etraya | @chrollolucilfer / cw death of loved ones

[ thin...king... ]

where we first met

I am already here. Come.

okay

[ Gorgug may seem like a cool customer via text--a real chill guy, some might say. But you know what Gorgug, personally, would say?

This is giving him some seriously weird vibes!!! Is he joining a secret faction? A cult? Is this guy going to murder him and take his blood for some intricate ritual that will give him the answers he's looking for?

Sometimes, you're a questionable kid whose mind goes places. So Gorgug sends a friend a text and heads out to...honestly, a location he did not want to go to, since it's fairly far out from his lab. But it felt like the right choice in the spirit of the moment. Like, being discreet and shit.

Truly, being in Etraya brings out the weirdest qualities in people.

Regardless, Gorgug keeps his...word? And one of the doors of the church opens, creaking with the appearance of one half-orc. He pops his head in, and then enters on in the rest of the way. Not looking much different from the last times they've met (sans the multiple layers of scarves), Gorgug is on the look out for......one guy.

One Chrollo guy. Is he at the front, or around the back? ]

(damn guys just because he killed a bunch of people and has a super creepy vibe now that he isn't acting doesn't mean he's murdering you guys!!!!!!

it's really nothing as gorgug had imagined. he's just thinking too much, and the kid has always been forthcoming with information. he could easily credit most of what he knows to the green awkward fella - so, he might be the one to help him sketch out something, whatever that is.

the first thing to see is his very edgy coat, with saint peter's cross on the back of it before he turns.)

I am sorry for the trouble - I just do not trust to speak of plans through someplace they can read.

[ Sometimes you truly creep yourself out.....

Which is to say: most of the above could still happen. But Gorgug made the choice to come out here, so he walks farther into the church, giving Chrollo a nod once he makes his turn and speaks. ]

I figured. The chat had a secretive vibe. It's why I didn't give you my age over text. [ It seemed like the cool thing to do, as if he was speaking the same mysterious code....! But also, there's another reason he feels secretive.

One he wonders if to bring up with Chrollo. Instead, as he takes a seat: ]

You know something?

[ He mentioned plans, so he wants to give Chrollo the room to continue speaking. ]

My guess is that you are 15 to 18.

(it's just that teenage vibe he gives, and besides, it's a fun little game. most teens he has talked to are certainly more confident, but then again, if chrollo has to be around them, they simply have to be.

he doesn't mean to creep him out or intimidate him, so he'll remove the jacket, coming to sit next to the boy and sigh. it's genuine, even if it is out of his usual character. sometimes, you just wear so many masks that whoever you were beneath them is a mystery and it comes out - unnoticed, or unwanted.)

I know nothing, but I have ways to know things, which is why you were asked to meet me. Do you know where Aurora is connected to?

[ Gorgug shuffles up along the pew, if Chrollo needs it to sit. For the way that Gorgug's mind works, he doesn't mind Chrollo, blinking at him with plenty of curiosity, but also a pinch of sympathy. After all--they're all stuck in the same situation. ]

In the hospital, somewhere. [ Gorgug's eyes narrow slightly. ] I don't know exactly where... some people do, I think, but I don't know if they'd tell you. Or how close you can get to it.

[ He hasn't exactly ever tried himself. ]

I will most likely go.

(for starters, although he knows that it will be arduous and strenuous, and he certainly does not have enough in his book to deal with this specific situation.)

If I can steal some of the hardware, we might be able to check what is inside.

[ Well. He's definitely looking at Chrollo with more interest, and maybe some surprise. ]

Do you think you can get away with it?

It is truly irritating that no one here has ever heard of the Phantom Troupe.

(because that is the entire point of the phantom troupe. to be so disgustingly horrible that their name is enough to mortify a man into inaction. but nooooooooo.)

It is what I do, so I think the possibility is high.

...Okay.

[ Okay. Well. Chrollo basically said yes, and he isn't sure if he should ask what the Phantom Troupe is, but that was also answered, right? The Phantom Troupe steals hardware.

