Rock Biter (open)

[Mathew Amtrum]

Things had progressed faster than he had anticipated after the news of people leaving the Accords.  He hadn't expected an attack so soon, and there was no telling who launched the attack.  Yet, at least.  He could probably pull some strings and find out.  He had a team of Black Ops at his disposal now.  And he could poke around with the machines and the like.  But truth be told, he didn't care enough to find out.  He had more pressing matters in mind.  More personal ones than what happened to these people.

But he'd held up his end of the bargain.  He protected them to the best of his abilities.  He helped to repel the attack and loaned Cabal his strength, his power.  It had cost him some mobility in his left arm, but that would come back.  And it would cost him a bit of time before he went on the road.  But it would take more than some explosions and giant robots to take his piece off of the board.  Bigger threats had tried before, and as far as he was concerned the very gates of Hades couldn't prevent him from seeing his goals through.  Such was his determination.

It wasn't determination that brought him out to the training yards, however, rather it was privacy.  Privacy to utilize secret knowledge unknown to those of Cabal.  A knowledge that he kept to himself for many many years, but today was a day to apply it.  And so he went to the outcropping of rocks in the training yard and would shove his hand inside one of the boulders, scooping out a large handful of solid rock.  Rock that he would proceed to bite into and eat like one would an apple.  This should speed up his recovery. 

[Bailey Oleander]

Finally free of the infirmary, Bailey had headed outside for some air. She needed to get away from the white walls closing in on her, the smell of blood and the voices of those working triage. She could handle them for a time, but the truth was that she wasn't as injured as many of them, and it was costing the infirmary a free bed. Plus, now she had plans to make and things to think on. Last minute tasks that needed to be completed before she left. She still felt intimated by what she planned to do, if it would even work, and staying at Cabal still felt like she had a sheen of oil on her skin that she couldn't scrub away.

Her path went to the training ground, where there were many memories. Being beaten down, learning, standing back up. Arguing. Hitting Blake. Training with Rhona. Practicing. Sometimes it felt more like home than the campus did. Less blood-soaked now, she found it easier to breathe here than the gated grounds, and took to walking as she pleased since no one was here.

Well, almost no one. There was one figure not far off that she nearly missed, his form very unwelcome and next to a bolder. Bailey frowned and started to turn the other way, wanting nothing to do with Eric, but stopped when she saw what she was doing. She stared as he scooped out rock and...ate it? Were the painkillers messing with her perception that much?

She didn't know what to say. What did you say to that?

[Mathew Amtrum]

He felt her footsteps before he saw her. His eyes shifting upward to look at the young woman that had intruded upon him. His hand clenched as the stone crumbled to dust in his hand. Sliding his hand down to his pants he'd wipe the dust free of his skin as he sent a surge of his Qi energy into the figurine in his pocket. Not that he would need it against her. He'd seen what she was made of already.

The simple fact was that she was weak. However, she had shown some inner strength recently. She had foolishly tried to come to the Experiment camp and stop what had to be done. The foolish choice of a child that had been shielded from the world. But, she was willing to put herself on the line for her convictions. A bravery that most people lacked, and he could respect the attempt, even if the cause was a lost one.

He offered the young woman a small smile and a slight bow of his head. He had no specific ill will against her. Despite their difference of opinion on the Experiment issue.

"Good afternoon. I see you are recovering from your ordeal nicely."

And his own attacks.

OOC: Tremorsense - Eric's able to read the vibrations in the ground and get a clear picture of his surroundings in a twenty-foot radius with just the vibrations

Charging Jade Dragon

Qi use 2/30

[Bailey Oleander]

And just like that, the rock in his hand crumbled to dust. Perhaps she had seen wrong, but Bailey doubted it. The thought was pushed aside at his smile and nod, a polite greeting as if it was just another passing day. It galled her. Was he mocking her? Acting like nothing had happened?

"Yes, thank you." Her tone was more distant, more formal than the last time they had spoken. She would not have expected this of him the first time they had spoken, though she did remember the feral gleam in his eyes at one point in the conversation. It had been unnerving then, and now she wondered if it was a sign she should have picked up on long before.

"You look well, considering the attack." Her hands laced behind her back, keeping a few feet between them as she spoke. She didn't expect an attack, and she wasn't offering one. She knew where she stood against him. for now.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"If I was able to be brought down by what they threw against us then I would have died many years ago."

A simple fact at this point. He had been injured true, but nothing that would keep him out of the game for long. And certainly, nothing to remove his piece from the board. He had many moves to make yet before the endgame began. A mistake of the other players to be sure, he'd made a feint and thus far it was working.

"Is there anything I can assist you with?"

She was still here, which meant she wanted something. He suspected it was to either yell and scold him. Or to ask him why he did what he did. Considering their last interaction, he doubted she was looking to chat about what he was reading, even if she would benefit from the long lost knowledge in that tome.

OOC: Charging Jade Dragon

Qi use 3/30

Extra Qi use 1

[Bailey Oleander]

"I see." She could see that, considering their last fight. It made sense; that attack had been terrifying. She gave a polite nod and kept her distance. "We were fortunate you were on our side, then."

