Kanna OOCly says, "I be good, now."

Beowulf is OOCly ready as well.

John says, "OOC Alrightie, then let's resume.  "

Kanna OOCly says, "So, last we saw, we were all hugging Wasyuu. ^_^"

==============================
==============================

You hug Wasyuu very thoroughly.

Once you're done hugging her, she says, "Would you like to see my bomb? 
I'm trying to decide which of three configurations would cause more
annhilation."

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "Ouch. Well, she always was direct... o.o" to you.

Kanna sighs, softly.  "A massive bomb won't bring Lian back, Wasyuu.  As
much I'd like to think vengeance would be the solution..." She shakes
her head.  "It could be useful elsewhere, but..."  She looks tired.

Kanna says, "Yeah, might as well see it, though.  I mean hey, we're here
and all." She manages a slight smile.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly lags.  Argh.

Kanna OOCly kicks his sasami-to-home connection. 
home-to-haven-to-sasami woks just fiine, but direct seems to move in
fits and starts. Annoying.

Kanna OOCly says, "anyway, back."

=====
=====

Beowulf looks somewhat at a loss for words. "...more to the point, I'd
rather not see you get killed making any grand gestures like that." He
sighs and hugs her again. "You've got too many people behind who'd miss
you. Like your grandson."

Wasyuu says, "Oh, I have a foolproof plan to avoid being killed.  It's
called not being there when the bomb goes off."

She pauses.  "Eh, what's this about a grandson?"

Kanna -nods-.  *q* "I grew up without my real grandmother... hell, until
mom put me to rights, I thought -Anthy- was my grandmom.  Orien won't
get a chance to know his mother... I don't want him to grow up without
his real grandmom, either."

Kanna looks at Wasyuu.  "Congrats, you've got a grandson to spoil,
Wasyuu.  Lian and Thropan... well, they had a kid and didn't -tell- us."
She looks wry.

Beowulf rolls his eyes in mock exasperation. "You'd think she'd *tell*
her closest friends, but no..."

Kanna shrugs at Beowulf.  "Well, no doubt she had reason.  I mean, we
-are- in a wartime situation at the moment..."

Beowulf shrugs right back and smiles ruefully.

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "Hopefully Wasyuu won't feel too left out, since it's
pretty clear Lian didn't tell *anyone*. But she's probably feeling bad
because they hadn't reconciled before she died. o.o" to you.

The_Prof pages, "Now, how best to get her off this bomb idea..." to you.

You page, "*nod* well, you're the better negotiator... *wl*" to
The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "...great. I have no friggin' idea." to you.

You page, "Well, as Kanna mentioned, the bomb could be used
-elsewhere-.. like, oh, say, a certain Outsider Construcct...." to
The_Prof.

=====
=====

Wasyuu frowns.  "So where is he being hidden?"

Wasyuu continues, "As I expect they'll probably send their hordes of
ravening undead after him soon."

Kanna says, "He's with his father.  And I've already shut off Abyss
power there, and they'ev been warned."

Beowulf says, "I doubt that's going to be a problem..." He nods to
Kanna.

Kanna frowns a bit.  "For that matter, the planes that attacked us...
were unmanned."

Kanna says, "No pilots, remote controlled."

Kanna says, "Dunno 'bout the sandskimmer things, we bbooked through
shadow before we could examine them."

Wasyuu says, "I can think of three hundred different ways I can level
Jade.  Not to be rude, but he needs to be somewhere that can't simply be
squeezed like clay by a half-decent shadow molder."

Kanna says, "I also control Jade."

Kanna sighs, and takes a deep breath.  "If you want, I can talk with
Thropan, adn convince him to relocate to Ember for the nonce."

Wasyuu says, "He needs to be somewhere that isn't entirely controlled by
shadow dwellers, who can be made to dance to an invader's tune with just
a little bit of tweaking."

=====
=====

You page, "Great, lay on the guilt, why dontcha, wasyuu. :P |P" to
The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Yah. Still waiting to hear from GM. :p" to you.

=====
=====

You page, "Hm, Gaby should be able to monitor jade remotely via
trump/Pattern and then report back to me through the manifestation,
yes?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Yes, although maintaining 24 hour a day surveillance on
Jade would be a drain on her processor time." to you.

You page, "I don't want a 24-hour surveillance, I just want a quick
report Right Now on the state of Jade and its joined realms, to confirm
it's not being attacked, then." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Oh yes, she can do that for you right now if you like." to
you.

Akemi pages, "She does a scan and quickly informs you that Jade seems to
be doing okay" to you.

=====
=====

Beowulf asks, "Maybe we should call Thropan and have him come here, so
Wasyuu can meet her grandon and we can talk about this together?"

