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

[miscreant]

The overthrowing came much later, I'm afraid. This was more of a...liberation effort.

[Her answer to her question doesn't seem to satisfy her, so Seviilia shrugs and settles her back against the booth and shrugs.]

I suppose everyone needs a hobby.

[irritating]

Well good for you guys, now you're all free to cause pain, misery n' death to whoever you please an' not who King Jackass says, yeah?

[ It has the potential to sound like an irritated remark, especially considering what their one and only meeting before now was about, but still Apollo fails to sound confrontational. She's just curious about everything that doesn't at all concern her, and she's just going to stick her nose in and see what she can find. ]

Yup. What's your hobby, then? Y'know, besides killin' stuff.

SO MUCH REDUNDANT SHRUGGING

[miscreant]

That's about the thick of it.

[She shakes the nearly empty bottle nonchalantly in Apollo's direction. Maybe a few more bottles and she would comatose in the booth. Sleeping was a near impossibility without the help of alcohol after all.]

You're looking at it, darling.

pats

[irritating]

Well, crazy an' dangerous aside, freedom is life's greatest treasure. Ah, speakin' of booze though...

[ Apollo then pushes herself up, groaning a little as though it is a monumental effort to do so, and spends a few seconds quietly stealing a couple bottles of beer from the table next to them when the people sitting there are looking away. Flopping back down where she was before (and losing a shoe in the process, which she apparently doesn't even notice), she pops one of the bottles open and downs about half of it in one go before asking yet another question. ]

So. Been spendin' any time with Marduk since we all got here or what? [ You know. Just wondering. ]

[miscreant]

["Freedom is life's greatest treasure". Doesn't she know it? The phrase causes her to pause mid-drink and set her bottle down to internally roll it over in her head. Freedom was important -- not just to her, but to everyone like her because they had known true slavery, and what it was like to lose your entire sense of self with it.

She was still finding hers.

But Apollo didn't know that. Luckily, she does the job of changing the subject for her, even though the question is a bit...]

Excuse me?

[Said in a very "Why the fuck would I do that" tone.]

[irritating]

[ The pause goes unnoticed, as Apollo is instead preoccupying herself with the bottle of beer that is steadily getting closer and closer to empty. She does, however, catch the tone Seviilia uses when she answers. ]

He went to visit you after all that... [ There's a little wave of her hand as she thinks of what term to use here. ] fuckin'-- other bullshit, even though all that other bullshit shoulda told him fuckin' not to.

[ She pauses to drink some more, then shrugs. ] Just wonderin' if you guys got a third date planned that you ain't tellin' me about.

[miscreant]

[Seviilia's demeanor quite suddenly turns chilly, to the point that she's starting to stand like she plans to leave, but clutches the neck of the bottle like the hilt of a dagger.

She knew about Marduk's second coming. That meant others could know, and Koltira could find out. She doesn't know if she's more worried about that, or the fact that Apollo is referring to...whatever keeps happening as "a date".

Being drunk, she does not have a hard lock on her temper, so she hisses frantically at the other woman.]

You will not speak of this nonsense to anyone. Do I make myself perfectly clear?

[irritating]

[ Drunk as she is, Apollo still manages to notice the change in body language and demeanor immediately, and it's enough to make her sit up a little. With the way Seviilia's holding the bottle it looks as though she could very well be gearing up to hit her with the damn thing, and Apollo is totally not here for that.

Other than that though, Apollo finds the reaction intriguing. ]

What, so both of you idiots are tryin' to keep your meetin's secret? What're you two up to that's so taboo, huh? Thought you said you were free to maim whoever the fuck you pleased now.

[ She doesn't know all of the details, mostly because her knowledge of the second encounter comes primarily from her own snooping and not Marduk actually telling her up front. Marduk's evasiveness she understands, but Seviilia is by and large a stranger to her, so the fact that they're both eager to hide their encounters is something Apollo isn't about to overlook. ]

[miscreant]

None of that is any of your bloody business.

[She speaks through gritted teeth, and continues to very much look like she's about to crack Apollo over the head with that bottle. Its hard to calm down when she's already on the defensive, but she manages to stay where she's stood up and just...waves the bottle in a threatening manner.]

Not. A word. You will endanger him.

[And her. Mostly her. But she's not going to say that, or even hint at it.]

[irritating]

'course it's not! That's why I gotta ask an' snoop to get any fuckin' answers 'round here, holy fuck.

[ Apparently "none of your business" doesn't have the same weight for Apollo than it does for most people. The waving of the bottle gets the woman sitting straight up this time, and she's holding onto her own bottle in much the same fashion now, just in case. ]

Endanger how? You tellin' me he's got more to worry about than you?

