Chapter 22: When In Rome

[Lehti Itajumala]

A small smile crossed Lehti's face as Annette's words comforted him. "I understand how you feel. It seems that everyone is either entirely sure that communism has been stamped out, or they just don't care." He listened as she made the rather strained analogy, and felt he needed to put it to rights. "Unfortunately, we're the ones who put the poison there for them to spread. Sure, a couple hundred of them choke on it and die, but the rest are just made stronger and more stupid. They become covered in the poison, and, immune to it, travel around spreading it so that it destroys the little creatures who, admittedly, aren't bright enough to be human, but aren't as dangerously stupid as the them, leaving the superior beings with even more work to do. Including trying to find a better poison." He sighed, and finally looked out on Dinari and Calithin. He groaned audibly. "I think Mr. Dollar just demonstrated that his teachers never bothered to teach him the unconscious release technique." Lehti's eyes slid back to Annette and took in the cat on her lap. "What a lovely cat. Is she your...no, I don't think she is." He leaned closer. "There's something...wild about her, for all her perfectly groomed fur. Something feral that says no one owns her, though she may have to allow herself to be treated as such. Hmm...intriging. I wonder..." Could it be? He had heard rumors but,... Lehti relaxed back into his seat. Either way, it was none of his business. He wasn't Wrath, after all. "Oh, well. She certainly is lovely though. I wonder what her name is?"

[Annette Rosenthal]

Annette clams up when Li Violette arrives back with some food. She figures that Li might have overheard them a little, but, what can be done about it. Anyway, Annette makes no secret of her dislike for the woman.
She just turns her attention to the cat. "Yes, she is odd, she must be a show cat for as nice as she looks." Annette says about the cat. At least talking about the cat is a somewhat neutral conversation. Usually Annette doesn't like religious people, but this priest seems a little different. He seems easier to like than many Manalists.
"You must take an interest in history then." She says of the priest, since he seems to know a little about communism. She can't help but draw the conversation back to that, even though Li is right there beside them now.

[Horacio Hatfield]

To Anarchist Characters

Although Horacio cannot help Cephrien at the Colosseum, he does decide to do something useful for himself. He finishes the letter that he wrote in one of the side rooms at Ophelia's Flower Shop and makes some copies using her copy machine. He doesn't feel much like painstakingly writing letters to each of his few contacts. He does wonder about how he will send the letters safely. He decides that he will enclose them in Holy Week cards, so that they will at least appear harmless enough. So, he leaves the shop and purchases several cards to commemorate Holy Week. He puts a letter in each card and seals them in an envelope. Then, he sends them from a nearby postal box. The letters might be discovered, but they would have to be opened and then, the card itself would have to be opened. Even if that happened, he isn't sure if the letters could be traced back to him. By then, he wouldn't even be in Rome.

In any event, he sends out the letters.

My dear anarchist friends,
It has been a while since I have tried to contact you, but I think the time has come for us to have a planning meeting. If interested, meet me on July 4th, in the shanty community outside of Allwhere, Florida.
Your friend,
Horacio


He sends the letters out to some anarchist contacts of his. He will return to Florida and see if anyone shows up for his planning meeting. The goal is to establish an anarchist group. With this job done, he returns to the Flower Shop and decides to take a nap in a spare room.

[Lehti Itajumala]

