AI- Artificial Intelligence

[Darkshadow]

Mechanic

 

"Alright alright I get the picture!" The next girl stepped into the machine, and did as she was instructed with a bored look. Jack started up the machine again, and examined the molecules. "Wait a second...." he enlarged part of the image, and put it through analysis. The guards tensed at his words, and all of them readied their weapons. All droids were to be shot on sight. Cyborgs would be put through a different screening. "Wait a second. All clean. She's a human." Everyone gave a sigh of relief, and Jack waved the girl through. "Welcome to the human resistance." Jack said, giving the girl a tiny smile.

--

Garruk looked up, out of the prison window. It was only a small porthole in the high-tech prison, and he was allowed to look out at least every week. It was wonderful to see what was really out there, beyond the movable prison walls controlled by the main droid, HANAMI. He was shoved aside by another prisoner quickly, as everyone wanted a glimspe of the outside world. Garruk leaned against a wall, still uncomfortable in his orange uniform. He knew HANAMI was watching all of them, because she was in control of the entire prison.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Darkshadow

[xFlame990]

stefan kostya.

 

Stefan swallowed a little. The way the hacked droid girl was smiling at him--and twitching between repeated words--was creeping him out. However, it also interested him--that was just how odd droids could be. Technology was weird in its own way... he decided that Ms. Vitatna's view of the future made even more sense than it did before. The girl must've meant Ms. Vitatna when she was talking about the "lady who gives all the orders". He opened his mouth to quietly ask why she needed him when the droid girl, who had been rocking on her heels, stopped. Stefan blinked and brought his hand to his collar, feeling somewhat intrusive as the droid girl stuffed the sparking wires that had slipped from the gaping hole on the top side of her head back inside. She even used some bobby pins to hold some of them in together. God, that was disturbing, but Stefan lowered his head a little, gazing at the clipped wires. Somehow, he felt sorry for the droid. Man, if he had been a hacker he wouldn't have made such a mess like this.

 

The droid girl--Stefan made a mental note to ask what her name was later--then seemed to start to explain what Ms. Vitatna wanted Stefan to do when she suddenly ceased, freezing for a few seconds. Stefan began to think she was simply in need of a reboot--after all, the mechanics who had hacked her made a damn train wreck--before she asked if he was 'Rosaline'.

 

"R-Rosaline?" Stefan asked in response. "I don't ... My name is Stefan Kostya." A look of pity flashed momentarily across his face. 'Rosaline' must have been the name of someone from her past... Maybe a glitched past, considering the dull look on her face. It was strange, how humans were... they still felt compassion for things beyond their control. At least, the caring ones he had seen did. "Miss Vitatna needed something from me, yes?"

[warewolves]

Serla nodded once and folded her arm before saying. "I hate to sound cliche, but take me to your leader. If I don't like the way she looks, I'm leaving. It's a simple as that. Call me what you will, but I refuse to follow someone weak and without a backbone." She paused and pulled out her spare mouse, and said "Oh and the guy who stepped on this should check his shoe, it might or might not be disolving it."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Taz tried not to appear relieved as she made a speedy exit from the machine. They had deemed her human, and now apparently she was very welcome. Even so, the way the guards kept staring at her suggested that her surliness wouldn't help her here. A technician besides the one who had run the x-ray thing greeted her on the other side with a clipboard, wishing to confirm her personal information. She considered going with Serla's advice, but doubted that droids would go through all the trouble to capture them. The pair could've easily been snatched at any point during the escort, so the place where they were now being inducted seemed highly unlikely of being a droid base.

 

"I'm Taz," she replied, meeting his gaze. She was grateful for his kindness, however the anxiety that had come over her in the machine was dissipated. Taz folded her arms and peered about at all the technology. It wasn't that she was afraid of it, just that she didn't know how to use it. That, and technology in her eyes was a bit like having secret droids in your own home. "I don't have to learn to use any of this, do I?" She asked the man. If that was the case, then good by resistance. Charge into a burning building guns blazing, sure, any day. File a report on the computer? You're going to need a new computer. In a sense, she was a bit old fashioned. At Serla's mention of the leader, Taz shrugged. She'd see them if they so wished, but honestly she just wanted a bigger gun and her first mission.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Sweet_Wyvern

[Darkshadow]

Mechanic

"I hate to sound cliche, but take me to your leader. If I don't like the way she looks, I'm leaving. It's a simple as that. Call me what you will, but I refuse to follow someone weak and without a backbone." The girl paused and pulled out another toy mouse, and said "Oh and the guy who stepped on this should check his shoe, it might or might not be dissolving it." "Nobody stepped on the mouse, girl. We just shot it." A guard said, and Jack stood up. "I'll take the girl to Kayla, okay?" Another guard nodded, and warned him to be careful. Jack nodded. "Follow me, miss." he said, and then headed back into the main hub. He walked towards the War Room, where he knew Kayla would be. He entered the room, and said, "Newcomers, to see you Miss Kayla," and then turned and left.

