Little lost dragon and I

[little lost dragon]

Varren looked at Avira and sighed watching her get more and more unstable. He looked at Vita and sighed again shaking his head. She was displaying an issue he had seen before. She was under lots of stress and now she was cracking under the confusion. And she had a weapon. A being with a weapon that was cracking like this needed to be disarmed sooner rather then later. "Fren, disarm her. Vita block the door." he said quietly.

 

Fren nodded and gently handed Alina to Varren before her armor morphed to cover her completely before she streaked at the fox girl. Aiming to grasp the womans elbows with her tail tip grabbing and seizing the weapon before with a crushing grip to loosen the womans grip on the weapon before she jumped away with it. Possibly with a few new spots where her armour was healing up some new bullet holes. Vita in position along with the drone above him to prevent her from just jumping over him.

 

Varren watched the fox lady his eye's not impressed again. "You've displayed signs of far too much stress solder. Your not in a state to hold a weapon. It will be returned once I have deemed you fit for such duty." he said in his commanding tone again. The tone seemed to work on her before. Did he have to use this tone when ever he was addressing her?

[Ryujin13]

Avira reacted as fast as she could to the lizard, but she wasn't fast enough, something that surprised even her. Still she fought as hard as she could, scratching and clawing at the figure until the weapon was taken and the lizard retreated. As a professional, she recognized a good hand to hand specialist when she saw one and this just served to confirm her suspicions. Why have a specialist here unless it was a guard?

"You'll have to kill me." Avira said coldly, her eyes locked on Varren's. "I will walk down that corridor to be euthanized before I serve you people again!" She practically spat the word 'people' as though it left a bad taste in her mouth. "So either let me go or kill me now!" As she spoke something was bothering her, something was off, and then she realized, none of these chimera had collars. Her hands went to her throat as soon as the thought crossed her mind, feeling for the collar, then she looked at her arms, legs... Nothing. What was stranger was that there was a male in the group, something that hadn't happened at Red before. It didn't matter she decided, after all, new facilities, new policies. After last time there would have to be to avoid another event.

"I will not service you in any way. I am a member of Chimera team four. I will not play this game again, I will not be some again. I am a free Chimera under Massachusetts law, I have full possession of my mortgage with only four payments to go. No matter what horrible, despicable thing I did to avoid the beatings last time, no matter what you did to me then and do to me now, I will never submit." She snarled, her sharp canine's showing as she spoke.

 

[little lost dragon]

Varren looked at her and shrugged "Good, we don't want a slave or servant. But a threat to the group is something we won't allow. I'm a member of the scale resistance, Fren's part of her peoples spy networks, Vita's a field commander." he explained "And we don't care about mortgage..... money has no sway in this place." he said "Your free to leave, your free to stay, but being a threat is not included. You need to calm down as your built up stress is showing. Your trying to assume things and only causing your self more issues." he explained calmly "Once you've calmed down you'll get your weapon back." he said "We won't go anywhere, your free to do what ever you need to do." he said before breaking eye contact and looked at Fren "Hold onto the weapon till she calms down or at the door. Her weapon does not effect Vita or his drone." he said

 

Fren placed the weapon in her hand though holding it correctly was not easy due to it being made for a smaller hand and a different hand build.

[Ryujin13]

Avira's anger slipped for a moment as Varren told her what was going to happen. This wasn't tracking, nothing was tracking. The MO of Red didn't show in this group. Red didn't bother with deception, they just beat you until you submitted. This group wasn't acting like that. Maybe they were telling the truth, or at least believed they were. Fine, time for some good old intelligence gathering.

Casting a suspicious glare at Fren and Vita she went over to a table and sat on it, watching the group as a whole now, her arms crossed. Even as she sat she began to say the mantra that had gotten her through Red the first time under her breath, trying to calm down. panicking wouldn't do her any good in this or any situation. She had to regain control, be professional, act like a leader.

Taking a breath, she let it out and focused on Varren, the apparent leader of the group, although secretly she was memorizing the others locations in the room. Her ears, her nose, even the air movements all told her these things, and gave her a detailed map of the room. She took another breath and let it out her nose before finally speaking again.

"I don't believe you." She said flatly. "This has con written all over it. But, lets pretend I do. Lets pretend for one wild moment that I do for whatever reason. Where are we? How did I get here? Who are these factions you mentioned? Most importantly, who are you all."

She listened quietly to all the answers, her eyes and face unreadable now even as her senses watched and listened to them speak.

Everything they said sounded like a fantasy. None of it could be true, but they all believed it. Maybe they had been affected by a VR and now they remembered the things they were saying? No that wouldn't track with the robot. AI's were pre-programmed with protocols telling it to never lie to living beings. Not even a master controller could override that unless they were a true superpower in the world.

"Ok." She said, saying the words slowly. "Ok, lets play this out. So you're a member of a resistance, you're a spy, you a commander?" She asked, each in turn. "Ok, that's mostly believable, so lets start there. You're saying, that I have been kidnapped, while I slept, and without waking me, to a castle, that is currently being fought over by four different factions correct? Ok, I'm with you so far, because at least most of it sounds plausible. You also say that not only is there a war going between these four factions, but they want to use us all in a cosmic game of chess in the hopes that it will break the stalemate, and that they will be able to seize ultimate power over every universe ever?" She shook her head with a grin. "Can you see how I would be a bit skeptical?" Avira asked, trying to stay calm again. Luckily she still had her knife in her boot, so she could still defend herself in case this group turned violent. "This sounds like one of Alex's games, one of those fantasy things." She took another breath and let it out slowly, trying to keep from screaming at these people. They sounded like lunatics, they didn't have implants, they just...

