Quote Originally Posted by Destro_Yersul View Post
Sea of Stars
+++Episode 8 - Continued+++

OOC Thread

"Full of brilliant observations," Etula deadpanned. "Yes, I'd love for the rumourmongering to stop."

Then she frowned, eyeing Macharius suspiciously. "More to you than meets the eye though, I wager. They've been indiscriminate, whoever it is. Now they could be doing that to throw off suspicion, but if suspicion's the goal, that wouldn't make sense. It also wouldn't make sense if eliminating political opponents is the goal. As many of them have been Uncle's allies as not. It's probably not politics, which makes my position a lot more complicated, now doesn't it?"

Etula sighed, and slowly started pacing. "All right, fine. Now I'm frakking intrigued, you interfering bastards. If not politics, what could they want? The targets are seemingly random, the only constant is that they don't hit the palace, where security is much tighter. The only person I've seen that's been even close to as paranoid about security as Uncle is our dear hostess this evening. The guards are one thing, the security systems she's put into this place must have cost a fortune or two. She's always been a bit funny about dying though, she's put it off about as long as she can with rejuvenats, so it's on brand. Bad location for the ancestral estate to sit, right now."

Suddenly, she stopped walking. "What if it's access? The palace is out on the end of that huge bridge, at the top of a rock spire. Sure, there's elevators, and smaller bridges, but everything's watched constantly. There's no way to approach without being seen unless you can fly. The Stalker's got wings, we've all been assuming they can fly, but nobody has heard anything as loud as a jump pack, grav generators are too big.. maybe they're for gliding."
Macharius grins roguishly. More than a foppish dilettante mostly concerned with showing off to other fops, you mean? Perhaps I haven't survived the Expanse purely based on luck, hoho!

He continues talking in that same bright tone, smiling widely, looking for all the world like he's merely spinning idle tales or engaging in polite flirting, though keeping his voice low enough to be just indistinct out of their little group. Not random, I don't think. The Stalker has been getting better over time. Quicker, cleaner, more surgical. Without the blood and gore you'd expect if this was a pleasure killer. What if they're looking for something? I agree that they may well be human, but wayward humans have an unfortunate tendency to serve darker masters. Were any of the victims known or rumored to have any sort of... collections? Officially, of course, no one has xenos or heretical artifacts, but in my experience such collectors are rather common among the bored and wealthy.

He roars with laughter again, plucking a pastry off the table.