Intro 1 - A day in the life of a Negociator

[Dracos]

Shairthewm (5:32:47 PM): The first thing that came to mind when he woke up was that his back really hurt. He was a bit shakey, the last few moments. Johnny's grin was sort of iced into the back of his head. What had happened anyway?

Oh yeah...the negociation had gone a bit wacky... something had hit him in the back on his way out. A bullet? Probably....but it doesn't quite hurt that bad. Where was he anyhow? Probably had to open his eyes first. He was shakey, laying on the cold broken concrete of the old church on the edge of the city.
Velsper56 (5:47:30 PM): Jan slowly worked his way to his feet, pausing on his hands and knees for a few moments to catch his breath in harsh, grating gulps which bounced off figures angelic and demonic.


'I really hate it when the shit hits the fan.' Head filled with cotton, he knew he was easy pickings, so with one final burst of energy he was up to his feet and using the walls of the church to steady himself as he staggered in search of the girl he had come here for.
Shairthewm (5:54:38 PM): He seemed to be alone in the church right now. Lucky. They hadn't stripped him dry. Probably his reputation. It was kind of chilly now that he thought about it. He was a little unsteady on his feet. The door was hanging open and the wind kind of howled as it slidby. The inner door was shut.
Velsper56 (5:58:42 PM): Jan took a few moments to compose himself. He was a mess and he knew it. Checking his pockets, he frowned. At least they were smart enough to have taken his small sidearm.

'Great, now what?' While he preferred elegantly handling negotiations, sometimes force was needed. He had barely gotten out of the last scrape by the skin of his teeth, and now he even lacked a handgun to get the girl out safely.
Shairthewm (6:00:16 PM): He didn't hear any sound coming from further in the church. Were they even still there?
Shairthewm (6:05:11 PM): Heading inward, he didn't hear any sounds as he progressed, stopping at the door right beside the inner chamber. There wasn't any signs of blood around the inner chambers, so hopefully they didn't kill her, but no one seemed to be around here.
Velsper56 (6:07:57 PM): The negotiator decided to take a moment for himself as his mind finally cleared. He decided it'd be for the best if he figured out how badly off he was, especially since he now lacked a gun to defend the girl and himself. Undoing his tie slightly, he began to poke and prod at his back and chest.

It'd be better to get rid of the nagging distraction about being shot now before it became too much.
Shairthewm (6:12:37 PM): His back was slowly starting to just dull really. Checking there was couple of holes, about bullet sized, through where the front of his chest was. There were some marks that kind of looked like scars, but he could barely see them.
Velsper56 (6:17:10 PM): Jan frowned as he inspected the bullet holes. Could he...no, not now. Buttoning his shirt up, he pushed that aside as he continued looking for the girl as he tried to calm a few nagging thoughts that started bubbling in his head...
Shairthewm (6:19:30 PM): He noticed something then.

The wind had stopped.
Velsper56 (6:21:46 PM): 'What's going on? Did that so called storm pass already?' Making his way to a nearby window, he peered out quickly. Maybe he'd be able to see the kidnapper's car or lack thereof from here too.
Shairthewm (6:22:51 PM): He looked outside and saw a good view of the city of Metropolis. It seemed kind of more gray today. The sun not really reflecting well off the towering skyscrapers and huge buildings that made up the city.
Shairthewm (6:23:03 PM): Towards the ground, a mist seemed to be slowly rolling in.
Velsper56 (6:26:35 PM): Moving away from the window, he frowned at the strange weather. "The church is good as abandoned. I'd better get on the phone with Big Ear while I can still take advantage of my near death experience."

Turning on his foot, he started making his way out of the church while reaching into his pocket to call his informant. Maybe they could capitalize on the kidnappers mistake and track them down now while they had the chance.
Shairthewm (6:29:39 PM): Pulling out his phone... just his luck. Dead. Battery was good. Just no signal. Odd this close to the city really. His car was missing too. They probably jacked it when they headed off. Fun.
Velsper56 (6:32:29 PM): "The dead just don't get any respect these days." Jan quipped with a sigh as he stuffed the phone back into his suit pocket. Shielding his eyes from the sun, which was oddly bright today, he pulled out a set of black sunglasses and slipped them on.

Aaah. Much better.
Shairthewm (6:33:33 PM): Not a cloud in the sky either. Odd with the mist really.
Shairthewm (6:33:56 PM): Anyhow, he could sort of see the road back to the city in the distance.
Velsper56 (6:34:51 PM): Sticking his hands into his pockets, he started down the road. Wasn't much of a choice now, at any rate.
Shairthewm (6:37:28 PM): It got colder as he headed towards the city. The sun slowly starting to fade out. Not really setting...but not really shining either. Was he making any progress to the city anyway? It was starting to get hard to tell.
Velsper56 (6:39:09 PM): A slight arching of his eyebrows signified the negotiator's confusion as he reached for his phone again, maybe the signal had gotten stronger. He *had* been walking for the last half hour, afterall.
Shairthewm (6:40:27 PM): Checking the phone, battery still good, signal still dead.

