Futuristic Ｔ Ĥ Λ Ŀ Λ Ƨ Ƨ Λ

[sorrow made you]

IDRIS DALCA

Talking. Everyone was just talking. But there wasn’t any action. Distractions, sneaking around, all of these actions were just talked about. Idris had been watching the hall after while the others talked. Something something it was vague from that point on and the brute couldn’t tell you what happened in between then and when a guard caught them with a flashlight.


Eyes turned red once again and quickly ducked behind something. More commotion, gunshot, a yell of pain. William was down. Bright, blinding light. Idris was forced to close his eyes for a moment. William was gone. What the hell just happened?! Light gone, now flashlight heads were in sight. And Brian and Shadin found guns?


“Point and shoot, boys.” Idris called as he vaulted over his hiding spot, eyes now back to target mode. He scanned to see how many were coming their way. Too late now though, he was already charging toward them. He was getting impatient and just wanted to get through, find Dylan, and get the hell out.

 

[hosaki]

Arina Smirnova

​

Arina flinched at the man's harsh tone, her mouth opening and closing like that of a fish's. The recent succession of events had left her disoriented in her bearings, and her normal guard against hurt feelings was not functioning as it should be: the comment had cut deep. Finally, she shut her mouth, swallowing the retort that hung at the tip of her tongue. Her embarrassment was clear on her reddened cheeks. She was just… just…


"We could send somebody out." Her voice came out tight, quiet. She immediately regretted her suggestion -- it was stupid, utterly stupid. Nobody would agree to it, it probably wouldn't work, there was probably a better way, but what if there was no other way…? The clomping of the guards seemed to grow louder. Thud. Thud. Thud. Somewhere along the way, it became the quickening rhythm of her heart.


"Have them draw the guards' attention…" The words rose from the broiling turmoil of Arina's thoughts, unbidden. Anybody who volunteered for such a task would surely die. As for the rest, their chances for survival were minimal. She sought out approval from her current comrades, wild gaze flitting from one face to the next.


"Somebody has to do something, and it's not going to be me," she declared abruptly, loudly, to mask the fear that was beginning to creep in. "It's not going to be me," she repeated again, almost shouting now. Who wasn't she going to be? The one taking action, or the body lying on the ground? She felt lightheaded, with blood pulsing through her ears and breaths coming out in quick pants, as if she had just run a marathon.


Click. A sole ray of light beamed upon the group and Arina found herself on the ground before she even knew what had happened, her ears still ringing from a close-quarter gunshot. And the scream, a horrific cry that sputtered off into a choked gargle. That was William lying there, where she had been standing seconds ago. His death had barely even begun to register in her mind before a flash of blinding light took his body away.


She should have been horrified that someone had just died before her, for her. Instead, she felt horrified that relief had surged through her being at the moment of realization. More guards were coming now, she could hear it as she cowered behind the piece of lab equipment. "Point and shoot, boys." Idris's voice rang clearly above the rumbling of the building. Stand up! Hurry! No, she couldn't. A choked cry escaped her lips as she pulled into a huddled, quivering mass.

 

[Aldur]

And then there she was, wheezing through the air duct like a bullet. When she dived through the room she caught the cardigan resting on her shoulders in misplaced lab equipment which tore off almost all of it. Eve tried to keep her body straight so that her limbs remained attached to her body. Losing one more arm was the last thing she needed right now.


The journey worthy of a roller coaster ride came to an abrupt end as Eve was thrown into an ocean of fabric. She bent her knees and braced for impact landing straight on her ass. "Oof!" and a loud thud. Three and Kaye soon followed. The miasma rushed to her nostrils prompting Eve to empty her stomach almost instantly. She kept her mouth closed and covered it with her organic hand, though, and swallowed back shaking vigorously. With the left hand, she grabbed the remains of what used to be a good quality long cardigan and ripped them off revealing a black tank top.


Her ears picked up on two voices. She couldn't make out any words, though. She just tried to pick herself up from the ground. The stench made it endlessly difficult. She managed to stay upright, but not without stumbling three feet forward. Eve hunched forward and rested her hands on her legs. At last, she turned around to the two women who apparently followed her into the duct and looked as befuddled as ever before cracking a wide grin. Eve uttered a half-there "Still kicking, huh?" before she exhaled forcefully and covered her nose for another breath. The ring fighter was getting lightheaded.


@Poe @Coin

 

[korigon]

It all happened so fast. That had to be the phrase of the day. Tackled by heavily-armed soldiers, meeting with a man who spoke in enigmas only to have him simply fall through the floor, the impromptu ( though amusing and well-deserved ) shooting of Elliot Leighton, and now this. Thrown into more bizarre circumstances, if that was somehow possible.


The girl - Brian wasn't really sure who she was - seemed to want them to have one of them fling themselves toward the guards so that others could escape. What a fantastically useless idea. As he opened his mouth give the blond a piece of his mind, the crack of a firearm rang out. William collapsed with a shuddering, anguished cry, his body falling onto the ground with an ominous thump. Light, almost too bright and glaring to be normal, sifted into the room. Brian turned away, turning back as soon as he could. His mind was off of the missing corpse of William, instead fixated on some sort of futuristic weapon that was on a shelf besides him.


What had he gotten himself into?


Brian wanted to just slouch over and hide, to huddle in a corner and vainly hope they wouldn't see him. But he wouldn't. The woman to his left, she was doing enough of that for the both of them. He was afraid of what could be fixing to happen; the images of Elliot and William now flashed in his head; but, it was fruitless to merely shrivel up and transform into a sniffling wreck. If anything, it would be better taking out as many of the bastards as he could.


Following the advice of the man who appeared to have a suicide wish, Brian clasped the foreign weapon in his hand and began firing in shaky, erratic burst. His shots were inaccurate more often than not, yet firing the weapon restored some traces of confidence in the old man.

