Remnants of the Earth
EDANITH => Megacities => Tynova => Topic started by: Anonymous on April 16, 2008, 08:38:23 pm
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GET UP!
102379 woke with a start, his head throbbing from the sleeping drugs. His master was standing over him. He bent forward on his hands and knees before rising from the tiled floor.
'Get my breakfast then have a shower. Filthy mage,' said captain Kaenos.
He hurried out and rubbed his head. His Master gave it to him every night but 102379 had shown too much emotion yesterday so had been double dosed. It left him with a sore and unfocused mind. Nonetheless, he was able to get to the kitchens without falling over.
'C-Captain Kaenos's breakfast.'
The lady-mage serving gave him a sympathetic look, it was well known how the Captain treated his mage. Especially his current one, who had been gifted rather than chosen. The woman slipped a small bread roll in his hand and bade him eat it before he got to the Captain's quarters. 102379 bowed, he was not allowed to speak without his master present. He hurried back to his master, chewing the bread. Perhaps today would not be so bad. He knocked on his master's door.
Enter, you're late.
Sorry Sir.
He bowed low but his unfocused mind caused him to trip, landing in the food. He cowered, knowing what was to happen. The Captain turned around and glared down at him, unleashing pain and anger across the mind-link.
102379 shrieked, wreathing in pain. His head smacked against the tiled floor and there was a loud crack. By the time his master had stopped sending pain, his breathing was coming in short gasps and he'd developed many bruises.
'Get up.'
102379 rose on trembling legs and silently followed his master, who led him to a small ship. He was terrified, what if he was being taken to TRIM. He quailed, whatever his master did to him, it was better than what would happen at TRIM. He hung his face in his hands, worried that he would start crying. He flinched, his nose was broken and bleeding. He pulled his hood over his face so that nobody would see, he was ashamed of his failure.
You do that again and you will be sent off to TRIM.
He was still shaking when they left the ship, the loud noises of many people speaking and laughing told him that they had gone to the city. He did not look up as his master led him through the streets, intent on finding someone, though 102379 had no idea who.
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Vulcan was meandering through the streets. Unlike earth where he'd originally lived before it had started dying, he didn't wear a hood. There were so many different kinds of creatures, his marigold eyes with the scarlet outer circle no longer drew attention-- much. Aside from the eyes, most of the time he did look perfectly human, and did not take offense when people called him such. For a very long time, in his mind, he had been human, but now, he had accepted he was more than that.
He drew a deep breath to sigh, but was surprised to catch the scent of freshly bruised flesh. He turned curiously, looking through the crowds. He could spot a bruise at a surprising distance. The smell, the way people favored them, the way the blood in the body moved around them.
His eyes latched onto the creature in the hood. He was the bruised one. The gaze shifted to the master. The man had never laid a blow, but Vulcan was positive he'd delivered the bruises somehow. He shifted his meandering and moved closer to them, now curious. Besides, the man obviously had money, maybe he needed a job done.
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102379 stubbled forward, looking only at his feet as he followed his master down the main street. He stopped when his master walked into a shop. He had never been taught to read so had no idea what he was going in for. The Captain's uppermost thoughts were on several items that needed collecting.
Stay outside
102379 bowed to his master and waited. It was always uncomfortable being left anywhere alone; he was never sure what he should do, how he should feel or what he should think. The freedom scared him, if he ever did anything wrong while waiting his master would force it from his thoughts and punish him for it. Instead, whenever his master left him alone he would stand perfectly still and not try not to think about anything, they way he could never do anything wrong.
It was getting hot and 102379's hood was getting heavy. He needed to sit or drink something. He had not had anything to drink today and he was starting to feel a bit lightheaded.
Your thoughts are getting annoying. Silence them.
102379 stood up straight and tried to stop thinking.
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Vulcan paused outside the shop and if he had been inclined to smile, he might have. There was a mind link going on here. Mind links he was good at. He paused, leaning against the wall not far from where the hooded figure stood. Slave? Maybe not exactly, but the concept was close enough to work for the time being.
How he had to choose. Talk to the timid, fearful creature, or follow the master and see what he was up to.
Considering the determined look on the master's face, perhaps he'd attempt to talk to the hooded one first. It might be his only chance to do so.
Attempting to subtly tap into the mind link between the two, he approached. If things went as he hoped, he would tap in, realize the master had control of the servant and then quietly clip it off so the conversation would not be monitored. If it didn't work, he might have to make good his escape.
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OOC: The mind link is caused by a metal band connected into the brain. http://remnants.spiritsoftheearth.net/edanith.php#mord (http://remnants.spiritsoftheearth.net/edanith.php#mord)
BIC:
102379 remained mind-silent until he felt something new across the mind-link. He shifted uncomfortably, perhaps the band had developed a fault. It was highly unlikely because he had been with his master, Captain Kaenos, for a long time, longer than most mages had with one mordacai.
He did not know what to do. Should he tell his master or wait. He could test it but without permission, he would get into a great deal of trouble. He shuddered, if he did that he might get sent to TRIM. He decided to remain still.
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Vulcan hesitated. That was not a natural mind link. It was manufactured. Now, he was intrigued. Could it be blocked? Would it hurt the one wearing it. He sure looked like a whipped puppy, it would be no surprise to Vulcan to find he was a slave. He acted like one, and those fresh bruises suggested he was in some kind of trouble.
Pausing a moment to consider it, he tenatively tested to see if the link would be blocked, or if the bruised one was even capable of speaking at this point.
(sorry about the delay, I didn't expect to be away from the computer for the weekend.)
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The sun was high in the sky now and 102379's heavy hood was making him sweat. He leant up against the wall behind him. It would be better to be caught slouching than on the ground. He needed water. He prayed to whoever would hear him that his master would let him drink. He understood that the gods hated him but surely they would take some pity on him.
stop complaining and stand up straight.
He stood up stiff, trying not to cringe at the shock his master sent. He glanced up accidently and noticed there was a man watching him. He darted his head to his chest and closed his eyes.
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Vulcan tilted his head and then walked away, returning a few minutes later with a flask full of water. Dehydration was something he was familar with. He gently nudged the man's arm, offering the flask.
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102379 stared at the flask in front of him. If he drank it he could get in trouble again but if he didn't he'd faint. He continued staring for a while, unsure what to do, then slowly reached his hand out. He bowed to the stranger in front of him, too scared to speak just yet. He drank slowly then looked up at t he man who gave him the water. It was the one that had been staring at him earlier. He smiled.
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Vulcan gave a nod. He was not prone to smiling, he never had been, but even so, the guesture was a friendly one. It was kind of interesting to listen in on a mindlink that was man made. He'd heard rumors of the mages and such, but he'd been skeptical. He had mind link abilities, he hadn't thought that technology had quite advanced enough to manufacture it just yet. He leaned against the wall not far from the man. With the way things were going, nothing he could do would be anything special. He didn't mind so much really, but he'd been alive a long time to see things change and it was going to be different to be one of the common folk.
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What's going on out there?
Nothing Sir.
Who is that man with you? Look at him.
102379 lifted his face to look at the man with black hair and strange coloured eyes.
What did he do?
He-he gave me water Sir.
Did I allow it?
No Sir, sorry Sir.
His mind went went silent as Captain Kaenos left. 102379 was scared, hopefully his master was still busy. He hestitated then looked at the man again, this time of his own initiative. He was gratefull for the water but had no way of speaking to the man without being caught.
OOC: How do you want them to talk? I could pretend he has the courage to speak if you like. Sorry this is really slow.
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Vulcan flinched at the sudden voice in the mind link. This was quite the challenge. He used his foot to write in the dirt. It was worth a shot, maybe the man could read. Do you read? he wrote, monitoring the link.
(I'm not really sure how this'll work. If you like you can make the Captain do something to Vulcan at some point)[/b]
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102379 looked down at the writing, he had never been taught to read. There was a sound of the door opening.
'What the hell is happenning out here? You! What are you doing with my mage?' captain Kaenos glared at the man, at 102379 then the writing in the dirt, 'You, you worthless mage. I can't leave you alone for one hour without you making a mess.'
102379 screamed and fell to the ground.
GET UP!
He pushed himself to his feet, recieving a blow to his groin and collapsing once more.
'Now what did you want with him?'
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Vulcan didn't flinch when the mage fell. He felt compassion, but he didn't reveal a lot of it outwardly. "He looked dehydrated and I was curious about the band on his head. It's not his fault I came walking over to him and started drawing in the dirt. He never said a word. I think the question should be, what do you want with him? You obviously don't care if he lives or dies. What is his value to you? Is he just for your entertainment? Explain this to me, I'm curious how things work here." His tone never wavered or changed. It wasn't angry either. It was simply factual.
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'You are not from Edanos then,' it was a statement not a question.
