etrayalogs | OPERATION: YOUTHFUL DISOBEDIENCE

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OPERATION: YOUTHFUL DISOBEDIENCE

WHO: Members of the grand curfew-breaking plan!
WHEN: During the Moorecroft event.
WHERE: Various Moorecroft locales.
WHAT: A bunch of youths have gotten together to break curfew in tandem to get to the bottom of the mystery at heart of this place -- but what they find leads to more questions than answers.
NOTES\WARNINGS: Probable violence, death, emotional trauma, cursing. All the fun stuff! I'll be putting the log headers for pre/during/post-curfew breaking logs in the comments, so just hang tight while I do that, though all members are of course more than welcome to post their own logs if that suits their tagging style better.

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[ This entire thing is really just an exercise in using his skills in different ways. Because -- yes, Fabian is a dancer, and that makes him incredibly light on his feet. Sure, he's usually very loud and present, but that's because he does everything he can to command that sort of attention to himself. Doing the opposite here is a little hard, and he knows he's not doing nearly as good of a job as Riz, but.. It's Fabian truly trying.

And it works, mostly. He's hardly even audible, lighter on his feet than he's ever been, especially with the help of some of his own magic. He even tries his best to look less obvious - his hair tied back even further than it usually is, his battle sheet tied and wrapped around his waist like it's just an article of clothing instead of him carrying it and it waving behind him. It's not like Fabian to be unnoticeable, but-- he's trying. It's the least he can do.

Still, being quiet doesn't take that much effort as long as he just tries. What takes up most of his effort here is Riz. It's really hard to follow the other - something Fabian figured more than he knew from experience, since he never really does try to look for Riz in the heat of battle. He knows it's a useless exercise. When it comes to Riz, you just let him hide somewhere, and then trust he can do it well enough to snipe people from that position.

But now he has to try. He has to keep following his friend, after all, even though it sometimes feels truly impossible to spot him at any given moment. Fabian has definitely lost Riz already twice in the process, only realizing last-minute where the other is at once he spots Riz moving again. Stupid high impossible stealth modifiers..

He catches up with the other again, only then realizing Riz is doing the one thing Fabian told him to not do.

It makes the half-elf frown, moving his hand across his own throat in a 'cut that shit out' kind of motion. He told you he'd be fine! He's following Riz, they haven't been spotted yet, likely due to the robots' attention being drawn to the loud sounds in the distance.. It's fine! They're fine!

The next gesture is definitely a 'let's just keep going' kind of hand wave instead. Yes, he could just message Riz, but he doesn't want to break the other's concentration in this moment. ]

[ Riz just grimaces at Fabian as though to say: fuck off with that.

He knows he should have faith in Fabian. And he does, really. He's never let his number of personal crises stop him from being an absolute beast on the battlefield -- the dude killed his dad, lost his eye and still managed to make it to the gym on time to kill a dragon, for god's sake. But some things transcend faith, and one of those things is worry. They don't know what's out here waiting for them, don't know if the robots are on their tail, don't know if some of the citizens here are in cahoots with the robots and might just hear a rustling in the bushes and reach out to snag Fabian. It's just one part of why he wanted to come out here alone.

He worries. He'll always worry. They could be at level twenty, and he'd still feel the same way. So if he loses focus for a second, just a second, ears twitching as he listens for Fabian's footsteps behind him as much as he's listening for the robots, it'll be fine. It's fine.

And it actually turns out to be mostly fine, the others successfully warding off the robots with their combination of highly destructive skills and reckless maneuvering long enough for Fabian and Riz to get out of the residential district entirely, which had been Riz's primary concern; the robots are just as deadly anywhere else in the city, but at least this way a stray bullet won't hit some poor unsuspecting person. The two of them rarely bat an eye at death these days, but most of the guys who wind up in their orbit do so deliberately. Some soul just bustling around at home caught in the crossfire is a horrible thought.

They slip into the working district, with the TV station and rows of comfortable offices, the high school and public parks, manufacturing plants and the police station, the sort of place that has at least a few lights on even in sleepy old Elmville, some guy working late meandering around. Instead it's chillingly silent, chillingly dark. With no inhabitants out and about, there's no reason to have any lamps on either, something that's useful for their mission, but... odd.

