Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
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Post by An0nymou5 on Aug 19, 2016 22:22:45 GMT -7
After a short moment, the illusion hourglass stops counting down; Anonymous then revealed himself from behind them in a brown hooded robe over his head as if he's a monastery monk. He pulled the hood back to reveal himself with a smile:
“Really now? Here I figured either you or little Misty there at least know how to play a piano, seeing how you Keeper live in such a high class society.”
He then waved his hand in front of him, creating a small keyboard for the two of them:
“Well then kids, let me teach you at least how to play. You see these white and black things here? They’re called the key of the organ. Each key you press, they’ll let off a musical note in a certain pitch. Each key play a different pitch, as you can clearly hear.”
He pointed to each of the keys on the keyboard to explain to both of them as he press one of the key and let out a sound:
“Now a chord is a combination of three notes press together to form a nice harmonic sound. A series of the chord can be form as what you kids call music. To make a chord, you just have to press three of the keys simultaneously, and the sound will come out of the pipe. I’m sure someone like you who love to listen to classical music does know a little thing or two about music theory, right? I mean, that head of your have all kind of data inside them right, little Misty? I’m sure you read a book about music theory when you’re bored, so you at least know what each of the musical note is called.”
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The Keepers
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Post by Azoth on Aug 22, 2016 20:29:12 GMT -7
Azoth’s brow lowered. “That tells us nothing of how to play an organ, Anonymous.” As if what he had said wasn’t known by elementary schoolers. “I did not take you for the type to stereotype, Anonymous. Just because I may be wealthy does not mean I know how to play the piano. I am inclined to agree with Geata; this is still unfairly rigged into your favor.”
The way the room echoed to her voice and the voices of the others bothered her, more than the lightning or the air of the room. It felt unnatural and empty. It made her want to speak quieter. Playing music, especially something like an organ, in a place like this was unappealing to say the least.
If Anonymous wasn’t going to give them much aid with music theory, Azoth did have one idea. The goal was to shatter the glass surrounding the piece with the pitch of the organ, right? It didn’t have much to do with chords or progressions, but she did know one way to shatter glass.
Requiring moving to the glass encasement of the piece, Azoth tugged on Geata’s sleeve to pull him with her. She tried to ignore the ringing clatter of her footsteps.
She came to stand before the little layered glass structure. She waited for all the other sounds in the cathedral to die down, and then flicked the glass with her fingernail. If the illusion was true to reality, it should ring to some pitch. Normally she’s take a sample of the air so as to memorize the sound waves, but all she was going to get was the factory air. She was going to have to identify and remember the pitch manually.
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Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
Power Level 30
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Post by An0nymou5 on Aug 23, 2016 0:57:10 GMT -7
Anonymous let out a long sigh:
“Seriously kid? What am I look like, an organ instructor?” He said to them as he shifted his appearance into a figured of a teacher, “well, I can make myself look like one, but I guess you kid won’t appreciate the wonderful world of classical music since you have no idea how to play one.”
He then played the keyboard that he has before him; the sound he created is both ear-screeching and completely out-of-tune:
“Then again, neither can I, so there’s no point of judging you all.” He laughed and make the keyboard disappeared into a puff of smoke.
“And by the way, little Misty, you think knowing the glass' harmonic resonance to break the glass is a brilliant idea? This is my world, my illusion. Do you really think that glass box exist in the real world? Geeze, I know I can make thing appear real but I’m not God where I’ll be able to create anything I want…like a certain Keeper that I know.”
He gave Azoth a wink before continued over to the organ:
“Fine, how about this then: all you have to do is to tell me the answer to the puzzle, and I’ll make the organ played for you; sound fair? After all,” he snapped his finger and made the two marble statues suddenly change their facial expression into a malformed, twisted agonizing faces, “I controlled this wonderful fantasy world of mine. So what is the answer be kid? Time is ticking.”
As soon as he said it, the sand in the hourglass started to drip down once again, much faster than before; after all, they have all the time before to think of the solution from his "pause" in time before.
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The Keepers
Posts 234
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Post by Azoth on Aug 24, 2016 9:19:09 GMT -7
The off-pitch note sent a shiver down Azoth’s back. Her shoulders jerked upwards and it was all she could do not to cover her ears. When the noise died down and Anonymous continued, however, Azoth realized what she thought to be the problem. She raised her brow. “There’s always more than one way to solve a problem. Glass can be shattered by your puzzle, but it can also be broken by the right pitch or a blunt object. Geata could simply teleport the piece out of its confinement or I could obtain it with my own powers. It is not my fault you have not accounted for all of them.”
