Sour Blood [Open to those taking part]

[Amalea]

Sitting back slightly, she mentally berated herself for failing to ask Mike about his robots – an oversight she was glad Alex had caught and corrected. The redhead would take any bit of extra help they could get. Going into an unknown, hazardous situation with a variety of unknown people that she couldn’t be assured could handle their own was more than a bit nerve-racking, but time was of the essence in this matter. Ideally, she would have loved to find those with enough skills to come out unscathed. Such a search, however, would have easily taken weeks and they were working with a timescale of hours.

Her musing was interrupted by Alex’s comments about wanting to hurry. She caught the woman’s look, making a note to talk to her before the woman left. It would be a slightly overdue chat. The blonde’s next statements confirmed her thought that perhaps the pair of males she had interacted with earlier knew their friend wasn’t precisely human. Listening to Mike’s witty reply to Alex’s comment out his mouthy robot brought a chuckle to her lips and she really couldn’t fault his idea. Her own thoughts had been heading in that direction as well.

”Sorry, I should have elaborated. In terms of timeline, getting in and out as fast as possible, as soon as possible, is the most ideal situation,” she confirmed. ”However, a person getting hurt because they weren’t properly kitted out is not acceptable. I would hazard a guess that no one here, aside from myself, is prepared to head straight into this situation. I think we would be fools for not using all the resources available to us in a timely manner.” She looked around at each gathered person as she continued, ”I don’t believe an hour to properly prepare would set us back too much further than the incoming group.” Acknowledging Mike’s idea, she forged on, ”Splitting up might be the best way, particularly if can decide what else aside from the robots we may need.”

A singular eyebrow raised as the unnamed male spoke up. There was no doubt to her mind that he knew precisely what Alex was, nor was there any doubt that he knew more than she had told the group. His comments about the Europeans’ had sealed that for the red-head, given she had never actually said which pond nor what type of thugs they were. Idly, she wondered if he realized he had just shown his hand to the group of his breadth of knowledge, or at the very least, let it slip to her. The real question in her mind was just how did he come across the information? He had just jumped to the number one slot of those she needed to most keep an eye on.

”I respectfully disagree,” her voice hard, ”The danger is great in this situation. The more prepared and skilled people are - the better.”

[Alexandrea]

"Where is this run down Warehouse?" Alexandrea got right to the point. She followed up the question spoke aloud by speaking directly into the young man's mind for the first time. *Mike, don't be alarmed. It's just me, Alex. Sorry for the intrusion but I don't know for sure who else here knows what I am and I don't want to panic anyone.* She smiled at him apologetically and then continued. *I have... issues with the sun. But I can run very fast and I can be there seconds after you if you just text me the exact address once you get there, and please leave the door open? Just nod if you agree.*

OOC note. The players of Alexandrea and Mike have spoken ooc to come up with a route of action that we hope we speed this process along. Any god-moddening is pre-agreed upon and done only for the purpose of getting this thread moving towards being finished.

Mike gave Alex the nod she had been hoping to see and she grinned, looking towards Anemoi. She had made an effort to ignore his baiting her and now she just gave him a wink. "We'll I'm with Mike too. Between the three of us, we should be able to transport more of his robots."

Red and Mike both thought that spiting the group up would be the best way to accomplish their goals and Alexandrea nodded. "Yes, we have six of us so two groups of three would be a good strategy. I'll go with my boys here and let you ladies proceed with... hey, what is you name anyways? I don't believe I have heard you introduce yourself yet. Pretty sure I've seen you around before. The Bank maybe?"

The last was directed at the one male at the table who had not bothered to identify himself and Alex knew he didn't trust her. The fact that he knew what she was confirmed to her when he shot down her idea about bringing in her friend.

Alexandrea gave Red a warm smile when the woman disagreed with the unnamed man and as far as Alex was concerned, she was the leader in this small group of adventurers. And she was already speaking into her friend's Madison's mind alerting her that something important was up... details to follow... as she stood up from her chair. "So I presume we are meeting at the old Broussard place in an hour? We should get a move on then daylight waits for no man." Or vampire... she thought with a cringe.

