Player
Insert Passive Aggressive Statement Here
snugglyrum
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Post by snugglyrum on Sept 3, 2022 10:09:04 GMT -5
Janus was currently wandering around aimlessly as she watched futures come and go. Something as simple as walking into a local sweets shop to smell something or even taste it, but never straying from where she was. She was wearing her great coat and a t-shirt bearing the legend "Quitters never Win, but Winners never Quit, but those who never quit, but never win, are idiots." Janus was out taking stock of everything, Gaia had fucked up the world, her place had been obliterated because divination had gone wonky, probably from lack of use. The only redemption is that the Fates had avoided her for the time being.
It was all more or less compound fuck ups everywhere. Though for once Janus could blame this on someone else, cause it really was not her fault that someone dragged a group of masked monsters into her BnB and then obliterated it. That's what she told herself anyway. She passed a few more places before coming to a small fast food joint with a set of seats outside. She went in and divined that the chicken sandwich was edible, nothing like her cooking. Which, now that she thought about it, was just cheating anyway. She always cheated, no skills at all. She sighed and started to people watch.
Somewhere, Lazarus' new OGA phone would list his current mission. Apparently the OGA had a set of questions for the temporal anomaly known as Janus Verus. It stated to flash his badge, and rough her up if she did not immediately answer. M needed to know "Where the Once and Future's soul was now."
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Post by Lazarus Jeager on Sept 3, 2022 11:55:01 GMT -5
Having been only a hand full of days after his decision, he was still getting used to the new job and duds, something about wearing black itching at the back of his brain almost instinctively. He'd flip the phone open and read the message and description of the current objective, nodding to himself before standing and pulling his suit jacket off the back of his chair and making his way out.
The noise of the city had been tough to deal with at first, thankfully Lazarus was getting used to it, letting it wash away into the white noise of the world around him as he walked. He thought about what to say or how to say it, curious as to exactly what it was they wanted answer wise, and how he might have to act if this Janus person didn't want to talk. Never one for violence outright, he thought himself ill equipped for the mission at hand, though it wasn't like he was going to refuse, there was knowledge to gain. A handful of minutes passed as he walked, looking into the windows of shops and restaurants as he passed them before someone matching the description was seen. With a sigh and a straightening of his jacket a bit, Lazarus opened the door and walked in, looking about the place for a moment before turning and making his way to the woman table. He'd take the seat opposite her, giving a brief smile before opening the jacket enough to show the badge, giving a few moments for her to see it before letting go and resting both forearms on the table.
"Janus I presume, I have some questions to ask, and I can't take no for an answer."
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Player
Insert Passive Aggressive Statement Here
snugglyrum
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Post by snugglyrum on Sept 3, 2022 12:11:34 GMT -5
Janus looked up as someone sat down. She had seen this but she did not feel like dealing with it at all. Another member of another group of people that seemed to care about what she was doing. Great, cause she did not have enough bad stuff happening to her these days. She looked at the badge again and grunted. Between White Robes that bring masked monsters, the Fates, Niji trying to break the time line, and that one black robe who was manipulating concurrent timelines via omniscience, Janus did not want to deal with anything at all.
"I can say no all I want. I have had a bad few months so how about you go tell whoever wants to know stuff, to leave me alone." Janus said as she looked annoyed at Lazarus, plus if he or his organization needed anything. They should go ask someone who knew things, which was not her. These days all she seemed to know is how to get killed, and how to hide in a corner. The latter seemed like something she wished she could do right now. She looked through potential futures and moved to the other side of the bench as a bird took a bathroom break were she had been sitting a few seconds before.
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Post by Lazarus Jeager on Sept 3, 2022 13:58:25 GMT -5
It was exactly as he expected it, whoever this woman was, she didn't like the organization he now belonged too. A bad few months, something he could relate too in years past, though not something that would last forever. However as the thought occurred, he watched the woman move to the side, and a moment later a bird made it's mark known on the very spot she used to occupy. There was a look of recognition on his face as he put two and two together, the more cryptic part of his assignment making much more sense now. His smile fell a bit, however it found itself again as he spoke.
