Entry 001

[chippedsoul]

Characters: Kazuma Asougi | Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde and anyone!
Campaign: Hollow Christmas Carol, Act 2
Format: [ brackets ] preferred
Open
Summary: Parties suck. Doing other things instead.


[A - Gift giving from the not so jolly Disciple]
[Though his role in the story doesn't happen until much later on, a role he's not looking forward to, the Disciple chooses not to partake in the partying if he can avoid it. Instead, he spends his time outside, giving gifts to the people, or at least trying to. He must have had a scary face or something, because some were rather intimidated by him to even come up and accept the gifts.]

They're not boobied trapped or anything. [He just didn't have much enthusiasm passing these gifts out, practically just tossing them or dumping them into their hands when they refuse to come up to him. The gifts are being passed around, it's good enough.]

[B - Save the tree!]
[All right, so he does occasionally pop back into the mansion to grab a drink and something to eat, but that's about it. Avoiding everyone and any mistletoes ever. During one of his trips, he does make a stop when he felt something being tossed at him. Looking in the direction of where it came from, he sees a few kids playing around the Christmas tree. Seem harmless, except some of them have decided to climb up the tree as well. That...that didn't seem safe. With a sigh, he decides to come over and do something about it.

He tugs on the clothes of the nearest child.] Get off. [His oh so persuasive words only led to the child screaming. Who was this weird guy grabbing onto him!? That tree is wobbling dangerously now, as the child tries to wiggle free.]

[C - Protect the Mansion]
[While the Disciple may not be the best person at gift giving or dealing with children, fighting is a different story. He was honestly glad that these Erasers and Santa's helpers were trying to disrupt the party. It gave him something to let off some steam on, maybe a little too well. Each kill was messier than the last, splattering ink onto the mansion wall when they got too close. He's trying his best to keep them as far away from the mansion as possible but...it's just so much fun to tear into them. More and more would charge at him, trying to overwhelm him, but he easily slices and punches them back, tearing at their tender pages, throwing them into each other.

So pathetic. How is he suppose to know his limits with such weak enemies?] -Hnk! [He spoke too soon and gets rammed by a reindeer from behind. A loud "Ho Ho Ho" can be heard from somewhere nearby. The reindeer will turn itself back around and joined by another. Digging their hooves into the dirt, they come rushing toward the fallen man with the intention of trampling him.]

[D - If the dress fits]

[The big proposal is happening soon, and "Beltrina" seems to have gone missing. The Disciple had locked himself in one of the rooms in the mansion, mostly because he's fighting with the dress and also hiding.] This is ridiculous. [He knew his role once the scene had changed, but he still doesn't think this was actually happening. Surely there must have been some mistake!]

Comments

[decryptic]

There's no rush. It doesn't hurt or anything. My grip strength and mobility have taken a hit, but I haven't exactly done any heavy lifting since we got here.

[ He looks askance at the Disciple. ]

You put on a stoic face, but you actually feel pretty bad about it, huh?

[chippedsoul]

...I'm quite certain there was a strong reaction from you when your arm was torn away. [Ignoring that second question, or maybe this is his roundabout way of saying yes.]

[decryptic]

[ Oh, that old tactic. 9S has spent his fair share of time with people who don't like to admit that they care. He shrugs an exasperated shrug. ]

Yeah, yeah... Of course it hurts getting my arm ripped off, but it's fine now. I adjusted my sensory processor to turn off any residual pain I might've felt from my parts not meshing together. If I may toot my own horn, it's a pretty simple process for a state-of-the-art Scanner model like me.

[chippedsoul]

...Right. [Some of that tech talk goes over his head, but he gets the idea that 9S can handle this. He huffs, crossing his arms.] I just don't like leaving a mess that I was responsible for.

[decryptic]

Don't worry about it. It was technically the other guy, anyway.

[ And just in case the Disciple insists on taking responsibility, 9S swiftly moves the topic along. ]

By the way, I like your sword. Where'd you get it?

[chippedsoul]

Hm? [He looks to the sword currently in it's sheathe at his side.] ...From a rundown smith shop I found. [He shrugs.] It gets the job done for now. [He glances at the candelabra on 9S back.] Thinking to get a weapon change?

[decryptic]

Yeah. Apparently, this thing is a little too snatchable.