 

[Sunbather]

Automated response - OOC Story, goals and hints:

⊷ Group A (Eve, Kaye, Vonnegut and Three) One after the other, Three and Kaye together, comes shooting out of the duct, enduring a painful landing. The voices Eve had picked up on had grown a little quieter. They seem to move away. The room is empty except for heavy looking machinery and an exit.


"So Danero is alive?"


"Yes, I'm telling you. Orders."


"..."


"Let's just hurry."


A slow creak reverbs through the area, following the path the two people's words had taken prior, sounding through to Eve, Kaye and Three. Vonnegut was still nowhere to be seen.


⊷ Group B (Idras, Shadin, Brian and Arina) Two lucky shots hit their "targets", and with aching screamings, two bodies hit the floor with an uncomfortably meaty thump. Automatic guns remain active, however, shot around the now open doorframe. The thunderous bullets hauling through the air, Idras, Shadin, Brian and Arina can hear the wirring of passing objects coming from the barrels of the opposition. "There!" a soldier screams, locating Arina through her words. The weakened infrastructure continues to crack, and slowly the ground sinks in.


An avalanche of debris and machinery parts and human bodies comes raining into a lower story. The loud masculine screams of a few soldiers reach the falling group's ears as they rapidly approach the ground. The impact was audible and loud. The elderly Brian finds himself feel a sharp pain in his spritely limbs, particularly the left leg. As the group tries to get back onto the feet and scan the position, the body of one of the guards demands their attention. his corpse lays impaled on a pipe sticking out from a sizable chunk of the ceiling, below which a red puddle assembles. A faintly familar, high-quality trouser leg is peeking out from below. Shadin's...


@Aldur Forgehammer @Mordecai @Poe @Coin @CRiTiCAL ERR0R @korigon @BlueInPassing

 

[sorrow made you]

IDRIS DALCA

There was a high chance that the old man had never shot a gun before. But Idris had full faith that in the heat of the moment, Brian would either shoot or be killed. Fortunately, the old bird didn’t retort and shot--albeit rather poorly. He couldn’t complain though. Not everyone fought. Not everyone held guns. Idris was more than anything, a rarity with his violent background.


Idris was grateful that his eyes were so useful. His reflexes reflected how fast his eyes processed bullets coming his way. He was incredibly fortunate not to be shot, seeing as he went in head on to face these armed foes. It was nothing short of a miracle, to be honest.


An almost wry grin made its way on the gang leader’s face as he came in close, close enough to send a palm into a guy’s face, grab, and throw him into someone else. It was a mess of bodies and chaos ensued, but nothing like the amount of chaos brought once again by a crumbling scenery. Allies and enemies alike paused for a brief second when the floor beneath them failed, and they were sent downwards.


It was all disorienting, and for a good several minutes, Idris floated in and out of consciousness until finally, he realized… he wasn’t dead yet. How the hell he managed to survive that, he had no idea. Groaning and growling, he began to push debris off of himself. His muscles were straining now. All of this was a wear on his body. He couldn’t imagine for everyone else. Again, luck seemed to be on Idris’ side. Besides minor cuts, scrapes and bruises, he was relatively unharmed.


“Ey--!” He started to call, but coughed, curling onto his side to better hack up the debris that decided to attempt to occupy his lungs. Eventually he rolled onto his stomach and shakily pushed himself up. His vision was blurry, but began to readjust itself. “Any-Anyone?!” He managed to call out while he got up. Now the dust was settling. He could see more clearly.


Body parts stuck out from piles of rock and rubble. A man was speared through… and eyes widened to find that if Idris was a mere few feet off, that could have easily been him impaled and not that poor sap in uniform. Terror set in now. He had to find the others. The girl, the old man, the long haired man…


But as he started to dig for the others, he found something that made his stomach twist into a knot. Averting his eyes from the crushed Shadin, he continued to dig, trying to listen for any sound of life.

 

[Poe]

K A Y E || M A T T I X

​

Everything hurt.


Three had jumped first, yanked Kaye with her, but the AI did not have the softest frame and the impact knocked the wind out of her. Rolling off of her and onto the ground, Kaye was going to vomit. She was sure. What was that smell? Where were they? What was that thing behind the door she had opened? A gag curled its way up into her throat but she held it back. Kaye’s eyes flickered between Three and Eve.


Every time they moved laterally, they fell vertically. What a strange place this was.


Kayana… No. Not now.


Kaye shook her head, her brain jumbling around like loose cogs in a machine. She looked around. One exit. The angry man was gone. There were voices. Were in they in her head? No, no they were real. They were coming from down the hall and then a creak. A slow, reverberating creak and Kaye felt uneasy again. Everything hurt. Her fingers shot to her tattoos and traced over and over again, despite the small cuts from where her nails had dug into the skin. Metallic. Blood. Kaye pushed herself up and looked to Eve, then to Three, her mind kicked into overdrive.


They needed to get out before she was overwhelmed with this stench. Before her brain seemed to kick itself back on and send her into a frenzy.


Kayana… Not now mother.


“Kicking may not be the best word,” Kaye choked out, her hands finding her knees and stood from the ground, “The voices – they’re coming from over there.”


With her hand extended out, Kaye looked down to Three to help her up.


“Last time I led,” she mentioned matter-of-factly, “There was a big skeleton. You lead?”

@Aldur @Coin
​

 

[Sunbather]

Their hasty steps sounding loudly in the dark stairway, the rattling breaths of whatever creature they had just passed faded out, though they remained uncomfortably fresh in their minds. Dylan’s chest rose and fell quickly as the two fell into a more casual tempo, having brought some distance between them and the creature. Mopping the sweaty strands of red hair off her forehead, she stared into the thick darkness that was ahead of them. “So.. I guess…”, she began, her speech slow due to the exhaustion as well as uncertainty just what had happened, “I guess… They aren’t doing normal stuff in here…” A single brief cackle escaped, though it seemed forced. “I’m starting to think this was a mistake…” she joked, continuing to try and lighten up her own mood.