'We Mordacai run the military in Edanos, we are peacekeepers and the primary defence of the Country. These mages,' he glared at 102379, 'are not human. They are the cause of the apocalypse and it is our duty to exterminate them. The creautres were able to prove themselves useful in fighting Aedolis and terraforming Mars so we put up with them. Anyone fround with mage abilities is tested, trained and given to a Mordacai to serve. This one is weak of mind; I have been trying to teach it its place.'
He glared down at the cowering 102375, who was still gasping in pain from the groin punch.
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"And his place is on the floor gasping and bruised?" Vulcan asked a little skeptically. "I'm not sure I see the point in damaging your own property, but I suppose since he's yours you can do what you want with him" He stroked his chin as he considered it. "What is he supposed to be trained to do?" Apocolypse indeed. What utter nonsense.
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'The floor will remain his place until he shows proper respect,' said Kaenos. 'As for his purpose, he is a mage. The headbands we wear allows me to enter his mind and use his abilities. He is a trained elemental and enhancer, his abilities enhance my combat prowess. I do not care what state his body is in so long as his magic remains.'
Stop cringing and stand up straight.
102379 slowly rose to his feet.
'These mages are a necessary evil. Without Mordacai using their abilities, we would not have been able to terraform Mars.'
At his master's command, 102379 lifted his arms and covered the foreigner from head to foot in rock. His master began walking around the man, 'a short time ago, my mage detected a glitch in our mind-link then I find a man trying to talk to him. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was you that tried to tamper with it. I don't think your human.'
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The rock liquified much like magma running down a volcano. "You should have been able to tell that by looking at me. What human has eyes like mine?" He asked coldly. He was not afraid of the man or the mage. He'd been captured and killed many times in his life, and he was still standing. Not much worried him except perhaps never being able to die and so being doomed to forever adapt to an everchanging universe. So far he'd done well, but how many centuries can a person stand to endure? He'd find out and this man with his silly rocks would not stop him.
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OOC: What is tectonic elemental control? Is it control of volcanoes and earthquakes? Also, you might want to read up on the mordacai.
'My, you would be an excellent slave, but perhaps you would prefer to go to TRIM. I'm sure you've heard of them, even if you are a foriegner.'
102379 was scared, so scared that he wet his pants. If this ended badly for his mastre, it would be his fault. This time his master odered him to cover the man in ice, gagging his mouth open. Deep down he wished the man luck, hoping his master would not bother to trael so deep when his mind was next scanned.
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(Earthquakes, volcanos, magma, lava, tectonic plates, volcanic rocks. And I did read about the Mordichai, but Vulcan didn't)
Normally, Vulcan didn't reveal himself for anything than some bizzare humanoid cross, but he was not about to stand there and allow himself to be encased in rock and ice was laughable. He'd melted rock, how was water supposed to be a challenge? Vulcan simply leveled his gaze on the 'boss'. "I'm not a mage" Vulcan stated. This was oddly amusing to him. He hadn't had a challenge in what seemed like forever, not to mention it was essentually only his own life he was playing with. That made a difference to him. Despite showing very little caring for the most part, when he had other people's lives in his hands so to speak, he was much more cautious.
Being in a position of having nothing left to lose was a dangerous mind set indeed.
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OOC: I thought that water is a different element, thus he has no control over it.
102379 stood quiet as his master and the mage exchanged glares.
BLASTED MAGE! You're not trying hard enough. He's a fire mage.
Sorry Sir.
This time he tried air. He breathed in deep, sucking the foriegner's air out of his lungs in an attempt to choke him. He would wait until the man passed out then he would be taken back to the military. It was sad but mages were not allowed to run free.
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OOC: He has no control over water itself, but he does have control over very hot substances that can affect water.
Vulcan did choke, but then turned to leave the area. Just because he couldn't breath didn't mean he couldn't move. He suspected there was a limit to a mage's reach. Idiot. I am no mage He glanced between the two men and abruptly lunged for the master with every intention of biting him and drinking some of his blood. He did not really want to kill the man, at least not yet, but if he kept it up, Vulcan might just not be so careful about how much he drank. It had been a long time since he'd drained anything of its lifeforce. He needed to feed if he was going to get anywhere, and he had a few minutes before lack of air would be unbrearable.
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DON'T JUST STAND THERE YOU MAGE, ENHANCE ME!
Yes master.
NOW GET THIS MAN OFF ME!
102379 closed his eyes, his master had sent a lot of anger across the link and it stung. He focused his energy on enhancing his master's combat abilities, making it easier for his master to capture the mage. He also tried freezing the man's blood but it did not seem to work. The man must be a fire mage, nomatter what he said.
It was then that he attemped something he was rarely allowed to do, he negatively enhanced the mage's abilities. Using this ability caused him strain, escpecially with the other magics still running. He sat on the ground, pleading for forgiveness from his master. He must save his master. He saw his master grab hold of the mage's neck.
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Vulcan licked the blood from his lips, his eyes now fully red as he stared at the master before him. He was oddly strong and seemingly unafraid. You're bleeding Vulcan pointed out mentally. The blood was taunting him. It'd been a long time since he'd fed from a live host. He'd been getting his blood at the bloodbank for a rather long time now.
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His master was sending emotions across the mind-link: enjoyment. The emotions were mingling with his fear, confusing him. He didn't understand, his master had ordered him to stop the mage but he was not trying to kill the mage himself. 102379 had no idea of what he should do. He was getting very dizzy from stretching his abilities between three uses but if he didn't do something else, the mage would kill his master.
His master noticed his fear, which must have been travelling acorss the mind-link also. He shuddered at several images that his master sent: the punishment of mages that allowed harm to come to the Mordacai.
His master needed him now, if he didn't help he would be punished. 102379 closed his eyes and focused on trying another spell. It barely worked, he was too weak. If he let the mage's lungs go he would breath, if he stopped negtaively enhancing the mage he would kill the master and if he stopped enhancing the master he would be beaten. He needed to create a diversion because the mage could melt any block he put between the two fighters. He let the air in the mage's lungs go then projected blocks of earth at the him. He put his head on the ground and curled up in a ball, focussing only on attacking the mage with as many elements as he could.
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Vulcan eyed the pair of them, drawing a breath almost as if he hadn't missed the air he'd been deprived of. He didn't need it to live, he'd discovered that a while ago (he wasn't even sure he was technically alive), though breathing was definately more comfortable and things worked better.
Dodging the various elements as best he could, the ground benieth them began to quiver. One of the reasons Vulcan had chosen Mars was that it was highly volcanic. It began to grow very hot until finally, magma broke through the ground benieth Vulcan's feet and he started sinking, trying not to be beaten senseless by the things being thrown at him. They were certainly leaving their marks as he couldn't block everything, but they'd heal fast enough in theory.
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The ground beneath 102379 started to heat up. The earth he was focusing on fell from the sky and he scrambled away towards his master. He was already using far too much energy to stop any erruption.
Fix this mage. This is your fault.
He nodded, dropping the enhancement he was giving his master. He focused most of his energy on water and air, only leaving a small amount to de-enhance the mage. He hoped he could freeze the heat and blow the heat to cool the earth. His knees were starting to sting as it was.
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Vulcan wasn't trying to cause any eruption, he was simply sinking into the ground as it seemed to be the only place he would be safe for the moment. It wasn't like they were going to dive in after him, however, battling with weakened powers and cold, the opening below him was getting rather small and he wasn't sure he was going to clear his hips, let alone his shoulders as he sank.
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102379 stared at the chasm in horror and tried to keep it open. He failed, he had sapped too much strength. He then tried to use a strong gust of wind to blow the man out of the hole, air was always easier to control because it was already fluid and changeable. He kept blowing, crawling closer to the mage. His master strode over and stood over him.
OOC: feel free to concuss Kaenos. is there anything you wnated to happen?
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Vulcan was not exactly feeling strong at the moment. It'd been awhile since he'd used any of his more obvious powers and certainly been a long time indeed since he had manipulated volcanic powers so much. He couldn't recall having attempted to sink into the ground before either.
The wind was cooling the magma and he was tired. He stopped fighting it and it scealed around his hips so he looked like he had no legs. They could send whoever they liked, but after a couple minutes of rest, he had every confidence he would escape in some way or another. If the master creature annoyed him any further, Vulcan was about ready to take him out, or at least cause him some damage. Give the poor mage a break. He was fairly certain if he escaped, it would be blamed on the mage and that was hardly fair, but he didn't really want to be captured either. He'd already done his stint as an experiment. They'd killed him several times and he'd scared the droppings out of a morgue worker.
(Not particularly, but feel free to beat the crap out of him if you want to. You can even 'kill' him as long as you don't dismember anything)
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OOC: then do you want to set up a link between the two mages? That could work.
102379 looked at the mage-creature in pity. A mage's place was nothing more than a useful pet, the spirit in this one would would cause it a great deal of pain before it broke.
'Then we will have to break it,' his master said aloud. 'Mage. Use your filthy magic to teach this creature his place.'
