Come On In..
Who: The Queen, OPEN
Where: The heart of The Shadowlands, in her palace.
When: Sometime after the Jonathan Crane plot, at the point where most of the Northernmost "continent" above where the Shadowlands was orginally phased has become her territory.
Summary: Since so much territory is now under control and since her previous council were of no aid ( Read more... )
Where: The heart of The Shadowlands, in her palace.
When: Sometime after the Jonathan Crane plot, at the point where most of the Northernmost "continent" above where the Shadowlands was orginally phased has become her territory.
Summary: Since so much territory is now under control and since her previous council were of no aid ( Read more... )
XANA allowed its stolen lips to pull back in a silent snarl of annoyance. It needed more data to be certain, but the risk of building up enough energy to attempt to send out even a small piece of itself was too risky. Though it loathed to admit the fact, there was so little of it left that even losing one shred of its remaining existence was intolerable.
Which was why the woman's signs had intrigued it. It hated working with biological creatures, true, but there might be a way to turn the situation to its own advantage. If nothing else, there might be a way for it to get out of this disgusting body.
Purple electricity crackled around its hand, providing wavering illumination in the shadowed hallways of the palace. Boldly, it searched for the woman before finding her seated on a throne.
"Are you human or something else?" it queried, giving not a care for formal introductions. Social niceties were beneath XANA's concerns.
Reply
She considered her words carefully, considering that someone would burst into her hall and skipping over all the social niceties which were due her.
She tilted her head and smiling as sweetly as she could, which, interestingly enough did appear sweet, she replied, "I am a little of this. I am a little of that." She raised her hands up one at a time to represent the two portions of shadow and human that she was made of, her long finger arm glinting as she moved each hand.
It is true she appeared human but her eyes were completely black. In some light it was hard to determine if there was actually anything in her eye sockets at all, but in most light it was easy to see that two black orbs did indeed inhabit those two sockets in her face.
"And what are you?" She rested her hands back into her lap, looking down on the creature from fifteen feet above him in her throne.
Reply
Not unbearable but not ideal. Had Jeremie not already contacted Brainiac 5, XANA would've preferred to have worked with the other machine. Unfortunately, Brainiac 5 would undoubtedly notice significant changes in the boy's behavior.
Twin target-like symbols replaced the normal blue irises of its host's eyes. XANA openly studied the female, eyes lingering over her strange hands before locking onto the seemingly empty sockets. His face remained mostly neutral except for a slight scowl of the lips.
"I am XANA," it responded to her question.
Reply
The Queen, however, was not entirely in the mood to be interrogated. It was she who had originally planned to do that this day and she would not be circumvented by some little being with an attitude problem. It was almost like dealing with her own daughter.
"For what purpose have you come to my kingdom, XANA? You do not look like the sort of being who would reply to one of my posters. You appear much to smart and analytical to consider yourself beneath anyone. So, tell me, what here interests you?"
Her smile was still there, white teeth flashing in the sepia toned light, her tan skin crinkling around her eyes.
Reply
"I have no interest in any petty jewels you have to offer, but you may be able to assist in resolving an ongoing problem of mine," it answered. "Of course, this depends upon your own talents."
Things were going relatively well. It was in her territory but seemed to have thrown the female slightly off-balance.
Reply
"Oh? You require my talents? Interesting. And what is it you have in mind? As for the jewels, every fish has a particular bait that it likes and for the fish I seek, their bait of choice is jewels. It is also true that others will not swim with the crowd. Creatures like yourself. You have piqued my interest, now what I want to know is why I have piqued yours."
She Queen leaned forward ever so slightly and seemingly began to fall from her throne sliding out of it impossibly slow as if her form was defying gravity and then shifting into a massive cloud of an oil like substance. The liquid settled to the ground some seven feet in front of XANA and reformed as the Queen, her long golden dress trailing some fifteen feet behind her, her eyes, if at all possible showing her own amusement, and tell slender form waiting in some anticipation for XANA's reply.
Reply
"Do you not want to know what I have to offer before asking the cost?" it asked, addressing but not answering the question of his "bait of choice".
Reply
"I don't really believe that a being of your type would have come here without something worth selling."
She slowly took a few steps backwards and and waited patiently resting on her heels, looking as if she was deciding on coming or going. She was obviously curious to see what XANA had to offer, but if she did not offer it in time, the bidding would be up, no winners.
Reply
Best to give her a taste of what it could do even if it was stuck. It crossed its host's arms.
"What I can offer you is a spy," the AI responded, tipping its hand a bit. "My reports would be fairly irregular, but I can blend in a bit more than yourself."
Carefully, it exuded enough control to hide its signature symbol, revealing pleasant blue eyes. It changed its stance to match how its host normally stood in a completely non-threatening manner, morphing its face to match.
"This is what your opponents will see," XANA stated, the voice it spoke with sounding more natural.
Reply
It was evident that her thoughts were more than occupied as she saw the normality of the being in front of her and heard its voice. Yes, it's capability to blend would be more than useful for her personal agenda.
She smiled, bemusedly, her teeth flashing, her eyes, in their own sort of way, lighting up with a sort of mischief, her hands slowly rising up to her lips, a natural habit when she was contemplating any beings future.
"Yes, indeed. Quite interesting. So, what is it that you would require of me in exchange for your... aid."
She tried not to use the word "servitude". She knew it was not the most appealing word for some.
Reply
It asked since its host had run into those that had absolutely no idea what electricity was, much less a computer. If she didn't have the skills and if she was unwilling to find someone who was, it had no use for her. There would be other chances though it was risky to wait and give its host time to prepare countermeasures. (If only the boy had shut down the original multi-agent system, it wouldn't be in this situation in the first place!)
And this Queen didn't need to know what it was planning once it had escaped into the computer anyway.
((OOC: Is it wrong to love this evilness so much?))
Reply
"However, I find that in order to be better prepared and at more of an advantage in the worlds now surrounding my own I must have a better understanding of its capabilities and uses... Unless of course there was someone willing to aid me in that regard?"
That playful smile was back on her face, almost flirtatious, but not quite. Natually, she was pleased, and in her more usually pleased state she always appeared as some playful dark Venus ready to take on more than any body that was actually with her. She just had a knack for crowds.
[[OOC: No not at all! XD Of course I could only love so much evil as it is in game. If it were real I'd be scared right out of my pants! XD]]
Reply
It felt Jeremie stir and then settle back down, still resting. However, XANA didn't have the luxury of continuing the interview for much longer.
Sharing a body was so very annoying.
Reply
She quickly turned away and turned back, her expression settling into that of her usually pleased features.
"I was referring to your usefulness. You may be the one who brings me such information concerning the activities of those beings which control the system. As you suggested, living as a spy for however long you see fit to do so."
Reply
It mentally flipped through the possibilities, deciding that tipping its hand a bit wouldn't be a bad thing.
"Perhaps so," it answered, "but what I want is someone who can counteract my host's own work." It motioned at its stolen body. "I will spy but where I go is the decision of my host. However, he will not know of our association."
Reply
"What exactly is it you would have me do. And please, in full detail."
She held her hands together in front of her slim bodice, her back straight and her body seemingly as stiff and as rigid as a board, though she did not look uncomfortable.
Reply
Leave a comment