The crackle of laughter did not bring a single ounce of amusement to Turin’s face, though he didn’t look particularly critical, either. In fact, his expression was almost a pleasant one, all considering. She probably wouldn’t believe him if he had told her he had had worst days… nevertheless, with plenty of distance between them and Mr. Slime, his hands rubbed across the thighs of his trousers, trying to ease the feeling of discomfort tingling through his fingertips. He felt dirty down to his bones, and no amount of scrubbing would ever wash that feeling down the drain, but what he wouldn’t have given for a shower… he’d have given his heart, which was beating much too powerfully in his chest given the situation. The oily darkness didn’t allow him to see very far ahead at all, but he had at least slowed to a walk and continued onward. Forward was their only route of movement now, unless they wanted to face the monster behind them again. “Maybe it was a mistake,” he agreed, eventually finding a shrug pinching his shoulders, “But at least you were just trying to help.”


Dylan fell silent, her hair covering her face from Turin’s height. “Yeah. Help.” It was true, she wanted to help, but it seemed she’d cling onto the worst possibilities, regardless of what the chances were or what she knew of the situation. Her sister’s face… she wondered if she’d even recognize her nowadays. The thought of whether or not she was even still alive didn’t occur, remaining locked away in the depth of her mind. “Why did you come? To the hotel, I mean.” Dylan wasn’t quite sure why she was digging into his motivations, but, somehow, it seemed only right.


Turin’s eyebrows raised across his otherwise smooth forehead, causing him to dart and glance back at her with his eyes turned pale grey in the dim light. “I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. It was so out of the ordinary for him, something he probably never would have done had it not been for the dripping in his apartment wiggling its annoying fingers into his mind and ripping apart all of his cogs and gear of sanity. “Honestly, I never would have gone had the invitation not been for today, I guess. I like my routine but…” he didn’t have a satisfying answer, “my apartment faucet had been leaking since I moved in and I always told myself I’d fix it. I never have, so, I guess I just wanted to prove to myself I could actually do something for once. Why’d you host the meeting?”


Dylan exhaled forcefully, the glimpse of a grin graced her face. A dripping faucet was just about the oddest reason to embark on something that’d culminate in finding grotesque machines and abominations covered in red gel. Their steps lead them into a section where the darkness seemed to lift a little, some source of light closeby. “I…” She couldn’t remember the last she had spoken to anyone about her motivation for just about anything she had done in the past years, and assumed she had never done so. “I was curious.” Her voice grew colder and lacked the animation of her previous words. “Look.” A collective of parting doors, all framed by monotonously colored matte-black accentuations, rutted and seamed with blue lamps laid ahead. No other exit or route seemed available. “Uhm…”


“Well, curiosity hasn’t killed the cat yet,” he pointed out listlessly, noting the change in her tone and deciding, ultimately, not to push the issue any further. Instead, she directed his gaze to a set of heavy parting doors straight ahead of them. It didn’t seem like a good idea-- but what about this ever sounded like a good idea? By now, Turin had all but given up on being the overly cautious gentleman, considering he was in a crumbling building, darting through dead bodies and slime monsters. “Somehow, getting on a lift seems like a terrible, terrible idea, but… shall we give it a go?” He pressed the button.


Silently, the elevator spiraled down to their story, opening with a quiet swoosh. Dylan tilted her head for a moment and sighed. “Doesn’t look like we get out of here without it.” A single raised eyebrow on her face, she stepped forward, scanning the sparse selection of button. “I guess we have to hope for the best.” she deduced, then pressed the only available layer. “You don’t happen to know what to do in case we crash?”


The lift lurched a little, the doors swinging closed and the machine beginning to lift them. God, he hated elevators. Always had, but he had a particular dislike for this one. “In case we crash? No idea,” he replied in a less than enthusiastic tone. Thankfully, no crashing was involved and the lift cabin slowed, locking itself into place before, again, the doors pulled apart.


As the elevator opened, two frames appeared, both clothed in the same overall in a dark shade of emerald green. Dylan jerked towards the side, trying to get out of sight and pushed Turin towards the other so he’d react. The two employees perked up, confused as to why the lift had reached their story. Both carried a large crate in the dim black of the elevator doors.


“What the-”


“Run!”


“Shit!”


Dropping the crate on the spot, the two scurried off, seemingly afraid of the peek they managed to get onto Turin and Dylan. The redhead stepped onto the less shaken up ground, her posture still defensive, as if read to retaliate against whatever. “What in the world was that?”


Turin was hoping to see more dark hallway when the doors open, as he wasn’t feeling particularly optimistic about them opening and seeing something nicer like… oh, maybe a hotel room or a luxury spa. Unfortunately, he didn’t get his wish. As the doors open, Turin’s eyes landed on two workers in overalls, though he was quickly shoved aside before they could be noticed in return.


“What was that all about?” He hissed in a quiet voice, dark silver and black hair sweeping across his forehead and sticking to the skin with sweat. Cautiously, he peeked his head around the corner, taking in the large black crate. “What the hell is that thing?”

Automated response - OOC Goals and hints:

⊷ Group A (Eve, Kaye, Vonnegut and Three) The echo of hurried steps precedes any possible steps made by the group. Though Kaye's offer was cautious, it seemed caution was thrown into the wind by the two people now storming back into the room where Kaye, Eve and Three had ended up. A black haired male and a brunette woman, both cladded in green overalls who sported an intricate logo on the chest, right above the heart.


"Do you think they'll come after us?"


"I don't know!"


"How did they even get in here, I thought they were-"


"Shhh!"