102379 obeyed, freezing the water in the other mage's blood. It did not last long however, the magic faltering. Forgive me, master. He tried again but this time nothing came out. A sharp twinge across the mind-link showed his master's displeasure and he looked to the ground.
'Filthy creature, just de-enhance the other. I'll have to do it myself.' The Captain drew a knife from his belt and came up close to the red-eyed mage. 'I've been looking for a second mage. Perhaps the military will allow me to have you.' He plunged the knife into the man's shoulder, twisting it then dragging it down the creature's arm. he removed the knife and wiped the blood on the mage's forehead, cutting the skin slightly as he did. He was planning to drain as much blood from the mage as possible.
102379 closed his eyes and tried not to see the thoughts coming across the mind-link. You will watch this, mage, for if you ever fail me, your fate will be the same. He immediately obeyed his master, allowing the sickly images to flow into him.
'I don't like those eyes though. I may have to remove them,' the Captain moved the knife just below the eyelid and cut down to the bone just below the eye.
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Vulcan was rather defiant and said nothing as he was stabbed, cut and taunted. His right hand was mechanical. The lab rat who had played with his nerves before attatching it had cause more pain than a simple blade could produce. A blade was nothing, however, it required the man to be close by to use it. The fact that he had remained unrestrained aside from his being 'stuck' in the ground was testimate in his opinion to the man's arrogance. Just because he had a pet mage, he thought he was invincible. Glaring at the man, he considered spitting in his face, but after a moment of consideration, he shot a spurt of magma at him instead. This man was toying with forces far beyond his own control. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into Or anyone else for that matter. Draining a creature that feeds on blood of its own blood was foolish at best. When his own bloodstores were low, his blood lust had a good chance of winning him over if he wasn't careful and quick to replenish himself. He didn't like getting to that point because he lacked disgression when he was starving and would feed on anything with blood pumping in its veins.
((Sure, they can link up. Mentally? Or just like they are both in the same boat so they ban together?))
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OOC: mentally, he doesn't have the will to deliberately go against his master
The lava burnt the side of his master's face. He immediately coolled it but did not have the strength to remove it outright.YOU! You were supposed to be de-enhancing him!
Forgive me master.
Hold him down.
102379 didn't move, he had no reserves left to do anything. He would need food at least before he could do anything, and his master knew it.
Then hold him physically.
He crawled over and wrapped his body around the other mage, his head dangerously close to the other's. He could smell the mage's blood, it was making him dizzy again. His master came over, having pulled the rock off his blistered face. It would be easily healed by mages when they got back but for now it would make his master angry. His master stuck the knife into the other mage's back, breaking the skin and hacking at the spine. In his master's mind he could see that he thought both mages were to be punished. His arms got in the way of the knife as his master continued to drag the knife down. 102379, who had no ability to gear pain, bit his lip to stop from crying out. the knife dug deeper into both him and the other mage. it was amazing that none of the other's organs were knicked.
'I will take what punishment my master gives. I will serve my master in life or death,' had was unaware that he had spoken his thoughts aloud.
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"But why?" Vulcan asked the mage holding him down, and breathing in the tantilizing fragrence of his pumping blood. His mouth watered a little and he was about ready to drown the master in lava that was cool enough not to kill outright. He grimaced, taken by surprise when the man started hacking at his spine "What is it you are trying to do? Saw me in half?" He asked in annoyance. Yes it hurt, and if he'd had any normal reaction to pain, he would have been screaming in agony, but there was a stubornness in him that would not yield so easily. This was pain, but it was not even beyond what he had endured when he thought he was fully human.
Hardly realizing he was doing it, magma crawled up his body to shield what was left of his spine. It would definately be interesting to try to get a paralized creature out of solid rock. "ANd to give you fair warning, if you don't want me to eat your mage, you need to move him quickly." He didn't want to eat the mage, he kind of liked the mage, or maybe felt sorry for him was more accurate. After all, he didn't know him yet, but he got the distinct impression if the mage had a choice, he would not be holding him down and letting him be hacked apart.
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102379 was shocked by the other mage's question. He was a mage, an abomination for which he ought to be punished. It was his place to obey his master, just like every other mage. The only reason he was not killed was that he was useful. Without thought, he whispered as much to the other mage, 'You too are an abomination. You too must be punished.'
Do not speak to it.
Forgive me, master.
He felt the molton rock flowing up the man's back and onto his own arms, it was burning his already hacked arms. His facial muscles twitched and he burried his face into the other mage's neck. Slowly, tears began running down his face. He hoped that the other mage was lying about eating him. Even if it was true, he would not move without his master's permission.
You will not move. You will stop this beast from doing more magic.
'Master, please. I have no strength left.'
His master glared down at the two, bloody mages. His master was trying to decide what to do with them. 102379 had proved that he was useless by being unable to stop the mage's magic. The other mage was obviously far more powerful and perhaps even a Necromancer. In his master's mind he could see that he was contemplating killing the pair. He wouldn't do it though, mage's were expensive to find or breed; they were a required evil. Anything his master wanted to do to him was deserved and he would obey.
You will subdue this man. I don't care if you have no strength: use your life strength. I want this man out of this hole and in a telepod now.
Still clinging to the mage, he used his lifeforce to open the hole and try to pull the mage out. He was still sobbing in pain when his master took hold of the man.
If this creature so much as uses one ounce of magic, it will be from your flesh that his punishment comes.
He was not sure what that meant but it scared him enough to try to de-enhance the mage again. All it did was cause his nose to spurt blood all over the creature.
OOC: yes, I am taunting him. :P
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Vulcan did not actually want to eat the mage, but there was only so much control he could exact over his lust and having him first buried against his neck and then spurting blood all over, the goldenrod in his eyes once again bled over to red, his mouth quivering as he pulled the mage closer. Maybe for the mage's sake, he wouldn't use magic, but he didn't really need to use magic. His vampiric side was not magical exactly, just hungry and strong if you didn't include the wings.
I wont' take it all Vulcan mentally whispered to the mage. He was in much more pain that he let on, and he knew feeding would ease it as well as aid in the healing process, not to mention he was hungry enough now with the loss of his own blood that he couldn't help but take advantage of the blood in front of him. If the master didn't do something about it, he would have the mage to his mouth and blood flowing in a matter of seconds. He had not yet accidentally hit any arteries that would cause death, though he had once taken a whole bite out of the throat of his vampire friend-- that had not been his fault though. He'd been in desperate need of blood after rigorous experiments being performed on him. He growled softly as he recalled being addicted to heroin. He never touched the stuff, even when he lived in a house with his mother and all her drug dealing/doing friends. He'd been clean his whole life until the lab had decided they needed to know what happened when a vampire became addicted to heroin.
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102379 did not move as the blood-sucking mage whispered into his mind. He would obey his master and not let go until he was ordered to. Tried pulling the creature again but it was too heavy for him. He sat there with the mage at his neck. He clung tight, trying not to tyhink about whether he would turn into a blood-sucker too. His master however, seemed intrigued by the idea.
Master, what do you wish me to do?
Do not allow him to escape. I will not touch the filthy beast.
Yes, master.
His master pulled a phone out of his belt and called for help, finally having given up taunting the two mages. It was obviously too dangerous with 102379's magic depleted.
I am to meet the others at the station. You will remain. You will not speak to the creature. You will not move from this spot and you will NOT allow the mage to escape.
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Vulcan drank slowly. The last thing he needed for the moment was to become drunk on blood and be unable to defend himself. He was debating if he had the strength for once last escape attempt. He could take the mage with him, though he wasn't sure what that would do to the creature. The master seemed set on blaming everything on the mage and Vulcan didn't like that. His eyes followed the master. If given the opportunity, he would taste his blood again and quite possibly take it all.
He was not a vampire in the traditional dracula sense. He did not easily change people into vampires, he could only recall it happening once, and he had been young and still wasn't sure how it had happened.
He watched, waiting for his opportunity while attempting to keep his selfcontrol intact. He was hungry and he could very easily drain the mage dry, but he didn't want to kill him and he didn't want to risk changing him.
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102379 closed his eyes and hugged the man tighter. There was nothing he could do about being drained. He could only sit still and pray the mage would stop. He wished his master would come back soon. He was scared and unused to being lefty on his own. What if he made a mistake or did something wrong? What if the mage tried to escape? He hugged the mage even tighter still. It hurt his burnt arms so he relaxed a bit then rubbed his tears off on the mage's shirt. He did not want to appear weak, he must be strong to obey his master's wishes.
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What will he do to you if I escape? Vulcan asked, finally pulling back from his feeding. He considered it a moment What will he do to me if I don't escape? Both valid questions, neither he really expected an answer to, but if the thoughts appeared on the surface of his mind, he could grab hold of them and see for himself.
