Manhattan's Diamond King

[apocalypsejack]

Jack had been wandering the streets on a night watch with Diamond. The people of the Party and their Ministry of Truth goons were getting bold. It made Jack antsy and he wasn’t sleeping. It was weird sometimes how he went days and weeks here and there without sleeping. No one knew how he could do it.

The scenery had changed oddly when he turned a corner, Diamond at his side whining. He reached down and patted the white mutt that went with him everywhere. Straightening, Halloween Jack shifted the automatic weapon slung over one shoulder that stood in stark contrast to his feminine clothing including spike heeled black boots and gaudy diamond bracelets and earrings. He came very close to shooting the hologram when it startled him by appearing on his blind side. He’d seen something like this before but couldn’t remember where. He listened to it all the while wondering why the guy was in the weird get up. It looked enough like a military uniform to make him suspicious of the Nexus.

Walking on he kept looking up at the building corners, the trees, anywhere something could be hung. Though the gun was back in a resting position, he remained jumpy and jittery.. one part drugs and one part nerves. Diamond was watching the people coming out into the plaza. Normal morning traffic of shops opening.

Jack narrowed his eye at the people and eventually asks. “There aren’t any cameras or drones here?”

He is confused as hell about what is going on. The dog sat at his feet, looking up expectantly at her one eyes master. In the back of his mind there is a lingering worry that this is some Party trap or that he had been caught again and this was something in his own mind.

Comments

[tr1ckortreat]

Cameras or drones? Weren't they mortal devices used to spy on the nation to make sure they were doing what they were told? Loki knew Stark among other mortals used such devices. Trivial to most Asgardians and utterly useless in his opinion. The man's appearance caused the god to stop in his tracks and place both hands behind his back. Dressed in his usual fancy Asgardian armour, Loki surveyed the man and noticed he wore a patch. How ironic. Thor was not the only resident to own one it seemed.

There was also the part about the rather large dog. Was she a pet or more of a deterrent? Either way, conversation was due to be struck with the new stranger.

"Are you referring to Midgardian toys? No, there aren't of those within the Nexus. At least, none I know of. We don't need people using such things to pry into one's life, do we?"

[apocalypsejack]

"Toys?" Jack stares at the man approaching him like he's either stupid or crazy, maybe both.

He considers and his single blue eyes studies Loki and then the edges of the buildings again.

"The Ministry of Truth hasn't come here?" Jack is both suspicious and feeling a sense of relief. If there was no one watching here he could do anything he wants. He's never known, or at least doesn't remember anything but the spying.

[tr1ckortreat]

"Yes. Mortal contraptions made of metal used to spy on those intended for someone else's benefit. A sort of twisted pleasure Midgardians get due to their paranoid nature."

A wisp of a smirk tugged at his lips as his eyes flickered from the man to his pet. As for what "The Ministry of Truth" was Loki just frowned. He had no knowledge of what the man spoke of. What business did he have in such things anyway? He straightened his back slightly and brushed off some dirt on one of his golden armour straps idly.

"I do not know what you speak of. What is this Ministry?"

[apocalypsejack]

"Or murder." Jack sighs with a resolute sort of sound. What else was vaporization anyway?

The question about the ministry causes the right side of Jack's body to twitch without the ability to control it. The fluttering very apparent in the fingers of his tight hand, around the patch, and shifting of his right leg.

"A branch of the Party government. They watch for deviant behavior or free thought. Then they come out and collect the people to vaporize. If you can't be brainwashed to a good citizen then you're tormented until you die or they get bored and kill you."

He still had nightmares about his time in captivity. The twitching though fades. "They watch everything through cameras and anything else they can manage." He shifts the gun on his shoulder and finally gives Loki a critical look. Well, at least there were freaks here too.

[gwiazdezrzuca]

A young woman with wings considers the question.

"I don't think I've seen any cameras here. But I'm sure you could find some in a shop, if you need one? Although I'm not sure where any shops are, here."

Erika's visited Nexus a few times, but only shortly, and isn't sure where anything might be here, yet.

She wants to help, because whoever he is, he seems so confused. But she's not sure she knows how to. Why is the lack of cameras in some place so confusing?

