Remnants of the Earth
AEDOLIS => Haviah => Advanced Training Complex => Topic started by: Anonymous on June 16, 2008, 06:29:44 pm
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Well....shit.
The teenage alien dropped her head against the wall and thought a few more swear words. This sucked. Hardcore. She was going to have to be a candidate. She should have listened to her mother. Her mother had warned her to keep her powers to herself. But nooooo. She just had to show off.
Though, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. There weren't a lot of options for her back home. And her options had narrowed after she had quit her gang. And she hadn't even finished school. So, yeah. Maybe this was a good thing. The stories she had heard were just people messin' around. They wouldn't really do that shit to people.
The girl relaxed a bit, one hand idly twirling a strand of bright pink hair. Yeah. This was going to be alright. She had gotten stuck with some paperwork and red tape, so she had missed orientation. And that wasn't so good. But she was good with people. She would make friends soon. That she wasn't so worried about.
Another sigh. She was supposed to get assigned a pilot, that was going to train her or something. Some loser teacher probably. How fucking lame. She hated school. But maybe they wouldn't be to boring. They were a pilot after all, and they were pretty badass.
At least, she figured they were. Pilots were quite a bit above her rather pathetically low caste. They were more like these vague things she was dimly aware existed above her, but had no real connection to her. Ah shit. What is she was stuck with a bunch of snobby upper caste kids? She didn't really care that much about the castes, but she didn't like it when people talked down to her because she was lower on the rankings then they were.
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Oh this was just perfect. It had been twenty years since his last candidate, so perhaps he felt a little left out considering that everyone else was going through candidates. So now he was sort of making up for his loss. He believed he could, and so he was putting a burden on himself, but a rather enjoyable one. Down the road it would be more work but he could handle it easily. It gave him something to do instead of just lethargically moving about the citadel with little to do. Once in a while going out to catch someone being naughty but that was about it.
Now to find the room...
Ah.
This was fun to do. He stood by the door listening. Oh my. Loser teacher? Ah hah hah. She was really going all out with this. Lower caste and yet she was very uppity about the whole thing. That was cute.He listened, waiting for a good time to enter. It was a good time now though. He put his hand to the button but then stopped. Hm. Maybe...Heh heh. Yes.
My dearest Lartech, can you hear me? He wanted to have a bit of fun with this candidate. He had the perfect idea on how. Why would I not my little Dyerling? A slight twitch in his eye. Alright. He could handle that from Lartech. She was just being funny. Quirky even. Cut power to the room would you, and to the lights outside of it. But don't lock down the door, turn four of the servos on unlocked and just lock the other two down. Oh and put on that creepy siren. He asked her politely. The electricity was cut almost instantly, and there was darkness in the hallway. He could hear in her room a haunting wailing siren going off. On the count of three make the hallway lights flicker. He waited for that time. The hallway lights flickered and he grinned as he moved in front of the door now. He extended his powers out and began to move the door.
Metal gears scraped and screeched as the door opened, sparks flying from it as he did so. There he was, seven feet tall, cloaked in dark clothing, the lean and fit Pilot Dyerlich. Silver hair with golden speckles shined every time the lights flickered. Yellow eyes, hard in a glare with electric blue pupils blazing. He wore a grey cowl around his face, hiding everything from the nose down, covering his mouth from sight. His fingers were grown large into spikes that dug into the metal of the door frame as he pulled himself in. He must have looked like a demon of some sort as he stepped in. The door began to close shut. The only light now was from his eyes, which glowed slightly, and the flickering lights from the outside.
"Welcome to the Advanced Training Complex. I will be your mentor for the next three years...that is if you make it that long." His voice was deep and he made it sound creepy, almost hissing in a way as the lights slowly began to flicker on. He stepped forward, though the atmosphere was still eerie. Thankfully the emergency siren had gone off, but still lights were flickering both in the room and in the hallway. "I am Dyerlich Lockh, what might I call you my pretty little morsel?" His hand was on her chin, holding her up to stare him straight in the eyes.
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When the lights went out, Devi jumped up in alarm, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. Then some horrible screaming siren started going off, causing the girl to jump and scream, her hands going up to her ears, trying to block it out.
The lights began to flicker, which gave her enough light to see the door and start to move toward it. Then she froze, her eyes going wide and her jaw dropping. Some sort of demon creature from her darkest nightmare was pulling itself into the room.
Devi stood there like a frightened animal, her mind shutting off with the raw terror of it. The fact that she managed to not wet herself was a fact she was going to be thankful for later. As the creature started to move closer, she seemed to snap out of the frozen state, quickly backing away from the monster.
In her haste she stumbled back into the chair she had been sitting in and fell backwards, legs tangling in the chair. A piercing scream followed as she landed on her butt. Kicking the chair away from her and at the creature, the candidate scrambled away, still screaming.
The monster was saying something. It took a moment for her fear filled mind to register this fact. Her screaming finally stopped, though her eyes were still wide with terror, "W-what?"
That....thing was her teacher? Not that she was that much more human looking. But she didn't look like something out of some fucked up horror movie. And had he just called her pretty? That...could not be good. But there were rules about stuff like that, right? And he didn't look like the type to have those kind of physical urges, right?
Her mind was having trouble dealing with the situation as a whole and was focusing on a smaller part of it. The part she could deal with.
"Ummm....My name? Devi....sir. Devi Kilham."
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He was having too much fun with this. Perhaps in an earlier year...many...earli er years and a different universe where he didn't have to be a pilot, that's what Dyerlich was to be. A monster who invaded houses and dreams. Nightmares. Created terror so they could feed. Maybe. However this was just him having a bunch of fun with the new kid. Why? He was bored and it seemed such a hilarious thing to do.
The girl was really panicked. She had no idea what was happening. She fell back in her chair, getting tangled up in it before trying to kick it at him. He simply swiped it away with one hand like it was nothing. Luckily he had caught it with his claws and didn't damage his palm or anything. The screaming was nice. Familiar almost.
And the feelings in the air...ah...he was feasting well today.
It just made his skin and eyes glow all the more. Terror was a very good meal for him. A very delicious meal. He adored the taste of terror. Heh heh.
He was almost insulted but also a little proud that she believed he was from a horror movie. As for the physical urges though...well she would learn he got them, just not as frequent as most of the human male population. He just watched her intently, his hand still on her chin as he waited for a response from her. He could take the answer from her mind, but he wanted to hear the terror in her voice, the fear of what might happen. It was very good to hear.
"A pleasure Devi." His hand began to move to her neck slowly, grazing his nails along it before he reached her arm and pulled her up suddenly to her feet. "There are things you must adhere to while in the ATC. A pilot is your superior. You listen to them. Any of them. However, a Pilot will not discipline you, because that is up to ME personally." He told her, his voice still taking on that rather creepy tone as he held her there. "The first thing we must do, is get you in the proper attire. So you will strip down to underwear." Plus he had to mark her of course. That was the most important part. He took a step back, asking Lartech at the same time to give electricity back to the room. Slowly the lights flickered once...twice...and then stayed on completely. He could almost hear the electricity buzzing through the circuits as it resumed it's normal path. Perfect. Very perfect.
He moved to the locker in the room, getting from it a grey uniform. "Hurry up now." He wasn't a very impatient person but...he did want to scare her a little more. That comment about physical urges had gotten the gears working.
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Devi's mind was whirling as she tried to take everything in. The adrenaline was starting to fade a bit. A person couldn't stay in that state of terror for very long, their minds couldn't handle it. Though when his hand gripped her chin she almost lost control of her bladder again.
She gave a small whimper, flinching back from him. This was not right. She had to have gotten something wrong somewhere. She was in the wrong room or something! This couldn't be allowed. But regardless, she was currently in the hands of a maniac. And he had just told her something.
There was another scream as he suddenly jerked her to her feet. Her arm hurt and she had to fight the instinct to kick him in the shins and jerk her arm away. It probably wouldn't work and would just piss him off. Instead she nodded, trying to focus.
Listen to pilots. Yes. Devi nodded, she could do this. She did not want to piss this...this thing off. It looked like it would happily eat her for breakfast. Then she froze, her dark skin flushing, her gold eyes going even wider with surprise, "My underwear!?" He wad kidding, right?
The girl glanced around, as if someone was going to suddenly come save her. There was no one. Just the crazy monster, holding some tacky uniform. The candidate shivered as she carefully started to strip, cursing the fact that her top acted as a bra, meaning she wasn't wearing one. And her underwear was white with red cherries on it. She would have worn something more covering and less cute if she had known someone was going to see them.
She clutched her arms to her chest, trying to cover herself as best she could. She did not like being mostly naked as it made her feel vulnerable at the best of times. She moved one arm away from her breasts to reach for the uniform he was still holding, her face flushed all the way back to her ears.
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He had come so close too! Honestly, he was pretty sure that he would have gone down in some pilot record book for making his candidate piss themselves in the first ten seconds of meeting. Ah that would have been so great! Still, he would do for the almost record accomplishment he just made. She was lucky that he had remembered to actually pull his claws back into fingers before picking her up. That could have been disastrous actually. At least she was scared.
Very scared.
Still that fear was just delicious.
"Yes. The thing you wear under the clothes." It was like he was talking to a child. To him that was actually true too. At least he believed so. She was an alien obviously, so she could have lived a long time. Still. He considered himself ancient since he had been 'brewing' for thousands of years. Just now he was a physical embodiment of himself.
He waited for her, watching her as she got undressed. People would really start talking, since he did this for all of his candidates. She actually seemed to care. Though, she didn't have a bra on so...it made some sense to him. He could only smirk at what underwear she did have. Cherries. Interesting choice. He pulled the clothing from her grasp, shaking his head. "No, not yet my dear. You see...there is still one thing we must do." He told her as he walked around her to the bed. Time to just scare her a liiiiittle bit more. He took a seat on the bed, putting the clothing down on one side of him as he looked to her. "Sit." He commanded to her, pointing at his lap.
There was two things that could really happen now. She could refuse, and he could force her and punish her for not listening...or she would do it and she would receive no punishment. She'd only receive the one thing he did for all his candidates. Brand them. Carve his name into them with his claw. Standard for him really. All his candidates past and present had it. Some kept the mark too, and other got rid of the moment they were allowed to. Dyerlich planned for her shoulder. She'd have to keep a somewhat sultry look to her to keep it shown, having one shoulder shown at all times. It would really make it interesting to see how his candidate pulled it off.
All of them managed somehow though. They had to. He gave them no other choice.
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The blush got darker and she made another awkward grab for the uniform, still trying to keep herself covered as best she could. The fear was still there, humming through out her body, but over it had settled a film of annoyance. Devi actually glared at the much larger man as she hunched inward, "You have to be kidding me? Give me the uniform."
Then her blush vanished as her skin paled as the monster spoke again. The anger vanished, replaced by fear, confusion and a hint of disgust. She didn't want to touch him, her skin still felt tainted from where his fingers had been on her chin. He was joking right?
