Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[Erucia]

Kale shook her head. "He can stretch, but not far. His limit is about one floor, and only if he is standing up straight on a stable platform. In the elevator shaft," she said, looking at Joe," He wouldn't make it to five feet." She rubbed her chin in thought. "We should look for a hole in the ceiling, something to climb through. But we should look for stairs first."

"I-...I can help look for stairs!", Ray gave a half-yell, somewhat distracted by both the noise from outside and his hands fiddling to bring out and secure his sidearm. Perhaps he could bring some use to the group, having followed Marcus at his order to follow. Of course, it had been given over to Kale, but it felt like a better bet than elsewhere.

"From everything I can guess, we need to get moving quickly. So a few of us can look for an access to a stairway, and if that doesn't work, then we can look for holes in the ceiling. Perhaps both at the same time." The safety on his Operator flicked off and on a few times, and the hammer was pulled into place. "If you're fine with it Marcus, then I'm gonna hunt for those stairs!" At the soonest sight of approval, Ray would immediately rush to go and check around the store for any sign of a stairway, or an opening made by rubble.

[Germanic Templars]

"Some day, when we're rich and famous."

Natiya rolled her eyes. It was unlikely, but people could always hope, right? She nodded, and re-positioned herself in the seat, looking out the window as they approached the metropolis. It was less charming than being in orbit, but it was still an awesome sight to behold.

"What are you talking about? We are rich, well specifically me for my job, but together we are. Both in money and in our hearts." Aleki thought over that last sentence. "Well that was queer of me to say."

Aleki found an opening on the streets below and landed the vehicle between two cars that used wheels. In fact, the city, like most other cities on the planet, used both ground and air vehicles as a daily mean for transportation.

[The BranRiech]

Diving into the bank was one thing, not seeing where the others were was the other.

Bran looked around, knowing the bank had more floors, or at least hoping it did. He heard Marcus' shouts to get to the high ground, and took it to heart, bolting as quietly as he could for the staircase, more than likely to corporate offices on the next floor up. His messenger bag flowing and bouncing behind him, the Conscript decided if no stairs could be found, he'd have to make it to the building next to them where the rest of the group was heading.

--

"Makes sense though."

Natiya giggled at the last sentence. It was overtly cheesy, but that was an Aleki thing to her. "Well, I'm not rich nor famous." She said, gesturing to herself simply and humbly. "Nah, we're rich with love or some saccharine crap like that. It sounds silly, but we are."

With the car now on the ground, Natiya took in the bustling streets around her.

[New Aksarben]

Sterling's eyes widened when everyone started to scatter, and he personally galloped after Giovenith, seeing as she was one of the few faces here he could recognize. The water followed behind him sloshing back and forth in the container due to his motion. His waterlogged socks squelched under him as he galloped into the department store after Marcus and Kale, hoping he could keep up. The water was definitely going to be a hindrance in this situation, but he wouldn't let it out of his sight. It was entrusted to him after all, and he didn't want to disappoint anyone by losing it.

Then he came up to he stairs, a bit behind Kale, Marcus, and Giovenith. He grimaced a bit, before starting to walk up the stairs the best he could with the heavy water behind him, dragging him down. It was not easy going, and probably somewhat loud, but without his magic, Sterling could not remove the water himself, so he had to keep going. He did his best to keep going upwards with the water behind him, and he managed to make it to the same floor as Giovenith and Marcus within a good enough time, but he probably would have to ask them to remove the water container if they were going to go up further stairs.

The pony trotted over to the group, and panted a bit from the exertion, sweat mixing with the dirt and dust already in his dark purple coat. "H-hey there. Could somepony here unhitch me from the water? Or should I stay tethered to this and just keep dragging it up the stairs? It is a bit noisy, after all. I'm sure we could tuck it into a corner and hide it if we remove it, right?"

[Giovenith]

"Looks like we're going to have to," Giovenith said, kneeling down and unlatching Sterling from the water. "If we find stairs, we might be able to take it with us better then. We're trying to find a way onto the roof."

Using her sleeve, the godling wiped some dust and dirt away from the pony's face and hair. This would really be a pickle if they couldn't find any stairs. Not only for the trouble of getting on the roof, but the water as well. It was too big to carry while climbing. Still, they could not go on without it.

God, she wished she could have her birds.

