nysalogs | hangman is coming down from the gallows [closed]

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hangman is coming down from the gallows [closed]

Who: Soldier: 76 (

personalwar) & others
What: Catch-all log for October event! 76 is a fugitive, but that isn't going to stop him from digging for information. Part 2, escape and Wyver exploration!
When: October
Where: All around the dark shady parts of town, primarily in the Red Light District. Part 2, all over Wyver territory!
Warning(s): People may be trying to bring him in, so expect possible violence, language, etc!

[ This is a closed catch-all for me to put starters for any plotted threads. My plotting comment is here if you would like to do something! ]

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[ 76 has shed his identity as best he can, and given that he's practiced at it by now, he does a good job of it. His phone he tosses into a trash heap somewhere, the home he and Ana only just recently relocated to he abandons, and he stashes away his usual outfit and visor somewhere he hopes they won't be found. Even his pulse rifle has to be hidden, as it's too associated with him by now.

His sidearm he keeps, though. He needs some form of protection for when people come hunting him down for that reward.

It would probably be smarter to completely leave the city, but 76 does the exact opposite of that. He wants to get some idea of how the empress and the royal guard are reacting to all this. He's at the palace area not to talk to anyone (that's far too risky), but to sneak around in hopes of overhearing some pertinent information.

He's dressed in almost all black, with brown boots that are more in the style of this city than anything a refugee would wear, with a cloak pulled up to mask most of his face. ]

[ Bars are a good place to blend in and with the way that alcohol makes people so much more forthcoming with what they know, it's no surprise that this fugitive has taken up a spot in a dark corner of one of Olympia's many establishments.

Most of what he hears isn't that interesting. A lot of gossip without any real substance to it, a lot of anger directed towards him and the others named, and he's just about reached the point that he's going to move on, when a more familiar voice cuts through the crowd.

It would be hard to miss, and when 76 leans forward and spots a short, hooded figure halfway across the room, he knows it must be Rocket. A fellow fugitive, and one who'd have a much harder time hiding, given that he seems to be one of a kind around here.

76 rises from his table and makes his way over to Rocket, waiting for a moment when he's not actively talking to someone to make his move. He drops something (a coaster he swiped from the table) and bends down to pick it up, putting them at a similar enough height that he can get his message out and no one else will hear. ]

Meet me out back. Five minutes.

[ As promised, 76 will be waiting in the back alley, visor-less but wearing a black cloak with the hood pulled up to shield his face. Looks like they have similar ideas about how to handle being on the run. ]

[ Everyone is on the hunt now, for the Shady Man and anyone related to him, and 76 isn't excluded from that number. Even though he's been named a criminal for the part he'd played in the explosion, that isn't the whole story, and he wants answers from the person who'd given him a job much dirtier than how it had been advertised.

Unsurprisingly, the man is nowhere to be found, though 76 has been combing every part of the district in which he first spoke to him. He whisks his way in and out of any establishment that's open (and isn't opposed to trying to find alternate access to those they aren't), a figure in a black cloak who doesn't seem to be resting no matter how late into the night it gets.

He doesn't come off as approachable in the slightest, but that doesn't have to necessarily stop interested parties... ]

Edited 2017-10-02 21:46 (UTC)

[ Out of all the businesses in the red light district, Shades Darker is the one that attracts the most attention and the most people. Not to mention that this is the place where 76 first spoke to the man who gave him the carriage job, so it's logical to start looking for him here.

The thing is, he knows security is going to be extra-tight with everything going on, which means trying to get through the front door is a no go. What he ends up doing instead is scaling the side of the building to slip into one of the second floor windows, which as far as he can tell lands him in an empty hallway.

The coast looks clear at first, and he's just on the verge of thinking he's made it inside without alerting anyone, but then someone turns the corner and he recognizes it as another refugee. Shit.

Pulling his cloak up further around his head, he makes an attempt to walk past Cayde without drawing any more attention to himself. There's still a chance he can pull this off, and if not? He's prepared to leap back out the window and make a getaway. ]

[Sure is a good thing he decided now was a good time to do the rounds, huh.]

