Chapter 15: The Sacred and Profane

[Dinari Dollar]

To Calithin
"I know...let's watch the fireworks!" Dinari says distractedly. He can hear them outside and see them a little from the cracked window. He rushes downstairs with Tuvi, but catches Calithin..who was talking to an emo looking guy. Dinari slaps him on the back.

"Hi Calithin!" Dinari says happily. "I like fireworks. Did you know they were invented long ago by Uncle Sam? That's right, they're an American invention."

[Calithin Crest]

"Now that's more like it, Tristan. With the foot-in-the-door principle, we should be able to get you running all sorts of errands in no time! Good luck on your... Investigation."

I watch Tristan as he leaves and feel pretty pleased with myself. I pop some food in my mouth, and it tastes kind of funny. I figure this must be because the food has been left out for a while now, and I hand the plate off to one of the few waiters that are still around with a bit of a frown. Then Dinari shows up. Oh boy.

"Oh, hey Dinari, hey Tuvi... Um... I actually think they may have been invented by the Chinese. I... Don't believe that it was Uncle Sam. But I could be wrong. The Chinese invent too much anyway. You can just go ahead and take that one back if you want."

[Annika 25]

Annika turns to Bambi, but also notices another stange woman. She checks her Credit Score, and she seems trustworthy. "There was a man with green hair and a purple suit. I did not see his face well. I believe that he caused the explosions, but I did not see that. I only saw that he used explosions to escape. He left with the woman who was performing in the concert. That woman was shot by another woman. That woman seemed to be a rival or enemy to the green haired man. Both disappeared and I was unable to find them. There was another man. He is still here I think. He was not involved, but was wearing a mask. That is what I know so far. The rest I do not know." Annika replies to Bambi. Annika looks over at the other woman, who she reasons could be from the Invisible Hand.

"Annette gave me orders that they were communist terrorists and should be dealt with without mercy."

[Dinari Dollar]

"Yeah, that Chinese thing was made up by Nixon. It was just to be nice to the Chinese. It was part of detente." Dinari says. "See, I know history." He says confidently. He notices that Calithin didn't eat his food. "What, you can't waste that!" And with that, Dinari takes the discarded food and starts eating it himself.

"We should hang out more Calithin. I was kind of worried about this explosion thing, but then I saw the fireworks...and then you, and now I totally forgot all about it. "

Dinari gets distracted by another firework. "Come on, let's go watch the fireworks. We can talk about important things. I'll tell you a secret!" Dinari promises. He doesn't have a secret, but he is sure that he can make something up.

[Calithin Crest]

"Ugh. Nixon has lied to me so many times! I'm kind of upset by that. But... Hmm... I do like secrets... And... Fireworks..."

I think about it for a second and, since the concert has been effectively stopped, decide to go watch fireworks with Dinari. I turn to Ronja for a second, since I don't want to just leave her hanging.

"Hey Ronja, I'm going to check out the fireworks. You should come too, if you want. I know you can't... See them... But we could just hang out."

Awkward...

"Okay, Dinari, lets go. You better have a secret for me, because I have a question for you. And if you answer it correctly we can be pals, but if you don't... I'm going to pour milk, and dirt, and a low-calorie electrolyte beverage on you."

[Dinari Dollar]

"Oh, I have a secret..." Dinari assures him. But then he starts to worry, since he really doesn't have one. He wanders outside with Calithin to watch the fireworks. Dinari thinks they are a pretty good display. He thinks about his secret.

"Why don't you ask your question first." Dinari suggests.

[Jack O. Trades]

Tapping his foot against the pedals he kept nodding his head leaving his eyes closed. After a few moments they both snapped open his foot slamming on the pedal "Im bored now." Driving once more he looked to the sky seeing the flash of lights and only grinned. Ignoring the sounds of surprise from the back seat he began driving towards the source of the fireworks. "Once we find em, kill em. Start aiming them at the mansion, they want a show they are gonna get one"

As he drove across into the field of launchers he skidded to a halt before hopping from the van. Two of the men from the van came with him to take out the people near the fireworks and immediately began to aim them once more, this time at the side of the building itself. "Time for a lil announcement...."

Whistling once he reached into his pocket once more bringing out his handy dandy spike mic and flipped it on once more sending its signal through the speakers once more. With a deep breath he smiled softly to himself as he spoke through the speakers once more "Greetings to the blessed, its you're friend Mr J again. As some of you may have heard there have been some mild technical difficulties. Our benevolent benefactor has assured that there was no cause for alarm and everything is being done to ensure that you are all thoroughly entertained, to make up for the disturbance he has planned a surprise for all"

Brushing his hand through his hair he licked once at his lips before continuing "So please, sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Thanks for listening" a moment later echoing through the speakers all would hear a bone chilling cackle for a moment before he cleared his throat finishing with a muttered "Sorry" only to drop the signal once more. As he turned to the men they gave him the thumbs up and he turned back to the van "Well boys, let there be lights" As they began to round up back in the van Jack kept the vehicle still watching as the fireworks launched - towards the mansion. Each of the miniature missiles smashing into the sides near the upper levels of the mansion leaving a dazzling display along with scorch marks along the walls.