[Lithuanian Empire]

Nex gave a nod of acknowledgment to what was said to be their plan for keeping the vault open. He was never much of one to pay attention to how those worked. Such a heavy door seemed like it would slam closed, but he had heard they didn't, and that they moved easily, and that didn't make sense to his 1000-year-old mind. Heavy things were hard to move, and hard to stop moving, once they had started.

It wasn't worth mulling over, so he moved on, only to be distracted by Marcus telling everyone to scatter. Normally he would have just teleported on to a roof or something, but he still wasn't sure it was the best idea to use powers. Despite the fact that they were being attacked, they weren't being attacked by Cthulhu or whatever, so that meant they could attract something else to them, along with whatever it was that was coming towards them now, a fact Dia had clearly not thought of.

He darted toward a near-by building, which happened to be the flower shop that August had gone in to. He climbed up to the roof, spotting August, and crouched down, his back against the wall of one of the taller buildings. "You should probably get down. You don't want to be obvious," He said to August. This was quite strange for him really. He wasn't used to hiding. He couldn't die, so normally it didn't matter, but he didn't want to burden the group by being wounded. He also didn't want to have his mind melted or whatever. Yeah....Not sure he could heal from that.

"I know what I am doing" - August said while climbing up a ladder to one of the taller buildings. The building he was climbing on was about 4 story high, way taller than the flower shop. From his warfare lessons, he knew that, in case of an enemy attack, one should obtain high ground, but not too high, as the highest buildings are prone to aircraft fire. Though he didn't expect any aircraft vehicles to attack, it was a possibility.

The ladder was quite long, but August didn't have any problems. "Hey! You should come here!" - he said to the guy down below when he reached the top.

[Motoneuron]

Ki was beginning like this place less and less all the time. He could handle destruction and fighting, he was used to that, but it seemed like everything here was something of mythical powers that you could only run from and hope for the best. He looked around, the rooftops seemed the best option, giving him an option to run if the hiding didn't work out. He went up as close as he could to the grocery store that had caught his eye so that he could minimize the length and noise of the flight. Once he arrived on the roof he laid down as low as he could in the best cover he could find, becoming motionless and changing the color of his exoskeleton to match his surroundings as closely as he could.

[Torsiedelle]

Diving into the bank was one thing, not seeing where the others were was the other.

Bran looked around, knowing the bank had more floors, or at least hoping it did. He heard Marcus' shouts to get to the high ground, and took it to heart, bolting as quietly as he could for the staircase, more than likely to corporate offices on the next floor up. His messenger bag flowing and bouncing behind him, the Conscript decided if no stairs could be found, he'd have to make it to the building next to them where the rest of the group was heading.

All Torii could see was a figure bolt past her from the doorway, but she new it was humanoid. She drew the USP that Varona had given her and gripped it tightly, just in case, since they could be being attacked by Chaos...

But they sure were running fast, and didn't care for her. Surely it was one of them, and the messenger bag meant that it was either Bran, or maybe Giovenith? No, too tall...adult.

"Hey!", She called out as the figure passed, and ran several feet behind, still holding Nick in one arm. "Wait!"

[Terintania]

Nex gave a nod of acknowledgment to what was said to be their plan for keeping the vault open. He was never much of one to pay attention to how those worked. Such a heavy door seemed like it would slam closed, but he had heard they didn't, and that they moved easily, and that didn't make sense to his 1000-year-old mind. Heavy things were hard to move, and hard to stop moving, once they had started.

It wasn't worth mulling over, so he moved on, only to be distracted by Marcus telling everyone to scatter. Normally he would have just teleported on to a roof or something, but he still wasn't sure it was the best idea to use powers. Despite the fact that they were being attacked, they weren't being attacked by Cthulhu or whatever, so that meant they could attract something else to them, along with whatever it was that was coming towards them now, a fact Dia had clearly not thought of.

He darted toward a near-by building, which happened to be the flower shop that August had gone in to. He climbed up to the roof, spotting August, and crouched down, his back against the wall of one of the taller buildings. "You should probably get down. You don't want to be obvious," He said to August. This was quite strange for him really. He wasn't used to hiding. He couldn't die, so normally it didn't matter, but he didn't want to burden the group by being wounded. He also didn't want to have his mind melted or whatever. Yeah....Not sure he could heal from that.