 

The mechanic shook his head. "It's fine. Follow Jack and that other girl to consult Kayla for your job here. It's easier than you think."

--

Kayla Vitatna

Kayla looked up as a mechanic, whose name she did not know, entered the room and announced a newcomer, a girl. "Yes, what do you need?" she said, her hand going down to her gun. She didn't trust newcomers, even if they were human. No one could be trusted until they proved themselve.

[JadeHeartOfFire]

Charlie

 

Had she found Rosaline? The droid's expression slowly morphed from its blank state to one of excitement. How good it would be to have found her after all of these years- "R-Rosaline? I don't ... My name is Stefan Kostya." Charlie's overly cheerful demeanor immediately deflated. The tall human wasn't Rosaline? How sad... "Are you sure you're not Rosaline? Being her would make me happy." the feminine droid looked down at her feet "...sad? Is sad the word?" However, barely a moment later, she looked back up at the blonde man who claimed he wasn't her former master but was probably lying to make her sad, the same smile from before once again painted on her dark lips. "Tall human, the lady who gave the orders told me to tell you and that big long list to meet her in the war room, the room by her personal chambers." she announced cheerfully "Go there, yes? Don't want to displease the lady, do you?" With her mission partially accomplished, she twirled around and was about to prance off, when it seemingly occurred to her that she had no idea where the other humans were. Her finding of the tall human had been merely by luck. She turned her head back towards him (which was almost a full 180 degrees). "Do you know where the other humans on the big list are?" she asked "Charlie is bad at finding people..."

 

---

 

HANAMI

 

...network check completed...all prisoners present...all walls secure...all cells secure...social hall secure... These words, among many other, flitted through the the droid's feed in a mere blink of an eye, informing her of the state of the prison that she presided over. Perfect. Everything was perfect, as usual. A wicked smile crawled over HANAMI's pale lips. Oh, look at the time. It appeared that it was time to hold some rehabilitation therapy sessions for the inmates, her favorite time of the day. A large list of all of the prisoners in the facility appeared on the screen closest to her right. Now, who's turn was it? The list scrolled downward quickly, eventually stopping on the names of three inmates: Mercia, a twenty year old female; Garruk, an eighteen year old male; and Olsen, another eighteen year old male. The group was perfect for the little activity that she had in mind. A microphone lowered itself in front of her pale lips, jutting out from the glowing eyepiece on her right side. "Insects." her voice, low and official sounding, bellowed through every speaker in the entire facility "It is required that all of you return to your cells immediately. However, the following insects must remain in the social hall for...a rehabilitation session." The screen in the main room suddenly glowed to life, displaying the pictures of the three inmates that had been chosen. "Failure to follow these orders will not be tolerated."

[Darkshadow]

Garruk

"Insects." It was HANAMI. Garruk flinched involuntarily, as did half the prisoners."It is required that all of you return to your cells immediately. However, the following insects must remain in the social hall for...a rehabilitation session." Everyone groaned. The rehabilitation sessions were pure torment. The last three had been killed off, seeing as how they had gone insane after a session. The screen in the main room suddenly glowed to life, displaying the pictures of the three inmates that had been chosen. "Failure to follow these orders will not be tolerated." Those who had not been chosen sighed in relief, but Garruk felt cold chills run down his spine. The other two people broke down in sobs, but Garruk just sat down, crossed his legs, and put his head in his hands. The last three had been raving mad, each of them tortured into insanity. I don't ever want to end up like that.