Kanna dryly points at her watch.  "Trump no working here."

Wasyuu says, "Well, I can always turn it back on so you can make a call,
as I'd like to see my grandchild myself."

Kanna nods.

Beowulf nods. "Of course," he says, trying to look like he'd thought of
that all along.

Kanna pulls out her deck, and shuffles through it to get her Thropan
trump.

You page, "That's what I want.  She was feeling somewhat nervous about
the appearance of these white-rose folks, but was distracted by being
the primary shadowshifter for the trip. *wl*" to Akemi.

Thropan takes the call.  "Hello, Kanna," he says.

"How are you?"

Kanna smiles slightly.  "I'm doing.. a little better.  Would you and
Orien be up for a little trip?  Wasyuu-san would like to see her
grandson."

Thropan says, "Yes, I'll need to get him, but that works for me."

Kanna nods.

=====
=====

You page, "Will I need to drop the call in order for him to do so? *wl*"
to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Yes, you'll need to call him back, as he's not anywhere
near his kid atm." to you.

======
======

You page, "Oh, are you still in Brea, CA?" to Foxtrot.

Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "Yep." (to you)

You page, "Just wanted to make sure. *wl*" to Foxtrot.

Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "NP." (to you)

=====
=====

Kanna says, "Trump me when you're ready to come over."

He nods.  "I will.  Should be pretty quickly."

Kanna then closes the connection.  She looks up at the others.  "Thropan
and the others are still fine, and sis checked Jade -- it's still doing
okay.  He'll call back in a bit once he's got the kidlet."

Beowulf nods. "Right."

Wasyuu says, "Good, good."

Wasyuu says, "Well, while we wait, I can show you my magnificent bomb."

Kanna dryly comments, "Might as well.." She then hrms.  "How many eevil
undead attacks have you had to ward off, by the way?"

Beowulf nods in agreement with Kanna. "So far, we've just had the one --
two if you count the group we ran into on the way here."

Wasyuu says, "Only one so far, but I'm sure there will be more."

She says, "Not counting the planes, which seem to be more mechanical
than undead from my analysis of the wreckage."

Beowulf nods. "That's what Gabrielle said. What was the first attack
like?"

She leads you through her labs to a high observing platform which gazes
out into a starry void.  Nearby, you can see a huge, roughly circular
zone the size of a planet, full of millions and billions of small flying
devices which look like two small hemispheres with a jet pack attached
to both and magnetic fields glowing around each half.

Wasyuu says, "Endless waves of screaming zombies armed with swords. 
Took a very long time to kill them all.

A bright glowing field encompasses the entire collection of flying
devices.

Kanna huhs.

Beowulf whistles.

Kanna does look impressed at Da Bomb, though.

Beowulf says, "That's... quite something."

Kanna asks, "Any recognizing marks on the zombies?  Abyssal taint within
them, or just necromantic?"

Beowulf nods. "And do you have any vid records? I'd like to try
analyzing their attack patterns, if I may."

Wasyuu says, "I discovered in my early giant matter/anti-matter bombs
that if you just turned half a planet into anti-matter, the explosion
was much less efficient because most of the Matter and Anti-Matter were
blown away from each other by the initial contact."

Kanna hrms.  "This could actually be pretty useful for Tharkold, if we
need to go to such lengths...."

Wasyuu says, "Some of them had Abyssal energy in them, most didn't."

She continues, "There's probably security footage in the computers
somewhere or another, Beowulf."

Kanna mmms at that.  "Mmm."

Beowulf nods. "I'll take a look at them in a few minutes, with your
permission." He looks out the window again. "And this gets around that
problem?"

=====
=====

You page, "Hm.. Thropan should be calling back 'bout now?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "You don't know how long it's going to take him to get his
kid." to you.

You page, "Well, it didn't take him that long to jump back to the
Retreat and the trump me.. well, I figure if something's screwy, he'll
call immediately." to Akemi.

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "Come on, damnit, call, Thropan... there's only so long
we can stall her. ;_; And I still don't know how best to give her the
full story of what Lian did. ;_;" to you.

The_Prof pages, "Though I think having Thropan there for that would
probably be for the best." to you.

You page, "*nod* I've asked John when he's going to call back. *wl*" to
The_Prof.

=====
=====

Wasyuu nods.  "The idea is to create billions of tiny bombs which
explode together, allowing for maximal matter/anti-matter collision."

Beowulf nods. "I had wondered if it would be something like that. Though
you'll still lose some force concentration, as the initial bombs blow
some of the others away from the center... unless you can manage the
timing so that the outer shell goes off first, driving the inner ones
closer together to concentrate the force. Hmmm."

Kanna says, "The thing is... will it even -work- in the Abyss?  That is,
if that's where you're planning to try and dump it..."

