Personification Life: EPIC (IC Thread XI) [CLOSED]

[Fvaarniimar]

7E, Kale's apt.
As a whole the aroma of the Rainbow Calliopsis was intriguing to Nick.  He leaned in, towards a pale flower -

Eeeeww! He jerked back reflexively.  NOT a smell he liked!  Wait - it's citrusy.  Light color, so probably the yellow... The lemon!  Are the others okay?  Cautiously sniffing the other Rainbow Calliopsis flowers, Nick tried to quickly guess the color of the red (not hard thanks to Kale, rather strong), orange, and purple blooms. Re-sniffing a few, he moved on.

The cat did happen to like bacon grease, so the daisylike flower was found rather pleasant; he did, however, quickly find himself in a staring contest with its eyelike center. 

Wondering how he'd ended up in that position, Nick's thoughts turned to the neighbors.  "Otonako, Sakarias, tell me when you're ready to go. Kale, you can certainly come..."  However, the cat privately felt that he'd feel rather like the Pied Piper if many more were to do so - which turned his thoughts again to music. "Do any of your plants react to sound?"

---
Deck 5, Medi Hospital
Rmwtyliin nodded, stepping nearer and picking up the bowl of herbs and fruit with as much care as her trembling hands permitted.

Move the plant bowl... She set it down, glancing at Anais for any indication of how well or poorly she was doing before slowly walking around to the second node.

Move the shell bowl... Her hands were steadier this time.  Shells were lamps and the like - useful, but hardly magical.  Bones - those, it was thought, some spirits might be drawn to.  Still, fish bones at least were beyond common.

The talisman was foreign, and seemed almost... Not fragile, but easy to damage. By accident.  Move that link... She imagined that she could feel something pull when it moved. Unless the circle exerted force on its nodes, that was purely imagination, of a rather superstitious sort.
On the subject of superstition, six moves was hardly auspicious to the Fvaarniimarn. She wouldn't presume to do anything to Anais' tools without permission, and using a hand would be ill-advised. Instead she elbowed a hank of her hair to the front.
And then continued, moving cautiously still but less glacially. The talisman was nudged over the line and onto its marked position, then the shell bowl...

Okay. Once I do this, I will have finished. Move the plant bowl. Exhale. Really, it had been less frightening than she'd expected.

She couldn't help but compare. "Things here are very different from home... and yet at the same time, similar.  It is rare that circumstances allow treating persons as groups, because moving them can cause harm - usually they're placed in a cool area of the basement.  Some unfortunate families set aside a room for the purpose - well, so do some old families.  We have one.  It's cleansed with prayers and special herbs between uses.   Dihsnfectnd would have been really useful.  The cleansing smells nice, but...I am uncertain how well it...killed those tiny creatures which cause sickness."

She looked a little self-conscious. "Sorry if this bores you." Although maayybe it would be fun seeing you adults bored. "I - I miss it, but a lot is nice here..."

[CAT XIII]

KALE'S APARTMENT

Otonako turned away from the red flower to talk to Kale,

"Sorry, I probably look like I've never seen anything growing from the ground before. I've just been away from plants for a long time. There was a war, then I was in hospital, then we went back to the wreckage where anything growing had been destroyed. We decided to take a boat so we were on the sea for quite some time, although on the way there we passed some fields and trees. On the boat, we went to a small island belonging to Russia, they had some small flowers there.

In short, I just haven't seen many plants as amazing and bright as this since the war. Besides, the flowers in this room could beat the ones in Mexico and the ones on that island any day!"

She had just turned round to look at an electric blue flower that smelled like chocolate when she heard Nick behind her,

"Roger!"

[The Carlisle]

"Nice to meet you too!" Kale said to Sakarias. New people were always nice. And it looked like she had two new neighbors! The two of them told them about where they came from. Little plant life and barren, her thoughts were confirmed. What a sad place it must be with few plants or trees. Well, sad for Kale.

"At least you are here now with lots of plants and flowers to see!" Kale piped cheerily, staving off the dampened mood. She was intrigued by Nick's question. She smiled widely. "Yes, some do!" she said, and he started whistling a tune. Suddenly, the three-petaled triangle flowers started moving, turning slightly left then right on a horizontal axis, like they were dancing. When Kale stopped, the flowers stopped. "Oh, and the Eye Daisies "look" at you if you make a lot of noise," Kale said, giving a loud whistle. Suddenly, a few of the Eye Daisies shifted to "look" at her. "I heard from some of the villagers that there is a flower out there that sings and can learn songs. I wanna find that one. Probably will replace the Eye Daisies with it. Those things creep me out..." Kale said, staring back at the Eye Daisies.

[CAT XIII]

KALE'S APARTMENT

Otonako tried humming one of the band's songs and was delighted when it worked. She then got slightly creeped out as the Eye Daisies turned to "look" at her. She hung back a bit, reminding herself that they had to move on soon, but she had just one question first,

"Hey um, speaking of finding things, would any of you perhaps know of someone who could strengthen up my guitar with a spell or something in case it breaks? It's cool if you don't, it's just something that bothers me. Besides, I have a new guitar case."

Her guitar hadn't broken before- it was naturally quite strong due to the materials it was made out of- but ever since the war and coming here, she knew it was at risk.

