Roleplay part 9

Okay, after two exams, loads of time spent on trying to fix my PC, doing craploads of art coursework and preparing for more exams on the way - I can safely say that I won't be able to post in the RP frequently. I haven't had any free time ever since I got back from Poland (apart from the one or two days that I did post on the forum). I have some free time right now, but I don't expect the week ahead to be any less busy so I won't be able to keep up with this role-play. I don't want to slow anyone down, so I'm leaving the RPG for now. Might come back later, we'll see - but for now there's just simply too much to do and I'd rather not spend any of the little free time that I have lately on catching up with all this. It takes up enough time already just to look through all the other sections of the forum to see what's been going on while I was gone.

 

I have been absent due to school-work and a ski-trip this weekend, sorry 'bout that.

My second night in Polis had been spent a lot more comfortably than my first one. I had rented a tent far larger than most others I had seen, or could remember having seen., and had spent the night there.
The tent was owned by a pretty successfull buisnessman and his family, and he had rented it out because he was visiting someone in a neighboring station, or so I'd heard.

I was lying on a bed. The most comfortable place I could remember ever having been. I couldn't decide.
Polis was, at least for me, the safest spot in the entire Metro.
But did I want safety?
I couldn't decide.
I looked to my side, over to a picture of the buisnessman and his wife.
Did I say pretty successfull? I meant very. Pictures...
Family; I wondered if I had any.
I decided: I'd go.
I gathered my stuff, left the payment in a small box, as previously decided with the neighbour renting out the house, and left.

I took some time before i found my way to "The Lone Ranger".
Polis hadgone into it's usual daytime rush, and I was pushed around, knocked over and out of course a few times, but eventually I stood before the bar, or wathever it was.
The door opened with a small push, and I stepped inside.
The group wasn't hard to spot, it was the only group in the room that exceeded three people.
I limped over slowly, just as the dreadlocked man finished speaking:
"...sicentist from D-6, we will have to go on without him. If anyone has anything to report or that they feel that they need to lift off their heart before our little council begins, do so now."
I grabbed a chair and sat down by the outer table. "I report that you won't be leaving without me, after all", I said, "Unless that is what you want, of course."

I might not be as active as I should (Am I ever?) this week, a lot of tests and other things going on at school, but I'll try.

Going somewhere outside of the "common-mans Metro" would be cool, as well as kind of ironic as the group just got passes to anywhere inside of it.

 

That's too bad, Bamul. Good luck with exams and all that though
And Znoowy, you're gonna have to be a bit more active.
As I finished speaking, the scientist appeared and sat down by the table, reporting that we would not be leaving without him unless that was what we wanted to. "Good to have you on board", I said and patted him on the shoulder once. "Was there anything else, then?", I asked out loud one last time to make sure.

 

*As Benji was finishing Bez, the scientist from D6 appeared. I smiled at him and gave him his envelope. although he hadn't taken part in the operation itself, he was there with us, and in the eyes of the Polis officials, that was the same as if he had. also it seemed Polina was late in joining us. I wondered whether she would be coming at all*

'well, what's our next move then? Joe, you said you had a story to tell us. I guess now is as good a time as ever' I said looking at him.

 

Things were going good. More members of the Ranger party were arriving at the bar faster than I had expected. Although there voices lie just out of my reach it was fairly easy to make out what they were discussing at most times.

The talking with the mysterious new man seemed to be going smoothly and it seemed things were just about to get serious when a stranger suddenly sat right in front of my view.

He sat facing me yet quite a distance from me. His presence at that particular spot managed to continually distract me from my eavesdropping, blocking my view of their movements and gestures. So reluctantly I stood up from my seat and moved out of the bar after paying for my tea and bread.

Knowing that now was the most important time to be eavesdropping if such a thing was required (such as was my case) I made my way around the outside wall of the bar and quietly leaned against the wall where I assumed the rangers booth to be bordering. Thanks to a small barred window high above my head I was able to hear the rangers and their conversations with fairly good quality, although I could no longer see them.

I sighed and prepared myself to stand for god knows how long against this wall mere inches from there touch.

God I wish I had some more tea...

