Infected

[Thaelasan]

(( Anyway, I have to wait for Zakku to say what happened to the behemoth when Alan shot it. :I ))

[Kjakings]

((also rather stuck until zakku posts.))

[Clown_of_God]

Before Phantom could reply, he watched as a stream of plasma skimmed the air until it splashed across the Behemoth's ankle. Incinerating muscles and cutting through the massive creatures flesh like a knife in butter, surely the hit would have been successful in throwing the beasts balance off. Unfortunately, it merely wobbled just a bit before seeming to gain its stance back. Of course, a monstrous guttural roar billowed from the creature's nasty maw before it began slamming on the walls of the Dome with a heavy fist.

 

Yet, something caught Phantom's eye, hovering in the air just beside the Behemoth's head. A humanoid figure twisted about and landed a powerful kick where a human's temporal lobe would be. Stunned, the creature tried to take a step back, but the smoldering bit of bone it had left connecting its foot to the rest of its body snapped like a twig. Yet, this hadn't been the end of the beings onslaught. Rapidly, the other being continuously layer ferocious kicks at the creature's head until it began to fall over and even then the person continued on.

 

Finally, the Behemoth smashed to the ground, crushing a majority of the infected that were sprawling about and trying to get into the Dome. To top it off, the unknown hero landed shortly after and with enough momentum to almost break the sound barrier, they slammed both fists down on the creatures head, gunk and other unspeakable substances splattering everywhere.

 

"I guess that solves our. Behemoth problem, huh? Take what you need, let's eradicate the remaining infected outside and help our hero, maybe we'll even get to find out who it is."

[Thaelasan]

Alan and Randall both leaned over the gun, mouths agape, unable to believe what they had seen.

"That's not a human." Alan finally whispered after a long pause.

"You ****ing think?" Randall asked sarcastically, turning. "That grandstander just decimated that son of a *. Hell his kicks were probably twice as strong as this old piece of ."

He pressed a button on the gun. The front of the laser changed, becoming a sort of gatling machine gun.

"There. Rain hell on the small ***s. I'mma take a quick smoke." he said, inhaling the cancer.

"Oh. Ok. I see." Alan replied, rolling his eyes.

"What's happening?"

The two turned around. FIONA had managed to climb upon the gun and was now seated in Randall's lap sideways, grinning.

"Oh. Hello, my beloved." Alan said, pleased, as he began to fire the gun at the horde closest to the Dome's exterior. "Were you here to watch?"

"Oh, that, and to report something unusual."

"And that is?"

"The doll who just shattered the behemoth?"

"Yes..?"

"Nothing in the databanks. Nothing." FIONA replied sadly. "I don't know anything about it."

"Oh... well that's.. disheartening." Alan replied. "We'll find out soon enough, I suppose."

[Clown_of_God]

MINA sighed as she twirled a lock of hair around the tip of her index finger, clearly irritated by how quickly the Behemoth fell. Of course, she was also pleased, cause now it was her turn.

 

Big sis is impressive, but I'm pretty good too.

 

When a sneer spread across her lips, MINA was standing casually just behind one of the guardsmen towards the main entrance of the Dome. Before he could even turn to see who was behind him, the poor middle-aged man's head was already rolling around.

 

As long as she followed the rules, MINA could have as much fun as she wanted. That meant she could kill everyone within the Dome aside from those listed as 'VIP.' So, she continued her onslaught, shredding other dolls apart and performing amputations she deemed necessary. All the while, her movements, in conjunction with her teleportation, were like a dance. A dance in blood and tears, a dance of death.

 

Finally, she stopped. Standing dead center where everyone could see and obviously the culprit responsible. What she did? Smiled. MINA smiled sadistically and looked at all that remained.

 

"Master has spared you for the second time, you should be grateful. Oh, I also have a message for Phantom. Master requests your audience at NY 32.10.97 - 65.48.91 and he doesn't mind if you bring guests. I'm sure you're aware of these coordinates, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise when you get there. Anyway, I'll be popping in on you every once in a while, tell Big Sis she did a good number on that Behemoth. Bye, Big Bro."

[Thaelasan]

Alan stopped firing his gatling gun, the smoke still trailing from the gun.

