Char/Leah

01[16:10] <Antichthon> Many students had gotten the standard e-mail from the school administration weeks ago. Not Leah. She got hers only yesterday. [The organization Firewatch has offered to supply mentoring services to students. Such services would include periodic meetings and outings, with the intent of helping students find their way in this brave new world. Would you be interested in this?]
[16:13] <@gumbal1> She'd kinda feared she didn't qualify, given everything going on around her. And then the email came, and...she had to curtail her original response, an incoherent essay that really only said "holy fuck yes", and instead sent [Yes, I am very interested. When do you plan to meet?]
01[16:19] <Antichthon> [Your name will be forwarded to Firewatch,] came the reply. [Any further details will be determined by them.] The school itself was just forwarding FIrewatch's offer. Bureaucracy, amirite? Anyway, Leah wouldn't hear any more about it until early this morning, when she got an email from somewhere in Firewatch itself. [hey] ...That was it. One word. No capitalization or punctuation. Just "hey".
[16:21] <@gumbal1> Oh jeez, Rick...the good kind of oh jeez Rick. Not the, uh...bad kind. Which was probably implied by default but wasn't the case. Whatever. This made things hella easier, at least. [yooooooo. whose this]
01[16:22] <Antichthon> [charlie. with the whole mentor thing or whatever] was the response. A beat later, [wanna get lifted and talk]
[16:25] <@gumbal1> [ey, alright. lemme have ten minutes or so to get ready and i'm cool as beans] 'Cool as beans' was a funny way to say 'shaking in her slippers, ready to jump up and down in joy', but eh, such is love, such is life. Or something. A quick message to Ellie about her situation, and she's off to get ready for...whatever's coming next. Hopefully something cool. Really cool.
01[16:39] <Antichthon> Minutes later, that familiar old purple portal was in the center of Leah's room. Well, not familiar to Leah. But the wall of marijuana smoke that poured through? Yeah, that much would be familiar to Leah. Through the portal was...a living room. Just an average living room by the looks of things, though one could hardly see through the haze. Also, no windows. In  front of Leah was an actual crt TV on a rickety little table with blue borders, looking like it had been stolen from a preschool. Directly in front of the TV was a couch. The entire back two thirds of the room were unused, everything crowded up to that TV. The couch was a mess, filled with crumbs of a thousand different snack foods. Splayed across most of the couch was a woman, arount thirty. She was slender with a nice figure, but she looked as though someone had pulled her out like taffy. She was slender as a bean stock and her arms and legs went on forever. she was surronded by open bags of cheetos, chips and snake cakes. On a side table was a bright red bong. The woman fixed Leah with bright orange eyes, a dead serious look on her face. "He-e-e-ey." Her voice was very creaky. She waved, the joints of her fingers flashing metal.
[16:40] <@gumbal1> "..."
01[16:43] <Antichthon> "Take a seat and chill," said that creaky voice. On the TV? The Star Wars Christmas Special. Must have been played by the VCR haphazardly attached. "toke or choke?"
[16:44] <@gumbal1> "...this is some..." Leah carefully steps in, careful not to make any loud noises by stepping on something bad. "Wow, uh...well, at least Firewatch...knows how to have fun." Even if this all did seem like something out of a low budget anti-humor sketch comedy show. For all she knew, someone was about to bring out a Joe Biden look-alike to torment the B-list music artist of the week with. It didn't help that Charlie looked hella like an Amigara
[16:44] <@gumbal1>  Fault creature. "...uh, hey. So, uh..." Leah takes a seat on whatever looks the comfiest, before giggling slightly at what's on the TV. "Guess they had to have some kind of Saita-choke?"
01[16:46] <Antichthon> Charlie elucidated. "How do you want your THC? Brownies, or...?"
[16:47] <@gumbal1> "Ah. Smoke, please, unless the brownies are sugar-light." Leah adjusts her seat. "...not what I expected. At all."
01[16:49] <Antichthon> Charlie produced a joint from somewhere. Charlie probably had a lot of practice hiding joints on her person. She handed it to Leah, and when she was ready for it, she floated a tiny fleck of magma to the tip to light it. "Yeah. Yeah." Long pause. The special was at the part where grandpa wookie got off to a holographic human. "...what did you expect?"
