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Post by Novalyyn on Apr 21, 2008 1:28:01 GMT -5
Chaser arched an eyebrow, then turned and unlocked the door. "Just like before. Keep with me and don't talk if you don't need to."
The woman headed back out to where she'd last spoken to Xin. She wanted to see what they might have figured, and attempt to talk Xin into accepting a trade for payment. He had said they were running low, after all; and while they made their fortune on their expertise in the field - along with seeming to know who they could get away with cheating - she had made hers on the monopoly of her Flower Candy.
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Post by armiece on Apr 21, 2008 21:21:44 GMT -5
Xin wasn't at the front desk anymore, but as the two of them approached, the sound of yelling clued them in to where he had gone to.
Zife was still working at the machine, his long fingers blurring over the keyboard as he typed. He didn't seem to notice as Chaser and Dorothy came closer. "We'll have to try that again," he said, over the arguement. "I need some more of you, Tao." This was addressed to a tall boy standing next to Zife, though he seemed to be staying there because Xin had his arm around his neck and was holding him against his stomach. The two of them where glaring at each other, having been fighting a moment before. The boy's - Tao, appearantly - blood red hair and dark brown skin stood out in contrast to the two alien brothers. Zife drew out a scalpel, and Xin reached down and grabbed Tao's arm, holding it still as, with a quick movement, Zife cut a decent size chunk out of Tao's arm. Tao sucked his breath in sharply as blood poured down his arm, and Xin tightened his grip to hold him still; but like Dorothy had done back in the caves, Tao's flesh began to heal at an alarmingly quick rate, and he didn't seem to be in a lot of pain. Zife calmly plopped the chunk into the machine and it began to process again, injecting what seemed to be the fungus into it.
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Post by Novalyyn on Apr 22, 2008 0:51:42 GMT -5
When Orchid came upon the site, she wasn't sure how to react, and so remained quiet for a time. She caught Zife call unknown boy "Tao;" so, that was Tao then, the one Xin had opted not to explain the identity of. The speed at which he healed caused the woman's eyes to widen a little. Even the batches of Flower Candy she kept for herself didn't act quite that fast.
"Unorthadox as always, I see," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
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Post by armiece on Apr 22, 2008 2:48:32 GMT -5
Xin smirked at her. "Whatever works, eh?" Tao just glared at Chaser, then transferred his gaze to Dorothy. He gave her a long, odd look. Xin gave Dorothy a look as well, but it was more of leer once he saw her exposed legs. Zife turned to Chaser. "Orchid, there's good news and bad news. Or maybe it's the other way around. Anyway..." he gestured to the machine. "This fungus is poisonous. It's fatally so, in fact. The good...or bad...news is, it takes quite awhile to get to a fatal state. It becomes life-threatening after about two months." He swallowed. "The counter to it is a chemical that exists in some plants. The problem is, those plants are quite rare. I've got a list of planets that they MIGHT grow on. But it's not a guarantee. I can also provide you with a scanner that can locate that chemical in plants." "It'll cost you, of course," Xin said.
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Post by Novalyyn on Apr 22, 2008 15:00:24 GMT -5
"Of course," she repeated back, stepping over to try to inconspicuously hide Dorothy a little. "Research, a list that may or may not be useful, and a scanner... Mm, the way your prices generally run, I'd bet a bit of Flower Candy would cover it easy. You know I won't have any left after stopping at the auction, and people have only been paying more..."
The way things had been, she knew she would likely profit more if she just went on with the auction and paid them outright, but she wanted to try to cut time as much as possible. After all - they'd just told her she had about two months to live.
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Post by Jess on Apr 22, 2008 15:29:50 GMT -5
Dorothy looked a bit shaken at the mention of her mistresses lifespan, her eyes sliding to take in Chasers form as she waited. "Two months to live is... not alot of time." She whispers... more to herself then the aliens around her. She was scanning the samples that they had managed to gather through the machines... memoizing the data.
"Yes... he is not lying mistress..." She says as her eyes slide away from the scanner to look at Chaser. "The data gathered on that machine is indicative of a poisonous substance within your blood, though the time constraint is a bit exagerated...depending upon how long you have had the fungus within your blood stream."
