Nettle grins out across the crowd as she bangs on her drums. 'This is sheer paradise!' she thinks. She finally got to meet the famous Gwendolyn who everyone told her she resembled so much! Gwendolyn had rushed up and almost picked Nettle up in a hug, and then had inspected Nettle's face, looking for features of her son Trevelyn who Nettle was descended from.
Nettle agreed that she and Gwendolyn had the same coloring in hair, eyes and skin, but Gwendolyn was so much curvier and muscular-- like Ellowyndriel-- whereas Nettle resembled Loviander or Corrander more! But Nettle and Gwendolyn found that they had much more in common with their likes and interests and opinions and attitudes, and became fast friends.

Then Corrander and Gwendolyn had made an announcement...that they were in love and not going to hide it anymore! That had taken EVERYONE there by complete surprise-- but no one more so than their own parents!
After Ellowyndriel had gotten over the shock...and swallowed a glass of white wine all in one swallow...she'd spoken with Loviander. They conversed for a few moments, and then told their children that they weren't angry, and would support their union. All Ellowyndriel wanted was her husband and children back no matter what. At this moment she would have given them the sun and moon if they'd asked for them! And at least now they could get rid of the crowds of pesky suitors instead of constantly stringing them along!
When Ellowyndriel asked if they were going to have children, both had vehemently shaken their heads. Gwendolyn had already had her son, and Corrander had practically raised Simone and his own father for 16 years! This revelation resulted in much laughter!
Ellowyndriel had turned to Nettle and Alec and Simone and grinned, putting her arms around them and saying that she already had 3 grandchildren that she could lavish her attention on...and she'd figure out the Loviander/Ian-thing another time! More laughter ensued.

So now as Nettle looks across the crowd she can see Ellowyndriel and Loviander standing close together and talking...she can see Corrander and Gwendolyn chasing each other through the crowd, both holding champagne goblets that threaten to spill over...she can see Simone and Jorden dancing together doing some kind of martial arts-inspired dance that's impressively synchronized...and best of all, she can gaze at Alec's nice ass for the entire show! She grins a naughty grin as she hits the cymbal.

Chakra dances in the middle of the crowd, her eyes closed and her arms making snake-like movements as she rotates her hips to Nettle's drumbeats. She's trying to lose herself in the music and become one with it so she can clear her mind.
When Ken had returned and she'd found out what had happened to him, she'd tried to approach him tentatively, but he had acted funny and distant, and she'd finally just turned her back and gone. She didn't need this. HE knew they'd had a connection. He could be the one to come to her when he was ready. She wasn't going to be the one to constantly initiate conversations and contact. That wasn't her way.

The song ends and Chakra walks over to the bar and starts to ask for a rum...and then quickly changes her mind and asks for a Mai Tai. She walks out past the crowd and into the fields where it's a little darker. She stretches out her mind a little, and can still detect the red velvet door a ways off. The party's at the farm instead of Balador! She really wants to talk to Marianna for a moment.
But as she starts to make her way to the door, she senses someone approaching from a short distance away...and when she strains her ears she can hear the sound of...an engine?

She tenses a little-- ready to mind-link to anyone in the group at the first sign of danger-- when a motorcycle pulls up, spitting smoke. The frame is pitted and worn, and the tires look like they've been patched countless times and might fall off at any moment.
A huge blond man in black leather pants and jacket is driving the motorcycle, and there's a side-car attached with a woman sitting in it. The woman is wearing goggles, has dark blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, and is wearing worn suit-pants and a button-up shirt that shows the dust from the road. When the motorcycle stops, the woman gets out of the sidecar stiffly as if she's been sitting in it for a very long time, and she slides the goggles up to rest on her forehead. Chakra can sense that both of the individuals are Mages. The woman has a very purposeful, rushed aire about her, and she inspects Chakra for a moment before speaking.
"A Mage...I must be at the correct destination." she states. "Am I correct in guessing that you are part of Dexter Niedelmeyer's...cabal?" she asks, searching for the term "cabal."

Chakra nods quickly. "Yes. Welcome to Miller Farm!" she smiles.

"Ah good, good..." the woman says, looking relieved. "My name is Christine Grahm, and this is Jeff Green. We used to be in a cabal with him. We were sent by our, ah, superior to meet up with him and join the Mages he was with, but it has been a giant goose-chase. He suddenly disappeared from Chicago and we couldn't find his trail. We've been searching the country for years."

Jeff just continues sitting on the motorcycle and looking straight ahead.

Chakra smiles. "Wow! Dexter will be so excited to see you! He's, uh, going by a new name now...Erasmus...and he looks very different. I guess it's from his former incarnation with Helen and Critias a long time ago...I bet you're excited to see them, too, then!"

