The tidal waters have been murky for many years, littered in trash from many years and something items were glitching. A lot of broken and misplaced from time. The locals come mud lurking, by the touch of humans - the objects stabilize to the time and era that human assumes. Yet this mud was full of dangerous hidden pieces from all sorts of broken time periods. From the bottles of medicine, scented oils and Victorian pipes. There is broken thrown weapons - arrows, guns, bombs and even future tech that shimmers in the crystal charge. The river keep many lost items and all the more secrets.
"Anything worth today?" the mates stepping to the concrete steps back up the embankment. Many of these folks were here for history - pipes, coins and the occasional historical find of the century. They were soon distant as the gate clatters closing. As it was forcefully bounced, not closing the first time. The hinges creaked and clattered a second time.
The Elizabeth tower a short throw away gongs the new hour. The gate clattered a third time, of a team of folks opening it to get ready for a full kit dive to the dangerous water levels. Evading the mutants of the bridge and the road ways. This entry onto the mud pits surrounded by armoured jeeps and mounted gun tops. tactical coms checks click as swift feet beat down.
"So how many souls is this?" The grim reaper asked the machine bird to his left. It seems this guy is a regular for this particular missing dead groups in London's limits. The machine clock work bird tilts with knowing the grim reaper, it back forwards in looking at the humans. It foot tapped out the count, the grim nods at this and checked over. Both grim and bird froze as something in the water peels and claws into the mud embankment. The bird scans, analgised and hissed. It then let out a loud alert and more clockwork machines step in view. The grim looks to the tome checking the names, "It isn't taking any victims from you." The clock bird stopped and listened sharp to the grim, "She's a bad sign of things to come."
Closing the tome quickly before the tome freaks out and hurts the grim. His had lashes from the tome's struggles before while near her. The clockwork men turn ignoring the spare being, they know to trust a grim reaper. The clock men do exactly what they are made for, welcoming guests into the Bagger's quarter.
Scanning each human body for all the needed data - health, DNA conditions and biometric approvals. A second set of clock animals scan for the attached beings to the humans; demons, angels and other faith base markers. The grim takes notes of the names as they began the removal of those that aren't welcome. The ones that don't meet conditional welcomes and for its own safety against weak DNA cross contaminations. The dangerous DNA is sent out of the entry by fear tactic and without harming them. The useful bodies but useless brains is harvested to the clockwork manufacturing. The last three left are drugged, fed and given accommodation - implanted the chips and the quarantine began for the new citizens.
"Team?" the comms click. The radio flickers... lives and dies. The signal dies. The jeep parked above has someone curse. The few allowed to return scram fast across the mud pits, all fours up the concrete and pushing that gate to throw open instantly. kneeling to safety at last, panting and whimpering at the floodlights of the jeep circle. Incoherently babbling what they knew. The grim dares to take the tome and sees that the entries are written in. That his coin was on the open pages for his service of witness. Grim takes his price, never cheated as no one cheats a death order. He marked on those names too, in spite of the previous writer already marking them. He would rather there be a proof of his witness by this method. The grim stays because there wasn't over yet. There isn't safety here.
"Mmmm... I should pick this beach more often. There are actually souls here." She preens claws in among muck, a Clothus of floating part organs and cloth like stripes. Moving like a octopus in water than open air across the mud pool pits.
She collected bits, puts them into her materials and claws back out clear. She picked away the beach litter right up to the boundary of the beggar's quarter entry. She stopped right there, respecting the clockwork machines and their security details. She respectfully reformed her shape into a mock enough human and posed openly for them to be scanned. She waited and softly doesn't fight the clockwork machine taking cover. She had the go ahead but there was guests watching her back. She need to prove to the clockwork security of her own knowing of the laws.
"Lost people very lost." She chills gentle and faced the new approached humans, "Some of you are not able to enter, you are beyond saving..." She warn in left hand posing to stop them coming further forwards, "You are in a very dangerous place. You only come here if you are welcomed to let go of everything you knew and owned." She crossed arms when the crowd knew her heed, "Otherwise, leave back the way you came. Don't look back."
"Code Orange." Someone among them voiced and she knew then of who they are. What they came for.
"Mmmm... Well that's is not up to me. I am a traveller merchant and repairs man. You have to state your business." She rolls a on the balls of feet with eyeing all the angles of each being. Each of their gear and the faults in them, "Who are you visiting?"