"This doesn't make since." She said finally. "I was in my bunk in Massachusetts, now I'm here, with four beings, three of which should have implants, but I can't read them-" Suddenly she snapped her fingers and leaned down, exaggerating her movement so that they saw her draw the long knife from her boot. This she carefully passed to Fren before turning back to Varren.

"There is one way I can prove your story that I can think of. Chimera cannot exist without implants. Turn around, I can see if you have one." She said to Varren.

When he agreed, she moved up slowly, keeping her hands up before gently probing the back of his skull with two fingers. After a few seconds she stepped back, her eyes showing only confusion as she backed away and sat once more. She was trying to come to a conclusion that fit with her known facts, none of which made sense. Finally she seemed to reach a decision and nodded.

"Alright, I admit, something odd is going on here. I admit that I cannot explain any of you. I also admit, that this is not a VR." She took another breath and let it out. "I do not believe everything you say, but from what I can tell you are at least being honest about this. You do not have an implant, impossible like I said. I can still access my implant but can't contact my team, which doesn't mean a huge amount, but still something. This place doesn't conform to any nation or business's MO. So, we've eliminated the possible, so the impossible is left." She gritted her teeth, then grabbed a piece of jerky and chewed. "How are you going about finding your objective?"

[little lost dragon]

Varren nodded as she spoke glad she finally figured out this was real and not some twisted VR program. "At a cost we obtained another data device that the castle gave us, the place does not run on known physics and seems to be aware, its either that, or the one in control has one sick mind. Now the last data device we had locates seemed to have us on a bit of a scavenging hunt of some sort. We have a key to a room with a scale, yet haven't been able to return to that room. Aside from that we've done the next best and just.... move along. Since the place can rearrange its self when its not the one guiding us through those data cubes, it some times alters paths, sometimes right behind the door way you just passed." he explained "Its hard to explain, you'll know what I'm saying when it happens with you. I've been here for quite some time and...... its not pleasant." he said "No map to go by, changing paths, not much you can do beyond hope things work in your favor. We have yet to find a way to...... track our progress, any markers left are presumed to be cleaned up by large creatures of rotting flesh that pass by, don't get caught by one." he said his voice suddenly a sad firmness "There no saving those caught by them."

 

Fren took the other weapon her armour still on. Including her helmet part, which hide her face from everyone. Though she paid attention. she was silently letting her self let out some crying from the whole ordeal with the ghoul.

[Ryujin13]

Avira nodded again, playing along. Parts of this were true at least, and those threw the rest of the story into the realm of possibility, but it was just to impossible. So, whatever they said, until she saw otherwise she assumed that something else was going on in the background, some hidden agenda that was the real reason she was here.

"Ok." She said, tapping her knees with her claws. "Ok, fine, we need to shut this place down , I've done things like this before."

'Like Red Palace' a tiny voice reminded her.

"I don't know if any of you have training for the kind of work I do, but if you want to bring down a building like this you have to get to it's core. Preferably a control center or, failing that, the power source. Blow the whole thing away. The opposition doesn't want you to do that obviously, so we need to find out how to locate where the controls or core would be. The intel you mentioned, what is it?" She asked, listening patiently to the answer. "Ok, not much to work on but it's something, at least an insiders view." She paused, realizing that she was taking command of a situation that she didn't technically have authority over. The others didn't outrank her, not being part of the same military, so they couldn't technically reprimand her, but they did have experience with this place, and they knew more about how things worked. Plus with three military minds she was pretty sure that they had reached the same conclusion as her. That being said she was t going to apologize either. "Alright, where were you heading next?" She asked, expecting at least a starting point.

When she heard they didn't have one she exhaled but nodded.

Sketchy intel, no clear way to achieve or even find the objective? It was turning into a wonderful day already. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, just like Daniel had shown her.

Avira was stubborn, she hated to lose, but she also knew when to back off, and that was what made her a good leader. A nod and a smile were sometimes just as good as a gun barrel shoved up a guys nose, and right now she needed friends, and she needed her weapons, which meant playing nice.

"Look, I'm sorry I freaked out on you guys." She said finally, opening her eyes again. "It's just a little confusing." She gave a small smile. "And I'm sorry I scared Alina, I was under the impression that I was somewhere else."

'You might still be'. The little voice said in the back of her mind.

Avira quashed it and sat again, quietly beginning to eat again, if this was a survival situation then filling up was a good idea, especially if finding this area was as difficult as the others were saying.

 

Edited June 17, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

Varren nodded "Yes, the control center we are guessing is near by the power source, otherwise should something go wrong or unplanned with either located spread out the chances would increase of one or the other being located which would make the chances higher to being shut down. Till proven otherwise all we can do is continue what where doing." he said before listening to her apology and sat back in thought. He looked at Fren and nodded.

The Shatong silently came over and placed both weapons beside Avira's place setting. Varren looked at Vita and motioned for the robot to stand down before he looked at the fox girl again "I don't beleive we got to hear your name yet." he said "I'm Varren, The tall Shatong is Fren, this is Alina and that's VIta." he said as Fren gently took Alina back into her arms "And you mentioned chimera many times. And that they always have implants. Vita detected yours already, never heard the term chimera before, what does that stand for?" he asked

[Ryujin13]

Avira carefully sheathed the knife and holstered the pistol as they were returned to her, but her eyes snapped up when asked about chimera. It was strange to think that someone didn't know about them, but if she was working with the idea that they really didn't come from the same place, then providing public information didn't hurt.

