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Dumb
The man looked at him with a somewhat weirded out look on his face...
"Hm... This is not my place. But... whilst people may give you odd looks, probably nobody will complain?"
He looked at the sky, then down at his arm, a sort of holodisplay activated and showed the time in an alien language.
The man then shook his head and stood up, walking away.
"Farewell."
As the slimes were likely still watching the man leave, Gillian pollected himself some pollen, only to find out after some investigation, that it was in fact only a flower. It seems that, at least in this one case, not everything had a deeper meaning...


Fort_Master_Gustav
The man looked after the kid as it left, but luckily for the replicants seemed to show no further interest in it nor did he follow.
As the re-arranged group of replicants reached their target destination a couple minutes later, they found themselves in front of a large marble cube with around 4 metres of sidelength.
There were indeed names inscribed on it, though not exactly those of the 'founders', it seemed to be a variety of sponsors and notable individuals from the Embassys construction, whilst that list was... not exactly particularly interesting for anyone who wasn´t on a sightseeing tour, the marble cube did look visually appealing nonetheless, it´s edges and smooth surfaces glistening in the sun...
There seemed to be plenty of people around the place, amongst the more 'normal' people there seemed to be a couple security officers resolving some argument at the rim of the plaza, as well as one person which stood out in it´s own way as it seemed to be sleeping on one of the benches...

  • Edited

Drakador_Chaos
Chesed waited until the man went beyond the normal auditory distance, at least, "normal" for human, before asking Gillian about his action.
"What do you collect the pollen for?"
"Well...investigation is one thing, i also want to bring some gifts to those two little ones over in Dasha's place..."
"...and, what can they even do with some dust?...you do know that sheer pollens alone cannot be used to grow flowers, right?"
"...huh"
After thinking for a bit, Gil swiftly snipped an entire leaf off the poor plant.
"Well then, thats settled, lets go."
"Did you just..."
"Yes."
"...alrighty then..."
The trio slowly walk in the west direction, while Gillian is chanting the word "obelisk" in various tunes and rhythm as if he is high on something

Drakador_Chaos
The team of replicants soon moved to intercept particular spots of interest within the vicinity. The average replicant male, looking like the kind of person that'd sleep on one of the benches, would go talk to whoever was there. Meanwhile, the elderly couple moved in with the child to loom over the discussion at the rim of the plaza, though at a safe distance.

"Ey man, having a wee nap eh?"

The replicant would suddenly spurt out, leaning on the bench.

"Quite a place, innit?"

    Dumb
    As they moved off with the leave of the plant, no security force ambushed them, nor did any security offciers suddenly jump their backs, it seems, picking flowers wasn´t a cardinal sin on the Embassy.
    After a while of walking west, notably roughly around the same time it took them to the fountain, they found another mid sized plaza, this one with a large black obelisk in the middle, it was around...
    ...maybe 10 metres high?
    ...and it´s slender figure cast a shadow on one end of the plaza in the afternoon sun.
    There... were no inscriptions, or anything that described what the thing was actually here for, so it was likely just an art monument, maybe some sort of gift from one of the factions represented on the embassy...
    After searching for a while, given teh size fo the plaza, they could make out a number of possibly out of the ordinary people that could be who they were searching for, there was a group of slender humanoids, almost one and a half times the height of Gillian but only two thirds his width, standing in the shadow of the obelisk and talking to each other, the only other notable group were two humans arguing with each other on the opposite end of the plaza...


    Fort_Master_Gustav
    Initially the man did not seem to react, he was, at least seemingly, human, his clothes stuck to his body due to the sweat and he reeked of alcohol and sweat as he was snoring in the afternoon sun.
    Although he made the impression of a drunkard sleeping under a bridge, his clothes, ornate flowing robes in gold and red which now admittedly didn´t look all that tidy or dignified anymore, suggested he was some sort of diplomat or representative, likely of one of the many human colonies or sub states in independent space...
    However, he had apparently actually taken notice of them, despite all odds...
    He made a long and deep groaning sound, scratched his backside rather nonchalantly, stretched some of his limbs, yawned and then stood up to talk to the replicant... well, at least partially.
    Instead of lying on the bench in a fetal position completely he now had his legs stretched out and was lying on his side, with his head leaned on his fist, the elbow resting on the bench.
    For a couple of moments he just looked into the afternoon sun and then at the replicant.
    "Aye, watcha want? What time is it?"

