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day two
('Melt With U' by Prince)
Andromeda walks through the nightclub as panicking few merge with the oblivious. The floors show where people step and leave a trace after in deep hues, while in other places there are footsteps following no one.
Germain moves through the crowd, and though he seems to own the club no one knows him but the security. Past the bar and up the stairs to a closed room with a heavy door.
Germain - "Please come in. And do close the door behind."
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Xquic - Entering Venus' shop with a purposely slamming door, "Venus !"
Venus - Looks up from twisting the fork into the tiny automaton while it twitches it's legs, "Xquic. A pleasure. Business I take it ?"
Xquic - "Yep ! No time for anything else." She carelessly picks up a random geared object and shakes it a bit before plopping it back down.
Venus - "Hm. And I assume you have a written order from your captain ?"
Xquic - Smiles wide, "Oh Venus. Don't you act like you don't know that I know ..." Hands her a slip. "Because just so ya know, I know."
Venus - "I'm sure you believe you know many things." She looks at the slip, then up at Xquic with interest. "So she's going to do it then."
Xquic - "Oh yeah. Big score."
Venus - "And ... so how does it look ?" She flips a tiny switch on the automaton, who hops up, takes the slip and jumps off the counter running through a tiny door leading to the yard in back.
Xquic - Watching the little thing run away, "Ha ! Why do you stab him with a fork like that ?"
Venus - Staring coldly, "There is a plethora which I feel the need to stab with forks."
Xquic - Leans forward, "Wanna tell me about it after the battle ?"
Venus - "Ask my husband."
Xquic - "Heard he's a robot."
Venus - "Call it love."
Xquic - Smiles wide, "We're going to win. It looks good."
Venus - "In that case, this is for you." She pulls an elaborate long barrelled rifle from the wall. "And let's not talk about those things we think we know. Agreed ?"
Xquic - Looks down the long scoped sights with a smile, "Yep !"
Venus - Looks to the side and slides a wooden box between them. "And for your partner ... I'll assume her lack of knowledge as well ?"
Xquic - Opens the box to examine the spotter scope. "We shoot things Venus !" Closes the box. "We don't know things."
Venus - "Ad eternum comes with free repairs."
Xquic - "Gonna change your name ?"
Venus - "Excuse me ?"
Xquic - "Your name's Roman. Gonna go Greek ?"
Venus - "No one says it correctly."
Xquic - "No one says the other one right and it isn't even the one you've got !"
Venus - "True ..."
They stare, Xquic grinning, Venus getting annoyed ...
Xquic - "Veeeehna ! Veeeeeeeeeeeh na ! A Phroh ditty. A Phrooooooooh ... ditty.
Venus - ! Oh My Gods And Goddesses Of Your Eternal Torment You Must Leave My Shop Right Now ! ... Your goods are in the yard. Go. Now."
Xquic - "Thanks !" She takes the gear and puts up her hood, exiting, "Veeeeeehna ! A Phro ditty."
The door slams.
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At the desk on the beach ~
Xquic and Lieu Hanh walk up from opposite sides of the beach wearing simple clothes, reaching the table at the same time, speaking simultaneously.
Both - "Sign me up !" They look at each other angrily, "I was here first !" They start to circle in for a fight, "Stop Doing That !" Each fiercely punches the other and they fall before the table.
Amelia bursts out laughing with a puff of smoke.
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Outside Venus' shop, Lieu Hanh waits.
Lieu Hanh - "Did it work ?"
Xquic - "Totally."
She shoves the box at Lieu Hanh who opens it happy.
Xquic - "Didn't even ask what I said I knew."
Lieu Hanh - "I almost feel bad ..."
They look at each other then laugh their way around to the back of the shop where the ship settles on it's legs, dropping gear-workers to Kurukulla's command.
Kurukulla - "We got the gear ! Now go get me some God Damned Candy !" She starts pounding her drum hard.
The workers chatter "They always forget the candy ... where's the candy ? There is no candy."
They roll eyes and turn, seeing Venus' tiny automaton leaning against a wall, smoking a tiny cigarette.
Automaton - "Yeah. Don't forget the fucking candy."
Lieu Hanh - Kneels and examines him with shock as he blows smoke in her face. "You little bastard ..."
She puts a bucket over him.
