NationStates

The Drone Empire wrote:"I do what I do because I must. Why does the ant follow the same daily routine? Because it must, to benefit the colony. You are what we consider an unexpected variable, you complicate the master plan, but do not halt it. With or without me it will succeed, we will succeed. We are perfect, we adapt, we change, we capitalize, we conquer. The weak fall, the strong rise, this is as old as your and I, indefinitely older. Why you bother with me and my actions I likely will never know, if what you say is true, you need not fear us. Others, but of course, but you? Clearly not. So I ask to you, what is it you want from me? There is more to do than chat, I assure you."

The ground reappeared beneath her and Bones reemerged from the shadows.

"True. I could kill you anytime I want. I have you completely at my mercy. But I don't want that. I want to help you, to show you how you are wrong and how you can help yourself. Sure, the ant follows, but are you a mindless ant? You are more then an ant, you are a thinking being."

Bone Fort wrote:

The Drone Empire wrote:"I do what I do because I must. Why does the ant follow the same daily routine? Because it must, to benefit the colony. You are what we consider an unexpected variable, you complicate the master plan, but do not halt it. With or without me it will succeed, we will succeed. We are perfect, we adapt, we change, we capitalize, we conquer. The weak fall, the strong rise, this is as old as your and I, indefinitely older. Why you bother with me and my actions I likely will never know, if what you say is true, you need not fear us. Others, but of course, but you? Clearly not. So I ask to you, what is it you want from me? There is more to do than chat, I assure you."

The ground reappeared beneath her and Bones reemerged from the shadows.

"True. I could kill you anytime I want. I have you completely at my mercy. But I don't want that. I want to help you, to show you how you are wrong and how you can help yourself. Sure, the ant follows, but are you a mindless ant? You are more then an ant, you are a thinking being."

"I am constructed for purposes of espionage and assassination. I think in those manners, for what helps me complete my mission. I may not be as simple as an ant, but a purpose in the grand scheme. Your help is not wanted, nor needed. It would do far more harm to you and all you love than any good you hope to bring." Dani said, relaxing herself, her form closed into it's common state.

Swith Witherward wrote:

The New Velociraptor Empire wrote:"I won't dare forget this date either." NVE said and nuzzled her on the beach.

She nuzzled him back and sighed, and felt herself drift off to the sounds of the ocean and his heartbeat.



Naomi did her best to lift Bran onto his bed. He was too heavy for her, but she managed to get him into a somewhat comfortable position. She covered him and tucked his plush gun under his arm, cringing at the volume of his snoring. "How can she sleep down here with all that noise?" she asked. She shut his bedroom door and straightened an Escher picture that had somehow gone crooked on the wall. A quick press of the remote button turned off the TV and DVD player. She let herself out of the bomb shelter again, locking the door behind her and trudging upstairs to her own apartment.

NVE carried Gretta to a nearby hotel and booked a room with a fake name and a paper-thin disguise. He made the bed more nest-like and put Gretta in before cuddling next to her and falling asleep.

Meanwhile back at the apartment...

Scarface sighed at the state of the wrecked apartment. He just knew he had to clean this up.

Meanwhile in the other apartment...
The historical figures bickered over who would get the bed. Joan of Arc won.

"What if I could give you the chance to see hoe wrong you are? What if I could put you in the body of a flesh and blood being that isn't a cog in the machine, cut off from the rest of your empire and thinking for yourself, to let you decide this for yourself? You've already failed in your mission, so there's no harm in accepting and learning a bit more. Not only do I want to help you, but I can. So please let me."

Bone Fort wrote:"What if I could give you the chance to see hoe wrong you are? What if I could put you in the body of a flesh and blood being that isn't a cog in the machine, cut off from the rest of your empire and thinking for yourself, to let you decide this for yourself? You've already failed in your mission, so there's no harm in accepting and learning a bit more. Not only do I want to help you, but I can. So please let me."

"You can try, but it will fail. They will come, and kill me, and send another just like me. As I said, I am better left as I am, to complete what I must, how I must. I thank you for your care, but billions will be lost to save me. Perhaps, you should think like me, for once. Sacrifice one for the many." Dani said, honestly speaking.

The Drone Empire wrote:"You can try, but it will fail. They will come, and kill me, and send another just like me. As I said, I am better left as I am, to complete what I must, how I must. I thank you for your care, but billions will be lost to save me. Perhaps, you should think like me, for once. Sacrifice one for the many." Dani said, honestly speaking.