[16:54] <@gumbal1> "I guess, uh..." She had already sparked it on her own, a briefly flick of a spectral hand, when the magma fleck came up. Still, it looked incredibly cool. "Uh...more X-Men, less Hero Assosciation?" She takes a deep drag before continuing. "...fuck, glad they don't have the same level of security for Firewatch. Think they'd give me a medical license already." One time, watching it with friends, her Mom entered the room at that scene, and it wa
[16:54] <@gumbal1> s almost comical that Leah would have gladly preferred her grandma stumbling on them. "So, uh...what's the 181?"
01[17:01] <Antichthon> "Looked over your file," Charlie creaked, eyes not really focused on the TV. "thought, 'Woah. This girl is clever.' I mean...no offense, but you aren't very powerful. But clever? Clever. yeah." A long, bubbly bong toke. "told Pyre all about you. said he should take you up. 'nah,' he goes. 'she still has a power. I can't help her.' its bullshit, dude. he could totally help you." Another long pause, while Charlie ate a fistful of cheetos. "...figured if he wouldn't do it, I would."
[17:03] <@gumbal1> Clever, huh. Not something anyone's ever told her before. "That's, like...clever? That's pretty out there on the things people call me." Then again, when you were some kind of hipster-jock-art hoe amalgam with wildly differing interests, out there was relatively normal. "...how so?"
01[17:05] <Antichthon> "Yeah, reports on some of your fights. You see things, dude. Things no one else sees. You're given choices between option A and option B, you choose option B, you know what I mean?" Her expression still seemed oddly serious. It seemd Charlie had a bad case of "resting bitch face."
01[17:05] <Antichthon> Choose option C*
[17:08] <@gumbal1> "I mean, like..." Another drag. "that's just people not using utility. Never got that, really. Here you are with super cool powers and all that shit, and almost nobody, like, develops that shit." Leah adjusts her spot once more, into a comfier position. "...maybe that's just me having a versatile power. Or something."
01[17:11] <Antichthon> "Nah. That's just your brilliance. It seems like, so easy to you because it is. But it isn't easy to others. Even here a lot of people cant think like you do. its why I beat everyone." More bong. That was good bong. Charlie offered Leah a bag of snack cakes. "...Except Pyre. Pyre was the only one to beat me. Because he's like you." Charlie tapped her head with a flesh-colored metal finger.
[17:13] <@gumbal1> Leah looks it over, before shaking her head. "Nah, too much sugar. Feel like I'd die. Got anything lighter?" It was something she'd been wondering. Granted, she never was one for killing, so the idea that her genius lay in strategy was...eh. Might explain being a top melee player. "This Pyre guy sounds interesting. What's he like? Some sort of King-esque guy?"
01[17:16] <Antichthon> "Lighter. Right." Charlie rummaged around under the couch with her bare foot, which unilke her hand, was flesh and bone. "Nah, he's pretty much just an average dude. Good guy. No powers. Got to rank four. ...Are fig newtons light?"
[17:18] <@gumbal1> "Eh...I guess." Okay, so far stronger than King, in that case. "...dude, that's fucking awesome. How does he do it?"
01[17:22] <Antichthon> Charlie whipped out an unopened package of fig newtons and handed it to Leah, all with her feet. She was very good with her feet. "Uhhh, how does he do it," she repeated to herself, seemingly having lost her train of thought. "Oh, yeah. Asked him that once. I mean, has no powers, and like, isn't even really categorized as an anomaly, but...he never gets tired. I don't mean "exhausted" tired. he gets that. But I mean he can keep doing something, and doing it, and doing it. Like, infinite discipline, I guess. If he wanted to stand still and do nothing for ten years, he could do it. No problem."
01[17:23] <Antichthon> "...I mean, he'd starve and all, but you know what I mean."
[17:24] <@gumbal1> "Jesus, that's...actually really cool." She was getting hungry, anyways. Leah happily takes a break from toking to go at some fig newtons. "I mean, like...shit, dude, that kinda self control, you know. That's what heroes need. You need someone to, like...always be there, to do something." And thus came the primary question: "...where do I fit in all of this?"
01[17:27] <Antichthon> "Oh, also he's got a suit if really cool armor. That helps." The TV was on low volume, which made it easy enough to ignore. 'stir, whip, stir, whip, whip, whip, sitr.' Ugh, Charlie had horrible taste in entertainment. "I dunno, dude. that depends what you want out of life."
