Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 18, 2013 1:50:36 GMT -8
[[OOC NOTE: This thread takes place three days after Project Alpha : Aftermath. There is an IMRP that occurs moments before this thread that will not be released until after this thread's completion to prevent metagaming.]]
A brisk nod followed his words, and she lifted a hand to her ear piece.
*"First Black to communications, do you copy? Executive order priority code red, repeat code red, this message is to reach through all main channels. Put me through."*
*"Roger, First Black, patching you through."*
*"Thank you.
"ATTENTION ALL CROWS, THIS IS FIRST CROW DELILAH BLACK. WE HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED, I REPEAT, WE HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED.
"CROW'S NEST AND SURROUNDING AREA IS ON LOCK DOWN EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. TENGU SQUAD WILL RELIEVE WALL PATROL; ALL OTHER UNITS, RETURN TO YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER FOR INSPECTION.
"OFFICERS, BE PREPARED TO RECEIVE INSPECTION PROTOCOL ON A PRIVATE CHANNEL. FIRST OUT.*
"--Okay, I need you to send a message out to the Tengu to get them on patrol now and to put Oliver some place safe. Civilians and non-combative personnel are to be placed on Militia guard at once. Patch me through to Grim Prasad please."*
*"...yes' ma'am."*
Her lips twitched down at the sound of the communication's specialist' worried tone. She wished she could tell him everything was going to be okay, but there was no way, no time...
Marcus' little bluetooth ear set would beep, five times if it was in it's ear. If not, the LED indicator would begin flashing.
*"Grim Prasad, this is First Black. Do you copy?*
Silence, for a time. Was she too late?
*"Grim Prasad here. Go ahead."*
Oh, thank God.
*"Marcus, I don't have time to explain. You and everyone in Anaheim is in danger.
John Strike is a traitor. Asiv and I were just ambushed by his men, you need to lock down everything NOW and examine your men; every man he's given us could be with HIM."
"He's working with Barker."*
...Silence, for a little while. It was clear Marcus was surprised, to say the least, but she needed to get moving, needed to get to him...
*"Huh."*
That's fairly apt, she thought privately.
*"Yeah sure.....I'll make sure to ask him. No problem. Jesus, Next time guys please don't abuse the Chain for something like this, Could have easily gone through Packmember Fox."*
The line went dead and Delilah blinked, bewildered....and then realized why he said that.
"Well, good. At least he's taking this seriously." she turned back to Asiv, still disconcerted. Jittery, wild eyed.
"I need to get to the Zero. Can you relay to the officers how to check for Strike's men in our ranks?"
[2013-08-17 4:53:42 PM] Megan Unrau: The door of the warehouse closed behind Delilah with a soft 'clack'. She cocked her head to the side, listening for anyone who might be lurking within...which there shouldn't be. This area wasn't frequented by anyone but Crows, and this storage unit had been empty for some time.
It was the best place for this sort of work.
Calmly taking off her boots, the raven haired woman strode into the center of the mostly empty room; a couple of wooden pallets lay off to one side. Her expression was one of consternation. Two days ago, she had been beset by a kind of creature she had never seen before, and had it...inject itself into her body.
She had watched the others more or less take it in stride, pulling it on, taking it off, leveling buildings, etc....
It was obviously a power of some kind. But that was one thing Delilah knew all to well. All power came with a risk. This one was an unknown and unasked for 'power'...the risks could be exponential.
The best way to handle it was to try it out for herself.
With a low breath of air wooshing from her lungs, Delilah reached up past her forehead and pulled down.
[2013-08-17 4:57:39 PM] Leon Sudeki: And appear in a flash of black feathers which would desspitate to reveal Delilah's mask, a sense of non-understood power washing over her like before.
[2013-08-17 4:58:48 PM] Leon Sudeki: Yet the first thing she would probably notice now unlike the adrenaline fueled expiraments before after the battle was the difference in her senses. Smell, sight, hearing. It was like she could track people, or things simply off smell and sound.
[2013-08-17 5:10:09 PM] Megan Unrau: --Black feathers cascaded around her face and she felt the mask appear on her face. More so than that, though, was the sudden wash of...power that accompanied it. And stimuli. She could smell quite clearly the hay covering the floor of the warehouse, could hear the mice scratching in the walls and under the floorboards. Her eyes, which were already good to begin with, suddenly became hawklike. Where there was a sound, she could locate the source instantaneously.
Feeling a little overwhelmed, Delilah took a few slow, deep breaths to calm herself down. Gradually, she began moving through forms of her art, gauging her muscle reaction.
[2013-08-17 5:16:55 PM] Leon Sudeki: Her muscular reaction was around normal not too different if not more... Reflexive. A creek skitter, and all of a sudden SNAP! a structure board snaps and a 90 pound six foot section of it is falling at Del! It's easy for her to see and react to.
[2013-08-17 5:33:57 PM] Megan Unrau: Alright...everything good so far...a little twitchy though... The snap part of the back-fist was almost too fast. She picked up the tempo slightly--
Crrrrrk
Suddenly Delilah was across the room, rolling through the hay and on her feet as a beam from above crashed into the place she had been standing on. She clutched at her chest, breathing hard. There had been no warning. She hadn't even fully registered that there was something wrong and her body had overreacted and...moved.
"...wow."
Then she frowned. Delilah dropped to her knees and sunk into an internal meditation in an attempt to find the source of this new power.
[2013-08-17 5:49:53 PM] Leon Sudeki: She could feel a hard pulse within her like a simple ba-thump that shook the realm of existence within her.
[2013-08-17 6:01:36 PM] Megan Unrau: Breathing slowly, in and out, in and out, finding her centre. Distantly, she could hear her heart patter against her ribs, the air whooshing in and out of her lungs. Deeper. Listening to the blood running in her veins.
Ba-BUMP
There
Her mind focused on the pulse that shook and rattled her conciousness.
[2013-08-17 6:04:37 PM] Leon Sudeki: A spot light, and a quick flash of some sort of being covered in a bright light blue light then she would be forcefully removed from her own meditation.
[2013-08-17 6:13:17 PM | Edited 6:14:53 PM] Megan Unrau: In her minds eye, she saw a flash of light, then a...being bathed in bright blue light.
The next moment, her eyes were open and she was staring out at her surroundings once again.
She frowned.
"Uh, that isn't gonna fly."
Back down she would go in her meditation to reexamine the pulse.
What are you?
[2013-08-17 6:35:03 PM] Leon Sudeki: Once finding the section again she can see the body bathed in the blue light once more like a black sillouette in a swirl of blue energy. It turns and looks at Delilah putting of a feeling of annoyance.
[2013-08-17 6:35:04 PM] Leon Sudeki: api.ning.com/files/TahLKHlNvcigcrcxiUBB62ulcl696Nt3Tc9KKPXjNCqJU-H8M1d80N1UKXnIWTFeAiEuhNvHfcMPwcVAXa6l9Nzs*VmALiil/Ethereal.jpg
[2013-08-17 8:53:46 PM] Megan Unrau: Externally, the mechanic raised her eyebrows expectantly. Delilah would continue to study the...fathomless creature with her mind as much as she could. Distantly, there was a sensation of hysteria pulling at the fringes of her mind at the knowledge that there was another entity inside her.
"Who are you? What are you?"
[2013-08-18 7:00:09 PM] Leon Sudeki: The presence looks at her, not visibly, but she can feel as though it is.
"How did you get in my-... Oh I see, you have a piece of me. That is interesting."
[2013-08-18 7:16:53 PM] Megan Unrau: Ripples around Delilah's conciousness indicated her unease and displeasure with the statement. "Answer the question."
[2013-08-18 7:20:06 PM] Leon Sudeki: "The question is difficult to answer. You can call me Arkeus. I am very very old. I call myself a Mancer Lord."
The being stays neutral at this point.
"How did you get a piece of me?"
[2013-08-18 7:26:45 PM] Megan Unrau: Arkeus would work for now. More questions after. Delilah was fine playing like-for-like. It was hard enough realizing she was talking to another being in her own mind.
"...That is not easy to answer. I did not 'aquire' you so much as you were...introduced to me, I guess. I was fighting a big, black monster who appeared to be made out of tar. A piece found it's way into my skin and we--there were more people there who got a...peice of you, I guess,-- got you.
"Do you know what happened?"
[2013-08-18 7:28:57 PM] Leon Sudeki: The being sends a small shockwave of surprised understanding.
"Yes, Project Alpha, the failed project escaped not long ago, and must of somehow... Infected you all with what I gave him... Has anything physically changed for you? How did it manifest?"
A cool breeze of intrigue would slowly ooze through the area.