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102379 relaxed wehn the blood-sucker removed him mouth. He had been afraid that the creature was going to kill him, and there was nothing he could have done to stop it. He removed one hand from around the mage and tugged at his cloak in an attempt to cover the wound. He was getting tired, if he wasn't careful he would fall asleep.
He started thinking to stop himself from becoming unfocused. His mind wandered, his thoughts began rising and he started to think of his master. His master was a good man, a savior of Edanith. He had defended Mars against many mages in his time. Most mages had even survived then sent onto training. Some unfortunately were to stubborn and rebellious to use. They were tortured into submition or sent onto TRIM for testing. 102379 had been there on several occasions when mage's had been tortured. Their minds had been destroyed though the same technique that the Captain used on him. Other's had had all their bones shattered and regrown by bone mages. Images of their torture and screams ran through 102379 and he hugged tighter to the mage he was holding. If the mage escaped that would be his fate, if the mage didn't it would be the mage on the bone mages' table.
It was his duty to obey so obey he would.
-
What happens if I take you with me? Vulcan asked mentally, preventing his words from traveling down the third leg of the mental connection to the Captain. He could do that-- at least he thought he could. It was better than being shipped off to TRIM in any case, though that was survivable as well.
-
102379 hesitated then allowed the words to form in his mind, He wasn't really speaking to the mage, just allowing the thoughts to take their own form. I must obey my master. I am a mage and mages are abominations to the gods. He knew it must be beginning to sound old to the other mage but there was nothing he could do. I'm sorry, I must take you with me.
-
And I'm sorry. I cannot sit idly by and allow them to capture me, put me on a table and play with my bones. I've done this already, I don't want to do it again. Struggling to loosen himself from the rock a little, leathery, bat-like wings sprouted from his back and he struggled to lift them both into the sky. The mage's blood helped, but with his lower body hanging limply, flying was more awkward than it should be, even while carrying an extra body. "We'll just say I'm taking you hostage" He stated calmly. It looked as if he would fly straight up through the atmosphere of the planet.
-
102379 struggled to try and keep the creature on the ground. He squirmed and shook the mage to make flying difficult. There was nothign more he could do until he had foor and rest, or until his magic stores rejuevanated on thier own. I must not let him escape, I must obey. 'No!'
Remain here, they wont do that to you, not if you're obedient. Most Mordacai are kind to their mages. Some even fall in love. The man must have read his mind, he was shocked. Such things were forbidden (along with many other things). He continued fighting, unaware of the hieght...or the fall it would cause.
-
Vulcan hissed in pain as the mage squirmed. "Kind like your master is to you?" He asked sharply. "He has poisoned your mind. He treats you like you're worthless, but even he has said mages are needed. It's the only reason he doesn't kill you outright. He hates your kind and he thinks I am one of you." Vulcan said. He wasn't gaining altitude anymore, the weight of the mage and the changing atmosphere made it too difficult to hoist them upwards further.
-
I am weak and I displease my master. Not all Mordacai hate their mages. He let images of other teams flow through his mind, he showed other people sneaking him food and he showed their looks of concern other Mordacai gave him. You use magic, that makes you a mage. Your race matters not, just your ability.
He continued shaking the winged mage to try and stop him. He was getting tired but at least his magic stores were beginning to rise. Just now though, he would only have enough to make about three very small rocks appear.
-
He fears those of us who are more powerful than he Vulcan pointed out, his flight pattern becoming more eratic. He was heading for the volcano. He could live in there where nothing could reach him....if he could make it, which he was seriously doubting now as every wiggle the mage gave sent pain through his body and made it hard to flap in time. You risk your life to obey a man who is never pleased with anything you do. Why?
-
He does not fear me. He looked out from between the mage's legs. It was a long way to the ground. I obey him because mages should not be allowed to be free. Where was the mage taking him? If he went too far he might get out of range of the mind-link. It had never happened before so he had no idea what would happen.
-
Vulcan's breathing was growing more labored. There was no way he was going to make it to that distant mountain top, and even less chance of him being able to force his way into the depths for a good many days and after several feedings. He flapped, wings shuddering and then one cramped and locked, sending him into a downward spiral. It had only happened once before, and that had been right after he'd discovered the wings and had taken off across the island and pushed his limits too far. He struggled to unlock his wing so he could at least coast or glide, or even just fall straight. "How durable is your species?" He asked calmly. He knew landing would hurt like anything, but it would not kill him, just as TRIM was unlikely to kill him with any permanance.
-
102379 stared at the ground spiralling below him. If the other mage could perhaps slow his trejectory then 102379 could slow their fall a little. Air was easier to move so he could possibly create an updraft but that would drain his reserves again. [
i]I was born to humans so not very.[/i] If he lived this he could send their position to his master. It was very far away though and he hadn't heard anything from his master so far. maybe death would be the better option.
-
Human. Technically, he'd been born to humans as well, but something was different about him and he was hardly considered human any longer. We may have a problem then He admitted. I don't think a human body would survive the landing He was talking as if they were simply sitting in a cafe or something. His body wouldn't either, but his body would put itself back together and he'd live again soon enough. What if I were to die? He asked suddenly. Maybe that would solve his problem. All he had to do was get the mage back on the ground semi-gently.
-
Does it really matter what happens? If we die we will be sent to whatever hell the gods send mages and murderors to. He wasn't as afraid of dying as the pain of hitting the ground and what would happen if he disobeyed his master. Why are you so persistant? It is your place to serve the Mordacai. Perhaps he could help the mage survive, I can help us land. Will you serve the Mordacai if I do?
-
It doesn't look like I have much choice. Let you die and escape with my own skin, or let you help us land and serve the slave masters The ground was starting to come up fast. Your choices benifit you much more than they do me. Tell me, why should I sell myself into slavery to save your skin? That landing will not kill me permanately.
-
It is the only choice that should await mages. He glanced at the ground. If he did slow their fall he would not have enough to make sure the mage did not escape. What would the Mordacai prefer of him? They would want the mage and the only way theu would get him is if they survived. He sighed and allowed the air to hold them up. They would continue to fall but all they would suffer was a few broken bones. He closed his eyes and waited for the ground.
-
Vulcan tried to soften the ground, but didn't manage it before landing wing first on the hard surface. The wing crumpled like it was made of paper, followed by the distinct breaking of his shoulder as it too met the ground. He tried to scramble to his feet. He might be able to get a head start and escape the entire lot of them if he could just get far enough ahead.
-
102379 groaned. Falling was not good. He sat up and checked all his sore spots; there were no broken bones, just a lot of bruises. He sighed, his master would not be happy with him running away. He realised why he had left his position and looked around for the other mage.
The mage was scrambling away. 102379 had to follow him. He pushed himself to his feet and hobbled after the mage. The mage must have been hurt in the fall. Hopefully 102379 had not landed on him. Why was the mage so afraid? What had the Mordacai done to him, or was it TRIM that he was afraid of? Everybody was afraid of TRIM, not just the mages.
-
Vulcan didn't get very far. He was wheezing and gasping. Healing took a lot of energy and it was painful when the bones were being straightened and regrown. He fell to his knees with a groan, struggling to get back up. It had been a long time since he had passed out, but his vision was swiming and he was lightheaded.
He had been experimented on already, more than once. It wasn't fun, and he did not like serving people against his will and mind linking with some stranger? He'd done that too, though the person had not had any control of his mind. They'd just shared thoughts and had the side affect of being able to look through the memories of the other, and evesdrop on conversations even when they weren't in the room themselves.
There was no way he was willingly going to hand over his mind to some egotistal crazy man who thought mages should be eraticated, but did not kill them simply so they could wield their power for him. But with the way things were, unless that master guy had gotten lost along the way somewhere, it was unlikely Vulcan would have the time to escape.
-
102379 saw the mage fall and felt pannicked. He didn't want to cause the mage any pain but neither could he disobey his master. He sent messages accross the mind-link pleading for assistance. There was no reply and he had no idea how to contact other Mordacai. he opened his mind so that any Mordacai nearby could sense him.
He was weating greatly due to the heat and fear. 102379 was terrified of being alone. He had never been left to his own devices before, never been without orders and it scared him. The only order he had left to obey was to return with the mage.
He managed to catch up with the mage. You are hurt, let me take you back so that they can heal you. He tried summoning water for the other mage. He could not have done it for his own benefit but the mage would die without water. His orders were to bring the mage back, he could not just let the poor creature die.
The magic failed and he hung his head. In softening the landing he had drained his souces again. He tried again but only managed to make himself collapse on the ground and retch up bile. What a scene the two must have made, two mages weak and crouching in the dirt.
-
I will heal with time Vulcan stated, trying without success to get back to his feet. Even if he had gotten to his feet, he would have fallen over, so being nearer to the ground was a good thing. He leaned forward until his head touched the dirt, then slowly eased down on his good side, wing neatly folded out of the way so it wouldn't be damaged also. His head was buzzing and his vision closing in. Perhaps he could hold on a few moments longer, but unless something changed, he would black out.
