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]

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.

[oversleeps]

[ he grumbles when vanadi moves, and he'll never admit he's grateful for the pillow. having to rearrange, however slightly, is entirely too inconvenient for his tastes. plus, now that contact is broken; marduk lays his free hand on vanadi's leg, idly tapping his claws on his thigh as he listens. (it really is a better arrangement than before, though...)

but, eleven or twelve years-- ] You were a child. [ seriously? ]

[implying]

[ His grin is back again, sharp and amused, and maybe a little prideful. ]

I was thirteen. I considered myself very lucky.

[oversleeps]

As I said.

[ a cHILD. not that any of this is surprising to hear, of course. marduk just shakes his head. ] You might've been lucky, but I wonder about her.

[implying]

Ah, well... [ He shrugs casually. ] She's likely a pedophile these days.

[ that's a joke. (probably.) He looks down again, one more time picking up that idly stroking of Marduk's hair. ]

Of course, I thought it was love at the time — these days I understand it was simply... mm, what's the word... [ He pauses, frowns, then snaps his fingers. ] Hormones.

[oversleeps]

Right. [ he'll just pretend he knows what that word means, eh?

of course, this means it's his turn to share, and marduk is as woefully unprepared for show and tell as ever. he settles for his old fallback of not talking, gazing off to the side. his hand on vanadi lays still now, and while he does a good job of looking lost in thought, he's really... kind of morose. that's all.

sigh. ] I'm not sure where to start. [ his story is considerably more involved than 'banged my teacher,' sadly. ]

[implying]

[ He's patient, settled back to wait out Marduk's thoughtful pause, however long it's set to take. ]

Well — perhaps, how did you meet her?

[oversleeps]

[ that doesn't help. he struggles for a moment, trying to think of how to explain things without having to go into detail about how things were back home. the best he comes up with is: ] Training.

[ talk about a lackluster response. he pauses again, searching for something else to add. ] She was incredibly beautiful-- and incredibly violent. Not much else to say about that. [ heh. ]

[implying]

[ He nods, setting the scene for himself as well as he can with the information. It is starting to make still more sense, at least, so that's nice. ]

About how old were the two of you?

[oversleeps]

Older than you were. Maybe, seventeen?

[ frown. the sudden realization that he is getting old is sort of unsettling. ] But we were involved, until-- [ VAGUE GESTURE. you know, the thing. the dying thing. ]

[implying]

Late bloomer, hmm?

[ He can't help it, he has to smirk with that. But then it's gone as he turns his mind to what "until" could mean. Surely not the big one. That would just be entirely too tragic. ]

Until, ah — ...you died?

[oversleeps]

[ yeah, well-- he's sure you were way too early and he wasn't late at all!

w/e. marduk just makes a noise in response to vanadi's conclusion, one that's probably meant to be one of assent. that's pretty much the end of the story. ]

[implying]

[ Oh. :( His ears sink a little, and he gets back to stroking that hair. ]

Then, what became of her? Do you know?

[oversleeps]

Not in the slightest.

[ he does have an idea of how she might've turned out, but... there likely won't ever be any confirmation on that. ] I know-- it's a shitty ending for a story.