[2013-08-18 7:39:11 PM] Megan Unrau: Slowly around her as she sunk deeper and deeper into her meditation, things and objects began manifesting around her as a reflection of her subconcious mind. Here, a table piled with various books that seemed to have nothing to do with eachother, there a piano, a box of tools, a katana. She couldn't see herself, but she felt herself as a bright red energy in comparison to the electric blue of the...thing. Man?
"...I and the others recieved a mask. It fades away in a burst of black petals and comes into form in a burst of black feathers. I...can't really describe it. I was trying to understand the power physically when I decided to meditate on it. I don't want to use something I cannot understand...
"But...I feel stronger. My senses are heightened, my reflexes sharper. That was as far as I got with exploring these new...abilities.
"How did you come to be part of this..Project Alpha? What did you give the creature? What's become of me? Of us?"
[2013-08-18 7:43:04 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I started Project Alpha with a volunteer subject and gave him some of my power. In turn you all recieved it as well.
His mind couldn't handle the power and it drove him into a fury. Seems you are doing quite well with it."
[2013-08-18 7:45:39 PM] Megan Unrau: A faint ripple of red light cascaded from her rythmically. Amusement. She chuckled.
"Well. I have some experience with unusual powers that can drive you mad. This is my way of coming to terms with something I don't understand.
"What have you given me?"
[2013-08-18 7:55:05 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Ah, there it is. A Qi user... Hmm, that must be the secret. I am unsure as to what exactly transferred to you, faulty material as you are already adding this power was never supposed to happen."
[2013-08-18 8:09:43 PM] Megan Unrau: Electric spiky bristling would emanate from the reddish aura of her concious mind.
"'Faulty', am I? In what way?"
[2013-08-18 8:16:18 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I keep forgetting you people dont know."
The being would drift slightly closer to explain.
"Qi is a flaw born of thousands of years of the dna being mixed and watered down. You Qi users are defunct unusable flaws."
[2013-08-18 8:19:08 PM] Megan Unrau: There was an eerie smoothness to the ripples of the red Aura.
"....explain."
[2013-08-18 8:25:42 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Qi was born through an irregularity. People where not being used for their purpose and thus many of you fail when being optimized. Qi is a sure sign that you are... Unusable. It popped up a few thousand years ago, so all the information on your kind is... Not accurate."
[2013-08-18 8:26:38 PM] Megan Unrau: "Unusable in what way?"
[2013-08-18 8:36:21 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Your purpose is to be enhanced into many different forms of weapons to be used in wars. Your automatically prone towards violance, your able to adapt to many different climates and situations easily, and your intellagent."
A small breeze of depression or possibly dissapointment.
"Though you where abandoned as too dangerous."
[2013-08-18 8:41:30 PM] Megan Unrau: ....Her earlier notions that this power was otherworldly suddenly came flooding back. Large, fluttery waves made it's way through her mind, fringes of the hysteria she experienced earlier.
"...What are you, Arkeus?"
[2013-08-18 8:43:10 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I was created to be... Hmm, your general, to lead the armies of you into the battles chosen by the creators."
A short pause.
"Where I am not human, I am also not extra terrestrial as I was created on this planet, same as you."
[2013-08-18 8:44:48 PM] Megan Unrau: "That still doesn't answer my question."
But it DID raise new ones.
"Who were the 'creators'?"
[2013-08-18 8:49:43 PM] Leon Sudeki: The being didn't respond to her first statement, but did to her question. However Delilah would begin feeling some strain on her physical and mental state.
"Just that, I only know they where on our planet before us and manipulated evolution here for thousands of years to finally creating you monkeys. I am not sure if they where aliens or my own theory a kind of proto-human."
[2013-08-18 8:52:02 PM | Edited 8:53:35 PM] Megan Unrau: There was a sudden shudder in the red aura of her mind as she began to feel a sort of strain on her body.
So this power did have a limit. Time to step it up.
"...what are the sideeffects of this power?"
[2013-08-18 9:02:13 PM] Leon Sudeki: "In all honesty, there is no way to predict it accurately, as my power has no side effects except..."
And then he would look to the surrounding area. Raising its own arm Delilah would find her arm doing the same.
"The creators can control me, and in turn it seems I have some form of control over you."
[2013-08-18 9:08:54 PM] Megan Unrau: At this revelation (and outwardly sensation of her body moving), the red aura suddenly expanded outward, bristling with a vague snarling mouth of an enraged feral cat, but she held her vicious thoughts back.
"Is there a cure? A way to extract the infection?"
"
[2013-08-18 9:10:43 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I would think it possible. Though I don't have the technology or understanding to do so."
And the mask would vanish, Delilah would have control of her hand again and her meditative plane would vanish along with the being.
[2013-08-18 9:22:42 PM] Megan Unrau: A breath Delilah had been holding without realizing it escaped her as her eyes fluttered open and the meditation was once again forcefully brought to an end. She held a hand over her chest as the black petals scattered around her like tears from a rose.
She sat there for a moment with silence hanging around her. Mentally, physcially, she felt taxed almost to her limit. She thought, to herself...though she was well aware that Arkeus would probably be able to see the thought.
Do not presume that because you reside within me and had some method of control over...humans, that you may presume to control me. You are a guest in my form, and an unasked for one at that. If the power I now possess is designed to harm me in anyway, rest assured I will stop at nothing to remove it.
My will is indomnitable. Do not test it, and we will coexist peacefully.
We will speak again soon.
With that thought, Delilah checked herself over, looking into everything, how she felt, how her brain was functioning...
[2013-08-18 9:26:05 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah would find that familier feeling of the being completely gone from her at this point. As if the previous conversation was both in her mind and else where at the same time, but with her mask having left her for the time being she would feel no connection to Arkeus or her mask for the time being. He body was slightly exhausted and her mind was probably a jumble of thoughts, emotions, and fatigue.
[2013-08-18 9:29:46 PM] Megan Unrau: Findiing herself in relatively normal condition, Delilah got to her feet, brushing the hay off of her knees. Physically and mentally she was fine...
...How was her Qi?
Hesitantly, she let the metal appear over her skin, guaging her body's reaction.
[2013-08-18 9:30:47 PM] Leon Sudeki: It would coat her skin normally.
[2013-08-18 10:03:55 PM] Megan Unrau: Deactivating her Qi, Delilah fell back into a squat, chin propped up on her elbows as they braced against her knees.
What had she deduced so far was that the mask had limitations. And that it was an entity that resided in her, against her soul, and had control over her body (the 'general' thing that he mentioned came to mind. General for what? A legion of human soldiers with powers. Who were faulty, apparently.) It also provided her with extraordinary benefits, something that she hadn't fully tapped the abilities of what it could do.
Or what it could do to her.
Now she had to run a few more tests. First she would calculate the amount of time lapsed between when she had pulled on the mask to when it had disappated. Then she would attempt to pull the mask back on.
[2013-08-21 7:23:00 PM] Megan Unrau: Deactivating her Qi, Delilah fell back into a squat, chin propped up on her elbows as they braced against her knees.
What had she deduced so far was that the mask had limitations. And that it was an entity that resided in her, against her soul, and had control over her body (the 'general' thing that he mentioned came to mind. General for what? A legion of human soldiers with powers. Who were faulty, apparently.) It was a product of Barker's madness, which Arkeus had been a part of in some way (though she wanted to ask how). It also provided her with extraordinary benefits, something that she hadn't fully tapped the abilities of what it could do.
Or what it could do to her.
Now she had to run a few more tests. First she would calculate the amount of time lapsed between when she had pulled on the mask to when it had disappated. Then she would attempt to pull the mask back on.
[2013-08-21 7:23:40 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah could feel the mask in her hand when she reached up, but it would not return.
[2013-08-21 7:40:09 PM] Megan Unrau: Nodding as if to herself, Delilah would put her hand back down and place it in her lap, pondering. So, it not only had a time limit for use, it had limits as to how often it could be used. Once an hour? Once a day? Once a week? Who knew?
What were the costs of using it daily, or as often as it could be used? ...She already had a theory, that continued use would allow the thing inside her further control over her body, perhaps even her mind and her thoughts.
Did she even want to find out?
The risks proved heady and dangerous. The only way she could find out what they were, though, was by asking questions.
Tomorrow, she would try again.
The next day, Delilah slipped back inside the warehouse at the same time as she entered it and pulled on the mask. Today, she did the same, attempting to pull the mask back on over her head.
[2013-08-23 5:32:17 PM] Leon Sudeki: It would appear as it did only now it would appear and vanish in black feathers as the mask seemed to have finally completely bonded with her personality and its new form.
[2013-08-23 5:38:23 PM] Megan Unrau: Once the mask was back in place, Delilah settled back into a meditative state once again, seeking Arkeus.
"I have more questions.