"The Middle road. Our old friend Bradley is living in upper floor of the veg store." She tilts to the clockwork machine that soon nod that was verified. A machine steps to her side.
"Are you hungry?" She asked them and they looked confused. Some shiver, so those knew but other didn't, "He invited you for dinner."
"Yes, we brought wine. His wife was having a baby." The machines take a little bit, they are networking... and then. The clockwork machine men take over from her. The human had two clockwork each - going through medical testing and explaining the rules of gaining citizenship. The way this entry works and the dangers that isn't from the Unlondon itself. Rather a truth was there, Unlondon was guarding itself from something else. She did enough.
"Tasks." A scroll of paper, a crystal slate and with a fast jab - a new implant of crystal threading into her body frame. New updated tabs of her optical implant of argument reality interface. She staggered holding this wound as she goes into the undercover of that train bridge connector of Thames. She reads the scroll without lighting, her mutated body is plenty use to supernatural environments. These were not human hands and this wasn't a human body. And... she remembers these hands, the things this place that are her responsibility.
She slows the tunnelling into the dug grounds is changing. The labyrinth of the outer shell to the Unlondon. The maze thus far isn't showing any sign of damages or disuses. But the sparking clockwork body... the char rat gear creature. She switched eye type and sees the tracing of those that been through here had left behind here. She smiles because they came through here. She takes the god feather that been left, a traceless way of finding the exit. But she knew not to allow the clockworks to take these priceless feathers. She has the exit for them.
"Stop attacking the workers." She heard snarled in echo, a distances she can zip instantly in shadow towards. With stopping to pick up the feathers, she slows around the corner as there is a scuffle between groups in a open four way junction. She leans, playing softly with the feather in her claws.
"At least the posters are a good sign of foot traffic." those stood closer in her reach talk between themselves, "The more ruined bodies and poor lighting is to be avoided. Right?" Young lad, Daniel's servant behaviour like observing for threats and watching everyone's back. He clearly did sense her just barely for a sharp second, but he dismisses it as likely a rat watcher or another gear worker.
"Did you make sure to get the nearest police box location? She left a note saying that we need to keep track of where they are in case of being questioned. This place tests morals." Jessica remembering the more practical information of the group and isn't so ruined by the cursed life as others are.
"Another clock man?" Josh asked.
"Maybe the thing killing them." Philip offered another perceptive, "Ten pounds." for that both are wacked in the sides for their betting game by Jessica. They bunched together as a more supernatural element began to seep in, a drafting of energies and weaving of tension. Regardless of friend or foe; the huddled in a ring at the junction centre.
"Hast du dieses Geräusch gehört?" The tighten grips of weapons lifting, "Das war nichts Lebendiges."
She leans thinking about appearing or not when she caught glimpse of something that didn't belong to London sleeking itself on the walls. Although she see a version of this at human run airports, so this is just alternative or escaped original. The image doesn't look like it is changing at all along the bricking of these tunnels. A echoed drip of water in a direction she isn't watching. A wet pattering and soon a sizzling. The group trembled and ready with their defence.
"Her lambs..." the wall drools and slips, "But not all of you are her lambs." the thing pulls out from 2D and into the space of the visible sight of the group, "He promised me."
"And a Deal is a Deal. I am just the burden carrier." She steps around in blocking it coming any closer to them, "You do know that your taking on a lot."
It scans about her, sniffed and shivered. It lowered and clears the drool. It gave a respected bubble space, even if that is partly back into 2D. She motions the spell craft casting, threading the souls information to be tome added under its information. Once this was satisfied, it marked each of the red hands with it is blessed marks. Sleeking back into the darkness to leave her darkness. Leave the darkness that hides many hungry things.
"Why did you take them?" A gun at her back, exactly at her human heart area. The icy burn in those words was plenty enough to account that he is hating her or just a version felt abandoned. She softly... carefully turns facing. Very softly with the claw tips, decorates him of all those she gathered and extras from on the way. Extra's from fallen other beings that attempted entry here; other god eaters, corpse collector types and even angels folks it would seem. She retracted away from touching after that, sized about his outfit for a moment. In sheer habit, clicked her fingers and cast a mage clothing repair spell. She does another round of not looking at his eyes, avoiding his glaring. Right as she goes to meet those eyes, she pats his hat to eye block. She steps avoiding him as he adjusted to meet her gaze honestly.