[New Aksarben]

The synth nodded, glancing at the daisies. Some seemed to like watching him for all his mechanical whirring and and movements of his heavy looking clothes. Speaking of those they were getting pretty overheated in this new climate, and air conditioning. Oh, how long it had been since he'd felt cool air that didn't have the bite of wind on it! "A singing flower? Think it would enjoy accompaniment by a violin?" Sakarias asked, gesturing to the case tucked under his arm, which looked battered just like its owner.

"Oh, I'm ready to go whenever. Does this building have any dedicated space for music, like a studio, performance hall, something to that effect?" Sakarias asked, tilting his head and readjusting his coat. He frowned a bit and unbuttoned the thing, letting some of the trapped heat escape.

[Fvaarniimar]

7th floor hallway
Some time later, the group stood in front of a door which said, "Leave a note for Crysal with contact information."  A loud meow encouraged them to look down.

"Right, the Iracuse sisters.  Crysal lives here, and..."  Another Post-It caught his eye.  "I think that's the other one's door, actually. A something?"  He walked over.  "'Eating back soon.'"

Anyway," Nick explained after some amusement at the mental image and curiosity as to the sorts of meat which were 'back,' "If anyone wants to leave a note with contact information -"  he pulled a pencil stub out of his scarf.  Despite the tooth marks, it was perfectly serviceable; a few other things tumbled out as well.  "Name and apartment number should work."

Nick himself considered leaving Crysal info, but he was hardly a capable writer.  Maybe I can stop by later.

Meanwhile, he narrowed down the remaining apartments - aloud, for the newcomers' benefit.  "I haven't seen the guy in 7A for..." Had cat ever met Cat? "I've tried knocking recently." 7H was right across the hall...

"Meow! Mraoooow! Maaooow! Meew..." After enough racket to quite possibly warn the remaining neighbors that something was going on, Nick concluded that that door wasn't going to be answered.

"7A, not likely. 7B, me. 7C...maybe. Isn't that Sinyaya's home? 7D - that's you, Otonako! 7E - Kale. Wait... Oops. 7F, Kale, 7E, Elka, who's like a big mouse. 7G -" They were in front of it. "I think it's a toss-up between C and E." Deciding to inject some fun into the process, he made the toss-up literal - grabbing a rune, denomination penny, which had fallen previously and hopping into a potted fern's pot to get a bit of extra height. Heads Sinyaya, tails Elka... (It was entirely possible that the potted plant in question did not exist for the others, but Nick perceived one or two houseplants to a hallway.)

Stating the result, he ran to the penultimate apartment's door and started meowing.

[Torsiedelle]

OPERATION: SUPPLY RUN
DIMENSION: 270B
LOCATION: HD 40307 G
TEAM: Delta

---

Sozewe slipped his robotic arm into his robe to secure his lightsaber. His eyes scanned over the form, attempting to give some definite information on it, but to no use. He grumbled and planted his feet firmly. He wasn't going to immediately attack, curious about the animal, but he was being cautious. The thing was bigger than him, after all, and he knew that even with strange powers or powerful cybernetics, humans were fragile.

"I want to say don't have a bad feeling about this.", Was all he said, chuckling to himself. He let his hood down, revealing his metal skull. His wet hood slumped down; he hated wet robes. They always bogged him down.

[Swith Witherward]

OPERATION: SUPPLY RUN
DIMENSION: 270B
LOCATION: HD 40307 G
TEAM: Delta

---

The thing in the water was far too stupid and insectoid to fathom anything the Jedi attempted to convey. It was wet, it was drowning, it was unhappy. Grasshopper-like wings lifted from beneath a hard shell to furiously beat against the water, but only become bogged down by mud and moisture. Buttons watched, a mildly detached expression on her doglike face, as the bug's pores clogged. It would die. Yes. It would make for a delicious breakfast. The creature continued to thrash even as the last drops fell. A strange silence took over the landscape. Drips and drops slipped from the overhead leaves to plunk onto the moist ground. The grasshopper thing's wings continued to send vibrations towards the group - a heavy, low thrum that could be felt in their chests.

"Perhaps we should-" Nila began, but her mouth clamped shut as a high voice pierced the air.

"PIPE! TRAPDOOR!"

The speaker was difficult to discern at first. It was reptilian in shape, though its colors shifted from dull blues and greens to vibrant oranges and yellows. Stubby legs pumped it along the underbrush, and it waved its arms frantically as it raced in their direction. It seemed to speak without opening its mouth. "PIPE! RUN!"

The blockage at the end of the tunnel exploded towards the three Residents standing at the edge of the pipe. Soggy, rotting matter sprayed towards them at a fast clip, impacting the group and knocking little Nila right out of the opening. But the debris wasn't the problem. No, the problem presented itself in the form of a multi-legged monster. A spider, perhaps, or a close cousin to it. It charged forward at a cheetah's speed despite its immense size (on par with Buttons), and its focus on whatever was foolish enough to remain in the pipe.

It wasn't alone. It had brought its kith and kin.

The strange lizard skidded to a halt at the edge of the pond below. A shriek escaped her. "RUN! FLY! RUN!"

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

Apartment 7E - Elka's Turf

Oh, no. Someone had actually come knocking for her.

