Goz - The Genetically Challenged

[Trevor B Harper]

Introduction (From Interest Check):

Victor Vehstedt Goz

My name is Victor Vehstedt, also known as Victor Vehstedt Goz, and I am one of the several remaining survivors of my bloodline. One by one they've been eliminated by the government in order to preserve the mundane existence of humanity, however, some of us are still around, scattered across the globe. We are called Goz, a strain of genetically challenged organisms that have developed over the past century.


The purpose of Goz is yet unknown, however, the potential has been seen many times in public. This potential was one of the main reasons why the government took measures in their own hands to get rid of us as soon as they possibly could. Some called us heroes, others - monsters. Yet the idea remains the same - we are different. We are powerful.


My purpose in this God forsaken world was self-assigned, yet remains obvious. I am here to find the rest of our remaining kind and attempt to preserve it. We Goz feel when our kind is within a few miles radius, and can tell each other apart just by taking a look, which makes it slightly easier. I shall set off towards my first target, someone I feel close by in the town I live, Lynnvale. Together with the magical powers inherited throughout my bloodline and the katana by my side I shall look for this lone Goz, in hopes of cooperating in finding the rest...

 

[Trevor B Harper]

Victor Vehstedt Goz

Still wearing his jacket while hanging out in the local pub Victor daydreamed about the job he had just lost. Even though to him it was more than just annoying due to all the screaming kids and unsatisfied parents, it paid him well. Now, that the job is no more, he had to think of something else. He had to come up with a way to make money, a way to make an actual living. Or rather, to make money for his journeys.


With still over a thousand bucks of savings left in his bank account he finished the last glass of the popular Wolf Engelmann ale and stood up from the stool to begin his search for the person he had sensed for a while now. The sensing was more from the side of power use rather than plain feeling of the presence of a Goz. They must have used their powers. As he entered the street out of the pub he straightened his jacket, brushed his hair up with his fingers and pulled out the case for his glasses. A small black leather box out of which he pulled out his square black glasses and put them on.


"Right... I believe it came from the southern side of town.." He thought to himself as he began walking down the street. It was about the time for people to head back from work so cars were more than abundant, passing by, causing various noises, including unnecessary beeps towards good looking girls. "Kids these days..." He thought at one of the beeps, continuing the search for the first Goz. He had never met one before, thus he was slightly nervous..

@erikaleeanne Here we go, I began the thing. Now you may continue whenver you find the time to.

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte Murrian had always been careful not to let her emotions control her - not out of some sense of prideful isolation, but because she feared for the safety of others.


Today, however, she felt unusually angry. After it had happened, she couldn't even remember why she had been angry. All the same, there she was, standing in the middle of the city's most crowded sandwich shop with the smoky, harshly burnt remains of a turkey club on a charred plate in her hands. Strangers passed with curious gazes, some stopped and stared. "Are you alright, dear?" One older woman asked with a look of concern on her face, "What on earth happened to your food?"


Well you see ma'am, Charlotte wanted to say, I have this thing where I can control four of the earth's component elements, and I have no clue how to control them. When I get emotional, these powers get out of control and bad things happen. Hell, if the fates allowed, a gust of air could've whizzed past me and swept the entire shop into disarray. Or the drinks from the soda machine might've collapsed and sprayed across the entire store in a sugary explosion. Or, just maybe, the store would've split in half in a mini-earthquake that would cause the entire block to concave. So ma'am, I think I'm alright with a burnt sandwich because it could've been a lot worse.


She said none of that, of course. She only tossed her food away in an embarrassed rush and bolted from the shop, careful not to touch anything else. As she walked hurriedly back down the streets to her apartment, Charlotte was also careful not to touch another person.


However, she did run into one man, a taller fellow with ruffled hair and square glasses. She quickly drew back her hands to avoid too much contact. "I'm sorry," she managed to mutter before quickly darting passed him, head down and eager to be back in isolation.