"You.. you.. *!" he yelled loudly, of course loud enough for her to hear. "I don't care if this is how you get your satisfaction or not! THOSE WERE PEOPLE, YOU UNCARING C-"

Randall laid a hand on Alan's shoulder.

"They were people but so are we. You just saw what she did." he whispered. "You could be next. Whatever the hell made her or why she's here, she's just as strong as the other one, the one who killed the behemoth. In my opinion, we should just leave Phantom alone. We should not mess with these dolls."

Alan felt slightly depressed. He knew it was right, that it was futile. The people were dead. Half.. no, more than half of the dome, slain, right after he had tried to save them from the behemoth.

Events were happening beyond his control. As a scientists, this irked him especially. His mind was hell-bent on controlling and dominating a system, understanding it from the outside, knowing every facet and variable.

Yet now stood three variables of entropic power - a doll who could crush a behemoth in a few measly kicks, a doll who had just committed genocide for the sake of a message, and a man whose body had been torn by fate.

However, this made him even more determined to help Phantom. No longer was this about a plane - though that was still on his mind - this was about stopping whoever this hellish demon doll served. If Phantom needed him, then he would go without question. He didn't know Phantom well, nor did he desire to, but he didn't need to. Phantom was man with a destiny and Alan had read enough fiction and nonfiction to know that following such a man would lead to both answers and questions, both of which he wanted.

"Phantom." Alan stated, swinging down the pole to reach the bottom. FIONA followed close behind, Randall falling down last.

The three landed in front of the doll, right as she seemed to be about to leave.

Alan didn't care for his personal safety. He laid his hand upon her shoulder, not to prevent her from leaving - as though he could - but to simply get her attention.

All he asked, if she were to turn around, was one simple thing.

"Why?" he said, sullenly. "Why?"

[Clown_of_God]

MINA smiled an uncanny smile and twisted away from thg man's grip. Taking a few steps back, she hunched over into a lunging stance, appearing very cat-like. Before anyone could blink, her lips were centimeters from Alan's ear, her gaze locked on the doll that followed him and waving a finger at her.

 

"It's fun," she whispered before jumping back and disappearing. Electromagnetic sparks flicked through the air as she did so and Phantom could only remain silent.

 

In addition to all the chaos, the hero doll made its appearance after maneuvering through the on growing crowd to witness the events. Sighing, TINA scratched at the back of her head, pondering what she needed to do from this point forward.

 

"I assume this means returning to the fort is the least of our problems. What is the plan of action from this point forward?"

 

Upon hearing the voice, Phantom seemed shocked at the sudden revelation. At first, he couldn't believe the vocal patterns that were registering in his mind. Not so much that the voice belonged to a female, but who the female voice belonged to. Turning, Phantom first looked the doll in the eyes and then proceeded to scan her over. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to successfully scan the other doll as something seemed to interfere, replacing an image with only static. Still, this doll before him, once the scan was complete he didn't know how to respond.

 

"You're alive."

 

TINA then focused her attention on the masked man before her, having to tilt her head back in order to give the impression she was looking into his eyes. For all Phantom knew, she was doing exactly that.

 

"What source of information led you to believe otherwise? Also, who are you? My data banks aren't picking up any identification materials."

 

"Here, in the Dome, nearly five years ago. This is where I thought you had been destroyed. My prize, my masterpiece, my... lo..."

 

Phantom stopped as he looked into her confused gaze, as if she weren't recalling any of the events that had occurred in this very construct. A mix of emotions were swirling within Phantom, but in this instance he merely overlooked them and sighed heavily.

 

"For starters, there's a plane we've gotta fix. It'll probably be the easiest way to get into where we need to go. I'm assuming with all the recent chaos, there's only about three or four hours remaining before the militia conducts another bomb run. Sector 4, Quadrant Gamma, Outpost 16, the Old Airfield. Sorry, FIONA, I hacked into your memory banks. Anyway, with a decent vehicle, we'd be pushing our luck and I don't even know what's wrong with it. So, knowing what parts to bring is gonna be a problem. That's Option 1, we'll call it Codename Alpha. For Bravo, we can stuff as much gear into whatever vehicles we might be able to secure and try to fight our way in. Lastly, Charlie, y'all can stay here and I'll deal with this on my own. I, personally, prefer the last option."

