Have a car thief with no cars

[vengeance_driven]

[Do you know what happens when you put a confused Serb Yugoslavian expatriate in the middle of a strange building in a strange place while he's in the possession of his favorite carbine rifle? He skulks through a hallway quietly, looking for a way out.

Niko nears a window with his back to the wall. And off in the distance? That jungle? That sure wasn't Middle Park. Not long before he heard something that sounded like the most fucked up war-zone he's ever been near. More rushing fire, less bullets. So he's just playing it careful until he finds some sort of damned map.

First he finds a soda machine, though. And that soda machine is not a Sprunk soda machine. He ventures closer, pokes it with the gun as if that's going to help anything, and moves to look behind it as if he's searching for the mechanism for a bomb in an obviously fake piece of inexplicable equipment. Surveillance maybe?

He's pretty sure he's not in Liberty State, anymore.]

Oh, here we go. [Traces of his Balkan accent in those sarcastic sounding words he goes back around to the front of the soda machine, not creeping along for the time being and with his rifle lowered at his side. He's ready to hop behind that thing defensively though.]


((OOC: New person, new character. Niko Bellic from GTA IV. Snarky bastard but pretty friendly and easy to reason down.))

Comments

[thumbsdown]

[Boone just shrugs in response to Niko's statement. Yeah, maybe someone smarter than him could do something like that. He sure as hell couldn't though, so janitor's closets don't really interest him too much.]

Not something I'd be any good at making, that's for sure.

[He glances down at Elle.]

Haven't seen anything hostile around so far. All the walls are standing, so I guess that's why there are no bugs or anything in here. Haven't opened many doors, but I couldn't hear much behind them. Ones I did open weren't all that interesting. Not sure what it's like outside yet. Might be better to check the area out from a roof or something. Not sure I feel like heading into the trees and getting mauled.

[quixotically]

[Elle glances at Niko again, this time approvingly. She's still grinning as she goes back to squinting at the lock.] Yeah, you're right. But the locks are almost never this good. [They usually range from Easy to Hard. This qualifies as Very Hard, and she can't even beat it with her maxed out Lockpicking.] Ones I've run into, anyway.

[She listens to Boone's report and hums thoughtfully.] This place is remarkably well-preserved. I'd love to take a look around outside, too, but I'm with you on that. I don't trust anything that green any more. [Thanks a lot, Vault 22.

Her bobby pin snaps again, and she sighs, shaking her head and settling back on her haunches. Lightly:] Well. I can come back to this little bitch later. [She tucks her screwdriver and box of bobby pins back where they belong in her duffle bag, then stands and shoulders it.] Let's go find us some roof access. Hopefully we've got an option other than going outside anyway and climbing the building.

[She adjusts her hat to sit properly on her head -- she'd angled it back to stay out of her way while she was picking the lock -- and looks to Niko again.] You comin', too? [Said like she doesn't expect anything else.]

[vengeance_driven]

[He eyes the lock, and when Elle moves away it's a miracle that he doesn't shoot it. He's looking at it hard enough that his eyebeam lasers should be cutting a hole in it. But finally opts to go after them, taking his gun off his shoulder again because he'd rather have it in his hands if they stepped outside.]

Everything looks pretty new to me. But I think some things aren't lining up too much. It was fall in Liberty City when I left. The leaves were all different colors.

[He follows after Boone, probably somewhat hilariously since he's shorter than him and Elle is shorter than Boone.]

And we have different money.

[thumbsdown]

We've had some pretty hard locks with barely anything behind them, though.

[And by "we" he means "you", because he's not so great at picking locks. Boone has no real problem with Niko coming along just so long as he doesn't get in the way, so he follows after Elle and lets him tail along at the back.]

Doesn't make any sense, but so far not much is.

[quixotically]

Yeah, but there's something there. There's at least a radio. ['Cause, you know, that REALLY WEIRD MUSIC.

She hums again. Liberty City? She's never heard of it.] Well... I dunno where Liberty City is, but it's possible that wherever we've been displaced to isn't temperate. Which makes sense. I mean, this is an island, right?

[She turns to walk backwards so she can look at them -- and specifically Niko -- while she talks.] Different money?

[vengeance_driven]

[Niko's first response is a burp, which seems to surprise him.] Pardon.

[Then he pulls a coin out of his pocket to pass up to her. It's mint date is 2005.]