Lehti nods slowly as Annette voices her opinions on the cat. As she mentions history he hesitates. "I...do know a bit about history. Unfortunately, the vast majority of what I know is tied to human suffering caused by war and pestilence, usually born from one of the previously stated groups or other. Communists are, I'm afraid, not the only group to have aided in the furthering of pain and suffering in the world. Religious groups, with good intentions no doubt, caused any number of deadly foibles. You know of the state of what used to be America of course. It's been speculated that the cause of the radiation was actually several religious groups using nuclear based weaponry at the same time." He thunked himself in the forehead with the heel of his right palm, a practiced idiosyncrasy he used to great effect. "There I go again. Ms. Rosenthal, I swear, if you were anyone else I wouldn't be saying any of this without looking over my shoulder. But such things as uncommon knowledge of the past is permittable among those as well connected as yourself. Especially since, and this entirely slipped my mind, you lived through the last pre-Manala years, didn't you?" His voice was calm, but suddenly there was an undercurrent. A desire, or need. He snapped himself back into control quickly, but it had been there. "Fascinating. I hadn't even thought of it. I know quite a bit more about history than most priests, do to my intense interest in war and weapons, more, I suppose, than is strictly healthy for me, but you must know so much more because you lived it!" He smiled suddenly. "And I just remembered my manners. Worry not, I won't attempt to pump you for information, though anything you might share would be greatly appreciated." As he settled in, seemingly ashamed of his outburst, his earpiece again beeped. A flash of utter fatigue, followed by anger, crossed his face. "Remember what I said earlier about not needing me until something interesting was going on. Excuse me." Lehti stood and walked a short way away before answering. "This had better be good news, Acolyte." Surprise slid over his features before his face darkened. "Not good news. Not bad either, but I don't like it. Deal with it, and the guard responsible." He sighed and returned to his seat. "Day's like this are the bane of my existence. The only rebel with enough guts to attempt anything is so stupid, he just tried the Cyanide capsule trick with belladonna root wrapped in paper. Deadly Nightshade they call it. What the idiot didn't get was that only the leaves kill you, the root just makes you vomit everything you ate for the past two days."

[††Venice "Cephrien" Ashgrove††]

Cephrien quietly brushes past the standing spectators to find a seat along the arena. He keeps an eye out for people who may comprimise his identity. Idealy, he wanted to find another rebelious individual to sit next to.

"Those monsters don't have a prayer." He flatly answers her question with ice cold confidence. However, it isn't the monsters that He's concerned about.. The Manalists have gotten careful. The Invisible Hand is bound to be here, as well as assassins like the one he fought in Helsinki. He would have to make this quick.

As Cephrien watches Lucio leave the arena in shackles, he makes a face. He saw that guy barely a few hours before he got captured.. If he had stayed with him, that could've been prevented. Hopefully, He could find a way to rescue him too.. For now, he had to focus on Salome Weil, since she was the one that he was originally going to save in the first place. When she came out into the arena, that would be his chance to strike.

Ceph hear's Asphodel's compliments on the makeshift disguise, but he doesn't reply. It didn't make him uncomfortable, but he didn't know how to express his flattery.

Or say 'Thank You.'

About a minute of wandering through the spectators, Ceph finally found an empty seat next to Malak. He had briefly seen the man at the Flower Shop and figured that they were on the same side. However, Cephrien didn't say anything and simply acted like another stranger.

[Alisa "Miia" Baykal]

Annette was a wise one. Alisa recalled the past for a moment, of Communist leaders and others who were fairly worse than the Manalists. However, the Manalists thought themselves all-powerful... and that was, often, the downfall. Not focusing on a rebel threat simply because you have the mindset of what could they possibly do? Foolish.

She listens to the priest, slowly growing a bit more fond of him. He wasn't so idiotic as many priests she had encountered. Her feline form took an even more dignified pose at his mention of 'wild'. He was a perceptive one. Did he... no, he didn't seem to be aware of who she was. Some simply weren't, rumors could simply be that- rumors. Annette's mention of history causes her ears to twitch forward, very interested in the priest's reply.

What a rare occurance! He was interested in history. At that, he didn't pretend to know it all. She watched him intently even as he walked away to answer whatever he needed to. For some reason, Alisa got the feeling there wasn't just going to be a rebel who was an idiot attempting something today. If that was true... oh, bother. She'd have to actually work.

[Calithin Crest]

"Yeah, you should have probably taken the guns. It's not like you can really... Punch a dinosaur. Also..."

I rub my arm a little where Dinari hit it with the glove since now it's sore and will probably bruise... I bruise easily. Like a peach.

"You are not ever allowed to touch me again. Not ever. Ever ever everrr. Ever."

When the dinosaur is brought in I take a deep breath and try to formulate a plan. Dinari's plan isn't terrible, however, I don't think it's the best. When it appears he is having difficulty managing his attack I figure we need a new one.

"New plan. I don't really feel like explaining the science, but... I learned once that if a T-Rex tripps while it's running it's own weight will crush it's skull and kill it upon impact with the ground. So. I'm going to make it chase me, and while it's doing that, you have to trip it then move out of the way as quickly as possible."

