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A Teaser From a Long Way Out... - Printable Version +- Drunkard's Walk Forums (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums) +-- Forum: The Drunkard's Walk (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=21) +--- Forum: Drunkard's Walk S: Heart of Steel (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=30) +--- Thread: A Teaser From a Long Way Out... (/showthread.php?tid=6288) |
A Teaser From a Long Way Out... - Bob Schroeck - 08-07-2012 "*Someone* better show up," Yoshi grumbled. He pulled his trenchcoat tighter around himself and turned out of the wind to light another cigarette. He froze when he found himself staring into a chest -- a *male* chest, he noted unhappily -- encased in grey leather. Displayed prominently upon that leather were the stylized romaji letters "LT" in a shieldlike shape. "Someone has." The amused tenor tones originated just above his eye level, and Yoshi looked up to see a familiar helmet and black goggles. *That's the UN emblem!* he realized as his gaze swept across a patch of sky-blue amid the marbled grey plastic of the helmet. "Um," he said, stepping back a pace or so. "Hi," greeted the grey-clad apparition. "Shall we sit?" Yoshi nodded, and the two made their way to the nearest bench without a word. The reporter dropped heavily, shaking the bench for a moment. He pulled out his minirecorder, making an obvious show of placing it on the bench between them. Turning it on, he launched into the interview. "You're one of the Sailor Senshi." The helmet shook. "Not technically. Not in the way that you mean. I'm more of a... mentor and trainer, I suppose you'd say. A little adult supervision, although they really don't need it." "Okay. So, what's your name?" There was a hint of a grin within the helmet. "It's not in my best interest to tell you my civilian identity. My codename, however, is 'Looney Toons'." Yoshi snorted. "Right. And who gave you that codename?" A shake of the head again. "You've never heard of the organization I work with." "You've got a UN emblem on your helmet. Does that mean this mysterious organization is a UN branch?" A chuckle. "If you were to ask them, they'd deny we existed." Yoshi felt his right eyebrow creep up toward his hairline. "*That* secret? Why break cover and talk to me, then?" The figure in grey settled himself down at the other end of the bench. "Couple of reasons. One, we're on our own here -- no official support, no acknowledgment." Yoshi nodded, understanding. "Maximum deniability." He'd seen it before in other situations. "Two, sooner or later we're going to need press contacts. At the moment, the mission is technically sub rosa, but you never know when you'll have to go full public. Having a mutually respectful and helpful relationship with a trustworthy member of the Fourth Estate when that day comes will be of inestimable worth." Yoshi opened his mouth but "Looney Toons" cut him off. "And before you ask the inevitable 'how do you know I'm trustworthy'... I've done a thorough background check on you. If we play fair with you, we can trust you." Yoshi grimaced. "Thanks. I think. Does that mean you'll answer my questions, then?" "If you agree to this, yes. To a point. We're all running more or less deep cover for now, and we need to protect that. But if it doesn't threaten our cover, I'll answer it." He chuckled softly. "I don't guarantee that you'll believe me, but I will promise I that won't lie. I'll tell you when you reach an area I won't go into, but I won't feed you outright disinformation." "How do you know I won't warp or sensationalize what you tell me?" Yoshi probed. Another soft chuckle. "If there were any chance you'd do such a thing, we wouldn't be talking now." Yoshi thought about that, then nodded. "Fair enough. It's a deal." "Cool." "Can I pitch you a first question, then?" The helmet bobbed in a nod. "Fire away." "Okay. Why teenaged girls?" There was a rustle of thick but flexible leather as "Looney Toons" shrugged. "Because they're the ones who have the power. They weren't manufactured by some mortal agency, they were born that way. And there are destiny and fate issues tied up in it, too." "Destiny and fate?" The helmet bobbed again. "It's a long story I'll share with you at another time, but the TV Guide capsule version goes like this: Before the dawn of recorded history, the solar system was home to a magic-based interplanetary civilization, ruled from the Moon." "The *moon*?" "Looney Toons" shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm just telling you what we've figured out from the few bits of information we've managed to scrape together. Apparently the level of magic use was high enough to make it -- and a bunch of other moons and planets around the system -- habitable. Comfortable, even." "But... magic?" The other man murmured something softly -- in English, Yoshi thought -- and then held out his hand. Yoshi nearly swallowed his cigarette when a ball of light formed over it. "Yes, magic," "Looney Toons" said. "It's very real, and it's still around, even though not many people use it -- or *can* use it -- any more." "But..." Yoshi stammered. The helmet dipped toward him. "Later you can have all the demonstrations of magic you want. Right now, though..." He murmured something else and the ball vanished. "Back to the topic at hand. "Earth was the only independent planet in the system, but when the prince of Earth fell for the princess of the Moon, that looked likely to change." