2021-07-05 - The Pinnacle of Modern Technology

Bouncing up and down on the corvet wagon, Everett looks non-plussed while he regards the man addressing him, them. Testing his binds while looking at the other companions around. He would reply, he would say something doubtlessly cutting, and spiteful, but his mouth has been gagged as well.
This place is an improvement already.

Kailey awakens and blinks as she stares in a hazy and tired way. Her brow furrows and she just looks incredibly confused as she blinks a few times. Turning to Everett she asks as if having trouble waking to the dream, "Did I fall asleep playing the Xbox again?" Before it clicks that she is, in fact, IN a wagon. And there is scenery passing behind Everett's head. That makes her just kind of sigh and lean in against the large man beside her, resting her head on his shoulder as best she can in the bindings.

Then it hits her. Everett is gagged and she raises a brow. Still a little slow, a little tired, and probably still stone from her brownie earlier. Sitting up she looks around at the other people. "Okaaaay..." She nods in recognition to Joe before her eyes fall on Isi. And she looks surprised. "You're a new face. Are you a real person or a part of this Dream?" There is a certain gleam in Kailey's eyes as she looks her over more intimately.

This is the first time that Isi's woken up but isn't... woken up. "Wait, what the fuck?" She looks around at all of the unfamiliar faces and bites her lip to keep from swearing any more. The words directed at her are met with wide eyes and a shake of her head. She is FAIRLY sure she's real.

'Not again...' That is the first thing that goes through Jonathan's mind as his vision clears, blinking a few times as if to clear it faster. Well, at least he's not laying flat out on ice this time. There's a bit of a groan coming from him, as he tries to move a bit, grimacing at the current situation. Wait, that armored man spoke, didn't he? Focusing on the man, still looking a bit disoriented, he takes a deep breath. "Ambush?" he asks, after a few moments. Looking to study the rest of the people present now. "Where are we going?"

The sailor's head's been lolling back...but he snaps awake with a snort, blue eyes wide. Not gagged, but bound....and bewildered. A hasty look around takes in faces he's seen around town, ones that he knows belong to real people. Only then does he peer at the man who's spoken to them. "What?" he demands, breathlessly. "What Empire?" No one's wearing white plastic armor. No one's carrying a lightsaber. So....not the first Empire that jumps to mind.

Kailey frowns in more puzzlement when Isi cusses and then shakes her head. "Right. Real person. Welcome to the Veil. Hold on and remember, the key is to try and find an exit," She says before yawning and trying to stretch. But the ropes and chains make the later a bit difficult. Kailey makes an unhappy sound and jerks at the things securing her wrists. "Yeah. What the fuck is an appropriate response to this," She agrees then with a sigh. "Right then. I'm Kailey, the mountain to my right is Everett. And that iiiiiis...Joe!" And she smiles at Joseph as she recalls his name.

But then the world goes on pause but for them and Kailey is left sitting there blinking and looking around in utter confusion again. "Oh man that was a good broOOOH SHIT! Who the fuck are you?" Isi isn't the only one with a potty mouth as the woman jumps and squirms back against Everett from the gray man on the steps. The surprised and wide-eyed expression remaining as she looks the salesman over slowly as his question finally registers. "Uhhh...yeah. Sure does?" She hedges.

"Jonathan," Jonathan introduces himself to the others, just as the world stops again, and he looks around, moving a bit since it's clear they're no longer bound. Gaze going to the salesman, he narrows his eyes momentarily. "Quite real," he replies, before he adds, "Excuse me for asking, but who the..." Nodding a bit as he hears Kailey's question. "What she said..."

Expecting the kinetic energy to push him forward and not being satisfied, Everett looks around at where the scenery had been before the next voice, the new voice speaks up and his attention turns that way. It takes him a few moments to realize, to move his left hand from behind his back, then casually use that hand to move his right to his lap. He uplifts his chin with the introduction, grunting softly.

Finding himself as suddenly ungagged as he is unbound, Everett levels a gaze towards the salesman that speaks volumes. In detail about what he's going to do to this man the moment he gets within arm's reach. If only he didn't have a Kailey leaning on him. Holding the giant man back. Instead, he glares, staying just as silent he would have been if the gag were still there, his eyes narrowed and calculating. At Kailey's jump and press against him, Everett slides his left arm around her shoulders without taking his eyes of this other man.

