Chapter 18: A Parable for the Terrible

[Niilo Ukkonen]

Niilo waited impatiently, often tapping his foot in the moments it took for Anya to come along. He continued to wait and she finally showed up. Took her damn long enough, he thought to himself.

Niilo went down the stairs, considerable more casually than he had gone up them and completely unaware of what was going on outside.

Getting to the ground floor, Niilo glanced out the window to make sure the van was still there.

Shit!

While the van was there, there were also men with guns all over the place. They were up and down the street, and looked trained to be serious.

Grabbing Anya by the back, Niilo asked through a whisper, "Hey, is there a back door? We need to scadadle."

[Calithin Crest]

"Oooooh. Well that sounds... Interesting. I'm Calithin Crest by the way. I'm kind of a big deal. People know me. It's good to meet you. Any friend of Dinari's is..."

I sort of let this sentence trail off because, well, any friend of Dinari's isn't a friend of mine. He has sketchy friends sometimes. Although Max seems all right.

"Also I am with Momo on the idea of snacks. This is a solid, well thought out idea. It's no wonder she's head of such a fancy technical company. What is there to eat around Allwhere anyway? Like... Hot dogs and freedom fries?"

These sound like particularly American foodstuffs to me so I equate them will Allwhere.

"Communists?"

[Bonifaz Artz-Lehrer]

Bonifaz looks at the windows of the warehouse and sees Anya, but is a little confused by the intentions of Mr. J and his arrival. He stands there in confusion until he notices Ophelia, who is also there...and who just said something. He half tuned her out. She wants a safe teleportation booth?

He looks her over and doesn't say anything for a long while. "We're going to Germany." Is all he can offer on the teleporation booth matter.

He keeps an eye on the window and the chaos around him.

[Tristan Tuzanic]

Tristan notices that others have come to the aid of Horacio and Linnea, who he didn't plan to attack anyway. He turns to Freakboy and Tuesday, the newcomers. He makes a mental note of them and their appearance, but decides it is time to go. He was going to head back to the temple anyway. Succinite is waiting. "You just don't understand me or my intentions." Tristan states before leaving the scene. He continues on to the High Temple in Helsinki.

[Ariel Tal Shachar]

To all Manalist/Capitalist Characters

Ariel arrives at the Global Bank Headquarters a little before the party should begin. He checks with security and finds that as always, the Global Bank is inpenetrable. It is guarded not only by the numerous Creditors who work at Global Bank, but also a force field powered by Manala Crystals and controlled through an advanced biometric identifying system. It is virtually impossible for anyone to access Global Bank uninvited. This is to protect the banking system. The building itself is tall and black. There is a river around it, which is populated with imported black swans. There is also an apple orchard in the yard of Global bank.

Everything looks very secure, but, there is also outside hired security for the party (Tyler Bargrin). Things should go off without a hitch. (In other words, this event is closed to terrorists)

After checking security, Ariel heads to the conference room where he waits for the guests to start arriving.

[Dinari Dollar]

"No we don't eat those because they taste like peeps." Dinari replies to Calithin. He looks at the time on a very large smiley clock located on Bargain Blvd. The party will be starting in a half an hour! "I don't think we have time to take the jet Max. Let's just take a teleportation booth. I guess we can eat at the party." Dinari suggests. He is a little disappointed, because they were at the part of the tour where they were about to see AllFun, the Allmart Amusement park. The place is huge and draws tourists from all over the world. Dinari tells the tourguide to stop the bus at the nearest teleportation booth. The driver and guide oblige and they are dropped off near a teleportation booth designed just for Allwhere. It is green and gold, but otherwise less decorative than other booths.

[Horacio Hatfield]

"You are Freakboy...as in...THE one with the radio station?"Horacio asks with surprise. Now that Tristan is gone, things are a little more relaxed. He turns to Linnea and back to Tuesday. "Yes, let's go to a more secure location. Maybe the socialist house...I am sure they would be happy to meet you. I am Horacio, also from America, and a writer." He explains to Freakboy.

[Calithin Crest]

"Ohhhh. Well they're not MY peeps, that's for sure."

I feel like I never get a good chance to fully exploit the great play on words that is peeps-- marshmallow treats/peeps-- friends. This is a shame.