Winking at Mike, she pulled out her cell phone. "Text me the address as soon as you can and I'll be than before you can say... Robot Army."

Alex wasn't sure how else to explain her waiting behind so she just gave the remainder of the group a shrug and an apologetic grin. "I just hate using mapquest and it'll be faster this way. Trust me."

Waiting for that text seemed to take longer than it really did, but Alexandrea used the time well. Bringing her pal Maddie up to speed with what was going on and sparing no detail about that the situation could mean and how much danger there could be for the humans... and themselves. Madison must have had questions but right after Alex told her the time and place to meet, her phone was buzzing. It was time to go.

Not caring whose it was, Alexandrea liberated a raincoat by the door and threw it on before using celerity to dash to the abandoned warehouse Mike directed her to, rushing in the door seconds later but already smoking. Thank the Goddesses she could heal her self from the burn, she would worry about regaining the lost blood later.

OOC Note to player of "Red" feel free to 'have that private chat' between our charries during that point, if possible and still desired. General note... it's bloody difficult to recall which powers Alex didn't have back when this started...

[Mike Barone (DELETED 2047)]

Mike stared at Alex a moment, it was rather weird having a voice in your head. He gave a nod to her plan, giving her the address. "Then we'll meet you guys there." he said to Red. He looked to Anemoi, leaving with him to go to the warehouse. "Think we need to get some duffle bags..." he said. He found a sports store and bought three bags and headed back out before going to the warehouse he was keeping his robots in. He pushed open the door and left it open.

He went straight to his work bench and going through the robots that were functional. He started to load them into the bags. Ones that needed a couple of wires put together, he quickly did that so they would have some more robots to work with.

He sent a text to Alex so she could head over. He raised an eyebrow when she entered the room, he quickly closed the door and waved at the smoke. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Mike covered a couple in the back. "Not those ones...I can't let two of them go." he said, he worked far too hard on them to have them destroyed. Not that they would be any use yet either, they didn't work right now as there was so much more to be done with them.

He zipped up one bag that was full and set it aside. He started to fill up the other two bags. He looked to Alex again, "You going to...hum zip over to the next location? Can you do that with carrying a bag?" he asked curiously.

[Anemoi (DELETED 2809)]

Great, the woman was coming with them. Anemoi didn’t like the idea but he couldn’t protest, she invited herself along and Mike seemed to like and trust her. He just sighed. He scuffed when Lexster said ‘my boys’. He followed after Mike, hoping the woman would just burst into flames before she got to the warehouse. He leaned against the wall of the store as Mike decided to get some bags to put the robots in. He pushed off to follow him to the warehouse but he had been here before.

He watched as Mike started to load the robots, he wasn’t sure if he could help since he knew what Robots were working and which ones would be helpful. He watched as Lexster ran in, Mike closing the door. “Ah darn, was hoping you’d be on fire..” he muttered softly. He turned his attention to Mike when he covered up some other projects of his. He raised an eyebrow. “Mike, are you building a fembot?” he asked. “That’s what they’re called right?” he was sure it was something from some scifi show or nerds…

He picked up one of the full bags and put it over his shoulder. “Well I would hope she can carry a bag and do whatever that is otherwise she’s not much good to us.” He replied.

[Amalea]

Authors Note: The following 4 posts are a collaboration between Amalea and Alexandrea.

The red-headed watched as the others filed off to gather their supplies. Hers, of course, were already tucked within her bag as she planned to head over today with or without backup. She was merely grateful that the assembled group seemed to be decent and willing to go along. Eyes glanced around the library, assuring the pair was alone, before settling again on Alex. "I want to get this artifact and get out without anyone getting hurt. There is a potential problem that I see. The very nature of this item goes against your own. She gave the woman a significant look before continuing. "Perhaps, first, I should introduce myself properly to you. Name's Amalea and I work at the Necro as a blood doll. One of the real ones. Now, the item in question is a ritual that affects humans, particularly their blood." Silence hung between the pair, as the redhead gave the blond an opening for any questions or comments.

Alexandrea looked deeply into this Amalea's eyes with one eyebrow raised in concern. With a low voice, Alex got right to the point.

