[Video] Apply within...

[ding_bots_are_done]

[Agatha has been working on the stuff they pulled out of the MAGI building for over a month now. All kinds of interesting research, odd looking clanks that seem to be used for visitors that need physical bodies, and a delightful array of small arms that do anything from replicate spells to supress personas entirely have been keeping her occupied for a while. People in the Saggittarius district have probably been seeing strange lights and hearing odd sounds from the already foreboding castle Heterodyne.
But now she's reached the point in her research where she needs a little help.

Specifically, she needs minions to test our some of her 'improvements' on Kandori's designs. Her voice has an excited edge to it. Not quite in the madness place, but close to it.]

This is Agatha Heterodyne. I've been working with some of the weapon designs that were salvaged from the MAGI building. The protoypes are all ready, but I'll need some minions to help me test them.

Is anyone interested?

Comments

The castle might be picking on him. Just a little. Sorry. ^^;

[ding_bots_are_done]

[Even she doesn't know how Castle Heterodyne works. Her ancestors were a special combination of brilliant and crazy.]

I shall escort you. Right this way...

[A door swings open into what looks like a long hallway. There is a sign above the door proclaiming it to be the Gallery of Razors.]

Haha no worries-- he can take it! :P

[anotherdirkstrider]

Well, this is homey.

[He probably should be sadder about the fact that there's truth to his sarcasm. He sighs and prepares himself to dash through the room, dodging blades left and right with practiced speed. Ready, set-- flashstep.]

[ding_bots_are_done]

[Ooh, not even a scratch! The whirlwind of blades were all dodged in a blur of movement. The castle wasn't expecting him to be that good. And no girly screams either. This one is a challenge.]

Very impressive. Usually people are screaming in terror by now. Or dead. You're going to be fun.

[At the end of that hallway is a large, octagonal room with a chess board pattern on the floor. It looks completely innocent. A door on the other side swings open.]

Right this way....

[anotherdirkstrider]

[Growing up with a homicidal aquatic alien empress-cum-baking-magnate sending giant, bloodthirsty (and very pointy) robots at you will do that. There was no option other than to be ready for anything at any time-- even when jumping from his dream-world to his waking one he'd taught himself to be a light sleeper, a quick draw, a silent step. That's how survival works-- you deal or you die. That ethos was what shaped a lonely child into a cornered predator.]

Fuckin' peachy.

[Dirk grimaces, standing on the threshold of the next room. This looks way too easy. He de-captchalogues a few shuriken and tosses them expertly-- one across the room, one on a white tile and another on a black tile (near each other, in the center of the floor and far from his feet). That Agatha chick has some crazy shit up her sleeve, he'll give her that. He wonders if she's pulling the strings or if the building is some sort of advanced AI.]

[ding_bots_are_done]

[Very clever indeed. The black tile does nothing, but the white one triggers a trap, shooting upwards at high speed and slamming into the ceiling hard enough to leave an indentation in the stone.]

Not bad. Most people don't have the sense to be so careful.

[anotherdirkstrider]

[Dirk chortles and captchalogues the remaining shuriken.]

Thanks, I guess.

[He proceeds, flashstepping in one long jump, making sure to keep his feet only to the black tile he knows is safe.]

You do this to everyone who comes in here?

[ding_bots_are_done]

Oh, not exactly the same thing. That would be boring. But you've surpassed my expectations.

[The door on the other side opens into a long spiral staircase leading down.]

Which means that I can stop going easy on you.

[Some clanking is heard, and grinding gears within the walls, and then a series of slats open up on the walls. The stairs turn into a horrifying gauntlet of traps ranging from blades in the walls, to crushing blocks from the ceiling, to flames shooting across the path. It resembles something out of an extremely unfair video game. But then a voice resounds from somewhere down the stairs.]

What is going on up there?!?

[Everything retracts instantly.]

Ah, Mistress! Your guest has arrived....

[The castle is attempting to sound innocent as Agatha starts ascending the stairs.]

[anotherdirkstrider]

[A twinge of Dirk's face betrays his surprise and dismay to see that gauntlet ahead of him, but the simultaneous budding anticipation rising in his chest when he thinks about having to challenge it is put out when the castle snaps back into shape. He watches it all retract with regained impassivity.]

Yo, I'm here to help with weapons testing and stuff.

[ding_bots_are_done]

[Agatha offers a smile as she wipes off some machine oil onto her work apron.]

Thanks for coming.

[She gives the wall a sidelong glance.]

I hope the castle was.... polite.

[It better not be picking on her guests.]

[anotherdirkstrider]

[Dirk raises his eyebrows and glances back to the wall from behind his inscrutable shades.]

Feels positively homey.

[Is there a drip of sarcasm in his tone? No, of course not, why ever would someone think that?]

[ding_bots_are_done]

[She misses the sarcasm and gives a sigh of relief.]

Oh, good. It has kind of a twisted sense of humor so I was a little concerned...

I'm sure I have no idea what you mean, Mistress.

[anotherdirkstrider]

Heh, cheeky bastard. [Dirk mutters this towards the walls.]

So, what'cha got, Madame Frankenstein? This is a pretty sweet lab setup you got here.

[ding_bots_are_done]

[A sound echoes within the walls which might have been a small chuckle, but Agatha silences that with a glare. Then she turns to smile at Dirk.]

Um, it's Heterodyne. Agatha Heterodyne. Thank you for coming.

[anotherdirkstrider]

[He shrugs.]

Sure, no worries. Show me what you're working on.

[ding_bots_are_done]

Right this way.

[She leads him into a lab that resembles something from a mad scientist's fondest dreams. Various strange machines crackle with electricity and lights of every color in the rainbow flash from around the room. On a large workbench there is an array of strange guns as well as a small round device with a single button on top. She picks up one of the guns.]

How familiar are you with personas? These are designed to replicate various common attack abilities that personas possess. Some of them are elemental, others will negatively affect your opponent's mind.