he snorts. ]

Having to use the disguise is bad enough on its own.

[hyanaimne]

Oh dear, having to hide must be so hard.

[she rolls her eyes at the thought]

[oversleeps]

Hey, shut up. It's shit. [ have a little goddamn sympathy. ]

[hyanaimne]

Yes, I know. Complain about it when you have to do it for more than a few days.

[so maybe this is a sensitive subject]

[oversleeps]

You think I haven't had to?

[ another glare over the shoulder; not that he's mad at her, though. ]

The duration doesn't change anything.