Will_GM: Last time we were in session, most of the group had gotten together at the Works. The exceptions were BA and Ed. BA: I was monkeying with weapons addage to the RC cars Will_GM: Elena and Zeke are there, talking with Jack and the rest of you. Let's pick up where we left off. Will_GM: ------------------- Game Start --------------------- Jack: "Elena, can I paraphrase your position?" BA: 'k Jack: "I want to make sure I understand it." Will_GM: "Of course." BA: Back straight, standing upright. Face is sour, denoting the lack of a date in tthe last seven hundred years. Should I go on?" ;) Jack: "Grace is accused of stealing the essence from people, though these people do not know that the essence has been stolen and there are no side effects. Is that right?" Will_GM: "No. If there were no side effects, we would be far less concerned. Essence is useful in human endeavor, though untrained humans can only use it unconsciously." Jack: "What are the side effects? I know that it can't kill anybody, they don't notice that it is missing and it regenerates." Will_GM: "Essence... is the means by which God helps those that help themselves. You regenerate Essence by living, and, more importantly, by using your great gifts. You use Essence to help you do things you otherwise could not do: it is whatever helps you at the time. For you, Jack, a writer, it could very well be inspiration. Without it, your work is flatter and duller. An infusion of Essence makes your words sparkle and move people." Fearless: "Jack, when I visited you last night, you were tired. Were you tired in the normal sense, or were you feeling tired in a not-normal way?" Jack: Elena: right, but it comes back after she borrows it, right? Jack: Fearless: "I was tired, but it was pretty late. What are you saying? She took my essence?" Fearless: "Was it a normal tired?" Jack: "Uh...sure. I guess." Katalina: ( hehehe sounds similar to a succubus ;) ) Fearless: "Think, Jack. It didn't look like a normal kind of tired." Will_GM: "Like I said earlier, so does blood, but its removal is neither healthy nor beneficial. You would not die of, for example, an endodigestive parasite, but you still would not want one." Jack: "How did I look?" Jack grins. "Have you ever seen me drunk before to compare it to something?" Fearless: "And you weren't physically tired, from what I could tell... you were still active." Will_GM: "Imagine, then, a hundred of these creatures. A thousand, a million, wandering the Earth. The ban was emplaced for humanity's benefit, and it is our duty to enforce it." Fearless: "And, might I quote something back to you you told me last night?" Fearless: Jack: "She's obsessed with an unrealistic perfect love. She staged, twice probably, a victim act, for what reason I'm not sure. And she seems obsessed with me." Will_GM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 6. Jack: "Well, there's the problem Elena. Any chance you can demonstrate something that will help me believe the supernatural part of this?" BA: Essence of Gelfling! Make you young again, sire! :) Will_GM: Jack, how are you feeling right now? Combative? Concerned? Angry, worried? Fearless: again, actual usage of logs! Jack: "Sure, Ferroussefous. So what?" Jack: GM: amused, competitive, but not combative. Not worried, thinks he has an ace up his sleeve. Fearless: "Fit the pieces together." Jack: "All those things are true. Doesn't mean she was sucking my essence. It means she needs therapy." Jack: "'Fit the peices together'" Snicker. Jack: competative like in a debate... Will_GM: "There are ways, but they are not done lightly. Why don't you ask Johnny what he has seen?" Fearless: "Her actions so far, your being tired, and... she didn't eat much, did she? Has she always done that?" Katalina: ( she juz wanted a taste ;) ) Jack: "No offense, but Johnny's credibility may not carry the argument very far." Fearless pulls some papers out of his inner trench pocket. "Elena, he's already read it." Will_GM: "How about mine? Johnny and Nicole will back me up on everything I say." Fearless: "But, remember what I said when I quoted Doyle?" Jack: "They might. But I just met you. Maybe you're all some Branch Dividian cult." Fearless: "Its BA all over again." Jack grins at Fearless. "Sure, and the easiest explanation is you should write fiction." BA: Go, Jack! Go! :) Jack: lol Will_GM: "Cul..." He bites his tongue and walks a few steps away. Katalina: hehe Jack: "Listen, you all might be right. But I have to go with what seems most believable." Will_GM: Elena turns to Zeke. "Marmarath. He is a Cherub Vassal, yes?" Will_GM: Zeke nods. Will_GM: "He could do a few things that would..." Will_GM: "Gotcha." He speeds off into the building. Fearless: *eyebrowraise* Fearless: "If this is a demonstration, best to keep it ... inside." Jack: "But, even if it is all true...I'm still having some problems with all of this." Jack: "If she is some essence parasite...well, we don't go removing all real parasites from our digestive tracts. It's how they live and, if they don't hurt anybody, we let them live." Will_GM: Rath comes up above ground. Fearless: "If she is what Elena says she is, and I'm not saying one way or another that she is, I'm concerned that your professionalism might slip." Fearless: "If she drains this 'essense' too often, too much, it will affect your columns." Jack grins, yet again. Fearless: "What if, when the editor's breathing down your neck for this week's column, and you haven't started because you can't think of anything to write." Jack: "Like that's new." Will_GM: Rath joins Elena, the two of them listening to the conversation. Fearless: "And the paper goes to press in an hour." *** Ellis (aris@hh1120118.direcpc.com) has joined channel #gurps Fearless: "Like all papers, I assume *yours* has a deadline?" Jack: "Sure, you've just described every third week. Come to the point." Fearless: "And what if you keep missing deadlines?" Jack: "I'll be canned." Fearless: "What if its not every third week, but every week?" Jack: "I'll still be canned." Fearless: "And who hires canned columnists who can't produce?" Jack: "Um...McDonalds?" Fearless: "Think about that." Jack: "Hahaha. Okay. I will." Fearless: "But, if I'm reading things right here, that's what would happen, in the long run." Jack: "Elena, if you're on the up and up, could Ferrofious' scenario come true?" Fearless: Ferrifous BA: OK. That's one Big Mac, large fries, and drink. You want an op-ed piece with that? ;) Will_GM: "It is extr -- well within the bounds of possiblity, if you continue to associate with Grace." Fearless: although you're better off calling him Fearless; even the Chief does Jack: yeah right! :) Fearless: You watch him drink a three-month old can of Whoop-Ass, that's been sitting at room temperature, and see if you call him anything else. ;) Jack: "You said that she might be able to control her essence drain, if she's sentient enough. How can we tell?" Will_GM: "For starters, she leaves Earth. She has few other reasons to be