She actually took a slight step back, looking ready to bolt. Not that she had anywhere to go wearing nothing but a pair of skimpy panties. But she didn't actually run, she just stared at the man, the muscles under the scar that ran across her face twitching lightly. They tended to do that when she was afraid.
Her mind raced, going through her options. Her eyes actually slid to the side, to where the chair lay on it's side, mangled by the monsters claws. For just a moment the image of throwing the chair at the creature and running like mad crossed her mind. But that still had the problem of being naked.
And he didn't look the type to wait for her to get dressed first. And Devi wasn't stupid and she was very, very afraid of the monster. So she swallowed, visions of what might be coming flashing through her mind at lightening speed, and slid very slowly closer to him. Her arms tightened around her chest as if that would some how ward off what was to come.
She then turned slowly, giving him her back. Scars crisscrossed the skin there and there was a tattoo that ran along her spine, a tribal looking design that disappeared into the top of her underwear. Then she gingerly lowered herself until her butt just barely rested on the edge of of the monsters knee, her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
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Demands from him was not smart. Already his mind formulated a correct punishment for such a thing. Later though. After he branded her. He simply held it above her head so she couldn't get it again. Heh heh. There was no humour, no joking, he was dead serious. She would do what he wanted, and if she tried to get around that...he'd ensure there was punishment. Plain and simple. He would have to explain that to her of course.
He kept a focused mind on her though. Careful to watch and listen. Thoughts of escape flitted in her mind. Hah. As if she could try that. The door was securely locked after all. She would run straight into a wall basically. Then it'd be like watching a rat trying to escape a sinking ship. It just wouldn't work out. Heh heh.
She would do what he ordered her to, just as a grunt should.
She would have to learn of course but...he would have so much fun making her learn these points. These points would make her learn her place, at the bottom of the totem pole for the time being. However finally he did just what he asked her to and he smiled. This was good. The punishment hadn't even begun yet!
His claw came up, but first his mind went to her, feeling around in her mind. Ah. Locking the muscles up. He tensed her muscles first, getting a good control of them before completely causing them to tighten and lock in place. "Don't worry. This is so you won't flinch or try and escape. I'd hate to have to pick another place to do this." And with that being said the claw started to dig into the flesh on her shoulder. Dyerlich. His name. Carved from the back of her shoulder to the front.
"This is my name, my brand. While you are my candidate you will keep this name shown at ALL times. In private you may hide it, but ONLY when you are with yourself. That is my rule. Failure to do so will get you in a lot of trouble." Now for the next part of all this. He slowly released her muscle control back to her own body and helped her up to a standing position, taking her to the bathroom attached to the room. Right in front of the toilet actually.
"Onto your knees now. I'm going to give you a lesson in an Old Earth Torture. This is called water boarding." He forced her to her knees instead of waiting for her. Grabbing a big handful of hair he suddenly forced her head into the toilet bowl. Now, thankfully do to so many medical breakthroughs, this water was safe to drink, and the amount of germs was about the same as the tap, if not less. The toilet of course was sparkling clean. As it should be. Not a speck or mess to mar the white surface.
She'd be able to feel him lurking in her mind. He was taking it to the extreme. To listen to her panic. She could hold her breath yes but...soon her lungs would give out, and she would start intaking water, starting to drown. This is for demanding of me, and for not doing what I told you exactly when I told you. When I say jump...oh you best start jumping. The military branch would have made her clean the place up with a toothbrush or something, but this was the Pilot Branch. Disobeying orders came with very strange but strict consequences.
He would wait for her brain to start losing oxygen, become deprived, and then he would pull her back to the real world, let her breathe...then back into the bowl.
It was going to be fun.
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The girl had thought she had been sitting stiffly already, until she felt the monster invade her mind. She had enough ability to perfectly sense him, but no where near enough to stop him. Not that she would have dared to even try.
But as she started to panic as she felt her muscles lock down, struggling to get them to move again. She couldn't really help it, the primal part of her brain panicking at the thought of not being able to move. But it did her no good, her body just sat on the monster's knee, unmoving as he started to slice into her.
Pain shot through her and her futile struggles increased, her body still unresponsive. Her screams were muffled against her mouth, unable to open her jaw. But it didn't stop her from trying, the high pitched cries filling the room as the creature carved his name onto her shoulder.
Then he was finished and Devi could feel the warm blood sliding down her skin. It was warm and sticky and she just wanted to throw up. Which would not be good when she couldn't open her mouth.
The nightmare dragged her to her feet again, releasing his hold on her muscles. As soon as she was able, the candidate let out a strangled sob, her free hand reaching up to grab her bleeding shoulder, uncaring that her breasts her totally exposed now. She had other things distracting her from that.
Like the fact that he had shoved her in front of a toilet. Her eyes widened and she started to resist his force, not wanting to get shoved into the water. This would not be the first one she had had, but knowing the twisted creature that was forcing her head under the water it would be the worst.
The girl started to thrash as her body was denied air. She had been to panicked to suck in enough water to last for long. Her vivid pink hair made a bright contrast to the pale white bowl. Without meaning too, her mouth opened, releasing the carbon dioxide from her lungs and tried to breath the water in. Which didn't work very well.
Just as she was starting to black out, her hair was suddenly pulled up, her head coming free of the bowl. Devi coughed out water, tinged lightly with blood, struggling to gasp in more air. And then her head was shoved under the water again.
Her thrashing resumed, arms failing, trying to find something to hold onto, that might give her the leverage to push out of the water. But it was a pointless effort. She was no match for the monsters strength.
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From all the pain and fear, Dyerlich actually had to stop feeding, he was full, nice and full really. It was a good kind of full. Not the kind that made you lethargic after ward. The kind that made you want to run around or just be energetic. It was the very good kind. Not the best meal in the world he had ever had but it was still a damn fine meal. And the way he had gotten it too...it had been a very interesting way. Heh heh.
She could struggle but he had a good hold on her. She had to know her place, and what would happen if she disobeyed him. He would explain to her why he did it of course. And it was so much more fun to do it with his mind than to let her hear the words from his lips. You listened when you were dying and someone was right in your brain explaining things to you.
It just added a strange satisfaction. One that people listened to VERY carefully.
Finally though Dyerlich let go of the girl and stood up. No need to be excessive. At least, he hoped he didn't have to. If he needed to be excessive, he could, and he would have so much fun with it too. He'd enjoy every agonizing moment of it. It would make her think twice. He already had a few punishments thought out anyway. The toilet one was just off the top of his head too! Imagine that!
"Now, let's get you dressed. Mostly. I'm assuming I'll have to fix your shoulder." That was him. From asshole to medic in just under a second. He was already back in the other room at the locker, getting the medical kit. Again, he broke and put away the molecular regenerator in his pocket. He would only let medics use these on his candidates, and only if they had to. He liked it when they had to get their skin stitched together. IT was a good experience.
"So hurry up. Get your pants on, but not your shirt or jacket. I need to clean and dress your wound after all. Wouldn't want you to dirty that uniform of yours." At least they had been smart enough to put three spare uniforms in here. His candidates tended to get rather dirty. Blood and grime usually. Or in this case water and blood. Not that unusual of course but still different from the normal at this point. You better not have passed out in the there child, or else I'll have to come in there and start drowning you while you're unconscious. Her subconcious and conscious could catch this message, in case she was awake. She would know he meant business.
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And hearing that creatures voice in her brain made sure she wasn't going forget it anytime soon. It was going to be a long, long time before she was stupid enough to make a demand of the bastard.
When the nightmare finally let her go, Devi slung to the toilet bowl, gasping for air. Then she had to lean right back over the thing and she threw up. It was mostly water, mixed with blood and a bit of stomach acid.
She was trembling violently, crying softly as she emptied her stomach of all the water she had inhaled. Right then she was torn between fear, hatred and just wanting to die. This was not what she had been expecting. No one had told her this was what was going to happen. She had just been dragged from her home and sent off to some military academy. To be scared and abused by some twisted creature from the worst fairy tale ever.
After the almost drowning, the dull ache in her shoulder didn't seem to matter that much. The blood that was dripping down her chest to splatter on the white tiles didn't seem connected to her. As if it belonged to someone else.
At his command, Devi finally moved away from the bowl. She felt angry, embarrassed and used. And she hated that there wasn't a lot she could do about it. So she had a little trouble standing up, her legs not wanting to support her weight at first. But she managed to slid the pants over his legs and secure them around her waist.
The mental command spurred her to hurry and stumble into the other room, her uninjured arm awkwardly trying to cover her chest again, which was now laced with delicate trails of blood, some of them smeared from the encounter with the toilet.
"I'm here! I'm here! Shit." Devi flicked her head, tossing her sopping pink bangs, now a few shades darker from the water out of her face. She gave the monster a dark look, her golden eyes darker then they had been earlier.
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No one really expected this sort of thing from the Pilots. Not from people who protected Aedolis. Heh, it was just a little bit of fun that they could have though, to help teach the candidates. It wasn't like school where there were boundaries and discipline rules in place. The rules were those of the pilots. And if they wanted to cut someone up, break a leg, pierce someone with a heated carbon rod then fire up the burners because they were going to do it.
Dyerlich looked over to her as she stumbled into the room. Ah right. Modesty and all that. "You don't have to cover yourself. I hold no sexual interest in you." He told her simply as he approached her. He began to rub something on the wound that might have stung it for a moment but would help to clean the wound. It was going to leave a scar of course, but she would live. "And I am not a monster. I am a Celestial Phantasm. Dyerlich Lockh. Try to keep up with that." He explained to her as he began to wrap her wound with bandage, taping it in place properly.
Honestly, some people. All the modesty they had, it was so endearing. Strange in a way.
"There. You'll heal." He put the medical kit away and tossed her the shirt and jacket. "Now let's get you dressed up again. Don't worry about showing the wound. Only when it has healed enough that it doesn't bleed is when you must show it." He told her as he moved to the door and unlocked it with a command to Lartech. It slid open. Though, there was a little bit of a whine from it. The two locked servos no doubt. Heh. He liked the large claw marks he left on the wall though. That would be a nice reminder to his candidate. She'd probably steer clear of the toilet for a while now.
Hm. Too early to get anything to eat.
However, a nice walk around the ATC to show her the grounds might be appropriate. "Let's go on a little tour! I'll show you where you'll pretty much be for the next three years." She would do well to pay attention of course. He'd show her what he could, like where she would eat, train, learn, and all that fun stuff. He'd also show her to the infirmary, which would no doubt be a good place to see. Just so she knows where to go incase she needed to.
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The comment about not having to cover her filled the girl with mixed parts relief and stung pride. On one hand, the thought of the creature touching her, let alone in a sexual way made her skin crawl. The idea of actually having sex with him...it was almost enough to send her running back for the toilet. But no girl likes being told someone wasn't interested in her. Her chin lifted a notch as she lowered her arm, her cheeks going red.
