➤The ✭ Perfect ✫ World ➧➧➤

[Okami Ameras]

The silent white female, who wore the too large robes, picked up Devon and followed her sister into the city, carrying devon as if he was little more then a sack. She followed her grey sister, and when they reached the long drop she stood and jumped feet first. Her long capeunfurled, revealing a pair of great wings. They caught air, slowing her decent as the rest of the mutants fell around her in similar ways as her grey sister. She was the last to land, but the most graceful as her wings folded behind her and resumed appearing like a ribbed cloak. She followed the group, until they reached the room where Chris and the others had been laied. She set him down next to Chris, before setpping away to again stand next to her sister.

Still ever silent.

~~~

The simple mech tilted it's head at a strange angle, before it's left arm just blew off completely without even a twitch of the rest of it.  

[Okami Ameras]

Hiddochi wolf

Hiddochi wolf

((Bump~ ninja ))

 

[Hiddochi wolf]

Rey stepped a little further away from the mech, "Okay... the final machine will need a more adaptive structure. Can't use nuts and bolts for that one." She commented aloud, withdrawing the emitter of a holographic computer from her pocket to record all of her observations.

• • •

Layla stood opposite of Genesis at the outer edge of a large, empty cavern intended for training. Her posture was perfectly straight, legs held firmly together with her feet forming a sharp V on the ground, right arm lifted only by an inch or two outward with her sword pointing further in the same angle. Genesis made a few adjustments to his own position before becoming entirely motionless. She gave a nod of approval, then again ceased all movement. In an instant so brief, Layla propelled herself into a spinning leap, blade outstretched forward. With mechanical precision, Genesis grabbed ahold of her sword by the blade, palm hovering mere centimeters above the sharp edge as his fingers gripped the dull sides tightly, and drew up his own weapon into an arcing slice at Layla while she was in midair. She released her grip for a split second; only long enough to shift her trajectory to circle around Genesis's side, where she planted a strong kick to his back. He released her blade as he tumbled forward into a roll, drawing up his sword in front of himself to be met by hers. Genesis threw himself to the side, dodging her second blow altogether and returning to his feet. Both of them inched closer together, until Layla initiated a series of rapid strikes at the other's weapon. They clashed every time meeting halfway, red on blue, blue on red. She struck once more at his blade, then quickly lunged her sword at the android's exposed stomach. A soft thunk! resounded as the tip of the diamond-edged blade tapped the robot's metallic abdomen, leaving no mark other than his symbolic death. Layla lowered her sword and stepped back, "Dead. You got too distracted by my upper motions to notice how vulnerable your midst was. If you were human, I very well could have even sliced off your legs instead to render you useless, but the stomach was a faster move considering your inhuman response times. Even machines have vital equipment housed in the abdomen."
"Understood." Genesis acknowledged, returning to his start position across from her. They hadn't been practicing long, but he could already see a decline in the woman's energy level; her breaths came harder, her hand slightly less steady than before, face flushed from exercise. Human opponents wouldn't be much of a problem — it was the Angels and Nemesis he worried about. He let his mind wander as the next scenario began, only to lose to her once more with her blade just barely in contact with the side of his neck.
"Dead. You're clearly distracted. Never take your focus off your opponent or the battlefield itself." Layla commented.