[xFlame990]

K 4 4 - 4 Y

 

Kay's hazel eyes followed the strangers as they passed through the advanced metal detectors, his breath going dry for a few moments. No, they were human ... unless, of course, the metal was as concealed as his. Deciding to not worry about whether they were human or not--Kay would still have to keep his cover as a human for now--he followed after them, hands in his pockets. Jack, the lead guard, was now leading the two girls to Kayla Vitatna's quarters, evidently to be given jobs. Kay narrowed his eyes. Should he get involved with them? No, he shouldn't ... Keep cover ... He decided he'd just introduce themselves. Just in case. Swearing as he realised he'd just stubbed his toe on the corner of the door they'd passed through, Kay lingered behind as Jack turned and left, leaving the door to the main room where Ms Vitatna was closed. The two girls would be inside, he supposed. Kay's hand toyed with the handle of the knife strapped to his thigh, inside one of the many pockets.

 

Leaning against the wall, Kay waited patiently for the visit to be over. Maybe afterward, he could go and ask for another way to work--perhaps a step from his current position. Hopefully it would give him more chance to figure out intelligence about the base. What he had now definitely wasn't enough.

 

Although droids did not require eating, the automatic function of human emotions fueled a sudden change in Kay's mood. He was... hungry. He had felt the feeling rumble in the lower portion of his body many times before--usually three times a day--and had simply followed the other humans to the large cafeteria. He would 'eat', but when he went to bed or went to the 'bathroom'--when others went--the functions inside him would simply disintegrate the swallowed human food, even though it satisfied the hunger switch.

 

stefan kostya.

 

The tall Russian man instantly regretted his words as the demented doll-like droid had a look of excitement on her face. Evidently, she had wanted--hoped--for him to be this Rosaline person. The pity on Stefan's features intensified as the droid drooped, looking down at the ground, poorly-recorded words falling from her strangely dark lips.

 

"...sad? Is sad the word?" Stefan frowned, tilting his head to the side. Yes, sad was the word for what the droid was probably feeling right now, but as he was about to apologise and say that Rosaline was probably out there somewhere, she popped back up again, a glassy smile on her face yet again. Stefan shivered a little. She informed him, with odd and inhuman perks and drops in her tones, that Ms Vitatna had requested that he and the rest of the people on the list of people she had recited earlier to meet in what sounded like a meeting of some sort. ...Probably to discuss war matters. He blinked some more as she said she didn't want to 'displease' Ms Vitatna.

 

Wondering, for a moment, if droids registered humour, he nodded his head slightly with a light smile on his lips.

 

"No, I wouldn't," he replied faintly as the droid girl spun around in a fashion that reminded him of a ballerina to leave when she suddenly stopped and twisted her head around... as in, the rest of her body didn't move--only her neck and head pivoted in a robot-like manner (which made sense, as she was a robot). Stefan visibly recoiled; oh God.

 

It seemed that the hacked droid didn't know where to start looking for the rest of the people on the list. Stefan cleared his throat, still slightly shaken at the girl's disturbing stance--her head and neck were still turned towards him. At least, from this angle, the grisly hole with the metallic wires inside couldn't be seen. Strange--that was how Stefan was associating the girl with. Her name also seemed to be Charlie, which Stefan didn't think fit the droid at all. "Alice", "Yvette", "Effie"... any names that sounded fit for a doll would work. "Devochka" ("little girl") and "Kukla" ("doll") in Russian even sounded okay.

 

"I... no," Stefan answered uncertainly. He, of course, didn't know where to find the others either. "Would you like ... help?"

[warewolves]

Serla took in Kayla she peered at her intently, looking for steel and athority in the eyes. Her eyes note as her hand went for the gun. "You are cautious...That's good...You definitely have the look of a leader. I just have one question for you before I am satisfied." She paused before training her eyes intently on Kayla, looking for any reaction. "If you had to choose between defating the droids, or letting everyone whom helped you get this far, not including those whom are currently capture of course, or letting them die. What would you chose and why?"

[Darkshadow]

{{Ware, could you spell check your posts? Your grammar is confusing me, and some words are misspelled}}

 

"You are cautious...That's good...You definitely have the look of a leader. I just have one question for you before I am satisfied." The paused before training her eyes intently on Kayla, looking for any reaction. "If you had to choose between defeating the droids, or letting everyone whom helped you get this far, not including those whom are currently capture of course, or letting them die. What would you chose and why?"

