D.I.C.E(Game Thread/PM to Join)

[Evrant-Knight]

"Interesting," Garath said in a nonchalant manner, taking a sip of his coffee. "Between you and Vayle you've got all sorts of magic covered then." This caused Isabelle to laugh a little bit, in a manner she hadn't done in quite a while, which was accompanied with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She then took a sip of her coffee, musing on their combined skills for a moment, taking a look at Vayle, and seeing a slight blush as she finished off her scone. Garath soon finished his coffee, and then spoke.

"If you want to make a shield then why don't you just carry one, you could enchant it like you do your sword couldn't you?"

"True, I suppose I could do it that way; although it would require a slightly different phrase to be engraved so the spell would work properly; since its purpose would be primarily to protect, rather than to cause harm. Although, I find them to be rather cumbersome at times, especially when a lot of movement is required. But, I'll give it some thought Garath the next time I come to practice it."

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Azkar rolled her eyes as she took her shirt off and drained the water out of it with a long twist. "I say countryside and you come up with the capital city of France. Good job." Azkar laughed and sighed at the state of her tank top and pants, but put the shirt back on anyway.
"Where did everyone else go you think? As much fun as I'm having requiring another trip to the laundry and having you hissy fit like an old maid, we might as well see if anyone else wants to come." Azkar's eyes brightened as she realized something.

Out of nowhere Azkar punched Richard hard under his ribs, she then crossed her arms and glared "I didn't get to eat anything decent because of your OCD outburst."

 

[Shadowstar38]

"Well, technically I'm a lost demon." Eligor replied in an offhand manner then went on to ask, "What is this all about anyway?"

The grey haired man powered down the device and placed it in his jacket.

"Oh. Well, the head of Division 2 invited me over to the base to talk to him about something. But he forgot to tell me how to get in. I've never been here before you see. So I thought I'd just make my own portal here. Except...I may have let a few demons into the base on my way in. Sorry about that"
__________________________________________________________________________

Isabelle and Garath heard a constant beeping noise getting closer to the them. A blond teenage girl barged into the room from outside, holding what looked like a regular cellphone. She held it outwards and waved it from left to right. She eventually settled her arm and concluded it was leading her to Vayle.

"Ah ha! So there you are. Time to dance demon!"

She pulled out a pair of revolvers and started shooting at Vayle. Noticing that the bullets passed harmlessly through her ghostly form, she stopped and scratched her head in bewilderment.

"Well what the fuck?"
____________________________________________________________________________________


"Thank you agent. But I'll be on my way now"

"Oh sure. Go ahead. I'll be around if you need me"

The Lieutenant returned the bow and turned towards the direction of the facility, but called back before he disappeared.

"Take as much time as you need"
___________________________________________________________________________

The female DICE agent jumped in shock when she laid eyes on Danny. Someone like her had seen some strange things, but people forming out of thin air could still give one a scare. She drew her weapon with a shaky hand and pointed it at Danny.

"H...hold it right there you!"

The constant shaking of her arm caused the gun to slip and hit the ground, making it fire and hit the wall.

"Oh God!"

 

[Nouw]

Having just returned from an alternate dimension, after what Danny could have sworn was days, he couldn't react in any other way aside from simply falling on the ground. "Why did you just do that? I didn't choose you to just fall over and die, get up silly man." Without giving it a second thought, Danny obeyed the voice in his head. He was too tired to argue with whoever had just given him an order. In fact, he was too tired to even try and calm the agent down.

"I'd clean that up if-," Danny said pointing at the ground where the blood used to be. "Uh, never mind. Um...well I suppose I..." "The vent, remember?" "Better get going with my investigation! It was nice meeting you by the way," and having said that, Danny left the scene and the agent, too shocked to follow him.

He didn't want to continue his investigation but Danny felt a strange sense of obligation he had never felt before, as if he was doing it for someone else under their influence. It was if he didn't have control over his body. Wait hold the fuck up.

"Yes?"

