Chuubo-1:7

<@Random_Nerd> Okay, so, let me refresh my memory on what happened last in Chuubo.
<@Knockwood> Let's see, we'd just launched the ship, right?
<@Verithe> We opened an improbable door!

• Angelo has joined #Nobilis
  

<@BethE> Yep. DeMontreal and Senko both have licenses. We watched a girl and her wolfthing get yelled at.

• Verithe is now known as Mrs_Senko
  

<@BethE> Hi Angelo! *HUG*
<@Mrs_Senko> Angelo!
<Angelo> Hi!

• Mrs_Senko sets mode: +o Angelo
  
• lazarus is now known as Luthien
  
• Angelo is now known as Shounen
  
• Knockwood is now known as deMontreal
  

<@Shounen> is Chuubo time?
<@Mrs_Senko> How are you, Angelo?
<@deMontreal> Hiya Angelo
<@Random_Nerd> Your kids doing better?
<@Mrs_Senko> and, yes. Chuubo today.
<@Shounen> really not
<@Shounen> or more precisely she was ok but in the last 2 days she get a fever (again)
<@deMontreal> ack
<@Shounen> indeed

• BethE is now known as Lili
  

<@Lili> Oh no.  :( *HUG* to her*
<@Luthien> (Sara: "this spoon is broken!" Me: "It would help to try to pick something up besides air...")
<@Random_Nerd> So! You had just named your zeppelin the Deus Ex Machina!
<@deMontreal> so, we're flying out of the School, heading for my place?
<@Random_Nerd> Oh? What were you going to get there?
<@deMontreal> Where else would you park a zeppelin made partially of nightmares?
<@Lili> Location, location, location.
<@Lili> Ooo, will we get a tour of deMontreal's place? Lili demands a tour!
<@Mrs_Senko> "To the Sky!"
<@deMontreal> Hardly. Though you will meet Alvin.
<@Random_Nerd> Have we established how close together Luthien and Leo live?
<@Lili> But we are your friends! The first time that friends come to your house, there is a tour!
<@Lili> The second time, is when your parental units show embarassing photos of you, usually of you in a bathtub with bubbles. Lili knows this! She's read the mangas!

• @deMontreal is friendless, as you'll recall.
  

<@Lili> Then you must practice your tour-giving for when you have friends.
<@Mrs_Senko> Mrs. Cartaign's statement is correct and practical.
<@Random_Nerd> She's been replaced by the Ideologue!
<@Shounen> Also he have an home in Town, right?
<@Lili> (Lili just wants a tour. ^^ And it's Mz!)
<@Random_Nerd> No, wait, that's if she's sensible, logical, and sane.
<@Random_Nerd> Leo and Luthien, I believe, both live in Old Moulder.
<@Mrs_Senko> Mz!
<@Shounen> MZ?
<@Random_Nerd> Moooz
<@Mrs_Senko> Mz!
<@Random_Nerd> Mooooooz.
<@deMontreal> that may be a Mz-take
<@Mrs_Senko> Though we usually use Ms.
<@Lili> Mzzzz Cartigan. She has yet to be married and hasn't decided if she ever wants to. Although the event would be shiny and fabulous.
<@Lili> She likes the z.
<@Mrs_Senko> Yes. The z is fun. :)
<@Random_Nerd> Maybe she should flirt with the Nightmare Engine!
<@Random_Nerd> It is, after all, Incomperable.
<@deMontreal> and behind a ridiculous number of locked doors.
<@Random_Nerd> So, shall we start with the Deus Ex Machina flying to Casa de Monreal?
<@Luthien> (Luthi lives in a Secret Fort in Old Moulder, which nobody knows about, or where it is, or can get in, of course! ... I mean, if they happen to find the cardboard box with "Luthi's Secret Fort - Please Ignore" written on it, they might be able to get in, but ...)
<@deMontreal> (Can we assume we have cell phones, BTW?)
<@Mrs_Senko> It also makes Lili part Mz. Frizzle for me, which is like a slightly less fashionable Mary Poppins.
<@Mrs_Senko> Though I love Mz. Frizzle's fashion sense.
<@deMontreal> Senko: is that from NIMH?
<@Random_Nerd> No, that's Mrs. Frisby.
<@deMontreal> ah yeah
<@Lili> Mz Frizzle is awesome and possibly a Time Lord.
<@Luthien> (I wonder what it says that my first thought was not of the Secret of Nimh, but rather, Nickle-Metal-Hydride, as in batteries)
<@Mrs_Senko> Totally a Time Lord! I never thought of that!
<@Lili> The Bus is her Tardis.
<@Random_Nerd> (Hmm. Cell phones... I'm going to say no, at least not as a matter of course. Town is kinda retro in terms of its tech, so I'm going to say that we're mostly at the "car phones for businessmen" stage.)
<@Luthien> DWAITAS would make a good Magic School Bus game :D
<@Random_Nerd> (So, it would be possible for a student to have one, but weird.)
<@Lili> (And thus, DeMontreal has one?)
<@Random_Nerd> Shounen probably has one, though, because he's Just That Cool.
<@Shounen> really? Cool!
<@deMontreal> yep, by that logic I probably have a switchboard inmy pants
<@Random_Nerd> Same reason he's a year older than Chuubo and so forth.
<@Luthien> Luthi probably has one. Or, rather, a thing that she claims is one, but is really a sponge or something.
<@Random_Nerd> And, yeah, Leo probably has a homemade one that looks really weird.
<@Shounen> cool
<@deMontreal> The Jacob's ladder, uh, helps reception. Really.
<@Mrs_Senko> I would be amused if that became Luthi's new treasure...the Old Dishsponge Phone!
<@Random_Nerd> Okay.