 

[Trevor B Harper]

Victor Vehstedt Goz

A casual walk along the sidewalk of Lynnvale wasn't so uncommon for this fella. Even though he owned a car (as crappy as it looked), he preferred to walk the distance unless it was out of town. However, not every day will you see a good looking lady bump into you now, will you? It wasn't the surprise of the collision that caught him off guard. What took him by surprise were the sudden remnants of stories his father used to tell him about others of their kind. He would tell how when a Goz grows up, he can tell apart who is their kind and who is human just by looking at them. Even the tiny bit of showing skin can lead to a whole, yet barely visible aura around them.


The reason why he remembered this story was because he saw something he wasn't sure of. As he turned back towards the fleeing girl he saw exactly what his father had described in his stories. A pulsing spectral aura around the girl a strange velvet color. Even though he was sure that there was only one of these auras around the girl, the pulsing effect made it look as if there were up to four.


"Hey!" Victor yelled out slightly, beginning to step towards the girl. "Could she have been the one using powers not long ago?.." He thought to himself as he tried to catch up with the lady that accidentally tackled him. The tackle actually reminded yellowhair of all the anime he used to watch, how recklessly the girls were portrayed Hoping the mysterious girl would stop and wait for him he followed her, only wanting a slight chat..

 

[erikaleeanne]

The apartment was no more than a few blocks away, and Charlotte could feel relief rising in her chest. The relief was quickly blindsided when she heard a man shouting behind her. It was the same yellow-haired man who she had run into merely a few seconds before. She tried to slow her pace, but her hands were beginning to shake.


"I'm sorry, sir," she called over her shoulder, "I'm in a hurry." Yet, Charlotte did slow down, intrigued with what made the man so desperate to talk to her. She pat down her person, making sure she hadn't dropped anything that he might've picked up, which she hadn't. She wondered what on earth could be so important, especially in rush hour traffic.

 

[Trevor B Harper]

Victor Vehstedt Goz

Evasively maneuvering through the people walking against him he finally caught up to the "lady in velvet". As he walked by her, a smirk came onto his face from the thought that she might've been oblivious to the fact that he himself had to have the aura as well. Unless she was still young and not in complete control of what she could do.


"Please tell me you see it." He gestured at the girl walking right by her. His attempts to look as friendly as possible were most likely futile, yet he still tried to smile and be kind to the unfamiliar woman and most likely not even a local. Or a good hider...

@erikaleeanne I copied the first post for the template and this sentence was left, sorry xD

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte's heart skipped a beat as she glanced at the girl that the man was referring to. She watched the girl for a moment, catching the vague sight of a thin, pulsing aura around her body. The sight of it made her head ache. She then looked up at the man. She could see a stronger, somewhat darker aura pulsing around him, only visible in certain spots and in certain lighting. Her stomach sank.


"Oh god," she muttered, "You're one of them, aren't you? One of me?"


She quickly began shaking her head. "Look," she said, "I try not to look at those things, alright? Those auras. It's not normal. I don't want anything to do with it. Actually, I don't want anything to do with you. I'm...I'm sorry." She then turned on her heel and once again began weaving through the masses of people, hands clenched.

 

[Trevor B Harper]

Victor Vehstedt Goz

"God damnit, woman!" Victor raised his tone to hopefully get the girl to listen. With the earlier reports of increased Goz patrol around the globe, she was essential to the survival of both of them. Sticking together was a necessity. "Would you just listen to me for a second? We need to talk in private." He spoke, following the girl he doesn't even know, however, feels like already depends on her.


Not only did he feel irritated at the rude behavior of the girl, but also felt quite scared that she wouldn't join his side. That she'd run off on her own and most likely get captured, or worse, killed. Losing another one of their kind to those mindless bastards would be catastrophic.

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte's stopped in the center of the sidewalk, her emotions being pushed further and further as he shouted. She turned to face him, face flushed. "Didn't you hear me?" She shouted, "Leave me alone." In the last syllable, a barbaric gust of wind swept across the entire block, weaving past her and spiraling into a force that knocked down everyone with a few feet's radius, including the strange man.