Kayla narrowed her eyes. The girl wasn't making a lot of sense, but she got the jist of the question. "It's true that I can't defeat all the droids without sacrifices, but I wouldn't sacrifice all of the humans here just to kill all the droids. There are people here who are irreplacable to freeing all the enslaved humans, and re-establishing human control. So I would probably save all of my companions, because a leader should not be the last one standing by using all of her subordinates as shields."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Taz said thank you to the man and walked out of the room behind Serla. After some more hallways they entered a large room, at the front of which stood a girl who appeared to be the leader. Once again Serla saw fit to launch into a rant, something about leadership and camaraderie. Stepping out of the door way, Taz leaned against the wall and waited for their conversation to be over. She had no part in this; the resistance had guards and guns, and to her that made it perfect. While they chatted she only half-listened, instead she was studying the war room. A large map spanned the wall behind the person in charge, though she couldn't mark her birth place on it. "That's noble," Taz said aloud from the back of the room following Kayla's answer. As an afterthought she added, "Sorry for interrupting." Tough though she may be, she knew her place. It was more about strength on the battle field, not arrogance in the presence of a rebel leader. It wasn't groveling either, she supposed, perhaps just fitting in how she should? Her mind was beginning to wander.

[warewolves]

(sorry! I'll watch my spelling more intently)

 

Serla blinked and leaned back before nodding. "I can respect that." She took a step back and bowed slightly. "I apologise for both my interruption and rudeness." She straightened up and paused. "I am a hacker by trade, but since the droid invasion have gone into making some mechanics and other such things. I do not know how much use I will be, but put me to work as you see fit."

Edited December 31, 2011 by warewolves

[JadeHeartOfFire]

HANAMI

 

HANAMI's glowing cyan eyes twinkled in amusement as her feed focused in the front security camera in the main hall, quite entertained by the reactions of the insects after she made her announcement. The sobbing of the humans that had been chosen...that never got old. However, as the lens of the camera zoomed in, she noticed that one of the humans wasn't crying. He was sitting on the ground, his head in his hands, looking quite dejected, but not crying. The droid pursed her inhumanly pale lips. Well, she would just have to fix that, wouldn't she? A silent order made its way through the air of the facility, instructing the drone androids to escort the other prisoners to their cells. With that done, she turned her attention back to the the three chosen insects. Now...for the little game therapy session. "For today, insects, we'll be doing a team building activity. A maze." as she spoke, a bit of a smirk could be heard in her animatronic voice "After I finish speaking, two doors will open on the south side of the room. You may choose one of the two doors, though only one leads to the maze...the other..." she trailed off ominously, leaving it to their imaginations "The maze has many doors, most of which you have to solve a puzzle to open. When and if you make it to the end, there will be a...reward." Two panels on the wall slid open, revealing identical looking dark hallways. "You may begin."

 

((I have to go out now. Promise I'll post as Charlie later, Flamey~))

[Darkshadow]

"For today, insects, we'll be doing a team building activity. A maze." as HANAMI spoke, a bit of a smirk could be heard in her animatronic voice "After I finish speaking, two doors will open on the south side of the room. You may choose one of the two doors, though only one leads to the maze...the other..." she trailed off ominously, and the other two inmates cowered."The maze has many doors, most of which you have to solve a puzzle to open. When and if you make it to the end, there will be a...reward." Two panels on the wall slid open, revealing identical looking dark hallways. "You may begin." Garruk looked up at the cameras, panic evident in his eyes. He took the path on the left, while the other two took the path on the right. The hallway was well-lit, but still had an ominous feeling to it. He entered catiously. There was a bunch of tests here, as HANAMI had indicated. Garruk looked at the first puzzle. It was a bunch of cubes, of different colors, and one with a heart on it. It looked like he had to arrange the cubes into different trays, which would activate different doors, which led in all different directions. Garruk picked up the cube with the heart on it, because it felt the most friendly. He put it onto the tray, which opened up a door with a heart on it. Picking up the cube again, Garruk walked through the door.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Darkshadow

[JadeHeartOfFire]

Charlie

 

At the tall human's offer of help, Charlie beamed in delight, rotating her body around to match the position of her head, a soft metallic click filling the air as it snapped back into place. "You would help Charlie?!" she asked, her voice high and excited sounding despite the obvious look of discomfort on the male's face "That would be amazing, tall human! Thank you, thank you!" She practically skipped over to him, bouncing up and down on her heels. Being an abandoned companion droid, it was in Charlie's programming to be highly sociable towards humans, to be cheerful in their presence, to want to be near them. "Where should we start looking? This place is so big! Oh, no, doesn't matter." she grabbed the man's hand, her touch surprisingly light (Which was also because of her programming. She had held Rosaline's hand for years.) "Let's go, yes?" She started pulling him towards the door.