They returned to their respective ends one last time, and initiated the most fast-paced and vicious of the three sessions. They threw and tackled one another, punched and kicked, sliced and spun. They clashed blades again, and in an effort to knock Layla off her feet, Genesis used his whole bodyweight to shove against her weapon. She was tossed into the wall behind her, pain erupting in her skull as her head hit the solid rock. Just as she glanced up, Genesis's blade was descending upon her too fast to counter. The bridge of her nose and half the height of her forehead stung as blood trickled from the shallow cut. Her glasses were sliced cleanly in two and fell to the ground from her face. The robot beamed with a cocky grin, "Dead."
Layla stumbled forward, wiping her wound with the back of her hand, "You're learning very fast. It took me years to defeat Aerilo even just once..."
After his moment of victory, Genesis proceeded to help the woman by gently blotting at her cut with some cloth, "I'm sorry for hurting you Layla, I thought you'd block my attack. I should have been more careful to avoid injuring you regardless of whether you succeeded or not..." He grimaced thoughtfully, worry evident in his expression.
"It's alright, nothing serious happened." Layla shrugged, meeting his gaze. His nearly-white eyes now contained the faintest hint of color, and she knew that some part of her old mentor now possessed his features. He paused, taking in the look of wonderment that flashed across her face. She never dropped eye-contact, "You're exactly like him... You really are him..." With a shaky and deliberate motion, Layla leaned forward and wrapped her lips around his in a gentle kiss, then withdrew faster than she'd approached. She flinched away from the android, "I-I'm sorry, Genesis... Uh... T-that'll be all for today..." She stuttered, gathering up the two halves of her glasses from the ground and sheathing her sword before storming out of the cavern, her steps urgent to escape. What the hell had she been thinking? A robot cannot reciprocate affection, and even if he could, why would he? Her face burned with shame, adding to the ridiculousness the fresh cut gave her appearance. She had lost control of herself. She was blind to her surroundings as she fled, unsure of where she would end up — but she didn't particularly care, either. Layla entered the main workspace, then halfheartedly glanced around for someone who might be able to repair her glasses. Hopefully, Genesis would not try to find her.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Another creature approached from the hallway, a more humanlike male with agile and well-muscled limbs. He stopped between the two sisters, bearing in his hand the loose orb which belonged to the now-dead individual. He held it out for either of them to take, "There seems to be a problem... What shall we do with Uri's orb, considering there are no currently compatible candidates for it?"
The dark female accepted the small, glasslike sphere and examined its cloudy luminescence. It emitted a dull blue, far less brilliant than when its host still lived, and would continue to dim as time passed. She spoke mentally, allowing both the male and her sister to hear, "If we don't find a host for it within 48 hours, it will disintegrate. That'll leave us with only four of the originals... That's a sacrifice too difficult to make..." She shut her eyes in concentration, her face becoming an unbroken mass of darkness with the exception of her orb. "We cannot allow the memory to be lost. Are you sure none of the other hybrids can accept it?"
"Positive. I've presented it to each one of them, and it's refused to pick a host. They don't have the correct brain wavelength signatures for it."
She opened her eyes again, slowly half-turning her head toward where the group of humans lie. Something akin to sudden realization sparked in her eyes, "Do you think...a purebred could be compatible?"  

[Okami Ameras]

It wasn't long after that til the mech lost a leg and at that point just fell apart into a pile of scrap metal.

I climbed out of the rubble, dusting myself off.

Well, that was... Interesting.