".... huh?" Isi replies weakly when she is exposed as REAL and then the wagon is gone and technology. Just. Um. What? She rubs at her wrists slowly as if trying to figure out where the ropes went.

Now that's mental whiplash of the finest kind. Joe should be prepared, he's been in enough Dreams by now. But this time....he's still clearly off the pace. "I'm Joe," he says, more to the others than the shark salesman. Easier to answer to that than 'old guy with tattoos'.

But he fixes that blue gaze on the shark and says, "You're telling us that was VR?" He doesn't sound as if he's entirely willing to believe it.

Kailey turns her attention back to Isi and smiles apologetically. "The first one is always very confusing," She says sympathetically and probably not helping the poor woman become any more coherent of what is happening. "We have been pulled into a waking Dream. What happens here can harm and affect us, so be careful. And...well...we're not in the real world until we escape here. Also, rules don't apply and most of the time the Dream is gonna try and kill you or scare you or just torture you. Welcome to Gray Harbor," And then she smiles with confidence.

"But don't worry, you got Jedi Kailey and dark knight Ev," Her head jerks to the looming and glooming presence behind her. With that air about her she fingers herself on her feet and returns her attention to the salesman. Recent events have caused her to be more active when these things happen and now is no different as she places hands on hips and eyeballs the salesman. "Beta?" Her nose wrinkles in distaste. "Battle?" That makes her look even less enthused and her eyes turn to the others. "Ugh. So we have to fight. Yaaay. This is my surprised face," And she points at her face which goes from smiling to looking bored out of her skull.

Then she eyes Everett with just a hint of worry, her eyes going to his arm and back. "Maybe we should do something with cybernetics? Like Shadowrun or something..." Is her suggestion to the group.

The static sprouting from the salesman's mouth makes Everett's left brow lift. While still heavy with contempt, there's dubiousness written on his expression while he turns to examine everyone else. They caught that too, right? When his attention returns, the doubt's left, returning to full menacing glare. The change in his position is less noticeable then the arms exploding into streamers and confetti.

To the shark's question, without pause, Everett murmurs darkly, "You BETA believe I wanna do battle on your face." The sly Dad joke doesn't even get a smirk from Everett as he tucks his limp right hand, left swaying from the change having it rest in his lap to suddenly standing and there being no lap. With his left hand, Everett awkwardly puts his right hand into his bag pocket, or jeans while he stares down the grinning fool.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Not unless this game automatically gives us the know-how with the weapons. I don't know how to use cybernetics, but I for certain sure know how to use modern day firearms," Joe says, quickly. "So my vote's for straight modern day combat. If we need a setting - Afghanistan."

Because he just so wants to get back there as fast as he can. "If we do get automatic knowledge of whatever weaponry or abilities we get, then hell, I say Star Wars." Really? Really, by the way he nods, solemnly.

"Wait - wait wait wait" Isi just repeated it more than a few times, because she's opperating a few seconds behind. "Dream - I heard that. I know that word." Not a total Gray Harbor noob! ".... I'm going to die?!" Go back to this please.

Deathmatch? Why does it have to be like... Jonathan lets out a bit of a breath as he looks between the others. "Good point," he offers to Joseph, to the part about the knowledge. "I mean, if it was only me, something involving skates, padding and sticks would be preferrable. But I know that's not everyone's skill set." A brief look is given to the grinning shark-person. "So, as he said, is this based on what knowledge and skills we already have?"

Rare is it that someone doesn't see Everett coming. The glance from the pitchman makes Everett's frown deepen. At this rate, those lines will stay.

Then suddenly, he's in new clothing, and looking around, raising his hand up to touch the encumbering helmet, the butt of his pistol tinking off the helmet at the slight touch. It's enough to make Everett pull the handgun down and look at the needler curiously. He turns it in his hand, back and forth before tucking it under his arm to keep it steady when he ejects the clip to look at the needles inside.