START

<@Lili> (I don't wanna think about what's in deMontreal's pants.)
<@Random_Nerd> The decaying formerly-industrial neighborhood of Old Moulder stretches out below you.

• @deMontreal places an odd-looking device on the dashboard...
  

<@Mrs_Senko> "Mr. de Montreal, the Sky is that way!"
<@Random_Nerd> It's not quite ruined, and not quite uninhabited, but it's close to both.
<@Lili> (Are we all in it?)
<@Shounen> (Ftisk time: weeeeeeee we are flying!)
<@Random_Nerd> (In the DEM?)
<@Random_Nerd> The buildings are falling apart, but most haven't fully collapsed.
<@deMontreal> "Oh? What's that over there, then?"
<@Luthien> "Not sky!"
<@Random_Nerd> There are a few people there who actually own property and pay rent, but most are squatters.
<@Luthien> "Teacher said sky is up! That's not up!"

• @deMontreal hits a button on the thing.
  

<@Lili> (Yes, are we all in the DEM?)
<@deMontreal> "Alvin, come in."
<@Random_Nerd> There was a time when this place was the future of Town. Now, it's not even the past, it's just a false start that never quite worked out.
<@Random_Nerd> An electronic buzzing noise, and then a voice.
<@Shounen> ".. oh all these broken dreams lingering here .. how sad ... "
<@Random_Nerd> "Ah, yes, sir. Shall I prepare the ritual contamination of your Clean Room, so it will be properly dirt-free when you arrive?"

• @Mrs_Senko pats Luthien appreciatively.
  

<@deMontreal> "Even better, Alvin. Prepare the Hangar for my... our new zeppelin."
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Very good, sir."
<@Luthien> *doesn't really know what to make of being patted by an Ogress. Sure, she's the Teacher, and making her happy is great, but on the other hand ... she wants to eat me!)
<@Random_Nerd> (On the contamination? No! It has to be ceremonially unclean, so it can be physically clean.)
<@Luthien> *so, Luthi flinches slightly*
<@Lili> (Senko isn't an Ogress.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Them's the rules, in Old Moulder.)
<@Lili> (Wrong teacher.)
<@Lili> (This is Senko, Practical Teacher.)
<@Luthien> (oh, crap, got it wrong. Sorry! Still, the reaction will fit :))
<@deMontreal> "And prepare ... 5 comfortable cot... beds for the crew. The others."
<@Lili> (Ogress is Zoe Rosewood.)
<@Random_Nerd> (She's just a Warmain!)
<@Mrs_Senko> (heh)
<@Shounen> (just...)
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "How comfortable are we talking here, sir?"
<@deMontreal> "Also, double check the things I was making for my ... project."

• @Lili is thankful that her workplaces do not need to have sad kittens scattered all about to keep the dirt away.
  

<@deMontreal> (meaning, the weapons of war I was preparing for my future war machine. :) )
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Which project? The whimsy-powered sky dreadnaught?"
<@Luthien> *is thankful that she is not a sad kitten*
<@deMontreal> "Yes. And I'll let you improvise the accommodations."
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Or the Seethe-Hound breeding program?"
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Very good, sir."
<@deMontreal> "Just remember that the guests are human. (looks) Mostly."
<@Luthien> "I'm a close analog!" /Elan
<@Mrs_Senko> "Everyone's neck looks human. I believe that is enough."
<@deMontreal> "You judge people by their necks?"
<@Lili> "Seethe-Hounds? To search out seething or they themselves seethe?"

• @Lili has a very clean neck!
  

<@Shounen> "Is a effective way to judge someone?"
<@Mrs_Senko> "I am not a judge, Mr. de Montreal. Don't be preposterous."
<@deMontreal> "They seethe.
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Should I have the hounds restricted to their kennel, sir?"
<@deMontreal> "Yes, I noticed the lack of judge-ment."

• @Shounen giggle
  

<@deMontreal> to Alvin: "Good idea, Alvin.
<@deMontreal> "And make sure everything important is locked up."
<@Shounen> "You really trust us eh?"
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "They do tend to be... excited... when you return home. And humans may find the sight disturbing."
<@deMontreal> to Shounen. "Look at this group. And then there's you."

• @Lili grins in a 'awwww, who's the puppy-daddy, who loooooves his puppies, Leoooooo' way
  

<@Shounen> "man, is grooss"

• @Shounen bow to deMontreal
  
• @deMontreal looks over Old Moulder
  

<@Random_Nerd> Luthien, you can see your house from here! Well, it's not really yours. And it's not really a house. You can see the dilapidated tenement that you have built your secret lair inside from here!
<@deMontreal> (Him or me?)
<@Luthien> (yay!)
<@Luthien> *makes a happy kitty squeally noise*
<@Lili> (I am also trying to decide if being Incomparable makes something 'important' or not.)
<@Random_Nerd> DeMontreal, your secret lair is, like, two and a half blocks north of here!
<@deMontreal> (Like the Incomparable Nightmare Engine?
<@Lili> (Perhaps. *innocent look*)
<@deMontreal> (The MOST! IMPORTANT! THING! in the entire town? :p )
<@Random_Nerd> And there, it's your place, Leo.
<@deMontreal> How's the DEM doing?
<@Lili> (You can't compare it to something, so that doesn't mean that it's more important than the most important thing is Town.)
<@deMontreal> "Alvin, open the hangar."
<@Random_Nerd> The old warehouse that you made into your hanger is is opening the immense hatch set in its roof, and the smoky red lights inside shine.
<@Random_Nerd> The Deus Ex Machina is working fine.
<@Random_Nerd> Normally, it seems old and dirty and smelling of coal.
<@Random_Nerd> But compared to everything else here, it's actually sparking clean and lemon-fresh.
<@deMontreal> (We're gonna need a few dozen of those fir-tree air fresheners onthis thing...)

