Boredom is a symptom [Open]

[Anonymous]

What an ugly place the upper city was. Not like Zelph gave a crap what it looked like, but it sure as hell was boring, to say the least. His stroll through the area wasn't illuminating much, either. All he wanted was a to have a good time, and all he was getting were people doing their jobs. Helping with landing crafts, that kinda boring thing. He stuck a pinky into his ear and blew out an annoyed breath. This was when he'd normally start some kinda trouble, but he'd been told to keep quiet for the next few days. He was guessing it had something to do with whatever he was being assigned to do. Some stupid job or other.

There was a long stretch of road before he got to the building he was seeking. He stopped to stretch for a moment, and immediately regretted it. "Ugh..." He sagged forward, no will to get up at all. His left calf muscle was seizing up on him. He grimaced at the pain, letting out a hiss as it ran its course. He massaged the back of his leg until the muscles finally loosened. Then he shook his leg out and looked up and down the road. Good. Nobody seemed to know or care. He picked up the strange object he'd sighted as he walked. ...Okay, so his cramp wasn't entirely made for show, but it was a convenient excuse to get his grubby paws on the item.

He slipped the thing into his pocket without looking at it too long. He didn't want to be caught now, did he? Whistling, he started to the building he'd originally set out to find. It was another domed building in a sea of others. The windows were round, the rims shiny, the front windows were friendly and inviting, what with the bars and all. Zelph waited for the door to allow him access--it scanned his retinas--and then stepped through, giving the room a quick once over. Not much of a crowd today. Couple of ugly mugged monsters in battle gear, at least one busty chick scantily clad, and some snot-nosed brat who could probably be best described "precocious". Zelph's tail twitched away from somebody passing by and he gave them a mild glare before starting forward to one of the service windows.

He slid a long, rectangular paper out of his robes. Yellow, thick, like lightweight cardboard. It was his last mission's paperwork. He set it on the counter and pushed it forward. The bored looking clerk took it, along with the small bag of "proof", and his currency card. Zelph drummed his fingers along the counter, waiting while his job was verified as complete.

"Here you go sir," the clerk handed the currency card back, telling him the correct amount was placed on it. Zelph nodded. "Anything else I can help you with, sir? New job? We have several new ones to choose from."

"Uh, yeah." Zelph pocketed the card and barely glanced up. "Just give me the first one on file." Like it mattered what he was stuck doing.

[Anonymous]

So, Vex was bored. Like usual. He had figured he'd find something by sitting down and waiting a few days for something to occur to ease that boredom, but a week passed and nothing happened! So now, in a bad mood, he decided to go pick up a mission and maybe even play around with the people that worked here. Why? It was fun. They also scrunched up their faces and looked at you like you were a complete baboon. It cracked Vex up every time, even though once it led to him being 'escorted' outside. Now, they kept tabs on him. He was a very tricky individual, and as he walked in he spotted something of a good target. Well, he wasn't going to suddenly try to kill them, just try to mess around with them for a while. Seems like he was trying to get a job. Interesting.

Y'know, you should be more friendly to people. Make friends, good stuff like that. he sent to the male he had chosen as his target, seeing as he had a tail, looked something like one of those creatures he had 'researched' about, and figured he might as well have some fun. Seemed like the creature was bored. Intriguing, soon Vex would solve that problem, he was too. He wasn't going to start playing with his mind just yet, but he was, however, going to mess around with him in other ways. He grinned, and his Cheshire look came on, making him look like a joker of sorts as he walked calmly up to the creature.

Oh, this would be fun.

[Anonymous]

Zelph's ear pricked upward as he heard a voice in his head. That agitated him. There were many mutated creatures in Teinar, and abilities like telepathy weren't wholly uncommon. Still, he hadn't expected it and it annoyed him. Turning his gaze around the room, he wondered where the hell the words had come from. He knew his own thoughts and they weren't the same colors and tones as whoever had sent those last ones. Not being a telepath himself, Zelph was incapable of sending back anything but whatever he immediately thought--and he had no control over what a mind reader might find in his brain.

