Aekea

Aekea

Location:

--The city of Aekea lies to the east of Barton and far to the east of Durem. It is the center of the Gaian robotics industry, and one of the few places where robots and prosthetic humans can reside legally. The entire city lies in a huge canyon that is mined extensively, the ground contains a wealth of minerals that are nowhere near depletion despite the extensive mining, most notably high quality iron ores.

People:

--Aekea is a diverse city, populated by an even mixture of humans, bots, prosthetic humans, and meta-humans, with a scattering of other races from all across Gaia. Many of the cities humans actually live in Barton and transit to the city by rail during the workday, so there is a constant flux of people in and out of the city.

--The robot population is confined to the city proper, they are forbidden to leave. The same condition is placed on prosthetic humans, but due to their deceptive structure they have managed to come and go as they please. Aekea authorities have checked this problem by requiring all prosthetic humans to wear special tags, clearly visible. Laws have also been passed to make sure that synthetic and prosthetic humans are so constructed as to contain flaws that give away their non-organic status.

--The Meta-human population is divided between hard working citizens trying to live a normal life as best they can and those who use their powers to subvert law enforcement by running a black market aimed at selling bots and illegal prosthetic modifications.

--There are a scattering of elves, dwarves, Drow, and other races residing in Aekea, these are usually specialist in their fields, here to do a job ordinary human workers can't handle properly.

The people of Aekea live in the very same factories where they work for the most part, few afford private sheds and far fewer live in densely packed apartments, as the city has no truly residential or commercial district to speak of.

Resources:

--The city of Aekea is famous for the Factori, which produces furniture and tile that is renowned across all Gaia. The furniture produced ranges from high-scale to affordable items for the most meager budget.

--Construction equipment in produced on a massive scale, with lumber cut from the forests to the north and imported from forests all around Gaia. The presence of such a well developed construction industry is the prime reason for the location of the Gaia housing authority in this city.

--Mining is what drove the industrialization of Aekea and is still a dominating part in the Aekean economy. Massive quantities of Iron-ore, anthracite coal, lead, copper, tin, and bauxite are mined from Aekean mines daily. The Aekean mines are also a source of precious metals such as gold, silver, titanium, tungsten, platinum, cobalt, and uranium. New quantities of mine-able minerals are still found every month within the city's borders. Quarry work has also produced useful stones for cement and building purposes.

--Low tech manufacturing of every kind is to be found in Aekea, mostly in the southern industrial sector.

--Robotics, Aekea is a leader in the field of Robotics, the finest parts for bots and prosthetics are manufactured in this city. Most of the robots manufactured these days are heavy duty industrial bots, but bots for all types of purposes are manufactured, from sales bots to card dealing bots.

--Weapons, Gaian government has forbidden the manufacture of weapons in Aekea due to fear of arming the bots and prosthetic humans. Weapons grade cybernetics is also forbidden.

--On a side note, the industrial nature of the Aekea has made it the worst offender concerning Gaia pollution of all kinds. Smog from Aekea has been known to wipe out wildlife in the northern forests. Commuters to the city have often complained that the smog makes the city look as if a massive explosion was wiping the city off the map.

Points of Interest:

The Housing Authority- Everyone who wishes to own a portion of the suburbs around Barton & Aekea must apply with the housing authority. However, the housing authority seems to have little control over who owns what in Durem and other Gaian cities. Located in the central Industrial district.

Crate & Apparel- A clothing store run by NPC Liam, it concentrates primarily on clothing with an industrial or utilitarian purpose, as fits with the vast majority of the Aekean clientèle. Located in the Northern Industrial District.

The Faktori- Sells the furniture produced by the Factory itself, but is known to have furniture outlets all over Gaia under many different names.

Districts:

The Northern Industrial District- This district is the wealthiest district of Aekea, the factories here are into high tech fields such as robotics, aerospace, electronics, and program development. This sector of the city is overwhelmingly robotic or prosthetic mine workers in demographic, the humans who live or work here are found here are very to moderately wealthy. A vast majority of the city's bars and shops are attached to the industries in this district.

The Central Industrial District- Composed primarily of depots for the transport and refinement of industrial equipment. This sector of the city holds the highest percentage of middle class human workers. The west side of the Central district is actually a small residential zone composed of houses for wealthy industrialists who need to spend extra time in the city, and can be considered a separate segment of Aekea itself.

The Southern Industrial District- A mosh pit of low tech industries and industrial waste dumps. The population is about evenly mixed between poor human workers and low level industrial bots.

The Sewers- Aekea's sewers are specially designed to handle highly toxic industrial waste. Only Robots and prosthetic humans live below Aekea, as they are the only ones who can survive in the toxic environment.

Defenses:

--A defensive wall wraps the exterior of the inner city. It was not designed to keep invaders out, but to keep the bots in. However, consider Gaia's history of attacks and raids on helpless towns. The perimeter is now patrolled by dully named Aekean Defense Garrison (ADG), a mix off humans and meta-humans, bots are forbidden from owning weapons. The wall is mounted with hidden high caliber cannon & missile launchers at strategic locations, which retract from their holes during an invasion or assault. The wall also contains hidden air defenses.

--Also, A base of the Gaia military is located not far from the city southeast corner of the city, and a division is kept on hand here, considering the value of this city.

The Rumored Darkness:

--It is rumored that illegal weapons manufacturing, cyborg processing, bio-mechanical engineering, biological experiments, and other illegal industry takes place in secret facilities all across Aekea, but especially in the less policed Southern Industrial District.

A young woman wearing a white halter top with a pair of black denim jeans and simple blue sneakers was currently pounding the pavement, walking around as if nothing were entirely wrong. Her brown leather jacket, with the hem hanging to mid-thigh, was swaying gently in the breeze as she did so.

Once she was within the nearest bar within the Central Industrial District, she ordered herself a Coke and rum and casually waited. While she did so, she asked one of the bartenders, "This is one hell of a town, isn't it? Almost as interesting as Durem. Y'know, something big's going down in that city, by the way. They say this guy named Yaits is back in town from some kind of exile... interesting stuff, really."

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

The bartender raised an eyebrow as he mixed the drink and laid it on the counter, "You obviously don't live here, don't you? So what's your business?"

"Oh, I'm just here for a bit of a vacation. The smog here is terrible though- I hear that plans are being made for some kind of large-scale air purifier or whatever it is. I don't really care, but that's just what I heard."

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"Durem, yea, I watch the news, son of rich dude comes home and become rich dude himself. Another rich a*****e to plunder Gaia, damn capitalist scum. Most humans around here hate him because he's rich, but I hear he's donating to this order thingy. Somethin' about proving his image. Like I could care. Heard they were helpin' the homeless around here though."

"Oh, yeah... it's all to protect his image, though." She takes a sip of her Coke and rum and sighs in satisfaction before speaking again. "What I don't get... is how he was found. There wasn't even news of a formal investigation or cause of death, or his status when he was found. It's like he came out of nowheres; just followed some invisible trail of gods-know-what to come back here.

A bit suspicious, don't you think?"

She took another sip.

She smiled.

"Sure thing. I got all night and half the next day. And don't laugh- as far as what I've seen, this place has some good points about it. The people are nice- kinda like you. The robots are friendly and quite high-tech. Hell, I would rather have one as a friend than as a worker, y'know? Besides, nothing will replace good ol' fashioned hard work by one's own hands."

"But you know," she said, her voice dropping a bit. "Not all rich people are bad. There are some that want to change things- who don't just make money to make it. They want to help. I know this is wierd as hell, but some of them want to help people. That's a rare thing, but it happens.

It's just my opinion, though. Don't pay it any mind."

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"What?"the bartender asked, "Are you saying you think this Yaits fellow is an honest rich man! If this was my bar I'd throw you out."

The woman shook her head and smirked. "Hell no. I don't trust him. I'm just saying that there are a few whose ends serve to help people instead of harm them and manipulate them. You ever heard of Evan White? He's one of them. Of course, I wouldn't know much- just what I've heard."

But she let him continue.

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"Look, I don't got any proof, but did you see the new Yaits biosomething complex they built in the northern district? They haven't announced it yet, but I got a peek at the insignia they're going to hang up. It's like a big Y with a pentagram around it, really creepy stuff. And rumors have been circulatin' that prisoners & mental patients are vanishing, shipped by the government to work in an abandoned paper mill, and never seen again. Just rumors, mind you, but scary stuff if you thinks about it."

Behind them, a man with two prosthetic arms listened to the conversation, his fist clenching his glass until he broke it against the plastic and metal components. He rubbed his hand against the wood grain of the table before slamming his fist and leaving angrily.

She heard it. The woman didn't need to turn around to know what his emotions were on the subject. Which meant it was almost time for her to get a move on. But there was more to be said, so she waited.

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"Joey, you better pay for that!" the bartender called, "st, he must of heard us. He's a big fool, an Order supporter. Lost both arms and legs in an industrial accident and was labeled a cyborg by the local government, can't leave Aekea legally. Then his wife went off with another man, never heard from her again except for the divorce papers. He's got a lot of bad st in his head."

"Yeah, I know... look, here's the money for the drinks- keep the change. My name's Stephanie- we should do this again sometime." She wrote her cellphone number quickly on a piece and handed it to him quickly. "Hey, if you have any other info about them, don't hesitate to let me know, okay? Let's keep in touch," Stephanie shouted back as she headed out, camly trailing the cyborg named Joey.

Her footsteps quickly matched the sound and exact stride of his own as she walked about twenty feet behind the man, her sharp eyes following his every move and turn.

She had a lead.

Of course, she wasn't that stupid.

Left, ri- heard someone coming; take cover. She pulled out a mirror and acted as if she were checking her makeup while actually looking down the alley itself via the pocket mirror. She watched as the man with the hat shifted something into Joey's hands while at the same time, money was passed along.

Bingo. There's something going on here... I'm going to find out what the hell it is.

She allowed the man to pass, casually waving towards him in a friendly manner as she headed down the alley. She then lengthened her stride, and in a short time caught up to the cyborg without missing a beat... and without his knowledge. The time gap between his exit and hers would be just about right to conceal her presence.

At least, she hoped so.

Skin? Veins? Hydraulics and neural connectors?

They were building something. The words skin and veins brought to mind something that seemed human. She didn't like this... neither would Evan, but she wouldn't speak to him about it, not until she was in the clear. For now, she had to find out more. The only way to do so was to politely ask, which was out of the question, or infiltrate by some means, which meant doing things the hard way.

She didn't mind the hard way- it was what she was good at.

Being unassuming and seeming completely conspicuous and innocent as she calmly made her way out of the cover she was behind, she acted as if she were strolling down the street, looking for a job. She was actually looking for a front, but those came in the guise of jobs and work, didn't they?

"Good afternoon, gentlemen! You guys wouldn't happen to have any work available to a newcomer to the city, would you?"

Stephanie cursed mentally. This was not looking good... then again, there was something else she could use. Her walk changed from professional to sultry in almost an instant, not bothering to break her stride as she did so. It looked like a transition from her work day to just coming home to a husband.

Or something like that. Fact was, she wasn't anything near married.