"How did you become involved with Barker?"
[2013-08-23 5:45:06 PM] Leon Sudeki: Arkeus seemed distracted when she popped up into the plane of meditation, Delilah would be able to notice some oddities in the plane as if the plane where cut in half, half was the kinds of things from her mind, the others where like a foreign land scape as if two mental planes where connected over distance.
"More questions? Ah about the child. Sean was angry, scared, still grasping at any little thread that would give him an advantage against his adversary. He was easy enough to manipulate into servitude, all I had to do was give him even the smallest of things that I have learned and look what he has done with it."
[2013-08-23 5:55:04 PM] Megan Unrau: The inward glance to the structure of her mind made the mechanic frown. There were parts of her, and then there were things she had never seen before. Her new tenant was redecorating.
....But she would reserve that piece for later. Eyebrows would shoot up and the mechanic would move towards Arkeus a little more closely.
"What did you teach him?"
[2013-08-23 5:59:19 PM] Leon Sudeki: Arkeus would take a moment.
"I taught him how to use you as you where meant, as weapons. He didn't want to accept it until recently."
[2013-08-23 6:08:43 PM | Edited 6:11:13 PM] Megan Unrau: A silence lapsed as information spun through her mind like a carousel. "As weapons. For war. You helped him make the Enforcers.
What does that have to do with people like me, who were born with or given Qi that wasn't a result of Barker?"
A new, scary thought punctured her mind. Does he have the ability to control us?
[2013-08-23 6:15:30 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Barker knows he can't control you like he does those he made into weapons, so he is either trying to convince you to join him, or destroy you."
Arkeus would pause lightly.
"No, I can't control all of you, but with this connection made from me and my power that possability has been restored, but only for me. And only when you wear the mask."
[2013-08-23 6:17:16 PM | Edited 6:19:02 PM] Megan Unrau: Oh, thank God.
"Okay. You manipulated Barker into serving you. What is he working on for you?"
She thought she had a good guess, though.
[2013-08-23 6:20:12 PM] Leon Sudeki: "My army."
He figured it was simple enough.
[2013-08-23 6:21:44 PM] Megan Unrau: Within her mind, the mechanic's eyes narrowed at the thought. A new chill ran up and down her spine.
"How, pray tell, is he doing that? What will you do with this army once you have it?"
[2013-08-23 6:25:19 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah would begin to feel some of the fatigue from before. Signaling she was coming close to her limit.
"He is creating weapons in his underground facilities the way they are supposed to be made. Unlike his expiraments he was trying to make with that unneeded Qi product. And I will use this army to find and destroy the creators."
[2013-08-23 6:28:37 PM] Megan Unrau: The fringes of her mind began to pull at her again. Dammit. She was almost out of time again.
"What are the 'weapons'? What can they do?"
[2013-08-23 6:34:55 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah would be able to feel his smile, though she could still only see the sillhouette in the blue energy.
"Think of them as... Add ons. Your a base program with many different possabilities and with slight forced evolution you can be turned into... Anything."
[2013-08-23 6:38:11 PM] Megan Unrau: And with that horrifying thought, Delilah disengaged from her meditation. She still needed to go over what he had said and try to make sense of it all.
Besides, there was one more thing that she wanted to test.
Delilah activated her Qi.
She would start the test by running to one end of the warehouse to the other, calculating her speed. Then, she would go towards the beam that had fallen in the middle of the warehouse yesterday and give it a light slap with a Qi studded palm.
[2013-08-23 6:40:20 PM] Leon Sudeki: Her speed would seem nominal, but at the same time not fantastic, but when she slapped the beamit would be flung cracking in two throwing splinters in many directions, no matter how hard or light she had did so the entirety of her possable damage output was done to the beam.
[2013-08-24 12:30:16 PM] Megan Unrau: The beam exploded from an impact that was far greater than the amount of force she had put in to her light tap, jumping backwards and covering her face with her arms to avoid the shrapnel.
When she opened her eyes again, the mask vanished in a cascade of black feathers and the beam was laying all over the floor of the warehouse now. Exhausted but undaunted, Delilah looked down at her hands and then clenched them.
This power...it made her faster, heightened her senses and turned even the slightest touch into a hit at her full strength. Part of her became excited by the prospect of this new trump card....but the other part of her, a bigger part, was very scared of it.
What was more, she still didn't have all the information she needed. She needed to know what the purpose of project alpha was, and what made it fail. There were only so many more times she could use the mask, though, before the side effects became detrimental?
...She needed to see Asiv. Perhaps he could tell her more.
And off she would go, to look for Zack Asiv.
[2013-08-24 12:39:32 PM] Leon Sudeki: She would be able to find Asiv in his designated living arrangement with his two masked guards, one was Alex Malice a teacher back from the school days the other was John Summers, a man that had been at Asiv's beck and call since freshman year being a long time ally of Winters.
[2013-08-24 12:48:47 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah, looking slightly haggard and perhaps a little anxious, nodded at the three gentlemen as she entered the door, bowing politely in greeting. She had only heard of 'Malice' by name, never having actually seen the man itself. John Summers she recognized as the man who forged her Valkyrie armour, but her focus was on Asiv.
As she straightened her back, she looked at him with a slight furrow in her brow. "I apologise for intruding without prior notice, sir, but I have rather urgent questions for you.
"A couple days ago, several men and women of varying factions were attacked by a large, tar like monster. When it was vanquished, it left each of us with a peice of itself that manifests in the form of a mask. It contains an entity known as Arkeus that is using Barker to make an army, and grants benefits to the person as long as the mask is on.
"The...being called the experiment 'project alpha'. Do you know anything about this at all?"
She assumed he or someone might; Asiv DID spend a little time in that Barker facility.
[2013-08-24 12:54:43 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv took pause at the question, Summers shrugged and move off to the side since he had nothing on this and Malice stayed silent but looked to Asiv as well.
"Well Miss Black, from what I heard Project Alpha was Sean's first attempt to create some sort of weapon. One of his top scientists was working on it, I assumed Darc Midori was working on it, but he was no where in the facility. I don't know much else, as this kind of thing seems beyond my current understanding."
"Did this being, Arkeus explain anything involving the army and this weapon?"
Asiv began spinning idea's around the possabilities, though he figured he'd wait for her response to go into conjecture.
[2013-08-24 1:02:33 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah was silent for a moment as she tried to think of a way to iterate what she had learned.
"He...he said he was a very old being. He said humanity was created with the purpose of becoming an army for him to control by the 'Creators', maybe aliens maybe proto-humans...I know how that sounds, but this is what he told me. The Creators abandoned the project, especially the ones who had been infused with Qi, when it was discovered that we, the subjects, were too dangerous due to our adaptability and penchant for violence..
"He said he's been guiding Barker all this time, with the Enforcers and the Experiments...all failures compared to what he is creating now, a new 'weapon, the way they were supposed to be made'. Arkeus wants to take the army to find and destroy the creators."
Worry and slight disbelief now lined Delilah's face. Even as it left her mouth, it was still so hard to believe.
[2013-08-24 1:31:07 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv moved his mouth like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out, so his mouth closed once more and he was silent.
"For now I think we have to assume Arkeus is telling the truth until we can find proof of if it is lying... I need to ook into this."
Asiv would turn to look at John.
"Summers, go to our usual contacts see what you can find out."
"Sir."
And John would exit.
"Malice I need you to take some of our scouts and attack random Barker patrols, see if you can get them to show us this... Weapon they have been doing to people."
Malice would shrug and walk off, while Asiv went to his notes and began writting in intense diagrams.
[2013-08-24 1:37:13 PM | Edited 1:37:21 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah paused as Asiv relayed his orders to the two men beside him, waiting until they were gone before she let out a small sigh.
"Thank you, sir...if you need anything from me, to perform tests on or anything, I have data on what the mask can do...at least for me. It seems to enhance the abilities of Qi and has bonded with my personality; when it appears, black feathers appear out of nowhere."
She shook her head a little casting her eyes sideways to look at the wall. "So fucked up..."
[2013-08-24 2:47:15 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Actually miss black, the next time you use your mask, I'd like to be present."
[2013-08-24 2:48:03 PM] Megan Unrau: "I can make that happen Sir. I'll be in warehouse twenty eight tomorrow at noon. Does that work for you?"
[2013-08-24 2:49:36 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv would nod.
"Meet you there then."
[2013-08-24 2:57:45 PM] Megan Unrau:
The next day, Delilah would be found standing in the center of the straw filled warehouse, brooding over the destroyed beam that had fallen from the roof above her, feeling nauseated. This was her third straight day activating the mask. There was no telling what would happen this time, or if any side effects would become present. Part of her wanted it to, for the sake of knowing.