The clip is returned to the fore of the trigger and Everett makes a soft, "Huh," sound, echoing in the tight confines of the helmet. Then he looks around for Kailey and finding her, he points his weapon at her and smiles wickedly. "If I shoot you, do you go back and take care of Mew?"

The WTF is thick about Isi as she is dumped here, everything looking... just weird okay? There's a weight on her arm and she looks down to see a small crossbow on her wrist and THAT snaps her out enough to go, "Seriously!? A bow an arrow?! WE USED GUNS." Maybe she snapped. It's fine.

He just bragged about knowing assault rifles....and Joe snatches up the thing that looks closest to one. "Fuck," he says, irritably. "If we gonna go through this shit, I could at least have gotten a lightsaber."

A hasty examination confirms they're probably in an environment hostile to humans. Why else would they need armor that's apparently airtight? Joe pauses for a moment, even holding his breath, as if to take in whatever sounds the suit itself might be making.

"Ah..." Jonathan begins, before he finds himself in their new surroundings again, blinking a few times as he looks down to find some kind of an assault rifle in his hands. "Hmm... Maybe if the shooting part doesn't work out, I could use this as a club," he mutters to himself, looking around. "He said six on six, right?" he offers to the others, frowning momentarily. "I don't suppose finding hiding spots and staying there is the best solution?" It's offered with a bit of forced lightness. "So, any of you folks play much of these kind of video games?"

The look that Everett gets from Kailey when he points her weapon at her isn't one he has seen very often. Maybe once or twice. But it is horror and anger and fury and then are in her voice as she yells, "DON'T YOU FUCKING POINT A GUN AT ME!" And she just glares at him, positively livid. This is where their two separate teachings of gun safety show. Everett seems amused to point a loaded gun at her, and she is very much NOT in her little enviro suit. "NEVER. Only if you plan to shoot me and you know well as I you can get hurt and die in a dream." The redness in her face and the underlying fear reaction from having a gun pointed at her are fading.

Irritated she steps away from the large man. Or rather, she stalks over to where the craggy ground offers some shelter. For her part she has what looks like a sniper rifle on her back. But not other weapon beyond that and her death-glare. Which is very firmly in place. "Hiding and cover is a good plan, Jon," She says with a nod to her new acquaintance.

Isi's got her back to those large black pillars, her head bent over the contraption on her wrist. Banging it totally works - right? "Wait, friendly fire?" Look, if it goes off, it's honestly not her fault.

Kailey was given a sniper rifle and she eyes it a moment before casting around for a place that will be best to hide and fire from. As she wiggles down into the area, laying on her stomach with the rifle propped facing the area the shapes are moving. Then she peers through the scope in that direction. She was taught the basics of rifles while learning to hunt with them, so she isn't too bad off. Sure, she isn't any master with a gun. But she knows the basics.

Once she lays down, of course, there is that feel in the air of Glimmer being used. Kailey's to be exact. For a second there is a flicker of indigo and purple periwinkle about her before she just sort of fades away into the background. Kailey is just another craggy stone, see? So stoned.

Isi's fighting with her weaponry....and Joe doesn't leave her there. She might shoot her eye out. No, he's striding over to her and snagging her by the arm. "C'mon," he says. "Stick with me, I'll watch out for you. We gotta get under cover, gotta assume these guys have ranged weapons, too."

He's tugging her for what looks like a good redoubt among the rocks and crags. Somewhere they won't just get their asses shot off.

His smile quickly vanishes, this wasn't the reaction the one-armed man was expecting, his gun barrel drifting to point down. Cheeks flushing, Everett's head tilts back to retreat from the barrage of shouting from Kailey. As one might do when under verbal attack, as justifiable as it is, Everett's large green eyes look around for assistance.
Probably best he doesn't find it.

"Buh-but, babe," he tries to reason after she's stepped away, "ah. It's like the smarmy guy said, it's virtual reality." Then he looks up as if listening to the voice of God through his earpiece. Betcha he's player E. Only his eyes drift back down to Kailey's back. "Sorry, Kiki," mutters the man who is most definitely going to be sleeping in the dog house.
A shoulder slumps, the other one already down, as he hangs his head enough to look out the top of the helmet to Kailey. The movement in the distance not his concern at the moment. Watching her go into combat mode and then he rolls his eyes after the feeling of her wiggling her fingers comes through.

