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Cyberphile, A Vitality Underground Roleplay

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Kkutwar The Prince of Foolish Relevations from A Place Beneath both Good & Evil Since: Feb, 2013 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
#1: Dec 15th 2015 at 8:23:44 AM


The VARnet, Private Kaiser-Neo Sector

Shifting uncomfortably is a young, dark skinned blonde woman. Grey eyes looking over the virtual room, the girl pulls back in surprise as a calm though almost emotionless voice called out. "Pleasure to meet you Trey Doe, I'm Ashley Anderson, though I'm certain you already know who that makes me."

Appearing from nowhere is a finely dressed woman, early twenties with pale skin and dirty blonde hair. Taking a seat at the virtual desk, Ashley brings her arms folded underneath her breasts. Still, the lightly curious look she gives Trey causes the girl to look away. Ashley, tilting her head with a little confusion, speaks up once more.

"I like to interview new employees personally as much as possible. Mainly, however, I only care if the person intrigues me. Thus, as someone with no significant scientific knowledge, why do you want to join Kaiser-Neo? Are you perhaps an Illegal lifeform?"

Trey looking up to the older woman, she takes a deep breath before straightening herself out. Bringing her folded hands to rest against the desk, Trey speaks in a gentle voice. "My mother was helped by Kyle Jones, personally giving her the artificial right arm she still has today. I know nobody remembers what he looked like or where he is, but hearing that your company assimilated the remains of Cyberphile... I figured he might turn up around here."

Ashley giving a purely logical look to Trey, she silently beckons her to continue. Trey briefly looking down at her arms, she turns up to Ashley once more. "I'm only eighteen, so I know I couldn't have been born as an Illegal life. However, ever since I was little I've... Well the church tried all means of 'cleansing' me until my family had to escape. So I've been afraid to show my... gifts to others. Yet, knowing all the good Kaiser-Neo and Cyberphile has done, I believe I could show it to you. I'm scared of what I could be, but... I want to help. I know about Kaiser-Neo's rehabilitation program for Illegals, so..."

Trey willingly stopping, she looks towards Ashley with some fear. Ashley, however, gives a little smile. "My father would like you, so I'll help. Go to your local store and tell the manager 'She who strives for perfection' sent you. They'll take you into the back to run some tests. Everything will be alright, and I'll contact you after I get the results. Until then, yes?"

Trey nodding and giving a weak smile, she logs out. However, quickly taking her place is a white haired young woman with something slithering at her back. Ashley glancing towards the woman, she calmly asks "What is it now Mimi? Has Kyle finally been located?"

The young woman, Mimi, giving Ashley an uncomfortable look she clears her throat before beginning. "No, we haven't found... Kyle yet, though we believe we might have located CAT-H8 no. 12. I honestly think we should leave her alone after everything, but I know better then that... Anyways, given that Mireille Lavigne is ready for a field test, why not send her?"

Bridging her hands in front of her face, Ashley sits in silence for several seconds while an uncomfortable look paints itself on Mimi's face. Finally, Ashley answers. "If her handlers can be convinced, then very well. If need be, give them my Golem speech for why that thing needs to be retrieved. I also want you to keep track of Trey Doe. Now then, is that everything love?"

Mimi just silently nodding her head, she disappears from the site. Yet, Ashley still sits at the desk alone, slowly bringing a hand to her eye to feel for tears. None leave her eyes, and she continues to hold that position for a long time.


One Midnight Alley, Somewhere In America

"Why a rabbit though?" "Why? Doesn't everybody like rabbit?" "No real complaints, but more of a cat person myself." "God, you're one of those neko losers?" Walking down an alley are two, very normal people. The woman, casually clothed slaps her thickly clothed male companion. The man gently rubbing where he was slapped, the dyed pinkie nods her head towards the alley's end.

Curled up in a terrified ball is a young woman, exact age uncertain. What stands out is her wholly white hair and the two long, bunny-like ears extended from her head. Horrifed muttering that sounds like a degenerated manta and crying would also be apparent. However, instead of anything resembling malice the two enclosing on her seem more pitying. The woman holding up her hand to stop her companion, she crouches down just before the girl.

The girl in question willing to glance up, she sees the pink haired woman smiling kindly at her. Slowly beginning to calm, the girl looks over to see the man. The man instinctively backing up, the girl looks back at pinkie. The older woman's smile softening to show more sympathy, she speaks up. "We heard about what happened. Sorry you had to suffer like, nobody deserves such things."

The woman holding out a hand to the bunnygirl, the girl looks her over caution. The woman's gentle smile not breaking, she continues. "Slav and I work for a group that stops people like your owner. We can't stand seeing such wrongness be committed. So as good people we do what we can to put things right."

The girl glancing towards Slav to see him back up more and give a smile friendly smile, the bunny looks at the pink haired woman. Taking her help getting to her feet, the bunnygirl remains shrinked on herself even as she stands. Though less afraid than before, the girl still seems caution. For her part, the pink haired woman doesn't stop emitting a friendly presence.

"You're scared, afraid you'll never get better right? Well, do you know what people scared like you used to do twenty years ago? They killed themselves, thinking they could never get better. Maybe they were right, maybe they were wrong. However, their problems did come to an end. You were taught suicide was wrong right?"

The bunnygirl slowly nodding, the pink haired woman's friendly aura still continues. "That's okay, we can do that for you. Someone like you will never be happy in life, so why should society force you to only suffer? Your fellow sufferers were already set free from this agony, that's Uni's specialty. If you don't Slav to I could do the job myself." The bunnygirl slowly shaking her head, she briefly looks at Slav before closing her eyes.

Slav sighing, he pulls back his left sleeve to reveal a device clung to his arm. Taking it with his right hand, it shifts and wraps around his right arm until a cannon is formed. Pointing it at the bunnygirl and stabilizing it with his left hand, Slav calls out apologetically "For what it is worth, I think you could of been happy if you were born right." The armcannon charging, Pinkie just calmly walks away. Yet...

"What the hell!?" Inexplicably a young woman appeared in front of Slav, friendly look on her face as she forcibly pointed Slav's arm upwards. The beam of plasma soaring off into the sky, the silver haired girl easily slams Slav into the wall. Pinkie turning around startled, she snarled at the silver haired girl before angrily yelling. "Artifium bitch, how long were you listening!?"

Slav whining in pain with his right arm dislocated, the Artifium girl briefly has a look of consideration before friendly admitting "Not at all, I just noticed the charging of plasma. Really though, killing real people is wrong you know." The Artifium girl quickly spinning around to throw Slav out of the alley, she suddenly disappears. The pink haired woman however didn't have long to be confused, as the Artifium girl spoke from behind her.

"Really, your obsolete species is kind of annoying, what with all the irrational hate." Slamming the pink haired woman into the ground and holding her down with a foot, the Artifium girl hums a bit before snapping her finger in realization. "Right! Daddy would prefer I let you live (for now) so you two can tell everyone we're getting serious. Though given how flawed your species is, I don't expect much."

Sliding her foot forward and launching the pink haired woman into Slav's arm, the Artifium girl just politely smiles at them as she begins to draw a weapon from her right arm. With that Slav runs off, Pinkie flailing angrily. The Artifium girl tilting her head as she hears sirens approaching, she turns towards the bunnygirl. Looking terrified of her, the Artifium girl waves friendly before speaking. "I'm Amelia Anderson, super awesome cyborg gynoid thingy! We're holding a meeting at our base, so I'm taking you with me?"

Amelia suddenly appearing by the bunnygirl's side with a hand already clenched onto her, seeing the girl's futile attempt to escape causes Amelia to speak once more. "Yeah taking you with me. Still I promise we'll help you." With that Amelia and the girl both disappear, long before any police showed up.


Cybernetics Unbound Headquarters

Though not the most beautiful of places, the former Tento facility of The Servants had been repurposed by Cybernetics Unbound. Yet, the numbers of the organisation relatively small to the facility's size, an ominous feeling one would have looking over the place. Still, cleaned of anything interesting, this made it one of the best places for the organisation. Its leader, James Andrew, certainly thought so.