 

---

 

HANAMI

 

Screams of terror and anguish made their way into the speaker directly to the right of HANAMI's head, making the feminine droid smirk in delight as two of her three therapy subjects were left alone in the dark. While the one door led to the maze, the other had simply led to a dead end a few feet down the hall. Of course, the second that the two humans had stepped into the hall, the panel behind them had slid shut, locking them inside. Their fate was to either die of starvation or to go mad and kill each other before their hunger brought them down. I mean, there wasn't any sort of reason that there was a knife on each wall and a camera with a night vision lens in there... Giggling to herself, HANAMI turned her attention to another monitor, which showed the young man who had actually chosen the correct path attempting to solve the first puzzle. So far, he was doing pretty well...time to mess with his head. "Congratulations on choosing the correct path, insect." she murmured into her microphone "However, you've already made a mistake. You shouldn't have gone through the heart door. That was very foolish, insect." On one of the identical paths in front of the male human, a glowing blue arrow appeared. "Go that way. It will put you back on the correct path. The other way leads to death." Of course, she was lying. It was actually the other way around. She just wanted to see if the fearful human was smart enough to figure that out.

[xFlame990]

stefan kostya.

 

Oh. My. God.

 

Stefan automatically regretted his offer of aid to Charlie as the droid's body revolved to match the position of her twisted neck and head. The Russian man placed a hand on his lips, clearing his throat, not sure if he was going to last through the whole trip. He could back down now, but the way Charlie seemed so happy and excited that he had suggested helping her didn't exactly help. Stefan blinked and couldn't help but slide his foot back a step as Charlie bounded over to him, balancing on her heels.

 

He slowly closed his blue eyes. The wires in the absence of skin on the girl's head were even more disturbing up close. He could still see the bobby pins stuck inside in his mind.

 

Nodding his head to Charlie's delighted "thank you!"s, Stefan reopened his eyes and leaned back again as the droid girl took his hand with hers. To his surprise, instead of feeling cold, hard, metal, Charlie's pale fingers felt warmer and light, like how a mother would hold their child's hand. Stefan decided it was better than how a robot's hand should feel and reluctantly held on to her hand--he was pretty sure, with Charlie's always-changing and enthusiastic personality, she wasn't letting go any time soon--and followed her to the door. To be honest, now Stefan had no idea where to help the robot find any of the people she had named.

 

"What's the first name...? Of the names Miss Vitatna gave you?" Stefan asked, voice still uncertain. From his position he couldn't see the wires, thank God, but her freakishly orange eyes made the Russian swear he could still feel them burning into him.

[Darkshadow]

Garruk

 

Garruk turned around quickly as he heard screams from somewhere behind him. Was it the other inmates? What he heard next sent shivers down his spine, and Garruk clutched the cube with the heart on it tightly. The splattering noise on the walls.... Oh god. What kind of sick game was this? A rehabilitation therapy session? That was only a sick joke, made up by HANAMI. "Congratulations on choosing the correct path, insect." It was HANAMI! Then that splattering noise... Garruk closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't want to think about it. "However, you've already made a mistake. You shouldn't have gone through the heart door. That was very foolish, insect." On one of the identical paths in front of him, a glowing blue arrow appeared. "Go that way. It will put you back on the correct path. The other way leads to death." Should he trust her? Garruk felt really suspicious. He knew that the other time, HANAMI was telling the truth. However, the splatters, and the screams indicated that HANAMI had no sympathy for human life. Why should she care that he went the wrong path? Determined, Garruk went on the opposite path than the blue arrow, and continued on, still holding onto the heart cube.

 

Kayla Vitatna

 

"I can respect that." The girl took a step back and bowed slightly. "I apologise for both my interruption and rudeness." She straightened up and paused. "I am a hacker by trade, but since the droid invasion have gone into making some mechanics and other such things. I do not know how much use I will be, but put me to work as you see fit." Kayla nodded. "Very well. You will assist the mechanics in any way possible, probably with modifying technology in order to work under the electronegative field. We recently have acquired a lazer turret, and we'll need some help with that. The other girl there-" Kayla indicated the girl who had spoken up earlier in the back of the room, "-can join the ranks of the others and start training. If she proves skilled, she will be promoted to captain and assigned a squad."