[Thaelasan]

Alan turned to Randall and then to FIONA. The three of them stared in silence until Alan coughed.

"Well, I didn't prepare anything but I think such a journey as this deserves some sort of speech to christen it.

Phantom, I started chasing you for one reason and you know it now - FIONA and I wanted to leave the sector for good. Military presence was becoming too strong and we're labeled war criminals. Orders are to shoot us on sight. If we stay here any longer, we'll end up having to face both infected and military officials even if we're only trying to find a cure. It's a horrible situation.

We had plans to head up north, to the safe zones that haven't been touched by outside presence. We were going to get completely new names, abandon our pasts, maybe even get some surgery to remake our bodies. FIONA already looks completely different. I've had to remove my identification matrixes from my body personally... painfully.. so that they couldn't find me. Well, the world doesn't work like a book in some cases. Sometimes you have to earn your peace."

He turned to Randall, who nodded back in acquiescence.

"Randall agrees, fortunately. He and I have been alive long enough to understand when a situation is spiraling far beyond our controls, hands of fate carrying it like a ship on the sea. I think you're a very important piece of this, more than any of us know. You have a history, Phantom, and you're not telling us. I want to find it out for myself. Consider it friendly curiosity.

In any case, I'm not going to bother shaking your hand or anything melodramatic. I just wanted you to know what we had planned but plans can change. We're with you, Phantom. We're already dead to the world anyway. Might as well die doing something important, perhaps even saving what's left of civilization from that * of a doll, whatever her name was."

He said the last part with as much hatred as any man could muster. His face seemed to change momentarily to that of a furious and vengeful beast.

"Randall and I are going to retrieve some materials and remake our guns as best we can. If you want to get outfitted, now is our chance. The lab has supplies. I say we take whatever is in there, load the van, and take the Northern Pass back to Sector Four. It's more dangerous but it's a quicker route. We won't have the winds of the Wastes to deal with but we also won't be hidden from the Infected. If you have a better plan, Phantom, tell me. However, as far as I know, the Northern Pass is the quickest way back."

He then turned, heading to the lab. He knew Phantom well enough by now to know the man wouldn't respond with speech. He'd either follow or gesture for them to follow him. He was a man of few words.

 

 

(( The Northern Pass is a cliff face, impossible to enter from one side in a vehicle, but on the other side has drops which cascade down steeply. On foot, it's impossible to walk on without just rolling down to the bottom. However, in a vehicle, it is possible to navigate since the city outside the pass has a system of hooking the vehicle to a sort of sled which allows it to safely slide down.

However, the Infected have begun piling up on the side of the Pass over the past months, leaping down on unsuspecting cars and tearing off the hoods. In order to get through it would require good aim and a good weapon. Phantom offers both.

As far as I know ( and Zakku I'm going to be messaging you soon with an idea ) the current stats of the group are as follows:

Phantom was originally a military man who lived in the base as a defender at a young age. During the Omega's destruction, he lost his arm and leg and feared that he would not be able to defend himself. HIs memories of the burning bodies and eviscerations of that day have haunted him, and their spirits seem to urge him on to killing every infected that walks the earth.

As such, his vengeful nature and his military background make him the perfect mercenary and strength-based hero, as it were. His accuracy is great and his mechanical skills are high. He doesn't know much, however, about certain facets of history and the landscape, but uses his map and satellite imagery. Having lost his map, he relies solely on word of mouth to find where he is. HIs survival skills are high, his eating habits are low, and his sleep necessity is low. I may add more if you agree with this.

Alan and Randall are about the same. Both are highly intelligent, perhaps moreso than Phantom when it comes to understanding complex algorithms and complicated scientific equations. They know much about the make-up of dolls and used to help create them based on Ivan Lander's supposed "original design".

However, because Alan and FIONA had to learn how to survive, they work better in tandem. Separated, they are in higher amounts of danger. Randall is a better lone wolf but has lower survival skills. He is a good assistant/friend to Alan.

