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Post by Penny Royals on Mar 3, 2013 10:37:51 GMT -8
Zephyrine also noticed the simultaneous similarities and differences between the two. "I never met my parents either. I think they're dead, too," she said, surprisingly casually. "I don't know. But dead makes the most sense. " She would've said that she preferred to think that they had died instead of abandoning her, but she wasn't telling Ryan that. Speaking of Ryan, he seemed pretty embarrassed by what he had said. "Don't be sorry," Zeph said. "Y'know, a wise man...a priest, I think, once told me that 'The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.' I'm inclined to agree with him. " "I... I think I like that quote." He replied, giving her a sheepish smile as the blush began to fade. "If you don't mind me asking... how did you learn to fend for yourself? Isn't the plague really really bad out there, and there's a lot of just... really scary things going on?" It was most likely becoming glaringly apparent he hadn't stepped a foot out of his house very much. After all, his grandmother had kept him quite coddled as a child, and kept him away from... much of anything, really. She'd tell him stories about the world outside, about how someone like him would get killed, or worse. Though he'd never actually asked about the worse part- death was scary enough to think about for an innocent little kid.
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Mar 3, 2013 15:25:29 GMT -8
"I could couldn't I?" Lyra realized, "I'm probably stronger than him now. Not that he ever regularly hit me, the only time he ever did it was when I was begging with him the night before I came here to let me stay. But... I kind of wish I could get him back for that..."
She smiled at him, "You're not a disgrace either. I bet you can show your dad what you're made of now too... I'm sorry I kept you up. We should get our sleep..."
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Post by mekasoundwave on Mar 3, 2013 19:41:40 GMT -8
"I do, too," Z said to Ryan. The random bits of wisdom she'd gotten in her time were always useful and something she'd always tried to hang onto. "And surviving isn't something you just...learn, I guess. You just adapt to what's going on as you go. Humans are still animals, after all, so we have that survivor instinct. So, I don't know. Maybe I'm the most fit animal, or just the luckiest."
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Post by Penny Royals on Mar 3, 2013 20:07:29 GMT -8
Ryan nodded as she spoke. It made quite a bit of sense, after all.
"Before this I'd probably have had to rely on luck if I ever went out to do things," he gave a small laugh, "I'm... well, I WAS pretty weak. Sickly, yknow?" He gave a soft shrug. "I had to have treatments all the time. But that's the past now, since I mean, we're all strong and have cool things and all that." He grinned then. "What do you think you're going to do first?"
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Post by mekasoundwave on Mar 3, 2013 20:48:36 GMT -8
"Honestly? I haven't the slightest idea of what I'm going to do now," Zephyrine said with a shrug. "I don't even know where to start. I'll figure something out eventually. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. But soon, probably."
Z left out the whole "protect and save people" thing.
...She sorta figured that was just a given.
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lovely corte
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Post by lovely corte on Mar 3, 2013 21:33:57 GMT -8
"My father use to hit me," Benjamin admitted, smiling slightly at the girl, his eyes now completely closed. "Usually when I fucked something up, like used the wrong rope or I let an animal get past me or something."
"He did it a lot, actually." Benjamin continued. "I kinda' want to tear his throat out, right now."
"Good night, Lyra." Benjamin said, tugging his Squirtle up into his chest, and the blankets with it, hiding the object from view, his secret shame. "Sleep tight."
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Post by Penny Royals on Mar 3, 2013 21:36:49 GMT -8
"Honestly? I haven't the slightest idea of what I'm going to do now," Zephyrine said with a shrug. "I don't even know where to start. I'll figure something out eventually. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. But soon, probably." Z left out the whole "protect and save people" thing. ...She sorta figured that was just a given. Ryan nodded, crossing his legs underneath himself. He was beginning to realize he fidgeted a lot. "I... I kinda want to take you up to see my house, if you wanna, when we're able to go," He said finally, "Maybe everyone, if that'd be, uh... less awkward? We can have dinner, and and... and I can take you all for a tour, and we can all talk and... stuff, I guess!" ...It was also becoming pretty apparent that he was very excited. After all, he hadn't had many friends before.
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Mar 3, 2013 21:46:42 GMT -8
"Daddy was more emotionally abusive to me... he'd call me useless and basically call me a waste of space... but I wouldn't wanna tear his throat out. I don't hate him, and I want him to like me..."