The female worker seemed to have heard something.


⊷ Group B (Idras, William, Shadin, Brian and Arina) Lead by Idras, the group is forced to adjust and cope with the disastrous scenery. Despite the gut-wrenching mess a few of the bodies have become, squished underneath the gravel, a single soul seems unaffected, even unaware of the mess. Intense sobbing intertwines with the sound of fine sand swirling around, and with irregular chunks of the ceiling dripping down. "What have we done... What have we done..." Almost surpressed by the desperate cries, the voice remained uncanny. The very same man they had met earlier, the one that had shot and killed Elliot... he now was weeping a little further ahead, he back resting against a confusingly setup console, of sorts.


@Aldur @Mordecai @Poe @Coin @CRiTiCAL ERR0R @korigon @BlueInPassing

 

[hosaki]

Arina Smirnova

​

When the gunfire started, Arina was sure that it was the end. The hellish shaking of the air, the ground; who knew how long they would last? She would have broken down into tears if she could, but the situation had long passed that threshold, way back when they’d first been kidnapped. This had become a different kind of fear, one that consumed and riveted the victim in the face of certain death.


Still, the girl was caught off guard when the ground gave away once again, though experience should have told her that whatever situation they were in, no matter how dire, could always worsen.


Eye whites flashing wide in terror, she twisted her body in an attempt to break the fall, or at least to avoid slamming face first into the ground. The impact against hard concrete left her entire side in a state of almost numbing shock. White hot pain seared along every nerve ending of her body, swallowing the beginnings of the scream that had threatened to emerge forth.


Her mind told her that she had been out for hours, though the lapse in consciousness had in fact only lasted for a few minutes.


Arina sat up with a gravelly cough, sending more fine dust particles swirling in the air. Besides minor scratches and bruises, a small cut on her forehead yielded a disproportionate amount of blood to the severity of the wound. Through the tears and the blood and the grime, she could just make out the back of one of the members in the group, currently hunched over and digging through the rubble. The speared through corpse and the crushed body elicited a brief stare of horror before she turned away, unable to bear the sight.


Hobbling over to Idris wordlessly, she began aiding him in his rescue efforts. Even if it was the old curmudgeon, they couldn’t just leave him to die -- if he was still alive that was. The grim thought quickened her movements. He was alive, she’d be sure of it.


As for the sobbing man, Arina could not even muster even an ounce of pity for him, so she erased him from her line of sight. He’d brought them here and ruined their lives. She didn’t even know if she could see her family again, and the bastard was crying? He had no right. The girl heaved the chunks of rubble off with as much force as she could.

 

[Coin]

<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_03/57a8c8c93a204_threehacked.png.ef06123533c127d3925d749fddff23c0.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="115004" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_03/57a8c8c93a204_threehacked.png.ef06123533c127d3925d749fddff23c0.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

​

No matter how hard Three tried to stabilize herself and Kaye in their rapid descent down the chute, it was simply impossible without correct gear and planning. Thumping her head on the way down, against the side made her vision go blur into static briefly before recalibrating. It had stunned Three just enough for her grasp on Kaye to slip and lose her bearings in the tumble. As she flailed to regain some sense of control, she abruptly hit the ground, followed by Kaye on top of her shortly after. Luckily, it was not the other way around.


As the two untangled from each other and gathered in their surroundings, Three accepted Kaye's helping hand graciously as diagnostics for her internal system were greenlit. Nothing broken so far -- she hoped to keep it that way. The voices were close, and the man that had fell down was still no where to be seen, and on top of it all the groaning of twisted metal supports still reverberated through the ground they stood. They were not out of the woods yet.


Three nodded at Kaye's request and took the lead towards the voices. For probably the fifth time during the day, she wished she had even a handgun or baton to work with, anything but her bare fists.


It didn't take long for them to encounter the people that they had heard talking, a man and a woman, and thankfully they seemed very much unarmed and equally determined to flee the deathtrap they found themselves in. With any luck, they might be harmless workers that could know of a way out.


"We're unarmed," Three proclaimed, raising both of her empty hands, "We must be here on some sort of mistake, but maybe we can explain once we get out of here. If you know where the exit is, we can help you get there if the path is obstructed."

 

[Aldur]

Eve gazed at the two ladies accompanying her. She smirked ironically. They make such a cute couple. What if Cole left because Kaye ran away with Three? A puff of air escaped Eve's nose as she crossed her arms. Before she could pop a "Come on, ladies! Look alive!", more voices took her attention from the two women.


"Do you think they'll come after us?"


"I don't know!"


"How did they even get in here, I thought they were-"


"Shhh!"


Eve instantly turned her head towards the noise. It was quite difficult to get a sense of accuracy with the echo and the smell, but she did manage to zero them down in the dim lit room. Her eyes widened when she understood what they were saying and more importantly, who they were. Eve's heart started pumping heavily once she also saw them, and what they were wearing.


Three spoke up announcing they're unarmed. Fuck yes, Eve was armed. Armed with a violent curiosity and a pair of dangerous hands. While Three was waving hers around, Eve clenched her fists. One way or another someone was gonna get punched.


"We must be here on some sort of mistake, but maybe we can explain once we get out of here." Her arms were shaking, and not from the smell.


Just control yourself. Remember what Cole said. Be. More. Calm. After all, they were in a collapsing building. They might have needed the two. Eve took a deep breath trying her hardest to ignore the stench and then coughed up all the air she took in.


"You eggheads owe us an explanation." she said while cleaning off the saliva from her mouth. "Otherwise someone will need reconstructive face surgery." Her tone was subtly menacing.