As they creepy through the park, Riz stops as he hears a buzzing sound and grabs onto Fabian's wrist, dragging him into the little alcove beneath the slide as though they're just a couple of kids playing hooky instead of two adventurers embarking on a life threatening journey. The hospital is so close. It's so close. But...

He cups one hand over his ear, looking over at Fabian: do you hear that? ]

[ The way is pretty easy to navigate for Fabian too, at least until the police station. He makes his way to work every single day along that route, after all. Despite the fact that he's still taking care to follow Riz, he knows he easily could have done that route by himself with his eye closed if he would've had to.

After they pass the station though, it gets a little harder. Fabian pays even more attention to Riz, trying to follow his exact footsteps, Fabian's very breathing hardly even audible from how hard he's focusing here.

.. then again, the focus also means that he's pretty startled when he's dragged into the alcove out of nowhere. It's a small miracle that he manages to swallow down any sound before it could leave his mouth, because he was so close to yelping, to ruining the entire thing.

He almost wants to give his friend a scolding look for doing so without warning him, but Riz's own silent question draws his attention away from that.

.. and towards a single robot, whirring its way onto the playground. Shit. Guess it was too much to hope for that the others would have been able to distract all these things.

Fabian stares at it, like he can will it to go away by just looking at it, but of course it isn't that easy. Especially when a second robot seems to join it only a moment later, making it very hard to just sneak away behind both their backs.

He knows what he could do here - but true to the compromise Fabian made with himself when forcing Riz to take him along, he's going to let the other calls the shots here.

Casting Message at his friend, Fabian asks in Riz's mind, I can cast a spell as a distraction if you imagine we could quickly get away in the meantime. ]

[ Riz stops to think about it. Really think about it. They did say that if they were caught by the robots, they'd bail. If he was on his own, that's what he'd most likely do, not because he won't pull some reckless stunts by himself, but because he knows the limitations of his own strengths. But that's why Fabian came, right? To give them a fighting chance. What was the point of him coming if they were just going to do what Riz could do by himself?

He turns to look at Fabian, brow knit with worry. He doesn't want this to go wrong. He really, really doesn't want this to go wrong. Two eyes, faintly glowing in the night, stare at Fabian searchingly, as though trying to divine what he thinks they should do. Even with Darkvision, it's impossible to say. ]

It's worth a shot. We're almost there. Once we're inside, we might be able to ditch them in the vents. You should ready a buff spell for yourself right after you make a distraction too.

[ Get a little extra speed. That's something he's considered too -- that if Riz himself is caught, then Fabian is just fast enough to slip past them. ]

[ Fabian can tell that this isn't a straightforward decision for Riz. He's seen Riz make snap decisions before when he's confident - it always happens so quickly, often too quickly for Fabian's mind to ever properly keep up with. Not that he really minds, considering he's put his life into the other's hands without a second thought, believing Riz would make the right decision about it.

But this isn't like that. He has to really think about it, and.. well, it makes sense. This is a complicated situation.

Despite Riz needing that extra bit of time though, Fabian does immediately still believe in the conclusion he's reached. He nods slight at the other. ]

The moment the distraction gets their attention, you stealth, I run. [ With the spell. He's not sure if it'll outpace the robots, but it should at least be quick enough to be able to consistently stay ahead of them, Fabian thinks.

All they have to do is make it into the place. It's not far. He can run that. He runs all the time for Bloodrush. Just see this like some sort of really intense game, he tells himself.

Fabian turns his head to look away from Riz, instead scanning the playground, looking for the right target. His gaze lands on a trashcan on the entirely opposite side of the playground, and when Fabian squints at it, said trash can suddenly explodes out of nowhere into an entire display of fireworks, immediately making all the robots whir towards it to see what's wrong with it.

It only takes a split second to cast Kinetic Jaunt on himself when he's so familiar with it, and Fabian practically dives out of their little hiding spot to dash away from the playground and into the direction of the hospital as fast as humanly possible - or rather, faster than that, empowered by his dance-like leaping steps. ]

Got it.

[ With this, at least, Riz doesn't have to look behind him. Fabian outpaces him within seconds of creating the distraction, leaving Riz free to slink around behind him, sticking to the shadows and brambles, the quiet rustling of him creeping through the bushes wholly covered by the absolute din of the fireworks.

Fabian makes it into the hospital well before Riz manages to, opting instead to go around the side instead of the brazenly open door. He takes but a moment to pick the lock of one of the windows, a handy claw shoved inside the mechanism and ferociously twisted until he hears the click! and slides it open, slipping into the foyer, eyes faintly glowing in the dim light of the closed hospital.

