Debriefing

[Animus]

Animus enters the sanctuary and glances around. Nights interrupted by vivid dreams have taken their toll on his body, and waking up in unfamiliar environs each morning haven't helped. Even if the Circle doesn't have quite as many painful memories as the former Neidan mansion, he can't help but think back to the ill-fated attack on the Kruegans' Sanctum, of meeting here to rehash everything that had gone wrong, and of Ankh's involvemet in both. And now ...

But despite everything, a spark burns within his eyes, the knowledge that he had passed through the crucible and emerged scratched but unbroken.

[Fractured]

A new face arrives at the Circle. Its Tug, of course, but he's magicked its features to make him look like someone completely different, though of the same size and weight. The shape of the nose, a weaker chin, and a slimmer facial structure make him look like an exceptionally built TA. The big guy couldn't bring himself to wear one of those plaid jackets with the leather patched elbows, though. No, he's gone for the simple athletic shorts and shirt to which he is accustomed, adding a baseball cap to further dissuade recognition and at the same time, protect his bald head from the sun's ultraviolet.

He heads through the doors and finds Animus already waiting. "Hierarch," he says with a grin and an illustrious bow with one arm sweeping in to his chest, the other held high and away. "Good to see ya again. Arms workin' great, by the way," he chuckles as he resumes standing. "How you doin, man? Still want to be all you can be?" he asks with an expectant smile. Tug would be very surprised by a 'no,' given the impressive way Animus handled himself at Granite Park.

Rolls

I went ahead and rolled for Self-Healing the Agg I took, thinking I'd have done that later that night once 'dox reset, and the Doppelganging before he left the motel for the Circle, whenever this thread happens.

2010-09-11 10:22:50 Tug rolls 12 to self healing Agg (dex3+med2+1rotespec+life4+2HS) (10 Again) 5, 6, 10, 4, 3, 9, 6, 9, 4, 4, 9, 4, 7 4 successes
2010-09-11 10:22:08 Tug rolls 1 to dox (2 base -1 tool) (10 Again) 4 failure
2010-09-11 09:58:50 Tug rolls 9 to doppelganger (life 4 + gno3 + 2HS) (10 Again) 10, 9, 2, 7, 5, 8, 3, 5, 2, 6 3 successes
2010-09-11 09:58:32 Tug rolls 1 to dox (2 base -1 tool) (10 Again) 6 failure

[Animus]

Animus flashes a weak smile at Tug's flourishes. "After what I went through for them, they'd better be working."

The smile, however, quickly vanishes at Tug's question, and he winces visibly. "I've been better. Ankh left. She didn't even say goodbye, just ... skipped town." Everywhere, I see her fingerprints. Every place, every little detail, a memory. "Between that and aftershocks from Granitte Park ... But no, I haven't changed my mind about the Arrow."

[Darren Nash]

Ash enters the Circle and looks.....grimy. Not exactly dirty but with a sheen of sweat on his brow and a smear of oil here and there on his cheek and England rugby shirt.

He also looks animated for once.

"Fucking heap of shit died on me enroute. Can you believe it? A machine dying on me? I swear, this path will be the death of me. Anyway, jury-rigged the piece of crap to get it started again, despite the fact its got an exhaust straight out of Uncle Buck."

Ash looks between Tug and Animus.

"Am I interrupting?"

[Tug]

"Ankh left? Y'mean, just left? Geez. Sorry, man. That sucks." Animus was right, cabals did fall apart around him. He felt guilty for having left the Neidan himself just now, wondering if he could have held it together...but that was silly. It wasn't his place, he knew it, that's why he had left. He wondered how West was holding up, though. The big guy's grateful for Ash's appearance, as Tug doesn't do empathetic well. "Not interrupting at all, man. It's me, Tug," he says unnecessarily, in case Ash was as slow on the uptake as Tug was sometimes. "Good to see you. So, you had to raise your car from the dead?" he laughs. Zombie joke. With Invictus gone, they could finally have a bit of dark humor about it, get them past the tragedy of the situation, here on the other end of the rainbow.

[West (The Mage)]

West appears, dressed in cargo shorts and a t-shirt proclaiming "Meat is Murder". Anyone that's ever seen him get down at Fuddrucker's would be agog at the words -- but anyone familiar with how frequently he bought clothes would simply be amused. The only question left is how long he'd actually made it as a vegan.

There's a new accoutrement -- a cigarette. The easy, subconscious way in which it's held and smoked from suggests a habit of some time.

"What's going on?" he asks, a lazy bluish-white spiral of smoke wafting at a questioning gesture.

[banner]west[/banner]

[Darren Nash]

Ash looks to Tug, catching the voice and nods, smirking.

"Yeah, could say that." He looked round to West, shrugging. "My car needs an overhaul, apparently." Ash frowns. "Have you always smoked?" he asked, curious.

[Animus]

West's voice, the simple question, sends painful memories tearing through Animus.

Okay, break it down for me.

Meeting in these same halls. The overwhelming aura of failure, of disappointment. Ash and Tug. Ankh.

The surge is nearly overwhelming, but he needs to move past it. Focus. Find what matters, and don't let go of it.

"Invic-- The Granite Park Necromancer is no more. He fell under my claws." Maybe if he focused there everything else thatt had happened in that deathtrap of a building wouldn't affect him as much. Maybe.

Slowly, the cigarette impinges on the Thyrsus' consciousness, leaving him wondering. Did her leaving push him to it?

[Tug]

Tug waves at the Magister, taking a moment to regulate his breathing so he didn't have to inhale any of that nasty black smoke into his virgin lungs. "Hey, boss. It's me, Tug," he smiles mischievously, like a kid with a secret, so excited about it he had to let everyone know he had one. Of course, then he might not have it any more, but kids are short-sighted like that. He nods at Animus' explanation. "Animus did good. Hell, he did better than good out there." He frowns. "I got my arms chopped off and had to hop around as a kangaroo for a bit. But we were able to get 'em back and Animus glued 'em back on for me." He smiles, trying to look on the bright side. "It wasn't the most efficient mission, boss, but we met our objective. Ollie was still hangin' on, though, and I think me and Ash need to go back over and help him cross over, or whatever. This has nothing to do with the cute werewolf chick we met who helped us take out Invictus," he laughs. "Oh, yeah. This cute werewolf chick helped us take out Invictus," he repeats, having forgotten to mention her before.

[West (The Mage)]

West took a drag, shrugging at Ash's question.

"Sometimes I quit."

"A werewolf?" West asks, raising an eyebrow.

He remembered Stone looking for them, almost manic in his insistence. He wouldn't be surprised, considering the city seemed to host all sorts of denizens -- but... so openly?

"Tell me about her," he added. "Other than she's 'cute'..."

Leave it to D- ... Tug.