Blue

[rosebarks]

[Iman al-Rashid ibn Aali]

Iman didn't take the offered hand. He didn't understand the custom of the handshake, and he was hardly the most outwardly friendly person in the world. What he did do was meet her gaze, and without so much as a hint of any motion said, "My name is unimportant for now."

Walking in the direction of the crowd - he was sure Angelos must be in amongst them somewhere, he continued, "What is important is that this monster is also my target". He then looked around, "Are you coming or not? He can't have gotten far."

[rosebarks]

Lily smiply smiled shaking her head. at least he was kind enough to meet her gaze. "Alright, maybe you can tell me later...Go you want to work as a team to get him? Two experienced fighters verses one is a good advantage. We could split the bounty and still each have a large sum after." She suggested.

Lily followed Iman as she looked around saying something in another language as 1/4 of her magic left her before she could see auras, she has sensed his aura colour before but hadn't been able to identify it, so if she found a few unidentifyable ones, then it would be a good lead.

[Iman al-Rashid ibn Aali]

Walking through the crowd, that seemed to not notice them as they were still transfixxed on the metallic creature overhead, Iman and Ivy walked attempting to search for Angelos. It bothered Iman that he could disappear like that. It was a trait that took much training... a hashshashin trait. Dealing with him would be a lot more difficult that Iman had first imagined.

Ivy was persistent in attempting to start a conversation. Iman rolled his eyes as she spoke. This was not the time for chatter.

[rosebarks]

Lily, aka Ivy at the moment, just smiled. "I'm not as stupid as I may look hashshashin. I'm a skilled hunter and I know what to do...Did you ever think that he might not be a hashshashin like you but simply a skilled killer? Someone fighting for their life?" She asked Iman.

'Ivy' kept an eye out for Angelos' aura her magic started to drain quicker as she kept it up having to drap it at the half way point so then she could still keep up with Iman.

[Iman al-Rashid ibn Aali]

Iman looked at Ivy for the first time since they'd began walking through the crowd and this time offered a smile. Not a friendly smile, however, but a sinister one, "Ivy, I assure you I never thought he was a hashshashin... if he were, he'd have recognised me eavesdropping on your conversation, and he would have killed me."

Starting to walk once more, concentrating on the area around him and not Ivy he said, "A hashshasin is not forgiving of those who leave the order".

[Kazumaru]

Kazumaru sipped his beer. "So," he said to the bartender. "I'm looking for a man. A man named Blue. You know him?"

The bartender shook her head. "I's seen many men come through here, but no one callin' themselves 'Blue'..."

The Spirit sighed. "You sure?"

The bartender nodded.

Kazumaru finished his drink, paid the bartender, thanked her, and left.

The city was bright after the darkness of the bar. He was starting to feel woozy; He'd drank at least one beer at every bar in town, asking about Blue.

With a sigh, Kazumaru headed off to the slums in search of Blue...

[Cirrial]

501 clambers up on a table in the café. His accompanying crowd gathers around the table expectantly.

He looks to the side, a hand under his beak, and looks to the crowd.

"What? What do you think I can possibly offer you?"

"Enlightenment!" "Technology!" "Gold of the most luxurious kind!" "Shut up, Bill." "But look! He's probably full of it!" "Not as much as you are!" "At least I'm not deluding myself that I'm going to be the one to invent rocket travel! We already HAVE rocket travel!"

While the crowd crumbles into petty bickering, 501 sighs and crouches. He reaches for his ion pistol... and then remembers he doesn't have it any more. Cursing his misfortune, he instead shouts to the crowd.

"HEYLOOKADISTRACTIONGOPLAYWITHITANDDECIPHERMYALIENSPEECHWHICHYOUPROBABLYCAN'TUNDERSTANDBECAUSEAHNEVERMIND!"

He then jumps at and successfully through the window, shattering the glass and dispelling the crowd.

He manages to somersault in the air so perfectly he hits the road on his feet, and starts running. The crowd stays behind in the café, collectively wondering what just happened to their newfound metal friend.

He runs and runs, and taps the side of his head, calmly conversing while he flies down the road, swerving in direction as he navigates around pedestrians. Pedestrians who have the decency to remain oblivious. He flies by Lily, Iman and Angelos, a blur of black and blue.

"I've hit a setback. How are things on your end? ...What? What do you mean you LOST it? ...I never gave anyone authorisation to leave Station Zero! We need to keep undercover a little bit longer! Well, they already KNOW I'm here, so, y'know? Oh, fine, take that tone. I'm not the one who decided to go for an impromptu tour of the city! Okay, I'll look for it on my way back. Yeah. Well, I'm about to run into a tree so I really should stop talking-"

501 smacks straight into a tree in a park in Psychotopia. Like many cities, Psychotopia has trees. Unlike many cities, the tree has been grown and trimmed to resemble a fish. 501 staggers back on his feet, while he looks around.