Being friendly is over-rated. Especially in a place like this. If you got a death wish, maybe. Otherwise, you're just asking to be stabbed in the back. Mercenaries were tough people for the most part. Very few of them were willing to work with anybody outside their own group, for fear somebody would take the job, and all the money, to themselves. Zelph found a group to be in his best interest. Primarily a spell caster, working alone wasn't advised. He needed that tank friend to take his hits. That sort of thing. Battle 101.

The clerk handed him his new job and automatically wished him well, spouting off the usual crap about coming back to get paid, following the instructions, and not being held accountable should he ignore what was on his job description. Zelph waved it off and moved away from the counter, where he found himself face to shadow face with some... shadowy face. Zelph didn't even look down at his job description yet, he tucked it into a sleeve and regarded the mercenary--he was pretty sure it was a mercenary--standing in front of him, with some crazed gigantic smile on its non-face.

"What do you want?"

[Anonymous]

Hehehe, he was an interesting one. Full of power, full of pride. Not that it was a bad thing, he was finding the male more interesting as time went on. Time wasn't really important to Vex anymore, but he would have to say it was still a factor in many things. Ignoring the words that he found as he read the activity of his mind he focused more on the important thing: The future. Well, the probability of the future. He grinned at him again, and then his insane cheshire smile disappeared, showing a toothy grin instead. "Me? Well, depends on the situation." he said, and chuckled.

"If you take that job and go without a companion able to assist, you have a 79% chance of critical failure, most likely the removal of your life and possibly the destruction of a minor town." Vex spewed out suddenly, unable to keep his foreseeing abilities to himself. It was just a habit. "Anyways... I was wondering if I could assist, Zelph. My name is Vex." he said, his mouth now gone, and his pose going from playful to serious. He meant business.

Or did he? It was hard to tell with Vex.

[Anonymous]

Zelph's gaze went down to the job he'd been given, the paperwork stuffed in his sleeve. How did this guy even know what job he'd taken, then? Even telepathy couldn't tell him that, since he couldn't possibly read something in his mind that even he didn't know yet. Slowly, Zelph plucked the cardstock out, and looked down at the details.

Small town over-run by monster vermin with acidic abilities. Oh great. He got to play Exterminator. How fun. He turned to give the clerk a dirty look over his shoulder. Asshole. Did he not look capable enough to get rid of monster bugs? Come on! Seriously! Regarding the one in front of him, he didn't bother questioning what he knew or how. That was just stupid. Some people loved secrets and loved lording them over people. Zelph was always annoyed by those types. They'd give a hint of their Big Secret and then snap their mouths shut. All the while, he knew inside, they were grinning their face off. I know something you don't know. Bastards. He also didn't bother asking how he knew his name. There were numerous ways, and reading his mind was one of them.

"Vex." He repeated the name in a flat, deadpan tone. The smile had disappeared completely, leaving nothing but a pair of crimson eyes watching him with no hint of humor. 79 percent failure, eh? A little too much for his liking, though he wasn't certain how accurate such a premonition was. Maybe he was a robot. "Fine. Assist me all you like." He glanced down at the page of details. The money was awfully high for a simple extermination. So was the death toll and the number of previous failures on the same job. Kinda creepy. "We're going 50/50 on the pay, though."

[Anonymous]

Vex watched the other quite silently for a time, waiting for a response. Of course, he knew what was coming, but he was always one to see if it actually came true. He had a high chance of success on his readings, and usually only interferences (like himself) kept things from happening. Although, he was still trying to get rid of the annoying random foreseeings, like that one woman had a bowl of cheese and oatmeal for breakfast yesterday. Ew. Still, his power was handy.

"It's a deal then." he said, and then his mouth returned, in a sort of frown. "Troubled by the reports? I'll give more information on the way. Ah, the transport is here." Vex said, and pointed to the transport shuttle that was going to carry many other mercs to their job: The same one that Zelph and Vex had. It was a fairly large vessel, holding about twenty or more mercs inside at the very moment, and a few more were boarding.

Well, it beat walking.