[People don't wander the halls of Shades Darker unaccompanied unless they work here, and Cayde's pretty sure he knows everybody who works here. Their faces at least. He's not so great at names. Either way, he doesn't know this dude. Cayde tilts his head to catch a glimpse at his face and it's totally unfamiliar, but Cayde seems pretty nonchalant about walking up the hall and letting the dude pass by.]

[You know, until he rounds on Jack just after he's out of peripheral vision and claps a hand on his shoulder, grip much too tight to be friendly.]

You lost, friend?

[ On the run, again. First he had to bury Jack Morrison, now he has to do the same with Soldier: 76. Maybe having a name at all had been a mistake. This is why he hadn't wanted to tell those from home about who he was; here he goes, disappointing them again. Ana and McCree have been dragged into it with him, but all of it goes back to that job he'd accepted. He'd been the one to speak with the Shady Man, not Ana.

Not that anything can be done about it now. Jack doubts that anyone would believe their side of the story, even if they were to come clean with it. Maybe fellow refugees (some of them, at least) would be sympathetic, but it's the Olympian empire that would ultimately decide their fate, and he has no reason to believe they'll be merciful.

So he has to go dark again. First thing's first is changing his appearance. It's ironic that showing his face is actually what will make him harder to find, but he's seen the wanted posters, and all of them depict his visor. His clothing is the next most recognizable thing about him, so those have to go next.

He finds his way into a clothing store on the outskirts of the market district, not too close to where the bomb went off. It's a quiet place, tucked into some side street, and the person behind the counter doesn't give him any strange looks when he walks in. So far, so good.

He scans the offerings and grabs for a black cloak with a hood, turning it over in his hands. This should help him to blend in while also allowing him to hide his face...

When he hears the door open and someone else walk in, he purposefully doesn't look. No need to draw attention to himself. ]

[Wandering the Entertainment District with a figurative ear to the ground while nursing a rising fever, body aches, and a cough may not have been the best idea, but to Allura it is the right thing to do.

And oftentimes, the right thing supersedes looking out for her own health. Especially when there isn't anyone like Coran around to keep her in check and in bed for the duration of her illness.

But even still, she's out in a haphazard disguise; her complexion a dusky blue, hair a matching light blue which still gives tell to her normally silvery-white hair, and her height a bit shorter than average. Around her nose and mouth is a white surgical mask taken from the Sanctuary, but that was less for a disguise and more due to her current illness and her stubborn determination to still be out and about well into the night.

Her entering the Red Light part of the district happens on accident; casually following two men talking in low whispers has her entering the district and ticks later, realizing the men's whispers are more about what they're going to do while here and less of anything that's worth continuing to listen to. She follows them for a few more ticks, on the off-chance their raunchy conversation is merely a cover, but when they enter a local brothel she makes a quick turn into a nearby alleyway, skin flushing a bright glowing pink beneath her surgical mask from both embarrassment, as well as from illness.

So quick is she to avoid entering the brothel that she accidentally bumps into a lone cloaked figure. She lets out a small surprised gasp, which turns into a thick rasping cough, and she turns her head away from the stranger until the coughing fit subsides.]

I am...I apologize. I was looking for the nearest-- er, tavern and got a bit [another cough] turned around.

[ Fate was kind to them. If it was any other person, 76 may have had to make a run for his life. Ann wasn't so personally involved in this besides the urge to protect the civilians and her friends.

76 was far from a friend, but he was helpful. Kind even. She knew he was no-nonsense but the sudden influx of him being involved in the tragedy going on? ...It seemed likely — he was skilled in finishing an objective, after all. Fearless in her eyes.

So, when she spots him, she keeps her distance. The anger and bitterness boils over, confused by the maskless features. He's really old and if it wasn't for the way his white hair thins and sprouts — she wouldn't have recognized him.

He's settled and she enters quietly, looking at a brilliant festival dress and instead speaking to no one — lucky for them, their merchant seems to be busy in the back. ]

... I'm not going to turn you in. Not yet.

