Safe World: Charlie, Jill, Louie and Company

[kabukiman]

-That a good question, let's see if it is really your daugther.

[Laraqua]

Brianna stared at the monster who had a gun spliced into his arm coldly, holding her mouth tight so it wouldn't quiver. "Give me your gun." She said it like she meant it, holding her hand out palm up. Her eyes flickered up to Ronald uncertainly.

"Waaah???" Dahlia said, leaving the helicopter and staring at the situation in disbelief, then went to stand behind the more feminine monster, peeking around her bloodied torso as though afraid for her life.

“BRIANNA!” Ronald looks down to Brianna pleadingly and then back to Cael. He shrugs his shoulders.

The two other monsters snarl, moan and whine at each other for a long period of time, the words sounding like nothing that could be produced by human vocal chords.

"Now you're sounding like Louie," Brianna remarks darkly to one of the monsters. "He used to call me padawan." She stands in front of the gun-monster with palm still outstretched, waiting for him to hand his gun over.

Three of the monsters snarl and growl at each other again.

Ronald waits.

Brianna clutches the gun, trembling, and raises it slowly to point at the gun-monster's chest. The weight of the gun was not what she expected, however, and she struggles with earnest to keep it up.


"You shot me when you were afraid. And then I shot Dr. Sutcliffe when I was afraid of her and what she was going to do to me." She begins, her eyes meeting the gun-monster's with coldness, "I could do it, right here and now. Except that I'm not afraid of you, Cael" She looks back at the gun-monster, a smile playing at her mouth, as she clutches the gun tightly, then lowers it and engages the safety once more "Well c'mon, you didn't really think I'd do it did you? Killing one doctor was enough. And Ronald would never let me forget it. But I'm keeping this for now so that you can't go all power hungry and shoot poor old Lionel in the heart. I don't trust you Cael. Not even a little bit."

She turns on her heel and approaches the door to the building. "Let's get inside."

[Mr. Handy]

"Brianna, what's going on?" asks Lionel, walking alongside her. "Why would he want to kill me? What's happened to you - to all of you?" He looks at the female monster. "Sarah, is that you? Why do you look like that? If you answered my question, I couldn't understand it. I can't make out a word you're saying. I can only understand Ronald, Brianna, and Dahlia."

[Laraqua]

"No....he's not a monster. Neither is she. It's just you....from the future. That's why you can't understand them." Brianna is talking to Lionel. She shakes her head, "We won't hurt you. And he won't either," she says, nodding at the gun-creature, "At least he better not. So....where is Daniel? We need to talk to him. Can you take us into the library? It will be safer there than here."

"Woah...." Dahlia remarks, staring from Brianna to Lionel, "This is cooooool."

Ronald tightens his grip on Brianna's hand.. “Careful Sweety! Don't touch them! “

[kabukiman]

-Does this mean they see us as monsters too? No matter, they didn't answer your question...

[Mr. Handy]

"No, they didn't," says Lionel, "but I know we can trust Brianna and Ronald. Brianna, we don't know where Daniel and Annie are. We came here looking for them, but we haven't found them yet. If my older self is really there, maybe he knows. I have a lot of other questions for him too. Hmm...I have a way he can prove he's me. I'm thinking of a number. Ask him to remember what the number is, and then you can tell me. Yes, let's all go inside. I think there's going to be an air raid soon, and we don't want to be there when it hits, but the sirens should give us plenty of warning. If we stay close to the exit we'll be all right. What do we look like to you? Sarah, it's so good to be with you again and know you'll be safe, and that I'll be reunited with you eventually. I just wish I could see you as you really are and understand what you're saying."

[kabukiman]

-But we must be careful. It's a simple question, and they didn't answer yet. And maybe Brianna and Ronald are being deceived by those creatures.

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe they did answer, but we couldn't hear it," says Lionel. "If my future self is there, he must remember this from my perspective. Brianna, please tell me what Sarah and the other me said." He concentrates on the number he has thought of, 718, etching it into his memory so that he'll be able to recall it however far in the future he'll need to know it. Brianna does look a good deal older... he thinks.

[Laraqua]

Ronald nudges Brianna... "Ask if they figured anything out at the Library. What do we have to do to help?"

"What is your mouth broken now too?" Brianna says sarcastically, then turns to the 'other' Lionel, "She said her mother's name is Beatrice Lumsford. Oh, and she says, think of a number and we'll prove it because the other you can remember what number he was thinking of, because he used to be you. Ok?"

[SuAside]

Charlie has silently followed the exchange, but still can't make heads or tails of it all. He reverts to a near catatonic state as he overlooks Jill, simply making sure she is safe and nothing else.

(occ: been following this, but i really don't have anything useful for my char to do, unless i want to metagame, which i don't)

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, that's right," says Lionel with a smile. "Sarah, it is you! Ronald, I can hear you just fine too. We did find that book that Louie was looking for, the Tome of Ibn'Kha. I'm not sure why we need it, though. I'm already thinking of the number. Oh, Sarah, it's so good to know that you're safe and I'll get to see you again. This has been so much like that television programme 'Life on Mars.' I was caught in a collapsing building and I woke up in 1941. Am I insane, in a coma, or back in time? Maybe if I can figure out why I'm here, I can get home. Surely my older self knows the reason I'm here and how I got home. Sarah, I promise I'm coming back to you."

[Laraqua]

The rotors on the helicopter begin to stir to life.

[Mr. Handy]

"Wait, you're not leaving now, are you?!" calls Lionel. "We have so much we need to talk about!"

[kabukiman]

-Can't we go with them?- Asks Agnes imagining herself in the flying machine...

[Mr. Handy]

"I certainly hope so," says LIonel. "I don't want to leave Sarah again. I'm not sure if it will work. Let's all try to go with them if they're leaving." He approaches Ronald and Brianna. "Can we come with you?"

[Laraqua]

"Don't read the books Lionel!" says Ronald. "They'll turn you into this crazy nut job and your daughter will hate you! Save the little girl that looks like Brianna! Tell Daniel and Annie to warn Sarah not to use her cell phone! Can they even hear me old man! Brianna, you say something! Craperjacks! Go back to the Hospital Lionel! Save the culty kids! Tell Daniel and Annie to trust no one."

[Mr. Handy]

"I can hear you just fine, Ronald," says Lionel. "Understanding is another thing. What are you on about? Sarah will not hate me, no matter what happens. My future self went crazy? Which books am I not supposed to read? And where can I find Daniel and Annie? Are they at the hospital? The public library? Please, is there anything else you can tell us?"

[kabukiman]

-The book is probably the one we have now. But just by curiosity, what will happen to me? And do you know the family names of the members of the cult?

[Mr. Handy]

"That could be one of the books," says Lionel, "but Ronald said there were more than one. I'll make sure not to ready any dodgy books, and to pass along the warning. How do Daniel and Annie end up meeting Sarah?"

[Laraqua]

The monstrous creatures chitter and snarl at each other. The creature with the gun slid into its arm howls and gibbers to itself. The female creatures' radio comes to life between her gnarled fingers and it utters several gutteral grunts and groans.

"It's cold in the water," says a gentle, male voice sleepily over the radio. Blackworth? "The sleepless will wake up soon."