Roadway To Paradise

[Thaddeus Wyse]

Borleias, Colonies.
[member="Kaili Talith"]

Tum tum tum. Tum tum tum. Tum tum tum, tum tum tum, tum, tum tum. Tum tum tum. Tum tum tum.

~~Living easy! Living free! Season ticket on a one-way ride~~

The sun was high up in the sky. The ocean was baby blue shiny and the girls were beautiful.

Gabriel had his shades on, was wearing one of those stereotypical, bright-orange tropical shirt with most of the buttons buttoned down and the brilliant tune of EC-BZ playing through his headphones.

There wasn’t anything that could go wrong right now.

“Hey! How you doin’?” He half-shouted to a lone girl sunbathing. She just stuck her tongue out at him, then continued on ignoring him.

“Oh, don’t be like that!”

But Gabey walked on, because there were a million more girls walking around who were interested in his number. No use spending time on the one who wasn’t.

Her los-

Suddenly the distinct feeling of something puttering out went through his head. Gabe blinked. Pondered it twice, before sighing.

His music had stopped.

He looked up to the sky and wondered what he had done to deserve this kind of treatment.

It was that same look that allowed his gaze to sweep past the peculiar sign that read thusly:

Kaili’s Droids!

The exclamation mark wasn’t actually attached to the sign, but that was what Gabriel added to it in his mind as his salvation arrived.

With a brisk walk the young man wandered through the dusty sand, up the pavement - ignoring the feeling of hot rocks scalding his bare feet - and finally arrived in front of the little shop.

He knocked, and then opened the door. His head popped in first to see if there was anyone there.

Nobody except a girl behind the counter.

Huh. Must be a slow day.

“Hi?”

 

[Kaili Talith]

Slow day? Far from it, but the most Kaili usually got when it came to actual live visitors was a few stragglers every now and then who mistook her shop for a beach promenade diner, despite the signs above that clearly flashed a wide and bright “Kaili’s Droids.” It was one of the downsides of being a Net-company first and foremost, but the look on people as they quickly realised the shop was far from a restaurant never got old. Especially not if Kaili went the extra mile of asking if she could help them. The most common reply was a stammered “Uh, no.” and a quick exit.

A reply she would have expected from [member="Gabriel Lethe"] when he poked his head into the shop. Kaili perked her brow in anticipation, followed the man with a quizzical glance as he stepped inside.

“May I help you?” She held back the grin and prepared the countdown. “You look a bit lost.”

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

“More surprised, really!” Gabey replied with a smile as he finally entered the establishment. He took a wide look around, noted the various stages of dismantlement on the droids and the distinct lack of anything else other than… well, droids.

Not a surprise, of course. Kaili’s Droids doesn’t really leave much to the imagination. But tinkerers usually got a talent for fixing things they don’t have much experience in.

At least that was his experience.

“I was just walking down the beach when suddenly my walkman decided to start a formal protest by refusing to play more music, yaknow?” Smile turned into more of a grin as he kept on looking around. He didn’t touch anything, though, mostly because with his luck it would launch into a cascade of crashing droids everywhere.

But there were a few interesting specimens here.

Wasn’t that one of those Hegemonic Automaton TA4’s? It was missing its hands though.

Huh.

After some more sightseeing Gabriel finally arrived at the counter.

“I know this isn’t really your forte, but could you maybe take a look?”

 

[Kaili Talith]

“A walk man? What’s a walking man?” Kaili perked her brow at the blonde in her shop as he peeked at the TA4 amongst her personal project. “Talos-series battle droid. The fourth in the series, I believe. Dismantled and stripped of its weapons as a precaution in case it ever decided to wake up one day. Had a scavenger come by and offer it to me for a convenient price.”

“... Don’t touch it.”

And touch it he did not, the first sign of a man who was either cautious or smart enough to not do something stupid. Kaili followed the man with a most quizzitive look on her still. She didn’t really perform electronical equipment, or repair of such things. At least not yet, but it was certainly something she kept in her future company plans along with, well, just about anything that could spark and kill a man if they were dumb enough.