"...Huh, that's interesting. I have no idea where the hell I am."

He thinks. Well, the last time I was here that tree stood out amongst the rubble that was the city... odd how it's so strangely untouched. Kind of suspicious.

He looks up to the sky. The odd few lemons were falling from the skies, the precursors to an inevitable downpour.

501 taps lightly on the already injured tree. "Hello? Dangerous killer? Is that you in a clever though baffling and inexplicable disguise, or the entrance to your secret hideaway?"

[rosebarks]

Lily looked at him. "What do you mean by that Sir?" She asked him as she watched the area. She found it hard to believe Angelos had so easily slipped away before she saw 501. "What the heck was that?" She asked Iman.

[Iman al-Rashid ibn Aali]

[rosebarks]

Lily looked at him. "I haven't the slightest clue what that thing is or supposed to be" She told Iman. "So, how exactly do you propose we find the guy again?" She asked as she searched, she was looking through the legs of the crowd since she generally wasn't overly tall. Lily, like her sister, was only about 5'4" in height.

[Kazumaru]

Kazumaru shook a mundane Russian man. "What do you mean you don't know where Blue is?!" he shouted. "TELL ME WHERE BLUE IS OR I'LL GIVE YOU A COOKIE."

"Uh... Sir, don't you mean 'tell me where Blue is and I'll give you a cookie'?" the Russian asked.

"YES, DAMNIT!"

"Oh... uh... in a can?"

"HAVE A COOKIE!" Kazumaru shouted, handing a cookie to the man before going off to search for a can.

[Angelos]

The robot moved fast. Too fast, Angelos thought grimly, still running away from the café. Fortunately, the mechanized bird appeared to be easily distractible. As long as he could stay away from it, Angelos figured he wouldn't have to worry about it.

The problem was that it seemed to know where he was.

A lemon hit the ground to the right of him, splattering into a yellow stain and spraying citrus juice onto his leg. Another one flew past his head, smashing into an unfortunate man who dropped the stack of packages he was carrying. Angelos looked up, and managed to avoid the lemons in his path. He only had to slow down once.

[Cirrial]

501 stops prodding the poor tree and decides to survey his surroundings.

Inside his head a flow and flash of blue, white, and the odd speck of yellow dance around his mental eyes, as the alien intellects of the CPUs wired to his mind attempt to communicate. Here he stood, the epitome of many Maratix technological fields, and a more efficient brain-machine interface still felt like an elusive dream.

After the devices finish informing him of the guesses of identities of blurs he just passed, he comes to the conclusion that in his haste, he didn't pass the target.

But I think I recognise one of those guys... Oh, wait, he was in that mob earlier. Better stay away from him.

He is interrupted by a loud series of beeps. After looking around, he realises they're as phantom as the aftertrails of the light show he just conjured up minutes ago.

He places a hand to the side of his head.

"501. Yes? No, we've got accommodation for about twelve saa-kru and me. I never said sharing rooms wasn't allowed. Yeah. Yeah. ...Hm. Yeah. Ah. Uh, yeah, don't risk it, just go back to the Marasphere. No, I won't tell anyone. Pfft, I'm not your parents, I don't really care. Plus, I think the aim was to establish a business branch here, not a colony. ...Wait. Why, of all people, did you feel inclined to call me during a bounty hunt? I could have been in the middle of an epic slow motion shoot-out with wire-fu all over the place! ...I know I'm obviously not in one, I was giving an example! Fine, I'll talk to you later. WHEN I'M NOT BUSY."

He sighs and crouches beside the fish shaped tree, catching the odd lemon. After a while he absent-mindedly juggles them, somewhat unaware of what his hands were doing but encouraging them to continue.

Never could juggle before, could I? All these control programs... if only I had some kind of super-sleuthing one. Ah, but that's not a physical skill... or is it?

He kneels onto the ground and claws a small hole in the dirt, putting the lemon in it and covering it back up. He laughs softly and looks to the tree. "A few years and you'll have yourself a new friend." He then looks up to the sky.

If I was a master criminal on the run, and I seemed to give off the impression I was a somewhat enigmatic business employee and or test subject, where would I be?

He then clicks his fingers. "That strange lab above ours! The guy there might have some kind of escaped lab experiment device. It just gives off that kind of vibe. Who the hell am I talking to? ...I thought I hung up. Uhh, ignore everything I just said. Right now. There is no lab above Station Zero. It's a disused library, just like I said. HANGING UP!"

He jumps onto the road, and begins running the other way.

[Cloud]

A black cloaked figure stepped out of an alleyway and casually walked in the direction of everyone else. Unnoticed by everyone he makes his way towards Angelos and briefly places a hand upon his shoulder.

"People seem very eager to find you, friend," the figure said gruffly, "How about we even the odds a little?"