Wednesday, 4:30 pm

Atlas Park



Dark Seraph sat down at his battered old desk and let out a sigh. It seemed like forever since he last took on a simple case, what with being a hero and
family matters taking up nearly all his time he hadn't really taken on any jobs of late. Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time he actually came
to the office.



As he filed away some paperwork that he had left sitting on the desk since he started the agency months ago, he heard a gentle knock at the door. "Come
in." he called. He was surprised to see a short figure in a trenchcoat and large fedora hat enter. The figure padded across the room, their feet hardly
making a noise, as they reached his desk, a brown furred hand reached out and placed a piece of paper on the desk. Seraph picked it up and read it.



"Sorry for the note, but I have a speech impediment. I wish to hire you to investigate a new drug that's been hitting the streets. It goes by the
name 'Yarnball', and is a highly addictive substance that has some major side effects."



D.S. looked back to his potential client. "And the reason you came to a PI instead of going to the cops?" he asked.



The figure pulled of there hat off and revealed that she was a catgirl, Siamese by the looks of her. She let out a string of meows before getting a note pad
from her pocket and writing another message. Seraph took the note.

"The cops are taking too long, and you have a rep for getting the job done quickly."

Seraph thought about this, it would be nice to get some normal work done.



"Okay. I'll do it, but there are some ground rules. First I need to know who I'm working for. Second, I need all the info you have. And
thirdly, I would like forty percent of my fee paid in advance. I've heard of this Yarnball and what it does, so call it hazard pay. "



The girl quickly wrote another note and handed it over along with a vial of greenish white powder and a cheque. Seraph gently put the vial down and read the
note.

"This is a sample of Yarnball I obtained while helping some heroes take down a local ring. As for my name, call me Purrfect Catgirl."

He carefully wiped his hand. "Okay, ma'am, I'll get on it right away." He said as he stood up.



P.C. let out a happy mew and bowed before leaving.



Seraph smiled to himself. It looked like his first job in a while might be an easy one



***

Kings Row, two hours later



Seraph swore violently as he ducked behind a shipping crate. This was not going as he expected. It had been a simple thing to cast a homing spell on the
sample that P.C. had given him. The spell led him to the closest stash of Yarnball. Instead of finding a drug ring, however, what he discovered was a warehouse
full of doped up catgirls. Unfortunately, they discovered him at the same time. Now, he was doing his best not to avoid being their new "scratching
post".



He quickly looked around the crate and let off a blast wave of arcane energy before running back down the hall. He had tried to fly out earlier, but had
nearly got flayed alive by a pair of cats lurking in the roof. What he needed was a plan, and more importantly he needed some room to come up with said plan.
He ran around the corner and ducked as another cat girl lobbed a bag of Yarnball at him.



"MOUSIE!" a voice bellowed. Seraph popped out his head and saw a massive catgirl, she could almost pass as a troll she was that big.
"MOUSIE!" she yelled again. "I know you wants our Yarnball, why run from it? We will not hurt you, share it and know the fun."



Seraph swore. They weren't trying to kill him, they wanted to dope him up and make him a kitty! He was in no mood to go through that sort of shit.



Now it was time for "Plan W": Wing it. Jumping out from behind his cover, he summoned a snowstorm around the giant cat. She yowled in anger before
charging at him. Seraph covered himself in a coat of ice as she slammed into him. "Mousie has ice…too bad I have fire," she cackled as flames
surrounded her hands and she brought them down in a viscous swipe. Seraph failed to dodge in time and yelped as the claws tore along his back. "This stuff
is great, Mousie, but it's even better when mixed with 'Dyne." She purred as she tore another strip out of Seraphs back.



"What the…you mix it?" seraph gasped as she picked him up.



"Oh yes, speed and grace of a cat with the power of a troll…it's gonna be the next big thing."



He could see her face clearly now. Vestigial horns poked through the fringe of her hair, and her face looked more like a lion than a cat.