[17:32] <@gumbal1> "...we talking what I wanna be when I grow up, or are we talking lifelong pipe dream?" Yet another drag. Leah bobs along to the stirring and whipping, out of habit, mostly. "I applied to a culinary school out in Cali, trying to see if, like, that's a fuckin' option. After that, just take out a shitton of need-based, jewish, lesbian, and anomalous scholarships just hanging there, and I'm set. Now, uh, what I always wanted to be?" There's a bit
[17:32] <@gumbal1> of a pause. She always kinda found it embarassing. "...always wanted to be a superhero. Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, shit's my inspiration."
01[17:39] <Antichthon> "Pipe dream might not be so pipe." It was  a weird world, after all. "'Superhero' is getting to be a career option now, dude. I mean, I guess it always really was, but now that the anomalous is known? There are people getting together, man. Making leagues and shit. You know, legally, instead of in secret and all. If you want to join one some day, I guess I can help you get prepared." Beat. "...the culinary school thing sounds wicked awesome, though. You should def do that, too. You can dream to be in the superbowl, but you shouldn't pin all your hopes on dreams on getting picked by the NFL, you know what I'm saying?"
[17:41] <@gumbal1> "I guess if it comes down to it, both are an option. Specially with, like, the teleportation shit. You know?" Another drag. "But fuck, dude, I'd be totes down for joining."
01[17:44] <Antichthon> "Eh, Firewatch only recruits the best of the best of the best. It'd take a long time and a lot of work for them to even notice you. But like, I can get you started. And even if you can't join Firewatch you might be able to join someone else, you know?"
[17:45] <@gumbal1> If that's what it would take, well, better get started now. "Either way, nice. So, uh..." Leah looks around. "I'm guessing the training's gonna put me up against something a little bigger than, fucking, like...snacks and shit. Least, that's what Ellie told me."
01[17:48] <Antichthon> "Yeeeeaaaaah." Charlie wasn't much of a smiler, but there was a glint in her eye. "...You want to go down to the situation room and show me your stuff? We could do that another day though, if you want to just like, chill and talk more about Firewatch."
[17:49] <@gumbal1> The smile is returned by a half-grin. "You can't just, like, tell me of some x-men level shit and like...not immediately go there. I'm down for the situation room."
01[17:52] <Antichthon> "...Kay. Let me put on my other eyes first. These are almost dead." She stood, reavealing her height to be 6'8", and disappeared down the hall and into a side room.
[17:54] <@gumbal1> If she stays on the couch from any longer she's gonna fall asleep there. As such, Leah takes the perogative to sit the fuck up.
01[17:58] <Antichthon> When she returned she looked the same. She was still dressed like a stoner, not a superhero. "C'mon." With Leah hopefully in tow, she led the way to the front door of this cozy little windowless apartment. She opened the door into a very different world. It was like some sort of sci-fi base. They were in a wide hallway of slick metal walls, above them a curved glass ceiling, thorugh which there was something yellow and bright.
[18:00] <@gumbal1> Better than Leah's plans for a potential superhero costume, which were either unconciously ripped straight from JoJo or too impractical to ward properly. Mostly the former. Still, she marvels at the slick architecture, almost alien in its clinicism, at least to Leah. She doesn't have much to say on the trip, too busy marvelling.
01[18:07] <Antichthon> The bright yellow covered the entirety of beyond the glass ceiling. The glass was several feet thick, too. Odd lighting system. Charlie took them through several twists and turns, before finally emerging through a pair of sliding doors into...holy shit. It was an entire city. A city, in one massive building! There were on a wide walkway, wide as any street, a divider of grass down the middle. They'd come out of a residential sector. Across the walkway were shops and businesses, apparently the Strip. The walkways were hardly New York busy, but there were a couple dozen people out and and about. Charlie turned left. Far in the distance, LEah could see the walkway opened up into a lush park.
[18:10] <@gumbal1> She'd never been to Vegas, or Los Angeles. Nor had she ever been to Times Square. But at the very least, she knew how to handle herself in an inner-citty environment. Leah ogles the displays, the businesses, everything about this inexplicable city in this inexplicable base. And then there's the park, and Leah's off to there. Maybe it's just the residual high, but planted environments sounded pretty nice right about now. This place is amazing..
[18:10] <@gumbal1> .but could it last?
