Forums » General Roleplay » Cult of the Machine God (Closed Steampunk RP)

Finally, someone who was on her side!
Seeming to puff up a bit as the Featherfolk came to her aid, Florence glanced between them. No, she wasn't like the others, she wanted to tell him. She was a real girl, at least in soul. She was not the kind of magic that the real Automatons used.
Before she could speak, she saw the detective -- another bear? -- come forward.
"Detective!" She cried, waving for him. Icias was talking, she knew. "Detective, please, hear me out! I just want to talk to you, please!"

Grant was not liking the cut of Icias' jib. Deep down, Icias was making him angry. "Listen, all she asked for was help and you're going way out of bounds towards her AND I. I hate Babel just as much as you do, but that's no reason to shun someone without a chance. Back when I was in the war, we had a name for people like you. But since there are kids in the area, I'm going to classify that term for now."

He then looked over at the other Bearon. He was hoping he would be a bit more reasonable. "Sorry, I was just passing by when I saw this girl being bullied by this gun-totter here."

Jack looked at the robot girl and back at Icias "Let's give her a chance at least first and see what she has to say before we jump straight to a conclusion. By the way, I can tell you're getting annoyed...Why don't you go find a place to cool off and I'll meet up with you. Given I know where to go." he turned back to the lady "Alright, calm yourself...So...How can I help you?" he asked as he inspected the girl and somewhat had a sixth sense that she wasn't a threat but looked like the kind that has one mysterious thing about her in her eyes. Jack turned to the bird figure "Don't worry about my friend here. I just don't think he's accustomed to this set of work and just has a kind of hatred for the Babel as I heard you two were on about."

Stepping forward, as close as she could to the detective without making him horribly uncomfortable or breaching his personal space, Florence hesitated. Her fingers knotted nervously together. They weren't going to let her help, she just knew. She was just another metal fodder for Babel and his power. She was going to be one of his blind followers.
Looking around quickly, she looked to the Bearon imploringly. Easily, she could forgive Icias his irritation -- times were troubled with the rise of the new god. No part of her could really blame her. Her focus was more on the detective, though, fright evident in her glowing eyes.
She kept her voice low, ensuring that no other Automaton or worshipper could hear her.
"Sir, m-my name is Florence, I-I'm...I'm not an Automaton. But I'm very scared, y-you see, Babel's powers are strong and...I don't want to become one of his followers. I was made to serve a commander, but I have none, a-and Babel has a sway over us...over me, even though I'm not one of them. I-I want to help you!" Part of her knew she was rambling, letting out whatever words she could so quickly. "It's a lot, I know. But I want to accompany you, to help...I want to take him down. I don't want to be afraid. I don't want to be one of them. Please, please, let me help you."

"Before being a bounty hunter, I was a tinkerer myself," pulling out a little robot from his bag Icias turned the key on the little guys back and the little guy sprung to life. "If you are saying that because you are an Gear head that Babel has some kinda away on you I can have Axel here search your skull for any tampering." He didn't believe the girl wasn't an Automaton, sure she looked oddly human for a robot, but Icias could smell her oil blood from a mile away. And the Government had made Bearstone incharge of this, fine by Icias, so they were gonna do it his way. At least his commands were being given by another Bearon and not a racist elf, or a stubborn dwarf, or the Machine God forbid a bird brain Featherborn. "If Bearstone trusts ya lady, then I have no say one way or the other to deny your claim."

Jack listened to her desperate plea and hmms "...I don't want to sound cold when I say this, lady but...How can I trust you? A helping hand is always handy but...Again, I don't have much to hold on to in terms of proof. You can lend me advice though if that helps in any way at all."

Deep down, Grant was still in conflict within his mind. He wanted to be nice, but at the same time he was still a little biased against her kind. "Hmmm, there is that point," Grant said. "What if she is just playing this game to churn sympathy. She may seem innocuous, but she's still an automaton on the outside." At the same time, he didn't like Icias either. Featherfolk and Bearons weren't exactly the best of friends, and Icias did seem to have a bias towards him. But he didn't notice it with Jack as much.