[Anonymous]

Zelph knew about the transportation. Being somewhat lazy, he preferred the vehicles over walking. Although usually, when stuck with the Night Wolves, his usual mercenary group, he was forced to walk because they all wanted to. Thank rotten something or others they were all out sick. It was funny how that worked--he'd been ill and then they all fell ill shortly after. They all blamed him, but whatever. It was their fault for sticking around him after their job, even if they were trying to nurse him back to health. He wasn't doing the same--for one thing, somebody had to make money.

Trudging over to the transport, he glanced at Vex before boarding. "More information would be nice," he muttered, because he was still somewhat worried about why there was such a high rate of fatality going on. Was there some kind of big queen? Were they bigger bugs than he thought? Oh great, what if they were body snatchers? This was getting more fun by the moment. Actually, it kinda was. At least he wasn't bored, right?

Taking a seat, he scooted himself over to the window and looked down the aisle, waiting for Vex to sit as well. To tell the truth, Zelph didn't like sitting by the window. It made him motion sick.

"So you know a lot. What's up with these bugs?"

[Anonymous]

Vex followed his companion into the vessel and listened to his words, only to bring his finger up to where his mouth would be if it existed at that moment. A symbol for silence, if he remembered correctly. We'll need to speak telepathically, otherwise we'll lose our advantage. he said into the mind of the one named Zelph. Anyways, you've seen the casualties, I take it? That isn't from people battling just one. One isn't a problem, they're quite quick, but stupid. Most look like beetles, green ones, so they're easy to spot. The problem... is numbers. You walk in there, shoot one, and millions burst out of no where. That's how most died: They were swarmed. Vex said, basically explaining what he had saw a while ago. A vision, one he had before he met his companion in the first place.

There's a pheremone that attracts them all, so if you just blow up one it'll call all the others. If you can completely erase or destroy them, or get rid of the smell by some mean, you won't get slaughtered. But there's more than the 'worker' kind. There's larger versions, but I can't tell what they look like at the moment. Vex went on, and sighed. Or, at least, made the sound of sighing. "We'll need to be cautious." he said, quietly.

Most of these mercs were cannon fodder, and Vex expected them all to die quickly. They'd need to get away before the bullets were unleashed.

[Anonymous]

Zelph blinked when he was given that universal gesture for silence. What the hell? Had he been too loud? Talked too much? He didn't think he was that chatty, for the most part. Frowning, he almost opened his mouth and kept talking when it finally occurred to him that they might not be the only mercenaries on this particular job. So he kept it zipped. Unused to speaking through the mind, Zelph glanced over at Vex. So, they were hard to kill, and seemed to have all kinds of methods against being killed. Fun, fun, fun.

"So... Then how...?" His first thought had been: KABLOOEY! Blow them all up! But now he was being told that playing 'splodey with them only meant they'd call more of them. "Ooh, ohh, I know, I know!" He snapped his mouth shut as a bunch of other mercenaries looked back at him, most scowling and some looking curious. He slumped further down into his seat, glancing at the window, then feeling the nausea come on and quickly looking away again. Instead, he tugged on Vex's sleeve and pulled him somewhat closer, because hell. He didn't know what of his mind the other was getting.

"The... Stuff." His gaze was distracted by some other asshole paying way too much attention to what he was trying to say. Zelph's ears flattened against his head in annoyance and he rolled his eyes, sitting back while he waited for the eavesdropping merc to stop watching him. Even though the man turned away, it didn't mean his ears were turned off. So he thought as hard as he could at Vex. The pheromones, right? Wait... His initial thought had been to use the pheromones to their own advantage only now he finally let Vex's words sink in. The pheromones couldn't be used by them to infiltrate, because the pheromones were what attracted the bugs in the first place! Zelph dragged his fingers through his hair. Did he mention thinking wasn't always his strongest suit unless it was some way of pranking or playing? Could he prank bugs? And what would the point in that be, anyway?

[Anonymous]

Vex, grinning at his team mate, figured that he was trying to get what Vex had got. Well, maybe he'd tell him? Just think normally, I can read thoughts. I have been for a while. Anyways, all bugs have more than one pheromone... and one, one is to tell others that he is one of them. Get it? Vex said, rather amused at his attempts. He was a funny one, and a good companion, if you didn't mind his personality to begin with. But, if you got past the hostility, he was a rather interesting one. "We're here." he said, and then the people listening in stopped... to hear scurrying? Across the ship?

