Deerington Inbox

[onerthes]

[A tinny man's voice gives what is clearly a default answer machine message. Vira-Lorr is still figuring the phone out it seems.]
"Hello, we are not available now. Please leave your name and phone number after the beep. We will return your call."
*Beep*

Comments

[no_reload]

In your not-so defense, I remember very well you deciding to take Deerington food offerings upon yourself as a way to test their effects. You were persistent in flirting with me back then. [He had been far more prickly with her back then too, aloof and standoffish, but now he took her little flirts with far more grace. He could freely admit that she was his friend, and he would defend her well being in many areas if given the opportunity.] Of course it was Chloe. You have way too much history with too many people in this place. Chloe is all about terrible relationship decisions, casual or otherwise.

[At least she still used the power that she had here, less than it could have been. He expected this place would have turned more of her power against her if given the opportunity.] You mean, raw power to slay gods and stay alive? You clearly haven't had the same opportunities here.

[He snorted and shook his head, but he gave her that point.] Optimism is not my strong suit, no.

[onerthes]

I vaguely remember that little excuse. Sometimes I was [gasp] being an irresponsible, foolish child of a three hundred year old. And I do love the girl, though not in that way any longer, but you're not wrong. She tends to breed poor relationship decisions as fast as I do.

mmm.... yes, that power, though in truth? It was only our powers combined that ever gave the power to do that. Individually we never could have done anything like that, and only because they had just woken. I've been practicing combining magic here...

It's been a mixed effect, but I've had some success. I think I could do it again, but it's exhausting.

[no_reload]

Imagine that... [His tone was dry and sarcastic.] Perhaps after dying many times and having to sew your head back on, you've decided to pump the breaks a little. [He wasn't going to mention that taking over FEAR seems to have given her purpose and focus, which seemed to have done her well.]

And what have your successes been when it comes to combining magic? [He didn't know much about it, but he had seen how Vira made it work. That was good enough for him and generally asked no further questions about it.]

[onerthes]

[It really had. It had given her a sense of being 'in charge' and someone who needed to be reliable. Being 'head of magic' just meant that she was researching things and free to do as she pleased. The Commander didn't have that convenience.]

Mmm, a little, I must admit. It's almost been pleasant.

An ally with a gift for thunder magic and I have tested the combining of our abilities. I supply magnetized earth in large chunks and they provide the electrical current. Spin the stones and a powerful electro-magnetic field forms. A magnetized steel slug of sufficient size can be shot through it before exhaustion sets in.

It's... essentially a railgun, only an artillery placement. That kind of power might take a lot for us to produce, and not be quite as potent as what Sharona and I used to do, but I am certain it could devastate most of the threats we face here, even the large ones. A pity we couldn't test it on a Kaiju. Basically we could combine the power so each of our strength focused on half of the effect, more than doubling the resulting power.

[She didn't actually say Makoto's name. She swore to keep that secret and mentioning Jupiter or Makoto would risk that, but the basic information was safe.]

[no_reload]

[He imagined that the stability made things better for her. He had debated joining FEAR as she rose in the ranks, trusting her judgments. However, his hesitation remained to not ally himself with any faction or area in this place. Being independent allowed him more freedom.]

Are you talking the girl you liked? Or someone from back home?

That sounds like a powerful ability, but it relies too heavily on two people to perform, which could be difficult in a situation where multiple fronts exist. You could still be overwhelmed with numbers if the charging took too long.

[All that meant to him was that they required a group of people to cover them and allow them to beef up security on the matter. Fighting in groups was simply a coordinated effort, but it could be done under the right leadership.]

[onerthes]

The person I've developed the technique with here is rather shy about their abilities and doesn't publicize them. In this case, I'd actually be more comfortable not sharing their name.

Sharona and I, back home, had a similar tactic. I would use a spell that breaches space and time, and they would use entropic energies to conjure a momentary breach and hole in space that connected to what I think you call a point singularity? The connection didn't even last a second, but I'm sure you can guess the damage it caused.

[Yep. This mother fucker used to summon black holes when she needed to kill a god. Her world could be over the top.]

But you've hit the old tactical nail on the head there. At home, we had two of our number skilled at drawing attention and surviving. They were just good enough at holding the attention of an enemy that they served as the focus while the rest of us prepared the castings of joint magics.

It can't be done without time, support, or advantageous position. But if you can do something like that, the power is incredible for that one strike.