Automaton - "Hey ! I'll fucking kill you, you ... !!! Fork You !!!"
Lieu Hanh - "Whoa ..."
Xquic - "Yeah ..." She puts a rock on top of the rattling bucket as it approaches.
Automaton - Banging inside the bucket, "I got your fucking receipt here !"
They leave quietly while workers chant for candy, yelling the preferred fruit for their tarts before returning to work with a shanty called 'Glass'.
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Andra - Entering and looking around the room, "Thank you ... what were they ?"
He closes the door to the vault-like room arranged as an antique office but without hangings or floor coverings. With no wall shelves, books are piled around the desk instead.
The same metal floors as the outer nightclub, showing where she walks. She notices now in the near empty room how many footsteps there are behind her, marks through the wall fading in and out without apparent cause.
Germain - "My office. Forgive the decor, there's reason. Electromagnetic plates which register any contact with most beings, dead, alive or questionable. An early dalliance into electrics which never took. Though don't work at all if they just hover, which is surprisingly rare ... but then how would one know sure ?"
Andra - Staring at him a moment, analyzing then glances around the room. "I saw you at the marketplace."
Germain - "Yes. And it was your kill who's fruits I purchased ! A fine one indeed. You are legend among legends now you know. Funny we should meet here. You may call me 'Germain'. Your name is 'Andromeda' ...
Andra - "Andra".
He stares a moment ...
Andra - "My name is Andra here".
Germain - "Been there. Now. Behind you there are four marks on the wall on either side of the exit. Turn please."
Andra furrows her brow and turns suspiciously, reaching for hilt. Three shapes disappear through the wall slowly at last showing grins, then nothing.
Germain - "They're what's been following you. Very dangerous."
Andra - "Why ?"
Germain - Sighs with hands clasped at his desk. "Apologies that our masks must be so rudely discarded, but there are things you need to know, as well as your captain. As I come to this conclusion, here you are."
Andra - "Mister Germain ..."
Germain - "Germain. Please. It's a place, not a person. And though it was named after a person, that person was not me."
Andra - "What the Hell are you talking about ? Point please."
Germain - "Sh. Please. Endure. Things have changed here Andromeda ..."
Andra - "Andra."
Germain - "Yes, my apologies, you rewrite your own myth and I agree. But things in my world have changed. Very recently there was an event and no one is certain what it meant ! The dead walk the Earth. For example."
Andra - Incredulously, "The dead."
Germain - Staring again, "... yes. The dead. Were you not just chased miles down the road by four decorous overcoats ? My walls look like a discotheque. That was not the intent. And there were earthquakes, and there were floods and storms, shattering all record. Economies were crashing and now, we face, yet again, another, mundane apocalypse."
He looks around the room distracted by the movements on the wall.
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They enter a mirror filled shop called 'Everything Bad'
Shopkeep - Exclaims, "Oh ! It's the candy queens themselves. I can hear the drums pounding ... I know what you want."
Lieu Hanh and Xquic - "Hi Narcissus !" (pronounced 'nar Keess soos')
Narcissus - "So adorable. I hate you so much." He smiles and slides a plate of tarts across the counter. "Their favorites." He reaches under the counter and brings up two small boxes. "And yours."
Lieu Hanh and Xquic look at each other smiling and put them in their side bags.
Narcissus - "All done the business as usual ... anything special ?"
They stare at him for a second lost in his eyes.
Lieu Hanh - "Harness ! New gunner needs a harness. She complains too much when she bounces."
Xquic - "Not as much as you when you don't ..."
Lieu Hanh slaps her hard across the face, then licks the red spot.
Narcissus - Eyes exhilarated "... a harness indeed. Good or bad ... ?"
They look at each other and nod. "Good."
Narcissus - "Too bad. Be right back."
He goes to his back room while one looks up hanging out her tongue and the other falls to her knees grabbing at her throat.
A heavy leather harness strikes the counter and they compose themselves quickly.
Narcissus - "Anything else ?"
Lieu Hanh - Looks at Xquic and back, "Backroom ?"
Narcissus - "Absolutely." Leaning forward on the counter, "How long ?"
They look at each other, "An hour."
Narcissus - Smiles, "Discount."
He opens the hidden door behind and they follow him through. From another door another Narcissus comes out, unlocks the front door and begins wrapping the harness, candy and tarts.