[thumbsdown]

Doesn't mean there's anything there worth breaking all your pins over.

[Boone takes the coin and hands it over to Elle.]

Coins. Nothing I've seen before, though. Thought it was Legion money until I got a better look at it.

[They're similar, but they have differences. The most notable being the lack of Caesar's profile on these coins.]

[quixotically]

I'm not gonna break all of them. [uh-huh, sure, Elle

She takes the coin with much interest without stopping walking backwards, though she does angle her path until she's more to the side while slowing; an invitation for them to catch up speed.]

Huh... [No, that's certainly not Caesar, but Elle doesn't recognize the design at all. She flips it over in her fingers, perplexed.] You're right. I've never seen any coins like this before. [Here, go ahead and take it back.] Where is Liberty City?

[vengeance_driven]

In Liberty State. Next to Los Santos it is the biggest city in America. I just moved there not long ago.

[The sad thing is he's no longer surprised they don't know what he's talking about. But he sees a stairwell ahead, and maybe that will lead up to the roof. That's where he heads.]

[thumbsdown]

[He takes the coin back and passes it over to Niko again, though not without turning it over in his hand briefly to get another glance at it. Strange.]

Yeah, I've never heard of it.

[He pauses when he sees Niko heading towards a set of stairs, and decides to follow. Well, even if it isn't the way to the roof, they're still gonna have to go up.]

What's it like there? I mean... you're saying you're from before the war happened. Must be pretty different.

[quixotically]

[Elle is frowning, now.] Los Santos...? Hmmm.

[She's never heard of that, either, but if it's supposed to be one of the biggest cities in America, along with this Liberty City he's talking about, she should've. She reads everything that survived the Great War intact she can get her hands on, magazines and books and even the extremely rare newspaper. She's peppered Raul and Dean and House with as many questions as they'd let her get away with. So... What Niko's saying isn't lining up.

She wants to know the answer to Boone's question, though. So for now, she'll just wait -- Maybe Niko's description will unlock something else to make this make more sense.]

[vengeance_driven]

It's shitty.

[Welp.]

For a country that is founded off immigrants, they do not like new ones that come in. Americans look for ways to blame other countries for their problems. Even people that have been in America for generations still show brotherhood not by cultural pride, but by hating others.

It's stupid. Everyone is mean to each other. Not that back home was any better, but people there were not stupid enough to pretend that it was. We knew we could be bombed any day. In America, they pretend bad food is good, that water has no chemicals, and that to be pretty you must do fake things to yourself.

[A ray of sunshine is Niko.]

[thumbsdown]

[Exactly what Elle needed, two of them.]

Hating others, huh? Doesn't sound much different to back home.

[There are still some genuinely good people about, but... for the most part, people are too busy killing each other. People like Elle are rare. And eating bad food and drinking bad water is pretty standard too, but he doesn't quite get the last part.]

Fake things?

[Well, they don't really have the luxury of makeup and cosmetic surgery back home. The latter is possible, but not an option for most people.]

[vengeance_driven]

Fake things, like a lot of make-up. Or- [There's a woman here, he has to watch his language. He heads up the stairs towards the roof. Looks like there's an access up there.] -parts of themselves redone like ladies with bigger chests or smaller butts thanks to surgery. One of my best friends takes steroids and has face implants because he is so worried what he is thought of.

It's stupid. It's like me wishing for smaller nose or... I don't know. [He thinks he looks alright.] It's just stupid. Especially when other people can barely get by. All the wealth in the world, and poor people still pay for rich people to get nice things, or for governments to buy guns and make them kill each other.

[Just vomiting cynicism there.]

[thumbsdown]

Huh. Sounds pretty stupid. People can get brain implants back home, but... they're to make you smarter, or stronger.

[Boone could really do with an intelligence implant, honestly. Too bad he'd never go for it. He doesn't want some doctor putting things in his brain. He follows Niko up the stairs, remembering something Elle told him.]

Guess if you programmed an Auto-Doc to do it, you could get it to reconstruct your face, but-

[And then suddenly, it's absolutely freezing. He can't help but to gasp quietly in surprise, and automatically takes a step back.]

[quixotically]

[The way that Niko has been describing "America" doesn't go against what she's heard, not like Liberty City and Los Santos do. Niko's a lot more blunt and cynical about it than Raul and Dean and House, but it still fits in. She can see where it pieces together.