-
102379 crawled over. The other mage had pushed himself past his limits. He placed a boney hand over the mage's forehead, he was still alive but was incredibly warm. The creature was badly wounded, he needed to help him. He pushed asside his heavy cloak and tore several strips of cloth from the bottom of his shift (something that looks like a hessian bag only made of cloth). He looked at the mage, may I set your wing?
102379 gripped his shift and clenched his eyes, trying to fight the dizzyness that would have him pass out. He needed his master, he needed help, he needed medical attention.
-
Tend yourself first. The wing will wait. It is not fatal He stated mentally. His voice seemed fainter as if he didn't have as much power behind the communications. You go through much trouble to deliver me alive Unlike traditional vampires, he was not exactly dead or undead. He lived, his heart beat, his brain waved, he had a pulse...usually. However, like traditional vamps, he was difficult to kill-- more so than traditional vampires. Garlic was tasty, no holy anything repelled him, a stake through the heart was only temporarily effective. He suspected decapitation would work, but he'd never tried it. The Kalicrate blood was strong. When do you think your master will arrive?
-
There is nothing I can do for myself. I only wanted to make you more comfortable. He hung his head lower, almost bowing to the other mage. He felt ashamed for caring about the mage. It was not his duty and later it would have be frowned upon; his master might even use it as an excuse to have him exchanged.
He lowered himself completely to the ground and curled up. If you do not want my help I will not waste my energy. He refused to close his eyes, his master might appear at any moment or the mage might try to escape. Both outcomes would be seen as disobedience. I have been trying to contact him but have found nothing. I don't know what to do. He tried to cover his dismay but his mind was too tired to protect itself.
He looked at his hands: his master had cuty deeply into them when he had hacked at the other mage's back and had been burnt when the mage had created magma to preotect his back. Now, there was no skin left up to his biceps. He wrapped them with the strips of cloth. How is your back? Do yuo want water? He doubted he could conjure much water but he doubted the other mage would be able to last much longer.
-
My back He paused. Somehow he had managed to forget about his back. He reached back. The cut was deep, the spine was exposed, but the spine was once again in one piece. He flexed his feet and they responded. it is healing he said, eyeing the mage's arms. will someone be able to heal you? Vulcan asked. As much as he tried to deny it, he did care about others and considering that most of the damage on the mage's arms was because of him, he was a little more concerned than usual.
-
There are healing mages at the base. He closed his eyes and tried to focus, his vision was beginning to spin. He must not fall asleep, he must remain concious.
There was the sound of footfalls so 102379 opened his eyes. His master was there, how was that possible? He had not felt anything across the mind-link.
I could hear your thoughts miles away.
102379 looked to the ground, his thoughts had been shameful, I'm sorry master.
Filthy animal. Get up!
102379 rolled onto his knees and tried to stand, only managing to fall to the earth again. He clenched his eyes and tried again with the same results. The captain came over to him and glared down at him. Pain flew across the mind-link.
Pain, that was all he felt. His mind was ripped apart, the pain flowing into any part of his mind. He felt nothing else, could not smell or see anything. He could only feel the agony of his mind being mutilated and his master's mind voice harassing him.
Outside his mind he could feel nothing. To him there was nothing but the force destroying his mind. His body arched and wreathed as every muscle in his body clenched. He was shreiking and his eyes rolled into his head. Blood exploded from his nose as the energy got too much for his blood vessels. Next his gums and ears began bleeding and the whites of his eyes went red. Last, he began bleeding from where the screws held the headband in place. But he was not aware of any of this. He was ubable to sense anything other than the assault on his mind, which his master refused to lift.
-
There are healing mages at the base. He closed his eyes and tried to focus, his vision was beginning to spin. He must not fall asleep, he must remain concious.
There was the sound of footfalls so 102379 opened his eyes. His master was there, how was that possible? He had not felt anything across the mind-link.
I could hear your thoughts miles away.
102379 looked to the ground, his thoughts had been shameful, I'm sorry master.
Filthy animal. Get up!
102379 rolled onto his knees and tried to stand, only managing to fall to the earth again. He clenched his eyes and tried again with the same results. The captain came over to him and glared down at him. Pain flew across the mind-link.
Pain, that was all he felt. His mind was ripped apart, the pain flowing into any part of his mind. He felt nothing else, could not smell or see anything. He could only feel the agony of his mind being mutilated and his master's mind voice harassing him.
Outside his mind he could feel nothing. To him there was nothing but the force destroying his mind. His body arched and wreathed as every muscle in his body clenched. He was shreiking and his eyes rolled into his head. Blood exploded from his nose as the energy got too much for his blood vessels. Next his gums and ears began bleeding and the whites of his eyes went red. Last, he began bleeding from where the screws held the headband in place. But he was not aware of any of this. He was ubable to sense anything other than the assault on his mind, which his master refused to lift.
-
"What are you doing?" Vulcan asked sharply, gathering his strength from deep inside himself, though he hardly moved from his rather limp position on the ground. "He just about died trying to keep me from leaving at your orders. Here I am even now, stuck here with a creature like yourself, and yet you torture him for what? For his obedience? You may demand perfection, but your punishment for details is harsh. How do you expect to have a good mage if you kill them or their brains before they have a chance to learn properly?" He pointed out.
-
Captain Kaenos glanced down at the rogue mage and let his assault on 102379 lapse. 102379 gave a gasp for air and fell unconcious. He had overexerted himself.
'Silence mage. I told that creature to stay, he did not obey. I told him hold you, he did not obey. He did not return after he left and he did not bring you back,' the captain looked down at 102379 is disgust. 'He has had 17 years to learn obedience and still he does not comply.'
-
"He held onto me to the point that he crash landed with me" Vulcan stated coldly. "How is he supposed to stay when I pick him up and fly away?" Vulcan pointed out. This seemed like a lot of trouble to go through to get a creature you didn't like in the first place.
-
'He should not have let you fly off in the first place. He is a mage, he should have used his abilities to ground you,' the Captain snarled.
He eyed both the mages in disgust before pressing a button on his headband that acted as a phone, 'I've got them. Request backup to bring them in.' He went over to 102379 and tapped him with a foot. The mage was still out cold. Wake up, now. 102379 opened his eyes, gasped and fell unconscious once more. 'Filthy creature.'
-
Vulcan eyed the 'master' with open disgust. He had always hated people who held themselves as 'better' for whatever reason. People were people, just because one was rich and the other had been evicted to the streets did not make a difference. There were good people who lived in the streets, and there were horrible rich people and visa versa.
His wing snapped as the last bone aligned. He was trying to develop a plan. It would be harder to escape from TRIM than it would be to escape from this bozo, but he simply did not have the strength to get up yet. Healing took a lot of power, and he needed to feed. He eyed the Captain's neck thoughtfully. True he had already taken quite a bit out of him, but Vulcan wouldn't be all that upset to cause the demise of this particular man. "So now that you've caught me, and tortured your slave for catching me, now what?"
-
'Backup is coming to take you and that filth,' he nodded towards 102379, 'away.'
The Captain looked over 102379's body, GET UP! The order was sharper this time but the results were still the same. He kept an eye on the rogue mage while forcing more power across the link. He would have his mage awake before the other mordacai came.
102379's mind was in turmoil. Everything was black and creatures were seething around his broken thoughts. He cowered from them but they kept coming for him, leering at him and flashing their off-black teeth. These demons, these broken thoughts and pain, grasped him. The inside of his mind screamed as they began assaulting him once more.
GET UP! The violent order ripped through his thoughts right down to his core. He rose to conciousness and gasped. He was lying on his back still. The pain returned and he screamed. Congealed blood spluttered from his mouth and onto his face and made the scream sound like a gargle. Every single muscle in his body was on fire and he could not see. There was blood in his eyes where the original assault had ruptured blood vessels and turned his eyes red. There was blood coming from his nose, mouth, ears and skull where the screws held the headband in place.
-
Vulcan fingered the ground, gathering a handful of rock and dirt and letting it melt in his hands before flinging the now molten rock at the captain. "Hey, leave him alone." Vulcan said. "If they're going to take us away, then take us away, but whatever it is you're doing is only going to make him spurt blood out of who knows where, he's not able to do whatever it is you command of him when he's flat on his back, bleeding" He could smell it. He wanted it. "into his eyes, out of his ears, drowning in his own fluids. Or are you really stupid enough to think that if you torture a person enough, they'll be able to get up and do you bidding. Oh, or perhaps you'd prefer a zombie legion. They're already dead. Leave their heads attatched, if I remember correctly, and you can do just about whatever you want to them and they won't die. Sounds like the perfect companion for you."