@Poe @Coin

 

[Sunbather]

Dylan was petrified, so confusing the whole ordeal appeared to her. Her hands still balled into fists, the right leg pushed forward, her body maintained a posture worthy of someone considering jumping a figurative thorn in their eyes. Turin's voice reached her, and she couldn't help but feel his words, though it was directed at her rowdy behavior, rather than the two shadowy workers. The hell was that about? Good-ass question.


Her flaming mane swirled as she darted around, her toxic eyes focusing upon Turin's rugged face. An apologetic shrug later, a sort of comedic air eased up the redhead's permanently tense vibe for the first time since they had met. "Tried to hide you. Didn't work though, I guess..." she deduced, following the steps of the now vanished workers. "C'Mon!"


And with that, she darted off into the darkness, her steps echoing in the hallway just as the pair of shoes belonging to the employees a moment before.


Meanwhile, the two workers flinched at Three's raised voice, immediately raising both their arms to signal capitulation. "Don't hurt us!" the man uttered while gnashing his teeth. The brunette stubbed her elbow into his sides, trying to silence him. Staring at Three, she scoffed. "Mistake's a funny way to describe whatever is going on. How could you possible even comprehend what we d-"


"You eggheads owe us an explanation. Otherwise someone will need reconstructive face surgery."


With Eve's roughhousing, she fell silent for a moment, then wailed. "Okay, okay! We'll help! But we really don't know anything. We just work here! The facility is not stable, so we brought all the hazardous equipment into the shelter room. That's all. But there's some people coming after us!"


Just as she finished, Dylan's step sounded loudly from the dimly (and flickeringly) lit area, announcing her arrival. "It's you!" she screamed, though she remained somewhat quiet, her breathy voice robbed of emphasis. An unusual expression of relief and happiness washed over her face. "TURIN! I FOUND THEM!" With a smile, fueled by their progress, she turned back to the group, noticing some absent faces. "Where is I... Where are the others?"


@Aldur @Mordecai @Poe @Coin

 

[Aldur]

Come on! Make a run for it! I feel like tackling someone!


The woman in the overalls stood silent for a few moments after Eve's pseudo-threat. Eve was one second away from barking out a "Now!", but it wasn't necessary. The notion that they just worked there angered the blue haired woman. She started pacing towards the two workers in a slightly menacing manner, unlike Three. She kept her clenched fists down, arms were slightly arched. She pointed at the woman and was about to tell her how Eve wouldn't call her bluff. She mentioned people following them.


But as she was about to start running her mouth one of those people showed up. Surprise! It was Dylan. And Eve was pointing directly at her.


"TURIN! I FOUND THEM!Where is I... Where are the others?"


"Dylan! For fuck's sake! You're still alive!" Eve exclaimed. "My mom's lip herpes fell through the same hole as we did, but he's somehow not here." Amazingly funny jokes at the wrong time were one of Eve's many talents. She sighed. "I don't know where the others are. Nothing makes any sense."


@Sunbather

 

[sorrow made you]

IDRIS DALCA

The sound of rubble moving and coughing made Idris look up. The girl! She was alive?! He sat back for a moment on his knees, catching his breath as he watched her crawl out of what could have easily been her grave. If she were still alive… maybe… just maybe there was a slim chance that the old man was still alive also. Leaning forward again, he continued to dig.


As the girl started to help, Idris couldn’t help but to pause to take a look at her again. She had a nice gash on her forehead. “Are you alright?” He finally mustered, ripping away a larger piece of what used to be the ceiling and pushing it off to the side. “What’s your name?” Finally, names would be exchanged. Wouldn’t it be more respectful to know the names of fellow survivors? Or… to give a name to be remembered by. “I’m Idris.”


Again he glanced at her, but then his attention went back to the carnage at hand. Should they continue to waste their energy digging? They should probably just reserve their energy and try to find a way out. Again he stopped digging and again he leaned back onto his knees.


But then… the sound so subtle at first, became more and more clear… that crying. What welled up in Idris’ chest was nothing short of pure anger and malice. Looking back, Idris spotted the very man that had brought them to this insane place.


“I wonder.” Idris called to the man, his focus solely on the man now. Slowly he stood, turned, and started to walk toward the man. “What have you done?” Closer, closer, till he was nearly standing in front of the man. Part of him wanted to strangle the man with his bare hands… but what would that get them if he actually had some information? “I suggest you start talking.”

 

[Poe]

K A Y E || M A T T I X

​

“They’re gone,” Kaye said rather abruptly, though she was relieved to see the others. Her mind had been functioning a bit clearer, but the words broke her down bit by bit. Gone. What did it mean to be gone? Could anyone come back from being gone? Cole hadn’t. She had seen loss. Corpses once at her parents’ facility. They were still. Gone did not always mean dead, but dead always meant gone.


Slowly she shrunk back into herself.


She needed a drink. She needed to sleep.


She needed to –


Kayana, deep breaths. Everything passes.


No it doesn’t, nothing passes and everything stays the same. Change is just a new coat of paint. She shook her head and looked away from the group. They were happy, together, and she – well, she didn’t know. Brilliant, they called her, and she shook like a leaf when judgment came. She was not scared. She wanted to care, she wanted to stand up and say that there were ways out. It was in her eyes, she could figure it out, but she shut herself down as she knew best. One bit at a time.


Kayana, you know this is not how we do things. Look at me, focus on me.


For what? For more questions? For hallways that turned to holes that turned to giant skeletons? For a purpose that she didn’t even know. They were the only ones left, and for what? Would they come this far just to fall down into a fate they should have expected?


Stop questioning.


No, that’s what got her here in the first fucking place.


Kaye looked up to meet their eyes, the few in front of her. Beyond the workers, it was Three and Eve, Dylan and Turin. Why were they here? Where had their lines of fate intersected and why? She glanced over each of their faces, Three’s determination, Eve’s gusto, Dylan’s relief and her eyes lingered on Turin for a moment. Sometimes, in their limited time together, she felt like his expression managed to capture what she was feeling. He had seen years and she wondered if he was pessimistic. If the world looked as dark from his eyes as it did from hers.