She scanned the room one more time and, identifying no new clues (only creepy statues), sighed. “Therefore my answer is, I don’t know. I know how to free the piece, but not in the specific way you want me to.”
((Trag has requested Azoth posts next, so there we go!))
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The Keepers
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Post by Geata on Aug 24, 2016 13:06:14 GMT -7
Anonymous' music lesson simply netted a flat look from Geata. Anyone who listened to music knew all of that. Luckily, Azoth felt the same and handled telling Anon, which left Geata some extra time to try and remember any clues that could possibly be relevant. When he was pulled by Azoth, he followed along absentmindedly. The only thing he took note of was her flicking the glass.
Geata raised an eyebrow when Anon made a god awful racket and then started talking again. The riddle was starting to seem poorly thought out, in the masked super's opinion. Then again, he wasn't seeing the whole picture, but the set up was falling apart at the seams. And chastising Azoth for trying to figure out the riddle when little other help was offered was ridiculous. Earlier she had been told to think outside the box. Here she was doing just that and she was being scolded?
However, she brought up something more important. She had no idea, and Geata couldn't remember any clues. "It was worth a try," he said to Azoth quietly with a slight gesture to the glass case. He then turned to Anonymous. "Sadly, I can't help her out either. Even looking at it from the perspective of a riddle, we were given next to no information. Looking back, nothing we were told or shown fits as a clue. Simply put, I don't know either."
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Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
Power Level 30
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Post by An0nymou5 on Aug 24, 2016 15:28:56 GMT -7
Since the both of them unable to give an answer for the puzzle, the hourglass dropped its final grain of sand down to the bottom.
“Oh come now, if everything can easily be solved with both of your power, then where’s the fun in that? Besides, who said my puzzle will shatter the glass box? Yes, there’s a lot of way to solve the problem, and yes I did told you to think outside the box, but I don’t know how your power works, so I can’t imitate them.”
Anonymous snapped his finger, causing one of the white bishops inside the glass case disappeared,
“How about this: if both of you are willing to share with me your little secret on how your powers work, I’ll have something to work with to apply those answers that you have: shatter the glass with harmonic resonance, teleport the piece out of the box, etc. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want the other to find out, all you have to do is communicate with me through telepathy and everything will be golden. If not, then I’m afraid we just have to do it the old fashion way.”
With that, the hourglass flipped around, but the sand isn’t pouring down like it supposed to be:
“So what do you say, do we have a deal?” he reached out his hand with a sinister smile on his face.
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The Keepers
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Post by Azoth on Aug 24, 2016 16:00:05 GMT -7
“No.” Azoth replied without hesitation. “You have attacked me on more than one occasion, sometimes harsher than is warranted.” She felt a second chill run down her back as memories of the illusion he’d given her resurfaced. The atmosphere was not helping. Try as she might to suppress it, a slight quiver returned to her voice. “You have shown yourself to be driven occasionally by pathos, in the Holloway incident and tonight. You insist on chaotic acts like this.” She gestured to their surroundings. Azoth narrowed her eyes, her voice becoming cold. “More than anything, you have hurt my friend. Anonymous, I do not trust you. I cannot trust you. I will tell you nothing of my powers.”
The stress in her voice and brought by thoughts of the illusion were wearing on her. Her gaze dropped from Anonymous to the pews and church windows. It was a couple seconds until she spoke again, and when she did, her voice was little more than a murmur. “What you don’t understand is that I would sooner tell Geata about my powers than I would you. If those are our options, I have no answer. You may count this as me giving up, a win on your end, whatever you would like.”
This was an admittance of defeat, and while far from the first, it didn’t sit very well with her. Even if it was her best option. Unsure of what Anonymous would do, and somewhat worried to what it would be, she made sure she had a good chunk of Geata’s sleeve in her fist.
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Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
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Post by An0nymou5 on Aug 24, 2016 16:42:54 GMT -7
Anonymous let out a loud unnerving laugh that echoed through the whole chamber; he then vanished before their eyes and reappeared right behind Azoth. His hand reached out from behind her and caressed her cheek; even though it was just his illusion form, she would still feel the ice-cold touch of his hand on her cheeks:
“I knew you would say that, little Misty,” his voice whispered right at her ear, “now do you understand your clients’ feeling when you have everything stack in your favor while negotiating?”