I take my sword, and a deep breath, then run up to the dinosaur. Since the only things I can really reach are it's feet, legs, and tail I begin to slash at these with the sword. I only swipe at the animal a few times to get it's attention on me, which works pretty effectively.

The tail hits me once and I am thrown backwards several yards, but I scramble to my feet quickly and begin to run. At this point I have lost my saber, so, hopefully Dinari can figure something out on his end.

[Archer Aylmer]

It takes me a moment to realize what the knocking sound actually is and where it's coming from. I don't usually stay in the sorts of places where you have your own room and people are mannered enough to knock when they want to enter. I stand up and open the door, then step aside so Bonifaz can step inside.

"Where have you been? Work?"

[The Flesh Monger]

"Excuse me, Flesh." one of the guards says to Flesh. Flesh is currently working 'one of projects' in his office.

"What is it?" Flesh ask.

"One of the prisoners, Lucio, have just won his fight aganist the mantis."

"Seriously?"

"Yes sir. You can torture him for a bit before his next possible fight."

"Alright then. Take me to his cell then."

The guard simply nod before leading Flesh to Lucio's cell. Once he is there, Flesh told guard and others to leave the cell.

"Its nice to see you again."

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter grinned. She was already flustered. Hell, he might actually get her to run this time. "Show off? Yeah. Reveal my best tricks infront of the whole world? Nah. Besides, this isn't like real fighting. Something about it just wasn't interesting so I wandered off. Lookin' for you. Your nearly always interesting."

He crossed his arms, mimicing Bambi's own, and continued to grin. "Think that's what I'm most displeased I missed while I was in my coma: didn't get to see you at the feast. I'll bet your android friend got you a simply stunning outfit and forced you to wear it. Can't believe I missed it."

He slowly walked around the edge of the room, moving closer to Bambi. Slow and circling.

[Lehti Itajumala]

Lehti watched as Calithin formed a plan that halfway made sense. "Hmm...Mr. Crest seems to be something of a tactician." Mental note! "He's attempting to use the fact that if a T-Rex falls, it can be killed by its sheer weight alone. I wonder if Mr. Dollar will be able to act on it. He'll have to make it fall in just the right way to avoid the tail acting as a counter-balance and lessen the fall." He smiled slightly. Why did he feel like he just made a joke? His smile vanished. Lehti's eye a lingered on a boy with black hair and pale skin. The tattoos on his face stood out lividly, even at this distance. He stood, his hand straying to his ear. "Not him. Anyone but him." A deep sigh issued from between his lips. "I must excuse myself, I fear. Duty calls to me. I have enjoyed our discussion, and hope to continue it another time. Good evening."

Lehti started walking quickly, moving without a seeming purpose. His hand clicked the earpiece, and he spoke in low tones. "Alpha, Bravo, Foxtrot, Delta. Begin plan Shadowbreaker. A-block, c-section, third row. Key on me." He turned off the link and slowed as he came into sight of the boy. He walked slowly towards him. He took an empty seat immediately behind the boy. He waited. He showed no signs of waiting, but he was. After a few seconds, he leaned forward.

"Bad luck, Venice." He stood and tapped the badly dressed man to the opposite side of Cephrien to where Malak was, and said softly. "For your own good, I'd move." The man jumped, saw the priest's robes, and hurried to move. Lehti hopped over the back of the seat to sit next to Cephrien. "Bad luck indeed. One of the few Manalist priests in the entire world to have worked directly with the Invisible Hand, one of very few anywhere who has seen your file, happened to be the Chief of Security on the night you plan a rescue mission." He looked at Cephrien sadly. "You know, you really picked a bad name for someone who didn't want others to remember him. Anyone with any interest in history will be drawn to the name Venice, it being such an important city in the past." He sighed. "Honestly, since I saw your file, I've dreamed of meeting you in combat. An epic battle for the ages. Two tactical geniuses fighting for their lives. I'm disappointed. This arena is locked down tight. You wouldn't have gotten close enough to save anyone, even with those shadow abilities of yours." His eyes closed, then he looked over his shoulder before speaking again. "Speaking of which, it's time to start this party." He stood, and threw out an arm. "Guardsmen!" While he had been talking, disguised guardsmen had been filtering into the crowd around them, and now they whipped off their disguises to reveal their black and red Guard jackets. The crowd panicked and ran. "Flares!" The guards whipped out Manala-powered shock flares, which they ignited. The light dispelled all shadows, leaving not one for fifty meters around. "So. It comes to this." He said softly, so that only he and Cephrien could hear. Then he raised his voice so all could hear. "Now, Demon Cephrien, also known as former member of the Invisible Hand Venice Ashgrove. On behalf of the Economic Council and the Invisible Hand, and in the name of the Almighty Lord Father Manala, by the power invested in me as a Warrior Priest of the Manalist Order," He drew his sword and quickly drew a Manala M in the air, the read glow from his blade leaving the M burning in the air for a second. "I hereby place you and all who dare to associate with you under arrest!"

