friendly smirk on his face. He says, "Welcome to Tony's, sir. Please, take off your shoes and sit down." There's a door behind him.

• Gabe pauses and blinks, then slowly does. the lack of speed is part uncertainty and mostly having to balance while taking the shoes off. he sits.

Geminid "And what's your name, sir?"

Gabe "uh, Gabe." he hesitates, then figures maybe he ought to give his proper name. "Gabriel Corbannon."

Geminid "I'm Tony, Gabe. How are you?"

Gabe "Nice t'meet you." he shrugs a bit. "Been better, but pretty good so far, everything considered. You?"

Geminid "I'm doing well, doing well. So, tell me, Gabe, what's your worth?"

Gabe
ACTION looks at him for a moment before shrugging again. "does anybody ever really know? There's a lot of theories, but my dad always said you judge the worth of a man by the company he keeps, an' how he treats those under him." he grins. "Don't really have anyone under me, so I guess my worth is as much as the folk I'm runnin' with, Alsa and the others, my family...I'd give my life for 'em, an' that's pretty much everything[CUT]

Geminid It cuts at "everything"

Gabe I got."

Gabe that wasit.

Geminid "All right, all right. Tell me about Alsa and the others."

Gabe "Alsa's a great guy. Gave me a chance on the set...woulda given me another if there'd been time 'fore all this. And he knows what we're doin', where we're goin', he's pretty much our leader, guess you could say. I trust him like one, anyway.

Geminid He nods, "Go on..."

Gabe Tilluel...she's a sweetheart, she cares about everyone. Even a useless bum like me." he grins, joking. "And she's gotten damn good with that magic of hers. She pretty much holds everyone together. I do what I can to protect her, pay her back for talkin' Alice down all those times."

Gabe "Alice is a real brat, a pain in the ass, but...well, she's tryin' to fight this too, whatever her motives are. And she helped Tilluel out a lot before I met 'em, that's gotta count for somethin', right?"

Gabe "The gnome, Quacklin...crazy as they come, but he's an okay guy. He just wants to help, most of the time - I think, can't ever tell with gnomes. I know the stuff he's made has helped us out a lot in the past, and it probabyl still will in the future."

Geminid "Go on."

Gabe "Miss Murray, Angela, she's okay too. Ran with a bad crowd until recently, I think. She and my dad had reason to dislike one another, I know that, but she's saved my ass more than once. I owe her, gotta find a way to pay her back. And she's trustworthy, got a code of honor harder'n steel far as I can tell."

Gabe "The others at the hat shop, they're doin' what they can, too, to save the city. We're all in this together. I dunno how much I can help, but I aim to do everything I can. 'Specially for my family."

Geminid "You keep mentioning family, especially your dad. Lots of people in your little circle. So, tell me, who is the most important person in the world to you?"

• Gabe falls into silent, serious thought for a moment before meeting Tony's eyes. "My sister. Rudi."

Geminid "Tell me about that."

Gabe "She's my little sister. Growin' up, she got me better'n most anyone else in the family. she turned up in the hospital, I nearly panicked. She disappeared, I nearly hit my brother Ron for accusin' me of not lookin' out for her. When she started hunting...the Arsonist...I kept worryin' about her, hopin' she'd be okay, I mean

Geminid cuts off at "I mean"

Gabe intentionally, still typing.

Gabe this guy was burnin' down buildings. I thought he was after her to get to me. That's why I really started goin' after him. and now she's gone, as far as I know, with the rest of the city, and the only thing I can think of when I think about those folk stuck in that machine is if I'm ever gonna see Rudi again, if she's gonna be okay when she gets out...I gotta get her outta there, get her out safe, whatever it takes."

Geminid "And what about Sherry?"

• Gabe stiffens. "...The only time she's the most important thing is when she's right there in front of me; I can't think about anything else when she is. It's not real. Whatever connection she's got with me, I don't know how to break it, we've been tryin' but we haven't come up with anything...until it's gone, I know I'm a liability, especially if she shows up, but...I gotta keep tryin', right?"