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Germain - After hopping onto his desk, "You may wish to pull your feet from the floor, this will be a bit unpleasant. For both of us." He pulls out his pocket watch and looks at her staring back. "Please. It's an electromagnetic pulse. Electricity ... it's."
Andra - "I've heard of electricity."
Germain - "Oh thank God. Feet up !"
She does with furrowed brow before he pushes the button on his watch, sending a pulse through the insulated room. The walls appear to have had a number of spirits blasted through.
Muffled past the door are the sounds of disappointed and confusion, mild panic. Oil lamps scattered about the office light themselves.
Germain - "That's how you find out how many were hovering. Three it looked like. Now we have privacy for ..." He sets his watch, "two and a half minutes."
He hops off the desk.
Germain - "You can put you feet down now."
She doesn't.
Germain - "So suspicious. You really should keep that."
Andra - "Who's following me and Why ?"
Germain - Sitting back down, "One of the most dangerous women who's ever been and I don't know why. I'm rather curious myself to see how you're connected to this, to see what that woman sees. Concerning many things."
Andra - "So what do you know then ?"
Germain - Beginning to show impatience he pours two drinks and slides one toward her. "Only that it seems the Twilight of the Gods has come and gone. And entirely without proper notice."
He drinks his watching her from the side.
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Xquic and Lieu Hanh leave Narcissus' shop with their packages.
Lieu Hanh - "Okay ... now what ?"
Xquic - Pulling out the list to look, "Too much stuff ! ! Cabby !"
A bicycle cart arrives.
Driver - "Where to ?"
Xquic - "Exotic Headshots please, and ! Make Haste ! For we are glamorous ladies tonight and we need our specialty bullets !"
Lieu Hanh - "Ha ! The hell we are. Pay her no mind, she's always like this when she gets laid."
Xquic - Slaps Lieu Hanh hard across the face.
Lieu Hanh - Stares hard before kissing her.
The driver rolls his eyes "Keep it in the cart ladies ... places to go, people to do."
They pile in and continue as he rides off into the dense market.
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Germain places a corked vial on the desk next to Andra's untouched drink. It appears ancient with slightly bubbled glass and fused dirt and dust, label stained and cornered, unreadable.
Germain - "That's what you saw me purchasing at the marketplace last week. Four hundred years ago. It would have been rare in your day, had you ever had one, I know." He drinks from his glass. "When I travel to your world it is with the same disdain which your kind holds when they travel to mine."
Andra - Staring at the tiny bottle, feet still up, "Is this how you ..."
Germain - Snapping the bottle back and places it in the drawer, "Dear God no ! It's purely recreational. But the point is ..."
Andra - "Yes ! I get it ! I'm not real. You are. Which means my time is more relative than yours, linear man, so what's this message for my captain."
Germain - Stares for a moment. "Hm. Fair." He grabs her glass and slams it. "I can negotiated your safety. But at great risk to us both, if your captain does not agree to the terms which I cannot confer with her upon."
Andra - "My husband once payed for my safety. He's dead now. Also involved me running into gunfire strangely enough."
Germain - "And your captain was well paid for it, as I do intend to be. Putting his hand to his furrowed brow, then rubs his temples."
Andra - "Then I've no need to thank you more, but to apologize."
Germain - Still rubbing his temples, "Do you do this on purpose ? I know that you do." Putting his hands down and turning to, "The rumor is that she wishes only to speak with your captain, under parlay."
The grinning faces in the wall behind her reappear as the music returns to cheers.
Germain - Observing them, "If I can promise that ..." He returns attention to her stare, "...we may be safe."
Andra - "She'll agree to that. And you'll be safely paid. We don't have 'counts' where I come from but I think you'll have found yourself lucky a very long time ago."
Germain - Stares long, calculating, then smiles. "Agreed."
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Xquic and Lieu Hanh enter a shop appearing to be for flowers until it's seen there are mannequins mixed with them, each dressed in period and holding a bullet, bearing an "X" where it struck them.
Shopkeep - "Ahhh ... hello, you."
Lieu Hanh - "Hiya You ! Any new dummies ?"
Xquic - Looks at Lieu Hanh with jaw dropped, "You're still flirty ..."
