Futuristic RE: A Flower Cannot Bloom Without Desire

[SleepyConley]

A Flower Cannot Bloom Without Desire
Theme Song

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Chapter One, Wicked Game



Scene One, Eznia and Crown
Location: Unknown.

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"I always wanted a normal life. I wanted to go to school, I wanted to make friends, I wanted to join The Garden and be on TV. But all throughout history those with the strongest blooms always dictated the will of the world. I grew up in an underground facility along with seven other kids, we were experimented on with all sorts of drugs to control our emotions and desires into our late teen years. It was a horrible experiment, awful, I watched the children I grew up with scream as they're pumped full of drugs and chemicals. Their hair would begin to fall out, they would go blind or quit acknowledging the world in general, never speaking again. Our living condition was never good, we were fed stale breed and only got one hospital gown to wear, that was never washed. We usually went around naked when it started to smell bad until we were beat or given another gown. It was tough. I hate this world. I've never known love." A woman with snow white hair and golden eyes will sit, staring out of a window, lost in thought as she speaks, her face idle... yet somehow full of despair.

"We were taught about the world before the rise of technology and machine. It was a world full of plague, famine and war. Those with the strongest blooms would always get their way, just itching to show off their strength. It makes me sick to my stomach, could you imagine how peaceful the world would have been if these damned blooms just never existed? I guess that was my desire growing up... revenge and peace. But instead we live in a world of wicked games controlled by corrupt minds. I just wanted to take all of the blooms in the world and put them inside me, so nobody could use them anymore. I managed to escape by killing them all, I never told you that did I? I guess I was afraid. Afraid you'd never look at me the same way again. But I just couldn't help myself. One by one I had to watch my brothers and sisters die. One by one I had to listen to their screams fade and them being wheeled by my room on a stretcher. I lost my mind, I'm sure you can forgive me for that. Those fucking monsters. You've never seen one of them before have you? Those who have been altered by the artifact? They look like monsters, it's unbelievable." The woman will stand and walk over towards a man sitting on a throne and sit on his lap. He will grab her chin and point her face towards his.

"Eznia, you don't have to explain to me what kind of person you are or why you are the way you are. When I found you on that beach, I just knew you were the one. I knew I had to protect you. Don't worry, together, we'll bring down The Garden, we'll make sure people learn what happens when you abuse your strength. Everyone, we'll go to war with everyone." The man will pull the woman close to him, a serious menacing look on his face, full of determination. The woman, Eznia will smile, happy to hear the words the man said to her.

Scene Two, Briefing
Location: The Garden, The Black Lotus - Team 7 building. Floor 2, mission plan room.

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A woman in a button-up suit, with a white shirt undone partly down the middle will address a group, the room appears to be a classroom but in an futuristic office aesthetic. "Today is the day. You've all finally passed the entrance exams and are full-blown Garden members. Congrats, welcome to hell. Welcome to The Black Lotus, the mercenary sector. We take all the odd-jobs all the other sectors aren't qualified for, namely, we'll do almost anything for the right price. Mostly taking down blackmarket gangs, nothing too fancy, although some interesting jobs can come through from time to time. I don't expect most of you to be here by next year, you'll either be dead or decide The Garden isn't for you. Regardless, my name is Greg, you will address me as Lady Greg. Captain of The Black Lotus - Group 7. I'm sure you've already been to your rooms and had a look around the place. Nothing too fancy but The Garden, with all of its flaws, likes to make sure its members are took care of. We'll be doing a training exercise today, I know you have to have some kind of useful skill or bloom or you wouldn't be here. I need to see what you can do for myself though, I've already looked over your files so I have a pretty good idea of what your abilities are, but I need to see them in action. C'mon, get ready, we're going downstairs to the basement, I've already contacted HQ and got them to set up a small prop town down there. Place is huge." Lady Greg will take a puff of her cigarette, exhaling smoke into the room.

"Got a pretty cool situation we're going to put you in. Think I'll enjoy watching it."

In the basement is a small prop town, inside an underground facility. The group will gear up and get earpieces so everyone can communicate at a distance, Lady Greg will prep the team with information. "Okay here is the situation, on the other side of the town we got some of our members, A ranks, to simulate a hostage situation. Nothing crazy. They're two of them. Find what building they're in, what they want and resolve the situation. Don't kill anyone, knock out our members pretending to be bad guys and safely rescue the prop hostage. Converse among yourselves and come up with a plan. They're 6 buildings total, all small, about the size of a gas station. You're at the farthest building situated away from the other buildings. Okay, prep over, good luck."

