First Blood Shed

Artexi:<Don't turn your back on Xyukuse. He's really a piece of work. About as bad as him, just without the excuse.>

*She kinda tilts her head at Roatha*
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*Safian goes back to sniffing stuff. Monu leans against the wall, occasionally glancing at Binah and Lilith*

Azuma: "Met him. Probably wouldn't recognize him before or after Avici tinkered with him."

"Tron is the guy who has a data pattern that matches...oh crap you biological creatures don't recognize people through their identity disc data patterns, do you?" Kyohaku frowned for a moment as though he were stuck on that, but the others shook him out of it. "Hey Safian? Is that how I should call you? What are you smelling for exactly anyway?"

From what he knew of those aforementioned biological organisms, Kyohaku had figured that she must have been onto something as a result.

E"Helpful. Whatever, if Avici took the time to turn him evil, he must be important. We'll just look for the guy sending all of the minions after us."

Th"That is logical."

*Vincent heads off to brood in the other corner, leaning against the wall & crossing his arms. He closes his eyes & might be asleep. Meanwhile, Cid heads back to the computer. Sitting down, he points to the monitor.*

Cid<I still can't believe this bullshit about goin' inside the computer, but there it is, plain as day: Virtualization program.>

E"Do you know how it works?"

Cid<'Course not, dumbass, I didn't program it, I just told you I didn't think it could be done! But I don't have to know shit. It's software, just gotta push the damn buttons it tells me to.>

*Binah heads out.*

L"If that's all, everyone not going to The Grid should follow me."
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Xigbar<Yeah, as if.>

*Senthose waves a hand & all of the straps binding them unsnap. Ira rips out the IV, ignoring the blood running down his arm.*

OOC: Going to work on Safian's appearance now.

*Safian turns back to stare at Hinode, tail twitching*

<That works fine for me. And I'm checking out these computer things. We don't have them where I come from. We don't even have humans there, as far as I know.>

*Monu heads over to stand beside Lilith*
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*Artexi sits up and crosses her arms, however she is careful not to remove the IV like Roatha*

<You'll see. He's loads of fun to have around if you like backstabbers.>

OOC: Even though Hercules wore Scar's pelt. However that worked.

Not being keen on falling into another hole, Azuma and Hitomi do not stick around.

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Vega still isn't doing things that would make him appear to be as unstable as those others malcontents.

To be honest, Kyohaku had been admittedly rather surprised at the fact that his home world was apparently so unbelievable to the likes of Cid. He had already gotten used to the idea it was every bit as alien to everyone else as this one was to him, however. "If you can't believe in the virtualization program, then how do you suspect I got here? Apparently I had to go through something like this in reverse." He then looked back toward Safian with a more genuine smile. "I might look human myself, but I'm actually not. I can't wait to start glowing again." He said that as though it were normal to glow.

*The Moogles remove the IV drips from anyone who didn't just rip them off like Roatha. Senthose starts to head out.*

N"Where are you going?"

*He looks back.*

S"As I said, we cannot defeat the Order yet. But once preparations are complete, we will be able to invade the Land of Departure & destroy Binah Psyche."

Xigbar<As if. Girl's got a bag of magic tricks the size of this castle. How d'you plan on taking that out?>

*Senthose grins.*

S"That is exactly the plan. Without magic, she's barely more proficient than her students."
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*Anyone not going to The Grid is now presumably walking down the hall. Without the emergency lights, the corridor is much more welcoming, lit by warm lights, its walls painted a sort of golden brown.*

L"Let's leave the Organization alone for now & head out. We're more likely to find some of them lurking around the Coliseum if they aren't under pressure, anyway."
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E"Glowing?"

Cid<I haven't got all goddamn day!>

E"Alright, we're ready! Don't have a heart attack, old man."

*Cid clicks some keys & then the red light on the wall starts glowing before shooting Euryale with a laser. She suddenly freezes, mouth agape, as she's translated into thousands of tiny pixels. Thiera has enough time to step towards her before the laser strikes her & freezes her as well, followed by Safian & Hinode. They don't see the next step in the process as their eyes open onto [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Euryale looks around wildly at all of the tall buildings around them, glowing with lines of blue, white, & yellow.*

E"What the--wha--what?!"

*Thiera looks over.*

Th"That's right, you've never seen a city like this, have you?"