 

Me showing up by the group went much smoother than I first thought it would, I'd expect at least a little reluctance. Oh well.
The woman with the tame animal, as I now, with a closer look, concluded that it was, smiled and handed me an envelope. With a puzzled look I started opening it, which proved hard with only one hand. I managed to open it in the end, finding a whole lot og MGR, to much for me to count at the moment, and a bunch of passes. This only made my look more puzzled, I'd guess, I couldn't see it myself.

The woman with the tame animal had spoken again while I were busy, it took me a moment for my subconsious to kick in and send the info further. My attention span..
"Ehhm.." I started, a little unsure, "You wouldn't mind a little introduction first. If I'm going with you, of course."

Got it, Skaara, I'll do just that.

 

At Benjamin's mention of lifting things "off our hearts", I turned to look at him slowly and sighed. Today had been going so well, and now I was thinking of Lara and Steve again. I was fairly sure Benjamin knew what had happened and that Joe suspected, but as for the rest of the group I did not know. As the man that we had picked up in D6 came in and took a seat, I rolled around the envelope of bullets that Odessa had handed me. On one hand, this was going to cause problems if it stayed buried for too long. On the other, we were in a bar and now might not be the best time.

"Might as well hold off for now until we got to a less ... public place, in case things went poorly" I thought to myself. The scientist asking for introductions brought me out of my thoughts. I waited for a moment to see who would be the first to reply, then said " If by introductions you want names, I'm Melnikov. You can call me Melkov too. I'll probably respond to just about anything though, so feel free to call me something else if you want." I clamped my mouth shut after that. I was getting nervous, sitting in this fairly open cafe with lots of people coming in and out, which in turn was making my mouth run free.

I waited until everyone else had introduced themselves, and then leaned back to listen to Joe's story. I had been wondering about it since the immediately after exiting D6, and now it looked like I would find out what the "story" was.

/We could do Joe's mission (to be revealed).
We could go check out the station that Sergei was from that was "wiped out" (can't remember the name of it).
We could do a hunt for a murderer/serial killer in the Red Line.
We could go to the university, though that would have to be brought up by characters that know how to get there.
We could go try to stop an outbreak of the toxin in the SE corner of the metro (going with the quarantined stations in the book-lore and our in game date of 2032).
Or we could just run for our lives from the metro that is hunting us for the massive bounty on each of our heads.

 

since im observing you guys, as a spy then u can go anywhere you want. and say anything about my presense that you want. Ill make it fit to my story and my character

 

Does this mean I could say "Has anyone noticed the man that has been watching us?"

 

sure. Just make it limited. Remember that I'm just spying. And can't get too involved with the situation.

 

I looked at the scientist that we had brought with us from D-6. "Benjamin Soprano, I lived in Japan for half my life and the metro half my life, although my birth is of American origin", I told him shortly before I leaned back and waited for everyone to quickly introduce themselves to the man, as well as him introducing himself, so Joe could tell us the story that he has been so eager to tell for so long.

 

Joe suggested that we walked over to his sister's house because he needed to tell her the story as well. I found it appropriate to stay at this fine location we had been provided, so I declined. "You have had two days to tell her that, Joe", I said with a slight smile and shook my head. "No, we will stay here until departure. We can stall for a few minutes when gearing up so you can talk to your sister afterwards, just before we leave", I said and nodded to him with a smile.

 

I got the names of Benjamin and Melkov, an I thought I might introduce myself as well.
I stayed out of the discussion about changing locations; it didn't excactly matter to me.
"Well, I don't really know my name myself, but they, and I, call me Nameless (безымянный/bezymyannyy), shortened down as much as you'd like." I started, "Long story short, I lost my memory, left leg, left hand and most of my left body, actually, in some kind of explosion a couple of years ago." I raised my left 'Hook'-Hand as to better explain.
"Other than that there isn't much to tell.. I can supply limited medical assistance, if needed, I guess", I said, once again lifting up my hand, "but due to the hand, again, it will be limited."
"By the way, Benjamin, was it? You lived in Japan?" I pulled out the knife from my belt "I was told this knife is japanese, you know anything about it?"
I handed the knife towards him.
"I were also told it's most likely somebody sold on the streets before the war, but I might as well ask someone who knows a bit more about it."
The knife is a tantō (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantō), by the way, Bez (I liked that nickname ) just doesn't know it.