Scene Three, The Brothers
Location: Team 7 building basement, underground facility.

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Inside a building that looks similar to a gas station will be three people, two men dressed as medieval knights, one yellow and one blue. The last person is a woman tied up in rope. "Alright Kettle time to use your bloom, looks like we're getting started. Go ahead and make some steam, I'm gonna plug my ears, I hate the sound your kettle bloom makes when you're using it, so loud. You too Jenny, I'll loosen the rope just a bit until he's done. Sucks you had to be the hostage. Kinda funny it was you though." A man in blue knight armor will converse with his brother in yellow knight armor, Kettle and the hostage, Jenny.

"Rope, why do you think you get to boss people around? And you too Kettle, why do both of you get off by being so bossy? Jeez. AND IT IS NOT FUNNY! I hate that I was chosen. Can't believe that Lady Greg specifically asked for me. Probably still mad I asked to be transferred to a different group. Bitch." Jenny, the hostage will struggle to move her arms as the man in blue knight armor, Rope, slightly loosens the rope.

"Alright, everyone plug your ears, time to produce some steam. It'll reveal our location but it'll make it harder for them to see. Not too many buildings, they would have found us here anyway, so it's better this way. Rope, place some traps when I'm done and tighten Jenny back up." Kettle will use his bloom to produce steam, a kettle, a screeching noise can be heard as thick steam starts to fill the building and the area outside. "What do you think, should I make the whole town foggy? I don't want to bust everyone's eardrums. So better not." The sound will stop.

Rope will use his bloom that allows him to create rope and string, to place traps. At every door into the building there will be rope reinforcing all the doors with sharp string at the bottom. "This is perfect, they won't be able to see and we've got traps. Let's just hope one of them doesn't have a wind bloom or our camo will be useless. We have to at least put up a decent fight so we can get a good report written by Lady Greg."

 

[luciferin]

Bagels for breakfast or a few minutes of sleep; it was an easy decision.

Nina enters the Team Seven Building with a still-hot cup in one hand and a Starbucks bag in the other. Autopilots and takes a sip of her coffee as she warms up by revamping old codes. (For all their amenities, the Garden doesn’t strike her as the type to take first days easy.)

She reaches her destination, lets her hand fall easy on the handle and opens the door to the locker room. Passes someone, pulls up her welcome email. Focuses on air and finds her number and code. Sets her drink on top of the lockers to free up her hands and keys in the code.

It swings open, and the hacker comes face to face with someone else’s belongings, left to wonder where to leave her lunch and her purse.

 

[myrkwise]

Evelyn eyes the older woman with impunity and suspicion. Perhaps it shouldn't have irked her so- things like these were ultimately bound to happen at some point or another. Still...

She clears her throat, walking right up with her chin raised and her gaze as firm as she could muster (which, she fears, is still lacking in its intimidation).

"That's my locker." she states coldly, gesturing at the surfaced goods she had locked away. "I would... appreciate it if you left it be. I have places to go."

 

[Zura]

Zeek looks in the mirror of his apartments bathroom and will sigh, today is the day. The first day of becoming an official Garden member and not just any kind of member; a mercenary. For someone like Zeek this was scary, intimidating, yet exhilarating. He'll turn the sink on, wash his face, fix his hair, get dressed in a casual hoodie and jeans and head out.

He'll soon be moving into the Team 7 building. All his amenities from his current apartment will be moved by The Garden, free of charge to his new apartment located inside the Team 7 building. He tucks his Garden license inside his wallet, Zeek Looman - The Black Lotus - Team 7, an official member. He couldn't believe it, him, becoming a member of THE Garden? Something most people dream about is becoming a reality.

Exiting his apartment, he'll call an Uber to pick him up. Because of advancements in technology the Uber's of this time are driverless and fast, all the vehicles are driverless in fact. All computing and working together to go top-speeds without wrecking.

Arriving at the building he'll head to the locker room, making eye contact with someone short - or so he thought, heading to the locker room too. He'll soon overhear her and another having a discussion about whose locker is whose... "You guys know we don't have designated lockers right? Just pick one, no need to fight." He'll point out, letting out a little chuckle attempting to ease a bit of tension.

After putting all his belongings inside his locker, wallet and various other things ~ comb, pocket knife, guitar pick ~ he'll get a notification on his phone from Lady Gregory to head to the planning room to get started with the first day.