He then gave her a cold peck on her cheek before moving away before either of them could react:
“I never asked you to trust me, my dear little Misty; I simply give you both a suggestion. But if you’re willing to admit defeat just like that, it is rather disappointing. Beside, are you really sure the two of you are just friend?”
He turned toward Geata and tilted his head, “because from what I can guess, he has a hot for you, kiddo. Go ahead, Portal Boy, why don’t you tell her how you really feel? I’m sure she certainly feels the same way.”
He then skipped toward the tabernacle of the cathedral chamber and caused his outfit to turn into a priest uniform. He then started to play the organ completely out-of-tune sound of “Here’s come the bride” before turning his attention back to the two of them:
“Heck, if the both of you are willing, I’ll perform a wedding between the two of you right here. You’ll be surprise, but I am a certified priest right now. By the power of god, I’ll pronounce you Dumb-luck husband and Uptight-wife. Now kiss.”
He then let out a laugh before snapped his finger to bring them back to the chess board field. Since Azoth admitted defeat from the puzzle, they don’t have any white bishop in their piece.
“Of course, if we end the game right here without playing our chess game, it will be oh so boring. How about this: I’ll stop with all my puzzles deal right here, and you will have all the missing pieces in order for us to play our chess game. In return I’ll ask for some favor in return: I won’t ask you to tell me how your powers work, I won’t ask you to give me access to the Keeper Archive. Just some favor that both of you will own me in the future.”
He then started to communicate to Azoth through his telepathy:
“All I ask of you is that each time I fail to achieve any useful and importance information that I’m after because of you Keeper interfering with me, you will give them to me. Tell you what, I’ll give you an icing on the cake: if you agree to my proposition, I promise I won’t be bothering either of you with my power over your mind again. How about it kid? That sound like a good deal to me, don’t you think?”
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The Keepers
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Post by Geata on Aug 24, 2016 17:56:43 GMT -7
Geata simply looked at Anonymous blankly. Just how much was he expected to know? He was somewhat book smart, but not 'multiple doctorates in physics, both theoretical and applied' book smart. Besides, wasting time on trying to understand his powers would greatly limit the amount of time that he could use them. On top of that, what good would knowing do? He makes portals. It wasn't like there was a whole lot for anyone besides him to know or care about.
Azoth's response netted her a look of concern, and then, when she mentioned her friend, a small smile that was hidden behind his mask. If she didn't want Anonymous to know her powers, Geata felt that there was little point in even saying that he knew so little about his.
Anonymous certainly seemed to think so, as he changed his stance altogether. The meat of his rant was on Geata's feelings for Azoth. Geata giggled in response. "Seriously, true or not, do you really think that it's something I'd admit to on your terms?" He made sure to avoid looking at Azoth, though. He didn't want to say anything one way or the other, intentionally or otherwise.
While getting rid of having to deal with puzzles was a good thing as far as Geata was concerned, he wasn't sure it was worth being in debt to the faceless super. "What sort of favor do you mean? That's a pretty broad term, and I'm not inclined to agree to anything you say unless you decide to be at least moderately specific."
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Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
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Post by An0nymou5 on Aug 24, 2016 22:51:14 GMT -7
Anonymous simply smile at Geata’s question on his proposition:
“Anything, kid,” he said, “your aid in what I was working on, or any interesting information that you managed to obtain. It won’t be all the time; if you believe you have done enough to satisfy our favor, or giving worthy information, then you’re free of dept. Seeing how we’re simply skip our puzzle challenge and getting all your pieces back to play chess, then I’ll say you own me about two favors or two pieces of information to share with. I’m certain you’ve own little Misty there some favor right? Whatever she asked you for is what I want, simply as that.”
Of course Geata isn’t the one he mainly focus this deal on; that’s why he talked to Azoth telepathically in order to hide his true focus. Sure Geata could be useful for some future favor, but Keeper are known to keep a lot of information in secret.
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The Keepers
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Post by Azoth on Aug 26, 2016 21:24:03 GMT -7
Anonymous’s touch froze Azoth in place. Her shoulders were raised with every last hair on her neck, and the chill Anonymous made carried all the way down through her spine. His movement away was like a break from the spell. The pent up tension sent her reeling backwards until she bumped into Geata, and left her shaking.
