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Hallways

The oni nods eagerly and spins with a flourish, intending to walk as he talked. Bed was calling, after all.

"Ah yes, we were Interrupted by Headroom, were we not? Well, the tale begins much as any any other, I suppose. I was but a humble Engineer from the far-off--" (Blitzgott was guessing here, since he didn't exactly know where this landship was relative to the one he previously lived) "--land of Leithania, where I was born and raised. My family was well-off enough to send me to school, you see, and Machines fascinated me. My specialty was in defensive and surveillance machines, the sort that run via Arts. I'm sure you have seen the sort before.

"But lo!" Blitzgott suddenly shouts, hands raised towards the ceiling. "Catastrophe struck! My city just barely got the warning in time, and was caught by the edge of the storm! All my defensive devices, useless to halt the bombardment of stones from the sky!"

The oni shuddered slightly, one hand moving to cover his eyepatch in a curiously un-dramatic way. "And that...is when it happened. I was seeking Shelter from the storm when a crystal the size of a car impacted upon the street in front of me. Pieces flew in every direction as the crystal shattered, and one flew directly for me. I can recall that moment vividly - the strange lights in the sky glinting off the crystal's facets; the screaming of terrified people; the gleaming point of the chunk as it flew, straight as an arrow, for my face. I felt certain that I was witnessing the end of my Life. In a way, I suppose it was, for when I awoke in the infirmary days later...I had Changed."

42-1 watched the Revivians from afar, sipping tea he had prepared earlier.

: "I believe I am starting to understand some of the comments Old Master said about Revivians. They do seem to get worked up over the strangest things, don't they? But they aren't nearly as bad as he implied." He refilled the cup of his drinking companion.

Mordecai follows his rival to to L-8, but does not pose.

: "I guess we'll just have to do the best we can. Certainly we cannot let this strange alliance run amok any longer than necessary."

: I just hope none of my people are behind this. We'd be hunted down and destroyed if non-vampires thought we were siding with Fiends.

: "Does this mean that you and the other professors will be joining us, Professor Estelle? If these people have somehow tamed or subdued Fiends, then there's no way of knowing what else they may be capable of. Trainees like ourselves may be overmatched."

: "Should I take that to mean that you aren't actual--I mean, official royalty, then? I was under the impression that royal lineages were tracked almost obsessively." Being from the fringes of civilization, Mordecai had little knowledge of, or care for, the local dynasties. Still, he felt like an heir to a crown would probably have a platoon of bodyguards around. Assuming such an heir would be allowed on a dangerous assignment in the first place, of course.

: "I'm curious about Matagot, though. I have never seen a talking cat before."

Mordecai had remained silent throughout the briefing. He had been...well, not broody exactly, but certainly in a bit of a dour mood. His mind kept flashing back to a certain long-ago day when Fiends had attacked his village. The vampire had been a mere child back then, certainly not capable of or expected to fight off slavering monsters, and yet a certain irrational part of him had always blamed himself for the deaths the village had suffered.

Battling Fiends was a primary goal of the Order. By joining the Order, he'd get the chance to fight them. If he fought them - and killed them - then perhaps in some small way it would be vengeance for the wrongs such creatures had done to him and his? Assuming he didn't freeze up at the sight of one, anyway. That was a risk too.

His introspective was interrupted by a familiar, if rather peculiar, oratory style. Looking up, Mordecai realized that the bizarre girl from his tea party adventure had arrived.

: "Why, it's you again. The Archambault girl. I did not know you would be joining us today." Looked like she and Reeve were getting on like a house on fire. The vampire hid a fanged smile at the mental image of the two of them talking an army of Fiends to death.