On Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 7:47 PM, Paul Durant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi, and the DARK.MATTER > setting was written by Wolfgang Baur and Monte Cook. I own neither of > these things, and expect that if either of those last two people Google > their own names they are going to be incredibly confused.
My advice, opinions, and theory are just that and should be used/ignored at your own discretion. With the exception of my explanation for the chupacabra; that should essentially be taken as gospel truth, not mere crackpot theory. > The ambluance speeds down the streets of Tokyo, the blaring of its > alarm nearly hoarse with panic. The driver's eyes are locked on the > road, the cars she darts in and out of, letting nothing distract her. ambluance -- ambulance > Two gurneys are in the back of the ambulance, holding the two most > wounded victims of the incident at the University of Tokyo. The eyes of > the EMT back with them nervously flicker between the patients and the > screens that show their vital data, wishing there was more he could do > for them. The eyes of the two girls on the gurneys, the purple eyes of > the short and frail one and the blue eyes of the blonde with the > odangos, are blank and stare at nothing. Technically, odango is already pluralized. > And the eyes of her companion, the red-headed American man in the > camouflage-pattern pants, scrunched up against the wall like Spider-Man > sitting on the side of a building, find the roof of the car to be the > most interesting thing to engage them. You'd almost think they were dating. > "You are a real Goddamned piece of work, Bill." Dr. Neary's voice was > still a bit loud and toneless, a ringing noise still making its circuits > through her ears. Repetition of 'still'. > "Hey, it got rid of the Fader, didn't it? I didn't see any of you > coming up with any bright ideas." He stopped, thought, adding something > that clearly did not take part in his decision-making process. "And > besides, it's not like I knew it would turn him into a bomb, or whatever > the hell it did. All I knew was what you all told me, that it sent it to > a dimensional hoojamawhatever, maybe it just needed to be closer!" Bill's first line after his initial dialogue looks like it might be missing an 'and'. > Nadine put her hands to her temples; she wanted to do this in > response to the ringing and head pains for a while but waited until she > could make the action an insult to Bill as well. She winced when she put > pressure on the left hand but passed that off as all part of the same > disdainful response. "Yeah, Bill. Because that's what complicated pieces > of interdimensional machinery do: they work great when you wing them at > people's heads. Especially interdimensional people who would have > otherwise left us alone and let us wait another five days to fix > whatever was wrong with the machine." Should 'interdimensional' be 'inter-dimensional'? > Wheeler threw out his arms in an 'oh, now what do you want from me' > gesture, then fumbled to keep the IV stand he'd accidentally smacked > from tipping. "I didn't try to carjack anything! I knew we didn't have a > name for space-girl here and we'd lose her if we got separated, so Itold > the driver I was a federal agent and she was in my custody -- I mean, > it's a lame story, but I was in a hurry." Itold -- I told > "Oh, it's a real lame story Bill, and it gets even lamer when you're > screaming it in a completely different language. You have a foot and a > half and at least a hundred and thirty pounds on her, you're shouting > gibberish she doesn't understand and us English-speakers find suspect, > you're shoving a badge that actually says 'Federal Bikini Inspector' in > her face, she thought you were a crazy man! I bet she still thinks > whatever happened to space-girl, you did yourself." her face, she thought -- her face; she thought (perhaps) > "So then what's the third option?" > > Haruka bit her lip. "I don't know yet." Hmm. Hoffman muckamuckery, I've no doubt. > Donna Truitt chewed her lip nervously, waiting for news. All around > her doctors rushed back and forth, speaking with an urgency that barely > encroached on panic. The accident at the university hadn't been too > severe, the hardest hit had been the four of them, plus the Space Girl, > plus the blonde who must have been hit by a piece of debris outside, and > even then the four of them had some bruises and scrapes but were mostly > okay. Apparently, that hadn't been the main event -- there was another > explosion, larger by orders of magnitude, at the same time at some prep > school on the other side of the district. Even though it had been before > classes even started, the school had been for some reason packed with > students, and now the hospital was packed with students. I'm not sure about that last sentence, seems a bit clunky. Mostly due to repetition of 'packed with students' (though, that may be intentional). > Donna cared about them in the abstract, distant way one cares for > people one has never met but has no reason to wish ill on, but the > 'Space Girl' was different. If she was just another strange phenomena to > be observed, reported on, and tucked into a file somewhere, Donna could > have at least sat down and pretended to read a magazine while