"So, Mousie want to be a kitty?" she purred.



"How about I split, instead?" he let off a small blast of light in her face and hit the ground running. The cat-troll roared in pain and confusion
before flinging fire balls at him. Seraph tried to duck and weave, but with his back torn up the best he could manage was a drunken stager. The girl had gone
berserk, flinging fire balls all over the place, She's insane! Seraph thought. She's not watching where she's hurling those damn
fireballs! One misfired ball and she'll bring the whole place down around our ears! Seraph watched as one of the fireballs hit a propane tank.
"Fucking Murphy." He swore.



The resulting fire ball picked him up and slammed him back into the catgirl with enough force to wind her. Slowly, he got to his feet and tagged the nutter
for the Zig.



As she beamed out, he turned to see fire burning everything in its path. The remaining catgirls were running for the exits. Seraph was about to join them
when he heard a scream. Looking back, he could just make out a figure behind a wall of flames. Without even pausing to think, he cast Flight and shot through
the flames. He landed on the other side, just in time to see the figure collapse. Running over, Seraph checked to see if the figure was okay, and was mildly
surprised to see it was a fully clothed catgirl. Carefully, he picked her up. She still had a pulse witch was a good sign. Looking around for a way out, he
could just make out a skylight through the smoke. Hunching over to protect the girl from the worst of it, Seraph shot straight up through the air, smashing
through the glass with his back. The pain was excruciating as the glass shattered around him. As soon as he was clear, he shot down to street level where
emergency crews where already gathering.



The girl stirred in his arms and looked at him. "Who... who are you?" she asked.



"Just a guy that happened to be in the right place at the right time." Seraph replied as he touched down on the pavement.



A paramedic ran over to take the girl from him. "You okay, sir?" One of them asked.



"Huh?" Seraph was having trouble thinking straight with the pain in his back, not to mention he was feeling kind of lightheaded.



"Sir, your back is pretty badly messed up." the medic replied.



Looking over his shoulder Seraph could see his back was a rather horrid sight.



"Um…ow!" He said before passing out.



***



Atlas Hospital - Several hours later



When he came to, Seraph realised he was in a hospital bed, which meant he overdid it… again. Sighing, he sat up, his back screaming in pain as he looked
around. It was night time from what he could tell, which meant he missed most of movie night. Gir was going to be upset; she had been so looking forward to it.
As he hunted around the room for his clothes, the door opened and a nurse came in.



"Oh, I didn't know you where awake yet. How are you doing?" she asked



"Okay I guess, I mean I wasn't hurt that badly." He replied.



"Well, you did come close to severing several major blood vessels in your back, along with some minor burns and smoke inhalation. It's a wonder
you're even standing."



"Meh, it comes from being stubborn."



The nurse giggled at his remark. "Oh, and I have your blood tests. You'll be glad to know that they all came back negative for Yarnball."



Seraph gave a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed in his life was a sudden change of gender, especially when so far there looked like there was no way
to reverse it.



"So, am I free to go?" he asked the nurse.



"I'll have to double-check with Doctor Brown, but I don't see why not." As she turned to leave, she paused. "Oh I almost forgot, the
young woman you saved today asked me to pass this on." She handed Seraph a "get well soon" card. When she left he opened it and read the
message. It was the stranded gift shop "hope you feel better soon" stuff, under it was written the following:



"I wish I could think of something better to write than thank you, but I'm not very good with words, you saved my life today and I can't thank
you enough for it.

From Michelle Taylor."



Seraph looked at the card. It was kind of odd, he never been given a thank you note before. When the nurse returned with Doctor Brown, he gave Seraph a
quick once over before giving him the all clear to go home.



On his way out he stopped by the gift store and got a card for the girl he saved. After all one good deed deserved another. After filling it out, he dropped
it off at the reception desk and headed home.



* * *



Dark Seraph's Apartment Building - Minutes later.