 

[luciferin]

Someone clears their throat behind her.

Nina turns to look, sees a woman with pink ombré hair and steel in her eyes. Her jaw tenses. “That’s my locker. "I would... appreciate it if you left it be. I have places to go."

She forces herself to relax. Loosens her jaw and lets her shoulders fall, nice and open, and closes the locker. She’s not looking for a fight.

“Sorry, it looks like HR had a bit of a mix-up, told me this one was mine,” she says, tapping the door for emphasis before moving to leave. “I’ll clear things up with them later.”

It seems like she’ll be bringing her things to the meeting; the woman doesn’t seem like she’ll be receptive to sharing. Rectifying her first impression will be a bit of a pain, though, since they’ll probably have to work together at some point. Same team and all.

A masculine voice cuts in. "You guys know we don't have designated lockers right? Just pick one, no need to fight."

Nina blinks, wonders how true that is and tests the dark-haired man’s theory by trying another locker. He’s right. “Well, I guess that clears things up.”

She swings her things in, grabs her coffee, ignores the signals coming from the man’s phone, and makes her way back to the exit. Time to attend the briefing.

 

[myrkwise]

“Hm.” Evelyn unblinkingly turned away, gathering her items before making her way to the meeting in tandem- though, she made sure to keep some distance between herself and the others.

You’re not here to make friends. She reminded herself. This is a job. Nothing less, nothing more. Never forget that.

There were four people in the world she cared to live for. There was never going to be a need in adding a fifth.

 

[Witherking41]

Mean while, tobi sitting in the planning room waiting for the rest of his soon to be team to show up. this was entirely his own fault for deciding to come an hour earlier, but hes living with that mistake

yawns as my early wake-up reaches me "i guess i should've just stayed in bed for that extra hour" now contemplating what he should do with the little few minutes he has left before the debriefing begins.

looks around before pulling out my phone and begins scrolling through my contacts, then i hear the main door begin to open

 

[liostwolf]

A loud beeping filled the room, several misplaced slams following suit untill that hand hit its mark, ceasing the piercing sound. Hera groaned, slowly pulling her eyes open to face the light of the day. Her pupils constricting to make way for the suns brightness, she still wasn’t used to it. She blocked several times before sitting up with a yawn.

The wild haired lady got ready as quickly as possible, wearing a far more fashionable outfit then necessary. fashionable, but still functional. Like with the rest of her clothing, it had a low and loose back, made only to accommodate her bloom.

With that she headed out, not without her bag and phone of course. Hera too hailed herself an Uber to transport herself to “The Garden” she found the whole thing unfair. Unfair that here she was, out of the bottom of the city… in the garden no less, when all the people she used to know were still scraping for even a morsel of food, of comfort, of sleep. She shook her head and slid her sunglasses on.

***

Once Hera got her food, she was on her way over to, well, The garden. It was a shock just how much space that place took up in her mind, but it didn’t take long for her to see the imposing building. She thanked the car after paying and slid out, heading to where she needed to go.

It wasn’t too long before she found the locker room, she hadn’t payed enough attention to the digital briefing, then again, she didn’t trust the dammed place to watch over her things, so she just continued on her way.

Almost immediately she spotted some, other people. She didn’t have to wonder if they were apart of “Team 7”, why else would they be here?

 

[SleepyConley]

A smoke filled room can be accompanied by the sound of tapping... tap, tap, tap.

Fingers hitting against a desk. An impatient Lady Greg will exhale smoke as she sits behind her computer at her desk reading over the files of those she has requested to be apart of her newly assigned team, the 7th team of the Black Lotus mercenary sector. Team 7.

It is currently 7am on the dot, the new mercenaries aren't supposed to show up for another 10 minutes. By now the members should have had enough time to make their way to the Team 7 building and look around. Inside is a lounge, kitchen, a locker room for storing small valuables for quick and convenient access, separate rooms for each member along with their own private bathroom. In the basement of this building is an underground facility that can be changed at the request of Lady Greg, the captain of Team 7. Right now the facility is stationed as a training facility for an upcoming evaluation, to see what each member needs work on and what they are capable of.

Lady Greg will send out notifications, reminding everyone of the agreed arrival time. 7:10 am.