Wasyuu says, "Well, if it doesn't work, I build another and then I find
something of theirs outside the Abyss to blow into itty bitty bits, like
all those shrines they have near the rim of it."

Wasyuu says, "Hmm, maybe I should make it a hollow sphere, then.

Kanna eh-hehs at that.

Wasyuu says, "Or I could send it out to wander around shadow until it
finds some Abyss monks, then blows up on them."

Beowulf winces. "Um. I really don't think that's a good idea,
considering that a lot of innocents could get caught in the crossfire."

Kanna rubs the bridge of her nose, looking tired.  "That won't solve the
problem any, though.  And truth be told, we can't -afford- wars on more
fronts than we have right now."

Wasyuu says, "Well, that's the great thing.  No one likes going near
their shrines, as they're full of evil black gunk, so it won't blow up
anyone innocent."

Wasyuu says, "So long as they're using my daughter as a zombie, I can't
sit back and let them get away with it."

======
======

You page, "Well -I- feel totally out of my depth on how to get Wasyuu to
NOT go through with making the tense situation worse... unless there's
things that as an Amberite Kanna could think of that -I- the player
couldn't, especially with her law enforcement and police-type
training.... *wl*" to Akemi and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "I'm really hoping Thropan will show up shortly, since
I'd rather go over the full story of what Lian did with both of them
together... ;_;" to you and Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Well, the basic problem is that Wasyuu wants vengeance for
her daughter, and probably the best way to keep her from seeking it is
to find other things to keep her busy until she calms down enough that
she's more subsceptible to reason.  Having her grandson here will likely
help some.  It might also help to basically knock holes in her plans,
and keep her constantly tinkering and improving said vengeance machine
for a very long time.  As Wasyuu's tactical skills suck, and she knows
it. :" to you and The_Prof.

You page, "*nod* Right. *wl*" to Akemi and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Heh. Right." to you and Akemi.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "I know. What they're doing is wrong." He sighs. "But not
all the Abyss Monks are bad, apparently; Motoko said she knows one and
she apparently thought well of him."

Wasyuu says, "Then Motoko is an idiot.  Kind people don't go around
using the bodies of innocents as their zombie slaves."

"She's probably been mind-controlled by them, and they're likely using
her to try to keep us confused until they're ready to kill us all."

Beowulf sighs. "Her mind is strong enough that she's no easy puppet, and
more to the point, she had no signs of Abyssal taint or mind control."

Kanna says, "One person does not define the actions of a group.  And a
group's actions do not define that of a person.  But that's neither here
nor there...."  She closes her eyes, and sighs.  "I doubt it's
mind-control, anymore."  She shakes her head.  "Anyway.  Personally, I
think that test-running your device would be a good idea... just not
right at the edge of the Abyss."

Wasyuu says, "Did you find any evidence of Abyssal taint in Lian before
she got up and tried to kill you?"

Wasyuu continues, "Evil Mind Control isn't much good if people can spot
it easily."

Beowulf says, "From what we've been able to find out so far, though, the
Abyss Monks aren't any more monolithic a group than Amber or Chaos... a
lot of factions arguing about what to do, and this was apparently done
by just one group."

Kanna says, "No.  But I fully admit my brain isn't the best at scanning
these things... but..."  She looks down at her hands.

Wasyuu says, "And if they could keep you from noticing that with Lian,
they could keep you from noticing it with Motoko."

====
====

You page, "I take it from the mind control bit is part Wasyuu trying to
convence herself that Lian Isn't Dead? *wl*" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "No, it's Wasyuu trying to convince herself anyone who
doesn't want to slaughter Abyss monks is, in fact, either deluded or
mind-controlled :)" to you.

You page, "Ah-hah. *wl*  *mutter* Damnit, thropan, get back in touch...
*wl*" to Akemi.

You page, "You page, "I take it from the mind control bit is part Wasyuu
trying to  convence herself that Lian Isn't Dead? *wl*" to Akemi. Akemi
pages, "No, it's Wasyuu trying to convince herself anyone who doesn't 
want to slaughter Abyss monks is, in fact, either deluded or
mind-controlled  :)" to you." to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Heh." to you.

====
====

Beowulf smiles slightly. "This was at..." he remembers, and sighs,
"Moriya's funeral. There were a lot of people there who are much better
at detecting such things that we are."

Wasyuu says, "This is the same crop of people who couldn't spot Annadil
after he hung out with them for _months_.  I'm not impressed by this
family's evil mind control spotting abilities."

Kanna lifts her hands.  "Okay, okay, we need to work on that sort of
thing."

Beowulf sighs. "All I'm asking of you right now is to hold off on doing
anything until we pinpoint the guilty individuals, and make sure no
innocents get caught in the crossfire. Like that poor girl from House
Gainax who got killed."