Most of her would be fine if she went the rest of her life not knowing.
[2013-08-24 3:02:35 PM] Leon Sudeki: Zack would arrive not too later smoking a bent cigarette, however seeing the straw he puts it out with his fingers in a quick pinch. Walking over his eyes would be inspecting the area.
"Malice reported something interesting, Miss Black. He says one platoon he attacked... Changed. Like they had evolved into something else right before his eyes and used weapons made of their bodies like they had grown new natural defences or even new tools to hunt with."
[2013-08-24 3:07:30 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah would bow at a slight angle as Asiv entered the warehouse with a smile. Straightening as she watched him pick up some straw and examine it, and then his surroundings.
His...words brought her no comfort. She cursed under her breath. She wondered if Arkeus knew that this was how his army was being used?
...Or maybe this was by design. Running tests?
She turned back to look at Asiv, cold determination in her sharp blue eyes.
"What do you need me to do?"
[2013-09-01 7:01:33 PM] Megan Unrau: Zack would arrive not too later smoking a bent cigarette, however seeing the straw he puts it out with his fingers in a quick pinch. Walking over his eyes would be inspecting the area.
"Malice reported something interesting, Miss Black. He says one platoon he attacked... Changed. Like they had evolved into something else right before his eyes and used weapons made of their bodies like they had grown new natural defences or even new tools to hunt with."
[2013-08-24 4:07:30 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah would bow at a slight angle as Asiv entered the warehouse with a smile. Straightening as she watched him pick up some straw and examine it, and then his surroundings.
His...words brought her no comfort. She cursed under her breath. She wondered if Arkeus knew that this was how his army was being used?
...Or maybe this was by design. Running tests?
She turned back to look at Asiv, cold determination in her sharp blue eyes.
"What do you need me to do?"
[2013-09-04 5:14:58 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Keep doing what you usually do... To seek the truth is easy... To accept it, that is hard."
[2013-09-05 9:05:29 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah nodded slowly..and started off as she had before. Slowly going through the motions of her Kata and gradually picking up speed. After thirty seconds, she slipped the mask on over her face in a small storm of black feathers.
Her motions were faster, clipped, more accurate and deliberate. It was as though her senses were sharper.
Then, she brought out her Qi.
The speed was faster, considerably so. As she moved and shifted her balance, she flicked out her fingers to brush the larger debris of the support beam in the room.
It splintered immediately, shattering as if she had punched it with all her strength with proper timing and distancing. Bits of the remaining pillar exploded over the room, showering the hay covered floor in bits of wood.
She would look up at Asiv, disconcerted and invigorated at the same time.
[2013-09-17 3:02:19 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I've seen similer effects with some of my research... Though this is yet still beyond me... However... I believe I know whats happening. Though it makes me curious. Ms. Black is there a particular... Control issue?"
[2013-09-17 3:04:57 PM] Megan Unrau: The mechanic was silent for a time.
"No. Not yet. Though Arkeus did emphasize that, as he was once the 'general' in charge of controlling his forces...I can only assume us-- that he could."
[2013-09-17 3:16:52 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I have a feeling we are missing a big chunk of information..."
Asiv would walk over and inspect the mask, though not going to be touching it as he already had an idea.
"Lets try taking a sample and I'll get back to you, though this isn't the first time I've seen this."
[2013-09-17 3:18:45 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah nodded slowly, feeling a little on edge as Asiv approached and gave her his idea. She didn't know how the mask and it's inhabitant would react. But she agreed; there was too much they were missing.
"By all means."
[2013-09-17 3:24:38 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv would flip out a napkin and a piece of shrapnel from the ground and would scrape some flakes onto it, fold it up tight and stick into his jacket pocket.
"Hmm seems they get harder with... Maturity... Maybe it gets stronger with how long its with the host or how long the host uses it, but it is very simbiotic. If your too hurt or damaged your mask will be weak and damaged."
[2013-09-17 3:25:29 PM] Megan Unrau: "So it's like a parasite?"
Something about the idea made her skin crawl...
[2013-09-17 3:28:54 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Hmm, think of it like an evolution of your metal. If your metal gets damaged it hurts you, yes? Well what hurts you hurts it... So in a way it needs you to stay powerful."
[2013-09-17 3:31:24 PM | Edited 3:31:30 PM] Megan Unrau: ...she nodded again, a bit more slowly in her understanding. Hm. So it would control her if she was in mortal danger most likely. Made sense.
"I protect it and it protects me. Okay. I getcha."
Strain was starting to become evident on her features. Use of the mask should be nearing it's limit.
"You said you've seen this before? What do you know about it?"
[2013-09-17 3:34:51 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Sadly about as much as I've told you. Turns out a man that was working with me for a while ended up being a barker scientist and began a project soon after helping some assailants cripple me. So I'm pretty sure the original creature was his doing, but the creature you faught I think might of been an accident."
Asiv would think silently.
"John Strike was the man. This Arkeus may be his doing. For now we will believe what Arkeus tells you and operate accordingly. Until I can find hard evidence of if he may be lieing."
[2013-09-17 3:36:27 PM] Megan Unrau: Her eyes widened.
"Wait...John Strike, the man CURRENTLY with Crows might be responsible for creating the creature that helped Barker?!"
[2013-09-17 3:36:53 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv looked at her blankly before shaking hs head.
"Wait, he is with the Crows right now?"
[2013-09-17 3:38:56 PM] Megan Unrau: She looked at him with greaaaat concern.
"Uh, yeah. I went to you and him both to see what could be done to be prepared for becoming a God and to save 'Unfettered' from Posiedon."
[2013-09-17 3:42:38 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv's body language would completely change, his feet spreading alittle further than shoulder length apart, turning so one side faced Delilah the other faced the exit. Asiv began scanning the surroundings.
"He has designs for The Crows... I don't know what they are, or what exactly he is, but if he is helping you and the Crows he is helping to tip the world towards events he see's as needing to happen."
[2013-09-17 3:43:00 PM] Leon Sudeki: "What is he helping the crows with exactly?"
[2013-09-17 3:45:15 PM | Edited 3:47:53 PM] Megan Unrau: She noticed the slight shift in his body change, feeling slightly alarmed. Her own feet spread a little ways apart themselves and opened up her already hyper-acute senses to see if there was any danger.
"...He's given us men from the Military zone in Anaheim. That's where I found him more than a year ago now. That's where Marcus is stationed."
[2013-09-17 3:50:40 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah would be able to see some shadow movement and smell more than a few individuals near by, not to mention the sound of a few shuffling feet coming to a halt.
"Are you apposed to being carried?"
Delilah was nearing the limit to her mask very quickly.
[2013-09-17 3:54:21 PM] Megan Unrau: Danger was setting off alarm bells in the back of her mind. Ambush. In CROW borders. Unheard of. Unimaginable. Happening.
The mask was withering on her face. Dammit. She was at her limit. She lifted up a hand casually as if ito comb her hair out of her eyes...and pulled the mask off in a shower of black feathers.
"Not if you can move faster than I can."
[2013-09-17 3:58:40 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Maybe not faster, but... More efficient."
Asiv would move to grab her lifting his right foot up onto a visible bubble of air before launching off it with a loud pop straight up, heading directly for the ceiling before slamming into it another air bubble would explode blasting a hole for them to go through, Asiv would look like he was jumping platform to platform of air before using the explosion to launch through the air. He'd take Delilah back to the Crows Nest.
[2013-09-17 4:03:26 PM] Megan Unrau: Asiv grabbed her and...up they suddenly went. More efficent was right; she couldn't do that in a million years.
--And back to the Crow's Nest they would go.
"Strike's men?" she asked in a slightly pained voice.
[2013-09-17 4:04:49 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Very likely. But if it was that easy to get away he didn't plan on that working. Simply meant to prove a point."
[2013-09-17 4:05:55 PM] Megan Unrau: "'Mind your own business'?"
[2013-09-17 4:06:40 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv wouldn't answer right away.
"That among other things."
[2013-09-17 4:09:47 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah eyed him curiously, raising her brow.
"What other point is he proving? What aren't you telling me?"
[2013-09-17 4:13:28 PM] Leon Sudeki: "He is proving that he believes it doesn't matter at this point that we know. He already saw us figure it out, possibly through thousands of different probabilities. None of which has us doing something to prevent his plan."
[2013-09-17 4:19:41 PM] Megan Unrau: A chill ran up and down her spine, and she scowled at herself. She was almost afraid to ask.
"His plan to what."
[2013-09-17 4:22:07 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Thats the worst part. I don't know."
[2013-09-17 4:25:40 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah stared at him a moment more, then heaved a sigh of exasperation.
"So what do we do now? Kick him off territory?"