It was only Charlotte that stood then. People from the other side of the street stopped and stared. "Shit," she whispered in a shaky tone, "shit, shit, shit." She looked down at the fallen man. "If you can't tell already," she whispered, "I'm already not having a great day." She then took a quick left, disappearing into an alleyway that provided a shortcut to her apartment.


 
(Everything okay?)

 

[Trevor B Harper]

(Yeah, all good, I just didn't have the time yet to respond. Got a busy eork schedule. I will post tonight for sure.)


 

Victor Vehstedt Goz

The strong gust of wind caught him by surprise, however, that wasn't the least of his worries at that moment. One time power usage could have been overlooked, however, twice, especially this obvious, was something that had to be dealt with immediatelly. Thus, without hesitating he sprung up from the ground to chase after the oblivious girl.


"Now she's done it.." He thought to himself as he turned to the alleyway to follow her and locked his hearing to the sirens already coming their way. "Stupid..." He continued to talk in his mind and saw her in the distance of the alleyway. Of course, the only way for him to actually save their asses was to catch her... With his abilities.


As he took another step running, rather than landing his foot on the rough asphalt of the alleyway, his foot landed roughly two centimeters above it, on top of a seethrough white circle that had slight illumination. Various symbols and patterns were drawn on the ten centimeter diameter circle he liked to call "Gozircles". It seemed to crack people up when he told them he drew Gozircles with his mind. That was, none the less, true, he could make them out of the blue, and not only did they act as a thing to step on, but also a wall or sometimes even a launch pad, just like that moment.


A pulse of white light shot out of the circle, accelerating his jump off of it towards the girl, throwing him over there in mere seconds. Of course, if not for his resiliance for collisions (and anything blunt, punches, for example), he'd have been planted onto the ground as a pancake, yet, all he needed to do was grind his feet along the ground for a second to catch up to the girl. He was forced to form another white circle right in front of her face to stop her, not thinking that he could have just caught her and held her still. Might as well make her hit a hardly penetrable circle, eh? Smart choice!


"We have to hide..."

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte could practically smell the mustiness of her apartment in the distance. She couldn't imagine her chances of getting home being disrupted. Until, of course, she was halted by a pulse of white light and a force that causes her stumble backwards. She turned on her heel in her stumbling to see the strange man behind her one again. She felt her stomach drop.


She stood in disbelief for a moment, "How did you..." She whispered, then she was overcome by annoyance again."


Oh my god," she snapped, "What is your problem? I just..." She paused after the man spoke again, "...what do you mean we have to hide? Why?"

 

[Trevor B Harper]

Victor Vehstedt Goz

He facepalmed at the lack of knowledge about her, erm, their kind. Teaching wasn't one of the things he was especially good at. Yet, he had to explain if he wanted her to cooperate.


"Hear the sirens? Because of your stupid actions back there, the government's on our asses now." He spoke in an incredibly angry tone looking to both sides of the alleyway, hoping no one would come yet. However, the sirens could be heard closer and closer. And they weren't police nor ambulance sirens. They had a continuous tone to them, not changing a slight bit. "You have a choice. Either we stick together and hide for tonight, or at least until they disappear, or you get caught, interrogated, killed with a bunch of weird pills and dissected for research purposes." He spoke again, this time from his father's stories.

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte stared back at him, her heart rate rapidly increasing. She despised the way he spoke - with a condescending, bitter tone, like she was to blame for everything bad in his life. In her defense, she was only responsible for half of it (60%, tops).


"You should work on that demeanor of yours," she muttered, turning her back to him, "it's very unappealing." Then, over her shoulder, "follow me." She then continued down the alleyway, not looking behind to see if he'd follow.


She turned right out of the alleyway, clenching her fists in her coat pockets and keeping her up as she walked, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible. At this right sat a small apartment complex, only about three stories high and occupying no more than half of the total building itself. She walked three doors down the building, and unlocked the said door, walking through and leaving it open for the man to close behind him.


Charlotte immediately took a left in her apartment to the far corner of the living room, not bothering to give the man a tour. She stood there for a moment, and took a deep breath. She waved a shaking hand over the floor and concentrated. A very light, hardly noticeable crack appeared in the floor, and the section of the floor concaved, revealing a latched door in the floor. She knelt and pulled the door open, revealing a pit that she slid her body into and fell down to the floor below. "Come on," she called after him.


