The golem locked itself on the two of them, and it became too late to argue. Golems could be killed, it was true, but John had never seen it done before. No one living from Thimbelatch had either, for that matter. But he'd stayed behind to distract the thing, and if she wanted to sacrifice herself for strangers, it was her choice. Who knew--maybe she was strong enough to actually kill it.

Nodding at Atalanta, he scrambled up the rocks, and began to shout at the creature aggressively until it growled back at him, reaching low for another projectile. He had the advantage of size, in this case, and he hoped he could keep it distracted until it tired him out or he made a mistake. Either way, his life was in her hands now.

---

"Stamarians," Aleina repeated, pronouncing the word carefully and with a touch of distaste. She rose slower than him but followed him to the door. "Do you think that's wise, given everything else?" No doubt Elle'n would throw a fit if she knew Larent was going to try and lay the first bricks of her empire with nothing but rubble.

Rogueport

Sera wrinkled her nose as an extra helping of confusion was leveled on her. "But you're a player. You'd just respawn---." She trailed off.

It dawned on her that perhaps it was that exact circumstances that had made Audra's rise to mistress possible. Being unkillable made rises to power a bit more---complicated.


____


Tsuminar

"You're going to have to seriously get used to the whole Stamarian thing." The man chided as he opened the door. "Once you get past the nonsensical jackassery we're all prone to. We're really just cute, cuddly teddy bears that want nothing but love and small heart-shaped biscuits." Larent replied stoically as he walked out into half-there light, obscured by clouds above.

"Depending on your level of bias, you'll find these two Stamarians to be a cut above the rest. On the flip-side, however. They demand slightly bigger heart-shaped biscuits."

With that, he walked towards a waiting van, humming softly to himself. Leaving the woman to decide if she would follow or not.

Audra grinned in a downright predatory manner as realization dawned on the other girls. Lacing her hands together behind her head, the Mistress of Thieves leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. "Luckily I never told her that I was a player, and watched my language around her. I dunno why she had me killed, but I figured if she felt that way, I might as well return the favor and give her a cold day in Hell."

Fille rolled her eyes and sagged her shoulders at Audra's awful remark. She knew her friend favored the element of ice when it came to the usage of magic. "So you assassinated her in turn..." she said, trailing off.

"And took her operations for my own, yeah," Audra confirmed. "Not bad, huh?"

As the battle began in earnest, Atalanta strafed to the side, away from John, firing her weapon at it in an effort to confuse the construct. Rock and frozen soil were chipped away as the energy bolts struck against its body, doing pitiful damage to the golem.

The bounty hunter grimaced. That was the problem with golems--few things were effective against them, most notably magic and explosives. The former was completely out of the question for her, while the latter was in short supply--she only had a few bomb items on her. She'd need to maximize the damage they could do. But how?

She scrambled out into an open area and opened fire again, repeatedly pulling the trigger before shouting. "Oi! Over here!" she yelled, squeezing off a few more shots. Best not let the golem get too close to John.

"It's not even that," Aleina responded with a sudden touch of diffidence, but she followed him anyway. "I've worked with Stamarians before, and it gives me a bad taste in my mouth, but they're capable enough. But a crack team of Stamarians to take down Stamarians? Like training a pack of wolves to take down their alpha when a bear will do just fine." She paused, looking at the vehicle.

"So I suppose you just want me to get into the shady van with you on our first date? Not very subtle."

---

John grit his teeth as she tried to take the attention away, but the golem listened to her shots. He'd never seen anything like that weapon she carried, but he could see its value. It killed wolves and even dented a golem, but he didn't have the luxury of thinking too deeply about it right now, especially because it was picking up another rock to throw. Unconsciously, he stooped to pick up a stone of his own, never taking his eyes off the monster, and something caught his attention.

There, underneath its monstrously thick arms, the dirt seemed less frozen, almost fleshy, and without thinking he fired off his stone just as the monster hurled its own. If it really was a weak spot he had seen, hopefully it would affect the thing's aim.

Tsuminar


Larent popped the back door of the van open and swung it wide, allowing Aleina entrance into the well-lit interior. He extended a hand graciously. "Who said anything about taking anyone down?" He asked curiously, interest on his face. "We're not staging an assault, nor are we assassins. Not today."