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "The 'Tsukihime' legends are probably a distorted ancestral memory of this," he added. "Anyway, somebody -- we don't know whom at this late date, although it was almost certainly someone who didn't like the idea of Earth losing its independence -- ended up summoning and unleashing a demonic horde against the Moon and the other planets. Long story short, the horde did too good a job, and knocked out the underpinnings that supported all that magic, pretty much killing everybody in the solar system except for those on Earth, before the Queen -- who was apparently one hell of a spellcaster -- banished most of the horde and its human leaders into a nearby pocket dimension. With their controllers gone, the remaining demons turned on the Earth folk, killed most of *them* and triggered the collapse of *their* civilization as well, then died off slowly over the millennia while humanity basically recreated itself from scratch. This time with technology alone as magic was left with a bad rep. "The problem facing us now is that, well, the Queen did a hasty hack job of a spell to banish her enemies. It wasn't permanent, and she knew it. So, with her final act, she gathered up the souls of her daughter and the royal guard, who had all died in the conflict, and sent them into the future to be reincarnated at about the time she expected her containment would break down and wear off." "And those are the Sailor Senshi," Yoshi guessed. "And the youma are the banished demons, back again." "Pin-pon. She also sent a couple of advisers forward the long way to train the girls and tell them what to do. However, like any last-ditch desperation strategy, it had holes in it you could drive a Mack truck through. Murphy stepped in and had his merry way -- the girls were born too close in time to the containment breakdown, and are only now just re-awakening to their powers. And the advisers showed up with severe memory loss. They remembered the big picture, but not all the details." Within his helmet "Looney Toons" grimaced. "We've spent the last few months or so piecing together what we can. We're still missing a lot of little things, but we've got enough to work with now." "So where do you fit in? Are you one of the advisers?" He laughed. "Oh, no, not at all! I was an independent operator. I stumbled across Sailor Moon her first night on the job. She actually did quite well for someone with absolutely no experience whatsoever, but she really needed a coach to watch over her until she felt confident enough to work solo. So I offered." He chuckled ruefully. "Then it got complicated." -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. - robkelk - 08-07-2012 Bob Schroeck Wrote:"Two, sooner or later we're going to need press contacts. At theEr... the Fourth Estate. (The fifth estate is a Canadian TV show, along the lines of 60 Minutes.) Bob Schroeck Wrote:"I don't guarantee that you'll believe me, but I will"Telling the truth in such a way that leads you to an incorrect conclusion" isn't "lying", then? Actually, I suppose it isn't, since Belldandy included both cases in her oath to Doug. never mind... -- 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 - Star Ranger4 - 08-07-2012 Yeah. Why do I feel like "Long way out" is an understatement? This feels like it happens mid to late in a story thats so far only in your development files Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky? That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry- NO QUARTER!!! -- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children - Bob Schroeck - 08-07-2012 robkelk Wrote:Er... the Fourth Estate. (The fifth estate is a Canadian TV show, along the lines of 60 Minutes.).Argh. How many years has it been in the dev file and I didn't notice I'd bobbled that? Fixed now. robkelk Wrote:Well, Doug did say if he agreed. He hadn't yet. Doug will eventually give him the full story, but at this point it's protective misdirection. Not just for Doug, but for the girls, too.Bob Schroeck Wrote:"I don't guarantee that you'll believe me, but I will"Telling the truth in such a way that leads you to an incorrect conclusion" isn't "lying", then? ETA: How full the story? Can you say "embedded reporter at the end"? -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. - Bob Schroeck - 08-07-2012 Star Ranger4 Wrote:Yeah. Why do I feel like "Long way out" is an understatement? This feels like it happens mid to late in a story thats so far only in your development filesIt terms of absolute time-to-release, it's probably not too many years in the future; after all, DW-S is queued up as the next story I'll work on after DW8. This takes place well before the Starlight Express segment I posted a few months back, for instance. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. - Ebony - 08-07-2012 Bob Schroeck Wrote:I think it needs to be capitalized, since it's a proper noun, but that may be a matter of personal style.robkelk Wrote:Er... the Fourth Estate. (The fifth estate is a Canadian TV show, along the lines of 60 Minutes.).Argh. How many years has it been in the dev file and I didn't notice I'd bobbled that? Fixed now. Ebony the Black Dragon http://ebony14.livejournal.com "Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you." - Evil Midnight Lurker - 08-29-2012 So... is the Osa-P job interrupted by Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Kamen, and Looney Toons? Poor Morga. ![]() --Sam "I ain't never seen a cow eat a man that fast." - Bob Schroeck - 08-29-2012 Yes. It's a bit of a floor-wipe. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. - Evil Midnight Lurker - 08-29-2012 Hee. ...Now will Doug manage to intercept Mamoru before he's compelled to make a dramatic exit? This early on, I think he's literally sleepwalking through the whole gig... --Sam "Then he threw a chimney at us!" - bmull - 08-30-2012 Quote:"You're the one of the Senshi."You're the one that they want (You are the one for) ooh, ohh, ohh, honey ... The one they need Oh, yes indeed Either a missing or extra word there Bob. ^_^ - Bob Schroeck - 08-30-2012 Also "at patch", which should have been "a patch". Today's the day for finding errors in that passage, it seems. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. - Seraviel - 08-30-2012 "You're the one of the Senshi." ... The one ? The Neo of the senshi ? -People may die, but ideas are forever. Je suis Charlie. - Jorlem - 08-31-2012 Seraviel Wrote:"You're the one of the Senshi."Well, if it was referring to Usagi, that wouldn't be inaccurate. ----- Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea. "Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia. |