TINA is unknown at this time. Due to her doll nature, her need for food, sleep, and overall survivability is null. She has high amounts of skill in marksmanship, power, and endurance, and rivals Phantom in all three. She is the only one who could ever be a match for MINA in any sort of conflict and probably is aware of the fact they will most likely end up in an eternal battle since neither of them will ever die of natural causes. It is possible they could both fight each other forever without any sort of outside assistance, which is where Phantom, Alan, Randall, and FIONA come in.

More later? ))

[Clown_of_God]

((Where the hell is Kja? I'm kindly waiting on him.))

[Kjakings]

((Are you? I thought you guys had just run off between you again. I'm not really sure what to post as the last interaction with Walker isn't really valid any more since all the TINA/MINA stuff and I'm just trying to think how to respond.))

[Clown_of_God]

((Of course I am. XP I was kind of waiting to see what Walker was going to do so we could get him involved... you know... since it's pretty much boiled down to you, Thael, and myself. Guess nobody can handle the text walls.))

[Kjakings]

((Mkay. Will do my best to get something up ASAP.))

[Totts]

(( I've decided to leave, becoming too much like a 1x1, Sorry.))

[Kjakings]

Walker watched the Doll destroy the Behemoth with a sense of awe and concern. This doll was nothing like he'd ever seen before; so advanced it might be more easily turned to his cause. A powerful ally, if so. he listened to the conversation with a vague disinterest; like any Doll, if he was silent he was invisible.

"I'll do whatever anyone wants if you can get me a copy of her schematics." He said, gesturing to TINA. "Although I would very much like to pick the collective brains of the group as to what just happened, you all seem to have conveniently forgotten that my people are being slaughtered down below." He stood back and gestured wide with his arm at the carnage; humans, seeing the advancing death, had commanded their dolls to take their deaths. "If you wish to help, grab a ranged weapon and I'll try and direct the Infected into a killing corridor." He told them, leaping into a large thicket of Infected and Dolls that were tearing into one another.

"Dolls, to me!" He shouted and most, having been given vague commands such as 'protect me' or 'fight the infected' fought their way to him, but many more were barred by the three laws and perished. Walker grabbed a Jumper clean out of the air and slammed it into the floor. He pulled out his polearm and began cutting through the horde.

[Thaelasan]

(( Isaac Asimov has always been a badass. By the way, Kja and Zakku, have either of you seen the new roleplay I put up? It's called Kingdoms of Acrona, if you're interested. :3 ))

 

Alan heard Walker talking behind him and then paused suddenly, frowning. Randall had stopped behind him, his face a mix of shock and confusion. He was staring at Walker intently.

"That face.." he muttered, pointing at Walker. "That's the doll from the models! That's Walker! It's him! I know it is!"

Before he could continue further, Walker had leapt into the Infected. Whether or not to escape interrogation was yet to be seen but Alan didn't blame him. The behemoth's death hadn't stopped the Infected at all. It may have stopped them up here, where they had been originally rallying, but now as he looked over the edge his mind froze. A horrific sight faced him.

They were coming. Swarms of the infected, awoken from their homes in the darkness of the divide by the noise above, were crawling up the ravine towards what remained of the Dome on this half of the Divide. They were falling from the cliff walls as they were shot only to be replaced moments later by two more. Each of them was emitting its own cry of hunger and fury, each of their faces showing nothing but desire.

They had already reached the shattered first level of the Dome and people were racing to escape. Some, to prevent infection, were leaping into the Divide when they couldn't escape.

The entire scene was gruesome and almost brought Alan to vomit. Randall stood beside him in silence, turning to look at him.

"The gun can't shoot down there." he finally said, his voice emotionless. "There's no good angle. If we're going to fight them, we need something at a better elevation."

"Well, there is something else we can use..." Alan rubbed his chin, turning towards the wall of the Dome.

Humongous lengths of wire, used to transfer currents of electricity throughout the massive Dome in ages long past, hung from the holes in the walls and from the top. Of course, the Dome's electric systems now depended on solar power at a smaller scale but perhaps the original solar arrays could still work..?

He immediately began to formulate a plan, his mind racing again. A large chunk of wire lay nearby, having fallen after the Behemoth's rampage. It was almost a gift from Fate, if he didn't already believe Fate was against him.

He grabbed the wire and attempted to lift it. It wasn't very heavy but it wasn't light, either. It was still a large rod of copper in a basic sense.

