Project Genesis

For a long time, Canton lay with just the sound of quiet breathing and his own pulse in his ears. It was soothing, for a while, and eventually he didn't feel like snapping anymore. Didn't feel like he might lost it if someone so much as touched him. He hated touching.


The knock that came later, quiet as it was, startled him a little and his eyes snapped open, but he was facing the wall so it didn't really matter. He moved his hands slightly, was grateful that the voice didn't belong to Anya, at least, and sighed inaudibly. Finally, he turned his face briefly into the pillow, then sat up straight, a hand coming over the little blue ball on his bed almost possessive lay. "I'm fine." He said, only glancing sidelong at Benji. "You don't have to check in on me." He was a big boy and could take care of himself. It was a nice thought, but he'd grown too used to operating on his own, without supervision and without anyone to coddle him. He did fine on his own,before this place.
 
"We could play Truth or Dare," Rinji suggests, standing now and walking in slow circles around the room, getting in everyone's way without seeming to realize that she is invading their personal space. "That would be fun. Let's do that."


"No," is Veronica's uncategorical response as she remains slumped on the couch, not even flicking her eyes in her sister's direction, even as Rinji flops down beside her, shaking her arm.


"Oh, come on, Nica, it would be fun! And not boring...and we could learn stuff and do funny things, and sexy things-"


"No," Veronica said more loudly, even as Anya's ears perked at this. She sidled up behind them on the couch, leaning down so she nearly brushed them both with her hair as she drawled, "Sexy, huh? About the super whore stuff-"


"Back off," Veronica nearly hissed, arching as far away from her as she could manage without standing, but Anya ignored her, looking at Rinji.


"Sounds fun. Let's go."


"Yeah, Anya wants to!" Rinji cheers, looking around to gather others. "Come on, guys!"
 
Benji's eyebrows raised, hands following suit at Canton's response. It wasn't like he'd been expecting an enthusiastic response, Canton had never been the type to give out anything even remotely cheerful, so it would have been stupid for him to expect much of anything other than what he got in return to his question.


"Nobody's taking care of you, guy." He said and lowered his hands. He let his shoulder rest against the doorway, his arms crossing loosely against his chest. "I just... we were going to look for a movie or something to watch, and I was wondering if you wanted to join us. It'd be cool, you know? Get you out of hiding for a while. I don't know about the others, but me and Nova'll keep Anya off your ass if that's what you're worried about."


--------


The talk of Truth or Dare made Nova's face scrunch up. No way in hell. All it took was one toward one of the security cameras and that was it, she was immediately out. Tapping her finger against the side of her thigh, she listened to the back and forth between Anya, Veronica and Rinji quietly before deciding that she should probably voice her dissent now before someone just agreed on her behalf.


"Yeah, I'm not down with that." Nova called over. "First of all, I don't feel like having the staff watch us do whatever the hell it is that we're dared to do, and secondly, I don't trust any of you guys with dares. Or truth questions, for that matter."


Something good better show up on this TV guide. At least something that would distract a few of them, because she really didn't like where things were going.
 
Canton felt bad, truly, for some of the things he said - he usually didn't intend to be mean, he just was. He bit down on a whimper, but even without ears to lower had the air about him of a saddened dog. Somehow he wasn't expecting 'no one's taking care of you' to feel like a stake in his chest. "Sorry," he muttered after a short pause, shaking his head. "Y're just bein' nice." He had never been very good at handling 'nice'. Maybe he just hadnt gotten enough of it before, didn't get much of any of it now.


". . . Ill come." He said, but curled his fingers tight around the ankle pulled up on the bed in front of him. "But I'm not worried about keeping her off my ass - I'm worried about keeping me teeth off her throat." He had a feeling that one day she would push him too far, and he would snap in that way that he couldn't stop, like he'd done to their captors before. It had taken almost a full day and a truckload of sedatives to calm him back down after that. What would stop him from killing her before a response could be made by the people on the other side of the cameras? No matter how many people he'd hurt, it had been in self defense and hadn't been what he wanted. . . There was a gigantic leap from hurting to killing, and it was one he never wanted to make.
 