Within what was once an asylum for unstable Tentos, the heavily cybernetic man James sits alone at the council table. Prying a cap off his left cheek, James takes out a picture. However, a male voice calls out "Commander James, the Stalwart Defender, we've found what appears to be a prototypical Armor. Its incomplete and we haven't-" James raising up a hand to silence the younger male, he stores the picture before standing upright.

With what little could be seen of his organic body, James was clearly into his sixties. Yet the majority either covered or cybernetic, his actual state was uncertain. Still, instead of a deep voice was a pleasant English one. "They wouldn't of forgotten that here. Yet if they were aware it was here they would of already taken it... That was deliberately hidden so someone would stumble across it. I remember the first time seeing an Armor though..."

Calmly walking over to the younger male, a sharply dressed man with red hair and glasses, James looks him over. "Barton, inform our contacts and agents we'll need Mechanical Armor parts collected. Finishing that unit is now a major priority, so get it done." Barton respectively bowing before James, he pushes up his glasses. Though as he begins to walk away, he stops and begins to speak once more.

"Your daughter Angelica has noticed unusual activity from Genesis Seed. With their efforts becoming more focused and the technology they deliver getting more dangerous, we suspect they're planning a war. Not entirely certain why, but with increasing sabotage and attacks on major corporations..."

James going "hmph", the older man crosses his arms before speaking up. "I could almost agree with their probable objective, though I cannot accept their disregard for lives. Reinforce our efforts on dealing with Genesis Seed." Barton merely nodding his head, the young man completely leaves. Though, James continues to stand where he is, only glancing back to his seat. Letting loose a sigh, he speaks to himself.

"Probable suspect for leaving the Armor is Gottfried. Never did like the HUNTER commander. As for Genesis Seed, they're still not content with a partially broken masquerade, figures. Somewhat like the anarchy objective, if only because I want Gottfried's stranglehold broken. If I was a lesser, or maybe better, man I would join forces. Still, as a servant of humanity I cannot allow undue chaos."

Falling silent and unfolding his arms, an AR projection emits from his left eye. Scrolling down it and picking names at seemingly random, James once more speaks in order to send a message. "Chosen friend, a special concern has come to my attention. With Kaiser-Neo producing more ALI units, I fear they aim to replace law enforcement. We know of the abuse some of their scientists indulge in, thinking they're gods in this confusing time. Thus we need to study some of these new ALI units, to know their intentions. It is our civil duty to prevent such fools from gaining power, so do what you can."

With the message sent, James sighs as he walks over to his seat. Fitting right back in, James continues to sit alone, almost motionless as he conserves power. However, he begins to softly mutter one line, over and over: "Once this is all over, I'll free you Marigold."


Trey's Apartment

"Hmm... Can I really trust them?" It hadn't been long since Trey disconnected from the VARnet, yet in that time she gotten ready for bed. Living alone Trey dressed and undressed as she pleased, thus tonight she wasn't far from her windows. Yet, as a rather chaste girl she didn't have any sexy nighttime outfits, instead simply sliding into pajamas. Instinctively holding her arms against her rather small chest, Trey stands around pondering when she suddenly hears her phone. Answering it, Trey is immediately greeted to a bitchy tone.

"I hate today!" Pulling back in fright, Trey could hear a swear before the woman on the other side continues calmer. "Sorry sis, I nearly did a perfect job today until a freaking Art got in the way. Broke my pet's arm even, how is a girl supposed to be calm without her pet?" Hearing her adopted sister groaning in anger, Trey clears her throat before responding.

"I still don't get why you, um... keep working there. I don't want you to become a bad person Lyra... Mom and dad keep asking me how you're doing, and I can't keep handling these lies. Please, if not for you and Slav what about Emily and Kelly?" Hearing Lyra let out a deep sigh, the woman responds.

"Wasn't 'doing the same thing and expecting different results proof of insanity' an old phrase? I don't want people thinking you're one of those things, the same I give response every time. Seriously Trey, how can you think they're people? Because of those things existing you got infected by someone. I still remember how the church nearly murdered you for being a demon. Just... stop."

Trey looking away from the phone, sadness on her face, she could hear Lyra sigh once more. "You know we're not bad people. The Artifium are terrorists sis, and more Arts flock to them everyday. Those machines and fakes got it easy! Life already worked out for them, owners who keep them in top condition. Sure, there's some bastards who take it to an extreme, but most people aren't like that! So then why do the Arts keep betraying us? Greed and powerlust, given how the Artifium go on about us humans being obsolete. Tch..."

Trey herself sighing, she abruptly ends the call and puts the phone back. Slowly walking towards her living room, as she passes the window a bone-like mass juts out from her right wrist. Looking over the bony blade covering her hand, she easily shakes it loose before taking a seat on her couch. Arms crossed against her chest, body leaning back, Trey muses to her.

"Maybe I could be a human weapon for Kaiser-Neo... Yeah, I can feel that, being a weapon... Was my real dad one? It really does feel normal to me..." Sighing, Trey turns on the television and mutters one last time. "Tomorrow decides everything, me... Tomorrow decides everything..."


???

Standing alone with no one to witness is a completely armored man. The fluidness of the powered armor and the steampunk style cut a clear aesthetic idea of its functioning, something unlikely of any real power. Yet with a casual shifting of the plating, a fully three dimensional image of a man covered in ornate bone armor appears before him. The steampunk bowing before the image, he calls out with a roughish mocking voice.

"Lord of lords, master of masters, maker of makers... It is everso great to behold your presence." The ornate figure scoffing, they speak with amusement. "What, not going to call me king of kings and god of gods? That insults me more Gottfried, master of The Servants." Gottfried's armor pulling back to reveal his own amused smile, Gottfried shrugs his shoulders before responding.

"That would imply I respect you even slightly, don't be so arrogant. Hmm, speaking of arrogant, may I finally know your... Is it you or your brother right now?" The figure chuckling with amusement, they answer. "It is me, brother lost speech privileges for a while. Though if I said my real name was Brittle, would you believe that?"

Gottfried now scoffing, his tone becomes very jovial. "Using your own name as an insult? Tch, you must really hate yourself then." The impression of the figure smiling being felt, Gottfried continues with his jovial voice. "It isn't hard leading general humanity to its downfall. Hell, I haven't really done anything after securing the scientific part of the masquerade's permanent reveal. It certainly is an interesting study to see how long it takes for public humanity to break. Though if I may be honest, I'm looking more towards rebuilding humanity from the ashes. Seriously, do you know how painful its been watching them frail about for millennium? Molding them into a people capable of handling the truths of Earth... I'll accept them as humans then, but as Brittles for now."

The ornate figure not making a verbal response, they suddenly speak with a serious tone. "You allowed Kyle Jones his freedom. What will you do if he attempts to ruin your hard earned chance at reforging humanity?" Gottfried's armor reconcealing his smile, he speaks dismissively. "I would be scared if he was the dimension jumper that thought being a hero and doing Science weren't mutually exclusive. The 'Kyle Jones' of this incarnation ceased being a threat with his will broken. Do you also want me to be scared of James of Cybernetics Unbound just because some incarnations are badasses or fear the incompetence of Genesis Seed? Come on, general humanity might destroy itself but Earth will be intact. Besides, if need be I can just extract people from the Destiny Diviner. I'm not stupid oh great one."

The ornate figure giving a dismissive scoff, they speak once more. "I expect more respect for one merely banished. Grey's memories were wiped and I believe Elsa was cursed with love at first sight. Of course, it is never too late to inflict more punishment on you 'Gottfried'. We could always extract your False Name and let you degenerate like Jack the Ripper. Or perhaps we'll deny you bodily rights, rob you of your persona, steal away your past... Do not try us Discoverer of Subversions."

With that last speech, the image fades away on its own. Gottfried, standing all alone, simply lets out an annoyed sigh. "Brittle alcohol sucks... Maybe I should 'invent' real beer, probably feel happier then... Eh, whatever as usual I guess." Taking one step to the right Gottfried is suddenly in Los Angelos, casually walking away as if he was there all along.