The upside of his current housing was that it was right behind the hospital. He headed in the door and walked over to the elevator, put in his key, and
tapped the button for the penthouse level. He was still somewhat amused that Silicon had just given the place to him. Seraph stepped out of the elevator into
near total darkness. As he suspected the household was asleep. As he had suspected, he had missed movie night, and he was going to have to spend tomorrow
apologizing to his daughter.



The only light in the room was a static-like flicker from the living room. Seraph entered the room and discovered the TV had been left on, and that Gir and
her new girlfriend Patti had apparently fallen asleep watching it. However, as he got closer, he realized there more to it than that. Both Gir and Patti were
half-naked, their shirts were nowhere to be seen. Gir had apparently fallen asleep in Patti's lap, and had snuggled into Patti's bosom, using it as a
makeshift pillow. Likewise, Patti had Gir in a loose, yet intimate embrace. Her head had rolled forward in her sleep, coming to rest lightly on the top of
Gir's head. Both had happy, content smiles on their face and almost seemed to glow.



Seraph sighed, a little relieved when he noticed both Patti and Gir at least still had their pants and bras on. Still, that kind of behavior on the couch
wasn't exactly appropriate, and he would have to discuss that with Gir tomorrow…er, later today.



Seraph walked down the hall to a closet, and pulled a spare blanket out of storage, his mind momentarily thinking more of the events in the warehouse than
the two figures on his couch. He'd nearly gotten himself killed, and he was still no closer to finding the source of Yarnball, or who was smuggling it into
Paragon City. He ran the information over in his head a few times, as he covered up the two lovers and let them sleep.



He retired to his own bedroom, the case still on his mind as he dressed for bed, gingerly moving his back as he did so, and climbed in.



Sleep would not come easy that night.



****

writen buy me with a lot (and i mean alot) of help from Ran.

enjoy

So. I'm sure folks know I've been having issues with my laptop shutting down on me, though now it just took things too far. Last night when it did
this on me, (Sorry by the way Valles) Windows decided it didn't want to boot.

In order to get the thing to boot, it went through some sort of 'Startup Repair' and in so doing, apparently it restored the system to a point wherein
my user/password is not valid. So, until I can get this thing working (or beat into a mess of wires and ruined parts), I'll be out of touch. Hopefully it
wouln't be too long.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

Quote: "BUSTER!" Nanoha shouted as a pink beam of energy thicker than a telephone pole lanced out and struck the Kull Warrior with such force that it was
picked up and slammed against the end of the hall. Jack and the others stopped firing at the strange sight and just watched as the Kull Warrior was pushed
into the wall, cracking the reinforced cement behind it.




When the stream of power ended, the Kull Warrior fell forward, leaving a noticeable fracture in the wall.




"Warning, target still functions," Raising Heart announced just before the Kull Warrior moved its arms, "Let's do it: Starlight Breaker."




"Okay, Raising Heart," Nanoha turned to Jack and said, "Pin him down for 10 seconds, please!"




Jack, Tsurugi, Teal'c and the remaining soldiers again opened fire. Jack kept his shots in short controlled bursts between the blasts of energy that
Tsurugi and Teal'c launched. Keeping his shots close to the central mass of the Kull warrior as it stood up, one arm passed over its body. The other
soldiers had taken to 'spray and pray' responses to the Kull Warriors in a mild panic, but Jack remained sharp.




A three round burst struck the blaster on the left arm as it rose, deforming the weapon and launching sparks into the air. Jack wondered if Nanoha's
blast had damaged the Warrior's shielding. Its body armor remained intact, but parts of their collective shots were getting through.




The light from Nanoha's staff grabbed Jack's attention for just an instant. In the glimpse he gave her, he saw a sphere of pink energy gathered
before her, held within a spinning circle in front of Nanoha that was bigger around that she was tall that soon filled the entire hallway, calling an end to
the barrage.




"STAR LIGHT," Nanoha shouted as she raised her staff into the air, "BREAKER!"