• @deMontreal brings the ship in.
  

<@Mrs_Senko> ("Children! This is how you use lemons for cleaning!")
<@Lili> (*makes lemonade*)
<@deMontreal> What time of day is it?
<@Mrs_Senko> (*brightens at Lili* Wonderful! Detergent!)
<@Random_Nerd> The hanger is lit by red lights that seem dim, but a dimness that illuminates a surprisingly large area. You looted the lightbulbs from a nightmare about a creepy lighthouse that a guy who used to sleep on a steam grate near here would sometimes have.
<@Luthien> "ooo, it's so nice in here! I can barely keep the dust bunnies from hopping all over me while I sleep! How do you do it?!"
<@deMontreal> "The seethe-hounds eat them."
<@Random_Nerd> It's late evening at the moment, but it seems later, because the air in this part of town just doesn't seem to let in quite as much light.
<@Lili> (Someone is going to want a puppy.)
<@Shounen> "Ohhh, they must meet river, can became friends"

• @deMontreal watches as a squad of spiderbots and a robot butler come out to meet us.
  

<@Random_Nerd> Waiting at the door from hanger to lab is the cleanest person Luthien's ever seen in this part of town.
<@Luthien> "Can I meet them?"
<@Random_Nerd> He looks to be human, fifty or so years old, in an immaculately maintained but several centuries out of date tailcoat.
<@deMontreal> "Be careful,they're prototypes."
<@Random_Nerd> He is, of course, a robot powered by sin.
<@Random_Nerd> Neither of these two facts is immediately apparent.
<@Luthien> "Everything's a prototype with you. You never finish anything. *pouts*"
<@Lili> "Wow, an actual factual butler!"
<@deMontreal> "And we've landed..."
<@Shounen> "seems like is in your family from ages!"
<@Random_Nerd> "Manservant, madame. I do not manage lesser servants, so I am not a butler."
<@Random_Nerd> "Instead, I alone suffice to look after the Master's accomodations and clothes."
<@Lili> "A valet? Ah, manservant."

• @Mrs_Senko decides to look up "butling"
  

<@Lili> "You do a marvelous job..." *reaches for the name*
<@Random_Nerd> (Leo, do you want to describe your place?)
<@deMontreal> Well, let's see...
<@Random_Nerd> Senk, you hope it won't be as puzzling as the time you looked up "kippling." Participles are confusing, and you're still nto certain as to how one kipples.
<@Random_Nerd> (Senko, even.)
<@deMontreal> machinery of various types, stages of decay, and disturbing-ness in the corners.
<@Luthien> (the whole town's gone to kipple.)
<@Mrs_Senko> ("Silly kipplers...")
<@Lili> (She's still figuring out sturbing.)
<@Mrs_Senko> (Cherry cobbler confuses her.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Even the pictures were no help! They were all of this guy named Rudyard for some reason, and although the captions said he was kipling, there wasn't a single kipple in sight.)
<@deMontreal> Where Alvin is, something like an office--old dusty desk, mechanical devices, including what you'd swear is a analytical engine.
<@deMontreal> And a series of 5 cots in the other corner, if he's on the ball.
<@Random_Nerd> From somewhere in the distance, there's a sound like a pot of water just boiled over onto a hot griddle. Ah, yes, the Hounds.
<@Random_Nerd> There are, indeed, five such cots.
<@deMontreal> Ceiling tall enough to be in a haze.

• @Lili 's fingers start twitching at the mechanical devices...
  

<@Random_Nerd> Each has been labeled "bed." And they do, indeed, have four poles around them, holding fancy yet dingy hangings.
<@Random_Nerd> They are still, however, fundamentally cots.
<@Luthien> "Those are nice beds!"
<@Luthien> "I don't have a bed that good!"
<@deMontreal> (Tough to describe what's essentially an empty warehouse, really.)
<@Shounen> (cots = commercial of the shelf?)
<@deMontreal> Accompanying Alvin are a few spiderbots... they look like the one LdM uses, except somehow... incomplete.
<@Mrs_Senko> (Clean? Steal? Wood? Brick? Dark?)
<@Luthien> (a cot is basically a frame and bedspring in one, with a mattress on top. Generally not good quality, because it also tends to fold up and hide away.)
<@Random_Nerd> Shounen, they aren't nearly as good as the bed in the loft. You'll have to have some of your Minions go and bring that bed to your house somehow.

• @Lili will pet any of the spiderbots if they get in reach.
  

