044: Death and All His Friends

[contract_star]

[Hei appears on the Plane in a simple wooden chair, his wrists zip-tied together behind the back. He seems to be unconscious, slumped forward in the chair, hair hanging in his face. He looks half-dead--battered and bruised and dusty. Blood is drying at his hairline and near his nose.]

[A moment goes by, and then he opens his eyes and sits up rather abruptly, shaking his head and sighing in annoyance. It's clear that while he's obviously been in a fight, it's not as bad as it first looked. He looks around the Plane.]

...Mostly according to plan...sort of.

Comments

[mercwamouth]

'Cause this was more fun.

[contract_star]

[D<]

[mercwamouth]

Plus, you were acting so cocky like you had everything under control. Thought I should knock you down a peg.

[contract_star]

I was not acting cocky. There are dozens of unknown factors.

[mercwamouth]

I am the living embodiment of an unknown factor.

[contract_star]

[Mutters something that sounds like "tell me about it."]

[mercwamouth]

So what exactly are you up to?

[contract_star]

The Syndicate--the people I used to work for--they kidnapped Yin and threatened to kill her if I didn't come to them.

[mercwamouth]

So you did.

Do they actually have Yin?

[contract_star]

They do. Yin wouldn't go off on her own, anyway. And they took me to see her. [Pauses.] They've been keeping her away from water, so they haven't let her drink or go to the bathroom for almost 18 hours.

[mercwamouth]

Water the source of her power?

[contract_star]

She's a Doll. She can use a surveillance specter--like a ghost that lets her see what's happening in other places. But she needs a medium to send the specter through, and water is her medium.

[mercwamouth]

And I guess the water in her body doesn't count.

[contract_star]

No.

[mercwamouth]

How's that work exactly?

[contract_star]

She needs physical contact with her medium, and with enough of it for the specter to get through. Most Dolls just put their hands to their medium.

[mercwamouth]

...So why doesn't the water in her body work if she just needs physical contact? Or does it have to be her skin?

[contract_star]

It needs to be pure, normal water. The water in your body is in the form of blood and other fluids. Anyway, the water outside is all connected...somehow. She tried to explain it to me once.

[mercwamouth]

So flavored water is a no-no?

[contract_star]

...Honestly, I'm not sure.

[mercwamouth]

Who makes these rules anyway? Gary Gygax?

[contract_star]

Who?

[mercwamouth]

Look it up. I don't have time to footnote all of my pop culture references.

[contract_star]

[Sigh.]