She really didn't want to have to leave her beasts uncovered, but she had no idea if that comment had been a command or not. And she was not going to try and find out. She flinched away at his touch, unable to repress a small shudder of disgust as his touch on her shoulder. The salve stung and she gave a small hiss of pain, but managed to keep from flinching.
"You are a monster. Sir. What ever other name you go by." And for now, she really wasn't going to be thinking of him in any other way. That was what he was to her, that frightening monster that had torn open metal and carved into her skin. She would use his name out loud if he made her, but in her mind he was monster, creature, nightmare made flesh.
When he tossed the jacket and shirt at her, she clumsily caught them, her shoulder still sore. She was more then happy to pull the shirt on, quickly buttoning it over her naked breasts, relieved to no longer be naked in front of him. Even the thin layer of cloth was another barrier between him and her. The jacket quickly followed, shrugging that on as she hurried after him, making sure to stay as far away from the claw marks on the door as she could.
She might not like the creature much, but she would listen to him. She did her best to keep track of where he was taking her, though the stark corridors were a bit hard to tell apart. Hopefully there was a map she could get somewhere.
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That's how it always was. They were just so beautiful that it was an insult that someone didn't get turned on. Ah those were the best. True he did get those feelings once in a while, but would he waste them on his candidates? Perhaps. It would be interesting to see. He had three now after all. All female. What were the odds of that anyway? He did want to see how much fun this could be, and if he could get all three of them to like each other. Teamwork was a key.
"I could show you a monster. I could show you creatures twisted from darkness and nightmares. But I am no monster. You WILL call me Dyerlich, and any other name but Sir will get you punished severely." He had given her the rules now. It was either she spoke his name or she would be filled with pain. Oh, that rhymed. Tat was good.
It was actually quite fun to think about. She believe he was a monster. A true devilish creature from the very pits of nightmare. That was almost an honour really. He smiled slightly at that thought. She would be surprised to see his other Candidates not fearing him...well...there was a lot of anger at least from the other two but...that he would need to work on. Or beat out of them. One of the two.
"I am not a difficult person to get along with Devi. My main job is to ensure that you survive the three years. That you hone your mental skills and your physical ones at that. To hope that when you step up to have your mind probed by the rest of the psychics, that you will be able to survive it and stay yourself." He explained to the girl as he suddenly put his arm about her shoulders and kept it there. He knew that she would hate that, but she would have to live with it.
He turned his focus to her for a moment. "Sometimes it requires psychological torture, or just plain physical beating. However, if you learn, all of that will just go away slowly." Until he could order her to eat a hot coal and still use her powers to strange a person. Mmm, that would actually be an interesting test...he'd have to devise one.
"Now. This is the messhall. I hope you paid attention for how to get here. You grab a tray, you get in line, and then you order food. Then...well I'm sure you get the idea. Right now it's empty because...well lunch was three hours ago." He wasn't the slightest bit hungry either since he had already had a snack not more than a few minutes ago. It was good stuff too, very delicious to say the least.
She was a good meal.
"Now, down that corridor will lead you to General Studies and Advanced Studies. Classrooms basically. That is where you will spend a lot of time, being taught how to fight, biology of different species, strategy and tactics, all that fun stuff." He wasn't sure if he'd be teaching any of the classes. Though he could probably teach fire arm safety with his eyes closed, still. He liked to be able to teach them hands on, like Strike Craft training and what not.
"Now, let's go this way. It takes us outside to see the training courses and the Air Ship Hanger."
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The anger is Devi was a slow burn, hiding among the fear. She wasn't stupid, not about stuff like this. She was painfully aware that he was much stronger then she was and had all the power. So there was no point in throwing her rage at him. It would just get her hurt even more. And she was still skittish after almost getting drowned in a toilet bowl.
She nodded her head stiffly, her tone flat and angry, "Yes Sir." She still wasn't going to use his name. Not yet anyway. Something like his shouldn't have a name. "I'm sure you can show me monsters. I'm not doubting there are worse things then you. I'm just not currently stuck with them." Bastard was probably great friends with them.
She walked along with him, trying to keep track of it all. Then he was putting his arm around her. A flash of disgust and horror flowed across her features before she could stop it, quickly trying to make her expression blank. Not that it did a lot of good as one didn't have to have much physic power to feel the revulsion in the girls mind at the touch of his skin on hers.
When she was finally alone, she was scrubbing the hell out of every bit of skin that creature touched. But she carefully nodded her head, her vivid pink hair dripping water onto Dyerlich's arm, a twinge of fear passing though her as he spoke of what was going to happen to her.
Then she was saved by the messhall. She was used to these, though it had been a few years sense she had been to school, "I know how a messhallworks, Sir. But thank you for explaining it to me."
Devi was actually rather hungry, having thrown up the small amount of food she had eaten earlier, but she didn't think she could have eaten anything just then, even if someone had offered it.
"What are the training courses for?" Devi had actually almost no idea what it was the pilots did. Other then in a vague 'defend Aedolis from her enemies' kind of way. She hesitated, then ventured another question, "And...why? I mean....why do you have to do all this to me? To the candidates." What would she be doing the needed her that tough?
-
Heh, she was learning though. For the time being he wouldn't punish her for wayward thoughts. He forgot that it would be mean to do so, since they couldn't really control that right now, or put up a shield strong enough to stop him. Even then he could get that shield lowered and destroyed if he so chose to. She was getting it though, slowly. He was disappointed she wouldn't use his name, and that there was so much hate and anger in her mind. Not that he minded of course.
It made him smile.
He'd teach her that her mind wasn't a safe place to insult him.
"Just in case you didn't." He told her with a shrug. He didn't care. Maybe tonight he'd go ahead and erase those thoughts from her mind so she wouldn't know where the mess hall was. Oh that would be fun. He loved doing that sort of thing. She would learn that she should hold a civil tongue and civil thought when he was around. He'd have to explain that to her as well no doubt.
"You will learn how to master your psychic skills, how to fight, how to create strategies, tactics, about different species, weak points, how to fly ships, and then a dragon, how to command and how to pilot, to know the difference between shooting first and shooting some more and then if you've run out of bullets ask a question or to approach a situation with diplomacy and your weapon's holstered." He explained to her carefully. That didn't cover all of it but a nice deal of it really. "This is to toughen you up. You need to be strong, both mentally and physically to get you through this. At the end of the program is when all the pilots gang up on you and basically search your mind, probe every inch of it. It's very taxing on the person involved. Some go mad. Their minds break. And they are useless. I am trying to toughen you up to all of this." He was doing her a favour, he really was. Of course, most of the candidates were much too bullheaded to see this.
They would understand in time though.
"Now, I'd like to explain something vital to you my dear. I am a psychic. Your mind is an open book. A few things for you to understand. I have a name, and yes, I should have it too. I earned my name. I am a Celestial Phantasm, and I have lived for two hundred and thirteen years. Your life is nothing but a speck of dust to me, but so help me I am trying to make it so that speck of dust isn't wiped away quicker. Failing the Pilot Program usually gets you sent to TRIM. The horrors they can commit there pale to anything I could ever do to you here." But not by much of course. He could still do some rather terrible things of course. He wouldn't tell her this.
"And these first few days show a lot of what the outcome will be. So choose your thoughts and words carefully. Very...VERY carefully. And realize who I am to you. I am the man who can save you, who can help you through this program, and survive this. But only if you show me the proper respect and obedience." Granted using the word obedience was probably a bad idea, she had to understand. She was just a dog that he was trying to train.
-
Devi was still getting used to the fact that she was around other physics. That they could peer into her thoughts just as easily as she could read the minds of those around her back home. But she was going to learn to guard her thoughts if it killed her. Which it just might if she wasn't careful.
As the monster went over what was going to happen to her, Devi listened carefully. She had....really had no idea. Pilots had just seemed to be these larger then life heroes. Tales of the brutality and insanity didn't tend to travel far enough down to reach Devi's kind. Only the heroics and the pretty parts they wanted you to see.
"Oh." Her voice was small, her eyes watching the ground. That...did not sound fun. Devi wasn't a stranger to violence or fighting. But she had fought hard to get out of that life and now she was getting shoved back into it. Only much, much worse.
Despite her dislike of the whole situation, it didn't mean she was going to fail. She was not going to end up some lab rat. She was a candidate wither she liked it or not and she was going to kick ass at it.
She hoped anyway.
It wasn't really in Devi to cower in the face of adversity. Dyerlich scared her, but he was proving that he was only sort of insane. He didn't seem to inflict the punishments just for the hell of it. And that was something to work with. Devi just had to learn how to avoid setting him off. She could do this.
At his warning, the girl did her best to put her shields up. For being self taught and not really having many people to test them against, they were pretty good. Though against a trained physic, they were not much of a barrier.
"Alright. I get it. Though how am I supposed to help what I think?" She still wasn't using his name damn it. Devi took a deep breath, trying to clear her thoughts. She was going to do this. She could get through. It was just like school, that was all. With just really bad results if you fucked up.
Though...she had gotten kicked out of school.
Shit.
-
Granted, a lot of stories about Pilots were perhaps exaggerated and not everyone got the full stories, but the general gist of it was there. Of course, no one ever told stories about the seven foot tall silver haired Pilot who could claw through people as easily as his dragon did. Nooo, it was always tales about the more human looking Pilots. Which was fine by Dyerlich, he didn't really want to have such a preceding reputation. It would ruin all the fun he could have terrorizing crooks and criminals. He'd rather be a surprise demon than a known phantom.
At least he knew his pupil could be counted on. Most of them were the types who wanted to show everyone what they could do. Granted, it was either pass or fail, and failing meant you'd lose all your freedom and go to TRIM. Passing meant you'd have the ultimate freedom.
He was impressed she knew how to shield her mind from the invading powers of others, but they weren't anything to him. However, he didn't break them, he didn't test them, he listened through them. Like putting your ear against glass, he could hear the surface thoughts, but the deeper thoughts would require him to probably circumvent her shields. Easily done but he didn't want to make it feel like she was completely useless in her powers.
"You're thinking with the outside part of your mind basically. Formed consciousness. Everything you're going to say, you're going to do, internal monologues, it's all there. What you want to learn to do is...think quietly almost. You're not going to think on the outside, but inside. There are other ways of going about it, and that's thinking in the silence. Imagine if you will all your thoughts surrounded by a thick layer of concrete. That's the layer of silence. You're still thinking, but you're thinking in silence." People were fooled by this tactic because all they could hear was the silence. If they dug around, they wouldn't realize that there was an inside to this technique, a layer beneath it of all the silence.
All they'd hear is the silence and perhaps natural instinctual thoughts. Hunger, lust, sadness, what they saw through their eyes, that sort of thing. Things not easily hidden. However, most of it was good enough distraction to keep them from trying to break through that layer of silence.
