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]

[She has an answer to that, judging by the way she pauses and glances up. But also judging by the way she sits up and looks to her right, she isn't going to talk about it in broad daylight.]

Its complicated.

[Marduk was actually personally familiar with the reason, even if he didn't quite know it.]

[oversleeps]

[ her reticence to continue he can appreciate, but damn if that doesn't make him want to know more. still, what's he going to do-- invite her back to somewhere more private for drinks and a conversation and a please-don't-kill-me? ha. unlikely. (he's still sober.) ]

I don't see how. [ he channels his curiosity and subsequent mild annoyance into sounding disdainful, instead. ] Pretty fucking straightforward to me-- no military, no superior.

[miscreant]

[She is perfectly fine with leaving him wondering. She doesn't need to be sober to be obstinate. You gave up your kindly offered drink to her, BUDDY.]

It would seem perfectly straightforward to someone with your perspective on the matter. But since it isn't much of your business beyond that, I suppose it does not matter.

[Speaking of that drink, its gone now.]

[oversleeps]

[ look, it's on all the safety warnings: do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or practice offensive magic while intoxicated ...

also, he's pretty sure he's just been insulted. again. goddammit. ]

And what perspective would that be? [ if she says something typical-- "an outsider's," maybe-- he might scream. ]

[miscreant]

An outsider's perspective.

[She glances at her empty glass with some disappointment. Come on, what did you expect her to say really?]

[oversleeps]

[ there's no intent to mask his irritation this time. he digs his claws into the edge of the table, leaving scratch marks in the wood that nobody human would be able to manage. the next time a waitress passes by them, he snatches two cocktails off her tray; he holds onto them both, glaring back at seviilia. you don't even deserve these. ]

To your organization, or in general? [ he is so ready to be offended regardless of what she says next. ]

[miscreant]

[She doesn't miss him grabbing those drinks and eyes them expectantly. One of those better be for her.

She is perfectly aware of his offense, so she continues with her original train of thought.]

In general, of course. You know so little of my kind.

[oversleeps]

And you know so little of mine.

[ he withholds them for now; clearly, he's going somewhere with this. the drinks stay firmly on the opposite side of him from seviilia, so any attempts to grab at them will be awkward and likely unsuccessful. ]

I know more than you think. [ ... he's pretty sure about that, anyway. ]

[miscreant]

[Wow, what a tease. Still, that statement gets a slight frown from her.]

Is that so?

[She folds her arms and raises one eyebrow, looking between the drinks and Marduk's face. Go on.]

[oversleeps]

[ alright. a couple things need to happen, here.

he starts by downing one of the drinks in one go-- what is it called, liquid courage-- and shoving the glass away. that gets followed up by him handing the other drink to seviilia, or more accurately, just holding it out to her; he does not pass it over yet. ]

Try me. [ two words he has never once regretted saying, of course. ]

[miscreant]

[She looks at the drink briefly and then back to Marduk. She could just go get her own and continue avoiding this nonsense. After all, sitting around having a heart to heart with a man she's been ripping apart for the better half of a month was not in the day plan today.

Seviilia doesn't reach for the glass right away, staring at him with obvious mistrust. When she finally does reach to take the glass, (if even if she gets her hand on it), she won't try to pull it out of his hand. He can release it of his own accord -- its not like she is exactly desperate.]

...what is it, exactly, that you wish to know?

[oversleeps]

[ everything is kind of a stupid answer, even if it's true. the more he knows, the more accurately he can compare her in his mind, but-- "hey, you remind me of someone so i'm dying (heh) to learn more about you" isn't exactly the best pickup line he's come up with.

(not to mention... after that bit of texting they'd done, he's more than a bit loathe to bring up anything that could cause her to come to that conclusion again. )

so. still holding onto the glass, he answers her question with one of his own: ] What are you willing to share?

[miscreant]

[There is silence for a long time from her, before she eventually releases the glass and shrinks backward a bit. That's a little open ended for her, not to mention the nature of their acquaintance.

For a second, she looks at him accusingly before finally answering. She can't help the slightly amused smirk. She can appreciate his interest, at least. The expression is noticeably absent of malice.]

