This happened earlier on June 28th:

[09:14] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I am at the first primi in Sl if someone wants a tp or LM
[09:14] Ixxxxx Rxxxxxxx: You're where?
[09:14] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: first prim? Isn't the oldest object something by Stellar Sunshine?
[09:15] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Philip made this prim
[09:15] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Boardman (156,199,24)
[09:16] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: AApril 29, 2002

So I went to see.

[09:16] Mxxxxxxxx Dxxxxxxxx: Well he's older than that prim, and he's older than me
[09:17] Sxxxxxxx Fxxxxxxx: older than the first prim ever created in SL?
[09:17] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): So, considering SL was released in alpha in 2004, this is very interesting.
[09:17] txxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: he cant be older than this prim
[09:17] Mxxxxxxxx Dxxxxxxxx: Well in RL I thinks
[09:17] axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yeah
[09:17] Cxxxxxxxxx Cxxxxxxx: ah pre-release
[09:17] Mxxxxxxxx Dxxxxxxxx: It was a bit of double-edged sarcasm
[09:17] FSxxxxxxx Fxxxxxxx: was he part of SL when it was still called "Linden World"
[09:18] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): A-ha

History is important. I dimly remember Linden World; I think Another World, the first virtual-world system I played in, was a knock-off, actually. Or it was the other way around, but I truly think Another World came after.

{{Insert from the Editrix: I'm wrong--they may have been congruent design paths, so I don't feel Linden World 'stole' anything in any sense, but what I've remembered for years as Another World was actually just Worlds, and it launched as part of the Blair Witch 2 promotional event in October of 2000.}}

[09:19] txxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: so, why green
[09:20] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Why not?
[09:21] txxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: a basic cube :)

Interesting.

Though I was also amused I was the tallest person there.

And the final SLRFL totals came in, and they're...beyond phenomenal, this year.

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CV.)

Nyarlathotep differs from the other beings in a number of ways. Most of them are exiled to stars, like Yog-Sothoth and Hastur, or sleeping and dreaming like Cthulhu; Nyarlathotep, however, is active and frequently walks the Earth in the guise of a human being, usually a tall, slim, joyous man. He has "a thousand" other forms, most of these reputed to be maddeningly horrific. Most of the Outer Gods have their own cults serving them; Nyarlathotep seems to serve these cults and take care of the deities' affairs in their absence. Most of the gods use strange alien languages, but Nyarlathotep uses human languages and can be mistaken for a human being. The other Outer Gods and Great Old Ones are often described as mindless or unfathomable rather than truly malevolent, but Nyarlathotep delights in cruelty, is deceptive and manipulative, and even cultivates followers and uses propaganda to achieve his goals.

Nyarlathotep enacts the will of the Outer Gods, and is their messenger, heart and soul; he is also a servant of Azathoth, his father, whose wishes he immediately fulfills. Unlike the other Outer Gods, causing madness is more important and enjoyable than death and destruction to Nyarlathotep. It is suggested by some that he will destroy the human race and possibly the Earth as well.

Nephren-Ka was supposedly the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Egypt. He was the one who introduced the cult of the animal-headed gods to that nation and always stood out as a sorcerer. Nyarlathotep was not long in taking an interest in him and, summoning him to the city of Irem, proposed a bloody pact: Nephren-Ka would sacrifice thousands of victims in his honor and Nyarlathotep would give him the gift of prophecy. This was done and Nyarlathotep granted him the power to see the future. He secured the Shining Trapezohedron for Egypt, but after being convinced by the resident Haunter of the Dark, he had a lightless temple created to hold the stone and the deity within. That temple became a center of abominable happenings, and the rites carried out there were so monstrous the temple was destroyed.

According to legend, when Nephren-Ka felt that his life was coming to an end, he took refuge in his own crypt and there he spent what little time he had left writing down on its walls everything that the future of the world held. It is said that the Black Pharaoh was buried in the Bent Pyramid of Dhasur, but the truth is that no remains have been found at the site. It seems that this is because, when he passed away, Nephren-Ka merged with Nyarlathotep and became one of his avatars. It is also said that, years later, Queen Nitocris had a son whom she named Nephren-Ka. According to some rumors, this could be the reincarnation of the Black Pharaoh and would therefore be Nyarlathotep himself in a new human avatar.

Long after his death, Nephren-Ka once appeared to Pharaoh Akhenaten to propose that he resume the cult of Nyarlathotep, but Akhenaten refused and, in addition to this, had Nephren-Ka's name struck out from all records and monuments to let no one remember the atrocities he had committed. For this, Nyarlathotep cursed Akhenaten, causing the collapse of his empire.

END OF RESEARCH FILES: Gray Area Archive

(Continued in part CVII.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CIV.)

Emilly arrived on Tannhäuser Gate Station, moving quickly through the levels to the command deck, and the large dark screen there. She touched the control panel, authenticating herself even as she turned the screen on.