E"And you have?"

Th"It's not that different from the City of Secrets. According to Roatha, that's like a bigger, less vibrant version of Twilight Town, but I've never been there."

*They look around some more. They have emerged from an I/O Tower on a kind of high terrace overlooking a city with various other I/O Towers in the distance. Beyond the city is a digital sea, & beyond that a landscape of unidentifiable structures glowing red, with something like a tower many times the size of theirs--the Central Computer Mesa--in the distance beyond. Then Euryale looks down.*

E"Hey, why are my clothes different?"

Th"It's not unreasonable that modifications would have to be made when translating us into data."

E"In the form of glowing...what are these things over my human legs, anyway?"

Th"They are called pants."

*Eve grins wickedly at Xigbar. Artexi watches the moogle taking out her IV*

Artexi:<Uh, thanks...>
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*Safian turns a circle, trying to see what she now looks like*

<I don't mind this at all!>

*Once that's done with, she sniffs the air, seeing what she can smell*
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*Monu follows behind Lilith*

Taiyo eyes Euryale's attire, biting her lip.

Taiyo: "I think it looks great."

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Azuma: "After a loss like this, wouldn't they regroup and plot a new course?"

Considering that his powers were all based on the forces of light as it were, Hinode had no problem with the laser striking him and freezing him along with Safian. Soon enough though his eyes were opening and, in a surprisingly human act for Hinode, the view of the Grid was clouded by tears.

Having dropped to his knees after glancing down at the fronts and backs of his now glowing hands, Hinode choked back a few words that were a declaration of the fact that he was home. Nevertheless he realized that the others might be watching him, and that was more than enough to get him to pop straight back up for the time being.

"You've...never had legs before, have you?"

With that he was pounding his fist into an open hand while smirking. It seemed that he had apparently turned back into the same old Hinode. "Think we could still find the gang I used to hang around with when I wasn't handling my digital duties or what?"

E"I guess it's not bad. Thanks."

*Safian picks up various metallic scents & kind of an electric burnt air smell. It's what the back of a CPU smells like & it's not at all pleasant to me, but cats always try to sit on them, so maybe they like it. Presumably, they are all staring at Hinode after his ouburst.*

E"Uh...not before a couple months ago, no."

Th"Seeing as this is the first time I've ever been in this world, I have no idea whom we may or may not find. But it stands to reason that this region was under Avici's control up until his recent...disappearance."

*Euryale peers out over the city with a hand over her eyes.*

E"I can see that a lot of the city is red. Is that his stuff? I thought his color was purple."
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L"If they lived up to their name, perhaps. Anyway, we can't get to their headquarters, but Olympus Coliseum is becoming an interstellar trade route, so we might hear something."

*She summons her Keyblade, firing a beam that opens a portal to the Lanes Between in the middle of the hall.*
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*Senthose turns to leave.*

Xigbar<Right. Guess we'd better hurry up & get the kiddo.>

Taiyo: "You're really fond of here?"

=================================

Presumably they glider up and go.

*Safian is indeed staring at Hinode*

<What do the different colors mean?>
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*Monu gliders up and follows*
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*Eve does the same*

The electric burnt smell was pleasant to Hinode. While heated semiconductors usually don't smell very good to people, being a normal denizen of this area made it so that he was rather different in that respect. "It's where I was programmed and activated, Taiyo...you might say that I was born here if I understand the organic statement accurately." Finally, though, he paused. "The colors? Well, they all represent different data patterns. The correct ones for the grid are more like...you'd perceive them as like a bluish green I would think."

Th"Yes, that is the correct usage of the phrase."

E"I didn't understand any of that."

Th"Data is the plural of 'datum,' a word meaning 'that which is given.' That must refer to whatever process can transfer images, text--even organisms--into this machine. Avici was foreign to this world, so of course he would have some unusual traits."

E"Okay, but that still doesn't explain the different colors. Does that just mean that Avici is more powerful?"

Th"Perhaps. It could also be because Avici was using the infrastructure & entities of this world to build his own forces."

