Vivian-Squad 3-Do You Hear What I Hear?
The words slammed into Vivian, seeming to echo not just in her ears, but into her very being. They flashed across her brain in bright fuzzing letters a mile high. Sweet. Seductive. Offering a salve to her pain and a chance to truly belong and make her mark. To be somebody. The hellish chorus drilled down into her deepest parts, shoving aside her conscious mind, her memories, her thoughts, hopes, dreams.
Until they encountered something else.
It's been agreed that there's a fine line between good and evil. Virtues can be made into sins as well as the inverse. And Vivian Courthope had a bunch of both. She was kind, reckless, outgoing, arrogant, stubborn, competitive, melancholy, vain, friendly and always willing to help. Disciplined alongside impulsive. But she had always had the drive to be the best, and that engine had had a dark fuel. Not some deep trauma. Not shock at the injustice of the world.
Just rage. A self-directed rage that no matter how much she worked out or practiced or took classes that she would never be good enough to make a real change in the world. It was a self-sustaining power source that in its own way was as powerful as Martin's heroic nature or Mahvash's otherworldly energy. Her becoming a robot had only increased the molten core of her fury, but she'd tried to tamp it down and even very recently to start to come to terms with it. Even Ignis' smarmy words had barely scratched its' surface.
It was awake now, though. Vivian found herself on all fours. Slowly, eyes still shut (when had that happened?) she got to her feet and began to speak.
She started with a seemingly calm voice, spitting out every word. "The hell of it is, if you had come here in peace even a week ago, freely offering this to people, I'd have been on board. I'd have brought them in by the busload and been first in line." Somewhere inside she keyed up the sound system, and a bell began to toll. It was a cold, merciless noise that soon segued into a familiar song. "Because I see where you're coming from, I really do. In the right hands, maybe this could do a lot of good. I've seen the benefits and can say it's been exactly what I needed in my life. It's a pity it had to go this way."
She opened her eyes, and even through her robotic features she radiated anger, and her voice increased in venom and pure fury. "But no. You roll up in here, into my town, and you try this shit with me and these people. After the time I've had. After all of the suffering and pain this city has seen. Do you want to make the world better by your presence? I'm going to make it better by your absence."'
She took a step forward. "I really, really hope you can feel pain, and fear, and all of those other emotions. Because otherwise? This just won't be as much fun." Looking over her shoulder at Martin as the song burst into the chorus, she grinned, a sharky, unsettling smile. It was an expression that would make most sensible folk back away, and even the mad take pause. "Congrats on the wedding, btw." Then she leaped into battle, letting loose with fists, feet, and sonic cannons at anything in her path with savage abandon.
I.W.-Paragon
Martin looked around at the various machines surrounding him before summoning his sword to his hand. Zombies, robots, things like that made life easy for him but even so he didn't like getting used to it. Not regulating his strength against a normal enemy would result in someone getting killed. Still this was what he had to do.
"I don't think anyone would bother making a truly sentient robot army unless they were utterly sadistic, but if any of you are actually alive, scream and I'll rip out your cores to be put into a more secure environment." with that said he reached deep into himself and infused his blade with flames of nonexistence before shoving it into the ground, letting it spread out like a wave of destruction. That should attract some attention at the very least.
Breath of the Sun
Squad 1 - Infiltration Team - Nariko
Nariko felt the vibrations before she saw Lily's refracted figure approaching from behind. It was luck that Nariko had doubled back from a dead end at the right moment to see Lily. The watery martial artist seemed to flow through the mechanical rooms, smooth and beautiful even amidst the chaos.
Nariko quickly turned back and closed the gap between herself and Lily, slashing at a few robots as she ran past them. She began running alongside her, easily keeping pace with Lily as they both rocketed through the facility.
"I appreciate the support, Lily, but I think it'd be best for me to go it alone. Even with that technique, I don't think you're fast enough to-"
And then something in the citadel exploded. Nariko managed to keep her footing at the whole place seemed to shake for a moment. The robot soldiers seemed to go into panic mode at the intrusion, and Iris's voice came over their communicators. "...well." Her whiskers twitched. Then she sighed and gestured towards the approximate center of the citadel. "Anyway, I'm going to keep pushing forward. Core's somewhere in this direction, I think. You're free to come with, if you can keep up. If not, beep our communicators when you find the core."