[no_reload]

Very well. I can make my guesses based on your associates and go from there.

[He had no reason to pressure Vira to give up information as she was rather open with him as it was. He could still guess based on who she spent time with and fought alongside, and there weren't that many people who he had heard had any kind of lightning based powers.

He snorted at the idea of Vira causing a black hole. Of course she did.]

You should have stayed a virgin if that was a your power level. Still, if we could promote you to that level... you could rip your way to where Sodder is being kept.

[That would be too easy and there would be no telling what kind of damage that would do to Sodder herself. It could also sort of sunder the place they were staying, but it would be a work in progress if they had that ability.]

Magic isn't... in my wheelhouse.

[onerthes]

You're a clever man. You're quite capable, yes.

[She winked at him. His guess was spot on, actually, given that she'd relied on the strength of their bond and that both had combined arms maneuvers. She just didn't want to break her promises to her friend.

A snort and a laugh was returned.]

Well, keep in mind. That was because our arts were combined. Sharona and I were akin in power level, and the combination further increased the potency. I saw this incredibly stupid cartoon on television the other day, where two young men learned the most colossally stupid dance to merge their powers.

But it was informative. They had to maintain their levels of power at near equal stages, if not precisely the same, and hold a unique bond. It is the sort of thing that sounds foolish until you see it at work.

As for tearing our way, I'm not sure that's wise... [Though in February...]

It isn't always about you being capable of magic. What you do that has a necrotic effect might be something that could be drawn on. It might be harder, but there are ways... if you want to try someday.

[no_reload]

And I know you well enough by this point to appear even more clever.

[Maybe because he took more of an active interest in who she associated with and what she was up to rather than keeping everyone at arm's length away from him. She had spent the time to weasel her way in, so he kept an eye on her. Vira was rather open with him, so his options of people to fit the description were limited as far as he was concerned.

He figured that someday they would be able to open this place up completely. They had been patient enough and the layers were stripping back. He thought it would be just revenge for all the times that she had been killed that Vira rip them down to wherever Sodder was being kept.]

I think I know the cartoon you're talking about. Some of the boys around this place still watch them now and again. [And maybe he had been spying on them.]

The longer we wait, the more horrors we will face. We have been patient enough, but I imagine more information will be revealed as it always is.

[He slowly nodded his head, though wasn't so certain how his ability would lend anyone a good effect.]

I doubt I will be much use. That ability isn't one that is natural, and I can't say I exactly understand its power basis. You might get a better sense.

[onerthes]

I will admit that even combined maneuvers with Winfield generally assumed that we were relying on a little bit of his wind magic, so there might be real limits. It's worth a shot, but you might be right on compatibility. Very few worlds have been compatible.

[And really he was probably right. Part of why the Senshi had worked was because they had compatible elemental attacks meant to be combined into 'ultimate' maneuvers with Sailor Moon. So, it was an extrapolation on something both of their worlds did. His world was very different.]

Right now, I believe that we have most of the pieces. We need the final ones to show us where the real opening is, to strike. It's timing, and rushing might have terrible resuults.

[no_reload]

As long as it will not be detrimental to you, given that my powers require strong mental control from me. [He released them when he had to or sometimes when he was too injured to unfocused to hold himself together. It was dangerous, and he wasn't willing to put Vira in a position to be consumed by his being.

Still, it might be worth a few trials to see if they could make it work. After all, he and Vira had fought together on numerous occasions. He liked to think they knew one another's abilities well enough to respect them and understand that the risks might not be worth the rewards and vice versa.]

I agree. Controlled experiments would be the only way to see if we could make it work.

[onerthes]

Yes, we'll need to be very careful considering the almost vampiric nature of your powers in that sort of situation. So one step at a time, probably with the two of us at least a small distance from each other.

Not right now, but we can try it out in the summoning stones ring at some point. To see if it worked.

[Definitely worth a shot.]

[no_reload]

Yes, we wouldn't want you or anyone in the vicinity to have the life sucked out of you. That usually isn't good way to maintain friendships. [And he knew for a fact that such an ability tended to panic people as their brains couldn't comprehend. The terror sometimes killed them all before he was finished draining the life from them. It wasn't a fate he wanted Vira to have.]

When there is opportunity and after discussing the plan of action before trying.

[onerthes]

That sounds like a plan. And this is definitely something we'll want to clearly study so that we have a precise idea what we're dealing with here. I might have an idea or two. But for now, we'll table it until it's safe and we can set a day.