Christine's eyes get huge. "Helen and Critias?? Truly??" She pauses for a moment, looking thoughtful. "So...Dex-- I mean, Erasmus-- is still with Helen then?"

Chakra grins and nods happily. "Wait one moment..." She closes her eyes and concentrates, and then makes a little noise of surprise.
"Oops! They are...indisposed at the moment!" she grins toothily. "But they'll be happy to see you tomorrow morning, I'm sure!"

"Morning? I'll probably have to wait until nightfall to see the likes of Helen or Critias!" Christine sniffs.

Chakra smiles. "Not anymore. They've been restored to their human selves!"

Christine's eyebrows raise impossibly high, and she's stunned into silence for a moment. "Truly..." she breathes. "What knowledge you must have here..." She shakes her head, and then notices Jeff.
"Ah. Speaking of fixing people, I am in need of some supplies to help Jeff here. Do you have tools and fluids for machinery?"

Chakra's forehead wrinkles and she looks at Jeff a little more closely. "Oh my god..." she says quietly, backing away with fear in her eyes.

"It's quite all right...you know what he is, but we're on your side. The old Technocracy has been disbanded. We are allies." Christine assures her.

Chakra nods slowly, still not sure what to think. Her own father used to be someone like Christine.

Christine explains who her superior in Chicago was, and Chakra recognizes the man as the agent who made the truce between the Technocracy and the Tradition Mages. Then she starts to calm down.

"We met him..." Chakra nods. "All right, well our expert at machinery is Oswald...let me just get him for you!" Chakra smells the sweet, fruity smell of her Mai Tai, concentrates, and then links her mind with Oswald's. After a moment her eyes clear and she looks back at Christine.
"He's on his way!" she announces.

"Thank you very much!" Christine nods, continuously glancing back at Jeff with a look of anxiety in her eyes.

Oswald walks out of the horizon realm with his tool belt and his tool kit in his hand. He watches the party for a brief moment and nods to himself. He's already resigned himself to living his life alone, not happy about it of course but what can you do when none of the available, and probably the only women around him are...not interested in him. He sighs as he walks over to Chakra and stops. He blinks for a moment as he looks at Jeff and then back to Chakra.
"What's going on?" he asks.

Chakra sees the worry in Oswald's eyes and moves quickly to reassure him. "It's OK, Ozzie, they're FORMER Technocrats. They're old cabalmates of Erasmus' and they're on our side." she smiles, patting him on the arm.

Christine waits until Chakra is done talking, and then quickly interjects.
"I am Christine, and this is Jeff." she says, motioning to the motionless Jeff. "I converted him into a Hit Mark over 5 years ago, and it has now been about 6 months since I have been able to properly maintain him, due to the sudden radiation in the atmosphere shorting out my tricorders." she says, pulling two different tricorders out of hidden pockets in her pants and showing them to Ozzie.
She motions back to Jeffy. "As you can see, he's in desperate need of repair...he only has enough power to run his basic functions at this point. Do you have technology here that I could use to run a complete diagnostic on him, and hopefully get him back up to his full capacity?"

"Ah yes, I also noticed some fluctuation in certain of my apparatuses due to the high levels of radiation." Oswald says. He looks over at Christine and smiles. He blinks again and gets back to looking at Jeff.
"Hmmm...several of his neuro processors have shorted out." he says looking at him with his goggles. "Well," he says, and pauses for a long time looking at Christine. "I..uh have the technology to fix him however we have to get permission from the chantry leader. Plus there is the risk that his programming was damaged..."

Christine has been studying Ozzie. It's been a very long time since she had the company of someone knowledgeable in the sciences...ever since the lab back in Chicago was blown up, in fact! She watches with approval how Ozzie uses his goggles as a focus to study Jeff's circuitry. She'd been using her own goggles as a make-shift focus, but in her mind nothing could be as thorough as her tricorders, and so as a result the goggles had never worked as well for her as they seem to for Ozzie.
"I have been apprehensive that Jeff--" Christine glances at Jeff, and then back to Ozzie and lowers her voice, "-- that Jeff may be a liability at some point. He has never given any indication that he might be violent against one of his allies. What is your opinion?" she asks. When her eyes meet his she suddenly loses her confident bravado and lowers her eyes in uncharacteristic timidity.

Ozzie looks back at her and then nods. "It's often a trick the technocracy used in these models to keep them loyal. They would put a subroutine in its defensive parameters that just in case one of their agents went rogue while the mark was present, it would kill the agent and his allies." he says. Ozzie leans back and sighs. "Perhaps it's best if we shut down this model."