“I don’t know,” she admitted, “if they survived. No bodies, but we faced – well, a giant skeleton.”


“It’s a dangerous place to be alone.”

@Mordecai @Sunbather @Aldur @Coin
​

 

[Mordecai]

​

Turin was really damn sick of running.


Running and jumping and having his heart want to beat out of his chest (it had the mechanics to do so, he was certain), but when Dylan coaxed him along with an encouragement, he just sighed and trotted behind her. The length of his limbs carried him swiftly, much more swift than her shorter ones did her, so he kept an easy pace just a step behind her as she darted in to the darkness, his eyes following only the faint silhouette of her petite frame and the echoing sounds of their footfalls in the perfect tandem—clunk, clunk, clunk.


Dylan yelled at him again, she seemed to be making a habit of doing so, even though he was a stride behind her. The sound of her voice caused his ears to hurt and he physically grimaced. Still, the news she bore caused him to perk up. His tired blue eyes, as handsome as a sunny, clear day, tried to pierce the darkness. Was his vision starting to go? Should he go to the doctor for them if and when he survived this? Or was the space really just that inky dark—as if the darkness had solidified and was sliding across his face, down his body, and clouding out his vision, numbing his senses…


He snapped back into attention, swinging around the corner and coming face to face with a familiar crowd. The obnoxious blue haired woman was still present (unfortunate) and Turin’s eyes merely glossed over her, paying her no more mind than he absolutely had to. Turin didn’t find her sense of humor all that appropriate, or funny for that matter, but he supposed immaturity was a product of youth. Then, of course, there was the young woman he had bumped into accidentially in the hotel room… oh, she had introduced herself, what was it? Kaye? Yes, Kaye. What a lovely young woman. Troubled; he could smell it.


She had kept his gaze for a moment and he met it with a raised brow and something of a warm smile, though whether or not the warmth was friendly or not had yet to be determined. “Mm, a giant skeleton?” he echoed—now, that was a piece of humor he could laugh at, but something told him Kaye wasn’t the type to joke in such a situation and after all he and Dylan had seen, it really did spur any surprise. At least not as much surprise as it should have.


“This building is like a maze, unfortunately,” he commented—he and Dylan had been up, down, and all around it felt like… hallways that led to nowhere, rooms that seemed to have no meaning (except to house dead bodies), and endless twists and turns. Maybe he was just disoriented, but damn, he wanted his leaky faucet and a drink.


“I would suggest we all stay together at this point,” he replied, his voice heavy and dampened with exhaustion, but there was a small hint of something in his face—optimism, no, but awareness of the possibility of death. “And try and find a way out, maybe we’ll encounter the rest on our way.”


Probably unlikely.

@Sunbather @Aldur @Poe @Coin
​

 

[Sunbather]

Automated response - OOC Goals and hints:

⊷ While Arina seemed to crumble under the pressure of the situation and remained silent, the collapsed ground took its toll on the elderly body of Brian. Though, at least seemingly, unscathed, the man was clearly shaken up good, and the handgun that he had used to blindly fend off the facility's guards had slipped out of his hands, instead laying close to the crying man after it had skidded there.


In his crying fit, the stocky frame shifted, still leaned against the machine behind him. The large-pored face shining in his childishly excessive tears, as they reflected the room's dusty lighting. "You wouldn't... EVER! But it's true... By the unknown... how could we dare to oppose?"


Though incomplete, he still seemed coherent and, oddly enough, composed, though SOMETHING quite clearly had shaken things up inside this presumably brilliant mind of his. Idris, moving only slightly, felt the gun's unforgiving materal against his shoe. The small display gave the information that exactly 10% of ammunition was left over, which, for this type, a very common all-purpose handfire weapon, meant the next shot would be its last.


Arina still crying and generally looking shaken up, and Brian having to gatherhis whereabouts, Idras seemed the only one clear enough in the head to process just who had ended up here with them. Information didn't seem to be extractable, and the trigger suddenly seemed unnaturally appealing.


@CRiTiCAL ERR0R @korigon @BlueInPassing

 

[Sunbather]

The replies of her fellow prisoners seemed to hollow out Dylan's inside, which felt flat and void of air, for a moment. The dead-sounding aches and slowly tearing walls of the facility's upper stories sounded through to them, tipping Dylan on the shoulder, and pulling her back into the here and now, just in time for Kaye's answer.


"A... skeleton?"


Her alarm went off, and the tip of her nose seemed to perk up seperately from the rest of her face, as if trying to find tracks. "We came across one too. It was big. But it didn't... work, I guess?", she pondered, shortly looking at Turin to let him add to their findings, before remembering the other things they had come across, "We should probably get out of here first though."


The two employees were still shivering and made pathetic noises. "What about us?"


Dylan cleared her throat, as if to make an announcement. "I know I'm not your boss, but these guys dropped a crate. I say we get it." Her head hurt, and giving orders seemed utterly out of place, considering it was all her face. Yet, Dylan couldn't help but picture the outside, and them rushing into brightness, and somehow the imaginary success seemed so gargantuan that finding her sister appeared as if it'd just happened along the way, further convincing her that it was the right thing to lead.


"Three, right? she asked, eying the robot. She seemed just about the right mixture of strength and reliability. Plus, theatrics didn't seem to be part of her programming. Perfect, in Dylan's mind. "Could you get the chest thingy? Maybe there's something helpful in there."


She turned back to the two strangers, her acidic-glowing green eyes narrowing and the space between her brows fell into folds. "I think she wants to convince you to let us out." she barked out, brief and cold, pointing her thumb at Eve, who, admittedly, DID seem like she wanted to rip the two a new one.


Please just let this work out...