"A good time... you could say that. Come to think of it, you boys don't look like you're doing much of anything. Why not come with me and leave all this work behind?"

She smiled sweetly. It would be rather interesting to see how they reacted.

She couldn't help but grin slightly. Such prime sources of information, though they probably didn't know much, were rare. Since neither one of them knew that much, she'd have to interrogate both of them. But first...

"Easy, boys. There's plenty of me to go around. Why don't we all go to the... back room... and see if we can't, erm... negotiate?" She added a wink, just for dramatic effect.

Ah, I see. So this one's the guy I talk to.

Her demeanor changed immediately as soon as she caught sight of him exiting, holding up her hands to show that she was unarmed. Not like she wasn't, but just to be friendly, she did anyways. Before he could level the shotgun properly, she talked fast, smiling as she did so.

She noticed that his hands were shaking... and his eyes watered over. Something was wrong... maybe she could use it to her advantage. "Hey, just looking for work. I noticed that your boys needed a bit of help- are you hiring at the moment?"

Then again, if he said no... she would have to find out about this operation from that Joey guy. And he must have been long gone by now, so she lost that lead. But here was a potentially better one- so she waited it out.

She quirked an eyebrow.

"What, that? It was all play- nothing more than teasing. I'm looking for honest work- I promise I'm not a slut from the street." His comments irritated her, but she remained calm. It wouldn't do to cuss out someone with a shotgun, no matter how close he was or how much he deserved it.

And this guy looked like he deserved it. But she stayed cool.

"I'm just new in town- looking for a bit of information is all. Hear me out?"

She certainly hoped she wouldn't have to do anything drastic...

s**t!

She stood stock still as he fired, hoping that this wouldn't hurt too much... Then noticed that it missed entirely. She opened one eye slightly and took a good look at the man. It seemed that he had almost blown a good-sized hole in the Lumina, taking his own men with it if he had done so. She realized... that he was either drunk, or simply old and tired.

Her eyes shone with compassion for the man whom had just tried to kill her. She couldn't entirely help the fact that his current state was one of distress, nor did she know anything about his daughter. She walked over to him, knelt down, and rubbed his back soothingly.

"Sir, I don't even know your daughter, let alone the fact that you had one in the first place... but..." she struggled for something to say before sighing and looking over at the other two men with a stern gaze.

Playtime was over.

"You boys sure you don't need any help? You sure as hell look like you do from my perspective," she said tersely, with a businesslike air. She had to get in somehow, but she also had to help this guy out.

Besides, he might have information.

She smiled gratefully and nodded. "I humbly accept," she said with an honest nod.

Of course, her more tactical mind was cheering with glee. She had gotten through it all scot-free, though the other two would be a problem. No matter- she had ways of making them calm their asses down without killing them. Besides, they probably had more info about the operations that Yaits Corp. was planning in the city than the old man did- though she would still ask him what this was all about.

Score! Now all I have to do is go from here, and I'm set... but first...

She had to introduce herself. "I'm Stephanie. Pleased to make your aquaintance."

The woman nodded and followed him in, doing as he asked without another word. As she sat down, she began asking a few simple questions- the first one being "So, how long have you been at this? The line of work, I mean."

She had to start somewhere, and if she could get him talking about the job and what entailed it, she could get down to what they were currently making and what it was for.

Stephanie had already started filling out the papers, handing him her Social Security number and drivers liscense for I.D., as well as the birth certificate that she carried around, just in case. Quickly and concisely filling out the forms one after another, she didn't mind doing a bit of extra paperwork in exchange for such hot information on the operations that were going on here.

After all, by what she had heard... this place didn't just fix cars.

As she looked towards the big guy, she wondered how much brains the guy had to be tinkering around with a transmission like that without getting his fingers caught. She shrugged and nodded towards Ichiro, walking towards Rizzo with no more than a sigh.

Well, it's a start... I'll find out what's going on here by working here. If I can imitate these guys enough and become proficient at this, I'll have an inside link to what's going on.

At least, that was how the tactic was supposed to work- imitate to the point where no one can tell the difference, all the while gathering information and running counter-intelligence where necessary.

She looked at the floor in disgust, wondering how the hell this place was run when it was so damn dirty and disorganized. The ambitious side of her wanted to shape things up around here, but her mission got in the way.

Or did it? Perhaps by cleaning house, she could get a bit more cozy with these guys as far as information went. Storing it in her mind for later, she took the parts from him, gave him a sharp salute that seemed almost military -almost because it was performed with a grin instead of a grimace- and jogged off to the storage room.

Indeed, she had found the place in disarray.

"Damn, this is no way to run a good business," she said in utter hopelessness. "How do these guys survive in such piss-poor conditions?" Sighing, she searched for the box labeled "Joey's parts"... and as she looked inside, her expression turned to one of bliss.

Jackpot! I hope everyone's as lucky as this... I have to hurry and see what's in here so I can figure out what exactly these guys are being hired to do...

With that, she rummaged through the box, her sharp eyes picking up every detail about the contents of the box she was rummaging through...

Unperturbed, she responded flawlessly with "It's a damn pigsty in here, just like you said! I can't find the damn thing," she said as she put the parts back where they belonged, including the ones in the bag. Her mind had enough time to record everything her eyes saw as she finished putting everything away, placing the box back where it was before he could ask anything else.

The thing Stephanie would remember more than anything else... was that most, if not all of this... was illegal by both Aekean and Gaian laws. If this evidence were released, not only would this place be out of a job, but Yaits Corp. would lose credibility.

Yes! This is just what Commander White needs...

"Never mind- I found it! The stuff's in the box now," she said with an almost exhausted note. "Remind me to organize that room later. It's a wonder you guys can run this place with your inventory so disorganized," she commented as she came out with the vacuum cleaner.

((Yes, thank you. Remind me not to make such a mistake again.))

She quickly figured out how to get the hose onto the wall mounts, hook it into the wall itself, and turn it on. Sighing at all the work she would have to do, she got down to business. Figuring it would take quite a while in order to just vaccum the place, she allowed herself to get her mind working as she cleaned the place up.

I wonder what's underneath that hatch in the back room. If it's what I think it is, this'll be a major break in the case. If not, it'll still be worth looking at. I just need to stay here for a bit longer and have everyone get used to me, until it comes to the point where I can comfortably look around without much effort.

She allowed herself a smile, making it seem as if she were enjoying herself.

Stephanie wasn't that stupid, nor was she that slow. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement in his right hip, and reacted upon instinct as the front kick came swinging upwards.

She lifted the targeted leg as his own foot came around, and quickly snubbed his attack by kicking outwards, the ball of her foot aimed towards the knee as it came forward. Pain, disorientation, and a stumble forward would be just about all he would get from her, not to mention the same foot stomping out the cig with her heel as it came back down, only for the vaccum cleaner to pick it up.

"Slacker," she said as she continued her work. "Besides, why make a mess worse when you could make it better? Doesn't make sense, does it?"

She looked back at him with a smile and a nod, and a look that suggested, 'I'll be waiting, you little s**t.' And she would. But next time, she would use more than just a self-defense kick.

Stephanie nodded... but she wanted goddamn badly to come back later. Rizzo had been in the back for quite some time. What took him so long? Did it have to do with what she had seen? Something was going on that she didn't entirely like, and she would find out what it was sooner or later.

For now, she'd follow Ichiro to his place to see if she couldn't get some rest as well. "Thanks," she said as she began walking slightly behind him and to his left.

She quirked an eyebrow- the place looked like a combination of a hurricane, earthquake, and train wreck. But it was somewhere to live, and good enough for her. At least, for the moment. She had everything with her that she had come to her first day of work with- a Beretta Tomcat included- so she felt safe with that.

The noise was bad, though... but she knew how to tune things out during sleep. All-in-all, besides being a serious health hazard, it was not a bad setup. As for the tax thing... she smiled within her mind. This would be interesting, if nothing else.

"You mind if I take a shot at that bookwork next time?"

Rule number four of getting ahead in your work- do stuff that the boss doesn't like for him, and take a load off his back.

Oh, hell... he's wasted beyond belief. I almost want to take this place he works at out of its misery and give him some peace. For the moment though, she would concentrate on the mission. Sighing as she made her way towards her bedroom, she noticed that it was a complete and total waste of space. The place was, for a light term, trashed.

"Holy crap, old man," she murmured with a shake of her head. "It looks like I'll have to take care of this as well... I'll do it tomorrow, though. I suppose I'll just have to sleep on the floor."

What she meant by sleeping on the floor... was to force herself into a state of beta-wave rest via meditation. When on the field, it was necessary to stay alert and attentive while getting at least four hours of sleep in. If one was tired, one made mistakes. But if one was unfocused, they would die in their sleep.

So she sat on the floor with her back against the sturdy wall, crossed her legs in lotus position with her feet on her calves (trust me, this is hard without being extremely flexible), and closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

Within fifteen minutes, she was in a forced sleep...

The woman woke up much earlier than that. it was five in the morning, and she tiptoed around the house, trying to find something at least edible for breakfast. She didn't want to wake the guy after all. Still, it would be a shame if he were late for his own work.

By six, the had found nothing... but saw that her boss was awake, so she decided to ask him about it.

"Hey there, sir. Nice to see you up and running. Um... do you have anything around here for breakfast?"

"All right," she said, satisfied that she was actually getting something edible. Nothing in that house looked safe- she'd have to do some heavy moving before it was all said and done.

"Sir," she said as she walked down the street with Ichiro, "Gil bothers me... he tried to attack me as I was working yesterday- just out of spite, I think. The attack failed... but I still think you should keep an eye out. He doesn't seem... stable, y'know?"

And once again, her military training that was drilled into her took effect. Her mind, immediately going into tactical mode without her knowledge, surveyed the situation. A protest, and from what she heard, many of the androids there wanted to break things. She said nothing as she walked past, and only gazed at the crowd, not resting her eyes on any one person.

All of this took roughly four seconds before she nodded to herself, following Ichiro.

I certainly hope the RI branch in Aekea gets finished soon... maybe this will start changing once it's done.

"Sir, what's that all about," Stephanie asked, sounding innocent and naive. She seemed like she didn't have a clue, though she had most certainly picked up what was going on days before she had entered the city proper. What good was a recon officer if they didn't do their research?

She shrugged and smiled. She had assumed nothing about the man- everyone was born with some sense, and the man seemed to make perfect sense in his argument. But then again, the argument did raise the question of whether the machines had a soul or not. The Ghost in the Machine, so to speak.

Their personality simulations and logic engines were the basis of their humanity, in a way. The freedom to make their own choices was given to them by the programmers, whom in a way gave rise to this conflict. But she said nothing... just nodded and moved on.

"I see..."

Truth be told, she wasn't surprised at all at the man's sudden sharp mind. Though a drunkard, he wasn't stupid. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to run a business.

Stephanie almost scoffed. Honestly, what happened to a real breakfast? She missed her home already, and wanted to be off of this god-forsaken mission before the riots erupted and the deals were sealed. Fortunately for her, she was close enough to quite a bit of incriminating evidence- enough to put Yaits Corp. on the freeze for a while until a suitable plan of attack was formed.