[apocalypsejack]

Jack instantly assumes the wings are costume pieces and grins. Anyone bold enough to walk around with wings was his kind of people.

"No No..." There's panic under his attempt to keep his tone normal. "I don't want any cameras. There're enough of them at home."

He doesn't trust her but even a stranger saying there aren't any cameras here is at least a little bit of relief.

Erika's met a fairy when she first came to Nexus. :D

[gwiazdezrzuca]

He's probably not close enough to really see that no, they're real. There seem to be many species in the Nexus, so Erika has no trouble showing she's from Baam.

She could hide her wings, but in Nexus there's probably no need for that, really.

So in a way, Jack might be close to truth, just not the way he thinks.

She looks at him carefully after his fervent protest. Something must've happened to him. Erika's seen many, so many victims of war, and this man seems to be another, even if it's not the war she knows, but likely another. If it's even war, or some other tragedy.

"There seems to be no monitoring of this place, at least, no official one," the princess says gently.

"My name's Erika," she says, more to change the topic or anything. "Last time I've been here, I've met a really tiny woman. You're not tiny at all, so I assume one can meet people all sizes, here."

She smiles.

[apocalypsejack]

"That's good to hear." Official monitoring was what he worried about.

"Halloween Jack." He smiles at her. He's tall, but with the towering heels he's well over six and a half feet tall. "People do come in all sizes."

[eumenis]

There's a tall woman at one end of the Plaza, quietly moving crates of fruit from a trailer to a smaller wagon. It's actually the dog that catches her eye first, and wins a little smile from her. Animals are few and far between in the Wasteland, and while the Citadel owns half a dozen dogs, it's always nice to see others. Plus they remind her of Max.

It's a little harder to know what to make of the question. She glances around the buildings above them, then shrugs and wanders closer, prosthetic left arm tucked at her side. "You can buy them in some of the stores if you want them. I guess a few of the more posh shops have them for security. But no, not usually outdoors. You two just got here, I guess?"

[apocalypsejack]

Jack is tall as well, made more so by his footwear but his demeanor is open and while wary, still friendly. He's seen prosthesis before, but usually people with them are eliminated from the population, or now people who would need them due to injury are.

"I don't want them." Jack's voice is neutral but vaguely strained. A quiver goes down his right side, something that might be recognized as neurological, and it lingers in the fingers of his right hand twitching. "They're everywhere at home so we can be watched."

He nods while dangling his left hand down to rub on Diamond's snout. It helps with the ants on his skin feeling that came with the twitching.

[eumenis]

Ah. Furiosa is no kind of psychologist or physician, but she knows trauma when she sees it, because she sees a lot of it. It doesn't take much of a mental leap for her to imagine what exactly he might be worried about.

"This is the Nexus," she says, keeping her voice calm and casual. "Whoever's watching you at home, they're definitely not in charge here, and there's a pretty good chance they don't even know this place exists, and never will."

"What's your dog's name? She's cute."

[apocalypsejack]

He had been so caught up in the paranoia about being somewhere he might be on camera that he hadn't considered the idea that he came here from his own territory. The very beginnings of a charming smile appear.

"They're not. They would have killed most of these people." It was simply his reality that people were killed for no reason. However, her comment about how he got here sets his mind at ease. They were well within his territory when he stepped into this place. The Ministry wouldn't dare wander that far in.

"Diamond." He pats her and she instantly stands to go and see Furiosa. The dog has a diamond studded leather collar and appears to be some sort of greyhound or greyhound mix. Diamond is obviously well trained and very friendly, probably younger given her energy.

[sweetcandygirl]

It is the presence of Diamond that attracts the attention of two large canine creatures first. One is a hyena, who seems to be wearing a bright neon pink collar around his neck. The other is a Mightyena, who is very hyena in appearance, but the Pokémon has darker fur and seems to be very comfortable with the bright neon yellow collar that decorates his neck.

"Never thought about that. Most people have a camera on their PINpoint though... so there is that...." The woman who answers is wearing a skintight red and black outfit, with a matching red jacket that is unzipped right now. Her hair is decorated with lots of reds and blues, and one black strand braided into her white locks.

"And robots. But are those the kinda drones you wanted to know about? Is it one of those... these ain't the drones you are looking for... type of things?"