Danny jumped and looked around. The agent was picking up her gun and minding her own business. She didn't look like a psychic, just an average agent sent to clean up after the team. If the common mook had psychic-communication powers, why didn't the team? It would have been invaluable on the mission and so there was no reason not to use it. They had practically sent him on his first mission naked and cold on what D.I.C.E. was; he could handle a voice in his head telling him to go the other way or stop.

"If you think I'm part of D.I.C.E. you are sadly mistaken."

Danny jumped again and this time, he dared to talk back.

Uh no offense but, who the fuck are you and why are you talking to me?
"Pwah, who am I? Pull up your sleeves and look for yourself you ignorant buffoon!"

Danny complied and pulled his sleeves up. What he saw scared him, and at this point in his career he had expected no more scares or surprises. His arteries were throbbing and glowing red, the kind of exaggerated blood vessels you expected to see in an over the top cartoon. His arms weren't any bigger and that shocked him more.

You're the bl-
"Of course I'm the blood! Why do you think it's all gone now? Why do you think your blisters are gone too? We have no time for this Danny-boy, we've got to get going!"
Going where? Why do we need to investigate the blood? Do all demons have a second voice in their head that sounds like Wheatly?
"Who's Wheatly? Gah, never mind. Can we walk and talk at least?"
I'm not going anywhere without getting some answers first.

Danny's legs started moving towards the vent.

"So what's your first question?"

 

[DarkRawen]

"I say countryside and you come up with the capital city of France. Good job."

"Paris has a countryside, right? I mean, right outside the city-part of it?" He his sister had stayed in the countryside when she traveled to Paris, so he was fairly sure of that. When Azkar was done trying to dry her shirt, She started laughing for some reason.

"Where did everyone else go you think? As much fun as I'm having requiring another trip to the laundry and having you hissy fit like an old maid, we might as well see if anyone else wants to come."

He was about say something, but suddenly Azkar got a nasty look in her eyes, and she punched him him hard right between his ribs and stomach, making him lose his breath. Luckily, his nose had stopped bleeding in that short while, else he could have spilled blood on the floor. Still, it hurt like hell.

"I didn't get to eat anything decent because of your OCD outburst."

"I---" he had to get his breath back before talking again. To the various onlookers it had to look like he was getting bullied by her. Perhaps he was, Richard was far too dense to actually realize something like that. Instead, he tried to lessen the pain by rubbing the area where she had hit him, carefully so he numbed. "I don't really think that was a OCD outburts... I mean... it was the cafeteria," he looked away, wanting to get his point across, but not feeling like getting her even more angry.

"Also, interesting and awesome as it was... no one told you to call the quarantine people on him... It should have been pretty obvious that you wouldn't get to eat more if you did..." Honestly, he didn't feel any guilt when it came to that, considering he'd only told the marine guy why he shouldn't be soaked in blood in the D6 cafeteria.
Richard looked back at her. She was going to hit him, wasn't she? He still didn't feel any guilt but at least he could return the favor, seeing as she seemed to have called the quarantine people for his sake.

"If we go, even if no one else comes, I'll pay for your food, okay? If several people come, I'll still pay for your food," that had to be enough of treat for it to be a fair trade. Of course, that would normally include him hitting her or something that would inflict pain, but she was much smaller than him. Azkar was probably stronger, but it still would seem extremely wrong for him to hit her. Besides, as much pain as she had inflicted on him landing on him, poking his ribs and now outright hitting him, that pain would soon be gone. He smiled to her, and tilted his head.

"Is that an okay deal? You can choose whatever kind of food you like, and as much as you'd like."

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Azkar continued frowning and grabbed Richard by the collar, pulling him down so they were eye to eye, noses nearly touching. She stared at him with a frown then let him go, pushing him back.
"If you were Demonic you would have been insulted. As much as I love traveling, something feels off." Azkar wandered further down the hall to an office and went inside, ignoring the protests of the scientist within. She quickly picked up his work phone and dialed in the security number. After a few moments she was back outside.

"I can't sense anything anymore but I knew something was off, even without the Demon blood." Azkar patted Richard on the chest and gave an exasperated sigh "Some moronic officer managed to botch up a portal and the base has a light infestation. I assume because there aren't any alarms blaring that everyone here is either lobotomized or they have people trying to deal with it hush hush." Azkar then shook her head, placing a palm on her forehead "However gunshots have been reported, so I guess the people on the job are also morons."