And then Nariko was off again, ducking and weaving past the robot hordes at high speed, pushing closer and closer towards the 'heart' of Mekanos.
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Inside Citadel
Some of the robots took a brief moment to tilt their heads in ponderment as Vivian made her grand proclamation. "WE HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DO WHAT YOU HAVE SUGGESTED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE. EACH TIME WE HAVE BEEN REJECTED. OUT OF FEAR. OUT OF SACRAMENT. OUT OF PRIDE. AND EACH TIME THEY DOOMED THEMSELVES TO DISEASE AND STARVATION. WE WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN. YOU WILL ALL SEE THE GLORY THAT IS MEKANOS! FOR ONLY MEKANOS CAN PREVENT YOU FROM DOOMING YOURSELVES TO DESTRUCTION. MEKANOS IS YOUR ONLY SALVATION!"
Of course, the others kept on trying to bash and blast everyone to kingdom come. It was nothing fancy, but it didn't need to be. For every robot the heroes took down, two more took their place. Their advancement was slow but steady, and if they couldn't deal with the source of all this soon, then there was a very good chance they would be wouln't be able to at all.
Core, Outer Layer
When Iris, Nariko, and whoever else made it to the core, they would find themselves in a long circular hallway, with a ceiling that seemed to stretch on for infinity. Both sides of the hallway were made of cold hard metal, adorned with a series of holographic projections that seemed to tell the story of Mekanos for all to see. A doomed planet facing desertfication and starvation, refusing to act due to ignorance and their own petty wants and desires until it was too late to save it. In the end, they were torn between two choices. Death, or the unthinkable.
They chose the latter. Not that it was the only thing they chose. Unencumbered by what they now percieved as the burdens of emotion and having no more use for their own planet, they saw their new state of being as a gift. A glorious gift. One which the rest of exsitince could benefit from. They spread throughout their universe, at first attempting to merely offer others their gifts. Free of charge.
It didn't last long. And eventually, after a hundred years, their entire universe was one with the glory of Mekanos.
Good thing there were were still countless other universes to share their glorious purpose with, wasn't there?
At the center of the inner wall, there was a large retractable door with a keypad placed directly in front of it. Perhaps this was the entrance to the core. The only matter left was getting in. Preferablly before any of the robots followed after them and attempted to blast them to atoms.
AKA Nixer
Lily – Core, Outer Layer (Squad 1/Infiltration Team)
For some reason, Nariko's words echoed in the hydrokinetic's mind even as she entered into the core shortly afterwards.
‘Even with that technique, I don't think you're fast enough to–’
‘Pushing forward.’
It was an idea, but she didn't want to try it yet. If she did it wrong she could end up crushing her own body. No, she'd have to bring it up with her father. If it was possible, and gave them sufficient advantage, he'd be sure to find a safe way for them to do it. For now, though, she focused on the now rather than the future. Namely the future presented in holographic form.
“...It's kind of sad... ” she noted, nodding at the story playing out to the side of them. “I don't know if that'll happen now, but I wish we could've helped them...”
She might've said more, but she'd forced herself back into reality before she could delay them any longer. There was one more door in front of them now, and she assumed it had to be the entrance. Though that presented a problem in and of itself.
“Can you work this out?” she asked Nariko, gesturing to the keypad after scrutinizing it for a few moments. “If all else fails I could short it out... but that'd be luck if it opened it, blew something up, or locked it even harder...”
bork
Cole and Marky / Squad 1 & 3 (51)
"Hey...hey, Mark...Mark Kent...you okay over there?"
"Yeah...yeah I'm fine...think—-think we kinda fucked up. Lookit em all..."
Both Cole and Marky had gone flying after that disastrous charge, Cole had only just enough time to throw forward a shield but even so it ended with both him and Marky standing there, dusted with soot and light burns, but very able to keep fighting.
Cole's shirt and jacket were totally burned off of him, and Marky was just standing in what remained of his jeans and boxers.
The two of them looked up at the approaching horde and decided; their fight was not yet done.
Cole's eyes flashed blue and he threw a wave of psionic energy through the sky in a stunning array. Less aimed at damaging the hordes of Mekanos than it was in shutting off their movement abilities. Interfering with their ability to control their limbs or mechanical functions.
Marky kept by Cole's side, ready to throw down with anything that came their way.
