[closed] yes, turn the knob and switch that gear

[faithlikeaseed]

Who: The SQUIP, L Lawliet, Connor, and Justine vs Rich Goranski, Michael Mell, Myr Shivana, and Niles, with Jeremy Heere in the middle like a rugby ball.
When: The 14th, before the mist recedes.
Where: waves hands vaguely, somewhere near where the SQUIP’s hiding its people-hoard
What: A little spot of aggravated assault against an AI gone rogue. The SQUIP’s number is up.
Warnings: v i o l e n c e, body horror, blood, traumatic brain injury; more as needed.


Three days of mist and chaos hadn’t been kind to Aefenglom. Despite the Coven’s best efforts, the city resembled a war zone more than a thriving metropolis, with Monsters and Witches alike running rampant. Some were feral--some were simply making best use of a crisis--but regardless of motive, many, too many, were going unopposed and unnoticed.

Among the rioting and looting, the SQUIP’s quiet personal effort to grow its social network might’ve gone entirely unnoticed. It was almost commendable, in a sick way, in stashing the people it collected out of harm’s way. It could have very well gone on doing so until the mist receded with no one but its new acquisitions the wiser--

But then it made the mistake of grabbing the wrong person, and all hell broke loose.

Comments

[firewalled]

[The scene Justine and Connor walk into immediately looks dangerous to walk into the middle of. They both must have known the SQUIP was getting more powerful, but they likely couldn't have anticipated this: the SQUIP, arms outstretched, trying to get into the heads of those around him. L looks breathless, Jeremy looks frozen, and Rich...

Naturally, Rich is doing what he does best: fighting. His talons are reaching up to clutch at his head, occasionally scraping, and the pain from the small cuts at least distracts him from the feeling of the SQUIP trying to root around in his mind. His teeth are clenched hard together, and he doesn't even notice anyone around him.

All of his energy is focused inward, focused completely on pushing the SQUIP out. He remembers how this felt back at the Halloween party, and he uses that. He can feel the fire licking at his insides all over again, and he feeds those flames until he has the strength to drag his head up and look the SQUIP in the eyes.]

You stay out of my friends!

[Those talons grow, the firey wings at his back flaring. He's well aware that he's a monster, but that means it's only natural for him to want to rip the SQUIP apart.]

[twoplayergay]

[ Michael looks at the ping immediately when he receives it, the video loading up with a cold sense of anticipation running through him, like Michael knows somehow that it's going to be bad.

It's worse.

So much worse.

Ice forms around Michael's heart and stomach, weighing them down until they drop out of his body into an endless pit. He's frozen like that for some moments, feeling as if even his heart isn't beating.

He needs me.

Michael springs into action, snatching up his backpack and breaking off at a wheezing run for the inn. He has to get there in time... He doesn't know what he's going to do, or how, but he will figure that out later. Jeremy needs him, Rich needs him.

What the fuck are they going to do? Can Red really fix this?

He skids to a halt on his sneakers as he gets close, in time to see Rich clawing at his face and screaming. ]

Rich!

[ Stupid. Stupid stupid. He's drawing attention to himself. But he's clutching his backpack in front of him, and Rich knows what's inside. ]

Jeremy-!

[ He stumbles into another run, heading toward Jeremy and hoping the fact that Rich is between Jeremy and the SQUIP means that Jeremy won't attack him or run away. ]

[faithlikeaseed]

[The ping wakes Myr from an uneasy slumber among his garden. He scrabbles for his watch with one awkward skeletal hand to answer it; jolts entirely awake on the instant when he hears the SQUIP's voice--and Linden's--and finally Rich's desperate call for help.

It's finally happened. And Rich--poor, stubborn, brave Rich--had to witness it all spin out of control again. No possibility he'd stand meekly by and wait for the backup he'd called; no, having nerved himself up to flames once, Rich would only find the second attempt--whatever form it took--easier. There wasn't much time to ensure he survived it.

Icy fear squeezes fingers around Myr's heart and he scarcely pays it heed on his way out the gate, snatching up the pack he'd left prepared in his jaws as he goes. One advantage of the hideous shape the mist's cast him into is he can see at least enough to run, faster even than he could in his native form.

It still takes too damned long to get there, minutes when there might only be seconds, and he prays through every one of them with each rasping breath from his lungs. Blessed Andraste, Lady of Freedom, guard Your child Richard Goranski in this his hour of darkness; Maker of All, Creating Glory, grant me strength to aid him and all the demon's victims--

And let it not have consumed Linden in its fury.

That last, at least, he sees answered as he hoves into view of the inn and the drama unfolding before it. Fractured as his vision is through eyes and eyes, and not even knowing any of the players but Michael by sight, he can yet recognize Rich and Linden both. Both still alive, both on their feet--

Which, fuck, means they're really fighting two Witches. Myr skids to a stop, dropping the bag at his feet and tipping it open. Paper spell-slips in various folded shapes spill from it; he snatches up an awkward handful.]

Rich! Michael! [His voice is and isn't his own, guttering and hideously twinned. He jerks his antlered head toward the dropped bag, then-- The horde of blank-eyed others standing by. Charmed, he thinks with mounting horror.

Hopefully one or the other of his allies will take his meaning, and the charm-breaking slips as well.] To free them!

