Session 35

← Session 34 | Session 36 →

The party helps Na'arisiel acquire a halo, and Nyx is a very blunt instrument.

## Characters

* The Party
* Monday Hackett
* Pax Furyk
* Hollis Tucker
* Na'arisiel
* Zaida Loch
* The Sculptor
* Fiorella Fells
* Emmett Malek
* Danila Kesler
* Neera Guinn
* 0-771534
* Weston
* Legacy Byrnes

## Summary

##### **Friday, May 14th, 543:**

With Colby out of UNITY, the party gets together at Kuno's apartment. Colby relays his experience, and the party catches him up to what happened while he was gone. Some time in the past few days, Colby acquired more of his branching lightning scars, and some grey hair. Kuno texts Zaida, thanking her for breaking Colby out.

Meanwhile, Asa has been checking in on everyone, and continuing to work for Cat.

##### **Saturday, May 15th, 543:**

Nyx drops by the abandoned storage unit, and there is no response until she announces herself, at which point Monday lets her in. Pax is curled up in a hammock, and protests to Nyx's presence.

Nyx convinces him to talk, and manages to confiscate the alcohol he reaches for without a fight. He's been left drifting, having not thought past killing Eldridge. The confrontation didn't particularly help, either, because while they did kill Eldridge he was very blasé about his own death, on top of providing very few answers. Nyx offers to use her magic to see what's causing Pax's mental block, but Pax refuses--he's had enough people poking around in his head, and isn't even sure if Eldridge was telling the truth, as he often just says things.

When Nyx brings up UNITY, Pax hasn't heard of it. Pax is particularly curious about Gray's purpose in Eldridge's plan, to which Nyx suggests they could talk to her. He agrees, as long as they don't get anyone else involved. Nyx reassures Pax they're going to figure this out, which Pax responds to characteristically pessimistically. On Nyx's way out, Pax thanks her.

##### **Monday, May 17th, 543:**

The next day, Kuno brings Sam and Colby to visit Hollis's apartment. After some small talk, Kuno brings up Colby, whom Hollis has no clue about. The last time a human got access to holy power was during the negotiation of the Vertical Treaties: Jesus, who acted as a mediator, among other things--a fact that makes Colby's existence concerning. It's unlikely he's here for another treaty, however, since the newer-generation Host find the current treaty restrictive, and it would only get more so. Apparently there was some kind of surge of holy energy several days ago, coinciding with Colby's escape from UNITY, which Reis picked up on, though details are sparse.

Kuno explains Colby's escape from UNITY, to which Hollis wonders why they needed Colby in the first place. Colby mentions the orb men he saw, which Hollis recognizes as cherubim, and is terrified by the Host's, and Valefor's, involvement with UNITY. Regardless, he's got to have a supervisor, which Reis thinks would've been human.

Reis leaves the room, and returns very shaken after Hollis goes to check on him. Na'arisiel has scarring across his chest that resembles autopsy incisions, and after collecting himself explains that before all this he had a meeting with an administrator, who asked him to act as a covert means of keeping track of someone--a position which he refused, to the administrator's displeasure. However, with Colby around, it's likely the other seraphim on this plane, the one Reis has been looking for, is acting as Colby's overseer. They wouldn't be able to manage a good facsimile, based on the results of the vivisection, so Reis hopes Colby would have some idea where to find another seraphim, and thus a halo.

Hollis is decidedly against arming Reis, who is still mostly blind, especially since he's been technically discharged from the ranks of the Host and thus no longer has to obey the treaties. However, Reis knows he won't be able to get his eyes back without a fight, since the Host sees him as a major threat. Having been worn down, Hollis asks if Colby has any idea who might be the seraphim Reis is looking for, and Kuno provides Fells's name. With a target, conversation turns to planning: they can use Colby as bait, since Fells is looking for him anyway, and set up an ambush. She likely won't come alone, so there will be cherubim to deal with, which could use some more backup than just the people in the apartment. The party decides to bring Asa along, but not Nyx, since she's a upyr, and could be smote into dust easily. They toy with inviting along Jamie, or MacLaughagan, but Jamie is a werewolf (similarly vulnerable to holy damage) and Mac has been busy lately. Hollis asks for 24 hours warning, and the party leaves to finish planning.

##### T**uesday, May 18th, 543:**

Everyone gets together at Kuno's apartment, and Kuno lays out the plan for ambushing Fells. They do slightly more brainstorming after Asa agrees to come along, which mostly involves picking a location.