~~~

As Eva walked her way back to Northwest she saw something that... shouldn't have made sense. Three people, walking in the middle of nowhere, carrying a whole lot of equipment. If Eva looked close enough she'd recognize the big and burly figure of Lukas and the smaller frames of Isabella and Odessa!

~~~

The silent white female looked to the orb, before reaching out silently to brush her fingers over the surface. She already had an orb, so of course it didn't react to her.

She turned her head to the humans before the dark female even mentioned it. She seemed to glide over to them, bending over to look over them all in turn...  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Rey finished typing out the last of her observations and glanced back to Scarlet, then to the scrap pile. An amused smile danced across her face, "That didn't take long, eh? I guess Northwest's reputation is true — you guys are rough on your equipment, but you sure know how to use it." She tapped the dismissal button on the emitter and returned it to her pocket, "Thanks for trying it, though. I have a better idea on the kind of structure the final machine will require... Sturdy, but extremely flexible body. Self-regenerating power systems. Multi-screen surveillance. What kind of weaponry would like to equip it with? I could start ordering the components now, to be ready on time for when your family arrives."

• • •

It didn't take her long at all to notice the three figures, though Eva at first questioned whether they were even real, considering that she hadn't slept all night or the day prior and it was now approaching midday. She squinted in the brightness and heat of the day, taking in as many details as she could before recognizing the three. Lukas's size was enough indication alone. She sped up her pace to catch up with them, and only spoke when they were fairly close, "Where are you guys going? Has something happened?" Eva questioned, alarm evident. Why else would they be hauling that much stuff away from their homeland?

• • •

The near-human male raised his eyebrow incredulously, "You would trust some stranger with that sort of power? Are you serious, Lara? Do you know the risks we'd be taking if that person decided to turn against us, or if they lost control altogether?"
"It's better in the flesh of a stranger than as dust in the wind." She retorted immediately, "If they became an enemy, so be it. There are thirty-two of us against one untrained orb-bearer, four of us being trained in the same skills. I think our odds outweigh the purebred's. Worst case scenario, we imprison the individual and preserve them solely for the orb until a new host is compatible."
He shook his head and sighed, "I can't believe this..."
Without another word, Lara approached the unconscious humans, holding out the sphere toward each of them as she slowly moved onto the next. None of the first four resonated with it, the dull blue remaining unchanged... until she approached the small redheaded boy. The orb suddenly burned like blue fire in her palm, energy swirling excitedly within the round encasement. She turned to face her two companions, "It has found a host."  

[Okami Ameras]

Our equipment has to be extremely sensitive to what we do, or has to be heavily shielded from our energies. Otherwise, Everything dies. There are people like me there, who are at least twice as strong as I am. Things die quicker around them then me if that's not the case.

I pondered what she had said. Multi screens? Weaponry? Self regenerating power systems? I got a look of confusion.

I... From what I understand, any weaponry this mech... my mech... uses will be entirely external...

The reason for my confusion is this-- I was in a constant 4 way telepathic conversation with my parents and my sister, talking about our little project.

Currently this what was going on in my head.

Can I have kitty claws? I want kitty claws coming out of the fingertips! No! No kitty claws! We'll give you clawed katars that attach to the wrists. But I want kitty claws! The katar would get in the way of the inner structure. Fine fine. We can make them so they graft onto the thighs... Like a gun holster. Okay! Can they be made with cool plasma arcs??? Okay, but they'll have to have tiny mercury generators. Okay! You can say okay. Its not like they're eas--- Wait, they are. Never mind. Kitty ears and tail? Noo. Awww.

Mental silence for a moment.

You're being awfully quiet Odessa. That's because, you know, I'm actually doing the work. Oh? I've figured out the equation to make a very powerful sniper rifle which can take a slug of solid matter and by putting it under intense magnetic fields which not also narrow but become more intense down the barrel, super-condensing it into a singular point projectile.

As this point my look of confusion split into the biggest grin (with the sharpest teeth) anyone had ever seen as I eyes widened with what could only be a sort of twisted joy.

OH! OH! I LIKE THAT IDEA! Whee! I then stopped and blinked at Rey. Opp, did I speak out loud?

You've come up with a black hole rifle? Yep! Fantastic! And here I was gonna suggest a flamethrower that came out the arse! ~everyone cracks up mentally~ Wait wait. You won't give her kitty claws but you'll give her a black hole rifle? What? It's ********' cool! "SCIENCE!" Gerald!?! What are you doing in this conversation? "Science." He's been helping me with the equation. I see.

~~~

The three family members looked to be a little preoccupied, though they hadn't been speaking or anything-- though Odessa had a notepad and was furiously scribbling down notes into it.

They all glanced over, almost synchronized in their movements.