"You seem highly intelligent, Amalea. You realize, I am sure, that telling someone like me about this ritual that may harm my kind seems counterproductive to your objective. Given what your job is and knowing who you work for, you must not be naive. So I’m going to take a leap of faith and concluded that you are willing to trust me. Therefore, I am also willing to trust you."

She leaned closer and dropped her voice even lower still.

"However. I already am in conflict with many of 'my kind's'... ideas. If it came out that I was a part of something that gave humans a weapon against my own kind, it would be highly probable I'd face some sort of retaliation. And while I do wish to assist humankind, I'd rather not be punished for it. So as far as the other humans are concerned? Especially that Amenoi? You have not told me any of this. Alright? I'd rather be thought of as having been foolish enough to be taken advantage of than to be outed for siding with humans against my own kind."

The human female knew she was taking a huge risk telling this one about the nature of the item being sought, particularly while alone with her. She was fairly certain that Alex wasn’t about to do too much harm too her; she just didn’t seem the type. Not to mention, Amara would probably hunt down anyone who hurt the red-head. At the mention of the ritual the woman’s eyebrow rose for the briefest of moments, a soft, slight shake of her head given. She knew she hadn’t mentioned precisely what they were going for, but had been around enough vampires to know there were those that could read minds.

”I have to trust you,” she pointed out quietly, ”The fact everyone was able to walk out of here unharmed is a major point in your favor, as is the fact you seem to be on decent terms with Mike and Amenoi.”

Glancing around, she noticed that the few patrons lingering in the library were engrossed in their own pursuits, not paying heed to the two women. Sighing gently, she continued in a quiet voice, ”I’m telling you this, as well, because you need to know what we’re getting into. The ritual, from the information I found, makes a human’s blood toxic to a vampire. It didn’t specify much more than it wouldn’t actually harm the vampire, though. “ Hesitating slightly, she seemed to battle with herself for a moment, ”Honestly, I’m not sure if it should fall into the hands of the humans here in Harper’s Rock. Nor am I entirely convinced that it should be locked away or destroyed by human or vampire. I do know though, that those ‘thugs’ are really European hunters.”

She smiled gently, ”I plan on telling no one about the real reasons for this chat. As far as I’m concerned, if anyone asks, we chatted about Reyna and Quartermaines in general. I was quite serious when I said I don’t want to see anyone hurt, which is why I’m hoping to get in and out before those hunters show up.”

Alexandrea sighed. While she hadn't meant to intrude on the Redhead's thought, she hadn't been able to resist. The memories she read there confirmed the truth of Amalea's words. As the 'Blood Doll' (A label Alex herself was very uncomfortable with) mentioned Alex's getting along with Anemoi and Mike, Alex's shook her head.

"I am Mike's friend. I can't stand Windbag, I do not trust him at all. Which is why I invited myself to go with the two of them. Anemoi cares nothing for anyone except himself, there is no way I'd take a chance he would watch out for Mike."

Amalea continued, explaining more about what this ritual would do and Alexandrea began to nod as the sense of urgency set in once again. But this time, she had an 'ah hah' moment and with eyes wide, spoke directly into the Redhead's mind.

[Alexandrea]

*Sorry but I just had an idea I want to be absolutely sure stays between us. If we succeed? We could use this ritual as a political bargaining chip and as a safety net against a war between our people.*

Alexandrea paused before she went on, giving the human a chance to absorb the information and get over the intrusion of having a strange voice in her head.

*At first I looked at it as a way to make a profit, I admit that. But there has been... talk. Of turning those humans who have powerful seats in the government. Politics are not my thing, so I don't know which of the human leaders could be trusted but if the wrong vampires turn the right politicians...*

She left the rest of that thought silent, trusting the intelligent young woman would grasp the implications herself.

Speaking out loud again, although still in a tone that would be considered quiet even by 'library voice' standards, Alexandrea remarked about the Hunters.

"I have run into them myself. There seems to be two kinds. One of them are dressed and I am more than a match for, although I doubt many humans could stand against them. The other class of these hunters run around naked and I usually have to run for my life when I cross paths with them. If we want to get in and out of this with no one harmed, we have to be fast and smart about it."

