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

[stonefaith]

Heh. Heh. [ Bariyan giggles some more into his drink. That's right. Lovely. He pats his own face, as if to congratulate it. Then he turns his shit-eating grin back onto Koltira. ]

It's put to shame by yours, though.

[ He reaches out to pat Koltira's face, too. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[This time the flinch is real. Koltira glances at Bariyan's hand, and his voice is suddenly hoarse.]

No ... it's not.

[stonefaith]

There you again. [ Bariyan uses that same hand to try and grab Koltira by the chin. He frowns. ] Now, you're not going to attack me again, are you? See, I like that sort of thing, but -- I have to say -- this would be a bad place for it.

[ Or maybe a good one? Bariyan looks around. Surely bar fights are common in this world too, right? ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira scowls, even as his chin is caught. His good, slightly inebriated humor is quickly waning.]

No, Bariyan, I am not going to attack you.

[stonefaith]

Good. [ Bariyan beams, drunk enough to gloss over the rapid drop in conversation temperature. He uses his grip on Koltira's face to tilt it just slightly to the left. ] No. You've got a good face. Good nose. Good cheekbones. Good mouth....

[ Bariyan lapses into silence to stare. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira squints in disbelief. He tries to pull away, grumbling.]

Crusader, you're drunk.

[stonefaith]

I am. A bit. That's the whole point of being here, isn't it?

[ He lets Koltira go, laughing. ]

Let me know if you want a kiss some time, commander. I'd be glad to oblige.

[deadelfwalking]

I do not take such things lightly.

[He starts pulling bills out of his wallet. Years ago, he would have just thrown everything on the table and walked away, and he still thinks paper money is a ridiculous, worthless system -- but he understands it well enough now. He's counting exact sums.]

And you have had enough.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan grumbles. He's still got a quarter of his current drink to go, and he wants more. ]

Are you my keeper?

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira pauses. He runs his fingers over the bills, his frown deepening.]

... no.

[He sets the wallet on the table.]

But I'm buying.

[stonefaith]

Hmm. Point taken.

[ Bariyan finishes his drink off, puts his head against the table for a few seconds, then looks back up and grins. ]

All right. I'm ready. I think. [ He manages to get to his feet, but the attempt makes his vision blur. ] Ooh, that stuff hits hard.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira stands up quickly, concern evident on his face.]

Do you require assistance?

[stonefaith]

Ma-aybe.

[ Not really. With the initial headrush over, Bariyan's fine now -- but he wants assistance.

He holds both hands out, and giggles. ]

Carry me.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira folds his arms over his chest.]

Is it necessary?

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan staggers back into the booth and sits down again. He keeps his arms outstretched. ]

Yes.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira is not a particularly perceptive man -- and, furthermore, he has no idea what it takes to get a living person drunk. He presumes not much, these days. He sighs irritably, but then he reaches into the booth, pulling Bariyan up and out. He swings Bariyan into his arms and over his shoulder, carrying him like a sack of potatoes.]

As you like.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan is pleased as punch by these developments. He wriggles just a little, to make himself more comfortable, and then settles down with a happy sigh. ]

Ooh. You're so strong. All right, out, before anyone I know sees me.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira rolls his eyes as he carries Bariyan back out onto the street.]

Where is your hotel?

[stonefaith]

I don't remember.

[ Now Bariyan's just being difficult to be difficult. He lifts his head to watch the door close behind them, and waves a fond farewell to Alchemy. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira groans.]

Crusa--Bariyan. Tell me where to take you.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan puts his face against Koltira's back and makes a burbling noise like the big, overgrown man-baby that he is. ]

Take me to your bed. [ He pauses, then adds (for Koltira's sake): ] Sleeping with me is, of course, optional.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira rolls his eyes back up into his head.]

I will take you to rest.

[He starts back for the casinos. His room is in one of the very nice, attached hotels, and he only has one due to a comp ticket earned from being at the tables for literally the entire day. It is a good room, though.]

[stonefaith]

[ Sir, you, barely have pupils, who can even tell that you're rolling your eyes. Who's even looking? Not Bariyan. Bariyan's busy trying not to stare at your butt. ]

If you say so. [ Bariyan pats Koltira's back, awkwardly. ] Mind you -- I'm drunk, not sleepy.

[deadelfwalking]

Then you may watch the video screens.

[Koltira carries Bariyan all the way to the hotel, through the lobby, and up the elevator to his room. He gets a few looks, but being too drunk to stand probably isn't a rare event in this town. Gripping Bariyan tightly about the legs with one hand (and making sure NOT to graze the butt area), Koltira fishes out his access key and unlocks the door to his room.

It's beautiful inside -- plush carpet, cream-colored walls, velvet drapes, a balcony. There's a long, cherry wood conference table decorated with flowers and a fruit basket, and adjacent to the table there's a small couch facing an ever-shifting digital wall of entertainment options. Koltira brings Bariyan to the bedroom, which is appointed similarly well: large bed covered in plump pillows, also facing a brightly lit wall of scrolling film and TV options.

Koltira sets Bariyan down on the bed, then reaches into the well-stocked mini-fridge for a bottle of water. He grabs peanuts from the adjoining snack bar and thrusts both of these things at Bariyan, wordlessly.]

[stonefaith]

[ Video screens!!

Bariyan lands on the bed with an 'oof', and stares at the peanuts and water as they're held out to him, like they're alien things that he's never seen before.

Granted, bottled water remains a bit of a novelty to him.

He takes both items from Koltira. Opens the peanuts first. Opens the bottle after that. Looks between the two, bewildered. And starts, with great amounts of concentration, dropping peanuts into the bottle.

Bariyan is fully aware that he never grew past the age of fifteen. ]