Rogueport

"I suppose being unkillable has it's advantages." Sera finally said with a bit of a shrug. Feeling pangs of envy in her stomach. Audra had many lives to live. Sera had a few short weeks. If only she could have more time--- "But a player. In charge of Rogueport--that's quite a trick." She finally added with a bit more emotion, her gentle smile quickly returning.

"And a pain in my ass, too," Audra agreed. "But it means they can't get rid of me that easily. "No idea if that Liam guy is really aware of who's running the show here, but he'll find out which of us in charge soon enough. You don't attack Rogueport without suffering consequences."

"Just... don't piss off the Four Gods or something," Fille told her. "At least until I get out of here."

Audra rolled her eyes. "I promise you, this place isn't gonna be incinerated while you're still here," she told her friend in a half-patronizing manner.

Atalanta dove to the side as the golem twisted itself about, hurling the boulder through the air at where she had been moments prior. The bounty hunter only narrowly escaped death, as a thrown rock jammed itself into one of the construct’s joints and altering its aim at the last second. The projectile made a resounding crash as it hit the ground and bounced away from the momentum. Atalanta hit the ground on her shoulder and rolled, bringing up her weapon and snapping off more shots as she exited it.

As she opened fire, she glanced at the arm that had attacked her, studying it for a brief moment, trying to figure out what John had seen. The construct was moving again, reaching to pick up another boulder, and she soon saw what captured the green-armored man's attention.

That makes sense, she thought. Something like that would need something to allow for movement without friction and grinding.

That left her with two options on how to harm this thing. Disrupt the softer materials that allowed for its movement, and to burn away the vines that were laced through the golem's body, holding it together. She smirked. Now all she needed to do was get close. She flung open her left hand to bring up her interface menu, and lifted up her gun to fire again.

Edited by RisingDragon on April 12, 2015 at 19:19:27

"Not if we have any choice about it, anyway," Aleina muttered, taking his hand and climbing into the van in spite of herself. "What else do you think her game is long term, though? She's about to try and get even, and I feel bad for anyone in the way. Maybe it'll be in the next month, maybe the next year--who knows." The raven-haired woman shrugged, finding a seat in the vehicle and settling herself.

"So tell me about the job, then. She's all but put you in charge and hasn't told me hardly a thing."

---

As the projectile landed dangerously close to Atalanta, John couldn't help but grimace. Another one of those and there was no telling if she would walk away from it. If she died, it would only be a matter of time until he did as well. There wasn't much to do besides risk it all, at this point. With a grunt, he let the shout he wanted to yell die out in his throat, choosing to keep silent as he kicked against the frozen ground, charging toward the golem as fast as he could in his armor.

As it stooped to grab another stone, he jumped, grabbing onto a frozen root that protruded from its back and pulling himself up onto the monster. The thing howled and dropped the boulder it had just begun to consider, and John prepared to hold on for his life.

Rogueport


"Well . . ." Sera faltered a moment, unsure of how to speak next. "Good luck in your fight? Or war? Assassination mission? Whatever you plan to do." She trailed off uncertainly. She paused a moment, then shrugged once, speaking gently, offering all that she had to give. "I--uh. I can't really repay you. If there's anything I have that you need though, it's yours."

____


Tsuminar


Larent closed the door to the van with a dull thud and a click as it latched. A moment later it slowly pulled out into traffic as he sat in the chair next to the door, sure to leave her as much room as possible, so as not to seem a predator cornering prey. "Her game?" He spoke softly, slowly. Taking a careful measure of each word. "I don't know her well enough to assume. I would hazard a guess she's more likely to wish to be the power behind the throne, rather than the figurehead atop it. But perhaps she's vain and wishes the spotlight."

He shrugged, "As to the job, you're the distraction. I hope you don't mind playing a snob." He ended simply.

Audra waved the bard off. "Don't worry about it, Sera," she told her kindly. "You keep what's yours. I reckon you're gonna need it for the journey you're on."

"You should at least remain one more night here," Fille recommended. "Get some rest before you leave, and give Audra a chance at finding you someone reliable to smuggle you out of here." Audra only nodded at Fille's advice.

John's grappling of the construct gave Atalanta the time she needed to bring what few explosives she had with her out of her inventory and onto her belt. As the golem flailed about angrily, trying to dislodge the warrior from its back, Atalanta began to strafe around it, trying to get a clear shot at the vines and roots holding its legs together, firing intermittently whenever the opportunity presented itself. If I can just get close enough...