Alex always carried a few things with her in her overs-sized bag, and opened it to show Amalea the contents of various senor alarms, smoke bombs and noise makers.

"I'll place these sensors along our path as we go, so we will get a warning if someone is coming up behind us. And I'll pass out the smoke bombs and noise makers to everyone once we all meet up again. Fighting these Europeans is a last option. Escaping alive is the first. I'll come back from death, you and the rest..."

She shut up after that, closing her bag back up with a slight frown. What had begun on a lark as a way to have some fun had quickly become a situation that greatly concerned Alexandrea. If it were not for the importance of preventing the ritual from falling into the wrong hands, Alex would have tried to insist they just call the whole thing off.

Amalea looked at Alex curiously as she sighed, leaving it alone as the woman chose not to explain the gesture. She didn’t blame the blonde, really, particularly given she was being asked to partake of an activity against her own nature and the rest of kind. She groaned softly as the vampire explained why she invited herself along. The last thing the red-headed needed was people who were self-centered tagging along. They were downright dangerous, almost as much so as fanatics were, and they were going to face plenty of them at this rate, she suspected.

”Wonderful,” she shook her head lightly, lowering her voice, ”I’m not sure the other male can be trusted, if I were to be completely honest. Besides his comment to you, he let slip more information than I told the group. Information that I have no idea how he acquired, which makes him a dangerous unknown.”

Her companion’s wide eyes alerted the human that something was about to happen. The now familiar voice inside her head was not precisely what she was expecting, though, one would think that she’d be used to such abnormalities after working with the nightwalkers for so long. Her head canted slightly as she considered the offered thought. It was something that had merit and would definitely go a long way towards pacifying both sides, but she wasn’t sure the vampires would go for it; after all, it would possibly expose them to more of her own kind. Tugging her notebook closer, she put her hand in her bag to dig out a pen.

Finding one, she pulled it out as the second line of speech touched her mind. The idea of turning governmental officials was creepy. It was, at best, downright dangerous. These were humans that had power and public presence, making it very easy to blow the undead’s cover. Hadn’t these vampires ever read Harry Potter? Voldemort had tried the same tactic and it hadn’t worked quite that well for him. Putting the pen to the paper, she wrote out little tidbits, making it look as though she was taking notes on their conversation to keep up the charade.
 
In reality, though, her ‘notes’ were actually a reply to the blonde’s mental statements. Sliding the book across to the vampire, she tapped the page lightly with her pen. It is a better idea than I had. I know very few that I would trust with such information and had thought to lock it away from all in an undisclosed location. …. Are there really any that are the right sort? Actually, are there any of your kind that can be trusted to make a good decision as to which ones are likely to follow along the plan? Hell, I really don’t like that idea. Too much can go wrong on both sides too fast. There was a gap between lines where she had paused to mull over a past instance that had sprung to mind of a zombie running loose in the city and her research into the QZ. All it’d take is one misstep and I fear that the government would take drastic action. It wouldn’t surprise me if they isolated the city from the rest of the world, or more likely, just blow it up with a suitable arranged ‘accident.’

[Amalea]

Red tresses shook lightly as she listened to the comments on the types of hunters. The human had only heard the rumors of them within Harper’s Rock, mainly from other humans on their thankfully vampire-free site. Of course, she had learned early on to take the ramblings she found there with a grain of salt unless otherwise verified. In the case of these hunters, she had known there groups attempting to train humans to fight against the vampires, but she hadn’t heard of some of the others, so some of this was new to her.

”Great, I wonder if they’re early arrivals for the same group that seems to be determined to raid the Broussard building? I sincerely hope not, I’d prefer this be quick and clean. There are too many unknowns that could turn into dangers.” She shook her head, ”I’m starting to think I would have better off going alone or trying to find a single partner for this. Too late now, though.”

Her curiosity was peaked as Alex showed her the contents of her bag, explaining her plan. Why hadn’t she thought of that herself? She knew such things were available; after all, her apartment was wired with a couple. It had just never occurred to the female to use such things in that way.