What did she want? It was hard to say. Speaking with David had tempered some of the storm of emotions, but it still roiled underneath. It felt horrible; she felt gross having that anger inside of her, that frustration. And yet, despite what he had done with the experiments, Eric had stayed to help and protect Cabal.

"I'm trying to understand, but it's difficult. You slaughter an entire people without hesitation, and yet you stand here after protecting Cabal. A hero, from what I heard in passing. But you've also said this place is not your home and you don't intend to stay." She shook her head. More conflict. She should yell at him, scold him, unleash her fury, but at the moment she merely felt drained, with teh stirrings of anger beneath. Likely because the conversation was civilized right now.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"I am sure you would have found a way to manage had I been absent like the Dragons."

There were some very capable fighters in Cabal. Such as the Kraken, he had been something to behold back during the war. Things likely would have been worse if he had not been there, but that was the nature of the beast. Things would have been better if others had been there as well.

"I don't see what is difficult to understand about that."

She was just throwing it all out there. Well, that was fine, he wasn't ashamed of what he'd done. And if she didn't want to beat around the bush, he wouldn't. The ball was in her court. She was the one that was having trouble wrapping her mind around it.

OOC: Charging Jade Dragon 

Qi use 4/30
Extra Qi use 1

[Bailey Oleander]

They might have, but Bailey wouldn't have known. She wasn't there. Instead, her bluntness was rewarded with his own, straight to the point.

"It's that simple then? Accepting genocide? They had been living underground for decades, in peace. That could have been any of us, or could be. Some of the notes on the research still exists." She shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I spoke with Commander Blaze on this, as well. I understand necessary evils are a part of war, but it feels like it isn't enough. As though something is missing, but I can't place my finger on what. And now an entire people have died for it, never mind any who came before." Maybe she was just too stubborn to accept it, or too soft. She coudln't.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"I've seen what they can do."

He shrugged.

"Are you looking for me to somehow change your mind on the situation where both Leon and David have failed? Are you looking for me to tell you that I feel bad about what I did? Would you rather I had not done it at all? And instead left the gruesome matter in your hands? Or Rhona Halls? Perhaps John Summers?"

He felt like she was retreating back to beating around the bush about what she wanted. Or more likely, that she didn't actually know what she wanted.

[Bailey Oleander]

"No. You probably can't." She gave a frustrated sigh, running her bare hand through her hair. He was asking questions, and the more she questioned herself, the more points he brought up. Would Rhona and John have been able to do it? She doubted it. She knew she couldn't, but passing it on to someone else didn't sit well with it either.

So what did she want?

"No!" The frustration exploded as he began to prod more. I want to not have it happen again! I want to know if that really is the only facility, the only people with their minds intact. I want to find a way so that this doesn't have to happen again, not be told, 'sorry, we haven't found a way' and have it left at that. There has to be.

"I knew some of them by name. It wasn't long, but they weren't just a nameless mob for me. And even if they were, they still deserve a chance. I want to find a way to make that happen."

Wow that was draining. But she felt a weight come off of her chest, as well.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"Of course it's not the only facility."

She was being daft if she thought there was only one facility and she just happened to stumble upon it.

"What you want matters very little, however. The reality is, that each one of them is a walking time bomb if a commander shows up. It wouldn't matter if they were your second family. They would destroy you and everyone you have ever loved without a thought. And the one who holds all of the keys to their minds is still alive and unaccounted for."

The reasons for which were long and complicated.

"You want to stop this from happening again. He is who you need to deal with. And I'm gonna be blunt if you see him you are already dead. Because you are far too weak to even be in the same building as him and survive."

[Bailey Oleander]

"I thought as much." She let out an agitated huff. She didn't know if David didn't know, or if he was being vague on purpose. It raised doubts on what else they said. "All I was told was, 'maybe,' and there are different energies. A lot of 'I don't know.'" She shook her head, inhaling a sharp breath as she looked him square in the eye.

"And how strong would someone need to be to be able to handle them?" She knew she was weak. She knew she was soft. She probably always would be. But she picked up on the fact that she was weak, not that it was impossible.

And what then? What would it take? Death? Did she really think she would be able to do that? Or find another solution? Apparently, Eric thought she was dirt on the bottom of his shoe, nevermind whoever "He" was.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"The last person to kill him was Mathew Amtrum, The Earth Dragon. At the height of his power in the war. So that would be a good place to start."

He couldn't give her a number on how strong she needed to be to defeat Sean Barker. The world didn't work that way.

OOC: Charging Jade Dragon 

Qi use 5/30
Extra use 1

[Bailey Oleander]

Yeah, that was a long ways away from where she was now. But it was a ballpark. Like as not, she would never be that strong, but she would grow stronger regardless. Hopefully, she would find another way. The conviction stuck with her that there had to be.

"Alright then." She nodded. There was nothing else to gain from the conversation but more frustration. "Thank you for the clarification." She turned to go, then stopped and looked back at him, curiosity taking over the anger she felt as she looked at him closely.

"Actually, I do have another question for you, specifically. Though I admit it may seem odd." She kept her distance psychically, but some of it faded from her tone, replaced instead with caution.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"By all means. Ask away."

He'd say, taking a single step toward her. But only the one.

"I'm here to help you."

A statement that was truer than she knew.