    • Edited

    Drakador_Chaos Compared to inter-species interaction, communicating with other humans would certainly be easier with more common traits shared among each other...or at least, thats what Gillian thinks he approaches the two humans in a heated discussion.
    "Heyo, what is it that you guys are talking about?"

    Drakador_Chaos
    "Ey mate whatchu doin' 'der, middle o' the day.
    I'm 'ere to ask ya a question, heard a rumor about sum kind of rogue planet? If ya have leads ya could be in for a pretty penny eh?
    "

    The replicant hunched over the bench from the back and talked to the man whilst he looked out all around him, Whilst he spoke, he fumbled inside his distinctive green jacket, and produced from within a pack of cigarettes, putting it in his mouth in the meanwhile.

      Dumb
      The men didn´t seem to noticed them approaching until GIlian actually said something, suddenly, they both stopped and looked at him.
      One pointed at another and began talking.
      "That guy is actually trying to tell something some lost world that´s supposed to be somewhere near the core!"
      The other one looked back at him and shrugged.
      "Like, why would it be? with that massive black orb thing around?"
      The other man shrugged again, although the one talking didn´t seemed to pay any attention to it this time.
      "...and the Bloodcult who´s just showed up again recently? Don´t get me started on those! Why would they tolerate something liek that near their territory, when they´re out there openly attacking factions?!"
      The man, shrugged once more and was about to raise his finger, but the other one interrupted him again.
      "Who even told you that bullshit?"
      The other lowered his finger again and seemed to be thinking, whatever he would have had to say before, it seemed to have been shoved into teh background.
      "Well, there was some..."
      He frowned, the first one answered.
      "What is it?"
      The man fell into silence...
      "I... uh... it´s gone. I... Hm..."
      He seemed to thinking.
      "I think, whoever it was, it was... somewhere to the northwest, around some sort of greek looking pillar thing."
      The first one sighed.
      "Ugh... let´s just forget about it. We got an assignment due to tomorrow, no more time to hang around."
      ...and so they wandered off into the distance, telling them all they needed although they never really got to any opportunity to actually speak...


      Fort_Master_Gustav
      The man looked at him for some moments, apparently trying to process the question after whatever had led him to sleep on this parkbench...
      "Rogue planet? Rogue Planet... Rogue... Planet..."
      He fell into mumbling for a while, until he eventually seemed to actually remember something.
      "Rogue Planet! Yes, ofcourse! Been drinking with the colleagues last evening after we struck that deal with Tetran!
      Some guy came by, saying something about a lost world... uhh..."

      He seemed to pause and think, or maybe having some sort of alcoholic relapse.
      "Urgh... Near the core?"
      He held his head for a couple of moments before he continued.
      "Uhh... spiral thing? It was... northwest. Urgh... Just..."
      His stomach seemed to make a quite unpleasent sound and he waved his arm at him...
      "Jus`... go away, I´ll... I´ll see a damn doctor..."
      He stood up... or, at least he attempted to, resulting in a quite considerable struggle of keeping his feet straight on the ground, it seems 'last night' wasn´t quite over for him yet. With an admirable determination, but the graze of a one-legged quadrupedal, he lurched off the plaza, notably, in the wrong direction to find a doctor, though not like that was the replicants concern now...

      • Edited

      Drakador_Chaos
      "memetic influence......bloodcult......and then the core......huh"
      Gillian just continuously mutters to himself while having his right hand on his chin, a typical posture during thinking.
      "Problem?"
      "Eh....sorta..."
      "Should we contact Mainframe?"
      "Nah, even though her extents was already known by the Herald, this isn't the time to go all out......but just in case, leave her a note or something."
      "Details?"
      "Tell her I stumbled into the main storyline....and I don't need any support, just so she wouldn't drive the entire Xaneroth towards the core."
      "Note sent."
      "Time for more walking and touring in the Embassy, this time, a greek pillar to the northwest direction."