[apocalypsejack]

Diamond catches sight of the other animals and gives a growling yip. It is enough to pull Jack's attention to both the animals and the woman approaching them. Her outfits is appealing and gets an appreciative smile.

"Do they watch people with them?" He looks down at the device still in his hand, that he picked up around the hologram, with a great deal of suspicion. He wonders if the device is watching him now. His eye shifts from the device back to the building eaves with growing paranoia.

"The kind the Ministry uses to watch for deviants." Jack's words are even but his body has a tick. It starts in the brow over the patch and effects the right leg too which obsessively starts toeing at the dirt. The worst of it though is the twitch in his right hand and fingers. All of it from the attempts to rewrite his personality and shock treatments used to try to turn him out of his deviant behaviors. He resisted becoming a 'good citizen' which left a decent amount of his personality intacted but there was a neurological cost. Most people don't pick up on it but those with the right experience might know the condition.

"I don't suppose they're here." He glances at her with sympathy, grateful that she hasn't been subjected to their torment and fear tactics.

[sweetcandygirl]

The paranoia is immediately noted by Harley. She snaps her fingers to get both the hyena and Mightyena back to her side, giving a little space to Diamond. And kneels down to pet her fingers through the fur of both 'puppies'.

As someone who has experience shock treatments for most of her time in Arkham, she also recognizes the tick that seems to control his body. She beams at him. Her own twitches from her treatment are written in that overly bright and cheerful smile. The half laugh that escapes her lips that she doesn't even seem to acknowledge.

"Deviants are welcome here. So I pity any Ministry that wants to watch them. We rule the playground."

"They can't catch you here. It is a good place to escape to."

[apocalypsejack]

Once his mind turns away from the surveillance, the ticks start to subside but he recognizes that kind of smile. He's had friends who went into the Ministry programs and came out like that. Totally different and way too happy. It causes a shiver to run his spine from fear and discomfort. It leaves Jack to wonder if this woman is from his world. There are other pockets of deviants like his but they are all too far away to visit or so far underground they can't be contacted.

He nods to the comment about being safe and reaches down to ruffle the greyhound's face. Diamond leans into her master's leg. She was never trained to be a therapy dog but their bond had formed that way on its own.

"We can't all escape here." He shoves the PINpoint in his pocket. "I'll have to go back."

His eye drifts back toward where he had walked from while hoping his people were safe. Though, enough of them had the expertise to take on any of the Ministry goons on the ground or if they came in on choppers. He might be crazy at this point but he's devoted to the rest of the people back home.

She seems safe enough and so he offers his hand to her. "I'm Halloween Jack, Madame of the Diamond Dogs."

[skeksisheretic]

"I don't know what cameras and drones are." There are crystal-bats, artificial creatures and tools of the Skeksis that they use for scouting and spying, but in the early years of the Gelfling resistance they're few in number. "But no one's being watched here, as far as I know. If there's a bad government where you're from...there are a lot of people here in the same boat. Worlds torn by war or people who are fleeing bad leaders."

The old birdlike creature who approaches Jack is clearly battered. His secondary limbs are bent roughly behind his back and tied so that he'll never be able to use them again, and there's a large metal nail that's been driven into his skull.

"I should know! I come from one such world. My name is skekGra the Heretic. I was exiled from my own people for my beliefs - though good riddance, if I do say so myself. Nasty creatures, Skeksis, and I say that as one myself! The Ritual-Master punishes anyone who steps too far out of line. Never any killing, but anything up to that is on the table. skekNa didn't put his own eye out, or cut off his own hand..."

[apocalypsejack]

"They are devices used to spy on people. Cameras are fixed and drones fly." Jack is talking while his one eye stares up widely at the bird... dinosaur... thing. What the hell is this thing? His words come slowly because he's trying to process what he is seeing. "We have a government with thought police."

He's still processing whatever this being is in front of him but he is listening. "Halloween Jack, Madame of the Diamond Dogs." Introductions seemed strange in the middle of an explanation but Jack easily rolled with the flow of the conversation. "We exiled ourselves. Humans aren't much better than what you describe. They kill and forcibly alter people if they don't fit the uniform society they want."