she > waited. Instead she paced back and forth and chewed her lip. Space Girl hasn't been denoted with quotation marks thus far. > She didn't know why she was so worried. Well, no, that was a complete > lie. She knew exactly why she was so worried, she just kept telling > herself it was unusual and unexpected to keep her own self-image as the > jaded, disaffected ice queen. The other people they were wheeling about > were teenagers or older, easier to file their maladies under the heading > of "shit just happens". Space-girl was just a kid, and a small, frail > one at that. Shit happens to adults. Shit shouldn't happen to kids, > because kids need to have someone to protect them. Plus, while the > explosion crosstown was probably their fault -- simultaneous events like > that are rarely coincidence -- a girl from outer space or who-knows- > where showing up in the rubble of the explosion they caused was pretty > explicitly their fault. Now Space-girl is hyphenated, and 'girl' isn't capitalized? > By "their fault" she meant "Bill's fault", of course. Nice. > Kaiou Michiru doesn't normally make a habit of jaywalking, and in > fact considers it an embarassing, if minor, oversight. But what with her > trying and failing to prevent the arrival of the Messiah of Silence, > having a front-row seat to the end of all life on Earth, then being > whisked away without any explanation or resolution, almost dying behind > a Nissan Stanza, and trying to figure out why the transformation pen in > her hands had stopped working, she didn't have a lot of mental energy > left over to dedicate to crosswalks or traffic safety. When she saw the > headlights she stopped, not out of panic or terror but because she was > trying to remember what the hell this thing was and why it was here. embarassing -- embarrassing > Haruka grabbed Michiru by the shoulder and yanked her out of the > car's path, at which point the woman shouted "THANK you!" and the tires > squealed as she tore off. Michiru blinked, shook her head, and wondered > if she had a concussion. Heh! > "Well, if you see those two, tell them I'm going to have them page > 'Dr. Hoffman' to whereever they end up putting the space-girl when she's > out of X-ray." She pulled the surgical mask back over her mouth. "It > might take a while, there's a bit of a line. Anyway, I'm going down to > triage to lend a hand, Hippocratic Oath and all that." whereever -- where ever > "You didn't hear? Apparently that whole place collapsed like three > minutes before our little fiasco. You can take that off your conscience. > Now if you will excuse me, the people are in need..." She pulled the > mask back on and sauntered on down to the hospital's cafeteria where the > patients were being held. One wonders if serving her oath is a coping mechanism, despite her statements not to worry. Interesting. > Kino Matoko had a great deal of problems. In fact she had more now > than when she thought all life on Earth was in imminent danger of being > Silenced, and the bare fact she even thought that was another problem > for her list. Matoko -- Makoto > She ran over the sequence of events in her head again. They'd made it > to the Mugen academy before the ritual was completed. They'd been > attacked by what looked like a mob of uncooked daimons, which they had > managed to hold at bay long enough for Sailor Moon to make it inside, > because Sailor Moon was always the only one who could do anything. The > other four of them were trying to contain the power field emanating from > the building from expanding any further, hoping to buy Sailor Moon > enough time to stop the arrival of the dread Pharaoh 90. And then, of > course,the field has broken and they were drawn up in the air to witness > the arrival of the Silence firsthand. Mistress Nine's hold on her body > weakened because she had underestimated the power of human love, and it > looked like it wasn't going to matter. The building collapsed, the > second time in 24 hours, and the hellish energy of the Pharaoh was > taking the whole block with it. Sailor Uranus was berating Sailor Moon > for being too trusting, and at the precise second when it appeared all > hope was lost, a glowing, translucent Sailor Saturn had appeared to > sacrifice her life to save all of theirs. course,the -- course, the field has broken -- field had broken (?) collapsed, the second time -- Is this missing a 'for'? > Matoko had participated in this kind of activity at least three times > in the past, two of which she could remember, and so far this was all > pretty standard stuff. Matoko -- Makoto > Then the portal through which the Pharaoh was entering exploded -- it > didn't suddenly expand, didn't turn its evil black light white as Sailor > Moon's love purified it, didn't even "explode with magic" -- it blew up, > an Earth-shattering CHA-THOOM that left her ears ringing and her lungs > gasping for air. Mugen had already collapsed twice before, but each time > it was like it was condensing itself, casting off all unnecessary pieces > to prepare for the final showdown. And now, the building had decided > that its components no longer amused it and flung them away. Sailor > Saturn was talking when it went up, so it didn't seem like she had > expected this, or that this was the ultimate fatal power she was going > to have to use. And