-
Captain Kaenos roared in anger and pain. He reached for his gun before realising it was in maintainance. He walked over to the lava mage and kicked him in the jaw. He punctuated his words with a cruel kick to some part of the body, 'NEVER - USE - MAGIC - OR - HARM - A - HUMAN!' He glared at the mage and hoped that he had broken at least some bones. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the healing that had already begun on other part of the body. This could get interesting. He stepped back, wrapped his hand in his sleeve and pulled the solidifying lava from his face. His face twitched with pain but he did not call out.
'Shut up, you filthy creature!' 102379's gurgling screams were getting annoying. He turned back to the lava mage, that loathsome creature that had burnt his face, 'I am not doing anything to him. If he is screaming it is through his own actions.'
________
102379 was not in control of his body though. The muscle contortions he had endured had left him paralysed in the arms and lower body. His eyes roved around, trying to see thought the blood and his ears were too full of blood to hear anything but his own screaming. SILENCE! The order cut through his mind. It took a while for him to comprehend what had happened but when he did, he tried silence his screaming. It dropped to a loud, high pitched whimper.
-
"You're not human" Vulcan retorted, spitting blood. He eyed the tooth on the ground. It was one of his incisors. One of his fangs. Damn it. It would grow back, but until then, it annoyed him a great deal and it only made him mad. "Now leave him alone" Vulcan toyed with a rock, slowly sitting up, or trying to. His shoulder was still out of sorts as the healing seemed to have started in the wing, and the kicks had cracked a number of his ribs which made moving difficult and painful.
He set his gaze upon the Captain as if he could read every thought in his mind. Maybe he could. Vampires were known for such things. Was he a vampire? Not exactly. Did he have vampire characteristics and skills? Most definately. "Your friends seem to have abandoned you." He finally commented. 'Backup' was taking a very long time indeed. He sure hoped he never required backup. He'd be dead long before they even showed up. He'd probably have died and come back and started cleaning before they showed up.
-
As the blood from his ears slowly stopped coming, 102379 became aware of what was happenning around him. He heard his master say that mages could not properly judge anything for they had weaker thought processing. 102379 silently agreed. He turned his head slightly, only for the muscles to jar again and set off his screaming. He tried moving his fingers but they did not move, all that happenned was stabbing pain shot up his burnt arms. He had to help his master, he had to secure the other mage, he had to surpress its powers. He sent a weak message across the mind link, what do you wish of me, Master?
Surpess its powers.
102379 sent all of the power he had built up towards the mage. He doubted it would work but he had to try. He must obey, he must not fail. Using his powers sent a dull, throbbing pain through his head and mind, he knew it would get worse the harder he tried but he kept going.
Captain Kaenos came closer to the other mage and looked into its eyes, trying to decide if the creature was subdued enough to touch. How could he punish this creature without it harming him? 102379 had proven itself next to useless. Hopefully he would be able to claim the new mage instead.
Kaenos decided that he would attack the creature once more; if it attempted to defend itself he would consider it hostile and he would knock it out first. He slammed his foot towards the creatures groin and hoped it would penetrate deep into the creature's abdomen. He kept the creature's face and body within his vision to spot any sign of magic.
-
What need did he have for magic at close range? Vulcan shot a foot up and across to protect himself and knock the foot off course. If he aimed correctly, and the captain had nothing more than human reflexes, he could very easily come down over the kneecap and if not cause damage, at least cause pain.
It all happened much more quickly than usual and hostile was quite an accurate description of Vulcan. He did not take kindly to people who tried to beat him up, or picked mercilessly on semi-helpless and/or brainwashed creatures.
"You're going to get yourself seriously hurt" Vulcan stated as if it was a simple fact, nothing more out of the ordinary than stating the day of the week. And if he kept it up, Vulcan was really going to enjoy being the one to seriously hurt him. As it was, he smelled quite tasty.
-
Kaenos saw the leg but did not have time to move away entirely, he ended up with a sore leg. He would have a large bruise on his shin in the morning. He spat down at the creature. Filthy creature. He would take great pleasure in either watching or doing this creature's preparation into the military. Right now, what he needed was to stop the thing being able to fight back. 102379 was useless, it didn't have enough energy to do anything.
Kaenos considered his options: the creature was obviously stronger than him and would heal shortly. Without the use of his mage, Kaenos would not be able to hold the creature down for long. The backup was taking its time too. How long would it be before either mage healed enough to fight? What he needed was a metal pole or something to scewer the rogue mage with or some long distance weopon. His own weopons were being fixed and tuned, he had been relying primarily on the fact that most uncontrolled mages steared clear of the Mordacai and military.
You, hold him. Stop him from getting up. He ordered across the mind-link before going to search for something to use as a weopon. He doubted the mage's abilities but if anything happened, 102379 would be held accountable.
102379 tried to stop whimperring and focused on the other mage. He could not tell if his magic was doing anything but he could feel it throbbing up into his mind. It should be going to the mage, not into his mind. What was happenning, could it be that the magic was trying to heal him? He had no healing abilities and even if he did, using it here would be disobedience. The headband began humming, throbbing in time to his magic.
He fought for control and made the magic go back towards the other mage. With any luck the mage would feel weakened, both physically and magically.
The magic started to run out again, he hadn't had much in the first place. M-m-master. It's fading. His mind-voice was weak and trembling with fear. He was failing his duties again. When they returned to the base he would already be punnished severely. He sent another thought through his mind in hope the other mage was still in there, please. Please... Please what? Please take the punishment you deserve?
The mage had already expressed that it didn't believe itself inferior. Perhaps he could entomb the creature or scewer it?
The throbbing magic faded. He would only have enough to hold the mage a few more seconds anyway, an earth spike was the best option. 102379 forced the final dregs of power into creating a long, sharp spike of earth that would pierce the mage through the abdomen. He infused it with his own lifeforce in hope it would be more accurate and larger. If it pierced the intestines or colin the creature would die.
102379 began convulsing, the throbbing in his mind intensified. It was not his master doing this, it was his own body fighting against itslef, fighting against the magic he had been using and fighting against his very existance. Help me, he hadn't sent it across the mind-link: the thought had just passed through his mind from some tortured memory. His lungs wouldn't fill, the muscles controlling them contracted painfully until bronchial fluid filled his mouth. Help me.
-
Vulcan gulped as the spike pierced him, but he managed to heat it as it went through his body to seal the wound. He couldn't seem to breath himself, but not breathing wouldn't really kill him, at least not nearly as fast as a normal human. Gathering some strength, he melted the base of the spike to allow himself to try to tumble his way over to 102379 Give me your hand Vulcan said forcefully. His tone was almost hard to argue with. He wasn't going to let this creature die on his account, at least not like this. It had been a very long time since he had healed anyone, but there was no reason he shouldn't be able to do it-- other than maybe it might kill him, but that was only a temporary set back.
His body was shaking horribly. He definately wasn't getting up and running any time soon. He could probably melt the spike though his middle, but that took too much energy and power and wasn't worth the time just at the moment. Later, when he had a chance to feed, maybe, though by then, he'd probably be an experiment once again and they'd be wiggling it around and measuring how much pain they could cause or some other such nonsense.
He was dizzy and quite likely to go into shock, but maybe he could heal the mage before he collapsed. There was no way he was going to manage to heal himself before he collapsed, but his body would work on that after the fact, dead or alive. When I die, pull this thing out of me. Vulcan requested If they haven't taken me already It could be melted, but if his body didn't have to waste stores melting rocks, it was better.
((Sorry for the delay, my muse went on strike and I couldn't think of a thing to reply with))
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102379 forced himself to obey the command. The muscles in his arm screamed with the movement but he was able to brush his burnt fingers against the other mage. he wrapped his hand around one of the mage's fingers. What do you wish me to do? The mental assault on his mind had confused him to the point where he would obey anyone. He could not tell truly who was his master and could not notice that the voice was not coming through the mind-link.
When I die, pull this thing out of me. Vulcan requested If they haven't taken me already
It didn't sound like an order. What should he do? ... Die? He was not allowed to let his charge die. The mage was going to die and it was his fault. He had to get the rock out, he had to help the mage, he had to stop his charge dying. He had to... he forced himself to inch closer to the mage. He still couldn't breathe and his muscles were still convulsing but he pushed his body anyway. He didn't manage to move far however, only enough to place his whole palm in the mage's.
OOC: the backup will be coming in the next post, along with the captain coming back.
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Vulcan's back arched just slightly in pain. Over all, he was not dramatic about being in pain. People generally failed to notice he was in pain at all, or at least had no idea of the severity of it. Just hold the hand...let the warmth spread through you and don't fight it. It'll help, but you have to let it He gasped softly, the muscles through his arm clenching momentarily before he began to spread the healing abilities into 102379. He was pale, and his teeth were clenched, despite the damage done to his mouth, teeth and jaw from being kicked. I won't run, don't worry about that. Focus your energy on where you need the most healing...probably your lungs at this point. There was of course the option of turning him should the healing fail, but Vulcan didn't want to inflict that upon anyone and hadn't turned anyone since probably the 1900s
-
102379 tears flooded from his eyes, it was all too much for him to handle right now. He would have cried loudly if not for his constricted lungs. He didn't want to obey: he had to. It wasn't in him to disobey and the mage was going to die because of him. Either way he had to disobey a command.The tears washed away the volumes of blood stopping him from seeing and he clenched the mage's hand. I'm sorry.
