Seasong: The Waves, They Will Rise

[Venice Queen]

Zane didn't particularly enjoy that landing, but at least he's out the tubes. he doesn't like tight spaces, and was starting to get a bit angry. he hears the gasp and his eyes dart to where it should be.

but the darkness is total...complete...memories...or imagination...of what???

he shakes his head angrily, re-gaining his composure. if you can call it that. "Maud?"

[The Monsterworks]

Emma Ashevak & Kayla Flanagan

Emma can hear the sounds of chaos behind her. The shouting, trashcans being knocked over, footsteps scampering away. Those two scumbags will get what they deserve, and Emma will get to keep her appointment with the kid. She's nearing their meeting point, but the girl is nowhere to be seen. Fuck. Don't tell me she bailed. She glances around anxiously for a couple of seconds, until what she thought was a garbage bag moves. Kayla stands and pulls back her hood just enough to reveal porcelain-white skin and a shock of bright red hair. "They're already loading," she advises, the hint of an edge creeping into her voice.

"Okay, yeah, chill. We're only about a minute behind."

Kayla lets the issue drop, and two flickers from a flashlight across the street tell them that Ronnie's in place. Emma runs off to go and play the damsel in distress and Kayla scoots along the wall and around the corner until she's as close as she dares get to the cannery. She only has to wait about thirty seconds before there are screams. "Leave me alone!!" Emma shouts.

Kayla peers around the corner cautiously. The two armed guards are looking in that direction. One of them takes a few steps towards the commotion. He raises the barrel of his rifle to point the flashlight attached to in that direction. The other goes to consult the driver.

Emma and Ronnie are putting on a good show. He tries to wrap his arms around her. She slaps him. Kayla focuses. Then, she sees an opportunity. A couple of crates are unguarded, just as they planned, but nobody is in the garage, and the register has been left open. They were in the middle of transferring the day's sales. Kayla can feed herself and her siblings for a week, or she can feed them for a month. In any case, she has only moments to make her decision. The security guards are closing in on Emma and Ronnie, and they're about to drop the ruse.

<hr />

Larry Walker

"You look like a man who's leaving a lot behind," says the cabbie as Larry tells him where to go.

And how the hell is that any business of yours? He's not wrong, though. Is it that obvious? "Yeah I guess you could say that," he admits, but the rest of the ride is spent in silence. He takes in the city where he's spent the majority of his life. I'll be back. Sure I will, he tells himself, hoping that it's true. How much of this place will still be here is another matter. New Chicago's fared better than most of the other big cities, and a certain kind of willful obliviousness has taken root, but the waters are rising. There's no denying it. Besides, opportunity is knocking down by the coast, and this is a chance for Larry to make some cold hard cash without having to work for the man. Too good to say no to, really. Besides, I'll kinda be helping people.

The train station is unusually busy when he reaches it. Guess I'm not the first rat, he muses. Larry looks at the list of arrivals and departures. Gotta get out to the coast. Hmm... It seems that he'll have to take a two-stage trip. He can either go via St. Louis or Youngstown. The question is, which train to take?

<hr />

Tarein and Crazy Zane

Tarein was just starting to become acquainted with the room and the strange, subtle noise within it, when a series of loud thumps and bangs above her draw her attention and put her even further on edge. Then, there's the sound of metallic crunching and a tremendous thud. There is a deep, booming male voice, tinged with a hind of anger or frustration. "Maud?" it calls hopefully.

<hr />

Ulysses Walk

You do best by playing to your strengths. Ulysses does just that, leaping into his routine with the sort of gusto that only a true disciple of dance can manage. He throws in a no-hands backflip as the beat returns from a breakdown, and goes straight into a splits. He rises smoothly, as if on strings, and comes up in front of a pretty, gobsmacked young woman. He plants such an innocent kiss on her hand that even the boy trying to woo her can't object, and the crowd goes wild. With a bit of added panache, Ulysses spins on his heel and strikes a pose, facing his adversary. The smaller man raises his eyebrows, impressed, but pointedly not too impressed. He waits until a new song begins. This one has a bit of a slow dance vibe, and he plucks a surprised-looking girl from the crowd and starts dancing with her, spinning, lifting and twirling her with admirable strength and coordination. One can tell, even at a glance, that she doesn't know her way around a dance floor, but the Italian makes her appear more than competent. Someone in the crowd throws one of those fake roses, and swoops into a low dip, catching its stem between his teeth. It's looking to be an almost perfect routine, when the beat starts to shift again. Perceiving it, the Italian begins adjusting, but his partner, a bit slow on the uptake, doesn't. For a moment, their feet get tangled, and he stumbles. Ulysses shakes his head. He has the upper hand now. How will he finish his opponent off?