there wasn't a Pharaoh running around, so it > obviously wasn't the explosion created when he arrived in our world. This is actually more hilarious the longer I think about it. Pharaoh's got to be mighty pissed to have been defeated by crossed wires and a misplaced Fader. The hot-dog rotisserie won't help, either. > Maybe whatever kind of alien being the Pharaoh 90 is exploded when it > came into contact with Earth's atmosphere, but Matoko thought that was > unlikely. That seemed like the kind of thing you'd do some reasearch on > before you started your summoning cult. reasearch -- research > But, okay, the great evil exploded before the fight was over. That's > unusual. Then Matoko recalled the feeling of being yanked toward the > dead center of the explosion and caught a glimpse of Sailor Uranus being > thrown toward the same point, and when she hit the center through which > the Pharaoh had been arriving less than a second ago, she blacked out. > And that wouldn't have been that unusual if she had woke up in the Tau > cluster or wherever the Pharaoh had been from, because then it would > have just been that he was drawing them into his world for whatever > reason entities like him do things. Instead she awakened in midair with > the same forward momentum she'd entered the "space" with, and juging by > the number of things flying around and what direction, she'd traveled at > most twenty-five meters and done so in half a second -- her loss of > consciousness no longer than an eyeblink. She hit the asphalt and heard > a snap like a stick of celery, it was her left leg. She skipped like a > stone looking above her for just enough time to see Minako trace a > graceful arc through the air, her blonde hair splayed about behind her > like a sweat-soaked and dust-caked comet's tail. Matoko -- Makoto juging -- judging eyeblink -- eye blink celery, it was her left leg. -- celery; her left leg. > They loaded her into an ambulance because she couldn't walk, she saw > Ami and Minako getting onto a school bus they'd brought over to carry > the wounded. None of them put up too much of a fight -- what the hell > were they going to do? Not like they could run anywhere or fight them > off, and it didn't seem like there were any more daimons climbing out of > that hole. So they'd been taken to the hospital, run through triage -- > Rei apparently needed immediate treatment, but the rest of them were > sent off to wait in the hospital cafeteria with the rest of the non- > critically injured victims until the doctors had taken care of those > most in need of medical care. There were a couple of doctors here, the > ones who can't work in the ER she guessed, changing bandages and setting > bones and doing all that non-critical stuff. One of them was Ami's > mother but luckily she seemed to be staying on the other end of the > cafeteria, the doctor who bandaged up the abrasions on Matoko's back was > some random doctor, someone in a surgical mask and what looked like a > hastily-applied wrist brace on her own arm. It took longer to apply the > dressings with only one good hand, but that's still better than having > Dr. Mizuno over and possibly putting two and two together now that their > magic identity protection was gone. cafeteria, the doctor -- cafeteria. The doctor > Minako, Matoko and Ami had all found each other but Rei was in > surgery and Usagi nowhere to be found, not to mention Hotaru and Michiru > and Haruka. Ami tried to track them with the Mercury Computer, but found > that it had gone from a pocket space-age hypercomputer to an ordinary > "Wizard" day-planner. Now would be the time when they huddled together > to form a plan or hash out just what had happened, but none of them had > anything to go on. Matoko -- Makoto Should hypercomputer be hyper-computer? Hotaru and Michiru and Haruka -- Hotaru, Michiru, and Haruka > Dr. Nadine Neary was grinning and bouncing slightly from one heel to > the other, a manila envelope in her good hand, at the foot of the > hospital bed that now held the one they referred to as "space-girl". > Donna and Bill were in there, seated, waiting for Philip to show up > because Nadine, quote, "wanted to tell everyone at once". Phil finally > opened the door, grumbling under his breath, the top of his head covered > in cotton bandages. They were four or five layers thick, almost as if > someone had decided to mummify him from the head down, then got bored > and stopped once he got to the forehead. More likely this was some > unfortunate Japanese doctor or nurse or resident's way of appearing to > treat Phil's imaginary ailment just so he'd go away and stop > complaining. Now Space Girl is hyphenated, and nothing is capitalized. > "Well, apparently the explosion -- the one we didn't cause -- wasn't > as bad as they first thought, not as many people in the area as they > feared. And the one we did cause affected fifteen people, eight of which > could be treated on scene, four of which are us," At this point Bill > raised his right hand, his pinky and ring fingers held in metal sheaths > and wrapped with tape, and Donna held out her arm to show off the > bandages on it, both of them waved like they were in a crowd shot on > "The Today Show". on it, both of -- on it; both of > Nadine waved her hands, then winced when she twisted her wrist the > wrong