"Before I can invite my dear guests in for a lovely hot meal. I must do my tasks. In the meanwhile, you can help me with them. It make earning that meal that much more important." She speaks openly loudly about this subject and very English, "I must be a good service to the network." they backed to a tighter circle with being very afraid of her chosen dialogue. She makes a big show of taking out the scroll and openly showing it to them all, "Here is my instructions and really easy stuff." She turned it to read, "We need to clean the ventilation shafts, reseal the water pressure piping and to program the terminal of the new threats list." She pauses with checking that next few parts, "Well that is disturbing indeed. It looks like my haunted collection got loose. They are having a tariff war." She softly rolls to further down, "I was going to corpse trade the freaks anyways..." She tuts and softly to almost herself, "I think I have a spare of myself." She rolls it closed and very showing of sliding the parchment to herself.
"I am really looking forward to the meal." Jessica recalling what the deal is while the men are slow, "We should help each other to get the tasks done faster. We can't stay late. Unless would you be ok with us staying?"
"Ah, thoughtful guest." Leana purrs, "You truly going to help? I will make sure it is worth the effort. The drinks around these parts are to die for." And that is what got everyone that needs to know to understand.
"Very helpful. I think I can help with melting the pipes back with my abilities." Philip plays along, "I am sure my servants can help bend back the parts while I fuse them closed."
"Fantastic." Leana claps softly in a big over acting way, "I am so grateful that my guests can help me with my tasks." She sees a counter neutralized for them all, "From the moment you walked into this place; we have been watching. To know you meant no harm at all is a big help. We can't blame you for attacking the feral ones. They are outcasts that needed execution anyways. Not every gear worker is made the same. Faults happen. It is actually a great help that you get rid of the rouges and report to the nearest police box of the beggar's." She laces in these extras, "Du kennst die Regeln. Sie sprechen deine Muttersprache."
"Wir brauchen deine Hilfe nicht. Wir finden unseren eigenen Weg in die Stadt. Wir sind keine Verbündeten." The current folks divided themselves. A team of the German Red hands, with a few spares that are likely in the same tome crossing deal.
"We have our own tasks." The clueless agents whom aren't in the loop about this place's exact channels. They are however plenty geared to make it into the city and the network is already got plans. She sees how they are marked by the system, sees the glitching of how they have a hacker team keeping them clear. She sees that the system isn't fighting the hackers for now, it likely is searching the signal sources. Buying time... to snatch these bodies and citizens when it is right to. She softly shows open palms, letting those folks to their risk. She watches as the divide goes two ways and she faces gentle back to the group that stays.
She eased and altered her shape even more exactly to be more human, more herself. The last part was trying to adjust a fake face over the gaping hole. She also brushed her clothing to hide the hole through her lower torso, like someone took a donut hole cutter through her lower stomach area. She was taking that moment extra to be suitable, not needing extra fear from them.
Cold hands clasped at her wrists, taking control of clicking her mask face into place. He wasn't done, he forced a ring over her marriage finger. He held her tightly, and the other hand pulling her chin to his face. A kiss that was passing a cursing mark, scrolling a forced power over her current body. She was melting into this kiss for a little bit, and then soon breaking the grip. She pulled his arms off and posed to hide her jaw from him. She casts to put a veil over her head and sharply turned to face others. She casts to fix their kits. She was replacing the filters and gave small air tank sets. She deep health check each other person... freezing shocked of someone that wasn't her group before.
"Don't you dare touch me." Omens hissed in his mock human, mimic of her Matthew. She really studies into the shape, seeing a crystal veining and the ways that no god can be contained in a vessel to weak. Even so, she measured about the body and sees the ties. There is a contract between the god and the icy kisser. She was able to adjust her jaw correctly, now that she understands that her favourite isn't a living. Omen's hissed darker about her jaw adjustment.
"Bird brains, you looking very comfortable in his skin." She cupped and tracing the body for any issues. There a sharp intact with Josh that didn't know. Jessica shook in her husbands cluelessness. Philip crossed his arms and Daniel studies the danger around them. Scanning threats. Philip shadow acted with smashing a rusting clockwork machine into a wall. They all stand reach for this to be the surge of more attacks. Yet it is nothing... silence.
"Loki!" She snapped and a part of the rust bot was spat out.
