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Post by Vespyr on Jun 17, 2013 1:08:00 GMT -8
As Mau paced through his small apartment the end of his long tail twitched, transfixed to a mysteriously eager inner cadence. All week he had felt smothered, tormented by his encounter with the... human. That's what she was, wasn't she? And somehow she wasn't-- but how? The cat's curbed curiosity was killing him yet it kept him wired enough to spend each waking moment looking forward to... about an hour from now.
Mau's ears suddenly perked and he glanced at the clock. He still had to drop by central command to borrow two translator headsets; hoping the female's language was detectable and translatable by the software, or else it would speak out loud for her in the same unintelligible words she could speak on her own. As Mau scrambled to get ready to leave, a pang of frenzied excitement struck him and he ducked under the bed to snatch the bible which he had conveniently forgot to dispose of, having been distracted by thoughts of other 'relics', so to speak.
Far stretch, but was worth a shot, anyway. He tucked it safely into his pack, slipped that over his shoulders, and headed for the South gate.
. . .
Mau had chosen a typical tree perch, balanced on a strong branch not too high off the ground (he had taken into consideration the female's height) to be spotted by anyone who was looking for him. The tip of his tail twitched excitedly now and again and his ears pivoted to even the slightest sound in the underbrush, but the young man remained otherwise perfectly still, and blended into the deep dappled green shadows of the trees all but the red bandana he wore.
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Jun 18, 2013 17:53:25 GMT -8
It was dark. So very dark.
The girl walked through the forest, wary of every sound around her. The worst thing to happen right now would be a rogue creature attack. Though, what was she doing here anyways? She thought herself crazy for even coming back here, not only because she had been spotted here, but because she was meeting with one of those things - A Metahuman.
And, even crazier, she hoped he was there. Somehow, it felt as though he was different. Different from the stories the elders told to the children around fires. The stories that parents warned about when stray younglings venture too close to the Dome of Death.
But, no, this one was different. Maybe they were all different. Maybe the stories were just that - Stories. Told to discourage contact with these strange beings who left behind their humanity to become something else.
As she approached the area, she looked around. Her eyes had only fully adjusted last night, and that was with all the darkroom training she had gone through in the weeks previous. At first glance, there was no one there, and she became nervous. Then.. A spot of red, in a tree. Was that him?
"Hey."
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Post by Vespyr on Jun 18, 2013 19:39:11 GMT -8
Long before she entered the small clearing nearby the tree where he was perched, Mau could hear the soft and timid padding of the human's feet, and leaned forward to peer eagerly into the darkness. He reached up and carefully pulled off his eye patch to reveal the small but clear point of red light embedded in his right eye socket. His vision flooded with brightness for a moment before everything faded down into perfect focus, each leaf on every tree hidden in the dark now clear as day. The faint silhouette of the approaching female now had features; a nervous visage peering through the dark, looking back at him. Mau waved a hand at her and slipped down from his perch to land in a light crouch not far from where she stood. Balanced nimbly on his long, folded legs, the crouching man was roughly her height.
"Hello.."
The voice in the dark was clearly not coming from his throat, and sounded vaguely electronic.
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Jun 18, 2013 19:53:53 GMT -8
He came. She was happy he did. Her curious mind wouldn't have let her off the hook after that.
The girl moved forward to meet the crouching man. With his eyepatch off, a strange eye was revealed. And, the electronic-sounding voice. Was he using a machine to talk for him?
Upon closer inspection, indeed, there was a small device wrapped around his head. She wondered why he needed it, and if every Metahuman needed one...
"Uh.. Can you understand me, using that?" She asked, hesitantly.
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Post by Vespyr on Jun 18, 2013 20:00:31 GMT -8
Mau cocked his head a little bit to the left, still unable to decipher her words. He reached over his shoulder and into his pack to withdraw the other headset, which he handed to her with a hopeful look. It would be a little big on her smaller skull, but it was somewhat adjustable.
Once she took the device from him, Mau pointed to the small sensors on the sides of the headset and them pointed at his temples.
"Think, don't speak.."
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Jun 18, 2013 20:21:18 GMT -8
The girl was nervous about the device being offered to her. Using their technology? What if it permanently fused to her skull? Or implanted small machines in her ears?
Taking it on trust, she followed his instructions and placed the sensors over her temples. The device adjusted automatically to fit snugly, and then, it was time to try it out...
"Okay, let's see, what am I supposed to... Was that out loud? Oh Goddess, my thoughts are out loud!" She looked up at him, amazed but still slightly fearful.
"Uh.. hi."
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Post by Vespyr on Jun 18, 2013 23:02:06 GMT -8
Ears perked, and a flash of surprise and glee lit up Mau's eye (the real one) as finally, he could understand what the girl was saying. Having used the headsets for most of his life, he was able to filter out most of his thoughts from being spoken aloud accidentally, voicing only what he intended to be heard-- though he had a lot of questions and the translator had some difficulty keeping up with him.
"Who are you? I have never seen anyone that looks like you before. You are human, but you are not-- where did you come from?"
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Jun 19, 2013 0:24:02 GMT -8
The girl blinked, suddenly cheerful that they could communicate. Though, his words somewhat troubled her. Might as well start off small...
"Uh.. My name is Avacyn. And, I am human, it's you who isn't. You're a Metahuman, right? The ones the elders warn us about. Anyone who lives in the Dome is a Metahuman. I'm human, and we have a gathering place about three days run away."
She finished, maybe thinking that she said a bit too much information, or might have offended the Metaman with her words.
"Now, who are you? Do you have a name? Are you mute, and are all Metahumans mute?"