That was NEVER good. Maybe they were going to evict her, finally? Or maybe they just thought she was dead and were coming to check in. Hopefully it was just the latter... Elka hadn't talked to anyone in what felt like months, she was starting to hallucinate (or maybe that was just the flu, she couldn't tell anymore). A somewhat squeaky rodent face pushed out of the door, before looking around. Eh, there was a new person... wait, maybe they weren't new. Crap, did she just never run into them before?! Oh, and a cat. Meep. She looked just a tad nervous as she looked down at Nick. "I don't have any tunas, whiskers." She said, clicking her tongue, followed afterwards by a weak cough.

"Uh, what's up, guys? Did I make too much noise? I don't think I did... Did I forget to put my headphones on?" The Reil slowly muttered out.

[Fvaarniimar]

7E - for real this time!
Nick hadn't exactly expected that response. Compounding the situation, his nose and instincts were telling Nick that his worried neighbor was scared prey. Nick frequently acted on those instincts, but pouncing on other sentient beings was only a good plan if it was in anticipation of a cuddle...

The cat washed himself. The awkward silence stretched out a second...two...three...fou- "This is Otonako, this is Sakarias -" that last was pronounced like Zacharias. If Kale were still present, she too would be introduced with a 'and I think you know Kale.' "I'm Nick, in case you forgot or I forgot to tell you. The two of them are new, and she's in 7D. I'm just showing her around our floor." Throughout this, Nick kept thinking, headphones, headphones, something important about those. Headphones, earbuds, plants, Kale - headphones, music - duh. "She plays guitar, and he plays violin. They might be interested in whatever you're listening to." Was he forgetting something? "Oh, yeah. You're fine. You've been as quiet as a -" Cutting the idiom off, Nick became very interested in frantically grooming himself.

[Tiltjuice]

Insidious: Dining Room

“I was only their for part of it to be honest,” Insidious admitted “and afterwards I was more focused on locating Aegis but Primordial gave me vague description of what happened.”

Insidious skin changed to more whitish hue covered in scampering red spiders.

“But perhaps if you specified what parts you were vague about I could better know where to begin. Because a lot has happened in a very short span of time.”

"One moment," Luce replied, and turned to Minerva. "We should probably let you go about your work, Captain - though it would be a pleasure to meet up for tea later....Now, Insidious, you were saying? Perhaps we could walk and talk at the same time. As for what I missed - well, I'll settle for hearing about what Primordial passed on to you."

He led the way to the door, pausing before it to let the white and red woman go first. "There's talk of supply runs, as well. A chance to explore would be nice, wouldn't you agree?"

[CAT XIII]

7E

Otonako wasn't sure she'd ever met this number of people in the one day, not in a while anyway.

"Hi! I'm Otonako, I stay on the same floor as you." Her her suddenly went blue, which was a little odd considering she didn't think she was really feeling any dominant emotions at that point. "My hair changes colour sometimes," she explained, "it's usually purple but it can change to red or blue depending on what my emotions are." Otonako suddenly realised she was nervous, this was why her hair had changed colour.

She was going to tell Elka about her past and Thirteenth Girl Dead, her band, but she felt like she'd mentioned it all too much today. Instead, she hung back and let the conversation pan out so she didn't start rambling.

[The Carlisle]

Kale decided to tag along with the group. She had nothing better to do at the moment, her breakfast finished and the flowers watered. Visiting some neighbors sounded like a fine idea. Nick guided the group over to Elka's door. Kale knew little of Elka besides her appearance. The two didn't get a chance to speak to each other often. But now sounds like a good time.

"Hello Elka~!" Kale said cheerily and with a smile. The girl was curious on what Elka was doing and eager to converse. It seemed the girl was listening to music, based on the current conversation. It would explain where she was hearing the faint sounds of music in her apartment. "What were you listening to?" Kale said. The plant girl was herself a consumer of music, her favorite genre being rock.

[Mincaldenteans]

Deck 5, Medi Hospital
Rmwtyliin nodded, stepping nearer and picking up the bowl of herbs and fruit with as much care as her trembling hands permitted.

Move the plant bowl... She set it down, glancing at Anais for any indication of how well or poorly she was doing before slowly walking around to the second node.

Move the shell bowl... Her hands were steadier this time.  Shells were lamps and the like - useful, but hardly magical.  Bones - those, it was thought, some spirits might be drawn to.  Still, fish bones at least were beyond common.

The talisman was foreign, and seemed almost... Not fragile, but easy to damage. By accident.  Move that link... She imagined that she could feel something pull when it moved. Unless the circle exerted force on its nodes, that was purely imagination, of a rather superstitious sort.
On the subject of superstition, six moves was hardly auspicious to the Fvaarniimarn. She wouldn't presume to do anything to Anais' tools without permission, and using a hand would be ill-advised. Instead she elbowed a hank of her hair to the front.
And then continued, moving cautiously still but less glacially. The talisman was nudged over the line and onto its marked position, then the shell bowl...

Okay. Once I do this, I will have finished. Move the plant bowl. Exhale. Really, it had been less frightening than she'd expected.

She couldn't help but compare. "Things here are very different from home... and yet at the same time, similar.  It is rare that circumstances allow treating persons as groups, because moving them can cause harm - usually they're placed in a cool area of the basement.  Some unfortunate families set aside a room for the purpose - well, so do some old families.  We have one.  It's cleansed with prayers and special herbs between uses.   Dihsnfectnd would have been really useful.  The cleansing smells nice, but...I am uncertain how well it...killed those tiny creatures which cause sickness."