As he began to drive away into the streets once more he only had a small grin of delight "That should keep them on their toes for a little longer..."

[Calithin Crest]

I look up at the sky and get a little distracted, since... I think I like fireworks more than the average person likes them. They are by far the best kind of celebratory events. Much better than, say... parades.

"Oh... Right. My question. Okay. Say I call you up one day and I'm like 'Dinari, I need some dice.' Now, you don't have any dice. Or rather, you don't have any independent dice. You have two dice that go to a board game, say... Monopoly, that you could give me, except then you wouldn't have any dice to go with your game and you couldn't play it the next time you wanted to. But I REALLY need that dice. Would you give me your Monopoly dice, or would you not? Beware that is question can only be answered with a yes or no. Don't make something up, like... 'I'd go to the store and buy you some dice.'"

Juat as I finish asking my question, which is super important and friendship-determining, more things start to blow up. This is getting to be a little aggravating.

"Ugh! I can't believe this!"

[Dinari Dollar]

"Wow, these fireworks are really cool. I like how they are hitting the building and starting a fire." Dinari says dumbly. "That's really awesome. I'm glad that the event was at Keitoleinen's mansion and not mine though." He laughs.

"Whhooooh oooo! Fireworks! Heee Haw!" He says, stomping his foot. "Yes, I would give the dice, since I don't even like playing board games. My life is monopoly! Retail monopoly!"

It might make Tuvi and Peter sad if they want to play monopoly and there is no game, but, they would understand.

For a moment, Dinari wonders if he should be concerned by the fireworks, the fire, or the voice on the loudspeaker.

[Calithin Crest]

"Hey, that was the right answer! Good job."

I give Dinari a pat on the back, but this moment of comradery is shortcut, due to the fact that the entire world seems to be blowing up all of a sudden.

"I think... Maybe... Like... Some sort of mercenary fire brigade... Should get called. As much as I like fire. And I do like fire... Not a weird amount. The average amount. This is... Kind of bad though, it seems like."

I watch as the top half of my father's mansion becomes engulfed in flames... Oh man.

[Momo Kurokawa]

Momo is still in her giant mechanical squid. She has had enough of the nonsense and appears on the scene once again. She is still in the giant black squid mecha that was created by her company, Intelligent Design.

She uses the machine to scale the side of the building. The squid has mechanical tendrils that can latch on to the side of buildings and do a variety of other tasks. The machine ascends the building and pours black ink onto the flames. It puts out the flames, but stains the side of the mansion black. So, long streaks of black ink now cover the charred walls of the mansion, which is sufficiently trashed.

Momo begins looking around for any sign of where the fireworks were coming from and what may have happened at that location. She spots the launch area for the firework show, and using the squid mecha, jumps off the side of the building ...wandering over to that area.

She notices some bodies on the ground and becomes alarmed. Other machines and robots from Intelligent Design will be arriving shortly, but until then, Momo is on her own.

"Well, what's going on here? Who are you guys?" She asks the men who are now manning the fireworks.

[Dinari Dollar]

"I'll call in some of my Allmart soldiers to help with the situation." Dinari states. He then takes a moment to use his cell phone. He leaves another message for Peter, then calls for a group of other great Allmart fighters to show up and help out. Since the situation is a little out of control and something should be done about it.
He is sort of baffled how someone could get away with something like this, but, he isn't too worried since at least it isn't his mansion.

Dinari watches Momo appear in her giant squid mecha. "Do you think we should be worried?"

[Calithin Crest]

"Pause."

I run up to the side of the building, where the ink is running down, and using two fingers I scoop up a little bit of ink and draw military-esque streaks under my eyes.

"Okay, now I'm ready to do something. I am prepared. The next thing that blows up, is on me. I got this COVERED."

Sufficient to say, I am not concerned. As far as I know no one has been seriously harmed, and practically everyone here as an army on call. It's not a big deal.

"Great job Momo! We'll tag team next time!"

I yell this up at her, but I'm not sure if she can hear me.

[Momo Kurokawa]

"Hello Calithin. These are the men operating the fireworks. They probably have some information." Momo reasons. Using one of the giant black metal tenticals of her squid mecha, she picks up one of Jack's lackeys. "Well, who are you?" She askes from behind the red protective glass of her control area. She is seated in a black leather seat and around her are the various controls to her machine. She makes her machine squeeze this man. "Maybe I can squeeze some information out of you. I don't go out much. So when someone ruins an enjoyable event, I become very angry." Momo states. Her voice is husky, maybe even with a slight lisp. She is one of the least attractive of the Blessed, but she is very intelligent and capable.

[Dinari Dollar]

Dinari is just happy that he doesn't have to tell Calithin a secret now. He leaves and decides to get some more mammoth leftovers. Some of the guests are very worried, some are not. It tends to be relative to how Blessed they are.

"Maybe...maybe this is just a test of who is truly the Blessed..." Dinari thinks to himself. Maybe then...it was planned by Keitoleinen or the Manalists. There is a lot of confusion, but Keitoleinen did say that it was part of the entertainment.