Finding Home

[Aadibah]

Aadibah had to physically pause at that reaction, eyes wide and head slightly tilting back, and let it defuse as soon as possible. I just thanked him... and he's upset... Westerners have always been strange.

The engineer pondered her next words carefully, seeking to ease the situation and let Connor know that she appreciated his assistance. Considering her history, in fact right now was probably the only time she'd taken to actually reflect on the war she'd been fighting, Aadibah was definitely not the most conservative of Muslim women. Well, joining the military usually stripped anyone of their original gender, grouping all the members of an army into a single identity: "soldier". Not man, women, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, dark or light skin, just soldier. At least in her experience. Though the American marines that she had worked with never really behaved quite like this, but then again Connor wasn't American from what had been gathered.

"Well, I am leading a war effort in the Arabian peninsula against the Russians and Syrians." Aadbiah stated, "And you can't exactly lay down and pray in the middle of a warzone at the proper time, only thank Allah you're still alive and..." A momentary flash of memory, "...just go right back into the shit." She took another bite of her gyro. "Eating this meat, which was already offered to me in a show of kindness, definitely isn't the worst thing I've done."

My hands are stained with blood, new friend of mine. You aren't the one who needs to worry about being respectful.

However, throughout the entire dialogue, Aadibah's eyes never once fell on Connor's own. Instead they were locked on the knife that had suddenly appeared out of thin air. They were a combination of recognition, wariness, and wonderment.

[The Rogue]

Connor smirks "Well you're right, we both have been through hell and back again.", he says before he starts eating. His mind begins to wonder a bit more trying to figure out why Lycöan, his main firearm, seemingly reappeared on him after his death. Was it because of his death, or the fevered dream right after it?

"Hey, do you remember our conversation about Monofillament technology? Well I have thinking about it recently and I don't think that I mentioned me every owning one. Well I did, it was a 6 inches long and 2 inches wide along the flat. Man...I has gotten me out of many scrapes. There was this one time when S.A.S operatives infiltrated the main building at Lurpercal Enterprises, and when they found me in my office they just thought I was a normal employee. They asked me about Marethyu, I lied till they believed me. Then as one approaches my desk to 'escort' me from the building, I took out that very knife and impaled his hand. Then I drew out Lycöan and disarmed them and firing only when necessary", his face animates brightly as he recalls his encounter. He siss back and enjoys the glow of the telling of a story.

[Aadibah]

You tell it like you won a trophy at a football game. If Aadibah's brain could grimace, it would be right now so her face wouldn't. Though of course that was a good ninety-percent of my men that behaved like this.

"Well." The soldier finished her gyro off, her gullet extending like a pelican, "You certainly seem to have.... experience." She caught herself before implying any more spite. "Espionage is a field I could never imagine myself in." At least that part was true, and Aadibah did harbor some respect for those that took on the dirty work of a military.

[The Rogue]

"Woah woah, wait a minute, even though we did commit espionage through Marethyu, that's not what it was for. Like you said, you even partnered up with them in your time. Marethyu is a guild of mercenaries. We used Lupercal as front, and to design our own arms. If my actions have led otherwise, then please, tell me" Connor says with a quizzical look. He then takes a minute to finish his meal.
He yawns a bit,

"Hey after we are done here, wanna find a hotel or something?", as he waits for Aadibah's answer he unconsciously picks up his knife. He looks at it and holds it up to examine it.

"Yeah...It was this very knife....wait minute. When did this get here?", he looks around then comes back to Adibah,

"Huh...very odd, I guess I accidentally summoned it when I was thinking about it..."

[Aadibah]

Wow, way to stereotype, Aadibah. Typically the soldier was on the receiving end of that dirty stick. Funny how fighting a war would flip the whole stack of tables in the back of the restaurant like that.

Connor's question sparked a moment of thought before he finally decided to acknowledge the knife, which Aadibah simply nodded to in agreement. Did she even want to stay in this place? It looked like most of the time spent in these parts was on the water, which didn't exactly cooperate with her suit. Already she could imagine herself replacing a few parts because of corrosion simply from the salt in the air. Those pieces would also be the smaller, more delicate bits. Fun.

"Perhaps. I don't want to be here long." The engineer brought up her forearm touchpad, running another diagnostics on pressure, receiving an all clear, "But if we're gonna be doing any sea travel I'll have to decline. I can't be caught out in deep water, swimming isn't exactly possible with this thing on."

[The Rogue]

“Well, like I said, I’m looking for an island. I assumed that you knew that we would be on the water, and I apologize for that. I should have been more clear.”, he sheathes his knife and leans back as he stretches.