But the fact was, she needed more. She needed to know what was underneath that trap door, and she'd find some way to find out today. But for now, she had a job to do. A false job, sure... but a job anyways. And it was good money, besides the copious amount of credits that she was paid each month by Raven Industries.

Then again, she had done what the others in the Third Division had done- spread the money out to different banks, so it would be less easy to track and trace. Not to mention they filed the bank accounts under different names, phone numbers, everything.

In any event, Stephanie quirked an eyebrow. "Erm... I guess I could take the Far Eastern breakfast," she said with a grin. She could have laughed, if the situation were a bit less tense. Food was food, and she didn't much give a damn.

Other components, huh? This could be interesting...

"Got it," she said cheerily. At least she had something to do before that Gil came through. Perhaps he would take their last encounter as a lesson today, but she doubted it. People like that existed everywhere- it was why she trained her self-defense techniques every day.

Speaking of that, in the fourty-five minutes before Rizzo arrived, she was busy punching and kicking at shadows, going through a routine that involved several accurate strikes that looked like they could break someone's jaw, shin bone, ankle, or a few internal organs if she needed to.

By the time she was in the middle of it, Rizzo himself had arrived, and would be just in time to see the last of her practice session as he came in.

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"Nice moves," Rizzo said, "I'd fight you myself, but I couldn't bring myself to smack a girl around."

"How honorable of you," she replied with a smile. "There aren't too many that think that these days. Especially not around here."

Quote:** Wrote:

"I want to take out the steering mechanism of an old Toyota, can you give me a hand. Parts of the transmission might be good as well. We use the parts or exchange them over the net so we can repair older vehicle when they come in. We like to get the good stuff before we send junked vehicles to an auto recycling facility."

"Got it. Let's see what this is all about, then. I assume we have a rack and pinion system here? And what kind of transmission are we lookin' at?"

She had to ask. Even these old things could have some kind of power steering on them, and it'd be tricky to get the hydraulics out of there. But if it were anything else, this would be easier than she thought.

And indeed she did follow, and saw the wreck. She hissed in a breath of air in sympathy as she was told the cause of the accident. Some people were idiots sometimes, but she was in no position to judge. In any event, she replayed the instructions in her head- back tire caps off, gear box out, locks out. Get the spark plug from the car and see if it was okay.

"Poor guy," she muttered to herself as she continued trailing behind Rizzo.

Quote:** Wrote:

"I see you're almost finished with the caps," Rizzo said, throwing her the keys to the wreck, "He had a spare tire in the back, get that out and wait here, this shouldn't take too long."

Without looking, she caught the keys and nodded. "Sure thing, boss." Then, she noticed as Gil came walking in. A bit late, mind you, but whatever. His decisions were his own. As soon as the two of them left, a boy came running in.

Quote:** Wrote:

"Hey lady," he said, "I need help fast, my mom fell over into a sewer opening and I don't know what to do. Please follow me, you have to help her."

The child ran off as spoke not giving her chance to catch him. He was a fast little bugger, and he did seem nervous, scared, and a little paniced.

She pocketed the keys and ran after him, yelling "Hey, wait! Slow down; I need to know where she is!"

Her more logical mind however, needed to know why he was so damned scared. Why he was bleeding so without anyone helping him out. And why, moreover, had he come all the way here, to her, asking for help? The nearest person would have done nicely, and the nearest sewer opening was, the last time she checked, roughly a city block away.

She smelled a rat. A big one. Knowing perfectly well that she would probably be heading into more trouble, she followed.

Intelligently, she slowed down as soon as she saw the two men. One of them had a lead pipe, the other a cybernetic arm. The man who had the pipe looked... drunk as all hell. Advantage. The man with the arm would be the problem. She heard one more behind her... his voice sounded no older than eighteen, perhaps nineteen. The click of a knife sounded off in her ears.

She was age twenty-three and had self-defense and military training. Strength and experience advantage. Besides... a knife was nothing.

Quote:** Wrote:

"Heard you're the b**** shacking up with the old man at the garage," the boy said, "We're gonna teach you a little lesson about cutting in on other people's turf."

She sighed to herself and placed her hands on her hips.

"Let me guess... you sliced that boy, broke his nose, and told him to have me come here. Long before that happened, Gil "convinced" you all to get me out of the way."

She pulled two leather gloves out of one of her back pockets and put them on as if she were about to leave the house. Then, she took off her jacket, placed it gently to the side, and simply stood there, smiling sweetly.

"Pathetic. Of him, and of you. And horribly predictable at that. If there are only three of you... then this should be little worry. Come on, then."

The next few actions happened within fractions of a second.

Heard the boy, saw the man. Knife incoming, aimed for the small of her back. Deal with that first. She twisted to her left, pivoting on the heel of her left boot in order to do so. Her body moved in a blur as the knife flew past its mark... and the wrist of the offending arm was snagged. She was now behind him, twisting his arm in a very, very unomfortable postion. His shoulder would be complaining right about now as she put him in a hammerlock...

Before his wrist would be complaining as well as she twisted it counterclockwise in a swift, smooth jerk. The sound of bones breaking would most likely be heard as the knife dropped to the floor.

Now for the guy who was incoming- wait, was that a... oh, s**t.

The man with the prosthetic arm had a hidden surprise- a gun, probably .50 caliber. Fortunately for her, she had brought her Beretta Compact .45 with her- it should be enough.

But she wouldn't use it- not yet. For now, she ran forward, holding the boy in the hammerlock while using him as a shield against the incoming blow.

Time passed... roughly 2.5 seconds. What now?

s**t!

She was dragged forward, a nearby wall moving toward her with an insane speed. The only thing she could do was quickly swing her legs forward, her boots impacting the brick wall with enough force to break the wall somewhat, cracks spiderwebbing along for a few good inches. She jumped upwards and backwards, letting go of the young man's arm at the same time.

And while she was in mid-air... she decided that it was time to stop playing around. Since she couldn't break his bones, much less hit him and do much... it was time to see if something couldn't go through him. At the apex of her jump, she withdrew the Beretta from her right thigh and fired two shots into the young man's head.

Stay your a** down, she mused darkly.

She wasn't afraid to use what she had.

As soon as she was down a mere split-second later, she began opening fire on the big man with the pipe, another four rounds heading his way, aimed towards his gut. ******** fist-fighting for the moment- it was time to do this right.

She couldn't do anything about it... but the thing was that she launched off of the wall with enough force to have her move faster than the needles could fire. However, it was a close thing. They passed her body, only mere centimeters from impact. the first few needles missed.

Her shots got through, the young man told his other two cohorts to split, and she was down on the ground. As soon as she was, and without a pause of movement... she was moving faster than even she had anticipated. She ran her way up the opposite wall, the needles still having no target to find besides the bricks, and lay low on the roof until they were away.

As she hid however, she seethed internally.

Dammit! Now I have no witnesses... but fortunately for me, I have this.

She grinned victoriously as she pulled out a recorder from her right pocket, which was surprisingly intact after all that. Your a** is still mine, Gil... count on it. She pressed the stop button on the recorder and made her way down the roof again, taking the nearest fire escape.

Gil would be having a few problems when she got back, that was for sure.

"Sorry, boss. Had an... errand to run."

She smiled sweetly, but her eyes looked extremely pissed off. She noticed that Gil had taken Rizzo outside earlier to talk... "Did Gil have anything important to say?" She asked innocently.

"Sure thing," she said nonchalantly, though when she turned around an evil grin was on her face. It was time for some awnsers. But not before one little thing...

"Here," she tossed Rizzo her recorder as she walked away, arcing it neatly over her left shoulder. "It seems that Gil had something important to say to me. He just didn't want to say it himself. After you take a listen, keep it in a secure location. I might need it later."

The entire battle- everything that was said and done during the time was recorded on the four inch long, half inch wide cylindrical device. There were three buttons on it- stop, record, and play. The sound quality was surprisingly excellent for something so small.

Rizzo had all of ten seconds after the recording to stop her from doing what she planned on doing.

She sighed, tuned around, and began explaining in layman's terms.

"As you just heard, Gil's buddies tried to kill me in an alleyway, using a little boy as bait. I willingly fell into their trap, knowing exactly what was going to happen, and took this recorder with me. The words you have heard on that recording are my suspicions... though they sure as hell aren't suspicions anymore... because once I said it, they struck. I'd say that pretty much confirms it, wouldn't you?

One of the bastards had a prosthetic arm; tried to pump me full of needles, probably laced with something highly illegal and devastatingly toxic. One of them had an extremely durable skin that served as a sort of resistant to joint locks, as well as overall damage from unarmed attacks. I noticed that he had hydraulic fluid for blood when I shot him. Which was gross, by the way.

I couldn't catch anything about the last man, save for the fact that he was tall, drunk, and didn't seem to have very good coordination as far as I saw. Came at me with a lead pipe- almost got me, too."

She eyed Rizzo sternly.

"Just so you know... this is a normal assault without the recording. With it however, it will change it to an attempt at premeditated first degree murder, in the hands of a good judge. Which is why I need you to keep this tape safe. I'm going to try and get the story from the b*****d myself... see if he can talk properly after I break his jaw, then re-align it the hard way."

With that, she began walking again.

Stephanie quirked an eyebrow. Apparently, some peopel were naive, even at adulthood. "He just tried to kill me, Rizzo. I don't think he'll admit it readily. And he pretty much was shitting you when he said he needed help- you knew that he had knowledge of that system even before he asked.

So let's see... he is known to lie... probably has a history of violence... is lazy as hell... and almost suceeded in his attempt to kill me. Please, add it up."

But then, after a sigh, she shrugged.

"You can try. But keep that recording safe- I'm not about to take any chances. Do this for me, okay?"

She shrugged. It was always nice to learn something new, even if it was kinda dangerous. Then again, everything she did was dangerous. It was routine by now. Still, she wouldn't leave until she got a crack at Gil. Those friends of his had to get their enhancements from somewhere, and she had a feeling that it was nowhere good. If she could find out where and link these incidents to Yaits Corp., she'd have another ace in the hole.

But for now, it was time for class, so to speak.

She didn't ask Rizzo for anything. He was busy, and when someone's busy, you just don't do anything to distract their work. She did indeed pick up most of it quite well, and even participated in the conversation when she recognized a term or two.

The way he blushes, she mused to herself, you'd think he had a crush on me. She chuckled warmly at this, but paid it no further mind.

Now there were two obstacles in her path. One of them was Ichiro, who was most definitely on his way to being drunk. Not there yet, but in no mood to talk, apparently. The other was Gil. Oh, she was pissed at Gil. But he was working, and probably wouldn't talk right now. Not exactly on the subject she wanted to speak of, anyways.

So she checked out what was on TV.

Of course, it was "Edward Yaits", whom she already knew to be a fake. He had no idea that she had enough evidence to put a nice dent in the company's reputation, and was only getting started on finding it. With a satisfied smirk, she watched the speech.

Stephanie was just about done with her job for the day and was outside of Ichiro's office. Of course, she didn't expect to get paid much... but it was pay, and a chance for information. Of course, she couldn't help but notice Gil hauling a**.