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Post by armiece on Apr 22, 2008 16:32:20 GMT -5
The brothers looked from Dorothy to Chaser. "You've contracted this thing?" Zife said, a bit weakly. "Your assistant is right, then. You might have less than two months. My figures are based on Tao, so I'm having to guess how long you've got." He glanced at his brother. "And from what Xin said, you don't have a ship either. We can repair the ship, but until I see it I don't know how long it will take." Xin, who was still mulling over the Flower Candy offer, left go of Tao. "Go get her ship, Tao. Bring it here. And don't drop it." Tao rolled his eyes. "You told me to drop the last one so you could charge more." Xin glared at him and went to punch him. There was an odd half second where Tao saw the punch coming and moved to dodge...then seemed to realize something, and held himself still and let the alien's large fist hit him between the eyes. He rocked backwards and nearly fell over, then caught his balance, sighed heavily, and looked at Chaser. "Where's your ship at?"
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Post by Jess on Apr 22, 2008 17:16:32 GMT -5
Before her mistress had a chance to answer Dorothy speaks up, really worried... "Docking bay Alpha dash one dash two... public sacedock..." And shes pointing, "North by north west, about one point five two miles."
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Post by Novalyyn on Apr 22, 2008 19:22:58 GMT -5
Chaser wanted to hit Dorothy for letting it slip that she was the one infected. Oddly enough, watching Xin sock Tao was mildly helpful, after the bit of shock anyway, or maybe because of it.
"After seeing how quick the kid here healed, I'm assuming it'd take a bit longer for it to kill him, and you're guessing at the difference for a... average human?" What was that kid anyway? Looked human, but he certainly seemed to be a bit more. "Did you also factor in what effect Flower Candy might have?"
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Post by armiece on Apr 22, 2008 20:17:56 GMT -5
Tao gave Dorothy another odd look and departed, muttering under his breath. Zife nodded. "The machine is mostly accurate, but without a flesh sample I'm not going to be able to tell you exactly." He licked his lips as he thought, then said, "I didn't factor the Candy into it. The Flower Candy would probably help delay it, but it wouldn't cure it. How much it would help, I can't say without running some more tests."
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Post by Novalyyn on Apr 22, 2008 23:50:37 GMT -5
"No, I don't want to give your brother reason to try charging extra. I'll just assume I have a little longer to find the cure." After all, her special little product was constantly running through her veins and she knew already it had reduced the rate at which she aged.
"Xin, you got an answer about that trade? I really need to get in, buy some stuff, sell some stuff." She slipped another chew into her mouth, the previous one having already disolved and her being, admittedly, a little nervous about having such a limited time thrust upon her future.
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Post by armiece on Apr 23, 2008 0:04:21 GMT -5
Xin looked resentful, but sighed. "Yeah, we'll take it. Tell you what...you pay for the ship with money, and pay for this-" he waved at the machine, "With your Candy. Sound good?"
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Post by Novalyyn on Apr 23, 2008 1:00:15 GMT -5
"Alright, but before you try to add it in, hauling is part of the cost of the Candy. And since I'm more trustworthy about buisness - don't even try to deny it - you won't get a cent of the money for my ship until I can safely fly it." The veil made it difficult to see, but there was a rather smug expression on her face.
She reached into her bag, into the box within, and pulled out a small canister with the image of a black flower on the lid. It was a bit ridiculous, how much such a small thing sold for; but, it was highly useful and not particularly common. It was also strange that the stuff had gotten the name "Flower Candy." It hadn't originally been designed to be ingested - though it certainly could be - and so it was in the form of a cream-like subtance. Only what Nyx kept for herself actually resembled candy - not that she ever bothered to tell anyone.
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Post by armiece on Apr 23, 2008 1:14:27 GMT -5
Xin couldn't argue with that, though he looked like he wanted to. He reached out for the canister. "As you wish, Orchid. You know I know better than to cheat you." He grinned and added, "In obvious ways, anyway. The ship diagnostic should be done by this evening."
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Post by Novalyyn on Apr 23, 2008 1:36:34 GMT -5
"Alright, then." She gave a little nod, then looked at Dorothy. "Come on. We'll drop stuff off at the auction house, then get you some actual clothes - unless you see something you like on the way, then maybe you'll get clothes first."
She sighed. It'd might be good to pick up some things for herself while they were at it. She had no idea had bad her ship actually was, and so no way to know what of the things she had on board were still of any use. Clothes, food, supplies... oh, and that scanner that Dorothy had claimed was mad at her.
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