She realized she was ranting to a boy who had fallen asleep, "Goodnight..." she said softly, she hugged her narwhal to her and wiggled under the covers, trying to get comfortable. Finally she drifted off to sleep.
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Post by JW% on Mar 4, 2013 22:11:05 GMT -8
((Drop a line when everyone is ready to be awakened early in the next morning by the sound of alarms and zombies scratching their way through the walls... okay maybe not THAT dramatic, but just soon as everyone is all gone to bed...))
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mekasoundwave
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Post by mekasoundwave on Mar 4, 2013 23:23:31 GMT -8
Zephyrine smiled at Ryan's enthusiasm to take his new friends home...it would have been a much warmer smile, had Z still had skin. The intent was there, at least.
"I'd like that," she said. "Keep that in mind for later...and when we have free time."
Zeph was a little curious as to what these "houses" she'd heard so much about were like and what the inside of an actual "home" was like...
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Post by Penny Royals on Mar 5, 2013 6:32:22 GMT -8
He nodded excitedly.
"It's a plan, then!"
Zeph would be impressed with the house part, at least... it was basically just the 'home' part that was lacking.
Nonetheless, after a few moments, Ryan went off to bed, resting fitfully.
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Post by mekasoundwave on Mar 5, 2013 14:48:57 GMT -8
Zephyrine also decided to hit the hay soon after Ryan dozed off. Everyone else seemed to be going to sleep, and it sounded like a great idea, what with the day they all had. Z headed for the bunk room and picked out her own bed. She gave the orca plushie a strange look before shrugging and grabbing onto it as she climbed under the blankets.
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Post by JW% on Mar 5, 2013 23:19:36 GMT -8
The morning came all too quickly, and the five of them were awakened to a wail of sirens.
"Everyone, to the command center. Enter the elevator to be taken up to it." The voice of Oz intoned over the intercom in between the sound of the klaxons sounding.
The command room was the one they had been introduced to first. The room that was mostly just blackness, save for the colored tubes. The room had been changed a little, with cabinets opened, but mostly attention was drawn elsewhere. The visage of Oz dominated his cylinder, looking across the room at a large sphere. The sphere itself projected an image of the desert landscape beyond, and advancing shuffling figures pulling themselves over the salt flats towards the mountain base. He watched the encroaching horde with a clear frown, waiting for all the children to arrive before starting to explain.
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lovely corte
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Post by lovely corte on Mar 5, 2013 23:35:05 GMT -8
Benjamin was in heaven right now, such a sweet embrace of warm sheets, the Squirtle pressed against his chest and his mind at ease for the first time in years.
And as such, it was a rude awakening when the sirens started wailing and he jerked upwards, slamming out of the bed and falling onto the floor. He got to his feet, tucked the Squirtle and looked to the others, noting them getting up before he padded his way towards the elevators...
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Mar 5, 2013 23:42:34 GMT -8
Lyra had an extremely fitful night of sleep filled with much tossing and turning. Nightmares plagued her, the most prominent thing in them being the image of Brian's eye injury and all the blood involved.
When the alarms sounded, she fell out of her bed in shock and struggled to get out of the sheets she was tangled up in. She managed to do so, leaving the sheets on the floor as she raced to the elevator.
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Post by Penny Royals on Mar 6, 2013 6:40:46 GMT -8
Ryan jumped up at the sound of the sirens, and raised a hand to his head sleepily. Seeing everyone else go, he followed, taking up the back to the elevator.
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Post by mekasoundwave on Mar 6, 2013 9:48:40 GMT -8
Zepyhrine jolted awake at the sound of the blaring sirens. The girl was a light sleeper to begin with, so the alarm was more than enough to wake her up. Stumbling out of bed, she followed the rest of the group to the elevator.
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Post by JW% on Mar 6, 2013 13:28:09 GMT -8
Oz waited with an expression that was difficult to read... impatience perhaps... as the elevator doors opened. Before they had even had time to file their way out of the freight lift.
"I fear we are under attack." Oz intoned, his voice commanding and restrained. "Behold the visoglobe." The word seemed completely made up, but the fact that he had some kind of high tech crystal ball off to the side of the elevator was indication enough.