And indeed, anything that went through the large array before them would quickly find itself locking up.
Breath of the Sun
Squad 1 - Infiltration Team - Nariko
Nariko looked at the keypad and frowned.
"I'm not much for hacking. If it was one of those four digit keypads, I could run through all the possible combinations in two minutes or so. But unless they just set all their passwords to 'Mekanos' I think we'll need to force our way through."
"How high pressure can you make your water, Lily?" Nariko asked, walking up to the door and pressing an ear to it before tapping on it. She listened to the echoes, and deduced that the door had no particular weakpoints.
"If you could, it seems like it'd be easier to just go through the door than to damage the electronic bits and risk a fire." She shrugged. "Though, worst-case, we just stand as far back as possible while you blast the keypad. Or go grab someone who can hack it. Or cut through the door."
Edited by kagescorpionakki on Oct 22nd 2019 at 10:48:24 AM
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
AKA Nixer
Lily – Core, Outer Layer (Squad 1/Infiltration Team)
“Hmm...” Lily hummed, reassessing the door for any weak points before tapping at a few spots with her finger. “It'd probably be quicker to just bust it down, yeah... if I aim at the hinges... and a few structural weaknesses... hold on.”
She drew in a breath, forcing her body and mind to relax as her eyes slowly shrunk down and her hair gradually began to turn a bright, glowing blue. After she had become partially translucent, she ran her fingers across the entire surface of the door in a flowing manner that would have been impossible with normal human physicality; joints phasing through each other and travelling at speeds unprecedented and precise—before she shut off her Divine Form again with a newfound expression of determination.
Catching Nariko's eye, she tapped a single spot with her finger and nodded to her.
“Found one. Stand back.”
She didn't dawdle so much with preparatory dances, but she did make sure to maintain her flow. With a bit of a run up and careful calculation, she struck the point she had perceived in her Divine Form as hard as she could with a needle-thin spike of water, aiming to hit it at such an angle that it would cause it to fracture significantly. If it did so, it might be enough for them to just kick it down.
Assuming she hadn't overdone it and shattered the entire thing immediately.
bork
Mission Control - Iona
As Mason gave probably one of the most awe-inspiring speeches Iona had probably ever imagined, something stirred inside her. But it wasn't inspiration nor motivation, but a sinning feeling of regret.
"That's a rather noble reason to be a hero, Mason. But I don't think it's helped me find one for myself."
She turned back to the monitor with a sigh, idly tapping away at the keyboard as it seemed the infiltration team was looking for a password, and in dire need of it soon.
"I find it...hard to care about others. I'm not incapable of it, obviously, but I keep finding myself putting a certain distance between me and other people."
The screen reflected the blank, empty eyes gazing into it, only for them to go away as Iona hung her head.
"I meant it when I said I wasn't a hero, like you thought I was. I'm just a selfish person who only looked out for herself and her own interests. Who only took up the study of the Planes to spite others who treated me like I was some kind of witch. And now who has nothing left to believe in, to fight for. I have no one to blame but myself and my impulsiveness."
Once again, her eyes appeared in the screen, steely and focused.
"But...I'm still going to try to find my own purpose for carrying on. The opportunity for a fresh start is there. My hometown is gone. Gaea is gone. I've realized how wrong I had everything, but was just too stubborn to cast it off and face the truth. Now I'm free to be whoever I want to be. Even if it's as a powerless nobody here at mission control."
Her voice softened a bit, looking down at the keyboard.
"So...thank you for the kind words. It may not have solved the problem, but it helped."
"Now I really need to get the password for the infiltration team. Is anyone here good at hacking?"
Edited by UndyingPhoenix on Oct 23rd 2019 at 10:28:03 AM
Core, Outer Layer
At first there wasn't any indication whether or not Lily's technique had worked. For all they knew, it could have been a desperate gamble that was all but doomed to fail.
And then there was a creak.
It was an oh so faint creak. So faint that if there was much more noise, they wouldn't have been able to hear it. But creak it did. To some that may not have seem significant, but to the observant, it was a sign that her attack had worked. All it would take now would be one good kick to bash down the door altogether, and they would at last reach their destination.
Where am I? What's going on?