Edited January 1, 2012 by Darkshadow

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Noticing that she was being addressed, Taz pushed off from the wall and looked at Kayla. She was to join the rest of the army, however many that was, and train. Captain. She quite liked the sound of that, but with it came plenty of obstacles. Right now, she was ready for anything, and the sooner she left training and joined the soldiers the better whether she was an officer or not. Dipping her head once Kayla was done specifying, Taz asked, "When and where can I start?"

 

((Sorry about the short post, not all of that was directed at me and I have a low muse level currently.))

 

[warewolves]

Sharla's eyes brightened. "A Lazer turret? I haven't seen one of them in years. And even then." She shrugged. Pulling out a small notebook she ruffled through a few pages, and then closed it and nodded. "Also, if you have any malfunctioning equipment. I would be glad to take a wack at it. Now just point me in the direction of the work station and I'll be off. Oh and a Tour of the place would be nice."

[JadeHeartOfFire]

((I have nothing better to do.))

 

HANAMI

 

HANAMI leaned forward in her animatronic chair, interest gleaming in her glowing eyes. The human hadn't followed her advice. Well, this was a good sign. It meant that he could think under pressure, that he wasn't one of those people who completely lost his mind in the face of fear. That would certainly make her little game a lot more interesting. Speaking of fear...splattering sounded from the other monitor, followed by a morbid thud. She shifted around in her chair, her eyes focusing in on the other screen. Well...the male insect had murdered the female, stabbing her to death with the knife from the eastern wall. He was now sitting in the corner, rocking back and forth, covered in blood and muttering to himself. HANAMI tilted her head to the side. Would he eat her later, or had the murder just been out of panic? At the moment, though, this male offered no more entertainment. She swiveled her chair back around to face the one who was still facing her challenge. He was hesitantly walking down the dimly lit hallway, clutching the companion cube to his chest. "So...you're not quite as stupid and fear-driven as the other humans. You should feel accomplished, insect." she smirked "Bask in it...while solving this next puzzle." In the middle of the room, the floor opened, revealing what looked like a trap door. "You will stand on the trap door, insect, and answer three riddles that I ask you. If you answer any of them wrong, you'll drop. If you answer anywhere else but on the trap door, the door to the next hall won't open." She laid her head in her hand.

 

"It is greater than God and more evil than the devil. The poor have it, the rich need it and if you eat it you'll die. What is it?"

"The person who makes it, sells it. The person who buys it never uses it and the person who uses it doesn't know they are. What is it?"

"I am always hungry, I must always be fed, the finger I touch will soon turn red. What am I?"

[Darkshadow]

Garruk

 

"So...you're not quite as stupid and fear-driven as the other humans. You should feel accomplished, insect." HANAMI said, and Garruk clutched the companion cube tighter to his chest. "Bask in it...while solving this next puzzle." In the middle of the room, the floor opened, revealing what looked like a trap door. "You will stand on the trap door, insect, and answer three riddles that I ask you. If you answer any of them wrong, you'll drop. If you answer anywhere else but on the trap door, the door to the next hall won't open." Garruk walked forward, slowly, and stepped on the trapdoor. He was surprised that the trapdoor didn't just collapse underneath his weight.

 

"It is greater than God and more evil than the devil. The poor have it, the rich need it and if you eat it you'll die. What is it?"

"The person who makes it, sells it. The person who buys it never uses it and the person who uses it doesn't know they are. What is it?"

"I am always hungry, I must always be fed, the finger I touch will soon turn red. What am I?"

 

"The answer to the first riddle is... power." Garruk hesitated. He had been quite good with riddles, but still. He didn't know if people could eat power, but they'd starve if they tried. Still, he didn't know if HANAMI knew about the power of democracy.

"The answer to the second riddle is... droids." It was true enough. No one ever 'used' a droid, it was expected that droids would obey.

"The answer to the third riddle is fire."

That was the simplest riddle of all.