"Ugh, lost my composure again." It spoke back and she measures the god eater bird. Lowering to it, picking up like a rugby ball and then tucked under arm comfortably.
"A portion of Lord decay, I see." She pets the bird body that soon purred and settled, "But it is still my beloved god eater, eating holy out of items. He eats a lot of energies out things." she tuts, "It actually fits you, Lord Death." She steps to take lead and is completely captured again. Cold hugging over her shoulders with touching all the runes his putting over her.
"Can you please not have me between you." Death fighting out of grip and is able to climb up to shoulders, "And don't go to the way she came. That way is short lives."
"I don't know, about avoiding that. It looks more like good chances." Omens spoke with translating death to others, "But it isn't the direction we need to go. You said about doing tasks to repair. You implied about cleaning out threats." She back hand from her current partner getting to handy.
"We just need to stand here and wait for the creature I need to sort to come." She pulled him to keep his hands to himself but she does not move out of his range.
She was actually being very careful, very softly and being really secretly. She has tied each of them with her own shadow power and skins. Anchoring them to her, without giving them the indicator of doing it. She managed everyone's ankle, marked them as her Proxy claims and claiming them as her Nightmare control. She just barely brushes the icy man, when he widen his eyes. He knew, he felt and he noticed it on the others. He narrows into her with checking. She softly had to show it was to keep them safe. Not with alerting the others, the group doesn't have to know. The network testing them really shouldn't know. He tilts in getting that she was just trying to achieve the same tracking and anchoring. He rolled eyes and continues brushing runes over her once more. She flustered and struggles with him being this weird, while she getting the baring of where to go from here.
She finally able to scan each of the directions and sees the eye crystal system has directions for her. She had to take his hands off again. She then soon hugged around him, stopping him for now. She felt the control of him using his powers as an Ender to continue the rune works. It wasn't as distracting.
"The labyrinth is full of creatures from the end of every tome. To be more exact, the last survivors of tomes across the multiverse that are marked as living creatures are crawling these tunnels. As a sort of way to keep them comfortable, these tunnels are connected across the world. It is endless. Ways an earth world has ended, thus the being left are in here." She explains to them, even to the network, "As someone that tome keeps these worlds. I have an idea of what they are and the sort of adapt. I had even captured plenty into cursed objects, as they couldn't survive outside of some environments. I guess I got carried away, lost myself in the madness at points." She crossed her arms in the admitting of this.
"Are you part of the problem?" Philip huffed, "Couldn't you have just left the world alone when they ended?"
"The universe works in mysterious ways, souls have a strange change as they cross world to world. Each start and end throws more changes into the souls. There was always those left behind by a natural process." She tut at them, "Rifts to other worlds is actually a naturally occurance that no gods have a full understanding of why. But it is a needed part of spreading the changing souls to keep adapting." She posed her left hand to a direction, "The corpse trader I need to seek is over that way. If you don't want to be the next mince meat to its pets... you will want to follow the rules you would around twilight. Some of these freaks are older then humans afterall." She takes the callor of her man to walk match with her, dragging him with.
"Oi! Stop handling my follower like that!" Omen's hissed in following after. Loki rides that shoulder. Philip sighed in the shinanigins of a love couple. Daniel explains the rules to Jessica and Josh about god eater and the rules she might mean. The sort of monsters they are, what they were meant to be and what they are now. Jessica doesn't follow but guesses it was just another part of being around not humans.
"So beings that are keeping the other worlds from the human world. Normal ones are unable to be seen by humans as humans of ordinary value can not see the spirits. Most times these things can't see the human world, interact with it or even acknowledge humans. Unstable energy or sometimes faith can glimpse them but they would still normally be unreachable." The droning lesson is plenty heard from Daniel, "Occasionally folks like Omen here cross over when he shouldn't. It attracts such things. It is why Matthew is on this path to get Omens back over." She tilts of this interesting new once.
"Oh, is that what you think has happened to them?" She snickered with pulling them to the next junction, "I had been keeping these parts of the gods safe for a while now, I guess it is why they are detached to the main bodies."