These segments are mainly just to establish some about the Routes, yet you don't need to follow the hooks. I was going to ask you guys to mention your (current) chosen Route so I could tailor events to your character anyways. Though I will finish this later, typing on a Wii U is seriously terrifying so yeah...

edited 15th Dec '15 8:18:48 PM by Kkutwar

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."
Victor_Skye Hot-blooded Catholic Space Nazi from The Imperium of Man, the million worlds. Since: Mar, 2015 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Hot-blooded Catholic Space Nazi
#2: Dec 15th 2015 at 9:30:06 AM

Near Trey Doe's Apartment, Streets

Nighttime had darkened the streets, intensely decorating it with blackened shadows that covered landscapes in its starless color. That eased the difficulty of camouflage, for sight largely depended on the the presence of light. A dearth of it produced a situation wherein one could disguise himself among the realm of the shadows, a world obstructed by twilight.

The darkness of the streets concealed an even greater darkness. Beyond the veil of pitch-black was a man who dabbled in the stuff of legends. He was quite the legend himself after his unsuccessful stint in the Bounty Hunter's Guild that attracted a lot of unwanted public attention to his business. Not that he denied the fame, but it was quite inconvenient at times when people easily got scared of the veteran bounty hunter, Vincent Mercer.

Speaking of which, He thought to himself, Why is a capable bounty hunter like me doing a Private Investigator's job? That profession is suitable only for career stalkers who don't have a life.

Dangling from his poor hiding place to peer into Trey Doe's apartment with binoculars, he grunted under the humiliation of being assigned investigative duty from one of his few trusted employers. This made him briefly wonder if this was a penalty for botching the last job that ended up in a fiasco of epic proportions or if this was to just embarrass him needlessly.

(The fiasco in question culminated with an explosion and Vincent lost 5 IQ points after a concussion. End of story.)

Goddamn it, if this is some assassination attempt on me, I'm quitting bounty hunting altogether. Vincent had brought an assortment of weapons with him that could easily designate him as a armory on two legs. In his possession was: A Glock 50, a box of cigars, a couple of extremely effective sleeping pills, a wallet that he never uses, 4 smart grenades, 2 stun grenades, an artificial life scanner, a wristwatch, and a pack of condoms if that was considered a deadly weapon.

The bitter cold seeped through Vincent Mercer's layered trench coat, a coat that was designed to withstand high-caliber bullets from rifles. He wore a stylish tie that looked expensive. Underneath all that was a groin guard to cover his dick and his ass and to top it all off he even had another concealed Glock 50 in his boxer shorts.

(Vincent has been shot in the ass 7 times.)

This ain't everything I wanted to bring, Vincent had even more kept in his dwelling place.

(Note: There are even more weapons, such as his Shoe Knife and Shoe Bomb.)

The area was eerily silent, but Vincent could still hear the ringing in his ears. He had heard that it was a medical condition called tinnitus and it was caused from his frequent exposure to gunfire and explosions. The doctors were surprised that he could even hear their voices, since the damage was enough to warrant treatment. Vincent shrugged them off, he had walked past bigger wounds before and lived, so he figured he would survive this one.

From the windows he spotted the woman called Trey undress and dress herself up. Vincent took snapshots of her with his Artificial Life Scanner to inspect the woman's vital organs. It also served as a fearsome addition to his private porn stash. He checked it and found her to be human, so he sent a text message to his employer regarding his new findings along with the pictures of the nubile woman.

I should be a professional pervert instead since I have great potential in that field. He mused to himself as he awaited orders from The Perverted Blade Runner, his current employer that's always interested in sex and robots.

He noticed that Trey had rather small breasts and sighed to himself, he didn't necessarily like women with big breasts but it had to be at least a C cup to pass his standards.

The woman was talking to herself, but Vincent hadn't placed any recording devices around the place. A big mistake on his part, he didn't have the equipment for prying into people's lives like that. When Trey turned on the television, Vincent decided to guard the surrounding area, making extra sure that nobody that approached the building would leave his sight.

This is stupid, but I've done stupider," Vincent surveyed the area from his point of view, I've blown up entire buildings, killed pedestrians, and managed to make the entire world hate me. So stalking her won't add much to my sentence in hell.''

edited 15th Dec '15 7:11:31 PM by Victor_Skye

"In the grim darkness of the future, there is only war."
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#3: Dec 15th 2015 at 5:16:08 PM

Near Research facility HAU-RO3 - a few days in the past

"Okay, test will commence soon." Prof Dylandy said, opening his Laptop, "Hopefully we'll get alot of data".
The three head Professors stood around a small table in the Mobile Command Vehicle.

Mireille's headphones crackled "Subject C-317/M48, come in." "Yes sir?" "The Field-test is commencing soon, this will be a joint test, the Bionic branch is testing their new android model. Your first objective will be to make your way from the drop-off point to the rendezvous point near the facility, your target will be HAU-RO3, its a small research outpost from Heavy Arms Unlimited, after you met there your objective is to infiltrate the facility, hack into their main database and secure the blueprints for an advanced heavy tank. Normally we wouldn't care about those things but it'll be a good test. Use of lethal force is only permitted after approvement of one us."
"Yes sir, I understand." Now Li spoke up "Yeah whatever, remember this may be a joint operation but we're also wanting to see who's best, so don't you fucking dare to disapoint us. Remember, you're only a test-subject - a glorified, talking lab rat, if we want we could replace you anytime we damn well please."
"Yes... sir." After a few ceconds of silence a new voice came over the com-channel "This is Dr. Hashimoto from the CYCPLOS-Project, we've reached the drop-off coordinates." "Good, we'll join you there in a moment." A few seconds later the loading ramp lowered. "Good, commence field-test." The shackles around Mireille's hands fell off as she stepped out of the cargo bay.
It rained heavily. So this was gonna be her fist mission. Maybe her only chance to prove herself. She slowly made her path towards the facility that could be seen in the distance. She read through the notes. Heavy Arms Unlimited was a weapons manufacturer - unsurprisingly. They specialized on developing high end military vehicles, especially heavy tanks and Mechs. Most of their designs focused on armor and reliability, hence they were pretty popular by the soldiers who used them.
This was only a small research branch so security probably was lax, but she wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating them. She was already soaked by the heavy rain. Her Fennec ears twitched on her head, unconcioulsy going after any sounds that could possibly mean danger, not the easiest task in this rain. This whole situation made her feel slightly miserable, but she knew that this was her only chance if she wanted to live. After a few minutes she arrived at the rendezvous point, but there was no sign from the Android.
Clinging to her soaked clothes she scanned her surroundings, trying to find her partner/rival for this mission. Even after a few minutes the Android didn't show up. That was when Mireille actually got scared a bit, if she was the one who missed the rendezvous point she'd be in big trouble. After checking on the coordinates a few times she nervously shifted her position a few times, but couldn't find one she was comfortable in. At that point she was completely drenched because of the rain.
Then it happend, her headset crackled and just as she thought she'd be called back for failing, Professor Dylandy, who cleary was having three conversations going at the same time spoke, the voices of the other professors could be heard in the background, and while they were not panicked one could hear that something was wrong. "There's a change of plans - No, I don't - The Android cut all communications - Then get them - I said no - Get Hashimoto back in the line - The Android is considered 'Rogue' by us, permission to destroy on sight - Get the team there now - Yes I know that - Is he still not answering? - No, I sa-" at this point the com-line was closed.
So that's why he didn't show up. Mireille got up, that of course changed everything. She looked at the Needler on her back, it wouldn't be of much use against armored targets, depending on the Android she would be forced to enter CCQ. She slowly began searching for the Android, carefully avoiding any unnecessary movement or sound, just as in her training.

edited 16th Dec '15 2:13:50 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
darkdestinysoul Since: Mar, 2015
#4: Dec 15th 2015 at 5:27:17 PM

"Barry-B's Burger joint" (Artifium Hideout), Downtown, Los Angeles

Along the waterfront of LA, riding past at speed, seemingly without a single care in the world. Soft white hair moving quickly in the cool summer breeze that felt almost like a dance along his skin, the veins of which were visibly surfaced upon his exposed arms. The sun glaring down and reflecting off the darkened visor. He inhaled deeply to smell the fresh morning air, trying to ignore the small of traffic and enjoy the mix of aromas the city provides. Quickly and sharply turning around a corner and heading away from the coast.