<hr />

Molly Rivers

"Ahh shit, it's you smart kids&#33;" the professor exclaims when Fabio manages to get his attention. "Whaddya want now?"

"Phineas," Fabio begins.

Marlowe rolls his eyes. "That's 'head of the sciences department: Dr. Phineas Marlowe,' to you, whippersnapper&#33;"

"Okay sure." This time it's Fabio's turn to roll his eyes. "What are you doing here, professor Marlowe?"

The drunk old man glances at them both. Molly nods encouragingly.

"Okay, fuck it. You wanna hear a story?"

"Yes. Yes, we'd love to," Fabio replies, momentary relief washing across his features.

"We should maybe, uh... find a table?" Molly squeaks.

Fabio nods, and the two of them manage to maneuver Dr. Marlowe to a small, unoccupied booth in a corner.

"Good kids, both of yah," the professor drawls.

"Should we try to find a menu?" Molly inquires.

Fabio nods, and pops up, looking around like a gopher sticking its head out of its hole. "Yep, I'll go find one, and maybe grab the others. See if you can coax him into telling you just what went wrong." With those words, Fabio scurries away, leaving Molly alone with one of the titans of the scientific world. Marlowe's always had a reputation for being combative and a bit of a maverick, but he really, truly, doesn't look himself. Whatever could be the matter?

[Alexjh]

Molly contemplates Phineas Marlowe... this really wasn't her forte at all, but perhaps she could use his own academic pride in her favour...

"Dr Marlowe, are you ok? I errr... heard you were presenting a brilliant theory of some sort today? Um... What happened?"

[NWOWWE]

Youngstown or St. Louis? An interesting choice. He guessed going by Youngstown would be a quieter ride, but St. Louis would probably be more reliable. Yeah. St. Louis it would be.

[Toxic]

Adahy wakes up early, a few hours before the sun rises and begins to fashion various items to make his traps. He does not want to do this and hopes that they won't be used. But, with humanity getting far too close for comfort you can never be too safe.

He spends several hours placing said traps around what he calls home, but far enough away from his dwelling and from each other to not give his position away.

Finally, after his hard work is complete, Adahy sits down for a quick meal. Today, he will be trekking around the surrounding area for several reasons. 1: Scouting of the newly established village for any info he can gather from a distance and 2: Hopefully finding an appropriate area further away and more secluded from the village if he needs to flee from his current home.

[MadBull]

Ulysses walks up to his opponent, dancing, and, especially, intimidating, in an attempt put him in a corner&#33;

And then dance off with his dance partner for the perfect finish&#33;

[Madman]

Kayla

It's too good a chance to pass up. Kayla feels butterflies in her stomach. They wouldn't actually shoot me, would they? She's also sick of eating objectively disgusting things from cans. Fast as a bolt, she dashes around the corner, finds the latch for the garage door, and drops it. She has a second to see startled faces and people starting to turn around, but then the door is closed. She quickly locks it. Veins pumping with adrenaline, she looks around her new paradise. First, she hits up the register and stuffs her pockets full of cash. Then she grabs a few tins of premium anchovies. Her brother likes them. Then there are gunshots outside. Realizing that they're probably trying to get in, Kayla heads deeper into the warehouse and around to the offices. She finds an office window, opens it, and squirms outside.

Emma

In her peripheral, Emma sees little Kayla slip into the garage. Then, instead of going for the tins, the kid closes the door and apparently locks it. Idiot&#33; They're just going to go around the other way. One of the guards starts moving, and Emma and Ronnie drop the act. Emma whips out her pistol and fires a shot into the air, just to distract the guards. Then she gets ready to run, herself.

[Cha0sFerret]

Odd that Ethan knew what I was looking at so quickly. Did he see it too? He says it's a probably a person, as well. Could be a lot of people, like us. Might not like seeing others wandering around their camp. No harm in just taking a peek, I suppose.

I nod to him again.

[The Monsterworks]

Molly Rivers

"Molly, isn't it? You're one of our engineering people." He nods in answer to his own question.

"Oh, um yes. I am."

Marlowe nods. "You're a smart one, Molly. I remember that." He looks around at all of the people in the Meancat and something heavy settles over him. "The government," he motions widely and grandly, "might be sending all of these people to their deaths."

Molly starts. That's a rather grand assertion to make. "Erm... but how?"

"Tomorrow," he slurs, "they're gonna vote to put people on ships and send 'em off to the colonies. Poof&#33; bye bye&#33;"

Evidently, that's not a course of action that he favours.

"You see, the ocean's not safe anymore. You know those attacks that they've been talking about?"