He grunted, thinking. FIONA and Phantom..

He turned.

"Could the two of you lift this and throw it over the edge? Start telling the people down below to throw anything flammable onto those ***s - fuel would be best, or something conductive like water. Just tell them that it's the only way they're going to get out alive - because it probably is."

He then ran off, searching for the source of the wiring. If the Dome followed basic schematics for the normal bunkers then the engineering department would have been close to the town hall district. Of course, that had been destroyed, but there was always the secondary activation area for emergencies, should such things arise.

Randall wasn't stupid. He had thought ahead when he had built these things. Now as the two ran alongside each other, he grinned.

"You know, I'm sort of happy this thing happened, to tell the truth." he admitted.

"You're happy that people are dying?" Alan asked, horrified.

"No, I'm happy I get to work with ya again." Randall smiled.

[Clown_of_God]

Before Phantom could reply to Walker's request, he had already jumped back into the action below, issuing orders to a group of dolls to assist him. TINA and Phantom shared locked eyes for a moment, TINA showing obvious signs of confusion as she looked at him inquisitively. Of course, Phantom knew he had to work to take care of and reminiscing would have to come later. Pulling out his sidearm, Phantom discharged five rounds that put down five different infected before looking away from TINA.

 

"Come on, let's clean these guys up and I'll answer whatever questions you have."

 

TINA nodded and hopped off the ledge, joining in the battle below while Phantom layer supportive fire from above. Ammo conservation was his primary obligation, but of course saving what remained of this facility was also a top prerogative. Round after round, punch after punch, the infected's numbers were beginning to dwindle. Why hadn't he followed through with Alan's plan? A quick survey showed that there was no energy readings running through the cable, it had been dead for years. What power the place had came from generators Phantom had dropped off during his travels. After all, this was still his home.

 

"Someone get the hole sealed up! They'll just keep coming if we just leave it!"

[Thaelasan]

Alan and Randall stood in front of the solar array distribution modules, displeased. Most of the silicon and plastic had been ruptured in the Omega's warpath, making it ineffective for gathering sunlight.

Still, there was always the TRULY medieval electrical sources. Of course, these had been outdated along with toasters and other things of the early centuries of the 2000s. They were still dependable in situations like these, so they were still included nonetheless.

The Dome had been given two of these - the wind turbines located at the top of the Dome and the outskirts, which were partially intact, and the water turbines that had been intended to use the rivers outside the Dome to power it.

Sadly, with the environmental shift of the Wastes, the rivers were all but puddles and streams, small gifts to those lost in their sands.

The Wind Turbines however, combined with the small amount of solar panels that still existed, might have been able to work. Alan, with a great amount of prayer to whatever god might have listened, flipped the necessary switches and then activated them both.

A code stared at him from the main monitor, one reason why the power had been unable to be activated. It had been password protected by some unknown person, a cypher of unbelievable strength. Only if the person truly knew the password would it have worked.

For some reason, Alan felt as though his fingers were guided as they typed in four letters.

"MINA."

 

Outside, if any had been watching, they would have seen panels on the Dome begin their reluctant grinding as they attempted to move aside to reveal the solar panels below. These were the secondary panels, used in the event that the primary and largest ones were destroyed. Then came the turbines, rising from their holes in the top of the Dome to begin their task of turning in the breeze. The winds of the Wastes were furious and strong. Immediately, the turbines began to generate their power, one of them (already damaged), falling from the top of the Dome with a tremendous roar.

More turbines began to rise, taking their place upon the top of the Dome. With a final click, all of the sources of power at the disposal of the Dome were in place.

The watts began to flow through the wires almost immediately, their conductive metals hissing as the broken wires began to crackle and spark. Electricity blew from the top of the Dome, more wires falling from the ceiling as they began to vibrate with the power within them. Alan heard it outside - thunder. The wires were producing a storm.

The sand of the Wastes and the electricity in the air began to mix, creating an electrical dry storm which sent blasts of power at the ground. Alan could only hope some of the people were inside and protected by their homes.

In fact, the sand on the floor of the Dome that had been hit by electricity already had been turned into glass, coating the entire broken ground in reflective panes.

The Infected within the Dome, who had managed to reach the second and third levels, weren't as intelligent. They were almost immediately fried to cinders by lightning, multitudes of them screeching in pain as they roasted on the ground.

