The Hollowbrook

[Nail Strafer]

Nail blinked with amazement as the knight simply needed a thumb and his index finger to crush the locks. As Relic did the second cuff, the hybrid caught the falling cuffs in his hands and laid them on a table carefully, so as not to wake Priscilla. He seemed to wince a bit every time the metal clinked together.

As he rubbed his wrists, he listened to what Relic had to say about the teleportation. It still didn't help him figure out much what was going on. He doubted it was her power that had brought him here, unless she just liked teleporting things at random in other dimensions.

"I don't think it was her that brought me here," Nail mused. He felt a little nervous as he spoke, after seeing all the things Relic had done before. The hybrid didn't want to say anything inadvertently that might make him angry. "I was in a completely different place from here, on a bus on my way to a prison. When I met Priscilla she behaved like it was the first time we saw each other. I think something else did this. So...what eldritch forces did you see when you came here? Do you think you went through time? You two sound like you traveled across time, not just space. Where were you before?"

When Relic pointed at SOLIS, Nail blinked as he looked back at SOLIS, seeing the text on the screen "I'm listening". It still felt somewhat incredible that this little machine had such intelligence in it.

"He says he's listening to what we say. He's just as confused as I am, apparently. We both want to know what's happened here. And I think it's a phone, not a tablet." As he said that, he figured that Relic might need an explanation on what a phone was. Smiling nervously, he tried to explain simply. "A phone...it...it's a machine that lets you talk to people without being with them. If they have a phone too you can just talk to each other through the phones."

[SOLIS]

[An enchanted tablet, I got a good laugh out of that. ]

In its short time of traveling alone, SOLIS had encountered a similar phenomena to what it had experienced with Milady's teleportation spell. It appeared as if a large space from another area had suddenly appeared in front of it, and for the few minutes it was there, SOLIS experienced the same sensor issues as before, the interference growing stronger as it approached.

"Once before, I'd seen something similar. It appears to be some kind of temporary rift. The one I experienced was very large, extending for many yards in both directions. The thought that these rifts seem common, yet neither of you are familiar with them is troubling. Lastly, I am unclear as to what I am, Duke, but I do not believe I am a phone, at least if what I know of the term is correct."

[Relic Drake]

Relic backed off from Nail. The large fox taking a seat on the floor. "No, her web does not extend to such reaches. I may have been too hasty in recollecting. More then 100 years ago I was tasked with slaying a mad archmage." Drake began unfastening his helmet, placing it by his side. Most of his face was covered in dried blood. Not having had a chance to bathe between his last few battle.

"Several chaos emeralds had fallen into his possession. I had not encountered such a foe until tasked with slaying Priscilla's former master. That type of magic was what I felt moments before finding this new world."

Having removed his right bracer he extended his now bare arm towards Nail. His arm was thicker then any limb that the hybrid had. Even two limbs would have a hard time matching the sheer volume the knight took up. Clearly rippling with muscle, it wasn't a surprise Drake could shatter cuffs with his fingers.

"If you would allow to inspect this machine. I have only known that a dwarf could craft such a construct." If Nail handed over SOLIS the comuter would get a fair amount of different energy signatures from he fox. As his mannia, necroshine, armor and several curses each radiated there own unique energy from the fallen paladin.

[Nail Strafer]

So...all of us experienced a rift. But why did that happen?

And now the "phone" was showing another sign of intelligence. It appeared to be aware enough of its own being to know that it was NOT a phone, but something else. Just what else could it be though? Why would someone put such an advanced AI on a little mobile device?

"You can stop calling me Duke. You all know I'm a prisoner now so I don't see why I should hide behind that alias now. I'm really Augustine Strafer, but you can just call me Nail."

His train of thought was interrupted as the beast began to remove its helmet. Nail visibly took a step back at that sight. He'd been dreading seeing what might be underneath that mask, and he certainly got it. His fur looked dark crimson...and then Nail realized that was because it really was dried blood dyeing it that color. The man had almost seemed somewhat gentle and polite as he talked about things before, but that visage set it back into Nail he shouldn't relax around this guy.

He immediately handed over SOLIS, although he was afraid such a strong being like himself might accidentally smash the delicate machine between his fingers. But the fear for Nail's own life far outweighed what might happen to the device.

As he did so, he couldn't help but wonder to himself what the beast had said.

Emeralds...so it's like Chaos Control...what Sonic and Shadow did during the ARK incident. Something must have really gone wrong with those emeralds for all of us, from different times and places, to end up here...

An amazing array of possibilities immediately flooded his mind, as he mentally nibbled on that scrap of information.

Canma is dead where I came from. What if my wife got transported here and she's still alive and well? Oh...what about the kids? My dad? Or Mom...maybe she's here too and in the dimension she came from she never got gunned down by those thugs... Or what if GUN is gone and I'm not a wanted criminal in whatever dimension or world I've ended up in?

He shook his head, as a sigh escaped from his mouth.

Get a hold of yourself! You're letting your dreams and wishes run away with you! You need to find out more about this place before you can go running off on such wild assumptions.