She looked a little self-conscious. "Sorry if this bores you." Although maayybe it would be fun seeing you adults bored. "I - I miss it, but a lot is nice here..."

Anais nodded her head in approval, but only after the ritualist took note of Rmwtyliin's movements as instructed. The young woman had done just fine, and while she couldn't sense the changes, Anais could. The talisman was particularly an interest to Anais, and the young woman handled it with care, much to Anais's appreciation for her care in detail and movement. The flow of power had receded to a quiet, patient, and lazy ebb; barely a thrumming feel at each local node that indicated it would easily accept the missing links and reassert itself once joined together again.

Rmwtyliin's commentary that took Anais's attention and the woman smiled, "Not at all: we all come from different places and spent the last few months getting to know each other, on the surface, at any rate. And yes, it is quite different here, but then so was Bielefeld. From where I come from automobiles, computers, cell phones and the like are technological impossibilities that we mistook for magic. Sandy and Amanda have proven invaluable with getting my guildmates 'up to speed', although I'm told we still have a ways to go. The same with medical treatment and equipment," Anais gestured casually to their surroundings outside her own area, "It took awhile to get used to become familiar with the equipment and I'm too reluctant to even utilize it: I much prefer to work with what I know and expand my knowledge thereafter when the time comes. Suffice to say, it's been quite informative and daunting adjustment.

"Particularly for my guildmates who miss home, but we've grown to (or still are in some cases) to accept we may never see Tyria again." Anais sighed at that, shaking her head lightly with a sardonic smile. Home had changed often for her and thus finding a new place to settle down wasn't an issue for her, or Cherry, or Erick, being nomads themselves. Others still hankered for home, a visit at least, and Anais gently reminded them such things were best left on a wishlist rather than a fool's errand. Adapt, or don't, those were the choices, and reality didn't change the circumstances they were now in.

"But as I've learned: Home is where you make it, not where you think it should be."

[New Aksarben]

OPERATION: SUPPLY RUN
DIMENSION: 270B
LOCATION: HD 40307 G
TEAM: Delta

---

The Squib's mouth twitched as he realized he could do nothing to save the strange creature. Such a shame to see a life slowly dying, even one as stupid as this. The jedi gave up his attempts at calming the creature and simply sighed, his nose twitching rapidly in frustration. A more experienced Jedi might have been able to save such an obviously suffering creature, but then again death was a part of nature. Especially for non-sentient life like that insectoid creature. Strange being though, insectoids rarely got that large. Overabundance of oxygen in the atmostphere maybe?

Then his ear perked as he first heard Nila start to speak, then both perked when the other voice seemingly came from nowhere but somewhere at the same time. How strange... Wait. It was saying to run from the pipe? Why would they run from their shelter unless they were in some kind of...

His eyes shot open wide as he heard the blockage exploding, immediately leaping out of the pipe as fast as he could with his force aided reflexes. But the explosive force proved greater, propelling the Jedi flying into the air tumbling with the trajectory he had set himself on. "NOT AGAIN!" He'd been flung through the air for the second time this year, first by a dragon, now by some unknown creatures. The Squib grunted with his displeasure at flying through the air but he quickly got a handle on himself, using a nudge from the force to spin himself around to face the blockage, focusing on how he was sailing through the air and hoping the ground he landed in would be soft enough to not hurt himself. He was a good distance up in the air after all.

The fuzzy little alien's eyes went even wider as he saw their pursuers, and he immediately tried mustering the Force to push them backwards into the pipe they were coming out of. It was about then that the Squib impacted the ground, roughly tumbling as he did. Oh this was not good. He came to a stop just before the strange creature shouting at them, having bounced a time or two against the muddy ground. HE felt a bit banged up and bruised, but luckily the ground was soft from the pulverizing rain.

"Oh, hi hi there." MAghrl said, before scrambling up to his feet, and igniting the lightsaber he had somehow managed to hold onto while flying through the air. "Not run lest yous do, you bet. Mag Jedi, Jedi no run when danger to beings!" So he held his ground, preparing for the approach of the arachnids.

---

The synth nodded at Nick's pronunciation, approving of it. Not quite right, but better than most! "Nice to meet you, Elka. Though, if its not rude to ask, what exactly are you? Never seen a mouse-person, or whatever you may be?" Sakarias asked tilting his head in confusion. His slightly glowing eyes glanced around the group trying not to stare at this new person they were brought to meet. He'd seen mutated creatures before but she didn't seem to be one of those, and neither was his Geiger counter going off like it normally did in the presence of often highly radioactive mutants.

"Oh, to make it a bit less rude I should explain what I am too." The synth said, smiling weakly. Social situations had never been his strong suit, especially since most avoid him as a synth. "I am a Synthetic Human, Synth for short. A type of biomechanically engineered being created by these bastards called the Institute. Might have given me a second chance of life but they made me into, well this" He gestured to the hole in his shoulder and neck, where you could easily see right into the inner workings of his form as the skin had rotted and rusted away long ago.