[2013-09-17 4:27:56 PM] Leon Sudeki: "If he is still here... We are going to have to check your forces though. We need to get a message to the Wolfpack ASAP. Marcus may be in trouble."
It was the best place for this sort of work.
Calmly taking off her boots, the raven haired woman strode into the center of the mostly empty room; a couple of wooden pallets lay off to one side. Her expression was one of consternation. Two days ago, she had been beset by a kind of creature she had never seen before, and had it...inject itself into her body.
She had watched the others more or less take it in stride, pulling it on, taking it off, leveling buildings, etc....
It was obviously a power of some kind. But that was one thing Delilah knew all to well. All power came with a risk. This one was an unknown and unasked for 'power'...the risks could be exponential.
The best way to handle it was to try it out for herself.
With a low breath of air wooshing from her lungs, Delilah reached up past her forehead and pulled down.
[2013-08-17 4:57:39 PM] Leon Sudeki: And appear in a flash of black feathers which would desspitate to reveal Delilah's mask, a sense of non-understood power washing over her like before.
[2013-08-17 4:58:48 PM] Leon Sudeki: Yet the first thing she would probably notice now unlike the adrenaline fueled expiraments before after the battle was the difference in her senses. Smell, sight, hearing. It was like she could track people, or things simply off smell and sound.
[2013-08-17 5:10:09 PM] Megan Unrau: --Black feathers cascaded around her face and she felt the mask appear on her face. More so than that, though, was the sudden wash of...power that accompanied it. And stimuli. She could smell quite clearly the hay covering the floor of the warehouse, could hear the mice scratching in the walls and under the floorboards. Her eyes, which were already good to begin with, suddenly became hawklike. Where there was a sound, she could locate the source instantaneously.
Feeling a little overwhelmed, Delilah took a few slow, deep breaths to calm herself down. Gradually, she began moving through forms of her art, gauging her muscle reaction.
[2013-08-17 5:16:55 PM] Leon Sudeki: Her muscular reaction was around normal not too different if not more... Reflexive. A creek skitter, and all of a sudden SNAP! a structure board snaps and a 90 pound six foot section of it is falling at Del! It's easy for her to see and react to.
[2013-08-17 5:33:57 PM] Megan Unrau: Alright...everything good so far...a little twitchy though... The snap part of the back-fist was almost too fast. She picked up the tempo slightly--
Crrrrrk
Suddenly Delilah was across the room, rolling through the hay and on her feet as a beam from above crashed into the place she had been standing on. She clutched at her chest, breathing hard. There had been no warning. She hadn't even fully registered that there was something wrong and her body had overreacted and...moved.
"...wow."
Then she frowned. Delilah dropped to her knees and sunk into an internal meditation in an attempt to find the source of this new power.
[2013-08-17 5:49:53 PM] Leon Sudeki: She could feel a hard pulse within her like a simple ba-thump that shook the realm of existence within her.
[2013-08-17 6:01:36 PM] Megan Unrau: Breathing slowly, in and out, in and out, finding her centre. Distantly, she could hear her heart patter against her ribs, the air whooshing in and out of her lungs. Deeper. Listening to the blood running in her veins.
Ba-BUMP
There
Her mind focused on the pulse that shook and rattled her conciousness.
[2013-08-17 6:04:37 PM] Leon Sudeki: A spot light, and a quick flash of some sort of being covered in a bright light blue light then she would be forcefully removed from her own meditation.
[2013-08-17 6:13:17 PM | Edited 6:14:53 PM] Megan Unrau: In her minds eye, she saw a flash of light, then a...being bathed in bright blue light.
The next moment, her eyes were open and she was staring out at her surroundings once again.
She frowned.
"Uh, that isn't gonna fly."
Back down she would go in her meditation to reexamine the pulse.
What are you?
[2013-08-17 6:35:03 PM] Leon Sudeki: Once finding the section again she can see the body bathed in the blue light once more like a black sillouette in a swirl of blue energy. It turns and looks at Delilah putting of a feeling of annoyance.
[2013-08-17 6:35:04 PM] Leon Sudeki: api.ning.com/files/TahLKHlNvcigcrcxiUBB62ulcl696Nt3Tc9KKPXjNCqJU-H8M1d80N1UKXnIWTFeAiEuhNvHfcMPwcVAXa6l9Nzs*VmALiil/Ethereal.jpg
[2013-08-17 8:53:46 PM] Megan Unrau: Externally, the mechanic raised her eyebrows expectantly. Delilah would continue to study the...fathomless creature with her mind as much as she could. Distantly, there was a sensation of hysteria pulling at the fringes of her mind at the knowledge that there was another entity inside her.
"Who are you? What are you?"
[2013-08-18 7:00:09 PM] Leon Sudeki: The presence looks at her, not visibly, but she can feel as though it is.
"How did you get in my-... Oh I see, you have a piece of me. That is interesting."
[2013-08-18 7:16:53 PM] Megan Unrau: Ripples around Delilah's conciousness indicated her unease and displeasure with the statement. "Answer the question."
[2013-08-18 7:20:06 PM] Leon Sudeki: "The question is difficult to answer. You can call me Arkeus. I am very very old. I call myself a Mancer Lord."
The being stays neutral at this point.
"How did you get a piece of me?"
[2013-08-18 7:26:45 PM] Megan Unrau: Arkeus would work for now. More questions after. Delilah was fine playing like-for-like. It was hard enough realizing she was talking to another being in her own mind.
"...That is not easy to answer. I did not 'aquire' you so much as you were...introduced to me, I guess. I was fighting a big, black monster who appeared to be made out of tar. A piece found it's way into my skin and we--there were more people there who got a...peice of you, I guess,-- got you.
"Do you know what happened?"
[2013-08-18 7:28:57 PM] Leon Sudeki: The being sends a small shockwave of surprised understanding.
"Yes, Project Alpha, the failed project escaped not long ago, and must of somehow... Infected you all with what I gave him... Has anything physically changed for you? How did it manifest?"
A cool breeze of intrigue would slowly ooze through the area.
[2013-08-18 7:39:11 PM] Megan Unrau: Slowly around her as she sunk deeper and deeper into her meditation, things and objects began manifesting around her as a reflection of her subconcious mind. Here, a table piled with various books that seemed to have nothing to do with eachother, there a piano, a box of tools, a katana. She couldn't see herself, but she felt herself as a bright red energy in comparison to the electric blue of the...thing. Man?
"...I and the others recieved a mask. It fades away in a burst of black petals and comes into form in a burst of black feathers. I...can't really describe it. I was trying to understand the power physically when I decided to meditate on it. I don't want to use something I cannot understand...
"But...I feel stronger. My senses are heightened, my reflexes sharper. That was as far as I got with exploring these new...abilities.
"How did you come to be part of this..Project Alpha? What did you give the creature? What's become of me? Of us?"
[2013-08-18 7:43:04 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I started Project Alpha with a volunteer subject and gave him some of my power. In turn you all recieved it as well.
His mind couldn't handle the power and it drove him into a fury. Seems you are doing quite well with it."
[2013-08-18 7:45:39 PM] Megan Unrau: A faint ripple of red light cascaded from her rythmically. Amusement. She chuckled.
"Well. I have some experience with unusual powers that can drive you mad. This is my way of coming to terms with something I don't understand.
"What have you given me?"
[2013-08-18 7:55:05 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Ah, there it is. A Qi user... Hmm, that must be the secret. I am unsure as to what exactly transferred to you, faulty material as you are already adding this power was never supposed to happen."
[2013-08-18 8:09:43 PM] Megan Unrau: Electric spiky bristling would emanate from the reddish aura of her concious mind.
"'Faulty', am I? In what way?"
[2013-08-18 8:16:18 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I keep forgetting you people dont know."
The being would drift slightly closer to explain.
"Qi is a flaw born of thousands of years of the dna being mixed and watered down. You Qi users are defunct unusable flaws."
[2013-08-18 8:19:08 PM] Megan Unrau: There was an eerie smoothness to the ripples of the red Aura.
"....explain."
[2013-08-18 8:25:42 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Qi was born through an irregularity. People where not being used for their purpose and thus many of you fail when being optimized. Qi is a sure sign that you are... Unusable. It popped up a few thousand years ago, so all the information on your kind is... Not accurate."
[2013-08-18 8:26:38 PM] Megan Unrau: "Unusable in what way?"
[2013-08-18 8:36:21 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Your purpose is to be enhanced into many different forms of weapons to be used in wars. Your automatically prone towards violance, your able to adapt to many different climates and situations easily, and your intellagent."
A small breeze of depression or possibly dissapointment.
"Though you where abandoned as too dangerous."