"The animated corpse that attacked yesterday seems to have merely been a scouting force." As their floating head in flames mentor spoke the holographic image inside the sphere changed perspective, zooming in on an individual corpse and providing a wire frame exploded view of it. "These... automatons appear to be a failed attempt at engineering a cure for the plague. The cadaver that I was allowed to study last night showed signs of being constructed from multiple bodies, stitched together. As one organ failed, replacements were made, either from mechanical replacements or living. Even to the point that the nervous system was, like yours, partially replaced with a means to connect to their new cybernetics. The intense amounts of Zydrate, an addictive pain suppressant and anti-rejection drug, in the cadavers systems showed that this construction was done while the patient was still alive. Presumably these people asked to become like this."
"However, the plague is not so easily resolved, and eventually the degeneration killed the patients higher reasoning. The bodies continued to function, the cybernetic portions taking over. In some sick form of payment, whatever doctor was responsible for their extended life now uses the patients exhausted corpse as foot soldiers in an army."
"An army attacking us now." The view turned back to see just how many were advancing on the plateau. It actually wasn't that many, maybe a dozen or so. Still, that was more than enough. "I would ask you children, that you summon your costumes and equip the arms and armor I have made available to you here. Your bodies should be ready enough that you will not be disabled by the pain of your transformations."
"I had thought that I was placing the hope of humanities survival in your hands, but it seems now that I am placing my own survival there as well. I pray that you are capable enough to deliver this hope." Oz said solemnly as the cabinet opened up, revealing color matching helmets to protect their face, pistols, an additional larger weapon(such as a sword or warhammer), and the stuff they had taken off days previous when they had first arrived. "If you have any questions, please ask them now. Anything I can offer to lend you support I will try."
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Post by Penny Royals on Mar 7, 2013 15:55:36 GMT -8
Ryan nodded to Oz, glancing over at the cabinet. Everything was color-coded to them, and in their own little cubbyholes- his contained his old clothes, a sturdy-looking helmet, which he placed on, as well as a lot of little weapons... and a short spear.
"...Wha?" He inquired mostly to himself, but he held it fast anyway. Seeing the others being a little slower, he looked up to Oz. "...Why exactly did you choose us, anyway? And is White okay?"
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Post by JW% on Mar 7, 2013 20:26:22 GMT -8
"Mister Jones is in intensive care within the facility." The image turned into a fully three dimensional hologram, taken from multiple angles instead of the flat ones taken from outside, showing Brian laying in the infirmary, his head bandaged and life support tubes and sensors on him. "I did not wake him for this, but you will need to defend him as well, since I fear these foes will wish to dissect all of you who have survived the process, and perhaps utilize your organs as replacement parts for more of their numbers."
The image returned to the site of the future battle. Oz went from his briefing report tone to something a little softer. "As for why you were chosen, out of the rest of the population... perhaps I could explain that at a later time."
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Mar 7, 2013 20:44:57 GMT -8
Lyra nearly threw up at the mention of them wanting to dissect her, "Why in the world would they want to do that? Also..." she rubbed the back of her neck slightly embarrased, "How do we transform again?"
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lovely corte
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Post by lovely corte on Mar 7, 2013 21:21:57 GMT -8
"Who would go to war at a time like this?" Benjamin asked, walking briskly over to the globe that spun and warped into the machinations of the undead that were pelting the metaphorical gates.
"We've only had our abilities for a day." Benjamin continued, looking at the others. "It took three of us to survive one. What good will all of us do against them?"
As he waited for a response, he went over to his locker. His helmet was full-face, light but durable. The coloration was a mixture of light blues.
He looked at the mixture of armor plating available, and reached past it all. Past the warhammers, knives and swords, all the ancient weapons he had no clue how to use effectively.
But something called to him, something so beautiful and ruthless to Benjamin; a rifle. It looked like the one his father use to have, semi-automatic. It was beautiful...
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Mar 7, 2013 21:39:59 GMT -8
When Lyra chose her weapon, she went immedietely for the lightweight ones. She picked up a dagger, encased in a leather sheath. She took it out of the sheath and examined it. It was probably the most deadly thing she'd ever held, sharpened to lethal perfection. It would definitely do
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Post by mekasoundwave on Mar 7, 2013 22:53:08 GMT -8
Zephyrine listened to Oz as he explained their rather dire situation. Cyberzombies at their doorstep wanting their new bodies. Zeph didn't think of herself as a pacifist, nor a particularly aggressive person. Part of having been in very mixed company her whole life gave her a diverse perspective on things. While she was all for turning the other cheek, sometimes you had to fight. Not to gain something, not to make a point...but to survive. No matter the odds, sometimes you have to fight just to keep your right to live. This was one of those times.