"Exactly. End of discussion. No," is Veronica's contribution, and she turns her face away from her sister even as Rinji continues to tug on her arm, persistent.


"Oh Nica, you're no fun! You said you were bored-"


"It's hard to be bored when you're trying to keep your ears from bleeding because someone won't stop yammering in them," Veronica said pointedly, but this sailed over Rinji's head. Instead, the older woman simply frowned at Veronica's ears in concern, even going so far as to brush her hair back to examine them.


"No, they're not bleeding, Nica, they look okay. Do they hurt?"


"Rinji, exaggeration, hyperbole, metaphor, simile, you gotta look those up some time and memorize them," Veronica sighed, her eyes rolling to the ceiling. Rinji's eyes followed hers up there too, but not seeing anything exciting, she quickly looked around the room towards the others, including them.


"You know what? If we had like a pen and stuff to make ink and a needle and like, a lighter, I could give everyone tattoos."


Veronica's mouth dropped, and she stared at her sister, having no words for this. Anya, however, guffawed.


"Oh, awesome idea, blondie. NICA over there can morph out and let you ruffle up her feathers, and the rest of us can get matching "Freak" tattoos complete with dogtags with our nicknames, courtesy of me. Sure, go for it. Do you know the alphabet or will we have to have a few lessons on that first?"
 
"Nah, it's cool man. I get it, really. Anya can drive just about anyone up the f**king wall and if it doesn't get to you at least ONCE you should probably be granted sainthood or something," Benji said as he waved off Canton's apology.


When he agrees to go with him, Benji smiled weakly and waited for him to get off of the bed before he turned and started padding down the hall. His smile faded for a moment at his confession of being worried about killing Anya. He got it though, because it had crossed his mind a few times since he'd been stuck there himself, though he never really entertained the thought of it for very long, mostly because violence had never really been his thing.


"I get that," Benji said finally, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I think the majority of us do. But we can keep both of you separated... short circuit tragedy and whatnot."


--------


Stick 'n' Poke tattoos, seriously? As ridiculous as it was, Nova had to give Rinji creativity points for the suggestion. She wasn't even sure if tattoos were a thing she could do at this point; if she was constantly shedding her skin, eventually the last of the tattoo would have to disappear, right? And even the most badass tattoo she could think to get was not worth the pain of having to constantly redo it every month or however long it took for the thing to disappear.


"Somehow, I think the staff or whatever might frown upon that a little more seriously than they would us playing Truth or Dare." She said, her eyes not leaving the television screen. Finally, she spotted a movie that might appeal to everyone and flipped it to the channel that it was on before hopping back down onto the floor.


"BUT, that doesn't mean I'm any more into the idea of playing Truth or Dare."
 
"That may be," Canton said, shrugging a little and slipping his hands into his pockets as he got to his feet to follow. "But if I start to go for 'er, somebody better slam my head into the floor." He'd rather get knocked unconscious and spend a day or two strapped down in an infirmary with the doctors than act like that again.


It was nice to be forgiven for angry rudeness, but the truth of it all still remained. He knew he was too unstable and couldn't be trusted, even by himself. When they got to the common room, he chose a spot that put as many people as possible between him and Anya, sitting on the floor next to one of the couches because it put him mostly out of view and might give him a better shot of staying off her radar. He just stayed quiet after that and hoped not to be noticed. He didn't even really care what they watched, so he didn't need to give input.
 
((I was wondering if you may look at the sign-ups. Not to sound pushy but. I was wondering if my character is accepted or not))
 
Eliade had managed to lapse back into silence, unsure how she should reply to them. It was the first time anyone had actually acknowledged her since she'd turned up in this wacked place. She flashed Nova a smile. 'It's okay.. I'm still getting used to being literally invisible..' She spoke quietly, watching the insults and arguments increase, barely flinching when Anya prodded her and then called her a ghost. Her hands were clasped neatly in front of her, thinking to herself. At the suggestion of truth or dare she snapped back to reality, and then when the tattoos were mentioned she almost fell off the arm of the chair.