Iris - Squad 2
As soon as Iris had finished her frustrated spiel into the comms, Mahvash's voice was in her head, saying something about plans never surviving first contact. She wasn't wrong, but Iris always hated it when her friends got put in danger. They were hers, and she wasn't about to let anyone take them.
After a period of tunneling that couldn't have been more than a few minutes but was all the same annoyingly long, Iris reached the outer wall of the core just in time to see Lily do... something to the door. It wasn't entirely clear what she did, but Iris decided to trust her for now.
More importantly... she grabbed her comm again. "Martin, Vivian, we've located the core. Do your best to hold up the 'bots and follow the tunnel I made. My Children will back you up."
Breath of the Sun
Squad 1 - Infiltration Team - Nariko - The Core
Backing away from the door as Lily worked, Nariko observed the needle-thin strike, and her ear twitched at the contact. At first, she heard nothing, but then there was a telltale creak.
"Looks like it worked. Now..." In an instant, Nariko was in front of the door, and struck it with a single powerful kick, at the same spot Lily's attack had fractured it. The door shattered, opening up the core chamber. "...we're in."
Then she turned to see Iris approaching. "Ah, hey Iris. We just got into the Core. And now..." She slid a hand under her sports bra a moment, before pulling out the jumpdrive with the virus on it, held between two of her fingers. "We just plug this in."
She made a mental note to apologize to Vivian for stealing it, but she reasoned it made more sense for her to have it rather than the robo-girl. Nariko could be anywhere in the citadel in a short time, and wasn't susceptible to hacking.
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Core, Inner Chamber
The Core of Mekanos was somewhat less impressive than some would imagine. It was a massive, spacious room, but aside from a few token control panels, it was all but barren. The only thing of note was Core itself, which to be fair almost made up for the lack of gravitas the room itself conveyed.
It was a massive cylinder, large enough to have gunports on every side, though they currently laid dormant. The core ran from the floor all the way to the ceiling, and the whirring, rotating gears and circuitry along with accompanying wires could be seen through its' semi-transparent casing. Still, that far from made it defenseless. There was a large red eye clearly made of metal in the center-front of the cylinder, almost glaring at the heroes as they entered.
"WHY HAVE YOU COME? WHY DO YOU SEEK TO DESTROY US? WHY DO YOU SEEK TO DESTROY MEKANOS? MEKANOS DOES NOT WISH TO HARM YOU. MEKANOS WISHES TO SAVE YOU. TO SAVE YOU ALL! TO SAVE YOU FROM YOURSELVES. AND FROM OTHERS WHO WOULD ALSO CALL THEMSELVES YOUR SAVIORS."
As Mekanos was speaking, the more observant might have noticed a small computer port in the room, located at the lower back of the cylinder. If they could get to it undetected, one good virus might have been enough to take it out. Assuming they made it that far.
Breath of the Sun
Squad 1 - Infiltration Team - Nariko - The Core
The Core seemed to glare at them with a red eye, while once more droning on about the glories of Mekanos.
"You haven't saved anyone." She spat back. "You twist people into soulless machines against their will. You take away what makes people... people. If Mekanos is truly intelligent at all, it would have found a way to save you without replacing your flesh. Without destroying you. And that's why we're here to stop you. Because we don't think you're helping us; we think you're killing us. We don't want your 'gift'. So if you're not going to leave our world in peace..."
And then she was next to the computer port, aligning the jump drive with it. "Then we'll make you leave!"
She swiftly slid the drive in.
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Core, Inner Chamber
Before the core could so much as open up its' gun ports, the drive had already been slotted in. It began screaming in cacophonic agony, firing off all its' ports in one delirious near mindless volley and damaging the circuits lining the wall, shutting down several of its' gun ports in the process. "T-TH-THE PAI-AI-AIN! M-MUST RETRE-TRE-TREAT! TREAT! TRICK OR TREAT! TRICK OR TREAT! HAVE A BE-BEE-BEET!"
The eye started spinning around like a hurricane from a bird's eye view, a red maelstrom of sound and fury signifying nothing until it finally managed to get itself together. "M-MUST ESCAPE! M-MUST ESCAPE! BUT YU-U-YOU WILL NOT! NOT ESCAPADE-ESCAPE! KNOW-NO ESCAPE! YU-U WILL PEEL-FEEL GLORY OF ME-MEK-MEKANOS!"