Geminid "But she's filled your metaphysical cavity with her essence. She's traded her icy touch for your soul."

Geminid ?

Geminid Hello?

• Gabe looks down for a moment, then back up, frustrated. "I don't know what to do about that. I barely know what it means - I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I know. But you asked about the most important person, an' that's my sister. I gotta keep Sherry alive until I figure out where she's keepin' my soul. I want to keep Rudi alive as long as possible."

Gabe I'm here, he's just conflicted right now and had to sort it out.

Geminid "Interesting. So even though Shery holds your very essence, your sister has more value to you?"

• Gabe meets his eyes levelly. "Yeah."

Geminid "One last question."

Geminid "What would you give for the chance to pick your pick of all the treasures in the world?"

• Gabe shrugs slightly. "All I got to give is me, what's left of me. Choosin' from all the treasures in the world, seems kinda silly to offer an item in exchange for that, don't you think? What one thing would possibly be worth that, that wouldn't already be a part of those treasures?"

Geminid He laughs, "An interesting point. So you'd offer yourself body and what accounts for a soul?"

• Gabe grins a bit. "What else have I got? It's the stuff stories are made of."

Geminid "True enough. Go on in. Have a look around. Pick out something nice for yourself. But just one thing. I'll know if you try anything more."

Geminid "But."

• Gabe nods and starts to rise, then pauses, looking at him.

Geminid "When you die, if you have a soul, it comes here to help me for ten years before it moves on."

• Gabe looks at him a moment, then nods. "Alright."

Geminid He reaches out a hand to shake on it.

• Gabe takes it.

Geminid He shakes. He lets you into the vault.

• Gabe wanders on in.

Geminid Row upon row, shelf upon shelf, pile upon pile, there's /stuff/. Magic, void, faith, technology, mundane or mysterious, everything, three of everything is in here, though not three next to each other, ever.

Geminid Anything you can imagine.

Geminid Pick one thing. Magic and faith and such are to my discretion, as is tech level.

• Gabe stares for a long moment before immediately setting to looking for something that'll help him help everyone else with getting rid of monsters, rather than his just sitting there being one-armed and useless.

Geminid Such as?

Gabe He's not picky, but since he does only have the one hand, a ranged weapon of some sort is what he immediately thinks of. A swung weapon (sword, etc) would also be on his list, so he can get the feel of one for when/if eh gets the Sword.

Geminid That's fine, but you the player have to tell me what you take. Specifically.

Gabe Looks like a sword of some sort.

Geminid Go on.

Geminid ?

Gabe quick research.

Gabe hm. probably something between short- and bastard-sword length (2-3.5 feet), as it'll be easier to use. He'd be drawn to something obviously Story-related just because it's Gabe, a sword resembling one that some old hero used in some tale or other.

Geminid You need to be more specific.

Geminid If the sword has powers, what are they?

Gabe I'm working on it. How's this: A sword about 3 feet long, double-bladed with a fuller down the middle, simple cross-hilt, black-wrapped hilt, appears to be just a simple knight's arming sword. possible powers could include holding the (or certain) abilities of past users such that the current user can use them, being strong against undeath or evil, having some kind of enchantment to warn the wielder/bearer of danger, emitting[CUT]

Gabe I'm jsut drawing wholesale from fantasy swords I know here.

Geminid emitting[cut]?

Gabe light when certain creatures are near.

Geminid Tony has swords that do some of that. Pick one of those powers.

Gabe The first.

Geminid Great. I'm giving it four previous owners. What abilities does it have?

Geminid No, I lie

Geminid I'm giving it two previous owners, and the abilities it has can't be any of those you just listed.

Gabe okay. One ability would be...quicker reflexes, if that's cool...

Geminid +6 reaction. And?

Gabe And...an enhanced sense of his enemy's weaknesses?

Geminid A Weakness Sense equal to his AWA

Geminid Cut!