"You're right, you can say no all you want, but I can't leave with it. Look I'll level with you, I'm not happy about having to bother you, but I can make these interactions as amicable as possible for you. You know when you get a good representative from a company and they're your go to guy or gal whenever you have a problem, well I can be that guy for you, a middle man who just wants things to be smooth sailing. If I can, I'll even see about keeping these visits to an absolute minimum, but that can only happen if we can find a middle ground."
He spoke honestly, which for most would probably be a bad idea, but if diplomacy got him what he needed then it serves its purpose. There was no aggression in his movements either, more relaxed than anything else, or as relaxed as one could be in the current situation. That piece aside, Lazarus would clear his throat, taking a moment before asking the main question.
"Where is the Once and Future's soul now"
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Player
Insert Passive Aggressive Statement Here
snugglyrum
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Post by snugglyrum on Sept 6, 2022 17:18:21 GMT -5
Janus, did not like being threatened, then again it was actually slightly refreshing. At least he had not killed her yet. She dug around through futures of answering one way or another and was not exactly happy about what kind of terrifying things this guy could do to her. "You know that is amicable, but it does not change the fact the last two times your organization used the bride of Frankenstein to rough me up. So, track record not good, not black robe levels of just blatantly murdering me, but not good either." Janus pointed out to the young man before she got his question in about ten thousand futures.
"Oh fuck me." She said and began cursing under her breath. That question, was horrifically loaded. You see, a good number of Janus' future selves were missing appendages, and most of them had been because they had been attacked by the thing the this man was now asking about. She, had tried to keep away from being the other versions of herself, as some kind of diluted proof that the future was not set in stone. The issue was events she called chronologically untouchable. Things that HAD to happen, world war 2, the fall of rome, the boston tea party, don't ask. This was looking a lot more like one of those things. She raised a hand.
"Do you even know what you are asking for, and what kind of terrifying things can happen IF you know the answer? Cause that thing is dangerous, that soul being hidden is probably the only reason I do not see war in EVERY future, just like half."
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Post by Lazarus Jeager on Sept 6, 2022 17:38:01 GMT -5
Being so fresh into the organization, Lazarus hadn't gotten the chance to comb through even a fraction of the files they had, it explained much about the current situation, and why he not only had a raised brow, but also the look in his eyes of trying to figure out how much of this was true. All they had given him were the questions and what to do if she didn't answer, and from the looks of it there was a larger picture not yet revealed.
"I'd argue that that's exactly why I've been sent to ask you, I can't imagine there being any other reason as to wanting to know than the potential that it matters now, where as before it didn't. Given the severity of your counter question I assume you've looked through thousands of possible futures, but how well versed are you on the here and now, there may be things you don't know that we do, things happening outside the scope of your vision?"
It was a two fold question, first trying to reassure her that this wasn't a question asked without a purpose, and that the answer determines how things might move going forward. Working off the assumption that she can look into futures that have yet to come, it took a lot of the pressure off of having to threaten her, likely simply thinking of what he might do could be enough for her to see it. the other half of the question was to assess just how far ahead she could look, and how accurately she could see these futures. If it was always accurate and far seeing, he could have her look for the right way to answer the question so they both get what they want. Then again getting what you want verse getting what you need were two completely different things, and given the gravity of her statement, if true, meant this was already dangerous water.
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Player
Insert Passive Aggressive Statement Here
snugglyrum
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Post by snugglyrum on Sept 9, 2022 10:24:43 GMT -5
Janus blinked, if anyone understood how little they knew, it was her. She was not trying to judge based on scope, she was actively trying to warn people. Janus really did, yet people seemed to NEVER listen until everything went so wrong they came back to her saying "it happened" and acting like she would be impressed. She was not that one omniscient multidimensional black robe, she was a beacon of instinctual concepts of how time flowed.