"Doesn't mean anything really." She said casually as she finished putting her weapons away. "Just what humans call us. We're technical called Genetically-Altered-Animilistic-Assets, but since they branched from animals that didn't really apply anymore. Anymore thy can make really anything, I've seen chimeras made to look like elves, angels, demons, vampires, whatever, but animals are still most common. We aren't born you see, we are created in artificial wombs, grown from a model into whatever we're supposed to be. A models like a blueprint. It's like cloning except there are certain differences, height, strength, weight, physical discrepancies, that sort of thing. Anyway when we're made, they grow a brain around the implant, which is literally what makes us tick. It let's us maintain our Animalistic side, being able to control our tails, our affinity for sound and smells over sight, that sort of thing, while also allowing us to be human like as well, having personalities, free-thinking, all that kind of stuff." She said. "Anyway, once we're born they put us in a VR where we learn the things that a human would. When we come out, we're usually about ten or so by learning standards, but in reality we're maybe two or three. It doesn't matter though, VR plugs into our implants, and even though you know it's not real... It seems so real, it feels so real. You can hear the noise, smell the smells, feel the wind in your fur. It's so real that your earliest memories are t even real, it's just your mind believing that the VR was real. After that you live your life as best you can. I was lucky, I was picked up by the special forces in Massachusetts where chimera are legally humans after they buy themselves." She could see that they didn't get it and frowned a little. "Ok, its like buying a house. The bank buys it for you, and then you buy it from them. Same for a chimera. We cost money to make, ICON bought me, so I have to pay for myself." She shrugged and took a sip of her orange juice. If they truly weren't didn't know anything about chimera she was sure at least one of them would be appalled at what she was saying, so she cut them off.

"It's not as bad as it sounds." She said. "Like I said, I'm considered human where I live. Some places are like where I live, most aren't... At best other chimera are considered a dog, property under a human owner, at worst they are slaves, used for whatever." She said, her tone lowering as she looked down at her glass. She had seen that dark underbelly, she had experienced it, and she hated that her kind were treated like that. Some people wanted equal rights, others at least attempted to act normally, but there was always a group that just saw chimera as a large talking play toy designed for their amusement. She didn't even mention the pleasure models or what they were used for, but she didn't want to talk about that, she didn't ever want to talk about Red Palace.

[little lost dragon]

Fren looked up at the mention of genetics where mentioned. The fact humans where tampering with gene's reminded her of some of the results she ran into in her peoples war against them. "So humans have degraded so much to create life then treat it like property? There system of corruption knows no bounds." she said "They did not like the fact my people resisted them and did not conform to there way and methods and styles. We left them alone but that was not enough. They started a war by bombing 3 planets to ashes in a suprize attack." she explained somewhat quietly to hide her voices shaky state.

 

Varren nodded as well and sighed "Honestly, sounds like a future my people and a few others would have suffered. Like Fren my people are against the humans, we did not lie down and surrender, they saw us as a threat and wanted us to submit to there ways and to there authority. Those they did capture where reduced to either being forced to fight there own people with implants and threats, or killed. Even Kara's universe her people had to go into hiding or suffer more primitive versions of such fates. Granted not all are like that but far too many share the view they are suppose to be the top and that place can not be shared. Look at there entertainment with other aliens, 90% of the time the alians have conformed to human culture and standers or are treated like sub culture and or enemy's." he explained with a sigh and looked at Vita who looked back at him.

 

"Humans have long killed them selfs off where I'm from. I only hate CORE." he said in a bit of a lame manner.

 

Varren chuckled a little "Consider your self lucky Vita, consider your self lucky, now, now that we all seem to at least be on our feet, we need to start moving soon. Or this place will find some way to flush us out if we out stay our welcome in this room."

[Ryujin13]

Avira looked up at this, frowning at what Fren had said.

"They aren't all bad." She said quietly, remembering Kyle. "Some actually do want to help. There are pro-chimera groups movements to bring reform, all that kind of thing. It's just slow going." She said. "Humans have even set up an Underground Railroad to help on-the-run slaves get to free states." She shrugged again, feeling bile rise in the back of her throat. Some of them were that bad though, some didn't care if they saw a living, breathing, feeling person in front of them. To them chimera were the same as any tool, there to be used and eventually discarded.

"My people aren't really people in the way you describe though." She said when they began talking about wars and such. "I mean, we are sentient, we live, breathe, eat, all the same things as a human does, but we aren't a race, we aren't natural. 99% of us are born infertile, and the 1% that aren't don't produce offspring that can survive, which is why they get themselves sterilized. Why go through the heartache? Fighting the humans... Isn't really an option. Even if some of us managed to take a section of the earth, what then? We would be at war with almost anyone, we would have to build factories just to make more of us... It's just not viable. It's not right, but that's just how it is. We just have to wait until society begins to accept us and until then make the most of what we have." She shrugged again and stood, going to the door and listening. Nothing that she could hear, but that mean anything. Still, it was damn near impossible to hide from a chimera trained for such things, so she took a quick look before motioning for the others.

"So we just pick a door?" She asked, gesturing around the room.

 

During this whole thing Alina had been crying, not only because Kara and Jak was gone, but also because Fren was shaking beneath her and Alina could feel the fear there, and now there was a new woman that had yelled at her.

Alina was a wreck, and it was obvious as she curled up and cried her eyes out, finally falling asleep. She dreamt about Jak and Kara and mommy and Varren, all sitting around Bor's campfire and happily laughing and talking. Then the mean lady Nuria came and took Jak, the shadow thing took Kara, then Fren and Varren disappeared, leaving her alone on a hill to cry.