"STAN, please watch for presence of Hiro instance 2 on Gearhaven Prime. Interface at soonest opportunity to retrieve answer to question: What was Hiro trying to do before the time accident?"

She watched words in green and an odd, mid-tone grey scroll up the screen.

STAN:
Instances of Hiro in GH prime time/space reality bubble are:
His Grace, the Duke Hiro. Currently in recovery on the Space Frighter "Misunderestimated Cat" above the ocean of Tannhäuser Gate. Observing the Armada Remainder in Krakenstorm.

Instance 2: Back-up and recovery instance of his Grace post accident, aka Hiro in a Box [HIAB]. Location in Research Facility on Tannhäuser Gate Station.

She nodded. "Yes, currently." Then she thought. "Oh, on Tannhäuser? Then execute same instruction for Tannhäuser Gate Station: What was Hiro trying to achieve before the time accident?"

STAN:
STAN connect with HIAB:

His Grace was attempting to time travel beyond the document capabilities of the Grey Area.

Emilly tapped the nails of one hand against her bicep, thinking.

"Was there a specified reason given?"

STAN:
Motivation: To investigate the time line infestation at early stages of human evolution (Bronze Age Collapse).
His Grace: Suspects current adversary.
The Blight is same entity that attempted to slow evolution in early earth timelines.
At certain points in development in history: there is evidence of manipulation from time active forces. Manipulation appears to be directed at preventing, or pollution of, the thought forms prior to an evolutionary advance.

She looked down, thinking, then startled at the next voice she heard.

"Emilly?"

Odd little hitch in her breathing, even after all this time, even with the Duke back. "Hiro?" she finally asked.

"Emilly--STAN has networked with my inputs in the lab."

She took that in. "That's...good..." Did that mean he knows he's not the living Duke? She had no idea how to even frame such a question.

"Em--I was trying to get back before the Bronze Age Collapse. To test if the tech/Magick used is what we are seeing in both base reality and on the grid."

Emilly blinked again. What grid?

"My working hypothesis was the Ringmaster and the Black Pharoah, the Hydra, maybe even the Ṕ̵̡͎̘͔͍́͗̉̃͆̾̒̐i̸̛̲̪̣̻̔̀̀͆͌̓̎̉̋̇̌̂̀͌̍̒͛̓́̾̎͋̒͋͂̈́͐̈̊̈́͊̐͋͠ģ̶͈̺̜͎͕̥̥̘̫̱̻͕̞̩̼̰̦̞͇͇̳̜̩͒̂̒̈́̆̔̐̃̈̎̀͗̓́̾̂́̈̃̚͠͝͠f̶̡̢̛̙̳͉̯̻̮̺̬̙̬̣̼̞͍̤͎͈̣͎̱̗̱̹̤͇̳̈́͗̂̈́́͛̽͐̉͂̉̈́̌̅̈́́͊̈́͐̈͆̉̀̇͘͜͝͝͝͝ͅ@̴̨̧̨̨̛͎̘̱͍̤̹̫͇̮̲̞̪̯͈̺̙̫͍͎̗͓̹͎̥̥̩̠͉̾̈̈̀́́͗̊̋͌̈͛͒̉̅͒͗̒̀̽̎͒͐͝ͅͅ$̸̨̧̧̞̮̲̱̫̯̱̣̣̰͖͉̤͉̖̲̠̥̦̜̺̮̠̪̳͇̠̝̥̇͜͠ͅķ̷̡̲̪̪͎̦̹͖̤̯͉̝͕̫͖̯͔̯̳̟͕̟̠̲͓̓̍̉̂͗͌̀̓̚͜͝͝ͅẽ̶̛̛̛̪͓͆͗̅͑̓̈́͌͊̋́͛̑̎̀͛͊́̿͘̚̕͘͠͠͠͠r̶̢̛̛̬̰͚͍̲̗̺̙͈͎͔͆͊͂̈́̀͐̆̂̂̔̒̓̇̋͘͘̕͜͝"."

Emilly felt her eyes snap wide. The distortion on that word was difficult to hear. What did it mean? But he was continuing.

"--are avatars of something working to derail things...or influence things...But I hit a wall..."

"So...?"

"So, I had to improvise. And get the data back here so we could continue on..."

The voice trailed off.

"So you programmed outside the Gray Area's operational parameters?"

Some noise--static burst? Glitch in the system? Derisive snort? She had no idea.

"Enhanced the range of the singularity drive," he said then. "Used the Gate...but...something external stopped us. Tossed us light years away and 300 years too far in the future. The nature of that weaponized 'Time Wall' is what the back-ups were carrying. Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon are the onboard AI's of the Gray Area AND a back-up of my memories."

"So even if you had not pushed the ship, the ship was pushed. By the adversary, one assumes."

"Beta went with Bilqis, Delta was sent into Egypt, Gamma to Thule and Epsilon was at the first Hebrew Temple, hidden as the Seal of Solomon. Something is stopping time travel into early Bronze Age...or was..."