Azkar put her hands on her hips and simply stated "Maybe if some of these people get culled more worthy candidates will replace them, so I'm really not fussed if we help clear the base or not. So you can choose." She then flatly added "However if you take as long deciding as you did for the trip, I'll just ditch you."

 

[DarkRawen]

Azkar didn't smile back, she pulled him down and frowned at him, before releasing him and pushing him. So he still wasn't off the hook, figures.

"If you were Demonic you would have been insulted. As much as I love traveling, something feels off."

Something felt off? Also, what did she mean with the first part? If he was demonic? "Huh?" Azkar wandered down to the office and entered, soon afterwards she exited again, Richard just looking at her, confused.


"I can't sense anything anymore but I knew something was off, even without the Demon blood." Azkar patted Richard on the chest and gave an exasperated sigh "Some moronic officer managed to botch up a portal and the base has a light infestation. I assume because there aren't any alarms blaring that everyone here is either lobotomized or they have people trying to deal with it hush hush." Azkar then shook her head, placing a palm on her forehead "However gunshots have been reported, so I guess the people on the job are also morons."

Azkar put her hands on her hips and simply stated "Maybe if some of these people get culled more worthy candidates will replace them, so I'm really not fussed if we help clear the base or not. So you can choose." She then flatly added "However if you take as long deciding as you did for the trip, I'll just ditch you."

"I won't help out," Richard sighted. If he did, the chief would probably send him on a month-long vacation to Cuba. "I don't think you should either, considering that it's in the HQ. Either the demons are weak, which means they don't need your help, or the demons are too strong, which would mean we're not going to defeat them if one more person tries anyway. Honestly, I'd like to leave." He looked at her, determined and then he shrugged."There, you go, that's how I feel about this. I really doubt there is any demons here worth examining, and if I'm mistaken, I still won't be able to because I have a forced non-work day."

 

[MortifiedPenguin]

Ignoring the Agent he cheerily walked off. He walked and walked and walked and didn't stop walking until he had lost sight of the agents, the jets and anything else that would try and stop him. He was free. Nothing but the vast open landscape, the trees and the night the sky surrounded him, he was found of star, they came and went with the seasons, yet they were as enduring as he was. During all this time, through millennia and millennia, they had barely change. Some were dimmer, some brighter, but nearly all of them he remembered were still there.

"Ha...Ha...Hahaha!" He doubled over in laughter

Who was he trying to fool? He would never be free. As long as Raguel's curse endured he would be trapped. Not by a cage of iron and steel, plastic and concrete, but by this damned body he was forced to inhabit. He would die over and over, from hunger, from the cold, from thirst, forever unable to leave the mortal coil or return to the underworld. He was trapped by his own arrogance. He realised D.I.C.E would find him, they wouldn't have let him go if they couldn't and his chance of finding a settlement before that happened was zero to none. He didn't plan on making it easy for them though.

"You haven't won yet Raguel"

He got up and started walking again, trudging along though the dead leaves. The autumnal air was already biting into his flesh and the blood he was covered in was still slightly most and was starting to freeze, cracking and splintering as he walked. It would only be a matter of time before the cold took him and he didn't have the know how or the supplies to start a fire, that would only make it easier for D.I.C.E. to find him though, he would have to make every step count.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

A constant beeping could be heard, it getting louder with each step. Suddenly a blond teenage girl barged into the room, carrying what looked like an ordinary cell phone. She began waving it around left and right, until the focus of the beeping came from Vayle.

"Ah ha! So there you are. Time to dance demon!" She then said, pulling out a pair of revolvers, and started shooting at Vayle. Noticing that the bullets passed harmlessly through her ghostly form, she stopped and scratched her head in bewilderment.

"Well what the fuck?" Vayle meanwhile was scared at what happened, but also slightly glad that as a spirit, bullets simply went through her. Isabelle meanwhile, was furious, but not to the point of anger. She spoke in a calm, but fierce tone.