Which... honestly? Just makes it more confusing.]

You know, [she starts quietly, just under what Boone's saying, but she cuts short the same time as he does the second the door opens.

Elle recoils, eyes going comically wide and arms wrapping around herself.] Jesus christ, where the fuck are we, Jacobstown?! [IMMEDIATE AND LOUD WHINING, BECAUSE WHAT THE HELL IS THIS]

[vengeance_driven]

[He stops at the door, already prepared to go and investigate, but then they balk back at the cold. They're not dressed warmly, that's easy enough to see. Niko though is use to this sort of weather. He turns to look at them.

And his eyes slide down, and then back up to their faces.]

We should still go and look.

[So he pulls off his bomber jacket, then his trackshirt. It leaves him with his body armor exposed over his fitted turtleneck and a shoulder holster with a pistol and a dangerous looking hunting knife in it. He holds them out towards Elle and Boone, because he doesn't want to go out there alone.]

[thumbsdown]

[Boone eyes the jacket for a moment as though he's not sure if he wants to take it, but eventually he gives in and tugs it on. It's warm from where Niko had been wearing it, but it's still not nearly warm enough to stop him from shivering. Still, he nods and follows him out of the door. He sticks closer to Elle than he usually would, too. He just hopes they don't have to shoot anything far away. He's shivering too much to aim properly.]

[quixotically]

[Elle hesitates, too, though mostly because she's having trouble processing that, yes, this really is a thing that's happening. Boone making the first move is what does it, though, and she takes what's left over, leaving her duffle bag sitting by the door. The trackshirt swallows her, but that just means she has something to hide from the cold in. The majority of her face ends up disappearing into the shirt, leaving her eyes visible between the jacket's collar and her hat. She doesn't even bother trying to shake her hands free of the sleeves.]

R-R-Right. Okay. Okay...

[Small island. Beach to the south, mountain to the north. Some plains, mostly jungle. Elle thinks she spots a stream...]

The fuck kind of island is this cold AND has a tropical jungle?... [It's more of a grumble by this point, racking her brain for an answer.]

[vengeance_driven]

[Niko has his rifle unslung, so he starts looking through the scope at things, crouching on the edge of the roof. He doesn't mind the cold and seems used to it.]

I don't see any distant land, and it is too cold to try to swim that water anyway. [He sounds disappointed that option is no longer on the table. He looks down into the courtyard from where they are.]

Fountain. Sports facilities.

[Incredulously, still looking through his scope.]

[thumbsdown]

[Boone can't make sense of it either, and takes his rifle out to have a look around too. Niko is right... there is no distant land, and just thinking about getting in that water makes him shiver again. Yeah, not happening.

He decides to look through the trees as the other two look around properly. He can't see anything he'd consider dangerous in them, and he sits back on his haunches with a grunt.]

Nothing in the trees that I can see.

[After a few moments, he takes up his rifle again and starts to look up the side of the mountain. That's when he spots something odd, and he narrows his eyes.]

Hey, there's something up there. Looks like a camp of some kind. Doesn't look like anyone's been up there for a while, though.

[quixotically]

Really? [Elle considers digging her sniper rifle out of her pack to take a look herself, but decides against it. One, she trusts Boone and she trusts his eyes. Two, that would involve convincing her fingers to thaw.]

Hmmm. We should see about getting some gear that can put up with this [she gestures vaguely in the air, meaning the cold] and go investigate soon.

[vengeance_driven]

[Niko stands up straight, glancing them both over at that.] This is a good idea. But we should be careful. I know cold mountains, I know snow.

But jungles. They're something new.

[Ones that aren't urban, anyway. But for as harsh a man as he looks, he does seem legitimately concerned about them staying out here.]

[thumbsdown]

Yeah... too cold to stick around here.

[At least, it's too cold in what he and Elle are wearing now. They're both still freezing, and it's obvious.]

Couldn't see anything dangerous in the trees, but that doesn't mean there's nothing out there.

[It just means he couldn't see it. There are a lot of trees, after all.]

[quixotically]

[in dark agreement:] Never saw the spore carriers until they decided to move.

[And that's all she has to say about that. Fuck you, jungle. You look too much like Vault 22 for Elle to even give you the slightest chance.

Also??? if. that's all that there is to see out here. she's just. gonna. pick up her pack and scurry inside. YOU KNOW. WHERE IT'S WARM]