“Well, it certainly isn’t what I usually do, you are correct about that.” Kaili extended her hand nonetheless. “But heck, why not? Hand me it and I’ll give it a look to see what’s wrong, Mister… ?”

She shook her head back and forth as she asked for [member="Gabriel Lethe"]’s name.

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

“That’s usually what the four stands for, yeah.” Gabey replied not soon after she explained what iteration the TA4 was. Usually, often, with anyone else saying it… it would have come across as a jerkass thing to say. This time around it was still a bit mean, but Gabriel brought it relaxed and light-hearted - just a little tease between two old, old friends.

They just met, sure.

But he firmly believed in the practice of skipping most first-base awkwardness and go right into the comfortable state of quipping and teasing relentlessly.

Another silly grin was sent her way. Just a way of placating her if she wasn’t an adherent to the Gabey-philosophy. Strangely enough there were a lot of those in the Galaxy these days.

Sad affairs all around.

“Gabriel Lethe.” He supplied to fill in the space between mister and the obvious question mark at the end of her stretched out sentence. Usually this was around the time that he would say: “Oh, yes. Yes, that Gabriel Lethe. Yup. The brother to Magdalena Lethe, the famous entrepreneur and founder of GUIDE.”

But today wasn’t a day like that. Besides… this was Borealis, he truly doubted this piece of the Galaxy was all that familiar with the GUIDE. They mostly operated in Wild Space and the Unknown Regions.

“And considering the sign outside, you must be Kaili’s Droids. Nice to meet you.”

Grin turned into pleasant smile that almost made you believe he was being serious.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Well, Gabriel Lethe, it’s nice to meet the Lethe underdog too, I guess.” Her eyes ran a quick up and down scan. “Expected someone a bit taller, more handsome perhaps.”

The girl grabbed the walkman and placed it on her counter, hunched down to give it a good lookover. It didn’t take too long to realise that something felt off about it, this wasn’t just a music device. Kaili had a hunch, but first…

“And yeah, my name could be Kaili’s droids.” She said as she reached out underneath her workbench to grab something. “Though for your own health and safety, Kaili Talith will do just fine.”

So much for professionalism. Oh well, couldn’t win them all.

“And if my suspicions are correct…” The item was withdrawn from underneath the bench. A thick hammer that she raised for the ceiling and promptly sent crashing against the walkman. A loud crack called out into the shop and she chuckled once more. “Oh yeah, this baby is definitely alchemized.”

With a shrug she discarded the hammer and it’s broken wooden handle by her side with an arrogant toss over her shoulder.

“That complicates things. Don’t you think?” She looked at Gabe and reached out for the nearby hydrospanner. “I mean, who alchemizes a... Music device?”

“No offense, of course.”

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

“You know what they say about expectations, miss droids.” the lad replied good-humoured. Maybe for some guys it would have been a sore spot, that their younger sister had overtaken them and became so much more successful than they were, but that didn’t apply to Gabriel Lethe. He was proud of his little sister - even with all the shet he gave her for fun sake’s.

Naw, he was his own man… boy, lad… whatever. Which meant that Gabey had to make his own path to fame and success.

“It usually falls short of reality.”

Gabriel calmly watched as the hammer applied his trajectory against his music device, and there was just something of amusement- perhaps even satisfaction, when the hammer broke instead of his walkman.

“Some people like to alchemize weapons, armor, sometimes even an entire ship.” He still couldn’t believe that had happened. “Others… they are entirely content with the little things in life.”

Like a walkman that could pick up music from the ‘ether’ itself. Like a radio. But without anything tangible on the other side to project said music. Truthfully Gabey still wasn’t entirely too sure where the music came from - a different dimension? A different period of time? Maybe the walkman picked it out of his very mind while it played?

He didn’t know and probably never would.

Gabey wasn’t the prodigal alchemist of the duo. Most of his creations were accidental in nature - though, sometimes that made them pretty cool.

Case in point: the walkman.