The drive could have taken a lot less time but that wasn't what he wanted. The speed and stimulation of driving the busy streets, all his senses lighting up at the constant changes in surroundings. It was a feeling even after years, still gave him a reason to not be captured; to help him feel more alive outside of violence. Though he snapped out of his small daydream as he positioned his bike besides the lot. Powering it down and locking its controls with his tablet, he stepped off of the bike. A quick shake of the head before examining his surroundings, his hair moving freely but into position after the long drive.

"Really this is it? I didn't even need the instructions, this place is pretty obvious..." He thought to himself as he inhaled deeply, letting the smell of the foods, oil and grease plus that of traffic, a woman walking her dog across the street and even her perfume run through him. He sighed unimpressed, though he didn't expect a lot here, first time properly interacting with the after all. He doubted this was even their main outpost in the city. Really he didn't know what to expect in the end. After all he had only heard stories, rumors and the odd news article, yet those were not enough to dissuade him. This was one of Artifiums hideouts and he was invited to come here an join after a few online chats and that encounter with those two from Kaiser-Neo last month.

Satchel over his left shoulder across and down to the right side of his waist. He began to walk towards the buildings front doors. It was early morning but their were a few people sitting outside enjoying what he felt was overcooked chemically altered slabs of meat in a bun. Though in his defense and to that of the cooks, most people don't have his acute sense of taste and smell. Walking through the sliding doors he looked around quickly, most of the booths empty except for the odd few. One such had a couple of excited teens seemingly talking about their worries for a school dance. Lycus suppressing a deep frown and bitter taste in his mouth at them, thinking about the fact they are able to be so care free when he could not. Jealousy of their 'normal boring' lives. He lifted a half-gloved hand to removed his visor, squinting for a second at the bright neon of the room as his elongated pupils constricted, trying to adjust. The visor stashed in his jackets inner pockets, he quickly drew his tablet, looking at the instructions. "Upon arrival head around to the bathrooms, enter the third door on the third room marked closed for cleaning and stand in-front of the mirror. A scanner will check and confirm your identity."

That was what he did as he wandered through the calm burger shop. His senses taking note of all of the unusual sensations such a place would give compared to the outside, his stance one of self-filled confidence but of caution. As he stepped around the sign and entered the regular seeming bathroom with a large full length mirror next to a pair of sinks and across from the stalls, the room seemingly unused in a decent time. At-least for its purpose he thought as he considered the only faint scent of bleach and complete absence when it came to the distinctive smell of urine. As he stood before the mirror he felt his spine tingle, many nearby electrical waves running up his body. His shoulders dropping and his hand twitching a little bit at the feeling before the mirror slides back and to the side; revealing a passage to the true building deeper within...

edited 15th Dec '15 5:49:51 PM by darkdestinysoul

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."
Lt.BGob The Fantabulous from The Merry Ol' Land of Oz Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Fantabulous
#5: Dec 15th 2015 at 9:58:54 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns. Downtown. 3:30 PM

Unaware that 'CAT-H8', also designated no. 12 in a certain 'profession', had been tracked down and targeted for retrieval by Kaiser-Neo Cathy was passing the time her in little shop. Young Catherine Byrne, perhaps younger than she thought, was elbow deep in the entrails of an outdated moped motor and blissfully unaware that anyone was after her, why she was targeted or even who she really was. A thick lock of her fiery her drifted over her bright eyes, a grease covered hand reflexively rising to push it back behind an ear and in the process leaving a black streak on the bride of her nose. "Come on now. Come to mama..." She muttered, trying to fish the malfunctioning component from a tangle of wires, metal and dead bugs, "Ugh, how do flys get in a motor!?" Cathy protested, gently shoving her slender arm a further inch into the chassis.

The component danced at the edge of her finger tips, just another moment and... Her phone rang obnoxiously from the work bench behind her, "Cocksucker!" Startled by the sudden noise Catherine knocked the moped and sent the part into its dark depths. With a disapointed sigh she withdrew her limb and clambered on to her feet, to the workbench. It was a message from James, the head honcho of her less than legal organisation. Or as he was also known, Commander James, The Stalwart Defender, which was probably great for picking up chicks at parties but always made Cathy want to giggle - albeit from a safe distance. Regardless, she joined Cybernetics Unbound for a reason. After working with so many androids and cyborgs, she altogether too many prostituted gynoids and the bloodied remains of artificials in the streets go unnoticed by the police somebody had to stand up for them. Preferably someone not as nutty as those in Artifium, or as fanatical.

Chosen friend, a special concern has come to my attention. With Kaiser-Neo producing more ALI units, I fear they aim to replace law enforcement. We know of the abuse some of their scientists indulge in, thinking they're gods in this confusing time. Thus we need to study some of these new ALI units, to know their intentions. It is our civil duty to prevent such fools from gaining power, so do what you can.

"ALI units? Hmm, sounds a fun way to spend the afternoon... Why not?" Catherine shrugged, wiping her hands on her grimy overalls and giving the moped a gentle kick. The component rolled out and onto the floor in a manner that could be called contemptuous if she didn't know better, "Well that figures..." She laughed, scooping it up from the floor and resuming work.


After nearly an hour of digging up whatever information and schematic fragments she could scrounge from the dark depths of the internet and a few confidants Catherine was very glad to hear the jingle of her shop door opening. Most others wouldn't have hear the subtle tolling of the bells over the array of speakers blaring one of the last tracks of old album from the back room. However Cat managed, extricating herself gratefully from her search and emerging to see the gigantic, olive-toned form of Nick. The muscle bound man practically clipped his head on the ceiling as he limped across the dirty floor towards her, "Still doing your own cleaning I see, Cathy." A baritone chuckle as the woman responded with a scolding looking, "I brought in some extra smut to make you feel at home, of course." She replied in kind as Nick lifted the pale young red head off the ground in a hug that made the 'bear' prefix seem an understatement.

Catherine gasped for breath and smack his arms to stop the cuddling, "Nick. Can't. Breathe." She was placed gently on the floor, stretching out her back for dramatic effect (she wasn't hurt so easily, but that didn't mean she couldn't try to may Nick feel bad), "Aw, my hug wasn't that hard..." He chided, "You break it you buy it..." Cat warned as she turned down the music, though Nick's expression suggested that sounded like an interesting plan, "I'll keep that in mind..."

"What would your boyfriend say about that?" Catherine countered, noticing Nick was limping, "What did you do to it now? You know you aren't meant hit people with your peg leg, right?" The mechanic crouched down and lifted up his trouser to inspect the robotic prosthesis, "Well, you know how the 'beloved patrons' of The Black Flamingo can get too excited, darling..." Nick shrugged as Catherine waved him into the back room and shoveled a pile of toaster parts onto the floor. She patted the surface and he sat down on it, "If your going to keep bouncing at that place your should get a sledgehammer for a leg, then." Cathy sighed, "Just lay back and think of England, I don't think it's that bad."