Which is all kinds of creepy, actually -- hospitals are supposed to be open all night long, but in a place like this, if you're undergoing a medical emergency past curfew? Apparently you'll just be left to die. He hurries over to the front door to lock it behind them (it will slow the robots just a little, he thinks, if they follow them in), and turns to Fabian.

In lieu of having a Message spell on-hand, he grabs his hand. He'd made everyone in his party learn a little bit of Thieves Cant, just enough to get by when they don't have the spell slots or the casters to spare for magical communication, and traces into the palm of his hand. ]

Good. Dark. Forward.

[ Well done. Don't turn on the lights. Keep moving.

They're not home free yet -- but Riz is starting to feel a little better about this whole thing. The hospital has far more nooks and crannies to hide in, and plenty to investigate; the robots are most likely to focus on patrolling the outdoors, he thinks. ]

[ There's not too much of a worry while he has to wait for his friend inside of the hospital for a moment. Fabian realizes he made it there ahead of Riz, sure, but.. there's no way Riz would have let himself get caught out there. Not Riz of all people. Fabian really doesn't know anyone sneakier than his friend, especially when often Fabian himself can't even find him. How could these dumb robots that don't even know Riz stand a much better chance then?

So though there's a touch of relief when he watches the goblin slide through a window, there's not too much surprise. This is how it always was going to go. Riz was going to get to the hospital no matter what, even if Fabian had to sacrifice himself and get caught in Riz's place along the way.

Luckily they are both here though. And luckily having darkvision means there's no need to turn on any lights in the first place - though it takes Fabian a moment to fully understand what the other is trying to tell him. He's picked up a lot through Riz's lessons and even watching his father when he was younger, but when there has been very little active need for Fabian to ever use it, it's a little rusty.

Not rusty enough that he doesn't understand though. He nods at Riz to show he got it, and then glances at the space ahead of them. It seems like there's so much to explore, but--

...

There's.. a strange sound. Like a whir, maybe? It's quiet enough in here that it stands out even to Fabian, and he turns his head towards Riz as if to silently ask the other if he heard that too. ]

[ The hospital is as eerie as you'd expect any empty hospital to be -- not that Riz himself has spent much time in a hospital beyond having to aid and abet in one of Fig's more dangerous stunts. Here even more than outside, it's easier to feel just how quiet it is. Every one of even the most carefully placed footsteps seems to thunder in his ears, the sound of their breath intolerably loud, the creaks of the building seeming to dog their steps, as though taunting them about what they may yet discover.

And that infernal sound. Something mechanical. Something rolling across the ground. Frantically, Riz looks around for a hiding place and spots a grate --

And immediately acts as though he hadn't seen it at all. Fabian wouldn't fit in there. And no matter how much Fabian insisted that he could deal with things while Riz hid away, he's never, ever going to let him do that. The jig is up. They're caught. There's no use trying to communicate in Thieves Cant anymore. Instead, he closes his eyes, trying to distinguish the buzz of wheels against the varnished floor from each other.

That'd be one... two... three... four... five...

His eyes snap back open again, skin gone a faint yellowish-green. ]

We gotta run. There's not -- they don't send this many of them after us just to arrest us.

[ In an instant Fabian knows what Riz means by those words.

Not even just because he too can tell as much from the sound. He can tell that trouble is coming, but Riz's assessment of said trouble makes it clear that his friend has done the mental math here and decided that the odds are stacked too high against them. This is a battle they can't win with the two of them.

Which means it only takes another instant for Fabian to make a decision. He doesn't even have to think about it. This is the entire reason he insisted on coming with Riz in the first place, after all. ]

You go. See if you can find some information here and take it with you.

[ Riz stands a chance of sneaking out of this building somewhere, Fabian thinks. If anyone can, even under these circumstances, it's Riz. All he has to do is make sure that the other has a headstart on that, just so Riz actually has time to gather said information instead of immediately having to start on finding a sneaky way out of here, rendering their mission and effort absolutely worthless.

Fabian refuses to let his friend's plan have been for nothing in the end. Not with all the effort Riz put into it. ]

I'll hold them off. [ He grabs onto Fandrangor's hilt, taking the sword in hand. ] I can give you a few minutes.