here, and none so important." Jack: "What about she likes it here?" Jack: "We do have excellent columnists in local papers, after all." Will_GM: "That is irrelevant to the ban. Besides, her home is in the Marches." Jack: "What'll you do to her when you find her?" BA: Bottle her and sell her on the open market ;) Will_GM: "Find out how she came here, where she has been and whom she might have affected since she came here; return her to the Marches and then deal with the aftermath here." Jack: "Aftermath, how do you deal with that after you've deported her?" Will_GM: "We shut down whatever method was used to bring her here, if we can, and make sure she has not adversely affected the actions of people with whom she has come into contact. You can help us here, by leting us know who she has been in contact with." BA: We shift all the bad mojo over to some poor schmuck on I-80, then duck and cover when he hits PA. :) Jack: "Hmmm. Sounds ominous." Jack: "I'm probably as liberal as the next guy, but I'm not really excited about the thought police overtones here." Ellis wanders back to the conversation, still irritated as sneck at Jack. Will_GM: "There is a vast difference between being 'thought police' and seeking to uphold a divine mandate." Jack: "Right. We always hit that wall. Hmmm. If you are plugged into the divine phone trunk, why can't you tap into divine omniscience and have resolved this without the use of mortal agents?" Ellis: "If everything in the universe could be changed with the flick of a divine switch, humans would have no free will." Will_GM: Rath rumbles, "Because we are under orders ourselves not to interfere with human free will. Every action we take today is aimed at keeping human free will free of Ethereal influence." Jack: "And, Ellis, that's exactly my point." Ellis: "That you have free will to allow an Essence-devouring entity attach to you and drain your creative powers?" Jack: "Can't you let humans have free will, but pull out all the divine powers to clear the way of etherals, demons and other threats?" Ellis: "I suppose you have the free will to addict yourself to cocaine, as well, but the police are obligated to throw your dealer in jail." Will_GM: "That's what we're trying to do." Will_GM: "Help us." Jack: "No, you are not availing yourseves of all divine powers." Jack: "It's Ellis' police man, but he convinces himself not to use all things at his disposal, say computers, police car, gun." Jack: "In your case, you don't get omniscient knowledge, even though God has it." BA: Heehee Divine slacking? :) Jack: "You don't get omnipotence, though God has it." Jack: "Why mess around if these ethereals are so dangerous?" Edward: Which part of "but then there would be no free will" did you misss? Will_GM: Elena folds her arms. "What exactly do you think we have access to? The Akashic Record? The Creative Alpha? The eternal I AM?" Ellis: "If God used all his power to take care of each and every etheral that bothered humankind, Hell would take advantage of the drain and attack, turning this plane into a wasteland of eternal war." Jack: "Isn't that the Manichean fallacy? God and Hell are not even close to being equally powerful." Jack: "According to the Catholics, anyway." Will_GM: "The question of why God allows evil to exist, but requires us to deal with it, is one of long standing. We do not have this answer." Ellis: "Sorry. I'm not Catholic any more." Fearless: "Perhaps a demonstration... inside, of course." Ellis: "I accept the evidence that my soul has been presented with. I use the learning that I have had access to in order to come up with reasons. I do not spend my time futilely trying to disprove that which has already been proven, or defending an idea that is liable to put the entire world in danger." Jack: "My faith in God doesn't equate him and the powers of darkness. The powers of darkness operate under His watch. He does move in mysterious ways, after all." Ellis: "So if you accept God's ways, then why not accept his servants? Why not accept this, as real, as meaningful? Why turn your eyes and ears away from the clearest warning you will ever in your life recieve?" Ellis: "When a Vorlon yells 'JUMP! NOW!', it's a good idea to listen... Jack: "That's always the problem, knowing who is the true servant and who the fakhir." Fearless: "By that reasoning, Jack, Satan should not have been allowed to Fall. Or are you saying that God *intended* him, and all those after him, to Fall?" Will_GM: "We are approaching philosophical waters that, while deep and interesting, are unlikely to yield us a solution soon. What proof, then, would you require?" Jack: "Of course He did. He had it in his power to prevent the whole thing? Do you believe in a God that is NOT all-powerful?" Jack: "Elena, I'm not sure, to be honest." Ellis: "I believe in a God that knows what He is doing. That is enough for me." Fearless: *clears throat* "Perhaps a demonstration... inside, of course." Jack: "If you showed me something, I guess, that is not just supernatural but obviously divine." Jack: "As do I Ellis. Glad you agree with me." Will_GM: "What would be the difference?" Ellis snorts and turns away Fearless: *muttered* "of course, if it didn't work with ba..." Jack: "Well, let's say you could levitate me into the air, how would I know that that was divine or infernal?" Ellis: *muttered* "I *hate* skeptics*" Fearless: *to Ellis* "Almost as much as some skeptics hate fundamentalists?" Jack: "Ellis, the Branch Dividians were true believers, that's for sure." Jack: "I'd rather be a skeptic than wrong." Ellis: *to Fearless* "Heh. True." Jack: "I'm not discounting anything, but I don't plan on being bamboozled." Ellis: "And I'd rather die knowing something for sure than doubting that I believe in anything." Will_GM: "So, for example, sprouting white wings and flying about with a trumpet would be more convincing?" Fearless: *to Ellis* "If that didn't work with BA..." Jack: "I don't know what would be convincing, actual. Don't mean to be a stick-in-the-mud, but I'm trying to be honest." Will_GM: "Good, because we're not showmen." Ellis: *sigh* Ellis: That was IC, idly, not annoyance with the proceedings. Will_GM: "Back inside, Wes." Jack: "Well, all said, even if all this is true, that you are working for a God that won't give you the information you need to fulfill His mandate, how about I just ask Grace not to suck my essence into the unemployment line?" Will_GM: Jack: the statue beside you melts from white marble into clothing and skin. Wes gives you a dirty look and heads inside the building. Fearless: "Can you get her to admit to what she is?" BA: Ever ask a caffeine addict not to take a really long drag on a new can of Jolt? ;) Ellis: "Because she'll dump you and find another victim, one who might be less... hello." Jack blinks. Will_GM: Rath smirks. "No Disturbance for that one, no Internal Affairs." Jack blinks. Fearless *almost* drops his cigarette, but finishes it in one drag and drops it on the ground, stomping it out