Nova Justicar & Nova Vortex have joined the group chat

[nashiranpcs]

Who: Nautis and the group chat
What: Announcing the awakening of Nova Justicar & Nova Vortex!
When: July 3
Where: Any electronic device on your person

> Shine on, Nova Knights! I bet you're all ready for some good news for once, right?
> I mean, everyone's tired of feeling outnumbered and outmatched by the bad guys even though we basically outnumber them three to one, right?
> Seriously. It's a real morale killer.
> Well, the cavalry has arrived!
> And one of them is a tall glass of dark and handsome (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)
Nova Justicar has been added to the group chat.
> Everyone say hello to Nova Justicar! He's 46 years old, enjoys long walks in the dark, and he's incredibly talented at [REDACTED]
> [REDACTED]
> [REDACTED]
> And oh, Nautis, you say! What's that? There's ANOTHER one???
> Finally, the median age of this group has achieved legal majority \(‾▿‾\) (/‾▿‾)/
Nova Vortex has been added to the group chat.
> Please also welcome...Nova Vortex!
> She brings enough energy to match the whole team! And then some!
> And no, she does not come with a mute button. Or a pause button. Or an anything button.
> Honestly, the fact that you organics don't come with any kind of remote control is pretty annoying.
> I mean, don't you think it's kind of unfair? That it only works one way?
> Do you know how it feels to be the only computer here? And then if you decided that you were done talking to me and didn't want listen to me anymore, you could just turn me off?
> JK! You can't turn me off ^_^ Nautis is here to stay! ♪♪♪ ヽ(･ˇ∀ˇ･ゞ)
> Anyway, you guys should all try and meet the new Nova Knights in the base sometime and get to know each other!
> We can have a little mingle party. A little meet and greet. Who wants to get the tiny umbrellas?

NOTE: I won't be responding as Nautis for bandwidth reasons (much as I would love to), but please feel free to use this post for related group chat/text post shenanigans. Go wild!

Comments

[kneecapshot]

Hello. This is Nova Justicar. If there is anything I need to be briefed on please let me know.

[theriflespiral]

What's your baseline?

[kneecapshot]

I know the basics. Transformed once. Been to the base once. Haven’t fought anything yet.

[theriflespiral]

Understood. Background: it appears that most magic is extraterrestrial in origin, and also seems to form along conceptual lines-- your "Element". Discovering and operating within your own definition of your Element is important to success with magic, though I'm afraid that this is one position where I am not a natural.

OpFor is "The Abyss", a conceptual, coterminal dimension whose emotional and physical entropy far outstrips our own. Currently, its catspaws, "The Harbingers", are presumed to be relatively human beings, like us, who have made pacts with it.

So far, we've been up against one Harbinger in particular, Prince Shellustria, a.k.a. overdramatic arts professor Shelley Lustre. We have figured out that his Element is "Glamour", and he uses it to set up illusions and monsters related to beauty, art, and performance.

There is another, unknown Harbinger, and likely at least one more collaborator. The confirmed Harbinger's element is "Dream", and that's all we know so far. However, it's unlikely that either "Dream" or "Glamour" can come up with the most common form of monster we've faced to date: Monsters disguised as various drinks. sneaky bastards.

[fibrillate]

Hi, Justicar.
Nova Pandora here.
Do you do anything else for fun?

[kneecapshot]

That is… a much clearer explanation than the one I got originally, honestly. Thank you.

…what do you mean, ‘disguised as drinks’?

[kneecapshot]

Hello. I—

[There’s a brief pause. ‘Drinking’ isn’t exactly a hobby he wants to advertise, and anyway, he isn’t doing that anymore.]

I read. And go on walks. What do you like to do?

[theriflespiral]

I mean that, in order, we have faced:
-- a coffee monster, human-size, shaped like a demitasse cup, at a cafe, after emerging from a gout of steam from the espresso machine
-- a boba monster, from a cup after being heat sealed
-- an energy drinks beast, from a vending machine
-- a smoothie monster, exploding out of a blender

there have been way too many drinks monsters to date. They look goofy and they're kind of chumps but the element of surprise has led to injuries.

[kneecapshot]

[What in the actual hell is going on here? Reese wants to demand of this other person, but that seems rude so he refrains. He doesn’t know enough about his fellow Nova Knights yet.]

I will keep an eye out for them and try not to be surprised.

[fibrillate]

Oh, a little of everything.
Jack of all trades, master of none, you know.
But I mostly play FPSes... when I'm not taking care of my fish, at least.

[theriflespiral]

Don't fuss too much. ... will be nice to have another investigator, regardless. Colon, smileyface.

[kneecapshot]

[John makes a small face. He'd never understood the draw of shooting games--not after he'd handled most of the hardware they feature in real life. But he's trying to get information out of these people, and this is as good a place to start as any.]

That sounds nice. What games do you like to play? What kind of fish do you have?

[kneecapshot]

I'll try not to. I feel the same way. What do you like to do, besides being a Nova Knight?

[theriflespiral]

Tae kwon do, chess, floor exercise, maths. Been getting into lock-picking, but more out of my finding puzzles of all sorts fascinating than anything else.

[string_instrument]

Don't touch the machinery in the hideout.

It's not dangerous. Just don't mess with it.

Now that's out of the way, I'm Nova Pastos. Nice to see another actual adult on board. Gotta ask what's with all those [REDACTED]s, though.

And I am actually asking. I love an unreliable narrator as much as the next guy (and by definition, all narrators are going to be unreliable) but Nautis doesn't even try to play it straight. So, what's your deal? Or is that the bit?

[kneecapshot]

You mean all the puppets? I’ll leave them alone.

[He was planning to anyway, because honestly, he’s not sure he wants to know what they’re for.]

I’m a very private person.

[kneecapshot]

I know a little tae kwon do. And I know how to pick locks. If you want any help, just ask.

[theriflespiral]

I'd like that. Is that all you prefer to pass your time with?

[kneecapshot]

I don’t have many hobbies. Learning those things was necessary, rather than for pleasure.

[theriflespiral]

A situation I understand well.

[fibrillate]

I have five... four, sorry, neon tetras that I take care of, and I want to expand my aquarium one of these days, but I don't have a lot of space.
It's why I'm so grateful that our hideout has an aquarium too! It's incredible to imagine the kinds of things we must have once kept in there.
Once it's ready to house some fish again, I'm definitely going to fill it up as much as I can.
As for games, it's mostly the team shooters... you know, plunked down with either two or four other people I've never met before who are all trying to work towards the same goal.
Lately it's almost been like training for teaming up with all the new Nova Knights coming in!

[string_instrument]

I don't know who told you to call them that. But I'll let that slide.

Anyway, you're a private person. That's cool. Me too. I didn't ask if you were married, though. I'm asking what you're about. What do you do? I think that's a pretty reasonable ask when you're on a team with people who are relying on you.

[kneecapshot]

It’s complicated. But I have applicable skills, mostly in combat and anything covert that needs doing. You can rely on me.

[kneecapshot]

What situation were you in that required you to learn chess? Or is that just a hobby?

[kneecapshot]

[That bodes well, having to revise the number of fish. Reese doesn’t comment further.]

I’m glad you feel like you’re getting practice in. I’ll need to learn to work with you all too.