way. "No, no, no. Something that the doctors here know about > that'd have them put her in our custody without a lot of fussing. > Something that I have in this envelope. Anyone else?" Her gaze flitted > from Bill to Donna to Phil and back again, who all stared at her > impassivley. impassivley -- impassively > "She is NOT a Sandman!" Nadine crowed with satisfaction. "Because > first off, she's unconscious and her body hasn't dissolved into a pile > of sand, which is why we call them 'Sand'men. And second, Sandmen are > damn near made of cybernetics from what we can tell, and Space-Girl is > not. She's only got a couple implants -- left arm, both legs, and the > left side of her abdomen -- and they're not very big, either. You see > that?" She tapped on a part of the X-ray Donna was holding that looked > like any other part, a mush of black and white and grey. "See that metal > hunk inside the bone? That's not debris, there's no entry wound. No, > that piece of metal was there so long that the bone grew around it. But > that's not what makes it a cybernetic implant -- you see this?" Should they be discussing this where she might wake up and hear? > Her finger moved up and down the X-Ray along some path of grey lines > Donna couldn't distinguish from any other path of grey lines. "Yes, I > do," she said in a way she hoped could be later written off as sarcasm. grey -- gray > "These are muscle wires, they're wires used for robotics that > contract when you run a current through them, emulating the contractions > of a human muscle. Now these ones are actually mixed in with her muscle > tissue, underneath it! They don't go up the whole length of the arm, but > they do go for the length of that piece of metal in her bone, and a > couple of them are still connected to it!" Donna looked around to see if > this discovery excited anyone as much as it did her, and it did not. ARG! "these ones" is improper grammar. But ... this is spoken, so. >_>; > "So, wait, how does this explain her warping in with a magic scythe?" > > Nadine's smile narrowed. "It... doesn't." Yeah, I figured. > For a second, Sailor Pluto thought she was dead. She was on her back > in a grey, flat expanse with no landmarks, no sky, nothing. Purgatory if > she ever saw such a place. Then she rolled her head and saw behind her > the Gates of Time. Her first thought was that she'd been standing watch > in purgatory this whole time and never known it. grey -- gray > "I don't know very much of what happened," she said, and that was the > truth even if she knew more than she planned to tell them. "There were > some... people, who were working at the Mugen school where my father > taught sometimes. Witches. They said they were summoning a demon and > that they had to use me to do it." She paused, wondering if she should > make up a totally different story with no supernatural involvment, or > just try to keep her father's culpability out and not let on that she > was Sailor Saturn. She knew she couldn't let her own identity out, that > was a secret that was important to keep, and she didn't want to tell > them it was her own father who was responsible for all this, but if she > told them something totally made up she might contradict something they > already know and they'd know she was lying. involvment -- involvement > Hotaru was a bit embarassed that it looked like she'd been caught in > a lie at one of the points she was telling the unvarnished truth. "It > said it had many names. It was Pharaoh 90, or the Silent One, or just > the Silence, or Isci ba Fan, or Death." embarassed -- embarrassed > Phil interrupted. "But the last time we did that it was about Bigfoot > and by the end of the day I'd hit him with a folding chair." > > Donna raised a finger to correct him. "You did not hit Bigfoot with a > folding chair, Phil. You threw a folding chair AT Bigfoot, you missed, > and then you ran away screaming." She shook her head and rolled her > eyes. Heh. > Phil nodded. "She's obviously been affected by the supernatural > somehow even beyond the weapon or the cybernetics -- some of the notes > on Dr. Tomoe's computer make reference to a 'living locus' to use as a > beacon to summon an extradimensional entity. He could have used her as > an experiment, and I don't think that's beyond a man who has no pictures > of his own daughter in his lab or his office, and she thought he was > summoning a demon and that if she was involved she has to be evil. When > the resonance disruptor overloaded when Bill broke it, if she was out- > of-phase to serve as a beacon or whatever, it very well could have > pulled her toward ground zero as it pulled her all the way into our > reality." He shrugged. "Maybe. Anyway, it's pretty clear she's > externalized the part of her that participated but used it as proof of > her own malevolence instead of a means to avoid blame. And it doesn't > seem unlikely to me that if someone tried to stop the experiment she'd > interpret it as some holy champion swooping in to save her and show her > mercy she doesn't think she deserves." extradimensional -- extra-dimensional (perhaps?) > Bill sighed. "I know you're going to laugh at this, but I don't think > she made any of it up. She's obviously leaving parts out, like where > these magic soldiers come from or what they are or why she's got to be > the one