"I know what I am doing" - August said while climbing up a ladder to one of the taller buildings. The building he was climbing on was about 4 story high, way taller than the flower shop. From his warfare lessons, he knew that, in case of an enemy attack, one should obtain high ground, but not too high, as the highest buildings are prone to aircraft fire. Though he didn't expect any aircraft vehicles to attack, it was a possibility.

The ladder was quite long, but August didn't have any problems. "Hey! You should come here!" - he said to the guy down below when he reached the top.

August's, 'I know what I am doing' didn't reassure Nex in the slightest. A lot of the people he had ferried to the other side had said 'I know what I'm doing', and clearly that had gone rather terribly for them. It didn't make him any less confident in what August was doing, but not any more so. Without a word, he simply followed August up the ladder, faintly registering in his mind that if they were trying to take cover, yelling was probably not the most stealthy thing ever.
Once he reached the top, he walked to the edge of the roof and crouched down, peering over the edge to see if he could tell what was coming.

[Cerillium]

Bran wouldn't easily find the stairs. The access was behind the teller counter and that was behind the mesh cage and locked door which Torii and Nick were going to access before all hell began to break loose. Torii called out to him to wait before he could bolt out the door. This was, after all, the sanctuary chosen and no better would be found for blocks.

Dia's makeshift cover creaked ominously in the breeze but Varona, from her concealed sniper's position in an abandoned apartment, would be able to visually confirm that nothing else but wind was causing that sound; her viewpoint was directly down the street where FUBAR had trained his weapons. Auguest and Nex had selected the taller garment factory building which was nested next to the floral shop; it provided them a limited view of that street but full view of the bank itself. Ki hid on a deli rooftop nearby the pair.

Ray's efforts inside the department store paid off. He located a utility stairway that lead up to the roof. It was narrow and dark but his senses allowed him to safety navigate upwards (as well as guide Kale, Giovenith, Marcus, Sterling and others along.) This group found themselves on a weather worn, tar paper flat; it had a slight slope and offered little in the way of concealment. Marcus gently wrapped an arm around Sterling's neck to keep him from slipping and then gestured for the others to follow him as he climbed behind an air conditioner as large as a milk truck.

Silence reigned save for the wind's ghostly sighs. Water, perhaps runoff from last night, quietly streamed in the gutter. A door softly banged against a jamb; August and Nex could see it was moved by the wind.

Yet the Drone remained alert. His primary weapon had moved very slowly downward as if following the water. Something would click in Dani's head. When is water not water? When was the last time things flowed like liquid over buildings and people? A hoard. A hive. A collection of nanites eagerly zipping along like tiny ants in search of a picnic. The water leading to the sewer drain back flowed, bubbling the dark mass back into the street where it began to collect in a pool. Tendrils snaked away from that pool, just as dark as the tide and moving just as fluidly. They raced along the dry blacktop and streamed into the buildings people had taken refuge in; they avoided the bank.

The tendrils spread along the first floors (not that anyone could see them clearly from their vantage points) and formed strands that began to coat rusty and dusty equipment, manikins, old industrial-sized sewing machines and other disused objects.

[Giovenith]

The hoot and burbles of running water was usually a call of serenity, lulling the nerves into a sense of security. But now in a cruel twist, the sound only served to sting Giovenith's core cold. The situation was like a literal bad dream: clinging desperately to some slippery slope, praying her friends wouldn't slip from her own grasp, creeping unknown slithering beneath them. She could not see what waited for them down there, but the girl sought only to imagine enough to survive.

Giovenith swallowed, unwilling to speak at the moment, for fear that the ghastly waves may somehow hear them. Would they go away? How could they get out?

[Monfrox]

"Here they come. The sons of the apocalypse..." Varona said grimly as she watched the scene play out below. She watched the tendrils snake into the surrounding buildings. This made her very very nervous. She mentally went through her check list to decide whether or not to book. She decided to stay put, but jump out the window at the first sign of trouble and scale around the outside of it to avoid whatever the hell was down there. She didn't want to find out what it did to living creatures, and hoped the others had the same idea too.

[Mincaldenteans]

Ru'hOff and Ha'nS had followed Mezran without question. The krone (just as gruff as a Commissar) dispatched them towards glory and the brothers reveled in the chance to honor their god with enemy blood. The heat reminded both of parts of India during the War. It was a broiling sweat-inducer that caused their clothing to feel heavier against their skin. Their lungs kept them chugging along and Ha'nS briefly wondered if Klingons had biological features which favored the environment. He'd have to ask Mezran afterwards.

