Post by BK London on Nov 1, 2007 16:11:44 GMT -5
Joachim does not probe further; he can intuitively sense Alicia’s emotions rising. She herself looks around the room once again, and speaks quietly but forcefully, as if compelled to expel something unpleasant from her.
Alicia: I have to be absolutely honest with you, Joachim… I find it difficult to see anything of value in any sort of exposure to these… experiences.
She breathes in deeply, her gaze slightly unfocused.
Alicia: Religion, spirituality, and all their kin… I’m sure that, when you drill right down, there’s some kind of “real” force involved. Whether it comes from humans, or humans were created by it, or whether it’s entirely incidental that we share some kind of plain with it, I haven’t the foggiest idea. All I do know from my admittedly limited experience is that to come into contact with it is always to a person’s detriment.
Her flashlight wavers around as she gestures in a kind of melancholy way with it.
Alicia: All this talk of rituals and prayers, heaven, hell and the rest of it… I don’t consider myself an atheist, because I believe that there are things out there which are different from what we know… but frankly, I don’t intend to spend my life worrying about them. As I see it, at some point in the future either the human race will destroy itself, or one or more of these other forces will take us out, probably completely incidentally to some other, bigger event; if there are such things as gods, for want of a better word, we’re at best irrelevant to them, at worst something to toy with or otherwise manipulate for their own ends. From my point of view, the only thing that’s certain, the only thing any of us can hope to derive any kind of meaning or relevance from, is what we do with our short little spans on this earth, and that means how we live with the people all around us.
She glances at Joachim, expecting his standard look in return. He doesn’t produce a pithy reply, however, and she senses somehow that he wants her to continue.
Alicia: I suppose that’s why the only deity I really relate to is Nemesis. You know her, right?
Joachim: I’m familiar enough with the legend.
Alicia: It’s a daft thing to say, but if I were one of these entities watching us like some ridiculously complicated drama, I’d try to even the scores a bit. Not in some flashy way, but where it would really count. Bringing some joy into the lives of people who always get the bad breaks, and handing down a little justice to the nasty pieces of work out there who inflict unnecessary and pointless pain on others.
She sighs.
Alicia: I would so like to think that there’s some kind of hidden order to the world… but whatever deities do exist, I just don’t believe Nemesis is one of them. To do her job you’d have to bear the weight of really understanding things from a human perspective… and that’s the one thing I don’t believe any of these otherworldly beings could ever do. They probably just sit about in some alternative dimension, bored out of their wits waiting for Armageddon. But enough of that… I agreed to come here tonight to see if I could help Echo, and…
She hesitates.
Alicia: …to… spend time with you. You will doubtless think I’m being facetious, but I miss challenging, intelligent conversations sometimes. There’s always Dr. Starkweather, but he’s got so many walls up around him that one always feels that one is intruding.
Something flickers through Joachim’s eyes at her words; it’s almost entirely unreadable, but one gets the feeling he’s just had a slightly conflicted moment. For a brief second, his icy impression falters, and then he turns away, stepping towards the lectern.
Joachim: The sentiment is…appreciated, Alicia. At the risk of sounding equally facetious, I find it refreshing to be able to converse without explaining every other word in rigorous detail. I’ve actually enjoyed these interactions more than you’ll likely know.
The surprise of the uncharacteristically warm returned compliment is almost enough to make her not notice that, for once, he’s using her first name. Turning the lectern around, Joachim finds what he was looking for: a compartment of sorts, its edges fastened with three different locks. He eyes them thoughtfully.
Joachim: I suppose I can appreciate your wish to draw the veil over the outside world; you are far from the only one with such desires. I know a man who, though I esteemed him as an equal, and perhaps even superior in some ways, now spends his days secluded from creation, the mantra of him and his being that they desire only to be left alone.
Producing a screwdriver, he attempts to pick one of the locks.
Joachim: But we cannot be content to demand isolation, particularly when those from whom we wish it are not playing by the same rules. Whatever is inside Ayres (call it a “demon” or a “spirit” or an “entity”; it’s all the same at this point), it is not going to respect the boundaries you have set forth unless it is forced to do so. Pawns on the chessboard are not asked for their input, Alicia; they are simply swept aside in a heap of gore and shattered bone if they presume to be so much as inconvenient. Mankind cannot withstand the glory of a thousand suns, so steps must be taken to prevent this kind of thing.