<@Shounen> (ah! thank you)
<@deMontreal> one has 5 legs, for instance.
<@Random_Nerd> (Kinda like http://go-armynavy.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/0407f981f5d73f724724fe7547709b1e.jpg )

• @Shounen look not plussed at the cots
  

<@deMontreal> The door Alvin is in front of is a large double door, looking sturdy and secure.
<@Random_Nerd> Everyone, despite how polite Alvin seems, there's something... off.. about him.
<@Random_Nerd> He gives the impression of a friendly and courteous person who just happens to be wearing undergarments made from human skin.
<@Shounen> (creeepy!)
<@Luthien> (you meant "made of human sin", I'm sure :p)
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Can I fix any of you a drink?"
<@Random_Nerd> (Well, of course, that's what it actually is.)
<@Lili> "No, thank you!"
<@deMontreal> To one side, past the cots, and rows and rows of shelves with boxes. They're mostly labeled, with writing that's far neater than LdM's assignments.
<@Random_Nerd> (Mostly human sin, anyway. He runs cleaner on human sin, but there's no sense in wasting perfectly good inhuman sin when you have some on hand.)
<@Lili> "What's behind the door?"
<@Luthien> "A dusty mango, please, not-butler!"
<@deMontreal> Of course for every mundane box or shelf ("Bolts", "Rolled steel") there's at least one ... odd one ("Eyes")
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "A room, miss."
<@Luthien> (laugh point to the GM)
<@Random_Nerd> He moves over to the sideboard and starts fixing a drink.
<@deMontreal> "Beyond the door is my place.
<@Shounen> "I can take somewater Alvin"
<@Random_Nerd> He doesn't actually glide on wheels or anything, but for some reason you happen to not actually notice his legs moving at any point.
<@deMontreal> "Many dangerous or valuable things in there...
<@Lili> "With more machines, deMontreal?"
<@deMontreal> "The most dangerous of which would be me, if you intrude."
<@Lili> "I thought you said that you were the most dangerous thing you knew of?"
<@Lili> (Darn it...)
<@deMontreal> (Gotcha)
<@Lili> (Must type faster...)
<@Random_Nerd> (XP for Leo!)
<@Mrs_Senko> "I would like a milkshake, please."

• @deMontreal collects some bolts, some canvas... and some eyes...
  

<@Shounen> "oh, seem a interesting place"
<@Random_Nerd> (For getting his Sinister Mad Scientist on.)
<@deMontreal> "Arachni!

• @Lili trails some fingertips over the boxes. She doesn't need sleep, ya know...
  

<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "That will take a little longer, ma'am, as I have not yet milked the ab-cattle today."
<@Lili> (Is Chuubo along?)
<@deMontreal> The spiders go over to him.

• @deMontreal hands the parts to the spiders.
  

<@deMontreal> "You follow Ariadne's lead and fix the ship."
<@Random_Nerd> From another doorway, the boiling sound comes more intensely, and something seems to be coming through the cracks under the door and on both sides.
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "No, Hydrogen! Bad girl!"
<@Shounen> "Wasn't the ship already Fixed, leo? We fly here with it?"
<@deMontreal> "Well, there were a few parts only loosely attached.

• @Lili perks up. "Your pets, deMontreal?"
  

<@deMontreal> "Guardians, really.
<@deMontreal> "Some of many."
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin hands Luthien a drink. It is cloudy and dark orange and seems to fizz slightly.
<@Mrs_Senko> "I didn't realize it was already time for the zeppelin's inspection."
<@deMontreal> "In fact, Senko-san almost experienced the thrill of 9.8 meters per second squared up close.
<@Mrs_Senko> "Senko-sensei."
<@deMontreal> "I'm sure it would have made an enlightening lesson."
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "One moment, I must go and prepare the milkshake."
<@Luthien> "Thanks Alvin, but ... I really wanted a dusty mango *tear*"
<@deMontreal> "Make sure those windows are firmly attached!"
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "I am familiar with over three thousand forms of cocktail, but that is not one of them. However, I employed the Mixed Drink Contents Prediction Algorithm, and it stated with over 87% accuracy margin that this is a 'Dusty Mango'."

• @deMontreal is punching numbers into the analytical engine...
  

<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Make sure to warn them about comparisons to the Engine, sir."
<@Luthien> "I meant a mango, just slightly dusty, instead of the mouldy ones I get at home"
<@deMontreal> (What's Alvin referring to?)
<@Lili> "What's to be warned about?"
<@Random_Nerd> He glides out, walking in a way that actually moves him by normal movements of legs, but gives the impression of being carried by a tiny band if super-strong ants that live in his shoe soles.

• @Mrs_Senko sticks a piece of green tape to Alvin.
  

<@Lili> (It's Incomparable. You compare it to something, the something gets erased?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Well, it's not safe to compare things to the Incomperable Nightmare Engine. That's why it's called that.)
<@Random_Nerd> The tape adheres, but only poorly, as if he's covered in an invisible layer of grease.
<@deMontreal> "Ah. I believe I can improve her fuel consumption by 16% with a bit of work."
<@Lili> "I would like to see your Engine, deMontreal."

• @deMontreal hands another spiderbot some LEDs to rig it for nighttime flights."
  