She studies the cold eyes that peer darkly. She did tilt with considering any intervals she may have missed between the death to life returns. She twisted with checking this area. Her eyes tracing the energy and fate threads. She wafted her own casting of powers as she was tracking the maze. She was spreading a net of traces that could literal be her sense of touch, taste and abyssal based senses. It was plenty to read the surrounding maze layout, the depth it sinks downwards into deeper earth. She also was stretching upwards of all tunnel ceiling - seeking the vents and traps. Especially gas traps. There is someone else's sense at the edge of her reaches; not the man are her side and not this group attached shadows. She did feel that needed a proper checking, peeling her arm skin to soon summon out the tome. She finds the pages that mattered. She made a very dark expression, slamming it closed and putting the flesh back over. She pattered her veil to be sure while pulling her senses back for now.
"That was a book I don't have access of." Death in Loki's body noted, "In fact, that would be considered a forbidden section that even my own true title wouldn't dare access of. Some tome parts are not worth the insanity of spending time on." Omens hearing him looking about to his follower about it.
"It makes sense that she has the access to the Clothus souls tome." Her current partner nods in knowing what that tome was and clearly knew her enough to understand she hated that soul. Either way, she was professional enough to get over some this, and lifted a lantern from her storage. She lights it, and it gave this place the much needed focus. She makes him take the handle as she pulled a toolbox out too. She then pointed upwards, everyone looked up. The broken vent above with a clockwork shoved partly into it. She gets to work and they helped out. Being a team of look outs, bringing parts down from the vent and there was two working on repairing the fan and vent cover. Once the wiring was fixed back, and the blades were picking up speed.
"The floor is flooding from the left." Josh reported to them, and she had in sheer habit looked at her empty wrist for a watch. She tuts and worked faster with last bending of the frame of the cover back over the fan. She causes a melt around the edges. She quickly got down, soon making sure everyone's body is covered plenty enough from the liquids touch. She quickly got them all up, and was getting them to a dead end.
She then builds up a shielding with a material off her own body. She got them all to crutch. The flooding 'water' spilling across but never touching them. It raised to a chest level and soon it was shrinking as fast as it came. The counter that is on someone's belt, spikes with counts. Once the ground was dry, she retracted the ruined skins material. Rolling and thrown to the wall side; it oozed with melty tones. It was soon snatched by a local god eater, it left behind plenty of trades for it. She began collecting, labbels, inventory noting and storage of those things. Her partner lowered beside, aiding with a sharpie. He knows her sprict language and prefer jar spell sealing. She did softly pause seeing him do that correctly before then taking it, noted and storage. She smiled to herself of having such a nice help.
"We are only barely under the Thames. We will periodically be flooded in these tunnels by tides. Not all tides are on time and not all those tides are water. This is one the few mechinisms that keeps souls trapped in here." She told the group, "It was made on purpose in once, and it was maintained since. Before, the flood was always ankle deep... and many were dying to quickly. Gear men melted in the rust and radation. It allowed the genetic mutation to cross into the city... the four main strains soon took the entire population. Becoming a tomb..." She softly stopped at the last item, "But the network was still active long after the last breath. It survived in madness. Unlondon collapsed into the Abyss of the unknown. So when it resurfaced, with new breathing residences." Her smile breaks out of a human one.
"It became a safe place for those that wanted stability. Not every resident has the same organs senses as humans. Fallen gods soon came here for shelter. It became a sub-section of the guild to Sigil. This place no longer attached to location as such. But the entry access had been planted." She stands and pulled her partner up with her, "Human did come back here. The lab was a joint effort with the humanity and the spirits. Some experiments made urban legend and there are much worse time zones where the madden was justified. Unlondon grow again. It became layered. It still governed itself. Until it became cataloged."
"I have heard that term only among grim reapers. Finished tomes are cataloged." She adjusted herself and wafted to cast a new net. A new checking of the layout. As already the corridor out of this dead-end wasnt the same. The maze has shuffled them already. She knew this would happen.
"Dont bother mapping." Omens spoke with patting Daniel's shoulder, "I should have thought it odd sooner. The layout has already been altered." Daniel stopped sketching in a journal, "Only point that dont change is the police boxes and some types of trap floors." Omens looked to Death. It is Death looking deeply in directions. He looked confused.
"I know it is unfathomable to believe." She spoke at those three, "This is a side affect of its soul markers and how it survived the abyssal unknown. Everyone who soul that travels such things fortify itself with selfishness." Omens frowns angrily and soothed in how the cold grappled her backwards from them. She doesn't mind the possessive holding.