Hi Eva! We're going to visit Scarlet. We have a project to work on with her. Wanna come along?

~~~

The silent white dragonlike mutant had been waiting next to the small red-headed boy. She looked to Lara and nodded in approval.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Rey pondered what she said for a while, both of them falling into silence as Scarlet trailed off into her mental conversation. If she was truly this strong and destructive against machinery, this mech would need to be vastly different from anything they'd ever crafted before. Perhaps it could even be free of any definite power source, if these people were skilled biological engineers. Fill it with living flesh, run it using pressure-sensitive nerve endings that trigger muscular response to operate machine motions, give it a beating heart and feed it with slow-release nutrient serums... Protect the flesh with adaptive, magnetized armor and weaponry. The mechanic was getting flooded with ideas just as Scarlet yelled excitedly about something unknown, which caused her to nearly lose her balance with shock.
"Uh... Are you alright, Lady Scarlet?" She asked in a half-amused manner.

• • •

Eva noticed how oddly they acted, but shrugged it off as something to do with their abilities. Odd by any standards was normal for them. She perked up slightly at the mention of Scarlet, "Sounds like fun... Sure, I have nothing better to do except wait for the simulation to collapse so I can save it." She smiled wryly, "And even that seems to be a matter of pure instinct..."

• • •

Lara knelt down beside the small human and gently propped him into sitting against the wall, facing forward. She held the orb in between her thumb and index finger, keeping the vast majority of it uncovered as she moved it closer toward his forehead. The closer it became, the harder the sphere pulled against her grip — almost like a magnetic force. Carefully, she positioned it over the exact center of his forehead, then released it completely. The luminescent ball pressed into his pale flesh, and slowly, it bent and tore a crater in his very skin and bone to seat itself within. The loose edges of skin crept up along the outer diameter of the orb, forming a sort of eyelid. Lara wiped up the small trails of blood which fell from the fresh transplant site with a cloth. The sphere continued its roiling light pattern for another few seconds, then changed abruptly into a pulsating light as it synchronized with his heartbeat.
Just as she returned to standing, the boy's whole body gave a sudden and violent twitch prior to a blood curdling scream.  

[Okami Ameras]

I gestured to Rey to follow me towards the gates. I started to walk, heading through my faction, my province.

I am fine. Just a little distracted. They will be arriving soon; would you like to meet my family and one of my friends?

~~~

Good! Or bad, depending on your views on the simulation.

Odessa had a large steel suitcase in her hand, which was polished enough to be shiny. Isabella had a huge oil and grease stained duffle bag slung over her shoulder. And Lukas was hauling (by himself) two full sized carts of what looked like strange medical equipment-- of course there were random odd bits here and there-- like a brass ball, 10 five-gallon jugs of water, two of which were empty and an ice-cream maker.

((Before I respond as my little white one, can I know what the orbs are, what they do, and what they allow the hosts to do?))

 

[Hiddochi wolf]

The Northerner followed eagerly after the girl, "Certainly, ma'am."

• • •

Eva thought about that for a moment, considering her stance on the issue. Did she really hate the simulation? Not quite... Did she miss living in it? In a way... She missed the ignorant bliss, the joy of life she had prior to waking, but she also appreciated knowing the truth and hated the way the government has done things. She felt like a walking wad of contradiction. She frowned as she walked a few paces behind all three of them, "I'm...undecided. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. It's the only thing I can't seem to form an opinion on. Then again, maybe my brain's betraying me and won't allow me to think mutinous thoughts about its birthplace and reason of existence." She scoffed at the idea. That didn't exactly sound far-fetched, though.


((The orbs are technological devices the government developed pre-warfare for unknown reasons; they're microcomputers that run on specific brain wavelengths and sync up with a user whose brain is compatible. They essentially amplify anything the brain has potential for, hence the fact that it lets the user gain telepathy/heightened empathy, telekinesis, energy sight (user can "see" through the orb any electrical, magnetic or otherwise energy-based flow or fields), and heightened acclimation for solving complex logical or computing problems. They also store all of the memories of the previous users' lives. However, if an orb goes without a host for 48 hours, it self-destructs to protect itself from being used by unauthorized personnel. These are the "original" orbs that were manufactured for the first-generation Angels, which were mutants that were stored underground in cryogenic sleep as emergency soldiers if war ever occurred, but because this city remained miraculously undisturbed by the blasts, they awoke just after the war and commingled with the surviving humans to produce the hybrids our characters are. The orbs have been passed down to this generation, and as they die, new hosts need to be found. Alena and the neo-Angels have upgraded orbs that were manufactured postwar, so their abilities are a bit different.
Because the orbs were meant to be communication tools between the Angels, they basically connect all of the orb-bearers' minds to the point that when one gets injured, all of the bearers know and feel the pain as well.))  

[Okami Ameras]

Well, it is your choice, to save it, or condemn it. We Northwesteners don't truly care much about it. It's there. So what? But we suggest not telling anyone else. They may try to kill you. Or something else, to try and prevent you from re-constructing it. Upon this, use caution.

