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

[implying]

[ He can't even be annoyed, he's too tired of it. But, gods, is this how other people feel dealing with him? It's exhausting. ]

I won't. I would like to hear the truth, my dear, not wordplay.

[oversleeps]

[ dammit. that's going to make it significantly harder to weasel out of any responsibility for round two. ]

... She told me where to find her. [ and it's impossible to say that without sounding like an incredibly whiny child. dammit. ]

[implying]

And you obliged. [ There's a disapproving set to his mouth as he watches Marduk closely. ] Why? After the first time, you couldn't have expected any other outcome.

[oversleeps]

[ SQUIRM. okay, maybe he did-- he mumbles his answers more to the pillow than anybody else. ]

It was the principle of the thing. And... [ he trails off. there doesn't need to be an and there. ]

[implying]

[ Too late, it's there, and Vanadi intends to press. ]

And?

[oversleeps]

[ ... and it's really too bad he's too busy staring at the wall to hear you, vanadi. makes it really hard to answer questions, but them's the breaks. ]

[implying]

[ He's quiet for a good long while, giving the question plenty of time to be answered. Then, finally, he sighs and turns away, to watch the opposite wall. ]

I want to understand this, Marduk, because I don't know that I can care for someone who values his own life as little as you seem to. [ A pause, and a little quieter: ] It's too painful.

[oversleeps]

[ oh, it's going to be like that, is it? marduk rolls back over enough to glare up at vanadi, taking offense to the idea that he doesn't value his life. really? after all he's done to get it back? he values it real damn highly, thank you very much. ]

Sit down. [ if he wants to "understand" it, then fine-- but he won't talk to a wall, nor somebody else's back. ]

[implying]

[ That sounds like a start. He does sit, turned to face Marduk with full attention on him and ears perked forward.go on. ]

[oversleeps]

[ with that he rolls a little more forward, not quite bridging the gap between them. it still takes him a bit to respond. there's no way to construct the sentence in his mind without it sounding incredibly dumb, and it isn't until he gives up on having it be otherwise that he says it. ]

She reminds me of [ inhale. ] someone I used to know.

[implying]

[ His expression softens just a little, ears dipping somewhat. That, he can understand. Or begin to, at least.

Gently: ] Who?

[oversleeps]

[ his grin is wry and bitter. ] Someone from long ago. Before I died.

[ ages, really. he knows he's projecting here, at least a little; but a lot gets left unsaid when you're killed halfway across the world. even after-- god, he doesn't even want to think about the amount of time-- it's hard to let go. ] -- It is pretty stupid, I know.

[implying]

[ He cocks his head, considering that, then shakes it. ]

I might question your taste in — friends, lovers, whatever it was. But I wouldn't call it stupid.

[oversleeps]

She didn't actively want to kill me. [ most days. he chuckles. ] She might now, but--

[ well, he shrugs. it's not an idea that bothers him; that's just life. ]

[implying]

[ There's a little ghost of a smile with that, but it fades again quickly. Not anger this time — sympathy. ]

Then, your draw to the elf — it's nostalgia?

[oversleeps]

[ mm. marduk slowly inches forward until he's able to press his face into vanadi's leg. the metal is hardly welcoming, but it's comforting all the same. ] You could say that.

[implying]

[ He drops a hand to Marduk's head, stroking through his hair. The last of his annoyance has evaporated, which feels even better than he'd hoped. ]

Well, then may I say that you've chosen horribly?

[oversleeps]

I didn't choose. [ he sounds offended by the very notion that his tastes would run so poorly, even as he turns to lean into that hand. yessss. ] So-- no, you may fucking not.

[implying]

Mm. [ He doesn't seem terribly put-off, which may have something to do with enjoying that hair under his hand. ]

Tell me about her?

[oversleeps]

Which part?

[ he pauses, then continues with-- and here's the kicker-- ] She was the first girl I ever fell in love with. [ and thus did all of his problems with seviilia become entirely obvious. ]

[implying]

[ Oh, good. He would have hated to draw out the information step by step. He smiles to have it, understanding all the more now. ]

Ah. That does make considerably more sense, then. [ He traces a nail over Marduk's forehead, brushing away a strand. ] What was her name?

[oversleeps]

Zeriadha. [ he blinks after saying it. that's the first time in, what, ten years he's said it aloud? at least? it tastes as foreign in his mouth as he's sure it sounds to vanadi.

marduk grimaces, covering his face with a hand. ] It was-- a goddamn long time ago, Vanadi. [ really goddamn long. ]

[implying]

[ He grins, reaching to pluck up that hand by a few fingers. ]

Zeriadha — quite a pretty name. [ His grin widens. ] Might I trade you a story for hearing about her? A first for a first.

[oversleeps]

[ UNSURE ... he curls his fingers around vanadi's, frowning up at him. ]

Go on. [ he's definitely listening. ]

[implying]

Oh, I have to go first, do I?

[ Not that he minds. He shifts to sit more comfortably, which involves leaning to grab a pillow to set between his leg and Marduk's head. It can't be very comfortable, without. ]

It was, ah... 11 years ago, by now? Perhaps 12. But in any case: Sangita. She was the assistant instructor of my kobast lessons, and gorgeous. I thought she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen — though, I was a bit young, and hadn't much to compare her to yet.