Kuno drops by Ollie's apartment, where he meets Zaida, having remembered she wanted to be kept in the loop about everything the party was doing in regards to UNITY. She doesn't recognize the name Fiorella Fells, and it's all a bit over her head, but she appreciates being told. On the way out, Kuno asks her to tell the Sculptor (who is asleep on the couch) that Kuno's forgiven him for threatening Kuno.

The party, sans Nyx, drops by Hollis's apartment again. They give him the 24-hour warning, and lay out the rest of the plan, which Hollis (who knows what he's doing) offers suggestions to. The plan ends up Colby texting Fells so pick him up, while everyone else waits in a restaurant until Fells and co. show up, so everyone else's presence isn't noticed. Hollis loans a gun to Colby, which he wants back.

##### **Wednesday, May 19th, 543:**

The next evening, Colby is standing in the rain on a street corner across from a late-night restaurant. He texts Fells, letting her know his location, which precedes some waiting . In a shorter amount of time than it would take to travel from UNITY to the street corner, Fells arrives, flanked by five cherubim. She asks him to come back to UNITY with her, but he shoots one of the cherubim instead, which everyone inside the restaurant hears.

This gunshot kicks off a fight in the street outside the restaurant. Hollis, with his sword, and Sam, flaming brass knuckles and all, head into the melee while everyone else hangs back with their guns. The cherubim have an odd type of armor that makes it difficult to hit them, which leaves Kuno and Colby unable to do much. Nevertheless, the cherubim do fall, until there are only a few left, along with Fells. One of the cherubim lunges for Colby, who panics--and white lightning strikes, burning through the cherubim, and sizzling over the street.

   When the dust clears, all the cherubim are lying dead, and Fells has a gun to Hollis's head. Before anyone has time to react, Reis has picked up a gun discarded by one of the cherubim, and refused. Hollis starts to protest, but Reis shoots through him to punch a hole in Fells. The cherubim gun is overloaded in his grasp, but the party have other things to focus on: a seraphim's death spasms are messy.

Finally, Fells's corpse has stopped twitching. Na'arisiel picks up the discarded gun, warning the party to cover their eyes. There is a bright flash of light, and Reis is holding a sniper rifle. He goes to leave, but then asks if anyone's apartment is closer than Hollis's. Kuno's is, so Kuno takes Reis in again, kicking Sam out to stay with Asa. Everyone heads home, with Sam sticking around a bit longer to prop up Hollis's corpse in an alley so he isn't laying in the street.

##### **Thursday, May 20th, 543:**

In the morning, Nyx drops by Kuno's apartment. She's expecting them to all be dead, and is surprised to learn they (mostly) survived the encounter. Kuno tells her what happened, and the apartment is generally more quiet than usual for a few days.

Nyx gets in touch with Emmett, asking to meet. The Dusk Radio folks aren't available right now, but can meet soon.

##### **Friday, May 21st, 543:**

Having had enough of spending time around disaster men, Nyx invites Neera out to dinner. They go to a relatively cheap Italian place, and catch up. Neera hasn't gotten anything to do from Naberius, and while she understands that he's busy, she would like something to do. The two have a nice evening out, and it's a very good break for Nyx.

##### **Sunday, May 23rd, 543:**

After living at Kuno's for several days, Reis announces over breakfast that he's ready to head back to Hollis's apartment. Kuno doesn't quite understand why, but helps Reis walk back there anyway. When they get to the door, Reis knocks, and ignores Kuno's insistence Hollis won't be answering it. Kuno has stopped Reis from knocking a third time when a lock clicks on the other side of the door, followed by the rest of them.

Hollis opens the door, wanting to know why Reis showed back up. Kuno is surprised to see Hollis alive, particularly since he looks better than he used to. Reis assures Hollis it's fine, because he remembered Hollis would be alright. Upon noticing Kuno's surprise, Hollis learns Reis didn't bother to explain anything. Hollis explains he goes and wanders around Limbo, a sandy wasteland, until he finds a staircase. Kuno recognizes this description as similar to a vision Nyx had, but Hollis assures him it's a different place, as things don't tend to do much staying in Limbo. Reis didn't realize Kuno didn't know death doesn't stick to Hollis, and apologizes. Hollis asks to be kept in the loop about UNITY, since Reis is going to go eye-hunting soon, and it seems UNITY is the main lead in that direction.

##### **Monday, May 24th, 543:**

The party tries to drop by Ollie's apartment, but they're busy so now isn't a good time.

Nyx has her meeting with Emmett and Danila, and explains she's looking to talk to Valencia Gray. Emmett is skeptical, as he's worried Gray won't make it out alive, but Nyx assures him that's not the goal of this meeting. She reminds him she got him an introduction to the revolutionaries, and he agrees to get her a meeting. He's still on event mailing lists, so if she drops by in a few days she can stay with him for a bit. Asking if she can bring Pax along raises a few eyebrows, but should be fine.