[Chedastan]

OPERATION: SUPPLY RUN
DIMENSION: 270B
LOCATION: HD 40307 G
TEAM: Delta

---

As the rain started to dissipate and allowed them to see more than a few meters in front of them, Romulus began to clearly see the helpless insectoid creature as well. He simply stared at it as it tried hopelessly to get out of the muck. And once it was proven that it couldn't even achieve that mere task, he lowered his weapon off of it, seeing how it was seemingly harmless at this point. Though he did wonder now if anything else would show up to finish off the stuck winged insectoid, which was probably likely to happen sooner rather than later in a place like this. Knowing that they should probably get going now before that happens, and given that the rain has stopped too, he was about to say something along the lines of that, before him and Nila were interrupted by a sudden shriek from what he could only assume to be a native.

He peered out of the pipe, and looked in the general direction of the reptilian speaker that was racing towards them. He was confused at first, but he figured that this thing ought to be able to help them on their mission in some way. But it quickly dawned on him however that the reptilian was perhaps trying to warn them about their pipe shelter. Before the General could even react by trying to jump out of the pipe, the sudden burst of debris that quickly came almost pushed him out for him. Allowing himself be carried out the rest of the way through, he quickly saw that spider-like creatures had made their den or burrow in the pipe they were in, and from what he could tell they weren't too happy to see them. Which was no doubt understandable.

"Shit! Shit!" Was all he said to himself as he got up and brought his sword to bear on them. Both the now unobscured sun and his blade made him shined rather blatantly like a blinding beacon or a bright torch in the middle of the pond, where he then tried to distance himself from the spiders in a defensive sword stance. He readied himself for any attack as he backed away as much as he can out of the pond towards the reptilian stranger, going past the downed winged insectoid as he did so.

"Everyone give yourselves distance! We have no idea how bad these things' bites are!" He barked at his team members as the spiders seemingly poured out of the pipe. He'll make sure that the first one to try to attack him is made into a pile of burning chunks. He noted Maghrl's position too. "Everyone form around me if you can, we can't afford to get separated here! ... That goes to you too!" He cocked his head around and said to the reptilian stranger too who was behind him.

[Torsiedelle]

OPERATION: SUPPLY RUN
DIMENSION: 270B
LOCATION: HD 40307 G
TEAM: Delta

---

Sozewe bolted, or, rather, he jumped backwards, propelling himself away from the monsters quickly with the combined powers of The Force and robotic legs. He didn't fly quite as high as his Jedi companion, nor did he find himself teetering off balance, though he did feel a bit sluggish as his boots dug into the mud, slowing his backwards flight. He stayed close by, and immediately activated his lightsaber. The intense red glow cast an eerie shadow against the ground. He was ready to kill, ready for the beasts to be close enough for him to start slashing. He was contemplating sending a bolt of lightning their way, but the danger to himself and others ruled that out.

He could also just use his second blade.

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

Elka cleared her throat awkwardly... the cat was taking his sweet time. Elka looked back at the other folk, smiling slightly. Yeah, now she remembered... well, she thought. Had she run into Nick before? Bah, she couldn't friggin' remember! Her memory was awful. Awkwardly opening her door a bit more to allow those standing outside to see her messy, living-room sized apartment. Some rather jaunty Slav-esque music could be heard bleeding out through the doorway. Elka had just elected to throw on a bathrobe... that's all she ever wore. Not like she needed to dress up anyways.

Time to meet some new people. taking a deep breath and still looking just a tad twitchy, Elka's eyes went to Otonako's hair basically immediately. Holy crap, it was changing color! And then she explained. Okay, that was a relief. She wasn't hallucinating. "Ah! Well, that's an... interesting ability. Sounds like you've got a built-in lie detector." ... Crap, that could probably be construed as offensive. Ah well, she was too lazy to backtrack. "Nice meeting you anyways, Oto! ... If I can call you that."

Then there was Kale! She was somewhat familar, Elka might've seen her about the place. Smiling slightly, she opened the door a little bit more. "Lo! Ah... I'm listening to a track from an old video game. STALKER: Clear Sky. I've never actually played it, I've just heard people compare my homeland to it... and I sorta took an interest and-" Elka began trailing off again before clearing her throat. "H-hem!"

Hoo, boy, there was the synth. Elka hadn't seen anything like him. ... And she could see right into his shoulder and neck, that was crazy. She almost shuddered and winced a bit, but... eh, she might as well explain herself as well. She wasn't exactly the most normal thing about either. There was just a slight tinge of radiation coming from Elka. Nothing massive, but it was a small, ambient amount, nothing dangerous. "I'm a, ah... Reil. North Reil, to be specific... there's two major breeds, North and Standard. North ones like myself are shorter and more... mousey while the Standards are more rat-like. And crazier." Her eyes darted to and fro as Sakarias explained. "So people actually get about to making mechanical people? That's crazy, I thought there were already plenty as is."

[CAT XIII]

7E

Otonako looked at Elka blankly.

"Built-in lie detector? What? It's not a lie detector at all! It just reflects my feelings... I'd better calm myself down before my hair goes red... How? Um...Aquario, Kinaka, Thirteenth Girl Dead? Oh Lord, I've made things worse!" Otonako turned away as her hair went bright blue. "Jeez, now I'm just reminding myself of how much I care about things that I don't have around me right now..."

She brought her thoughts back to Elka,

"Erm, you can call me "Oto" if you want to. I haven't been called "Oto" before so don't be surprised if I don't respond straight away- it sounds great though!"