She started working with her hydrospanner and Gabey started getting comfortable. His elbow leaned against the counter, his chin leaned on the palm of his hand, his shades leaning heavily on his nose.

Lotsa leaning.

“So, I don’t got a lot of credits.” Which wasn’t really true. Magda was very generous for the help he provided with GUIDE. “Whatsaya we get some coffee as payment for services rendered?”

He really hated coffee, but some people seemed to like it.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Is that right?” The woman snickered. “Well, whatever floats your boat, Blondie.”

Kaili wasn’t exactly a stranger to alchemy, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t keep herself prepared for some sort of Lovecraftian horror to jump out of whatever void contained the music that the man before her listened to. Her spanner turned and twisted until not just the one screw was loose, but all of them. She separated the front of the apparently-more-than-just-plasteel device and peeked at the broken entrails.

So far no Lovecraftian horrors. Good.

A curious look went up at the man as he leaned over the counter to talk his way into a smoother deal…

“Last time someone tried that I ended up with a ten-out-of-ten girlfriend, you know.” Kaili snickered once more as she went back to work. “Keep trying. Maybe the next tech wiz you come across will fall for it, blonde stuff.”

“... Heck, they might even be a woman too, if you’re lucky.”

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Gabriel blinked.

Did she just… HA. As the realization dawned on him Lethe let out a giggle, which was so girly and ridiculous that it only pushed him further into a laughing-fit. He held his stomach, giggle tears almost welling up and the intensity almost made him fall to the side, though he did manage to grab for the counter before that happened.

“Oh, oh by the Force, sorry.” He managed to let out, before erupting in another giggle fit.

Lethe let go of his stomach, instead opting to push up his shades and letting them rest on his head, before pinking away some of the tears.

“I truly apologize… it’s just so rare to find someone who is on the top of their game, instead of getting offended or whatever.”

Ha.

Gabey settled down a bit, letting out one more snort before shaking his head.

“I like you, Droids.” His attention shifted to the walkman. “Think ya can fix whatever’s wrong with it?”

His assumption it was something mechanical rather than alchemical. The music device had been created when he had first started out with this whole Alchemy game, so not all of the inner-works were alchemized: and considering the hammer had broken down on the outside?

It probably meant that the alchemical-component was still functional. Maybe some gears missing?

Gabriel didn’t know, he wasn’t really an engineer.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“I try.” Kaili blew a wide-spread grin at the man and his compliment. All things considered it was less than a few months ago that the girl would actually have been the one to turn him away and get offended. Funny how things turned like that.

“Wouldn’t be me if I couldn’t.” She shrugged and began poking around the device somewhat more thoroughly. Or rather, once the fear of Eldritch had settled on a more stable ground. The hydrospanner poked at the cogs and spun them around. There was a distinct clicking noise and it only seemed to grow louder. A strange buzz seemed to fill the room, like a badly tuned guitar backed by static.

It struck her as odd, but then…

Then it exploded.

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHWAY TO HELL!

The loud noises forced Kaili to instinctively twitch in a moment of panic and reach to cover her ears. But just as quick as the screaming had begun, it was over again. Her eyes were still wide open, her lungs still heaving as if she was back from one of her early morning jogs.

“What the ffffff~uuuuuu~aaaarseeing was that?!” She looked at the blonde man on the other side of the counter and blinked. “My heart, Blondie! Mind my heart, please!”

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

She wasn’t paying to attention to Gabe. That was understandable, of course, what with her trying to fix his device, but because she wasn’t paying attention to Gabriel she missed him silently humming along with the faint, faint beat of his favorite song on that hellish, alchemical walkman.

Hmm, hmm, hmm. Hmm hmm hmm. Hmm hmm hmm, hmm hmm hm, HMM HMM.

HMM MHM.

HIGHWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TO HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL.

His fist launched itself into the sky as that line exploded through the little shop. Even with the source dead again Gabey could still make-out little echoes of the music, artificial harmonics at its finest.

Unf.

Great song.

“Huh? Whatya say?” Gabriel could see her mouth moving, but it had been really hard.