      Drakador_Chaos
      "Near the Core, eh?"

      The replicant lit up his cigarette with a small pocket lighter, the grin on his face was visible through the ominous hood of darkness that was cast down from his unusual hat.

      "Well thanks mate, best of luck."

      He patted the man on the back as the man went away, and took his place on the bench, which strained with his weight. He sat there, finishing his cigarette, before joining up with the rest of the team, who already made its way to the next location.

        Dumb
        As they reached their target the 'greek looking pillar was not to be overseen, standing in the middle of the plaza with around 4 metres diamater and around 10 high, it was quite the presence...
        ...what the men apparently frogot to note, was the giant statue of a muscular thinking humanoid standing atop the pillar, which almost half the size of the pillar itself.
        How one could forget about something like that would likely remain a mystery, though searching for someone that stood out of the crowd proved considerably easier this time, there was some weird man, clad in red robes, standing amidst the crowd and... preaching?
        At the border of the group of people a group of three security men stood, though it was uncertain what they did exactly, could be they were just waiting for orders, or they not entirely sure if they should listen to or apprehend the man...


        Fort_Master_Gustav
        As the last Replicant reached it´s target it found the rest of the group already searching the place, the was indeed a large 'spiral thing', to him quite clearly a strand of dna, but should one expect from drunken diplomat?
        Looking around the place he didn´t came around raeding the the golden sign at the foot of the monument, mentioning it was not any specific dna strand but rather a representation for all the biological life which had founds its way to the embassy... with a lot of weird history, praise and flavour text, as these things usually were.
        Whilst the rest of the group seemed to have already asked a number of indivudals on teh place, judging by the fact he hadn´t received any new info, they did not find anyone so far, as was about to walk off he saw an individual not quite unlike himself, standing in the shadow of the foot of the monument, observing the place, he wore a trenchcoat and a big hat and had generally an appearance that made him look somewhat shady but then again also not out of place or sticking out particularly...
        As their eyes met, he noticed this man was, like him, searching for... something.
        Something uncertain and he frowned.
        As he approached him, he proved be quite direct.
        "Rumors, hm?"
        He looked at him for a few moments, before the replicant could answer, he answered his own question.
        "Information for information, you know how these things roll."

        • Edited

        Drakador_Chaos
        "......"
        "......"
        Chesed intensely shifts her gazes between Gillian and the statue, giving judgemental looks at the poor human, meanwhile Gevurah' s body seems to slowly enlarges, showing those muscular curves through the now skin-tight suit.
        "sigh If you two continue like that, ima send both of you back to Mainframe."
        Perhaps due to some horrendous experience caused by Mainframe, or simply the primordial fear against elders, Chesed immediately stand straight and Gevurah shrunk back to normal size like a punctured balloon. Watching as the duo finally acting like what their appearance resembles them to be, Gillian seeps into the crowd and listen to what this preacher is trying to convey.

        Drakador_Chaos

        "A man after me own heart I see."

        The replicant leaned over the monument, producing the cigarette to his hands after a long inhale, and looking at it.

        "Them buggers are getting less common by the day."

        He lets the cigarette fall betwixt his fingers, stomping it on the ground lightly, putting out its embers.

        "I'll let them cleaners earn their paycheck, eh?"

        He draws a loud guttural noise from his throat, before speaking about anything that's mildly useful.

        "Rumor's got that their's a big prize on a rogue planet down near the core, but you know how those cold rocks are, even more dangerous near that bloody storm. I'm going after it, any scrap of info helps."