"Pull out the vines!" she shouted to the man atop the golem. "Rip it apart if you can!"

Aleina couldn't help but snicker. "Being a snob around Stamarians? It's what I do best, in case you hadn't realized yet. I could get cross-eyed staring down my nose at you people," she said, a good-natured grin coming to her face at that. Maybe she shouldn't be so hard with him, maybe he wasn't as bad as the rest, but it was easier to look at all the Stamarians the same. Law of averages, right? For every half-decent one, there was bound to be one even more barbaric than most. It all balanced out in the end.

"So what exactly are we going after? Kidnapping? Some artifact? Backdoor into their mainframe? Has she even told you yet?" It wouldn't really surprise her if all he knew was a location or some other half-scrap of information. Elle'n would keep someone in the dark as long as possible, given the opportunity. It gave her leverage and she knew it--the woman was certainly one of those 'more barbaric than the rest' of that ilk.

---

At her suggestion, John reached for the nearest vine and pulled as hard as he could, but his hand slipped off the slick, frozen thing. With a grunt he threw himself to one side of the thing's back as its opposite hand flew behind itself, searching for the nuisance. He managed to dodge its bulky fingers for the moment, though, and he reached for another vine that looked more promising. With a grunt, he grabbed it and pulled as hard as he could.

The monster let out a satisfying scream, the stone and dirt that comprised its hide shifting hideously like some deformed muscle that had just had a tendon snapped out of it. Maybe they could be killed after all.

Rogueport



Sera shook her head, a tinge of fear needling in her gut. Not the fear of being killed. No. She was dead already, her brain just hadn't caught up to the fact. No, fear of not getting close enough. The fear of failing. The god-awful fear of hearing that same tone her mother had used the first time she'd heard her speak after the accident. . .

"Well really," she said something, her voice carrying with it that same tinge of terror. "I should be leaving, tonight. I came in, in the evening. Should be able to survive leaving in the evening again."

____


Tsuminar



He inclined his head, ignoring her snicker with practiced patience. "Information is ammunition, as a personal hero of mine once uttered." He replied, his tone light, belying the treasonous words he was about to utter. "We're going to place an information tap on the local Stamarian Mainframe. Also," Here he didn't pause, though this information was not technically something Elle'n had suggested. A test to see how much Aleina reported back. "We're going to set up a dummy system. In which we can control information flow through this mainframe to the rest of the intelligence community in Tsuminar."

He settled into his seat as the van trundled along the paved streets, edging its way through the morning traffic. He drummed his fingers on the edge of the small desk built into the side of the van. Curious to see her expression, and better yet, her response.



Edited by Ajax on April 20, 2015 at 5:51:12

Aleina considered it for a good little while, her mind racing back to previous jobs of similar aims. Finally she responded, her words chosen carefully. "We tried doing something like that to the White Lions once. The Core's internal protocols were too strong, and it blew up in our faces. Guess there are perks for rubbing shoulders with the Angels, though. But this seems doable. What does she want with the dummy system--don't suppose she's told you, has she?" Elle'n had always wanted a bigger piece of the pie than anyone else seemed willing to give, but this was ambitious even for her.

After a moment, Aleina caught herself, backpedaling a bit. "Actually, scratch that, it's easier if I don't know. Then maybe they'll just send my body to Hades instead of throwing me in a hole somewhere until I talk." Not much worse than being hated by both your allies and your enemies.

Tsuminar


Larent fought the urge to crack a wolfish, predatory grin at her sudden backpedal. His features twitching in what he hoped was more a expression that said in polite, neutral terms "I'm curious." as opposed to something more sinister.

"You think we'll fail?" He finally settled on, the van jostling gently to and fro as it pushed its way through the ever-more crowded streets.

"No skin off her nose if he do, hm?" Aleina asked, referring to Elle'n. "I've worked for her before and never had a job go bad, though. She's got too much to gain this time for her to start now, I think. I hope you don't think we'll fail, seeing as you're as in-charge over this as anyone I'm going to see. No, you don't seem the type to put your eggs in a basket with a hole in it."

"Well, if you insist," Audra said with a frown. "Ships don't leave here at night very often, so I can't guarantee you passage from here."