Joachim stabs rather violently at the latch with the screwdriver, a barely-suppressed wrath beginning to simmer to the surface.
Joachim: And though others may, I’ll not lie down and accept fate like a docile paschal lamb, on the basis of who was ‘here first’ or who claims the ‘moral high ground’. No, damn their eyes, never; I’ll die standing before I live kneeling. I have no use for quaking under the screen of ignorance, waiting to eat, drink and be merry in preparation of the inevitable. At the end of such idiocy lies only the Void, and we’ll not discuss this further.
Alicia feels a sense of disquiet at the venom with which he spits the words out, and watches curiously as Joachim apparently gives up on the screwdriver and begins dragging the lectern out to the stairwell. It protests loudly, shrieking against the floor with a sound not entirely dissimilar to a cat being bludgeoned to death with a bagpipe. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs, Alicia picks up the other end of the lectern.
Alicia: Where are you taking this?
Joachim: Up the stairs.
This magnificently unhelpful answer contents her for now, with the realization she’ll get nothing further out of him, and the two lug it all the way up to the landing at the top of the stairs. Joachim pauses for only a second before leaning the bulky wooden contraption against the rails, then tilting the other end up and pushing the whole thing over. It plummets for a second and the resounding crash is almost deafening, given the acoustics of the stairs.
Without a word, he heads back down to the site of impact and begins rummaging through the wooden debris. Alicia watches with understandable doubt.
Alicia: You know, that’s a sure-fire way to annihilate whatever was inside that thing.
Joachim: Normally, I’d agree with you, but what I’m after is of significantly sturdier constitution. Ah, here we are…
He stands, holding a small object in his hands. It’s a Chinese-style abacus, cast in what appears to be either bronze or a reasonable facsimile, with three different panels. Each sends six strings of jade beads in a different direction, adding up to eighteen rows of five beads each. The abacus looks old and fairly valuable, but otherwise completely irrelevant, as Alicia is quick to point out.
Alicia: You brought us out here to track down an ancient calculator? Forgive me if I don’t quite see the relevance here, but—
Joachim: You’re forgiven. Let’s go.
He starts back to the stairs, and she sets off to keep up with him.
Alicia: Go? Where’d you have in mind?
Joachim: We’re leaving. I found what we came for.
End.
(Apologies for impinging on the next match, the segment was too large for one post. <_< )
Match 4: Ricky Falco vs Adrian Flamingo
Falcon doesn't take too much time to stand idly by once he hears the bell ring, and he's quickly on the offense. Time after time he has been on the losing end of his matches with Flamingo, and he's determined this time to come out the victor. He delivers a flury of punches and kicks to Flamingo before whipping him across the ring into the ropes. Flamingo bounces off the ropes and is sent soaring into the air with a back body drop which gets a bit of a pop from the crowd. Flamingo rises up and Falcon kicks him in the abdomen before hoisting him on his shoulders for the Pancake Driver. Flamingo thrashes around on the shoulders of the former Entertainment Champion before slipping off his shoulders. Flamingo bounces off the ropes on his own accord now, and as Falcon turns around - Flamingo looks for a huge boot to the face but the Senatorial Stable member side steps it. He grabs Flamingo by the waist and drills him into the mat with a Garmen Suplex. He continues to keep the hands clasped before rising back up and delivering another painful Garmen. He continues to hold it on before rising up for the third time, but now Flamingo counters in a standing switch and looks for a German Suplex of his own but Falcon counters it into a roll up. A near fall by the Pure Athelete, and both men rise to their feet at the same time.
Flamingo wastes no time upon arriving to a vertical base, and he nearly clears the head right off the shoulders Falcon. Falcon is turned inside out from the clothesline, and quickly Flamingo sits back up before going back on the offense. With several stomps to the abdomen, he continues to beat down Falcon, looking to solidify another win over Falcon.