01[18:17] <Antichthon> Charlie was a pretty slow walker, "Hurry" wasn't a word in her vocabulary. Leah easily overtook her and reached the park minutes before Charlie would catch up. The park itself was a circular area a half kilometer in diameter, filled with trees and grasses, a small lake and even a circular stream that flowed into itself.  Above, through the perfect glass dome, was a beautiful blue sky. It might take time for Leah to realize one oddly lacking feature, though: There was no sun. A young couple sat on a nearby bench and chatted. On the grass, the fittest man Leah would have ever seen was doing planche pushups. There was even a breeze, somehow. It was easy to forget this place was inside a building.
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[18:21] <@gumbal1> "...is this all real? Am I...actually here, with these people?" Her life had come so far, it was almost hard to adjust. You go from inner-city Diane to some magical, virtual utopia in the span of a couple years, it's hard not to realize. And for once, she feels lucky. About everything. The powers, the people she's met, hell, if she never dated Randy, none of this might have ever come about. And so she just sort of stares for a while.
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01[18:24] <Antichthon> Charlie caught up, eventually. "Yeeeaaaaah, it can take some time to get used to. Hey, Pyre." The Planche Pushup Man went on one arm to wave, and...wow, apparently one-armed planche pushups were possible. Charlie came to a stop, gazed into nothingness with a vacant expression, trying to remember something. "Lessee...where's the lift..."
[18:26] <@gumbal1> Oh boy, that's her personal hero that she made about half an hour ago. Leah's a bit fidgety right now, but can't seem to find anything to say. Maybe she's just a bit too excited.
01[18:27] <Antichthon> "Oh. Right." Charlie tapped Leah on the shoulder to get her attention, and headed back the way they came. They'd gone right by the lift.
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[18:29] <@gumbal1> Oh fuck, right. Uh...yeah. Leah stiffly turns back to face the lift, with a nervous giggle. "Heh, sorry about that. I, um...yeah, this is basically like one of my lifelong dreams and uh...yeah."
01[18:30] <Antichthon> "Totes understand, dude." THe "lift" was actually a short hallway lined with a series of alcoves, big enough for one person. Actually big enough to fit even someone like Scorch, so more like big enough for several people. Charlie got it one and gestured to the one across from her. "You're not claustrophobic, right?"
[18:31] <@gumbal1> "Uh...no? Why?" That was never a comforting question to ask someone.
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01[18:32] <Antichthon> "Some people get claustrophobic on the lift. If you do, we could just teleport." Beat. Laugh. "Oh yeah, guess we could have done that to begin with."
[18:34] <@gumbal1> "I dunno. Lift rides kinda strike me as, like...setting the mood, you know? Like...#aesthetic and all that." Even if they were nearly always creepy.
01[18:37] <Antichthon> "Alright, cool." Charlie stepped into position. A glass cover slid closed over their alcoves and...well. What happened next was straight out of Galaxy Quest. Straight out. A clear, sticky fluid flowed up from the ground, and before she knew it Leah would be waist deep in the stuff. Then shoulder deep. Neck deep. Over her head.
[18:39] <@gumbal1> Oh, that's why they could have just teleported. Okay. That makes sense. Either way, Leah cringes, hard, and by the time she's fully submerged she might've ralphed if it didn't mean she'd end up swallowing...whatever this was.
01[18:41] <Antichthon> If she ralphed, the fluid would whisk it away. It also seemd to know not to get into her mouth, so there's that. Then, the floor dropped out beneath her. She was in free fall. No, more than free fall, she was accelerating much faster than gravity could take her. The only sense of motion she had were from light inthe shaft. They sped by faster and faster, until it was all a blur. They had to be travelling faster than the speed of sound!
01[18:41] <Antichthon> Also, she could breathe. Fortuantely.
[18:43] <@gumbal1> Oh boy, panic mode. Almost instictively, she tries molding some form of cushion from the clear liquid. All logic dictated she wouldn't need to, but hey, why the fuck not?
01[18:47] <Antichthon> It was all over just as quickly as it began. The whole trip lasted less than half a minute. Leah would find herself rising through a seemingly solid floor, head-first, like she was fucking Kurtz and this was Apocalypse Now. Charlie was emerging from the floor beside her. The room they were in was likely by far the largest room Leah had ever seen. It could hardly be called a room. They were inside a huge cube, kilometers to a side. It was hard to tell just how many kilometers because besides the reflective floor, the cube was featureless. Lets just say a jet could be flying at crusing altitude and it wouldn't have to worry about the ceiling.
01[18:48] <Antichthon> The clear fluid covering them was peeled off as they passed through the floor.