'Absolutely not!' She protested, louder than she intended originally. She flushed red, dropping her gaze. 'I mean.. I don't think we should.. It could be dangerous..' She had no inclination of allowing them to get anywhere NEAR her with a sharp object. She was paranoid at the best of times, let alone when she actually had CAUSE to be.


'How about.. we play cards or something..' There was no danger in cards, she thought. The chances of a papercut were low, and it was a lot less daunting than their other options.
 
"Aw, you guys aren't being fun in here," Rinji pouted slightly, giving an exaggerated sigh to emphasize her point and blowing her bangs back from her face. "I wouldn't hurt you. I'm really good at it. I mean, like I had my own place and everything. I would have done Nica but she never would let me."


"Rinji, you have a literal tattoo of Rainbow Brite riding a unicorn somewhere on your body," Veronica reminded her dryly. "I wouldn't trust you with a needle in your hand anywhere near my body. I might end up with a huge smiley face holding a rose through its teeth or something."


"That would be cute!" is Rinji's completely sincere response, to which Anya smirks, slipping around behind Eliade on the chair she is seated in and leaning over her so she appears to be looming like a vulture. She doesn't touch her, but she doesn't move out of her space either.


"Cards sounds good...maybe...strip poker?"
 
(( Naga are you still participating in this? You haven't replied in a while, and Killburn and Vadim are waiting on you.))


Benji snorted at Canton's warning, although he knew that the guy was serious. Someone would obviously be ready to jump in if things got out of hand, given that any time security came in to deescalate a situation, it only seemed to get worse before it got better.


"Yeah," He answered finally, "I'll keep an eye on you, okay?" As they walked into the rec room, he raised his eyebrows at hearing the talk of tattoos and decided to just leave it be. Canton had taken a seat and Benji sat down not far from him, but still trying to give him enough space to keep him from losing his mind.


Smiling weakly, he waved at Eliade and tried to get comfortable, blood still pounding in his temples. He should talk to one of the doctors about that, probably, but unless it had him puking or getting nosebleeds or whatever, he figured he could shrug it off until it got bad enough that it required intervention. Letting out a breath, Benji rubbed his temples briefly and let his head fall back against the couch.


"What about just normal poker?" Benji heard Nova offer in response to a question he didn't hear. "We don't have anything to bet though, so that would be lame."


"We could play Crazy Eights or something." He suggested, letting his eyes fall closed.
 
Canton sighed, just sitting with his feet up on the seat cushion, elbows resting up loosely on his knees. "I thought we were watching a movie." He didn't particularly like games, but that was probably because he'd never learned to play any and felt stupid having other people teach them to him. Anya would no doubt leap all over something like that and then everything would go to hell again.


He wasn't even sure he knew what Crazy Eights was, and he knew what Poker was, even though he didn't know what the card combinations were. Maybe if he was lucky he'd just get to sit back and watch while the others played. He didn't really have a problem with just being an observer. He was used to being on his own.
 
Anya, of course, notices Benji and Canton's return to the room and inwardly smiles, pleased to have more targets for harassment readily available to her. She continues to lean over Eliade, slowly rubbing her hands up and down the arms of the chair very close to Eliade's arms.


"You guys really just don't have a clue how to have a good time, do you? Believe me, if you'd let me give out a few lessons, your lives would perk up more than you'd believe."


"I know how to have a good time," Rinji says truthfully, turning to look at her and smiling at her as well, as though she didn't see any reason not to be friendly to Anya. Which was also the truth of the matter. "I pretty much always do. What do you think would be a good time though? Maybe we could both teach them-"


"Or maybe we can get out the friggin' cards and whoop it up," Veronica interrupted, standing. Though she wanted nothing more than to return to her room, that would leave Rinji at the mercy of Anya, a thought that didn't sit well with her. "Let's just do something already."
 