She nodded. "And may still be, depending."

"Emilly, our concern should be this timeline, now...The same forces that broke up Armada are looking for the probability tech...The same forces infecting the grid working to derail both a Dataist approach or a Techno-Humanist approach to growth."

The grid, again. She let it go.

"If we find any of the four AI's...they will have very different stories and paths. And different magic."

"We will, Hiro. We're concentrating on this timeline. We'll get to the others."

"Okay..."

Another burst of sound, this time more of a tonal pitch lowering to the subsonic, before disappearing. She saw words return to the screen.

STAN:
STAN disconnect from HIAB.

The screen went dark. Emilly shrugged. That seemed to be that.

She went back down to the hangar bay, and took a flier to the Red Queen's tower. She needed to think.

About a lot of things.

(Continued in part CVI.)

I agree with a friend of mine--she linked this to me and said "Damn, the Lindens really knocked it out of the park on this one." And I agree, but--wau, are people going to be disappointed if they log in to SL expecting everything to look so gorgeously pre-rendered.

Still, very glad to see the representation of steampunk, furs and non-white residents. It helps in that 0.00001% way.

And someone made a shirt documenting the predations of Kevin--and at least one way to make the scammer pay... (NSFW, likely, by implication if nothing else.)

Back to Hair Fair. This is the last part, my heart's gone out of it for some reason.

So let's start in on the two styles from Fantavatar and Oblivion.



This is the "Costanza D'Altavilla". I didn't change the color, but even leaving it alone, straight out of the box, it's lovely. There's a little fixed cap on the back of the hair, not shown, but it can be changed to a variety of shades.



This is the "Giulia Farnese". Again, straight out of the box, but wonderful shine and curls. (I actually went and picked this one up.)

You can find Fantavatar and Oblivion on the Blonde sim.



Next up is Analog Dog. And their first style, "asha", which I'm showing in shade $9 from the "dark reds" HUD.



And this is "kilee", which I'm showing in shade #27 from the "splash" HUD. (And since I couldn't find the original picture, you get a picture of the hairstyle once I bought it, direct from the Montara sandbox.)

You can find Analog Dog on the Noirette region.



Next up, Astralia, and "Coralia", which I'm showing in the third color on the roots side of the "Light" section of the color HUD.



And this is "Remi", with attached hat. I really like the hat. Didn't change the hat color, but changed the hair to the third color down on the "Darks" side of the color HUD.

You can find Astralia on the Brunette sim.




Lastly, ONE Creations, and their first style, "Dreadlocks Bun" (which I'm wearing in V1 small), in the shade Red 3. It takes a specific type of person to pull of white-girl dreads successfully; I am usually not that person. But I always admire the hair designers who get dreads right.



Next, the "Short TopLocs" (which again, V1 small), in the shade Brown 2.



Lastly, the "ShortLocks" (which I'm wearing in V2 small), in the shade Blonde 1.

You can find ONE Creations on Noirette.

And that's the last I'm covering for the year. Too much else going on. And there may be just too much going on these days to cover every single style from now on. Still, it was an attractive build, easy to navigate, easy to track down the booths I wanted to check, at least; the sim transitions were only slightly iffy, which considering the lag and the amount of avatars at any given point for large events says something; so overall it was a good year for Hair Fair.

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CIII.)

A little-used, to date, machine aboard the Prometheus turns on. The sound of typing fills the room, but no typewriter can be seen. In moments, though, everyone in Gearhaven is sent a press release to their various receptor units.

Greater GearHaven News......
An attack on the Research Station on the GH protectorate of Carcosa — has required a quarantine of the trans dimensional portal and connection. Attempts to recover the time / space link to Carcosa are underway.

An image was sent next, a...painting?...of the standard silver saucers of myth and folklore, firing on the sands.

This represents an AI generated rendering of the attack.
His Grace continues to be recovering from the accident aboard the FlagShip Grey Area.
The Regency Council is expected to convene to discuss the nature of the attack.
In other news: Gearhaven Protectorate New Alexandria has agreed to supply technology and expertise in the completion of the "Magus Class Battlestar". Construction is underway near the Tannhäuser Gate Space Station and Warp Portal.

There was a brief cessation of sound aboard the Prometheus. Then more typing sounds, and an additional press release was sent out.

END OF BRIEF
SPONSORS MESSAGE:

Another image was sent out, which seemed for all the world to be an...election poster? For a Cyberman??

Robotics and Humans together. Oppose the Antigrowth Meat Partisan. Only you can make the Singularity Happen.
This advertisement was paid for by the Gearhaven Coalition against Sluggish Evolution (GCASE).

The sound of typing stopped again. The channel went dark once more.

(Continued in part CV.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CII.)

Zack sat at his desk in the clinic, considering. Finally he sent a comm. "Duchess?"