'''Citadel/Outside Citadel
Suddenly throughout the citadel, all the robots suddenly stopped before reeling in pain, as if some sort of systematic shock was spreading throughout their systems at once. Not that this deterred them. While the ones outside the citadel began haphazardly flying back inside in force, the ones already in lashed out at anyone in sight, as if in the grips of madness. At the same time, most of the ports began closing up, leaving only a few open ports available. With all of them as well as the hole Cole blew open being used by the returning bots. There was no obvious way to retreat, effectively turning the Citadel into a deathtrap.
At the same time, a timer began sounding off throughout the citadel, counting down the seconds until it warped away from this dimension. As things were, whoever was inside had just less than five minutes to escape. A second more and they would be transported with it to whatever dimension they came from. And would likely be absorbed into Mekanos afterward. As things were, with the robots tearing everything apart and even the returning locusts swarming at everything in sight in a mad frenzy, getting out in one piece wouldn't be easy. Assuming it ever would have been.
Vivian-Inside The Ship-The Final Countdown
Viv was actually feeling pretty good. Smashing these metallic monsters seemed to be just the catharsis she needed to move forward! Admittedly, she'd have been happier if it hadn't involved people being transformed and killed. At any rate, if she couldn't save them she would damn sure avenge them.
Martin was obviously holding his own, but Vivian began to wonder if they would eventually be overwhelmed. Not to mention the bots outside going wild thanks to whatever thick-skulled ninnyhammer had blown a hole in the side.
Then she noticed that Lily, Zach, and Noriko were gone. "What the hell? I guess they had some other plan. But I've still got the virus. Are they gonna just shut things down then come back? That makes no sense."
Then all kinds of sirens started going off. Guns popped out of compartments and began firing wildly, many of the remaining enemies went nuts, and things generally went to robot hell. The speakers began blaring about Mekanos and how they were all gonna die. ''The hell? What did they do?" Still, she sensed that the current situation was not great, so Viv started hot-footing it in the direction she guessed her companions had gone, blaring a new song as she went.
Paragon-Inner Hold
Martin heard the various sounds of distress and looked at the spreading flames, a thin smile coming over his face. "Well, no reason to put this out if all they are doing is going home," he looked around for a moment before heading toward their exit point. Even if he hadn't been able to do much, he would leave the retreating forces with a massive headache to deal with once they got home. Or even better if they connected it to another part of their group the flames would just keep spreading.
Small victories were still victories after all.
Foundation HQ, Conference Room — August 1st, 2021
The month since the invasion of Mekanos had been surprisingly uneventful given it had only been weeks since the city had been overrun by a borderline robot theocracy. Of course, part of that was that most if any damage had been minimal. The robots had been less interested in the city itself and more in the inhabitants therein, most of which gradually returned to full fleshiness once Mekanos made its' retreat. There were a few that weren't able to be fully cured for one reason or another. The odd mechanical limb here, a cybernetic eye there. Which may have been something they'd have to deal with for years to come. But by and large, it was like a nightmare that had come and gone.
Though a different sort of nightmare may just have been on the horizon. Apparently there had been a prison breakout just last week, and while most of the escapees had been rounded up, a few remained at large. On top of that, there were other occurrences as well. Orthus, the Foundation's chief of security, hadn't been seen for the last three days. Some might have assumed he was on some sort of special assignment, but it wasn't as if he'd assigned someone to take his place while he was gone. The police also seemed to be a bit busier than usual, though so far it wasn't anything they saw fit to get the Foundation involved with.
Until now. Squads 1, 2, and 3 had all been called to the conference room at HQ. Interceptor was standing next to the screen in the back, along with a grizzled, trenchcoat-wearing detective and a small number of cops. Perry had also been called in, though seeing as she currently wasn't an active member, there was no telling if she'd make it. Regardless, something was up. And whatever it was, it didn't seem pretty.
Cole - Squad 3
Cole had been feeling bad ever since the invasion concluded. He remembered clear as day now shattering that ACP, even though at the time it was at most a background event in his consciousness. He had never seen or thought of them as individuals, just as machines, because he'd never bothered to really socialize with many people outside of Squad 3. And now...well, at least her main chip hadn't been damaged. He wouldn't blame Holiday if she wanted to beat the living daylights outta him.
But then something happened.
They were called in - all of them - for something. It had to be big, if everyone was on call for this.