He rubbed his ear and then raised an eyebrow.

“Repeat that, please?”

The regular sounds were coming back to him now. Softly. Slowly. Ah… he missed the song already.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Her ears were still ringing by the time the man decided to respond to her. She let her hands slide from cupping her ear and fall into her lap with a look of someone less-than-amused by what had just happened. What may have been just an average guitar riff to Gabe was nothing short of an explosion to Kaili. Her hearing was one of the things she picked up from her dad, the fact that she could hear most of the things in her surroundings. She had taught herself to dull it out a bit and not think on it, but every now and then she would feel her ears tingle and twitch as something fell to the floor when she hadn’t expected it to.

“I said mind my hearing, Blondie.” The girl looked unimpressed and reached for a couple of nearby ear plugs and got them into place. Switched the on switch to make her hear what was going on around her and went back to work. “So we’re dealing with a faulty cog motivator which also seems to be the one part that picks up most of the metaphysical mojo-jojo-alchemy-stuff waves.”

“Considering the alchemized nature it is fair to assume it’s not broken…” She muttered mainly to herself. “... Maybe something is holding it back.”

The hydrospanner poked and scraped against the innards of the device as Kaili put her home-made earplugs to the test.

“Alright, I am going to try and spin that wheel again.” She warned her customer. “Ready yourself.”

The hydrospanner lead the cog around for another spin. Subtle chanting was heard for a second and Kaili stopped to look around. It was a quiet sound for her, not so much for Gabriel. The hydrospanner continued spinning the wheel and for each repetition the chanting grew louder until eventually song erupted once more into a loud cacophony of everyone’s favorite one-hit wonder.

“I CAN’T STOP THIS FEELIN’ DEEP INSIDE OF MEEE-”

The song went on and Kaili remained all the more unaware of it. The earplugs worked, and for the better too. She felt it, the thing that was wrong with it.

BEAT-BEAT: “I’M HOOKED ON A-”

The hydrospanner stopped moving and so did the song. Kaili unplugged the ear plugs and got herself working on the cause of the problem.

“Your device is fine, but somehow the cog seems to have unscrewed itself. Should prove easy enough of a fix.”

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

All the while Gabey enjoyed himself immensely.

The amount of sound coming out of his little walkman was just unreal. Never had he imagined it was capable of producing this volume and it only made him just a touch more proud about what he had accomplished with it. He was swaying in the music, grooving on the riff and headbanging it along - he didn’t care about the girl behind the counter, the fact that this wasn’t a musical festival, Gabriel was just gone into the rhythm of the sound.

“Huh?” It… unscrewed itself? It took a lot of the young lad not to smirk, grin or chuckle like a common fretboy, instead he kept a straight-up poker face that told nobody nothing.

“Then I guess it has to go... screw itself?”

Still that deadpan expression, but there was a glint of amusement playing in those bluey eyes.

He blinked again and suddenly saw Kaili again. It was almost as if her appearance was changing by the moment, by the shift of the light falling on her, it was a touch weird, but… he liked weird.

Still, though. She still had a girlfriend and it wasn’t cool hitting on a girl who was already dating someone.

Ah, well. There were plenty of fish in the Galactic ocean, and who knew? This one couldn’t be more than 20.
Relationships like that never last anyway.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“I’m sure you’re used to people saying that.” Kaili deadpanned back with a delighted smile. “No, what I meant is that this here wheel,” She held the separated part in front of her and twisted it around between her fingertips. “, is what plays all this music for you. The earphones seem to be more of a measure to localise the ethereal music you keep on hijacking from whatever dimension it is you’re hijacking it from. Maybe it isolates the… Nevermind, let’s just see about fixing this.”

She put the wheel back and put her plugs in. The hydrospanner turned and a voice faded from the dark. Distorted, like a demon. The cog went in the opposite direction of what it was meant to and what came of it was far from what either person would have expected. You’d say you’d never heard anything like it before. Probably not, but many many people had.