Lieu Hanh - Pushes her into the flower pots. "'Cause we're gonna catch a big fish, you know."
Shopkeep - "I heard that. I also heard who. Think you can get me a two-fer ?"
Xquic - From the flower pots, in a deep voice, "Rome ... you loose !" In a high voice, "Hi ! I'm Ray Moose !"
Lieu Hanh - "Remus fell down."
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Remus runs through the field, closing his drape, chased by locals with torches, shielding their daughters. Flailing his arms and screaming, he looks back, trips over a branch and falls down, flipping his drape.
The daughters seem to judge the sight poorly as they turn away ...
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Xquic - From the flowerpots near a mannequin, "I can see up this guy's skirt ..."
Shopkeep - To Lieu Hanh, "That's too bad ... I heard he was the nice one."
She slides a large one shot pistol across the counter.
Shopkeep - "Make it count. I have an empty spot ... no one's made a good kill all week ..." She looks over to an empty corner.
Lieu Hanh tucks the gun into her belt and smiles.
Xquic - "She's not even the shooter !"
Shopkeep - To Lieu Hanh, "Come back proud or never again."
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Andra sleeps on a large cushion in the office while Germain scribbles notes, ignoring her. She dreams ~
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A man walking toward a hut in an empty plain surrounded by mountains.
Then inside an old man dying.
And then another.
She leaves the hut into the darkest city, found deep in the marketplace, a woman's long hair, not hers, with a white mouse on her shoulder.
In dark alleys the mouse makes her feel safe.
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She wakes to the empty room.
The office has been cleaned out but for her coat which was lost, neatly folded, a plate with breakfast and a note, wax sealed with his signet, addressed 'Captain Morganna LeFey'.
The walls ceiling and floor show much activity around her, which she decidedly ignores with closed eyes and an exhale.
She smells the food and thinks a moment, waiting for the after-scent, then sits to eat now satisfied of it's safety. She breaks the letter's seal and starts to read.
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Voiced over by Germain through the day, time shown by the Sun's chase, while Andra nibbles the food, lasting it .
"Captain LeFey,
"We've met a number of times but I've insured these situations to be inconspicuous and by intention you won't recall many. We may discuss this further upon our next encounter, which if be, I promise to be direct and honest, at least that once."
('Cornflake Girl' by Tori Amos)
Finished with her meal, Andra begins watching the patterns on the walls. Standing she watches the floor marks pull back, then moving, they move.
Germain - "And in such tone, the point. Concerning the one known as 'The Keeper of the Book of Names'. I've bargained for the safety of your crew member, and my own, with the promise to contact you and that you will meet her upon parlay, there after."
Moving around the room she watches their responses, then starts to move randomly, as they freeze, awaiting her. Then she begins easing into fighting movements which repel them by intent. Suddenly one rushes through her with a subtle breeze.
Germain - "I have sworn this upon my own honor and it is I who will pay the price if you do not. I then doubt she would stop there."
A method is forming as she swings and spins, dodging the occasional attempt to move through her, while moving the watchers where she wants them to be. Another charges as she cuts though a dodge, watching a mild dissipation on the floor.
Germain - "Having negotiated this, I find myself with the sense that I should be owed for this, having now jeopardized my life on behalf of your rude companion. She has herself promised payment, I ask that you insure this should you survive your meeting with the keeper."
At the end of her practice her form becomes a unique and comfortable dance, the room mostly to the wall, a clear space around her.
"Fair wishes and hilted hand,
She puts the cushion in the center of the room and sleeps.
"Compte de Germain."
She sleeps quietly, movement around, but distant.
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Lieu Hanh - Exiting the shop with Xquic, "Did you see that !? Did you see that !? I love her."
Xquic - "Did you ever see up those mannequins' skirts ?"
Lieu Hanh - "Yah !"
Xquic - "Woooooowwwwww ..."
Lieu Hanh - "I know !"
They look at the waiting cart driver who's eating a hot dog, pause and burst out laughing.
Driver - "What ? I got hungry." He motions to a nearby hot dog cart.
Xquic - "Thanks for waiting for us." She pins a flower to his lapel.
Driver - Smelling it with a smile, "Thanks !"
Lieu Hanh - "Hey ! You stole that from my future wife !"
Xquic - "It was stuck to me !"
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