"Dani, as I find myself repeating to so many people these days, how little you know about me. They will come, and I and my friends will face them, and they will wish they didn't come. And hopefully, I will get the chance to offer them this very same choice. Besides, we'll have a while before all of that. And thank you for trusting me. Now it's time for us to go. I'm going to tear your consciousness out of your body and put it into this little glowy orb thing (produces said object out of jacket) for now until we get you into that new body, so this may be a bit odd. It's going to be like you blink and when you open your eyes you're inside this little orb and staring out, but unable to do anything since you don't have a body, but we'll be back in the real world away from here when you do. You may want to brace yourself."

"Win, lose or draw, I am going home," Swith said as she poked another lifeless drone away from her. She unfolded herself from the park bench and stretched, appreciating the feel of fall around her. "I need to get outside more otfen," she chastised herself.

Bones walks by. He has a glowing orb in one hand and Dani's lifeless drone body over the other shoulder.

"I see you all had an interesting night."

Bone Fort wrote:Bones walks by. He has a glowing orb in one hand and Dani's lifeless drone body over the other shoulder.

"I see you all had an interesting night."

"I suppose you called dibs on the body?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

Bone Fort wrote:"Yes. Yes I do."

"That's alright," Swith said. "I'm just glad you made it out in one piece. Is she dead?" Despite all the friction between them, Swith did like the cyborg. "She always had such class."

"Yes and no. This..."

He held up the body.

"... is a lifeless piece of scrap. This..."

He held up the orb.

"... contains the devious mind that was formerly of said piece of scrap."

Bone Fort wrote:"Yes and no. This..."

He held up the body.

"... is a lifeless piece of scrap. This..."

He held up the orb.

"... contains the devious mind that was formerly of said piece of scrap."

Swith peered at the orb. "Clever. I won't ask how you did it. Not because you won't answer, but because I can honestly say I'm too sleepy. We don't need to worry about her equipment in the building, by the way. I purged it."

She yawned. "Well, Bones, I trust you to respect our Dani. As for me... I'm going to do something I haven't done in ages. I'm going to walk home and enjoy the season's change."

"I think I'll do the same. While carrying a glowing soul jar of an orb and a super-powered robot."

"Going my way?" she laughed, gesturing to the road leading to the building.

"Lead on."

"But of course."

He stopped to stare at her for a moment. He then resumed walking.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood right now."

"Hey, just what is that supposed to mean?" she snorted. "You're usually in a good mood, pineapples not withstanding."

"I'm going to ignore that. Anyway, I best get going, lots of work to do to get ready for the new arrival."

He held up the orb and stared into it.

"Goodnight, Bones," she said, opening the door to the building. "Let me know how things turn out for her. I mean that."

She yawned again and went down the stairs, calling back "Thank you for not destroying her."

"Don't mention it."

He walked back to his apartment to make ready for Dani's second chance.

As Naomi was trying to shove Bran into bed, he awoke. He looked around hurriedly and decided that he must have hit his head when falloing out of Swiths portal. He looked up at Naomi and thanked her for putting him to bed.

"Thanks for that, NVE would have left me lying on the floor. Did I hear robots while I was passed out?"

Germanic Templars wrote:

Giovenith wrote:
OOC: 'Night people.

At this, Beelzebub pulled out a pot from hammerspace decorated with etched symbols and incantation.

"Just ask."

*Aleki looked at it with curiosity*

"Umm, then again, maybe another time."

OOC: Night.

"But why...?" Asmodeus tilted his head. "Don't like our cooking?"

"Ohmygoodness!" Naomi gasped when Bran spoke. "You're not supposed to wake up during the ritual." She laughed and then added, "I have no idea what's going on. Swith told me she was busy and sent me down there to make sure you arrived okay."



Gretta woke up in the hotel room disoriented but comfortably warm. Her eyes scanned the area, taking in her dark surroundings as her foggy brain tried to reengage itself. "I was on the beach, I fell asleep, and... there's a human in this room." Her eyes locked on to the hotel maid as the woman crossed back into the bathroom with a toilet bowl brush. Gretta nuzzled NVE in his sleep and slipped out from his embrace. "Ah, complimentary breakfast for us," she told herself as she crept towards the bathroom. By the time NVE awoke, the hotel room had a revitalizing mist of steam from the shower, extra towels and soaps, and a feast prepared in the bath tub.



Swith crawled out of her portal and meandered back up the stairs. She was still worn out from the effort of purging Dani's things from the building. She had spent the night in restless meditation, concerned for Dani's sake and troubled by the senseless death of the man in the pizza parlor. She hadn't understood what made Bones stop walking and nor why he said what he said, and hindsight was nudging her elbow and telling her that his response may not have been meant as an insult. To further complicate her morning, no one had cooked breakfast.

"Meh," she grumbled, helping herself to coffee and ignoring the demons in the dining room. One sip told her that 'Zebub had make it. "Ah Bran, you may be the waffle god, but no one makes a perfect pot of coffee like the Lord of Flies." She didn't even need to add sugar.