"So...you've been here a...fortnight? Two weeks right?" Nail said, slowly to Relic. "What do you know about this city we're in? What's its name? Have you heard of something called the Guardian Units of Nations?"

[SOLIS]

Augustine "Nail" Strafer, then. "Noted, Nail." Seemed much less of an aggressive moniker than "Duke", though it couldn't help but question where the nickname came from. Yet another mystery to solve at the proper time.

For now, it was being handed to the large one, which given its size and previously demonstrated brawn was making it feel moderately uncomfortable. A quick look-over showed that much of it's body was covered in thick armour, with a large chunk cut into it's side. Considering it didn't even look to be in pain seemed unusual for organic entities.

However, further evaluation peaked the units interest. While being held, SOLIS's sensors were picking up a wide variety of interference from it as well, similar to the ones in question, but at the same time distinctly different. Fourier analysis of the signals from Milady's teleportation showed virtually no pattern, the mix of signals appearing to be nothing but noise. The brute's signals showed a much clearer pattern, pulsing at regular intervals. The regularity was almost comforting.

With the initial shock of being handed to it over in but a few seconds, it decided "large one" was probably not a fitting title to address it by. In it's usual quiet voice, it said, "May I query your identification? I have no proper name for you."

[Relic Drake]

Drake decided Priscilla's nick name would be sufficient. It really didn't matter what they called him. He gave Nail a weary expression, Priscilla didn't like being lied to.

"I am just a relic from the past, Relic will do."

He turned the device over in his large paw. Being articulate enough to do so with out damaging SOLIS. Being so massive he was able to flip the machine with his thumb while it still remained in his palm. Relic was searching for some mark or rune of any kind.

"I can not find a Dwarvern marking upon it's surface. Are you under any compulsions, contracts, obligations or pacts machine that is not a phone?"

[Nail Strafer]

Relic clearly looked displeased with Nail for having lied before about his identity. A little gulp went down the hybrid's throat. He realized his questions had not been answered by the brute, but decided not to push it after what he had just done. Instead, he decided to clear up what gave SOLIS its power.

"It's not a dwarven device. It runs on something we call "electricity". I guess to you it might look like magic, but it's really just all the advances we've had in science and technology since your time."

He blinked a couple times as he realized he'd just been talking about dwarves.

"Wait...there are dwarves where you come from too? Like in King of the Keepsakes?"

He thought about adding on "and is Borango Gloom there too, playing an elf?" but he doubted the brute would find it funny.

[SOLIS]

"Relic seems very fitting."

Once again, the strange signals seemed to boost SOLIS' battery, and as of yet these entities haven't betrayed its trust. This made it amenable and very talkative, which was nice as it's only previous conversation partner seemed to simply disappear. Relics question about having a pact made it further recollect; Runges claimed to be it's creator, but never gave it a definite goal.

"The one who claims to have made me never gave me a definitive purpose, so I do not believe I'm under any obligation. It only seemed to push the idea that I was required to learn what it said could not be taught."

The concept of being of dwarven origin was an interesting concept. From what it could glean, dwarves were, in this dimension at least, fictional beings. Relic having mentioned their factual existence in its realm suggested that these other dimensions may be, in fact, extremely different than their own. However, Nails views so far seemed to contrast that, suggesting very little has changed from his dimension. The topic of electricity being from Relics future, while plausible, was not an exclusive case.

"That is assuming Relic's dimension will at some point be like our own, or perhaps even it already was. According to Relic, dwarves exist in its reality, but Nail appears to find the concept foreign. It's quite possible, albeit unlikely, that electricity can't even exist in Relics realm, and even if it does, the people may have no use for it."

[Relic Drake]

"King of keep sakes?" Relic just blinked at Nail. "They have been know to make minor trinkets, though what they lord over has been known for much more deadly items." He held up his the enormous left gauntlet. A sample of what the dwarves from his world can create.

As for SOLIS, the machine would get a boost to its battery from Relic. As the manaia siphoned off the the fox and transformed itself into electricity.
"So these machine are powered by the fury of storms? ...Interesting."
The large knight listened as the machine spoke but didn't have a chance to respond. Priscilla was stirring from her sleep.

Sitting up on the couch, the wolf let out a yawn. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she groggily pointed at Relic, then snapped her fingers later pointing at the sink. Signaling she wanted some water.

[Nail Strafer]

"So...you're not mass produced?" Nail edged closer to listen to the device. "The way you said it makes it sound like you're just one of a kind. What do you know about your creator?"

To be honest, he secretly hoped that SOLIS really was one of a kind. The idea of everyone having intelligent mobile devices like this terrified him. He'd seen way too many movies where machines turned against their masters when they got too smart.

As Priscilla stirred and woke up, Nail briefly turned his face away from both Relic and Priscilla. He didn't want the frown crossing his face to be seen by either. He'd hoped she would stay out a lot longer than she had. Talking to Relic was almost tolerable, even educational, without her joining in.