Kanna says, "Or a good percentage of the Great Houses, if the bomb
misfires or gets messed up on the way.  We -need- them still around for
fighting off Hel and -her- freaks."

Wasyuu says, "It's not like I'm planning to drop the bomb in the middle
of a city.  And I'm not stupid enough to build a bomb which is going to
go off in the wrong place."

Kanna says, "well, that's a start.  But..." She hrms, looking out at the
matrix of mini-bombs.  "But what would stop the Abyss Freaks from just
taking each little bomb before they go off and then route it to
elsewhere in shadow?"

Wasyuu pauses and says, "Damn.  Hmm, that could be tricky."

=====
=====

Akemi pages, "Thropan is trumping you." to you.

You page, "Kanna ccepts the trump." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Thropan, Orien, and a bag full of baby goodies stand
before you.  Thropan tries to somehow get a hand free enough to hold out
to you.  "I'm ready."" to you.

You page, "Kanna grins,a nd pulls Thropan through, using her Mad
Strength Skillz to keep him from dropping anything -- basically by
grabbing him in -both- hands and pulling him and orien and the stuff
through." to Akemi.

=====
=====

Beowulf nods. "Yes. What's your control mechanism for keeping them
concentrated?"

Wasyuu now gets into a long conversation with Beowulf that involves all
sorts of concepts that none of us know, but the characters do.

Beowulf carefully examines the setup, trying his best to find ways a
talented enemy could circumvent it and/or keep things from working
right.

====
====

Beowulf says, "OOC Trying to find as many bugs as possible, so she'll be
forced to stop and fix them."

====
====

Kanna yanks Thropan, Orien, and a bag of baby stuff into the room.

Wasyuu turns and smiles at the baby, coming over and patting him on the
head.

"Hello, little one."

Beowulf smiles at the pair. "Glad you could make it."

Thropan says, "This is Orien, Wasyuu-san.  Would you like to hold him?"

Kanna grins a bit.

Wasyuu says, "Call me Wasyuu-chan.  And yes."  She takes the baby and
begins fussing over him.

Kanna then leans over to Beowulf. *q* "This .. is gonna take a while,
isn't it."  She sighs, softly.

=====
=====

Akemi pages, "Can you send me a list of what you think your Notable
Skills are?  As it looks like you qualify for 2 more at this point, but
I didn't think we'd fallen that far behind on taking them." to you.

You page, "It depends on how you calculate them, wether or not one adds
in all the stat bonuses.  I can send you my current believed character
sheet, if you want..." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Oh wait, I forgot about the Stat bonuses.  DOH!" to you.

Akemi pages, "Yep, it all adds up okay as it is.  Doh." to you.

You page-pose, "Aerianne hehs.  As much as I'd -like- extra noteable
skills, I was raised to be honest. *wg*" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Hehs." to you.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly pauses to nuke munchies.

Beowulf OOCly nods.

Kanna OOCly returns.

=====
=====

Beowulf murmurs softly, "Yes, it is." He sighs, and continues quietly.
"Let's try to keep some of her friends around her, so she doesn't have
time to brood."

Wasyuu settles down to playing with the baby and pestering Thropan with
lots of child-care questions.

Thropan does his best to answer them, though some are beyond his
competence, like being asked what amino acids the child needs.

Kanna nods back to Beowulf, and then looks at Wasyuu, thropan, and
Orien.  She smiles softly, and pulls out her sketchbook, rapidly
sketching the trio.

Beowulf winks back, and watches her sketch.

Kanna sketches more, and without quite realizing that she's doing it,
adds a lil' lian watching over the three from a distance, clad in a
rather out-of-character white robe (though it's got circuit traces on
the hem, so it's not TOO unbelieveable).

Wasyuu says, "This is really not very good for babies, who like to fall
into huge chasms like this.  Let's go down to the nursery."

Beowulf nods, smiling, and starts trying to think of suitable toys and
decorations he could conjure.

Kanna nods.  "I agree.  It's still impressive, though." She smiles a
bit, and gets up to follow.

You soon end up in the nursery, a room full of toys, which obviously
hasn't been used in a long time because it's neat and tidy.

Wasyuu says, "Hmm, I suppose he's a bit young for most of the toys, but
at least he can't fall into space here."  She sits down with him on a
chair.

Kanna pauses at this, and smiles a bit, sadly, brushing a hand against
one wall.  *q* "Last used for Lian, I take it?"

Beowulf nods. "Well, I could always make up a few new toys appropriate
to his age..." He smiles and starts putting a few together, based on his
vague memories of childhood and some of the things he saw in Jade.

=======
=======

Beowulf OOC Ack.