while lighting another one. Jack: "Okay, that was a neat trick, David Copperfield. That weirded me out." Fearless: "Good move, Wes." BA: What's Metamorph doing in GURPS? Will_GM: Fearless: Elena and Rath both look at you, look at the butt you just stomped, and look back at you. BA: "What?! It's bio-degradable!" ;) Fearless: "Got an ashtray?" Will_GM: Rath points at a metal trashcan. KillJoy_: *LOL* Fearless: "Thanks." BA gives Fearless a jingle on the wireless Fearless leans down, and lights the remainder, letting it burn itself out, then blowing away the ashes. Will_GM: He waves a hand at it, and lifts the lid off for your convenience. Without touching it, until it reaches him several feet away. Fearless: *cell* "Yello." BA: "You busy?" Jack blinks. Jack strides quickly over to the lid, almost a leap and a pounce, and grabs the lid, looking for wires, magnets, etc. Fearless: "Depends on your definition of the word. You're late for Wes and Rath's magic show, for Jack's benefit." BA: "That was today? Crap. I'll be over in a few." *hangs up* Ellis: *snicker* Will_GM: Jack: rath hands it to you. Will_GM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 10. BA gets in the Beast and tools on down to the stone yard Will_GM: Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary is on the lid. Jack: Finding none (so I assume) Jack holds the lid firmly in both hands. "OK Blackstone try that again." Will_GM: Rath holds out his hands. You feel the lid tugging away from your hands, slowly but steadily. Jack blinks. Will_GM: Rath smiles, and the pull suddenly becomes much sronger. Will_GM: 2 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (2 3d6) and gets 12 10. Jack gets a violent shiver of freakiness. Will_GM: The lid slips out of your hands, and into his. BA pulls into the stone yard parking lot after an appropriate amount of time Jack: "Uh...I...Uhm...but that's." Jack: "And, if...um...then you...Holy..." Will_GM: "Yes. I am." Ellis: "That," Greg says in a deadpan tone of voice, "Is divine power." Jack: "So why doesn't God just tell you where Grace is, again?" Ellis: o/` I am your passion your power, your eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend... yes I am! o/` Fearless gets an amused look on his face. Will_GM: "I don't know. I have only once heard His direct words." Fearless pulls out his cell phone. "He doesn't need to. I have your cell number, remember?" *smile* Jack 's eyes go wide. "Uh, may I ask, what did He say?" Fearless: *pockets cell* Will_GM: Rath gets an odd kind of look on his face. BA: He told me to smeg off. Fearless: "Some questions, Jack, are best left unanswered. And private." BA: :) Jack staggers a bit, and asks Ferrifous for a cigarette and a light." Fearless hands Jack one. Fearless: Jack: its the worst tasting brand out there, you sure you want one? Jack lights it, his hand shaking slightly. Fearless: Pall Mall, filterless Will_GM: Much more quietly, Rath says, "It's all right, Johnny." Fearless: non-menthol Jack: "Well, no way. No way!" Jack sits. Will_GM: In the same quiet tone, Rath says, "Jack, the time I heard Him speak was to pardon the Archangel Micha-el. A strict translation would be... difficult." Ellis kneels down next to Jack and puts a hand on his shoulder. "God works in mysterious ways. We're privileged enough to see some of those ways close up." Will_GM: Rath turns and goes inside. "I desire solitude. Elena, you will be well?" Jack has a weird look on his face, as if he was passing a gallstone and eating a choclate eclair at the same time. Will_GM: "Thank you, Vassal." BA: "You will respect my authoritii!" :) BA wanders into the stone yard Fearless: "Hey, BA." Jack just about whispers to Elena. "So, Ethereals don't get free will?" BA: "So, what'd I miss?" *** katster (katster@stk-ca-eli-5-31.internetuser.net) has joined channel #gurps Fearless fills BA in on Wes and Rath's displays BA: "Oh, just more parlor tricks. Didn't miss much then." Will_GM: "We don't know. We do know that they are not part of the Symphony in the same way that humans and angels are." Jack smokes. Fearless: "Managed to convince Jack of something." Jack: "These cigarettes are terrible." Fearless: *to Jack* "I never noticed." Jack looks at BA. "The tricks were pretty convincing." BA: "Big secret there. Of course they taste terrible. Why do you think I don't smoke?" BA: "What'd they show you? They made a sword get all glowy and burny on me." Jack: "They ripped this lid out of my hands. Look! There's no wired, magnets or nothing!" Jack: "With their minds, I mean." Jack 's syntax starts to slip as he struggles with absorbing all of this. Will_GM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 10. BA: "On the lid, maybe not. Ever consider the possibility that these guys may be wired? Electro-magnets are fun." Will_GM: BA, decribe your current emotional state? Jack: "He just raised his hand. And nothing else metal moved." BA: Skeptical, disbelieving,skeptical, curious, skeptical... Ellis: "BA, may I run you through a couple times? Lightly?" BA: *to Ellis* "Nah. I have enough holes." Jack: "If it was an electromagnet, wouldn't everything metal have moved?" Ellis: "Just checking, in case." Fearless: "Easy, Greg. BA's not the most likable person here, true, but when push came to shove with Xav..." Ellis: "I know, John. That's why I asked first." BA: *to Jack* "Depends. You'd be surprised what you can do with directed energy." Jack smokes. Jack: "Yes I would. I'm an easy guy to fool. I just figured out the VCR timer." Edward drives to the 'Works from the comp shop BA: "You did? Mind coming over to my place later and showing me how to make mine stop flashing 12:00?" Will_GM: "If we could get back to the matter at hand." Jack grins, shakily. Fearless: "I thought you fixed that with a bullet, BA?" BA: "Oh, yeah. How you people screwed up again and need our help. Please continue." Fearless: "Or was that the alarm on your clock?" BA: *to Fearless* "That was the old VCR." Jack: "Elena, if Grace has free will, and we have free will, and God hamstrings the amount of information you get, maybe you are meant to try to corral Grace, but meant to fail." Fearless: *to BA* "Well, worked once, didn't it?" Jack: "If he really wanted her gone, come on, He's God, it would already be done." BA: *to Fearless* "Yeah, but it didn't play videos anymore." Ellis: "Would you call the FBI every time a thief broke a window in Redding, CA?" Ellis: First small town I could think of. Don't kill me. ;) Fearless: "That's what you get for using those high-calibers." *** katster is now known as Nicole Jack: "Not their jurisdiction. I assume everything down to a sparrow falling is in God's jurisdiction." Will_GM: "God's plans are not mine to know any more than they are yours -- what I mean to say is, that I am not privy to any such information. I can only do what I feel to be right. What feels right to me is to enforce the ban, and ensure that Grace does not break it again. It has been proposed that we do this by bettering her, and