“I understand your concern for your suit, and yeah it can be a problem if you fall off the boat. So, here are two plans; one: we can find a place to crash for the night and I can take you to the Nexus gate, or two: I can take you to the gate now and we can go our separate ways.”, he looks at her and watches for her reaction. He then thinks of another thing to ask her.

“Hey, after you do leave here where do you plan on going? I can probably either tell you or lead you there.”, he gives a soft groan as he stretches out some more, his back piping and cracking with hardly audible sounds.

[Aadibah]

Aadibah nodded at Connor's repetition of his objective in this area, having let it slip her mind in the recent conversation. "Do you have a home here then? And I think I would much rather move on as soon as I could. Get myself out of the disadvantage sooner rather than later."

That was a lie. The soldier could most likely handle any pirate or ruffian or hooligan that came her way and might be in this area. Form had long since been shoved into the darkest recesses of her memory, being replaced by face-grabbing and throwing into the dirt, wall, or a few yards away. No, despite the fact that she had just received information that would jar anyone into wanting to take a day-long nap, Aadibah found herself reacting how she usually did to being put in a new and unfamiliar situation: agitated beyond belief. Frankly, it took all she had to keep her body from vibrating due to the sudden influx of energy, the compulsory urge to plan something, to set up an FoB, to come up with a strategy and organize a task force. Being in a new place usually followed these steps, and the fact that she was sitting still, chatting and having casual lunch, albeit a nice change of pace, made her a sitting duck. She didn't like it. She needed to move.

"Is there someplace where I can go that is..." The engineer bit her lip for half a moment in, "That would be, familiar? Like, do one of those 'gates' take me to, I don't know, somewhere like my home?" It was obvious that she couldn't get back, might as well look for the next best thing.

[The Rogue]

“Uhhhh….give me a second.”, he then brings up his arm and powers on his Gauntlet Computer(™). Then he opens the web browser, named Dataverse, its icon, Omni’s smug grin imposed on top of a block of binary code. Connor scoffs and rolls his eyes. He types in his search and finds what he's looking for.

“Huh...okay, there is a place called the Endless Dunes, uh oh...a bit of bad news...it's on the complete opposite side, and some parts of it are recovering from an attack, but I can get you there very quickly, probably 12-20 minutes.”

He looks at Aadibah, “Well, that is if you want a ride to that gate as well.”

[Aadibah]

Well, if he's looking for an island, then it would be rude to keep him. But then again he did say he was going to stay somewhere for the night, so we wouldn't be keeping him from much, but then still he would be going back here alone... Uggh, being polite is so hard sometimes. I need the exercise anyways, and I still remember the path we took.

"As unneeded as it may seem I need to walk." Aadibah held her hands out in front her, palms up, "After my suit had its inexplicable issue it hasn't had much movement to re-calibrate, which is required after a major malfunction like that." Complete bullshit, but the guy wasn't an engineer, at least he didn't look like one. "So I need to have a lot of movement, so the pressure systems and all that know how hard they need to work and adjust to my motions, posture, that kinda stuff."

The soldier leaned back into her seat, "So, then, this gate, is on the opposite side of something? That great big white place we were at?" There's no one I need to worry about in that place, right? It's pretty barren, or at least it was.

[The Rogue]

Connor smirks at her lie and then lays back in his chair.

"Oh okay then, I'll let you 'calibrate' your suit," he chuckles, "and yeah, the gate is in the opposite side of the Nexus. Do you remember the fountain? Go straight to it then keep on walking in a straight line, depending on if you run or not, should take about an hour or two."

He gets up and stretches, then he offers a hand to her,

"I hope to see you around, be safe and stay away from people who say that they are from the Empire."

[Aadibah]

Aadibah's brow furrowed just a tad when Connor let out a small laugh, but she proceeded to nod as he detailed her return path. "Yes, I think going from the "gate" to the fountain will be simple enough, and as long as I can see the other one across I should be able to make a straight walk towards it."

The soldier stood up, removing the glove on her right hand to reveal dirty, calloused skin which gripped the man's, "I thank you, friend, for assisting me in... adjusting to this new... place." Words to describe her new situation continued to be absent from her dialogue. What should I call this place? Not home. It could never be home, not if I was here forever.

"I hope to see you as well, some time later, and I will look out for that." Again, that word, empire. Aadibah could feel a sour, sinking feeling in her stomach as it was uttered.

[The Rogue]

Connor smiles and shakes her hand, he looks her straight in the eye,

"Are you sure you don't want a ride? To at least this gate?", Connor slowly lets her hand slip out of of his. He picks up his knife and puts it in a inner pocket of his jacket. He gets ready to take out his keys, which he already needs out no matter what.

"And it's was no biggie, this world is kinda strange, and I'm still figuring out some stuff...", he keeps out information included in the Monotruth, that book itself scares him genuinely.