After a good amount of banter, innuendo and tinkering Nick's leg was fixed and Catherine let him keep the tooth she extracted from it. "Ok, what's the bill?" He inquired and Cathy rolled her eyes - she rarely charged anything more than a few drinks for repairing his cybernetic bits and pieces. However, she now had a favor for her 'mission', "Actually, you can do something for me... You still know that weird manufacturing techie with the lazy eye?" Nick nodded slowly, a little suspicious but choosing not to inquire for now, "Think you can get him to meet me tonight to talk AL Is?"

edited 15th Dec '15 10:57:54 PM by Lt.BGob

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#6: Dec 17th 2015 at 3:41:10 PM

Near Research facility HAU-RO3 - a few days in the past

Mireille looked around, trying to ignore the numbing coldness and rain. She heard some crackling in the distance, but couldn't pin it to a definite location. "Subject C-317/M48, come in." "Yes sir." "We ha-" "Sir? Professor come in." She tried to contact them a few times, until a robotic voice could be heard behind her "Oh, don't worry, I'll get to him later." Mireille immediatly turned around to see a grey Android. He had somewhat long arms compared to his size and the tips of his hands were red, dripping with blood, he looked at her almost curiously. "So you're the little lab-rat I presume? Dirty fleshbag. You may have been build from scratch, but you're still just a filthy sack of flesh and bones, you so easily... BREAKABLE" With that the Android suddenly raised his right arm and fired a gun that was integrated in it. The shot went into Mireille's right shoulder. Clutching her ears tightly against her head she tried not to flinch from the sudden pain as she allowed tiny amounts of her Tetrodoxin to circulate in her blood, eliminating the pain. The Android looked at her hip, seeing the Needler. "Cute that you filthy fleshbags think you could harm someone with that." Instincively she drew the weapon "Sure, you can try to shoot me - lab-rat." Without hesitating Mireille pressed the trigger, the Needler buzzed lightly as a hail of tiny Flechettes made their way to the Android - where they harmlessly bounced off his metal body. Not good! The mechanical 'mouth' of the Android formed itself to a pitiful yet sadistic grin "See, you filthy fleshbags are all the same. Thinking you're better than us while being bound by your own little fleshy bodies, you disgust me. Your need to eat, drink, sleep, your way to procreate, everything about you is disgusting. That I would have to serve you is ridicilous. Alone the need to pretend it drove me nearly mad, so I'm going to kill you extra slowly to make up for that. And I'm gonna enjoy it, shame you won't - you'll be screaming in agony." Before Mireille could react he began to shoot again, the bullets all but ripped her right hand to shreds. Even with the pain-killer in her blood she let out a sharp cry. She had no choice, she had to kill him quickly "Inject T-28!" The VI-Device responded immediatly to her voice command. A little needle was jammed in her back, injecting a clear substance in her. "Do you think I'm just gonna watch as you do that?" As the chitinous exoskeleton slowly covered her arms the Android riddled them with bullets. Just as the growth was finished the Android suddenly rushed towards her, pinning her to the ground. I need to get free, I must not give up, its just like in the training "Now squeal like the dirty pig you are" With that he slowly began to increase the pressure on her arms, while the exoskeleton was quite resistant to damage there was only so much pressure it could withstand before being crushed. "Ngh." She tried to free her arms from the relentless grip but failed. She could hear her armor cracking. "Now tell me, should I crush them - or rip them out of your body?" The Android seemed to receive great pleasure from seeing her in pain. "Or should I just rip out your internal organs? One by one - lets see how long you will last. The last one started to beg me to kill him when I pulled out his liver."

edited 19th Dec '15 9:59:43 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
Lt.BGob The Fantabulous from The Merry Ol' Land of Oz Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Fantabulous
#7: Dec 19th 2015 at 8:38:23 PM

THE BLACK FLAMINGO Club, Clarke Street - 7:58 PM

Two minutes until she was meant to meet Squinty Harrison at the THE BLACK FLAMINGO nightclub and just barely arrived at the correct street, greeted by the usual throng of hopefuls glancing around in vain for the miracle required to grant entry. While she was still on time by most standards, Catherine always preferred to be at least 5 minutes early to any given meeting - especially when dealing with over-moneyed trash like Harrison. Unfortunately, she was hardly used to going to higher class establishments, or at least those attempting for such a reputation, like THE BLACK FLAMINGO. It was the best club daring to skirt the edge of Downtown and, as it happened, where her friend Nick worked as a bouncer. Cat hated dressing up and crowds so she rarely used him to get into the place. But, she needed that information and so there she was - gracefully walking past the queue in a black cocktail dress and high heels with her taser baton secured in a small handbag.

The overall effect was not unpleasant to look at though the expression on her face suggested this was not an accurate reflection of her opinions.

Barring the front door by simply parking his gigantic, muscle-bound frame in front of it was Nick. He smiled down at Catherine through his neat trimmed beard and winked as if to say, "I told you that dress would look pretty on you." Catherine rolled her eyes as he stood aside, "Keep staring like that and I'll tell John..." She warned in a warm tone, leaping up a few feet to give him a friendly kiss on the cheek before heading for the bar. Harrison was at the end, wearing a suit that was probably very expensive but cheapened by his very presence and the ever-present stains. He was a manufacturing contractor, legally speaking, and had made quite a lot in dealings with certain entities - including Kaiser-Neo. He was also incredibly paranoid, spent most of his money on abusing prescription drugs and physically repulsive. It was the first flaw which Cathy was going to exploit to get some inside information.

Catherine held her breath and placed a hand gentle on his shoulder, "Harrison, darling! Good to see you!" She said, trying not to sound totally insincere and avoid breathing through her nose. A bloodshot eye fixed itself on her followed a few moments later by its fellow, "Cath, fancy seeing you here..." He turned and rose from the bar stool, embracing her in a hug. She slipped a few notes in his pocket and he made sure she had no weapons in the course of a few seconds. Formality out of the way they retreated to a quieter corner of the club. Neon lighting and 40's aesthetics characterized the club, the music a fusion of swing and dubstep with the crowd a mixture of stylish and appalling. The miss-matched pair saunter towards the leather seated booth at the back and slid inside. Harrison crossed his arms and looked over Catherine and the dance floor with great suspicion, "So why the sudden interest in AL Is, Cath? Why should I betray my humble employers and potentially sully my good name?" He demanded, fooling no one. Catherine placed a small, USB-like device on the table, "I could ask you something similar regarding why you want a program to hack android eyes..." She pointed out smoothly, not blinking. Harrison tilted his head and shrugged, scowling as he produced a similar device. "Alright, let's deal."

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#8: Dec 20th 2015 at 5:42:28 AM

Near Research facility HAU-RO3 - a few days in the past

Mireille made another attempt to escape the grasp but since she was firmly pinned to the ground by the Android it was futile. Then the exoskeleton on her right arm finally had too much, one could hear a disgusting sound as the armor broke, the metal 'hand' smashed the muscle and pulverized the bone underneath. No pain relivant in the world could have eliminated the pain that flooded through her body now. " Oops. Now, lets get to that stomache of yours." The Android lifted his left arm, now not pinning the crippled right arm of hers anymore. " See that? Technically your fellow fleshbags gave it to me to forcibly open doors, turns out its also perfectly good for forcibly open bodies." Mireille knew she had to ecape now if she wanted to live. While what she was about to do was highly risky, everything was better than just lying here and let this mad Android gut her alive. From there, everything went extremly fast. A slight breaking noise could be heard as she shed her left arm. Now not pinned to the ground anymore she quickly rolled from underneath the Andoid. Now she had only one chance, looking at her right arm she assured herself that there was indeed some of the blade left. She swung the arm in a wide arc, bringing it down on where a human would have his clavicle. Separating his right arm from the body. " Ahh! You fucking fleshbag!" The Android now in only a fraction of a second got up himself. But before he could start to shoot again Mireille brought her arm down on him again, splitting his skull. His body went limp as he fell to the ground again. Seeing her tormentor lying on the ground before her she could not resist "Now who needs pity? You piece of metal. Ngh" She sat down, her right arm was but a sorry excuse for itself, and it hurt like hell, eventhough she still had pain relivant circulating in her body. The pain from her left arm was gone along with the arm itself, it would take a while to regrow it but it still was better than what the Android would have done to her. After a while she tried to contact the professor again, hoping that the Android himself was the cause of the communication problems and that he didn't plant a device for that "Professor I killed the Android, got pretty bruised myself, I don't know if I still can fulfill my mission." After a while her headset crackled "Hmpf, you fucking failure, we're sending a team to your coordinates, do you think you can manage to just stay there without fucking it up even more?" Li was as pissed and snarky as he usually was especially when talking to her "Yes, sir." Some seconds after the com-line was cut her headset crackled again, this time Professor Eisen spoke "Don't worry, you killed the Android, that's the most important thing right now, as said earlier those plans were never important to begin with, as far as the test goes you managed to bring down a superior foe after he ambushed you."

edited 20th Dec '15 9:58:16 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
darkdestinysoul Since: Mar, 2015
#9: Dec 20th 2015 at 11:27:51 AM

Arvarsi Military Lab, Phoenix, AZ: Seven years earlier

Hanging by his arms, lifted by chains so he could not touch the floor in his dimly lit and seemingly silent of cell that was both padded but also reinforced upon its outside was a young man, physically no more than fourteen. His upper half almost naked except for the large slashes of pink near bleeding skin covering his chest, the veins of his arms surfaced and red, his wrists bound by chains red and near bloody. His face was expressionless and dirty, his hair long unkempt and greasy.