"Where the hell," she said crossly under her breath, unloading one clip and exchanging it for a fresh one, "Do you think you're going? I'm not even started with you yet, you b*****d..."

With that, she followed him... and saw him being cornered by his buddies. With a smirk, she hid behind the corner, pulling out the makeup mirror so that she could get a good view of what was going on. Fortunately for her, she was standing in a location where the light was at its lowest point...

They wouldn't see her coming; hear her coming. The mirror would have no glare. She had a front row seat to the fight, and they didn't even know it. And just in case they did see or hear her, she had a few surprises ready in the pockets of her cargo pants.

And so she watched as Gil's own friends prepared to kick his a**.

She felt like laughing. So this was divine retiribution...

Behind the vehicle, was Orca, riding a dirtbike in order to hunt down his prey. He had not made it a priority to act stealthy, he just continued to follow the man in his bike until he would notice his presence. Orca kept his bike steady with his left hand, while he drew his Pistol with his right hand.

Orca continued to follow the man, he could see the silhoutte of a man in the back seat of the vehicle interacting with the silhoutte in the front seat. Orca had concealed his loaded weapon until the time when it would be needed. Orca had to stop forceibly, the check-point had to confirm his indentity and such, the process did not take long, and Orca would not allow the vehicle too leave his gaze.

Once the process was finished, Orca smirked at the guards, and zoomed off to continue to follow the vehicle.

Orca stopped his bike and parked it beside the sidewalk as he unboarded it. Orca turned the engine off and placed the keys in his pockets. Orca went on too walk slowly towards the man's vehicle, by this time already the man would be inside the bar.

Orca left his pistol inside his pocket and retrieved a small switchblade which would be undetectable by the people around the area. Orca went on to gently gash the tires in the western part of the car. Orca stared at the driver through the car's mirror.

(Sorry for taking so long, I don't care about the bounty anymore.)

Dissapears

Crawleymang~ Wrote:

"Alright make a right here and stop.. here. I guess if you want to wait for me, you can."

The car paused briefly as Reiko exited calmly onto the sidewalk and started down the small set of stairs. But before descending completely he put one hand up on the rail and stopped. Just to talk to a woman.

Then he continued into the pub, closing the door behind him...

((Nice, welcome to Aekea))

In corner both there was an old man in a plain brown trench coat smoking a twisted cigarette, the man had snow white hair, a wrinkled complexion, sun spots, liver spots, and a host of other facial lines that accented his thin drooping face. His best feature was his tan hat with the brown rim. Of course, the old man's sources told him the right the place to be, and he happened to get the time right too. When Reiko walked in, the criminal with the 200,000 credit bounty on his head, the feeble old detective couldn't help but smile.

Now, this feeble old man had no intention of collecting the bounty on Reiko's head, he merely wanted to talk, nothing more, nothing less. In case it wasn't already painfully obvious to our readers, this detective was an undercover employee of Yaits Corp, a recruiter of sorts. His problem, how in the world does one get the attention of such a powerful outlaw without getting one's neck broken.

The old man nursed his cig, and waited for a reasonable opening for which to make his modest proposal.

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

At the Garage:

Rizzo interrupted his work to pick up every last peice of the recorder and worked on repairing the busted components.

On the streets:

> Quote: Wrote: > The big tall man smiled, approaching with his crow bar.

Gil turned to the teenage-like andriod, gasping nervously, "Look, I had no idea she was a cop until I heard the recording!"

The andriod raised an eyebrow, he had said too much, "So you had her record us? How sweet!"

"No way man," he protested, "It's not like that."

Gil took an immediate uppercut to his jaw, followed by a steel blow to his eye from the left. There was a pop and a crack as the force of the first blow dislocated his jaw. The force of the second sent him back toward the tall man, who swung his crowbar into the left side of Gil's ribcage so hard that flesh and fractured bone squirted out of the wound. Gill screamed as the point of the crowbar came out, collapsing on his hands and knees. His breath whistled, it seemed air was going into the wound and working against his lungs, and it was happening fast.

"I have the money," Gil wheezed, "I'll pay triple, please don't kill me."

"Still a little a** wiping wuss," said the android, "Just like your sister, only she was worth something before her death at least."

Gil mad a fast, tears mixing with the blood that was moisturizing the cement of the alley beneath him. He wheezed a strew of vile curses at the andriod, actually managing a scream must have been painfull as he launched himself off the ground and came at the andriod with a furiously direct punch that went nowhere. The android clutched the wrist of the incoming punch and twisted it upwards till the wrist bones and snapped as hand hung limp. At the same time a slew of poisoned needles, bad drugs, penetrated the range of Gil's back. The android took hold of Gil's neck, wraping his fingers around the trachea and windpipe directly, and slammed his body against the wall with a force that shook the old building and drove the needle deeper into the boy's back.

"You're a worthless little boy," said the andriod, "And you're going to die a worthless little death."

The big tall man smiled, approaching with his crow bar.

Stephanie smirked. Gil had paid them to get rid of her, then.

All the more worth it that he die this way. She didn't much care... then she realized that he would probably be able to talk a bit better if she saved his a**. But why do that when she could always ask someone like Rizzo, who would probably be much more forthcoming, or Ichiro who was usually too stone-drunk to care?

She nodded. This was fine.

With that, and a satisfied smirk, she walked back to the garage.

Looks like I had my work taken care of after all, she mused to herself. I don't need you anymore, Gil. Have fun in hell.

Crawleymang~ Wrote:

> EdwardYaitsIII Wrote: > His problem, how in the world does one get the attention of such a powerful outlaw without getting one's neck broken.

Well... despite the bounty.. anyone who knew Reiko, well..

Actions speak louder than words.

"HAHAHAHAHA.. you are not old enough to marry me!"

"I am too!"

"Gaa~gaa~gaa.."

Reiko rocked back and forth, letting his head linger around cartoonishly while a young girl tried her best to perform a shake and choke combination to make him submit.

"How on earth can you be so calm?" A man in his late forties said from behind the bar.

"Sounds like you're more worried about the bounty than I am.."

His problem, how in the world does one get the attention of such a powerful outlaw without getting one's neck broken.

This should be interesting, the old man thought, flattening his cigarette accordian style in his ash tray and limping up to the bar. He sat near Reiko quietly, observed whatever he was drinking, and ordered him some more. He seemed in friendly enough mood, so he risked talking, going on disinterestedly, as if he had no real interest in what he was about to say. But first, he pulled out another cigarette and lit it carefully, and inhaled slowly.

"So you're the one with the big bounty on your head," the old detective said, "What in the world do you have to do to merit that distinction, per se?"

Crawleymang~ Wrote:

"Wanton destruction and being framed for conspiracies, murders, etc."

Reiko accepted a bubble blowing hoop from the girl and began blowing lackluster bubbles. He was good at a lot of things but apparently not at this. That was only half the explanation.. so after a few failed tries and laughs he finished.

"Nobody would believe me if I said I didn't do most of that stuff. So I never bothered pleading innocent."

He turned back around and sipped from the glass.

"I kinda like the attention anyway. I don't look it, but I'm old. Probably older than you old man. So it helps me see how many fists are still left in the world."

His body was slightly hunched over the bar so he sat upright and exhaled deeply.

"Who wants to know anyway?"

((Skipping small talk and getting to gist of things))

"Everyone and their brother these day," the old man said, "You'd be surprised how many crazies come out of the woodwork when there's money to be had. I'm sure it get's rather old after awhile. I'm a detective for the Yait's city police department, I also freelance part time for the Yait's Corporation Security Agency. It's a good thing for an old timer like myself who used to be somebody, pays good money. Anyway, some big shot in Yaits Corp has taken notice of your power. Some nasty people are trying to tear down what they've worked so hard to build, and they need allies bad. So they reason, why not lend a hand to someone who's been wrongfully accused. I believe you work alone, they'll respect that too, but this could work for you."

At first the man seemed to have flat out denied the proposition, but then, after listening to him a little longer, the detective concluded that man simpley wanted a free hand, didn't want to be held down like some military grunt or corporate lapdog. None of which the Yaits corporation had any intention of doing, they were looking for more of a, loosely affiliated, completely off the record, ally. A gentleman's alliance of sorts, but nothing set in stone. They figured that was the way Reiko liked it anyway, and knew he couldn't be put on a leash.

"Then we have an understanding," the old man said, he hadn't come to be philosophical, and continued puffing away at his cigarette. "Here's the deal, if you should accept. Someone may have an assignment for you every once and a while, how and if you complete it would be completely up to you. In exchange, the Yaits Corporation will ignore that precious bounty on your head, pay you nicely in whichever method you chose, and maybe even give you a helping hand if you get backed into a corner. Of course, knowing you, you probably think that could never happen."

"If it doesn't suit you," the old man said, "That's fine with me. I've done my job."

"Yaits Corporation will ignore the bounty on my head? Haha. If they want the bounty, let them come."

Then he lifted the girl up.

"I'll get involved when I see fit. Which might be never. So.. you tell Yaits I said ...."

And he continued playing with the little girl without ever finishing his statment.

Hugin the Raven Wrote:

"I'm back, everyone," she said to anyone who would be within hearing distance. If the place was closed by now, so be it; she'd come back later...[/align]

"Hey," Ichiro said, coming out of his office a bit more drunk than ussual, only his tolerance prevented him from being a total rambling mess by now, he looked pensive, staring around agitated while clicking his fingernails, "You see my boy, he never forgets his check. I'm a little worried."

In the back, she could here Rizzo yawn, he had just finished fixing up the tape recorder Gil smashed.

Hugin the Raven Wrote:

She sighed to herself- this was the hard part.

"I saw him heading off east of here and decided to follow him. See what was up. When I got there, these three freaks had him cornered in an alley. There was..." She shook her head. "It was bad, sir. There was nothing I could do..."

And truth be told... there really was nothing she could do. The last time she had run into those three, she had almost lost her life. Chances are that this second time, armed with only a Beretta and her wits, she would not have won.

But that wasn't what she was hiding.

She was hiding the fact that she was glad the b*****d was dead.

"All I know is that the enhancements and prosthetics they used to kill him are illegal by all means and methods. You're going to have to tell me if you know anything about these so-called friends of his... sir."

Ichiro clutched her shoulders, having no idea how powerful his grip was, "Call the police right away," he said, the smell of alcohal on his breath, his eyes like blank slates, "Which way did he go, tell which way did he go!"

Rizzo came in from the back, "Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

The Aekea authorities, once notified, would be on the scene in five minutes, so they would arrive at the scene just as the police were showing up. This was now a crime scene, of course, so one of the officers cordoning off the site would deny them permission to enter the alley. The body was till in place, easily seen sticking out of a bloody trash can like some horror movie prop. As the investigaters where getting out to examine it, Ichiro burst through the police line and was intercepted by an officer.

"This is a crime scene, sir."

"That's my son, damnit! My son!" Ichiro cried.

One of the investigators approached Ichiro and tried to reason with him, they needed information, he wasn't ready to be civil.