Akemi is currently asleep.

Kanna OOCly oop.

The_Prof pages, "...this is pretty long for a crash. o.o" to you.

Akemi has connected.

>> John has connected.  ('How weary I am of my overblown, shallow
babbling'--Nietzsche)

The_Prof pages, "At least Thropan's arrival seems to have moved things
in a better direction." to you.

Somewhere on the muck, Foxtrot has connected.

John says, "OOC Well, that was not fun."

You page, "Yah... :/  page The_Prof = Ah, there he goes." to The_Prof.

Kanna OOCly lags now, himself.

=======
=======

You page, "Oh yeah, as far as Were-biology goes... I don't think they
learn to shift between human and animal form until they're at least
concious/aware enough to actually -do- it (if even accidentally), though
there might be cases where they flip over super-young.  Once they know
they can do it, though, any other were can teach them how to shift forms
on command.   Hybrid combat form doesn't come in until early teens.  And
they effectively have to rest a lot more when younger, due to the fact
they're growing two bodies.  The animal and hybrid forms also end up
needing more animal-diet stuff to make sure things are -fully- up to
fighting trim, though they can survive on full human foods. (Britanny's
an example of what happens when they -don't- get the proper outdoors
foods... her claws are brittle and weak in hybrid and animal since she
didn't get enough antelope in her diet. *wl* )" to Akemi.

======
======

Beowulf nods. "Well, I could always make up a few new toys appropriate
to his age..." He smiles and starts putting a few together, based on his
vague memories of childhood and some of the things he saw in Jade.

Kanna pauses at this, and smiles a bit, sadly, brushing a hand against
one wall.  *q* "Last used for Lian, I take it?"

Wasyuu continues playing with the baby, and says, "Yes.  It's been quite
a while."

Beowulf finishes the first toys and hands them to Wasyuu and Thropan.

Thropan takes the toys.  "Thank you, Beowulf."

Kanna nods, and settles down while she plays with the baby.  "What was
she like, at that age?"  She flips pages to another fresh sheet.

Wasyuu says, "She kept trying to eat her building blocks."  She laughs
softly.  "I finally had to build ones that would run away from her
mouth."

Kanna giggles at that, blushing slightly.  Inspired, she tries her hand
at sketching toddler-lian crawl-chasing after building blocks what have
little legs on them. *pause* Okay, so toddler-lian happens to be wearing
glasses... some things just can't be erased from the mental image
catalouge.

Beowulf grins and chuckles. "I don't think Mother every had to get
*that* creative with me... at least she's never told any stories about
it." He shakes his head ruefully. "Raising Aeris was a whole 'nother
range of childhood troubles."

Kanna says, "That must have been quite a sight... on both respects."  She
looks wry at Beowulf, and at Wasyuu.

Kanna says, "Oh, mom's gots loads of stories for me and sis growing up. 
They tend to get trotted out if she gets frustrated at us."

Wasyuu says, "I'd imagine trying to deal with a child with that much
power would be pretty difficult."

Beowulf grins. "I can imagine." He chuckles. "Did she have problems with
Gabrielle trying to trump her in when she wanted attention?"

Beowulf blushes. "There were one or two moments in the middle of the
night when... ahem." He blushes harder.

Wasyuu says, "Oh, all little kids do that."

Kanna chuckles a bit at that, and blushes.  "Yes, suffice it to say sis
got an earlier education on... certain things... than mom originally
wanted her to." She looks wry.

Beowulf says, "At least it was just her trumping us into her main
chamber, not into a more embarrassing location."

Kanna says, "Always a good thing."

Kanna says, "There was also the time where, apparently, sis painted the
main dome of Castle Ember into a giant bunch of grapes."

Wasyuu says, "You mean turned it into a giant bunch of grapes?  Or just
painted grapes all over it?"

Kanna says, "Painted it so it looked like a giant bunch of grapes.  Mom
had given her a version of Photoshop she could try using, and, well...
she got a bit over-eager..."  She smiles.

Kanna says, "Before my time, though.  Waaay before."

Beowulf tries to keep from snickering at that, but a few muffled snorts
make their way out anyway. "Oh, dear. And I thought having Aeris...
well. It's a good thing the folks at Fibber's Closet are used to things
out of radio shows."

Beowulf says, "True. You probably just limited yourself to
finger-painting on the walls?" He grins.

Wasyuu says, "These walls have had just about everything imaginable by a
five year old painted on them at some point."

Beowulf smiles. "Just so long as he doesn't start trying to trump in the
things he imagines."

Kanna looks embarrased.  "Well... there was the time where I got into
mom's paints in her studio..."

Beowulf covers his eyes, grinning. "Oh, dear. Were any of the paintings
salvagable?"