And the message was this:

​

“̢̥̮̮͓̬̪͂̍̀̽̀B̡̧̛͍̥̝̖͂̀̑͘͡͠͠e̴̗̠̦̼͔̋̽́͘͡c̴̢̬̣͉͇̜̭̋̄̓͑̐̎̕a͍̠͓̯̲̠̝͗͗͛͋͞u̩̫͕̳̟͐̍̑̆̐̂̚ͅş̴̣̫̰͓̅̾͆̕͞ͅe͕͔̞̯̥̠̤̓̍̔̌̒̓͜͜͟ Í̶̢̨͇͎̪͙͍͔̘̄̓̅͌̚͘ l̴͉͓̟̖͚̫̫̬̹̽̉͂̊̒ị̷̡̹̠̬̊̐̂͂͊̊̽̚ͅṽ̷̧͇̳͇͙͈̙̥͈́͗̍̔̋e̢̡̝͙̺̙͒̀̿̄̆̃͛,̷̨̢̞̮̱̳̗̾́̌̆͆͂̅̅͝ ş̳̠̬͕̱̪̗̄̽͑̽̈́̀̽͛͟͢͡͡ữ̠̣̤̥̥̆͌͗͂͂̀̕͘r̴̥̣̘͍̾͑̈́̏̅̚͟͝e̶̛̯͉͇̺̯͖̣͊̓̌̋̌͡͡l̘̖̦͚̮̓̈̿̄͋̑̇̂ỹ̷̪̰̜͕̦̰̘̥̂́͌̑̆̒̾͢͞ͅ,̬̝̳̝͙̘̼̖̑̍̔̊́̕ ţ̫̠̻̲͉͓͐́͑̂́͘͢h̵͎̟̳̪̦̓̍̀̔͑̓̔̾ȩ͙̭̫͚̖̃̂̀͆͜͟͝r̵͍̟̳̝̪̪͊̒̐̄̚͠e̶͙̹̮͇̼̻͂̋̀͒̄̏͆̌̄͡ͅ'̷͙̣̯̜̘̉̾̈́̒͛͋͑̚͞s̴̖̬͓͙̗͍̆͆̇̓́͢͜ n̵̢͍͉̙̼̣̋̅̀͛͊o̦̳̼͉͎̾̆͆͒͗̒̓͜͝͝ ê͖̲̭̹͇͒̽͐̋̇͊́̎͋͢͜s̹͕̳̥̗͕͖͓͙̔̀͂̂͑͆̿͜͡ć̸̢̛̖͓͈͓̰̠̺̉͒̊͌̋ͅȃ̵̦̤͓̲̖͙̬̩͈̺̀̿͆̄̄̔̀ṗ̸̛̜͔̣͇̰͎͋̉͗̀͊͛͛͛i͓̺̦͕̦̎̾̒̐͝͝ń̨̘͖̺̩͕͗̔̎̐̿͂͆͞ĝ̩̗͕͍͕̳̓̃̆̌̒̇̚̕͟͢ ī̷̢͓̩̦͔̓͗͗͘͠ẗ͈͉͉͚̤̎̉̓́̍̕͟.̧̧͕̳̦̑̀̾́̇̀̅͠ S͈̞͇͍̠͇̐͊͛͘͜͞ͅa̢͉͈̼̫͙̞̲̋̀̂͒̑͊͠͞͞t͎͚̬̘͖̗̍͂̂͒̑̏̍͒̿̽ą͚̜̜̼͈̱͌͑̕̕̚͢n̶͎͔̦̜̭͓̬͖̝͗͛̂̈́͒̓͒͟.̵̹̗͍͔̞͉̓́́͆͒͡ W̴̗̯͚̻̰̋̄̏̔͒̒͆͟ë̞͓̝̱͙̼̜̘͑͂̚͝ ǧ͈̟͙̟͈̈́̍́͛̄ͅò̧̳̤̙͍̤͈̎͊̓̏̌̔͡ţ̨̛̙͎̣̘̪̯̯̇͊̋͋̈́̓̚͜t̷̡͕͎͔̜̠̗̽͊̍̃͌͜͢ą̛̞̙͉̹̈̉̓́͒͌̕̕͞ l̢̡̢̛͕̪̯͉̫̀̃͋̎͟͜͡i̛͇͔̬͈͓̓̄̓͂̎͡͡v̶̟͚͓̥̳̮̤͒́͂͆͘͟ͅe̢̖̣̠̟̫̞̓͑̑̋͘͞͝ f̧̭͕̲͓̈́̀̾̾̽̐̑̾͡ǫ̢̭̤͔̗̻̲̭̪̈́͂͊̇͐̍͆͞͞͞ŗ̩̘͎̯́͗̀͋̉͒ S̠̻̩̖͚̖̙̮͕͑̀͂͒̓ą̵̣͈͚̩̑̿̇̆̋̌́͒̈́͟͝t̸̼͍̺͓͙͚͚̦̥͙͛̐̏̆̄͋͐͞͠͡ą̸͉̥̯͓̘̜̄̉͑̒̓̌̉͜ͅñ̖̜͇̖̳̣̤̈́̌̂̓̈̂̋̅͡”̵̨̢͉̜͈̲́̄̐̊̈́ͅ​

