Frightened, Chimera? [Remake] (O / A)

[AninOnin]

Yani had one last thing to say. "I'm sending my son to deal with Mr. Galaway. If the chimerae survive the encounter, I'm going to consider them 'released' into society. I don't believe I'm expected to provide them with anything but their freedom." Yani adjusted his tie a moment, then sent the order to Jared with his mini-TAIS. No doubt he was sulking. "Thank you for coming," he offered, escorting Smith back to his car. "I will await your men tomorrow."

The screen on Jared's mini-TAIS lit up, silently displaying the message from his father, and an address. He was given permission--finally!--to hunt down his old friend. He was also supposed to deliver a message, business matters obviously, but that was less interesting to him. Within moments, he had his duffel swung over his shoulder, car keys in hand, and set out past Smith and his father towards his own vehicle. Since most of the chimerae were relatively defenseless against bullets, and Smoke was the primary target, Jared brought only his stainless steel AutoMag IV, a seven-shot, semi-automatic handgun with .45 rounds. In short, it was a big gun with rounds proven capable of taking out an elephant. In a fast shoot-out, without time to aim properly, Jared trusted anything elk-sized to go down.

--

Smoke stopped, turned around with John in his arms, and met Apsalar's eyes. She hadn't spoken in a while, so it surprised him slightly that she spoke up now. She'd asked him to wait. Had she forgotten something? Maybe she'd brought another dead rat inside... But no, her face betrayed some conflicting emotions. Confusion. Rapid thought. Suspicion.

He didn't quite understand her question, but maybe he could address her worries anyway. "It's a safehouse. Where we'll be safe. It's somewhere, I hope, that Jared and Yani can't follow us." He had planned to get them out of the country, and shared with them the plan. No wonder she was confused.

Hound spoke up then, and made Mr. Galaway pause again. All the chimerae had doubts, it seemed. John was unconscious, but he would listen to his group. Smoke shifted the boy's weight around in his arms and, trying to act as John would, asked "Does anyone want to go?" It was the wrong question though, and he could feel it. Chimerae instincts were more sensitive than his own, and he knew it. If they were uneasy, it was more than enough reason for him to be. "Does this feel wrong?"

He vaguely registered the other chimerae talking, saw Pup go to hug Hiccadu, and felt a brief flutter of jealousy and protectiveness for the chimera. He wanted to yell at him to "Get away, just get away from her!" but didn't. It was a new feeling. He didn't understand it, and wasn't sure he liked it, but also unconsciously knew it wasn't something he'd be able to change. For the moment, he kept his mind on the more pressing dilemma.  

[SpokenSoftly]

Smith nodded. "Of course. They will be wearing the PRI logo. And with that, I believe our business is temporarily concluded. I look forward to meeting with you again in good time, Mister Vent. Good day."

Smith turned and followed Jared out of the complex from a respectful distance, navigating around to his car in the parking lot and getting in as he flipped up his cell phone. As he began to drive he spoke into the mouthpiece, his voice noticeably different. "Hey, Don. Yeah, I got the bizness meetin' done with. Yeah, he gave the go-ahead. I swear, C.T.'s as nutty as a fruitcake. Don't go out o' that casino for anythin'. See you tomorrow, then? Perfect. Lunch at the Archangel Pagoda. My treat. Later."

He hung up, rolled down the window, and spat on the side of the road. He hated Donald Ertz with a passion, but the Chicago mobster was a good contact in the Windy City's underworld, and Smith couldn't afford to cut him loose for another month or so. Past that, though, and his relationship with Maxmillian Fent would ripen considerably and Ertz could be taken out of the picture. Now for a considerably more important call. His voice was back to its normal 'style,' but it seemed warmer, more human than before. "Hello? Hey, Jan. I finished up my business with Vent and the escapees. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be home tonight. Tell Ray that I'll read him one of those stories he likes so much. Yeah. Yeah, I found them. About half a dozen, from the sound of things, maybe more, with a scientist. Yeah. I handed them over to Vent on a platter, what else? They've got nothing for me, and I needed something to convince Vent that 'Carlyle Smith' can be trusted. Yeah, I know. I know. I know, I know already! Isn't that half the reason you married me in the first place? Yeah, if you say so. What? About half an hour, why? Chicken? Wrap some up, I've got to meet Ertz tomorrow and you know how long a drive that is. 'kay. Love you too. Bye."