[2013-08-18 8:41:30 PM] Megan Unrau: ....Her earlier notions that this power was otherworldly suddenly came flooding back. Large, fluttery waves made it's way through her mind, fringes of the hysteria she experienced earlier.
"...What are you, Arkeus?"
[2013-08-18 8:43:10 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I was created to be... Hmm, your general, to lead the armies of you into the battles chosen by the creators."
A short pause.
"Where I am not human, I am also not extra terrestrial as I was created on this planet, same as you."
[2013-08-18 8:44:48 PM] Megan Unrau: "That still doesn't answer my question."
But it DID raise new ones.
"Who were the 'creators'?"
[2013-08-18 8:49:43 PM] Leon Sudeki: The being didn't respond to her first statement, but did to her question. However Delilah would begin feeling some strain on her physical and mental state.
"Just that, I only know they where on our planet before us and manipulated evolution here for thousands of years to finally creating you monkeys. I am not sure if they where aliens or my own theory a kind of proto-human."
[2013-08-18 8:52:02 PM | Edited 8:53:35 PM] Megan Unrau: There was a sudden shudder in the red aura of her mind as she began to feel a sort of strain on her body.
So this power did have a limit. Time to step it up.
"...what are the sideeffects of this power?"
[2013-08-18 9:02:13 PM] Leon Sudeki: "In all honesty, there is no way to predict it accurately, as my power has no side effects except..."
And then he would look to the surrounding area. Raising its own arm Delilah would find her arm doing the same.
"The creators can control me, and in turn it seems I have some form of control over you."
[2013-08-18 9:08:54 PM] Megan Unrau: At this revelation (and outwardly sensation of her body moving), the red aura suddenly expanded outward, bristling with a vague snarling mouth of an enraged feral cat, but she held her vicious thoughts back.
"Is there a cure? A way to extract the infection?"
"
[2013-08-18 9:10:43 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I would think it possible. Though I don't have the technology or understanding to do so."
And the mask would vanish, Delilah would have control of her hand again and her meditative plane would vanish along with the being.
[2013-08-18 9:22:42 PM] Megan Unrau: A breath Delilah had been holding without realizing it escaped her as her eyes fluttered open and the meditation was once again forcefully brought to an end. She held a hand over her chest as the black petals scattered around her like tears from a rose.
She sat there for a moment with silence hanging around her. Mentally, physcially, she felt taxed almost to her limit. She thought, to herself...though she was well aware that Arkeus would probably be able to see the thought.
Do not presume that because you reside within me and had some method of control over...humans, that you may presume to control me. You are a guest in my form, and an unasked for one at that. If the power I now possess is designed to harm me in anyway, rest assured I will stop at nothing to remove it.
My will is indomnitable. Do not test it, and we will coexist peacefully.
We will speak again soon.
With that thought, Delilah checked herself over, looking into everything, how she felt, how her brain was functioning...
[2013-08-18 9:26:05 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah would find that familier feeling of the being completely gone from her at this point. As if the previous conversation was both in her mind and else where at the same time, but with her mask having left her for the time being she would feel no connection to Arkeus or her mask for the time being. He body was slightly exhausted and her mind was probably a jumble of thoughts, emotions, and fatigue.
[2013-08-18 9:29:46 PM] Megan Unrau: Findiing herself in relatively normal condition, Delilah got to her feet, brushing the hay off of her knees. Physically and mentally she was fine...
...How was her Qi?
Hesitantly, she let the metal appear over her skin, guaging her body's reaction.
[2013-08-18 9:30:47 PM] Leon Sudeki: It would coat her skin normally.
[2013-08-18 10:03:55 PM] Megan Unrau: Deactivating her Qi, Delilah fell back into a squat, chin propped up on her elbows as they braced against her knees.
What had she deduced so far was that the mask had limitations. And that it was an entity that resided in her, against her soul, and had control over her body (the 'general' thing that he mentioned came to mind. General for what? A legion of human soldiers with powers. Who were faulty, apparently.) It also provided her with extraordinary benefits, something that she hadn't fully tapped the abilities of what it could do.
Or what it could do to her.
Now she had to run a few more tests. First she would calculate the amount of time lapsed between when she had pulled on the mask to when it had disappated. Then she would attempt to pull the mask back on.
[2013-08-21 7:23:00 PM] Megan Unrau: Deactivating her Qi, Delilah fell back into a squat, chin propped up on her elbows as they braced against her knees.
What had she deduced so far was that the mask had limitations. And that it was an entity that resided in her, against her soul, and had control over her body (the 'general' thing that he mentioned came to mind. General for what? A legion of human soldiers with powers. Who were faulty, apparently.) It was a product of Barker's madness, which Arkeus had been a part of in some way (though she wanted to ask how). It also provided her with extraordinary benefits, something that she hadn't fully tapped the abilities of what it could do.
Or what it could do to her.
Now she had to run a few more tests. First she would calculate the amount of time lapsed between when she had pulled on the mask to when it had disappated. Then she would attempt to pull the mask back on.
[2013-08-21 7:23:40 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah could feel the mask in her hand when she reached up, but it would not return.
[2013-08-21 7:40:09 PM] Megan Unrau: Nodding as if to herself, Delilah would put her hand back down and place it in her lap, pondering. So, it not only had a time limit for use, it had limits as to how often it could be used. Once an hour? Once a day? Once a week? Who knew?
What were the costs of using it daily, or as often as it could be used? ...She already had a theory, that continued use would allow the thing inside her further control over her body, perhaps even her mind and her thoughts.
Did she even want to find out?
The risks proved heady and dangerous. The only way she could find out what they were, though, was by asking questions.
Tomorrow, she would try again.
. . .
The next day, Delilah slipped back inside the warehouse at the same time as she entered it and pulled on the mask. Today, she did the same, attempting to pull the mask back on over her head.
[2013-08-23 5:32:17 PM] Leon Sudeki: It would appear as it did only now it would appear and vanish in black feathers as the mask seemed to have finally completely bonded with her personality and its new form.
[2013-08-23 5:38:23 PM] Megan Unrau: Once the mask was back in place, Delilah settled back into a meditative state once again, seeking Arkeus.
"I have more questions.
"How did you become involved with Barker?"
[2013-08-23 5:45:06 PM] Leon Sudeki: Arkeus seemed distracted when she popped up into the plane of meditation, Delilah would be able to notice some oddities in the plane as if the plane where cut in half, half was the kinds of things from her mind, the others where like a foreign land scape as if two mental planes where connected over distance.
"More questions? Ah about the child. Sean was angry, scared, still grasping at any little thread that would give him an advantage against his adversary. He was easy enough to manipulate into servitude, all I had to do was give him even the smallest of things that I have learned and look what he has done with it."
[2013-08-23 5:55:04 PM] Megan Unrau: The inward glance to the structure of her mind made the mechanic frown. There were parts of her, and then there were things she had never seen before. Her new tenant was redecorating.
....But she would reserve that piece for later. Eyebrows would shoot up and the mechanic would move towards Arkeus a little more closely.
"What did you teach him?"
[2013-08-23 5:59:19 PM] Leon Sudeki: Arkeus would take a moment.
"I taught him how to use you as you where meant, as weapons. He didn't want to accept it until recently."
[2013-08-23 6:08:43 PM | Edited 6:11:13 PM] Megan Unrau: A silence lapsed as information spun through her mind like a carousel. "As weapons. For war. You helped him make the Enforcers.
What does that have to do with people like me, who were born with or given Qi that wasn't a result of Barker?"
A new, scary thought punctured her mind. Does he have the ability to control us?
[2013-08-23 6:15:30 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Barker knows he can't control you like he does those he made into weapons, so he is either trying to convince you to join him, or destroy you."
Arkeus would pause lightly.
"No, I can't control all of you, but with this connection made from me and my power that possability has been restored, but only for me. And only when you wear the mask."
[2013-08-23 6:17:16 PM | Edited 6:19:02 PM] Megan Unrau: Oh, thank God.
"Okay. You manipulated Barker into serving you. What is he working on for you?"
She thought she had a good guess, though.
[2013-08-23 6:20:12 PM] Leon Sudeki: "My army."
He figured it was simple enough.
[2013-08-23 6:21:44 PM] Megan Unrau: Within her mind, the mechanic's eyes narrowed at the thought. A new chill ran up and down her spine.
"How, pray tell, is he doing that? What will you do with this army once you have it?"
[2013-08-23 6:25:19 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah would begin to feel some of the fatigue from before. Signaling she was coming close to her limit.
"He is creating weapons in his underground facilities the way they are supposed to be made. Unlike his expiraments he was trying to make with that unneeded Qi product. And I will use this army to find and destroy the creators."
[2013-08-23 6:28:37 PM] Megan Unrau: The fringes of her mind began to pull at her again. Dammit. She was almost out of time again.