She woke with a start and began crying again, but quickly drifted off to sleep again, her body to tired to even attempt to do anything besides sleep.

 

Avira nudged open a door at random, her nose trying to find a scent to work with, but just like the last five doors nothing could be smelt but the same dusty smell from before.

Finally she looked at Varren and shrugged.

"I can't smell any difference between the doors." She said. "Their all just halls, no odd sounds, smells, air currents, electricity, nothing, just that dusty smell. You guys have a particular way of picking?"

 

 

[little lost dragon]

Varren nodded and sighed "Not all humans are bad I understand that. As I said far too many are though, sadly often the ones in power." he said before getting up as well. He nodded to Fren and Vita. He paused though when Avira went to the door. After some sniffs and a puzzled question later he shrugged and looked at Fren. Who was somewhat lagging behind the group as though to avoid attention. "Fren mind if we see the data cube?" he asked though was getting concerned about the black Shatong. The ghouls attack shriek seemed to have broken the females inner wall to all but shambles. Which might explain her aggression at a single insult. He remembered when Jak was giving her a flurry of insults and she hardly batted an eye. New fox girl shows up and she nearly shooting already.

 

Once Fren handed the cube over Varren looked it over "These are the closest things we get to a path through the castle." he said before opening and activating it. "Normally, the one who wrote all this, describes details along his journey, the castle seems to recreate the path he took as well. Though some things lead to traps and tests, which are documented as well." he said as it displayed the hologram.

 

((Your better at the hologram book thing then I would be ))

Edited June 17, 2014 by little lost dragon

[Ryujin13]

Avira looked at the hologram with interest, having never seen one that looked like a book. Where she came from they had holograms of course, but books were still books, why bother making a hologram that looked like a book.

After a few seconds she began to read over Varren's shoulder, her eyes skipping the part that began halfway through.

I rested today, in a room that was home. Every bit was there, down to the scripture on the door. But it was a lie, for as soon as I fell asleep the room changed, and once more I was within a blank room again. Avira skipped that part as it was obviously unimportant before settling on a new one, this one with a picture of what looked like a tunnel.

Today I began my journey, and it was without event until I found a door the like I had never seen, for it was made of brass, perfectly round and covered in writing. When I opened it there was a second door made of Silver, this crackling with lightning that did not burn or hurt. Behind that was a third, made of solid gold. Gems formed patterns, and at the center there was a red gem the size of my fist that glowed with an inner light. As I touched it the door opened, showing a tunnel, also perfectly round. I began to walk and it was as though I walked through time itself. I somehow knew that the tunnel was old, that it had been there for time long forgotten.

The tunnel itself was lit by red gems, and I could sense that each of these was somehow wrong, evil almost. As I travelled I came upon larger and larger gems. In these I could see foul figures, bent and horned, howling at me as a passed, though no sound could be heard. Finally I came upon a cavern, still perfectly formed, filled with water. A light lit the center, bathing it in white, and in it I could see a pedestal, and on that pedestal sat something that shown as bright as the moon in a clear sky. A boat sat I the shore, but I dared not take it. I could feel that I was not meant to be there, and so I left that mysterious place, wondering who that place was meant for, and when that person would claim what was there's.

Avira looked at Varren and shrugged. "Seems like a good place to start." She said, waiting until the group got moving so that she could speak to Varren.

"What happened to her?" She asked Varren quietly, speaking about Fren. "She's in shock of some kind and I need to know in case something else crops up."

[little lost dragon]

Varren nodded and looked at the others. Vita nodded and took point and Fren waited a moment but followed soon after. Varren was about to join them when he heard Avira's question. "She was like this right after our encounter with something called a ghoul, it let out some kind of shriek at us that seemed to stir up..... a fear I haven't felt since my early days in training. We all covered our ears but she went more into a panic. She was always a in control kind of being, almost nothing would faze her. She only showed a soft side to Alina and to everyone else it was at least a controlled feel. But after that ghoul shriek, she's...... she's shaking like a leaf and well as you witnessed..... a single insult nearly got you killed. I mean, she's unable to calm Alina now..... I'm currently unsure what to do to help her, to avoid aggervating her I'm not pressing her for anything, I get the feeling she's not keeping her helmet on just for possible threats." he explained very quietly before something dawned on him "I've never seen ears on her head though, but she can hear very well....." he said his voice trailing off "Makes me wonder if the effect was made worse, she's never said how she picks up sound yet."

Edited June 17, 2014 by little lost dragon

[Ryujin13]

Avira considered the information given by Varren, considering its ramifications and possible solutions.

"It might not be just psychological." She said finally. "A lot of lizard chimeras, no offense Fren, rely on vibrations to help them see. Hearing is just listening to sound waves, which are vibrations. Our brains can interpret the sound waves and make sense of them. So if the... Ghoul I guess, used a shriek to stun its prey, it might have overloaded her senses, which can also increase psychological issues." She noticed his glance and shrugged again, not worried about his wondering. "Most lizards who are picked up by the military are used for recon, spying, and sniper work, stuff like that. Most, not all, but most are more adept at that sort of thing. They are very quiet, and have a weird smell that's difficult to pick up." She glanced around, checking a corner and sniffing again, looking for other targets beyond the group.