As they walked, they saw the tall walls of north again. Isabella looked upon it with a neutral look before smiling, and breaking the syncro-speak.

Ahh, it's been so long since I've been to North. My first home.

Lukas leaned forward, his eyes focusing hard. The man was covered in a great deal of sweat as he stopped, reached into the cart and pulled out one of the 5-gallon jugs. He upended it fully, his lips directly to the neck of the jug, and started drinking heavily. He didn't stop until he had drank, all in one go, a good almost 1/3rd of the bottle!

Odessa was next to him, also slick with sweat. It was almost pouring off of her worse then Lukas. He brought the jug back down and righted it, and then she took the huge thing and started drinking in the same fashion.

Isabella on the other hand, had been sweating herself, but not nearly on the same scale and she needed no water. Instead she and Lukas looked to the walls of North as Odessa drank.

She's waiting for us.

Odessa finished her drinking, and she had emptied a good half of the jug... ontop of what Lukas had emptied.

Good. Lukas said with a grin. I'm looking forward to air conditioning.

Oh come on. It's not that bad out here.

Easy for you to say! You're fire and stone! We're plant! And Water! They both shouted at her in unison.

Fire Types! They have to be so smug about being able to live in insanely hot temperatures!

~~~

I lead Rey to the walls of North, where we stood together, facing to the west. I smiled when I saw the four figures approaching. They were stopped for a moment, looks like for water.

I smiled. It wouldn't take long for them to get here.

~~~

The white one shuddered and put her hands over her orb... remembering what it had been like to get her own orb. she looked to the other pure-breads, wondering what they would do now.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

The synchronized warning made Eva realize the harsh truth; she was as much an enemy to the factions as she was to the government. Had they known, anyone at West may very well have blown her head off as a Caretaker would. That thought sent shivers down her spine. And now she would enter more enemy territory, albeit under the Northwesterners' guidance. It felt like the world itself was against her...
The rapid water-chugging and argument cheered her up. Eva was rather parched, too, and hadn't realized until then just how freakishly long she'd gone without food or water. She wondered if that was due to being of the wind element, or because her body was artificial. Either way, that trait was rather convenient. As they took their break, her eyes strayed to the enormous walls in the distance, and the hints of golden glamour beyond.

• • •

Lara winced away from the boy, feeling every bit of the pain he underwent, seeing the horror that flashed through his half-conscious mind. She tried to send calming thoughts and feelings to him, but they only halved the misery. The other humans began to stir. Before they could pose a threat, she focused on each human's weapon until the collection of guns unholstered themselves and floated straight into the air, then were tossed into the male mutant's arms. He disappeared into the hall to hide them. Lara guarded the hallway entrance as she waited.

His head throbbed with a skull-splitting pain, a strange new pressure sat in his forehead. His eyes were closed, yet he could somehow see a distorted, glassy image of a dark storage room, with two mutant creatures standing before him. Lines of jagged light ran through the ceiling and walls, leading up to the overhead light fixtures in the hall — was that electricity flow he was seeing? This couldn't be real. He was dreaming, right? Yeah, it was just a dream. It had to be. But... what if it wasn't? Chris started to panic, unable to move his body or open his eyes, yet he was perfectly conscious in his own head. Then he got flooded with a calm sensation, and saw things like a picture of some generic ocean, an empty field, a sunny sky — things that existed before the war. Why was he thinking about these things? It was like something was invading his mind against his will. It was trying to help him.
Something stirred in the corner of his glassy vision, a movement from the lump of dark fabric that lay next to him. It sat up suddenly, something incoherent was mumbled. He recognized the voice was Devon's. The man muttered something else, glanced over to the two mutants, then leaned over in front of Chris. His eyes got as wide as saucers with shock. 'What? WHAT?! What's wrong?' Chris shouted in his own head. Devon jumped back, then spoke in a shaky voice, "C-chris? Was that...you? What have they done to you?"
"He is now an orb-bearer, like us. We needed to find a host quickly, and he was the only one to resonate with it." An odd, female voice spoke out in his and Devon's minds just then. She was soft-spoken, and had an accent of some kind where the S's were over-pronounced. Had he not been paying close attention, he might not have heard her at all.  