[Dinari Dollar]

The small energy in his hand grows larger, then flattens out. To do this though, Dinari had to tune out Calithin and his instructions on what they should do. He missed the thing about how T Rex's crush themselves if they fall over. He holds one arm up with the energy, now in the form of a large green rectangle, floating above his hand. He is so proud of himself. He did it!

"Floating Dollar Attack!!" Dinari calls out and throws the green "floating dollar" of energy at the dinosaur. It moves quickly and hits the dinosaur in the shoulder, cutting off one of its puny arms. It roars and stomps, chasing after Dinari now, but loosing a significant amount of blood from the arm wound. While running, Dinari can't make another attack, since he is not that skilled at using Manala energy. He has never had to do it on a regular basis and the fact that he was able to create one attack was impressive. The dinosaur chases Dinari and stoops suddenly in an attempt to snatch him. "Hyper Inflation!" Dinari shouts, and suddenly his body becomes perfectly round in some sort of comical obesity. He grows to be about three times as large and looks something like a puffer fish without spines. He falls over on his small legs and the momentum of running now causes him to roll. He rolls away from the dinosaur and bounces off the wall of the arena before returning to his normal size, albeit, with torn clothes now.

[Bonifaz Artz-Lehrer]

"I went by the lab in Munich to make sure that they would make more vaccines. You never know what will happen. My father made a surprise visit to the lab as well, so I had some explaining to do. Since it involved getting the socialists sick, he seemed not to mind." Bonifaz explains as he lingers in the doorway. He peeked in on Heikki earlier, so he knows that the virus was effective at least on Heikki, but he does wonder how it is impacting the others. He will just have to wait and find out.
"How are you feeling? I have no symptoms right now. Heikki is sick and in his room. Were you able to get some of the vaccine to Frieda?" Bonifaz asks. He doesn't like waiting or not knowing. It would be quite a waste if the socialists didn't even fall ill. They may not have been around Heikki long enough to catch the flu.

[Lucio De Saldanha]

"It's the Gingerbread man!"Lucio shrieks. It is never certain if he has an active imagination or really is delusional. He moves close to the Flesh Monger and bites him on the leg. He patooeys nothing as if he bit some imaginary bad thing. He wipes his mouth. "You sure don't taste like gingerbread, you taste like..sweat." Lucio says in disgust. He steps back the best he can and looks up at the giant, modified torturer. He feels vaguely afraid, since afterall, before the fight, the man gave him boils. He remembers that.
"You gave me the chest mumps!"

[Heikki Toivonen]

Heikki remains in bed, feeling quite sick. He has a lot of time alone now to think and sleep. After a several hour nap, he still feels feverish with the chills. He has a sore throat now and his head feels heavy. He doesn't bother to turn it, instead he lays flat on his back and looks up at the ceiling. Heikki is from the future, so he thinks about that. He thinks about what he should be doing now and if the future could be changed. It seems to be walking a similar path to a preset goal, but, it doesn't have to.
He thinks about his childhood. He grew up at Genetech's labs and was raised with other drone children. They were given oatmeal for breakfast and smeet for their other meals. Because of this, he never had much interest in food. Though, there is something about oatmeal that he finds punishing and painful. For some strange reason he likes to stew in those feelings.
He went to work on a farm as soon as he was able. He was a strawberry picker. He spent days in the sun picking strawberries. There were endless rows and rows of the small plants. He wonders who ate them. His small fingers would be stained red by the end of the day. And that was his childhood. No education. No fun. Just whatever work could be found for him.