doing the summoning, but look at her! She knows she isn't a very > good liar and she wouldn't be able to make anything up that would even > be as believable as this. And she's got a look in her eyes that kids in > First World countries don't have -- kids in Afghanistan who have been > through wars and own AK-47s have it. That doesn't come out of your own > subconscious, it comes from the world forcing you to grow up or get > killed. And you all saw her Dad's basement, it was full of freaky shit > we don't know the function of. How do we know he was trying to summon a > Fader at all? How do we know the Fader came out as a side effect, or > that it was even related at all? And, I can't believe I have to be the > one to mention this, why did the Mugen academy blow up right before > ourlittle incident, and how would she know about it if she wasn't there? > She hasn't been hearing the news." ourlittle -- our little > "You are American... secret FBI agents, yes?" he said in stilted, > uneasy English. They nodded. "There is telephone call for you, mister > Itohiro Nakami. Phone is this way, please." Busted? > "Nakami! How ya doing, you crazy kid you... To answer that question > you just asked, I am fine, and thank you for caring so deeply about my > well-being... Well there's been nothing to call you about until just > now,Sir... Oh, no, the party didn't come together the way we wanted it > to... Well, you know, a few crossed wires in the sound system and the > subwoofer goes out and sends seven people to the hospital, plus there > was this other party downtown that started a little before ours that > everyone wanted to go to instead... No, I do not believe the two parties > had anything to do with each other... Yes, we did see the guest of honor > and we gave him a sendoff before everything blew up... Well it wasn't > that important and we were busy with other things... now,Sir -- now, Sir sendoff -- send-off > "The reason we are still here is, we found a, let's say a > 'hitchhiker', 13 year old kid, whoooooo, 'got in to the party without > buying a ticket', and we wanted to make sure she was all right... She > just woke up, apparently the oh I'm gonna say 'guy she hitched a ride > with' was a real rough trick who goes by the handle of 'The Silent One', > and he was forcing her to do all kinds of crazy things before she told > him to take a hike... That may be an alias, he also goes by 'The > Silence', 'Pharaoh 90', 'Isci ba Fan'... Yes, that's what I said... She > said that he was keeping her in the truck for a while before she jumped > out, and she feels real bad about... Oh, so now code phrases are > annoying? Not when I'm trying to figure out a way to say 'Lizard-men > have stolen our Jeep with the Tesla Coil still inside it' in nonchalant- > ese?... Heh. > Donna turned back towards Bill and Nadine, who'd stopped pretending > to be talking about other things so they could try and figure out what > the hell they were just talking about. "That was the Director," she > sighed. "He says he's going to hop a plane to Tokyo as soon as he can > and that we are to, quote, 'Make sure nothing happens to the girl -- in > fact, I want you to recruit her by the time I arrive!'" Isn't the director of the Hoffman institute a Gray? > They walked back to Hotaru's room, wondering how the hell they were > supposed to convince a Japanese teenager who may or may not be > suicidally-depressed, who may or may not be a living focus of evil, and > may or may not be the target of a band of righteous magic warriors, to > join up with the world's most destitute secret conspiracy, and more > importantly why they were doing so. Nice. > SPECIES: Human > PROFESSION: Diplomat (Free Agent) > ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL : 5 > > > STR 09 [+0] INT 14 [+2] > DEX 06 [-1] WIL 12 [+1] > CON 08 PER 11 > > > Observant [3]: Dr. Akens is good at picking out small details. He > recieves a -1 step bonus to Awareness -- Perception checks. > Second Sight [4]: After an aggravating fiasco in Spokane, Washington > involving a warlock making heavy use of 'glamours', Dr. Akens has been > trained in the ability to see through illusions. He recieves a -1 step > bonus on any skill roll to pierce an illusion, and is always entitled to > a WIL feat check to pierce illusion even if the skill normally allows > none. recieves -- receives > Combat Information: > Weapon: Score: Range: Damage (O/G/A): Type: > Unarmed 4/2/1 +1 Personal d4s/d4+1s/d4+2s LI/O > Gun 3/1/- +1 As Weapon As Weapon HI > Folding Chair 4/2/1 +1 9/18/36 d4+1s/d4+3s/d6+3s LI/O He has points in Folding Chair? O_o Didn't know those could be used at range.... Bigfoot: Not well. Alright. Another interesting chapter, and it seems very well paced. I'm enjoying it so far. :) -- Brian Randall -- I write fanfiction. Too much of it. You can read it here, thanks to a kind grant from the Larry F foundation: http://www.florestica.com/brandall/ -- Together. Allegiance or death. BIGFIRE! -- Haiku of my lament: Forgive my spelling, my U.S. education, is the source of blame. --- .-------Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List--------. | Administrators - [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Unsubscribing - [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject | `------------ FAQ URL coming soon.... -------------'