"Get my boy out of that trash can, now!" he screamed, swinging at the investigator. They put him in handcuffs and escorted him from the scene for later questioning.

Hugin the Raven Wrote:

[align=center]Stephanie shook her head.

Poor old man...

Indeed, they were already gone. She needed them... needed their information. After she got what she wanted from those three, she'd kill them herself. And next time, she'd bring heavier artilery than just a Beretta. It might take a few days to get it, but it'd be worth it.

"Let's go, Rizzo. You and I need to talk."

"Hey!" yelled one of the detectives, a middle aged man in a green trench coat with a matching hat "You two came with the victims father, right. Do you two have any information about what's going on?"

"I don't," Riz blurted innocently, half crying "But Steph here saw him get knocked off."

"Is that true mam?" the detective asked.

((Not this time, you b*****d.))

She stifled a sigh. This would have to be short, sweet, and to the point.

Stephanie turned and nodded. "That's right. Two of 'em had prosthetics on them... one of them had a modified prosthetic arm. I can't entirely confirm what it looked like, but it was some kind of claw, I think.

The other, as far as I could tell, wasn't human at all. At least, I don't think so. I didn't entirely see him.

The third guy was just... huge. Big, but not fat, y'know? Had this huge crowbar, or lead pipe or something. I don't know what it was, but it was good enough for the situation, I suppose.

I didn't entirely see what happened, so I can't give you much. But I sure as hell heard it, though. Ugly way to die, that. There wasn't much I could do about the situation..."

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"Would you two come down to the station for questioning?" the detective asked, "I'd like to you to help us get a profile on the perps. We promise to make your stay as brief as possible."

She shrugged. "Hey, no problem. Whatever I can do to help you guys out. You comin' along, Rizz?"

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

(I was going to make this it's own Rp but I'll shorten it.))

The Aekea police station was a state of the art facility, a four story building of dark glass and white stucco with a triangular pinacle over the front entrance that was taller than the building itself. The stucco was constantly scrubbed to keep the building looking white and clean.

Inside, both of them would end up being grilled and questioned for hours, and it would be late into the night before they where ever released. Actually, Rizzo was released long before any one else, as he actually knew the least, but they were able to find out a lot about the victim through him. They learn much through Rizzo. She would be asked to wait in an interogation room and endure hours of repetive questioning about what had happened. They would ask her, under threat of being arrested for suspicion of complicity in Gil's murder.

After she gave the profiles of the attackers and their descripions, the first set of questions would be something like this.

Her full name

Stephanie Rothchild Markson.

Quote:** Wrote:

Social Security Number

2243-5568-1132

Quote:** Wrote:

Home adress, where she lived

She gave Ichiro's address, down to the apartment number. It would check out in the records, due to the fact that she had registered herself as a citizen via her laptop before all this mess started.

Quote:** Wrote:

Other posible addresses

She gave her apartment in Durem, no questions asked. This was starting to get tedious, but she had trained not to let her mind get overwhelmed.

Quote:** Wrote:

Age

Twenty-four.

Quote:** Wrote:

Birth date:

She quirked an eyebrow, her facial expression not changing other than that. She gave her birthdate none-the-less, wondering deep within her why the hell they'd need that.

Quote:** Wrote:

How she came to work at the garage?

This would be the interesting part...

She told of how she was a newcomer to the city, and thus was looking for work so that she could get herself settled properly. She had a thing for machines, and figured that a job at the industrial capital of Gaia would be an excellent start. Of course, the trouble at the garage when she had first arrived was skipped over, replaced simply by the statement that she had a few problems breaking into the business.

Quote:** Wrote:

What she knew about the victim?

She didn't know much, actually. It was only recently that she had found out that Gil was Ichiro's son, due to the ruckus caused at the crime scene. She did know that he worked with her, and was perpetually lazy. And a bully at that- he tried to knock her off balance while she was working at her first task.

She didn't mention that he had failed, and had quite a pain in his leg afterwards. However, she did say that she wasn't angry at him for it, which was true. If he had succeeded, she would be. But he didn't, and she was calm about the response.

Quote:** Wrote:

The nature of her relationship with the victim?

She had none other than a professional link. He didn't bother her, she didn't bother him. We work, we get paid, we go home. It was the opposite, but saying that would be incriminating on her part, and would thus be detrimental to the mission. And so, she left it at that.

Quote:** Wrote:

Did she have any employment besides the garage or outside it and if so, who did she work for and what was the nature of her work?

The expression on her face did not change as she stated that she had been in the military for a good few years of her life, working as Special Forces reconnaisance. Which was true- she was part of the Force Recon Squadron during her days as a commissioned officer. She did also state that she was in employ of a private security firm in Durem. That would check out as well- though she hadn't had any recent jobs requiring her talents, she was in the employment books and on the payroll.

Quote:** Wrote:

What were her personal feelings toward the victim?

None. She kept a safe, detatched distance. Which is what happened anyways after that initial attack on her, so it held. It was entirely platonic; nothing romantic. And all the while, her calm expression held. So would her story- she didn't love him, but she didn't hate him. She needed him for information, but other than that... it was a blank slate.

Quote:** Wrote:

Did she know of any reasons why those three men might have wanted Gil dead?

There could have been any reason, she said with that same calm mask. Mugging, malice, malcontent, debt. She didn't know why. She just saw it happen and called the police as soon as she could get to a safe area.

"Is that all, sir? I certainly hope my testimony is worth something."

She sighed.

"That's fine. I suppose you remember the part where Gil attacked me? He missed, I commented about how he was lazy and and kept on going. Other than that little thing, I wanted no beef with him. Apparently, he wanted beef with me. So he asked three of his friends to try and take me out in an alley.

There was this kid who was bleeding all over. Said his momma was stuck in a gutter. I follwed- he led me past the nearest gutter to the garage, which was about one city block away. Once we got to this alley... he ran past; I couldn't. They were in my way.

I have no idea why they tried to kill me, but I barely escaped with my life.

Later, seeing as I had him figured out, I saved this recording just in case Gil tried that stunt again. If I'm not mistaken, this is an attempt at First Degree murder, whether he had the knife in his hand or not. If I had shown this to you guys, it would have stuck in court.

I was going to use it as leverage in order to get him to stop attacking me... guess that plan's botched."

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"Interesting," said the detective, "I suppose you always walk around equipped with an expensive, high quality, spy recorder, a nice accessory for your outfit perhaps."

"I'm ex-military, Force Recon. I always carry one of these around just in case."

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"You also said there was nothing big going down between you and the victim," said another detective, who had remained silent up to now, "Yet, according to this, there was enough bad blood between you for him to want you dead."

She shook her head. "Bad blood, no. Not from me, anyway. But I'm going to tell you something I neglected to inform you of earlier. When he attacked me, I did the only proper thing I could do. The reason he missed was because I countered his attack- a simple self-defense kick to the offending leg, targeted at the knee. It should have ended there, but you know the part about him being brutish."

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

Now was the time to give her a way out.

"Miss Markson," said the first detective, "I hate to ask you this, because you seem like an inteligent woman with a good deal of self respect. Did you have any kind of intimate relationship with the victim's father, something that might have aggravated him enough to put a hit on you. If not, then were your previos statements about the victim lies?"

She sighed.

"Gentlemen, I don't date older men. I work for him, I get my pay, he let me stay over due to the fact that I had no place to stay at all. I accepted the offer, and nothing happened that night but him getting completely sloshed. If you call that intimate, I'll slap you both for being pigs, cops or no. Don't think I won't. And even if something did happen, it'd be the first thing you guys would have been told."

She closed it there.

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

"It seems to add to up pretty nicely for you Miss Markson," the detective said, "I do have one more questiion for you before we release you into your own custody. How did you come to witness the murder, and could you describe the events in as much detail as you can, once again."

"We don't believe you were involved in this murder, Miss Markson," said the other detective, "But your eye witness account will be crucial in finding the culprits and putting them to justice. The fact that the crime was commited with the use of illegal prosthetics makes it all the more serious, we need to stop these criminals, and we'll need your cooperation for a period of time."

She nodded. It was about time to reveal what she had heard, seeing as she hadn't seen the whole thing.

"I saw him running off, wondering what he was doing when work wasn't even over yet. So I followed, curious as to his rush to leave. From there, I caught sight of him being surrounded. From what I could tell, they had Gil in the dead end of an alley. The light was low, as I said, so I couldn't entirely make out what they looked like. But from the familiarity with which they spoke, I could only assume that it was the same three people that attacked me.

Apparently, they thought I was one of you guys working undercover. They sounded pissed that they were being trailed by the police, so they wanted to get rid of him. Of course, if I lost against them last time, I figured there was nothing I could do but stay where I was, behind my cover. If I moved, they'd hear. If they heard, I'd be a target. If I was a target, I'd most likely die this time.

But there was a way that I could take a proper look at them."

She took out her makeup mirror and flipped it open, turning around in her chair and looking directly into it. The faces of the two detectives were reflected flawlessly.

"I just looked into this mirror."

She flipped it closed and turned to face them again.

"Still, I didn't entirely like the thought of dying, so I went back to the garage while they were attacking. As I stated before however, one of them had a claw-like prosthetic arm. From the attack on me earlier, the weapons it fired were needles- possibly loaded with something highly toxic and damn-near lethal. Not to mention illegal, by many standards.

The second guy had this... skin. Synthetic skin that could withstand a few good pounds of torque, from what I could gather with the first tussle with him. I had him in a good wrist lock and it didn't faze him. In fact, he managed to almost slam me against the wall while I was still holding on when I faced those three the first time.

The third guy didn't look like he had anything on him but his size and that pipe. Looked pretty strong- I figure he's been using something other than pumping iron in order to get that way, but that's just me.

"Of course," she continued, "All these observations were from the first time I ran into them. At the time, I could see them as clear as day. But I'm almost positive that these guys are the same ones that Gil paid to try and kill me."

MerDefsGirl Wrote:

> Quote: Wrote: > As I stated before however, one of them had a claw-like prosthetic arm. From the attack on me earlier, the weapons it fired were needles- possibly loaded with something highly toxic and damn-near lethal. Not to mention illegal, by many standards.

"We have a ton of those needles in evidence, both off the victims back and from the site where you were intitially attacked," said the second detective, "We already located the the site from the secondary auditory evidence of the tape."

"We would suggest, Miss Markson, that you consider allowing yourself to be held in protective custody," said the first detective, "If not, you are not to go anywhere outside Aekea without first notifying the Aekea authorities and you are to carry this tracer at all times, understood? This is for your own protection, you are no longer suspect in this case, but a valuable witness. We expect you to keep in touch daily. If you come under attack, feel free to defend yourself, with that tracer we'll be on the scene in minutes, maybe seconds, got that?"

As I stated before however, one of them had a claw-like prosthetic arm. From the attack on me earlier, the weapons it fired were needles- possibly loaded with something highly toxic and damn-near lethal. Not to mention illegal, by many standards.