"Anyway, the best way to make lizards better is to induce sleep, allow her body to reset itself overnight, then check in the morning. Usually their better, but if not, you rinse and repeat. If it doesn't take hold then they are sent for psychological evaluation and a more extensive exam." She glanced around again, but couldn't detect anything, so kept walking. This place was making her nervous, she didn't like not knowing a general location of an enemy, and even though she had been on recon before, at least then they knew where battle lines were, a clear definition of where the enemies area started, of where they might be. Here it was just endless hallways and doors, places that weren't different or distinguishable from the last.

"Damnit, I wish Alex were here." She said finally, glancing around. "She's our field tech expert, she's better at this sort of thing, and she's have a better idea at how to handle this. She likes this fantasy rpg stuff after all." Avira said finally. "How do you normally do this? There has to be a pattern, I mean this place might change layout but it's probably a machine, so there's always a pattern." She said, still refusing to believe that magic was involved. Where she came from there was no such thing as magic, just people wishing that there was magic, because with magic things would be hopefully be better for everyone.

Avira took her water bottle out and squirted a little in her mouth, swallowing quickly, then put the bottle away.

How do you defeat a machine? By cheating, you had to out maneuver it, which usually meant a tech solution. Again, not her expertise. What would Daniel say? Probably something along the lines of blowing something up and shooting anything that came out. No good there. What about Rachel? Do recon, find the bad guys and eliminate at long range, or use her charms to get intel from them, pretty much what they were doing now. Again, no good.

Avira punched the wall angrily, getting only sore knuckles in return. This place didn't make sense. She knew that they had crossed their own path multiple times, but she couldn't smell their passing.

Taking a breath she regained control. She couldn't show her frustration, it was unprofessional and the group couldn't see that she didn't know what she was doing. After two or three hours she finally stopped and leaned against the wall, trying to grasp what was going on, as well as taking a short break.

"What do we do?" She asked Varren again. "This place doesn't make sense, and that's not possible. We've crossed our own path multiple times but I can't locate our own trail. There's nothing but empty rooms. No decorations, nothing. Either this is a very convincing VR, or this place breaks physics."

'Or I'm going mad'. She thought to herself. Instantly she put that thought down, mentally shaking herself. She wasn't mad, she was fully functional and combat ready. Psych evaluation on her and her team showed some psychological damage after their last op, but that was to be expected after what had happened. They had been cleared for duty and that was that.

Truth be told she was waiting for the inevitable questions about red Palace that someone would ask. After all she had lost control about it so the group knew she was emotionally compromised about something.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

Varren listened and sighed "If she does hear through vibrations and this is the result from the ghouls attack shriek then.... glad I got my armor to cover most of my self up and block the sound. I only felt the shreiks effects by my head...." he said in thought "So over all though your suggesting she sleeps this off to allow a reset. Not much we can do about that right now, the castle only provides a safe room to rest in once every night cycle. She might not get the chance till then." he pointed out "Which could be hours from now. We left one safe place and practically ran right into that ghoul right after finding the one room with the cube." he explained

 

When the fox girl displayed more stress and frustration with the place though Varren sighed remembering his first days as he had tried to make progress through the place. "The most was can do is just push on. Otherwise the place starts throwing stuff at us to make us move or die." he said watching Fren up a head keep an eye on them. He was sure she could hear everything they had said. But her helmet blocked any expression she might of had from sight.

He looked back to Avira "Tell me about your team, what where they like? I used to command my own squad years ago..... before I was brought here." he said to see if that would help the fox lady in staying focused as they moved.

[Ryujin13]

Avira seemed to perk up slightly at the thought of her team, and even though she knew that Varren had probably meant for that to happen she didn't resent it. Still, how do you describe your team?

"They're... They're my friends, my best friends. I've known them forever, since before boot camp, I mean..." She sighed and struggled to come up with the words. "It's like having a twin, but there's four of you. Different personalities, preferences, but they're like my sisters. It's hard to explain, you're not a chimera." She thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Anyway, there are four of us in the team. I mentioned Alex, she's... She's shy, she doesn't do social very well. She likes her computers, books, her mmo's, things like that. She has trouble with guys, and sometimes the others overshadow her. She has self esteem issues about being pretty. She compares herself to the rest of us and doesn't like what she sees in comparison, even though she really is quite beautiful." Avira missed Alex already, she didn't like leaving the Alex alone, even though she was 23, Avira was always protective of her.

"Daniel is our weapons specialist, and she's about as subtle as that kind of person can be. I mean she knows how to sneak, and she does it well when the need arises, but she prefers a straight up fight. I mean she's not bloodthirsty or brutal, she's just not subtle I guess. If she wants something she goes and takes it. No worrying about things, no thoughts to what might happen, just action. Like if she sees a man she wants, she just goes up, flirts a bit, then takes him off. Things are simple to her, it's just do something or don't. She's a good team member, a good insight, especially in the private sector. The rest of us can be chasing or tails trying to figure something out and she'll look at it and see the simplicity of it." Avira smiled at this, remembering the time that Daniel had shot her way through 10 armed guards to capture their objective.

"Then there's Rachel, and she's... She's hard to pin down. She's our um, our social and recon member. She's very- she's very good at manipulating people. Men, women, whatever, she can see their wants and desires and make them appear to happen. Mostly through-." Avira didn't complete the second, instead looking at the ground. "She gets intel for us, she also recons for us. But mostly she's... She's what she's programmed to be." Avira said quietly. "Alex has a theory that the rest of us were programmed to accept that she was a... A social chimera, and Rachel says it's ok, but even though I send her in and my mind says to accept it, now that Alex points it out, I think she's right. Rachel was programmed to do that stuff so the rest of us wouldn't have to, and I think it eats at her, and it bothers me that she might be hurting."

