[Nautilus] I'll Face Myself

[herewardbound]

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Nautilus had a lot on its plate. But for now:

There were three items on the agenda. Notably, three Shadows that needed to be hunted.

Peet's... was proving damnably hard to nail down, actually. Which was strange.

But happily, the other two were easier to find.

Comments

Embassy - The Moon

[herewardbound]

"Alright, Molly. Shadow located, looks like she's somewhere in Pride, which is convenient. We're ready to help, but know that there's no judgment, whatever we end up seeing. And for obvious reasons... what we see is something we keep in confidence. I know this is going to be hard, and it isn't going to be pretty."

[polymolly]

"Okay." Nervous giggle. "Here we go, right?"

She had experimented with the App while the others were on vacation. But this was different. A full delve outside of the safety of the Hazbin Hotel.

She checks over the Thompson. "I'm not going to have to shoot myself, right?" She'd feel a little more comfortable with the Sundial, but Lucifer was still fixing that.

This would be fine. She'd meet her shadow, which is the repressed version of her. They'd talk. After all, she was an angel. How bad could her...

...Nope, not even going to try to pretend that. Not when surrounding by allies and friends traumatized by monsters wearing halos. At least she could say nothing in here would match up to an Exorcist.

[butterflyaffect]

"You should be prepared for the possibility of combat, but if that is the case, it will be us doing the bulk of it. Your heavy lifting will likely be largely emotional."

Renée smiled. "Not to worry, however. It's quite hard to cause lasting harm to a Shadow by accident."

[polymolly]

Molly puts the Thompson away between her back and her hair. "Are you expecting to fight it? Is that what normally happens? Is my shadow expected to attack either me or you?"

[herewardbound]

"Mine did. Denji's didn't, nor did the other girl I know whose awakening happened this way. Renee's right, though. When a Shadow becomes vulnerable enough that it's risking destabilization, there are very obvious signs that are pretty much impossible to mistake." He fitted a clip into his pistol, pushing it down. This completed, he pulled out his phone- and the physical world melted away, turning to the cognitive once more.

"Ah. A final note- for safety purposes, because we don't want people subconsciously associating our names with shit we do, we use codenames when we're on the job. If you address us- they're pretty easy to remember." He gestured at himself. "Crow."

[butterflyaffect]

"Viper," Renée added. For her part, the blue imp had been replaced with a human...ish woman with pale hair and amber eyes, her usual clothes replaced instead with fatigues and a blue beret. The codename's source became obvious, given the serpent in glittering blue that had become her mask. She hefted a sword and shield, at odds perhaps with the revolutionary imagery. "I believe that Shadows have a tendency towards hostility, but that's not always the case. Just as no two mortal minds are exactly the same, so too are Shadows unique."

[hadal_predator]

"Corsair, at your service." A flourish and a half-bow.

"We've got a system in place to help look out for one another. We're ready for just about anything."

[mansbestend]

"Rider," he nodded. Pochita, settled atop his head, barked.

"That's Pochita. He doesn't get a code name, so he's fine."

"Rider would just forget the code name anyway!"

"Yeah, fair."

[polymolly]

"Wow." She looked the lot up and down. "Nice. Also: would."

More a tension breaker for herself than anything. But still true. She pause. Then turned and stared hard at Goro's face before looking away with a chuckle. "Sorry. Like I said before, thanks to my brother, I'm exceptionally good at seeing through masks. But you're expecting these to be impervious to penetration. I had to see which cognition won."

Hmm. "I don't have a mask or a code name. Wouldn't mind having something that's not spider, angel or sex based. There's more to me than those things."

[butterflyaffect]

Renée blinked. "Would what?"

[systemofadowny]

"Since we're tracking down your shadow, using your name shouldn't be a problem." The Goetia added. Her outfit featured a vulture mask over a luxurious outfit and cloak with a white furred trim, the likes of which one might expect a Goetia or other rich person to wear. She had a rapier by her side and a shotgun in its holster.

"Sibyl, ready to move."