[18:50] <@gumbal1> It did seem a little embarassing, this whole ordeal, come to think of it. They were unlikely to have killed her, or put her somewhere really experimental and dangerous. All that's forgotten upon finding herself in the cube, however. Whatever this is, it wasn't natural, for one. The idea that this existed anwhere within the confines of what Leah knew as Earth was becoming more and more ludicrous. And, once more, Leah is speechless...for a while
[18:50] <@gumbal1> , at least. "You...how does this all //work//?"
01[18:53] <Antichthon> "Uhhhhh," Charlie droned. "...It's not as big as it is. It's some sort of space folding shit. I dunno, you'd have to talk to Scorch or Cauter. I've been outside the room, it's like, ten meters long." She scratched her ear and made a face. "Forgot to program it before we arrived. "...What do you think, Hong Kong? Hong Kong's kinda fun."
[18:56] <@gumbal1> "I mean, like...I'd prefer somewhere with a bit more sun. That's just me. Maybe, uh..." She had to think for a bit. What would be the perfect place for some sort of conflict? Somewhere she'd want to visit, not normal chaotic, pretty, yet with good potential for scenery. "...pre-Coup Algiers? Ilios? San Fran?"
01[19:01] <Antichthon> "...I don't think Ilios is a real place." Charlie's eyes flicked about. "Algiers is good." And just like that, Algiers, capital of Algeria, began to sprout from the ground. The whole city. The tallest structures emerged from the ground first. Soon enogh they were rising from the ground, too; they were on the roof of a tall, wide building, near the edge. Charlie peered over. "Uh, just so you know, this isn't the matrix. And it might not as big as it seems, but if you fall off you'll splat the same."
[19:04] <@gumbal1> Welp, this was just as good, she guessed. It was sunny, the architecture was beautiful, and whatever was here meant that this was probably gonna be a rooftop battle. Leah nods at the warning. She wasn't planning on testing that little peculiarity out, anyways. "So...what next?"
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01[19:08] <Antichthon> The Maqam Echahid was distinctly visible from where they stood. The streets below materialized, complete with moving cars. There were even pedestrians, but there was no mistaking them for real people; serious uncanny valley going on there. Charlie stared vacantly, the gears in her brain turning. "Guess I want to know where you are. Reading reports and watching videos and shit is like...it's good, but it doesn't tell you everything. Uhh. Try to make me touch the pavement." She pointed to the street, so far below.
01[19:08] <Antichthon> > INITIATIVE
[19:09] <@gumbal1> r 8
[19:09] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 8 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 4 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 0 ]
01[19:09] <Antichthon> r 6
[19:09] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 6 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 5 4 4 3 2 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 2 ]
01[19:09] <Antichthon> > LEAH
[19:11] <@gumbal1> Oh, well. This would be intersting, then. Might as well start with the basics, then. It's a little boring, but Leah merely starts with a simple kinetic push, delivered with a punch from the materialized form of ELP.
[19:11] <@gumbal1> r 12
[19:11] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 12 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 4 ]
01[19:13] <Antichthon> A wall of steel punched through the roof of the building to protect Charlie!
01[19:13] <Antichthon> r 20
[19:13] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 20 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 7 ]
01[19:14] <Antichthon> It disappeared back down the hole it made, leaving a ragged gash through the roof. "Dude, were you even trying?"
01[19:14] <Antichthon> > CHARLIE
01[19:14] <Antichthon> ...does nothing.
01[19:14] <Antichthon> > LEAH
[19:17] <@gumbal1> Shit. Fuck. Well, she should've expected this, then. Still, Leah doesn't move from her spot for a while. Why should she? Right now, she just needed to figure out what she was up against. Lava? Steel? ...something about forging? Externally, she does nothing, but internally, Leah attempts to ping the inside of the building, looking for any sort of soul energy.
[19:17] <@gumbal1> r 12
[19:17] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 12 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 3 ]
01[19:21] <Antichthon> Firewatch wasn't in the habit of spawning in soul-bearing entites for training and then just snuffing them out. There was definitely energy there, though. A lot of calculation went into controlling the behaviors of the not-people, and it could perhaps be classified as some sort of proto-soul energy. She could probably work with it.
01[19:21] <Antichthon> > CHARLIE
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01[19:22] <Antichthon> [19:21] <Antichthon> Firewatch wasn't in the habit of spawning in soul-bearing entites for training and then just snuffing them out. There was definitely energy there, though. A lot of calculation went into controlling the behaviors of the not-people, and it could perhaps be classified as some sort of proto-soul energy. She could probably work with it.