"During the wars," Charlotte then explained, "soldiers and their wives would drill into the grounds of houses and rooms to make these bunkers, because everyone was terrified of drones and bombs. Well, everyone still kind of is. I should also add that it's constructed of undetectable materials."

 

[Trevor B Harper]

Victor Vehstedt Goz

Dusting off his quite expensive jacket after he followed the girl down to the bunker he was quite surprised at how well hidden it was, yet so unnecessary in their situation. Staying in her apartment would have probably been enough.


"The bunker might be made out of undetectable materials, however, you do realise you just used your powers the third time in the past half an hour? To our wellness I hope they don't have a way to detect these outbursts of yours... And mine.." He said right before he sighed at the lack of space in the room. He realized he'd have to spend about twelve hours in this hole due to the patrols. "The government works simply. They get reports of an outburst of power from their scouts all around the area and send armed men to take in the suspect. However, we managed to escape undetected, hopefully, thus there will be patrols around the area for at least five or six hours. Twelve is the top. So yeah... Twelve hours in here." He smiled.

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte rolled her eyes, and tried to steady her breathing to keep herself from bursting again. "You're not exactly a please-able person are you? Look, I don't know if you've noticed, but everything about...what I am terrifies me," she felt her voice rising, "I'm in my thirties and still have no clue how to fully control myself.


"Also (and I'm sure you've noticed this) the government fucking sucks, and I'm not taking any chances with crossing paths with them down here. But if you're the 'oh so wise one' who is impervious enough to get out of any situation, then please get out of this hole and find yourself a way out of here." She could feel her fingertips heat, and she didn't have to look down to see the fire crackling there, minutely lighting the dim hole. She clenched her fists to diminish it, and sighed a shaking breath. "I'm in my thirties, and I don't know what I am." She repeated, mostly to herself.

 

[Trevor B Harper]

Victor Vehstedt Goz

He smiled slightly, taking a seat on the cold ground. "I never said I was wise. It's just that I know of these things from my father. What you are is what has been called Goz for the past century and a half and the government is not incredibly fond of us. What we have to do is somehow survive tonight without getting caught and leave town, help you learn to control your powers. Oh, and apologies for my tone. It might not seem like it, but I'm scared as hell of those bastards. I escaped once, I don't want to try my luck again." He spoke to the girl, shaking his mind about how to get past all the patrols without having to wait for twelve God damn hours. He adjusted his glasses and puffed up his jacket due to his obsession to look fine at all times, no matter what.

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte slumped against the wall and slid down, knees to her chest. "If it's any consolation," she said quietly, "I'm scared too." She looked over at him with a look of curiosity. "Can I ask you..." She paused, trying to think of how she could ask the question, "why do they want us?"

 

[Trevor B Harper]

(I'm on my phone so no formatting ;-; ) He gazed at the solid ceiling, buried in his own thoughts for a moment before coming back to reality to answer her question... To which he didn't really have a proper answer.


"As far as I know, they hate us and want to eliminate every last one of us. We're apparently a threat to them or whatever. I say it's bullshit, but that's all I know." He smiled while talking, even giggling as he said bullshit. His mood had repaired as he knew he'd most likely be safe where they are. For now at least.

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte saw him giggle, and she couldn't help but giggle along with him. She leaned her head back against the wall became lost in thought for a moment, before saying, "My name's Charlotte. Charlotte. We never got each other's names. She looked in his direction and awkwardly extended her hand.


"The government murdered my mother, father, and 15 year old brother on my 18th birthday," her voice had the slightest crack in it when she said that last sentence, but she pushed on, "I've been hermit-ing around the county ever since, and I can control the four component elements -earth, water, air and fire - very poorly, I might add. Control is a strong word, anyway. Which you probably already know. And that's pretty much my story."

 

[Trevor B Harper]

He accepted the handshake in delight since he realized talking her into cooperating won't be as difficult as he thought. Although they would have to work on her self control, but he didn't see that as an obstacle. It waa more like a challenge to him. Just like he was to his father.