Ru'hOff was familiar with the creatures, having stamped out a few prior. Ha'nS hadn't bothered to ask what they were going up against. He assumed it was some deadly thing with ridges and growls to match a Klingon. Perhaps it would be as sharp and quick as a 'Nid? Certainly it would be large. Very large and very deadly with very sharp teeth. What else would drive this warrior race to such frenzy?

And then the cave came alive with cooing. Cooing? Ha'nS paused and tilted his head to better listen. No, they were indeed cooing. It was a vibrating purr that started high and pleasantly descended into an owl's warble. Chittering and squeaks also drifted from the dark opening. Parakeets? Monkeys? It had to be a nest. Yes, that was it. These were infants which could only mean that a much larger (challenging-sounding) parent prowled nearby.

His eyes locked with ChryS' own momentarily and he smiled grimly. Today was a good day to fight.

Mezran gripped his weapons harder and bared his teeth in anticipation. They had no torches to illuminate their way, the sunlight was their only source and stopped a few feet into it, as though the darkness had put an invisible wall to stop it. "We may not be able to see them, but you can clearly hear them, slay them all! Every sound that is in high pitched is one less petaQ'pu we will have to deal with and then we can get to our prize and be on our way!"

The Klingon let lose a roar and charged into the darkness, his heavy boots making indents in his wake upon the soft dirt. Already the tiny furballs reacted to his battle cry and their cooing turned into a squeals like nails upon a chalkboard. The collective sound of it made the Klingon wince and the moment Mezran was sure he heard one of the creatures within arm's length, he plunged his weapons down to end one of the many (hundreds? Thousands?). The satisfying feel of his blade sliding through the furball easily made Mezran grunt in triumph as he kept his assault on. "Come my friends!" He called back, the original plan far from his thoughts as he beckoned them to join the struggle, "We must end the vermin once and for all!"

[Fvaarniimar]

Diving into the bank was one thing, not seeing where the others were was the other.

Bran looked around, knowing the bank had more floors, or at least hoping it did. He heard Marcus' shouts to get to the high ground, and took it to heart, bolting as quietly as he could for the staircase, more than likely to corporate offices on the next floor up. His messenger bag flowing and bouncing behind him, the Conscript decided if no stairs could be found, he'd have to make it to the building next to them where the rest of the group was heading.

All Torii could see was a figure bolt past her from the doorway, but she new it was humanoid. She drew the USP that Varona had given her and gripped it tightly, just in case, since they could be being attacked by Chaos...

But they sure were running fast, and didn't care for her. Surely it was one of them, and the messenger bag meant that it was either Bran, or maybe Giovenith? No, too tall...adult.

"Hey!", She called out as the figure passed, and ran several feet behind, still holding Nick in one arm. "Wait!"

During this time, Nick had been pretty quiet- for a reason. Torii's slipping would likely have negative consequences, so something had to be done to prevent or at least dramatically reduce the odds of that happening- something which the rather atypical feline could, in fact, do. The cat had an excellent sense of balance, he was very close to Torii's spinal cord, and the link had been maintained- against the odds- for quite a while. Furthermore, due to his powers Nick had a fair- but subconscious- understanding of the nervous system, although not of the principles underlying its functioning.

In other words, Nick- although he did not realize what exactly he was doing- was partially taking over some reflexes of Torii's, sending signals to her feet, legs, etc. based on his inhuman prowess as regards balance, agility, etc.

There were a few other consequences of getting that connected to someone's neurons. One manifested itself when Torii saw Bran-

As the girl yelled, the cat yowled. His attention very much on other matters, Nick had paid little attention, literally vocalizing automatically. (For that matter, he'd ignored quite a few other things as well- notably, any emotions being received courtesy of his other power....

As a result... Well, it wasn't one of Nick's prouder moments. It sounded... Something like a baby crying, but not as cute by half.

[The Drone Empire]

Bran wouldn't easily find the stairs. The access was behind the teller counter and that was behind the mesh cage and locked door which Torii and Nick were going to access before all hell began to break loose. Torii called out to him to wait before he could bolt out the door. This was, after all, the sanctuary chosen and no better would be found for blocks.

Dia's makeshift cover creaked ominously in the breeze but Varona, from her concealed sniper's position in an abandoned apartment, would be able to visually confirm that nothing else but wind was causing that sound; her viewpoint was directly down the street where FUBAR had trained his weapons. Auguest and Nex had selected the taller garment factory building which was nested next to the floral shop; it provided them a limited view of that street but full view of the bank itself. Ki hid on a deli rooftop nearby the pair.