[Primordial Luxa]

Insidious

“I actually just when on a supply run of sorts a little bit ago, we were picking on a new member of our group. A synthetic whose name I didn’t bother to remember. But unfortunately It took a lot out of me on many levels so I believe I need a bit of rest,” Insidious said her skin defaulting back to black and grey hues.

“As for what Primordial explained well,” she thought a moment while letting Luce lead the way “First he an a group of residents met with the Ogres who explained something about a zombie dragon which the buildings arrival had disturbed. Turns out the dragon was doing quite a bit of damage so the group went out to go investigate. You should have heard Primordial with all his complex plans.Anyway, they set off and quickly stumbled upon Old Sam, that magic hermit not too far from here. He journeyed with them to a Dwarven village where the group was able to procure some supplies and learn some things. Then they came back here and realized they needed obsidian weapons to harm the creature and so they journeyed to the volcanic lands to procure some. After that you remember Demens making all of us come that meeting where he explained that were basically his slaves now. After that the group set off and fought the dragon for a while before coming to an uneasy sort of truce with him. ”

[New Aksarben]

The Synth chuckled and frowned a bit. "Well, not during the time I'm from. There's definitely far from the population we used to have. I'd say at most a few million people, and that's only after the vaults opened up and started properly setting wastelands again! I have no idea what things are like outside of the Commonwealth though. For all I know Eurasia is uninhabited, and same with Africa. Wouldn't the pre-war folks have gotten a kick out of that, Americans being the only surviving people." He grimaced, remembering bits of his life before he was, well, this. Even during his adulthood people hadn't warmed up to those who weren't American, even though by that point he was a full fledged citizen.

"Anyway, Synths like me were intended to replace humanity. Be the next evolution so society can come back and civilization, of course under the guiding hand of the Institute. Good damn thing thye're all long dead now."

Sakarias was quite the bitter man about his past it seemed, but then he sighed and forced a smile, though as always looking at him was a bit hard with the holes in his 'skin' "Anyway, Nicer topics! Yes, like they said I play violin, been forever since I've gotten the chance to play though."

[Swith Witherward]

THE BUILDING

The noise reverberating through the Building could not have been louder had Zeus himself made it. The enormous explosion moved furniture, threw people to the ground, and dashed pictures from walls as it shook every floor. To Deuce, who was outside tending the garden, it was as though a raging fist of orange flame punched through the 8th floor wall; brick and glass became violent projectiles as they rained down on him. the glass itself twinkling as it reflected the blossoming red plumes twisted amidst toxic dark smoke. A rag doll and some furniture remnants tumbled with the Building materials, and Deuce threw his hands over his head and turned his back to the blast to avoid too much damage. The rag doll missed him by inches, instead sailing beyond to cartwheel with the grace of a bag of potatoes as it obliterated the tops of his carrot patch.

His massive stride had him at the doll's side in a flash, and he squatted in order to roll her over. His face blanched. The dark elf's facial skin cracked and peeled away from her mouth to expose blackened gums and shattered teeth, and her golden eyes were but melted wax trickling down her cheeks. The Space Marine turned his head to observe the Building once more, and surmised that the poor creature in his arms was Enali Archdreamer. Judging by the hole, he offered a silent prayer of gratitude to his god - Brit was out of town.

There wasn't any forewarning for those in the apartments directly above and below the 8th floor, though Nick had experienced the sudden urge to dive under the couch only seconds prior.

The explosion had obliterated two of the 8th floor apartments' ceilings, slamming the remaining chunks of it into the apartments above. Fine white plaster powder filled the air, coating everything to come in contact with it while the orange ball of flame licked through the hole to touch 9 E and 9 F. (It was unclear if Nikolai-Pietr Firsov had been at home, but Sozewe Oumech was away on a mission.)

Minerva picked herself off the floor just as the fire system kicked into action. The alarm blared at a tooth-shattering pitch, and Bob activated the intercoms. "Please evacuate the Building. This is not a drill. Please calmly proceed to the nearest exit."

"How long have we had that system in place?" the cultist leader growled. She had no intention of evacuating anywhere. "Luce! We may need Time on our side!" she called out to the Conservator, hoping he was still about. She didn't wait for a reply before stepping out of Time herself to expedite her movement to the 7th floor. She could go no further: Morbus had slammed the stairwell firedoors shut to contain the blaze on the 8th.

"Damnit it!" the locket slipped from her neck and she pried it open with her fingernails to activate the display. "Morbus, 8th floor status?"

Explosion occurred in Apartment 8E and blast exited door to impact 8F. Nothing remains of these dwellings. 
Apartments 8A and B shielded from blast by X and Raptor House. No damage to 8C or D. 
8G major damage to common wall. Occupant out of Building.
8H minor damage. Occupant out of Building. 
8J minor damage.
Fire suppression systems activated on this floor. 
Standby for fire suppression systems.

"What?"

She needn't have asked. The overhead sprinkler system kicked on, and she became saturated in a matter of seconds. Morbus was not finished, however.

Severe damage to apartments 7E and F. Multiple persons located under rubble in 7E.
Severe damage to apartments 9E and F. Fire suppression system activated. No fatalities on 9th floor
BOB to activate Healer Emergency Team...

