Lude 1.4: Siblings

Sunday, 7/13/2014

<GMAmy> == Lude Start ==

<GMAmy> Teresa Rios had to be contacted by text message, since she was out and about and unable to take a video call immediately. Fortunately, Mikel only has to wait about an hour before she is able to call back. The time difference means that although it is evening for him, it's early morning for her.

* Mikel is pretty okay with this as he lounges about on his bed, leaning back against the headboard with the vidscreen sitting in his lap.

<GMAmy> The viewscreen flicks on and shows Mikel's sister yawning and sipping some coffee. She's apparently in some sort of camp, with palm trees waving their fronds in the background. The sun is still low on the horizon. "Hey! I was wondering when I'd hear from you.'

<GMAmy> [Teresa] I thought you were supposed to be out of contact for what, a couple of weeks tops? Way to make me worry.

* Mikel raises an eyebrow at the scenery behind Teresa, tilting his head. "You look so worried, out on the beach. How are you doing, Ter'?"

<GMAmy> She scowls a little and sips her coffee. "For your information, I've been up since before dawn, trying to track down some missing building supplies and sort out some problems with food for the refugee camp. Oh, and dealing with raids from the mountains. Meanwhile, you've been taking a really nice, long, relaxing nap, from what I understand."

<Mikel> "We all woke up ready to possibly kill the poor doctor checking on us, if that helps. Also I'm completely out of shape."

<Mikel> "And occassionally confuse which reality I'm in, so, you know, not all sunshine and rainbows."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Okay, now that I didn't hear. Actually, I know pretty much nothing about this simulation thing. Any chance you can fill me in with a summary? I mean, assuming it's not all completely classified.

<GMAmy> [Teresa] It'd be kind of nice to know what they did to my big brother's brain.

<Mikel> "Uhh... man, how do I even summarize this. Take about a year's worth of adventuring in a post apocalypse world with magic and such. Bunch of people trying to save the world from being remade, destroyed, and remade again."

* Mikel scratches his head for a moment. "Semi post apocalypse. Like a best case post apocalypse with magic."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Sounds pretty interesting, actually. Doesn't sound too bad. But I guess things didn't quite go as planned...? *She frowns* You said you were having trouble with reality. You do remember me, right?

<Mikel> "Eh, I got there late and they didn't know what to expect when we woke up. Had someone who looked a lot like one of our enemies in the sim tending to us. Awkward first meeting, attempting stabbings and such." He pauses at her question, then snorts before deadpanning. "No, Teresa, I called this number in the vain hope that you can explain my entire life so I can make sure of which reality

<Mikel> is the lie."

<GMAmy> She raises an eyebrow. "Mikel, I'm almost disappointed in you for not trying to pull one over on me. You could have played the world's biggest sibling prank." She takes another sip of coffee. "Of course, I would have beat the ever-loving crap out of you, but still. This is unlike you. I can tell you're pretty out of sorts."

<Mikel> "Too obvious. 'Oh no, I've come back from a few weeks of a deep brain sim and don't remember my old life and only family, whatever shall I do'. It wouldn't last long enough to pay off."

<GMAmy> She waves a hand dismissively. "Bah. I'll give you a pass this time. Anyway...got any juicy details about the sim? It DOES sound pretty exciting if it led to attempted violence as soon as you woke up."

<Mikel> "It was kind of like we were in an old video game, when you look at it from this angle. I was a bit of a troublemaker, naturally."

<GMAmy> Teresa gives him a wry grin. "Naturally. Are we talking rebel who betrays the party, notorious prankster, roguish flirt, brooding outcast, or what?"

<Mikel> "Hmm... mix up the second and third. Someone else was the brooding outcast. The one who betrayed us kinda got dead."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Okay, I'm getting a little confused. So, who betrayed you? One of the other candidates, or what? And who was the brooding outcast? I don't actually know much about your teammates. *She pauses thoughtfully for a moment* Prankster and flirt though, that does sound about right for you.

<Mikel> "One of the... NPCs, I think. Betrayed us to the big bad, we fought her a few times." He pauses for a moment. "I think I wrecked her shit pretty bad in one of those fights." A few more moments of thought before he shakes his head. "Well, there's a couple of us. Mix of civvies and military, oddly enough."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Mostly native Messembrian, I'm guessing. Good people, you think? Or can you tell? I don't know how different they are from their simulation identities. Although if they were as accurate as yours seems to have been, maybe they're fairly reliable.

* Mikel chuckles. "They seem to have translated over pretty well... and yeah, I think so. Good folks and mostly Messembrian. Maybe even the rest of them, I'm not quite sure just yet." Another shrug. "I like 'em."

<GMAmy> She nods. "That's good to hear. I'd like to think you're in good hands and can trust these people, since you're basically putting your life in their hands." She frowns, showing a bit of real concern. "This is all going to be pretty dangerous. I want to ask for more details, but it's probably classified. I'll just have to hope that whatever they send you off to do isn't too crazy."

<Mikel> "... Judging from the sim I think crazy is going to be part of the territory, unfortunately." A helpless shrug. "So, been up to anything fun in the last few weeks? Any guys whose knees I need to shoot out?"

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Ha! No, way too busy for that. Which I remind anyone who tries to bring up the subject of romance. If you're out here with me, you're here to work. *she frowns* There's been a bit of trouble, though. Raids on the local settlements and refugee camps, from up in the mountains. They've been taking equipment, supplies, food, and so on.