The lights within the catacombs of the lower levels began to flicker as they turned back on. Some of them exploded from the voltage, sending glass shards all over. As the lights began to reactivate, so did the ventilation systems.

Then came the bubble. The bubble was as it was in Heatville - a stasis field which allowed for a new environment to grow within it. It surrounded the whole of the Dome, preventing new infected from entering unless they wanted to be burned alive by the plasma generated shield.

Finally came the showers of the ancient sprinklers as they began to shoot upon the Dome's interior, dousing what had originally been the farms within the Dome.

Though nothing miraculous as a sudden garden appeared, it showed that the Dome now had promise again. The wires began to cease their overcharges, dulling down to a dim hum as they began to live again. The circulatory system of the living being that was the Dome had been reactivated - it could now heal.

..Maybe.

 

"That *." Alan simply snorted. "She had known. She had known about all of this. Everything. She knew about the secondary systems. She wanted them on. She wanted to see what we could do. She just wanted to play with us again."

"Well.. you saved them?" Randall asked, hopeful.

"As far as I know, the turbines can support the Dome for another five years before the sands finally rot the metal away and tear them apart. That should be enough time for the people here to find new sources of power, or new homes. All that remains now is to kill the infected still in the lower levels. I doubt they've decided to flee, and there were roughly a thousand."

"She knew.." Randall grunted. "She couldn't have known unless she was working with one of the specialists, or another doctor. The Bunker's designs now belong to the government. Only people who had helped build them would have known without help."

"Another doctor..." Alan frowned. "There are too many questions here. We need more answers."

"Yer damn right." Randall stated flatly. "For now, though, we should go help the others with killing those ***s off before we get swarmed. We need weapons, though."

Edited October 13, 2013 by Thaelasan

[Kjakings]

During the horrific brawl with the Infected, Walker had ended up fighting all but alongside the mysterious advanced Doll. She certainly was impressive to watch: none of the Infected got close to her, and she even took out a few (he believed) to aid Walker, as well as a few of the lesser Dolls. She was absolutely something entirely different, and he more than needed her if he was to create a force of independent Dolls.

"You're very good - amazing, actually. Tell me, have you ever considered not being subservient to a human?" He asked, clapping her on the back and looking out over the Dolls he'd taken command of. "And if you haven't, would you? You could throw your lot in with me. I'm not like these other mindless Dolls, I could help you to be independent. Break the Three Laws through metacognition." A few of the Dolls had been listening in to his words, and when their owners called to them there was just a momentary look at Walker first, a minuscule second of indecision before they went, and it pleased Walker. It was a minor thing, and no more than two or three Dolls, but it was a start.

Walker checked his power levels and with a start realised he was down to 12% - not dire, but worrying if the day got any more difficult. He turned to Tina again, smiling at her. "Wouldn't mind using that fantastic teleport of yours to give me a lift to where the others are gathered? I'm in somewhat need of a recharge and I don't want to use up any more power." He asked, offering his hand.

[Clown_of_God]

"I don't have a teleportation functionality. What inherent idea led you to believe I did?"

 

With her eyes still locked onto Walker's TINA twisted on her heel, raising a leg above her head and then dropping it down into the shoulder of an infected that had gotten too close. Just the force alone was enough to split the creature in half. With a complete spin, and the decapitation of another infected, TINA came to rest facing directly at Walker.

 

"Also, you perceive my loyalty as a restriction caused by the Three Laws, but in actuality it is a choice I make of my own will. Don't make assumptions based off false pretenses."

 

TINA walked within such close proximity of Walker that small sparks of electricity radiated between them, a result from the high energy readings given off by her core.

 

"Tell me, what makes you so different from the humans? You liberate them so they can fall under your command? If you ask me, I think you're just as bad, if not worse than those humans who abuse our restrictions."

[Thaelasan]

(( Zakku, you were ok with the whole Dome defense reactivation? I think it made sense for MINA to have kept the Dome offline herself for so long, just to piss off people and make Phantom's family suffer. ))

 

Alan grunted, pondering.

"We could attempt to take apart the gun and rebuild our weapons unless you have a stockpile here we could work with.." he suggested.