"Uhh, on the swimmers?"

He nods animatedly, "Yes, but on boats too: fishing craft, tramp steamers, you know: that sort of thing."

Molly nods cautiously. I'd dismissed them mostly as sailors' tales, to be honest.

Marlowe looks around. "Can we get some goddamned service here already?&#33;"

Molly nearly sinks into her seat out of sheer embarrassment.

"Anyway," he continues, "I wanted to see if there was any basis for them."

And you did, she realizes. You must've&#33;

"I started looking at and eliminating different classes, species, etc. Then I decided to look at the Book of the Rising, thinking that these tales might've been inspired by the ideas of the creatures in there." He pauses and burps, trying to cover his mouth with a hand. "Gotta be classy, right?" He shifts in his seat, glancing around for a server. Despairing of ever finding one, he returns his attention to Molly.

"And was there a similarity?"

"Well, I was getting outside of my specialty. I'm not a literature guy. Anyway, from what I could determine, there was. So, since the old book mentions 'monsters from the black depths,' I began looking into bathypelagic and abyssal species. I had Fabio there and Karl dredge up some specimens for me."

A waiter finally arrives and Phineas orders a ballpark frank and some chips. He orders the same for Molly, not waiting for her input. "A glass of water too," he calls. The waiter nods as he walks away.

"Anything interesting?" I assume that there was, or we wouldn't be having this discussion.

He purses his lips and takes a slow breath. "Superfamily luxnigrum has always been a bit of a strange one. We've been trying to figure out where they fit within everything, but we know precious little about deep see food webs. Anyway, I digress. Some of the specimens came up completely unharmed despite the immense pressure change. Aggressive even, snapping. They were entirely new species, as well. Like a good biologist, I did my due research, made sure they hadn't been identified by anyone else, and described them."

The pitcher of water arrives, and Marlowe greedily pours himself some. Molly decides to take a bit too, if only because it'll give her something to occupy her hands with.

The professor takes a sip. "So this was about three months ago. I was excited about the prospect of working on luxnigrum some more. They've been largely ignored by science. I had a handful of students dredge up some more for me a month later." He looks at her, a funny expression on his face. "More new species, much larger. Clearly related to the old ones, but found far closer to the surface." He shakes his head. "Animals that large, in the range of two to three meters, found that close to the wall."

"Surprising that they hadn't been formally described before," Molly observes.

"Yes, exactly&#33;" Marlowe takes another, nervous sip of water. "A month ago, more specimens. Same size, but my team sighted something in the five to seven meter range. Now that's a sizable animal. Sighted it too&#33; It broke the surface. Unheard of for luxnigrum. Unprecedented."

"That is...highly unusual," Molly concludes. Biology is not her forte, but she knows enough in passing to be struck by the strangeness of this whole business.

"Well," Dr. Marlowe continues, "being the diligent researcher that I pretend to be, I started dissecting specimens. All of them showed multiple vestigial features, and you could actually witness the progression between first, second, and third month specimens." he shivers involuntarily.

"Mutation?" Molly proposes.

Marlowe nods. "Mutation, evolution, taking place right before my eyes, at a rate that's just..." he downs some more water. "Fuck, I need another beer." He glances at her apologetically. "It disobeys all of the laws of biology. There's not even a precedent for it. Viruses are the closest things, and those tread the line between living and nonliving. I'd venture that that luxnigrum isn't even related to any other group on the planet: species, genus, class, phylum, even kingdom&#33;"

Molly doesn't quite know what to think, but this is serious. It's important. She lets him continue. "There is a distinct probability that they are related to the recent attack reports. All specimens captured alive demonstrated extreme aggression towards human subjects but only moderate aggression towards bait, and at the rate that they've been growing...well, the water's not safe anymore."

Molly's just about to ask him a further question, when two things happen in rapid succession. First, a fight erupts out on the dance floor, and through the crowd, she can see Fabio trying to pull two people apart. He's not a very physical man, and never has been, so it's not likely to end well for him. Second, the phone behind the bar rings and a bartender picks it up. "Uh-huh, yeah, he's here, but he's not at his table. It's urgent? Yeah&#33; Okay, okay, lady, I get it. Anybody?" the bartender looks towards Molly. "Hey," he calls, "It's for Fabio. The lady on the other end is freaking out. Says her name's Marigold. Can you take it, and maybe calm her down?"

<hr />

Larry Walker

Larry boards the train without incident and stares idly out the window as it passes through forests and fields. There are a couple of flag stops at towns along the way, but it's a pretty uneventful trip. He has a burger, fries, and some root beer in the meal car, and settles down to read the St. Louis Examiner. Better get the pulse of this place. I'll be there for almost a week. He gets to looking at ads for hotels in the area, but can't quite make a decision. Eventually, he drifts off to sleep.