<@deMontreal> (Do they know about the Nightmare Engine IC?)
<@Luthien> (I am sure I know something about Chuubo's, yeah?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Luthien, you know about the Wish Engine, but not the Nightmare Engine.)
<@Luthien> (but it was mentioned)
<@Luthien> (so!)
<@Random_Nerd> (Lillimund, you think you've probably heard Chuubo mention the Nightmare Engine in passing.)
<@Luthien> "Is your Engine anything like the one that drives the zeppelin?"
<@Mrs_Senko> (Mrs. Senko has no reason to, unless there is a secret society which she and Leonardo are a part.)
<@deMontreal> (I mentioned the analytical engine on the desk)
<@deMontreal> (different engine)
<@deMontreal> ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytical_Engine )
<@Lili> (Yes, you mentioned the engine. She mentioned the Engine. You get to hear the capital letter or not.  :) )
<@Random_Nerd> (Alvin did mention the Nightmare Engine, but not by its full name.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Still, Luthien's finely-tuned detective abilities can spot a capital letter at fifty paces in a snowstorm.)
<@deMontreal> (Hm... I could make a zep part...)
<@Luthien> (contrasting is not comparing! For the pedantic.)
<@deMontreal> "Hmmm...
<@deMontreal> "An opportunity to show you how much my Nightmare Engine out-performs your ridiculous Wishing Engine...
<@Random_Nerd> (Are you talking to Lillimund or Chuubo?)
<@deMontreal> "Perhaps I can indulge your curiosity."
<@Shounen> "A nightmare engine? And work on nightmare or is made of them?"
<@deMontreal> (Chuubo.)
<@deMontreal> "Both."
<@Shounen> (feed the troll :-P )
<@deMontreal> "Alvin!"
<@Random_Nerd> Chuubo: "But how could it outperform it? They do entirely different things."
<@Shounen> "How, cool"
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Yes, sir?"
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "I had to get the cow to materialize, sir. It took a while. However, your guest's milkshake is nearly complete."
<@deMontreal> "Have the Engine set to prepare a pair of Zeppelin-size Screaming Motivators.
<@deMontreal> "Also an Inexorable Vortex so we can do Senko-san's precious sky cleaning."
<@Random_Nerd> (Okay, sidebar for a moment on what you're making.)
<@Mrs_Senko> "Senko-sensei."
<@Random_Nerd> (Now, the Nightmare Engine, as the manifestation of your ability to do Imperial miracles, can do three things.)
<@Shounen> "details miss Senko"
<@Mrs_Senko> "Propriety, Mr. Soun."
<@Random_Nerd> (It can give machines sentience, like with the spiderbots. It can give them the ability to interact with Region qualities, like Alvin. And it can do stuff that relates to your Nightmare Map.)
<@Random_Nerd> (Which are you doing?)
<@Mrs_Senko> "And it's Mrs."

• @Shounen ignore Mrs. Senko
  

<@Random_Nerd> (And is it in the create/destroy/transform category, or the discover/learn/travel category?)
<@deMontreal> (Actually, in this case it's more 'create a previously-planned nightmare thing'. I'm not firing it up full power in front of people I don't trust.)
<@Shounen> (never trust a fellow player!)
<@deMontreal> (Not a miracle per se, just "Look at what I can do MUAHHAHHAH!")
<@Lili> (Should we get popcorn? Fainting couches?)
<@Random_Nerd> (So you're not actually using your Incomperable Nightmare Engine power?)
<@Shounen> (I vote for comfy one were I can nap!)
<@deMontreal> (Right. That's for later.)
<@Lili> (*gives Shounen a lovely comfy fainting couch*)
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin comes into the room again, carrying a milkshake in one hand.
<@Random_Nerd> The milkshake glows faintly, but he looks at you like you're not supposed to notice that.
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "I will set the Machine to your specifications, sir."
<@Shounen> ( Soun exchange the couch with a kisson cheek )
<@Random_Nerd> (err, the Engine.)
<@Shounen> ( how was? A gift freely given... )
<@deMontreal> "This way, folks.

• @Shounen snap out the dream of napping and follow
  

<@deMontreal> "And do not deviate from the path... sharp edges, spilled chemicals, Hounds of Tindalos."

• @Lili looks delighted to be invited into the sanctum and seeing the Engine!
  

<@Mrs_Senko> "Thank you, Alvin."
<@deMontreal> "Not to mention Jurassic Dust Bunnies."
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "No, sir, we haven't had Hounds of Tindalos since you ceased your time-travel-drug experiments, sir. I put down humane traps, as you'll recall."

• @Shounen giggle "Jurassic sust bunnies!"
  

<@Random_Nerd> Alvin, sharply: "The dust bunnies are no laughing matter, young sir!"
<@Lili> "Wow, deMontreal, you do drugs?"
<@Lili> (Just ask Luthi! They like to drag her off when she sleeps and leave her in weird positions!)
<@Shounen> "Was not a joke? You really have jurassic ones?"
<@deMontreal> "It is a tenet of True Science that no manner of exploration is to be shunned, regardless of the potential dangers.
<@deMontreal> "Said dangers are to be observed and cataloged, instead."
<@Luthien> "Yes! They've been around since before Town! Which is nonsence, but also the way it is."
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "As you'll discover if you research the past through chemical or other means, the traditional epochal definitions do not properly apply to Town."
<@Lili> "But drugs kill brain cells. And are bad for young folks! They make you less smart!"
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "However, there are such things as pre-Adamite dust bunnies. They were worshipped in dark cellars in Carthage, before Rome sacked it. They are not to be trifled with."
<@deMontreal> "Only if misapplied."

• @deMontreal meaningfully looks at Shounen.
  
• @Shounen frown
  
• @deMontreal passes by the Seethe Hounds and skritches their ears.
  