Ray's efforts inside the department store paid off. He located a utility stairway that lead up to the roof. It was narrow and dark but his senses allowed him to safety navigate upwards (as well as guide Kale, Giovenith, Marcus, Sterling and others along.) This group found themselves on a weather worn, tar paper flat; it had a slight slope and offered little in the way of concealment. Marcus gently wrapped an arm around Sterling's neck to keep him from slipping and then gestured for the others to follow him as he climbed behind an air conditioner as large as a milk truck.

Silence reigned save for the wind's ghostly sighs. Water, perhaps runoff from last night, quietly streamed in the gutter. A door softly banged against a jamb; August and Nex could see it was moved by the wind.

Yet the Drone remained alert. His primary weapon had moved very slowly downward as if following the water. Something would click in Dani's head. When is water not water? When was the last time things flowed like liquid over buildings and people? A hoard. A hive. A collection of nanites eagerly zipping along like tiny ants in search of a picnic. The water leading to the sewer drain back flowed, bubbling the dark mass back into the street where it began to collect in a pool. Tendrils snaked away from that pool, just as dark as the tide and moving just as fluidly. They raced along the dry blacktop and streamed into the buildings people had taken refuge in; they avoided the bank.

The tendrils spread along the first floors (not that anyone could see them clearly from their vantage points) and formed strands that began to coat rusty and dusty equipment, manikins, old industrial-sized sewing machines and other disused objects.

Dani had climbed out of FUBAR's hand, into the building nearest upon the second floor. The sudden whirl of events that took hold was somewhat frightening, though she was not terribly surprised; in a place so lurkingly dangerous, one should expect to occur within a moments notice. Still, here she was.

When she heard water, she herself was suspicious. It was a sound new to them, and as the Drone seemed so fixated, she watched closely, and slowly began to piece it together - this was a place of death and utter desolation, water would be found only in the deepest of places around here, maybe. With only a thought, she watched and waited, and as it drew louder, she could hear it. It was a very distinct noise; water-like, but a metallic nature to it - nanites.

As she watched the machine hordes flow out from the sewers as though they had flooded over, she briefly contemplated whether to find high ground, or run for the bank. With FUBAR still close at hand, she felt her chances were better in the bank than somewhere so isolated and open, and so she swiftly descended the stairs and ran as fast as she could towards the bank, just short of getting caught in the black tide that would swallow her whole.

She reached the bank, walking in hastily, to a degree gasping for air. She looked out the door, staring as the nanites flowed in their strange ways.

[The Carlisle]

Kale followed the group closely, Joe tailing behind her. She hesitated a bit when she got to the roof, but pushed forward despite her fears. She stepped carefully along the slanted roof, making sure her footing was stable. She kept her eyes glued to Gio as she walked, not wanting to look down . Once she got to the Air conditioner unit, she huddled against it and breathed a sigh of relief. She was still antsy, but having some backing helped.

She heard the noises from below. Loud gulps, splashes, and gushing of what she assume was water but it was... different. It was distinct from normal water, almost... metallic. She froze. Was it some kind of drone? Nifid? Or something else? It didn't matter though, she wanted to be as far away from it as possible.

[Tiltjuice]

"Here they come. The sons of the apocalypse..." Varona said grimly as she watched the scene play out below. She watched the tendrils snake into the surrounding buildings. This made her very very nervous. She mentally went through her check list to decide whether or not to book. She decided to stay put, but jump out the window at the first sign of trouble and scale around the outside of it to avoid whatever the hell was down there. She didn't want to find out what it did to living creatures, and hoped the others had the same idea too.

Contrary to Varona's expectations, Dia slithered out of the bakery doorway, sliding the rifle before himself. Pausing in the doorway, half in, half out, he scanned the street level for threats. Dani's flurry of motion drew his gaze and he swore sulfurously. Paint blistered, cracked, and peeled off the wall.

Yet for all that, he was happy to have something to resist, finally, and things could be considerably worse.

He shouldered his rifle and took aim, beginning to squeeze the trigger, but pulled back at the last minute. The nanites didn't seem to be doing anything but invading the buildings. Or most of them.

Moving right along, he raced over to the car shelter he'd made earlier and settled prone atop it, watching for the department store group to make an escape.