"What the hell are you doing? How dare you shoot at my assistant, but also my friend. Didn't your little scanner device tell you that she wasn't a demon. Explain yourself, now."

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Azkar shrugged and turned around, heading towards a stairwell. "I'm going to go slap something together in the DIV 3 armory. Plus the mess hall might not be coated in water and spilled stuff over there." She interlocked her fingers and stretched her arms behind her head as she walked. "Plus my new room is in that section, I might as well have a nap afterwards if RnR here is so boring. We can work out the trip when we know we won't have to come back if another dipshit does something stupid."

Azkar opened the door and looked back at Richard "What are you going to do?" Before he answered she let it close and kept walking.

 

[DarkRawen]

"What are you going to do?"

Azkar had asked him, but then she let the door close and continued to leave. Well, what should he do? He wouldn't help out, obviously, he had way more to lose than to gain from doing that, and his help would be useless anyway. "She did say she might take a nap," he murmured. Richard was far too awake to do that, and he was keen on leaving, at least to get some fresh air. "With the portals, I'll be able to leave instantly, Azkar won't mind if I drop by my house for a while, will she? I have a few items I've been wanting to get from there."

When was the last time he had been home? The house was probably dusty, luckily he had been clever enough to leave out every trace of food before he left, else that would have been rotten by now. After a short visit at his closet to pick up his wallet and the keys, he went to the portals, which were the doors that would have lead out of the facility had they not been underground. If there was an emergency going on, these people didn't know about it yet. That made it easier for him to leave.

"Hello," he said, talking to one of the personnel behind a desk. He had been told they needed clearance and location, even if the portals had a tendency to not be completely accurate. The woman looked at him, and he gave her his DICE ID card. She scanned it, and he could see his information pop up on her screen. "I'd like to visit my home, I've been given a day off." She nodded and read through his information.

"You live in Minnesota, U.S. The portal will drop you off somewhere in Minneapolis, since that's the closest city." She gave him an small pager-like object. "This will go off if you're needed, and will show you the location of the closest portal. Usually we have portals available in every bigger city, Minneapolis seems to be on the list so there shouldn't be any problems. Any questions?" Richard shook his head. "Good, it's the door to the far left, 23P."

Richard nodded and left for the portal that looked like nothing else than a door. He opened it and walked through, and suddenly he was somewhere with tall buildings that was somewhat familiar. No one was around, as he had appeared in an alleyway. "That was easy," he thought. "I wonder if it'll be that easy to get a cab."

 

[Shadowstar38]

The girl was still trying to make sense of her supposed target when she was bombarded with question from the woman next to the spirit.

"What the hell are you doing? How dare you shoot at my assistant, but also my friend. Didn't your little scanner device tell you that she wasn't a demon. Explain yourself, now."

"Hmm?"

The girl returned her weapons to their holsters and took her cellphone back out, pointing it at Vayle again.

"Well, Isaac set the scanner to pick up a Kouza's soul pattern. And it lead me to this thing. Hmm...damn it. I wish he explained how these work better"

The girl shook her cellphone out of rage and confusion, but eventually settled down and put it away. She turned to Isabelle with an annoyed look on her face.

"There's a demon, maybe a couple, loose in whatever the hell this place is. I was just trying to find them is all. No need to get uptight lady"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Hmm?" The girl holstered her revolvers, and took her cell phone scanner out again, pointing it at Vayle once more.

"Well, Isaac set the scanner to pick up a Kouza's soul pattern. And it lead me to this thing. Hmm...damn it. I wish he explained how these work better." The girl shook her cell phone, with an abundant mixture of rage and confusion; but she eventually put it away. She turned to Isabelle with an annoyed look on her face.

"There's a demon, maybe a couple, loose in whatever the hell this place is. I was just trying to find them is all. No need to get uptight lady." Isabelle took a moment to relax and calm down after the girl's tirade, took a sip of her coffee, and then spoke politely.

"First off, Vayle here is not a 'thing', she is a spirit, and a rather friendly one at that most times. She has been a loyal associate of mine for the past couple of years; helping me with a variety of cases in defeating demons and other monsters. I apologise for my how I reacted just now, its just when some attacks her, I can get a little overprotective is all.