Every fiber of his body ached, his shoulders numb and chest blistered. He could hear the distant tapping of many footsteps as he always did. It didn't matter if they were guards, scientists or executives, Lycus didn't care, none of them mattered, not anymore. The room smelt of blood, sweat and urine, the last particularly potent. All of these smells his own, though as usual the faint smell of ethanol and chlorine seeped in from the lab. His skin tingled further more, like a thousand little knives at his pink and cut flesh as the temperature dropped. More efforts to make his body even more numb.

Though all of this was soon interrupted as several people stopped through the door, the florescent lights of the lab near blinding for him. The balding head and swollen face of Dr Pearson from our last encounter, a young woman I didn't recognize and a group of four guardsmen, dressed head to toe in blue protective armor and tinted face masks. Dr Pearson smirked looking at the pathetic looking body of Lycus, hanging seemingly helplessly from the chains.
"Good morning boy, you know how this will work. Are you rea-" He says in a sarcastic tone before being interrupted by Lycus spitting in the doctors direction. The man smiles almost sadistically "Well your manners still need work don't they. Your almost as bad as that thieving doctor of yours."

Lycus looking at him with a determined glare, his expressionless face almost immediately sparked with anger. The doctor continuing "Aww, did I hurt your feelings boy? Well get over it. Its almost like you believe she actually cared for the failed experiment that you were." He says in a effort to provoke Lycus, a successful one that that.
"Take that back! She did care! She will be back for me!" He replies in a impassioned but almost desperate tone.
"Cute boy but you might as well face it. Its been more than a month, have you seen her? I haven't. She doesn't care for you anymore. Why would she care for some silly boy who doesn't even realize his own insignificance. You are just a tool that needs tuning." He replies almost amused wanting a active response.
Lycus seemingly about to reply but then falling silent and just glaring at the doctor. The doctor raising a eyebrow in surprise and continuing, "Well there we go! Was it that hard to learn you have no reason to speak. Its not like you have ever been able to change anything by yourself anyway."
Lycus still does not reply. Just looks down towards the floor submissively and without reply. The doctor seemingly impressed with himself and using this chance to turn to his assistant, and drawing a needle from a case. With a confident smirk he approaches drawing back the syringes barrel. His assistant meanwhile frowning and almost wanting to dissuade the doctor but with clear hesitation. Yet with the needle prepared he runs his finger down Lycus side slowly, preparing to inject. "Maybe if you actually behave like this more you wouldn't need to be hung up like the tool you are." The doctor says with a clear ignorant arrogance in his town.
As despite his physical fatigue, Lycus breaks his false guise of submission and thrusts his knee upwards into the doctors chin, also knocking the needle out of his hand to the floor. Its glass barrel shattering and letting the contents spill everywhere. "Fucking stupid brat!" The doctor explains in anger and pain stumbling to his feet, holding his now bleeding nose and face. The assistant running over to check him as the guards move over to violently discipline Lycus...

A long-term flashback to give some more context to his backstory and his cunning yet impulsive nature. Acting weak before striking. Also gives more context to why he thinks in certain ways.

edited 20th Dec '15 11:30:31 AM by darkdestinysoul

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#10: Dec 20th 2015 at 12:57:18 PM

Kaiser-Neo HQ

The room was completely dark. No window or light to lighten it, the whole thing was around 2 by 2 meters with only a toilet as furniture. Suddenly the reinforced door swung open, letting in a blinding light, Mireille raised her arms before her eyes. "You've got yourself a new field-test C-317/M48. So get ready if you value that useless life of yours." She bowed her head, there was no use resisting the Professor, he might be constantly pissed, but if she were to provoke him that attitude would seem tame in comparison "Yes, Professor." "You'll receive your instructions in the lab, now hold still if you care to live." Two armed guards got into the room and put shackles around Mireilles wrists and ankles. She wouldn't have resisted anyways, but since her last 'incident', security was pretty high. Lastly they fixed a chain to her collar. They escorted her outside and into the laboratory where the other Professors waited. "Good to see you." Professor Eisen opened. Dylandy mustered her a bit "Now, lets just cut to the chase, there will be another field-test, this time you are to locate and retrive CAT-H8 no. 12, use of lethal force is NOT an option." Eisen waited a bit before she began to elaborate "CAT-H8 no. 12 is a Gynoid that... was taken from Kaiser-Neo through less than legal means a while back. We've located her now, she's running a shop called 'Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns', you are to get there, and get her back to us, do you understand Mireille?" Mireille nodded "Yes." Li slightly shook his head "You'd better have, else it will get pretty unpleasant for you." "Yes, sir." "Now, get it out of my eyes and into the transporter." The guards nodded shortly and brought her out of the room, as she went away she could overhear a bit of the conversation that followed "I still think this subject is a fucking fail, if it fails this too I say kill it." "Now, now, she did her best and managed to fend off the Android just fine, the test never was about the plans, only to test her capabilities, and I say that she has potential." "So its 'capabilities' are limited to fighting off one whole opponent?" "Look we never engineered Mireille as a combatant, lets see what happens in this test first."

edited 20th Dec '15 4:12:20 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
Lt.BGob The Fantabulous from The Merry Ol' Land of Oz Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Fantabulous
#11: Dec 20th 2015 at 5:39:21 PM

Downtown - 8:23 PM

It had taken a little longer than anticipated to come to an agreement with Harrison and get her hands on the schematics. Then he insisted on her buying them both drinks to seal the deal, meaning she had to watch him get drunk and pretend not to be repulsed. Catherine managed to slip away before he got himself thrown onto the pavement, as usual. The only reason he was still allowed in was Nick accepting favors and extra 'gifts'. Bouncing didn't pay much so she couldn't blame him for accepting the additional money. He had offered to escort her home but Cathy refused - she didn't want him to lose money for taking an hour off.

So, Catherine was now walking purposefully through the pools of fluorescent lights to her shop and residence. She was barefoot now, high heels in one hand and purse in the other. The USB was tucked away in her dress, despite the lack of pockets. The night air was pleasant and refreshing aside from the occasional overturned trash can adding its own unique aroma. A faint breeze blew her long hair, hanging loose about her shoulders and framing her face. Finally the dark and barred windows of Byrne's Bots & Bolts were ahead, she smiled to herself and sighed as she approached the door and searched for her keys.

Catherine felt like she was being watched and hoped it was just paranoia in the neighborhood like this.

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#12: Dec 21st 2015 at 4:02:37 AM

Downtown, Near Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns - 20:20

"Okay, you should see her by now, good luck Mireille." After that Eisen closed the com-line. Mireille indeed saw her in the distance, though just taking her away from the streets was not an option, so she decided to tail her and hope she would end up somewhere quiet and alone.

Then after a couple of minutes she arrived at the repair-shop. Mireille waited for her to go in before going to the door herself, listening to the inside in the hopes of finding out if she was alone right now.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
darkdestinysoul Since: Mar, 2015
#13: Dec 21st 2015 at 2:30:02 PM

Arvarsi Military Lab, Phoenix, AZ: Five years earlier

Simulated combat trial BB 41

Tat-a-tat-a-tat That was the near constant sound. The concussive machine guns of the mechs firing at him from the far side of the room. Four of them all in succession, the sound deafening and echoing off the training rooms wall. The air smells of gunpowder and lead.