The woman rose from her seat and brushed her hands on her skirt, before holding one out for Sera to shake. "It's been fun, Sera."

It was just as Atalanta had hoped--the construct needed something throughout its structure to hold together, and by ripping out the right root or vine, John had managed to cripple it. She dashed forward as the golem slumped, skipping over the frozen rocks and twisting out of the way of an incoming arm, and she was next to its damaged side.

She clicked on the arming button on her grenade and smashed it into the soft soil of the golem's armpit, muffling the rising whine of the timer. Then she flung herself away with a shout of "Get clear!" to John--he wouldn't want to be on the thing when it lost its limb.

John glanced at the upturned rocks where he might land and grimaced. Dropping from here was bound to leave him with a broken ankle, but the way Atalanta was moving, it seemed there might be a chance. He would break both his legs and his arms for the possibility of defeating a golem construct.

As he loosened his grip on the monster, though, it suddenly bucked, throwing him into the air and turning with surprising speed, a massive stone hand enclosing itself around him. Before he could think, those fingers squeezed, and he felt every single bone in his body scream in purest agony against the vice-like pressure on all sides of him. Before he could think, he screamed in agony too.

It was only for a brief moment that the golem attempted to crush the man in green armor, as then the timer ran out on the bomb Atalanta had jammed into its arm. Normally an antipersonnel weapon, the grenade proved far more destructive by being completely buried, like a firecracker enclosed in someone's fist.

The construct screamed not unlike it had when John had ripped out the vines, and its other arm hit the ground beside it, staggering the golem in the blast. Atalanta rushed up and leaped, snagging her free hand on a vine hanging from the socket of its severed limb and vaulting onto the remaining arm with it. Once she found her purchase, the bounty hunter twisted around towards the golem's face. "Try that shit on me, ugly!" she taunted, pulling the trigger on her blaster and spitting burning energy at her opponent.

The blast flung John from the creature's hand as it teetered backward, and he landed roughly on the rocks below, letting the armor plates that protected him take most of the impact. As she taunted the creature, it turned to focus solely on her and he saw his chance even while he was trying to find his breath again. Where the vines had been pulled away and the lumpy mass had shifted, a pulsating pod of sorts was revealed beneath the surface of the thing's hide. It was shifting constantly, trying to repair itself, but he thought he had a chance.

Clambering to his feet, he unsheathed his sword again and charged, leaping off of a rock and aiming the point of the sword down. Steel sliced through cold earth, aimed at a gap in the rocks, and he felt his blade enter the creature's heart, burying itself deep. Beneath him, the golem sputtered and lurched, as if trying to balance itself, before it came crashing to the ground a moment later.

Atalanta fumbled on the golem's lurch, yelped in surprise as she teetered on its arm, and then finally swore and jumped awkwardly from the construct, hitting the ground in an attempt to roll, only to knock the wind out of herself and land uncomfortably on a protruding rock that ground itself into her back.

She pulled herself out of the wet snow gave herself a shake, muttering in annoyance at how her makeshift cloak was now a wet mess before pausing to admire John's handiwork. "Found the core for it, huh?" she remarked, looking at where the man had buried his sword. "Not bad."

She turned to look around at the carnage around them, at the bodies of the men who fell victim to the golem, and grimaced at the losses. "We could've done better for your men, though."

"They wouldn't have had it any other way," John replied, only a touch of regret in his voice. He reached to grab his sword, but upon pulling on it found it completely stuck in the carcass of the monster. With a sigh, he let the hilt go, unbuckling one of his fallen men's scabbards and replacing his own. "Out here, the only reason not to go down fighting with one of these is to live to defend the Wall. Most of them would gladly leave house and home for the chance at killing a golem such as this, but..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish what he was going to say. But it doesn't feel like I'd imagined it might.

"Thimbelatch will need our help, if you're intent on sticking with me," he said after a moment. "We've helped them only a little by killing this creature. Undoubtedly, many more are already swarming the walls, and we will have to hope the other men get back in time to stop them."

Rogueport


Sera shook Audra's hand, nodding with the words. "It has. Been fun. I mean." She stammered a bit. Goodbyes had taken on a different feeling, since she'd entered the game and begun her "idiotic" quest. Bittersweet. Glad to have met, but never to meet again. "Audra, Fille. Please--be well." She shivered, her senses tingling and a sadness coming over her. Visible through her eyes. "I hope you find a way out of the game. Give your family a hug, when you do. It's precious."