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Post by Vespyr on Jun 19, 2013 19:32:28 GMT -8
He smiled as if she were crazy. She had to be crazy. Mau was pretty confident that he wasn't crazy.
"My name is Mau, and I have no vocal chords but most of the meta- the humans still do. I am human... everyone in the dome is human. We're the last ones here on Earth." Mau corrected earnestly, though he became quickly aware that something he just said had to have been false if he was indeed face to face with another human who claimed to be living outside the dome. But it was the only thing he knew, and the only explanation he could provide. And it wasn't enough.
"You said you had a gathering place," Mau mentioned, his ears perking with obvious interest. "Three days run? If you lead me I can take us there faster."
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Jun 19, 2013 19:56:06 GMT -8
Avacyn listened as Mau explained himself, and a bemused grin escaped onto her face as he said that they were the only ones left on Earth. Obviously, they had no knowledge other than what was fed to them through their machines... Though, Avacyn realized, she really had no information other than what was verbally passed down.
And then he mentioned going to the gathering. Her eyes went wide, as she thought about what her father would say if she walked into the small sanctuary with a Metahuman. Not to mention her grandfather, the village elder.
"Oh! Uh... No, I don't think that's a good idea. L--like I said, as far as anyone in the village knows, you are monsters that want us dead. Far worse than the creatures."
And then she thought about what she had said that one time, when she was pinned down by the Metaman. And how she squirmed about, praying for death...
"Oh!" Her face flushed red. "I should be careful with my thoughts..."
Regaining her composure, she looked up at him and finally replied to his statement.
"I hate to break it to you, Mau, but you're not alone on Earth. Far from it, actually. And, whichever of us is human, it seems we're both confused."
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Post by Vespyr on Jun 19, 2013 20:19:07 GMT -8
Mau's ears twitched with subtle distress. A disquieted frown pulled at his mouth and a pang of deep concern struck Mau as the girl expressed what she--or her people, at least--really thought about the metahumans. Er, the regular humans. Or whatever type of human he was.
"I am confused- why would your people think we mean to harm you? No one knows you exist. I am a soldier- it is my duty to slay engels and keep the colony from danger. You pose no threat like the engels do. If there were any encounters with your people and mine before- it was never spoken of- any colonies other than our- not mentioned- how do you surviEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-"
Just then, the headset emitted a flat tone indicating it had lost track of Mau's hurtling train of thought. The man blinked and reached up to remove the headset for a few moments, silencing it. As he gazed down at the thing, somewhat distraught but still curious as hell, he remembered something slightly irrelevant. He put the headset back on. As he waited with interest for the female's answer, Mau quietly withdrew something from his backpack and held it in his large hand.
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Jun 19, 2013 20:39:50 GMT -8
As the strange brain machine lost track of his brain, Avacyn laughed audibly, thinking to herself, "He's so silly."
Though, he was quite curious.
"Angels? Is that what you call the creatures? Hmm... We have stories told of angels that blessed us with protection. It's strange that you call those creatures by that name. I have only heard stories of my people encountering yours. Some young people disappear every now and then, and it's told as being too close to the Dome of Death, but no one has ever gotten any proof, since no one has survived encounters like that."
Now that she thought about it, how could they ever tell..? Not even a single scrap of clothing was brought back, no party sent out to search for evidence... They were just gone.
"What is that you have, Mau?" It looked like an old book, of all things.
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Post by Vespyr on Jun 19, 2013 20:47:42 GMT -8
"The dome is life- there are many who would say it's the only life, but there's more life out here than there. But it's not what you think it is- I promise."
Mau opened his hand to show her the book, glancing at her eyes hoping to see some sign of recognition there. After all, the thing was said to be a relic, and from what little history Mau knew she resembled what humans used to be, if anything at all.
"It's called a- bible. I don't know what it is, but I was sent to retrieve it from some ruins in the West. An ancient relic with the- well it has power is what they told me. Then they told me to destroy it, but I wanted to keep it- just in case. I wanted to know what kind of thing it is. Do you know what it is?"
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Jun 19, 2013 20:55:07 GMT -8
An ancient relic.. Perhaps one of the oldest pieces of human history.. And he was waving it around in his hand...?
"Uh... I heard the term bible once. It was a written history, I think. Nowadays, everything's passed down with words, but they used to use these books to tell the stories of the past. Apart from that... Sorry, I never learned how to read." Avacyn chuckled nervously, as if he was going to call her dumb or something. Though, if he was asking about it, it meant he couldn't read it, either...
And then, a pang of curiosity hit her. One that was so crazy, so insane, that she might as well have been thinking about suicide. But...
"Mau.. I've never seen the Dome. Can you... Can I see it? I mean, if it's not as I think it is, I'll be safe, right?" Nervously, she scraped her foot against the ground and clasped her hands behind her back, looking up into Mau's large eyes.
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Post by Vespyr on Jun 19, 2013 21:15:54 GMT -8
"Stories..."
That was a start, but it made him wonder what kind of history he held in his hand, unable to decipher; there was no way he could destroy the book now. As he slid it carefully back into the pack and Avacyn made her request, Mau refocused his attention to her with a brow raised in surprise.
"You would really want to see it? It's not dangerous, but- I wonder how I could bring you inside unnoticed..."
Mau rose to his feet and peered around him, contemplating. She was small, but by far not small enough to fit inside his pack or anything. Still, the pack could help... it was designed to stretch a bit to fit objects inside, surely not a whole person, but at least half of her.
"Here, climb on my back and sit inside this. You can hold on still with your arms- and I will use these big leaves here to cover the rest of you."
So it was a little bit of a stretch, but Mau saw a way to make it work if he were to be questioned at the gate.
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