Larry's awoken by a sudden change in speed, and the deep blast of the train's whistle. It's later in the afternoon and the sun is hovering right inside of the Gateway Arch. Now ain't that just a sight. Larry kind of wishes that he had his camera.

When the train finally screeches to a stop and people start unloading, Larry's one of the first off. He makes his way through the station and out towards the big street in front. Now this is a place with some hustle and bustle, like New Chicago used to have. He ducks back inside - there are plenty of cabs - and grabs a few hotel pamphlets from the rack. He should get all set up with a place to stay. Three, in particular, catch his eye: the Grace Maritime, down near the river; Super Seven, cheap and cheery and out along the highway, and La Rochambeau, cheap and classy at the same time, right in the heart of the old French district. Hmm, which one to choose...

<hr />

More coming soon...

[That Kode Guy]

Tarein

Okay, that was just too much. Tarein does not know what a 'Maud' is, but whatever it is, it sounds positively unwelcome. Then again, she must seem unwelcome as well.

She contemplates. &#45208;&#45716; ... &#49892;&#54665;&#54644;&#50556;&#54633;&#45768;&#44620;? No... impossible. She can't even see. At any rate, she probably couldn't even hide, much less run.

On the other hand, trying to approach something in the dark is almost certain death...

She sits down, folds her limbs around herself, and tries to mask whatever energy signature she might have sent off, hoping this 'Maud' does not sense her in any fashion.

[The Monsterworks]

Ulysses Walk

Ulysses responds with the flash and panache that is his trademark. He's got this guy on the ropes now. He backs him down with a confident strut, and the Italian releases his partner. It looks like she's about to disappear back into the crowd - there's a guy looking at her reproachfully - but Ulysses isn't about to let that happen. He grabs her by the hand, spins her, and makes her fall into his arms.

And that's when things go wrong.

First, there's the incessant shouting of some guy in Italian: "Paolo&#33; Paolo&#33; Smettila&#33; Vieni qui&#33;" Ulysses doesn't speak Italian. He tries to ignore it. Then, out of nowhere, he sees a large shape coming at him in his peripheral vision. His partner's drunken boyfriend swings a wine bottle at his head. Somehow, it doesn't shatter - he partially dodges it - but it conks him good and hard, and the next thing that Ulysses knows, his world is swimming and his head is throbbing, and there are bright lights and colours. People gasp and shout and run. His opponent swings at the drunken boyfriend. Danceoffs are sacred. You don't interrupt them. Another one of those Italians tries to get between them. Eventually, Ulysses regains his senses. A particularly beautiful woman is holding his head and asking if he's alright, but that idiot hit him with a wine bottle. Should he seek revenge, stop the fight, or spend some more time with this prime specimen of feminine beauty?

<hr />

Kayla and Emma

Kayla makes it away with the cash, and by turning on the afterburners, Emma gets away too. When they meet back up at Emma's apartment, they're a bit surprised to see each other.

"You were just supposed to grab a box&#33;" Emma practically shouts. "You could've gotten us all killed."

Kayla takes a step back and then gathers herself. "Well, we're all alive and I hit the register."

"You actually got the cash?" Emma asks, pleasantly surprised.

Kayla nods, a smirk working its way across her face.

"Well damn, kid, you've got some skills." Emma holds out her hand expectantly. Kayla blinks.

"Well, give me the cash and we'll divide it up between the three of us."

Trying to keep a scowl from her face,Kayla reaches into her pockets and places a few wads of cash on the tabletop.

Eyes gleaming with greed, Emma counts it up. She lets out a low whistle. "This is more than a day's haul. They were sending the week's earnings to corporate."

"How much we got?" Ronnie asks.

"&#036;8000 smackers," Emma crows.

"Holy shit&#33;" says Ronnie.

She begins dividing it up. Kayla watches. There is a rat by the fridge. It looks at them and then scampers away.

"Right&#33;" exclaims Emma, "so that's &#036;3000 for me, &#036;3000 for you, Ron, and our junior partner has definitely earned her &#036;2000." She holds out a wad of cash towards Kayla.

The girl blinks. I was the only who actually stole the money. Without me, we'd have one box of fucking canned food. Then, she remembers the extra money tucked into her socks. Should she demand an equal share, should she take what they give her but keep the money in her socks a secret, or should she put everything on the table now and accept their judgement?