Flamingo picks up Ricky Falcon and places him in the corner before whipping him hard across the ring. Falcon smacks the turnbuckles hard and falls flat on his face before slowly getting back up. Flamingo sizes up Falcon as he gets back to a vertical base before planting him into the mat with a Impaler DDT. Falcon rolls over on his back, laying motionless, and the crowd responds with a resounding "Oooohhh" as Flamingo now looks for the cover. But Falcon as the wearwithall to get his foot on the bottom rope before Referee Joey Reynolds' arm comes down for the three. Flamingo can't believe it and he picks up Falcon - now looking for his 1979 Flamingo Special - but Falcon manages to grab onto the top rope as Flamingo drops forward right on his neck. Using all his resources to his advantage, Falcon takes the upperhand in this match thus far. Still exhausted, he quickly stacks up Flamingo for a possible quick win - but Flamingo frees himself. The two stagger up to their feet, and Flamingo looks for a right hand, but Falcon ducks and looks for one of his Garmen Suplexes. Flamingo now elbows Falcon repeatedly in the side of the head, eventually connecting right with his eyes. Falcon staggers backwards while Flamingo stumbles over to the corner, and now Reynolds begins to check on the former Entertainment Champion. Quickly pushing Reynolds aside, he races towards the corner and hops up on the middle turnbuckle before decking Flamingo with a set of rights.
"ONE"
"TWO"
"THREE"
"FOUR"
"FIVE"
The crowd counts as Falcon continues to pummel Flamingo. Flamingo now finds his way out of this manuever, and grabs both legs of Falcon before dropping him head first onto the ringpost. Blood immediately begins to pour from the head of the Pure Athlete, and Flamingo stumbles out of the corner to the center of the ring. Falcon drops to the outside of the ring, and within 5 seconds there is a pool of blood on the outside. "HO-LY SHIT!" runs through the arena and Falcon appears to be shattering whatever scale The Great Muta ever had with this release of blood. Flamingo rolls out of the ring before chucking Falcon back into the ring, and quickly Reynolds backs him up. The blood of Falcon begins to stain the canvas, and now Falcon crawls over to the corner to rest in. Officials and EMTs begin to run down to the ring, and they begin to check on the Senatorial Stablemate - and out of nowhere Flamingo connects with what he dubs the "A.D.H Knee". Falcon is totally knocked out at this moment, and Reynolds backs Flamingo up before calling for the bell.
Phillip: Ladies and Gentleman, due to profuse bleeding by Falcon, the referee has chosen to stop this match. As a result, the winner of this match, Adrian Flamingo!
"Hello” by Rollins Band sounds throughout the speakers and Flamingo stares at Falcon from across the ring as he's getting attended to by the medics.
He steps out the ring and heads to the back, with a rather sinister smile as if to say, "Hey look at how sinister I am".
Fade Out.
Alicia: I have to be absolutely honest with you, Joachim… I find it difficult to see anything of value in any sort of exposure to these… experiences.
She breathes in deeply, her gaze slightly unfocused.
Alicia: Religion, spirituality, and all their kin… I’m sure that, when you drill right down, there’s some kind of “real” force involved. Whether it comes from humans, or humans were created by it, or whether it’s entirely incidental that we share some kind of plain with it, I haven’t the foggiest idea. All I do know from my admittedly limited experience is that to come into contact with it is always to a person’s detriment.
Her flashlight wavers around as she gestures in a kind of melancholy way with it.
Alicia: All this talk of rituals and prayers, heaven, hell and the rest of it… I don’t consider myself an atheist, because I believe that there are things out there which are different from what we know… but frankly, I don’t intend to spend my life worrying about them. As I see it, at some point in the future either the human race will destroy itself, or one or more of these other forces will take us out, probably completely incidentally to some other, bigger event; if there are such things as gods, for want of a better word, we’re at best irrelevant to them, at worst something to toy with or otherwise manipulate for their own ends. From my point of view, the only thing that’s certain, the only thing any of us can hope to derive any kind of meaning or relevance from, is what we do with our short little spans on this earth, and that means how we live with the people all around us.
She glances at Joachim, expecting his standard look in return. He doesn’t produce a pithy reply, however, and she senses somehow that he wants her to continue.
Alicia: I suppose that’s why the only deity I really relate to is Nemesis. You know her, right?
Joachim: I’m familiar enough with the legend.
Alicia: It’s a daft thing to say, but if I were one of these entities watching us like some ridiculously complicated drama, I’d try to even the scores a bit. Not in some flashy way, but where it would really count. Bringing some joy into the lives of people who always get the bad breaks, and handing down a little justice to the nasty pieces of work out there who inflict unnecessary and pointless pain on others.
She sighs.