If this thing wanted to rant about how shitty the people in charge were, Jack could certainly keep up on that front.

[angelic_asshole]

"Be thankful there aren't any. Unless you'd prefer one or two for our voyeur sessions."

The voice was emanating from the rather ruggedly handsome man walking towards Jack carrying two bottles of scotch in both hands. Why have one when you can share with someone else. Also, who needed glasses when bottles served their purpose. He also knew that Jack was the type of guy who necked his whiskey from the bottle like the rest of them. He side-eyed the automatic weapon and knew Jack was always on edge, ready to shoot if he felt threatened. Hopefully, the anti-violence field would stop anyone getting shot who didn't need to get shot. Yeah, he'd read about that in the pamphlet.

Balthazar had arrived into the Nexus only a few days ago and was still relatively new himself. It seemed Jack had brought along Diamond and this pleased the angel since their last encounter back at Jack's apartment had proved....interesting to say the least. His eyes crinkled up into a friendly smile as he stood facing his rebellious friend offering him up a bottle of scotch.

[apocalypsejack]

"I am." Jack recognizes the voice even before he turns away from the facade he was investigating. "They're a sign of death back home."

His whole presence changes when he turns to face Balthazar. One could see the charm being turned on in his posture and smile. The way he saunters toward his acquaintance is inviting and verges on obscene and sexual in the way his hips and body move.

"You've brought a gift." Jack pulls one of the bottles from his hand and places a kiss on the shorter man's cheek, blame the high heels for the height difference. Diamond trots over too, tail wagging and sniffing at Balthazar's pant legs. She knows this man and he's friendly with her master.

[angelic_asshole]

"Oh, I know. That rocket launcher you had slung over your shoulder was incredibly sexy, darling. I always enjoy a man with a large weapon and one who knows how to use it."

The innuendo was practically dripping from his voice as he unscrewed the cap of his scotch bottle and tipped it up to drain a large mouthful, swallowing roughly. That was some good stuff right there. Even better now that Jack was here within the Nexus also. What chaos could both men reap without the residents kicking off? Could they even get booted out? It was a possibility. The kiss felt nice, leaving a small tingling sensation on the piece of cheek that was kissed.

"I thought you'd enjoy some of the home comforts. There are a few bars here since I've been in all of them. Kicked out of a couple but nothing too dramatic."

Bending down slightly, Balthazar smiled at Diamond, offering her up a few good strokes behind her ears before smoothing down her fur along her back. Standing back up he offered Jack a smile before turning slightly more serious.

"How have you been?"

[apocalypsejack]

"Is that why you can't stay away?... because I carry all the big weapons." If this man is going to sling innuendo, Jack's going to flirt.

"I can get you back into them." Jack winked, even if he only had one eye showing it was obvious as he opened his own bottle. "I've got the charm for it."

Diamond is so excited she starts nipping playfully at Balthazar's fingers. She can feel that her master likes this persona dn so she does too.

"In the midst of a bet over who can drop more choppers out of the sky." Whether it is true or not, the mischief in his expression certainly is. "And how about you, beautiful? Still getting onto trouble."

[somekindofspaceuncle]

"It's alright, no one's watching you. Well, probably," Hiroki says.

It seems like this is what this man is worried about. Or maybe Hiroki's just projecting.

"You look a bit like someone I know. Hey. Welcome to Nexus. Not many people would watch you here, even if you are handsome."

[apocalypsejack]

No, that is exactly what Jack is worried about. His eye drifts back up to the eaves where he still expects to see cameras. However, there still aren't any that he can see.

"Who is that?" The comment about a look alike brings Jack's full attention to the person who had approached him. The smile spreads wide, charming and flattered. "You aren't hard on the eyes either."

[somekindofspaceuncle]

"I don't think you've ever met, or I'm sure you'd remember. That person is Ziggy Stardust. My beloved. Heh, you'll recognise Ziggy if you ever meet."

Whatever power translates everything in Nexus, translates that, too, but beloved is said in another language. Altean, not that he'd know. So it might be differently accented.

Not hard on... if not Lucifer, the clone'd now think looking this gorgeous makes one a flirt, or something, as a rule. Ziggy, now this stranger...

"Thank you. A few months ago I'd've said nobody says that about me anymore."