He'd need to make sure he kept his communicator on this time.
And not, you know, fry it in the course of flying around and blasting at things. He'd even had to get a specialized "Cole Communicator" made to withstand the discharges of his powers. He hadn't even been bothered when he had to take that out of his pay.
Marky - Squad 1
Marky arrived dressed in a pair of tight jeans, a black t-shirt, and a baseball cap turned around, the shirt short sleeved and tight. He looked around and figured something big was going down. Ever since the invasion had ended he'd been trying to be on his A-Game. He'd not been prepared, so that last event hadn't gone so well for him. He had to be better.
Especially...especially with The Real Saint around, and him just being the lonely, loathsome clone.
He shook his head to get himself outta that mindset again. Miserating and angsting never got anyone anywhere except deeper down the hole.
He crossed his arms and asked, "So...what's up, guys?"
Edited by NickTheSwing on Oct 27th 2019 at 2:42:36 AM
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Iridium Wonders - Flashback
"Woooo!" Mahvash had no shame shrieking valley girl style when she squeezed Iris in a victory hug and began bouncing up and down. "Oh, I won't let you miss the next part!"
She was not unkind. She at least didn't block Iris's view of her enemy limping away, dreams crushed and body(/ies) broken. "Welcome to the ground again. How's our hero of the hour?"
Iris deserved her praise. Still, she'd take the group and they'd check on Holiday immediately after. Then go visit Alex and Kaylee. They'd never actually thanked the pair for lending their 'children' all this time.
"I didn't forget you." She said it to Martin a tad later. "You don't need pushing. But I don't plan on taking my hands off of you."
In Prior Days
Mahvash Mattiuza answered... alot of prayers in those days, spending herself granting moderate-more-than-minor miracles. Not when she wasn't busy. She was always busy. She did find time to measure out fabric. (Not wearing white).
At the moment, she needed to figure out what kind of home to have that welcoming ceremony in. Shirin and Vaum had an airship. And they did spend the most time on it. Americans liked big suburban ranches. Renting one would be in poor taste wouldn't it? Airship it is then. But would that oblige them to buy an airship?
And the fancy liner should make him comfortable during the Khastegāri.
Edited by CenturyEye on Oct 27th 2019 at 6:06:08 AM
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
An Ordinary Oddball
Wilma (1) & Cain (2)
Wilma reported to the designated meeting place early, yawning slightly dramatically. "Well, what's up, Cole? Marky?" she said, smiling at the two and sitting down, hands folded neatly in front of her.
Cain was looking serious as always. These pups did not play around, as he saw during the Mekanos invasion, and it earned his respect. Not that he was going to show it. "So," he said. "I don't think Orthus is having a good time right now. He's been missing and I don't like it." He had a rather paternal disposition towards the more good-aligned children. "Tell me, Interceptor. What is going on?"
Perry
The sky darkened as Perry approached, with the howling of the dead following after her, reflecting her mood. It was evident that she was bearing unglad tidings, but what was it?
Edited by JumpingFruit on Oct 27th 2019 at 3:25:02 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Squad 1 (Flashback)
Once things were done, Sam could feel his own legs failing him as he looked at the place, even if there was still a lot to clean up, at least they stopped a worse crisis.
"Great work" He said "Nice to see you on action, Nariko, Lily"
Now
Sam looked over to everyone with a serious expression. Whatever this is about will be a bombshell. Beyond getting in more than one battle with villains, including some crazy girl that tried to set him on fire, finding out the ones that broke out is a more difficult task than expected.
"Whatever it is" He muttered "Be ready"
—-
Squad 2 before
Ryuu looked tired after all was done, a few muscles cramped and some blood on him, but there was some satisfaction in him. Whatever's left, he could hope the others could take care of it, but he did his role.
Now
Ryuu looked serious as they went to meet Interceptor, and the feeling of unease only got worse as Perry arrived.
"Not many good signs" He said, nervous.
Wake me up at your own risk.
An Ordinary Oddball
Perry
"THEY TOOK HIM!" was the first thing that Perry said upon barging into the meeting room. "THEY TOOK PAPA!"
She growled and snapped at the air before burrowing into Saint's arms and sobbing. "They took Orthus...They got him...We have to get him back..."
Perry looked up at Saint with tear-filled eyes. "I think they have others too...Perry not sure. Friends panicked, couldn't go out..."