<@Shounen> "mmm, 'kay no play with jurassic dust bunnies"
<@Lili> (How are the hounds toward visitors?)

• @Shounen is tempted to pat one but refrain
  

<@deMontreal> (Seething.)
<@Luthien> *starts to approach the puppies*

• @Mrs_Senko remembers, suddenly, to give Alvin a tip. She uses some money-looking things.
  

<@deMontreal> (Aren't you the catgirl? :) )
<@Random_Nerd> The Seethe Hounds seem composed of churning chemical fumes, in the shape of a dog. They emit sizzling noises.
<@Mrs_Senko> (Cats try to intimidate puppies)
<@Luthien> (whose XP gain is "oh no! Luthien!")
<@Random_Nerd> They don't attack Luthien.
<@Random_Nerd> But they stare intently at her, as if planning to pounce the moment Leo is distracted...
<@Luthien> *pets the puppy*
<@Random_Nerd> (Good point. Yeah, that counts for an XP.)
<@deMontreal> "I have wondered what would happen if I ... changed their diet..."
<@Mrs_Senko> "Spinach is good for strength."
<@Lili> *absentmindedly* "Don't try to feed Luthi to your puppies, deMontreal. You wouldn't like what she would do to them."
<@Shounen> "to what? Not dreams I hope"
<@deMontreal> "Why not? We have ketchup."
<@Shounen> "but is our friend!"
<@deMontreal> "Your friend."

• @deMontreal is heading for a door marked "OBSERVATION"
  

<@Lili> "Plus, you have no idea what seething and catgirls do together. She'll probably become much older and bitter and will either seduce you for your secrets or claw your Engine to pieces out of spite. Or both."

• @Shounen speckless
  

<@deMontreal> (Ha! More XP!)
<@deMontreal> (assuming he meant 'speechless')
<@Shounen> (yep I mean that!)
<@Random_Nerd> (Yep.)
<@Luthien> *puts on her cloak of invisibility as soon as she finishes petting the puppy and lets out a hurt-kitty mew!*

• @Shounen look for her to cuddle (luthi)
  

<@deMontreal> The 'observation' door leads to a balcony lines with steel railing.
<@deMontreal> About a floor and a half below you is ... it.

• @Lili rushes in and gazes!
  
• @Mrs_Senko looks for Luthi.
  
• @Shounen shroug at luthi absence
  

<@Mrs_Senko> "There is a distinct lack of Miss Cartaign."
<@deMontreal> (Debating whether me or RN should desdcribe the Engine)
<@Random_Nerd> (I can if you want, but it's really your toy.)
<@Lili> "Come on, Luthi! You have to see this! Shiny!"
<@deMontreal> "Later I'll check if the hounds are hungry."
<@Random_Nerd> Chuubo: "Teacher? How can you tell the difference between a distinct lack and an indistinct lack?"
<@deMontreal> Not really shiny, except for a few bits. Mainly dark.
<@deMontreal> It looks like something Tim Burton dreamed up during an acid trip.
<@Mrs_Senko> "An indistinct lack is alot like an Incomparable Nightmare Engine."
<@Shounen> (so have it a batman cape put in somewere?)
<@deMontreal> Central is a maw, that doesn't have teeth but really needs some.
<@Random_Nerd> Up on one wall is a hand-lettered sign that says "WARNING! DO NOT COMPARE!" Below, in smaller writing: "Yes, even if we think we've found a really good comparison. Remember the Salmon Incident."
<@Lili> (Are you comparing?)
<@Mrs_Senko> "See?"

• @Lili claps her hands in delight. "How marvelous!"
  
• @Lili waves hi to the Engine!
  

<@Shounen> "Is .. is strange"
<@Mrs_Senko> "This particular distinct lack implies that a dog may have eaten my student."
<@deMontreal> to the left and right are control panels hooked to more extensive Analytical-Engine-like apparati, apparently powered by dark steam from piping leading off into the murky distance..

• @Mrs_Senko really had no idea what would happen. She just thought the comparison would throw Chuubo off.
  

<@deMontreal> Alvin is tweaking the left one.
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin, down adjusting some settings on the Engine: "The Seethe-Hounds don't eat, ma'am. They just envelope and absorb."
<@Mrs_Senko> "Have they enveloped or absorbed my student?"
<@Lili> "We would have heard Luthi, anyhow. She's probably somewhere else in the house, detecting and finding and reading deMontreal's diary and shoujo mangas."
<@Mrs_Senko> "It would explain the lack of blood and bones."
<@deMontreal> There are gears of innumerable sizes over the maw, cams, belts, and a web of piping.
<@Mrs_Senko> (She did mew)
<@deMontreal> And you could swear several parts have eyes.
<@Random_Nerd> (Going to describe the Loathsome Sulk-Meter, or should I?)
<@deMontreal> (You do it.)
<@deMontreal> "... one moment."

• @deMontreal goes to a brass panel with a sphere in the center and an ideogram of an eye up top.
  

<@Random_Nerd> One part of the Engine seems, somehow, to not actually be part of it. You can't tell exactly how it stands out in light of how much of a random arrangement of nonsense the Engine itself is, but still, it conveys the impression of being another, smaller device which clings to the Engine like a lamprey.
<@Lili> (Yes, but she mews at lots of stuff. If she was getting enveloped, she'd do more. Also, we'd be able to feel her Sad Eyes through the ether.)

• @deMontreal lays his hand on the sphere and seems to be meditating...
  