The intercom blared to life once more, "Emergency Healers, please report to the Seventh floor. All available healers, please report to the Seventh floor."


Life wasn't pleasant for those in 7E. The ceiling had saved them twice - first by taking the brunt of the explosion, and then by forming a shield to protect them from the flames. Only a small portion had blown in - the kitchen area. Now the whole thing creaked ominously, plaster falling away in chunks to expose the beams. Silt permiated the air, filling lungs with each inhale. Some of those present might be unconscious, some might have injuries. All but the cat would have been taken by surprise, though none had died. The Slav-esque music died out as the power cut, and recessed emergency lighting kicked on, turning the silt into a cloudy mess that obstructed one from viewing their own hand waving in front of their face.

But the kitchen area sustained the brunt of it, and bore witness to a second death - Astra Foriano's quickly charring remains still smoldered on the floor. And then the sprinklers took over, and the silt became mud, and the stench of wet, burnt flesh rose up from the body.


In the lobby, Volker sprung from behind his desk and propped open the Building's main doors. Clipboard in hand, he would take roll as people evacuated.


OPERATION: SUPPLY RUN
DIMENSION: 270B
LOCATION: HD 40307 G
TEAM: Delta

---

Buttons sprung from her position under the pipe, easily sailing across the distance between her and her pilot. There wasn't time to analyze anything, and she was no Overseer. Muscular limbs propelled her at a fast clip; Nila leaped and latched on to her exo.

The lizard's eyes widened as the first spider streaked towards the group. "OUTPOST TRAILER!" her hands frantically pawed at the Jedi's arm. "RUN. Kill them with fire! Lay down fire and run. They no fit in trailer! Hurry!"

The lizard bolted back towards the green.

[Chedastan]

OPERATION: SUPPLY RUN
DIMENSION: 270B
LOCATION: HD 40307 G
TEAM: Delta

---

"Wilhelm dammit!" Romulus cursed as he realized they shouldn't try to go up against the massively large spiders, if only he have had a large lance with him, then he would had have reach equal to them! Alas, there were too many of them, and they could probably outrun most of the team too, shelter from them would be their best solution right now. He noticed the still dying winged insect still in the middle of the pond, perhaps if they could just push the poor thing towards the spiders they'll be more incline to eat that than them, as it would certainly take much less effort for them to catch. Remembering what the force users could do, he looked towards Maghrl. "Maghrl, push that dead insect in the pond towards them with your Force, we need to cover our retreat!" He barked the order to the Squib.

He then called to everyone else over comms, "Delta, we're retreating with that lizard to her trailer ASAP! Cover your retreat with whatever you got." He relayed the order to them, then got out his slug loaded shotgun and held it with one hand. He quickly got out of the pond, and bolted in the direction the mysterious lizard went towards. But he stopped for only a second to run his sword through some nearby foliage, immediately catching it on fire. He hoped that it'll start burning more things real soon, and will help deter anymore of the spiders from trying to catch them. He then resumed back to running, and prayed that the spiders wouldn't pursue.

[Torsiedelle]

OPERATION: SUPPLY RUN
DIMENSION: 270B
LOCATION: HD 40307 G
TEAM: Delta

---

"You know what? I'm with reptile lady thing. Let's get to safety!", Sozewe started. He considered his other options, and, while taking one giant spider on was possible, taking all of them on was suicide. He whipped out his second lightsaber, opting to duel-weild the weapons as he ran, just in case he needed to swing twice at one of the things. Sozewe was NOT about to take his chances.

Though he wondered if giant spiders even ate metal people...

---

Torii was just being herself. Well, she wasn't not being herself, anyways. She continued to sit nearby the chatting adults, fiddling with her new gun, wondering what exactly was happening while her friends were upstairs. She wanted to run back up, but she didn't want to overcrowd things. She didn't want to interrupt the adults, either. She was stuck in an awkward position. Maybe she could just-

The explosion made Torii jump, and fall out of her seat. That bang, the shaking, all revived a certain fear in the girl that caused everything around her to fade out. It wasn't that she wasn't used to them, but sudden crashes brought back a ton of bad memories.

"One...two...three...four...", She thought to herself, steadying her breathing. She was okay. Everything was okay...

The alarm was going off. Wait...her friends were upstairs. Torii's heart sank.

She jumped up, a mixture of fear and worry for her friends and neighbors. Torii grabbed her pipe rifle, just in case it was an enemy that was up there, and ran past Luce and Insidious. "I need to find Nick and the new people.", She yelled, launching herself into the hallway. "Shit, and Kale's upstairs, too. What's going on?"

She swallowed down panicked tears. She needed to move with a purpose.

---

"Tora!"

Katya Dimitrov burst out of her apartment. It was the fastest she had moved in months, well over a year, even, as the elder sister ran out to make sure that Torii was safe and sound. She hadn't seen her all day - not an uncommon relationship for the two - and had brushed it off until the...whatever it was that had happened.

She didn't even notice the calls, ber panic was so great, that she was completely blindsided when she slammed right into Torii. The two girls fell straight to the floor. Torii cursed and quickly hopped to her feet, picking her rifle back up and continuing to run up. Katya groaned and slowly lifted herself up, but was still splayed out, with her legs at her sides. She was knocked into a daze.