Eliade let out a squeak of surprise as Anya loomed up behind her, casting a shadow that sent shivers down her spine. 'Yikes!' She ducked out of Anya's reach, curling into a ball. 'Please refrain from doing that again.' She said slowly, in a soft tone, voice muffled behind her knees. She really didn't like being touched at all, especially not after what they had done to her. She shuddered, remembering how she'd woken up in the massive glass tank, observed for days to see what they'd done to her. As far as she could tell, they'd succeeded in whatever their wacked plan was. She looked at her arm, expecting it to have changed colours again due to her emotions but it hadn't. She was still very visible. She hated that, the colour change thing. It was often hotwired with her emotions and she found herself changing wacked colours for the first few days. Sometimes they remained for hours. The doctors said she'd soon learn to control it, but all she wanted to do was go back to being a normal kid again. She sighed, uncoiling and looking over at the others. 'Can't we play snap or something simple?' The moment the words were out of ehr mouth she regretted them.
 
"Please refrain from doing that again?" Anya repeats, deliberately exaggerating a bemused tone as she tilts her head to the side, still leaned as close to Eliade as she can get with Eliade ducking out of the way. She shakes her head so her hair falls forward to brush her. "Doing what? This? Or this?"


She reaches out her hand and just barely touches Eliade's head, with light pressure, then strokes it towards her forehead. "Or this? Or is there a more specific way? Is it okay if I-"


"Go to hell, Anya," Veronica snapped from her position on the couch, and Rinji's eyes widened in reaction to this.


"Nica, that was really mean..." she pauses, then cocks her head in the opposite direction of Anya, pondering. "Do you think there is a hell?"


"Yeah, we're in the middle of it now," was Veronica's mumbled retort, before she cast her eyes up to the ceiling, saying loudly enough for the lab workers to hear, "You guys really enjoy this all, don't you?"


"Who are you talking to? God?" is Rinji's next wondering as she too looks up at the ceiling.
 
Othello shook his head. He had overheard some of the commotion between the other "inmates" in the rec room next-door. Those guys had problems before they ever came anywhere near this place, he thought snidely to himself, chuckling a bit as he did so. A few air bubbles streamed past his face and burst at the surface of the pool.


Othello wasn't much for small talk. He saw it as a big waste of time, and it always ended up causing awkward situations. He would much rather splash around in his gargantuan indoor pool that he called home, half an acre in area and thirty feet deep at its deepest. Othello tried inviting the others to come hang out with him sometime, but wolves, cats, birds, and snakes aren't fond of the water too much. So instead he lounged around underwater all day, sometimes multiple days at a time. He only came to the surface if the lab workers forgot to feed him (which only happened about once a month) or if he got bored of his pool (which happened almost never). The pool was not only very large, but at the deepest parts there was a small coral reef growing that provided Othello with privacy and darkness whenever he was at a loss for either. It was grown with some sort of chemical breakthrough the lab workers had invented that caused the coral to grow very fast in a short period of time, then stop growing so that it didn't take over the entire pool.


Another strange behavior of his was his unusual eating habits. Like all of the other inmates, he ate food similar to that of what the animal he was combined with would eat, but instead of having it given to him "on a silver platter", he chose to have his prey released directly into the pool, and was therefore forced to chase it and catch it, or he wouldn't be able to eat that day. This was one of the ways that Othello ensured he would have the thrills that his body, mind, and soul eternally craved. He had already received his meal earlier that day, and took him less time than usual to catch and eat it. Of course, even catching small crustaceans and the most sluggish of creatures would be a superhuman task for a normal person, but Othello, like the other inmates, was no ordinary person.


He decided to venture to the surface. He was rather bored with the pool toys provided to him by the lab staff, and was curious as to what the others were bickering about. Othello rose from his sitting position at the bottom of the pool. Angling his body upwards towards the surface, he sprouted four more arms, positioned above and below his normal ones, and began to swim up in an undulating motion that a real octopus might use. Let's see if the others still remember me, Othello thought to himself as he quickly approached the edge of the pool.
 
"That was the original plan," Benji mumbled, his eyes still closed, face tilted toward the ceiling. "It seems as though they changed their minds while we were gone."


His ears still trained on listening in to what everyone was saying, he snorted and shook his head. Rinji had been a handful from the start, but, for some reason he couldn't really explain, he liked her. The most he could figure is that it came down to giving credit where credit was due, yeah, she could be annoying sometimes, but it was like magic the way she just... didn't seem to get when Anya was being cruel and wasn't bothered by the pokes and prods of the staff, among other things.