"It takes a bit of practise to really start hiding your thoughts under the silence, but you've thrown up a competent shield so I believe in time you'll master such a technique." Praise even. Praise to those who deserved it of course. He wasn't totally sadistic or cruel. He knew when to give praise and when to dole out punishments.
-
Devi wasn't going to do any boasting. That just seemed a bad idea. And she doubted it would serve much purpose. Though that wasn't to say Devi wasn't confident, because that would have been a lie. She just wasn't sure if the skills she did have were going to be of use here.
And Devi did want to learn. She was very much used to trial by fire, from running with her gang. Both could end in death if you fucked up. So she listened very carefully to the monster, her dark gold eyes watching him intently, making a mental note of everything he was telling her. He might be a nightmare, but he was her teacher and she was going to learn. And who better to teach her then something as twisted and deadly as he was.
It was rather strange to just be walking and talking to him like this. He had frightened her and tortured her just minutes ago. But now he was being, well, not nice but....cordial. Polite. And the fear was starting to fade. Not that she wasn't afraid of him, because she was, but it was fading into the simple knowledge that he could hurt her, and wouldn't hesitate to, but he wasn't sadistic about it. He didn't seem like he was going to do it for the fun of it. Which didn't seem to make sense to her when she tried to think on it, but it was no less true.
"I...think I get it." Devi spoke slowly, processing the information, her expression thoughtful. She concentrated, trying to create the wall in her mind. It helped her when she visualized things. Though she had the feeling that Dyerlich could tear apart the steel and concrete walls inside her head as easily as he had torn the walls of the room.
But the walls began to form in her mind. It was perfect, still rough around the edges, some of her thoughts and feelings still breaking past. But it would only get better with practice. But Devi had the idea now, and practice she would. She was surrounded by physics now and that meant she had to get better at shielding her mind.
"Um...I don't know if it matters, but I've always been pretty good at picking up....well...." She paused, trying to find the right words, "Memories from things. Remnants left on objects from the people who used them." She looked a little unsure if she should have brought that up or not.
-
He really did wish she didn't refer to him as 'the monster' even more so in her mind. He was far from anything like that. Mostly. Sure, he was very monstrous looking if you think about it...growing hands into claws, being so tall and strange looking but...he wasn't a monster.
Then again, he did view her as a snack.
That was sort of monster like wasn't it?
Dyerlich wasn't a simple sadist who wanted to torture people for no reason. He had his reasons. Plain and simple. IF you misbehaved and didn't do as you were told, you were corrected, with force or with mental trickery. It would probably be bad if he just decided to maim and hurt because he could. It would be easy for him after all. That wasn't something he wanted to do though. It would completely ruin all they were working up to then.
"Think hard now." He wanted to see if she really did get it though. Her blocks were...interesting but they weren't correct. He had said a layer of silence, she was still thinking walls and shields. Layers were more subtle. A wall was obvious. Walls were easy to circumvent though, he could break through them if he so chose to. He'd teach her more though.
"Yes, Impressions left on objects. That's an interesting gift to have, being able to pick up just the briefest of consciousness left on a certain object." Dyerlich explained to her with a small smile. It was really a rare gift, sometimes he could get the briefest of flashes, but only from things a psychic touched. He had tried to hone this ability many times before, but it just hadn't worked out the way he planned.
His gift layt elsewhere.
"I'll have to keep that mind. There are quite a few things that you might even be interested in seeing." Cultural relics he had found or purchased from places and tiems long forgotten. Hell, he even had his uniform from a hundred and fifty years ago or so. Ah, the stories that thing could tell no doubt.
Dyerlich brightened up slightly as they finally came to a door that led outside. He opened the door for her and led her out into the protected world. High above they could see the shield covering the ATC. "That building is the Air Hanger. I'll show you some of the tactical weapons that you might get the privilege of flying." At least, they would be trained in it. They would be using dragons of course, if they got that far. He hoped of course that she did. That all his candidates were able to pass, and to be Pilots. He would not have them die, or have them fail. That was out of the question.
-
Devi was going to think of him as a monster as long as she was allowed too. Though it was starting to shift a little in her mind. The monster confused her. He had shown up like some terrifying creature pulled from the nightmare of a psychopath, scarred her then tortured her. And then proceeded to carefully clean and bandage the scar and talk calmly to her about what she was to expect here as he gave her at tour.
And was now giving her advice on how to help shield her mind. It was all very strange. And while she still thought of him as a monster, it wasn't really with the same anger and vigor as she had before. She didn't like him, she just didn't really know what to feel about him.
Devi took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind and fill it with silence. She wanted to get this. She wanted to protect her mind. Though she had spent so many years thinking in terms of walls. And as Dyerlich brushed along her mind, he could feel the walls she had erected to black out her object reading. Those were always up, to prevent her from being overwhelmed and there were quite powerful. But they didn't extend to the rest of her mind.
At his comment about her ability, the girl flushed lightly, oddly pleased. He seemed, well impressed was too strong a word, but interested that she had the ability. And it felt rather good to have made someone as obviously powerful as he was interested was flattering. And her ego had gotten bruised enough, it was nice to have a bit of a bandaid for it.
"You do? Like what? The older it is, the stronger the readings tend to be. But sometimes there is so much there its hard to take it all in." Devi had no idea how uncommon or common a gift it was. She had never known other physics before. She had started to say something else, then trailed off, her words forgotten as she took in the hanger.
The girl had never seen anything like it before. It was more then a little intimidating. Unconsciously, she moved a little closer to the pilot as she gazed around her in wide eyed fascination, "I-I thought pilots rode dragons..."
-
To think if he had been nice and just introduced himself normally, she wouldn't think he was a monster. Instead he had to go over the top and have a little fun. Would he ever tell about that? Probably not for a year or so. Let her believe he was a monster. Heh. Even better, tonight he would invade her dreams and let her think he was all in her mind. Ah hah hah, that would be hilarious.
He'd have to think on that.
He waited, listening to her mind. Still he could hear it. The silence wasn't there properly. It had been created in such a way that it wasn't subtle. It was rough, it was letting things through. Hm. He'd have to make her dig through the ground so he could show her strata layers, and then she would understand. Later though. For now, he would let her keep trying.
Many a candidate had come and gone through the candidate program, and not a lot of them had the ability to object read, which really fascinated him. He of course had to learn how to stop himself from leaving an impression on objects. He had mastered it, he could implant fake impressions, which he was still trying to perfect. People could disassemble the fakes after all, they just had to look for the inconsistencies. He was getting better though, at least, he'd find out eventually with his new candidate.
It would be training for the both of them.
"Well, it's my old candidate uniform, at least a hundred and thirty years old, but I do have some other odds and ends. Old gold coins, a somewhat tarnished silver dagger, even a strange bronze sprocket." Which was an odd thing to find, considering it dated back five thousand years. He could only imagine what imprint was left on it. Just what had created it? What used it? Ah, it made him giddy thinking about it.
Dyerlich gave a laugh as he approached the hanger with her. "We do of course, but there are places you can't ride a dragon. Space and what not. We have to make do up there. So we learn to use other weapons." He explained to her as he opened the smaller hanger door to usher her inside. It led to a hallway, which didn't seem like a very good place really. It led them to some stairs, letting them go up into a room that overlooked the strike crafts and various flying implements of death. "You should see some of these in action. They can drop a bomb at four times the speed of sound. The time the bombs hit a building, the bombers can be miles away."
-
Devi was still struggling to control the silence, but she was very much a novice at shielding anything but readings from objects. She still tended to think in terms of walls and gates. So having a layer of silence was a little hard for her. She wanted to try and visualize it, which didn't work so well.
"I can try and read those, if you want." She wasn't really sure she wanted to read the emotions and imprints on the uniform. Who knew what was on there. But it would be rather interesting. "What is a sprocket?" Not having really attended school meant that Devi's vocabulary could be painfully small at times.
And the candidate was feeling quite overwhelmed and highly confused. It was hard to connect the pilot talking to her now with the monster that had frightened her so badly and tortured her just a little while ago. He was polite and informative. And it was very much messing with the girl. She wasn't used to someone who could switch on and off like that.
At the hallway, Devi hesitated slightly. The weapons made her a little nervous and being around them with Dyerlich made it that much worse. Devi wasn't a stranger to violence, but it was always a personal violence. It made sense in her head. She wasn't used to mass destruction from far away. And here the walls were lined with it.
"Oh....uh. That's.....interesting. I suppose." Then she blinked, realizing what he had said earlier. She had known that pilots went into space, but it hadn't really clicked yet, "So wait, that means that someday I'll get to go into space?"
-
It was a good attempt, anda first try, and at least she /was/ trying right? He hadn't expected her to want to try right away, and he was impressed that she had a basis for the idea down. She just wasn't able to really focus on it being a layer. There would be time to teach her over the next three years, and she would no doubt try and excell in it.
"A sprocket is basically like...a cog almost. A little wheel with teeth basically. From the time period that it's from, I could only because to imagine what it might be from." Nothing back then NEEDED sprockets or cogs. Why there would be any just lying around was beyond him. Now with an object reader, he might be able to figure out just who had made it and for what reason. It had been a curious thing to find, he just assumed it was from a later period of time, but then when he got it dated, it was much older.
Dyerlich could only smile as he probed along her mind. She was nervous then...and she didn't much care for the mass destruction vehicles that were in this bay. That he could understand. He didn't care for them because they were less personal. You dropped the bomb and you were gone, there was no having to listen to the screams, to feel pain, and watch death strike. It was all very impersonal, insulting to the people that you had to dispatch. You owed them at least the decency of knowing who killed them.
His little belief anyway.
"Yes of course. Eventually we'll have to go up there again I'm sure." The little war with Libra wasn't over, oh no, it was far from over at this point. It had just began, and they didn't back down, just had to do a tactical retreat. Pity really. Though, whatever they might have done with Libra was beyond him. "I've been to space only a few times. Found it...interesting. I would have rather gone beyond the normal range of the solar system. Seen further out." He gave a sigh as he shook his head. He had heard it was magnificent further out. Seeing nebula and gas giants up close, that sort of thing.
-
The candidate nodded, still half focusing on trying to make the silence layer work. Though she didn't really have a proper visual for it yet. She kept thinking of it as another wall between her and someone else's mind, just a funny one. So it only half worked.
"Oh. I've....never heard of anything like that." That got a small, slightly nervous smile from the girl, "Might be interesting to see what it has to tell me." This wasn't so bad. Keep him happy and Dyerlich wasn't such a bad guy. But her wet hair, throbbing shoulder and still sore lungs told her another story. Devi had never had to deal with some like him before and it had thrown her for a loop.
"I...don't think I like those bombs much. Sorry..." She flinched, unsure if she was allowed to say that or not. She quickly tried to recover and avoid getting in trouble for it, babbling slightly in her fear, "It just doesn't seem right. To kill from so far away. That's all. I mean...pilots do that a lot I suppose!" A shaky laugh, "Not saying they were bad or anything. Not at all! I just always felt that death should be...personal. That you should remember the people you've killed."