[ Machine Lifeforms didn't have the same kind of mobility, so weapon theft was never an issue. Lesson learned thanks to a certain someone. ]

I used to have a sword too. About this long... [ He motions to about chest level. ] And it had a bit of a curve to it. I wonder if I can find anything like it in the Index.

[chippedsoul]

Is it...attached to anything? [He tilts his head. It doesn't look like it's being held there by anything.]

You could probably commission a blacksmith to make you a sword. I'm looking into that myself when we return to the Index. [Has to be a good smith though. He's picky about his sword.]

[decryptic]

Let me know if you find someone you like! Nothing beats a dependable weapon.

[ With a smile, he swings his candelabra off his back and gently twirls it front of him with a flick of the wrist, all without touching it. ]

Have you heard of magnetic levitation? Basically, I generate a magnetic field that can hold my chosen weapon in suspension. I can only choose one weapon at a time, but some battle-type androids can equip up to four. They can get pretty scary.

[chippedsoul]

Magnetic....that makes sense. [There's some logic to this, but it looks like magic with how he's waving the candelabra around effortlessly.]

So as long as something has some metal to it, you can use it.

[decryptic]

You got it.

[ He tosses the candelabra up with a swing of his arm. It spins up smoothly, and as it comes back down, 9S follows it with his hand, reconnecting with it. Before the candelabra can hit the floor, he redirects its arc with a little spin of his own body; by the time he faces forward again, the candelabra has slowed to a halt.

He physically grabs hold of it and swings it back onto his back, where it floats untouched once again. His smile is bright by now; he enjoys being able to perform these little tricks, being one of the few things he had to work hard at to execute well. ]

I wasn't made for combat, so fighting like this is easier on the hardware. What do you think? Cool, huh?

[ He looks at the Disciple expectantly. ]

[chippedsoul]

[He nods, with 9S managing to get a small smile out of him.] Hm. That's good, that you found a way around your setbacks so you are able to fight. I'm impressed. [He means that.]

[decryptic]

[ Oh, he actually did get praise. It shouldn't be a surprise since he was digging for it in the first place, but he didn't expect it to come quite so freely. It's probably because the Disciple reminds him of 2B. ]

So why do you know how to fight? Was there much need for it back home?

[chippedsoul]

No, not particularly. I've always just known how to use a blade. [A hobby? Self defense?] It's come in handy on occasion. [Barok sure has a lot of enemies.]

[decryptic]

Well, I'd love to hear a story or two. We had historical records about some of the things humans would get into, but nothing beats a personal account.

[chippedsoul]

...The person I worked under, he had a lot of enemies. People call him the Grim Reaper, because no defendant ever survives when he is the one prosecuting, guilty or innocent. They always die by some unknown cause.

[decryptic]

[ He grimaces. ]

Seriously? That's beyond shady.

[chippedsoul]

Hm. That's the rumors anyway. I can't say I believe he's responsible or not. In my time shadowing him, I haven't seen him commit any sort of crime. [Besides wasting wine and breaking chalices]

[decryptic]

[ Either the Disciple's boss is the most obvious shadowy mastermind ever, or someone is seriously framing him. 9S decides it doesn't matter either way. ]

Well, you'd know best. Did you like working for him?

[chippedsoul]

Hard to say, when he tends to do everything himself. [Even when he's instructed to do something and does it perfectly, there's always something he's unsatisfied with that he'll fix things anyway. He shrugs.] I'm learning the profession little by little, however unorthodox his methods seem to be at times. [He makes stuff sometimes.]

[decryptic]

Hm... Being human sure sounds tough.

[ It's so much easier knowing exactly what your job is and how to do it from the moment you're rolled out. The concept of learning a profession over a long period of time is utterly foreign to him; an android unable to do its job will be swiftly reformatted at best and discontinued at worst. ]

When you master your profession, will you stop going by "Disciple"?

[chippedsoul]

...Maybe. [He shrugs.] I just went with "Disciple" for convenience.

[decryptic]

Then it stands to reason that you start going by "Master". Or, I guess, you could pick a new name entirely.

[chippedsoul]

Hm...I'll worry about it when the time comes. For now... [He glance down at his clothes, his hands still covered in ink.] I need a change of clothes and wash up.

[decryptic]

Oh... right. Don't let me keep you.

[ He sounds a touch disappointed, but he knows a dismissal when he hears one. And would you look at that, they're back at the mansion. 9S stops at the front door. ]

I'll keep watch for a little longer out here.