But sometimes... well, he had to laugh at her.


"Who are you talking to? God?"


That was it. The laugh came out hard and loud and Benji raised a hand to cover his face and shook his head. "I don't think God's in here, Rinji." He said finally, forcing himself to straighten up and open his eyes.


Seemingly, out of nowhere, Nova spoke up from her spot on the couch. "Anya, jesus, leave the poor girl alone."


That had surprised him a little. Nova hesitated to show any sort of dislike toward anyone in the group, and had usually regarded Anya in much of the same fashion she did Rinji, as though she wasn't sure whether she liked being around them or couldn't stand them at all. She would speak up freely, but one thing she tended not to do was intervene, whether it was because she didn't like conflict or just wanted to stay neutral, Benji had no clue, but his interest was definitely piqued.


He glanced over to see Anya pestering Eliade and let out a small groan. He almost wanted her to stay fixated on the poor girl just to keep himself and Canton out of it. Sure, he'd told him that he'd happily knock him out or drag him away from Anya if need be, but he was in no shape to do that just then, and might even wind up being more harm than good.


Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a figure at the door and glanced over, "Otto! Long time no see, how's it hangin' man?"
 
Othello stood in the doorway, dressed in the wetsuit he wore underwater and drenched from head to toe.


"Hey, uh...Brendan? Benny? Sorry, I've forgotten all of your names...you guys never visit me at all, haha," he said, scratching the back of his head with an arm that sprouted from his back.


"So what are you guys up to?"
 
((Froggie, is there any way you can add more to your reply? Like I said in my message earlier, I want for replies to be at least a full paragraph long, maybe more, and what you've done here isn't enough))
 
Anya laughs too at Rinji's remark, but her laughter is considerably more incredulous and condescending than Benji's. She pulls away from Eliade at last, sauntering towards the older girl with slowly exaggerated thrusting of her hips. She doubts by now that she has attracted the sexual interest of any present, but maybe Canton or Benji would at least involuntarily and instinctively be drawn to looking at her, which would make her ability to torment them later that much easier.


"Oh, Sticker Skin, didn't anyone tell you that God's dead now? It was a big thing, in the papers and everything. But then again, you're probably not great with the reading, so I can understand why you missed out on the memo."


She smirks to herself when she sees Rinji frown, apparently trying to determine whether Anya is serious or not, and yes, the girl seems to be seriously considering the possibility even of this ridiculous statement. She shifts her eyes to Veronica, who is fuming, but before the girl can attack her, whether verbally or physically, Othello comes to stand in the doorway, shifting their attention. As Rinji waves and chirps a cheerful greeting, Anya walks towards him slowly, shaking back her hair.


"Well if it isn't Octopussy," she said, adding emphasis to the second half of the word. "You're looking rather wet," she continues the innuendo, lips quirking. "Come up here to join the fun?"
 
((eh okay))


Othello looked around the room at the other inmates, but since he hadn't seen them in forever he didn't recognize a single one of them. They never came down to the pool area to visit, never talked, never hang out, never anything. He would be offended, and, in fact, was for a while, but he realized it might have just been because he never went to them. Hanging out underwater was something only he was capable of at the moment. He made a mental note to visit these guys more often.


Walking around the room, Othello picked various small objects with his extra arms that had sprouted from his shoulders and rib cage, briefly looked at each of them, and set them down as he turned his head to look at something else. He continued this process as he circumnavigated the room, picking up a few game controllers, some sort of tablet entertainment device, a deflated football, an alarm clock, and various other knick-knacks.


"This is some room you guys have got up here. What do you do all day?" 
Othello turned at the girl's remark. He didn't remember this one any more than the others, but he was certain he didn't like her.


"Getting wet is a lot more fun than you think. Why don't you try it?"


After saying this, he spat a glob of ink all over the girl's shoes and ankles.
 
((I'll attempt third person, but I find it rather difficult.))


Sitting in the corner of the rec room with a book, his feet up on the coffee table in front of him, Ryan tried to drown out all of the commotion around him. It wasn't as if the loud noise was aggravating, he just preferred silence. Silence usually meant you were alone. Ryan sighed and closed his book, walking towards the door and sliding past the octopus boy, Othello, on his way out, accidentally pushing him.