Kanna says, "Well, there weren't many there at the -time-... but mom
apparently thought at least a couple of the floor panels and wall
sections were useable as paintings down on the third floor...." She
looks more embarrased as she says this.

Beowulf smiles. "Hey, every mother wants to show off her child's
talents, right?"

Kanna says, "Most kids end up having their old paintings and drawings
put up in the kitchen and on the refrigerator.  Mine... ended up framed
and seen by a good portion of the castle's staff."

Kanna smiles a bit.  "I  was pretyt proud of 'em back then, though." 
She still blushes, however.

Beowulf smiles wickedly. "And how many comments did you get from the
staff afterwards?"

Kanna says, "mostly thinly-veiled amusement, and sarcasm from sumire
when she saw 'em.  Not that she was any better at it..."

Wasyuu says, "Sumire is not exactly an artist."

Beowulf snorts. "Greeaaat."

Kanna shrugs.  "Story of my life.  I do something, sumire comments on
it.  Kept me humble, though."  She smiles, fondly.

Beowulf leans back a bit and sighs. "It's good, just sitting back and
talking for a while." He looks over at Wasyuu. "I... well, I wish you
didn't have to be here alone, nobody to talk to except the robots. Want
to come back to Amber with us, so you don't have to be alone?"

Kanna says, "Or come along on our Mission to take out Tharkhold..." She 
smiles a bit, sadly.  "One, we could use your skills, and two... it's
unfinished business for me and Lian, and... I think she would've
appreciated it if you came."

Wasyuu says, "Hmm, tell me about this mission to Tharkold.  I thought it
had already been dealt with?"

Kanna shakes her head.  "We got the herald and the manifestation he was
using... but the construct wasn't actually on that world."

Kanna says, "Lian started trying to track it down... but everybody got
sidetracked one way or another."  She shrugs.  "The most she got was
dealing with the Borg that somebody... prolly the construct or one of
its funkies... was flinging to the Lava Circle kingdoms, like Arakkis,
to mess them up."

Wasyuu nods.  "Hmm, yes, that could make a good field test for my bomb
before blowing up the Abyss monks."

Beowulf nods. "Yup. And it really kinda needs to be dealt with."

She continues, "When are you leaving?"

Kanna thinks. "Within the next day or so... we..." she sighs, and rubs
her brow.  "We really honestly need to check in on the state of
Mechanus, and Vector, to determine what other resources we can utilize."

Beowulf says, "Probably as soon as we get back to Amber and can get
preps made. I wasn't able to find much on possible shadows for it in the
library, so we're probably going to have to scout it out on-scene, as it
were."

Kanna says, "As I have a sinking feeling that we may not be able to.  I
won't be able to tell until we check it out.  And we can at least get
some space-based assistance... hiring the crew of the Bebop for Logrus
support, Uncle Tylor's spaceship, and Uncle Touga, Mitsune, and Lily are
willing to help."

Kanna says, "I'll need to double-check with mom, but I suspect Admiral
Ryoko and the Onyx Fleet are going to be tied up with Day of the Dead
preparations."

Wasyuu says, "I have plenty of spaceships if we need some."

Beowulf nods. "We'll have to see how things look."

Kanna nods.

She continues, "I've even got my old Death Star around here somewhere."

"You'd think it would be hard to lose a giant space station, but it's
easier than you think."

======
======

You page, "hm, does Kanna and Corrine know of the Wasyuu/Ryoko
connection by now? *wg*" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "I'd expect so." to you.

You page, "darn.  Ahwell, no dramatic revelation, then. :) But I can
deal.  Prolly found out in the after-TAMD wrapups." to Akemi.

======
======

Kanna chuckles a bit.  "We encountered one on the way to take out
Kranod, I recall.."

Beowulf says, "Since we don't know enough about it yet to make a good
plan to take it out, I'd suggest going in first with a small, subtle
scouting force that won't be noticed. Then we'll have enough information
to plan the strike."

Kanna nods.  "we'll still have to do it quickly, though."  She purses
her lips.  "Good pyricorn, just -two weeks- until High Summer?  Agh."

Wasyuu nods.  "Time rushes along."

Kanna says, "'least Kanawa and Mobius have been taken out... that just
leaves as the Hyper-critical the Tharkhold Construct and Bloc
Rebmaquois.  Whee."

Beowulf nods. "Quickly, yes. Which doesn't mean charging in full-bore
and trying to pick up things on the fly, since that would probably take
more time than scouting and doing it right."

Wasyuu says, "Well, as I understand, you beat Tharkold the first time in
just a few days, so I'm sure with my genius on the job, it'll go even
faster."

Beowulf nods, grinning. "I'm sure. What little I was able to find out
suggests a high-tech shadow, which ought to be right up your alley."