<@deMontreal> Elsewhere in the Palais de Montreal, eyes tucked in corners everywhere... open.
<@Random_Nerd> It is labelled "Loathsome Sulk-O-Meter", and below the brass lettering consists of a panel with flip-panel type numbers counting down days, minutes, and seconds.
<@Random_Nerd> Lilli, you know how some teenagers develop weird crushes on messed-up emotionally unavailable people who are entirely wrong for them in every possible way?

• @deMontreal tries to locate the catgirl with the place's security system (if it isn't obvious)
  

<@Random_Nerd> You have that kind of feeling about the Engine. Not strong, but it's there.
<@Random_Nerd> Do you suppress it?
<@deMontreal> (Lemme guess, you all love me? :) )
<@Random_Nerd> (No! The Engine!)
<@deMontreal> (Ah.)
<@Lili> (*thinking*)
<@Luthien> (23:30. I should be getting to bed. Night!)
<@Lili> (No, I do not supress it!)
<@deMontreal> (Aw, we're just getting to the good part...)
<@Shounen> (again a Luthi sparition?)

• @Lili sighs in appreciation at the Engine. And then blushes.
  

<@deMontreal> (Mainly, me getting bonus XP when someone tries to understand how it works. :D )
<@Shounen> (shhhs is a good part! :-P )
<@Random_Nerd> Lilli, the machine is poorly-designed and doesn't look like it could possibly work. And it's totally hot. And you're pretty sure that with a few weeks with your toolbox, you could fix it, get rid of all its little problems.
<@Mrs_Senko> (Take care, Laz!)
<@deMontreal> (G'night Laz)
<@Random_Nerd> (See you next week, Laz.)

• @Luthien Quit
  

<@Lili> (Gee, thanks, dear, I'm a complete cliche'.  :P )
<@deMontreal> (Lilli: and if you try it I'll feed you to it.
<@Shounen> (night Laz)
<@Lili> (I can change him...)
<@deMontreal> (It'll make creating stuff with organic chemicals a little easier for a while)
<@Random_Nerd> (Dude, you think Lilli's organic?)

• @Lili coyly strokes her socket wrench and belt.
  

<@deMontreal> (Ah yeah.)
<@Random_Nerd> (It's even slightly debatable whether this human-shaped body of hers even strictly exists in the normal sense.)
<@deMontreal> "Alvin! How's the Engine looking?"
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "The Sulk-O-Meter is currently at zero, so it should be fully functional at the moment, sir."
<@deMontreal> (Sulk-O-Meter shouldn't change if it's not doing a miracle, should it?)
<@Random_Nerd> (Well, it'd probably turn on, but only for a few minutes, if you aren't actually invoking the Engine proper.)

• @deMontreal trying not to sound too much like a Republic serial villain:
  

<@Random_Nerd> (...who are you?)
<@Random_Nerd> (And what have you done with Leonardo?)
<@deMontreal> "And now... watch as we use a tiny fraction of the Engine's power."
<@deMontreal> ( :p )

• @Mrs_Senko looks for a comfy chair to lounge in and some magazines.
  

<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "True power, sir. Tiny fraction of its true power. Remember when we went over the speech, sir?"
<@deMontreal> (It's the acoustics in here. Makes megalomanic proclamations echo painfully.)
<@deMontreal> "The full speech is for full stadia, Alvin. Fire it up."
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Oh, yes, for when you've shown them All. Pulling the switch, sir."
<@deMontreal> "Don't panic if you smell brimst... ah, sulphur."
<@Random_Nerd> He pulls a big mad-science-style switch.
<@Random_Nerd> The lights dim, and various parts of the Engine crackle and hum and make grinding noises.
<@Random_Nerd> So. Hot.

• @Shounen drown in a comfy chair
  

<@Lili> (Is there a way down to the Engine from the balcony?)
<@deMontreal> (Through a dozen dimly-lit corridors and locked doors.)
<@deMontreal> (Short answer: no.)
<@Random_Nerd> Then there's a loud KA-CHUNK sound, and the machine stops making noises and the lights return to normal.
<@Shounen> "and?"
<@Mrs_Senko> "Are the adjustments finished?"
<@Lili> (Actually, there is. If she jumps. ^^ )
<@deMontreal> (the feeder is right there. Go ahead. :P )
<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Finished, sir."
<@Random_Nerd> The Sulk-O-Meter makes flapping noises as seven minutes and sixteen seconds worth of time go up on it, and a red light bulb next to it turns on.

• @Lili winks at the Engine.
  

<@deMontreal> "Ah, good. Have Ariadne help you hook those up to the Deus Ex Machina. I
<@deMontreal> "I'll add the controls later."

• @deMontreal tosses Alvin an index card with a quick plan sketch.
  

<@Random_Nerd> Alvin: "Very good, sir."
<@Mrs_Senko> (Are Lili and the Nightmare Engine going to be Romeo and Juliet? Except with the Chuubo/Leonardo feud being less bloodshedy.)
<@deMontreal> "Now let's find our missing student before something eats her."
<@Shounen> (sure it will be less bloodshedy?)
<@Lili> (Well, the only other love interst I've seen for her is Principal Entropy and he was winking at Senko earlier.)
<@Mrs_Senko> (It's more of a hope...)
<@Random_Nerd> (Mind if we stop here?)
<@Random_Nerd> (It seems a good place, and a good line to end on.)
<@Lili> (Sounds good.)
<@Shounen> (agree, stop here :-) )
<@Mrs_Senko> (Mrs. Senko has no idea how Principal Entropy keeps getting things stuck in his eye.)
<@deMontreal> (OK.)
<@Mrs_Senko> (Okay!)