"Oh, brother," he mutters deep and darkly. He doesn't even notice the shimmering that surrounds his suit with a sparkly flicker and fades like an activated force field.

"Is that the other ones in the distance there?" Jonathan offers, words kept quiet as he starts moving to find himself somewhere he can duck down so he's at least in some cover when people are coming for them. Making sure to be near where the others are, and not somewhere people could easily sneak up on him. "Virtual Insanity?" he offers, a bit absently.

"What the - " The explitive at Joe snagging her uninvited gets cut off as her cross bow goes off. That has very DIFFERENT WORDS spitting out. So many words. None of them are particularly pc so they can be imagined. She goes silent once he pulls her down among the rocks. This is when she clues in that things are happening and she does the only thing that makes sense to her. She puts her arms over her head and curls into a ball behind the rocks. Super fighter here.

Kailey turns her head towards Everett and her expression softens slightly as the apology comes through the helmet comms. She nods to him, her expression still hard, then yelps as the shots start. "EV GET DOWN!" She yells at him, waving a hand towards where the others have found cover. Though at least he seems to be dancing out of the way of the shots rather effectively. Go Everett.

Then she remembers. She is supposed to be shooting like a sniper or some such. So she goes back to her scope and eyes the area from which the shots are coming. With narrowed eyes she takes the time to aim and wait for her shot. Taking a deep and slow breath, letting it out before pulling the trigger. When their moderator gets confused she just grins and says, "Natural talents. That's what you wanted us to bring to the game, right?" And she fires.

Nothing sobers a man to his surroundings more than it suddenly raining deadly energy. Especially when that rain is concentrated in his direction. "Oh. Shit!"

A few grunts follow, even with the deadly force removed from the projectiles by his suit's protective barrier, Everett drops to the pore, if not for the sudden rain then for the bruising he's undoubtedly gained. Once out from fire then Everett smirks sheepishly at Kailey. Aww. She does still care. To a hair, he takes cover, then points at his suit, "Hey. These things have force fields!"

Unlike the movies, you don't poke your head out of a corner unless you intend to hold it. But then Everett's already broken a rule: don't point your gun at anything you don't intend to shoot. His helmet, his pistol poke from the corner. "Ya missed me, you f--" he pulls the trigger and his gun makes a sound like a fart, sending the clip he'd previously examined to the ground where he watches it bounce once before settling.
Everett takes his gun back and looks at it in disbelief. Not for effectiveness. But because of the noise. The noise that interrupted his fighting words.

"Should have let me pick the skates..." Jonathan mutters to himself, shaking his head a bit as he looks around. Frowning as he listens to the others. Trying to fire at one of the first enemies he can find. Not much shouting or anything from him, just firing.

"No, no, baby, don't curl up. That ain't gonna help you. But keep your head down," Joe advises Isi, as kindly as he can. The blue eyes are alight behind the visor of his helmet. He's never done battle in an environment suit, but he does know how to move in a version of them.

Then he says, over their comms, "They're tryin'a flank and surround us," he says. Followed by Joe trying to creep to a point where he can get a bead on one of their advancing enemies. He aims carefully and fires, assuming this weapon acts like a modern projectile weapon.

There's a sound like a frustrated groan from the speaker at Kailey's flippant refusal to not use her powers, the ground still rumbling slightly everytime the Shark's voice came over the radio. Shots go downrange... Mostly. Kailey takes a shooter in the thigh, Jonathan wings one in the shoulder. Joseph straight up gives one combatant a new breathing hole through the face-shield. The strange thing about the impacts are the effects. They were pixelated red, like some sort of jovial reproduction of violence. The two shooters that were hit and still standing could be seen with little red squares dropping from their impacts like a facsimile of blood. Joseph's target simply falls to the ground limp, a pool of glowing red spreading out from beneath their head.

The shooters continued to move closer, getting into firing positions, finding better angles to fire from, but also making themselves easier to hit as they were the ones moving.