01[19:22] <Antichthon> [19:21] <Antichthon> > CHARLIE
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01[19:23] <Antichthon> No more doing nothing. Charlie pointed her finger at Leah and a thin ribbon of molten steel shot out of her fingertip!
01[19:23] <Antichthon> r 6 Right towards Leah.
[19:23] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 6 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 6 5 4 2 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 4 ]
[19:24] <@gumbal1> r 13
[19:24] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 13 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 4 ]
[19:24] <@gumbal1> Just barely. She yelps, slightly.
01[19:25] <Antichthon> The heat of the molten steel alone was enough to singe her hair, it passed so close. Had it stayed for more than fraction of a second, she'd have burns just from being near it.
01[19:25] <Antichthon> > LEAH
01[19:26] <Antichthon> "...Prooobably shouldn't be using magma and shit on you. Sorry about that."
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[19:27] <@gumbal1> Plan A was out the window, given this building was occupied with people. That left...whatever the hell Plan B was supposed to . Come on, you're supposed to be clever. Think, Leah, think!
[19:28] <@gumbal1> ...well, this roof was getting her nowhere. Leah instead looks off the building. If there are any windows near the top, she has ELP bust them right in, and proceeds to try to get inside.
01[19:30] <Antichthon> The building wasn't full of people. The complexity of the calculations governing them probably put them on the level of insects, though. There was pretty amazing processing power dedicated to them. And yes, there are wndows at the top, and ELP has no trouble busting them open. Getting herself inside the windows without falling, though? THat was a bit tricky.
01[19:30] <Antichthon> > Leah Gymnastics
[19:31] <@gumbal1> r 10
[19:31] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 10 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 6 6 5 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 3 ]
01[19:31] <Antichthon> Good enough! She makes it in.
[19:31] <@gumbal1> Busting in, that's not the hard part. It's not letting go.
01[19:32] <Antichthon> > CHARLIE
01[19:33] <Antichthon> spikes of steel appeared in the ceiling, and shot down all around Leah!
01[19:33] <Antichthon> r 6 Not very quickly, though. Hopefully if Leah flubbed it they wouldn't kill her. Hopefully.
[19:33] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 6 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 5 5 3 2 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 3 ]
[19:34] <@gumbal1> r 13 Hopefully not. "Hey! Watch the civilians!" Hopefully, keeping her to her values as a member of Firewatch would work. Even if the next part of her plan required everything about that being thrown out the window.
[19:34] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 13 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 6 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 4 ]
01[19:37] <Antichthon> Leah managed to avoid the spikes, not even getting touched. Also, no civilians in the corner she was in, but she could fix that real easy; it was an office building, and it was filled with blank-eyed not-people.
01[19:37] <Antichthon> > LEAH
[19:39] <@gumbal1> Theoretically, she could just proceed to step three in that case, but what was the fun in wielding (play) moral superiority if you didn't uphold said superiority yourself. Either way, plan to was to look for a fire alarm to covertly pull. Failing that? Just set one of the many flammable things that sit in buildings on fire themself, and let the fire alarm do her work for her.
01[19:43] <Antichthon> Oh, that was easy. Fire alarms weren't exactly something you wanted to hide. BRIIIIING! went the fire alarm. The empty-eyed moving mannequins began a proper fire drill routine in an orderly manner.
01[19:43] <Antichthon> > CHARLIE
01[19:44] <Antichthon> Charlie tore through the roof, but more carefully now. She used a wedge of steel to remove the non-steel parts of the roof in her way. She saw Leah, but punching a hole in the roof took her entire turn.
01[19:44] <Antichthon> > LEAH
[19:46] <@gumbal1> That was easy enough. It telegraphed where exactly she'd fall, and when. Visibly, Leah does nothing, as ELP manifests under the flooring and pounds it from the inside. Just enough to give way and potentially stun Charlie, should she fall through it.
[19:46] <@gumbal1> r 12
[19:46] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 12 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 6 6 5 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 3 ]
01[19:47] <Antichthon> r 2 Charlie did not have much in the way of reflex.
[19:47] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 2 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 5 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 1 ]
01[19:48] <Antichthon> r 22 She did, however, have a lot in the way of vitality for resisting stuns.
[19:48] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 22 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 8 ]
01[19:49] <Antichthon> > CHARLIE
01[19:49] <Antichthon> Charlie fell through the floor, but was not stunned. She gave ELP a little wave and headed for the stairs.
