chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

cheryl | open to whoever wants to deal with her

[receptionist]

[Cheryl isn't always the smartest person. She's the loudest, but intelligence is not her high stat area. Which is why it's a miracle that when all the shit goes down that she actually has the idea come back when she's looking for answers.

She makes her way to the front desk, opens all the drawers, and finds her hidden flask that's taped under one of the file cabinet drawers. She lets out a shrill sound of excitement, that's entirely inappropriate given how many people have died recently. Then she just starts to wander around the place, mostly pretending to take notes, but really she's just trying to see if she can't happen onto any good information.]

I can't believe this place is still here! I thought for sure that tank would have been the end of it.

[firstexample]

[ well, here's a guy she's literally never seen before, staring at her as she writes stuff down ] What are you doing?

[receptionist]

[She turns to face the guy, barely giving him a second glance.] Working? Duh.

[Then she evens her gaze on him, more scrutinizing.] What are you doing?

[firstexample]

Watching for suspicious behavior. They say people around here might be... compromised.

[receptionist]

[She looks at him, then cants her head.] Like they have cancer?

[No, Cheryl. That's a compromised immune system.]

[firstexample]

[ a beat ] No, of course not. Psychically.

[receptionist]

Are you reading minds? [Her eyes light up.] Are you looking into my thoughts, right now? [You don't want to know what she's thinking. It starts with a dwarf and ends with a fire extinguisher and also involves helium.]

[firstexample]

I didn't say that. I'm saying how would I know if you were just a psionic puppet of some diabolical villain?

[receptionist]

Oh. [Her eyebrows lift as she says that single word. Emphasis put on the suddenly secretive tone of this conversation.]

I guess you wouldn't know.

Or would you... [She starts to think a repeating mantra: Magic Mike is a cinematic masterpiece. Magic Mike is a cinematic masterpiece. It repeats on a loop as she stares at him, trying to see if he flinches.]

OR WOULD YOU!!! [Her tone gets shrill, accusatory as she keeps her eyes on him.]

[firstexample]

There's no call for raising your voice. We're in a castle, not in a barn.

[receptionist]

Oh are we???

[firstexample]

Let me see what you were writing.

[receptionist]

It's classified. [a beat] way above your pay grade.

[firstexample]

And what exactly is your pay grade?

[receptionist]

[She gasps, dramatically. It's almost a pearl clutching moment. If she wore real pearls.]

You're not allowed to ask me how much I get paid! It creates an uncomfortable work environment, but rest assured I get paid thirty percent less than whatever you're making, because I'm female! We're undervalued and underpaid and overworked!!! [Maybe Cheryl attended a feminist march during her time away??]

[firstexample]

Which puts me firmly above your paygrade. Hand it over.

[receptionist]

No.

[She rips the sheet of paper off the pad and wads it up, putting it into her mouth and chewing.]

[firstexample]

That's disgusting.

[receptionist]

[A part of Cheryl still has that asphyxiation kink and there's a brief moment where she glances around her, to see who else, other than this large oaf of an old man is around. Upset that there's no one worth any effort, she finishes chewing the paper and swallows.

Not that she had anything really good on that paper, anyway.]

You're rude and demanding and you should trust people more!

[firstexample]

Now is the hardly the time to go about trusting people!

[receptionist]

I think this is exactly the time to be trusting people! We're at war! If we can't trust each other then we are fighting against each other. That's just dumb!

[a beat]

You're dumb!

[firstexample]

And how many degrees do you have?

[receptionist]

As if it's hard to get a degree? They give doctorates out to celebrities just for being famous.

[firstexample]

Well, I'm not famous! Just a genius!

[receptionist]

[She rolls her eyes.]

Brag much?