And Devi did remember. You didn't spend 5 years in a gang and not get a bit of blood on your hands. But she wasn't proud of killing anyone. It had just happened in fights, kill or be killed. But she remembered the faces of all of them.
"I'm...babbling. Sorry...I'll shut up now..." Devi trailed off, glancing away, worried and embarrassed. She needed to be silent now before she got into more trouble.
Subject change. Good plan, "I would like to see space. I bet its beautiful." That was one thing she was actually looking forward too. Her chances of seeing space were pretty nonexistent before getting into the program.
-
"It's old technology. There are much more efficient things than cogs and sprockets." Dyerlich told her with a small shrug. "However, who ever created it was a machinist I'm guessing. Created some sort of machine for it. That's the only thing I can think of." Dyerlich would have to take her back to his office, have it delivered there so she could get a reading from it.
Dyerlich looked to her with a small smile. "We share a similar sentiment. I believe death should be...somewhat like that. I think people should at least know who it is takes their life. It's unfair to have your life taken from you and not know the face, the shape, the look of your killer. If you were to take a life, you should at least be decent about it." Be efficient, be quick, be proper, let them know their death wasn't impersonal. You had to have the guts to do it, to be face to face with someone as you released their life from their own hands.
A powerful thing to do.
"No, it's quite alright, I understand." Dyerlich told her with a small smile as he reached out and ran his hand through her hair a few times, messing it up a little bit. He did love to do that, because it was just hilarious. People were so focused on things like hair, he was too of course, but not many could reach his head to tussle up his hair.
All was fair if you had the natural height to your advantage. People just had to grow taller or in the very least learn to jump or hover, something like that.
"It is rather beautiful up there. Space is a lot quieter even. The world up there is a lot more colourful really...it's actually a lot more colourful than the world down here. The natural world anyway. Nebulaes and super novas...I would love to go on a big trip there one day. Perhaps when I tire of Aedolis after a couple thousand years." Escaping would be hard to do perhaps, but he'd just have to be really quick. Not that he was thinking actively about such a thing. He was still very pleased about living in Aedolis.
-
"Oh. Well, it seems interesting. I would like to try reading it." And Devi was curious to see what she could get off of it. She had never tried to get a reading off anything that old before. It might be good practice. She had no one to help teach her how to use her power that she was still very raw with it. So much had been self taught, with very little guidance or advice. Which was why she was better at blocking her power then she was at using it. If you didn't learn to close it down you would go insane, picking up images, memories, emotions from everything you touched.
At the monsters next comment the girl's step actually faltered, staring up at the strange creature in wide eyes shock. She quickly regained her composure, falling back into step with him. She really hadn't expected to hear that from the nightmare made flesh. That was the last thing she had expected to hear from him in fact. Well, it was at least high on the list.
"Um. Yeah. That's how I feel. It's...it's not right to kill someone like that. Death is so final. You shouldn't kill lightly or carelessly. Though..." She glanced back at the crafts they had just passed, "I guess I'll have to get used to it." That was a thought she really didn't like. "It just seems so cowardly to drop a bomb and leave. You can't remember their face that way. You just push a button and fly home for dinner."
The girl trailed off, flinching slightly as he touched her hair, doing her best to not jerk away. She might be having confused feelings about how she felt about him at the moment, but she was still afraid of him. He could still be planning on hurting her at any moment. Though she had really not expected such a...gentle gesture from the much taller alien. It was creepy.
It wasn't hard to mess her hair up. The bright pink hair was starting to dry and it was fluffing out. And sense she hadn't been able to style it, the ends were going to start curling. Which Devi hated. But there wasn't a lot to be done about it. Though she did give Dyerlich's hair a glance, the mental image of her being able to jump high enough to mess up those spikes flashing through her mind for just a moment.
Dyerlich's comments about space just surprised the girl that much more. Did her mentor have some weird multiple personality disorder? The creature talking about how beautiful and quiet space was, how he wanted to see super novas and nebulae didn't really seem like the same horrific monster that had ripped his way into the room and then tortured and terrorized her.
It was like she had fallen into some strange hell. Nothing made sense and everything was wrong. And Devi felt very, very alone. The only person she knew here was her mentor, she hadn't met any of the other candidates yet. And she had no idea when she was going to be able to talk to family again, let alone friends. And what if everyone was like the monster here? One minute frightening and hurting her, the next ruffling her hair and telling her he agreed with her views on killing and wanted to see more of the stars.
"I....really? You really...er...don't seem like the type that wants to go see the stars. I donno...I just mean, that, well, um, you just seem like you must have seen it already. But I guess that's silly. Nothing has seen every thing." She glanced up, as if expecting to catch a glimpse of the stars, "So...I will get to see space then? I can fly out in the stars?"
-
"If what you say is true about the older it is, then it should be easy to get a reading from it." He couldn't wait to see what she came up with. He'd have to enter her mind so he could take that reading directly, just in case she couldn't put it into words. He really couldn't see any reason she would lie, so that was ruled out, but he wanted an accurate description of what she saw. He did wonder what might happen if her blocks were to fail. It might drive her completely insane. It was probably best not to remove it without reason, punishment for example.
That would work out to be an excellent one.
"Death is not as final as you may think. There is always something beyond." He knew this well. There were many places a soul could rest after death. How could he not believe in a soul, considering his birthplace was...well so bizarre to say the least. He couldn't help but to think that people went...somewhere. There were many theories, heaven, hell, the abyss, the ether, so many places out there. He wasn't sure what he believed in, but he believed in SOMETHING at least.
Not something one would expect from Dyerlich. The creature who could be violent and cold, to warm and gentle. That was probably a little odd when it came to him. However, it was just Dyerlich, it would take a while to get used to his odd mannerisms.
He smirked slightly at her thought suddenly flashing through his mind. Just the idea of her messing up his hair, he'd actually not be mad for that matter, considering it was no small feat. He'd be impressed by her ability, but she'd have to either get a chair, take a run at the wall and jump from it, or climb up him like a monkey of some sort. She'd probably be able to get him if she attacked from behind, caught him by surprise.
The large creature almost wanted to laugh at her thoughts. "Not in hell my dear, or am I suffering from multiple personality disorder." He told her, his eyes flashing as he looked to her. They had a slight twinkle to them for a moment. He was smiling under that cowl of his. She'd be shocked no doubt to know that he could smile and frown and everything under the sun.
"There is so much more to see really...and I find it to be a beautiful in such a strange way. I can't really put it into words but...just the complex designs, the array of colours, it's amazing out there." Dyerlich told her with a small shake of his head. He looked to her for a moment, focusing on her mind so she could see a picture. It was of a cosmic cloud, with beautiful verdant greens and hues of violets just sitting peacefully amongst dots of white.
"Oh yes, one day you will get to go out there." Perhaps not for a pleasure trip, but for war but...she would still be out in space. He should probably keep that to himself, he didn't want to ruin her dreams after all. "You have to pass the program first of course."
-
The girl nodded, "Oh yeah. It shouldn't be hard to get a reading at all. Old things pick up a lot. It might take time to sort through it all though. With so many memories and emotions to go through it can get a bit over whelming. And I assume you want to know about the earlier stuff then the fact that you felt pleased to find it, or whatever it was you felt, when you first picked it up." The girl smiled at that, relaxing a little around the monster.
And she still was thinking of his as monster, but it was losing the angry edge it had earlier. It was becoming less of an insult and more of a nickname, even if she hadn't quite realized that herself yet.
At his next comment Devi nodded, "Oh, I know. I believe that the soul has somewhere to go. I mean....every religion can't be wrong, right? I don't think we just stop...that's just not right. But...you've still taken someones life. They can't come back from that. And you've stolen someone from the people who care about them." She paused then, trying to shift through her thoughts, trying to find the right words, "It's still something you can't take back. Not really. I mean....I've heard that there is magic and stuff that can make a corpse move again, but it's not the same."
She then shook her head, chewing on her lower lip, "I donno. I just feel it isn't something you can do lightly. And I think I'm babbling again. Sorry. I...do that when I'm nervous." Then she suddenly glanced up at her mentor, "Um...have you...like...seen the other side?" Because if anyone Devi had ever met, he seemed like the one who would actually have seen where souls went after death.
Devi was still having trouble remembering that people could read her thoughts, so she hadn't realized yet that he knew she wanted to mess his hair up. Though once she had the idea, it continued to grow in her mind. She rather liked the idea of one day sneak attacking Dyerlich's hair and mussing up the spikes. Though...only if she was pretty sure her punishment wouldn't be too horrible.
Then she flushed all the way to her large, pointed ears, looking quite embarrassed, "Ah...er...I didn't mean...I just....you....er.. ..shit." Devi looked away, not really sure what to say to that. And she wouldn't have believed it if she had realized he was smiling at her.
As the image entered her mind, the teen gasped, her eyes going wide. They were so beautiful! Devi had never seen anything like it, not really. She hadn't thought that space would be so colorful. And she could only wonder what it must have been like to be close enough to have seen it, with her own eyes.
At his last statement, the girl focused back on her mentor. A fierce grin spread over her face her dark metallic gold eyes lighting up, "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm passing this fucking program. I didn't get dragged out of my life and stuck here just to end up in some reject farm at TRIM." Devi didn't like to lose.
-
"Now now, that's just being silly. I already know what I felt when I picked it up. The earlier stuff would be nice to know. Like who created it, and why they did so." He told her with a small shrug. It had to have been some very interesting person. Maybe just a bored smith looking to make something interesting, an artist perhaps with too much time on their hands...who really knew at this point. Well, soon enough Devi would at least know, and then he would know as well.
In time perhaps.
"This is very true, there must be something out there after all." Dyerlich chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn't say for sure of course, not that it was illegal or anything like that. He just didn't know for sure. He believed though, all that power from the Eddy in which he was created had gotten it not only from the people who suffered on Earth but something else. Something greater and unknown. The thought of another life after this was exciting for him however.
Dyerlich just smiled at her as she apologized once more for babbling. He hadn't expected her to be THIS scared really, she was truly frightened when it came to messing up wasn't she? IT was adorable. He loved it really. "There was a time, many...many years ago where I had been shot...right here..." He raised his hand and pointed to the left side of his body. "It missed my heart by an inch or so but...as I waited for medical treatments I was bleeding out. Stunned, dazed, my brain becoming oxygen starved, I had believed for the most part that I died right there. I thought I had seen something...but...t he memory is so fuzzy." Dyerlich recalled this incident as if it were recently, and he talked about it so casually too. He hadn't died after all, and he was always prepared to meet the reaper. Well. Almost always. He didn't so much want to die at this time of course.