 

[Zura]

Zeek will finish putting his belongings up, satisfied for kind of helping out the situation in the locker room. He'll head towards the planning room, where everyone was supposed to meet Lady Greg to go over what the activities for today would be. Nervous, he'll take a deep breath and stand, exiting the locker room. He wished later, he would have introduced himself, however it is the first day. Surely he'll have another time to meet everyone.

On his way out, he'll notice a strong scent of cigarette smoke coming from the planning room. Lady Greg is notorious for being a heavy smoker, so it isn't that shocking. He'll enter the planning room and see Lady Greg and another who has already arrived and appears to have been waiting for awhile. "Hey, I'm going to prop the door open, let some of the smoke out, ok?"

And so Zeek will take the door stopper from out behind the door and fasten it under the door to keep it propped open. "Some people might not like the miasma of smoke, sorry."

Zeek will sit in front of the other person waiting and introduce himself, "Hey I'm Zeek, looks like we're going to be working together, nice to meet ya." Letting loose a big smile, placing his hand behind his head. At least he did introduce himself this time, something he had been overthinking about but overcame.

 

[Witherking41]

casually looks up from my phone to see you. "well hi zeek, nice to meet you. im tobi dauntless, and im glad to see someone else here besides smokey the bear" said, as i made what i consider a fairly funny joke. "so, what do you do for fun, on your free time of course" as i sat up and leaned into the new found conversation while still waiting for the rest of the soon-to-be-team-7

 

[luciferin]

It’s a brisk walk spent in silence to the planning room.

Something bitter lingers on Nina’s tongue, but she swallows it, keeping the words inside. No hard feelings. The woman’s curt response wards off further conversation and ignoring her to speak to the man sounds like more trouble than it’s worth.

Another, older woman joins them with blond hair, gold eyes, and beautiful clothes. It stays quiet, almost amiable, now that the tension is gone, and Nina takes the time to tuck her stray hair behind her ears, unrolling her shirt sleeves and pulling them down.

The man opens the door, so she thanks him and takes a seat, grinning as he opens the door to let out the smoke, pausing as someone nicknames their Captain Smokey. Not the worst, as far as nicknames go. She notes down the introductions that make it out before their Captain takes over and explains their schedule, especially the captain’s.

That name she mouths going down the stairs. Lady Greg. Strange, unusual, and certainly not mainstream. Yet, it settles comfortably on her tongue. Must be the length. And when she passes Zeek as they enter the basement, she says, “Thanks for the help back there,” quick and quiet.

From there, it’s simple and familiar. Nina handles gearing up with ease and listens to the captain’s prep. When that’s done, she introduces herself. “I’m Nina Gupta, the resident tech expert. My bloom helps with that,” she says. Plans to suggest the law enforcement's standard for searching buildings for hostiles but hears screeching and spots something in the distance. “There’s smoke over there. Can anyone’s bloom neutralize it?”

 

[myrkwise]

An exercise like this? I'll be of limited utility to be sure...

Evelyn scowled at her own hands before turning back to the rest of the group with a thoroughly neutral and uninterested expression on her face. They were... an interesting sort, admittedly. Of the three boys, the white-haired one seemed closest to her own age, but he seemed annoyingly preoccupied with trying to make a friend out of her - none of that, thank you very much! As for the two other women... They both looked something near a decade older than her. The one she'd had the... unpleasant encounter with previously seemed to have her head on straight, at least.

Just get this over with.

"Greetings. I'm Evelyn Rosenberg," she began, glancing from person to person, and trying not to hold eye contact for too long with anyone in particular. She'd gathered from past experience that people tended to be much too taken aback by her bloomed red eye. "I am... a medic. My bloom aids primarily in repairing broken objects and healing injuries."

She subconsciously nudged at the knapsack she held over her shoulder and waist, containing precious vials of her own bloody tears.

"If any of you become injured in this exercise... I suppose it will fall to me to deal with you," she drolled. "... As well as the hostage, I guess."

She furrowed her gaze. "I... am unsure of whether the restoration of objects will be of any use here. We can certainly keep the option open, at least."

 

[Witherking41]

raises my hand and asks a nice and simple question "do your have normal means of medic skills, or is it just your bloom" a question that would decide my fate at any time as i began to stare as if i was looking into your soul.
hoping that you would at least have studied in the filed previous to earning your bloom

 

[liostwolf]

Hera took comfort in the fact the room had a haze of smoke, she took a deep breath, looking at the odd assortment of people gathered. She looked to “Smokey” and asked a question that she didn’t intent to be answered before she took action “So, not too unprofessional to smoke here?”