I am in favor of this idea." Nicole: here we go, I guess. ;) BA: "Uh, Ellis, point of order here. According to the Bible, God wants us to bring all our problems to Him." Nicole hears something that breaks her out of her pondering, looks up. "Nobody cares about Redding." Jack: ooc: lol Ellis: "There is hierarchy even in Heaven, and ways to deal with problems that do not cause the disruption on the level of a nuclear weapon detonating." Nicole: Jack: I'm (IRL) sitting about eight miles from the named city. ;) Jack: ooc: lol BA: "Assuming God's a ham-fisted lout, then I could go with that reasoning, Ellis." Jack: "Elena, I understand that you can only do what you feel is right. Unfortunately, the same goes with me." Will_GM: "You wish to help Grace. This need not be counter to our own intentions." Jack: "I'm nervous that you might not be really trying to change her, but want to use that as an excuse to nab her." Ellis pinches the bridge of his nose and tries again. "Look... BA, when you repair a delicate circuit, do you have enough delicacy to split your concentration between watching your work and watching all the borders of your home at the same time?" BA: *to Elena* "Isn't the whole point of you being an angel that you DO have immediate and direct access to info from the Almighty? I thought indirect access was us humans' problem." Jack: "Ellis, BA's not omniscient or imnipotent." Edward: When a dragon needs to be subtle, he takes human form, or uses a human servant to act in his stead. Will_GM: Ed: reasonable time for you to arrive here. Jack: "Omnipotent, I mean. BA might be impotent, after all." Ellis: "No, but a level of balance still has to be maintained in the universe... look, a variation of what I'm saying has to be true, otherwise we would not be facing the problem that we're facing." BA: *to Ellis* "Well, that's the whole point, right? The soldering iron doesn't move on it's own." Will_GM: "I have, some. The Seraphim have more, and others different information. The type of information I receive is attuned to emotional states and motivations." Ellis: No, that's just UL... I'm KIDDING! BA: :) Nicole falls back into silence and pondering. Edward pulls into the driveway on his motorcycle and parks, then dismounts and walks up to the group after stowing his helmet into the seat bucket. Edward: "Hail and well met. How fares?" Will_GM: "Jack, you wish to help Grace. This need not be counter to our own intentions." Fearless: "What are our options?" Will_GM: "Jack, you spoke of Grace's lack of motivation. How would you like to help her achieve some?" Will_GM: 3d6 BA: *to Jack* "Yeah. All they want to do is make sure she has her Green Card, and if she doesn't, deport her." Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 8. Jack: "Here's what I'm imagining as a possible outcome. I take you to her. You say 'Sorry she's not sentient, no chance for rehab.' And you deport her. And I have no way of knowing if she had a chance or not." Will_GM: Jack: Describe your reaction to that statement as well as your verbal response. Ellis: "Yes. And I'm saying that God do His work, or He can deal with every problem arising... but since there are intermediaries to do the work for Him, it makes more sense for them to work in this manner. It leaves the human race with free will." Ellis is idly looking as though he'd appreciate a desk to slam his head into about now. Jack: GM: suspicion, concern *Katalina* would occult be the Great Spirit/shamanistic stuff? they have rituals... BA: *to Ellis* "I don't grok that. Man was created with free will. How would God being busy maintaining the universe (which, incidentally would include handling human problems) remove said will?" Nicole looks up, notices Ed and motions him over. Jack: "Ellis, we're not talking about interfering with humans! We're talking about interfering with an Ethereal. How does that affect human free will to just blink her away?" Will_GM: "... Fair enough. I give you my word, then, and trust to my colleagues' assessment of your character. I will not, as you put it, 'deport' Grace until you -- you, Jack -- agree either that she is inhuman and unchanging, with no hope of reformation, or that she has achieved a new level of self-motivation." Fearless: "BA, what affects the minutia doesn't affect the cosmic. And if God is dealing with the universe on the cosmic level, he must delegate overseeing the minutia to *someone*." Ellis puts his head in his hands. "You people don't want to be convinced. You want to cling stubbornly to your own logic, hoping that it will hold against what is true and real. Well, I tell you this--if it could have been done, it would have been. Since it has not been, forces are working that you cannot understand in totality, expecially since you choose to blind yourselves to them. If you are not going to accept my attempts to place the truth in logic Jack: "Why Ferrifous? He watches every sparrow. No delegation there." BA: "Why? If God's so powerful and everywhere, and all-knowing, why would he need people to do stuff for him?" Fearless: "Does He?" Nicole: Ellis: "place the truth in logic..." Jack: "That's what the song says." Fearless: "The song was written by humans." Ellis: to place the truth in logic you can understand, do me the kindness of leaving me alone." BA: *to Jack* "It's what the Bible sayth, too, my brother. Yea verily." Fearless: Ellis: "The *Bible* was written by humans. And a lot of it is in a vault in the Vatican." Will_GM: "People, people. Let us focus on the matter at hand. Matters of theological dispute are of long standing, and do little to bring us closer to a positive resolution to the problem." Jack: "Sorry, Elena, The debate of logic and blind faith distracted me." Fearless: "We're going in circles here..." BA: *to Ellis* "According to Catholics, yeah. But according to the Bible, man only penned it." Nicole: "And who's to say the Catholics have all the truth?" Edward: "Written by humans, copied and, ah, 'edited', by humans, for a good millenium or so." Nicole shrugs. Ellis takes a couple of deep breaths, nods at Elena, and goes back to massaging his temples. Jack: "Elena, that's a trap. How would I know the difference between Grace being unable to change and Grace not wanting to change?" BA: *to Ed* "Yeah, but here's the kicker. If God's the author, he'll also be the editor." ;) Fearless: "Look. If Grace is truly 'sentient', she should be able to admit to what she is, right?" Jack: "Able and willing are two different things, Ferrifous." Will_GM: "Why should there be a difference? One cannot change if one is unwilling to change." BA: *to Fearless* "Sentients doesn't matter squat. Even plants and microbes are sentient." Fearless: "Admission is the first step to being *able* to change." Jack: "I might have the ability to decide to quit having sex, but I chose to exercise my free will and keep doing it." Jack: "One gets her deported, the other not." Nicole mutters under her breath "and sometimes faith is overrated" and falls back