"Don't worry about it. You'll learn to keep your thoughts from leaving your brain." He didn't delve too far into people's mind, only when he really needed information or really wanted to screw with them. Not to mention that usually candidates didn't even hide their minds all that well. It was adorable really.
He could have showed her a multitude of different pictures, from different places, and of different cosmic mysteries but this one was so...different. It was so colourful and yet...not a thing disturbed it really. That was true peace, and he wished he could be out there with such a peace. Instead they were in Aedolis and they had to make that peace here on the land.
He grinned at her as he looked toward that very determined Devi. "I'm glad to hear it, I'd hate to have any of my candidates fail." Not that it would be a blemish on his record, which it would, but he would genuinely miss them, and he would feel like he had instead failed them. That was a feeling he didn't much care for, because he did his best for them, he tried to urge them on so they would pass, so they could become pilots like himself.
He only hoped of course he'd be able to handle his current assignments. Three females none the less. He had thought in his earlier days males had been hard to train but, but females were a whole different story really. And these were his first candidates in twenty years, he only hoped he hadn't gotten rusty!
-
"I might not be able to tell you why it was created." Devi chewed absently on her lip, thinking, "It all depends on what the person who made it was thinking about when he held it. But I can generally tell the purpose of something. It can be kind of abstract sometimes." Devi was actually starting to really get excited about getting to touch the stuff. She didn't normally get to try her skill on things that old. She should practice a bit before then though. So she didn't totally embarrass herself.
Oh...wait. He probably heard that. Ack! No! Silence. Silence. Calm.
Devi struggled to spread the silence out over her thoughts. She kept trying to mask her thoughts under it instead of having it between her thoughts and Dyerlich's. And she still threw up her normal walls, her ears going pink again.
As Dyerlich spoke of getting shot, the girl's blush faded as she watched him with awe tinged with fear. He was so strange. He frightened her and made her feel....safe walking next to him like this all at the same time. And he ruffled her hair the same way her mother did. And he didn't bat an eye as he held her head under the water as she flailed and struggled to breathe.
And now she was talking to him about the after life, how he had almost died. She snorted softly, a light smile teasing up the corners of her lips, "It doesn't seem right that you can get shot. You seem like someone should need some magical blade or spell to be able to kill you. Like in all the stories." Heroes always needed magic or special weapons to slay the monster.
Though even after almost drowning her and carving up her shoulder, Devi was still finding herself enjoying her mentors company. Not a lot of people talked to her like this and she rather liked it. Though he still frightened the pants off her. All....tall and creepy and...elbow spiky.
"Well, I ain't failing, that's for damn sure. I want to see space. I want to feel what it must have been like at that cloud." She reached up, tugging at a strand of damp, lightly curling pink hair, picturing the cloud in her mind again, so pretty and still.
-
"Well, anything would really be nice. Even who or what created it. I want to know what sort of genius or perhaps insane driven artist thought this device up." It would be nice to see more of the past. It was so littered with inaccuracies and such. So many questions left unanswered for that matter. "Then perhaps after I'll let you look at the coins well. I know whoever had them liked to clink them together, perhaps jingle them in their hands. That's about all I could really...see. Just a hand, jingling them, and a feeling of merriment from the sound they made." And really, he actually liked to jingle them as well.
Yes, Dyerlich was a strange one to say the least. He didn't have supernatural healing abilities really. He had to take it a little easy after being shot, and he had jumped at any rather energetic sounds, anything that might have been another shot. He didn't much like getting in the way of any projectile shots again, that did not sound like a good time.
He gave a chuckle and a start at her mention of needing a magical weapon or something along those lines to kill him. What a notion really. Still, he wished it were just as true too. "Right, because Monsters don't die that easy. No, they always come back, when you think you've killed them, there is another, or perhaps it was able to slither away and survive." He didn't sound angry at her assumption either, he actually thought it would be a novel idea. He could remember a story about a Goddess who protected her child from everything by getting them to agree to not harm him. Though she overlooked the...tow missile had it been?
It ended up killing her son after it had been fired at him. Or...something along those lines. He hadn't really paid attention to the old tale that much, but just the thought of having only one weakness, it was an amusing idea.
He was pleased though that she did not fear him as much anymore. He stuck to barely listening to her, to enjoying the sound of silence and the few thoughts he could hear murmur through. It wasn't strong, he could break it, he could rid her of the silence and let all her thoughts draw out but...he was impressed she had the ability to even do anything of this calibre.
"Good that you think so then Devi. You will see space if you keep a rational head, I promise you." He started to walk again, now leaving the room and going back to the stairs. Enough of the strike craft for the time being. It was best not to focus on all these impersonal weapons anymore.
"Come, we'll go find my office, I have at least two coins in the desk there." He told her as he started to go down the hall, getting back outside into the outside, to have to walk across the campus back to the main ATC complex.
-
If Devi could have read Dyerlich's mind then, she would have laughed at the idea that such a frightening creature would enjoy clinking coins together. As it was, she just eagerly nodded her head at the mention, "Yeah! I would love too. I love getting that stuff from objects. So often it is always the negative emotions, violence, pain, rage, grief that came strongest with things. But there was something about that warm feeling she got from things that had been loved, that had brought joy.
She was smiling now, a bright, happy smile, just from thinking about it. And she was almost glowing at having seemed to impressed Dyerlich at least a little with her talent. She was proud of her skills and liked getting to show them to people. And another physic might really get it, unlike her friends back home who only sort of understood what she was doing.
She actually laughed at his comment about monsters, though her cheeks were tinged slightly less pink then her hair, "Yeah, you're right about that. And it just seems to easy to be able to take you out with a gun. Anticlimactic and all that."
This seemed to be going alright. She was actually....teasing Dyerlich. Sort of. But it was kind of fun. Though she was still a bit wary, unsure if she would suddenly cross into the boundary of not allowed, time for another punishment. And Devi wanted to know full well when she was going into that area, not trip into it by accident.
"Alright then. Though I am holding you to that promise. If I pass and become a pilot, then you make sure I can see space." She hurried to keep up with her mentor as he started walking out of the hanger, his longer strides covering much more ground then hers did.
"Really? I can see the coins now? Sweet!" She clapped her hands, her smile coming back. Then she blinked, "You....have an office? With a desk?" She tried to picture Dyerlich sitting at some normal desk in some normal little office and it was just wrong. Granted, she had pictured him dressed a bit like an accountant and that was really kind of funny.
-
Just because he could be so big and scary, didn't mean that he couldn't' entertained by something as simple as that. It just sounded good to the ears, so light and musical. He enjoyed music after all, docile tones and all that. The techno music was a little strange, and there were some really...loud music out there but he preferred the lighter music. The one you could listen to quietly and not have anyone look at you funny. Well. More funny than seeing a seven foot tall white skinned creature in a cowl listening to music.
The girl could really blush couldn't she? Her hair was a close colour to her cheeks, or perhaps it was the other way around. It was such a fun thing though. He could probably make her blush even more if he really thought about it. After all, he was a monster. Sexual predator might make her scream a bit more though.
Best to not go that route.
"It's a deal. If you pass, I will escort you into space myself." And he wouldn't just shoot her into the atmosphere in a broken shuttle. He'd actually be nice and genuine about it! Imagine that! Small wonder really. He had his arms literally folded behind his back, the elbow spikes sticking out for a moment before he remembered this was a bad idea. He just had one hand clasped in the other now, keeping his spikes mostly against his own skin.
He didn't want to have someone lose an eye or anything.
"Yes, I have them in my desk. Just for fun." He told her with a small grin. Heh, she couldn't see that though, no one really could. Unless they could see through the cowl of course. Heh. "Yes...I have an office with a desk." Dyerlich told as he rolled his eyes. People were just silly like that. Still the thought of him in an accountant suit was...not a really fun thought really. He could never imagine that himself, it really just wasn't him.
Dyerlich took her inside to the main complex of the ATC, heading for his office. He hadn't used it that much lately but he could never forget where it was. It had always been in the same place. "So really, am I still the really bad monster that you had first believed, or have I changed a bit in your eyes?"
-
"Good." Devi looked pleased that she had gotten the promise from him. She wanted to see space, she had always wanted too. Dyerlich showing her the image of the cloud just made her want it that much more.
It was a little scary walking near him with those elbow spikes out. He seemed to realize rather quickly though and he adjusted his arms, "So....um...how come you can't make those go in? Like your fingers." Though the mention of his claws made her shiver a little, remembering the pain on her shoulder and her hand lifted to lightly touch the wound.
"I don't know...you and a desk don't seem to fit. What do you even do there?" It was just too weird to think of Dyerlich sedately doing some mundane paper work. Devi shook her head, "Too weird."
The next question made Devi pause, startled enough to stumble as she walked. She quickly caught herself and and blushed again, "I....don't know. I mean...you are scary. Not just cause you look a bit scary." And Devi was going to have nightmares about when he had busted into the room, siren screaming, sparks flying, "But...shit. You almost burst my damn lungs in the first 10 minutes and you didn't even bat an eye as you mutilated me."
Devi was pretty sure there was no point in lying to him, he would probably be able to tell without much effort, "But, well, I donno. You seem nice right now. Well, okay, not nice, but, I like talking to you. It's nice. Most people don't...I donno...talk to me like this very much."
Shitshitshitshit. She was babbling again. And her face was giving her hair a run for its money, "So, um, yeah. You're still fuckin' freaky, but I guess you have changed. Only a little....I am so shutting up now..."
-
"My fingers are different. There is a lot more elastic around the joints. I can basically use my muscles to slide the bone which has two parts...normal connecting parts then a sort of flat part that goes down the length of my finger. The muscles slide the bones out of place, and down to connect into a slot on my knuckles. Then a chemical is released from this action, allowing the skin to harden into a very strong texture. Then I can retract them at will, which stops the flow of the chemical." And to think this was naturally imbued in him. No modifications at all. They also had to push up for the back to extend a different piece to make them a bit more armoured and protected, but it all hardened into that tough texture that could slice up metal.
He looked to his spikes though, suddenly bringing them around to the front of his body, completely turning his arms around to have the spikes at the front and his hands facing the wrong way. "The spikes are like the horn of a...a...type of whale. They're bone that just keeps growing outwards. When I were a younger man, and I was imbued with magic, these were actually serrated blades instead of spikes. However, when I activated my mind to use the psychic powers, they changed into spikes. I miss the blades more." He told her wistfully, shaking his head. He did so wish he could slice and cut people with his elbows once more.
Those were days gone by though.
"Heh heh, I'm glad you think so. Yes, one has to be strong Devi. No regrets, and never stop what you've started. Never. You have to be strong and follow through." Of course, Dyerlich really hoped that she didn't take to that idea if she ever decided to kill him. It could happen of course. Just so long as she finished the job, or he was able to subdue her.