[ She doesn't sound like herself. ]

There's changing stalls in the back. Go there or I'll scream.

[ ???? ]

[Rocket follows post-haste, though post-haste for him right now is a little bit slower than he'd like to be. He feels terrible, and the cloak is just as much for hiding how pathetic he looks as it is for hiding his identity.

He heads into the alley, wobbling a bit- that's normal! He was just in the bar. What isn't normal is the fact that his voice is hoarse, not slurred. Maybe if he gets right to the point no one will notice.]

This is bullshit. Like okay, sure. Technically we delivered the cargo, but that jackass tricked us.

[ At this point 76 has made his way into every shady corner of the red light district, or it at least feels like it. He can't say that his searching has gotten him very far. It's as if the mysterious man who gave him the carriage job has vanished without a trace, and at this point it seems likely that he's fled the city.

Which is something 76 himself should have probably done by this point, but he's always been known for his stubbornness, and he's not willing to give up the hunt just yet. Even with his own neck on the proverbial chopping block.

While it would be going a little far to call this place a casino, it is meant for gambling, most people playing various card games he doesn't recognize. The room is thick with drunken revelry, laughter or arguing, though there are some quiet corners with the more serious players.

He could try to sit in on a game, ask someone to teach him the rules, see if he can get some people talking, though for the moment he's keeping to himself and simply observing. ]

[ Well, so much for that. And he'd almost thought he was in the clear, too.

76 holds back on the frustrated breath he wants to let out, keeping his calm as he slowly turns to face the omnic-like figure. He recalls them speaking briefly back on Thesa Station, but he doesn't think that he ever got his name. Besides, if possible he'd like to pass off as a native, so he isn't about to bring up any of that. ]

I hope not. [ He shakes his head, his hood remaining in place to hopefully cast plenty of shadows over his face. ] I was on my way back downstairs.

[ He can sense that he's somewhere he isn't supposed to be, but he can also hope that the lack of panic in his voice will allow him to get away with a slap on the wrist. ]

[ While this district is the sort of place where unexpected things happen, that doesn't mean that 76 is ready for a young woman with blue skin to crash right into him. The impact is enough to throw his hood back, though he's quick to pull it up again while the stranger is busy having a coughing fit.

She's at least been considerate enough to wear a mask as a way to not spread her illness, but that doesn't explain why she's trying to go to a tavern when she's sick. It's not really 76's problem, but if he's too quick to dismiss her she might become suspicious. ]

Seems like a tavern is the last place you should be right now.

[ Questioning someone who was at ground zero of that explosion might be worth doing, though. This is his first time running into someone who's infected. ]

Were you at the markets when the explosion happened?

[ They're nothing that resemble the card games Allen knows either, given being from Britain circa 1895-ish. Not that he'll let that stop him, though. The names may change but the game doesn't, some cards are worth more than others and better in certain combinations and played following certain patterns. And it doesn't change his means of winning, anyway:

it just changes which cards to slip in and when he does it.

So needless to say it's something he already seems far too much of a natural at. Which is kind of a win/win. Men boast more when they think they're about to school some mannered-looking kid, then they blurt things they wouldn't normally once they start drinking heavier than they should because the kid is beating them... and then Allen still gets their money anyway. Really, it's a brilliant manner of finding things out without anyone realizing when you have a face like his. ♥

He's already collected his winnings for the night and, expression easing somewhat finally from the politely sharkish merriment he'd been projecting all night, he sighs a little as he slips them into his breast pocket. It was a bit of a wash again in terms of learning anything useful.. except he blinks for a second at catching a figure from the corner of his eye. Which is nothing that unusual in an establishment like this, there are often shady figures leaning a bit to the side. But this time..

He slows and it takes him a moment. That long sort of second where he could just continue to pass by 76—but can't, because of that nagging instinct of stop, look closer. Rugged profile of a fighter, short white hair swept back, a jagged scar across the face... of course it's the picture he remembered the most. Some particularly drunk and stupid sorts mistook him for the wanted man without his visor until they realized he was a boy.