Her teeth clenched at the scene change. The liar, the manipulator; that’s all he’d been doing, ever since she first met him. Her senses couldn’t be trusted when she was around him. His words held even less weight. She couldn’t trust a single thing he said, and she wasn’t going to let him get to her.
All of this was just an illusion. All he was doing was just an illusion, and she needed to not play into it. She was sick of him talking down to her, manipulating her in every conceivable way, and then offering a deal like that- Anonymous was crossing more lines than any unpowered would ever have lived through. Hurting her, hurting her friend, and now he thought he could get away with something as stacked and unfair as what he just offered? For what reason, that she stacked odds against her unpowered clients? She would blow up this place right now, light it on fire and leave with Geata, if he didn’t know what he did of her.
She needed him to keep his mouth shut, and she was going to have to buy his silence.
Azoth fought to quell the mix of fear and anger enough that she could release her jaw. Both feelings were unmasked in her voice. “Anonymous. I am insulted that you would request such a trade. I have already told you I am not trading anything from archive without something very worthwhile in return. I do not trust your word enough to know that you would leave both of us alone for as long as I give you information. You are the sort to twist these deals to your favor, as you are attempting now. If you want the Keeper archive, you’re going to have to find another Keeper.” She said the last words slowly, as though she was repeating them for the tenth time.
His offer was tempting; Anonymous was one of the largest threats she saw in the entirety of the super community, and while she could always cease supplying information if she felt like he breached their contract, he held the same ability to attack them should he feel his end has not been met. Temporary solace from him was not worth what permanent damage sharing information with no other return may cause.
“Neither of us owe you anything for you not asking us those questions. If you want an exchange, I am not asking you how your powers work in exchange for you not asking us how our powers work, and I am not asking for your identity in exchange for not asking us for the information archive. Anonymous, the only thing you have that I want is your silence, which is currently being bought with this game. Let me give you a fairer deal: we will end this game, and in exchange we will not attack you for insulting our pride and harming us earlier. We will not make any attempts of harm against you until all three of us have left the area, which will only to be broken should attack us again prior to that. I personally will owe you three information-level favors in exchange for you to not tell anyone what you know of how my powers work. Ever. These may be traded for my aid in battle later on, or any piece of information I have, now or at a later point in time.” She was reciting her common terms through her teeth. “This is my issue; Geata should owe you nothing for it. If you so chose, one of these favors may be exchanged for me to play this chess game of yours. Whether Geata wants to take part or not is up to him. Is that acceptable?”
She hated that she had to give him as high of a price as she did; if she was acting as she wanted to, she would be trading one favor for him to keep his mouth shut. But, she was nothing if not fair, and Anonymous was not someone she wanted to try to cheat.
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The Keepers
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Post by Geata on Aug 28, 2016 0:12:37 GMT -7
And suddenly, just like that, Anonymous was no longer Geata's main concern. He mentioned Geata owing Azoth a debt and then the current situation was forgotten. What was going on was decided to be low risk, and owing Anonymous something was unimportant. However, the masked super actually cared about how he owed something to Azoth.
When she bumped into him, he snapped out of his train of thought and focused. He clearly missed something, if she was saying that Anon was still asking for Keeper info. He figured it was a worthwhile bet that something had been said that he wasn't supposed to hear. Oops, oh well, not that he understood what the big deal was. Maybe the fact that it went against the deal that had been proposed right around the same time, presumably? Whatever the reason was, it was unimportant at the time. Azoth decided to try and take it upon herself to shoulder the debt and absolve him of his. That would've been fine, had she even bothered to ask him how he felt about the situation. As it stood, the list of things that needed discussed later was growing exponentially.
"I'll let the two of you talk business," he said with a sigh, "but let me know what's decided. I'm not going anywhere until it's agreed that whatever is decided to happen is over, however. Like it or not, I'm involved, and intend to stay that way until our little conflict is resolved." With that, he put a hand on Azoth's shoulder and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze. Until she said it was time to go, he wasn't moving a muscle.
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Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
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Post by An0nymou5 on Aug 28, 2016 13:52:31 GMT -7
Anonymous let out a wicked grin on his face; as far as he can tell from Azoth’s thought, she isn’t deceiving him with her term and condition. Even though her little secret could worth much more than just three information-favor, he feel that this is as far as he can push her into a deal. Geata clearly have a good idea of staying out of the conversation between two grown-ups.
