onepassingnight | 1st Transmission

[This appears to be a giant room, ceilings as high as the walls are far apart. It's well-lit, although there are no windows. There's bits of machinery and half-built robots everywhere, either semi-neatly stacked on tall shelves or scattered on the floor. The cement floor is spotted with oil. There are green monkeys running everywhere. You know, normal stuff.

In the center of the room there's a little work area in a cleared space. There are a couple worktables haphazardly covered in tools, both recognizable and obviously homemade contraptions. At one worktable a very red-haired young man is tinkering with what looks to be a mini-fridge with legs. He's cheerfully explaining to himself what he's doing. A small ball hovering next to him suddenly shouts something about it being lunchtime, making the man jump.]

I'm busy! Be quiet!

[Suddenly he notices you and freezes for a moment. Then he begins sputtering.]

But--what--how did you get in? And why didn't my bots tell me someone was approaching the house?!

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[Oops. Well, at least this guy can put his money where his mouth is. Jade ducks under the arm of the first robot, pulls himself into a defensive casting position, and chants a fon verse.]

O violent torrent. Splash!

[He summons several large waterspouts to crash down on the war-bots.]

[The war-bots smash to the floor. As soon as the water stops, they climb to all-fours and charge you, blades protruding from their mouths.]

I sell these things to armies, kid. They're the real deal.

[Well, that didn't work exactly as planned. Saphir's robots usually short-circuit whenever they get the slightest bit wet, but these war-bots just took it in stride. Maybe this guy's found a way to waterproof them. Whatever the case may be, He needs to change tactics.]

Take power from those before me. Absorption.

[Using the fonons left over from his last arte, he strengthens his usual Drain Magic arte. He starts to draw power from the nearest war-bot.]

[One of his enemies fights using water--waterproofing his machines is always the first thing he does to them.]

[The affected war-bot slows considerably, but it hasn't stopped yet. The other one is closing in fast--you might want to do something about that. Jack frowns. What did you do?]

[Jade might not have stopped that first war-bot, but he should have bought enough time to cast another arte before the drained war-bot becomes a serious problem. He takes aim at the other one, and opts for brute force rather than exploiting a weakness.]

O maddening gale of the spirits of the earth... Stalagmite.

[The ground opens up beneath the advancing war-bot, shooting a sharp, jagged spire of rock upward.]

[The stalagmite pierces the war-bot's chest and it flails spasmodically for a moment before staggering to its feet, just barely pulling itself off the rock. There's a puncture in its chest and it's shooting sparks. Nevertheless, it swallows the blade in its mouth and begins charging its gun again.]

[He calls up the stairs:] Hey! Get all the guard-bots. This might need to be swamped with numbers.

[For all his fonic genius, Jade knows he can't endure a swarm of robots. As the damaged war-bot prepares to fire, he ducks behind the drained war-bot, using it as a sort of shield. He is careful not to get too close, as it's still dangerous even if it is sluggish.]

You're as cowardly as you are irritating.

[He laughs.] What clued you in?

You're not leaving here alive. Nothing personal.

[There's still some lingering second fonons from Stalagmite. It's a risky move, but if he makes use of them, he should still be able to cast one arte before the drained war-bot closes the gap between them. He takes aim once more, but instead of blasting either war-bot, he lines up a shot at Jack.]

Nothing personal, indeed. O frigid blades, pour forth. Icicle Rain.

[A fonic glyph opens up above Jack's head, ready to let loose a flurry of large, sharp icicles.]

[Wait, why are you... you're aiming at him. He shrieks and dives away, moving surprisingly quickly for someone who doesn't fight. The icicles catch him in the legs nonetheless, cutting them up badly. He might very well bleed out if he doesn't get prompt treatment. The guard-bots are starting to fly down the stairs, though. They might be intelligent enough to know where to take the boss when he gets injured.]

[Meanwhile, the standing war-bot kicks the drained one straight at you.]

[Jade turns his attention back to the war-bots just in time to see the drained war-bot flying toward him. He tries to dodge, but one of the war-bot's legs catches him square in the chest, knocking him to the floor and pinning him down. He tries to lift the robot off of him, but it's just too heavy to move on his own.]

[He's even paler than usual and very still. He's probably going into shock. Several of the guard-bots pick him up and carry him off up the stairs.]

[The standing war-bot staggers towards you, and tries to stomp on you. Everything's starting to go a little fuzzy, though. Perhaps Jack's waking up?]

[They say you can't die in a dream; if you fall in a nightmare, you'll always wake up before you hit the ground. In a few seconds, Jade will wake up in the bedroom he shares with his younger sister, where he'll likely forget this encounter with this strange man and his robots.]

[But since he's not aware that this is a dream, all he can do is watch. He can see the guard-bots swarming around Jack and carrying him away. He can see the war-bot bearing down on him, even if the whole world is beginning to blur together. He braces himself for the impact, even though it likely won't do him a bit of good. He's just too proud to give up and ask for mercy.]

[Jack is quite sure he's dying. He's lived through a lot of interesting injuries in his life, and he's acquired a pretty thorough knowledge of what's happening in his body. He knows he's losing too much blood, too fast. Without an immediate transfusion (and who keeps spare blood in their house, really?) he's gone. So he's very surprised to find he's not scared.]

[Oh, he'll be terrified when he finishes waking up, and will be unable to sleep for a couple days, but right now he just feels an empty sort of regret. Why hadn't he prepared for this? It would have been so easy to program his bots to take action when his vital signs dropped past a certain point. If only he'd thought ahead.]

[It would have been so cool for his bots to exact vengeance on his enemies without him guiding them.]

1st Transmission

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Sorry for the wait! RL ate me.

It happens. :D

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