[andnowyouregone]

"Damn, you weren't kidding about the cognition stuff." Cal chimed in. He had the big, hefty sword he requested in hand and ready to go. He wasn't a master by any means, but it pleased his edgy heart all the same.

"We're hitting the ground running, looks like. Good thing we've got the legs for it."

[hadal_predator]

"Eh-hem- Anyway, your mask and code name should come to you when the former manifests, should we succeed in what we came here for."

Please, Renée. Keep your innocence.

Pentagram City - The Sage

[herewardbound]

"Next on the docket is Cal, since Peet's Shadow is still... foiling any and all attempts to nail it down to a single location. Everyone ready?"

[mansbestend]

He reached into his pocket and retrieved sample glasses he may or may not have paid for from a drug store.

If they're going to search for an egghead's Shadow, they needed ultimate smarts.

Making the sound of installation of heavy equipment with his mouth, Denji slipped the glasses on. "Ready."

[hadal_predator]

"Ditto. ...I hope I never need glasses. Making sets for demons with more than two eyes is such a pain in the neck."

[polymolly]

"Here for you, Cal."

[andnowyouregone]

"You'd be pretty cute with glasses, Night Light." The moth shared, briefly distracting himself from the dread of what's to come. He looked nervous, for understandable reasons.

"You know, there's a funny story behind that. Peet was the first person to find out where Lettie and I lived. Scared the shit out of us and left an impression, but thankfully, it was a positive break-in. Always thought I'd have to do better to prevent anyone else from doing the same, so maybe that's what's scrambling the signal?"

[poppypapillon]

"Ready to go, whenever you are, Cal. We've got your back, and we won't leave you hanging. You can do this," Poppy encouraged. Facing oneself... as always, it could be very difficult. Poppy was ready to help as needed.

"I'm sure Peet's even got precautions against Hellhound tracking, they're very clever. But I can give it a try anyway, once we get there."

[systemofadowny]

"That lines up with what we know. Don't worry; we're here to help you through this. We all had to deal with some really ugly things to awaken our Personas. If we can do it, you can, too."

[polymolly]

Molly reached behind her back. "We could sent the Sundial scouting ahead," she offered, pulling out the golden reconnaissance drone.

It had been more than a day. She'd gotten the Sundial back from Lucifer. Good as new. Couldn't even see the scar.

"Actually, Octavia, you have a Heaven-tech phone now. Want the Sundial App? You know what you're doing in here way more than I do. Maybe she should be in more experienced hands?"

[systemofadowny]

"Really? I guess I am, but you have more experience using it. Maybe if you're willing to teach me?" It could be handy, for sure. You never know what it can pick up and having regular recordings to look up. Might be dangerous having those recordings in the first place, but so long as they're destroyed...

"We can look through your app and work together this time. Keep the priority on Cal and finding his Shadow."

[andnowyouregone]

"That won't be necessary." A garbled voice spoke up through the phones of those that had the Metaverse app. The screens would show the blue V as if the app were booting up.

"Hello, Nautilus. Nobody finds me unless I invite them to...or you pull the same invasive bullshit Emily did. Considering how much I owe you, I can at least entertain your invasive bullshit."

[polymolly]

Molly nodded. "Gotcha. And don't worry. It takes special Apps and Heaven-tech processing power to make sense of the data. And the drone deletes everything on it every forty-eight hours." The spider angel smiled. "Hold up your phone and I'll make 'em kiss..."

"That won't be necessary."

Molly stopped cold.

"Hello, Nautilus. Nobody finds me unless I invite them to...or you pull the same invasive bullshit Emily did. Considering how much I owe you, I can at least entertain your invasive bullshit."

Nobody appreciates angelic miracles anymore.

She looked over to Cal, a touch of worry on her face. She remembered when her Shadowquest started with the voices. "You okay?"

[herewardbound]

"Ah, the dulcet tones of a Metaverse-empowered hacker getting started early on their bullshit."

He sighed, though his tone couldn't quite stop from being anything but fond.

"We're here to talk. Ideally, to facilitate a chat between you and... well, you. I don't suppose you'd be willing to hear us out?"