"Bird brain is right for once," Icias said, "and as I told ya before lady, you should just scram, I'd rather take feather face with us then you." He wasn't trying to be mean to her, he just knew that on the likely chance she was a Babel spy, then her presence could endanger the entire mission. "Bearstone, make your call already, is she clean or not?" He smiled looking at Axel, "If she is clean she probably wouldn't mind having Axel poke around in her head a bit would she?" As for the Feather-born, no, they had never had a good history with the Bearon people.

She wanted to cry. They didn't believe her. What could she do to make them understand? Fear was one thing, but how could she prove the real truth of her fear?
If only metal could cry, and if only it wouldn't make her rust. Whipping around, her eyes fell on each of the men around her. She pulled gently at her wig, a habit she had had in her humanity, trying to untangle the little curls.
"Detective, you must believe me. I-I used to be human. This body was built for me while I was dying, and it was programmed to serve a commander as a personal doctor, but my soul was put in it. A-and so, I'm not entirely a robot! But part of me is, and that part...that part can be controlled by Babel. I feel it, I feel that I want to believe him. I'm not an Automaton, sir, but I'm scared he will become more powerful, a-and I don't want to become one of them. If...If your little bot is what it will take for you to believe me..." She seemed hesitant. It would be like having a parasite in her body, but she had to convince herself that rooting around wouldn't entirely harm her. She couldn't bleed out now, her muscles weren't going to rip apart. "Then...that's what it'll take. A-as long as...as long as it won't...rip...o-or break or...in general touch anything that might break me..."

His annoyance towards Icias was starting to overpower his distrust for Florence. Grant decided to make a rash move: he went up to Icias and smacked the gun right out of his hand and started to rant. "Now you listen here fuzzball!" Grant started. "I don't care how badly you distrust her, you can't just leave her here when she's pleading for help. ...Oh wait, I forgot, you're a heartless Polar Bearon. You probably came from one of the kingdoms that Cogyucytox targeted. Ever wonder why? Truth is, we like your kind about as much as you like ours, and Polar Bearons are especially rude. Now, are you going to help this poor creature out or not glassfur?"

lifting his claw he grabbed the feather face who was a little taller then half Icias's size. Lifting the bird man by his neck and tightening his grip he explain to Grant how life was about to happen, "you just assaulted a registered B Class Bounty hunter who after this mission is up for a promotion to A Class, maybe even S Class. As a warden of the government I can arrest you for up to three days and if the Police if Tall Shore find anything, anything at all in your background you will face time!" Swinging the Featherfolk's body slightly Icias dropped the man on his back and rested the bottom of his boot on the lesser classes face. "Or if your lucky the electric chair, but since I simply don't have time for scum like you..." Pushing his boot harder and harder into the head of the Bird man, Icias leaned down and picked up his Hand Cannon before returning it to it's holster. "I'll just send you on your way citizen." Removing his boot from Grants face Icias spat on the bird, being a polar Bearon however the saliva froze as it fell and acted more as a pebble hitting Grant on the head lightly.

He moved over to the woman, "now then, let's find a nice lil coffee shop or something to open up your skull in! Don't worry Axel has done this a few times before."

...But that didn't necessarily fly with Grant. The second Icias let go, Grant quickly rushed up to Icias and drove his beak right into his shoulder, causing a nasty wound in his arm. "I don't care about your stupid credentials or your sentences you cretin!" Grant shouted. It was obvious after what he just went through that causing Icias pain meant more to him than anything. "You are just a heartless creature with no compassion for anyone else. You think I'm afraid of you and your stupid laws? Especially when you want to open up this woman's skull knowing not just how human she may or may not be? I wouldn't be surprised if they fired you, glassfur."

Then he realized how angry he was getting and decided to try and calm down a bit. "Hmph, maybe I'm being too brash, but honestly you deserve it. Still, perhaps I could propose a challenge? If I win, we won't chop up this poor little creature's head. If you win, well... Ummm, well what seems appropriate to you?"