Christine looks a little stricken, but then sighs and nods her head. "It was I who did the operations to transform him, but...it's always possible that my mentor could have added something to the programming and thought it best not to tell me."
She glances back at Jeff. "We did not start out as friends, but we are all the company each other has had for over 5 years, and so it appears I have become...attached to him..." She sighs again. "Perhaps it IS for the best..." She meets Ozzie's eyes again. "Seeing as how this is your cabal that you're responsible for the safety of, I will leave the decision in your hands. Were it up to me, I do not think that I could be the one to do it." She reaches out and pats Jeff's arm regretfully and then looks back at Oswald.
"I am sure you understand the difficulty of being forced to part with something you'd considered to be a great work of science and technology?"

Ozzie looks over at the clones, some of them dancing with the various members of the cabal and the residents of Miller's farm. He sighs. "Yes I know exactly how that feels." he says. He clears his throat and turns back to Christine. "Of course our chantry leader must be informed...after she's done playing her drums." he says. "We'll meet as a cabal and make the decision."

Chakra has been watching this little exchange with a little smile on her face. 'Ah-HA!' she thinks. 'All this time I couldn't figure out who would be a perfect match for Ozzie, and then this Christine falls right into my lap!
Chakra takes a sip of her Mai Tai-- inhaling the scent as she does-- and then closes her eyes and reaches out to Oswald and Christine...trying to help lower their inhibitions a little. Not drastically, but enough that it might feel to them that they'd had a drink or two!

Christine blinks her eyes and takes an unsteady step back. "Pardon me...a bit of a dizzy-spell there...must be from all the time sitting in that side-car." she says gesturing back to the motorcycle.

"Yes yes..." Ozzie says shaking his head. "Perhaps the merriment is more infectious than I had thought. While we wait for all this to die down, perhaps you'd like some refreshment," he says putting his hand on her shoulder. A spark of excitement passes through his hand and up his arm. He smiles at Christine. "I uh...see you're fluent in biological processes to be able to build such a fine specimen.'

Christine, too, feels the spark, and suddenly it's a little hard to breathe! For the first time in her life she blushes a little. "Ah...yes. My primary field of study was human anatomy..." Her face flames brighter red. "That is to say, I am a doctor!" she quickly explains. "And, uh, your field of...expertise?" she asks. She's never felt this way before in her life, ever!

Ozzie blushes a bit and then smiles. "Ah robotics, insects, complex matter algorithms, and of course, spectral and time fluctuations." he says trying not to brag but hoping she'd be impressed. "Oh and also biological replications."

Christine listens to Ozzie's long list of specialties, and finds it to be...quite...arousing! She wishes she'd had more time with her mentor to learn impressive fields like these!
"Wow...Oswald..." she says his name a touch shyly. "I am ashamed that I only had a matter of weeks with my mentor before his death. I am sadly lacking in my advanced magickal training. I am-- in awe of your...your skills!" she says awkwardly, and then quickly clears her throat.
"Space travel...ah yes! Dexter-- er, Erasmus-- was just beginning his tutelage in that subject when we were a cabal! And did I hear you mention-- " Christine lowers her voice and leans in, "--cloning?" she whispers. "That was to be my next lesson after I'd mastered cybernetics!"

"Yes," Ozzie says, feeling all a-buzz. Finally a student!! Holly has learned pretty much all she can from him, but here's a student who will help him learn as well! Ozzie feels completely light-headed. He offers her his arm. "Yes, so while the party is still going perhaps I could show you my lab. It's in the horizon realm."

Christine beams with excitement and gladly takes his arm-- completely forgetting about Jeff in that moment. It's the first time she's smiled in...well...maybe forever?
"I would be honored to see your lab! Do you know how long it has been since I had use of a proper lab?? I used to have a university-funded lab at Chicago University-- state-of-the-art technology-- all I had to do was snap and an assistant would get me what I needed, and anytime I had a tricorder-malfunction, they would replace it with something even better!" she sighs, thinking back.
"I noticed you, too, use your goggles for your effects, but I'm sure yours have modifications on them that I could only dream of!" The two start walking off.

"Oh yes. They are spectrally enhanced with Life, Matter, and Prime. A gift from my teacher, to be exact. That sounds like a wonderful lab. Many of the things in my lab I've collected over the years. Most of them are now state-of-the-art, and of course little tweaks here and there of my own.." Ozzie says. They walk towards the horizon realm arm-in-arm, talking and smiling. For the first time in a long time, Ozzie is truly excited.

Chakra watches them go with a light heart, and downs the rest of her Mai Tai.

Nettle glances over to see Oswald and a blonde Mage she's never seen before enter the horizon realm arm-in-arm! She almost misses a beat-- barely managing to hit the nearest drum to keep the beat going, even if it was the wrong drum! She's in shock! A tiny part of her sniffs in jealousy. It liked being Ozzie's crush! But the rest of her feels a sudden weight lifted off her narrow shoulders. Now, for the first time in years and years, she can be affectionate with Alec in front of Ozzie without holding back or feeling guilty!
She drums with renewed, light-hearted energy!