She offered her hand to Fille, smiling wistfully. "Thanks for sticking your neck out, for me."


____



Tsuminar



"No, I'm not that sort of person." Larent agreed simply. "And no, I don't think it will fail. But she wanted you on this little operation, and gave me little to work with. It's always useful to know where the unknown party member stands."

He stopped drumming his fingers and handed her a file, within the details of a cover, crafted to be a particularly pretentious intelligence officer. "A basic cover, but there's beauty in simplicity. Do try to be snotty. The guards have a thing about stunning women who treat them like dirt."

Edited by Ajax on April 26, 2015 at 4:11:25

Fille took the proferred hand and used it to pull Sera into a warm hug, nodding against the girl. "Just remember to complete it, okay?" she reminded her before pulling back. "Make sure you make the goal worthwhile."

"More of them?" Atalanta asked, moving up to follow the man in green. "You mean this isn't just some bad random encounter? This is a coordinated attack? What could anyone possibly gain from attacking a place as remote as this?"

Was Victor on to something when he listened to the rumors about this place? Could they actually have something pertaining to the Arcanum Relics here? Perhaps even one of the Relics themselves?

Rogueport



The hug was a welcome surprise, and Sera leaned into it gratefully. Taking the precious moments of solace Fille had offered. "That's the plan." She murmured, nodding shakily. She backed up a bit, boots scraping on the wooden dusty wooden floor. Her expression that of conflicted emotions, biting her lip in thought, a wisp of hair trailing down in front of her face. Unnoticed for a few brief seconds. "I---uh. Have a good life." She finally said, her voice whisper quiet. With that, she backed up further, giving a graceful bow to the women before she spun and headed for the door.

Fille watched as Sera turned to leave, her face carefully blank to not give away the apprehension she felt at the other Theta's departure. Sera's journey was only going to keep getting rough, and what awaited her at the end twisted her guts up into knots just thinking about it. She started as a hand was laid on her shoulder, and she turned to Audra.

"I'll go make sure she finds a boat to give her safe passage," she told her friend. "You go on back to the warehouse and ask for a room. We'll talk later, 'kay?"

Fille nodded once. "Better go quick then," she told the Mistress of Thieves. "They work quick here."

"Don't I know it. See ya later, Fille," she said with a wave, trotting after Sera.

Fille sighed and sank back into her seat. She really hoped the rest of the week here won't be as trying as it had been so far.

The night passed without incident, and eventually Rua lifted his eyes to the tops of the trees, seeing the pale beginnings of an imminent sunrise appear through the leaves. He sighed and stretched his arms out from the rock he sat upon, ending it with a big yawn. Another night where he stayed up to keep watch, and lord if the nights around here didn't drag on.

Mepple and Relayia were still asleep, the former in his bedroll and the latter curled up in his satchel. Idly, he wondered how long Mepple would take to rouse in the mornings. They had a long trek ahead of them, after all.

Aleina scoffed lightly, masking her small affection for the compliment. She knew it was stupid to be flattered about a comment on her in-game appearance; it wasn't her, after all. This body was far more perfect, far more capable than her self outside this world. Over the last few months, though, she had grown all too accustomed to it. It was a second skin for her now, and while she doubted that that was particularly healthy, it was what it was.

"Easy enough," she replied to Larent, taking the folder and flipping it open to peruse its contents. "And who are you going to be?"

---

John was already on his way further down the now gradually sloping mountainside before he would turn to answer her question, intent on not wasting any more time here. "It's not about any 'one' person doing this, it's just the nature of this world," he replied as if he were explaining something that was supposed to be obvious but that he didn't totally understand either. "For as long as any history can record, the Great Wall has repelled monsters trying to come down from the north. The towns are as ancient as this mountain, and the people here don't know any life but defending."

He paused for a moment, glancing up at the mountain to try and figure how much further they had to go down. "I take it where you come from things are different?" For all he knew, the whole world fought this same battle against a constant wave of oppression. Atalanta was the first outsider he had ever met.

---

Orup blinked groggily, smacking his lips together to try and get some moisture going while shifting uncomfortably. He had sworn that when he got near Rogueport, there wouldn't be any more nights sleeping on dirt with rocks jabbing into your shoulders... But he knew it wasn't so simple. He still had unfinished business in these parts.