*Euryale's brow unforrows & she smacks her fist into her hand with the sudden realization.*

E"Oh yeah! Like what Azuma said about Avici transforming some guy named 'Tron.'"
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Xigbar<Come along then, kiddies.>

*Xigbar heads towards Xyukuse's room.*
============================
*As they fly away from the world, they find themselves heading towards a cloud of red-orange dust. A pair of large planetoids slammed into each other recently, causing asteroids of various size to spread throughout it, the larger ones filled with holes that ships could fly through. Out of one of these emerges an Adamant, flanked by a pair of Shiva. They are flying parallel to the Order, behind a cluster of 5 or 6 rocks, probably unaware of them. They can hear the sounds of some kind of mining operation in the celestial body they emerged from.*

L"Should we engage?"

Safian:<So we should destroy all of the purple stuff? Or can we change it back to blue or whatever?>
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*Monu flies up beside Lilith so she can better hear him*

<I'm not sure. There may be reinforcements nearby.>
---
*Artexi groans loudly and follows him. Eve nods at Senthose before heading back to work*

Azuma: "Maybe if all of us were present."

=================================

As apparently Vega was unrestrained, he follows.

"Think of it this way...there's a light. That light can be on...that light could also be off. By turning on and off a large bank of these, a person could encode anything that they wanted. That's what data is." Kyohaku frowned a bit as he had hoped that his explanation was sufficient for what was going on. Finally, though, he furrowed his brow. "If Tron has indeed been transformed, then that means we might already be too late to do anything. Tron was a great warrior who protected this place."

*Euryale scratches her head, looking confused. Thiera furrows her brow, staring at the Central Computer Mesa, which she now points to.*

Th"Clearly, whatever process that Avici uses can be reversed. What is that? Is that where he would have commanded from?"
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L"Well...alright, let's veer right, then."

*She does so, leading them through the asteroids towards another planetoid with tunnels running through it. When they pass out the other side, Olympus Coliseum comes into view, but veering away from it, leaving Radiant Garden, they can see a small fleet of about 5 Mini-Cruisers, again on their left.*
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*When he gets there, Xigbar starts banging on the door.*

Xigbar<Hey! Xuluwhatever! Get up, we've got ourselves a mission!>

R"Listen here, Cyclops, that's not his proper name! We address him as 'Xshittyname.'>

Xigbar<Doesn't really roll off the tongue.>

R"Too bad, you will use it & you will like it."

*Xigbar waves him off.*

Xigbar<As if, short stuff.>

*Safian looks very confused*

<Uh...ok...>

*She looks expectantly at Hinode*

<So where's the command center around here?>
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*Monu points at the approaching crusiers*

<Let's see if we can avoid engaging them.>
---
*Artexi crosses her arms and smirks*

<He's right, we all call him that. You'll see why in a minute hear.>

He's sleeping, so fuck those tossers.

Vega begins thinking about how either side consists mostly of petulant children and whether or not going freelance would be a better option.

Looking over toward both Thiera and Safian, Kyohaku nodded a bit. "I think that both of you kind of have a piece of the puzzle if you know what I mean. That big tower is where things receive their commands from, and yeah...we should probably pay it a visit before anything else. What do you guys think? Are you ready to go or what?"

Th"Mother hoped that we would be able to locate who or what 'deleted' Avici's 'back-up files' from within this world. We should locate them 1st."

E"That way we'll have more help when we go to the command center or whatever. I get it. Should we also tell the people living her to join us?"

Th"Not yet. We'll want to avoid detection by the enemy for as long as possible."

E"Then we'd better avoid that thing."

*She points to where an enormous [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is rising out of the canyon near the Central Computer Mesa.*

E"It'll be coming here to take back control, won't it?"
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*And so, after an uneventful trip, they are swooping down into Olympus Coliseum. Along the way, they see that the coliseum & the temples have been adorned with banners, scrolls, & plaques, most of which are unreadable at this distance, save those that say in enormous letters "TOURNAMENT TODAY."*
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*Xigbar steps back, summoning a Keyblade, & just plain shoots the lock off of the door. He then kicks it open, banging his Keyblades together as he approaches Xuluwhatever's bed.*

Xigbar<C'MON, RISE & SHINE, LIL' BOY! WAKEY-WAKEY, EGGS & BAKEY!>

R"Well, someone's as obnoxiously chipper as he is lacking depth perception."

Azuma: "This isn't contrived at all."

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He rolls over, groaning and mumbling something that sounds like "Fuck off."