Alicia: I would so like to think that there’s some kind of hidden order to the world… but whatever deities do exist, I just don’t believe Nemesis is one of them. To do her job you’d have to bear the weight of really understanding things from a human perspective… and that’s the one thing I don’t believe any of these otherworldly beings could ever do. They probably just sit about in some alternative dimension, bored out of their wits waiting for Armageddon. But enough of that… I agreed to come here tonight to see if I could help Echo, and…
She hesitates.
Alicia: …to… spend time with you. You will doubtless think I’m being facetious, but I miss challenging, intelligent conversations sometimes. There’s always Dr. Starkweather, but he’s got so many walls up around him that one always feels that one is intruding.
Something flickers through Joachim’s eyes at her words; it’s almost entirely unreadable, but one gets the feeling he’s just had a slightly conflicted moment. For a brief second, his icy impression falters, and then he turns away, stepping towards the lectern.
Joachim: The sentiment is…appreciated, Alicia. At the risk of sounding equally facetious, I find it refreshing to be able to converse without explaining every other word in rigorous detail. I’ve actually enjoyed these interactions more than you’ll likely know.
The surprise of the uncharacteristically warm returned compliment is almost enough to make her not notice that, for once, he’s using her first name. Turning the lectern around, Joachim finds what he was looking for: a compartment of sorts, its edges fastened with three different locks. He eyes them thoughtfully.
Joachim: I suppose I can appreciate your wish to draw the veil over the outside world; you are far from the only one with such desires. I know a man who, though I esteemed him as an equal, and perhaps even superior in some ways, now spends his days secluded from creation, the mantra of him and his being that they desire only to be left alone.
Producing a screwdriver, he attempts to pick one of the locks.
Joachim: But we cannot be content to demand isolation, particularly when those from whom we wish it are not playing by the same rules. Whatever is inside Ayres (call it a “demon” or a “spirit” or an “entity”; it’s all the same at this point), it is not going to respect the boundaries you have set forth unless it is forced to do so. Pawns on the chessboard are not asked for their input, Alicia; they are simply swept aside in a heap of gore and shattered bone if they presume to be so much as inconvenient. Mankind cannot withstand the glory of a thousand suns, so steps must be taken to prevent this kind of thing.
Joachim stabs rather violently at the latch with the screwdriver, a barely-suppressed wrath beginning to simmer to the surface.
Joachim: And though others may, I’ll not lie down and accept fate like a docile paschal lamb, on the basis of who was ‘here first’ or who claims the ‘moral high ground’. No, damn their eyes, never; I’ll die standing before I live kneeling. I have no use for quaking under the screen of ignorance, waiting to eat, drink and be merry in preparation of the inevitable. At the end of such idiocy lies only the Void, and we’ll not discuss this further.
Alicia feels a sense of disquiet at the venom with which he spits the words out, and watches curiously as Joachim apparently gives up on the screwdriver and begins dragging the lectern out to the stairwell. It protests loudly, shrieking against the floor with a sound not entirely dissimilar to a cat being bludgeoned to death with a bagpipe. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs, Alicia picks up the other end of the lectern.
Alicia: Where are you taking this?
Joachim: Up the stairs.
This magnificently unhelpful answer contents her for now, with the realization she’ll get nothing further out of him, and the two lug it all the way up to the landing at the top of the stairs. Joachim pauses for only a second before leaning the bulky wooden contraption against the rails, then tilting the other end up and pushing the whole thing over. It plummets for a second and the resounding crash is almost deafening, given the acoustics of the stairs.
Without a word, he heads back down to the site of impact and begins rummaging through the wooden debris. Alicia watches with understandable doubt.
Alicia: You know, that’s a sure-fire way to annihilate whatever was inside that thing.
Joachim: Normally, I’d agree with you, but what I’m after is of significantly sturdier constitution. Ah, here we are…
He stands, holding a small object in his hands. It’s a Chinese-style abacus, cast in what appears to be either bronze or a reasonable facsimile, with three different panels. Each sends six strings of jade beads in a different direction, adding up to eighteen rows of five beads each. The abacus looks old and fairly valuable, but otherwise completely irrelevant, as Alicia is quick to point out.
Alicia: You brought us out here to track down an ancient calculator? Forgive me if I don’t quite see the relevance here, but—
Joachim: You’re forgiven. Let’s go.
He starts back to the stairs, and she sets off to keep up with him.
Alicia: Go? Where’d you have in mind?
Joachim: We’re leaving. I found what we came for.
End.