Wha -- no. Absolutely not, [ Riz says, gawking at Fabian as though he's grown an extra head. Sure, when they were spitballing this idea, Fabian had brought up something like this -- but he has to know that Riz would never leave him behind in a situation like this. If the fate of the entire world hinged on it, then maybe, but for this? This mission to satisfy his own curiosity, to get to the bottom of this mystery, to rebel? ] That's insane! I'm not just abandoning you here!

[ He can't think about it now. He won't even be thinking about it later, too consumed by the mystery and how the mission went wrong to even stop and consider it. But weeks from now, he'll lie awake in the middle of the night and consider just how quickly Fabian had made the decision for a sacrifice play. ]

We either run together, or we fight together. It's one or the other, [ he says firmly, unsheathing his own sword, and pretending as though he isn't feeling the relentless patter of his heart against his ribcage as potently as he does. ]

I still vote run, just for the record.

Running means we don't find out anything! [ He protests. And it's not just the option of running together he's protesting, mind you - it's also the thought of standing here and fighting together.

Not that Fabian doesn't feel a thousand times more confident with Riz at his back, but that's not the problem here. It's that standing here and doing this makes him feel like he's doing something. It makes him feel like they've got a chance at actually getting something out of this entire operation, rather than them running back with empty hands, having to explain to the others that all their distraction efforts were for nothing.

They've been in this world for months. They have to find something out now. What's a little heroic sacrifice in the face of that, especially when it doesn't seem likely to be permanent here?

And yet Fabian knows there's no time. He can hear the whirring coming closer and closer, and he grips onto his sword even tighter. ]

I want at least one of us to leave this place with something! I want all of this to have meant something..! [ Especially after mission after mission of suffering without seemingly there being any point or advantage to it. ]

Okay, then we'll just have to find shit out together! [ Riz retorts. It feels a little insane, the fact that he's the one having to tell Fabian that his life is more important than a few stupid clues and isn't the one trying to push him hurriedly onward in a search for more, but even Riz has to have a line.

Over and over again, Fabian's well-being seems to be that line. But that's the way it should be. Riz would do the same for any of the Bad Kids -- it just so happens that Fabian keeps on landing in hot water. Not that it's his fault; it's Riz who'd pushed for this mission in the first place, and so it's Riz who will call the shots when it comes to making sure both of them return alive, or neither of them do.

He draws his rapier, heart fluttering in his chest as he stares down the expanse of the empty hallway, all too familiar with that pump of adrenaline and spike of fear he feels before every battle. ] I don't wanna find shit out if it means you wind up dead at the end of it. Besides, we don't know what's down on the bottom floors of the hospitals. What if it's some big monster, huh? Then I'll just wind up dead without you anyway.

[ So, you know... Spring Break, I believe in you? ]

[ B-Bro..!!

Not that it should be anything touching, really. Fabian knows Riz. He knows the other well enough to know that Riz isn't cold or calculating enough to be willing to walk over the bodies of his friends to get the information he needs - and that's even without knowing the sacrifice the other made in that regard for him with Kalina. But it's one thing to know this about your friend, and it's another thing entirely to have him say it right to your face here.

To have him prove it by standing next to you and refusing to yield.

Fabian doesn't have too long to linger on it though. The sound is getting closer and closer, so he just buries it in his heart, allows its warmth to bring strength and courage to his limbs. ]

.. you are a true idiot, The Ball.

[ He reaches out, a hand hitting the top of Riz's chest, against his shoulder - casting Bear's Endurance with the touch. He doubts these robots have any magical abilities to resist, strength won't do much when Riz hardly has any and it's not like he needs even more help with hiding and sneaking when he's good enough at that. Giving the other some extra endurance feels like the best call here, especially when Riz doesn't seem quite as willing to let Fabian be a total meat shield here. ]

But.. I appreciate it. [ Even as the robots are now visible, whirring down the hallway from a distance, he smiles at Riz. ] Thanks. Now let's destroy these things!

[ That's some bardic inspiration for you, bro! ]

[ As soon as Fabian places his hand on him, Riz can feel an unfamiliar surge of power within him, warmth spreading from the base of his stomach and suffusing down to his fingers, a prickling sensation creeping down his spine, his grip on the sword of shadows that much stronger. He grins. ]

We're both idiots! [ He says, like that's some sort of call to honour. Which it kind of is! He gets to be an idiot with someone, which is an improvement on being an idiot alone, which has almost certainly been his default state for most of his life. It's not that he feels particularly optimistic about their chances, but...