We may have to flee already. We just landed... and we're already swarmed. Be careful. Vex said, his left hand curling into a massive fist. If nessecary he'd use his powers to get them both out of here, and maybe capture one to continue on with the plan. It was an interesting thought, to make the bugs think they were family, but it'd also be creepy.

But... there had to be a queen, no bug species had this many of the same kind working together without a queen.

[Anonymous]

Wait, so if they discovered and used the right pheromone, then they could actually sneak in amongst the other bugs and pretend to be one? It was a kinda weird plan, but it also kinda sounded like fun. Zelph was all for it. As long as no weirdo bug chicks started coming on to him or something.

Already? Already swarmed? You have got to be kidding me. He resisted the urge to slam his face against his palm and instead got up from his seat, casting a wary gaze around him. A transport full of mercenaries. Must look like the filling on a twinkie to the bastards. Do they eat people? 'Cause I'll just tell them to pass. You know, I can't be all that tasty, big furry tail and all that.

"All right. Let's just get out of here." Zelph watched as some of the others stood as well, although many of them were looking creeped out by the skittering noises all around them. Glancing out the window, Zelph wasn't altogether surprised to see that the ground was black and wavering--the bugs were everywhere. "Are they sentient?" Zelph wondered aloud. Because if they were, damn they were... Well, not that stupid, considering their numbers advantage. Somebody up ahead pulled a dumb ass move and got off the transport. And like a moron, he was swarmed immediately. Zelph looked back out the window and watched the shouting man get swallowed up by bugs and then dragged off to their lair or wherever it was they were taking them.

"Why did I tell them to give me anything? Pay attention next time, Zelph. A carcass can't get paid."

[Anonymous]

Vex looked at Zelph, and listened to him. Well, not listening exactly, but close enough. "I'm fairly sure you'd taste good with a bit 'o' butter." Vex said, and grinned quickly. Looking out the window, he found that the exit to the ship was closing, leaving three other mercs standing there, weapons at ready, prepared. But why did the doors close? Vex opened the door to the pilot's spot, and found blood pour out, and a few corpses fell out. Well, they were dead.

Before Vex opened the doors again he watched the bugs as they ripped one of their own brethren in half, spilling out green acid all over. One gathered it up, and then whipped it at the window. But, seeing it fail, they aimed at the metal, and with more success, stopped attacking the windows. "They're not the smartest... but they're definitely smart enough to realize from their own errors..." Vex grumbled, and then opened the door. It slammed open, and Vex pointed to a building, one they could get a least mild shelter on top of.

One man froze up as he saw the bugs that saw what ate his friends, and one bug crawled over him. The man was so terrified he dare not move, and amazingly, the bug did not attack. It merely crawled over him, examining him, until he screamed and ran, at which point the bug blew itself up all over his head, killing him instantly. "Well, it seems they can't see well, but like an ancient predator, they can see movement very well. Interesting." Vex said, and started to move.

Sure, he found a weakness, but still, it'd be more interesting to move instead of standing there like statues for all eternity. He dodged bugs, and dared not step on one. He might ruin his boots, y'know.

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, butter made everything taste good. Even hair. Zelph didn't react to that except to slightly roll his eyes. He knew a sarcastic joke when he heard one. "I don't know. Butter's pretty fattening." He gazed at Vex's build. He wasn't fat. He couldn't make a tubby comment. Or he could, but it'd just be stupid.

He watched the bugs and their progress. He didn't like them. He wished they weren't so volatile. He'd just broil them in their own juices, burn them. Toast them. He wondered if they were tasty.

Following Vex, he picked his way around the bugs and made sure not to attract any attention as he did so. He didn't like the idea of dying in a flurry of bug guts. In fact, that sounded like just about the worst death ever. Except the more pathetic varieties; dying in his own urine, for example. Or waste. Or poisoned. Didn't sound too fun. He supposed at least death by 'splodey bug would be quick.