Kailey can feel something bounce harmlessly off her helmet. Joseph and Jonathan are both able to get down behind cover when they draw ire. Everett takes one directly to the forearm, a solid slug going through and through, an explosion of red pixelation from both sides of it. He knew he was hurt, but strangely it was more momentum and a pinching sensation, like his arm had gone to sleep and was just waking up.

"Did you just call me baby?!" Isi protests at those words - but sharp (realistic or of the light-type variety) are flying around and so her feminist protest is going to just have to wait. She yelps as she is missed by one of the shooters and scoots herself to one side and away from the edge of the rock. Firing her little wrist shooter is the furthest thing from her mind.

Letting out a breath as the shots miss him, Jonathan grimaces. "I'm getting too..." he gbegins, trailing off as he ducks forward to fire at the other ones again, before doing his best to get back into cover once more. "Let's just get this done and get out of here, right?" he offers to the others.

Looking at his pistol, Everett is, once again, not paying attention to his surroundings. He's looking at the stupid gun that ejected its magazine like saliva from a camel's mouth. And then he's looking over his shoulder to the other people in this Dream with him.
"Hey, anybody wanna trade guns? How about you," he asks Jonathan. There's an explosion of red in the corner of his eye, and he looks back now noticing the hole in his arm. He follows the round to the shooter that fired it. "You asshole!"

God, if he only had two working hands. Shooting the clip a look, Everett throws his gun at the shooter, then runs.
For the shooter.

Everett has yet to succeed in getting Kailey to not use her powers. Some sharky salesman in a Dream has no chance. But she does hesitate and shake her head slightly after the riccochet. "That was weird," She murmers to herself as she hunkers down more. It's obvious that some of them can see her. So it is time to deal with the fact she is being shot at. The best way to do that is to either distract or disarm your opponent.

In this case she is choosing to do something that should do both. Opening the suits of their opponents. The red and purple shimmer that is her trade mark flickers around each opponent like a little wil-o-wisps. And lo and behold helmets start opening to what she thinks is a hostile atmosphere. At least it should distract them even if it isn't a nasty environment, right? The fact is that Kailey likes to win and will do what she can do achieve that. Including horribly killing other players on a battlefield.

The sailor flicks a sharp look at Isi at that protest, but he seems more amused than annoyed. "Sorry," he says, mildly. "Southern thing. Won't do it again." He seems sincere enough.

Then someone's popping the helmets off their competitors, and he says, "I dunno who just did that, but man, good thought. Well done." He's not yet resorted to Glimmer, though. No, he's gonna try and bring down another one with the rifle.

"Yeah, well," Isi starts to reply, maybe realizing that snapping at the guy who saved her from getting hurt is probably bad names. But now isn't the time for deep thoughts of philosophy and social customs though, especially when she covers her head though something.. weird happens. She pokes at her face a few more times then reaches up to grab at Joe's knee (apparently grabbing is only protested when someone does it to her?) and calls up, "Touch your face? Something weird happened when I juggled my face."

Getting what he wants, Everett bowls the shooter that put a hole in him and collects that weapon. Fortunately, presenting his back, Everett runs for the next available cover, as he turns the weapon around and points it at the few remaining, in their general direction, and fires, either hoping for a lucky shot or for the shooting to help keep their heads down while he ducks behind another gigantic black pillar.

His comlink is lively with the sound of him panting while he runs, and once the cover is found adding, "Thanks, babe!" There's no time to recover his breathing while he takes a look at the battlefield from now their flanking position.

Kailey is just smiling like the cat that got the cream. "Hey, you're lucky I didn't bring my cat," She says as she lines up a shot on the smart one. Everett at the moment is in closer combat with the other too. So she is taking more care in her aiming.

Jonathan frowns as he prepares to fire again, only to see all of them having gone down, and so he slumps back a little. "All of them?" he asks, adding, "Eberyone okay? And what's that about touching our faces?"

Joe peers at Isi for a moment....but he doesn't argue. He reaches up, clearly expecting to contact a solid visor. No hesitation. "Weird how?" he asks her. Still trying to keep an eye out to make sure there aren't any more enemies coming - they may have dealt with the allotted six, but they've got no means of keeping the guys running the fight from cheating.

