[RL log with Zombie Loan]

[elloran]

Hokh'Ton Karakael was amused by the whole situation more than anything else. He too had had arguments about what was common and rational in his universe, and yet was considered insane in most others. So he was happy to help his former friend when the younger man foolishly gotten himself into such an argument.

Though he did take the precautions to ensure that Elloran did not recognize him.

The Overcosm easily lead him to the Zombie Loan world, and he arrived on time in a chaotic swirl of color. He was curious to see what these child-corpses were like.

Elloran waited on an Uran S'Varek far back in Karakael's past, idly preparing an appropriate welcome for the two young Zombies. He hoped that his palace Servo-Corpses would be able to convince them of his good will.

Comments

[tiedbydestiny.livejournal.com]

Chika could tell Elloran had at least some inkling of what they were up to, and he was grateful the guy was at least getting the women out of the way. He didn't really want to find out how that kid would react to having a gun pulled, either.

He pulled his hand off and traded with Shito, then flexed his fingers to make sure everything was attached properly. It always felt good to have his own hand back, and he wished they had longer than just an hour they could spend this way.

They'd done this hundreds, maybe even a thousand times now. Chika's sword materialized in his hand with no effort on his part, and he knew without looking that Shito's gun would be there, too. He positioned himself to guard Shito's back, in case the child guard decided they were a threat after all. It would be a lot less messy if Shito was the one who killed the corpse.

[tiedbyfate.livejournal.com]

Shito attached his hand onto his wrist also, the skin melding with only a small scar for a seam. A revolver emerged through his palm and he caught it in his left hand, pointing it at the servo-corpse. A chain ran from the gun to his right wrist, forming a circlet like a handcuff around the wrist.

Without a moment's hesitation, he cocked the gun and fired three times. At this range, he could scarcely miss, and the bullets hit the corpse in the head.

[ton-elloran.livejournal.com]

The creature stumbled backwards, then collapsed with a sigh. 'Puppet with its strings cut' was Elloran could think of as the pitiful corpse twitched and then grew still.

The servant woman was standing open mouthed in shock at the sudden attack, while Sheta was grasped firmly by Elloran so she would not immediately attack. He had a hand in front of her eyes for the same reason, assuring that the lasers embedded in her eyes could would not react automatically at the threat.

"Shall I send for another, Tachibana, Akatsuki?" He asked, referring to each of them in turn as his vassal snapped her mouth shut and preformed a few hasty gestures to summon another waiter.

"Was the food not to their liking, my lord? If I have done something to displease your guests..."

[tiedbydestiny.livejournal.com]

"It wasn't the food," Chika replied, rolling his eyes. Shito was done, so he stepped forward and pointed his sword at what was left of the rather pathetic body. He found himself hoping fervently that there wasn't a soul in it - both so they wouldn't have to take on this whole damned planet to free all the zombies, and also so there wouldn't have been someone trapped in there, suffering, all this time.

Being a zombie himself, Chika could think of few fates worse than to be aware and not in control of something like that.

Energy gathered around him and swirled around the blade, but failed to focus into the brilliant rings he was used to. He concentrated harder, but there was no change. "Nothing," he said with a sigh, stepping back and reabsorbing his sword. "If there's a soul there, I can't touch it. Shito, you wanna try?" Not that he thought his partner would have any better luck, but he wanted to be sure.

[tiedbyfate.livejournal.com]

Shito was content that if Chika had tried and no soul had emerged to be sent on to the afterlife, that there was probably no soul to send on. But since the offer had been made, he nodded and stepped over to the creature, raising the barrel of his gun to the sky.

Nothing, once again. He couldn't sense anything, either.

"It's just a hunk of dead meat," he said, glancing at Chika and then looking at their host. "Thanks for letting us check," he said, somewhat more politely than he had been thus far.

[ton-elloran.livejournal.com]

"Of course. You left me no other options." The Inquestor sighed. "You may believe otherwise, but I cannot in good conscious allow millions to suffer when I have the ability to fix it."

[tiedbydestiny.livejournal.com]

"Yeah... sorry about that," Chika said, not sounding - or feeling - very sorry, but knowing they'd probably overreacted just a touch. If it was possible to overreact to such a thing. "And sorry about the Corpse-Server or whatever." He did feel a little guilty about that. Gods alone knew what the things cost to make.

[tiedbyfate.livejournal.com]

Shito frowned down at the creature - no, the robot made of meat. He prodded it thoughtfully with his foot, then crouched down and began to examine it in more detail.

It was mostly out of curiosity now. Were the things warm to the touch, or cold like a zombie?

"It's good that you care," he said carelessly, somewhat surprised by Elloran's words. "If it had had a soul, would you really have done something about it?"

[ton-elloran.livejournal.com]

"It was an old model. Due to be retired soon anyways." The Inquestor shrugged. What was the loss of one corpse to him?

The creature was cold, with clammy skin that showed a hint of rot around the worn joints. Its face was deeply lined and its eyes yellowing. The pretty young boy who had appeared during their conversation with a tray posed a marked contrast to the older corpse. He moved with a fluid grace that showed the expert craftsmanship and artistry that Elloran's palace was already known for. Yet even he was obviously a construct rather than a live human - the flesh was embalmed, and the eyes did not move or dance. There was no extraneous movement in any servo-corpse.

"I do not know." Elloran answered truthfully. "Servo-corpses are an important technology to our galaxy. There is little I can do to end their production on a galaxy wide scale. Yet I could at least decommission those which worked within my palace and petition for a reduction in the use of the corpses in brothels. But none of that is necessary if they do not have souls."