"All right, so they learn. And they probably have a hive mind. That helps. That means they've been learning and evolving, which I'm sure I don't have to tell you, kinda makes our job harder." He eyed Vex, who seemed completely calm in the face of the screaming and agonized deaths around them. Zelph was no hero; he wasn't going to go out of his way to assist somebody who was a rival, anyway. Too bad for them, Vex seemed to be of like mind. Which didn't exactly bode well for Zelph. He did ask to help. Maybe he needs a mage for something. He'd never admitted to being a mage, but that didn't matter. He probably just read his mind. Or even his file, for all he knew.

"You seem to know what to do. So... What are we doing?"

[Anonymous]

Vex paused for a moment as they were out of immediate harm, and he thought. He had not had visions for quite some time, which could have many meanings. The largest one, was that there was no future. Vex wasn't stupid though, and he allowed himself to listen in other Zelph's thoughts once more. It wasn't even something to really make him think of it: It was instinct at this point. He thought, and then found some sort of... ability? Fire? Well, that boded well. How far did he dive into his brain? Well, past the thought layer into the memory. Not too far, however. Just a tad, to know he had the ability to control fire.

"What do we do?" Vex said, almost hollowly as though it were a rhetorical question. Bringing up his hand, it showed blackness as shadows overwhelmed his right hand, and spewed out a writhing insect. He allowed the shadows to mulch up it's little mind, bringing the movement to a stop. He grinned, and then allowed a small organ to be produced: A gland of pheromone. "Well, seeing that you're a fire user and all, could you bring a flame up to about 17 degrees? That'll be enough to cause it to rupture, and turn the liquid into gas. Meaning, we'll be able to have a 'armor' of sorts."

"Well, from the workers, at least."

[Anonymous]

Zelph knew it. The guy knew where his skills lay. He had a few choices by this time: he could say screw this guy and let him work on his own, or he could help him out. Making himself useful was all well and good, but not so much so when the person he was working with (and entrusting his life with) happened to be a complete and total stranger. As well as somebody who appeared cold and calculating and entirely too knowledgeable. He was exactly the sort of person who could stab him in the back.

"Fine. I'll do it, but I'm telling you now: if you're gonna stab me, do it from the front. I hate two-faced people." He knew he was handing the guy a 'weakness' but he didn't care. He was honest, maybe to a fault. He didn't like the two-faced people, even if he himself wasn't constantly upfront. Hey, he was honest, but he wasn't always forthcoming with said honesty.

Looking at the nasty vermin, he called forth the fire from the elements and he guided its temperature until it hit the desired amount of heat. And then he sparked that little light on the gland. He glanced up at Vex with a lazy half-smile. "Armor, eh? But you mentioned workers." He frowned now. "Does that mean there's loads of ranks? I mean, I get there's worker types and likely some kinda queen, but... what else is there? Larvae?"

[Anonymous]

Vex watched Zelph carefully, and then listened to his words. Two-faced? He didn't even have one. He sighed, and then spoke. "Noted. But take heed that I will not backstab honest people." Vex said, and sighed. Pulling down his hood, he showed him the blackness that was his head, holding merely eyes. "Besides, I don't even have one face." he said, almost jokingly, with a touch of seriousness. Sighing, he found the gland ready, and crushed it in one hand. He proceeded to toss the steaming, gas substance from his hand onto Zelph, and then proceeded to do it to himself. There, now the workers would ignore them, and avoid them.

"Well, this particular group of insects has Larvae, Workers, Soldiers, Maturing Queens and Kings, 'Elite' Guards, and then the Queen. The 'Elite' Guards are rather close to the queen, so when you see something that looks like a living tank, we're close to the queen." he said, and saw the workers moving to take the chunks of human flesh to their nest. "Well, we better get a move on." Vex said, and grinned.

Would Zelph trust him, for now? Maybe. Maybe not.

[Anonymous]

Zelph could honestly say he hadn't expected the guy to have zero faces. Nothing but a blackness with eyes. That wasn't so bad, though. He could see why he traveled with a hood, though. Zelph wasn't sure he'd advertise the fact, either. He said nothing about what he'd just witnessed, just nodded his understanding.