          Dumb
          They did not stand out too much in the crowd so observing and listening was rather easy.
          There seemed to be all sort sof people around, workers, diplomats, ship crew at least all judging by their appearal...
          The man itself seemed to be not... particularly out of the ordinary, at least considering what he was, sentences like:
          "We are all doomed!"; "We can only be saved if we follow the true god!"
          ...and things alike were rather common in his speech, the only reason he hadn´t been apprehended so far was likely that he did not actually bother anyone directly, aside from the theme of the speech was apocalypse, divine retribution and everything else one would usually expect from a fanatic cultist, however, there was one oddly specific information which stood out amongst what he said, at least considering what they already knew.
          "...and so the story tells, of world near the core, a safe heaven for all those who reach it, devout to the true gods!"
          ...a ...rather unlikely piece of info, given anything near the core was usually everything but safe, though it was all the clues he gave, a couple of minutes later his speech concluded with the words that he would come back to the bipyramid to the north and tell them more...
          Though waiting for the man to go there would be rather impractical, there was likely a reason why he chose that place specifically...


          Fort_Master_Gustav
          The man seemed to process the info for a few moments and then nodded.
          "Near the core, huh? That´s new, people won´t like that but I´ll get paid anyways for the info."
          He scrateched his chin, info on that thing seems to be sowed thin so far, from I´ve heard that planet is supposedly some sort of 'safe haven'. From what or why? Who knows. I´ll throw you some extra in case we meet again."**
          The man frowned and eyed his surroundings before continuing, last info I got was by the GL&M sign somewhere to west, was some girl just... staring at the stars in direction of the core."**
          He sighed and shook his head.
          "Creepy stuff and may have been just some drugs or meds, but the way she said it... was oddly convincing, like those people you exactly feel they know... something, if ya know what I mean."
          He patted the Replicants shoulder and walked off the plaza, likely to another place he would gather info on, or just to report what he had found, though they had another clue now thanks to him.

          • Edited

          Drakador_Chaos
          "Huh"
          "Huh"
          "What's so surprising?"
          "Well whats your answer?"
          "It's just...these sort of chaotic viewpoints brings a nostalgia feeling"
          "Nostalgic due to the unprovable claims of a fanatic cultist?"
          "Weird eh? Ever since I was just a little kid, the government had been going wild with reckless actions, and of course speeches like these arise here and there......but hey, these policies worked out so far, so those people are probably wrong after all"
          Gillian slowly walks away from the crowd, and especially away from the security.
          "Chesed, follow that zealot, I have a slight suspicion that he would soon get mugged with those speeches, we shall meet up over at the bipyramid"
          And with a shrug, Chesed wander around the plaza, maintaining distance that can be easily covered up with a short sprint, while Gevurah and Gillian just go towards the bipyramid to the north and look for clues.

          Drakador_Chaos
          Alright then gent. I’ll be seeing you around then.

          The gentlemen in the trenchcoat tipped his hat towards the man, and left without any more motions. Almost seemingly avoiding the topic of staring into the core, as it has long become common knowledge that doing such is not an omen of good things to come. Whether that be true or mere superstition, one can’t underestimate the powers that were.
          With that behind their back, the team of replicants moved onwards again. This task was proving to be dragging on for quite a lot as the replicants moved to and fro, this better not be a dead end. However, even if it was, their infiltration was already successful enough, and they could chase other, more profitable endeavors.

            Dumb
            Whilst Gillian and Gevurah headed to the other location to odd preacher had mentioned, Chesed followed the aforementioned.
            Though, notably they didn´t seem to be the only one following the odd fellow, slightly ahead of them, the two security officers they had already noticed in the crowd, were following him as well, it took a while and they took several turns, though eventually they reached what looked to be a hotel of sorts, not particularly standing out amongst the others, which the preacher entered... without being assaulted by eitehr standstanders or the security officers, oddly enough.
            Bereft of their target, Chesed headed to their meeting spot at the other location, where Gillian and Gevurah were already waiting, looking at a large, black bipyramid, that was, although it was supposedly an artpiece, oddly resemblant of some of the devices the TATC used back in the days.
            ...looking across the place, they did not find anything particularly out of the ordinary, at first, a lot of normal looking people, normal looking security officers...
            Until... they looked around a second time, standing behind the Bipyramid, in a spot where should´ve seen him as soon as they entered the plaza, stood a... man? He was around 2 metres tall, clad in a crimson red robe, cover his entire body, including his arms, which he had wrapped around his chest, his face was hidden by a hood but his head raised to the sky and he, frankly, looked so out of place... they should´ve noticed him long ago, just like the bystanders on the plaza, yet they did not, as if he was not really there, or at least not on the same plain as them.