"Sorry" Ryan muttered indifferently, headed towards his private sanctuary.


He walked down the hall at a leisurely pace, ignoring scientists and such as they passed, in an effort to get to the gardens in the center of the building. They were always quiet, because no one went there. They were afraid of the dog. However, Ryan had always been good with animals, and he and the dog had quickly become good friends. Ryan had decided to name him Rocky, because he had a sharp ridge down his back, similar to the Rocky Mountain range. Animals were the only creatures Ryan ever really talked to. He tried to avoid human interaction, because humans were too fickle. Animals, especially dogs, loved unconditionally, and were very one minded.


As Ryan walked into the garden, Rocky came loping over and wagged his tail. Ryan cracked a very small smile and pulled out a biscuit for the dog. Rocky sat and Ryan handed him the biscuit, then walked over to a chair near the center of the labyrinth of plants, then sat down in the silence and continued to read.
 
(lol..."Otto has a huge heart and soul" on your sign up...."first thing Otto does is spit at someone..." :P )


Veronica's eyes barely flick towards the doorway as Othello enters. It has been less than twenty minutes and already Anya and her own sister in particular have managed to wear what little patience she has down to the slimmest of threads, frayed beyond all possibility ability to hold on any longer. When Othello asks what they "do" around here, her reply is rather snappish.


"We sit. We play fascinating games involving little pieces of paper called "cards" and we watch other people live actual lives on a little square we call the television. Then we argue and fight with each other and Anya dry-humps people and systematically drives them closer to homicide or suicide, one step at a time. Eliade mopes around in her chair pretending she doesn't exist, Nova and Benji float around, Canton explodes periodically, and Rinji flits around loving people and misunderstanding everything everyone says. Does that cover it?"


"What do you mean, I misunderstand everything everyone says?" Rinji underscores Veronica's point, causing Veronica to give a faint snorting laugh in response.


Anya, meanwhile, ink dripping down her chin, makes no effort to wipe it away, going suddenly cold and still as her blue eyes narrow. When she is angered, she is angered quickly and with a level of violence that makes the predator she is apparent, and she walks towards Othello with slow, measured steps, her voice lowering.


"Try getting wet, you mean? I assure you, that's one thing you could never make me experience."


Only inches away from him now, she reaches out to seize his arm with one hand, her grip light but squeezing slowly as she allows her fangs to lower. "It's an interesting coincidence that you're named for a former slave. Maybe it's a message."
 
((Yeah, he's got heart and soul, but he's also clever and a tad bit of a michiefmaker at times))


Othello smirked. Two arms sprouted from the one the girl had grabbed and together they pried the girl's hand from his arm.


"Ya know, that's a good look for you. You should read up on your Shakespeare a little better, by the way. Othello was a general of an army."


He turned his attention to the second girl, the one that had spouted the long and convoluted response to his earlier question.


"Huh. Sounds like you guys have six spectrums of fun up here. And you didn't invite me? I'm hurt!" He said, putting a hand to his heart and feinting sadness.
 
Ryan finished the book rather quickly, and stood abruptly, waking out of the gardens and down a hall that led to the research center. He walked to the main room, where they were making calculations and extracting DNA. He viewed their splicing formula, and then tapped on the glass, getting the attention of a scientist. Ryan motioned towards the door, and the scientist opened it, admitting him entry.


Ryan immediately walked over to the white board on which the formula was written, and began fixing their formula. A scientist moved to stop him, but the head of the department held him back. Once Ryan was finished, the head of research came over and viewed his work. Ryan explained.


"The main reason for your higher than desirable death total was the speed at which you were administering the DNA, in comparison to the amount of immune repressors. You were giving the subjects too much immune repressor, causing their immune systems to shut down and prevent assimilation of DNA. At the same time, you were giving them too much DNA at a time, so the splicing was actually deteriorating their chrome structure. Your death total should now be approximately 8%."


With that, Ryan exited the room, leaving the scientists utterly bewildered, and returned in the direction of the rec room.


(I seriously hope that's okay.)
 
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