Jack who witnessed the conflict got between the two and pulled a gun out at the bird creature "While your conflict is understandable, I'm afraid that hurting my partner like that was uncalled for. You could have just easily excused his attitude and walked away from this. I've heard the conflicts between us Bearons and your folk but surely there could have been another way to approach this." He looked over at the lady "I'm not gonna turn her down, but...I'll be strict with some conditions. I'll trust you on one condition. You'll find and give us advice but we won't be able to take you along with us everywhere as we want to avoid you being in danger. We'll keep you safe but you must keep your information given completely private...Is that understood?" he said sternly. Jack then turned to Icias "I know you hate the featherfolk and all, but try and keep your conflicts to yourself. We'll looking for information. Not a target to fight or kill." Jack didn't want to sound too bossy but in a situation like this...What choice did he have?

Icias was obviously still wearing his armor so the wound the bird brain thought he made was just a bit of torn leather, not exactly the greatest thing in the world, Icias would have to take the armored jacket to a leather smith. "Stupid bird brain," within moments a Drow and a Dwarven police officer seized the Featherfolk man nuisance and took him away. "Next time your going to stick me with your point face, do some damage will ya Bird Brain!" Icias turned back to the conversation chuckling a bit after the Tall Shore Guards carried away the feather man, "Stupid pest, you don't mess with the law or the law bites back..." Then he picked up what Jack had said, "Fine, fine, I'll let the police deal with that one lets just do our job, I'll need to use some of my money to fix this leather that the bird face tried to eat..." Unscaved, Icias proceeded to lead Bearstone and Florence away from the Council District.

The group walked a few blocks in silence and appeared in an ally way, "Best tavern in the city." It was called the Leaky Oil Can and as the group entered loud music was playing on vinyl and Icias sat down with his group of two and pulled out Axel once more. "Now Axel is just going to open up your noggin and take a quick peak in your primary objectives and do a real fast tweak of your honesty levers? Sound reasonable, well put you exactly back to normal when were done though not to worry." There were mostly dwarves in the tavern along with a Bearon and a human or two. A Dwarf waitress came around and took orders returning a few moments later with their drinks. "Lets get to work Axel!"

Shocked by the fight between the two men, Florence stepped back from them. "No, please--! You mustn't fight!"

As Jack began to speak, the young robot straightened up. She had come here for him, after all. Conditions. Nervously tugging her wig, she nodded slowly. So many conditions, the both of them had, but she had to expect them. She knew she wasn't going to get safety for free. It was a better risk than being brainwashed, being forced to be a slave, worshipping a god she didn't want. "Yes, sir. I am a proficient nurse, as well, if either of you get injured. That's what I was programmed for, all I need is information on which of you I should treat as the commander. I assume that would be you, Detective."

Having asked for only a small cup of water as the waitress came around, Florence nervously dropped the hood of her jacket, revealing the seams across her forehead and cheeks that separated plates of metal. Once tightly sealed, they had separated slightly, showing the inner workings of the cogs and tubes inside her face. Her neck was something more like a metal spine, stuffed tightly with wires and tubes with just a small plating of metal. Uncovered, her movements made just the slightest whirring sound. As Icias demanded, she swallowed hard -- to no effect but her own reassurance -- and reached behind her head. Her wig came off with the cap of her skull, unscrewing like a patient having their brain removed. Inside her head was a circuitry of wires and cogs, and a little blue stone that the actual Automatons all had. A bit of steam escaped through her neck from inside her body, produced somewhere inside her torso.

"It isn't going to shut me down, is it?" She asked softly, fear obvious in her tone.

As the officers were taking him away, Grant decided he had no choice but to pull money out of his jacket. "Here, this is for my bail," Grant said. "The last thing I want is to rot in jail after that... after I assaulted a detective. I... I know I shouldn't have done that, so now I just want to make things right."