"Sure we've heard of it," said the second detective, "A bunch of non-humans are causing trouble because they think they deserve rights,"

"But we're not here to discuss politics, we're here to enforce the law, plain and simple, we have the situation under control. If you want to give us your take on it, feel free to do so if it has something to do with the crime, otherwise, you'll be waisting our time."

Her things would be at the storage desk waiting for her, including any confiscated fire-arms, as all her permits would clear.

"That'll be all, Miss Markson," said the first detective, "You're free to go."

"Thank you for your time and cooperation," said the other, "Much appreciated,"

Rizzo was in the garage, looking over an auto-parts catalogue half-interestedly.

"No," Rizzo said, not seeming particularly broke up over Gil's recent demise, "Things are bad, real bad, the police are coming to search this place soon as they get a warrant. We can't hide the stuff, and we can't move it, once they find it we'll be shut down for good. I suppose I might even get some jail time for modification of illegal parts. Ichiro told me to stay here and watch over things, he's going to lose everything."

"Gil, you sure know how to F**** things for everyone," Rizzo said, "Even in death,"

"We've been trying to make money by helping people with prosthetics pass as non-prosthetics users. I do a lot a work on arms and leg systems to make them seem almost identical to real thing , even putting automatic remote hacking systems inside so they can fool metal detectors and X-rays. That's all there is to it, there are a lot of people who can't leave Aekea because the law discriminates against anyone with a prosthetic part of any kind. So instead of forcing them to rip of their arms and legs, why not help them remain mobile and get out of the city? That's all there is here, but it's enough to get us in big trouble, especially me, I did most of the work. Of course, we made a lot of money doing it, but why not, tons of other people a lot shadier than us are doing the same thing and ripping people off, we were producing high quality." Rizzo said.

"Follow me," Rizzo said, going in to the back room.

He pulled the cover off the floor, reaveling a square drainage hole that had been enlarged, below the garage storage was another room. In the center of the back shelf was the semi-finished arms and legs of the man who she had first trailed to the garage, known simply as Joey. Despite being semi finished, it almost seemed as if they were of living flesh, only a few compartments and the thin clumps of nerve wires extending from the shoulders.

"Joey was to come down and get these installed today," Rizzo said, "I feel bad for the poor guy, he really dreamed of finding his wife and going to that new city out west."

"No one realy knows how any parts get on the black market, they just do," Rizzo said, "You know how the underground markets work, then again, maybe you don't, but most of what comes from the balck market, especially parts we deal in, is untraceable to the source for various reasons. Most of our parts come from the black market."

There were tons of prosthetic parts here, the problem, it was exacly as Rizzo said, serial numbers sanded off, missing pages in the manuals, tracers removed, insignias sanded off. The only way to identify who made what part would be to identify the overall design with the a companies product line-up, some research would reveal that there were parts from Yaits Corp enterprises, but there were also parts from a slew of prosthetics companies around Aekea. If Raven industries or Aesir did any thing in the prosthetics trade, it would be possible to find parts corresponding to their line-up. How they were obtained, black market secrets that surely involved many methods.

This garage wasn't even getting the parts directly, the users were getting the parts and storing them here to be worked on. It seemed Stephanie had ran into a dead end, or had she?

"He won't be leaving the city for quite a while, unless he wants to be a quadrapelicanic," Rizzo said, "I feel bad for him, but it looks like I won't be instaling these parts. He goes to temple every Wednesday though, some Holy Temple of the Great God or somethin. It works for him."

Upstairs, an unwatched newscast, at least in this garage, would note that full scale rioting had taken place, the participants robots, synthetic users, and sympathizers, in the slums. Actually quite close buy, Ichiro's neighboorhood. The police were keeping the situation contained to one section.

A brick going through a window, a dismantled streetlight, automobiles set aflame, all contained in a slum of about a half a square kilometer in area. That section of the city was aglow in flame, but for the most part, the rioters had only damaged there own property, and ran from the police. There was no real leadership, it was a spontaneous outburst of violence against material possesions.

Someone in the city heirachy would call in the SWAT teams to help contain the situation.

On the rooftops, the bugs watched. One swooped down on an armed SWAT officer, landing on the back of his neck and digging into his protective armor, black blending with the black kevlar suit itself. Hatred for the mechanical freaks who were causing so much trouble. A rifle was aimed.

A shot rang out through the city block. A man with synthetic arms and legs took a bullet to the skull, and collapsed in a bloody pile to the street.

Word spread quicker than fire, the bots were begining to take up real arms. Minutes later, police lines were being fired at from various direction.

The Aekea riots had begun.

~The City, Ichiro's neighborhood~

Three of his fellow officers tackled the offending officer immediatly after the shot was fired, pinning him down to keep him from firing again. By then, the insect like watcher that had latched into his neck had already detached itself and was flying away, and a protester had already been killed. The insect was tiny and black, only about 1 and half centimers long and a half a centimeter wide, blending into the night. Watcher variation 1, the easiest to produce, the weakest in combat, but quite capable of finding and exploiting hate, which they can then make people act on.

The SWAT team drew back, taking the rogue officer into custody, anything to prevent the situation from further deteriorating.

The shot at the watcher, flying upwards at about 60 kilometers an hour, would be next to impossible. The other bugs weren't out in the open, they were coddled in trash cans, behind eaves, taking cover behind roof precipices and chimneys. Someone had been very busy, slowly but surely leaving more and more of them in the area. It might as well have been swarm.

When flying, even if the bullet could hit such a small object, it would more likely knock it to the side than peirce it. Assuming Stephanie found the easiest shot first, an incredible shot managed to hit the one dead center, leaving it to disintigrate into a puff of dark smoke.

Since she was looking for it, she would notice it, thirty three watchers in all shot out of their hiding places and swarmed in the dark polluted atmosphere, the next thing to invisible. Even to an observant watcher, they'd be nothing more than a harmless group of bugs. There wings didn't even buzz loud enough to be audible from a distance. To Stephanie, it might have looked like a conglomoration of big, angry, hornets had taken to sky in search of the one who shot their fellow mate, and more would be on the way from other parts of the city.

She had just kicked the hornet's nest.

The bugs dispersed as soon as the sound started emitting, still, nine of the bugs went poof before they could escape, disintigrating into a sulfuric stink gas. Another five bugs were grounded, injured beyond the point of viability, and commited a strange from of insect seppuku, thrusting their legs into their abdomans before disintigrating. One of them would land a few meters in front of Stephanie, destroying itself before she's have a chance to even ge a real close look. The other bugs would keep on the outer range of the sound for as long as it continued, which wouldn't be long, because the someone, either police or protester, identified the source of the sound and shot the device to hell and back. Once it was out of the way, the remaining insects would know they were dealing with no ordinary threat, and would act accordingly.

To her back was a fire-fight between police and rioters, all around her were hiding insects, at least 14 left, and on the other side of the alley she'd hear footsteps of a small group, about three or four people were approaching fast.

After the flash bang a big tall man with a crow bar entered the alley, the same one who ventilated Gil's chest with the crowbar. There was something black on the back of his neck, like a leech with an exoskeleton, and it was pulsing. The other man skidded into the alley after him, the one with the prosthetic left arm that had a clamp instead of a hand. He had the same insect on the back of his neck, pulsing as it filtered blood.

The andriod followed behind, walking, looking somewhat confused, whatever had affected the other two had not gotten to him.

"So you say you can smell her?" the prosthetic man said, "That's imposible, Human noses ain't that strong. Look, we can leave the city, if we get passed the wall and go to Yaits and they'll never find us."

"She took to the sky," said the man crowbar, who certainly couldn't leap buildings, "We'll follow the scent till we get her, I won't give up."

Hugin the Raven Wrote:

Perfect, she mused to herself as she continued the sleeper.

And as she continued the sleeper, a rain of needles sprayed in her direction from behind. The man with the crow bar rolled to her side, jumped up, and came at her swinging.

On the precipice of the building, five of the watcher bugs were bobbing up and down as if they were choreographing a simple dance routine. In the center of formation would be a strand of Stephanies hair. the dance would end almost as quickly as it began, with a spray of bug mist into the air.

New Status Attack, Watcher Curse Wrote:

Once the dance begins within a 1 km radius of victim, the victims magic powers or ability to use any form of magic is sealed for a period of half an hour. Any Charms and runes worn by the user are rendered ineffective as well, but only for five minutes. A discarded portion of the victims body, ussually a hair sample, must be procured for the curse to work. One post. Can be repeated as often as needed.

Quote:** Wrote:

The bugs did their little dance in vain. The spray of bug mist, which as earlier was a mixture of several gases that caused a quite unpleasant smell, gave their position away.

s**t. I knew Yaits was behind this. I just need evidence...

And even as she plotted a way to get said evidence, the needles came towards Stephanie. She heard them. Thinking quickly, she hefted her captive upwards- rifle and all, turned around, and used him as a shield while moving backwards. That said, the needles all hit the man, effectively drugging him instead of her.

Not to mention that the man with the crowbar, which she hadn't seen, had effectively missed. But just by inches. With that, she got behind cover, broke her hostage's neck, procured his firearm, and didn't bother to check if the gun was fully loaded.

She wouldn't get a chance to break her hostages, the crowbar would hit the hostages head at a critical point below the jaw with such force that it would literally rip of. For the next few seconds, the unknown man's blood would spray through the area like water from a busted hydrant cap, while the head rolled to the other side of the alley. And he was aiming at her head next. It would take almost an entire clip to kill the b*****d, as he was loaded with some type of dark aura, and everytime a bullet hit him a black smoke would hiss from his body. The man with the claw arm rolled past while she was preoccupied with this and fired needles from the other side of the alley.

While this was happening, five bugs from each side of the alley zoomed downward and latched onto her clothing with their spiky little legs. If she could sense aura's, she'd realize these little dudes were packing way more power than they should of been. From the center of each bug her clothes turned pitch black, in no more than a minute, everything she was wearing would be transformed into a simple elegant black silk kimono, tied tightly, and a perfect fit.

Even if she could kill the men attacking before the kimono fully developed, there would be no way to stop the process that was changing her clothes, at least not without using powerful ruins or dispeling magic. And once it was fully developed, only the most powerful magic could remove it without killing the wearer.

While this happened the ground five meters behind her would become a puddle of black ink. A grey derby hat would rise from it, the ink running off without leaving a stain, then an old, wrinkled face with the butt of cigarette clenched in a sadistic smile would rise from under the hat. In seconds an old man in a gray trench coat was standing five meters behind her, having appeared without a sound. By liquifying the asphalt and using a psychic aura to protect his body, he rose from the sewers he had only just teleported to.

A cold blue aura surrounded both of his hands as he watched Stephanie deal with the attack.

Dark Kimono Wrote:

Ten bugs must latch onto an opponents clothes and sacrifice themselves. Once accomplished, everything the victim is wearing is converted into a dark kimono. The garment absorbs the wearer's spirit, disabling movement, sensory perception, and cognitive abilities whenever they are against the wishes of Yarneth. If the garment is removed, the wearer's spirit is left with it, effectively killing the former wearer.