If you want to know why she might have lingering traces of a Kouza's spirit on her, is that Vayle, myself, Garath and other members of our team have recently come back from a mission in Russia, where we encountered a Kouza Prime. By the way, don't call me 'lady', my name is Isabelle Hearte." She then finished off her coffee, then rose from her seat.

"In any case, if there are demons lurking about the base, then we should go out and find them."

 

[Terratina.]

The grey man fiddled about with that device of his and looked at Eligor sheepishly and said, "Oh. Well, the head of Division 2 invited me over to the base to talk to him about something. But he forgot to tell me how to get in. I've never been here before you see. So I thought I'd just make my own portal here. Except...I may have let a few demons into the base on my way in. Sorry about that"

Eligor tried to contain his rage at this flop. Did he mention Division Two? Those so-called mages were obviously messing around with some arcane field or other and had called in this person to mess about even more. Even though the people in Division Two weren't the ones who had sealed him in the vessel of Souldrinker, he couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment for those who used the power of demons of their own means, regardless of the fate of their immortal souls that were sold to the demons in the process. It took a certain type of scum to do that, to use others and one thing Eligor vastly disproved of was being used. But that was part of being bound in a summoning circle or a sword, simply just part of the job.

He settled down and his eye returned to its normal, non-widened-with-rage self, and replied, "That's quite a mess you've created. Luckily, I am akin to a demon-dowsing stick. Just tell me what type they are or we'll have false positives everywhere."

 

[IFS]

"In any case, if there are demons lurking about the base, then we should go out and find them."

"Can't we let someone else handle it?" Garath said, reaching for another scone, "I've already had my break interrupted once today, and there are plenty of other DICE agents around here."

he slouched back in his chair, trying to look more exhausted than he actually was, taking another bite out of his scone.

"Besides my head still hurts from binding the Kouza," he lied.

 

[Shadowstar38]

"That's quite a mess you've created. Luckily, I am akin to a demon-dowsing stick. Just tell me what type they are or we'll have false positives everywhere."

"Really? Sweet. The one's we're looking for are Kouzas. They're a bunch oh demons melded down it single bodies"
______________________________________________________________________________________

"First off, Vayle here is not a 'thing', she is a spirit, and a rather friendly one at that most times. She has been a loyal associate of mine for the past couple of years; helping me with a variety of cases in defeating demons and other monsters. I apologise for my how I reacted just now, its just when some attacks her, I can get a little overprotective is all.

If you want to know why she might have lingering traces of a Kouza's spirit on her, is that Vayle, myself, Garath and other members of our team have recently come back from a mission in Russia, where we encountered a Kouza Prime. By the way, don't call me 'lady', my name is Isabelle Hearte."

Isabelle stood up from her seat after drinking her coffee.

"In any case, if there are demons lurking about the base, then we should go out and find them."

"Hmm. Guess we could use the help. And if you guys have actually fought one of these before, even better"

"I've already had my break interrupted once today, and there are plenty of other DICE agents around here."

"Pff. Like I need you. I've got the sexy lady with the sword with me now"

The girl walked back over to the door and called back to her new ally.

"Come on Isabelle Hearte. We got places to go. And my name is Adriana."

 

[MortifiedPenguin]

Eliezer leaned against a tree, slowly allowing himself to fall to the ground. He would rest here, just for a little bit, to find some small glimmer of warmth where the cold had yet to etch it's way into his bones, just for a little bit. The bite of the bark on his back would keep him awake, if he accidentally slipped into a slumber it would scratch him forcing him to wake. Just for a little bit, to find some warmth. The cold tried to embrace him, to seduce him into sleep, he couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't die, but it would give D.I.C.E. the time to find him. Just for a little bit....

Just for a little bit....

He woke shivering.

He had to get up, get moving.

Wait, how long had been asleep for? D.I.C.E would've found him by now if they were looking for him. Had they just let him go, knowing he was harmless, they let him go? Then why the whole charade of recapturing him? If they really just wanted him gone why send that mummy after him? He didn't know any more, it could be a trap either way the only he could find out was to go back, he wouldn't go back even if it meant his powers back, not back to that damned facility.

