Chapter 21: A Roman Holiday

[Salome Weil]

"No sir...I have never..." I reply weakly. It is true, I have never even had my ears pierced. I don't like the idea of it. In fact, I feel very afraid of this man. His grip on my arm is strong. As he pulls me up, I get a better look at him. He is quite tall and intimidating. He seems to be about 6'5 and is muscular. His body is wet with sweat.

He has so many modifications that I feel I must look away from him. I feel...very afraid. More afraid than I ever have before.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

"This sounds fun! Okay, I want to be the singer for my team!" I decide. As soon as Bonifaz has things set up, I start making a character based off of myself. "I want to call my band...Radon Awareness Month." I decide. I guess I am not really letting my comrades have much say in this, but that is how I am when I am enthused about something. "Armin..maybe you can play the bass guitar part since I think that would be easier...Frieda...what do you think you would be good at...drums or guitar?" I ask her. I hope we beat the nihilists, since they seem so smug. Especially Archer.

[Horacio Hatfield]

Horacio isn't even sure how to answer the machine. He is still a little afraid of him actually. He looks at Cephrien...and then at Ophelia. He then looks down, thinking of what to say.
"I am...still here...because I ...am friends with Ophelia.." Horacio says with a lack of confidence. He just doesn't know what the machine will do. Anyway, he is also nervous because the Speaker is there. If she finds out that he is a rebel, he will have to go to the Temple of Terror.
"Why are...YOU still here?" He asks in rebuttal.

[Lucio De Saldanha]

Lucio feels relief when the large man leaves him alone to torture someone else. He sits alone in his cell and thinks about his socialist friends. His only relief is that he is alive, although, he might soon not be alive....if he has to fight in the gladiator competition. This worries him a great deal. He thinks about Yasmin again and wonders what will happen to her if she doesn't have anyone to care for her. But, she is a strong kid and pretty capable. He decides...that he will write to her.

He doesn't have anything to write with though..so the idea soon fades into despair. That is, until he finds the courage to ask a gaurd for a pen or paper.

Lucio goes to the barred door and speaks to the guard. "Hey...hey you...can I have something to write with...and a piece of paper?"

[Malak Al-Dabaran]

"We should be doing something useful...like trying to find out where Kasper is. OR helping those who were captured and are in Rome." Malak suggests to Hilja and Armin. But, they seem concerned at the moment with having fun. It bothers him...a lot. He sighs, but what can be done.
"Fine, I will play guitar. But we should make this quick. And keep the volume low, I have a headache. That means..Frieda can play drums." Malak decides. He wants this to be over with. He even contemplates going to Rome himself, though, he can't do much good alone there.

[Tristan Tuzanic]

Tristan decides to check out the Manalist carnival. It should be interesting. He has never met the Red Jester, and he doesn't like carnivals. So, he wanders to where he sees some tents and starts walking around. He walks up to the stand that is selling pig products. He looks at the menu and frowns.
"Do you have any veggie dogs because I'm a Vegetarian. I NEED to have something without meat." Tristan says to the vendor. The heavy set man in an apron glares at him.

"Manalists eat MEAT." He grumbles.

It is true. In the myths of the Manalists, the brother who gave Father Manala vegetables was cursed.

"Fine...whatever.." Tristan replies and walks off to see some of the games and rides.

[Attis Svoboda]

"Yes my friend. That is what I heard. Shall we partake in the spiritual delights of the Manalists?" Attis asks. Still in his fox form, he looks up at Eun. He looks her over with his small black eyes. He scratches himself with his hind leg and his gaze returns to Niilo, who seems a little surprised that he suddenly showed up like this.

Attis trots around a little, whipping his tail back and forth. "Who are you?" He asks Eun.