<hr />

Adahy

After setting his traps, Adahy packs his bags for a long day out in the woods. He begins scouting further East, up towards the mountains, and makes note of a few places that would make for good shelters. One is a large rock overhang that would only need a single wall built to make for a very resilient and waterproof shelter. There is a stream nearby and a river with good fishing about an hour away. Some raspberry bushes could act as a source of food, but also as an attractant to bears.

A second is on the high ground in the middle of a thickly wooded area. It won't be prone to flooding. There's enough of a clearing that he'll be able to build a decent structure, but he'll have to build it all from scratch. He's looking into the possibility of a third, when he pulls his foot back at the last moment possible. The leaves don't look quite right. To most people, it would be just another patch of forest floor, but to his practiced eye, it's clearly a cover for something. There are no seedlings or flowers. Cautiously, he brushes away some leaves. There is a rough twine cloth spread over a fairly deep pit trap. It's definitely not one of his. He shifts the cloth and a small bell rings. Smart, Dammit Immediately, Adahy's senses go into high alert. He is not alone in this area. Should he flee or investigate further?

<hr />

Jack Smith

Jack and Ethan steal away from camp as the last of the sun's light fades from the horizon. "I saw it too, Jack," Ethan confides. "Didn't wanna say anything. People tend to push the panic button real easy 'round here. was gonna check it out m'self."

Staying low and cutting through the tall grass, they work their way up the hill. Soon, they can hear voices - many voices - and engines too. It's a large group.

Jack gives Ethan a worried look. Ethan returns it. They slow even further, moving only when the wind allows them too. Finally, they make it to the thicket at the top of the hill. In the distances, they can see the moon's rays sparkling off of the ocean, but that's of little concern to them right now. Below them is an army.

<hr />

Tarein and Crazy Zane

Nobody answers Zane's call. Whoever's down here isn't Maud. Maud adores Zane. She would've answered him. "Come out, come out&#33;" Zane calls. He doesn't like it when people don't answer him. That's rude. He is really sore from that ride down the tubes, and he should probably find a way out of here, but then there's a person here who ignored him...

Tarein becomes a quiet nothing. The big man - at least he seems to be - tramps around noisily. She can tell by his breath that he's been under some stress. He's frustrated, aggressive. Perhaps he will give up and find a way out. Then the question is, should Tarein wait a bit and follow him, or will that lead only to further danger?

[Toxic]

"Shit&#33;" Adahy thinks as he investigates the trap further.

"That was way too close.....whoever is out here is very clever."

Adahy throws a large tree branch into the pit, which collapses under the weight. Perhaps whoever set this will think that it was nothing more than a random act of nature. For now though, Adahy will flee back into his territory while hoping he was not spotted or followed. From there, we will continue is scouting of the village while keeping a close eye on where he just retreated from.

[Cha0sFerret]

An army... I don't feel like dying tonight.

I tap Ethan on the shoulder and motion that we should go back.

[NWOWWE]

Larry thumbs casually through the brochures. He likes the look of the Maritime building, but then cloudy images of his dream bubble up in his mind. Nahh, fuck the river he thinks and puts that brochure aside. The Super Seven looks decent enough, but he isn't sure if he's crazy about being that near the highway. La Rochambeau holds a certain interest.

Yeah, that cynical voice in his head chimes in. Let's really give that C+ you got for that one year of French a workout&#33; At best you could probably pass yourself off as some kind of backwoods Cajun from Louisiana. But he's not worried about that kind of stuff right now and tells the voice fuck off. But it's no good. The voice seems to be speaking from his conscience, and he guesses he deserves this a guilt trip doesn't he?

What's the matter Larry old buddy? You're not your hustling old self&#33; I guess it must be hard after the way you slunk out of town.

You're an asshole.

I'm just you pal. Hey&#33; It looks like the Super Seven isn't too far from Busch Stadium&#33; Mom always love the Cubs/Cardinals games best&#33; Too bad you won't get a chance to share any of those games with her again because you were too gutless to face her before you left.

That's garbage and you know it. I needed to get out and she wouldn't leave. I wish I could have done it differently but I couldn't have.

Without really thinking about it he discards the Super Seven brochure, leaving only the La Rochambeau brochure in his hand. The voice feels like it wants to keep arguing, but it quickly fizzles out like a bad radio signal. The firmness of his resolve against it seems to have brushed it aside for now. Yes, La Rochambeau seems like the place to be. If he's going to have to be here for most of a week he might as well stay someplace real.

[Alexjh]

Molly contemplates for a second.... there is no point answering a phonecall for Fabio.... she grabs her backpack and looks through it for some tool or half finished invention that might help break up the fight.... some very loud noise? some kind of blinding lights? something to deliver a stunning electric shock perhaps? there must be something in here&#33;