This didn't make much sense. It'd been good on the way here.
Shairthewm (6:41:42 PM): Something seemed odd, glancing forward, about the road.
Velsper56 (6:45:22 PM): With a growl, Jan snapped his phone shut and continued walking towards the road, squinting his eyes to see past the thick mist as he moved slightly towards the right hand side. No point getting run over in this weather.
Shairthewm (6:49:05 PM): He felt a crunch beneath his feet as he nearly slipped.
Velsper56 (6:50:22 PM): Jan wobbled for a few seconds before regaining his balance. He looked down in annoyance to see what had nearly made him fall.
Shairthewm (6:51:10 PM): The pavement was cracked. Heavily. In fact his foot had nearly gone right through it.

It looked worse going on....and not just the pavement either. The whole road ground beside it seemed like that.
Velsper56 (6:53:56 PM): Jan leaned down, a look of curiousity on his face as he picked up a small piece of cement in his hand. Rubbing it, he discovered the same level of frailness in it as it was ground to dust in his grasp.

The road had been in pristine condition when he had driven down it an hour ago, but now it was positively ancient!
Velsper56 (6:54:12 PM): Not liking the look of this one bit, Jan half turned to look back down the path he had gone.
Shairthewm (6:55:13 PM): It looked pretty solid...for now anyhow.
Velsper56 (6:57:22 PM): "This is getting ridiculous." Jan muttered, subconsciously feeling at the scar on his chest. With the path ahead too dangerous to trek through, he decided to make his way back to the church.
Shairthewm (6:58:15 PM): Arriving back at the church, it looked old...very old.

Falling apart even. As he watched the door just collapsed inward, cracks evident along the external walls.
Velsper56 (7:02:30 PM): "Hmph. So much for staying there the night." Jan ran a comb through his jet black locks a few times as he looked up to the skies.
Shairthewm (7:06:50 PM): It was getting pretty dark. He could see the sun...at least he thought it was the sun. Looked like a pale disk. As if someone had tossed a rusty copper penny up in the sky. The sky was cloudness and a sort of dull sickly green around it.

He could see the mountains that were north of the city off a little ways in the distance.

Glancing back over his shoulder, the city looked...horrible.

Once one of the greater cities in the world, it brought to mind that poem, Ozmyndius. Look upon my works and despair.
Velsper56 (7:10:40 PM): "I hope the weather girl was fired. No one predicted an apocalypse today." Jan faintly sighed as he finished combing his hair. A faint sense of loss tinged through his being as he looked at the city, he'd never failed a contract before today...

A dull gleam caught his eye from the church rubble, which he walked towards. There, in the middle of a small pile of ash, lay a simple looking flute.
Velsper56 (7:11:32 PM): "I wonder if this was someone I knew." Bending down, he pulled the flute out from the pile of debris.
Velsper56 (7:15:19 PM): There, in the doorway of the church, the negotiator casually dusted the dented flute off. Finding it looking good enough, he silently reached into his pocket and extracting a humble bronze watch attached to his pants by a fake gold chain.

It had been his grandfather's old memento of the 'good old days', as he told Jan once.
Shairthewm (7:15:44 PM): The church started to shake slowly.
Velsper56 (7:19:13 PM): "Hm. Six forty. Might make some head way before it gets too late." Closing it, he put it back in his pocket and casually started walking away from the church, towards the mountains. As he walked, he made sure to straighten out his suit and shades, sticking the flute in the back pocket of his pants.
Shairthewm (7:22:33 PM): Heading into the mountains, he could hear the road crumbling ever so slowly behind him as he walked.

They loomed before him, towering kings of rock. The greenery that usually could be found along them seeming sort of dim and decaying and gray.
Velsper56 (7:26:40 PM): Even as the man placed his shades away in the face dimming day and begun to carefully ascend up the mountain, a single thought was clear, and reinforced by the comforting weight of the flute in his pocket.

It survived, and maybe other things may have as well.
Shairthewm (7:28:07 PM): He saw a brief glimpse of gold somewhere out of the corner of his eyes as he climbed, growing tired. It'd been a long day.
Velsper56 (7:29:33 PM): Jan wondered how his suit must look at this point as he rested on a ledge for a brief moment. With the condition the world seemed to be, that's as long as he could trust it to be stable enough to hold him.
Shairthewm (7:33:54 PM): His clothes, luckily, didn't seem effected yet. Nor did he, which was also lucky.
Shairthewm (7:34:21 PM): The holes were still in it but the stuff he was holding onto directly seemed solid enough.
Velsper56 (7:35:16 PM): Jan spared a second to look towards where he had seen the golden flash.
Shairthewm (7:36:07 PM): Was that a tail? No, too quick to really tell. Seemed like something had moved along a side path.
Velsper56 (7:37:16 PM): Jan grunted as he got to his feet and began to make his way after that light.
Shairthewm (7:40:21 PM): Heading on, he was moving off the beaten path. It was a bit hard to navigate and there really wasn't much in the way of handhelds. He could do it, but it'd be hard.
Velsper56 (7:41:28 PM): Jan sucked it up and continued moving towards where he had seen that golden flash. Feeling a twinge in his shoulder, he sighed.