[Tiltjuice]

Ru'hOff and Ha'nS had followed Mezran without question. The krone (just as gruff as a Commissar) dispatched them towards glory and the brothers reveled in the chance to honor their god with enemy blood. The heat reminded both of parts of India during the War. It was a broiling sweat-inducer that caused their clothing to feel heavier against their skin. Their lungs kept them chugging along and Ha'nS briefly wondered if Klingons had biological features which favored the environment. He'd have to ask Mezran afterwards.

Ru'hOff was familiar with the creatures, having stamped out a few prior. Ha'nS hadn't bothered to ask what they were going up against. He assumed it was some deadly thing with ridges and growls to match a Klingon. Perhaps it would be as sharp and quick as a 'Nid? Certainly it would be large. Very large and very deadly with very sharp teeth. What else would drive this warrior race to such frenzy?

And then the cave came alive with cooing. Cooing? Ha'nS paused and tilted his head to better listen. No, they were indeed cooing. It was a vibrating purr that started high and pleasantly descended into an owl's warble. Chittering and squeaks also drifted from the dark opening. Parakeets? Monkeys? It had to be a nest. Yes, that was it. These were infants which could only mean that a much larger (challenging-sounding) parent prowled nearby.

His eyes locked with ChryS' own momentarily and he smiled grimly. Today was a good day to fight.

Mezran gripped his weapons harder and bared his teeth in anticipation. They had no torches to illuminate their way, the sunlight was their only source and stopped a few feet into it, as though the darkness had put an invisible wall to stop it. "We may not be able to see them, but you can clearly hear them, slay them all! Every sound that is in high pitched is one less petaQ'pu we will have to deal with and then we can get to our prize and be on our way!"

The Klingon let lose a roar and charged into the darkness, his heavy boots making indents in his wake upon the soft dirt. Already the tiny furballs reacted to his battle cry and their cooing turned into a squeals like nails upon a chalkboard. The collective sound of it made the Klingon wince and the moment Mezran was sure he heard one of the creatures within arm's length, he plunged his weapons down to end one of the many (hundreds? Thousands?). The satisfying feel of his blade sliding through the furball easily made Mezran grunt in triumph as he kept his assault on. "Come my friends!" He called back, the original plan far from his thoughts as he beckoned them to join the struggle, "We must end the vermin once and for all!"

And suddenly it was Time.

ChryS smiled back, with an edge familiar to Ha'nS, and swept forward after Mezran. Gone with the heat was any hesitation about slaughtering the critters, and she didn't wait for either of the cultists, knowing they would be close behind her. It didn't take long before the six blades in her hands were dripping with blood; she slashed and twisted, and moved with the grace of a demented organic windmill. Every second sent a shot of excitement through her, as she felt the internal drumbeat of her pulse.

Slice. Throb. Slice. Throb. SLICE.

"Are you not entertained?" she rasped to no one in particular, her eyes dark.

[New Aksarben]

Sterling blinked upon hearing the noises of running water, very much confused by its presence. He had heard none of the noises that could be attributed to liquid water along the way to here, excepting those of the water in the container that had been strapped to the pony until recently. He vaguely remembered being told that this world no longer had any surface water, as well. So what could possibly be making those noises? Sterling flicked an ear towards the sounds, and listened closely. After a while his expression paled, with his eyes widening and pupil's contracting as he looked below them.

That was definitely not water.

It was much too metallic, and from what he was hearing it was moving in more of a manner like a swarm than a flowing liquid. It was very much a terrifying thing to hear, and it very much reminded Sterling of the parasprites, those devourers of everything and anything in their path. The thought there could be something like that here possibly just terrified Sterling even more. The unicorn had to stop himself from whinnying or making any other sort of panicked noise, just in the case whatever was below them on the street could hear. It would do no good to doom his friends and fellow Apartment dwellers. No, this situation required calm. It also needed planning, and quick decisions. So it would be best to stay as calm as possible.

Sterling started flicking his bright blue eyes around, trying to discern any sort of way for them to go if the substance started coming for them. A staircase, ladder, a roof close enough for them to jump, anything. Sterling just hoped this building had any of those things. It would be terrible if they were simply trapped up here with no chance of escaping.