[miscreant]

Considering I am already dead and have no outstanding concerns but my own, I would say yes, he has quite a lot more to worry about.

[She believes she's made her point with that, and so forces herself to relax a little. If she's getting angry, she's not drunk enough.]

Having him out of the picture is not in my interests, or I would have done it myself.

[irritating]

Yeah, like what? I mean shit, everyone's got somethin' to worry about, but why d'you think me tellin' people 'bout your super fuckin' secret meetin's gonna put him in danger?

[ Not that Apollo necessarily even plans on actually telling anyone about it - but she's purposely leaving that bit out, hoping maybe it will help her get a better answer. ]

[miscreant]

Silence benefits you both. The alternative gains you nothing positive.

[And that seems to be the most she is willing to say on the matter. She sits back down, and goes back to nursing her booze.]

[irritating]

[ There's about two seconds of silence as Apollo stares. And then, she's suddenly laughing as though Seviilia's said something absolutely hilarious. ]

Shit, been told to shut the fuck up a million different ways before, but that one's new.

[ Alright, so maybe she isn't getting many more answers out of Seviilia either. But that's fine, she'll just have to up her snooping game to try to figure it all out later. For now, she'll take her words and return to a sitting position as a sign to relax a bit again, simply happy that she hasn't been smashed over the head with a bottle. ]

[miscreant]

I will never quite understand your interest in the matter, honestly.

[If it was her "friend" indulging in the practices Marduk was practicing in, she would not have asked.]

You informed me you are merely friends, yes?

[irritating]

Mostly I'm interested in keepin' him alive, which is gonna be kinda hard to do if he's this fuckin' inclined to be a goddamn moron.

[ Apollo's the opposite; it's because he's her friend that she's being especially nosy. ]

But yeah, why?

[miscreant]

Your persistence on the matter simply astounds me.

[The moron comment doesn't even seem to register.]

[irritating]

My best friend 'round here thought it was a good idea to go visit a lady who ripped him up for fuckin' funsies last time, why the fuck wouldn't I wanna know what the fuck is goin' on, huh?

[ If she hadn't gone back to drinking, the look she's giving Seviilia may have been accompanied with something along the lines of "fuckin' riddle me that". ]

[miscreant]

Should you not be asking him, then? He came of his own accord after all.

[She seems pretty smug about that too. Her legs cross, her spine straightens, and she pushes the alcohol away from her. Wouldn't want to say something dumb now.]

[irritating]

I have, an' I know!

[ Cue over dramatic sigh. Followed by more drinking, because Apollo is not at all concerned about possibly saying something dumb. She's never worried about the possibility of saying something dumb. ]

Listen alright, it ain't always easy gettin' this kinda stuff outta him, even if we are best friends. He's stupid, I'm stupid, but we're different stupids so sometimes I need a little extra to figure out what the fuck is happenin', y'know?

[miscreant]

[The way Apollo keeps saying "happening"...no. Surely she couldn't be implying that. Just the thought pulls some chuckling out of her. No. Surely not.

Could she?]

"Happening".

[She folds her arms and raises an eyebrow, but she isn't able to hold down her amused smirk.]

What sort of "happening" are we talking about?

[irritating]

[ Hey man she doesn't know, there's something happening there and... well, she doesn't necessarily think it's some weird fetish or sex thing or what the hell ever, but she supposes it might be a possibility. Either way, she's obviously missing the motivation Marduk has here. ]

Fuckin' I dunno, how 'bout you tell me, huh?

[ Wow she's so clever, let's see Seviilia avoid that!! ]

[miscreant]

I told you, you are going to have to ask him. There is no special attachment on my end.

[Funny. Super funny. She's just going to sit there with her palm over her mouth chuckling. What has he been telling people? She had called him a masochist, sure, but this was taking it a bit far.]

[irritating]

Fine, whatever. Just no serious injuries and absolutely no fuckin' killin', alright? [ As if she's in any position to give Seviilia - or Marduk for that matter - orders. Which she clearly thinks she is. ] I fucked up last time, but now I'm onto your stupid... ice and chain bullshitery, so if I need to giveya another fuck off warning, it ain't gonna end with my ass in the snow again.

[ The most ridiculous thing about it is that he hasn't told anybody, and certainly not her, anything that would suggest a relationship of that nature. It's purely Apollo's outrageous mindset, jumping to conclusions and blatantly making shit up regardless of how much sense it does or doesn't make. ]