into silence. Fearless: *to Jack* "But what if she's not able to admit to being not human?" Fearless: "She seemed quite unable to when we were talking earlier." Will_GM: Elena grows quiet, apparently thinking. BA: *to Fearless* "Or what if she just thinks it's more to her advantage to continue claiming to be human?" Jack: "If she doesn't tell us she's an ethereal there are two possibilities, three. She can't tell us, she doesn't want to tell us, or she's not an Ethereal and this whole thing is a cover up for something else." BA: "I'm leaning toward number three." Fearless: "I admit to the second, and not sure about the third myself." Fearless: "BA, you haven't spoken to her." Fearless: s/to/with/ Jack: "I can't judge the difference between the first two options! I have no way of knowing." Fearless: "Perhaps, I might be able to." BA: *to Fearless* "True, but I remember your last girl friend. She fairly sucked the life out of you without being not-human." Jack: "I doubt it, Ferrifous. How?" Will_GM: *to Jack* "You can try. Observe her carefully." Fearless: *to BA* "Then we don't want to get her and Grace together." Will_GM: Elena motions to Ellis. Ellis looks up Fearless: "Perhaps..." Will_GM: Ellis: Elena leans over and whispers in you ear. (/msg'd) Jack: Elena, what I want to do is call her, she has my cell phone, and tell her to clear out and never try to contact me again." Jack: "Why I am even considering this, is beyond me." [snip /msg from GM to player] Ellis nods slightly BA: *to Jack* "You get used to it. These people have only ever given me one straight answer that made any sense." Fearless: "What's stopping you?" Ellis: "Which straight answer was that, BA?" Jack: "Nothing I guess. Elena, do you have a phone I can use?" BA: "Men and nipples." Jack: ooc: lol Ellis: *blink* Fearless hands Jack his cell phone. Katalina: hehe Will_GM: Elena hears BA and gets, pardon the expression, stone-faced. Jack dials his own cell phone number. Will_GM: After a few rings, you hear someone pick up. Jack: "Hello? Grace?" Will_GM: *whoosh* *schwuff* *...hello?* "Hello? Jack?" Fearless: *whispered to BA* "Trace that cell call?" Will_GM: "Am I working this right?" BA: *to Fearless* "With what?" Jack: "You're doing fine." Ellis eyes Jack, heads over to talk to Nicole. "Are you all right?" Fearless: *to BA* "Your *own* cell, maybe?" Jack: "Listen, these guys are saying that you are some essence sucking creature. What's up with that?" Nicole shrugs. "Life's not like the movies, the good guys lose too often." Ellis: "Yes. That's why it's real life." BA: Grace "Why, yes. I do like fresh squeezed orange juice." BA monkeys with his cell phone, trying to patch into Jack'scall Will_GM: Jack: "I... told you not to believe weird things they told you, Jack." BA: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for BA (3d6) and gets 12. Nicole looks at the lockpicks in her lap and sighs s'more. "And I don't know what to do about these." Jack: "Is it true?" Ellis looks down, shrugs. "Do you think it is ever ethical to open a lock you don't have a key for?" Edward looks... "I think the long thin one goes into the lock and tries to hold the tumblers you already picked down while the shorter one pulls down the next..." Jack turns to Elena. "She's sentient. She is self aware of her status." Nicole: "Well, yes. If somebody's locked their keys in their car, that would be an ethical use. F'example." Jack: "Listen Grace. They say that they might be willing to let you stay here on earth. How does that sound to you?" Will_GM: "..." Will_GM: "They did? Under what conditions?" Nicole: "But I don't think that's what Johnny had in mind when he gave them to me. It's a question of morals." Will_GM: Elena cocks an eyebrow at Jack, but says nothing -- even seems kind of approving. Nicole: "On the other hand, what morals? What beliefs? What *faith*, for crying out loud?" Ellis: "Yes, it is. And it's one that you have to decide on yourself. I don't see you as the kind of person who would use a set of tools like that for burglary, for example." Ellis winces at that last. BA puts away his cell phone, deciding to trust Jack on this Jack: "All sorts of conditions. I'm going to give you to Elena. She'll tell you. If you ever think that they're trying to get you, ditch the phone, leave town and never try and contact me. OK?" Nicole sees the wince. "Sorry. I've just...well, I got taught, find your own spiritual path and follow it. And I've lost that somewhere along the way...I'm sorry." Will_GM: "OK." Jack hands the phone to Elena. Jack takes a deep breath. Ellis sighs. Will_GM: "Hello, Grace." Ellis: "One has to have faith in something, Nicole." Edward nods agreement. "Even if it's just in the promise of a new day." Ellis: "Even if it's only in that the sun will rise the next day. That your eyes will open. That the universe is not random, not chaos. It's what has let the human race survive." Nicole: "I know. But I've lost it along the way, and I don't know what happened." Ellis: Jinx! Katalina: hehe Will_GM: *pause* "For starters, we will want to know your point of entry. From there, we may negotiate." Jack: "Tell her all the conditions, can't you?" Nicole looks away, in an attempt to hide the tears. BA: "Why, Stone Madam! Are you actually... GUTTERMINDING?" BA: :) Fearless: *WHAP!* Will_GM: *pause* "I am not very familiar with this location, but if you inform the Ofanite we should be able to meet you there." Jack screws up his face. Jack: "You're screwing her aren't you." Jack: "You lied to me, didn't you." Ellis pats Nicole's hand. "We all have trials, and tests. As long as you hold on, and try to believe, I am sure that you'll find something to hold on to. You're a strong person, Nicole. I believe in you." Edward stands, looking helpless, hand twitching, debating whether to put it on her shoulder or leave it, finally decides to do so. Nicole buries her head in her hands. "Broken." Fearless stands ready, in case things turn ugly. Will_GM: *pause* "Yes, Jack will be with us. I have given him my word as one of David's angels that you are not to be harmed, or even exiled, without his say-so." Jack realizes how many leagues he is over his head. Ellis: "No. Not broken. Not where it counts." Will_GM: Elena takes down the cell phone. Jack breathes in, his hand shaking again. He stuffs his hand into his suit jacket pokcets. Nicole looks up, in tears. Ellis reaches out, touches Nicole on the side of the face, tries to make her look into his eyes. "You are one of the strongest people I know. As a friend, Nicole. I believe in you. I know that you'll be able to believe in yourself." Fearless pockets the cell. Will_GM: "I never once said that she could remain on Earth, Jack. I thought you were deliberately lying to her when you told her this, to gauge her reaction." Nicole: "Eventually. Not now. And what *use* am I? Oh yeah, I'll run over their feet. Gee, that'll slow 'em down." Jack: "You said she wouldn't be exiled! How is that not staying on Earth?" Will_GM: "I said she would