He let the magic flow through the muscles in his lungs then a trickle out to his other muscles. How much was he allowed to use? If he used too much there would be nothing left for the mage. Once he was healed enough to breathe and move he pulled his hand away. Movement still cuased a great deal of pain but at least it was possible. He gasoed greedily for air.
He crawled over to the mage and saw the spike. He had not expected it to be so big. It had to be hurting, killing his charge. This was bad, very bad. In a frenzy he began clawing at the fresh scab on his neck and sobbing loudly. The mage needed blood. He pushed his fingers in the wounds to try and open the hole wider. He needed to get a larger bloodflow. Once his hands were suitably covered im his own blood he bent forwards over the mage's mouth and rested his neck on it's mouth.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, don't die. I'm sorry. The words spun around his mind and he tried to speak them. He was sobbing uncontrolably so couldn't get the words out. Everything that had happened to the mage was his fault. He nolonger cared that he would be beaten for helping the mage or that he would be beaten for letting the mage die. He was losing a lot of blood, what if the mage choked on it? What if he passed out and smothered the mage with his body? Was he being rude by using the mage's healing then trowing away his life? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
His master came around with a large, deadly looking pole and came over to the two. He took one long look at 102379 then flung him off the mage's body. 'WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!' he barked.
102379 struggled over to his master's feet and knealt with his head in the dirt, 'forgive me, master. I-I'm sorry. It won't happen again. He felt his master moving around his mind, pulling at memories and causing general havoc. His master pulled sharply out and began striking him across the side, not seeming to care where the pole hit so long as it caused tremendous amounts of pain, his master was satisflied.
He kept his eyes focused on the ground. He deserved this pain, he would take it. If he fell to the ground he would push himself up. When something broke he would not cry out. He stared at the blood running from his neck and spilling on the ground. Soon it was accompanied by blood from other parts of his body. he deserved this, he would take it like the filthy mage he was.
First you try to kill him, then you let him use magic on you and then you feed him?
I'm sorry master. he made no effort to defend himslef from the onslaught. He deserved his punishment.
'Captain Kaenos, stand down,' came a female's voice.
102379 did not look up to see who it was, he just allowed himself to sink lower to the ground. His sides felt like they were splitting and he was breathing ruggedly. After all that had happened today, TRIM was looking like the kinder offer for him. His master caught the thought and sent a stab of pain across the mind-link. 102379 made his mind go silent and tried no tto listen in to what they were saying, he was only a mage afterall.
-
Vulcan struggled between wanting to feed, and knowing it was a waste and trying to heal the wound. He was losing too much blood to make it worth feeding off someone he wanted to keep alive. Don't worry about me. You have enough problems of your own Vulcan's mind whispered to 102379. Shakily, his hands went to the earth spike. He had to pull it out. He was bleeding and what wasn't bleeding out was bleeding into his body cavity. He knew the moment he pulled the spike, he'd be bleeding everywhere and quite heavily.
The woman...she'd told the captain to 'stand down' maybe she had a heart. Vulcan reached for her mind in something of a desperate attempt to beg her to save 102379 from the crazy abusive man. TRIM quite possibly was a better option. They might poke, prod, cut parts of you off and replace them with new parts, but they didn't beat you within an inch of your life and then expect you to give your last gram of power to restrain something that was probably stronger than you even at full power.
He had to wonder what the protocol was for dead mages. Maybe they'd bury them, or jettison them into space. He could only hope if cremation was their option of choice, his fireproof body would continue to be fireproof after death, or at least long enough for him to stop being dead. He blinked at a sudden realisation. He'd managed to partially cautorize a wound. That meant he'd been burned. But what did that mean? Was he losing his powers? He was losing consciousness it felt like, but that was hardly suprising considering the thing through his stomach. He weakly grasped it. He'd have to roll over to remove it. The base was wider than the wound and would rip a gaping hole through the already impressive wound.
His body was going to die of septic shock from a puntured intestine. All those nasty bacterias were going to go pouring into his body and he could only hope his healing powers could clean them up too.
-
'102379 is hereby removed from your service until further notice. Your use of him was irrisponsible. You will place a report of today's events one my desk by 18:00 tomorrow. Dismissed.'
There was the sound of retreating boots and another coming towards him. His head was tilted back and his face inspected by one of the senior officers. He cowered slightly from her gaze and looked back at the ground. She looked like she was trying to find something comforting to say but could think of nothing. She turned from him, stood up and said, 'James, these mages need attention. Heal them and report to me on their injuries.' She then went over to the other wounded mage and talked to him. 102379 had no idea what they said.
A strange looking, grey-blue skinned creature helped him to lay back and smiled at him, 'may I take a look?'
102379 nodded as he was lifted gently and stripped of his clothes. He turned his head to where the other mage lay dying, his charge lay dying.
'Would you prefer if I helped him first?'
102379 nodded again. He wanted to go over but he had had no orders that would allow him to.
-
Vulcan's breath was slowing to something of a gurgle as he choked on his own blood. He could sense the warm inviting bodies walking around him, but he could not rise to catch them. His hands weakly grasped the spike and he managed to tilt onto his side so he could first of all, stop choking on the blood that kept finding its way into his mouth and throat, and second of all, attempt to push the spike back out the way it had gone in, but he was shaking so badly now he struggled to make himself ignore the pain and simply shove the slab of rock out of his body. He was fading. Things were bluring. It's okay He mentally whispered to 102379, letting his mind brush against the other mage's almost like the comforting caress of a motherly finger on the cheek of a baby.
His body temperature was shooting in all directions. He was freezing from loss of blood, but at the same time, his body was trying to spike a fever to fight off the invasion of intestinal contents into his body cavity, but it could only manage to make him shiver uncontrolably before it gave up and simply let his body continue to slow as his blood pressure dropped and his heartbeat began to grow eratic.
This was the part that if he were honest, he might admit scared him. He was almost always alone when he died. He had no real friends, no one really cared if he died or not and so he lay on the cold ground, shivering convulsively and wishing, at the very least, one of his bats was with him, just to give him the momentary delusion that he had some value to someone other than himself, and people who wanted to experiment and harvest him for parts. It's okay He managed to whisper again before his mind voice failed him. It wouldn't be long now. Hopefully he had enough power left in his battered body to fix the hole and anything else that had been broken.
-
It's okay.
No. No. You're safe, you can't die now. Please. I'm sorry. Please. 102379 was pannicking. The thoughts in his mind vibrated with his panic and caused his headband to hum again. The mage would die because he'd failed to control his spike. It was still in the mage, causing him pain.
'Please, the spike!' he called, his voice was cracked from everything he had endured. He could feel everyone's eyes staring at him. He had acted out of character, he was out of line. He tried to move the spike himself but he had wasted all of it on creating it. Even if he had had the strength, he probably would have caused more damage than good. He curled into a ball but this caused some or other wound to open up. The healing mages would have to clean up his mess, he had been dismissed, he was naked and wounded and his charge was about to die. Surely he would be sent to TRIM for this.
It's okay.
It was up to the healing mages now.
-
Vulcan weakly grasped at the spike, trying to reach out mentally and get someone to pull it out of him, but he faded, falling limp with one final brush towards 102379 shh...I'll be back He whispered before his body fell into convulsions and blood started escaping from the wounds and trailing from the corner of his mouth as each breath brought blood forward until he brought no breaths at all and his heart stilled. It was up to the mages. If they didn't remove the spike, it would probably be several days before he could revive. If they did remove it, perhaps by morning.
-
The mage was dead. The mage was dead and it was all 102379's fault. He curled up into a little ball of pain and the mage called James came over. 102379 closed his eyes and waited to be punished for the mage's death.
'What are you doing?' asked the healing mage.
'I'm sorry,' 102379 murmered, 'I won't struggle.'
A confused silence.
'What are you talking about. I'm here to heal you.'
'I am a mage; I should be punished for what I've done.'
The healing mage sighed then examined 102379's body. 102379 drew a sharp breath as the mage placed his fingers over 102379's scars, bruises and scabs. The mage pulled 102379's arm out from the curled up ball then looked down at his face.
'Cruelty.'
Healing magic flowed through 102379. He did not fight it but nor did he understand why he was being healed. Even with his eyes closed he could see the world around him glowing. He was a mage, a disobedient mage. I'm sorry, he thought to the world. Eventually the magic stopped and 102379 found he was in a lot less pain.
He heard footsteps and opened his eyes. There was another mage with the Senior Officer woman.
'Samantha, how is his mind?' asked the Officer.