"Hey, isn't he pathetic"

"Yeah."

"Who was that?"

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Azkar meandered into the Div 3 armory, flashing her ID at the armorer, she looked over the apparel and equipment with a mischievous grin, then spent quite a while getting an interesting kit together. She smirked as she zipped it all up in two large duffle bags and looped one over either shoulder. "At least it'll be a bit of a work out." She exclaimed as she slowly began walking out, carrying both bags was pretty awkward. Azkar made her way down the various corridors until she got to her room. Thank God she didn't have to put up with any room mates, if her rank from Div 2 hadn't carried over she probably would have killed someone by now.

Azkar swiped her ID through the lock, pushing the door open with a foot and dumping the bags on the floor, she then closed her door, made sure it was locked and stretched. She raised a finger to her lips and thought for a few seconds if she had anything important to do, but she figured she was pretty good. Azkar stripped her still moist clothes and underwear and threw them in the laundry hamper near her desk, she then flicked off the light and climbed in bed. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.

 

[DarkRawen]

It had been fairly easy to get a cab, but it was harder to find one that would take him out of town and into the areas around. The house, Richard's childhood house, was by a unnamed lake. It was a wooden mansion, old, but recently repaired and painted, the soft cream-white a contrast to the colorful leaves of the trees surrounding it. It was the only one nearby, and the road to it was a private one, owned by his family for several years. There were hills around it, and it was surrounded by wilderness on all sides. The cab-driver said he would be willing to wait for around half an hour, which was more than enough time for Richard to visit this house.

He couldn't keep Azkar waiting, after all. It had already taken fifteen minutes to reach get there, so he would be gone somewhere between an hour and one and a half.

The garden around the house was filled with leaves from not having been attended to in a while, which honestly made him stop and take a look, for only a short moment. Richard continued, and unlocked the house. The door creaked when he opened it, but differently, unlike it had in the past. Upon closer examination... was it the same door at all? It looked the same, but the handle lacked that certain rustiness it had before, and it was colder than he remembered. Suddenly an air of seriousness hit him, and he began using what wit and ability to think through the situation he had. There were only two things that got him in that mood, and this one wasn't connected to demons. When he entered the house, it became apparent that someone had been there.

He hadn't been in the old house since he left for DICE half a year ago, yet items were barely dusty. He went from the corridor to the living-room, and right up to the many shelves of books. Even those who hadn't been touched for years lacked dust, as if someone had throughly searched them. Had he been as naive as before, they might have contained letters or documents he didn't want anyone else to find.

Of course, Richard wasn't so dull that he wouldn't expect DICE to search his house, he just hadn't realized the effort they would make. He continued to look around, tables had been searched, even underneath the table-legs was there no trace of any dust or dirt. Azkar had made a comment that suggested she believed he suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder... Then what did these people suffer from? He knew he wasn't as bad as this when it came down to it, not even close.

After wandering around, checking places where he felt DICE would have checked, he stopped in front of an old photograph of him, his sister and his mother taken when he was around five years old. He lifted it up, and checked the frame. It had, almost not visibly, been opened. "Well, I'm glad I didn't hide anything important here, just the one result from a sample," he muttered to himself. Then the thought of DICE having installed microphones or cameras hit him. "I knew there was a reason why I didn't trust DICE in the beginning." Well, apart from the fact that the first time he found out about them was after DICE personnel had hit him with a gunshot, a bullet well-aimed having pierced his forehead.

 

[IFS]

Garath picked up the last scone, and took a bite, only to recoil in surprise, "Blueberries? All these scones had cherries not blueberries,clearly there is a pastry altering demon on the loose," he said sarcastically to himself.

Sighing he stood up and followed Isabelle and Adriana, "Guess I don't have anything better to do," he muttered, chewing his scone as he followed them, hanging back enough that he hoped they wouldn't notice him. Normally he would just go take a nap, but he'd gotten a surprising amount of sleep on the plane and wasn't sure he could make himself sleep after all the coffee he'd just had.