* Mikel scratches his chin at that. "Really? No one able to convince you to let them help you relax? Such a cold heart..." He grows more serious at the mention of raids though, leaning forward. "Jeez, really? As if the Spawn aren't bad enough. Any idea who?"

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Oh, I allow the occasional backrub or purchase of a drink, but I don't really have time for more than that. And yeah - usually it's hard to sight any of the raids happening; they're pretty stealthy. But several incidents claim to have identified Xenians. Of course, accusing Xenians of violent activity is by no means a new thing, but this time it actually seems credible. Oddly, a lot of these raids seem to coincide with storms and other strong weather patterns.

* Mikel snorts at 'backrubs' but doesn't push farther, his attention refocusing soon enough. "Odd. Run it over to Rapid Response, Xenians fall under their purview I think. If they give you trouble tell 'em it's a favor for me."

<GMAmy> She nods. "That might help. I'll see what I can find out. It's definitely making the rebuilding efforts harder out here. But enough about me. Do you have any idea how often you can be in touch, now that you're awake?"

* Mikel shrugs. "Probably less so than I was back over there, but once they finish checking us out and stuff we're supposed to have some leave coming our way."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Good to hear. Man, I am curious about details, but I guess I'll have to curb that. Well, since I can't ask more about the training program, can you at least tell me more about your teammates?

* Mikel snorts. "Well, we've got... Ryllan, Victor, Trune, Niri, and myself. There's some other folks who were in the sim but I'm not sure if they're gone or still coming out."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Gotcha. Well, Victor's obviously a guy. Not entirely sure about the rest, but I'm guessing mostly men? What're they like?

<Mikel> "Everyone but Niri's a guy, yeah. Uh... Victor's a pretty steady and even keeled fellow. Looks out for the rest of us, good with machines. Trune's a bit of a sour puss, but he's gotten better at least as far as the sim goes. I imagine it'll stay the same now that we're out." He leans back against the headboard again, hands propped up behind his head now. "Ryl reminds me of some of my old

<Mikel> COs. Mission comes first, do what is necessary, so on and so forth. Good head for planning." There's a bit of a pause before he moves on to Niri, a faint frown.

<GMAmy> Teresa nods. "Sounds reliable enough, so far.

* StelWork (uid37836@192.184.9.114) has joined #mecha-iog2

* Mikel shrugs. "There's another one, Saki, that's also pretty solid. Fantastic cook, likes punching things. Pretty direct." With that detour he moves on to the last. "Niri's... hm. Cheerful, though seems more reserved here than she was in the sim. Energetic, always on the move, that sort of thing..."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] So, you get along with them all okay?

<Mikel> "I think Saki punched me once. Or maybe I blasted her... I know Ryl did swing at me once. But that was early on the sim." A shrug. "Over all we get along, some better than others, of course."

<GMAmy> She shrugs dismissively. "Eh. I've punched you often enough; it's not necessarily an indication of dislike." She grins.

* Huw (~tylana@host81-152-27-204.range81-152.btcentralplus.com) has joined #mecha-iog2

* Mikel snorts. "Thanks, sis."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Always happy to do my duty as your sister.

<Mikel> "I thought that mean care packages and stuff."

<GMAmy> She lets off an unladylike snort. "Ha. Care packages are not going to be coming from western Elysia, sorry, bro. But next time I'm able to make a trip east, I'll try to pick you up a present, all right? Something to keep you from getting too homesick."

<Mikel> "Maybe we can coordinate that with the next leave and actually see each other. Niri wants to meet you, too."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Oh really? *She seems genuinely surprised* Given how little time you've actually had to talk with anyone outside the sim, I'm surprised you bothered to mention me. But that might be nice, if it's allowed. I admit I'm a little curious about who you're working with.

<Mikel> "I might have mentioned you when worrying about how long it had been since we went in. Maybe."

<GMAmy> She grins. "Ah. Worried I was going to be furious with you, huh?"

<Mikel> "Maaaaybe..."

<GMAmy> Teresa snickers. "Well, I won't deny I was getting worried, but I know you had absolutely no control over it. And hey, you called me the same day you woke up, right? Major brother points there."

<Mikel> "Oh, good. Can I cash those in for any good prizes?"

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Yep, mainly a brief respite from teasing and harassment.

<Mikel> "Truly a prize all brothers treasure."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Obviously. Well...I feel like I ought to let you go. You've clearly got a lot of acclimating to do, and I need to get back to work. Anything I can get you? Seriously, I will try to send you a care package if you want. I bet the food there is terrible.

<Mikel> "Just... don't get me started on the food. I kind of hope Saki wakes up just so she can throw all of their chefs out."

<GMAmy> Teresa snickers. "If she ever does, let me know and I'll visit."

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Well, I'm going to sign off. You get some rest, okay? Or maybe you've had enough rest. You know what I mean."

<Mikel> "Will do. G'night, Teresa. Or morning, where you're at. Stay out of trouble, alright?"

<GMAmy> [Teresa] Same to you. *She pulls off an affectionately mocking salute, and the viewscreen goes dark.*

* Mikel shakes his head at the salute, powering off the vidscreen as he settles into the bed some more. "Well, she hasn't changed..."

<GMAmy> == Lude End ==

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