"My guesswork usually has nothing to do with my powers, people are very straight forwards. Everything happens outside the scope of my vision, it is rather limited. Have you ever heard the term fake it till you make it. If I do not know what I am looking for than I can not find it." Janus stated and then shrugged, this conversation would have required more information than she had. She thought about what she could get out of the OGA if they really wanted this.
"To be honest I do not want to know anything about what your little club does, I like being ignored most of the time. So, how many pieces of eight do the three possess? I fancy myself an informed person, so give me something worth the answers you want."
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Post by Lazarus Jeager on Sept 9, 2022 16:15:25 GMT -5
Lazarus raised a brow at her description of how her powers worked, his mind attempting to work out how exactly it made sense, if any. Her follow up question was something he didn't know off the top of his head, though he could likely find out with a few clicks of a button on his cell phone.
"I'm more than willing to trade information if it so benefits the both of us, that being said I'd need a bit more as to why you want to know that, and how you know about it. Depending on what motives you have might depend on if the information is on or off the table, but do keep in mind I can only do so much as a grunt."
He pondered two schools of thought as to how to proceed, the first was the exchange of information without hassle and then leaving her be without incident. An even exchange where everybody got what they wanted, and he didn't have to rough anybody up, considering it was within his measure to do so. The other school of thought was to try and get her out of the shop and force the information out of her, though he wasn't too fond of that idea. Another test to see how her powers worked, and if she could see the two different potential outcomes before either happened, or if it was limited strictly to actions that were predestined to happen but just haven't yet, in which case his decision would depend on her response.
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Player
Insert Passive Aggressive Statement Here
snugglyrum
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Post by snugglyrum on Sept 20, 2022 19:36:59 GMT -5
"Cause I like knowing how close the end of the world as we know it is. Call it, my diviner's need for curiosity, and the anguished cat." Janus stated as more of a dodge than actually answering Lazarus. In reality, she had been the reason the Moirai knew where the first pieces were, though that had not entirely been her fault. Which, sadly was mostly how things went for Janus in general. She was circumstantially a problem, not maliciously.
That was why everything with way more power seemed to want her dead on a regular basis. That or curiosity and believing that she wanted to not be as much of an ass as everyone else. She did not have grand plans or want to protect evil mad scientists. She just wanted to live, and that seemed to be the one thing that she was not allowed to do.
She searched the futures and there was quite a bit of violence. Though most of it was broken bones and less overtly cutting her in half like usual, at least that was a bit nicer, though this time, fighting was a waste. She did not need to lose everything she had learned since her last chronoclasym.
"You win, it's in a teenager in the US. More specifically with a ID from Nevada. She's around One Seventy Centimeters, long black hair." Janus stated before reaching over her bar and pulling out the picture she had of the ID.
"How many do they have?" She asked as she folded the paper and offered it to Lazarus, who's phone beeped with the reply of four.
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Post by Lazarus Jeager on Sept 21, 2022 15:30:04 GMT -5
It was actually more convenient that she could see the potential futures than him having to verbalize the brutality he would have had to commit upon her, though the entire situation was kind of fucked up if you looked at it from the outside. Thankfully he wouldn't have to act out any of those gruesome thoughts that ran through his mind, Lazarus would reach out to pluck the folded piece of paper from her hand, pulling out his phone to take a quick peek.
"Well I'm just glad we could do this the easy way, I'm not a fan of the old 'talk or else' method. The answer you're looking for is four, though how long that remains the case is unknown to me, so do with that information what you will."
He'd open the folded piece of paper to examine the photo, using his phone to take a photo of it and send as a just in case, last thing he needed was to lose the photo before he got back to the office. With that taken care of, he'd put the photo in an inner pocket of his suit jacket, holding out his hand to Janus.
"Well Ms.Verus, thank you for your time, I'll see what I can do to keep these surprise visits to a minimum, and see that if need be I'll be the one sent out on the occasions where we have to again cross paths. Like I said before, I aim to be your go to guy when it comes to our 'office', so unless there's anything else you needed from me...?"
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