"If you ever get Dataverse access, stay away from AntiOmni.net, that site will leave you confused and angry. The two qualities dangers for people like us.

[Aadibah]

The soldier nodded her head harder, or at least tried to, if that was something someone could even do, to further affirm her desire. "Yes. I'll be fine, Connor. Besides, my suit allows me to run considerably fast and not burn as much energy as I would without its support."

Strange. Strange isn't even a word I can use to start with how to describe this place. Aadibah pulled out one of the slips on her helmet's fish net, a prayer of protection written in Arabic, to keep friends safe. As awkward as I might think this man, he was one of the only two to wake me up from that... whatever my mind was in.

"I'll make sure to avoid that." The engineer then held the slip of paper out to Connor, blank side up, looking him in the eyes. "Here. It's not much, but I figure it's the best I can do to repay you. Hopefully, Allah will keep you safe, even if you are not of his... following." The slip was turned over, revealing the writing. "Qad 'illah mukafa'at al'iihsan bik kasadiq. It means for Allah to watch over you, for your charity of friendship."

[The Rogue]

Connor smiles brightly,

"Thank you, really, for accompanying me this far, and for this slip. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to find a hotel where I can pass out. I hope to see you around.",

He smiles at her one last time, then he walks out to his hover bike. He gets on and starts the engine. He looks back at the small restraint one last time, then he drives off for the coast.

He smiles at all the sights and smells. He grins as he can feel the familiarity of the place, he could almost live here, but he rather be secluded. He finds a small hotel and parks out front.

He dismounts and heads inside. He puts the stack of coins on the counter,

“One room please.”, the clerk hands him a key and ask,

“How long will you be staying sir?”,

“One night, but I would like breakfast before I leave, for I will be out on the water,” Connor responds.

“Of course sir, that will be prepared as soon as you wake,” the clerk nods as Connor goes up stairs. He finds and unlocks his room, he closes the door and locks it back. He flops on to the bed and rapidly falls asleep.

[The Rogue]

Connor’s eyes snap open as he wakes. He sits up and rubs his eyes.

“God damn it, I guess my home can wait then, gotta kill a dragon.”, he stretches and pops his back. Then he swings out of the bed and heads down to the main area of the hotel.

“Have a nice sleep?”, the clerk asks, Connor just grunts in response as he gathers his breakfast. As he eats he opens his Gauntlet Computer (™), he opens the email application and starts typing.

[The Rogue]

As Connor types away he feels a slight tickle in the upper part of his nose. He sends his email and the tickle spreads and builds. He press his tongue against the roof of his mouth in order to stop it, but it's too late…

“Ah-ah-ACHOO! Ow! Damn that hurt…”, one of the hotel staff jump and clutch their chest from Connor’s loud sneeze.

“By Omni are you okay sir?”, the concerned man asks, he starts breathing a bit quickly as the sneeze had startled him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My sinus hurts a bit, but i’ll be alright. I think someone either said my name or is talking about me.”, Connor shrugs and begins to search around on the Dataverse as he waits for Nealaphh’s response.

[The Rogue]

Connor’s Gauntlet Computer goes off twice. He quickly switches over to the e-mail application of the device. He has an e-mail from Nealaphh and someone named Jade.

“Hmmm, Jade...why does that sound familiar…”, he opens her e-mail and reads it quickly.

“Oh! I think she’s gardenGnostic on PesterOmni!”, Connor smiles and types up a responding e-mail. Once he sends it off he opens up Nealapp’s.

He smirks, “Alrighty then”, he types up a quick response.

“Well then, I guess it’s time to prepare.”, he pulls out Lupa and Lycöan and sets them on the table. He places his hands on the table as well, Omnimilium flows out of his pores. The element pools together in a single gray, but iridescent circle. More and more flows out, making the circle rise a bit. He starts sweating, after a few more minutes of concentration the iridescent element flows back into Connor, leaving a desert colored and small rifle.

“Heh...it's been a long time since I have used one of these…”, he picks it up and tests the weight. Connor smiles foolishly, bowing how well he did. He summons up a strap and attach it to the rifle.

“Welcome home old friend…”, his smile fades slightly.

[The Rogue]

Then after this he checks Nealpph's site, Antiomni.org, he sees and reads Tom’s post. He smiles as the hunt is finally beginning. He grins, downloads the coordinates, then powers off his Gauntlet Computer. He turns to the the inn keeper,

“Like the great words of Schwarzenegger, ‘I’ll be back’”, they both laugh and Connor goes to his bike. He turns the key and starts the hover vehicle. He revs the engine twice and then speeds off, going at top speed, he zigs zags through Costa Del Sol. He doesn't take in the sights, sounds and smells early morning Costa Del Sol, for he is focused on the gate. In fact within 30 minutes he reaches the gate.