Nanoha brought the staff down on the sphere with all her might as it launched towards the Kull Warrior as it used its remaining strength to look up to its
doom.




The hallway was enveloped in pink light for a good 13 seconds before the light dissipated. An acrid burning smell filled the hall.




When it did, the devastation was astounding. The entire hallway had been burned wider by almost 3 inches, while the hallway itself had been extended another
hundred feet.




Two ports opened on Raising Heart and let out twin jets of steam.




"Target Neutralized." Raising heart said.

I've noticed a real lack of posts despite a lot of news and politics going on. Is this just

people burning out or is there something else going on?

When Mission Design content is unlocked with tickets, is it unlocked for the toon, or the player?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

After the craziness that was Terr's Ride of Roman Death, Largo had 16 million in Infamy. However, he also had a good deal of lack of slots, because going
from 45-49 in one map will give you the sea of red right quick.

So, I try to IO out his build, using just generic IOs. I note, my seed money for this was 16 *million*. This would not be difficult blueside. I'd want,
say, 20 mil to be sure of it, but I'd feel just fine about making the conversion from SOs to IOs.

I am now down to 4,000 some inf. I've *almost* got all the End Reducs I needed, and a handful of SOs are green now. However, about half his slots are still
red. I note, I concentrated ONLY on the End Reducs for IOs, figuring the rest could come later.

And most of those IOs were bought as recipes rather than the 500K a pop asking price for crafted IOs. Which lowered the price to 92,000 a pop, plus the
salvage. The silver wasn't bad(500 a pop for 10 pieces), but the Nevermelting Silver, common arcane salvage, apparently rings up for 50,000 a piece. @_@

Needless to say, I'm grateful that I'm perfectly fine with SOs most of the time. Otherwise redside's market would probably kill me.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

The question's come up over on Usenet, so I thought I'd ask here as well, broadening the question a bit.

Which anime have English-language theme songs, opening or ending?

There are three classes of answers to this question:

1) Music originally in English, not originally for anime (which is what the person on Usenet is interested in)
Higashi no Eden - Oasis, "Falling Down"
Speed Grapher - Duran Duran "Girls on Film"
Ergo Proxy - Radiohead, "Paranoid Android"
Paradise Kiss - Franz Ferdinand, "Do You Want To"
Gunslinger Girl - The Delgados,"The Light Before We Land"
Monster - David Sylvian, "For the Love of Life"
L/R: Licensed by Royalty - Billy Preston, "Go Where No One's Gone Before"

2) Music originally in English, written for the anime
Rental Magica - Lisa Komine, "Faith"

3) Music originally in Japanese, translated and redubbed by the translators
Tenchi Muyo - Sharyn Scott, "I'm a Pioneer"

Any more?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

No one touch the bases! They may disappear on us.

Sure, they'll
grab them out of backups, but still...

Demonstrating my command of Noir-fu in the Legendary chat a day or so ago, I got my
Chandler on for the start of a new story - though there is a Jackie reference so it might a little Spillaine.

King's Row.



Life ain't fair. Get used to it. Right from day one. You're no sooner ushered into this world, and the first thing that
happens is that someone smacks you. You're eyes aren't even open yet.
No chance of you hitting back. Okay, Moose Masterson smacked the doctor back, but we all figured, 'Hey that's
Moose for you.' For the record, the doctor went on to smack Moose's mother and father for good measure, and
given how Moose turned out, I can't say that I really blame him.



My name is Gil MacHeath, I'm a shamus. A
gumshoe. A private eye. I'm the guy you bring your problems to when the
other guys with badges aren't about to help you. Sure I carry a badge, but it says private
investigator. That's a little like having a badge that says kick-me, without being nearly so obvious about
it. Cops can be feared, cops can be respected. Maybe a little of
both. Private eyes aren't that lucky.



