Dartz: I have a few mental quirks. One of them is a tendency to shut off my emotions (or repress them so well I don't know I'm feeling them; hard to say) instead of letting them have an effect. At that point, I might be screaming inside- if I am, I wouldn't know it.
I'm also the planning sort, and I just walked into a negotiation, after several days worth of thinking time, with somebody whose personality and goals were known to me beforehand. All that 'this is bad' attitude? It's less me thinking that I'm in a bad situation, and more me having to throw out a pile of possible approaches I'd devised earlier. Also, I still have a sabacc card up my sleeve...
If I'd awakened to find a TSAB Enforcer looking at me, THEN I'd be panicking inarticulately. I didn't plan for that.
CD: This is a mad scientist with magitech and massive physiological knowledge. Lying causes detectable bodily reactions. Do the math.
Also, I used a single means of holding information (one model of device) bought from a single location for a reason. It was intended to be clever, but not clever enough. If they found them all, I could simply do what I did, but if they'd missed some... Either way, I won.
**********
The doors in front of me opened with a hiss, revealing another long, wide hall. Why is it that every single room I've seen so far is actually a hallway? Aren't there bedrooms? Aren't there tables?
...dear HERA, does the man own any CHAIRS?!
Once Scaglietti had been convinced of my intentions, the bindings I'd been trapped in had vanished, letting me collapse to the ground... only to get hoisted- rather forcefully- back up by Tre before I could catch my breath. Once I was standing, she gave me a rather long glare, before turning her back to me, and walking over to the door at the far end of the room.
"Come."
...I know Tre's not much of a conversationalist, and I know her voice is usually rather harsh, but I'm really getting the impression she doesn't like me.
She led me through a rabbit's nest of hallways, rooms that looked like hallways, and what I could only guess were automated factories. I can see why they needed an area search power to find the guy. Finally, after opening ANOTHER door leading into ANOTHER hallway, I was somewhere I recognized.
My stars- it's full of JARS!
This was a very familiar room- the center of Scaglietti's lab, if memory served. There were a LOT more people jars on the walls than I'd expected- the numbers went all the way up to XXIV- and a lot less of the Type 3 gadget drones stowed under the jars. At the end of the room, though, there was the same wide chamber, complete with our 'favorite' mad scientist and his lovely assistant.
Both of whom were looking at me now. Huh.
"Ah, Mister Prefect! Welcome!", Scaglietti said, spreading his arms wide. Wow. He's really over the top. I can work with this.
I stopped short of him, keeping a polite distance, and nodded respectfully at him. "Doctor Scaglietti. An honor to finally meet you in person."
Keeping my tone brisk and professional, I began the spiel I'd been working on, on and off, since leaving Karnarog. "Your time is valuable, Doctor, so I'll keep this short and to the point. I am in need of your scientific expertise. In return, I offer you information and support."
I had the doctor's attention now. "Mm. Elaborate on that. What is it you want?"
Good. "What I want and what I have to offer are linked. If I may elaborate on both?" At his nod, I took a deep breath. Now for the fun part.
"I come from a non-administrated world. We don't have very many mages there," -because it's in another universe- "so I had no way of knowing what potential I had. Recently, I came here," -against my will, by means unknown- "and got tested. The TSA doctor told me I had an F-rank linker core, and would never be able to cast a spell.
What I want," I said, pausing for a second, intentionally putting my best spiteful expression on my face, "is the magic *they* said I'd never have. What I want is to have a bigger, stronger linker core- enough to cast great and powerful spells. What I want, Doctor Scaglietti, is to show them all... and I offer to do so, in service of your dream."
From the demented grin on Jail's face, I was fairly sure I'd hit the jackpot there.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
I'm also the planning sort, and I just walked into a negotiation, after several days worth of thinking time, with somebody whose personality and goals were known to me beforehand. All that 'this is bad' attitude? It's less me thinking that I'm in a bad situation, and more me having to throw out a pile of possible approaches I'd devised earlier. Also, I still have a sabacc card up my sleeve...
If I'd awakened to find a TSAB Enforcer looking at me, THEN I'd be panicking inarticulately. I didn't plan for that.
CD: This is a mad scientist with magitech and massive physiological knowledge. Lying causes detectable bodily reactions. Do the math.
Also, I used a single means of holding information (one model of device) bought from a single location for a reason. It was intended to be clever, but not clever enough. If they found them all, I could simply do what I did, but if they'd missed some... Either way, I won.
**********
The doors in front of me opened with a hiss, revealing another long, wide hall. Why is it that every single room I've seen so far is actually a hallway? Aren't there bedrooms? Aren't there tables?
...dear HERA, does the man own any CHAIRS?!
Once Scaglietti had been convinced of my intentions, the bindings I'd been trapped in had vanished, letting me collapse to the ground... only to get hoisted- rather forcefully- back up by Tre before I could catch my breath. Once I was standing, she gave me a rather long glare, before turning her back to me, and walking over to the door at the far end of the room.
"Come."
...I know Tre's not much of a conversationalist, and I know her voice is usually rather harsh, but I'm really getting the impression she doesn't like me.
She led me through a rabbit's nest of hallways, rooms that looked like hallways, and what I could only guess were automated factories. I can see why they needed an area search power to find the guy. Finally, after opening ANOTHER door leading into ANOTHER hallway, I was somewhere I recognized.
My stars- it's full of JARS!
This was a very familiar room- the center of Scaglietti's lab, if memory served. There were a LOT more people jars on the walls than I'd expected- the numbers went all the way up to XXIV- and a lot less of the Type 3 gadget drones stowed under the jars. At the end of the room, though, there was the same wide chamber, complete with our 'favorite' mad scientist and his lovely assistant.
Both of whom were looking at me now. Huh.
"Ah, Mister Prefect! Welcome!", Scaglietti said, spreading his arms wide. Wow. He's really over the top. I can work with this.
I stopped short of him, keeping a polite distance, and nodded respectfully at him. "Doctor Scaglietti. An honor to finally meet you in person."
Keeping my tone brisk and professional, I began the spiel I'd been working on, on and off, since leaving Karnarog. "Your time is valuable, Doctor, so I'll keep this short and to the point. I am in need of your scientific expertise. In return, I offer you information and support."
I had the doctor's attention now. "Mm. Elaborate on that. What is it you want?"
Good. "What I want and what I have to offer are linked. If I may elaborate on both?" At his nod, I took a deep breath. Now for the fun part.
"I come from a non-administrated world. We don't have very many mages there," -because it's in another universe- "so I had no way of knowing what potential I had. Recently, I came here," -against my will, by means unknown- "and got tested. The TSA doctor told me I had an F-rank linker core, and would never be able to cast a spell.
What I want," I said, pausing for a second, intentionally putting my best spiteful expression on my face, "is the magic *they* said I'd never have. What I want is to have a bigger, stronger linker core- enough to cast great and powerful spells. What I want, Doctor Scaglietti, is to show them all... and I offer to do so, in service of your dream."
From the demented grin on Jail's face, I was fairly sure I'd hit the jackpot there.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.