---

Audette's room shook hard. The sudden boom and shaking woke the woman, who was previously sprawled out on her bed, and sent her barreling over the side and onto the floor. Her eyes went wide. Her heartrate shot up. She was panicking.

It was just like North Caucasian. It was just like that explosion. She remembered it all as it played back in her mind. She couldn't concentrate. She was dizzy, her breathing was erratic...

She passed out and fell face-down on the floor. A minute passed, and she finally began to get a grip on the situation. Her implants began to outline the room around her. Everything was alright; she was safe. No fire, no rubble, nothing. There was an explosion, but she wasn't hurt. She was okay. Audette knew this. She sat up.

What else could she do but walk to her door and peer outside? She grabbed her weapon on the way, and tossed her tactical vest on haphazardly before doing so, just in case.

[Fvaarniimar]

Seventh floor, t minus 120 s
Shock.  Terror.  One step from Elka's door, Nick froze.  Frantically, he glanced around.  Something's wrong.  What is it?!

A minute passed.  They were inside.  The cat squirmed nervously. Getting closer...  Thirty more seconds.  The cat was shaking.  Hide.  Hide.  Scared.  Under couch...  With seconds to spare, although he didn't quite know that yet, Nick dived underneath.

WHOOM.

WhatwasthatwhyshakingWHAT HAPPENED?!

Glancing out, the cat started shaking again.  Everything'sburiedandIthoughtitwassafe!!  We'resupposedto besafehere!  Why do we Have To Evacuate?!

Oh no - what if the othersarehurt?!  Maybe they'd be okay if I'd said something.  Maybe I'm just selfish.  Why didn't I think of it hurting them?!

(That was easy enough to answer, although not for the shocked cat. They were in the Building; the Building was safe.  Danger, in the past, had typically meant danger to Nick.)

"Emergency Healers, please report to the Seventh floor. All available healers, please report to the Seventh floor," blared the intercom.

That'll help when they're here. Wait, I'm a healer.  I have to go to the seventh floor.  Wait.  I'm on the seventh floor.  I'm a healer.  I can help.  Okay.  What do I do?!  I can stop pain but it's only temporary...  I can help a little with shock - I'm in shock.  Oh.  Someone hurt.  Just one.  Or I could alternate.

As for selfishness, a thought had snuck in unprompted.  I hope my apartment's okay...I can't believe I'm thinking that right now.  Mouse smells like mouse.  Hungry.  I can't believe...ok, don't try Elka.  If Sakarias is robot might not help.  Oto or Kale.  He scrambled forward, sneezing. 

Another involuntary shower, gre - ohnostuff'sonfire! Is that - theresaDEADPERSONinthekitchen.  Someone died.
SOMEONEDIEDSOMEONEDIED -

Clambering off the rubble near someone's exposed hand, he sniffed.  Smells human-nottooplanty-Oto.  Setting both front paws on it, he reconsidered.  There might not be time to wait.  I hope there is.  He activated both the collar and his ability to communicate via touch; the words might echo, but between the out-loud yelling and the direct blasting of concepts/words into Otonako's brain she'd have to be in serious trouble medically not to get Nick's message.

<LISTEN, OTONAKO!!!  IF YOU CAN 'HEAR' THIS, TRY TO THINK BACK AT ME SO I CAN CHECK IF YOU'RE OKAY!!!>  As mentioned, more than just the words would come through - shock, terror, worry, and a general understanding that Nick's powers extended to being able to receive information from her nerves if enough time passed and/or the condition of her attempting to reply and both talking back and forth was met.  The actual message, however, was much "louder"; unlike the concepts, it would remain pretty understandable to a dreaming or concussed brain.

If Otonako WAS okay, Nick would promptly sniff around for the nearest flesh-based person.  If she wasn't, he'd stay with her and detail her condition to the healers.  He coughed. <They should be here soon. Just have to hang on.>

---

Fifth floor, t minus eight seconds
"I thought the same!  We - it is understandable right? The effects are -" 

Not entirely unfamiliar with earthquakes, Rmwtyliin grabbed the doorframe to steady herself.  Her eyes widened.  "What WAS that?!"  It had sounded bad.  Glancing around, she began grabbing armfuls of bandages as the announcement regarding evacuation sounded.  "We need to leave?  But -"

But a lot of things.  But it was scary out there.  But what if someone had been hurt?  It was her duty to stay here and help -

I am useless here, correct?  With a sigh, she headed for the door, donning her coat.

"Emergency Healers, please report to the Seventh floor. All available healers, please report to the Seventh floor," blared the intercom.

That is me.  That is also me! I was right to get bandages. She felt...validated.  Me being here, now - useful.  I'm on Five.  Seconds from Seven by elevator.  Both numbers are good.  Maybe we are okay?  Bob and Morbus and the Building - what could have made that noise?  Never mind that now.

Have to carry them.  My coat has huge pockets - nearly a foot deep, with over 70 cubic inches of room between them. I need to wash my hands because bacteria. The coat is NOT sterile - so nor are the pockets! She looked around. She glanced at Anais, Duncan still in a pocket.  "Do you - oh. Medkts, yes, thanks." She glanced to the side. I think I am helping with the bowls. Fortunate indeed. Are you here, spirits, guiding and guarding us? Can I use the coat? Sterile. Sealed. I can put in the kits- no, do not fit. I could grab medicine? But we need to go.

She followed Anais out the door.