No way. ]

From the posters, you're — [ It slips out a bit before he can help it, eyes widening in a flash of alarm. He was...

..what was his name? ]

Edited 2017-10-04 23:04 (UTC)

[~~It's because she's trying to be a spy, Jack.~~

Allura completely misses anything of note when she crashes into the cloaked stranger, and as she finishes coughing and clears her throat, the more logical side of her wonders if spying is really at all possible when you're genuinely sick and not just playing it as an act.

But she's really gotten no better at sneaking around, even in the months following her last spying escapade on a Galran ship. In fact, her coughing had distracted her enough for her hair to go from bluish back to its original silvery-white, and her skintone may have accidentally shifted from blue to a dusky purple.]

I-it is just a cough, I assure you. [She clears her throat again, posture straightening, and she looks at the man with a discerning eye, as though trying to see the face beneath the cloak.] Why do you ask?

[ It's only after Ann speaks up that 76 turns his head, just enough to catch a glimpse of her in his peripheral vision. Shit. She recognized him immediately, and the moment that he opens his mouth her suspicions will only be confirmed. He's got a pretty distinct voice.

She hasn't alerted the shopkeeper, she hasn't screamed (yet), and if he takes her at her word, she isn't going to rat him out. But chances are that she wants some kind of explanation. Not that this is necessarily the best place for it.

There's not much space to argue, though. A teenager screaming that they've found a criminal will draw immediate attention, so he can't risk that. If he plays his cards right maybe he can talk his way out of this.

So he nods, just slightly, and disappears with the cloak in his arms to the back, where the fitting rooms are.

He sighs to himself, and waits. ]

No escort?

[He's clearly not buying it, and he's not about to let up either. Sorry buddy he's got rent to pay and a nerd to feed, he can't be lax about this.]

[The guy's got kind of a familiar voice though, but Cayde can't place it so he's just gonna brush past that and move on to dealing with this whole thing. He glances aside at the way this dude came from and back to him, tilting his head to try and get a better look at his face. Because that hood totally isn't suspicious.]

Who were you seein'? They're not really supposed to let clients walk around on their own. Might get lost and wander into the wrong room or something, you know.

[is it an accusation or a threat? who knows! not Cayde.]

You really think anyone's gonna believe us if we try to explain that to them?

[ There's absolutely no reason for the Empress or any of the other people in charge here to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's easier to point fingers at the refugees, right? 76 had known that their status here would come back to bite them eventually. He just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

Thus far, it doesn't seem like the Orbiters have any interest in stepping in, either. Probably because they don't want to disrupt the natives. Or at least, that would be their excuse.

Between the hobbling and Rocket's hoarse voice, though, 76 has to wonder. ]

Did you get infected with that virus?

[ As if things weren't bad enough. ]

[ Part of 76's concern in coming here is that it's more well-lit than a lot of the other places he's gone. Shades Darker is, naturally, dark. Most of the bars and taverns in this district are the same. But in a gambling establishment, you have to at least see what cards you have if you want to play.

There's that split second where he realizes that the kid on his way out is taking a second look at him, but he doesn't have the option of yanking his hood further up, or turning away to slip out the back door.

Not before the kid opens his big mouth.

76 doesn't say anything, and as much as he wants to reach out and clamp his hand over the kid's mouth, he doesn't do that either. Instead he seizes the kid by the arm and leads him out through the front door, wanting to leave the crowded room before anyone else catches on. ]

I'm no one.

[ He says the words once they're in relative privacy around the corner. ]

You forget this ever happened.

[ His tone is forceful, the threat implied. If this kid rats him out, he's going to regret it. ]

[ The thing about Ann Takamaki — she can improvise in her mind. She thought she handled it well, played it cool despite how conflicted she felt. He was a stranger — but he had done two kind things in turn for her already. Her teenage emotions, still defensive on how adults have betrayed her in the past, jumps to conclusions.