Kanna says, "well, also, we had the mind-information taken from one of
Kranod's legions when he was invading Narnia, and Uncle Drake to help
coordinate."

Kanna says, "Which helped things considerably."

Wasyuu says, "Drake does have some small talent with military affairs,
yes."

Wasyuu says, "So how soon do we start?"

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "What time of day are we at now?"

John says, "OOC It's some time in the morning."

=====
=====

Beowulf smiles ruefully. "I'm nowhere near his league, but hopefully
I'll be good enough." He shakes his head. "As soon as we get back to
Amber, we gather folks together and go, I suspect."

Wasyuu says, "Alright. I'll spend my time making some equipment and
making sure all the ships are in order."

Beowulf nods. "So we'll trump you... say, mid-afternoon?"

Kanna nods.  "And I'll go and check Vector's status as well."

Wasyuu says, "Alright. I'll expect to hear from you then."

Wasyuu pats Orien on the head.  "We'll have to make sure you're all nice
and safe while Grandma goes and blows things up."

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "OOC And hopefully we can finesse Shinobu and Keitaro
being left out... hopefully just didn't have anything to say? :)"

John says, "OOC Got distracted and got lost, obviously :)"

=====
=====

Beowulf hmms. "Would your mother be willing to watch him, Kanna? Or we
could always have someone back at Amber take care of him."

Beowulf smiles. "And we need to track down Shinobu and Keitaro before we
go, as they seem to have gotten lost."

Kanna chuckles softly at that.  "He's going to be a heartbreaker,
wasyuu-chan, I can tell that from here." She chuckles, and thinks.  "As
long as Thropan went along, I don't see why not.."  She then realizes
something.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "Actually, that works out well, as Wasyuu, Thropan,
Bey, and Kanna are here, but not the others."

=====
=====

Thropan says, "That is fine with me."

Kanna says, "One thing... I hate to bring this up right now, but it must
be said, as you're his grandmother, wasyuu, so you can have input on
it... Orien is the child of Lian and Thropan... but he bears the blood
of both Amber and Avalon within him, from Lian.  One day, walking the
Pattern will be his birthright.  But HOW we'll explain this is
-anybody's- guess at the moment."

Wasyuu says, "Well, we can always claim Gideon was of Royal lineage,
given that most Amberites are pretty fuzzy on who he was anyway."

Beowulf hmms. "That might work. Still, no need to decide today, I
think."

Kanna says, "True.  There's that." She shrugs.  "And yeah.  I just want
to make sure that it's known among those who Need To Know, so when we
-make- the cover story, we'll all be on the same page."  She smiles
wryly.

Beowulf says, "Indeed."

Kanna says, "As at the moment, you, me, Thropan, the folks on Jade, Bey,
and Ruka, know of Orien.  Mom prolly likely soon as well, and perhaps
one day King tylor... but only after the kid starts running around
Castle Amber on all fours."  She grins.

Beowulf smiles ruefully. "I'm sure. Perhaps he could get together with
Jacqui's daughter and Keiko and Ramon's daughter and form their own
team."

Wasyuu says, "Beware the attack of the babies."

Orien wakes up.

Kanna says, "Oh dear.  We make it through all this, and we'll have
another wave of kids, like mom says there was 40 years ago..." She
blushes at the thought.

Beowulf smiles. "There are rather a lot of them showing up all at once,
aren't there?" He shakes his head. "Anyway."

=====
=====

You page, "'lo, 'lo..." to Chris.

Chris pages, "Heya." to you.

You page, "I see by the tracking pages, certain stuff has gotten to you?
:)" to Chris.

Chris pages, "It got to me about ten minutes after you logged off. :)"
to you.

You page, "Wheee.  Well, Merry Christmas, alla you.*wl*" to Chris.

Chris pages, "Wai! Thank you, and merry Christmas to you too! (Just in
case I don't see you tomorrow. ;)" to you.

You page, "Heh.  Yeah, I'll be here during the holidays... no open until
Xmas, unless you -really- want to. *wg*" to Chris.

=====
=====

Kanna gets that look on her face when one is pondering becoming a
mother.  There seems to be a lot of blushing involved with it.

Beowulf asks, "So... you're off to Ember, Kanna, and then to talk to
Vector? Thropan... do you want to stay here?"

Wasyuu says, "Nothing wrong with that.  The last crop came out fairly
well.."  Ehs emiles a bit.

Thropan nods.  "Yes, I think I'll stay here with Orien for now."

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "Did we get it settled where Orien would be staying
while we're on the mission, or did I miss something?" to you.

You page, "When the mission starts, they'll go to Ember.  before then,
he'll be with wasyuu." to Akemi and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Right, makes sense." to you and Akemi.