((In my defense, I never called him single. >.<

Also, Anin: computer troubles?))  

[AninOnin]

((Not quite. I needed a break, to be honest xD It was unexpected, and I apologize for not letting you guys know D:

I should be good for a few days though. Been mopping up in Black Ops with a good friend of mine biggrin

Correction: He's been mopping up. I only do well when I'm by myself, probably a net thing xD))  

[SpokenSoftly]

((Nice. I don't normally do FPS, console ones aren't deep enough and my comp can't handle PC games. >.<))  

[AninOnin]

((I don't usually get on unless I'm playing with him. No fun playing a game without friends xD

Also, if anyone else plays Black Ops and has a PS3, ADD ME. That is an order from your roleplay queen.))  

[SpokenSoftly]

((No to the first, yes to the second. Can't to the third.))  

[LovetoCauseMayhem]

((Dude. I'm really tempted to make Hiccadu into a crazy party girl with this newfound freedom of hers.

That and I've had "Everywhere I Go" by Hollywood Undead on repeat for the last three hours. >.>))

Hiccadu was... hugged. Hugged. Physical contact. By this... tiny, tiny, childish Chimera.

He caught her around the waist, burying his face in her shirt, and she was caught in a severe case of AWKWARD. Her immediate want was to grab the brat by the hair and twist angrily until he let go, but her arms curled up against her chest awkwardly as she looked down at the boy, doing her best not to have any more physical contact with the boy if she could help it.

EW! She exclaimed her mind. GROSS! Get off, brat!

"Shut up, idiot." TAIS snapped at her. "The way you react to this will make it either harder or easier for you to integrate with the Chimerae and earn their trust! Get to it!"

Swallowing, and with a lot of difficulty, she lowered her arms in slow, jerky movements before reaching a hand down and patting Pup's head hesitantly.

"Uh... yeah..." she stammered. "Um, whatever kid. Please... get off... me?"

She had no idea how to handle this sort of situation. Of course she wasn't this brat's mother. She wasn't taught how to show affection or love or anything like that. She didn't have the capability to do so if TAIS didn't will it of her. So how else was she supposed to react.

Pup wasn't moving. She swallowed, and patted his head again, this time a little insistently.

"Please?"

Then she was aware that Hound had started speaking, and listened out of only one ear. She really didn't care what he had to say, but TAIS did. He was the other key. He would help her survive long enough to gain everyone else's trust.

Again, Hiccadu didn't know how to react. But only with pride.

"Thanks, but I don't need you to protect me," she snapped, scowling as she tossed her head, orange hair like a halo of flame. "I can take care of myself." Then she scowled down at Pup, becoming irritated as she pushed him away by the shoulder. "Kid, will you get off me?"

Huffing, she whirled back to Smoke.

"I don't care what we do," she stated. Her scowl deepened, and she crossed her arms. "If you want me to crush the van I can do that."  

[SpokenSoftly]

Jacobs waited outside. He'd been waiting for five minutes already for these idiots to get out here, and he knew that they knew he was here. He'd seen the human one right when he pulled up, out on the balcony like a greenhorn intel officer trying to set up a 'daring escape' scenario and failing miserably at it. And the two on the roof, obviously. So why weren't they out here already?

Jacobs honked the horn on his van loudly, to try and get them to hurry up. The sooner they got to the old Willow Street hideout and the sooner they were put away the sooner he could call Smith and tell him to come back and talk to the human some more. "Hurry up you idiots, I want my paycheck. And a nice ssscale rub. Mmmh, that would be excellent right now. Maybe Smith finally went ahead and got that Chimera-friendly area put into his casino? Hope so. I hate having to hide my tail when I go in there."

Jacobs had escaped almost ten years ago, and never looked back since. He'd hated the Vents, but realized several years back thanks to Smith that, despite the things they did to Chimerae, they were still only human. Now he hated all humans equally. Any species capable of the monstrosities the Vents had perpetrated on the innocent halfbreeds they'd made themselves didn't deserve kindness. Of course, he'd set aside his dislike for a bit to deal with cash-bearing humans, but that was his limit. "Come on, come on. I've got a dinner date in two hours and I don't want to smell like half-dog when Marsha shows up."