Damn, he should've hit the gym more often.
Shairthewm (7:42:22 PM): Getting through he, he watched as a few moments after he saw a second, further out of the way path...the handholds crumbled, the rock face getting left sheer...then cracking.

So close...yet...
Velsper56 (7:57:51 PM): "Damn..." The sense of weightlessness took him as he slowly began to fall. Even as everything began to slow down as his higher brain processes began to get drowned in a heady chemical cocktail, and his arms lashed out towards the rock wall before his eyes, he knew he was as good as dead.

And that angered him. From his toes right up to the fingers that were clawing at the air in front of him, his entire being felt righteous fury, and at the center of it all...something twitched into awareness.

Much like a baby, its presence was announced with a scream of defiance as Jan stared at the sky with intense eyes as his body was filled with liquid magma which sent shudders down his spine.
Velsper56 (8:00:29 PM): In a flash of power, Jan was consumed, and a jet black arm lashed out to tear a hand hold in the rock face, shortly joined by another with a bolted on plate of metal in the shape of a shield. Pulling itself from the cacoon of light, a steel goliath born of flames and light began determinedly punching and kicking hand holds for itself, moving with alien grace, even as the mountain beneath its hands and feet gave way under its strength.
Velsper56 (8:02:19 PM): The golem's body gleamed darkly in the dusk light, its small, bald head looking towards the heavens with glowing red eyes as it pulled itself to safety onto the stable side path.
Shairthewm (8:05:10 PM): The sun vanished as he did so, a putrid green sky above him dark and mercilessly leaving him alone.
Velsper56 (8:07:10 PM): With that final burst of strength, the golem fell silent, its eyes glowing dim as the bolts along its smooth metal back clanked noisily to the ground, releasing steam from deep within its frame as it raised its arms shakily to its face, perhaps in shock. First to its knees, then to its face, the machine fell with a thunderous crash.
Shairthewm (8:12:06 PM): He felt something...licking at his face.
Shairthewm (8:12:09 PM): Slowly.
Velsper56 (8:14:15 PM): "Ugh..." The negotiator blearily opened his eyes, relief in the fact he *had* eyelids flooring him as he regained consciousness.
Shairthewm (8:18:37 PM): He saw a mighty lion. Noble. Huge. With a large mane standing above him proudly, licking softly at his face with a big tongue. Around his neck was a hand made woven leather strap with a golden stone carved in the shape of a star with a comet swushing past inside. He licked once more then turned, beginning to walk down the path.
Velsper56 (8:25:01 PM): Jan coughed as he slowly crawled after it. "Hey, wait up there big guy." He croaked out, voice raw from his scream earlier. Accumulating some saliva in his throat while he got to his feet, he once again tried to hail the lion down, even as he hobbled after it. Was it trained? Maybe it's owner was nearby...
Shairthewm (8:25:55 PM): The lion looked back, waiting just a bit, for Jan to stand up and try to follow....before walking slowly, leading up the path.
Velsper56 (8:27:20 PM): 'I just hope I don't wind up lion chow.' Jan thought as he followed the strangely polite animal.
Shairthewm (8:29:02 PM): He got to the top, looking down a smooth, easy path.... as he heard something crumbling behind him....
Velsper56 (8:31:07 PM): "Sorry, but I still have to come to terms with that contract I had..." Hoping that the lion had gone on ahead, Jan broke out in a dead run towards the end of the path.
Shairthewm (8:34:13 PM): He ran, his lungs beginning to burn.... until he fell over...

When he next awoke...he felt the burning sun on his back... the daystar brighter than he ever cared to know... the taste of sand against his lips.
Velsper56 (8:36:25 PM): Coughing up the dry sand, the negotiator looked up tiredly.
Shairthewm (8:37:07 PM): He saw nothing...no wait...there...in the distance...it looked like a small town...
Velsper56 (8:44:50 PM): "My name...is Jan Smith." The hot sand bit at his palms sharply as he rose. "I performed a much needed duty in the city of Metropolis."

He ran his arms up and down his suit, there was no helping the holes, but the dust and dirt were mostly beaten out. There...from his pockets...he pulled out a weathered and dented flute. It was soon joined by his bronze and smudged watch, which now had a broken chain.

"The city of ruin." Reaching into his pockets, he agonizingly slipped a pair of cracked shades over his eyes to protect them slightly from the bright sun.

"But I am a negotiator. And wherever people are, they will always need an unbiased third party to help resolve conflicts."

One shakey step, then another, and another, and...

Focusing on the distant town, he concluded. "And there's still a contract that hasn't been come to terms yet." Clenching his fist around the bronze flute, he made his way across the desert with head held high.