@Aldur @Mordecai @Poe @Coin

 

[sorrow made you]

IDRIS DALCA

Everything around Idris seemed to fade into black. At the moment, only the sniveling man before him mattered. Was he really just going to sit there and cry his face off? And his response made absolutely no sense. Was he too far gone to be salvageable?


Something tapped against Idris’ boot, making crimson eyes glance down for a brief second. It was that gun. His fingers twitched. His chest tightened. He was a mixture of emotions, all welled up in a ball of malice. Eyes returned to the man as he bent down and scooped up the gun. It was almost empty. Probably only one or two more shots left from what he could tell. But from his range, that would be all he would need.


Power.


Power was something Idris loved to feel. The ability of controlling a situation. He was no longer useless. And this man’s life was in the palm of his hand. A small chuckle erupted from behind the man’s lips as he leaned in and pressed the end of the gun to the greasy man’s forehead. “If you ain’t gonna say anything useful, then you’re no longer needed.” A sinister grin crept on his face and eyes pierced the man. Finger twitched on the trigger, and then…


Bang.


”You see, Dalca. This is what happens when you stick your nose into things that it don’t belong in.”


Faceless, a wry grin was the only thing that could be made out as the figure held a strange gun to a sobbing familiar face. Cries and pleads for mercy filled his ears before there was a sickening sound. Then… silence. The grin was splattered with red. Forever stained in memory.


Idris stared down at the bullet wound he had left in the despicable man’s shoulder. One shot, one chance, and he held enough of himself to keep the man alive… for now. Gun tossed to the side now, Idris pressed a thumb into the wound and grabbed the man by the throat.


“So, I’ll give ya one last try to tell me what exactly is goin’ on around here.” He seethed, straining his voice to be a little more than a whisper. Guns weren’t his thing. Killing someone with his bare hands… as barbaric as it was, distributed the power which he so brutally held. The other man could potentially have a chance to fight if he tried hard enough. But for now, Idris wanted to squeeze what information he could out of him before he squeezed his life out.

 

[Sunbather]

Automated response - OOC Goals and hints:

⊷ The shot sounded through the room. Loud, abrasive. Harsh, even when compared to the disgraced state of mind the guy was in. He was not entirely disconnected from reality, not entirely caught up in a now dysfunctional mind, as he screamed, loudly and pathetically, and the sweat started running from his corrugated face. The opposite's arm shooting towards the wound, he clutched his hand around the shoulder, screaming as he made contact with the sensitive exposed flesh.


"Please...", he begged, "we mustn't ourselves any... Ugrgh... longer... Kch... We're too late. It is over!"


Half gargling, half feverish and sprinkled with a somehow bulbously pulsing face, he plumped back entirely, his weight pulling his head against the metal console he leaned against, produced a thumping sound.


"Ugh..."


Moreso than distressed and in pain, he seemed to make a request almost, beggar-like in his posture and direct eye contact.


@CRiTiCAL ERR0R @korigon @BlueInPassing

 

[Aldur]

All this talk of skeletons...it made Eve feel agitated. Gargantuan, terrifying machine. Eve's gaze shifted towards the floor as she broke away from the current situation. She took a moment to observe everything around her, eyelids closing in, but not all the way. Her arms weren't crossed in an aggressive manner anymore, but choosing to rub her arms as if she were cold.


"What about us?" The employees called. Eve's eyes were now looking straight at them. The expression on her face was blank. No real emotion showed. She only saw five people from their original group, out of a total of 12 people. Less than a...Fuck knows how much time ago, they were all in a hotel room, looking for answers. The others could be dead. Eve had no idea. It was a spark. Her arms lowered again, fists clenched. That spark lit the fire. The ring fighter's eyebrows scrunched up once more.


Dylan tried to summarize Eve's intentions but failed to acknowledge one thing. The blue haired girl wanted to take her anger out on the two employees. She had no one else she could blame for everything that was happening in that very moment. Eve approached them, pacing slowly and broadening her shoulders. She measured them both from head to toes. The voice of reason within her mind paled. Consequences or not Eve grabbed both of them by their overalls and dragged them into the wall next to them, her steel blue eyes, aggressive eyes trying to pierce what remained of the two employees' confidence. She forcefully shoved them back into the wall.


Eve recoiled her body backwards in an attempt to stop herself from going further. Her head was pointed at the ground and she started breathing somewhat heavily. "You two are going nowhere..." she said in a weak but focused voice. Eve looked at the both of them. "Understood?" came the more convincing and demanding follow-up.

 

[hosaki]

Arina Smirnova

​

"Oh, yes. I'm fine." At this brief interlude, Arina swiped an arm at her forehead, expecting to remove sweat and grime, but came away with blood instead. Oh. That was why he had looked somewhat concerned. She admitted that the sight of crimson shocked her quite a bit, but it didn't hurt all that much, so she left the wound to crust over naturally and continued to work. "I'm Arina." Her hands tightened around a particularly large slab of stone as she said this. With a heave, she pushed it out of the way and gave a hollow laugh, though it was more like a short . "Nice to meet you, Idras."


They had been working for a while now, with no sign of life from the pile of rubble. He was elderly: it wouldn't be a surprise if he had broken more than a few bones during the fall. Should they stop? Who knew if imminent danger awaited them just beyond this room? She looked for a cue from Idras, her hands slowing in her uncertainty. When he stopped and walked towards the crying man with the intention of questioning him, however, Arina halted her actions completely. Her stare was uncomprehending, distanced. Maybe even tinged with a little bit of disgust, when she set her eyes fully on the pale bulbous features of their once-captor, now shining with snot and tears. Just like a toad. Who cared what he had done. She already knew enough; there was no need for more. Knowing too much -- that was what had gotten her here in the first place, that and the red-haired woman.