Avira seemed to freeze suddenly, realizing what she had just done. She had shared intimate details about her team, and more importantly her friends, to a complete stranger. She had talked about Alex, someone who she would never betray on purpose, she had spoken about Rachel and Daniel, although she had to admit they wouldn't have cared. But the point was she had betrayed there trust.

She turned to Varren and looked him square in the eyes, her brown ones hard. "Never repeat any of that. Never." She said, her voice as cold as ice, giving no doubt to what would happen if he did. "They are my sisters in every way that matters, and I shouldn't have said anything." She took another breath and let it out before walking again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't snap like that, it's uproffesional."

Edited June 17, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

((Posts won't be as frequent for a few days, work starts up for me again today till saturday, just a heads up))

 

Varren shook his head "By my oath to my own team, you have nothing to worry from me." he assured her "As I said, I once had my own team, such things can be.... sensitive." he said as they continued.

They kept going till Varren finally called for them to pause, saying his reason was he wanted to examine the data cubes info again. But after watching Fren nearly trip over her own feet, while he knew full well she'd never admit it, she needed to rest, her system had a massive amount of stress and he was worried about her over all state. Hopefully when they where able she'd be able to sleep this off. A sense overload was no fun, he could only imagine what a sense over load powered by a fear driving force all over ones body felt like.

However the castle had other plans as always, the halls lighting turned to a red and a sound was heard down the hall. Varren was up right away "Cleaning cycle, quickly, there's a safe room close by!" he stated shooting over to the doors and trying them, doors that had led to empty rooms where now locked as always. Fren had gotten up and was trying doors as well.

[Ryujin13]

(No problem, I understand that real life takes priority over fun.)

 

Avira didn't know precisely what was going to happen, but she knew from the way the others were acting that there was a very real threat to their lives. So she did what the others did and began checking doors. She was on her tenth before finally opening into one that had beds and a bathroom.

"Come on!" She yelled, gesturing in. She waited until the others were inside before slamming the door and locking it. "What kind of threat?" She asked, drawing her pistol and facing the door.

After Varren explained however she seemed to relax somewhat and reholstered her pistol before going and sitting on one of the beds. She looked through her pouches before finding a small packet, this she held out to Fren.

"This is a SHR." She said carefully. "It has a all hyperdermic needle inside with a predetermined dose in it. You just stick it, count to five and remove. It will act as both a sleeping aid, and it speeds up the healing process. If you agree to take one I think it will help." She said, still speaking calmly and carefully so as not to set Fren off.

When the Shatong finally made her decision Avira closed her pouch and went to the restroom. When she returned she lay on one of the beds and laid down, her training kicking in. Get sleep whenever a good moment presented itself. You never knew how long it would be until you could rest again.

---

'Crack' went the whip as Avira screamed in pain, her voice already going out from the screams before. Her body had stiffened at the pain but now it slumped against the wrack once more, her breathing heavy.

"It's easier if you just give in." A voice said as a huge white tiger came into view, her steps measured and without a sound even to Avira's ears.

"Go to hell you *." Avira rasped before screaming again as the whip struck her once more.

"You are a slave now, you know that don't you?" The tiger asked as she circled out of view since more. "You can give in and your stay can be less unpleasant, or you can continue to fight, and your stay will be most unpleasant. Either way you're going to be given to clients, it's just a matter of how well they treat you."

"Avira, 6443817, sergeant, leader of chimera force two." Avira said, her eyes screwing shut as the whip made her scream again.

"Since you won't submit, maybe some time alone with the guards will loosen you up. See you in a few hours." The tiger said, walking to the door and leaving even as the first guard came in, his smile wide.

 

Avira woke with a start, her eyes darting, looking for the tiger, waiting for the pain. She had been having the nightmare again she realized even as she took a deep breath.

Her body was curled into a right ball, her tail completing the circle and touching her head, but now she just sat up and uncurled. She knew she had been talking in her sleep, probably crying out in pain, saying no to the tiger, making small yips and growls, and she also knew that the others would have questions, but she wasn't going to answer. Still, didn't they deserve to know a little, why she was acting like a head case who was about to go off agai ?

'Avira, 6443817, sergeant, leader of chimera force two.' She thought, chanting the mantra in her head, trying to drive the thoughts away.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

Vita was the last one in simply because he seemed unable to move too fast. But he got in before the creature could catch him. Fren half sat half collapsed on the Shatong style bed, the flesh like stuff slowly moulding to her form that was on it. She looked at the packet before taking it and scanned it before shaking her head and handing it back "Many human made medicines are only inhibitors. My body its self is...... fine." she said her voice being relayed through the helmet so the fox lady could hear her fine. She left out how most human meds are also extremely primitive compared to her peoples meds. Then again, her people worked with DNA for almost everything they use.

 

She closed her eye's and laid down, gently placing Alina just below her neck on where the color bone would be if her people had a true bone structure. She let out a shaky sigh and tried to rest. Soon she was asleep though. But her dreams where those of nightmares, flashing images and memory's. Her tail twitcing the entire time. Every now and then even lashing to a side at times.

 

((Got a bit of a plot idea in mind, however how does that kind of ghoul they encountered reporduce? If that has ye to tbe thought out, I got an idea, will explain in next post after work.))

[Ryujin13]

(No I hadn't thought it out and any idea you have is welcome so go for it. PS I need some kind of reaction to Avira from Varren or something, just to get the ball rolling.)