So Gorgug speaks like he's following Chrollo. Completely. He is so on the same page as Chrollo, speaking slowly and hoping he's not asking something dumb: ]

...do you need a system ready to read the data? Because I don't know... if we can get that?

[ Unless Chrollo does? Aurora and her technology seems like the foreign design it is to Gorgug, or maybe he's giving her too much credit. ...or not enough. He's never met an AI like her. ]

(... and a lot more stuff, gorgug, and a lot of other stuff.

saying he does have a system would be overselling it. he might be able to put one together by studying it, and with the help of other tech-savvy people, but what he does have is a way to control the bots.

untested, but it might as well work.)

I may be able to manipulate the robots and have them do the work. It is all very circumstantial still, I am thinking about the specifics of it still.

[ Oh, he has a means of controlling the bots... but he also doesn't sound like he's familiar with them. Gorgug thinks about that for a second. ]

Did you study them? Aurora will let you check them out, as long as you don't break them. She told me she'll upgrade them if they get harmed, and-- the robots in the other place we went to for a mission, they were stronger. You couldn't fuck around with them easy.

[ Basically: ] Whatever you do, you have to be sure you're ready. I think...there's stuff we can learn about her and her systems, before we try anything big.

[ There's a we in there, which Gorgug doesn't mind, but the hesitation is as real, too. He doesn't know what they can find out, but he doesn't want them to lose their chance--or an easier chance, if they fuck up and Aurora puts up more difficult walls to keep them out. ]

(to explain without explaining too much, how does he put it?)

Think more on the terms of magic. I could most likely puppeteer them without having to look into their software - that is why I asked you regarding them being alive.

(wholly inaccurate, but for someone not from his world, this is the closest without having to dwell.)

... We, Gorgug? Are you certain?

[ Oh, magic. The idea of puppeting--controlling--isn't unusual to Gorgug, nor is the implication there of controlling living things. That's wizard shit, and while there's a momentary surprise, it's one that's of understanding.

What's more complicated is that we, and being certain. That makes Gorgug's brow furrow. ]

I know...some stuff about hardware. I mean-- [ He stops, pausing, then lets out the breath. ] I wanna know what's going on, but I don't know...how to do it. In a way that'll work, or won't backfire. I haven't been learning engineering that long, and Aurora's technology's different from mine. I know I'll screw up if I do anything by myself.

[ He glances away. It's more than that, isn't it? It's about what Chrollo's presenting that he wants to agree with. Because... ]

I don't know anyone else willing to try anything. I won't sell you out--I'll even try to help where I can, if I can't do anything with the technology. Maybe I can ask Aurora if I can see where her database is. She's been nice to me. I'm not mean to her.

[ A beat. ] And you should probably expect her to know what a Phantom Troupe is, or does.

[ Or what Chrollo is capable of. ]

(he rememberes their last conversation - metals and wires, learning, engineering, making things. chrollo has a lot of knowledge, although all book-based, and not always put into practice. he can code and work his way through systems, he had done it when the net first came out in his world, but here, he'd have to put some more elbow grease. that was over a decade ago.)

Even if you ask nicely and she relents, it might have consequences if they are able to put two and two together. I do not mind if they fall on me, and I will not tell you not to help on the basis of caring.

(gorgug is his own person. chrollo doesn't care enough, and it's not his choice to make.)

But I will not turn down help. I need to know what happened.

(if kortopi is gone, and he had shalnark with him, what the hell happened? what is happening? it's like his entire self is under risk of extinction, a whole limb ripped out suddenly, painfully, and he does not know where it went, and another dangling without the information that he needs.

he hates this.)

They do know, and by knowing, they brought me here anyway, so this is on them.

[ Gorgug doesn't mind the honesty--he prefers not to be put down under the basis of caring, and it would be pointless right about now. Gorgug cares more for a good plan, and results, and the idea of punishment for taking action doesn't entirely put him off: the Bad Kids wouldn't be the Bad Kids if they did nothing.