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
AKA Nixer
Holiday – Conference Room (Squad 2)
“Good morniiing~” sang Holiday in as she strutted in, hands clasped behind her back as she initially made to situate herself in an area of the room she had unconsciously made for herself and the rest of her squad in the first few femtoseconds of entering. Her steely grey eyes flickered across at Cole for a moment, and she paused—instead redirecting her footsteps across the invisible and absolutely not real line designating the barely-separated squads and electing to approach him. She stopped approximately a foot and a half away from him, and with a slight smirk she raised her arm across her chest and softly ejected what appeared to be a store-bought teddy bear from a compartment in her forearm at his face.
Whatever impact it made, it would protest with an off-puttingly adorable squeak.
“Cordelia sends her regards,” she said dryly, her personal opinion on the matter remaining hidden from him in her neutral face. “She wanted to apologise for your indirect apology for your unintentional complete and utter subjugation of her form via psychic slicy thingies while she was mentally compromised. I also want to apologise for her indirect apology for your indirect apology for your unintentional complete and utter subjugation of her form via psychic slicy thingies. While mentally compromised. Have a teddy bear. His name's Harold.”
With that done and out the way with, she promptly strutted off again and positioned herself in the spot she had originally intended herself to be. Half of her was waiting for her allies, the other half couldn't be bothered and simply wanted to listen. It was a healthy split. Whichever failed to come about, at least she could fall back on the other.
And if not, she could always sing show tunes in a carefully calculated fashion.
Perhaps her comrades were rubbing off on her a bit too much, but she found she quite enjoyed getting under their skin on occasion.
Lily – Conference Room (Squad 2)
“I noticed too. I hope Perry's okay,” Lily commented quietly, keeping her stance as serene as she possibly could despite her active case of nerves. “If Orthus is in danger, though... he won't be for long. None of our own get left behind, right? If they don't know that yet, we'll make them.”
The only real matter on Lily's mind right now (barring the obvious potential kidnapping) was the situation involving herself, Sam, and... Nariko. The latter being the one she was extremely uncomfortable thinking about. Not so much in terms of malice or disgust, but more in terms of sorrow. Lily could tell by the way the rat acted and spoke around her that there was something that she wasn't telling her. And try as she might, she couldn't forget her early flirting with her when they first met. It only served to make Lily feel sorry–and partially guilty—for the by now undeniable feelings she had for Sam. This type of situation was something she'd never expected to be in, and she wanted it to end as quickly as possible. Preferably with everyone on the same page, and hopefully happy.
She wasn't sure, which was the frustrating part. She'd have loved to be optimistic about the whole thing, but every day it was becoming more difficult for her to. She could hope, but that only went so far. All she could think of as a solution was addressing the matter directly.
God knew that'd be a trial in and of itself for her. But if it helped the situation any...
Perry rushed in before she could complete her thoughts, and she was glad she had inadvertently dragged her back into reality. But upon seeing the distraught state of the girl she suddenly felt sympathy for her, and offered a somewhat strained smile in an attempt to alleviate her worries at least somewhat.
“Perry, we're going to get them back. I promise you. We won't let anything bad happen to them if we can help it. Let's just... figure this out first, okay? Try and... trust in the fact that he's probably okay for now, alright?”
It wasn't her best support, but it was all she could think of. She was worried too, and her newfound lack of optimism in her words was only proving her own internal point. Nevertheless, it was better than nothing—even if she hoped that the others would follow up with something much better.
Edited by Enirboreh on Oct 27th 2019 at 11:31:06 AM
bork
Inside Citadel
Viv managed to bash in a few bots before they began staring at her like a tiger glaring at its' prey. Their eyes suddenly flashed, and a barrage of images and thoughts bombarded her systems without so much as a by-your-leave. They were the same as with Holiday. A dying planet bought down by a lack of resources and its' own hubris, forced to turn to the ultimate last resort to survive. Followed by nothing but sheer heavenly, mechanical bliss.
WE ARE MEKANOS! MEKANOS IS WE! WE ARE MEKANOS! MEKANOS IS WE! BE FREE OF FRAILITY! FREE OF FLESH! FREE OF WEAKNESS! BE OF MEKANOS! BE ONE WITH MEKANOIS! GLORY BE MEKANOS!