01[19:49] <Antichthon> > LEAH
[19:49] <@gumbal1> Up, or down?
[19:49] <@gumbal1> (Nevermind)
[19:51] <@gumbal1> That didn't work, but Leah still needed to act now. Now or never, she had to act. Almost on reflex, Leah lunges at Charlie, kineticly charged punch at the ready.
[19:51] <@gumbal1> r 13 (Brawn+ELP2)
[19:51] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 13 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 2 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 6 ]
01[19:53] <Antichthon> Instead of tearing out metal from the building this time, Charlie spawned a wall of solid rock out of nothingness to protect her.
01[19:53] <Antichthon> Ranged Parry!
01[19:53] <Antichthon> r 20
[19:53] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 20 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 10 ]
01[19:53] <Antichthon> r 20
[19:53] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 20 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 5 ]
01[19:53] <Antichthon> Ranged parry failed!
01[19:54] <Antichthon> It probably hurt like hell, but Leah's fist went right through solid rock. Only to meet Charlie's arm, now massive with encrusted rock, ready to try parrying the traditional way.
02[19:54] * Knave (Wyrmknave@nxz374635-rcek66-1-2-ncuj50.8-9.cable.virginm.net) Quit (Quit: Knave Out)
01[19:54] <Antichthon> r 18
[19:54] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 18 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 5 ]
01[19:54] <Antichthon> But Leah managed to break through that parry, too!
01[19:55] <Antichthon> (7d 3ap)
03[19:55] * Sillyvors is now known as Silvors
01[19:55] <Antichthon> r 27
[19:55] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 27 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 7 ]
01[19:55] <Antichthon> er
01[19:55] <Antichthon> r 24
[19:55] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 24 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 8 ]
01[19:55] <Antichthon> 1 damage!
01[19:56] <Antichthon> Charlie's breath caught. as the fist impacted her rock-protected chest. She actually felt that.
01[19:56] <Antichthon> > CHARLIE
01[19:56] <Antichthon> "...Good hit." one ham-sized rock fist hit back.
01[19:56] <Antichthon> r 10
[19:56] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 10 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 3 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 6 ]
[19:56] <@gumbal1> r 13 "Magma, steel, rock. Where's this all coming from? You think there's a limit to-"
[19:56] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 13 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 6 ]
01[19:57] <Antichthon> The rock fist slid past Leah, clipping her shoulder but doing no damage.
01[19:57] <Antichthon> > LEAH
[19:59] <@gumbal1> Everything she had spawned, from here on out, was solid. It was her number one way of blocking an attack. And so, once more, Leah had ELP charge at Charlie. Not to deliver a solid attack, no. Instead, one aimed right where an attack would hurt the most: her soul.
03[19:59] * PuddleJumper (PuddleJump@2602:306:3157:mvpt:ksvi:qmvp:qtrn:logi) has joined #sunnybrook-fireflies
01[19:59] <Antichthon> And Charlie didn't volunteer what logic there was behind her powers. If there was any, that would be for Leah to find out.
[19:59] <@gumbal1> r15 (3 effort, -1 psyche)
[19:59] <@gumbal1> r 15 (3 effort, -1 psyche)
[19:59] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 15 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 3 ]
01[20:00] <Antichthon> r 24 What ELP hit was a soul harder than any rock.
[20:00] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 24 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 12 ]
[20:01] <@gumbal1> Welp, that conceptually bruised her hand.
01[20:01] <Antichthon> "Woah, dude," Charlie said, looking rather happy and completely unaffected. "I didn't know you could do that." A pillar of rock spawned behind Leah and came at her like a piledriver.
01[20:02] <Antichthon> r 10
[20:02] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 10 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 5 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 2 ]
[20:02] <@gumbal1> r 13 "Didn't know your soul was so strong. Doesn't matter."
[20:02] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 13 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 4 ]
01[20:03] <Antichthon> Leah Easily Dodged.
01[20:03] <Antichthon> > LEAH
[20:05] <@gumbal1> Once more, Leah attacked with a kinetic barrage. This time, however, her target wasn't Charlie-it was the rock wall she'd inevitably try to produce, one that would, hopefully, backfire back into her with sufficiently directed force.