Soft tic of the channel opening her end. "Hello?"

"Hello there...I read STAN's last report."

There was a pause, then..."Yes. It's going to be...tricky...but we need to concentrate more on what's happening in our timeline, currently, I think."

"It seems like if Hiro was stuck somewhere in the Bronze Age, and that something is holding time travel on that time. It's possible that it is not a blockade of...technologic nature."

He waited; no reply came. He continued. "I made my research concerning time travel using supernatural or magic energy. And there are some references to it...but....and it's a BIG but..." He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Yes?" the duchess asked quietly.

"This is supposed to be one of the highest levels of mangic existing in the arcane, and there is no mention of who or what was able to do this, nor how they did it. I might be able to gather more information and see if it might correspond to something concerning our issue but..."

"But?"

"I cannot promise I'll find any definitive answer. Time magic is very mysterious, even for me."

There was another pause, then..."For us all," she said. "Do your best, it may help."

"Yes, Duchess. I will do my best."

Zack clicked off the channel, looking at the papers spread out on the desk that showed mysterious ore readings across Gearhaven. He nodded.

"I will do my best," he whispered.

(Continued in part CIV.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CI.)

Zack sat at the desk in the clinic, opening the book. He picked up the pen and thought, then began to write.

Journal entry 1

Dear Diary, it's now been a few weeks since I installed myself in Gearhaven. I was before a clinician medic in Tau 34, and I've been gradually stopping to go to Haven.

He sighed, looking out over the veranda.

It was...supposed to be a community, a family, but things seems to have changed since I had an attempt here to put an end to my life. Things that a Companion would never do. My gesture was disapproved, and I had to leave. In the meantime, i was confined to do my work at Northstar Station in Fu Xing House.

Quite a story to put a resume at it. Anyway, after a moment I decided to cut the ropes with my current Mistress...

He stopped, breathing. He put a hand on the heart pendant of his collar, and closed his eyes a moment, before picking up the pen again and continuing.

I needed my freedom, as I was unhappy, and I claimed it. So after that, I decided to do what iI do best and keep traveling. During my travels, I end up going to Gearhaven. I had already been there before, but very briefly, and not in such spirit. It was during Justine's birthday that I felt that spirit, that...instinct of family, and I was starting to understand why she was feeling so good with them.

It took me some time to decide, but I finally accepted to come more often, and offer my help to this community. When I arrived the first time to come and install myself, there was an attack of tentacle creatures, I remember it quite well. Justine was the one who contacted me and asked for help, but myself, I was getting shot and quickly. Justine gave me a tag, saving my life.

He paused again, thinking, pondering.

I think...that because of this...I feel like I have a life debt toward the countess and the Duchy. She protected me and she was injured, so I brought her to the science lab to treat her wounds and then brought her back to her room to make sure she got some rest.

Justine...in my opinion...is not just a little Meimei to me...She is an anchor to this community.

After that, this is where things went forward. The duchess built a clinic for me to work here as a medic to help the Duchy in case of injuries, medical treatment or follow ups. I heard that the Duc Hiro loved the idea and is happy to have me here for the family...a family...

He rubbed a tear from his eye, continuing after a deep breath.

I think this is something I missed, I don't feel like I am part of the community or that close anymore to Haven's colony. In fact, I feel like I am closer here, like I can be who I really want to be. This clinic is mine to run, my home and Gearhaven is probably so far the best family I had.

I have the feeling that I have a lot of adventures waiting for me here, and there will be over time.

End of Entry 1

He put the pen down, smiling, and closed the clinic for the night, retiring to bed.

(Continued in part CIII.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part C.)

Red lights began to flash throughout Tannhauser Gate Station. On all screens flashed a message:

STAN MESSAGE: Intruder alert detected in Computing Lab, Deck 06, Tannhäuser Gate Station, accompanied by high fluctuations in quantum particle and temporal anomaly readings. Highest priority.
[Sent to Commander Johndory's channel for immediate attention]



Computing Lab: Tannhäuser Gate. Defensive Decompression commencing.

Elsewhere, Justine scrambled for the controls. "Belay that! We need that robot. Containment team has been dispatched to apprehend and isolate the intruder."

There was silence.

"Confirm, STAN!" Justine yelled.

Another beat of silence, then..."Confirmed," came STAN's slightly resigned voice. "Beta-El held in stasis until containment team arrives."

Justine snorted. "'Kill it' is your answer to EVERYTHING, isn't it?"

There was another pause. Then..."Yes, our prime directive is the Protection of His Grace, Duke of Gearhaven, Archduke of the Neko Republik, Defender of the Gnosis and Guardian of Tannhäuser Gate."

Justine shook her head and prepared to fly to Tannhäuser Gate.

(Continued in part CII.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part XCIX.)

Emilly returned as quickly as she'd fled, slightly breathless. "Okay. Back," she said, handing over the samples from Tannhäuser.