”That’s a brilliant plan. I can’t believe it never occurred to me to do such a thing. Please let me know if I can compensate you for materials or costs?” She nodded slightly, collecting her thoughts, ”I don’t want to have to fight the hunters, at all. If it came to getting out alive or getting that scroll, I’d rather everyone get the hell out of dodge. Worst case scenario, we could always resort to burning the building down, so no one gets it. I’d really rather than none of us, even you, gets hurt or killed. “ She paused for a moment, voice lowering almost as if she was talking to herself, ”Still might be the better option. “

Alexandrea digested Amalea's opinion on the mystery man in the group and felt a bit queasy. She hoped again that Madison would be joining them. It was beginning to look more and more like the only backup Alex was going to have to count on would be a teenage human boy and a young human woman. At least the both of them had brains, if not brawn.

Aside from nodding in agreement with the Redhead, Alex said very little after that, reading the words that the woman showed her on a notepad while biting her lower lip in thought.

She couldn't help but chuckle at the words regarding whether or not there were any politicians that were the 'right sort'. It was funny because it was true. Sad... but true. But it was disappointing that the human female didn't think any of Alex's kind could be trusted to carry out her plan, although she understood. She knew she was far too trusting herself and had been trying to work on that about herself. She wished there could be peace and understanding between humans and vampires but having the government blow up the entire town as not worth the risk of seeking out Alex's idea of a Utopia.

"Wait a moment, Amalea." Alex put a gentle hand on the woman's forearm. "Who says it's too late? Once we all get to the location, we can go on ahead of the rest with just Mike, and my friend... if she can join us. I promise you that you can trust her to have your back. We'll just ask the rest to guard our retreat so we can get out again." She ended with a private thought, directed into the human's mind. *And if they refuse, I'll use my 'persuasive' abilities on them to get them to agree...*

Alex waved off the woman's offer of repayment with a smile, "I assure you I am not hurting for funds. But if this works out and we all come out of this alive, I could always use a new friend. Perhaps you can help me in other ways. I seem to have trouble... finding... certain items lately."

A frantic librarian hushed Alexandrea next, after she had burst out in laughter at the idea of burning the building down. She apologized and lowered her voice to reply that as much fun as she would find that, perhaps it should indeed remain a very last resort.

She looked up at the clock and as much as she had actually enjoyed conversing with "Red", pointed it out to her. "I expect Mike has arrived by now or soon will. Perhaps you might wish to get moving soon? I can promise you, I will arrive before you do."

Lea watched the blonde vampire carefully as she read the statement she had written in the notebook. Her mind, though, wandered slightly as she considered just how important this was to have assembled the mismatched team that she had. If she was completely honest with herself, the only other person she trusted was currently seated at the table. If trusting a vampire over a human wasn’t bad enough, there was the slight issue of trusting one with something that went against their nature. The redhead hoped the deities were having a good laugh over this whole situation.

[Alexandrea]

The sound of chuckling drew the human from her thoughts, focusing her attention once again on her companion. Given the woman was still reading Lea had a good idea what had drawn the delightful sound past those lips. Politicians in this town were wish-washy at best; corrupt was more the norm, though. On any given day, she wondered just how much the city officials knew about the undead inhabitants of the town. Aside from the few humans who lacked subtlety in their postings about vampires and being cops or whatnot, she was fairly sure that most didn’t know about and/or believe in supernatural beings.

The hand on her arm was slightly warmer than she would have suspected. Then again, she had quickly learned that there is very little that is typical about vampires in these parts. The private thought that ended the woman’s speech didn’t even faze the human this time. The silence hung in the air as the redhead contemplated the idea, which at first glance seemed like the best option. In truth, it was probably the only one that would see everyone getting out of this alive and relatively unharmed. There were only two issues that sprung to mind – Could she trust Mike and this mysterious - presumably vampire - friend of Alex’s? Could they actually persuade people this was best, even with Alex’s powers? Somehow she didn’t see the wildcard male as being agreeable at any point.

“It’s the best plan that minimizes risk,” she acknowledged, sliding the notebook back towards herself. ”If you believe the others will go for the idea, are trustworthy, and capable of pulling this off, I think we should probably use it.” As she spoke, the pen moved across the page. It was once again slid across the table as she smiled at the blonde’s dismissal of her offer to pay her for materials.