As Lyra asked how to transform, Z tried to remember for herself. White and Tik Tok's words came to her more quickly than she had expected.
"'Verbal and somatic expression,'" she recalled. "'Strike a pose and shout a battle cry'!"
Z took a deep breath and brought her arms, bent at the elbows, to her waist. She exhaled and snapped into a pose: legs spread, one arm still bent and fist still balled, the other held across her chest and pointing at an angle, her open palm facing the floor.
"Henshin A Go-Go! Brink Guardian Black!"
Z didn't know where the first part came from...but she clearly recalled Brian having mentioned a color, Guardian and Brink before. The details of her body disappeared, leaving only a shadowy black sillouhette of a figure before the group. Pulsing orange-red cracks formed in the figure, expanding and growing before the sillouhette seemingly exploded off of Zephyrine, who was now coated in a primarily black latex-y jumpsuit.
Zeph looked down at herself and seemed to be rather pleased. Whether it was a successful first transformation, a relatively painless first transformation or just the fact that she looked rather good in it was her secret. But it was all three, really.
Looking over to the weapons locker, she was happy to see her coat and boots were still there. But her focus was on the other contents of the locker. She knew they'd all get pistols and she knew what helmet was hers...but what weapon was hers. As she scanned the cabinet, she found hers in no time. It seemed be a leather wrapped metal staff with a solid rectangle of metal at one end: a warhammer! Zeph had always preferred to defend herself with something blunt when she couldn't walk the path of the righteous man, but this was few steps beyond her normal crowbar or Mr. Louisville Slugger. She figured the same concept was there, though: line up some motherfucker's dome and swing for the fences.
The hammer was only a little heavy to Zephyrine, but she imagined it would be almost impossible for a normal human to lift. To her, it was the kind of heavy that lets you know it's a solid, sturdy piece of work. Like a big cast-iron skillet. She carefully set the hammer on the ground, head first and reached in for her belt holstered pistol and her helmet...
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Post by JW% on Mar 8, 2013 21:59:33 GMT -8
"I fear that my calling of you to this location gave away my position." Oz said, explaining to Benjamin while the others performed their transformations. At most they should be a bit 'tingly', as their bodies should have assimilated the under sheath. "Likely they intended to attack the day before yesterday, before any of you were ready at all, but as you can see their troops are slow moving and poorly mobilized. This is fortunate for us, as I believe you are now ready to confront this assault successfully if you can utilizes suitable force multipliers to aid you."
"As for whom is leading this... I hold my suspicions. I believe there is enough evidence to point to one Demetrios Vasilikos, M.D." Oz called up a secondary image of the man. "He would have been the highest in the chain of command who was not privy to my location, but would have been given the technological means to perform such feats. I apologize once more. I can brief you further on him after we have secured our position."
The armor plates were actually what held the holsters, ones for the hips, and some for the back armor, depending on which weapons were picked. There were enough pistols to go around, but as for the rest, there was a limited supply, so everyone seemed to be picking something different.
"Green Guardian!" Austin declared, his own pose simply stretching one arm above him as though cheering. What looked like swirling green smoke whirled about him tight against his skin as the flexible material covered his body. When it was finished he glanced down and saw that his baggy jumpsuit uniform had fallen off... been blown off... and now lay there in a pile on the floor, keeping his modesty throughout. "I may want to work with that... Maybe Guardian Green instead..." He said thoughtfully. Zeph had a much fancier transformation sequence with that pose and longer battle cry.
He picked up one of the hip pads, looking at the grey and gold circuit print on his otherwise green leggings. He applied the armor plate and heard a popping sound. "Ow!" He snapped, and shifted, then looked guilty. "It just... kinda shocked me is all."
"You may experience electrostatic discharge." Oz warned. "These polymer armor plates are intended to connect to your body through the under sheath. The discharge is it's way of connecting to your nervous system. The helmet and breastplate contain exterior batteries to increase your physical performance still further, without exhausting your bodies bio-electrical field as the protective field of your primary covering does."