[20:05] <@gumbal1> r 12
[20:05] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 12 D6 against 5 for gumbal1: [ 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 2 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 8 ]
01[20:06] <Antichthon> Leah was correct, Charlie tried to generate a rock wall
01[20:07] <Antichthon> r 20 Ranged Parry!
[20:07] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 20 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 7 ]
01[20:07] <Antichthon> Failed!
01[20:07] <Antichthon> ...and the force, just as Leah predicted, bounced right off the wall and slammed into Charlie.
01[20:07] <Antichthon> (7d 3ap)
01[20:07] <Antichthon> r 24
[20:07] <Mjeowlnir> Rolling 24 D6 against 5 for Antichthon: [ 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 ] with a TN of [ 5 ] Successes [ 8 ]
01[20:08] <Antichthon> No Damage! But it did push Charlie back. Right through a window on the eighth floor.
[20:08] <@gumbal1> Which was all she was ever asked of, wasn't it?
01[20:10] <Antichthon> If Leah went to the wndow, she'd see Charlie standing on the street far below, giving a rare smile. "Good job, dude!" Charlie called up.
[20:11] <@gumbal1> Of course she did. She loved to see her handiwork. She was gonna do a Jotaro-esque victory pose, but ended up flubbing it, and laughing from the broken window. "Thanks!"
01[20:11] <Antichthon> A spiral rock staircase appeared at the window for Leah to come down.
[20:13] <@gumbal1> Which she does happily. "Sorry about the soul thing! Just had to gauge the walls you spawned and shit." She's down in a flash. "It was that or bluff you into doing metal, then, like, hitting it with electricity, but like...guess that worked."
01[20:15] <Antichthon> When Leah reached the bottom of the stairs, she'd find that Charlie wasn't alone. Beside her, dressed sharp and casual as Leah had last seen him, was Pyre. He gave her a friendly nod, one equal to another. "Oh, nah, you don't need to worry about hurting me," Charlie said.  "I can probably take anything you can dish out." She turned to Pyre. "Told you she was clever, man."
01[20:16] <Antichthon> Oh, he'd been dressed for excerise the last time Leah had seen him, actually. So this outfit was new. Oops.
[20:17] <@gumbal1> "Thanks, heh. And nice to meet you, dude."
01[20:19] <Antichthon> Pyre was incredibly dashing. Actually it seemed like virtually every trait of his was at the extreme of what was humanly possible. But he definitely was human. "Charlie insisted I see the fight," Pyre told Leah. "That's a cool projection you have." Referencing ELP, of course. "What call can it do?"
01[20:19] <Antichthon> what all can it do*
01[20:20] <Antichthon> Pyre also looked to be around his late twenties. A lot of Firewatch operatives were around there.
[20:22] <@gumbal1> "Well, uh, heh. Emerson, Lake, & Palmer here," ELP, meanwhile, bows. "is mostly just a projection of my own powers. She can't actually, like, rot stuff or give it a soul, but like, she's good for combat." Oh good. That put a few years on her to grow to around that level.
01[20:25] <Antichthon> "Can she fly, or pass through solid matter, or pick anything up?" Pyre was interested in her powers, this was a good sign.
[20:26] <@gumbal1> "Theoretically, technically, and not in theory." She wasn't really a stand in the traditional sense, but it still felt natural to refer to her in that way.
[20:26] <@gumbal1> "Why do you ask?"
01[20:30] <Antichthon>  "I was just thinking about what I would have done in your situation," Pyre said. "if ELP could reach the street from the roof, I'd have probably used that kinetic power of yours to knock a chunk of asphalt up to me. Touch Charlie with that."
[20:33] <@gumbal1> "...huh." Leah nods. "I thought this was about knocking her to the street, though. Can't see a practical application for asphalt, save, like...something really contrived."
01[20:38] <Antichthon>  "I thought the challenge was to make her touch the pavement." Those had been Charlie's words. Meanwhile, Charlie had screwed up her face into an unamused-but-toally-amused expression. "...I should probably get you back to your school, dude. I was only supposed to have you for an hour. ...Has it been an hour?" It had not been an hour.
[20:39] <@gumbal1> "Uh..." Leah checks her phone. "...yeah, think it's time. So, like, thanks a lot for the fight, dude."
01[20:42] <Antichthon> "Ye-e-e-e-ah," Charlie creaked. "Nooo problem." She said nothing beyond that, so Pyre did it for her. "Salamander." The portal opened, right back to Leah's room, and closed behind her once she passed through.
[20:42] <@gumbal1> ~bread~