[Swith Witherward]

FUBAR remained absolutely still against the grey backdrop. They didn't seem to have realized that he was there, or else they recognized him as mistakenly being on his side. No signals came from them, no communications, no messages. They simply were there and moving with a purpose known only to them. To it. A collective, a mind, a will bent on the same objective. Dani's sudden flight left him puzzled. Had she heard something he hadn't? She gained the bank steps and FUBAR's optics focused in on her. She took the main level and he waited to see... and then she was through the door. She had passed beyond the barrier. How? Was she Drone? Was she human? Did the barrier no longer exist? No, this question was easily answered by observing the nanites as they flowed towards the bank but failed to claim the steps.

He began to scan the area to locate the rest of the travelers. A higher directive governed him now.


Marcus watched as Dani bolted into the bank.... FUBAR on the building, Dani fleeing for her life. The water seemed intent on flooding the lower levels but, as of yet, they had no idea if it was after them or something that happened daily. It had chosen only their buildings, though, and that made Marcus uneasy.

"Kale, I know Nex and that Tilktep said no magic, but we could use vines or something. Look at the bank. They're avoiding it but FUBAR is, too. Can you make vines, like a bridge, you know? To get us moving towards the bank? Something even the Giovenith and Pony could use to walk on safely? Um, quickly?"

Odd knocking noises emerged from the roof access doorway and Marcus was momentarily haunted by the thought of those creepy manikins coming to life to scratch their faces off. "Um, Kale, like on a grand scale? Like turn this place into a god-fearing jungle or something? So the others can get down. Because Drones. Those are Drones... nanites, swarming things like machine locusts that'll wipe the life right out of our bodies in more ways than one."

His babbling ceased and he crouched lower next to Ray, organic eye wide open and staring at the fluid movement in street below. His head snapped to the left in time to see FUBAR gather himself and leap. The massive Drone sailed smoothly through the air and alighted on the side of Varona's building, his articulated legs buckling to cushion the impact.

"Evacuate."

[Germanic Templars]

"Makes sense though."

Natiya giggled at the last sentence. It was overtly cheesy, but that was an Aleki thing to her. "Well, I'm not rich nor famous." She said, gesturing to herself simply and humbly. "Nah, we're rich with love or some saccharine crap like that. It sounds silly, but we are."

With the car now on the ground, Natiya took in the bustling streets around her.

Vehicles drove by as they got out of the car. Driver side however, was on the side of the sidewalk. Aleki waited for Natiya before taking her hand and accompanying her it a foundry/store called Vulcan's Forge . The desk was empty of all but a bell while noise was heard out from the doorway behind the counter of clanging metal with a bright fiery glow off the concrete wall in the hallway just past the doorway.

[The Carlisle]

Kale looked at Marcus as he spoke. She nodded several times in agreement. She quickly got up and edged away from the AC unit. She looked down at the scenery. Small robotic... things were swarming over the streets and into buildings. The distance from the ground was great. She felt woozy from looking. Her legs started shaking again. She was scared, scared of the swarm, scared of the heights, scared of everything. She looked back to the others, reading the emotion on their faces. A sudden realization swept over her. She was their only hope. A newfound courage filled her. Her legs stopped shaking and she stood straight. A once scared girl showed determination on her face.

She looked back to the scene. She spotted the bank across the road. She crossed her arms, preparing herself for the magic. "Okay, big vines, big vines, big vines," she said to herself. She shook her hair, letting out a few seeds. They fell onto the roof and started rolling off.

She let the magic flow through her. Her eyes started glowing a white-green. She focus on the seeds, focused on the vines, focused on the bank. The seeds exploded with green growth. The growth reached out and latched onto the department store and grew rapidly along its side. At the top of the growth near the roof, large vines shot forth, flailing wildly as they sailed through the air. They surged forth, landing at the floor of the bank, grasping onto pillars or digging into the stone floor. Smaller vines, numbering in the thousands, burst from the larger ones. Like a spider's web the vines wrapped around the larger ones, creating a floor down the entire length.

The giant bridge was done. It covered the gap between the department store and the floor of the bank. Kale eased from the magic, panting a bit. She lowered her arms and walked onto the vine bridge. It was stable to walk on. She smiled at her work. She looked back to the others. "It's safe. Now let's hurry across!" she exclaimed.

[Swith Witherward]

Mezran gripped his weapons harder and bared his teeth in anticipation. They had no torches to illuminate their way, the sunlight was their only source and stopped a few feet into it, as though the darkness had put an invisible wall to stop it. "We may not be able to see them, but you can clearly hear them, slay them all! Every sound that is in high pitched is one less petaQ'pu we will have to deal with and then we can get to our prize and be on our way!"