"Well, the name's Victor, but you can call me Vic. Nice to meet you, Charlotte." He smiled and paused for a bit before starting his own story. "Unlike you, I never had a tragic history. My father travels around the globe on business trips, my mother works as a restaurant chef here and my sister... Well..." He hesitated there. "Let's just say she's not the type you wanna hang out with. What concerns my powers, I'm what Goz would call a conjurist. I make replicas of my childhood dreams out of thin air. I remember, as a child, I've always wanted to be able to get up anywhere, stop anything and be cool. My genetic mutation, the Goz powers, probably took that seriously and here I am, makic inpenetrable magic circles our of thin air. That's not it, but the rest is still too dangerous for me."


"Anyway.." He spoke without letting Charlotte reply. "There are two ways we can escape this hole. Either we wait it out, because they will be checking everyone, or we make a run for it to my car and drag the shit out of it right through them and out of the city. Your choice."

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte pressed her lips tightly together in thought. The first option was definitely safer and, perhaps, smarter. However, she didn't know if they could last 12 hours in a dim, deep hole. And what if they did happen to stumble on this bunker? Then they'd practically be trapped, doomed to stay down in this hole as undeniable corpses.


"I say we get out of here," she finally said, sighing and standing up, "we get out of here as fast as we can."

 

[Trevor B Harper]

(I gave up on the formating, screw it. xD )


"Well, then how do we get out of here? I can easily climb back up with my powers, but is there like, an exit somewhere?" He asked looking around the area. It was already about 5PM, thus sneaking past the patrols will be as difficult as it gets, however, if played right they should be able to succeed. All that was left to decide was whether he'd need to draw his sword or now. He wondered that for quite some time now, thinking if he wanted to have protection just in case or just try to sneak past all of them. Of course, an exit plan was always at hand - run their asses off while making huge wall circles all around them to defend. Of course, that didn't help the first time, but maybe this time would be different. He's not alone after all.

 

[erikaleeanne]

Charlotte looked to the far opposite wall of the bunker and pursed her lips. "Well," she began, "don't judge me for my paranoia, but when I found out about this bunker several years ago, I may or may not have used my powers to dig out a tunnel that leads into three of the city's minor sewage systems. It'll be dirty, but we'll make it to the surface without being seen."


She approached the seemingly solid wall and gave it a swift punch. A thin sheet of dirt and rock concaved, giving way to a somewhat spacious tunnel. "And I may or may not have used my powers for the 4th time today." She shrugged. "Come on." With that, she entered the tunnel.


"That reminds me," she called behind her, "why has the government only been interested in us now? I've had my powers for as long as I can remember, but they haven't been on me until now. What's different?"

 

[Trevor B Harper]

A loud thump sound was heard from upstairs as soon as they entered the tunnel. "They're here.." He thought to himself being glad that they were on their way out of there. Being caught by those paranoiacs wouldn't have been the best thing to happen to them. Far from it. Of course, fighting back was an option, however, rarely did he hear stories from his father about people actually being able to fend them off. He was glad he managed to escape them once. Of course, with the help of his father and a few of his friends he likes to call his comrades.


"You were just lucky they were occupied with the more evil side of our kind. Those who caused disruptions. They go after threats first, and since most of us were already put down, now they're going after everyone." He spoke as he pulled out his phone to turn on the camera flash to use as a light source in the dark tunnel. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be glad that this tunnel existed, or worried that it did. Yet, it was their only safe way out of that dim, small hole. The thought of walking through sewage disgusted him, although soon enough he realized that his magic circles will do the trick to avoid getting all wet and stinky.

 

[erikaleeanne]

As they trudged along, Charlotte looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "Glad to see that you're nice and clean," she muttered. After a while, she stumbled upon a single ladder that lead up to a hatched opening. "I can't remember where this one is supposed to lead," she muttered, mostly to herself. "It might be the in the middle of the intersection of 11th and 27th street." She shrugged and began climbing.


 
(Everything okay?)