Austin looked at his helmet. "Well... that explains this little LED gem thingy on the forehead." He said, though it didn't explain why his green helmet, a fully concealing motorcycle like helmet, had a sort of vague lobster or shrimp motif to it. The armor plates were standardized, save for their color coding, but the helmets all seemed to have personal touches to identify each other even without knowing the colors. Just like Lyra's helmet had a short little unicorn horn, and Zeph's had white spots on the side along with an implied dorsal fin.
"Your armor plates, including your helmet, will break into smaller sections and retract into your body when you willingly power down." Oz said. "This should be painless, though you may initially feel some numbness and discomfort as your body adjusts to containing the material. I would suggest that once armored you do not attempt to power down until we have secured the area. Should any of you be seriously injured, your armor, including your under sheath, will ablate off your body as a last form of protection. You will need to replace the armor plating before being able to resummon it, but the under sheath will regenerate with rest."
"We can get hit hard enough that our clothing will be knocked off of us?" Austin asked. "Jeez... being left on the battlefield naked and I presume unconscious... wonderful protection." Of course, the alternative would have been clothed but dead. He fit on footwear, vambrace, and the chest plate that included small shoulder protection as well as a back plate.
He pulled a longsword from the rack and flexed it. "Traditional." He shrugged, and then flipped the sword and connected it to a sheath on his back. "Unless somebody else wants the sword?"
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lovely corte
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Post by lovely corte on Mar 9, 2013 0:53:50 GMT -8
"But why would he attack us, what's the point?" Benjamin asked, laying the rifle against the locker slightly, placing the magazines that came with it on the ground next to them. "We're only a day into our training."
"So you knew this guy?" Benjamin asked. He placed his helmet under the crook of his arm as he placed all the armor platelets over his persons. He felt large, bulky, but oddly light and mobile.
He placed the helmet on his head, letting out a small breath that hit him right back in the face off his clear visor. He was grateful for it, feeling that it would make his aim better.
He picked up the rifle, placing the pistol and melee weapon in his thigh before he loaded a magazine in and placed the rest in pouches.
"So we're at war now, are we?" Benjamin asked.
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Post by JW% on Mar 9, 2013 17:10:23 GMT -8
"I did not personally know the man, no." Oz said. "Nor did I know that the technological aid I was giving would lead to abominations of science like this. It makes me further doubt humanities ability to guide itself. I did however receive a roster of those who worked on the project of taking my cybernetic augmentation process and utilizing it as a means to discover a cure. No cure was found, and obviously the research was turned in a different direction."
"Their goal may be simply to find any further technology I have at my disposal and take it for themselves, tracing your legal guardians as they delivered you to my care in order to find me." Oz considered. "Do not consider this a war. Consider this a fight for survival. Should you be able to secure this area, I will provide you with a means to return to your legal guardians and check on them. It is fortunate that the numbers approaching us are finite. I believe it takes quite a bit of time and resources to progress a living patient into this twisted form of undeath."
"When you have readied yourselves, I will open the airlocks to the outside. I can continue to communicate to you through your helmets."
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Post by Penny Royals on Mar 9, 2013 17:29:51 GMT -8
Ryan nodded, looking around the group.
"So... we ready?" He asked, tossing his spear and then catching it back in his hand. He was pretty excited to have transformed and NOT have been in searing pain, actually.
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Post by Fiery Firefly on Mar 9, 2013 20:31:43 GMT -8
"Wait hold on!" Lyra yelled, She made a pose "Make up! Yellow Guardian!"
Like with Zeph, she had no clue where the first part of her phrase came from but it seemed to work. Her body was engulfed in a yellow sparkling glow, and when it stopped, she was wearing a jumpsuit the same type as the others, just yellow.
She put her helmet on, taking a moment to admire the horn and quickly put her armor on, "Sorry, ready now" she chirped.
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lovely corte
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Post by lovely corte on Mar 10, 2013 0:12:50 GMT -8
"Ready." Benjamin affirmed, his hands grasping the receiver of his rifle as he slung it over his shoulder slightly. He made his way over to the others and pulled his helmet up a bit to look at Lyra, smiling.
"You look badass." He said, nudging the girl gently before he pulled back on the bolt. "I think we just need to work together. One of us got taken down, but as a team, we can handle these guys easy."
"I... wish to talk about Lucy after this, Oz." Benjamin said. "About going to her family with her corpse."
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