The Machine [Open/Accepting]

[lil_lollypop1]

Just as the nun came in, there were several thunder strikes nearby with the sound of rain pattering on the roof. The nun jumped slightly from the noise before walking up to him. "Here you go." She smiled. It was a large bowl of chowder with fresh bread. "Would you like anything to drink?" She asked.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Thank you" Damien said. He didn't have time to get the rest of the stuff on before the nun came back. He thought for a moment on what to drink. "Do you have any red wine?" he asked. He figured in a city like this, they must have had some of that.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Yes." She smiled, pulling out a bottle of red wine from her cart and opening it. He then poured him a glass. "Anything else you would like?"  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"No, that will be all for now" Damien spoke with a smile to the nun. He had a shower, he had his food, he had a place to rest during the storm. He was good for now.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Alright then. Good day." The nun replied. She also went to Jian's door and delivered his chowder too.

Jian slipped on a robe since he just got out of the shower before opening the door. Jian asked for a glass of tea and she prepared it to his tastes. She then left and Jian got dressed in the silk outfit before beginning to eat.

"Any matches?" Lianne asked a nun from the healing ward.

"Yes actually. A girl who just came in." The nun replied.

"Alright then. I will go speak with her and see if I can figure out what those two have been really doing." Lianne muttered.

"Forgive me for asking, Grand Priestess, but is that really right?" The nun asked.

"Of course. This is the one place criminals are aloud to turn over a new leaf, and lying is not part of our belief either. I want to hear both sides of this matter before I make a decision and those two were being vague." Lianne replied, walking into her room and closing the door. She slipped on something a lot more light, as well as a simple veil. She then walked out of the room. "I don't want to alarm her, but if you would, bring her to the window room. I would like to watch the storm."

"Yes ma'am." The nun replied.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Damien ate his meal and then sat back and enjoyed a moment of tranquility. Well, at least until a loud clap of thunder happened. He wondered what Jian was up to. Damien got up and walked over to the wall, then knocked on it. "Jian, can you hear me?" Damien asked through the wall.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Huh? Yeah. What is it?" Jian called to his friend.

Shadow was brought to Lianne, covered in a few bandages and wearing a basic cotton tunic with her clean hair braided. Lianne was sitting next to a large window as she finished the last bit of tea in her cup.

Shadow slowly walked over to Lianne and sat down across from her. "You called for me?" Shadow asked. "I take it you're the one in charge of all those nuns."

"She is the Grand Priestess Lianne." The guard at the door told Shadow with frustration.

"Now now. No need to get brash." She told him. "It's quite alright."

"The Grand Priestess. Just my luck. Well, what can I do for you?" Shadow began.

"Why not begin with who you are and then I will tell you why you were brought to me." Lianne relied.

"Fair enough." Shadow replied. "My name is Shadow. I'm worked as an information salesman in Diethelm for years. I was very active during the war. I know the Crown Prince of Helmshire, the leader of the rebellion, and Damien all personally. Unfortunately, fate can be a cruel mistress." Shadow replied. "So tell me, what do you want with me."

"It is not I who wants you. Mr. Blackrose and his general have come here looking for you. It was strange. They didn't care whether or not they got you back. They only cared to cover their own skins if your assassination brought any international trouble. Apparently you were being chased by some unknown organization. Am I wrong?" Lianne asked.

"Spot on." Shadow grimaced.

"Given that because of the storm, both they and you will be stuck here for the next two days, God willing that the damages are light enough that you can safely escape." She replied. "So tell me, what value do you have? Did you run across some government secrets?"

"Oh those? I have enough of those to write a novel, but no. I mean, Damien knew about those since the day we met and he still hadn't caught me until that one time I saved his life. They gunned me down with enough tranquilizers to knock out an elephant and I was still walking." She told her. "But no. Though my sales have gone up since the war ended, Damien's not interested in secrets now that both the rebels and Helmshire are gone. No, he's trying to recreate a dangerous bio-weapon that supposedly no one would be able to survive. When I was a kid, after my parents died, the entire town suddenly got a strange sickness and everyone died, including my sister. I was the only survivor. I found out they were using that town as a testing sight for that bio-weapon. I'm immune. But they quickly learned it wasn't just that either. I was stuck in a vat for nearly a year as they dissected my DNA. I will live 500 years, and I develop fast, high immunity to all sorts of drugs and poisons. There are also other things too... and it was strange. One or two I could understand, but when there were that many, I began to think I may have been created by humans to be that way. But Damien wants my genes so he can live longer, make super soldiers, and utilize that bio-weapon without putting his own nation at risk. They already have many blood samples for now, but as soon as they run out, they'll go hunting for me again."

"I see... You wouldn't happen to have... this tattoo, would you?" Lianne asked, lifting up the sleeve of her right arm and showing a strange tattoo.

"That's..." Shadow muttered, lifting her own sleeve and showing an identical tattoo.

"When you said bio-weapon, I was afraid of that..." Lianne sighed.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Just making sure I wasn't interrupting anything. I didn't know if you wanted any alone time" Damien replied. It felt nice just to be by himself for the moment, but he did enjoy the company of the Chief General.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Nah. I'm just relaxing and drinking tea." He replied. "How about you?"  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Enjoying some relaxing time. Hopefully the storm won't pass over too long. I wonder if we can send a message out stating that we're safe here in Mt. Angelo so that people don't worry" Damien said. After he said that though, he had a thought. Maybe they shouldn't. Just to see how the other higher ups would react. Would they be worried? Or would they try and take over?  

[lil_lollypop1]

"I've got a little signal on my smartphone the last time I checked, but not much. I turned it off to conserve power though. Should I try to send Monica a message?"  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Actually, I had an idea. Can I come into your room? Are you decent?" Damien asked. He'd feel out of place if Jian was still in full uniform, though there was no reason for him to be.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Yeah. I got into the silk clothes since my uniform's still pretty dirty. Come on in." Jian replied.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Damien left his room and walked into Jian's. "So, how do you like the place?" he asked once he was in. This was probably Jian's first time here.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Well, it's a lot better then I was expecting." Jian admitted as he came in. "The tea is delicious."