You are going to need more than one cocktail to pay for personal information.

[oversleeps]

[ oh, he definitely frowns when she lets go. too strong? maybe-- he's never been good at talking to people in general, let alone...

...

decisively, he plants the drink in front of her. one might not be enough, but it's a starting point. ]

How much more. [ he stares at her, waiting for a response. it's a serious question. ]

[miscreant]

[One is definitely enough for a starting point. The insistence seems to win him the fight, as she reaches for it again and turns to face him more fully.]

Let's start with what you already know, and I will decide your payment.

[She takes a sip and raises an eyebrow.]

Fair?

[oversleeps]

[ ...

fair.

marduk doesn't respond right away; he needs time to consider, to think about what he's willing to share. ]

I know what it's like to be-- [ a vague gesture, indicating seviilia. dead. ] And to find yourself suddenly [ pause ] separated from your military in another world. [ yeah. that's a good way of putting it. your turn, friend. ]

[miscreant]

[That hadn't been the answer she was expecting, and it shows briefly in her expression. She had imagined Koltira had said something about what a danger she was, or something along those lines.

She wasn't expecting information in return -- well, she was, but not so soon. It causes an awkward lapse of silence that she fills with drinking. It would be best to answer along the same lines.]

It has less to do wirh seperation than you think. The Ebon Blade is not fond of me. [Duh. She awkwardly continues.] I have been more of a liability than an asset for some time.

[oversleeps]

If you're such a liability, then why not just be rid of you?

[ it's the way they would've done it, back home, unless they had a damn good reason not to. with the way seviilia talks, he doubts that's the case. and, he thinks-- he might have an idea of where said liability would originate, given everything he's seen.

he leaves that part out. ] And you still follow orders. [ or does she? he tilts his head, waiting to see whether she confirms or denies it. ]

[miscreant]

[That first question, she doesn't answer. There were a few reasons, but she doesn't feel he deserves them, so all he gets is a shrug for that.]

I do what is asked of me.

[And nothing more.]

The Ebon Blade has more or less served its purpose to Azeroth.

[oversleeps]

[ the shrug is suspicious, but what's he going to do about it? he can't exactly call her out on anything, given that this is all new information, and-- whatever. ]

The more you talk about it, the more irrelevant it sounds. [ tch. ] No point if the cause is done.

[miscreant]

[Seviilia shrugs again, downing the rest of her glass and nudging it away. There is more to it than that, but she just sits up and folds her arms.]

Do you know what makes a Death Knight, Marduk? You have interacted with two of us now.

[oversleeps]

Does it matter? Tell the story anyway.

[ in short; no. after a beat, he looks back at the table (and its patrons), adding on: ] If you don't mind the company.

[miscreant]

I do.

[It was not secret knowledge, but his interest is obvious...and they are treading toward sensitive territory. If they are going to talk any more, they are going to do it where someone can't sit down across from them and eavesdrop.

She stands and picks up two drinks off the nearest waitress walking by. For a moment, it looks like she's going to disappear into the crowd with them, but she turns back and looks expectantly. Your move.]

[oversleeps]

[ when he sees she's leaving, he hurriedly cashes out at the table it's doubtful he'd be back here anytime soon, if at all today-- he walks quickly to catch up to seviilia, frowning at the reminder that she's taller than him in her heels. all in all, this is a monumentally stupid decision; marduk doesn't know if exsilium has gods, but if this keeps up he's going to find out real soon.

he shoves his hands in his pockets. at least neither of them are armed, so-- ] Lead on.

[miscreant]

[Pleased, she passes him one of the drinks, and starts off in a direction. She is taller than most of the people in the casino, but it doesn't seem to concern her. Seviilia does not speak again until they've navigated out of the crowd and toward the staircase to the second level. Once she starts an ascent, she speaks again, busying herself with tracing the patterns in the railing she grasps for balance.]

A Death Knight on Azeroth is a super soldier ressurected in forced servitude to the undead Scourge under the Lich King. The selection that liberated themselves from his control formed what is now known as the Knights of the Ebon Blade.