[little lost dragon]

((Home, my idea was that since ghouls feed so heavily on life energy that if achieving a level of fright from its foes and the foe lives, there's a slight chance normally that a ghoul could say..... form with in the being. As this happens its like a infection of fear and such in the host till its ready to exit. Only those with strong amounts of life force would be left alive after such a ordeal.

 

Aka Fren has one growing inside her but it has yet to form something solid. But when it does exit, well with the group current selection of weapons, they'd have to run and hope Fren continues to breath on ones back.))

 

Varren woke up from the sudden movement from Avira and slowly got up. He gave her a small knowing smile with a nod. Nightmares where common in this place. Took a long time before he could sleep with out them at high risk of showing. "Wish to talk about it?" he asked quietly as Frens Tail lashed again in her sleep. "And it seems..... she's gotten to sleep..... but she's not at peace." he said sadly before looking back to Avira "I know Fren would never admit it, or at least.... if her old self remains once she recovers, but sometimes, it is best to talk about ones issues. Lets the subconshus rest." he explained.

[Ryujin13]

(Lol, I could have bet money and won that you would say something along those lines. But yeah ok, that sounds like a good idea. You make it up though. PS, I'm going to do a tiny power play with Vita, sorry.)

 

Avira looked at Varren, then at the others. Vita was in a power saving mode of some kind, meaning limited sensor input, and the other two were asleep. She didn't want to talk about it, and she shifted uncomfortably at the thought. That being said, her psych officer had said that talking it through with someone on the outside was good. She and her team had experienced the whole thing together, and discussing it with each other just led to worse problem. 'Get an outsiders prospective, even if it's just another friend.' He had said. She had ignored him for over eight months, and she was still doing badly, so was the rest of her team, although there were signs of healing.

"You will never speak of this with the others." She said quietly, the danger in her voice. "If you are forced to choose between talking about what I'm about to tell you , and talking about my friends, talk about my friends." Her voice was dangerous now, and she was obviously upset even thinking about what she was going to say.

"It was an op that my team agreed to. The place was called Red Palace. It was run by a computer AI that designed tourist attractions like amusement parks and the like. Very good a it's job, it made a Viking themed one in Norway that was a lot of fun. Red Palace was one of the newest of its attractions off the coast of California. Slave brothel, casino, that sort of thing. It's... It's not illegal in California to own slaves, so Red Palace bought them legally and opened its doors. We got called in because there were disappearances of free chimera, legally owned chimera and the like. Intel had a tiny link to Red, so they apparently asked us to infiltrate. We agreed, left ourselves a video and everything, then let them wipe out memories of how we got there or why we were there." She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. She didn't want to, her brain was screaming at her to stop, but she couldn't, it was like a faucet had been turned and everything was running out.

"It was bad." She said, her voice low as her memories went off like firecrackers. "They separated us, disabled our implants, and kept us in solitary for who knows how long. Started as just humiliation tactics, trying to break us down, made us wear collars, cuffs, put muzzles on us, that sort of thing. Then they moved on to stronger options. Pain, more humiliation. The whole time they were using our implants to... To reprogram us, to make us more suited to what kind of work we would be doing. They changed our... Preferences in companions to make us open to all comers, they changed how we reacted to the things they did, all by shooting the right electrical current through my implants. Eventually they started letting men to... To lay for our services. They didn't care that it was rape, they didn't care that we screamed no, or begged for them to stop. Didn't matter, they were having fun. Eventually we managed to get the tools to make contact with the outside world. The doctor from our base in charge of us sent a program that Alex managed to download into one of our implants. She managed to do surgery in open conditions and to reset Rachel's implant all while getting a subroutine into her implant. Anyway, it was another week until me managed to get everything we needed set up. After that we managed to get out and break into mainframe and shut down Red, then we set off the fuel cells and burned the place to the ground. We got all the other chimera out which was good, but Red rebooted and it went on its merry way. The case won't hold in court because it's an AI versus the testimony of four free chimera who had burned down what on paper was a perfectly legitimate business. The good thing was that the media went with it, so Red is being watched closely and all it's other franchises are being investigated. The other slaves... Some were free like us, but of the 163 only five qualified. The rest were, at least on paper, perfectly legitimate purchases, so they were sold off again." She stopped and took another breath, her yes far away. During the whole story she had refused to look at Varren, particularly when describing what was done there. She didn't want to see the judgment.

"None of the group have been the same." She said quietly. "Alex especially. She's scared, skittish around men and I can't blame her. Rachel doesn't seem to be effected as much, but her whole role is putting on masks, letting people see what they want to see, so she might just be hiding it. Daniel... I don't know, they changed her, but she doesn't seem to mind that. I don't know, she's always so open that I can't tell if she's actually hurting or not. I know she fought, I know that if she's with someone she doesn't like to wake up alone, but... I don't know." When asked about herself, she looked at her hands now, which were still shaking slightly from the nightmare. "I can't show I'm bothered. I can't afford to." Avira was whispering now, her voice so low that Varren could barely make it out. "But that's it, we picked up our lives as best we could, tried to put it behind us." She lapsed into silence now, fighting her inner demons even as Varren watched.

 

When he mentioned Fren, Avira looked at her quietly, noticing the signals that only a chimera would. Her scents, the subtle movements that meant things beyond the obvious. "Yeah, I guess talking is good for you." She said quietly. "But it doesn't feel like it." She lapsed into silence once more, waiting for Varren to say something, anything to break the silence.

[little lost dragon]

((Well the tiny power play did not seem like power play, though for her he still has sensors online to gather data even in 'power saving mode' activity is all logged. Though since he's a kind of robot, the info would be logged but only brought up in a situation that required it.))