"What are the 'weapons'? What can they do?"
[2013-08-23 6:34:55 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah would be able to feel his smile, though she could still only see the sillhouette in the blue energy.
"Think of them as... Add ons. Your a base program with many different possabilities and with slight forced evolution you can be turned into... Anything."
[2013-08-23 6:38:11 PM] Megan Unrau: And with that horrifying thought, Delilah disengaged from her meditation. She still needed to go over what he had said and try to make sense of it all.
Besides, there was one more thing that she wanted to test.
Delilah activated her Qi.
She would start the test by running to one end of the warehouse to the other, calculating her speed. Then, she would go towards the beam that had fallen in the middle of the warehouse yesterday and give it a light slap with a Qi studded palm.
[2013-08-23 6:40:20 PM] Leon Sudeki: Her speed would seem nominal, but at the same time not fantastic, but when she slapped the beamit would be flung cracking in two throwing splinters in many directions, no matter how hard or light she had did so the entirety of her possable damage output was done to the beam.
[2013-08-24 12:30:16 PM] Megan Unrau: The beam exploded from an impact that was far greater than the amount of force she had put in to her light tap, jumping backwards and covering her face with her arms to avoid the shrapnel.
When she opened her eyes again, the mask vanished in a cascade of black feathers and the beam was laying all over the floor of the warehouse now. Exhausted but undaunted, Delilah looked down at her hands and then clenched them.
This power...it made her faster, heightened her senses and turned even the slightest touch into a hit at her full strength. Part of her became excited by the prospect of this new trump card....but the other part of her, a bigger part, was very scared of it.
What was more, she still didn't have all the information she needed. She needed to know what the purpose of project alpha was, and what made it fail. There were only so many more times she could use the mask, though, before the side effects became detrimental?
...She needed to see Asiv. Perhaps he could tell her more.
And off she would go, to look for Zack Asiv.
[2013-08-24 12:39:32 PM] Leon Sudeki: She would be able to find Asiv in his designated living arrangement with his two masked guards, one was Alex Malice a teacher back from the school days the other was John Summers, a man that had been at Asiv's beck and call since freshman year being a long time ally of Winters.
[2013-08-24 12:48:47 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah, looking slightly haggard and perhaps a little anxious, nodded at the three gentlemen as she entered the door, bowing politely in greeting. She had only heard of 'Malice' by name, never having actually seen the man itself. John Summers she recognized as the man who forged her Valkyrie armour, but her focus was on Asiv.
As she straightened her back, she looked at him with a slight furrow in her brow. "I apologise for intruding without prior notice, sir, but I have rather urgent questions for you.
"A couple days ago, several men and women of varying factions were attacked by a large, tar like monster. When it was vanquished, it left each of us with a peice of itself that manifests in the form of a mask. It contains an entity known as Arkeus that is using Barker to make an army, and grants benefits to the person as long as the mask is on.
"The...being called the experiment 'project alpha'. Do you know anything about this at all?"
She assumed he or someone might; Asiv DID spend a little time in that Barker facility.
[2013-08-24 12:54:43 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv took pause at the question, Summers shrugged and move off to the side since he had nothing on this and Malice stayed silent but looked to Asiv as well.
"Well Miss Black, from what I heard Project Alpha was Sean's first attempt to create some sort of weapon. One of his top scientists was working on it, I assumed Darc Midori was working on it, but he was no where in the facility. I don't know much else, as this kind of thing seems beyond my current understanding."
"Did this being, Arkeus explain anything involving the army and this weapon?"
Asiv began spinning idea's around the possabilities, though he figured he'd wait for her response to go into conjecture.
[2013-08-24 1:02:33 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah was silent for a moment as she tried to think of a way to iterate what she had learned.
"He...he said he was a very old being. He said humanity was created with the purpose of becoming an army for him to control by the 'Creators', maybe aliens maybe proto-humans...I know how that sounds, but this is what he told me. The Creators abandoned the project, especially the ones who had been infused with Qi, when it was discovered that we, the subjects, were too dangerous due to our adaptability and penchant for violence..
"He said he's been guiding Barker all this time, with the Enforcers and the Experiments...all failures compared to what he is creating now, a new 'weapon, the way they were supposed to be made'. Arkeus wants to take the army to find and destroy the creators."
Worry and slight disbelief now lined Delilah's face. Even as it left her mouth, it was still so hard to believe.
[2013-08-24 1:31:07 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv moved his mouth like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out, so his mouth closed once more and he was silent.
"For now I think we have to assume Arkeus is telling the truth until we can find proof of if it is lying... I need to ook into this."
Asiv would turn to look at John.
"Summers, go to our usual contacts see what you can find out."
"Sir."
And John would exit.
"Malice I need you to take some of our scouts and attack random Barker patrols, see if you can get them to show us this... Weapon they have been doing to people."
Malice would shrug and walk off, while Asiv went to his notes and began writting in intense diagrams.
[2013-08-24 1:37:13 PM | Edited 1:37:21 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah paused as Asiv relayed his orders to the two men beside him, waiting until they were gone before she let out a small sigh.
"Thank you, sir...if you need anything from me, to perform tests on or anything, I have data on what the mask can do...at least for me. It seems to enhance the abilities of Qi and has bonded with my personality; when it appears, black feathers appear out of nowhere."
She shook her head a little casting her eyes sideways to look at the wall. "So fucked up..."
[2013-08-24 2:47:15 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Actually miss black, the next time you use your mask, I'd like to be present."
[2013-08-24 2:48:03 PM] Megan Unrau: "I can make that happen Sir. I'll be in warehouse twenty eight tomorrow at noon. Does that work for you?"
[2013-08-24 2:49:36 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv would nod.
"Meet you there then."
[2013-08-24 2:57:45 PM] Megan Unrau:
. . .
The next day, Delilah would be found standing in the center of the straw filled warehouse, brooding over the destroyed beam that had fallen from the roof above her, feeling nauseated. This was her third straight day activating the mask. There was no telling what would happen this time, or if any side effects would become present. Part of her wanted it to, for the sake of knowing.
Most of her would be fine if she went the rest of her life not knowing.
[2013-08-24 3:02:35 PM] Leon Sudeki: Zack would arrive not too later smoking a bent cigarette, however seeing the straw he puts it out with his fingers in a quick pinch. Walking over his eyes would be inspecting the area.
"Malice reported something interesting, Miss Black. He says one platoon he attacked... Changed. Like they had evolved into something else right before his eyes and used weapons made of their bodies like they had grown new natural defences or even new tools to hunt with."
[2013-08-24 3:07:30 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah would bow at a slight angle as Asiv entered the warehouse with a smile. Straightening as she watched him pick up some straw and examine it, and then his surroundings.
His...words brought her no comfort. She cursed under her breath. She wondered if Arkeus knew that this was how his army was being used?
...Or maybe this was by design. Running tests?
She turned back to look at Asiv, cold determination in her sharp blue eyes.
"What do you need me to do?"
[2013-09-01 7:01:33 PM] Megan Unrau: Zack would arrive not too later smoking a bent cigarette, however seeing the straw he puts it out with his fingers in a quick pinch. Walking over his eyes would be inspecting the area.
"Malice reported something interesting, Miss Black. He says one platoon he attacked... Changed. Like they had evolved into something else right before his eyes and used weapons made of their bodies like they had grown new natural defences or even new tools to hunt with."
[2013-08-24 4:07:30 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah would bow at a slight angle as Asiv entered the warehouse with a smile. Straightening as she watched him pick up some straw and examine it, and then his surroundings.
His...words brought her no comfort. She cursed under her breath. She wondered if Arkeus knew that this was how his army was being used?
...Or maybe this was by design. Running tests?
She turned back to look at Asiv, cold determination in her sharp blue eyes.
"What do you need me to do?"
[2013-09-04 5:14:58 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Keep doing what you usually do... To seek the truth is easy... To accept it, that is hard."
[2013-09-05 9:05:29 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah nodded slowly..and started off as she had before. Slowly going through the motions of her Kata and gradually picking up speed. After thirty seconds, she slipped the mask on over her face in a small storm of black feathers.
Her motions were faster, clipped, more accurate and deliberate. It was as though her senses were sharper.
Then, she brought out her Qi.
The speed was faster, considerably so. As she moved and shifted her balance, she flicked out her fingers to brush the larger debris of the support beam in the room.
It splintered immediately, shattering as if she had punched it with all her strength with proper timing and distancing. Bits of the remaining pillar exploded over the room, showering the hay covered floor in bits of wood.
She would look up at Asiv, disconcerted and invigorated at the same time.