Lightly tapping the book, she indicated the new note. I hope you’re awfully persuasive. I have this feeling your Greek friend and our mysterious other male aren’t going to take too kindly to this. Verbally, she replied to the woman with a soft chuckle, ”Friends are wonderful, I love that idea. I, of course, would be willing to help you find things, if you’d like.”

She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as the librarian rushed over to shush her companion after a particularly loud bout of laughter. Obviously, the woman took her job far too seriously; especially given they were only one of three pairs in the facility. Nodding, she agreed that destroying the building in that or any other manner needed to be a last resort as doing so would draw far too much attention.

Groaning as she looked towards the clock after Alex had indicated the time; she shook her head as she slid the notebook back towards herself. Carefully, she tore out the page she had been writing on and shoved the book in her bag. ”Warehouse or the Broussard Place?” she queried, not knowing if Alex wanted her to go ahead to keep an eye on the others or stay with her and the others.

Reading the new note Amalea had jotted down, Alexandrea chuckled and gave the redhead a wink. *I'd prove to you just how really persuasive I can be but I'd rather you have a clear head.* The allurist sent into the human's mind.

"The Broussard Place, And if you don't have a gun on you? Get one. If you let those 'Europeans" get in close enough to touch you, it's all over." Alexandrea whispered the last part directly into Amalea's ear as she stood up from the table. She gave the redhead's shoulder a gentle squeeze and reassuring smile and then she was gone.

The red headed smiled at the comment on having a clear head, given she, herself, preferred that as well. A slight nod was given as the blonde told her where she should head, acknowledging the piece of advice. Collecting her notebook, she slid it into her bag. A quick pat of the bag’s hidden pocket assured the woman her gun was packed, though she’d make a quick stop along her way to see if something better was available.

OOC end~

Alexandrea smiled warmly at Mike, he was such a likable young man. "I'll be fine, you'll see." She said with a wink. "I'm a fast healer."

She made a point of ignoring Windbag's remark even though she heard it perfectly well. If she was going to have to use her powers on him later on she would rather not start a fight with him now. But she did roll her eyes when cut her off before she could answer Mike's question. Still... she bit her tongue and grabbed both bags.

"Got anymore? You wouldn't believe how much stuff I can actually carry..."

[Mike Barone (DELETED 2047)]

Mike nodded, as much as he'd liked to ask more questions, they had something to do. He turned to Windy when he asked about the robots he didn't want to use. He blushed, "I'm not building a fembot...gezz." he said. He turned away and returned to his work bench, moving parts around. "I might be able to get a few more of these to do something useful. Well, the most important function would be for it to move...right so they can trip traps." he said.

He pulled over a couple of shells of robots that looked like they were going to be a cat and dog, types he was working on making. He soldered some wires to where they needed to go, the dog barked and its legs moved. "Off switch, off switch.." he muttered as he looked it over, he couldn't remember where it went to. He switched it off and set it aside, doing the same to the cat but it gave a yowl and a hiss which made him jump. He quickly turned it off. He stuck them in one of the bags.

"Oh here, these are simple and should work good for tripping stuff." Mike said, finding a few 'snake' like robots that would wiggle around, move forward. He tossed them in the bag. He stuck some supplies in his bag that he might need to fix some robots or they might be useful for something else on this adventure.

"That's everything that works." He said, finishing zipping up the bag. "We need to go ahead to make sure there is a door open for you?" he asked Alex.

[Anemoi (DELETED 2809)]

“Yeah Mike, can’t keep a vampire down..” Anemoi said freely now they were away from all the other people. He was surprised that she didn’t say anything else, it was rare to keep her mouth shut. He smirked at Mike, “If you’re not, then why you red man?” he teased.

He stared as the boy started to mess with animal like robots. Then the snakes…this guy had a lot of time on his hands, and no life if he was making these robots all the time. Most people would say he needed a girlfriend in cases like this.

“Can we go now?” Anemoi asked, this wasn’t thrilling at all.