 

Varren listened to her story and nodded every now and then. He seemed increasingly disturbed at the abuse of the implants. It was very hard to miss why she had things bothering her. He'd be the same in her shoes. When she went silent and seemed to wait for him to say something he blinked and wondered what to say. "Well, for one, the story won't be repeated from me, not willingly at any rate, they'll have to use a brain probe to get it." he assured her "And I can understand why you feel the way you do, your team members as well. Karen, she was..... part of the last group I was with, was also a rape victim, she let me see what she saw..." he admitted quietly "Such scars there is not..... cure for, only healing. For Alex..... for her to truly recover, for example, she'd need to find a male that she can trust, show her that such things won't happen again, or at least, won't happen if anyone has a say in it...." he said looking at the ground unsure what else to say "Karen.... she was also shy of other males, to this day I'm unsure why she trusted me quickly, but afterwards she seemed to make leaps of healing." he said "All in all, I just hope.... I can be a positive male figure in your life. I'd say Vita too but.... he's more robot then being...." he said with a small shrug "But all in all, know this will be kept between us, think it like.... well we are a team here, we need to all work together, so you have my word as a squad leader and my honor..... and should for what ever reason I break that, your free to shoot my as many times where ever you like. Hows that sound?" he asked attempting to lighten the mood a little for her.

Though it was largely defeated by Fren silent scream suddenly, no voice just the sound of the air going past her jaws and teeth. Varren gently picked up Alina off of Frens chest and looked at Avira "2 options, hold Alina and try to calm her, or wake Fren." he said quickly.

 

Who ever did wake Fren earned a hard strike from her tail as her eye's opened and she gasped before scrambling as far away as possible till her back slammed into a wall. She was taking many deep breaths and looked around like she expected something to strike her and kill. "Fren! Calm down, your safe." Varren said in his commanding tone which only earned a hiss in return before she seemed to realize what she was seeing was no threat. She let out a huge sigh but every movement her eye's darted too right away.

[Ryujin13]

Avira smiled a little at Varren's attempt at humor, and she did appreciate it, but she just wasn't in the mood. She missed her friends, they had never been apart for long and it bothered her more then she thought it would now that they were truly separated. They were the reason she had made it through Red Palace, their support made her strong, and now that they were gone, it was like having a part of her body ripped off. Instinctively she tried to send an email, phone call, anything that might reach them, but nothing happened, and all she felt was her guts clench tighter as she began to have a small panic attack.

Alex's words came to her mind though, the little technician giving her instructions calmly. They had been alone and Avira had gone through a similar attack. Alex had brought her back from the brink. Now she did what Alex had said to her from before, breath quietly, focus on calming the inner turmoil, and remember, she wasn't at Red Palace. Red Palace had burnt down and they had been released back to a state where they were free.

Fren's sudden outburst brought Avira back out of her own issues quicker then any breathing technique could, and she reacted immediately, waiting until Varren had the child out of the way, then waking the woman. Lucky for her Avira had been expecting something like the attack that came her way, so she managed to take the blow well, absorbing most of it into her shoulder. The shoulder in question went numb, but nothing was broken, and even if it left a bruise things would be ok.

Fren was a problem however as she backed herself into a corner, and even though she seemed aware of her surroundings, Avira knew that anything could set her off.

"She's having a panic attack of some kind." Avira said quietly to Varren.

'Like I'm one to talk.' She thought to herself.

"You need to calm her down before she snaps and enters a fight or flight mode. She's military enough that she will fight before running, and in these close quarters she's got advantage. We can't risk that. So you need to either talk her down or keep her busy long enough to tranquilize her." Avira said, showing him a large dart she had in her belt so that Fren couldn't see it.

[little lost dragon]

Varren looked at Fren then at Avira "She's getting worse. Something tells me putting her out will only delay her condition." he said before looking at the very twitchy female "Fren, I don't know what happened to you, but we need you to calm down." he said slowly motioning that as well. Her eye's tracked his every movement but she was watching everyone in the room with very close attention with her other senses. "You need help, but we need to figure out what kind of help. You mentioned you needed back with Bor, alright? I think its time you allow us to help you." he said gently. He slowly moved a little closer but got a hiss and a show of her duel layered meat tearing teeth. Which even for him, had its intimidation effect. But right afterwards her mouth was closed again and she was just watching them.

Varren cursed under his breath, he wished Kara was here still, Fren was affected some way by the ghoul, Kara was the only mythical being they had in the group. "Avira..... try to at least keep her there, I'm going to see if the data cube mentions anything about ghoul the castle uses." he said before opening it. But as soon as its display showed up in the air Fren instantly got a hostile expression. He quickly closed it and it slowly faded off her face. He looked back at the fox lady "Never mind...... she's still with us..... or so it seems." he said slowly before looking at the Shatong. She was not calming down, and who knew what would happen should they put her out or try to.

 

But then strangely Fren seemed to calm down and just slump there. Her breathing slowly returned to a regular patteren and she lost her tense panic look. She looked at her hand then clentched gritting her teeth before squeezing her eye's shut. Varren slowly moved forward "Fren? Its alright, its me, Varren, Alina's here too still, alive and healthy, granted very scared for your state." he said gently. she looked at him "Its like..... I hear the things...... shriek..... in my head......" she whispered "I..... its silent now..... but..." Varren gently placed a hand on her shoulder "Shhh Fren, we'll get you through this, you had it the worst when it attacked us. Besides Kara." he said and she sighed before looking at Avira "Sorry for the..... attack.... you woke me when something.... was attacking me in my sleep." she admitted broken mentally.