Chrollo has something he wants. Gorgug does too. And he's considering now Chrollo's power, wondering about another option--another person. ]

You said you could control the companion bots. [ Or robots, but Gorgug uses their titles out of habit. ] Can you-- do anything else to something? To...someone?

(here is where he could lie, or be completely truthful. both of them have the same result, because while technically, yes, also, technically no.)

I could, but I lack something that is needed.

(a thief, even in abilities - neither the one that allows him to control the bots nor the one that would allow him to control people are his. shalnark's, which lies also in his book and confirms his status as alive, requires the boy's phone to type commands into, and the antennas to fix on the target. he has only the device, and nothing to use it with.)

Why is it that you ask?

[ Gorgug isn't clever when it comes to people. He could be fucking himself over here, even though he's sure it's hard to fuck himself over by talking about this person. Or how much he doesn't want to work with them, but-- if there's a chance of getting one over of them, Gorgug would much rather do that than the alternative.

So, while there's a moment of hesitation, he looks back to Chrollo. ]

Do you know Tatianna? [ A beat. ] The woman handing out the eggs.

(great point - she could definitely know something of use, the problem here is how to get it out of her. he has plenty in his kit that could do quite some damage, pull the truth from pain, but there is also another route.)

Making her talk?

[ It's slow, but he nods. ]

She knows what's going on. She's the same one who wanted information on everyone--she set up the tea that got people talking about themselves, or something like that. [ Which he didn't actually drink himself, so he only knows about it secondhand--still, the point of it is: ] I don't know what she can do, and I don't know how much she knows... but I think it would be easier if some of us got her to talk than to give her what she wants from the start.

[ A beat. ] Unless it's useful. She's new, but she's still getting her supplies, somehow.

I fell for it myself. I thought I was being clever by not drinking the tea they brought and asking for a specific type, but I was narrow-minded. Now, there is no reason to hide.

(gorgug might have noticed that he no longer wears the bandana, the tattoo on the middle of his forehead visible and proud.)

I do not think it's a trouble for me to catch her. I can go unnoticed and I have a way to travel with her in my pocket. What is it that you mean 'get to talk'? A bribe?

(he's a kid, he's assuming a regular one.)

[ Gorgug did notice, but Gorgug, thinking it was a cosmetic choice at the time, has not thought very deeply about it. Which is often his way in life.

Though he's having to be thoughtful right now, grimacing a little at being asked what he means, but--fuck it, he's already here. ]

Well...I was hoping for a way to read her mind, or to get her to tell the truth. I didn't know if you could do that [ since he's already got a cool move!! ] but, I know a few things...or might know someone who can help.

[ Unfortunately: ] I don't know how to bribe her. And I think with the info she wants, she needs to make a calculation--figure out the kind of people they're bringing in to know what they're doing here.

I cannot read her mind, and my methods of making her speak are gruesome, which I do not mind deploying.

(it's simply a fact, nothing big, nothing unexpected - for him, at least.)

If that is not a route we want to go through, I can help take her.

(that feeling of having someone nearby, a presence in the room, is simply gone. he retains his aura within his body. he can be seen, but he looks unreal, as if not even there to begin with.)

Mmm... I think we should hold off on anything gruesome. [ He doesn't make any particular face about the fact. It is an option, but in this scenario, not necessary. ] I don't know that she'll like being grabbed, but I think she's-- if she knows stuff, and there's things she can do, it's better not to hurt her too much.

[ So, he nods. ] If you can take her safely enough, that'll work. I can introduce you to the other people I've talked to this about.

@chrollolucilfer / cw death of loved ones

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bro im stupid i literally read thin king and i was like hes a building of a man......

keeping you on your toes ( to action! )

LMAOOOOO KIDDO

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cw a little gore imagery

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cw torture mention

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cw passing torture mention

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