​

Kaili perked her brow and looked at Gabe. That didn’t seem quite right, and who was this ‘Satan’ guy? She looked at the screw that still wasn’t properly attached. “Oh, it’s on backwards.” The girl laughed as she shrugged and quickly got the screw off the track, flipped it and once more the music came back.

“The piper’s calling you to join him. She’s buying her Stairway to Heaven.”

The song was calm, oddly melancholic compared to the previous songs, but Kaili was not one to judge.

“What’s heaven? Who’s satan? What do you listen to, Mister Lethe?”

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

His head tilted, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as they listened to that creepy message echoing through the room. Any other person might have considered it enough to maybe… lay off on the device that was hijacking music tunes from that particular dimension, but for Gabey? It dropped out of his mind a moment after it stopped and they were chuckling again.

It just really wasn’t in his arsenal to ‘worry’ all that much about things. No point in it, life was way too short to be concerned about everything and everything.

You just had to ride out the storm and see where you ended up.

“Droids, if I knew that, I wouldn’t have to ask you to help me fix it.”

A rare moment of introspective display. Gabey knew he didn’t exactly seem like the brightest tool of the shed, but most of it was just play.

He was a silly goof, someone who liked to have a good time.

Being serious all the time only cramped his style.

“But I do know that whatever it is… it’s goooooooood.” Then a chuckle, before Gabey brushed against the walkman.

Hmm, it did feel right this time around. Something of the static rubbing off of him, maybe.

 

[Kaili Talith]

The earplugs were allowed to remain in place. The more time Kaili spent with the device on her workbench the more she felt like it was a must. Her gaze remained adamant on the cogs of it, the one place in which the data card would be deposited, only not really, those models had gone extinct a good couple hundred years ago. Two, to be precise after the failed revival of Taped Storage Devices at the hands of the Retro Fascists. These days it was little less than a passed fad or a fancy, Blondie being one of the final pioneers when it came to displaying these particular inclinations for tech.

Or maybe he just liked the look of it. Kaili wouldn’t know which.

“Agree to disagree.” Kaili muttered at the man’s praise for the music. The tool in her hand went into the machinery as she unplugged the incorrect cog, flipped it over and put it back down. Her head gently shook as she readied herself for another round of ear busting music.

And with a very gentle push she sped the cogs along.

“WOOOHOOOO! WHEN I FEEL HEAVY METAL-”

The girl didn’t even twitch this time, but she took the resulting clean and crisp sound of the music as a sign of progress.

“Well, we got that fixed. Possibly.” She said and placed her finger on the ‘Play’ button. “Let’s make sure.”

“-AND I’M PINS AND I’M NEEDLES. WOOOOHOOOO!”

The girl hit the stop button and looked at the device in surprise.

“It’s not supposed to play the music out loud like that, right?” She said and gave [member="Gabriel Lethe"] a curious look. “Most media players need, you know, speakers for that.”