            Fort_Master_Gustav
            Reaching the the large GL&M sign, apparently a holo-display not a literal sign, after yet another while of walking, the replicants found themselves...
            Nothing.
            ...or nothing initially, there were an increased of number of businessmen and women aon the plaza along with representatives and possibly a few diplomats, though nothing out of the ordinary for this sector, A few security officers hanged around the plaza as well, observing everything that happened,
            ...but no sign of the girl the man had talked about... did he lie to them?
            Searching the plaza a second time, yielded no results either, leading to the assumption it had indeed been a dead end then, something odd happened, nothing one could describe in a reasonable manner, it was almost as if their perception suddenly... shifted.
            Sitting in the around the holo display was a young woman, clad in red robes with silver hair, she did not seem to have noticed them so far, given she was intently staring into the sky. Given her appearance and behaviour someone, anyone, should´ve noticed her long ago, yet... they didn´t. Rgeardless, she was here, the man hadn´t lied...

            • Edited

            Drakador_Chaos
            "Well...looks like my worries are not a thing...at least not just yet...huh"
            Gillian slowly watching the plaza while listening to Chesed's little debriefing of how the preacher went, before noticing the hooded figure.
            "What, another deja vu?.....huh"
            Gevurah and Chesed, intrigued by Gil's weird noises, follow his gaze and notice the figure as well.
            "Do you think..."
            "Affirmative, that's our target"
            "No, like..."
            "Mainframe?...well before the meeting in here she always got a grey robe like that, but definitely not that tall, or...even stand out that much..."
            " sigh anyhow, lets do the usual meet-and-greet"
            Gillian casually approaches the figure, with the duo following tightly behind.
            "Hello there...Mister?...how should we address you?"

            Drakador_Chaos
            The rest of the replicants scatter about, acquiring different positions around the square, into a formation of people that may be considered normal. However, the child slowly draws closer to the woman, and sits besides her. He employs a little bit of acting, presenting awkwardness in a situation that would normally be socially awkward if it weren't simulated on purpose, before shooting off a question towards the woman.

            "So... uhhh... what are you looking at, lady?"

            He clenches the clothing of his legs as he stares anxiously at the evidently weird being.

              Dumb
              As soon as he talked to him, the mans head...turned, no... more like... twisted, towards him, he heard a disgusting cracking sound and the mans head was slightly tilted, he still couldn´t see under the hood, but red eyes reflecting the light stared down at him...
              "What we are? Who we are? ...are we?"
              It didn´t sound like an actual question, on even a rhetorical one, more like the rambling of a madman talking to himself.
              "We are. A messenger we are, you are... here. Here for information? Here for information."
              The mans voice sounded weirdly hollow.
              "The world in the stars, the home in the hollow, the paradise amongst the void, a paradise?"
              It seems... he knew what they wanted though was getting there only slowly...
              "...but what is a paradise but a prison, if one cannot leave?"
              He shook his head, oddly choppy.
              " You need to listen. NEED TO LISTEN!"
              The man became louder, his arms unwrapped from his body, they actually had two elbow joints, the fingers long as other peoples hands, he stretched them out towards him, and grabbed his shoulders, oddly enough, Gillian... felt frozen, paralyzed.
              "NEED! TO! LISTEN!"
              The man leaned down down to him, his spine curving unnaturally, he saw his eyes, a faint red luminescence, shifting erratically, searching... for what?
              "NEED! TO! ..."
              He abruptly paused, once more his head began twisting unneturally, looking around as if he had heard something terrifying...
              He continued, this time... nothing but a whisper...
              "...listen, to the whispers, follow..."
              Gillian saw the red eyes for one last moment, then... the man was gone.
              The plaza seemed to have grown... darker, none of the people around seemed to have noticed anything...
              For a matter of fact, none of them seemed to notice them either.
              Were they really still on embassy?
              Then, as if gently nudging his mind, solely Gillian, began hearing it, a faint whisper...
              What had they gotten themselves into?