[JadeHeartOfFire]

HANAMI

 

HANAMI sighed a little, running a hand through her thin white hair. Just when she was starting to have a little fun with this human, he went and failed one of her tests. 'Power? Droids?' How foolish was this pesky little insect? Really, what a shame, to lose the most entertainment she had had in weeks. Ah well, it had been enjoyable while it lasted. She adjusted the microphone that was floating in front of her lips. "The first two answers were incorrect, insect." she mumbled, rocking back and forth in her suspended chair "The first answer was 'nothing'. Nothing is greater than God, nothing is more evil than the devil, the poor have nothing, the rich need nothing, and if you eat nothing, you'll die." walls lifted up around the young man, keeping him over the trap door "The second answer was 'a coffin'. Just think about that one." the door slowly started to open. Flames licked up from the hole, indicating that the trapdoor led straight to a pit of fire. It was an old-fashioned furnace, which HANAMI had kept for her own entertainment. "However, just because you amuse me...I'll give you one more chance to live. Another riddle." The door suddenly stopped opening. HANAMI leaned forward in her chair once more, an evil glint in her eye.

 

"What force and strength cannot get through, I with a gentle touch can do. And many in the street would stand, were I not a friend at hand. What am I?"

Edited January 1, 2012 by JadeHeartOfFire

[Darkshadow]

"The first two answers were incorrect, insect." HANAMI mumbled, and Garruk groaned. Now he was going to die, die pitifully like the last two inmates. He wanted to survive this test, and get back to his cell. "The first answer was 'nothing'. Nothing is greater than God, nothing is more evil than the devil, the poor have nothing, the rich need nothing, and if you eat nothing, you'll die." Walls lifted up around Garruk, and he flinched, scared."The second answer was 'a coffin'. Just think about that one." The door slowly started to open. Flames licked up from the hole, indicating that the trapdoor led straight to a pit of fire. Hey, at least I got the third riddle right. So he was to burn to death. "However, just because you amuse me...I'll give you one more chance to live. Another riddle." The door suddenly stopped opening. Garruk sighed in relief.

"What force and strength cannot get through, I with a gentle touch can do. And many in the street would stand, were I not a friend at hand. What am I?"

Garruk blinked. His teacher had once asked him this riddle, so long ago when humans were in charge of things. "A key." he said, and prayed that HANAMI would accept the answer.

[JadeHeartOfFire]

HANAMI

 

"A key." The evil gleam slowly faded from HANAMI's visible glowing eye, turning instead to a look of sadistic satisfaction. The human had answered the riddle correctly, saving himself from death...for now. Now she could continue on with her fun without having to start over with another therapy subject. How lovely. The walls around the male lowered themselves, though the door below him didn't close, continuing to smolder wildly. "That's correct." her voice was practically a sing-song now. She was enjoying this a bit too much. "You get to continue your trivial existence for the time being." A panel on the wall opened, though instead of leading to another hallway, it lead to a large room that was filled with large, heavy-looking rocks. "Now, get out of that room before I change my mind." she crossed one slender leg over the other, as if she were somebody sitting on their sofa and watching television "The next puzzle is simple. In the corner, you'll see a large button. Only a certain weight that is placed on it will open the door." She twisted a lock of hair around her finger, thinking for a moment. "You know, insect...I will offer an incentive for solving this puzzle. All of you are curious to see your...ruler, correct?" she smirked "As of yet, I have kept my face hidden from all of the inmates. Would you like to see it if you solve this puzzle?"

[Darkshadow]

Garruk

 

Garruk closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come, for the trapdoor to fall all the way open and for the flames that were warming his bare feet to consume his body... The walls around the him lowered themselves, though the door below him didn't close, continuing to smolder wildly. "That's correct." HANAMI's voice was practically a sing-song now. "You get to continue your trivial existence for the time being." She sounded almost sadistically pleased that he was solving her riddle. A panel on the wall opened, though instead of leading to another hallway, it lead to a large room that was filled with large, heavy-looking rocks. "Now, get out of that room before I change my mind." Garruk quickly stepped off of the trapdoor, which was still smouldering. Clutching his companion cube, Garruk glanced at all the heavy rocks around him. What were they for? "The next puzzle is simple. In the corner, you'll see a large button. Only a certain weight that is placed on it will open the door." Garruk was filled with panic again. First riddles, and now this... "You know, insect...I will offer an incentive for solving this puzzle. All of you are curious to see your...ruler, correct? As of yet, I have kept my face hidden from all of the inmates. Would you like to see it if you solve this puzzle?" What's this? "Y-yes, please." Garruk said, almost automatically. Then again he would have to solve this puzzle. Only a certain weight. All the rocks looked the same size. In the place where the switch was, Garruk placed the companion cube, and the door opened.