 

Bezymyannyy was an unusual sight to lay eyes on with a metallic left leg and a hook as a left hand, not to mention his characteristic name.
When he pulled a knife out of his belt and handed it towards me, I was nearly shocked. I could feel my own eyes widen as my heart skipped three beats. Could it be? There it was, now in my hands, a Tantō blade. I never in my life thought I would see one of these ever again. I was astonished. Just to hold the handle of it and feel the steel of the blade brought me far away back in time. It took me a few moments to gather my thoughts to actually answer him. "This blade here that you have a hold of, is a Tantō", I said as I rubbed the blade passionately in my hands.

"These blades originates from the Samurai warriors. They were the most fearsome and deadly warriors of Japan with not only a unique set of weaponary, armor and skill, but also way of living independently outside of society, forming minor civilizations. I lived in a mountain-village, a Sanctuary, ruled by monks. It was quite similar to the Samurai, just with less focus on having a 'heart of a warrior', and more focused on wisdom, knowledge and intelligence. Ancient tales told that we were decendants of the Samurai. The Samurai originates from hundreds of years ago, and that was when they first made these blades. I have personally crafted several of these blades myself, including this", I said as I patted the handle of the katana sticking up beside the back of my head.

"The designs of the Tantō has been copied over the years and modernized in different ways. For some time, they were close to being 'mass-produced' as you would call it. This is not a rare knife. But I am astonished by the fact that this is a very rare knife, perhaps the only one of its kind", I said as I pointed at the blade in my hands. "I have used a lot of time to attempt to make a copy being true to the original, but finding the Samurai's "secret ingredient" to this masterpiece proved impossible, at least for me. This is the first time I ever see an original Samurai's Tantō blade outside of a book with pictures. I doubted that they even still existed. This blade has been well preserved to be this old. I would guess that it is well close to a thousand years old, crafted by the original Samurai themselves. You are a very lucky man to possess this, and I am eternally honored just to hold it", I said as I slowly and reluctantly handed it back to him.

"Had the world not been in ashes, this blade could most definitely make you a rich man. This blade has probably won many great battles for victorious warriors. It is not only a masterpiece, but a piece of history and art. It tells the tale of the Samurai", I told him as I nodded confirmingly.

I was ripped out of my dreaming speech by Joe who began to say "Fine but mr stalker over there seems to be interested in our conversation as well" but well if you're ready shall I start?". I must have looked quite puzzled, because I could not understand what he was talking about. "What do you mean?", I asked him.

 

*at the mention of 'mr stalker' i looked to where Joe was indicating with his head. In that moment I saw a man walk out the bar after giving us a quick glance. I had seen him before, somewhere, but could not, for the life of me, pinpoint where. I turned to Bez and introduced myself*

'I'm Odessa, formerly of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, currently mutant hunter and citizen of the Metro. this tame mutant next to me is Jet, a mutant cat' I said shaking his hand. Jet meaowed in aknowledgement and went back to sleep on my lap.

'I agree with Benji. let's stay here, and keep an eye out for mr. stalker, where ever he is now. Joe, your turn' I said to Joe, while oredring another coffee and some warm milk for Jet from the waitress.

 

Well, Dimty is actually at the bar with us, but Steve hasn't posted here in a while, really. Let's hope he'll be back soon.

I could see Odessa turn her head towards a man in the bar as a reaction to Joe's statement. I was surprised as I had not noticed anyone watching us at all. It was probably because of my eagerness to tell Bezymyannyy the tale of the Samurai. We decided to stay none the less, and were now waiting for Joe to finally tell the story.

 

After the group decided to stay at the bar, Benjamin began explaining the significance of the knife that Bezymyannyy handed him. As I listened, I pulled out my pistol and set about disassembling it on the table in front of me. Since we were going to be here awhile from the sound of things, I took out a rag and some oil and started cleaning each individual piece, running over them with care.

"Almost forgot. Thanks for the MGRs, Odessa." I interjected as she finished introducing herself. I kept cleaning, waiting for Joe to begin his story.