Zack calmly administered the hypospray to Justine's body and took a sample of her blood. He removed the blood vial from the hypospray and put it in a socket in the console. He then dropped the soiled hypospray into a bio trashcan and removed his gloves. "Okay...we let the machine analyze the sample and we are ready to start the procedure. Duchess, can you confirm certain details for me before I start?"

Emilly took a moment to respond, lost in the memories of finding Cleo limp on the floor, her thoughts pulled to a stuttering halt. Shaking herself out of it she replied, a little too brightly, "Yes! What?"

Zack ran through his checklist. "Is Lady Justine's bloodtype AB+? Does she have any medical allergies to anesthesia products that I should be aware of?"

Emilly thought, eyes focusing internally. "AB+, yes. Anaesthesia, I don't think so..."

Zack pressed a button as Emilly heard the comm activate again. She listened a moment, then replied. "What's left on Tannhäuser Gate at this point...?" Addressing the doctor she said, "I'll be back, checking on something--" and dissolved into static.

Lokizen watched the machine anxiously. Rusty started to pace, stopped, then started again, looking agitated.

Emilly sparkled into being on Tannhäuser Gate, moving quickly to the command deck, having to dodge several patches of construction. She pulled up a scan for intelligences, saw the cluster in Gearhaven, that would be the clinic, saw a dot over Krakenstorm, which was puzzling, and saw another dot over the Dark Sea. Then a dot popped up on Tannhäuser.

She turned the scanning system to it, pulling up camera view, and saw Hiro walking down the corridor. But--the Prometheus had said--

The penny dropped. The Prometheus had said. Throwing up her hands, she snarled and left Tannhäuser again, making her way back to the clinic.

Lokizen left the clinic again, returning to the lighthouse to breathe, the sounds of the gears turning the great light soothing his nerves for a few moments. In the clinic, Rusty looked on as Zack finished punching in the DNA reconstruction program. "All right," he said. "That should do it, then." Taking a deep breath, he entered the start command of the derma mender, watching the arms of the surgical dome begin the skin regeneration.

Lokizen returned, shifting his weight from foot to foot, hoping for a miracle.

Emilly walked back in again, muttering about ships with cruel senses of humor. "He's not...dead," she finally told them, watching the dermal regeneration.

"Not dead is a good state to be in," Lokizen replied carefully. The Duchess just nodded.

"He's not...really focused, he ran into--something--moving from Tannhauser to the Dark Sea, but he's not dead."

Zack's hands flew over the derma mender like a real professional, the needles and lasers working on Justine's body regenerating her completely without leaving a single scar on her, almost like she never had any kind of injuries at all.

Lokizen watched the procedure, entranced by the skill demonstrated by Zack

Zack looked up from the surgical unit console, breathing a sigh of relief. Opening the dome, he put a hospital robe on the unconscious Justine. "Well," he said with a satisfied smile, "It seems like the surgery was a total success."

In a corner of the clinic, Emilly blew out air through her nose, reached up, twisted her fingers, and yanked the leopard to this-here. After he completed apparating, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Hiro...why didn't you tell me the Prometheus can talk?"

Eyes wide, Hiro shook off the confusion of sudden teleportation. "Well, the Ship's Mind...can," adding with a smile as if it explained everything, "The Eschatological Practicum is its chosen name."

Mouth in a tight line, Emilly snarls. "And does the Ship's Mind dislike the Duchess?"

"I don’t think so..."

"It told me you were DEAD, Hiro!"

Hiro thought, then shook his head. "I was just prepping it for orbit...Sending it on a trade mission..."

Unimpressed, the Duchess folded her arms across her chest. "And now there's that floating--THING--by the shore temple--"

Looking over Emilly's shoulder, Hiro saw Zack lower Justine onto the hover stretcher and transfer her to the clinic bed. Distracted, he followed, looking down at the Countess. "Justine, are you ok?"

Justine’s eyes opened partially and she focused on Hiro, mumbling sleepily. "Box...of fluffy...ducklings..." before her eyes closed again.

Rusty joined Hiro at the bedside. "Welcome back, Lady Justine," adding, "Hiro. I'm glad you're okay," to the Duke.

Emilly frowned. "If she starts talking about dovecows, I'm going to worry, but ducklings are fine, right?"

Lokizen smiled at Zack. "Thank you Healer, for your skills."

"She will be fine," Zack said. "She just needs some rest. The operation worked wonderfully well. Not a trace of burning on her body."

Hiro turned to Zack. "Thank you, Doctor."

"I will keep her under observation for the night and see how she feels tomorrow."

Tentatively, Hiro reopened the conversation with the Duchess about the ships. "...We recalled the Grown-Up Conversation from Haven."

Emilly turned and thwapped the Duke on the arm. "And THAT'S for making me think you mutated the children!"

"Should we send it back...owch! Our weapons wouldn't fire on the children--"

Emilly lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. "Did I know that?? They fire on us!"