=====
=====

Kanna nods, and moves over, and shows Wasyuu the skethes she did. 
"Yes... they did very well.  And I was, and still am, proud to have
known Lian."  Her expression gets mixed, and she brushes a tear from her
eye.

Wasyuu smiles at the sketches.  "I keep meaning to learn to draw, but I
never quite get around to it."

Kanna hehs.  "take a few courses... really, all it takes is time and
practice.  I know Lian did a few in her notebooks, too..." She blushes a
bt more at thaat.

Beowulf shakes his head. "I'm afraid I never got much beyond sketching
things I found at various archaeological digs." He looks embarrassed.

Kanna looks wry.  "Well, having a Trump Artist for a mother and another
for a sister kinda causes you to pick up things by immersion."

=====
=====

Chris pages, "Nope. Not going to until I get back from movie and mass at
the cathedral tomorrow night ... though the suspense is killing me. :)"
to you.

=====
=====

You page, "righto.  And fyi, the Wasyuu has met her grandson now.  And
we've gotten her help on Tharkhold, so that'll hopefully calm down
things by the time we finish to keep her from nuking the Abyss
wholesale." to Chris.

Wasyuu says, "Well, if we all did everything equally well, we'd no doubt
all merge into one person, undergo gravitational collapse, and become
black holes.  I've seen it happen."

Chris pages, "Get her to use her Galaxy-sized anti-matter bomb on the
Tharkold expedition. That way she can't drop it into the Abyss, even
though those <censored> monks would deserve it." to you.

You page, "That's we're planning.  To get it used aas aa 'test run'." to
Chris.

========
========

Beowulf opens his mouth. "... um. Right. Someday I'd like to hear the
story."

Kanna hehs a bit at that, and ruffles Orien's hair.

Beowulf asks, "Anyway... we about ready to set off?"

========================
========================

John says, "OOC Alrightie.  How much longer y'all going to want to play?
 As I can go longer, but I want to know how mcuh time we have to work
with."

Beowulf OOCly nods. "Was wondering that myself. It's almost midnight --
Phil?"

Kanna OOCly says, "Truth told, I figure may as well cut here, since it's
a good scene break."

John says, "OOC Alrightie."

Kanna OOCly says, "Kanna goes and updates mom and has her ready to host
Orien and Thropan, Bey gathers folks back in Amber, Kanna goes and
checks on Mechanus, they all rendevous with Wasyuu, and do the
scouting/investigating/smackdowing thing."

John says, "OOC Alrightie.  We'll need to play out the visit to Mechanus
next time, after Christmas."

=====
=====

Mercutio pages, "Hey, are you ready to sic me on the Abyss or not? ^_^"
to you.

You page, "we'll need to confer IC about that, as Kanna's worried about
Demetrius doing stuff to escalate the situation.  He'll prolly have to
solo it without us, but...." to Akemi, Mercutio and The_Prof.

In a page-pose to you, Mercutio and The_Prof, Akemi nods

Mercutio pages, "Well, he's willing to do that for what you're paying
him. And I figured I'd be going without you anyway." to you, Akemi and
The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Yah... solo, though make sure he waits until it's not
going to touch things off further. o.o" to you, Akemi and Mercutio.

Mercutio pages, "Well, the Monks hate me anyway." to you, Akemi and
The_Prof.

Akemi pages, "Tylor will find a Royal to assist him if y'all ask him to
find one." to you, Mercutio and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "I think we'd decided Kentaro would be a good choice?"
to you, Akemi and Mercutio.

In a page-pose to you, Mercutio and The_Prof, Akemi nods

You page, "If need be, we can play out the three of them having a
conversation with Demetrius on the road to Wasyuu's." to Akemi, Mercutio
and The_Prof.

You page, "And yeah, Kentaro was the choice." to Akemi, Mercutio and
The_Prof.

Mercutio pages, "So using me actually helps you. Plausible deniability.
'Oh, an Abyys Pirate scooped up the White Knight? Well, nothing to do
with us. Maybe he just hates Hel.'" to you, Akemi and The_Prof.

You page, "though having a royal assist kinda kills the plausable
deniability angle. *wl*  But we can figure this later. *wl*" to Akemi,
Mercutio and The_Prof.

Akemi pages, "Only if he gets caught :)" to you.

You page, "True.  *wl*" to Akemi.


=====
=====

Beowulf OOCly nods.

Kanna OOCly nods.  "That's what I figured."

John says, "OOC Okay, let's run you since this has wound down, Rod."

Jacqueline says, "OOCly righto, the toboggans have been ridden, the
mitsune angst has been dissipated, all seems well and thus we trump
Ramon...."

Jacqueline says, "OOCly momet-moment."