"I see polite and cordial, I understand. That is because there is no point to being rude, short tempered, irritable. It would be wrong, and it would give the very wrong impression of me. Well. Mostly wrong. It's complicated, like me and my thought process." He wanted to show that while yes, he could be violent, and he could be very stern, but he was also nice, he wasn't a monster, he could be reasoned with, he could even be talked to. He wanted all his candidates to be able to talk to him with any problem.
"Heh heh, talk as much as you want. You awkward little minx you." She was trying, and it was funny. They arrived finally at his office and he slid his hand over a small button on the wall, the door sliding open and letting them inside. It was a rather...interestin g office. It had a few abstract paintings hanging on the doors, some of them were more traditional paintings with people in lounging chairs in a medieval setting. The large wooden desk, aged oak stained dark with some papers scattered here and there, and a rather fancy looking computer on the desk. It was a projection computer, it would create a screen and a keyboard. Oddly enough, his writing utensil seemed to be a rather beautiful and colourful feather. Thin however, with an intricate design running up the shaft of the feather.
"Alright, let me find them." He walked inside, heading to the desk and taking a seat in the luxurious leather chair. He pulled open the desk drawers and began to hunt through them. "Have a seat, this might take a minute." He gestured to one seat that was covered with some papers. "Just put them on the ground somewhere, out of the way."
-
Dyerlich's technical description had gone right over Devi's head. But she nodded and listened even if it made almost no sense to her. Why not just say extend claws?
"Imbued with magic? What do you mean? Were you not always....like this then?" She made a vague gesture with her hand at all 7 something feet of the pilot, "And there were blades? What? That is...freaky dude. Freaky."
She smiled again, nodding, "I do my best to be strong. I like to think I succeed for the most part." Her blush began creeping back before it had fully faded, "Then I end up getting my head dunked in a toilet..."
Devi ducked her head, looking down at the floor, chewing on her lip again. She gave a small laugh, "Yeah, I'll agree that you are complicated and I can't even begin to guess what your thought process looks like."
Then the blush that had been slowly creeping back hit with full force, all the way to her ears and down into the collar of her uniform, "Awkward little minx!?" Her head snapped up to blink stupidly at Dyerlich. Had he just given her a pet name? And what was a minx? "What the hell is a minx?"
Devi hadn't thought Dyerlich had pet names in him. Though he seemed to be much more complex then she was really aware. And his odd sense of humor took a little bit to get used too, though Devi was finding it oddly endearing.
"Wow. It's, well, um....nice in here." Devi looked around, moving over to study one of the paintings in more detail. She turned her attention to the paper strewn chair and carefully took the papers off, keeping them together as she set them under the chair.
"Wow. Have you never heard of file cabinets?"
-
He didn't want to treat her like she was stupid but apparently his technical description was too much for her. Even he wasn't sure he was explaining it all properly. He had it explained by a medic here once but...that was over a hundred and seventy years ago. That man was looong dead by now. Pity too, he had been fun. No matter.
"Oh no...you misunderstand. This was always my physical look. Always this tall and always looking like this. I was created exactly...well alright, the spikes were blades so not exact but overlooking that detail I was just the same." He told her simply. Of course she would think that he looked freaky. She was mostly human, or, a humanoid that usually existed here on earth at least.
He gave a small nod of his head at that. "Well, the toilet thing was just an off the top of the head sort of thing. You were strong through it, you lasted a lot longer than I thought you would." Dyerlich told her with a small grin. She had, though, he wondered how long she could have lasted had she known he was planning on doing that sort of thing. Probably a bit longer, he'd have to test that out later.
"It's..." How did you explain that to her then? Well...he could really make anything up if he so wanted. "It's just a pet name. It doesn't have to make much sense." Dyerlich just shrugged his shoulders. It didn't matter, it really didn't. He'd find something else to call her soon enough. Something different. It'd be fun to figure out what though. Heh heh.
"No need to make fun now. I am a busy sort of person you know." Mostly a busy person. He was busy of course...he had people to look after, reports to file and such things. Most of the paper work was just...odd since really, they used such better means. He could pretty much do his paperwork with a thought or two, using his dragon.
"I understand those are those big metal things. I can't say I have much use for them. This paper work will all be removed soon anyway. I don't even know why I keep around, we do everything with computers after all." However he liked the look of the papers because it made his office look cluttered. However, his dragon told him it didn't look professional. It made him seem silly and not very serious. Which he had to have some level of at least.
"Ah, here we go." He pulled out some beat up looking disks from the desk drawers, they could fit easily in the palm of the hand, and the once bright luster of gold no doubt had changed, become quite a bit duller. It was almsot impossible to tell what was written on them anymore, just a few bumps and a vague face on them. He put them on the desk, making a musical little jingling sound before he slid them over for her to look at. "There you go."
-
"Oh, well, that's weird that you lost the blades then. They turned into spikes...when you got physic powers?" Devi had to repress the urge to reach up and touch the jewels that had grown into her forehead, "Physic stuff can be totally weird, huh?"
Her eyes wondered as she spoke, taking in the room, her legs swinging lightly under her chair. It was strange to see such a cluttered office, it wasn't how she had pictured it at all. She had guessed it would have been perfectly neat and utterly immaculate. And the paintings were a little bland for her tastes, but pretty enough.
"Yeah, well, I don't think I'm going to be able to pee without some weird flashback for a week now." And she was avoiding that bathroom in particular. Then she turned so she could make a face at him, "Oh? Really? How long did you think I was going to last?"
Her face fell a little when Dyerlich didn't explain what a minx was. Fine then, she would just look it up later. But she didn't stay disappointed for long, her face splitting into a wide grin, "A pet name huh? That mean you like me then?"
That pleased Devi actually. That Dyerlich liked her enough to give her a pet name, "And does that mean I can give you one?"
Though as he pulled the coins out, Devi's attention focused on his hands. She reached over, taking the coins into her hands and closing her eyes. A deep breath and as she exhaled, she began to carefully take down the walls around her power.
Devi was rather untrained in most aspects of her physic powers, but not this. This she had honed to a fine art in the years she had lived with it. It was that or go crazy. And she had built up a rather impressive amount of layers, one after the other that she slowly began to peel away, letting the images in carefully.
It started with the earliest ones, Dyerlich jingling the coins in his hands to make the pretty sounds. More layers carefully came down. It was rather impressive to watch, her control over the shields. Devi's eyes moved rapidly behind her eyes as she watched the images flicker past. Back farther, deeper into the coins 'memories.'
-
"Yes, psychic stuff can be completely weird. Lots of things happen when the brain activates in certain places, it's almost like a second puberty...or something that happens along with puberty." Which of course can always be twice as weird. Sure you're growing hair in places, but also you're able to lift the couch up off the ground with a single thought. How do you get help for that? Well, most countries have their ways...enrolling people into special programs to work for the government and all. At least he had some idea of what he was doing when he changed from magical or psychic. Still, he missed the blades, they were a lot more efficient.
Dyerlich gave a small smirk as he shrugged his shoulder. "Not very long. I figured you'd try and pass out just under twenty seconds." However she hadn't, though no doubt her body had been wanting to. His little...messages to her no doubt helped to keep her awake, the fear and adrenaline stopping her from passing out. After all, he was a monster, who knows what he could have done to her.
"It means I tolerate you. And no. I already have enough trouble with some calling me Dyerling." Which made it sound like they were calling him darling, and that was a sign of affection, which he was sure Phenyo would disagree to. Lartech did of course, but only because he was her Pilot, and they had spent quite a bit of time together. Which had been nice of course. Maybe Phenyo's pet name would be one of affection in the years to come. An interesting thought none the less.
Dyerlich spread his mind out to hers, so he would be able to see what she was seeing. He wished he could read the imprints of items, but his talents were focused elsewhere for the time being. She might be able to teach him how to unlock the right part of his mind to try and start getting impressions. It would be nice, being able to finally see all the memories left on objects. What had been fought over, what had been treasured deeply, what had been killed for...ah...
Such thoughts.
He smirked slightly at the first thought that passed by him. The one of him jingling the coins. There was amusement there of course, and a relaxed feeling as well. He could get that. Further though. He wanted her to go back even more, to see whatever might be there.
-
Devi laughed at that, "A second puberty. Yeah, that's about right. Not fun to start growing breasts and the ability to read someones mind at the same time. They teach you about half of it in school and your on your own for the other shit."
"Twenty seconds? Ha. You give me so little credit." Devi also had in her favor that she had been through that before. Not as brutal as it had been with Dyerlich, but still scary all on its own. Though Devi was actually impressed she hadn't passed out. But being unconscious around Dyerlich had been a bit scarier then the water. Water was only going to kill her.
Her lower lip stuck out in an exaggerated pout, "Awww. You don't like me then? I'm hurt. I felt we were bonding, teacher student and all that." Then she gave a small laugh, "Dyerling? I like it. Can I call you Dyerling? Or maybe Dyerlicious. Dyerkins?" It was just too funny to think of such a scary man with such a silly nickname.
The feel of Dyerlich's mind brushing against hers made her give a small, almost inaudible gasp. It was strange to feel someone in her mind while she was reading the coins. Though she tried to ignore it as she watched the memories fly past.
She couldn't help but smile. These coins had brought a lot of people pleasure and contentment. The images began to go faster as she went deeper and she had to slow down if she was going to get anything from it. The deepest memories were of small hands, dark and furred. Some weasel like humanoid was holding the coins now. And was so happy to have them. It was rather sweet, the simple pleasure it was feeling.
Then there was a few flashes of a fire and heat and Devi began to put back up her layers of shields. She had reached the end of the memories the coin had. Putting the shields up went much faster as she wasn't watching the images as they came to her. Her eyes fluttered open again, their color a tawny amber color, lacking the metallic sheen they had earlier.
"That was fun!" Her cheeks were slightly flushed with pleasure and a huge smile was plastered on her face, "These are good coins."
-
"Well, you can't blame them for that, psychic abilities crop up in so few that well...it would be worthless to teach them. Besides, all psychics end up here eventually. This is where you learn." Dyerlich told her with a small shrug. "Though by the looks of you Devi you didn't have much trouble with the first part of puberty." Was that a shot at her breast size perhaps? His eyes twinkled humorously as he went back to searching through the desk drawers for the coins. Had to be in there somewhere.
"I...no. You can't call me Dyerlicious or Dyerkins. Dyerling I put up with because my dragon has a tendency to call me that, but say that name to me too often and you'll be in a lot of trouble." He told her as he looked up to her with a small glare. Nicknames. It was only fair he got one of course, considering he liked to give everyone else one. He was just a hypocrite though. He hated being called something else. Then again, he was a Pilot, people had to put up with it if he did it.
Dyerlich parked his presence out of the way, enough that she'd barely feel it there, but still able to pick up what the coins were giving off. Things were going back so far...and...what was that? Some small intelligent beast, no doubt a goblinoid of some sort. So that was what it was then...it was a creature just simply entertained by the shiny coins and the musical notes they made as they clinked together. Adorable really.