(Apologies for impinging on the next match, the segment was too large for one post. <_< )
Match 4: Ricky Falco vs Adrian Flamingo
Falcon doesn't take too much time to stand idly by once he hears the bell ring, and he's quickly on the offense. Time after time he has been on the losing end of his matches with Flamingo, and he's determined this time to come out the victor. He delivers a flury of punches and kicks to Flamingo before whipping him across the ring into the ropes. Flamingo bounces off the ropes and is sent soaring into the air with a back body drop which gets a bit of a pop from the crowd. Flamingo rises up and Falcon kicks him in the abdomen before hoisting him on his shoulders for the Pancake Driver. Flamingo thrashes around on the shoulders of the former Entertainment Champion before slipping off his shoulders. Flamingo bounces off the ropes on his own accord now, and as Falcon turns around - Flamingo looks for a huge boot to the face but the Senatorial Stable member side steps it. He grabs Flamingo by the waist and drills him into the mat with a Garmen Suplex. He continues to keep the hands clasped before rising back up and delivering another painful Garmen. He continues to hold it on before rising up for the third time, but now Flamingo counters in a standing switch and looks for a German Suplex of his own but Falcon counters it into a roll up. A near fall by the Pure Athelete, and both men rise to their feet at the same time.
Flamingo wastes no time upon arriving to a vertical base, and he nearly clears the head right off the shoulders Falcon. Falcon is turned inside out from the clothesline, and quickly Flamingo sits back up before going back on the offense. With several stomps to the abdomen, he continues to beat down Falcon, looking to solidify another win over Falcon.
Flamingo picks up Ricky Falcon and places him in the corner before whipping him hard across the ring. Falcon smacks the turnbuckles hard and falls flat on his face before slowly getting back up. Flamingo sizes up Falcon as he gets back to a vertical base before planting him into the mat with a Impaler DDT. Falcon rolls over on his back, laying motionless, and the crowd responds with a resounding "Oooohhh" as Flamingo now looks for the cover. But Falcon as the wearwithall to get his foot on the bottom rope before Referee Joey Reynolds' arm comes down for the three. Flamingo can't believe it and he picks up Falcon - now looking for his 1979 Flamingo Special - but Falcon manages to grab onto the top rope as Flamingo drops forward right on his neck. Using all his resources to his advantage, Falcon takes the upperhand in this match thus far. Still exhausted, he quickly stacks up Flamingo for a possible quick win - but Flamingo frees himself. The two stagger up to their feet, and Flamingo looks for a right hand, but Falcon ducks and looks for one of his Garmen Suplexes. Flamingo now elbows Falcon repeatedly in the side of the head, eventually connecting right with his eyes. Falcon staggers backwards while Flamingo stumbles over to the corner, and now Reynolds begins to check on the former Entertainment Champion. Quickly pushing Reynolds aside, he races towards the corner and hops up on the middle turnbuckle before decking Flamingo with a set of rights.
"ONE"
"TWO"
"THREE"
"FOUR"
"FIVE"
The crowd counts as Falcon continues to pummel Flamingo. Flamingo now finds his way out of this manuever, and grabs both legs of Falcon before dropping him head first onto the ringpost. Blood immediately begins to pour from the head of the Pure Athlete, and Flamingo stumbles out of the corner to the center of the ring. Falcon drops to the outside of the ring, and within 5 seconds there is a pool of blood on the outside. "HO-LY SHIT!" runs through the arena and Falcon appears to be shattering whatever scale The Great Muta ever had with this release of blood. Flamingo rolls out of the ring before chucking Falcon back into the ring, and quickly Reynolds backs him up. The blood of Falcon begins to stain the canvas, and now Falcon crawls over to the corner to rest in. Officials and EMTs begin to run down to the ring, and they begin to check on the Senatorial Stablemate - and out of nowhere Flamingo connects with what he dubs the "A.D.H Knee". Falcon is totally knocked out at this moment, and Reynolds backs Flamingo up before calling for the bell.
Phillip: Ladies and Gentleman, due to profuse bleeding by Falcon, the referee has chosen to stop this match. As a result, the winner of this match, Adrian Flamingo!
"Hello” by Rollins Band sounds throughout the speakers and Flamingo stares at Falcon from across the ring as he's getting attended to by the medics.
He steps out the ring and heads to the back, with a rather sinister smile as if to say, "Hey look at how sinister I am".
Fade Out.