not_so_great_wall | 008 ~*~ At least she can't drink and fly...

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008 ~*~ At least she can't drink and fly...

[ Action : Olney's Tavern : Open ]
[ If you're a regular at the bar, you might notice a new sigth in one of the stools. A tall red-haired Chinese woman in a plain green dress is making herself right at home, even if the drone workers don't particularly care about serving her anything other than weak, fruity, feminine drinks.

That doesn't mean she hasn't been trying to sweet-talk them into it for the better part of an hour. And by sweet-talk, I mean whining pitifully because she really doesn't want to get thrown out for taking matters into her own hands. ] --c'mo~on. Can't you just pour me something a little stronger? I'm going to need a whole lot more than this. [ She remarks, fingernail grazing the edge of the colorful cocktail glass. ]

[ Action : Around Town : Open ]
[ Later, no matter how much she had to work at it, she managed to get herself sufficiently smashed (for a short while, at least)! You can encounter her:

1) Wandering the neighborhood, humming some old tune to herself as she sways.
2) Attempting to enter your home and not realizing why her stupid key isn't working...
3) Napping on your front lawn. ]

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[ Smiling innocently, she nods. ] I gotcha! I don't have much to show off right now, either.

--what's that mean, though? You blow things up?

[He allows himself a grin. Hard to tell if he's bragging or not.]

Yep. I'm trained in makin' and usin' explosives, an' most of my Logos Abilities involve nukes.

I'm a one-man weapon of mass destruction. A megaton of fun!

[A lot like a certain hell raven.]

[ She laughs. It sounds like he enjoys doing that.

That earns him an overly strong pat across his shoulders. ] But you wouldn't use those skills carelessly, right?

'Course not!

Well—better say, I got some pretty good control over it. If I had my Logos Abilities right now, I could, say ...

[Gestures a thumb to the lawn chair nearby.]

I could nuke that thing an' leave the rest of'a neighborhood undisturbed. Not even so much as a flash burn on anyone.

If you tried doin' that with a regular battlefield nuke, you'd prolly wind up turnin' this whole city block to ash.

[ Perhaps a little amazed. ] That's precise! But I'm not talking about things, I'm talking about people.

[ Invading that personal space again, voice lower. ] You'll be careful where you point those things, right?

[Balin quirks an eyebrow at this.]

What, that wasn't convincin' enough?

Look, back where I'm from I fight on'a front lines with squads of other Receptives. An' I often employ those abilities right up in close contact with'a enemy. If that ain't'a definition of "danger close," I don't know what is.

An' never once have I fried anybody who wasn't'a enemy.

[He's pretty serious right now, though he does have to ask ...]

There a reason why you're so worried?

[ And he sounds convincing, but Meiling is a poor judge of character, presently. She backs off, hands on her hips. ] Because this place makes people do things, and I'm just trying to watch out for my family.

...my actual family.

[Oh ... Oh. She must have been around for—]

Lemme guess ... you were here when Mayfield was doin'at "spring culling" bullshit? An' your family was too?

[ A slow nod. ] That's right. I didn't hurt anyone--! ... but it was really hard not to.

I'd heard about it from some of'a others around here.

[Balin looks sympathetic.]

If what my coworker from'a construction yard said was any indication, you got some ba—[Wait, she's a woman, that metaphor won't work!]—some real guts to've suffered through'at without givin' into what'a town wanted you to do.

[He sighs.]

In my case, I don't think there's anythin'a town coulda threatened me with that hasn't already happened'a me where I'm from.

I don't think I resisted enough. [ And it was kind of a sore subject. ] Maybe you'd be lucky if you were put in the same position...

Well, you didn't give in, yeah? You didn't kill anyone, or harm anyone. Least as far as everyone's told me, that's what'a town was wantin' people to do, kill indiscriminately. I don't see how you coulda resisted any harder.

I could have stopped people!

I could have stopped her-- [ Meiling clamps a hand over her mouth. ]

[Yikes, outburst! Meiling just said something important, though, and Balin can't help but be curious ...]

—Coulda stopped who?

Someone I'm supposed to protect. My family. [ Frowning. She best not give too many details up front, since he seems nice so far, but... ] I shouldn't say more.

... Someone in your family gave in and went on a killin' spree?

[He scratches the back of his head. He makes a note of that.]

You don't hafta tell me, but ... that coworker I met? He says'a town's got a trophy room for everyone who killed somebody, over at'a roller rink. I'm plannin' on takin' a look when I can.

I'll tell you what I told him. I ain't plannin' on goin' on a crusade or anythin' against'a people listed'ere. But I am takin' note, because I wanna know who's most liable'a lose their marbles if'a town pushes'a right buttons.

I don't wanna end up as part of'a bodycount 'cause I was unprepared.

[ At the mention, she visibly winces and starts walking in a circle. ] I don't know if I wanna know. I mean... we were all basically blackmailed into it, right? It's not fair to judge people based on it.

[Balin watches Meiling as she paces around.]

It was all mindgames, though, yeah? Hallucinations. That's what one chick said to me on'a phone at least. ... I ain't gonna call it a "test of character" 'cause that'd be givin'a town too much credit, but they were still tryin'a break people all'a same. Like'a stupid "truth gas" from last month.

If'a town was literally brainwashing people into goin' on'a killing spree? Then yeah, I wouldn't judge 'em.

[ Another wince. The truth gas was... not as bad, for her, but a lot of people seemed to spout embarrassing things, or worse, get singled out for it. It's a good thing that, somehow, she wasn't pegged as a Communist despite her heritage and appearance. It was a smart day to not wear her cap. ]

Mm, good. Then we won't have a problem. [ Because she was thinking about having to retaliate, should people try to take their frustrations out on those who acted against their will. ]

[Balin blinks at how she worded that ... Meiling won't have a problem if Balin won't judge people who are droned into doing it?]

What, you sayin' your family member was, like, literally droned into goin' on a killin' spree?

[ She stops, head down. ] ...I don't wanna talk about it. [ Childish, maybe, but also tired. She's already said more than she wants to say, but she's always had a problem with that. It took a lot of work to decide to stop here. ]

[Balin is not sure whether to take that as a yes, but considering Meiling's current state, he doesn't think it'd be a good idea to press the question.]

Ahright.

[Maybe move on to a different subject.]

So, uh ... that place where ya work back home. Why'a name "Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

[ Good idea! Her job before coming here is at least something she can talk about easily and with pride. ] That's because of the owners, Mistress Remilia Scarlet.

[ She puts a finger to her chin. ] And probably because "Scarlet Vampire Mansion" doesn't have the same ring to it.

[Balin blinks a few times.]

So'a mansion's owners are vampires?

[He doesn't look too surprised, considering he's talking to a woman who says she's both a "youkai" and a dragon, but ... he's surprised. He almost wants to ask if it was the owner of the mansion that went on a killing spree. It'd make sense.]

Mm, she is, and she's lived for almost 500 years. [ Just so he has a bit of context for longevity. ]

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