Taking one more look at Justine, Rusty turned to the door/ "I need a break."

"I'm going to go also, I'll be back around soon, take care all," added Lokizen, following him out.

The Duke and Duchess broke off their quarrel to wave goodbye to them before Hiro turned back to Emilly and took her hands. "Duchess...do we need to check on Princess Athena?"

Behind them, Zack tidied the mess in the clinic, discarding Justine’s ruined clothes and putting a monitoring cuff on her wrist.

Readdressing the Duke, Emilly threw up her hands. "No. Cleo scared me to DEATH, though--I came in and she had no eyes!"

"When you are...what?"

Zack looked back to the arguing couple. "No eyes?"

"I thought--well, you know what I thought...Then she turned over onto her belly and asked for scritches...and when she looked up, she was fine." Rolling her eyes, Emilly added, "Turns out she was trying to shapeshift...They're far too young!"

"What about Enoch?"

"Slept through the whole thing."

“Oh. No shape shifting yet?"

"Oh, please."

Zack sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Duchess? May I give my...medical opinion?"

"They're your children," Emilly said, leaning into Hiro. "We've told them no planeswalking either, and look what happened THERE. Hmm? Please," she added, following Hiro's attention and looking over to Zack.

"As I know from shapeshifters, the process of shapeshifting development in children always varies from one to another. Some are learning at a young age and some do at a later age. But all depending also on the shapeshifter's type, and genetics, some of them may also learn to shapeshift, or at least try to do so maybe at age of one or two years old. The important thing for young shapeshifters is to make sure their bodies don’t lack nutrition so they are able to process through the learning healthily."

Emilly nodded. "It's...tricky. The genetics are...well, I mentioned." She reached up, cupping the Duke's face, smiling. "He's fine. I'm something of...an anomaly."

"Well, I do hope that this will prove useful. I know that shapeshifting might be," he paused with a heavy sigh, "well, in my case anyway...it can be...quite painful..."

Emilly nodded in agreement. "At times, especially new forms."

Zack pulled up short. "Why is the door to my office room open? I thought I closed it." He shrugged.

Emilly followed his gaze. "Isn't that your--private quarters?"

"Yes, they are," he said thoughtfully.

"Are the doors kept locked?" Emilly asked.

"It might be just the wind, it can happen. We have not installed a door to the balcony yet. As for a lock, I am still working on it."

"Well," Hiro said, "I need to head back...to the mansion...I need to get a few things written and then redeploy the ships."

"I probably should go back to setting things out," Emilly said, "but...I think tomorrow. Tomorrow will be when everything gets done."

They both thanked the doctor and walked to the door.

"I will keep you both posted if there is anything new on Justine's health during the night. But if everything goes well, tomorrow she should be back on her feet and ready to go back to her regular activities," he said before closing the door behind them.

Zack walked back over to the clinic bed, reaching over to Justine and gently caressing her head. "I will keep an eye on you, dear. Sleep well."

(Continued in part CI.)

Save for the drugs (I don't do drugs), I'm listening to this song far too often. "I want to get better, but slow..." Stop calling me out like this. :D

Up next is EscalateD, with several styles:



This is "Nisha", shown in the Duo ~busty option, with powder lilac on the right and sherbet orange on the left from the Unnatural Essentials Demo HUD.



And this is Sarina, shown in the Split ~busty option, with pale copper from the SOLID part of the Natural Essentials HUD, and the strong cherry red from the DUO side.

You can find EscalateD in the Noirette sim.



Next is Ade, and their hairstyle "Aura", which I'm wearing in the L Chest size, and in the tenth color from the "MORE COLORS" section of the Colored Highlights HUD (which is apparently "BASE"), and the sixth color from the "MORE COLORS" section of the Colored Highlights HUD (which is apparently "STRANDS"?).



And this is "Tears", which I'm wearing in size L Head/L Chest, in the tenth shade from "MORE COLORS" section on the Ombres HUD. There is no resize option on the demo, at least, and there's noticeable clipping at the temple.

You can find Ade on the Noirette sim.



Next up is KoKoLoReS' "Esme" style, shown in shade #21 from Page 1 of the included HUD.



This is "Evan", shown in shade #30 from page 2 of the included HUD.



This is "Jesper", shown in shade #16 from page 3 of the included HUD.



And this is "Lale", shown in shade #27 from page 3 of the included HUD.

You can find KoKoLoReS on the Noirette region.

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part XCVIII.)



Lokizen Aeon pulled on safety goggles and a lead lined tunic, just in case, and watched the tests over the Dark Sea and Krakenstorm from the safe vantage point of the Gearhaven lighthouse. If only Justine had been more careful. He pondered the Dark Sea lighthouse ruins, removing the goggles, and sighed.

The door of the clinic opened, admitting the Duke and Duchess, followed by the Bard.

"Doctor," the Duke said, "Is she ok?"