[2013-09-17 3:02:19 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I've seen similer effects with some of my research... Though this is yet still beyond me... However... I believe I know whats happening. Though it makes me curious. Ms. Black is there a particular... Control issue?"
[2013-09-17 3:04:57 PM] Megan Unrau: The mechanic was silent for a time.
"No. Not yet. Though Arkeus did emphasize that, as he was once the 'general' in charge of controlling his forces...I can only assume us-- that he could."
[2013-09-17 3:16:52 PM] Leon Sudeki: "I have a feeling we are missing a big chunk of information..."
Asiv would walk over and inspect the mask, though not going to be touching it as he already had an idea.
"Lets try taking a sample and I'll get back to you, though this isn't the first time I've seen this."
[2013-09-17 3:18:45 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah nodded slowly, feeling a little on edge as Asiv approached and gave her his idea. She didn't know how the mask and it's inhabitant would react. But she agreed; there was too much they were missing.
"By all means."
[2013-09-17 3:24:38 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv would flip out a napkin and a piece of shrapnel from the ground and would scrape some flakes onto it, fold it up tight and stick into his jacket pocket.
"Hmm seems they get harder with... Maturity... Maybe it gets stronger with how long its with the host or how long the host uses it, but it is very simbiotic. If your too hurt or damaged your mask will be weak and damaged."
[2013-09-17 3:25:29 PM] Megan Unrau: "So it's like a parasite?"
Something about the idea made her skin crawl...
[2013-09-17 3:28:54 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Hmm, think of it like an evolution of your metal. If your metal gets damaged it hurts you, yes? Well what hurts you hurts it... So in a way it needs you to stay powerful."
[2013-09-17 3:31:24 PM | Edited 3:31:30 PM] Megan Unrau: ...she nodded again, a bit more slowly in her understanding. Hm. So it would control her if she was in mortal danger most likely. Made sense.
"I protect it and it protects me. Okay. I getcha."
Strain was starting to become evident on her features. Use of the mask should be nearing it's limit.
"You said you've seen this before? What do you know about it?"
[2013-09-17 3:34:51 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Sadly about as much as I've told you. Turns out a man that was working with me for a while ended up being a barker scientist and began a project soon after helping some assailants cripple me. So I'm pretty sure the original creature was his doing, but the creature you faught I think might of been an accident."
Asiv would think silently.
"John Strike was the man. This Arkeus may be his doing. For now we will believe what Arkeus tells you and operate accordingly. Until I can find hard evidence of if he may be lieing."
[2013-09-17 3:36:27 PM] Megan Unrau: Her eyes widened.
"Wait...John Strike, the man CURRENTLY with Crows might be responsible for creating the creature that helped Barker?!"
[2013-09-17 3:36:53 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv looked at her blankly before shaking hs head.
"Wait, he is with the Crows right now?"
[2013-09-17 3:38:56 PM] Megan Unrau: She looked at him with greaaaat concern.
"Uh, yeah. I went to you and him both to see what could be done to be prepared for becoming a God and to save 'Unfettered' from Posiedon."
[2013-09-17 3:42:38 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv's body language would completely change, his feet spreading alittle further than shoulder length apart, turning so one side faced Delilah the other faced the exit. Asiv began scanning the surroundings.
"He has designs for The Crows... I don't know what they are, or what exactly he is, but if he is helping you and the Crows he is helping to tip the world towards events he see's as needing to happen."
[2013-09-17 3:43:00 PM] Leon Sudeki: "What is he helping the crows with exactly?"
[2013-09-17 3:45:15 PM | Edited 3:47:53 PM] Megan Unrau: She noticed the slight shift in his body change, feeling slightly alarmed. Her own feet spread a little ways apart themselves and opened up her already hyper-acute senses to see if there was any danger.
"...He's given us men from the Military zone in Anaheim. That's where I found him more than a year ago now. That's where Marcus is stationed."
[2013-09-17 3:50:40 PM] Leon Sudeki: Delilah would be able to see some shadow movement and smell more than a few individuals near by, not to mention the sound of a few shuffling feet coming to a halt.
"Are you apposed to being carried?"
Delilah was nearing the limit to her mask very quickly.
[2013-09-17 3:54:21 PM] Megan Unrau: Danger was setting off alarm bells in the back of her mind. Ambush. In CROW borders. Unheard of. Unimaginable. Happening.
The mask was withering on her face. Dammit. She was at her limit. She lifted up a hand casually as if ito comb her hair out of her eyes...and pulled the mask off in a shower of black feathers.
"Not if you can move faster than I can."
[2013-09-17 3:58:40 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Maybe not faster, but... More efficient."
Asiv would move to grab her lifting his right foot up onto a visible bubble of air before launching off it with a loud pop straight up, heading directly for the ceiling before slamming into it another air bubble would explode blasting a hole for them to go through, Asiv would look like he was jumping platform to platform of air before using the explosion to launch through the air. He'd take Delilah back to the Crows Nest.
[2013-09-17 4:03:26 PM] Megan Unrau: Asiv grabbed her and...up they suddenly went. More efficent was right; she couldn't do that in a million years.
--And back to the Crow's Nest they would go.
"Strike's men?" she asked in a slightly pained voice.
[2013-09-17 4:04:49 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Very likely. But if it was that easy to get away he didn't plan on that working. Simply meant to prove a point."
[2013-09-17 4:05:55 PM] Megan Unrau: "'Mind your own business'?"
[2013-09-17 4:06:40 PM] Leon Sudeki: Asiv wouldn't answer right away.
"That among other things."
[2013-09-17 4:09:47 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah eyed him curiously, raising her brow.
"What other point is he proving? What aren't you telling me?"
[2013-09-17 4:13:28 PM] Leon Sudeki: "He is proving that he believes it doesn't matter at this point that we know. He already saw us figure it out, possibly through thousands of different probabilities. None of which has us doing something to prevent his plan."
[2013-09-17 4:19:41 PM] Megan Unrau: A chill ran up and down her spine, and she scowled at herself. She was almost afraid to ask.
"His plan to what."
[2013-09-17 4:22:07 PM] Leon Sudeki: "Thats the worst part. I don't know."
[2013-09-17 4:25:40 PM] Megan Unrau: Delilah stared at him a moment more, then heaved a sigh of exasperation.
"So what do we do now? Kick him off territory?"
[2013-09-17 4:27:56 PM] Leon Sudeki: "If he is still here... We are going to have to check your forces though. We need to get a message to the Wolfpack ASAP. Marcus may be in trouble."
A brisk nod followed his words, and she lifted a hand to her ear piece.
*"First Black to communications, do you copy? Executive order priority code red, repeat code red, this message is to reach through all main channels. Put me through."*
*"Roger, First Black, patching you through."*
*"Thank you.
"ATTENTION ALL CROWS, THIS IS FIRST CROW DELILAH BLACK. WE HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED, I REPEAT, WE HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED.
"CROW'S NEST AND SURROUNDING AREA IS ON LOCK DOWN EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. TENGU SQUAD WILL RELIEVE WALL PATROL; ALL OTHER UNITS, RETURN TO YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER FOR INSPECTION.
"OFFICERS, BE PREPARED TO RECEIVE INSPECTION PROTOCOL ON A PRIVATE CHANNEL. FIRST OUT.*
"--Okay, I need you to send a message out to the Tengu to get them on patrol now and to put Oliver some place safe. Civilians and non-combative personnel are to be placed on Militia guard at once. Patch me through to Grim Prasad please."*
*"...yes' ma'am."*
Her lips twitched down at the sound of the communication's specialist' worried tone. She wished she could tell him everything was going to be okay, but there was no way, no time...
Marcus' little bluetooth ear set would beep, five times if it was in it's ear. If not, the LED indicator would begin flashing.
*"Grim Prasad, this is First Black. Do you copy?*
Silence, for a time. Was she too late?
*"Grim Prasad here. Go ahead."*
Oh, thank God.
*"Marcus, I don't have time to explain. You and everyone in Anaheim is in danger.
John Strike is a traitor. Asiv and I were just ambushed by his men, you need to lock down everything NOW and examine your men; every man he's given us could be with HIM."
"He's working with Barker."*
...Silence, for a little while. It was clear Marcus was surprised, to say the least, but she needed to get moving, needed to get to him...
*"Huh."*
That's fairly apt, she thought privately.
*"Yeah sure.....I'll make sure to ask him. No problem. Jesus, Next time guys please don't abuse the Chain for something like this, Could have easily gone through Packmember Fox."*
The line went dead and Delilah blinked, bewildered....and then realized why he said that.
"Well, good. At least he's taking this seriously." she turned back to Asiv, still disconcerted. Jittery, wild eyed.
"I need to get to the Zero. Can you relay to the officers how to check for Strike's men in our ranks?"