"Right." Yes, they needed to get a move on. He put a hand to his waist, feeling for his weapon just to make sure it was there. For now, he was going to trust this guy as his partner in crime. Again, it was either that or dying amongst the bugs. If dying by bugs vs dying by Vex's hand eventually were the two choices, he'd rather get killed by Vex. And there was always the chance that he wouldn't kill him. Even better. Putting his suspicion on the shelf, he nodded.

They walked amid the bugs carrying flesh and he felt oddly powerful. He grinned at the bugs, itching to kill them here and now. "It's too bad we can't just squash them all right now." He could envision them blowing up, all of them. Or just slicing through them like over-ripe tomatoes. Kinda gross, yet oddly satisfying. Hey, he hadn't just become a mercenary for the pay; he also kinda liked killing things.

"So, these tanks. They got any special abilities I should be aware of in advance?"

[Anonymous]

Vex found Zelph incredibly amusing. His childish way of putting things together made that all the more interesting. Then again, only a few individuals didn't have childish ways in mentality when compared to Vex. He grinned, and then found a few rather interesting images. Zelph. He was so interesting. Finally, he spoke, leaving Vex with a puzzled expression on his 'face'. "Well, I didn't see too much about them but they're tough, and the acid isn't as powerful. The workers probably have more of it because they dig the tunnels. Anyways, we can kill those if we need to, but be warned: The pheromones won't work with them." Vex said.

Vex continued along until he found a tunnel, and he sighed. How interesting. He went down without a second thought, and found a few workers hitch a ride on him. It was rather amusing, having a few bugs crawling around on the inside. There was no flesh for them to chew on, so he wasn't too worried about anything like that. From someone else's perspective it would have been weird to see a bunch of insects crawling in and out of the blackness that was his 'form'. They were really just hitching a ride, not using too much energy.

Well, since killing them was bad... might as well be amused by it. Wonder if they were crawling on Zelph, too...

[Anonymous]

Tough tanks. Pssh. How strong could they be with weaker acid? That was what made the smaller ones so damn creepy. He went into the dark tunnel with little thought as well. His eyes were better than a human and actually saw better in the darkness. Lairs were his favorite. Except when they were bug lairs. The stench as they went deeper inside was rancid. He swallowed back the urge to bring up his breakfast.

"Okay, what do these guys ea... Oh right. People." That would stink. "They really need to hurry up and eat everything off their plate," he grumbled. Because that smell was awful. He coughed a little, still feeling the strong urge to gag. He glanced over at Vex just to have something else to concentrate on, and that was when he blinked, taken aback. "Okay, I get that you're all faceless and all, but, dude. You have bugs just..."

He shook his head. Was there any point to telling him? He had to know for himself. But how weird was that. "Are you incorporeal or something? Like all of you, I mean?" That was actually kinda interesting. No wonder he wasn't worried. Acid probably wouldn't do a damned thing to him. Then he felt something on his leg. He looked down and found a creepy crawly being all creepy crawly on his leg. "Hey!" He very nearly shook it off, but remembered what had happened to the last guy who freaked out when he found a bug on him. Instead, he kept walking as he had been, albeit sweating a little more and quite a bit more nervous.

"That bug better not get freaky with my leg, or I can't be held accountable for what comes next."

[Anonymous]

Grinning at Zelph, he chuckled. "Well, I can't be technically incorporeal. I can touch things, see? But damaging things, like acids and gas, don't work on me because I lack something required to finish it. Basically, I'm physical, but without... hm... DNA." Vex replied. "And yes, I know I have bugs crawling all over me. They do this with soldiers a lot, it's a sign they think we're one of them." he said, and chuckled. "Keep calm, they're all female, and the males leave the colony to mate. They don't mate with workers, either. So we're safe."

Suddenly there was something of an earthquake. "Oooh! Great, I was starting to get bored. Time for a fight!" Vex said, and watched as a massive creature approached, very close to the size of an actual tank. "I was not kidding, y'know." he said, and chuckled. Did Zelph think that it was just large compared to the small workers? Probably.

Well, maybe now he saw why Vex worded it as a tank.