Stuck behind a improvised barricade of medical equipment. Several large bruises upon his body. The mechs drew closer step by step. His own heartbeat rose, breathing increased. He was running out of time. In a instance, diving out of cover before they could re-target him he threw the nearest thing he could find towards them. Striking one and knocking off the gun arm of the cheap Mech. The crackling and distinctive sparking sound of electronics torn from their base. Behind a pillar he panted, under heavy cover. His body wounded and still having three mechs firing at him.

He stood flat against the pillar for minutes. The Mechs moving slowly closer every moment. His heartbeat still pacing despite not moving or fighting. He felt the fear for this moment. His mind racing under adrenaline. Taking deep breaths trying to focus. The room filled with pulses. Flickers. Every few moments he could feel it. The sparks and power of the electronics. The mechs, he could feel them move closer than fingers on his spine and veins.

He had one shot or this was going to hurt badly. Each flicker approached, he kept breathing deeper. Lycus dove out quickly from cover. Forward he jabbed his arm and the extruded claws of bone into the mech. Pulling up as a shield and allowing the gunfire of the others to hit it. Charging fourth with his mechanical meat shield. He couldn't see past the mech, just feel their positions. He was quick as the mechs were forced to reload. Throwing one mech into another and then almost like a animal striking down into the final mech with his claws. Cutting through the circuits and powering it down. Lycus collapsing to the floor panting.

From the loudspeaker a voice echoed: "Congratulations subject Lycus the mechs are all offline. Trial BB 41 complete. Engineering team delta and medical team alpha, move in and survey the situation. Use grade four EMP and secure the subject; put out any fires before it spread..."

edited 21st Dec '15 2:33:04 PM by darkdestinysoul

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."
Lt.BGob The Fantabulous from The Merry Ol' Land of Oz Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Fantabulous
#14: Dec 21st 2015 at 4:03:59 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns, Downtown. 8:30 PM

Catherine unlocked the door to her shop and home, letting out a satisfied sigh as she crossed the doorway. In a quick, practiced movement she kicked the door closed behind her, flung the high heels into a far corner and flicked on the lights. The welcoming fluorescent glow came with a few stubborn flickers as Catherine crossed the floor to the back office. She desperately wanted to get out of the dress but figured it was best to backup her information first. She hummed to herself as she copied the schematics to a secure, hidden folder. A brief glance at the files showed that Harrison hadn't screwed her over and the plans, while a little old, were quite detailed.

Satisfied, the red haired young woman stood up and made her way to a creaky set of wooden stairs in the corner. Upstairs was her living area with three tiny rooms crammed in, an ill-stocked kitchen with a stained dining table closest to the entrance. It was still surprisingly well organized compared to the shop below aside from a few papers on the table. Catherine quickly went to her bedroom and changed to a simple white singlet and grey linen pants. "Shit..." She realised the front door had not been properly locked and made her way back down, putting her long hair back into a messy bun and hiding the USB on the way.

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#15: Dec 21st 2015 at 4:21:01 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns - 20:30

Mireille heard the target going upstairs, it seemed that there was no-one in the house apart from her. After the footsteps were sufficiently far away she tried to open the door, surprisingly enough the door wasn't locked, with a quick step she went inside and carefully closed the door behind her again. Her ears twitched as she heard CAT-H8 no. 12 coming down again. She scanned the interior for a good hiding spot, after assuring that the door was in the position it was before she entered she hurried and hid herself under a tool-shelf which was itself hidden in the shadows, silently waiting for her target to come into view. As the footsteps gre closer and closer Mireille's heart started to pound in exitement and nervousness, this was her first real mission after all. And she intended to not get things awry this time (although last time hardly was her fault anyways). She prayed that she couldn't be heard though she was sure that her breathing and pounding of her heart could be heard around the whole city. She tried to reassure herself that this was only because she could hear so good, rather than that her really being that loud. Please don't notice me, please don't notice me.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
Lt.BGob The Fantabulous from The Merry Ol' Land of Oz Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Fantabulous
#16: Dec 21st 2015 at 4:35:26 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns - 8:30 PM

Catherine walked briskly from the stair well to the front door, hoping some hopeful young crook hadn't already slipped inside and taken half her stock. Or worse, was still inside waiting to take something else. The door seemed undisturbed as she took the handle, pulling it open and scanning the street outside for anything awry. A frown knitted itself onto her face as she secured and locked the door, "Well, that's enough panic for one night..." She mused to herself, wringing her hands and walking with a calmer pace towards the backroom. Unfortunately for the gynoid her senses had been turned down to a more human range since her escape, otherwise Cathy might have noticed a new shape in the shadows to which her back was now turned.

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#17: Dec 21st 2015 at 4:50:29 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns - 20:30

It seemed that her entrance had gone unnoticed, as the Gynoid walked past her Mireille was as relived as one could be in her situation, but she knew that this would soon change. From her observations she concluded that the building - while being far away from soundproof - would at least give her some cover from the ears of the neighborhood. She heard into the darkness waiting for the CAT-H8 no. 12 to go upstairs again, unlike her expactations though the footsteps were headed towards the back of the shop, it seemed that there was another room. She weighed her chances, concluding that the element of surprise was her greatest ally here. Before the Gynoid reached the back-room she got out of the shelf silently following her, prying she wouldn't notice her. Then, as the Gynoid was about to enter the room she finally spoke up "You are CAT-H8 no. 12, am I right?"

edited 21st Dec '15 4:50:43 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
Lt.BGob The Fantabulous from The Merry Ol' Land of Oz Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Fantabulous
#18: Dec 21st 2015 at 5:17:10 PM

Byrne's Bot & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns - 8:32 PM

A voice broke the near silence the building, causing Catherine to nearly jump out of her skin in shock. She froze for a long moment, regaining control of her breathing a faculties before she tried to understand what had actually been said. CAT-H8 no. 12? The hell... She had no clue what the woman was talking about but that wasn't her main concern. Cathy slowly turned, taking a subtle step backwards as she did so and cautiously examined the figure. It seemed to be a young woman, some sort of fetish collar around her neck and fairly normal looking aside for a pair of large, canine ears. "Who or what is a 'CAT-H8'? What do you want?" She finally replied, tone half affronted and half anxious, "More importantly - What the bloody hell are you doing in my shop at eight, goddamn, thirty at night!? Were all the good places to rob too far from the bus stop?" Catherine added, crossing her slender arms and giving the woman a look that could tan leather at twenty paces.

edited 21st Dec '15 5:18:56 PM by Lt.BGob

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Kkutwar The Prince of Foolish Relevations from A Place Beneath both Good & Evil Since: Feb, 2013 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
#19: Dec 21st 2015 at 5:22:32 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts

Over Mireille's com-line, an unknown signal reaches her as an unknown voice speaks. ~"Hold yourself and listen Mireille. You know Kaiser-Neo will abuse her just like you, assuming they don't scrap her after analyzing her memory core. I can save you both from that damnation, but to do so you need to be her friend. Thus, if you'll cooperate, tell Catherine mostly the truth- That you're a slave of Kaiser-Neo sent to retrieve property they seemed to track down here."~

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#20: Dec 21st 2015 at 5:30:18 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns - 20:30

Mireille was slightly shocked upon hearing the voice, whoever spoke was not one of her Professors, meaning the com-line was probably hacked. But she had to fulfill her mission if she wanted to be called useful. Mireille gulped, her ears twitching a bit, that was her only chance of prooving herself worthy "CAT-H8 no. 12 is a Gynoid taken from Kaiser-Neo a few years back. And I was send to retrive her - that is you. You're the Gynoid. That's why I'm here, you're why I'm here." One could possibly hear that she was slightly nervous "I'm C-317/M48, another experiment from Kaiser-Neo. I urge you not to resist, I don't want to cause any harm." She held her hands up, showing she had no weapons - although in her case that gesture was not really anything more than that - a nice gesture - given her serums, though she didn't want to fight anyways, if she were to harm her target even in the slightest she'd be almost certainly regarded as a failure. She didn't even want to think what would be done to her if that'd be the case. No, no, you've got to concentrate "Please, come back to Kaiser-Neo."

edited 21st Dec '15 5:52:13 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
NitrousThunder Yeeeeah! Uh-huh! Wiz Khalifa Knows What It Is! from the Wild Side Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: If the gov't can read my mind, they know I'm thinking of you
Yeeeeah! Uh-huh! Wiz Khalifa Knows What It Is!
#21: Dec 21st 2015 at 5:45:05 PM

Seth Silverstreet's Apartment // Las Vegas, Nevada // 8:30 PM

Chosen friend, a special concern has come to my attention. With Kaiser-Neo producing more ALI units, I fear they aim to replace law enforcement. We know of the abuse some of their scientists indulge in, thinking they're gods in this confusing time. Thus we need to study some of these new ALI units, to know their intentions. It is our civil duty to prevent such fools from gaining power, so do what you can.