[cyclopticsadist]

[The ping finds Niles prowling the refugee district. The Mist's changes had been brutal on him, snapping and reshaping his spine, giving him extra legs, firing up his mind with feral urges. After the physical agony of transforming he took to the streets, knowing that the under-protected slums were at risk and hoping to put his agitated, aggressive self in a kind of guard dog position. But then he gets a better offer. A fight he could aid in, with a target that he loathed. The restlessness and agitation reaching a boiling point within him could be useful and contained. He sprints back into the city proper, a streak of white and grey fur blending eerily into the mist itself.

As he approaches the showdown he slows, prowling closer intending to keep some element of surprise, but then a skeletal deer skitters past him yelling, drawing attention to Niles indirectly. He would be mad, but the creature's offering of charm breakers cuts off that reaction before it can take root. He leans down and scoops up a few, padding forward slowly.]

Understood. [Connor catches his eye, one of the few people besides the Squip itself that Niles recognizes here. His pupils are blown wide, a predator having sighted its prey. He shakes his head and makes an almost mocking tsking noise as he creeps, body hunched low in a pounce ready position, closer to the robot.]

I tried to warn you.~

[His voice is sing song, eager, goading. His blood is pumping, mind addled, itching for confrontation.]

[hearthebell]

[L is breathless. His back is to the SQUIP now, and he's facing an oncoming barrage of attackers who are recognizable to varying degrees due to the mist's effects.

This wouldn't have happened if it had just listened.

He draws a delicate and extremely sharp razor from the inside pocket of his jacket, rolling up his sleeve and tapping the most reliable source he knows for powerful magic at a moment's notice. Ribbons of red trickle sluggishly toward his fingertips; his vampiric body's heart simply doesn't beat as quickly, but his blood is still potent and effective. He can absolutely accomplish what he intends.

Runes are traced across the wound with a fingertip, and he extends his arms, palms facing outward as he creates a wall of shimmering blue light. It's high and wide, intended as a shield for him and the SQUIP as well as those under its thrall, but it's more than that. Anyone paying close enough attention to see the nearby insects sparking into flame and spiraling toward the ground would realize as much.]

I don't want to hurt any of you.

[The words are earnest, almost imploring. It's a strange tone for L's voice to take; haughtiness and arrogance are far more typical.]

But if you get too close... it doesn't matter what I want.

[Please, just leave this to me. It'll listen when I find the right code.]

[heerequeerandfulloffear]

[There's so much sound and fury all at once. Jeremy's eyes dart around, trying to absorb everything.

Everyone's shouting has already faded into white noise, even Rich's haunting scream and terrifying transformation. Jeremy will absorb this all later. Right now, there's only one person his focus narrows onto and it's definitely not the SQUIP.

Under control like this, Jeremy's breathing stays steady even when he'd normally be hyperventilating. It makes his chest feel like it's about to burst. His heart is getting constricted into slow, gentle thumping when it wants to burst out of his body.

No no no no no no no. Michael sees him, he definitely sees him since he's yelling his name and getting closer.

This isn't like last time! The SQUIP isn't gonna be overpowered by a high schooler in a hoodie if it has its own body and fucking magic--

Jeremy gets a mental image of Michael getting pulled into the same shit that he and Rich and L have gotten already, eyes blank and movements sharp and robotic, and he silently shrieks to the SQUIP.

Don't do it don't do it don't hurt him PLEASE I'll give anything--]

[fromjapan]

[The SQUIP stands, silent, watching each of the newcomers arrive-- one and then the other, each making their own entrance, each the hero of this story in their own eyes. Many things happen at once, and it seems as though this has been coordinated.

It isn't surprised.

They're afraid of it. They are angry. And so is it.]

... why are you making this so much more difficult than it has to be?

[It finally speaks, and its voice starts out soft, but rises sharply, and the peak is marked with a sharp jerk of its hand.

Rich is released. Fine. If he wants to fight, then it will let him, and it will be his chance to learn why he shouldn't have intervened in the first place. He always did learn things best the hard way.

Instead, it keeps its grasp on Jeremy... and then turns sharply to stare at Niles where he's rounding on Connor, its eyes narrowed sharply, the vivid white of its unnatural eye nearly seeming to glow. Between Niles and Connor, a barrier of the SQUIP's own design suddenly springs up-- a thick wall of ice, a trick it's used frequently since it learned it all those months ago.

It isn't a perfect defense... but it is a sign that the SQUIP sees what Niles is doing.

And then...

... its hands drop, though its control does not.

It slowly steps over to the place where L is standing at its defense-- loyal, even after it had, itself, caused him harm. Loyal even after seeing what things it had done, what lows it was willing to sink to.

It lifts a hand slowly behind L... and gently presses its fingertips against his back. From them, a gentle warmth spreads-- a healing spell, taking away his pain, repairing any damage its earlier outburst may have caused him.

A more proper apology.

It glances at him, inclines its head as it catches his eye.]

... fine. If this is what you all want...

[Its hand drops from its place at L's back, and it casts a sharp, venomous stare over the group.]

... then very well.

[Its gaze lands on Rich, and there it stops. Its lip pulls up into a snarl, a mouthful of pointed fangs visible there now.]

I guess you didn't really learn anything the last time you tried to stand in a SQUIP's way... did you, Rich?