Having figured out a way to get in contact with Gray, Nyx drops back by Pax's storage unit to explain the plan. Pax isn't a fan of it, but willing to go along if it means getting answers. Nyx also drops by Asa's fashion friend's shop, to get clothes suitable to the Toska District for her and Pax.

##### **Tuesday, May 25th, 543:**

The next day, everyone living in Ollie's apartment is slightly less on fire, so the party drops by. Ollie lets them in, and apologizes for the chaos. Nyx asks after Legacy, who is currently sleeping off a hangover and thus Ollie isn't going to bother him. Nyx has no such qualms, however, and heads in search of him.

Everyone else settles into the living room, which is also populated by a rat in a cage, and does some catching up. Sam conducts introductions, and Kuno asks after the Sculptor apparently living here now--he isn't living in this apartment, per se, but dropping by every so often. They're mostly trying to keep an eye on him, but he seems to be doing better, and should be over later to feed his rat. Everyone's also been letting Legacy take care of himself, since he's been even more miserable to be around than usual recently.

Nyx finds that Legacy is in fact asleep, and wakes him up, which he doesn't appreciate. She points out what Emmett said about the effects of the Paragon raid, particularly that he stopped doing anything after that. Legacy, instead of answering, asks if Nyx has heard whether they've executed Rain yet, since she was arrested months ago.

He's willing to continue leading the revolution, but he can't do it alone, and has been running out of resources and allies lately. Nyx points out all the other people living in this apartment, but Legacy isn't willing to rely on them, since they so obviously didn't need his help for the UNITY raid and have been going behind his back. He's also upset no one responded to the Paragon broadcast beyond paying attention, that no one took initiative--which he could do, but not alone, not without anything he sees as worth fighting for. She doesn't get particularly far on convincing him to be functional again before Legacy gets tired of the conversation and leaves to take a shower, leaving Nyx to rejoin everyone else.

Back in the living room, Nyx reports on the conversation, mostly that Legacy is sad because he doesn't think he has any friends. Weston doesn't argue with this sentiment, but Ollie says he'll start putting effort back into that relationship after Legacy apologizes for smashing his monitors (and intending to do more, before Zaida stopped him).

The Sculptor shows up, to feed his rat, and is twitchy to see so many people around. Zaida convinces him to stick around, and he takes up a position in a corner. Conversation meanders, through Weston's research on the discovery of a universal energy sink, to the fact UNITY is responsible for the food shortage, according to the Sculptor. They released a bioweapon a while ago, the kind of thing plants would have to be genetically engineered to resist, which takes time. However, UNITY has already done this, since they're feeding their people. Weston was looking into data from an unknown source, and found the universe was hemorrhaging energy, though he expects Romero has found a solution (or thinks she has).

At this point, the Sculptor startles, and dumps one of his cases on the floor. The black nanite ooze bubbles out, soaking into the floor and taking up residence in the doorway--just before there is a heavy knock on the door. The Sculptor admits UNITY must have followed him, and that everyone should leave.

## Quotes

**Pax:** “Thanks, Nyx.” | **Nyx:** “…Yeah… No problem.” | **Kellen:** “Look at my little boy, being viscerally forced to have emotions on camera!”

**Kellen:** “I’ve never had a secret fact in my life.”

**Abby:** “I will have you know that my plot comprehension is off the *charts* today.” | **Kellen:** “Lower the charts!” | **Abby:** “Which is to say I’m getting the basic and obvious information that’s being presented to me.”

**Kellen:** “Kuno’s making friends, Colby’s making corpses.”

**Kuno:** “If he wakes up, tell him I forgive him for boiling my skin that one time.”

**Kellen:** “Imagine not inviting Jesus to the last supper.”

**Abby** (with a sword)**:** “You’ve committed *crimes*, Kellen.” | **Kellen:** “Leave me alone, leave me alone!” | **Abby** (almost laughing)**:** “Some crimes cannot be forgiven.”

**Hollis:** “Oh, the murderer wants to come back inside, huh?”

**Kuno:** “Reis, if you were wondering why the apartment has been so quiet for the last few days it’s because we had thought you just murdered Hollis!” | **Reis:** “Oh, I guess that does make sense.”

**Parker:** “My one talent is dodging cool moments.”

**Kellen:** “Nyx is Pax’s MacLaughagan.”

**Pax:** “I eagerly await the opportunity to suffer at the hands of the upper class.”

**Kellen:** “Nyx rolls up with the self-care stick and starts swinging.”

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