His mind recoiled slightly as there was a sudden flash of light and fire, and he felt warm for a moment. She went all the way back to the forging of the coins. His mind left hers, his blocks and shields and layers of silence returning once more as he rubbed the back of his neck. "They are indeed good coins." He reached out and took them from her, putting the coins back into the desk and locking the drawers with a simple thought command. Keys were so over-rated when you had the power to move things with your mind.
"I'm afraid now I'm at a loss for the next thing to do. I can't say I'm the most sociable person, so I suppose now if you would like I can return you to your room."
-
Devi shot him a look at his puberty comment, crossing her arms over her chest. So what if she didn't have the biggest breasts ever. Anything more then a handful was too much anyway, "I don't blame them for that. But it sure didn't make things easier. Though it will be interesting to learn what I can do with my abilities."
A huge smile spread over her face as he rejected her nicknames, "Alright. DyerBear it is." She was so going to have to make a stuffed Dyerlich now. And make it as adorably, huggably soft as she could. And make sure her mentor got to see it. Devi was still wary of Dyerlich, but she was friendly and she liked to push boundaries. She was already getting attached to the strange looking man.
His presence in her mind didn't really bother her. Though it did make her want to show off a little. Not by doing anything fancy, just to do as smooth a job as possible. As she had never known any other physics, Devi had never been able to show of her ability like this.
She was sad to have to give the coins back. It had been nice holding them, feeling the happy contentment they gave off. Though it made her rather excited to get to try the other objects. Well, not the dagger as much. Death made her head hurt, it was heavy and rough in the mind, so many strong emotions.
She stood up, grinning, "Well, it was lovely meeting you. The torture was interesting. Do, I, er have to report to you or anything tomorrow? Or do I have classes or something?"
-
"A whole host of things I'm hoping, besides just reading impressions of course." He would help her to learn this sort of thing of course. That was his job after all. For now there wasn't too much he could, teach her the rules, force her to study so she can be worthy of Roman's Evaluation. That would be a tense time. He was going to lose at least one candidate. It was a very fearful thought since he didn't want any of them to leave of course.
He gave a glare at her, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her. "You best make sure I never see that teddy bear because I'll let you in on a secret." He leaned in toward her with a small grin. "When I get really angry with something, it tends to suddenly burst into flame." Dyerlich moved away from her, his leg coming up to rest on his knee as he watched her carefully. He hadn't gotten angry in...in twenty years. Right. No causalities that day of course but still...trouble.
"I believe tomorrow is a day off actually. So you should be fine to do nothing. You do not have to report to me, but I'll be here, around the ATC." He told her as he stood up with her, giving a half bow from behind his desk. He didn't have to be here at least, he would get his work done later tonight anyway. It was good to be able to control your psychic powers even when you slept.
"Well then, I suppose I shall see you when I see you. Enjoy your rest Devi." He wasn't even going to mess with her dreams. He had things to do. Well. Actually...Hrm. The last time he invaded a dream it had been VERY interesting. Alright. Never mind. He'd forgo a bit of work to invade her dreams for a few hours. Heh heh.
-
Devi huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and she pouted up at Dyerlich, "You, Sir, are no fun." She was still making the bear. And if he set it on fire....she would probably cry. And then plot evil, evil revenge.
She stood out of her chair and brushed her pants off, "Well, sweet then. I'll have to enjoy myself then." She gave Dyerlich a wide smile and headed for the door, pausing to turn and blow him a kiss, "Maybe I'll run into you then."
The chances of Devi dreaming about Dyerlich was high. What it was going to be about was up in the air. He had an equal chance of a wet dream as a nightmare. Another wave and Devi headed out the door, closing it behind her.
The candidate spent the rest of the day getting settled, though she still needed to get assigned a permanent room. One of the many downsides to having your paper work get messed up. She found out where her classes were going to be held and did her best to try and learn where everything was, though the white walled corridors all looked so damn similar.
And she had managed to ferret out the supplies to modify her uniforms. It was going to take a while, as she had to do most of it by hand. Stupid Dyerlich. She hoped he was getting a headach will all the hate she was sending his way. He would pick the hardest spot to show of with the uniforms.
Though the day was starting to take its toll on the girl and Devi was finding herself ready for bed pretty early for her. But intense fear and torture tended to take it out of a girl. Devi was glad that she could at least wear her own pajamas to bed, it reminded her of home. God how she wanted to go back home, see her family again.
Curling under the blankets, Devi clutched her stuffed animal to her chest. She was going to pass. Because she could go back and see her family when she was a pilot. It had to be allowed then. She would have to ask about what contact she got until then. It's not like they were prisoners here. Well...they kind of were. But they could probably at least call family, right?
Devi was in some forest/clearing/meadow place. It was all three at once, shifting and changing constantly, though it didn't seem at all strange to her in the dream. It was also underwater, but it was like an underwater level in some game. Everything still worked like normal, she ran along the bottom instead of swam.
And she was fighting monsters, leveling up as she killed them. They were strange twisted monkeys. That were all armed with cleaning tools and were busy cleaning every thing until they noticed Devi and attacked.
Every so often, Devi would glow and her clothes would change slightly as she gained a level. It was rather fun and Devi was enjoying getting to slaughter cleaning monkeys. That had gills and fins. It all worked in that way dreams always work. Though she didn't like the Moprillas. They were really hard.
As she moved through the dreamscape, she came to a building, setting in the middle of a clearing. On the door was a sign "Restroom." It seemed important and Devi found herself inside it. Then out of the largest stall a tall, skinny, spiky haired creature came out. Dyerlich was too tall in her dream world to have actually fit in the tiny building, but it didn't seem to matter much.
There was a huge, clashing fight, Devi trying to avoid the deadly claws as he tried to drag her into the stall with him. Her sword seemed to have no effect against him, the cuts not slowing down at all.
Then he managed to grab onto her, dragging her against his chest. He was surprisingly warm and he wasn't so huge anymore, he was the relative size her normally was.
"Strip down." His voice was a bit different here, softer and gentler. Devi found herself pressing closer to him, her arms going to to wrap around his neck. She always had a weakness for anyone who could best her in a fight.
The girl shifted in her sleep, her eyes flickering rapidly behind her eyelids. And then she gave a small, sleepy giggle and snuggled closer to the pillow she was clutching to her chest.
-
"You never know." He raised an eyebrow at her...whatever the heck she had done. Pressed her hand to her lips and then...blowing? What did that even mean anyway? He took a bit of time to finish up his work, trying to get everything out of the way. It helped when you could do two monotonous things as well as one focused thing. It gave him time to also research what that action she did was called. Blowing a kiss he found out. Interesting enough.
He didn't dwell much on such a thing, she had been teasing no doubt. He finally finished up and went to eat, and then he would wait. Every candidate needed to have their dreams spied on, it was really just...something he did. He didn't really remember when he started doing this, but it was interesting none the less.
He found her place once more, sneaking in was easy after having sent a repair team to fix the servos in the door They now opened without a single little squeak or squeal. Taking a seat at the edge of her bed he closed his eyes. Alright. Time to find out just what the girl was thinking then, what she was dreaming. Dyerlich stayed near the edges of her mind, just peeking inside really to see what was there. So she was...swimming it seemed. Alright that was interesting then wasn't it? She was also killing things. Monsters. Oh that was...right...that could have been a metaphor for him right? Well he could have expected that, considering what she thought of him.
Still he watched though, some fun could have been had here right?
He was wrong when he saw the next thing to pop up. Rest room. Ah. The thing she might fear. Right. He smirked ever so slightly. This was good. Hilarious even. He only wished he had a nice snack at this point. It was good to watch. Of course he would be inside it, in one of the stalls. No doubt the toilet inside looked like the one from her bathroom. Hmph. The fight was rather impressive to watch, she seemed to be good against him but...he didn't seem to be affected by her. He seemed to be really...well a boss.
Woah wait.
What was going on?!
Why was he...why did he tell her to suddenly strip down and...why was she hugging him? How was she hugging him anyway? He seemed to be such smaller now actually, almost her size too. Ajabwuh? Oh now he understood. This was just like with Phenyo's dream! Though, Phenyo's dream was a lot more ah...to the point perhaps? Though she had made a lot of interesting noises. Dyerlich continued to watch the dream. It was a lot more uh...romance to it? Of course, soon it got a little more steamy and he finally pulled his mind away from hers.
That was pretty...really? Another one? Well, so now two of his pupils had sex dreams about him. That wasn't too bad at all! It fascinated him really. How they could have such...subconscious feelings about him. Though, to think that they were having those thoughts about him. About HIM. He really wanted to investigate these sorts of things, knowing Phenyo and Devi's attitudes they wouldn't care about that sort of thing. He'd have to start watching their dreams more and find out what was going on in their subconscious.
Should be interesting.
Very interesting.
-
Devi gave a pleased sounding moan, arching her back and mumbling softly in her sleep. She was aware of a not right presence near her though and she began to lose the dream, her pale silvery blue eyes blinking confusedly at the room.
When she first noticed Dyerlich, her brain didn't quite register that she was now awake and no longer in a dream. She gave her mentor a sleepy, seductive come-hither smile, her voice husky, "Hey. What are you doing over there?"
She reached over and grabbed one of his hands before her brain finally caught up with her and she flushed a dark red, dropping her hand. She opened her mouth to apologize, then shut it, frowning as she worked out what was going on, "Why are you in my room?"
Devi was rather torn between embarrassment and annoyance. And she wasn't really sure what to do in this situation. Though that wouldn't last long, she didn't have a whole lot of shame, at least not about things like that.
And why had she been dreaming about sex with Dyerlich? Not that she minded, it had been good sex. But...still....that was a little weird.
-
Dyerlich wanted to try and sneak out of her room, and out of her mind, but he was so...enraptured by it all. Not that he didn't like it of course. He loved it. It was...ahem. Interesting. Well if he ever needed to please her he could just look in her dreams for a little hint then. She seemed to be really enjoying herself though, the moaning and her back arching.
Dream Dyerlich seemed really good at sex.
A funny thought none the less. Suddenly though she was awake, looking at him. He just blinked. Uh oh. How to explain...she...she wasn't awake. She looked dazed a little...and...he liked that smile. That seemed like a very interesting smile...and the voice was something else. He didn't really expect to hear that from her. He wasn't much sure what he was supposed to do. Was she...asking him to join her? She seemed to be pulling for a moment.
Then she woke up. Well more than usually.
Oh boy.
"Uh." He stood up and dusted himself off carefully. How to go about explaining this. Actually it didn't really matter did it. He just put his arms behind his back, watching her carefully. "I was spying on your dreams of course. I do that for all my candidates. I have to admit...very interesting dream...very interesting." Dyerlich turned toward the door and headed over to it, sliding it open and looking back at her. "Have a good night Devi...I'll lock the door until morning so you can have your private time." The door closed after Dyerlich left, the door clicking, locking in place. Heh heh.
Fun.