"D'I miss anything during the night?" he asked sleepily, not even sure if Rua was nearby at the moment.

Edited by Ribitta on April 23, 2015 at 12:44:01

Rua blinked and looked up from where he sat, at the sound of his companion's voice. He hadn't expected the man to get up this early--it was still gray out, before the sun would crest the distant mountaintops.

"No, nothing eventful," he told him, standing up from his rock and stretching, causing Relayia to wake up and paw her way out of the satchel she was residing in. She took roost on the arm he propped against his hip. "You're up pretty early, though."

"Hmm," Atalanta hummed, considering what John had told her. It sounded pretty unusual, but this was the far north, beyond the Great Wall. Here, the toughest monsters in the game resided, so powerful monsters were expected. But constant attacks? It seemed weird to her. Maybe there was a detail that they were missing?

"Well, I suppose not," she responded, only partially lying to the man in green armor. "War never really changes, after all. I guess it's just unusual to see monsters constantly attacking, rather than men."

Orup blew out his mustache irritably at the comment as it caused him to remember something. "That's because this body of mine is worse than useless," he muttered, cracking his neck loudly. "I have to pee," he announced sourly, lumbering into the woods where he stayed for almost a full ten minutes. When he came back, though, he looked a little more lively though not much less bitter. "When I get my hands on the thing that did this to me, I'm going to brew its bony behind and force it down its throat."

---

"Men fighting other men," John replied with an incredulous laugh, as if he couldn't imagine it. "What a waste." Up here, any living body was just one more that could defend the wall. Some of the cowards left the towns to pursue adventure, but for the most part everyone played their part. Just the concept of people wasting their lives throwing themselves against each other made him grimace distastefully.

The ground was beginning to even out again a bit, and the rocks were less frequent and less steep, giving them an easier path. "We had better pick up the pace, if we want to make it back before it's all over," he added, breaking into little more than a trot. He wasn't willing to leave his armor behind, and it wouldn't do anyone any good to make it back to the village totally exhausted.

When he returned, Rua was tending the fire so they could make breakfast, with Relayia sitting on his shoulders, watching the flames intently. He looked up at the alchemist's return, and cocked an eyebrow. "That'll be something to see, I bet," he remarked, before asking. "Did something happen to you?"

"You're right," Atalanta agreed, speeding up to keep pace with John. She had an easier time of it--armor pieces and blaster aside, her suit was lighter than the plate mail that John wore. "How many can we expect to appear at Thimbelatch?" she asked between breaths, glancing aside at the warrior.

Orup settled himself next to the fire, trying not to think about how short-lived the cool of the morning was going to be in the rainforest again. That was just one other feature of this body: the heat was ten times as strong.

"You think I've always looked like this?" he replied, slapping his stomach irritably. "Everyone else is running around with bodies molded for the Greek Olympics, battling dragons and climbing canyons. This game is too dangerous for anyone in anything short of perfect condition. No, I was like the rest of you until that Lich cursed me to look like this. Now I've got two reasons to teach him a lesson."

---

"Hard to say," John replied, his eyes lifting to the horizon to scan it. "Even though the elders have dismissed the idea of it, some of the men have been talking about the monsters growing stronger, smarter even. After today, I'm inclined to agree with them--they watched your vessel crash into the mountain just like the rest of us did. They knew we would go investigate it, and they were waiting for us." His eyes found what was he was looking for on the horizon, and he pointed at the faint column of smoke that ascended to the sky. Maybe they were already too late.

"Transformation curse, huh? I suppose it could've been worse," Rua mused as he took out the ingredients he needed for the soup he was cooking over the fire. He pulled out his belt knife and began carving up pieces of cheese into the pot. "Better that than turning you into some animal, like a giant frog."

He continued to speak as he sliced, keeping a careful eye on his work, lest his cut his thumb off. "Well, not all of us are in perfect condition. Some of us Thetas took up Y-Corp's offer for an avatar reset," he told the alchemist. "They said it'd be better for our mental health in the long run. I was one of them."

"It's entirely possible, yeah," Atalanta agreed, thinking of the crashed ship, and the scathing message she'd be sending Victor about it later. "But I think it's more likely that something's controlling them. That kind of thing's been known to happen down south."