Time to Play Wrote:

Yarneth's First Actual Combat Appearance Against Another User (NPC)

Battle CP- 9pts (Freezing Hand Already Activated)

By the time he was on solid ground, the man with the crowbar would be dispatched. It would take half the first cartridge, even at such close range to finish him. By this time the man with the claw arm would be on the otherside of the alley, firing those annoying pins. Two shots from a desert eagle would rain down from above and to the left, the andriod was on the roof firing, but missing by a full meter because the damage to his arm from last time affected his aiming ability.

"I do love a strong speciman," The old man mused as she was under attack, then spit his cigarette over top of her, his voice seeminly coming from nowhere. "You'll make a fine party gift for the guest of honor. After I scramble your mind."

The cigarette lit the man with crowbar into a quick burning funeral pile, but he was already dead from the semi-auto fire anyways.

"That should put an end to the meddling, don't you agree?"

A new set of footsteps approached from the alleyway, someone was running in from the left as the man with the crowbar went up into flames. As Stephanie turned to face the threat behind her, a fifty callibre bullet from yet another Desert was fired three times consecutively. The man with the needle launcher took three direct shots to the chest before he could fire another needle, the third shot took the man out, being directly through the heart.

"Leave her the F..... alone you Mother F....... as........s!" Rizzo shouted, training his gun on the old man. "Steph, you okay?"

What the...!?

Something was within her. Not good. This was just wrong. It had something to do with... something, anything... she realized that the shots had missed and just plain old not worked. Stephanie had also realized that the kimono had been fully formed. And now, she knew what it did.

Well, this's just fine... Take this, then!

Her movements were indeed sluggish as she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and fought. Tooth, nail, spirit. And soon enough, after a good five seconds, an aura of power radiated from her in the form of an ice blue light, surrounding her body. Whoever this was, he was NOT compromising her mission. Noticing that Rizzo was there, she began yelling.

"No time left, Rizzo! Shoot him, damn you! SHOOT!"

Special Trait triggered! Wrote:

Iron Will- The members of R.I.O.T. Three are capable of enduring extreme physical torture, evading persuasion or coersion of any unnatural type, and clearing any mental effects such as confusion or a berserked state by falling back on their rationality and objectivity, thus effectively freeing their minds from the implied trap or threat. This makes them excellent infiltrators and reconnaisance agents, who must remain detatched and unswayed by emotions in order to properly collect any information in the field.

((I'm afraid not. Neither option is acceptable. How about this instead?))

Tch... I won't lose!

Okay, she could feel herself passing out from the sheer pain. But that was all right... as long as he couldn't use her for his army. She had figured that part out from the mention of her being a sample. But still, there had to be one way to get this done... the only way to do that would be to get rid of this damned thing around her body!

"Ooi, Rizzo! When I tell you to, get this off of me! I couldn't care less how you did it- just do it!"

Before I shoot you... please...

A tear fell from her right eye as she finally got the magazine in place with a harsh click. This was not good... But there was no choice. Her mind could be permanently destroyed by this, but there was no other option.

"NOW!!"

And the blue aura, which was growing steadily brighter and was currently at its peak intensity, detonated outwards for a good twenty feet. It'd be enough to distort even Yarneth's hold on her for at least a good thirty seconds. The bad news is, she'd be spent. Which is why Rizzo would have to do something about her situation.

Iron might break... but who said it wouldn't fly out at you in pieces afterwards?

Desperation Trait triggered! Wrote:

Iron Detonation- After a period of enough strain, Iron Will begins to break down at a rapid pace. However, this skill allows the user to use this deterioration to their advantage, turning the built-up mental defenses outwards in the form of an attack. Any mental abilities or effects will be temporarily halted for two turns upon contact.

Desperation Trait triggered! Wrote:

Wrote:** Iron Detonation- After a period of enough strain, Iron Will begins to break down at a rapid pace. However, this skill allows the user to use this deterioration to their advantage, turning the built-up mental defenses outwards in the form of an attack. Any mental abilities or effects will be temporarily halted for two turns upon contact.

A breif flash of pain, a dull headache was all Yarneth would experience. His command over her was complet now, but it was in dissarray, so to speak. He needed a few seconds, and then she'd be his, completely.

She's resisting me! No, her will is completely broken, but it caused a slight backlash and she hasn't died, amazing. These mortals are simply amazing for such patheticly weak rats!

Quote:** Wrote:

Rizzo took hold of her robes.

"Her spirit is attached to those robes, remove them, and you have a living a corpse. With no soul or spirit, her body wouldn't hold out very long either. She'll be coming with me."

NPC Transfer Wrote:

Using differing level of powers and techniques, Yarneth takes control of another players NPC, usually changing them into a completely different character, urecognizable from who they once were. The only escape from control is death or intensly powerful white magic. The longer the curse is imposed, the harder it is to remove. And even when scrubbed, there will always be an unremovable presence residue in the victim.

Quote:** Wrote:

"Weave my liddle giwl awone u b*****d," he yelled, swinging the bottle with drunken ferver while barely able to stand up. Yarneth was in his line of vision, or wait, maybe twenty Yarneth's were in his line of vision. "I don care, I'll take da whole damn lod of ya. I won let you kill her again!"

Yarneth took Ichiro by the wrist, with in seconds the man's body was an ice statue. A single jab disintigrated Ichiro into tiny shards.

"That was fun," Yarneth laughed, "He had so much anti-freeze in his system one might of though he'd last a little longer. But alas, time is short, we must be going. You, stall the men in blue."

At that, the broken andriod arose, and ran out of the alley.

Stephanie was still capable of noticing things, she would notice that the ground beneath her seemed to be getting rather wavy, and turning inky black. Simply put, it was a portal, to her new home.

Quote:** Wrote:

Portal Spell -4cp CP remaining: 3

Hugin the Raven Wrote:

Who said her will was broken? The mental defenses were gone, and she'd take a while to get herself back together, but she was still all right. Besides, there were more important things to worry about as Stephanie looked down.

s**t!! This is not my day!

She knew enough what that was... it wasn't like she had much strength left, though. Still, it was worth a shot. She quickly crouched down, gathering her strength in her legs before making one final leap out of the way, jumping a good three feet into the air and clearing a distance of two feet. That, hopefully, was enough.

While she sailed through the air, she shouted something.

"I won't let you compromise me! My destiny is my own, dammit!"

As she landed to the right side of Rizzo, she leveled her rifle, aiming it at Yarneth.

"This isn't the day to bother with you. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to mess around with your scrawny a** later, but I have places to be. Rizzo, do me a favor and get me out of here, please."

It wouldn't be nearly enough, she wouldn't even find herself on the outer edges of the portal's diameter. As for firing at Yarneth, pulling the trigger would prove impossible, her entire body would feel like it was loaded with novacain.

"Stubborn, are we," Yarneth said, "You remind of me a certain Velban b***h I once knew. She died a very painfull death, but I was merciful because she had rendered me some useful services. You won't be so lucky. For you, well, hell will be paradise in comparison. Don't count on Papa Raven coming to the rescue either. I WILL BREAK YOU!"

By the time Rizzo got her under his arms, the portal would catch his legs, and they would both be sucked under into their new home. A high security prison cell deep within the confines of Yaits Corporate headquaters.

With that taken care of, Yarneth picked the recorder and felt the resonance of the tape inside. With a single thought, it broke into a million frozen shards. He could of killed her so easily, but torture was just so much more interesting. Most people were like soft clay, she was like fine marble. Sculpting her mind would make for an interesting hobby. He wanted his party gift to be perfect. What better way to express gratitude towards one's enemy than to hand them an example of your........ talents.

Yarneth opened the portal he was reserving for his own trip home, and walked through it. Leaving almost no evidence he was ever there in the first place.

" HOOOOWWWWWOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Howling Mike a**, broadcasting live for 99.5 FM, Aekea's favorite grunge rock station. Blow your F%&ing mind, now! Hey....... what the F^# are you doing here."

"People of Aekea, this the society for the freedom of synthetic beings. For too long we have been ignored, and will be ignored no longer........"

A long speech about robotic and synthetic rights followed.

"Our people require liberation, Ymiristan will bring us that liberation. People of Ymiristan, please save the persecuted population of Aekea, we beg you. We will hold this station and our five hostages until our plea is heard, and we are liberated."

What appeared to be a young woman with a radio waited at the door, radioing the leader once the Aekean police arrived. There were five capable synthetic humans in the station, armed with AK-47's, and frag grenades. All of the terrorists were synthetic humans with illegal modifications that made them faster and stronger than typical humans. Improvised explosives were set up at every entrance and exit point before the police had arrived, and the hostages herded into a conferance room with a single gaurd.

The news footage of the fighting in Ymiristan was broken by a live wire broadcast from General Bakkar himself, interposed with footage of the Omega weapon descending, if that was possible.

"People of Gaia, this is General Bakkar, defense minister of Ymiristan. I'm sending this message through the wires only out of desperation, as few of our people expect to live to see the dawn. At present, our nation has repulsed a massive undead attack, but it seems that is not enough. The Ymiristani government has made many mistakes, one being the aggression we've shown to the world concerning Aekea, we apologize for those transgressions. Now, let me be frank with you, we are under attack, Edward Yaits the III is dead, and a weapon of legendary power is approaching the national HQ. The terms issued the Ymiristan leadership are simple, we must surrendor or die. If we surrendor, Yaits city will become the ultimate necropolis, on the very doorstep of Durem. I have.... the leadership of Ymiristan has choosen.... to go down fighting.... even if such a struggle means certain death. We will not make it easy for these bastards to conquer world, we will fight until every last drop of Ymiristani blood has been absorbed into the rocky soil. Tonight, Ymiristan is fighting a battle that will decide the fate of the world, and I'm damn proud to know I'm on the right side for once. Over and out!"

A bird flew overhead, silently observing the city with its sharp senses. No one would notice from this high up that the eagle was looking for something or someone specific- it simply circled high above the walls and houses as if making a thorough search of the city before going any further down.

HEAVEN OR HELL!

Rumors are running wild, and already, fighters from around the globe have started preparations in order to join this unique event! After quite a glorious 2006 edition, the tournament is back with more than ever to be the greatest happening of the year!

This year, to make the administrative process easier, simpler and faster, as well as to allow a wider range of fighters into the tournament, the HoH "07 organizers have decided to offer, for a limited time, a special pre-registration discount! Indeed, by presenting yourself at one of our pre-registration booths located in main gatherings for fighters of all kinds, you get a 25% discount coupon and a reserved spot into the HoH roster!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL PLANNING ON PARTICIPATING!

... or so said the flyers that seemed to spread like early snow through the town. At the gates of Aekea, facing the inner city, was indeed a Heaven or Hell booth. Nothing all that fancy, to tell the truth. Three little girls that couldn't be older than 7 were tending a table under a tent, complete with a large banner. The girls all looked like identical twins, short blue hair, large blue eyes, pale skin and dresses of blue and silver decorated by numerous ribbons and frills. On the table was a pile of registration forms and a pencil, but the coupons were hidden from view.

form Wrote:

(( OOC addendum: do not send me any trades. PM me the whole team's forms at once, with the team's name as the PM's subject. Take note that this is all In-Character only, and that I do not have the authority to reduce the entry price to the Heaven or Hell tournament.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PRE-REGISTER TO THIS BOOTH TO JOIN THE TOURNAMENT. ))

Eripse liked Green. Thus donning a green leather long-coat, She'd take the way up to the Roof, Forcing her wings through a hacked flap in the back. Pushing off of the roof edge, she'd jump and make haste, going where it felt right. When she couldn't jump to another building, she scaled it, Clinging to the side with hands and feet, talons rather efficiently turning her into a Gargoyle. Acrossed from the Fortified Building, she scratched her head... She hadn't exactly.... Gotten a card. How to go about this....