Ann lingers for a few more minutes, clutching a pair of boots she grabbed off a table — they were far too big for her, but it was the first thing she could clue in to grab. Around five minutes later, the door of the dressing room creaks open and Ann immediately hurls the boots in his direction.

A frantic, hushed voice follows: ]

Tell me that wasn't you. Tell me you broke the shitty track record of adults ruining the world.

[ SHE'S very angry, furrowed brow and if he didn't see her in action before, maybe he wouldn't take her seriously. But, her fists ball in either side of her hips, anger bubbling inside of her. ]

[ 76 takes a few steps away from her. While he passes it off as wanting to put some distance between himself and someone who's possibly infected, it's more about making sure that they're not standing close enough to each other that she could get a good look at his face.

She brushes off his assumption about her being one of the patient zeroes, but that could be her own attempt to stave off any paranoia.

Maybe that would have worked a little better if it weren't for her other symptoms. ]

... You're changing color.

[ That can't be normal. Right? ]

[ If 76 starts shifting his head around to make it so that Cayde can't get a look at him, that's only going to make him more suspicious, and so he stands his ground with the hope that the dim lighting will do most of the work in keeping his features hidden.

While he's learned a few names of the workers here due to past trips he'd made when looking for intel, he doesn't mention any of them. That would only get him trapped in an even greater lie, when Cayde decided to go check up with whoever he named.

Which means that he's going to have to come up with a simpler excuse. ]

Wasn't planning on wandering in anywhere. I was just looking for a bathroom, the line downstairs was getting long.

[ He makes to move away from Cayde again, toward the stairs. Come on, give him a break here. ]

Sorry for the confusion.

[She's quite visibly caught off-guard by his statement (~~or as visibly off-guard as one can be with a mask over your mouth~~), mainly because she can't see her skintone and honestly thought she was doing an excellent job as per usual keeping her blue skin, well...blue.

But she does tug on her hair, and notices it does look like its usual shade as opposed to what she had attempted earlier.]

That's...normal. Completely normal. I-in fact it is done intentionally! [and this time she decidedly changes colour once again, this time to a ruddy red. hair matching accordingly, albeit lighter.

See?? normal!!]

[ Even with the knowledge that Ann can supposedly set things on fire, 76 isn't intimidated by her anger. This would hardly be the first time that he's had someone upset and disappointed with him.

He's not sure why she brought the boots with her, probably just to take away some of the suspicion of her wandering back here. He manages to catch one of them, while the other flops to the floor. With a sigh, he sets the one in his arms down on the small bench in the changing room.

Somehow he doubts this will be the only person he has to explain himself to, but he's already exhausted. He squeezes the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. ]

When I took the job, we were told that it was a Wyver carriage trying to smuggle weapons into the city. The idea was to apprehend them and give the weapons to the authorities to deal with. Obviously that wasn't the real story.

[ In other words, he was used and he's not happy about it. ]

[ Maybe 76 would have bought the whole thing if it weren't for the woman's demeanor. She can change her skin and hair color at will, there's no denying that, but her actual behavior indicates that she's uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Most likely because she hadn't realized she was doing it at first.

Operating on this theory, 76 looks her over for a few seconds before making his guess. ]

Whatever you're sick with is making it harder to control your abilities, right?

[ She can deny it until she's literally blue in the face, but there isn't much point. ]

[Look, she may have been raised and trained for diplomacy and had been slowly coming into her own back in her universe, but she's still young and it is hard to keep up a facade when your temperature is up a few degrees and your throat feels like the dry month of a Daibazaal summer.

Instead of denying, she blushes, which isn't obvious with her now-red skintone, but her pink markings peeking up just above the surgical mask do glow. She brings one hand up to her throat, clearing it, and she looks away.

Deflection is always a good go-to. And she gathers herself through her nerves.]

Never mind my abilities; what is it that you are doing in an alleyway so late at night? [She leans forward a bit, now trying to catch a glimpse of his face.] Are you a patron of the...er...brothel?

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hangman is coming down from the gallows [closed]

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for allura

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