The cops believed his story and decided to let him go. But deep down he was seething toward Icias. He decided to follow them to the same tavern the others were going to. He went inside and quickly ordered a drink. He first made no eye contact or interaction to the others unless they asked. Besides that, he didn't want to talk to them unless he thought that scumbag Icias was doing something to the girl.

"Nope," Icias said as Axel worked on her brain, tinkering here and prodding there. The little bot beeped a little bit and Icias nodded, the sound of a buzz saw began whirling and Icias took the girls hands in one of his paws. "Have you had any work done up there anytime in the last year or so?" The buzz saw stopped before some small tinkering began to occur in her back lobes, "Axel seems to have found a self charging virus." Axel tosses the strange looking gear out of her brain, Icias caught this piece and plugged it into a little device he pulled from his pocket. "It was a pre-set message that would repeat in the back of her mind," he showed them the message. It was a pixelated screen of static repeating the same phrase over again, Babel is redemption, Babel is God, Babel is Redemption, Babel is God... Turning off the little screen he crushed the gear thingy in his claw and nodded to Axel, "close her up... She's clean now Bearstone, if you want her to advise us, then I am willing to accept her help now as well."

The group finished their drinks as Axel closed her up, "But Bearstone, well still need someone who knows the Stoney Hills."

"Stoney Hills!?" Grant blurted out. He looked over at Icias and realized something: he just suggested to someone he doesn't like that he knew about Stoney hills. The problem was... he didn't want to tell Icias a damn thing. ...It was too late of course, he already drew attention to himself and he didn't think he could just leave. Grant kept looking at Icias intently, a bit of rage showing in his eyes.

Sighing Icias turned to the feather folk, "paid your bail like a good ol' sport did ya?" Icias still had to address the problem they still faced. Not only was Bearstone from out of town, but Icias was from a city called Steam Harbor, it was a across the Stoney Hills from here about a couple hundred kilometers. He'd never walked it through and hadn't the slightest idea how to navigate them. "Do you know your way around the Stoney Hills Feather Face?" It wasn't optimal, but Icias and Bearstone didn't know anyone else in Tall Shore apart from this town idiot and the iron Barbie doll in front of them. "We need a guild Bearstone," he said under his breathe to the detective solemnly. He DID NOT want to use Grant, but perhaps a Bullet Sheild with a beak could be helpful.

Seeming to choke a bit as the little robot was working its way inside her skull, the girl went rigid at the sound of the saw. Her fingertips gripped tightly at the wooden table, leaving indents from the pressure. As Icias took her hand, she tried to divert the frightened pressure, splintering the wood of the table just slightly, pieces flaking away.
"No...I-I mean, I...not voluntarily, or that I know...but they've...I've found them, inside my home, hiding sometimes, but I don't know what they were doing...the Automatons..." She gave a sudden lurch as the virus was disconnected, sagging after it was gone. Where had all that weight come from, she wondered, and why did she not notice the pain of it until it was gone?
Babel is redemption. Babel is god.
A look of fast fear came on her malleable bronze face. That had been inside her head this whole time. Hesitant, wishing to cry once more, she nodded a bit, finding the little robot as it crawled from her skull.
"Thank you, Axel," she whispered softly to it, not necessarily caring if it could understand her or not. She returned the bot to its owner, closing her own skull and using a compact mirror to fix her wig. As they discussed the possibility of a guide, she worked on her own, opening up a hole in her chest to delicately pour the cup of water she had asked for inside the chamber. Once it was closed, she picked at the broken pieces of the virus, idly building a metal flower with the pieces.
The Featherfolk had returned. She seemed glad to see him, even slightly. Violent as the pair's altercation had been, he was on her side to start with. Someone with that much passion, even if it was initially misplaced, might be of good use.
"Stoney Hills isn't a terribly pleasant place," she piped up. "I don't know my way around it, but I remember from the war, I was there a lot. I met a few Automatons there. That's how I found out about Babel. If Mister Featherfolk could graciously lead us through, I could...possibly buy us safe passage in same areas, tell them I'm one of them and I'm taking you to Babel, and I know how to survive like the army did, provided you gentlemen Bearons survive much the same way as human men."