not be exiled without your say-so. I intend to achieve that." Edward: "There's other ways to do good than to strap on a flaming sword, 'cole." Jack feels like he's watching somebody deal him off the bottom of the deck and can't do anything to stop it. Will_GM: Elena turns to Nicole. "Edward is correct. As long as you are a living human, you have in some ways more strength in you than I will know in my entire existence." BA: "Wow. Now I know you people are lying about being angels." Jack: "I was trying to guage her reaction, with that, but there's a chance, right?" Fearless: *muttered* "Slim..." Ellis: "The true battles in this war are won in the minds and souls of human beings. Not with swords, or guns, or charges of cavalry. We are not mere pawns or cannon fodder. We are eternally small, and precious, and important. Can't you feel it?" Jack: "May I bring two people with us, Elena?" Nicole: "I'm *looking*." Fearless finishes a cigarette, lights up another one with it, and flicks the butt into the can. Jack asks Ferrifous for another ciggie. Fearless hands Jack the lit one, and lights another. Jack: "Thanks. I'll get you a pack when this is all over." Ellis puts his hands over Nicole's. "You don't need to look. You just need to believe." Will_GM: "You face a test, Nicole, every day. And yes, it is hard, and you must rise to it. But in doing so, you will learn things that few other people can, because they do not see through your eyes. Use them. Be an example. Lead. If you fall into despair and hide yourself in darkness," and her her voice gets harder, "you will have handed Lucifer another victory." Nicole: "If God's out there, and He's listening, why doesn't He at least ack that He's listening? If He won't answer my pleas to feel my damn feet one more time, then why can't He at least show me that He's listening, dammit?" Will_GM: Elena nods at you, Jack. Will_GM: "I am loathe to claim even this place, Nicole... but can you take me as such an acknowledgement?" Fearless hands Jack the cell. Jack: "I'd like to bring BA along for his analytical skepticism and Nicole. Her complete humility right now will help her see clearly, I think." Nicole nods. "I'm trying. the world is spinning, things keep going, and I'm *trying* to refind my place. And yes, for right now...I'm sorry." Fearless: "I'd like to go, as well. As a reporter, I'd like to see this all the way through." Will_GM: "If Nicole wants to come, I would be glad of her presence." BA: "You want me to go along on this? You sure?" Ellis looks over at Jack. "I was under the impression that we would all go. Are some of us going to stay behind?" Nicole wipes a few tears from her eyes, looks up, and nods. "I'll do it." Jack: "BA, yeah. You're the most objective of us all, I think." Ellis: *muttered* "Only the most cynical." Will_GM: "If you do not think a large group would frighten her, I have few objections." Fearless: BA? Objective? That's a new one. Ellis: "I haven't met an etheral before.... I think. I'd like to meet her. It might answer a few of my own questions." Edward: "'contrary' is not the same as 'objective'" Jack: "I'm not feeling real sure right now about my own judgment. I'll call her and ask if a mob would make her feel uncomfortable." Fearless hands Jack the cell. Jack calls her and asks if a mob would make her feel uncomfortable. Will_GM: "I... I'm not sure. A mob of who?" Jack: "A bunch of folks that are hanging out with Elena, the woman you just spoke to. Humans." Fearless: *to Ellis* "We all have our own reasons for wanting to go, I think." Will_GM: "If you think it's okay." Jack: "Jeez, you need to make that call." Ellis: "An excommunicated priest, a contrary black-market weapons dealer and RC car driver, a weirdo reporter, some goth programmer..." Will_GM: "I haven't met any of them. You have." Edward: Systems administrator, and not a goth. Thank you. BA doesn't really want to go, but what the hey? If it gets him more intell on this group of hippies... Ellis: Sowwy. Nicole: hey, you forgot me! ;) Jack: "I really only need two of them to help me see this thing straight." Fearless: she met Fearless Ellis: I couldn't think of a derogatory-yet-still-PC description. ;) Will_GM: "I... I don't know. Let any of them come that want to, I guess." Fearless: the crippled college student? Edward: otaku computer geek? BA doesn't bother to correct Jack on that count. BA: Black Market weapons dealer? :) Nicole asks for a Kleenex or something. Jack: "OK, we'll see you in a flash." Fearless: what'd you build for Xav? Jack arranges for a suite at a hotel, where we can all meet in private and have food brought up. Edward pulls a handkerchief out of a coverall pocket and hands it to Nicole. BA: I don't think Jack's ICly knowledgeable of BA's weapons preferences Jack: ooc: nope Ellis: I know, BA, it's a joke. ;) BA: :) BA: Must flee. Getting late here. *** BA is now known as UpLink Jack: can we call it here? i need BA! Will_GM: Jack: Elena pauses you as you do this. You're not headed to the hotel, you're headed to something called an Ethereal Tether. Jack: Oh... Jack: Nevermind Will_GM: Elena is headed there as well. UpLink: Later folx Fearless: UL: 'tis only 9:40 Will_GM: Bye UL. Jack: byba Katalina: see ya UL Fearless: not late at all *** UpLink has left channel Katalina: hehe 1140 here Jack: 12:40 here Fearless: See? not late at all. ;) Will_GM: I can NPC BA, skepticism and all. Jack: ok Jack: let's go! Katalina: hehe Nicole wipes her face, looks up, and grins. "'Let's roll.'" Will_GM: I doubt I'll be ablt to truly achieve UL's inimitable combination of hardheaded skepticism and intricate knowledge of Biblical studies, mind you. Ellis smiles. "There we go." Fearless: does he have Theology as a skill, though? Will_GM: Elena arranges for transportation in whatever car Nicole is riding. Ellis gives Elena a querying look Fearless: Me, Jack, and BA have cars there, methinks Jack will offer Elena and Nicole a ride. Jack: "Nicole I really need your advice. Ellis is biased, Ferrifous is, well, Ferrifous. I need you for your lack of egotism and your smarts." Nicole nods. Nicole: "I don't know about the lack of ego, but I'll do my best." Fearless: and what's that mean? Other than the fact that he plays Devil's Advocate. Jack: ooc: hehehe Fearless: on both sides of the fence, no less. Edward: "You're studying comp sci. You have an ego." Edward says this in the same sort of tone you'd say that a bird has wings. Jack: "I hate this. Having somebody else's life in my hands. That's a bit to much responsibility." Will_GM: Elena joins Nicole in Jack's car and tells all those coming to follow. Nicole: "Yeah, yeah, but I'm not some l33t technoweenie. The machine can humble me." Ellis: "Hey, Elena..." Will_GM: Elena looks over to Ellis before she gets into Jack's car. "Yes?" Ellis steps closer and gets into a whispered exchange with Elena. Will_GM: (/msg'd) [snipped] Jack: "See, Nichole. I don't like that!" Nicole looks askew at Jack. "Don't like what?" Ellis: *louder* "Glad this can be