              Fort_Master_Gustav
              For the first couple minutes, the woman didn´t answer, just stared into the sky, didn´t even move, as if she was a statue, the people around them walked their ways, though didn´t seem to notice either of them...
              Eventually, them womans lips parted for the first time, without averting her gaze from the sky...
              "What are you here to look for, little one?"
              Before the replicant could answer, she continued.
              "Here to gain knowledge, for what reason, on what behalf?"
              She paused, a subtle dominance seemed emanate from her, stopping the replicant from uttering any words...
              "Due to orders? A hollow shell of child, the hollow shell of an old couple, the hollow shell of a tall man... seeking, to fullfil their masters orders, the dogs looking for a bone to offer?"
              She paused again.
              "Does it matter, any of it? Thou hast never seeked for something moe, for thou are incapable of doing so, though, wouldst thou, if thou could?"
              She blinked.
              It felt, as if he had blinked himself, reality briefly turning black, when his sight returned, she had her arm stretched out, pointing at the sky, his gaze followed as if on command, far off in the sky, he saw a psychodelic light, though what his gaze was drawn towards was the abysmal, ominous blackness beneath it, like a pinprick in the sky, neither should be possible to be seen from here, and yet they were there...
              Behind the veil he felt an all-consuming hunger for more... so much more...
              When the child looked back down, the woman was staring at it, her crimson eyes, pinning them down like a predator...
              "Follow it, follow the whisper."
              His head turned towards the darkness in the sky once more and a faint non-understandable voice began scratching at the inside of his skull...
              When he looked back down, he felt the dominance gone, the woman, was as well, though the plaza seemed... darker.
              Notably, none of the surrounding people seemed to have noticed any of what happened... more... alarmingly, it seemed none of them took note of any of the replicants anymore either?

              Drakador_Chaos
              Dark, cold, and a hint of stale air, Gillian thought he returned to that little railgun mount which he spent most of his life, desperately staying alive while not expecting anything for the future. He slowly kneel down, wanting to curl into a ball position and just continue waiting for nothing, while gazing into the stary scene......
              "Ouch!"
              A sharp sting originates on his finger, perhaps he touched his personal combat knife? Gil slowly lower his gaze, and finds a brightly colored knife standing perfectly by its pole, while the edge placed exactly between the nail and the flesh of his index finger.
              Wait, how do I even feel pain? i should be immune due to some tablet......yes, given from Mainframe, who rescued me from the doomed warship......hold on, where am I, who am I with, I should be in the middle of something......
              "Heartbeat normalised, good job Gev"
              "Welcome back, Gillian"
              A blue suit of armor, which cladded on him in who-knows-when, suddenly spurts out voices, and quickly chimed in by the sword as well.
              "Wha...oh right, damn PTSD sure isn't a good thing to have"
              "I thought Mainframe said you are cured."
              "Well...that would be a story for another time, anyway, anything happened when I'm out?"
              "Aside from the dimmed lighting and the reduced awareness towards our existence, nothing else is detected."
              "Hmm..."
              Just to test if it is true, Gillian swing the sword at a nearby passerby, stopping the blade just inches away from its face. The passerby simply ignore it, or most likely, cannot even perceived the existence of the whole action. Gil quickly retreats the blade, just in case some unfortunate incident would occur.
              "Huh, alright then......by the way, you two hearing any sort of whispers?"
              "Negative"
              "Nope...you hearing things?"
              "Mhm...almost like distant radio chatter"
              "...well then, want me to take over if your condition becomes unstable?"
              "Cool with me, well then, where do the whisters lead towards"
              Carefully avoiding the people walking by, Gillian, in full set of armor and a big sword, begin to stroll around the plaza to see the whisper's the loudest in which direction.