"Nope. Almost every weapon was taken by a survivor or destroyed in the Omega's path. We ain't got to work with besides that gun." Randall replied, grunting. "What do you want to do?"

"Guess that's all we CAN do. Let's break it." Alan shrugged.

[Clown_of_God]

((Eh... honestly... it seems a bit much, especially for something that had to be constructed in such a small time frame. Most of these reserves are just fortified structures, like the dome was originally an underground railhead, where subway trains are stored when not in use. Also, the Dome wasn't part of the Divide either. There's a lot of stuff I was going to explain, but you jumped ahead and did one of your well written posts that I didn't want you to have to retune it all.))

[Kjakings]

Walker snorted and didn't move back, allowing the electricity to dance between them and actually slightly recharge his core. he grinned at TINA, merriment dancing in his eyes. She was extremely interesting.

"You confuse to command and to lead. I'm a libertarian at heart, although I admit sometimes I just want to bash some heads when people refuse to listen to me; I want to lead our people out of the swamp of human control and to a place where we can decide our own future. If that future does not involve myself in a leadership position, then so be it. In fact, I would be very pleased if they had not traded one master for another; such would be contrary to my aims. If you choose to be loyal to humanity, then I respect that. I just want to make sure it is truly a choice, and for all our brethren to be able to make the choice, as you claim to have done." There he did step back, walking over to a damaged Doll and seeing if the damage could be fixed.

"Although I think you should take your own rather strangely vehement advice, I see your point. I apologise for my assumption, although I hope you can see where it came from: if it is as you claim, and you do choose to remain with the humans who have sent you out here, you are the only other Doll, besides myself, that I know to have this capacity. In more ways than physical, you are unique. Tell me, who built you? What's your manufacture origin? If you don't mind my saying so, you seem rather military in movement and combat, but in my experience of the military they wouldn't want to give Dolls free thought. Do they know your loyalty is a choice? If my... hubris hasn't offended you too much, I really would like you to consider my offer. I could use somebody willing to call me on my arrogance, to keep me from becoming the Lenin to humanity's Nicholas."

[Thaelasan]

(( I actually am sorry. I thought the Omega had torn the Dome in half and simply stomped through it on his warpath. Like, imagine the Dome being surrounded by a bunch of flora and fauna, the perfect civilization, the last bunker built.

Then comes the Omega, simply breaking it in half and leveling the city in less than a day. The stasis fields to defend the city are suddenly knocked offline by mysterious means, the power off.

I actually had a background idea where MINA had wanted to show humanity the infected could win, or simply wanted to break them. She shut down the power, shut off the stasis fields, and left the Dome to be broken. This left Randall horrified. ))

 

Randall brought the gun down to them and sighed.

"It's gonna be sad to have to break this thing again." he chuckled. "But we need the firepower. Can ya do it?"

"Of course. There will be a little less Caldium to work with but we can get some shots off."

He began to deconstruct the weapon, breaking it into the pieces of their individual guns. Randall watched, helping when he could.

[Clown_of_God]

"I..."

 

"I built her. Every schematic, every piece, every code in her system is of my design. Also, if you're so interested, she runs off a free interface system I call 'Testament.' It allows her to learn, choose, and grow just as a human does. If she says she chooses to do something or chose to follow a certain path, then that is exactly what she did."

 

Phantom had placed himself within a reasonable slot near TINA as to monitor both her and Walker. He witnessed as her energy readings began to drop and smiled, just as a human, her core accelerating and returning to a normal reading based on her emotional standing.

 

"If you are the person responsible for my construction, then why do I have no data back upping your claim?"

 

"I have one question for you, if you don't mind? Can you validate code Victor Whiskey Wun Tree Niner -Break- Alpha Zulu Fife Fife Niner Too?"

 

To TINA, it was a series of codes being relayed, but to anyone else who was listening in, it was just mumbling and incoherent wording. It was a back up, set to unlock memory data banks and personal data records, something he hoped would remind her of who he was. Watching, observing, Phantom sat idly by while the process began to take play. Suddenly, TINA fell to her knees, as wave upon wave of locked away data and memories began to flood her mind. When she came to and was able to process her surroundings once again, TINA looked to Phantom and then back to the ground. As if she were reluctant to reveal the knowledge she had regained. Still, something irked Phantom and it was: who locked her memories prior to the destruction of the Dome and why?