"Like my vision got all blurry - like sunglasses or whatever? " Isi joins him in trying to hit whatever she did before. If Mr. Shark Grin says no, then she is absolutely going to do it. "I think they put something on us!" she calls out semi-helpfully to the others.

Now's the time to take a moment to rest and catch his breath. He continues to hold the weapon he hijacked, turns around and slides down to his bottom. "Phew. Ok, fine. We did the Beta thing." Leaving the rifle to rest over his shoulder he uses his good (for now) arm to check the clip, and then puts it back in.

Then his attention drifts to his arm. Lifting it up, he peers at it. Through it.
"Neat. I can see Mars."

"I think that is all of them," Kailey says in response to Jonathan's question. However her eyes are on Everett and she is moving from her prone position to go and check on him. Even mad she worries and there is clear worry. "Ev, baby, you okay?" She asks as she looks him up and down for bullet holes.

Hearing the host telling you not to do something triggers something in Kailey. Glancing back at Isi and Joseph and then back to Everett, she too reaches up to feel around her face. That is really weird. And she has done VR before so she understands the removal of a helmet. And when she removes it she drops it with a little scream as she sees how Everett looks.

Yes her eyes fall on the bodies too and she whimpers before surging forward to yank Everett's VR headset off. "EV, you're HURT!" She scolds him worriedly as she presses her hands to the bleeding on his arm.

Letting out another deep breath, Jonathan pauses as he he hears that part about not touching their face. After a few moments, he drops the rifle he was using, reaching up with both hands to remove the thing in front of the face, slowly. "What's..." he begins, trailing off as he looks around, wincing as he looks around.

Isi's hands fly to her mouth in absolute horror. Probably not a great idea because her next movement is to shy away from the blood and throw up in the furthest corner of the room. She should be helping but that is A LOT of blood. Don't mind her, she will just follow the group (once the contents of her stomach finishes its introduction to the floor) like a ghost.

He shouldn't be shocked. Dreams will get you however they can....and the whole situation was a test. They'd been told.

But Joe is, nonetheless. He's out of the simulation and into the horror of what they've done. Enough of his brain had bought into the idea that they were just dealing with AI sprites that he's genuinely horrified to find that he's dealt real wounds. "Oh, Jesus," he says, gone the color of old paper. It's clear that their foes really are beyond help, though, and he turns mechanically to look at his fellow Gray Harbor-ites who might need help.

Call it logic. Call it blood loss. But they were in containment suits already and he saw what happened to the other freaks when Kailey popped their helmets up. That's what Everett thought was going on. Makes complete and total sense.
Don't take your helmet off, or you'll fall over like those losers.

So when Kailey comes over to his spot, with his back against, well, what he believes is a gigantic hair, he looks from the hole in his arm and looks over to her and smiles. There's a glance to his arm and he makes a face while shaking his head to the negatory.
"Naw, this? This isn't anyth--"

And then she's trying to take his helmet off. If she hadn't taken him by surprise, like a sucker, there'd be no way she'd out strength him. Or because of that hole spurting blood through his massive forearm. You know, whatever.

"Hey! No, no, wai--" he starts to say, as he reaches up, leaving the rifle to fall over his thigh with a clatter. When his helmet comes off, and his brain, however small that has to be, starts receiving signals again, Everett's green eyes roll back, flutter and close.

The big man spontaneously slumps over, exanimate.

"EVERETT!" Kailey essentially screams when she finally gets the helmet off. This is not okay in any way for her and she looks around quickly. Not finding anything handy to press into the wounds she does the only thing she can think of. Taking off out of the dream to see to Everett and the big man?

Well her Glimmer surrounds and lifts him by the clothes he wears. And as she runs for the door he is flying along behind her like some weird balloon. Leaving a trail of blood as she flees through the door for the safety of home, cell service, and a first aid kit. Because she is so calling 911. He can bitch at her later. "Idiot, fucking idiot," She can be heard whimpering in worry. Her own bloody ear doesn't even really register as bad as it is. She'll have a permanent slice out of her ear when it is all healed.