“So you’re willing to bear his share of burden on your shoulder in exchange for my silence?” Anonymous said to her, “how generous of you.”
Without even looking over at Geata, Anonymous can communicate to him through telepathy without Azoth knowing:
“You know, a gentleman should be protective over his girlfriend and jump in to protect her; yet here you are, hiding behind her like a little kid hoping his mommy can protect him. I can already see you soon become a push-over in the future; she will walks all over you, kid, you’ll see.”
He then turned his attention back at Azoth and snapped his finger, returning the scenery around them back to the abandon warehouse from before. He then picked up the gun from one of the dead-guy’s hand:
“You got a deal, little Misty,” he said to her as he threw the weapon at their feet, “so how about we shake on it?”
He then stood right there and spread his arms open, as if he was positioning himself for a hug. Using his telepathic communication, his voice echoed in Azoth’s mind:
“As a cherry on the deal, how about this: since you’re so piss-off about me insulting your pride so badly, why don’t you pick up that gun and shoot me? Don’t worry, I won’t use this as you breaking our agreement; so go ahead, little Misty, you know you want to. You’ve killed before right, so this will be cake for you. Come on, I dare you; show me that you got a will to hurt me like your friend.”
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The Keepers
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Post by Azoth on Aug 28, 2016 20:36:44 GMT -7
Geata’s confirmation that he was staying was not unexpected, but the reassurance brought relaxation into her shoulders. His presence gave her confidence that, even should this deal go sour, they’d be alright. It was easier to face people like Anonymous when one had a friend at their side.
Even so, Azoth couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when Anonymous agreed to her terms. This was one of the highest-price trades she had ever instigated, but it was always a risk with him. Frankly, many of his actions made little to no sense to her. She couldn’t predict him. For all she knew, he could’ve attacked both of them and walked away laughing. She wouldn’t put it past him.
As if to prove her point, even a shake couldn’t be as simple as a shake with him. She looked down at the gun. She looked back up at Anonymous. Putting aside that using his telepathy was a bit of a strange way to communicate that message, she straightened her back and locked eyes with him.
“I don’t kill supers, Anonymous.” Her voice was firm. “I may not like you, and I certainly don’t trust you to not stab Geata and me in the back later. But, as much as it may vex me, you are still a super. You are worth more to this world than what fear I may have of you. I cannot kill you.” Her tone turned dark. “If you were an unpowered, you’d already be dead.”
She hesitated to step forward, casting a second glance at the gun, but resolved herself and, stepping over the gun, paced towards Anonymous. This was the first time she was breaking from Geata’s side, so she kept a very close eye on both him and Anonymous’s position, taking small pieces of air to confirm their locations. She stopped not an inch closer than she needed to be and extended her hand.
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Unaligned
Aw, what's wrong? Don't you trust me?
Posts 235
Power Level 30
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Post by An0nymou5 on Aug 29, 2016 15:33:56 GMT -7
“Really?” Anonymous tilted his head, “because if I recalled from our last interaction, you did threaten me with using sarin gas, remember? I may not be a chemical nerd, but I believe it’s a very dangerous neurotoxin. So don’t pretend to be a pacifist, little Misty, I know you’re capable of killing a super.”
He remained where he was, smiling as Azoth is making her way toward him. The confused and uneasy look on her face is truly fun to watch. It is quite disappointing to see her walking pass the gun and just approach him for a hand-shake, kinda spoiled the mood quite a bit. She just stopped inches away to extend her hand out for a handshake. Anonymous can feel she felt uneasy leaving Geata’s side, probably worry that he will separated them with his illusion again.
“You really need to learn how to relax, little Misty,” his voice echoing in her mind once again, “I’m a man of my word; I did accept your offer after all, so I’ll keep my end of the bargain until we all leave this place.”
He then reached out his hand and firmly grab on her, squeezing it tightly before pulling her in close enough for him to whisper into her ears:
“I’ll be seeing you around, Azoth; try not to hurt yourself on your way out, and pardon about the mess. It has been…delightful doing business with you.”
As soon as he let go of her hand, Anonymous slowly faded away into the shadow. His chuckle is still echoing through the abandon factory, leaving behind Azoth and her companion to deal with the dead bodies still bleeding on the floor. Even though he didn’t have a chance to play chess with them, he still managed to push Azoth to the limit of breaking point, and getting three information favors from her is icing on the cake.
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