The Klingon let lose a roar and charged into the darkness, his heavy boots making indents in his wake upon the soft dirt. Already the tiny furballs reacted to his battle cry and their cooing turned into a squeals like nails upon a chalkboard. The collective sound of it made the Klingon wince and the moment Mezran was sure he heard one of the creatures within arm's length, he plunged his weapons down to end one of the many (hundreds? Thousands?). The satisfying feel of his blade sliding through the furball easily made Mezran grunt in triumph as he kept his assault on. "Come my friends!" He called back, the original plan far from his thoughts as he beckoned them to join the struggle, "We must end the vermin once and for all!"

And suddenly it was Time.

ChryS smiled back, with an edge familiar to Ha'nS, and swept forward after Mezran. Gone with the heat was any hesitation about slaughtering the critters, and she didn't wait for either of the cultists, knowing they would be close behind her. It didn't take long before the six blades in her hands were dripping with blood; she slashed and twisted, and moved with the grace of a demented organic windmill. Every second sent a shot of excitement through her, as she felt the internal drumbeat of her pulse.

Slice. Throb. Slice. Throb. SLICE.

"Are you not entertained?" she rasped to no one in particular, her eyes dark.

A savage yalp tore from Ru'hOff and Ha'nS' throats as they stormed into battle and, at least for a short while, things died in unspeakable ways. The darkness allowed for a bit of concealment and thus an opportunity for a bit of brutality that would be tenderly described here were it not for the damned PG13 rating. Needless to say, there were more efficient ways to kill things than with swords. Ha'nS didn't give it a second thought until he had already waded through a screeching, quivering (and now properly dead) pile in search for the next cluster. It was then that common sense returned to him and he remembered the purpose for the mission.

The Cultist-turned-Klingon latched his fingers around a furry mass and walked towards the light with it. It writhed in a fashion, desperate to escape him and then... it did escape him entirely as realization struck the animal-loving former Nazi. The tribble hit the ground and rolled to the side as Ha'nS stood aghast at the whole situation.

Dolf, you fucking asshole, why didn't you tell me they were little... stunted... schwabbelig-maus?!

Ru'hOff's voice echoed from the cave rather through their mental tether. "Don't be fooled, brother! Mezran says they're evil!" Perhaps it was because the exploding shrew incident had fostered a sense of rodent loathing in the man, or perhaps it was simply because Ru'hOff had dealt with them prior, but he didn't seem hesitant to slaughter the things.

Ha'nS shook his head. Not even Slaanesh employed anything so ridiculously cute in appearance. He returned to the cave, snatched two from their resting spots and unceremoniously dumped them into his field bag where they'd float in hammerspace alongside some grenades and old bullets. He was War's cultist, and War didn't fight anything that couldn't defend itself. Honor and mercy were mingled alongside a sense of fair play. He'd no sooner attack a hedgehog than a tribble, and even waging extermination on a plague of field mice in Australia was beneath their code of conduct. The tribbles simply couldn't fight.

The Klingon wiped the blood from his face and spat out a bit of fur. He was through. Ha'nS stepped back into the humid air and found a rock to rest on while his brother, much to his disappointment, continued to slaughter things beside Mezran and ChryS.

[Motoneuron]

Ki slowly peeked out over the edge, trying to be aware of his surroundings and remain unseen. He saw the unnatural pool below and sensed that it must be the reason why they were taking cover. He had no idea what it was but it couldn't be good. He took notice that they were spreading out everywhere except for bank.There must be something there that was repelling them. He assessed the distance between himself and the bank to see if he could make it safely. It seemed like he could so he crouched down and spread his wings, preparing himself before he kicked off and flew across the gap, trying to land as softly on top as he could.

[Swith Witherward]

Marcus punched the air with his fist and then hugged Kale tightly. "Awesome, most awesome! Beyond awesome!"

His eyes drifted to the others gathered with him. They weren't really combatants. "Kale, would you take Giovenith and Sterling across? Ray can follow behind since he has a gun. I can bring up the rear and follow Fred and Jorgen. If they try to get across this bridge, I'd be the best one for them to run into." He didn't go into detail on why.

A shadow caught his attention momentarily and he watched Ki sail across the street and land on the bank. That just left Varona, Death and New Guy.