With that she pulled out her own ‘nicotine stick’, taking a long puff before adding to the swirl of suffocation. Hera looked around her, and honestly couldn’t care if those around her disliked her actions, sure they were going to be a te, but all the more reason for them to get used to this now. Even still, she didn’t want to push the matter too far, so she carefully placed her (idk what it’d be but probably something electronic) thing back into her bag with great care.

Once ‘Lady Greg’ was done with her speech, Hera gave a catty smile “so, you aren’t going to join us? I mean, I’ve heard of your bloom but I’ve never seen /you/ use it” She spoke quietly, like she wasn’t meaning to be heard across an entire room, but at the same time she said it with such confidence and a sence of comfort that she was heard anyway.

“Not to imply that you’d be… overplaying your bloom of course” Hera smiled again. She knew she was pressing it… then again she didn’t care, if things were leaning to far the other direction, well, the room would smell of roses.

 

[Witherking41]

i nudge hera to get her attention and simply whisper "i dont think it be smart to stake your life on a remark like that" and with upmost concern i turn to Evelyn and gave a look "does that mean you have a first aid-kit or do you plan on ignoring the human shield of the group?" and raised my eyebrow as i let the question float about in her head while still staring at her

 

[myrkwise]

Evelyn stares back at Tobi with a blank, icy-cold look.

"I am reliant on my bloom, yes." she spoke plainly, though a hint of suspicion and defensiveness could be detected in her tone. "And I'm afraid I'm not fully aware on all of your blooms, I wouldn't know who I'd be ignoring."

 

[Witherking41]

"first, ouch and second, id love to show you how my bloom works if you feel the need. but i do suggest learning other means of first aid" said while matching your tone "plus, you'd be alot more useful if you stopped relying on your bloom for its skill, but rather your own knowledge without it" keeping the same tone as before, but alot more agitated

 

[SleepyConley]

Still sitting behind her desk, Lady Greg will stand, dumping her cigarette on an ashtray on her desk, exhaling one last breath of smoke.

She'll stand, eyeing down a chattering bunch of new recruits, her gaze will be menacing. A look of pure bloodlust, as if she constantly has a desire to harm those around her.

"Okay, my name is Lady Greg but you can call me whatever you want if you can produce results (her response to being called smokey xP). The Garden doesn't accept just anyone and I was given the liberty of recruiting you. I looked over thousands of files and you were the lucky bunch I thought would have the best synergy, this isn't about standing out, this is about producing results and working as a team. Understood? Good. You might not have much experience and neither did I when I first started out as a recruit, over time you'll develop experience. Experience fighting, saving lives, taking down underground gangs and organizations and ultimately, you'll gain experience losing. Failing. Welcome to hell." She'll let out a tiring sigh.

"Look, I know this is going to suck but I need to make sure everyone is here..." Lady Greg will go over the tiring process of a name call, making sure everyone she was expecting to show up did, this was for filing back a report to HQ.

After the name call, she'll brief the members one last time on the activity for today. (Look back at the first post!)

Before heading down to the underground facility fixed up as a training grounds, a small makeshift town, she'll look at one of the members in particular. Hera. "You'll get to see what I can do soon enough, don't get too excited." Smirks, exuding an air of confidence

"Make sure you buy lots of cigs, this line of work is going to drive your nerves further in the ground."

 

[liostwolf]

To the look of menace that met the recruits, Hera stared right back. As much as it might be rattiling to have the one who’s meant to be in charge of you with murder in their eyes, she had seen it more then once. When she was younger she wouldn’t have knows how to deal with the look she was getting, but now? Now, she had her methods and those included not letting them get under your skin.

Once they had all heard everything, Hera shrugged. She had plenty of experience, and more than her fair share of failure. So once again, she looked at their Lady Greg. “All righty, Code 4” Hera offered a salute, however mocking it was.

Then she was so graciously met with the attention that she not so subtly had been asking for, oh, the lady had noticed her pastime in person, good. And answers her question, to the problem of the bloom, she just nodded, not much she wanted to say on that, but on the tip... “Oh goody, I’ll make sure to pack plenty”

 

[Witherking41]

laughs as i thought hera mocking her was quite funny, as i assume the brief is over, i start to stretch to keep my joints loose "well if were gonna do this, we might as well get it done, right?" hoping that he wasn't the only one that thought that.

on a completely different note, I begin checking my pockets to make sure i have snacks on hand