STOP

• Mrs_Senko is now known as Verithe
  

<@deMontreal> Heh... +2 bonus XP...

• Shounen is now known as Angelo
  

<@deMontreal> plus whatever I get for people trying to figure it out.
<@Verithe> I was going to say: Double Experience! Wow!
<@Lili> Perhaps Lili shall blow the Engine a kiss and give it her steampunk number.

• Lili is now known as BethE
  

<@deMontreal> ...suddenly I'm wondering about their offspring...

• deMontreal is now known as Knockwood
  

<@Random_Nerd> Is there any way I can get you guys to do more with the Scene system?
<@Random_Nerd> We really do need to check it out, and we should do at least some player-initiated scenes.
<@Random_Nerd> And, you know, free XP.
<@Knockwood> Well, we had one...
<@Random_Nerd> Oh? Which>?
<@Knockwood> The whole thing was a 'FOOLISH MORTALS!' scene. It's in the supplement. :)
<@Random_Nerd> No, I mean, Scenes, capital-S, in the rules sense.
<@Knockwood> But you're right, we all need to read up on those.
<@Knockwood> hm... what kind of scene would this have been? Discovery?
<@Random_Nerd> Hmm.
<@Random_Nerd> Possibly a ritual, actually!
<@Knockwood> They're discovering me, basically.
<@Random_Nerd> You were invoking one of your powers in a fancy, elaborate, and dramatic fashion.
<@Knockwood> Well, the hangar scene is setting up a base of ops for future scenes.
<@Random_Nerd> Well, that'd be a different scene.
<@Knockwood> That's what I'm saying, there's 2 scenes
<@Random_Nerd> Yeah.
<@Knockwood> so, basically, we say 'This'll be a (blank) scene' beforehand, then get XP once we play it out?
<@Random_Nerd> Yeah.
<@Verithe> Mrs. Senko will not accept the hangar as a base of operations unless the school states permission for such in writing.
<@Random_Nerd> Pretty much.
<@Knockwood> deMontreal will be an exemplar of not giving a fuck. :)
<@Random_Nerd> It's kinda a weird system... but hey, a lot of Jenna's systems seem that way at first, and a lot of them turn out to work pretty well.
<@Verithe> Right now, she sees it as a Quick-e-Lube.
<@Random_Nerd> Kinky.
<@Knockwood> Do we get +2 XP for the 2 retroactively-declared scenes?
<@Random_Nerd> Eh... sure. Close enough.
<@Random_Nerd> Who got the last one?
<@Verithe> Or....whatever a fast auto service place is.
<@BethE> V - you got the right name.  :)
<@Verithe> I got the last one, I think...
<@Knockwood> BTW, in case it isn't obvious:
<@Knockwood> the new nightmare parts are booster engines and a collector
<@Verithe> I couldn't be sure! It's been forever since I've seen one!
<@Angelo> was not obvious
<@BethE> Well, I need to get to bed, all. Good night! *HUG* (And besides, RN has a pervy mind.)
<@Verithe> Not at all obvious.
<@Verithe> Take care, Beth!
<@Knockwood> g'night Beth
<@Angelo> nigh Beth!

• @BethE Quit (Disintegrated: All shall love me and despair?)
  

<@Knockwood> we'll have to look at the logs
<@Knockwood> ... where are the logs?
<@Angelo> on the EOS-Sama forum
<@Angelo> but last session is not up
<@Knockwood> eos-sama.com isn't responding
<@Angelo> well I take a nap. erm one sec
<@Verithe> http://eos-sama.com/forums/nobilis-forum-group2/nobilis-general-discussion-forum4/chuubo-chuubo-the-snurcers-thread43/
<@Random_Nerd> G'night, guys.
<@Angelo> yep not respondin too
<@Angelo> night RN!
<@Random_Nerd> It's responding slow for me, too.
<@Verithe> Take care, RN!
<@Verithe> It's just slow for me.
<@Knockwood> BTW, you think I'mm going overboard with playing LdM?
<@Verithe> But I can get through.
<@Angelo> I like Leo
<@Random_Nerd> ...I don't think it's possible.
<@Random_Nerd> The characters in this are supposed to be kinda stylized and larger-than-life, I think.
<@Knockwood> oh, you want a Republic serial villain
<@Random_Nerd> Well, except Chuubo.
<@Verithe> Last time, we met one of the other students who turns people into monsters and rampages across Town. I think you're fine.
<@Knockwood> heh... maybe our characterizations will make it into the final product. :)
<@Random_Nerd> EOS is up now for me.
<@Knockwood> Although...
<@Knockwood> I may have said it before, but it could use a list of who knows what
<@Random_Nerd> Eh, that's the sort of thing that would probably depend on player group anyway.
<@Knockwood> we have variant-characters in the text already
<@Knockwood> it could work like that
<@Random_Nerd> Well, think about how you'd think it should work, and send Jenna an email.
<@Random_Nerd> After all, you are a playtester.
<@Knockwood> ah yes.
<@Knockwood> welp, see you next week
<@Random_Nerd> Yep. See you then.
Session Close: Thu Mar 08 23:16:19 2012