And her own damned whims. Her own culpability for her present situation was like a festering wound that had not closed. Once her mind had returned upon the idea, the self-blame, it had gone round and round with it until she did not know what she hated more -- the pathetic man before them, or herself.


An unexpected gunshot shattered her looping train of thought, the second one of today. This time, however, the weapon was gripped by somebody on her own side. She would have been grateful for the distraction, if it weren't for the overwhelming fear that seized her in that instant, the realization that Idras, too, could kill unprovoked. Eyes wide, she flew over in a panic. "What do you think you're doing? Let him down!" For some reason, her throat had gone incredibly dry. Shaking hands tugged uselessly at the man's arm in an attempt to pry his grip off of the other's throat. "Don't you see that he's not right in the head?" There was no use asking any questions if the interrogated was too broken to answer.

 

[Coin]

<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_04/57a8c91049276_threehacked.png.e7d2dcb3a40ea0ddabda26123e65cb75.png" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="117643" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_04/57a8c91049276_threehacked.png.e7d2dcb3a40ea0ddabda26123e65cb75.png" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

​

Three hadn't been involved in very much conversation, well, ever. While an ignorant man would have been fooled by her being an AI and indeed not human, her capacity for human empathy and learned social behavior was still limited to algorithms and electronics. While she yearned for interaction, especially after she had retired, it was not always the easiest task. It proved even more difficult when her brain was wired for high tension reaction, as the partially reformed group sought escape from the crumbling building.


"I am inclined to agree," Three nodded, eyes still scanning for anything that might aid in their escape. "We will discuss what we have gathered while separated once we escape. If we escape."


She didn't consider herself a pessimist, as many would have labeled her. Three was simply being realistic. At their current rate of evacuation, the possible losses that their group had already sustained, all in a very unfamiliar environment did not bode well for statistical analysis. And unfortunately for them, the longer they waited, the more likely they would find themselves a smear on the ground under many tons of falling rubble.


"I will open the crate, should we deem its contents important enough to slow our pace even further," Three began. "But it is my interpretation that if it was discarded by employees in favor of escape, we should do the same."


The AI inspected her wrists over again for damage sustained so far, but found the condition of her joints sufficient enough for a brief burst of strenuous labor. If the aforementioned crate was nothing extraordinary, Three figured she could easily pry the lid open in less than a minute. Still, that was precious time that the group could be well out of in moments.

 

[Sunbather]

A sigh of desperation left through Dylan's gritting teeth. What was it with these guys? Three was right. Painfully right, even. First Kaye, who completely disarmed Dylan, verbally, back in the hotel, now Three. Dylan wasn't sure if she should be happy to have gotten such capable minds on this awful journey, or if she was slowly losing it duo to the pressure. Either way, acting was required.


She nodded towards Three, to signify agreement, but yearningly stared towards the tunnel. "Please just get it. We'll leave it if it takes too much time." Her voice was uncharacteristically subservient. She knew she had no real authority, and now, with the mess she had brought about all of them, the pretty idea of a fake position of power was cracking faster than she liked to admit. Dylan couldn't bring it over herself to uphold the dog eyes anymore, and instead targeted the employees.


With boisterous steps, the readhead came to side with Eve, her brows furrowed so harshly that her glowing eyes almost disappeared. With tense facial muscles and balled fist, she didn't even bother to look at Eve and just straight up got into the woman's face.


"WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!"


The scream echoed through the room, even grew loud enough to overshadow the creaks of the collapsing stories from above at its peak. The sound of her voice straining soon made way to her heavy breathing, the chest heaving and nostrils flailing.


It just had to work. Somehow. Someway. Something had to be in this box, right? Why else would it have been of value? Needed to be protected? To be evacuated?


Her prosthetic foot kicked into the wall, so hard that she thought she felt the metal hurt for a moment. She felt useless. She grabbed the coat of the one so far fortunate enough not to be threatened by Eve, and let out a desperate grunt, almost choking him with the way she clenched onto the fabric of his generic oufit. Still breathing heavily, she let go with force, taking a step back. She looked towards Eve's vibrant head of hair, making her look like a sort of opposite mirror image to her own. "Just do whatever you want with one of them. We don't have time for this." Dylan's thoughts had trailed back to Idris, and how merciless and ruthless he sometimes was. Never to her, mind you, quite the opposite. But still. Maybe he was right to do these things. Hatred and anger grew inside Dylan. "We just need one to open it."


@Aldur @Mordecai @Poe @Coin

 

[sorrow made you]

IDRIS DALCA

Still nothing from this guy? Well then… Idris would be more than accommodating for the man’s death wish. He continued to dig his thumb into the man’s wound, adding more excruciating pain. Even as the greasy man stared into Idris’ glaring red eyes, there was no sign of sympathy from the gang leader.


But then, he felt something pull at his arm, wanting him to release the man from his tightening grip around his throat. Arina. Arina was pulling at his arm, attempting to pry him off. “Not right in the head?!” Idris snapped, furious at her comment. With everything that had happened to them so far… people had died because of this. And she still wanted this guy to live?! What logic was in that?!


Out of frustration, Idris growled and moved his hand from the man’s throat to the collar of the man’s shirt. With a rough shove, he pulled the man forward then slammed him back against the control panels. “Of COURSE he’s not right in the head! He’s a sick fuck!” He wanted to slam the guy again, over and over. But somehow, Arina’s plea seemed to give Idris some restraint. Much more than he would have on his own. “How can you want this piece of trash to live after everything he’s done?!”


Now his eyes were on Arina. Knuckles turned white as he gripped the man’s clothing. “We’re not the only victims of this. He fully intended to torture us, and don’t kid yourself on that. He killed someone right in front of our very eyes! Give me one good reason I shouldn’t end his miserable excuse of a life? He’s not going to be of any use to us. He might as well die like the vermin he is!”