Chakra is about to re-join the party when she realizes that she probably shouldn't leave Jeff, here, unattended. He's continuing to sit on the motorcycle without moving.
'Oh well...if he suddenly freaks-out and goes Terminator, at least it will be me he goes for first and not someone else. I should have enough time to mind-link to everyone before...well...before.
She sits against the hood of the side-car and watches everyone dancing and having a great time. Then her eyes fall on Marianna. Marianna! She'd just been on her way to find her!
She concentrates on Marianna...sending out a timid little mental tap on her shoulder.

Marianna feels the tap and looks over at Chakra. She smiles at her and walks over. "Chakra, come join the party, love." she says putting her arm around her waist. "I haven't felt so much happiness in a long time," she says.

Chakra beams, loving the change that's come over her former boss! "I would love to, but I'm kind of babysitting this lovely hit mark here..." she says, motioning her head towards Jeff. "Supposedly he's on our side, but he needs some kind of...mechanical work done on him, and...well, it's a long story!" she laughs. "I just want to give Ozzie some time with his new girlfriend!" she wiggles her eyebrows.

Marianna looks over at the hitmark. She shakes her head. "Terrible things really." she says. "What is one of them doing here?" she asks. "Oh no matter..." she walks over to Jeff and scans him with her eyes for a moment. She sees the switch in his head and turns it off. "There. He's turned off for the time being. Wait...Ozzie has a girlfriend?"

Chakra grins. "Hopefully! The hit mark rode in with a science-nerd-type woman in the sidecar, and the woman and Ozzie hit it off famously! Ozzie's showing her his lab right now!" she gives Marianna a sly grin. "Hopefully they'll be down there for a while!"

"I'll bet," Marianna says with a laugh. "Speaking of showing labs," she says putting her arm in Chakra's arm. "I know there's something you've always wanted to do." she says with a sly smile. "I'm not your boss anymore and you and I seem to be the only people here without a date tonight."

Chakra's mouth falls open in completely surprise! She stands there trying to form words for a moment, and then just nods quickly until she can get her voice back.
"Wow! Yes! I mean, I am honored!" she stammers, and then gives an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry...awkward moment there!" she grins. "So do you mean that all I had to do was quit being a door-greeter and you would have invited me to your rooms?" Chakra asks teasingly.

Marianna laughs. "No no, It's about time for us to get more acquainted. Don't you think," she says getting closer to Chakra."

Chakra smiles and wraps her arms around Marianna's waist. She feels a little light-headed! She's always fantasized about this! It's a good thing she had that drink or she might have been too timid to make any moves!
"I would love to get more acquainted with you, Marianna." she says in a low voice. Then she watches two forms run past them-- a drunken Corrander chasing a drunken Gwendolyn into the trees.
She turns back to Marianna. "Did you know all along that he was in love with his sister?" she asks curiously.

"Yes. I was just there to pass the time." she says. "But enough about them. Let's go back to my room." Marianna says. She kisses Chakra and then puts her arm around her, leading her to the realm. "This will be a night to remember," she says.

Chakra wonders if she should contradict Marianna and say that she'd peeked into Corrander's intentions after the second time she'd seen him go back into Marianna's rooms, and that she knew he wasn't just there to pass the time. She knew he genuinely cared for Marianna, and at some point when he'd given up all hope and had consigned himself to fading away after Ian had opened the gates to Arcadia, he'd also had a little spark of hope that maybe...maybe this feeling might be something to pursue. She knew Marianna was one of the very, very few women Corrander truly respected-- in part because they were both ancient beings.
But Chakra sees Marianna's face, and she doesn't want to say anything that would change Marianna's current mood! Maybe later...when they were laying in one another's arms...but also maybe not. What would be the point? Corrander is now with his true love.

After Corrander had revealed that the woman he'd been pining for was his own sister, Chakra had looked over at Marianna in alarm, wondering if Marianna was hurt by this news. But Marianna's face had only radiated happiness for the couple. Chakra had been worried that maybe Marianna had let her feelings get too deep for Corrander without realizing it, thinking that he'd always be back-- the same way Chakra had let her feelings get too deep for Enrico, thinking that he'd always be back. But now Enrico was with his Christine, and Corrander was with his Gwendolyn.

Chakra gives Marianna a warm smile. "Oh Marianna! No one is ever 'just there to pass the time' with you! Everyone who leaves your chambers does so with a goofy grin on their face!" Chakra laughs.
She leans up and kisses Marianna as they walk slowly. "But if I have MY way, tomorrow morning you'll be the one leaving your chambers with a goofy grin on your face!" she smiles mischievously.

"Oh, well let's see if that's the case. I'll make sure you're the one with the goofy face," Marianna says with a sly smile. "Now come, I want to spend as much time together as possible," she says.

Chakra laughs happily, and the two hurry through the red velvet doorway into Balador.

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