[Kasper Schultz]

"I try to listen to what people have to say." Kasper replies. They talk for a while longer, going pretty far that day. After a few hours of peddaling, it is now nightfall. Kasper figures there is only one day left until he arrives at the town. He has worked hard to pedal hard and fast. Now, he is thirsty again. Thankfully, he filled up his water bottle when he was shown to the water earlier that day. He takes a large gulp after getting off the bike. He wipes his mouth and extends his arm with the bottle in hand.
"I think I only have one more day of riding. Want some water?" He offers. While they were biking, Kasper was lost in his thoughts, thinking about the world, but not wanting to say too much in case he sounded like a rebel. Even out here, he could never be sure who he was talking to.
"I think we'll need to camp out tonight, if that's okay." Kasper states. He hears an owl in the distance. "Wowee, did you hear that?! An owl! I thought a lot of them have died off because of pesticides and deforestation!" Kasper exclaims ...quite excitedly. "Except some native Americans saw owls as a omen of death. But, we don't have to look at it that way. I don't believe in omens anyway."

[Charon Dejardins/Asphodel]

Asphodel follows after The Flesh Monger, being careful not to be seen. She follows him right to Salome's cell. From the shadows, she observes the Monger as he intimidates Salome. It makes Asphodel want to cry, or shout or bite him. But, she has to be brave.

She flits away, flying as quickly as she can. She has to find help ..somewhere.

She flies out of the Temple of Terror and sees a large group of people moving towards some tents. She avoids these people since they are all Manalists and their supporters and she is rather afraid of them.

She keeps flying...hoping to find someone who can help her.

[Heikki Toivonen]

"I will play drums." Heikki says after making a character that looks a little bit like him. "What should we call our group?" He asks the others. After this is done, he will give the other nihilists the flu vaccine, but for now, they may as well have some fun. He pays attention to Malak, but the socialists seem in no rush to leave.
"I will get Amelia..so that she can be a part of our band." Heikki states. "I was thinking...maybe we should have her repaired...for safety reasons. She could turn on us..." Heikki warns.

[Momo Kurokawa]

To Soren

Momo finishes some work in London with M TV. She feels pretty confident now about the launch of the Eyes of God. Perhaps the first satellites will go up as soon as the end of the month. She will visit M TV again before the launch. For now though, she returns to Japan, since she still has to worry about the tsunami damage.

After checking up on some things in Tokyo, she determines which cities have working teleportation booths in the areas impacted by the tsunami. She teleports to one of the cities witha booth, and finds that there are some dome shaped housing. After asking about the shelters, she learns that they came from Royal Dane Organics. She didn't expect that. She feels..thankful for their help, but also, wonders if there is an alterior motive. However, she isn't as afraid of the company as she is of Genetech. It isn't on her radar as a possible threat to her own company.

She inspects some of the buildings when she notices an elf person. She isn't familiar with him (since Ingrid is on the council for Royal Dane Organics.)

She steps up to him and is struck by his attractive features. Perhaps that is why she is not hostile toward the stranger.

"Who are you?" She asks him.

[Li Violette]

It seems that there is little I can do here. The Creditor seems to be ...a bit more calm now and isn't destroying things. Really, it is a concern of Global Bank and not mine. I look at Horacio and then over at Cephrien.

"You...with the red eyes.." I say to Cephrien and point at him. I am still trying to make it seem that I do not know him. "If Akira causes any problems, give me a call and I will make sure Global Bank looks into it."

I write my number down and give it to Cephrien. With that, I leave since there is little I can do in that situation. Anyway, it made me a bit uncomfortable..since I was not sure if the florist was a rebel or not and I wouldn't want to give away any information if she was not.

I continue walking, searching for something else to do...for Holy Week.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

"As soon as we finish this game, we'll have a meeting, okay Malak." I say to appease him. He is right. We do need to do more planning, but after our marathon socialist convention, I want to play this game. We need to destress a little ...we aren't machines afterall.

I watch the nihilists make their characters and am excited to get started. However, the fact that our friends and allies may be captured weighs on me.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

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[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

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