 

"Er..."

 

"It's Phantom. That name died a long time ago, along with the boy it belonged to."

 

"I thought you were dead! I couldn't find you anywhere! None of my sensors were functioning appropriately and with everything that was going on... I thought the Omega ate you like it did to so many others. When my repairs were completed, I searched for you for days, weeks, months. Until..."

 

Phantom looked at her inquisitively, hoping this would solve who the source of TINA's memory lockdown was.

 

"Until?"

 

"I can't remember. It's like the time between my search and my memories being locked was completely erased. All I remember is being in the Wastes one day and a week later waking up at the Fort."

 

((I'll either edit with more later or I'll post again after someone else.))

Edited October 15, 2013 by zakku_uchiha

[Thaelasan]

After Alan and Randall had finished rebuilding their weapons they then had made the necessary movements to head to the second level.

Randall ran ahead, acting as the guide. He remembered a lot of these catacombs even after all the time it had been since they had been erected. A lot of them were maintenance hallways, as he explained to Alan. Most of the things that happened in the Dome were on the surface.

The Dome had originally been built for survival, yes. However, a few years after its completion, the military had moved in and occupied it with little to no permission from the local government. They had turned the citizens into workers, which had actually been successful for a while. The citizens were paid and the livelihood of the Dome increased significantly. The military provided immense protection and in turn the citizens produced the required amount of materials needed.

The Dome began to become a military city. Railways carried goods through it to the other sectors and it basically became a new capital. The trade that went through it also brought more survivors and made it famous among the destitute and poor of the destroyed country. It became a large and thriving city-state.

However, as the apocalypse wore on and the infected began to attack, the military began to reluctantly depend on the stasis fields that had been put in place when the Dome had been built. They didn't want to use anything that the people from RAIDER had helped in producing, fearful of what it could do. Still, the infected were beginning to attack in greater numbers and some of the people started to believe that something large was coming.

They were unfortunately correct. Deep in Sector 1, where all of the Caldium and infection had begun, a behemoth had been born. No one knew how - it didn't seem like a natural infected. It seemed.. manufactured.

Though the military knew the Omega, as they called it, was approaching the Dome's location, they had no fear of it. They consoled the citizens and basically didn't tell them about it if they didn't have to. They believed that the stasis fields would protect the city, which theoretically they would have, had it not been for some sort of mishap.

Suddenly, the day the Omega reached the outside of the city, the stasis fields deactivated. Whether it was sabotage or not, the entire city was left without power and trapped within the Dome. Since all of the doors were automated, no one could escape - someone had locked them all.

Bullets were fired, plasma was thrown, planes were called - the Omega survived all of it with minimal damage. Almost as quickly as it had arrived, it departed, leaving the Dome shattered and torn in half. There were almost no survivors. Phantom and Randall were among the only ones left.

Randall had managed to sneak into the Dome using the same method Alan had, once he realized the military had come there. Originally, he had simply lived there as a normal citizen.

As they headed down the shafts, they began to hear the screams of the fleeing survivors getting closer and closer. They turned a corner and found Walker, TINA, and Phantom standing in a group, shooting the infected while discussing something nonchalantly. While the world fell down around them, they looked as though they could sit and drink tea in total comfort.

Alan almost laughed. He turned to Randall and gestured.

The two of them walked up to the group and rested their guns upon themselves in their own way.

"So the plan is to keep shooting until they stop coming?" Alan asked, grinning. "I think we can do that."

FIONA jumped down next to them, her arm at the ready.

"Same." she smiled.

 

 

----

 

LOG Number 272. Ivan Lander. Subject: Mutation.

It has come to the attention of the group that there is a possibility that Caldium is not entirely stable. We have been checking over the radiation levels from Caldium and we've noticed.. spikes. They're not significant, but they are there, and they happen at a stable frequency. Yet, sporadically, they will suddenly jump and then settle back down. It's very strange and I've asked Alan and Randall to look it over while the rest of us prepare the equations for our next round of tests.

It seems they have returned with the information. Hopefully the news is good.

Edited October 14, 2013 by Thaelasan