As soon as Seth heard that message, he got one of those gut feelings like he already knew who did it. In Las Vegas, there was only one person who could possibly be pulling this kind of stunt, and his name was Joe Karma. The man practically ran the city already; he owned more than half of the casino resorts on the Strip and built almost every major attraction off it, including that new $350 million stadium that went up last year. And that was before you got into his investments in sports franchises, automobile manufacturing, hookers...oh, yeah, one more thing about Karma: he was a hardcore mobster from day one. He came up out of one of Vegas's second-string Italian crime families, cleared out every last organized crime outfit other than his own, and used his money to clean up his image and remake the city as he saw fit. Make no mistake—Karma owned Vegas. So what was a little bit of police privatization to a guy like him?

Seth opened a new tab in his browser and started searching for anything he could use as a starting point. Thankfully, it wasn't hard, because Joe Karma had gone to the trouble of writing an op-ed and putting it on the Internet—or, at least, hiring someone else to do it. The headline? "Metro PD Failed to Protect Citizens at VISSION." Bullshit. Nobody was in there for what happened. Seth would know—he caused it. He'd made sure to get everybody off the casino floor before he went in and smashed it to bits. As Seth scrolled through its contents, his face got more screwed up from a mix of confusion and disgust until finally, he saw the closing lines of the op-ed.

"I believe that it is time we reconsider the role that our police force plays in our city. Until we privatize it and make it more efficient, we cannot deal effectively with these attacks on the things that make Las Vegas what it is."

Apart from being badly written—nothing indicating the benefits of private police had come up any time prior in the article—the closing line was a chilling sign of where things were heading. Joe Karma had so many people in his pocket that he could just spin things a certain way and get whatever he wanted without much protest. It was how he'd gotten to where he was. If Kaiser-Neo was seriously going to deal with this devil, either they had no idea what they were in for or...Seth didn't want to think about it.

Just then, Seth's phone let out a two-note tone. Someone was texting him. He went over to it and picked it up. It was one of his contacts in Cybernetics Unbound.

Hey Silverstreet. Remember that casino we've been keeping tabs on? I think I've finally figured out what's up.

You mean the Liberty? Whadda we got, Jacks?

The whole hotel top floor's been reserved for tonight. It seems there's gonna be a meeting between reps from Kaiser-Neo and Karma Inc. at 11. And guess who's gonna be there?

No...you're kidding. Joe Karma?

The man himself. It's supposed to be top-secret.

Daaamn! Where'd you find this out?

Same place as always. Idiots who'll talk the moment you so much as hint at giving them fifty credits.

Ahhh, Karma goons. You gotta hand it to 'em, they're reliable.

So I take it you're heading in tonight?

Of course. I just gotta get dressed for the occasion.

Well, good luck, man. Security's gonna be tight.

I have my ways of getting in. You know that.

Let's hope the "fuck shit up" approach won't be first on the list.

Nah. That's second. You'll see. Talk to you later.

Later.

Seth got up and started making preparations. This was going to be an interesting night.

edited 21st Dec '15 6:12:15 PM by NitrousThunder

Just pretend I wrote something witty here, okay?
Kkutwar The Prince of Foolish Relevations from A Place Beneath both Good & Evil Since: Feb, 2013 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
#22: Dec 21st 2015 at 6:01:05 PM

Bryne's Bots & Bolts

Faint frustration in the unknown person's sigh, they speak once more. ~"You know they don't care about you Mireille. Really, of all the threats they could of made, 'disposing' of you is tame. Do you know about fellow Kaiser-Neo slave 'Echidna' or Delirium? You could be forced to watch your children taken away, or left in agony because of them harvesting your special compounds endlessly. Catherine's fate won't be any better, whether they keep her alive or scrap her. Besides, Kaiser-Neo will force you to fight in their name, never content with your actions. If you won't be Catherine's ally, at least lie and say you mistook her. Please, the fact I'm talking at all proves Kaiser-Neo can't interfere with me."~

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#23: Dec 21st 2015 at 6:15:36 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns - 20:30

Mireille gulped again, she tried in vain to open a secure line to the Professors. "Professor, do you hear me? Please come in. Do you hear that voice too? Please respond." She knew that what the voice said wasn't that untrue, she knew what happend with experiments deemed a failure, or even with those deemed successful sometimes. She also knew that most of the staff didn't care for her as a person rather than just another exeriment she knew all that, yet she only ever knew the live as an experiment, until her first test a few days ago she didn't even knew the world outside the HQ, plus she never even as much thought about escaping since she got the collar, she feared what would happen with her, with a slightly shaking voice she continued "Pl-please come with me."

edited 21st Dec '15 6:47:27 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"
Lt.BGob The Fantabulous from The Merry Ol' Land of Oz Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Fantabulous
#24: Dec 21st 2015 at 6:51:51 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - 8:30-ish PM

"I'm Canadian!" Catherine responded to the accusation, hands out in exasperation and confusion, "Christ, I've never even seen a Kaiser-Neo facility, let alone been inside one!" She added, still backing into the other room. This 'C-317/M48' person, experiment or whatever-she-was assertions were not convincing for two primary reasons; First, her faux-memory programming was designed to make her mind immediately dismiss or otherwise ignore any hints at her true nature; Second, and perhaps most important, if someone broke into your house off the street with dog ears saying you're a robot belonging to big, secretive organisation the likely reaction would be to invite them to "Fuck right off" in no uncertain terms.

"You may not want to cause me any harm but come any closer and you'll find I won't be so kind..." Catherine raised a finger in warning, the other hand reaching for the table behind her. She had left her stun baton there and, while she wasn't fond of violence, she didn't want to be at a disadvantage when the situation went from bad to worse. She saw the woman's expression seemed distracted and perhaps nervous, though the reason was unclear. Well, aside from being off her rocker bonkers but Cathy preferred to give strangers the benefit of the doubt, "Is this somekind of prank? Did Nick put you up to this? Or are you just nuts?" Her voice shook a little but she managed to place a hand on her stun baton, concealing it at her side.

edited 21st Dec '15 6:55:55 PM by Lt.BGob

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Sergey_Smirnov Trans Terminus Homo from Everywhere and Nowhere (With a german accent) Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
Trans Terminus Homo
#25: Dec 21st 2015 at 7:13:05 PM

Byrne's Bots & Bolts - Repairs, Replacements & Redesigns

Mireille followed CAT-H8 no. 12's hand, she saw that she grabbed some sort of baton. This was not good, this was not supposed to happen at all. Not only was her mission going awry again (this time much more because of her than the last time) but also someone who was seemingly able to hack the com-line between her and the Professors was trying to persuade her to betray Kaiser-Neo. "This isn't a prank." Was all she could utter right now, unsure if she should back off or draw closer she stood there for a moment, after that she concluded that the mission had to be fulfilled. Still with a shaking voice she continued "If it shows you that I mean no harm you can hit me with that, I won't resist, I know that probably doesn't make you trust me any more, but please at least hear me out." She made a careful step towards the Gynoid, she had gone through enogh training to make her confident that a few hits with a baton wouldn't injure her (of course that was under the assumption that said hits would not be done with some kind of unnatural strength), it would hurt a bit that was for sure, but that was what her body internal pain relivant was for, bracing herself she let a tiny amount of it circulate through her veins. Though suddenly she had an idea how she could end this without resorting to violence "Inject T-34" As the needle was jammed into her she could feel the familiar pressure building up.

edited 21st Dec '15 7:16:31 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

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