I propped my feet up on the scarred and battered surface of my desk and inhaled a finger
of gin from the glass in my hand. I was feeling maudlin. I hadn't thought
of Moose Masterson in years. Eighty years. That number still shocked me, and I
slapped down another finger of gin by way of salute. Moose had been dead for most of those years in a shower of
squirting metal. I paid my respects to him today. Didn't like
him. Had my nose broken by him once. When I saw the grave and the simple
marker, I took my hat off. You have to know me to get a real good idea of what that means. Why?



Well, for one I could find him.



Between a war, a growing nation, and the general poverty of those I used to hang around
with, most of 'em disappeared without a trace. No birth records. No death
records. No grave to visit. Nothing.
Even saintly Momma MacHeath rests in soil unknown to her favorite son. I knew Moose, and that grave was as solid a
connection to the world I knew as I was going to find.



So I paid my respects.



Al, my partner, gives me a raised eyebrow as I reach for the gin bottle and replace the
two fingers worth of gin in my glass; and add another two for good measure. You gotta know Al to know how impressive
that is. Al don't have eyebrows.



Al is a penguin.



A snarky, very British, Penguin.



An invisible, magical, snarky, very British Penguin, who has noted on occasion that he
speaks better English than I do.



"Gilbert." Al insists on using my full
name, just like I refuse to use his. "Should I be concerned that you seem to be intent of killing that helpless
bottle of cheap gin in cold blood."



"It's not cold blood." I note out
of the side of my mouth. "No ice."



"I had noticed." Al said
dryly. The heat sometimes gets to him. "Perhaps you might convince Miss
Frost to restock my office."



Al rented an office next to mine; too many fights
over where to set the air conditioner. Currently it is set on the sidewalk three stories down. It stopped working. Al's got money and not a lot of things to spend it on. Military pension. That's a story for another time.



"Sure thing Al." I tilt my hat to cover
my eyes and shift lower in my chair. Al sighs.



"Gilbert, am I to understand that your plan; and I cringe at dignifying it with the
term plan; is to sit in your chair, drinking gin, and waiting for the phone to ring?" Al ruffles the feathers on
his chest with his beak.



"The work walks through the door or calls up on the ringer." I kill a finger of gin, and figuring it might be lonely, send another after it for company.
"I figure I'm in the right place."



"Yes. Rather. I have explained the concept of a secretary and an answering machine to you." Al
says.



"It's not about all that Al." I can
see it in his body language. He's about to get personal. We're both
guys. Different species notwithstanding. Guys don't get
personal. Not even at gunpoint. Al though, he's so used to giving advice,
sometimes he forgets.



"You still mooning over that secretary over at City Hall?" I ask him. His outraged birdy splutter is worth the price of admission.



"She is not a secretary!" Al shoots
back. "She is the Senior Research Librarian and…"



I raise my glass in salute, and Al responds with a similar gesture. Point to me. You spend enough time staring at a door or a phone, you learn to make your
own entertainment. It's part of being a gumshoe.



"You are either on a job or in that chair staring at the phone and the door, waiting
for a job." Al says. "That's not healthy
Gilbert."



"You're thinking I should get out.
Socially." I cap the bottle and toss it back in the filing cabinet under G for gin.



"Your investigative skills never fail to amaze me Gilbert." All says a bit huffily. "Enough clues and you will eventually reach a sustainable
hypothesis."



"Well, Jackie did ask if she could take me."
I muse. Al doesn't approve of Jackie; but tolerates her due to her ability to turn his office into a winter
wonderland.



"Well, perhaps not my first choice." Al
mused. "But dinner on the town with Miss Frost would do much to reintroduce you to a more social
existence."



"She didn't say anything about dinner."
I had set up the one two punch. Time to land the hook. "Just that
she'd take me."



Al gapes at me, clearly shocked and appalled. He
tries to say something, his beak opening and closing with a click.



Then the phone rings, and saves us both from the possibility of having to get
personal.

Any time you can say "this is now the fully completed bacon lance" you have my attention.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/15/bb ... aming.html
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"