resolved peacefully." Ellis gets on his bike, follows the group Jack: "All the whispering of the Godly. My suspicions are running near to paranoid as it is." Ellis looks innocent Fearless: I follow in my car. Edward: "Delegating that wouldn't change it, Jack. Not choosing is a choice too." Will_GM: Jack, she gives you directions to a library on the north side of town. Jack drives there. Edward: "Judging from your work, not for much longer..." Edward bikes after the group. Jack: "Didn't say I was abdicating. Just said I hated it." Fearless: o/~ If you choose not to decide / you still have made a choice o/~ Edward: "Good. Means you won't take it lightly." Nicole grins at Ed. "Bah. I don't live and breathe code. There's a world out there." Fearless changes tapes, pops in his cassingle of Rush: "Freewill" Fearless: BA rides in his own car? He has to, for the rest of us to pull out, I think. ;) Will_GM: going now... Nicole: "Enh. Ellis is a good man, and I think he would have made a good priest." Will_GM: fearless: *nod* Will_GM: "Privacy can be very important. Mr. Ellis has a... complicated background." Fearless oocly determines its time to get a new d100... this one's literally falling apart Jack: 1d20 Dicesuke throws the bones for Jack (1d20) and gets 13. Will_GM: what are you rolling for? Fearless: um... Fearless: try Fearless: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Fearless (3d6) and gets 12. Will_GM: Nearly every roll in GURPS is 3d6. Ellis: Complicated is an understatement. %) Nicole nods. "Yes, I think that's life. Introducing complications just when you think you've got it all together." Jack: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Jack (3d6) and gets 12. Ellis: "I've never met an etheral... I think..." <-- Accurate, as far as it goes. ;) Fearless: *heheh* Will_GM: What are you trying to roll for? Jack: see message! [snipped] Jack: hehe Fearless: what's he trying to do? Lose BA and Fearless? Will_GM: Something else. msging at the moment. Will_GM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 8. Edward: and xmms queues Kumbah Yah by the Guano Apes. Whee! Will_GM: Carrying forward... Jack: "Elena, if you're up to something...I'll probably not be able to do anything!" Jack drives on. Nicole quietly watches the scenery, wonders what part she is going to play next. Will_GM: Elena snaps her fingers as you drive. Jack: "Why are you snapping your fingers?" Will_GM: "Nicole, could you contact Grace? She's probably heading for the library on foot. Walk her through hailing a taxi, would you? I'll pay the fare when she gets there." Nicole: "Okay...what's the number?" Jack tells her the number. Nicole dials it, and lets it ring. Will_GM: *pickup* "Hello?" Nicole: "Hi. Grace?" Nicole: "I'm Nicole. You don't know me, but I'm with Jack at the moment. And I need to get you to where he is." Will_GM: "I'm going there now." Jack: "Why don't we swing by and pick her up? Nichole's wheelchair is in the trunk and we have a seat." Nicole: "Okay. You need to get a taxi to stop for you, and I'll walk you through how to do that." Nicole: "Because it's a very long walk." Will_GM: "Oh. I'd have gotten there eventually, but... okay." Nicole: "Oh, I know, but it would get suspicious if we were hanging around all day waiting for you. Anyway. You know what a taxi is?" Will_GM: "Like a hansom, right? They're the yellow vehicles I've been seeing with the writing on the side and the light on top?" Nicole: "Right. You need to wave and yell "Taxi!" to get one to stop." Nicole: since I've never hailed one IRL, I'm guessing. ;) Katalina: ( juz don't tell her to run out in the street ;) ) Will_GM: Nicole: You hear a faint, "taxi!" Jack: lol Nicole: "When you get one, tell me." Fearless: might want to have her flash some leg as well Will_GM: You hear a man speaking to her, and Grace giggling. A minute or so later, she speaks to the phone again. "Okay, I'm in the taxi." Nicole: "Alright, tell the taxi driver where you need to go." Will_GM: "Did that. We're going." Nicole: "Don't worry about the fare, we'll cover that when you get here." Jack says, to himself mostly, "Well that's a good sign. She was going to walk under her own self-directed power rather than have some man drive her like a powerless caracature." Nicole covers the phone and looks at Elena. "Anything else, or do you think it's safe to end the call?" Will_GM: "That will do." Jack refrains from shouting to Grace to flee, buckles his paranoia in further. Nicole nods. "Okay, Grace. I'm going to hang up now. I'll see you when you get to where you're going." Will_GM: You arrive at the library, a small branch library in the northwestern part of the city, edging on the suburbs. Elena steps out of the car and looks around. She catches sight of a bronze statue in a small parklike area to one side, squints at it and nods. Nicole waits for an ack from Grace. Edward pulls into the parking space and dismounts, then looks around. "Nice place." Ellis arrives, parks the motorcycle, dismounts and heads over to the crowd. Nicole also waits for the wheelchair to be brought around. Fearless parks beside Jack's car, and gets out. "She invaded from Suburbia?" There's a slight chuckle in his voice. Ellis has the lightsaber hilt on him; his own sword's on the bike. Jack parks and brings the wheelchair. Fearless offers to help with the wheelchair Ellis: "Don't knock it, Johnny. Scary things in suburbia." Edward: "Yeah. The residents, for starters." Fearless: "I know, I grew up there." Edward has the grace to look abashed. "whoops." Nicole assumes everything's cool on the other end, and hangs up. She then transfers herself from carseat to wheelchair, and joins the crowd." Will_GM: Ellis: Where you carrying the sword hilt, inside pocket or something? Ellis: Will: Jacket pocket, if it'll fit, tucked into my belt under the jacket if it won't. Will_GM: It will. Ellis: Okay. Jack shifts nervously from foot to foot, watching for the cab, watching Elena and Ellis, praying silently Will_GM: Grace's cab arrives. Ellis looks up, interested but not panicked. Jack approaches and plans to stay near Grace until further notice Nicole rolls forward to meet Grace. Nicole matches speed with Jack, though, as not to panic him. Fearless tips his hat to Grace Will_GM: Grace gets out of the cab, and Elena approaches quickly to pay the fare. Jack: "Um. Hi." Will_GM: Grace herself dashes over to Jack and hugs him. Edward remains back, looking as unthreatening as a quarter-asian guy in leather coveralls can. Jack: "Urk." Ellis stays back... this is their show right now. Edward: (This look is one of the reasons half his neighbors think he's secretly involved with the Yakuza) Jack: "Last time I saw you, I thought you were a human nuerotic. Now look at you." Nicole looks Grace over. "Hi. I'm Nicole, I was just talking to you." Fearless reaches into a pocket, pulls out the tape deck, changes tapes, and starts dictating events softly to himself. Will_GM: "Hello -- oh! I hadn't pictured you like that. I'm so sorry..." Ellis: