[1. Action | Afternoon | Downtown | Open to All]

[While you're wandering downtown today, about an hour or two after school has let out, you might happen across Equius near the grocery store. He's definitely not approaching it, as he's sitting on the ground across the street from the parking lot. Rather, he's just looking at it uncertainly, clearly in deep thought about something. But what's so interesting about the grocery store? Only he knows.

Will you ask him what he's up to?]


[2. Action | Evening | 507 Ricardo | Inside]

[There's some shouting from the drone-wife at 507 Ricardo around dinnertime, when she discovers Equius doing something with a particular piece of paper in his school bag that he was definitely trying to dispose of in the least suspicious way possible. It's a letter of reprimand from Equius's homeroom teacher, chastising him for being "rowdy" and "disrupting the class", and Drone Mom definitely informs Equius very loudly that she got a call from said teacher earlier this afternoon while Equius was in detention, and she was expecting him to bring this letter home.

Just wait until your father gets home, young man, she says, waving the letter around. The windows in the kitchen are open, and anyone walking down the street can probably see the whole debacle taking place, as well as Drone Mom testily attaching the letter to the fridge with a magnet and going back to cooking dinner, while Equius is forced to sit at the kitchen table and wait for Benson to get home.

Bug him in the meantime at your discretion. He's not happy, though.]

[1. Letter | Morning | Addressed to the head of household at 502 Ricardo | Neatly folded and laying in the mailbox]

( cut for b100 te%t )

[2. Action | Afternoon | John Doe Park | Open to all]

[Equius isn't used to being this weak. So, what better way to remedy that than by going for a nice invigorating jog? And by jog, I mean it started out as that, and has since slowed to a pathetic crawl. He's moping around the park with his hands in the pockets of his shorts, hunched over in annoyance at his own incompetence. He really can't wait to get his STRENGTH back.

Maybe you'll catch him kicking stones down a path, or maybe you'll catch up to him while he's sitting on a park bench. Either way, he definitely needs a friendly kick in the shins to get him going again.]

[1. Action | Morning | 507 Ricardo | Inside]

[There's a loud crashing sound from inside of the bedroom that Equius now occupies as he falls out of bed and drags his bedside table down with him. He scrambles to his feet and catches sight of his hands, his arms, his clothes...and himself, in the mirror above his dresser. He leans heavily against it, making even more noise, and he stares at his now human self for a good 45 seconds before he jerks away and starts tearing through the drawers and ripping open the window, looking for anything familiar. He's not screaming or anything--not even speaking at all, in fact--but the ruckus he's making is enough to attract the attention of anyone else in the house.]


[2. Phone | Afternoon/Evening | Open to all]

[It takes him a moment to collect himself, unfamiliar with the strange setup of the phone. Some heavy breathing is heard for a moment or two before he actually begins to speak.]

...If anyone here has played SGRUB, you will not hesitate to do me a favor and you will identify yourself immediately. I do not have time to waste trying to acclimate myself to this...unfortunate condition. I must know if the state I am in is...permanent.

[He hesitates again, then clears his throat.]

...That is all.

[Action - Park]

[The first thing Equius learned when he was released from the hospital is that sledgehammers helped make up for his loss of STRENGTH. They didn't have the same level of satisfaction that breaking in skulls with his fists had, but they would do.]

[If only the exertion from swinging around such a heavy object didn't reopen his surgical wounds. His white tank top was going to be a lovely shade of indigo by the time the day was out.]

[The second thing he learned was that human blood is awful for painting with.]

[Not just because it was all the same shade of red, but also because it didn't retain its hue and dried to an ugly shade of brown, and then got flaky. How could he paint the fine art with only one shade of brown?]

[It also contained far too much iron, and the metallic taste was disgusting to his refined tastes.]

[Dead humans were pretty much good for nothing. They didn't even fight back when he came at them, although that could have been because he only targeted drones. It made this whole "murderous highblood rampage" scenario kind of boring. A total let down, really. He'd always thought giving in to his chaotic urges would be a bit more exciting than this. A bit more feral and bestial.]

This sucks. I'm going home.

[With a heavy, disappointed sigh, he slings the sledgehammer over his shoulder and turns to walk away from the picnicking drone family he'd just slaughtered.]

[Phone]

I have heard there is injured. Beyond what the hospital can manage, in fact. You have no reason to trust me, but I am...

I feel that I need to do something.

I can hardly say that I am trained to human standards, but I can build and install robotic limbs without complications. If you speak to any of the trolls, they can confirm this.

With the technology available to me here, they will not be as sophisticated as I would like, but I can promise you, they will be the best quality prostheses I can produce. For anyone who requires them.

[Action]
[Equius can be found sitting on the floor in the lobby of the hospital, parts and partially finished limbs taking up space on the chairs, and the area around him. The dark circles under his eyes seem deeper than normal, and his hands shake a bit, but he just keeps on working, ignoring the occasional efforts of drone nurses to move him.]

[Action - Jonathon's Tools - Jan. 20, after school]

[In the electronics section, Equius can be found carrying a paper sack full of small parts huffing and snorting over the hardware store's selction]

Cathode ray tubes, honestly, it's like I'm back in the stone age...

[Part bins are pulled open, scowled and scoffed at, shoved shut, then revisited a few seconds later because there is nothing else better and he needs these things, my god, he hates this place.]

[Eventually, he simply walks out of the store, full sack and a toolkit in hand.]


[Action - 945 Beulah St]

Combustion engines? Really? That's so primitive!

[The hood of the family roadster is propped up, half the internals removed and spread out on the driveway. Half of Equius has replaced them, and is pretty much oblivious to everything but the inside of the car.]

[Action - 945 Beulah St]

[Hey Beulah St. Hope you're enjoying waking up to sirens, because as soon as they fade, the screaming will start. Loud, high-pitched screaming that almost sounds like a panicked horse, actually, except that it doesn't stop right away.]

[Then a chair goes flying out the window]

[Phone]

What the fuck is this? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

[There may be a few who recognize the voice. In theory. It's far more emotive in a terrified sort of fashion than anyone ever has heard it before, and each outburst ends with a little whinny. The owner of this voice is also well known among his friends for being against swearing of all kind]

Highblood, please, oh god, are you there? What is this thing? Hello? Highblood, everything is wrong, where are you, oh gosh please tell me you're normal, oh, I can't bear the thought of your exquisite indigo... [he chokes] like this!

Please, come and kill me again, I don't want to be like this, I feel sick...