Eri would slide her wings out, and jump, drifting to the street with the quiet clatter of her many armaments, though nothing in her hands as she sauntered to the door. One must assume the door is a worthy attempt. She keeps her eyes open, and hands tense, however... When she meets the door, if she meets the door, she would knock, three times.

Eri cocked an annoyed brow, And rather than bother with ferreting pockets, would strip down to the bare essentials, a pair of boxer-briefs and an undershirt, walking through the metal detector/bio-scanner quietly. "I've been sent by the head office by Evan. I'm here to.... Calm the disputes, I think?"

Eri would redon her clothing, and shrug a bit.

"Yeah, I figured something like that. What's the situation?" Hastling with a shotgun, She'd merely rest it on her shoulder, index finger above the trigger guard, parallel to the extend of the barrel.

"I'm figuring something small, to send me."

Eripse scratches her head.

Well, we have problems then. I'm not superwoman. Your looting and s**t ain't my problem. And I don't do teams."

Her words are simple and to the point. She'd seen burning wreckage on her roof-hopping. Turning, she'd wave the shotgun at them. "I'll get back to you when I whack something worthy." She murmurs loud enough for them to hear, heading back out the door and taking to the air.

Sighting Gareth along her shotgun, dragging the bound Synth, She'd plug him in the upper back with a rubber-shot, clipping her wings and bulleting to the earth, landing with a crack to the street. Raising, she ignores her slightly bleeding knee, and most likely split knee cap. If the kid was hindered by the shot, She'd approach him, surveying His capture with something of a sigh. "******** Synths. I hate these things... Totally out of my park. They cook nice though..." Nudging Gareth with a boot if given the chance, she'd speak. "Who are you, kid?"

(No worries, he's not gonna get beat up. )

Eripse was impressed, at the deflection.

"One, none of your business. No, I'm not with him. No, you're not wanted. You're the one that ******** with the Radio Station. I'm here to handle these." She nudges the Synth with a taloned toe, Leveling her shotgun at it's head. "Stupid things, really. They defy laws placed for a reason."

"Again, who are you?"

Eripse would c**k a brow, and then huff. "Police won't be any good with him." She'd kick the Synth in the ribs.

"I'm taking him. What'd you do to him?"

Eripse shakes her head.

"I'm not with the government. I'm a merc, doing clean up for a friend. And you can call me Bird."

She says this simply, giving the Synth another annoyed kick.

"Stupid things. How anyone can put themselves in one is beyond me."

(Love your outfit change~)

Eripse shrugged at him, and propped the Synth up, against a car, contemplating it quietly.

"a*****e." She murmurs at the unconscious prosthetic body, before kicking it again. She seems slightly grumpy.

Eripse hadn't been calling Gareth an a*****e. Not hardly. She was talking to the unconscious Synth.

Grumble Grumble.

Quote:** Wrote:

Produce Flame

Evocation [Fire]

Level: Drd 1, Fire 2

Components: V, S

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: 0 ft.

Effect: Flame in your palm

Duration: 1 min./level (D)

Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: Yes

Flames as bright as a torch appear in your open hand. The flames harm neither you nor your equipment.

In addition to providing illumination, the flames can be hurled or used to touch enemies. You can strike an opponent with a melee touch attack, dealing fire damage equal to 1d6 +1 point per caster level (maximum +5). Alternatively, you can hurl the flames up to 120 feet as a thrown weapon. When doing so, you attack with a ranged touch attack (with no range penalty) and deal the same damage as with the melee attack. No sooner do you hurl the flames than a new set appears in your hand. Each attack you make reduces the remaining duration by 1 minute. If an attack reduces the remaining duration to 0 minutes or less, the spell ends after the attack resolves.

This spell does not function underwater.

And so, with burning hands, She'd attempt to wake the sad piece of hardware, removing his boots and cooking his toes with a face something along the lines of the boredom associated with cooking a simple meal.

Mmmm, Hot dogs.

A man, most would mistake for a boy, watched the half broken tv and the announcement of new leadership candidates with half slitted eyes, before blinking and pushing the heavy grocery bag higher up against his chest. A scarf twined around his features and trailed down the back of his long jacket.

It was a cold autumn day in the south end of Aekea, and Maer was making his way home to a much shabbier establishment then the one he'd last vacated.

His eyes were still the bright indigo that were naturally his own, but dark black locks now got in the way as a breeze blew in. It had only been a couple of days since he'd been given the little room above the local mechanics, and already he mourned the loss of Durem. Sure that had been a dirty city, with even dirtier happenings, but Aekea was downright stifling. Exhaust fumes hung in a permenant curtain over most of the place, and even the gas mask he had didn't totally filter out the smell.

Or stop those pretty eyes from watering.

Getting home intact, he leaned against the door for a moment before depositing the groceries on a shelf. He could still feel the pull like an ache.

General had spoken of people here that could help with that. And he wasn't quite sure what that had entailed. So far he hadn't had any contact with anyone. All questions of a buisness like the one that he'd left had been laughed off.

He slumped in the beat up chair and took the scarf and mask off. A pile of mail in front of him to sort through.

Well, she did run into the security chief for Aekea's RI location. So yeah, that was a good sign. He raised an eyebrow and said, "And... why should I care, exactly?" he asked with a distasteful frown. Rude, wasn't she?

"You just dump someone outside and expect us to take care of it? If you have a suspect to the hostage situation that was... quite hastily resolved by an outside party, as far as I can tell, you might want to take it to the actual police. Though I'd be skeptic as well to what they'd be able to do about it- they're getting understaffed from all these riots.

However... if you're talking about Special Operations, I can direct you to the commander for those guys for this building. This way," he said as he started walking towards the interior of the building.

The synth had reactivated long ago, but it remained limp, pain reception was turned off, as well as any other sensory activity besides sight. His eyes remained open, yet umoving. Like a big, dead, doll. It simply observed, saying nothing.

Eri shrugged her shoulders.

"Unless, you know, it got looted. But no, I've gotten the general idea of what's going on. What do you want me to do?"

She'd adjust shotgun on the strap, angling it towards the ground, putting the strap on one shoulder.

"Cause right now, I'm basically sitting on my hands with no clue what to do. Point me. Instruct me."

Eri looks slightly annoyed. "So... I sit around, and do nothing, until you say something?"

"I'm talking to the middleman to my payday. Nothing more. And yes, I'm impatient. ... Idle hands bring ill-consequence."

She fingers the shotgun and moves it again, shifting it to her hip. Yes, idle was a problem. She watches him with those fiesty eyes, not accepting him as a superior. He can instruct her, but he can't order her.

Eripse would actually laugh.

"Deduct from my pay?" A few snorting giggles would dribble here, prompting a soft hand to flit about her mouth, hiding it...

"What, give me only half of a bit of R&D? That's... an amusing concept."

This man either had little knowledge of her pay, or was talking about something else.

Eri worked to be a labrat, not to be a number in a bill-book.

Eri debated quietly... "Mmm.. How will you guys... get in contact with me?" Her fingers carressed the leather-jacket she wore, mulling over an idea of how to waste some time.

Eri didn't even respond, verbally. Turning towards the door she'd wave him off, walking out the door quietly. She debated this job... This man, who thought he could rein her in... Threaten her.. She'd huff, and walk the halls quietly like a dream, perfect memory putting her out the front door in a good minute or two.

"Whatever."

Eripse mulled it over. She had no real clue where to go, or what nest to kick... So... She'd explore. Watch. Observe.

Spreading her wings, she'd cast herself to the winds, flying high and far, eyes keening to and fro... Sensitive, she'd pick up on anything major... To the side, she saw the still somewhat burning radio station. A good idea, but not a smart one. It was burning, and had no explination to being there. Instead she'd look for looting, protestors... Red eyes opened and closed much like a hawks as she dangled from her wings, body relaxed and limp, Unusual for one in flight. Usually the body was held with control, carried with precision... She did not. She hung, like a rag doll, at the whim of the wings and wings...

(I should get a prize for three consecutive first page posts. )

Eripse's clipped feathers would waft a few feet through the air before turning into Ash, in a small display of smoke and embers. She would draw still, however stupid, hovering in the air a good six or seven feet above the nearest building, the crowd milling beneath her.... And then....

She drops. Like a stone. Wings lifeless, trail behind her, down to about three feet from the crowd, before they flawlessly pull to her torso and her hands snag a flagpole, hanging out across the crowd. This is used to slow her, not stop her, as she swings from it smoothly, body twisting in a mid-air pirouette as she'd slide into the crowd, without disturbing a single patron's step. An Eye for windows, it seemed.

Now that the crush and press of bodies ruined her vision, she would walk with her head down, tuning out the hustle and bustle, and seeking the finer things... Snippets of conversation were picked up as she passed doors, unworthy ones discarded quietly, and other given a half an ear.

Eripse would pause next to a doorway, listening intently, only to speak softly.

"Stop right there, or I'll pump a hole in your chest enough to make your chest cavity into a guitar with the leftover wires."

Beneath limp sleeve(How'd that happen?) Shotgun peeked ominously.

"I ain't here for trouble, I'm looking to buy."

Eri would turn, stowing the weapon over her available shoulder, revealing the lack of an arm with which to hold it. She looked good, for what she was. Left arm had vanished at the shoulder, a soft pale nub of scar tissue, feathers covering the surrounding area.

"I think it's fairly obvious what I'm looking for. Pain isn't a problem." Her eyes glared at him from behind the glasses. "I got something to do that I need both of them for, out of here."

Now, wasn't she forgetting prosthetics couldn't leave Aekea? Her eyes were level, stern, aggressive. Her weapon was obvious, open. Ballsy? Perhaps not. After a moment she'd lower it to the ground, leaning on it like a cane. Right leg, where visible, would appear mangled. Burn-scarred, featherless.

Eri slid the gun up and back into the limpid sleeve, And drew a cane from the inside of her jacket, following the man steadily... Yes, she limped, but not entirely... The cane was a safety, held an inch above the ground to steady her should she faulter. Her fingers tense on the sharp curves of the handle in a minor lapse of annoyance...

"A man, hm?"

Eripse wasn't telepathic, thus she could delve nowhere. She was a cooker, and a healer. Nothing more, nothing less. She'd pause, stretching quietly... "Yeah... No hard feelings." She murmurs, mulling the explinations over in his head, thinking about this man, about her choice... It was vital to know what she needed, before she bought it. The purchase might bring questions, and she had to answer questions about a purchase... Unless she could be impersonal.

To her guide, she would seem distant, lost in thought.