Ars: Dramatic Monologue? :) Fearless: Ellis: something like that. Nicole shrugs philosophically. "Life is what happens when you're making other plans." Jack thinks. "That's interesting. The Damsel feeling sorry for someone for being less able to take care of herself?" Jack: "Listen, Grace. I hope this works out. I'm a bit scared to be honest." Will_GM: *to Nicole* "Still, you seem to have a lot of friends around to help you out, so I guess things are okay." Nicole: "Yeah. That and I've learned how to live despite it. I actually live by myself." Will_GM: Grace *blinks* at Nicole. Will_GM: "Really?" Nicole: "Really." Will_GM: "but... but how do you..." Grace lapses into confusion. Nicole: "I have two perfectly good hands. And some adaptive equipment." Fearless: *whispered into end of tape* "And just what the doctor ordered. A healthy dose of self-reliant woman in a wheelchair." Fearless: *click* Will_GM: "Grace, Nicole is an independent young woman. She doesn't need help to live her own life. You could do well to emulate her." Will_GM: Elena tries to make eye contact with Jack. Fearless walks over to Grace, offers her his hand. "Good to see you again, Grace." Will_GM: Grace shakes, looking around some more. Jack returns the gaze. "Elena, why don't you lay out your conditions for Grace's freedom?" Nicole grins. "Sure, I'll never run the Boston Marathon, but I've had fun racing joggers." Edward nods at Nicole and Grace. "I've seen fully physically functional people much less capable than her. I even have to defend my budget expenses to some of them." Fearless: *to Grace* "I think one of the conditions is, can you learn to be self-reliant? Maybe by emulating Nicole?" Will_GM: "I bet it makes things easier to hope that some day someone will come along with a cure and you'll be able to get up out of that thing, though, right?" Ellis: "You don't have to break your spinal cord, though that would help..." Edward: *whap* :) Nicole breathes deep. "That would be lovely. It would be nice to walk again. But if it never happens...well, I've still managed quite a life despite not being able to feel my legs." Jack: "Grace, I need to know a few things." Will_GM: Jack: Grace looks at you. "Anything." Jack: "Do you live off of people's luck and creativity?" Jack: ooc: anything else, I mean Will_GM: Grace looks away. "Live off it? No. But I need it to do what I do. And it's called Essence." Jack: "What is it you do, that you need it for?" Nicole listens. Fearless does as well. Ellis , too. Fearless: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Fearless (3d6) and gets 10. Will_GM: "I teach people to have faith, to hope that one day their situation will be better, that patience and virtue will be rewarded." Fearless: (detect lies) Nicole: New from AOL, it's Salvation 1.0! Will_GM: Fearless: Grace 100% believes what she just said. Ellis: "To hope? To have patience? Not to work toward a better end?" Jack: "Do you convince them using special abilities, taking away from them the right to make their own choices?" Will_GM: "Our problem with you, Grace -- besides your trespass -- is that you would rather they skip the part in between, where they try to fix things themselves." Nicole: "And some things at the moment aren't fixable. What was I supposed to do, lie in a bed all day hoping one day they might be able to grow nerve tissue? Or live a life, the best I can? I can still hope for the miracle, but it's not my guiding focus." Fearless: "Hope and patience are well and good, but some things, well, people have to fix on their own, and not wait for a miracle cure that may never come." Will_GM: Grace sighs, and looks at Jack. "I am who I am, and if I try to get someone to see my side of things, to provoke a feeling of protectiveness and benificence towards others, what's the harm in that?" Will_GM: Grace says, "The Essence? I do... this." Fearless: "If there is no fix to a problem, most self-reliant people, like Nicole, deal with it. On their own, if need be." Edward: "There will always be things that you want that you can't have because of less than perfect circumstance. You can either bemoan them, or try to change your circumstances, or to find those things that circumstances *are* right for, and celebrate those." Will_GM: She reaches out and draws a light hand across Jack's cheek. Elena starts forward, then pauses. Jack: "Grace, look at me. Do you provoke those feelings using supernatural powers?" Edward tenses Will_GM: Grace seems to be humming a tune. Will_GM: 3d6-1 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6-1) and gets 9. Will_GM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 8. *Jack* yay! Nicole OOCly cues "Waiting for the Miracle" Ellis OOCly cues "Waiting for the Rain"? Jack: "Your right to believe in patience and passivity is not in question, despite the arguments presented. Your right to mess with people's minds using your powers is." Jack: "I guess I know the answer now." Will_GM: Jack: this time, you feel a definite "pull" on your emotions. For a second, you feel intensely protective of Grace -- then, your normal mind reasserts itself. Fearless: "Your choice, Jack?" Jack: "Grace." Will_GM: So many characters with high IQ and strong Wills. ;^) Edward: Whoooops. Ellis: We suck that way, Will. ;) Nicole whispers under her breath, "I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference..." Will_GM: Grace's expression falters. She pulls back her hand and steps back. Jack: "You messed with the wrong Philadelphian." Will_GM: She whispers, "Jack?" Jack: "Sorry, Grace." Will_GM: "Jack, don't leave me alone here..." Jack: "You want me to come along?" Edward murmurs, "That wasn't very nice..." Jack: "I can't have you brainwashing everyone you meet. I don't mind you trying to convince people, but not like that." Will_GM: "Have you decided, then, Mr. Creeley?" Jack: "Goddammit." Jack: "Sorry." Jack: "Can you neuter her powers?" Edward: *wince* I think you mean neutralise. Fearless: bow wow woof woof bark Will_GM: Grace has backed up far enough away from Jack that Elena now puts up her hands and takes Grace by the arms. Grace slumps despondently. Jack: "Elena? Can you neuter her powers?" Nicole bows her head. "Game, set, match," she whispers. Will_GM: "Only partially, and only by sending her back. But we're not quite done with her here yet." Jack looks down at his shoes. Fearless: "I take it you need to know who was she in contact with before meeting Jack?" Ellis looks at Elena, interested Will_GM: "That -- and also that I meant what I said about teaching Grace to be her own woman." Fearless nods. Will_GM: "You haven't lost, Grace. It's my hope that you'll later consider yourself to have come out of this situation a winner." Will_GM: Grace mutters, "Do what you want." Will_GM: "Let's go inside. We have a lot of work to do." Jack pulls a wry face. "Great." Will_GM: And, as it's nearing 2am... Katalina: ( 1am here hehe Duncan be up in 6 hours hehe ) Will_GM: -------------------- Session End ------------------------