"I had totally forgotten about the party, and although private jets are a favorite form of transportation for me, I GUESS we should try to get to where we need to be as soon as possible. Some other time though Max! We can go to my island... That I don't have, but deserve. My hypothetical island. It's in the Bermuda triangle."

I step off the bus and follow Dinari to the teleportation booth.

"I really don't like teleporting. There are people that believe that you loose your soul when you teleport, so they're against the whole notion."

[Momo Kurokawa]

"I'm fine with teleportation. It's quick anyway." Momo states to Calithin. She takes the initiative to punch in the coordinates for Global Bank and swipes her labor card, the id used for most transactions in the world. "People have always feared new technology. They think each new advance will destroy humanity. It is superstition and ignorance. That sort of fear holds us back." She remarks. She steps into the booth ahead of the others and teleports to Switzerland.

She arrives outside of Global Bank's walls and force field, and heads to the entrance for admission.

[Master Scrag]

Important post
Master Scrag completes his work and decides to check on the progress of a construction project that he has eagerly waited for completion. The project has already taken several years and now, will be opening later this month. The building has been kept a secret from the Economic Council, though he intends to unviel it later this week. For now, it is hidden behind a canvas wall and thigh security. People in Rome have known for a while that something was building built, but what...no one was ever certain. Some thought that it might be a new temple, however, Scrag knows better.

He meets with the head of the construction crew, who says that construction is mostly done. It is a matter of clean up and some final touches to the interior of the building...

[Heikki Toivonen]

Heikki, who is a little more sympathetic than Bonifaz, wanders over to Ophelia. It appears that she is shaken and he decides that he could try to be a little bit helpful. "What happened to you?" Heikki asks. She does look frazzled. As for the appearance of Jack, it makes him feel uneasy. He isn't sure what will happen now. He's worn out. Today has been a long and eventful day.

[~Ophelia Vespera~]

"Germany?.." Ophelia puzzled. Did he not understand her?
Thankfully the man's partner seemed to and responded more coherently. He was more friendly in his disposition as well. She brushed some of the red glass that was still in her curly hair.
"I came to Helinski to deliver some flowers and nearly got toasted by an outdated teleportbooth.. I'm trying to get back to Rome. I need to find another... uh.."
She trailed off, seeing something in her peripheral vision and looked to where Zindy was standing next to(or in?) a rather familiar van. She blinked a few times first in confusion, as if she were hallucinating.
"Is that my van?" she blurted, her eyes suddenly widening with clarity, when she realized the van was indeed hers, with her flower shop logo still on it and everything.
Before she could even utter another word, another vehicle pulled up near by, emptying out several armed men and an especially loony looking clown fellow with a sawed off shotgun.
Her eyes flitted between the armed men, Heikki, and her van, overwhelmed by the chaos that was now ensuing in her mind on what to address first.

[Heikki Toivonen]

"Those old teleportation booths are death traps." Heikki admits. He has had to use them as well, but has been lucky enough to never get hurt using one. When Ophelia thinks that the van is her's, Heikki isn't sure what to think. He knows the van is stolen and was a flower delivery truck, but, it would be a pretty crazy coincidence if it really was her's. Maybe she is poor and wants the van so she can sell it and get back to Rome. Rome...that must be a terrible place to live. The religious center for Manalism. He wonders if maybe she is a Manalist.

"No, that van is ours." Heikki assures her. "We're in the flower business too."

Maybe she is with the Enlightened Brotherhood. Maybe flower business means that she sells or grows drugs as well.

Heikki is confused. "What kind of flowers...do you sell?" He asks to feel her out.

[Freak Boy]

"Yeah, that's right, walk away asshole," he grumbled as Tristan walked off into the distance. He looks at Horacio. "Yeah, that'd be me. Pleasure to meetcha, Horacio! So, let me get this straight... there's a Socialist house?"

His cigar was now just a nub between his lips. He kept smoking it until it started to burn his lip, then he spit it into the nearest trashcan and promptly took out another cigar. He placed it in his mouth and started patting down his pockets in search of his matches.

[Horacio Hatfield]

"Yes, some socialists live there. I attended a Marx Mas party there. They are all pretty nice. They are the members from Socialist Revolution." Horacio says of the socialists. He folds his arms and looks in the general direction of the socialist house. "It isn't far, should I lead the way?"