Zack turned to the Duke and the Duchess, nodding politely at them. "Pulse higher than normal, low BP, 3rd degree burns, radiation levels dangerously high...I am currently proceeding to a disinfection protocol of her body before applying other remedies. But yes, she will be okay."

The Duchess frowned, taking in the readings from the pod. "She's in stasis. By definition, that's not exactly okay." Turning to watch the poet rush in, she rubbed her forehead as if struck by sudden headache.

Rusty stopped, taking in the scene, summarising with one word. "Dammit."

Hiro asked the doctor, "Was it Nuclear, Magick or Biological?"

"Radiation level high? At least partially nuclear," the Duchess replied, her eyes still on the pod readings. Then she turned, glaring at the radio playing softly in the corner. "'She's So Cold', really? Right now?"

"Radio Paradise has a dark sense of humor," Hiro said, stepping closer to the stasis pod.

Zack nodded in agreement with the Duchess. "Considering the high level of radiation in her tissues, I would say it was nuclear. Her clothes are there in the corner. She will need more clothes after the dermal repairs."

"But she can be--fixed, right?" the Duchess asked, a rising note of concern in her voice.

Zack smiled reassuringly at the Duchess. "I will do my best to make sure she is."

The poet paced the clinic, nervously chewing a fingernail. "So how does one avoid being killed by a ship that belongs to us?"

Hiro leaned in to the doctor. "We do have her DNA in the Tannhäuser clone lab, if needed."



The Duchess narrowed her eyes at the Duke, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "If any of the children are sick from the upper-atmosphere blasts, we are going to talk, you and I."

Turning to Rusty, Hiro put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Sir Poet...The Ships only fire at anyone without a GH Tag."

"Correction," Emilly added, "One ship. The other ship fires at anyone without Armada's tag."

Zack looked at the scanner beeping and nods. "The disinfection protocol is complete. So all that is needed is to transfer her to the surgery dome here and we will be able to proceed to the dermal repair."

The lighthouse keeper returned to check on Justine’s progress as Zack pressed a button on the pod, moving Justine to a stretcher to transfer her to the surgery dome.

"Hello Duke, Duchess. Rusty," said Lokizen, watching Zack moving the Countess. "I saw the second test, impressive."

"Sadly," the Duke said, nodding to Lokizen, "Justine was too close to the blast."

Lokizen nodded, looking pensive. "I heard and came to check. Will any fallout be a concern?"



"I'll check on the Prometheus," the Duke said, and they all watched, mystified, as he left, flying off towards the larger ship.

Zack initialized the repair procedure on the surgical unit and turned to Emily. "Do you have a sample of DNA that would be compatible with her body, Duchess?"

The Duchess looked at him, concerned, or perhaps appalled, "I'm...not sure we should be involving my genetic line in her structure? It's not, um..." She blinked, tossing over words. "Normal," she finally said. "Wait, do you mean the samples in Tannhäuser? I can go get those if you--"

Zack nods at her. "Then I can take a blood sample from her body. It should not be too hard. It's just to allow the surgery dome to reproduce the correct type of skin for the reparation."

Emilly was about to reply when she paused, tapping her ear. "What do you mean, the Duke's dead again?! It was YOUR job to stop that from happening!" she exclaimed. She ran out of the room.

Zack bemusedly watched her run out, shaking his head. "Okay...time to get the Countess back on her feet before those two get killed."

"Cripes!" the poet spat out, resisting the urge to pace. Lokizen came to stand next to him, watching the machine anxiously.

The doctor climbed the stairs and went into the supply cupboard, grabbing a hypospray from one of the drawers, and putting on a fresh pair of gloves.

(Continued in part C.)

We start off bright and not-early with no.match:



This is "NO_CRUISE", which I'm wearing in shade #24 from the RED HUD, and female size 1. This is another one I'd buy in a heartbeat if I wore short hair these days.



This is "NO_MAX", which I'm wearing in shade #25 from the BLACK-WHITE HUD, and size 1, busty.

[[Not shown: "NO_MIRACLE", a very messy updo, which I cannot track down the picture for, and I cannot be bothered to go back at this point, frankly.]].



And this is "NO_WILL", which I'm showing in shade #12 from the FANTASY HUD, and in style 2 (style one omits the sunglasses). There's also a menu that will tint the frames of the sunglasses to one of several shades.

You can find no.match on the Blonde sim.



Next up, theMARS, and their first style, "Hensley". I'm showing it in shade #14 from the Browns HUD.

[[Not shown: "James".]]



This is "Juliet", and I'm showing it in shade #15 from the Unnaturals HUD.



And this is "Ronnie", another male style, and I adjusted this both positionally and through the resize menu. It's intended for a much larger head. It's shown in shade #10 from the Reds HUD.

You can find theMARS on the Blonde sim.

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part XCVII.)

For her part, Emilly arrived on Tannhäuser, running at speed for the cloning lab. She quickly found Justine's tissue samples, racing back to her skiff, programming it to fly back to ground level, and stopped. She chewed a fingernail. Justine needed the samples, yes, but--she needed to check on the children.