((My rationale for putting so many escaped and undetected Chimerae in Smith's list of contacts is thus: The PC Chimerae have numbers ranging into six digits, and yet the entire Vent family operation is contained within a standard-size slaughterhouse and possibly a few sub-basements. Laboratory equipment would need to take about a third of that space, 20% at minimum, and I know that you couldn't fit 100000 human beings in the rest of that area. There have to be thousands of escaped Chimerae in the world, if not more than ten thousand, and many of them living in the States or nearby since they'd have no legal identities and wouldn't be able to cross the ocean without a passport.))  

[AninOnin]

((You're assuming all the chimerae lived. In actuality, only one chimerae, at best two, survived out of the hundreds of potential subjects produced with identical DNA. After that, only a few survived to maturation, and after that, very few survived Jared and experimentation. There aren't thousands of escaped chimerae. There are thousands of dead chimerae.))  

[SpokenSoftly]

((Hm... Forgot to adjust for mortality. Still, TAIS only came online in the last fifteen years, there were likely multiple escapees before her. Even taking the mortality rate into account, there would be at least 500 successful escapees out of 100000, possibly more.))  

[LovetoCauseMayhem]

((Isn't it possible that the Vents simply decided to give the Chimerae 6-digit numbers for the ******** of it?))

Hiccadu scowled at the honking, and regardless of how Hound and Pup reacted, stormed downstairs to the van and gave the driver's side door a good, solid kick.

A decent-sized dent was the result. That and the entire van rocked to the side before settling down heavily with a shock-strained thud.

"Will you shut the ******** up with that horn?" She demanded angrily. "Yes, we know you're here. Yes, we know we're taking our time. Shut up!"  

[SpokenSoftly]

((True. Also, this next post is nothing personal against you or your character. Jacobs is just a naturally foul-tempered person.))

Jacobs glared daggers at the Chimera that had just ruined his sideboard. That was expensive paneling and it would cost him at least two grand to have it replaced. This took Jacobs' mood from 'poor' down to 'abysmal.' "I'm doing you and your friends a favor, little girl, and entirely of my own volition. Now apologize like the good little b***h you are before I drive off and leave you and your friends behind."  

[AninOnin]

((That should have been evident ;D))

Smoke, having heard the exchange, loved Hiccadu a little bit more. "Shut up," he told the man simply, turning back with his charge in his arms. He faced Hiccadu, looking back from her to the jerk, torn between going and staying. Though he tried to ignore Jacobs, he was aware that time was running out. Jacobs would leave, sooner or later, and Smoke didn't want their forced decision to be regretted later.

Hiccadu was with them, and it seemed she was making an insanely rapid recovery, according to the dent she'd made in her human form. She might still turn on them.

On the other hand, Smoke could always return to his original plan. Get the chimerae out, out of the country, somewhere isolated, barren, without technology to get them into trouble with TAIS. Then again, there were a lot of chimerae with him. Smuggling them somewhere else would be difficult, if not impossible.

Jacobs was an a**. Smith was an a** with a means to protect them. Yani was an a**, but at least he was straightforward about it. He would pursue them. Jacobs was a pawn in this scenario. Smith... He was trouble. He dangles the carrot in front of your eyes and laughs when you walk off a cliff you didn't see. Small sparks of intuition burned against Smoke's inner mind, but he wasn't yet sensitive enough to recognize them.  

[LovetoCauseMayhem]

((No worries. She is what she is. biggrin ))

Hiccadu opened her mouth wide in response, revealing wickedly sharp canines and other teeth that had pretty nice points on them, and viciously hissed like a thoroughly offended feline at Jacobs.

"I'm sorry..."

Effortlessly, she lifted herself up onto the van, creeping upside-down onto the windshield and letting her tongue loll out, licking her lips as she stared at Jacobs, a maniacal look in her eye.

"Hmm... I wonder if you taste as good as you look..."

Then she generously licked the window.

Hiccadu? Make a scene? Naaaaah. Good thing it was... dark out?  

[SpokenSoftly]

Jacobs grinned at the empty bravado and threats along with the apology. He could always do better. He grinned and extended his fangs as she asked about his taste, shifting halfway into his Chimeric form so that the fact that he was dominantly a King Cobra was extremely obvious. "Too ssscaly. Now get in, little girl, and bring your friendsss. Sssmith doesssn't like delaysss, and it comesss out of my commissssion if you don't hurry up. And get off my windssshield."

((Want to timeskip soon? I'm imagining it as around 9-11 o'clock at night right now. We could go to the next morning, maybe?))