[Okami Ameras]

Odessa offered Eva the water jug.

Here. You need it. You need to start taking care of yourself more Eva. Especially if you want to practice our arts. It's no good to constantly starve yourself unless it's for a training exercise.

Isabella nodded in agreement. Yeah. We're like hummingbirds--We go through energy like crazy. Not to mention it's dangerous enough art in the first place... You do something like not eat and try to use one of your... 'abilities' and you're likely to over exert yourself and even kill yourself.

As a wind type it's most dangerous. You learn to.... metabolize air. You don't feel hungry or thirsty, you feel like you are always full of energy.

~~~

The white one sent soothing feelings too, to try and help calm the pain of just getting the orb. She seemed almost cute, sitting next to him in her too large robe with her emerald eyes wide as she watched Chris. She looked to Devon with the same look when the older man awoke, as well as sending the same soothing feelings. Hers were much stronger though... but it didn't seem like she was doing it on purpose.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Eva accepted the jug and drank probably about an eighth of what the other two combined consumed. She dumped a small amount of it into her palm and smeared the water on her forehead to cool down, then capped up the jug and returned it to Odessa. Even while wet her skin burned in the intense heat; it was midday, and with the ruined atmosphere it wasn't uncommon for temperatures to reach nearly 110-115 degrees. She grimaced, "I don't try to neglect myself... I just forget. In the simulation, I could go days without anything at all because it wasn't physically necessary. It was uncomfortable, sure, but not detrimental. I just don't realize when I feel hunger or thirst anymore because I was so accustomed to ignoring it."

• • •

Devon's muscles suddenly relaxed, nearly causing the man to go completely limp. It felt like he'd just taken an overdose of anti anxiety medication. He had to focus really hard to verbalize any of the questions swirling in his head, "Who are you people? How do you survive in this city? Why did you abduct us?"
It was the same voice as before that replied, "We're... mixtures, of artificial beings created long ago and humans. Our generation really has no purpose, as it was the Originals who were given these orbs for a reason. We're trying to rebuild this place, and we have learned everything we know from the purebreds before they ceased. I am known as Lara." Upon hearing the final sentence, an image of the darker mutant flashed in his head and Devon turned to face her. Her brilliantly blue eyes looked positively crystalline in contrast with the ashy grey of her skin, "Not all of us have purebred style metabolisms; most of the orb-bearers process raw sunlight and heat for energy. Some draw their nutrients from fluids only. There are just a few who require both food and water, and there are a lot of stockpiled supplies around the city that they take from. No one has really disrupted us until now, except for when the metal men came years ago. The metal men killed half of our kind while the rest hid and watched it happen. I was underdeveloped then, like your small friend. Your foolish comrade's violent act made us react defensively... I can more easily disable all of you if you're close together. I know not what the rest of our kind intends to do with you, but I can guarantee that the small one will remain completely unscathed. I have no reason to keep any of you others, nor do I particularly want to cause you harm."

Chris watched and listened to the whole conversation from his third eye, his body remaining unresponsive. The calmness seeped deep into his mind now. He focused on Devon, trying to access the man's mind in the vague hope that he might be able to see a glimpse of himself in recent memory. But something went wrong... Devon was violently tossed into the opposite wall, and his own glassy vision tinted crimson. He distantly felt something warm and moist drip down from his nose and out of the corner of his mouth — blood, maybe? The headache came back despite the calming effect. He tried to apologize mentally to the man as Devon sat up, rubbing the back of his head sorely. His attempt only worsened the pain and blurred his vision.

Lara's gaze immediately shifted to the small human as the man was thrown, noticing how his orb turned red and blood started to leak from his nose and mouth. She spoke only to Chris, "Stop! You're not in good condition to start using it yet; your body is over-exhausted from the transplant, and will only recover if you enter full sleep. Currently, your brain is active despite the body's needs. We call this hibernation. Hibernation is only optimal when you require minimal rest, as it allows the body to semi-deactivate while you're still perfectly conscious. To disengage entirely, stop focusing altogether. Let your mind slip away from the orb."