Fuck it. Captain Fabian and The Ball, right? They killed a fucking dragon together. They take down a god. They can handle a few measly robots, or else what's the point of all of their rigorous training? ]

Let's fuck 'em up! [ Then, as the first robot finally wheels around the corner, Riz points a finger at them and all but shrieks at them with all of the intensity of a pro wrestler: ] We're gonna fuck you up!

[ He lunges in with nigh feral abandon now that they've decided upon a course of action, sword held aloft as he grabs onto the crook of Fabian's arm for an extra boost as he flings himself into the air and lands atop it, sword plunged directly into the juncture of its alarm and soundbox, muttering something about gonna gut you like a fish.

It's go time. ]

[ There's something to be said about bardic inspiration - that it's definitely not the only sort of inspiration one can get. Even though Fabian was pretty committed to this plan at this point, he feels a new wave of energy going through himself too. Maybe it's not doing anything for his abilities, but it sure as hell is doing a lot for his morale here.

It's just good to see Riz tackling this with this kind of energy. Especially when Fabian knows that it's harder for Riz to stick to his usual fighting style when it's just the two of them - when hiding and attacking that way would mean leaving Fabian to endure the onslaught of attacks all by himself.

So when his friend throws himself into the fray, Fabian does the same. He's already charging after where Riz threw himself at. More robots quickly follow the first, after all, and Fabian slashes right into two at once with Fandrangor, whipping out his battle sheet to form a barrier for the other ones. ]

Let's keep them here in the hallway! [ He yells out at Riz, even thoug he isn't looking in the other's direction, too focused on the robots. ] Then they can't all come at us at once!

[ Which would be a rough thing to deal with when they're down some numbers compared to their usual party. ]

Bottleneck 'em, got it!

[ Teamwork is the biggest asset they have. There are others in Aguefort that are similar in skill to them, he's certain, and plenty of people here who are undoubtedly even stronger than they are, able to take on hordes of enemies without batting an eye. They may not have that on their side, but what they have on their side is years of practice not in hypothetical combat situations, but with more practical experience than practically any other adventurers their age. They barely have to say two words to each other to understand each other.

He can't say the same for when they talk to each other out of combat, of course, but at least that doesn't have the same life-or-death implications that failing to communicate on the battlefield does. He doesn't look at Fabian either; he can trust Fabian's got it covered, and all that besides, they don't have time. A split second of split attention could lead in the kind of hit Riz won't be getting up from. Even doing his damnedest to dodge out of the way, he can feel the sick sensation of a blade swinging into his forearm, too pumped up with adrenaline to properly feel the pain. ]

Caltrops at the barrier!

[ Right at the bottleneck, Riz throws out a handful of caltrops, not to get into Fabian's dancing feet (should they get Fabian sturdier shoes...?), but to slow down the robots, puncture their wheels, try to get an eye for how best to handle them. Fucking up their mobility will be the surest way to manage to handle the barrage, hopefully in a way that starts a traffic jam bad enough that the robots will have no recourse but to push each other out of the way with as much force as necessary. ]

[ They seem to be effective enough. Even if they might not take out many of the robots, Fabian notices the way the first robots in line just simply drive right into them, like they aren't even looking down at them.

In fact, after witnessing the robots more as he swings Fandrangor at them, he realizes they really aren't looking down. Either they can't, or they're just mindlessly going after Fabian and Riz enough to not think about it - but either way, it's something Fabian can use in his advantage. He casts a quick Faerie Fire to make them light up. It's not like it'll make the caltrops more noticable to the bots if they're not looking, but it'll at least keep Fabian from stepping right into one in the middle of combat like an idiot.

And he does manage to avoid them. Rather gracefully, considering Fabian is stepping around a whole lot, yet he doesn't lose his footing, nor steps into one of Riz's traps. He just slashes at the robots, hoping that if he can take out the first few, they might form a barricade against all the ones following--

Except the problem is that Fabian notices he's starting to get pushed back further and further from where he's standing, trying to hold down the line. ]

There's too many! [ He calls out to his friend. ] They are just pushing each other forward now-- It's like a fucking robot surge! [ A whole flood of robots!! Robot tide!! ]

How many of those things did they send here?!

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OPERATION: YOUTHFUL DISOBEDIENCE

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