She docked with the nursery building, having to phase through the wall because there was no external access by design. She rounded the corner and screamed.



"CLEO!" she yelled, falling to her knees. The pale kitten turned towards her voice, wet pink smudges on her cheeks below where her eyes should be. Emilly wrapped her arms around herself and keened in distress. Then the kitten blinked, her eyelids growing to do so, and when she opened her eyes--she was fine again.



"Hello, Mama!" she said brightly. "I was trying to change shapes--"

Emilly gathered her up close, holding her, still half in shock. "Shh, shh, dearest, we'll work on that. But you can't scare Mama like that, all right? I was worried you were--" She swallowed, breaking off.

"Worried I was--what?"

She shuddered. Irradiated, she thought. Damaged. Dead... She shook herself, forcing herself to put her daughter back down, rising again. "It doesn't matter," she said, idly, starting to search the nursery for the others.



She found Enoch first, resting on the floor next to his bed. Typical. But where was Athena?



She found Athena in the other room, stariing fixedly at the wall. At least she was okay. They were all okay. Good.

She raced back to her skiff, and flew to ground level.

(Continued in part XCIX.)

Next on the roster is EMO-tions:



First up is "EVERLY", shot from the side to show off the braided detail on the updo. I picked color #6 on the included HUD, and resized it on the Y axis for 5%, and it fit just fine.



This is "HANNE", a soft, wavy long fall, shown in color #23 from the included HUD, in size "small, large chest". (Also included in the box: "small", "small, petite chest", "large", "large, petite chest" and "large, large chest".)



Finally, this is "LAGUNA", which I'm actually wearing in size "small" ("large" is also included), and I'm showing it in shade #29 from the HUD.

You can find EMO-tions on the Foils sim.



Up next, Argrace, and the first style, "ENBI". Which seems to be an antigravity hair? I picked style A and color #23 from the B and W section on the HUD to show it.



Next is "MAI", which again seems very windblown, but more possibly daily wear over reserving just for photographs. I picked style A and clicked to the Blondes section of the HUD, and color #3 there.



And last is "SUZUKAZE", another very windblown style, which I'm wearing style B for, and picked color #2 from the Ombres tab on the HUD.

Argrace is on the Blonde sim.


(I had to retake these shots, sadly; lost the originals. But the colors are still the same.)

Last is NAFI for this entry, and the first style in the box is "Havana". None of the HUDs included seem to work, so this is the shade in which it left the box.



Next is "London", and this time, the HUD picked seemed to work. So this is size M (Breasts), and the last shade in the Ombres HUD. I'm also more than a bit unnerved that it seems to be cutting through my neck with no regard for airflow.



And last for NAFI and this entry is "Safira", with the bangs in shade #4 from the Pastel HUD, and the main hair shade #4 from the Red HUD. I also adjusted the bangs out slightly, and down slightly.

You can find NAFI on the Brunette sim at Hair Fair.

Next up, BEUSY, with two hairstyles.



This is "Cora", and this is definitely a style that would need a hairbase tinted to match.

Though at least the demo could be adjusted back, so...maybe the actual hair can be adjusted too? I'm showing it in color #8 on the OMBRES #1 HUD.



And this is "Lyra", again with bangs. So the hairstyle itself is tone #7 on the GREYSCALE HUD, with the bangs tone #4 from the same HUD.

If I favored shorter hair, this would be a shoo-in, it's dead cute.

You can find BEUSY on the Streaks sim.

Next up, MINA!



This is "Adanna", clearly not intended for my ethnicity, but very pretty--a natural updo bound in a headscarf. There are six color options on the HUD, four varieties of black, one grey, and one mid-grey, and the last two are intended to be used with their color tint system. So that's what I did--color 6 tinted to a mid-red, using the red patterned headscarf.



Next up, MINA's "Casey", a hair-and-hat combo. Picked the faded red plaid for the newsboy cap, and the 16th tone, I think, on the Naturals HUD?

You can find MINA in Streaks as well.



Next up, Wasabi with "Apricot", a lovely twin-braid style I'm showing in color #10 from the "Basics" HUD.



Next, "Tangerine", a loose and wavy mid-length tied up with a scarf, and for the color, I chose #3 from the B and W HUD, with the orange Hawaiian floral pattern picked for the scarf. I'm also showing it in size B.

You can find Wasabi in the Blonde region.



Last, we're covering Exile, and their first style "Bree", shown straight out of the box in the brown it came in. I'm wearing size A.



This is "Chelsea", and it's in color #31 on the Master HUD included, and I didn't change the style, though there are style-changing options in the HUD.



Finally, this is "Svetlana", shown from the side because it's a rolled back bun style. I'm showing it in color #1 on the color menu you get when tapping for more colors on the Master HUD.

You can find Exile on Brunette.