'In worse shape than his body was, Mistress. Captain Kaenos has near-destroyed it.'
'Can he be healed?'
'Probably.'
'I'm sorry. Please let me remove the spike,' begged 102379.
The trio exchanged looks before the Senior Officer nodded. 102379 crawled over, pulled the spike out and pulled the dead mage into his bloody, naked lap. I'm sorry. He started crying again.
'What is he doing?' asked the Senior Officer.
'He is confused. He believes that all mages should be destroyed but at the same time blames himself for the mages death. His mind is broken and he doesn't know what to obey. Now that he mas been dismissed from his "master" he cannot use his magic. He does not understand why he has been healed when he thinks he should be tortured for what he has done. The Captain has poisoned his mind for a long time,' said the female mage. She must have had a very light touch on 102379's mind because he never felt anyone in there.
'Wrap both mages in thermal blankets, keep them together. And why are there still scars on 102379?'
'I could not heal all his wounds, there were too many so I could only heal the most life-threatening. There is shrapnel in many of them and there is still internal bleeding to deal with. Something is blocking my magic.'
OOC: everyone apart from Kaenos (who will not enter this thread again) and 102379 are NPCs, feel free to do what you want with them.
-
Vulcan wanted to come back, there was will somewhere in the back of his spirit that was working now to heal the hole through his middle. Surely with all their technology, a little thing like death would not stop them...but then again, they hadn't given him a second glance, so it seemed he was on his own.
His mind continued to spin, even if it was not attatched to his body any longer, but he tried to reach to 102379 to comfort him, but without much success.
Somehow, he knew he was dead, and still possibly dying on one side, and healing in another. It was all very odd.
Slowly, slowly the edges of the ragged hole began to smooth out. It would take him practicaly forever at this rate, but then knitting together new skin was known to take time, especially in his beaten and exhausted state.
-
A blanket was wrapped around 102379's body and he was pried off the mage's dead body. He was ushered towards a small airship while another mage lifted and wrapped the dead mage*. 102379 walked like the living dead, looking at nothing but the ground in front of his feet. Somehow he still managed to trip up and needed to be caught by the healing mage, James. He murmered an apology then kept walking.
Once everyone else had entered, 102379 crawled back over to the mage's body and held onto it again. He had no idea why he was behaving like this, nor did the others it seemed. They were looking at him with frowning, worried looks. He looked up at them and saw their faces and muttered an apology, bent his head to the floor then curled up in the corner. He remained in the corner, staring at the mage's body, until he noticed its wounds healing. He gasped and moved to crawl over before hesitating and muttering another apology to the other people on the ship.
'Really mage, what is wrong with you?' snapped one of the soldiers.
'I'm sorry. The mage.. it-it just grew.'
The leading Officer looked over and shifted in her seat.
*OOC: sorry, I hope you dont mind, it is kinda g-moding. I wasn't sure how else to get onto the ship.
-
(That's perfectly fine. He's 'dead' you can do just about anything you want to do to him at this point. Beat him, use him for experiments, heal him. Just don't remove his head or his limbs...though his right hand is already mechanical)
Vulcan's body was growing colder, the blood beginning to dry where it had escaped, but slowly the skin was indeed being regenerated, though the organs would take far longer to repair.
(I don't really have anything more for this part of the scene. If you do, go for it, if not, maybe we can skip to a couple days later when Vulcan is closer to waking up?)
-
Once they got to the military base, 102379 was ushered out and srtaight into a cell, an old and very unclean one. The other mage's body was placed next to him.
'This is where you will be staying until we find a hospital ward for you.'
102379 nodded and curled up next to the mage's body. It was cold in here, the airconditioning must be in overdirve or something. There he stayed and waited for the mage to heal. Food was handed to them both twice a day but no other contact was made for several days. Still 102379 waited for the mage to heal. Pehraps if he fed the mage it would go faster. Best to leave that until the mage could swallow.
OOC: yep, you can skip to whenever you think is best.
-
After two days, the wound had closed over and while he never seemed to do any of the things dead bodies did such as get rigor or bloat or start decomposing, it was nearly a week before his heart began weakly beating a beat every couple minutes, maybe a breath every ten, but as this went on, the spaces got smaller and while they weren't quite normal, his mind voice managed to flutter to life. is there water? He was definately dehydrated, and his body was going to be in desperate need of blood as soon as it figured out how much energy it had depleated. He just had to hope he'd either have enough control, or be too weak to attack 102379.
-
102379 was staring at the scra on the mage's torso when he was startled by the mind voice. Now that he had been removed from service, he had not heard annythng from anyone in about a week (his jusdge of time was a more than a little off at present). He scrambled over the the bottle of water and came back.
'Can you hear me,' he asked as well as thought. 'I have water. Do you need food or...
or blood?'
He frowned as the headband hummed. Did it have something to do with how his mind mind mind seemed to have trouble functioning.
-
"All of the above" Vulcan croaked, his mouth dry before he welcomed the water, though he could hardly hold the bottle to drink on his own. "Not from you though if I can help it. I already drained too much from you" His body was sore, he suspected there were still rocks in side of him somewhere, but that was hardly surprising. "How long have we been here? Have they done anything?" His voice was still somewhat faint, but no longer so croaking now that he'd moistened his mouth.
-
102379 bowed slightly to the mage. Taking care of his charge came first but he could not go against another's wishes either. Either way he had to disobey somone. he stayed near the mage however, if the creature took a turn for the worst he would be forced to feed him.
'No, the only contact has been to hand us food,' he indicated the plate and a second bottle in the corner. 'What do you want me to do?'
-
"Help me sit up a bit" Vulcan requested. He wrinkled his nose as his senses began to come alive again. The cell was disgusting and he could probably list the gender and species of every creature that had stayed in the cell since the last cleaning. "Let me see if the water will hold, and then maybe I'll try a little of...whatever that is." He wasn't sure.
-
102379 put his almost healed arms behind the mage's back and pushed him into sitting position. He did not look at the mage's the whole time for he was asked of what he had been forced to do. 'Please forgive me,' he muttered, 'we are mages and should have no choice over over lives.'
He then went over to get the food, placed it next to the mage and curled himself into a ball once more and stared at the wound he had caused with his spike.
-
"You can stop begging for forgiveness" Vulcan stated, poking at the food without enthusiasm. "I understand you were following orders. Goodness knows I can't fault you for that, not after the people I've bitten against my will. It's hard to have someone else rummaging around in your head. It messes things up and this impressive scar here is mostly your captain dude's doing." Vulcan stated, daring to put a bite of the food into his mouth. "Have you eaten anything? And I'm curious how they came to the decision to leave my dead body in a cell with you rather than dispose of it."
-
You can stop begging for forgiveness.
'I'm not asking for forgiveness, mage's don't deserve forgiveness, I mean I'm sorry. I mean,' 102379 frowned. What was he supposed to say? Perhaps it would be better just leave it there in case he said something stupid. How freely was he aloowed to speak witha fellow mage if he had been removed from duty?
Have you eaten anything? And I'm curious how they came to the decision to leave my dead body in a cell with you rather than dispose of it.
'Yes,' he replied, 'My master saw you healing and - and I wouldn't leave you.'
102379 did not know how he felt about holding onto the mage now. If he had left the mage's body it would have been able to escape but mages weren't allowed to be free. Whichever way he looked at it, 102379 was to blame.
After a long pause of silence he turned his head from the wound. 'I'm confused.'
-
Vulcan was quiet for a moment, simply watching the other mage. He was tired and rather weak, but considering he'd been dead, that was hardly unusual. "Look, I'm not holding what happened against you, so whether you 'deserve' forgiveness or not, you have no need of it because I'm not angry." Which was certainly to 102379's advantage. "And I don't blame you for being confused. I'm confused myself...dying does that to a person. Your body goes all stale and when it suddenly comes back, it never really knows how things are supposed to quite go." He lay back on the cell floor. Despite the food, he still felt starved, but he knew that was a whole other problem that normal food would not fix.
-
102379 nodded. Even if the other mage was healing it must hurt. 'May I help you?' asked. 'I am not allowed to call for help but if you want to remove some of my energy or,' he paused. He was about to say blood but felt uncomfortable, 'to heal your-.' His voice trailled off, what he was offerring would cost him dearly later. He was sure he was offerring something forbidden but he had been ordered to take care of the mage.
He continued looking away and grimaced. His own body was not entirely well and nobody had come to heal either mage yet.
-
"In time, I may need to....or more accurately, I won't have much choice in the matter. If I go long enough without feeding, I tend to lose my mind somewhat. I have no desire to hurt you." But he knew if he didn't get blood from somewhere else, he probably would hurt him eventually. "
Vulcan tilted his head slightly as he watched 102397. "What continues to ail you?" There were benifits to vampire senses sometimes. Being able to smell everything in the filthy nasty cell was not on of them.
-
102379 jumped a little when the mage mentioned 102379's hurting body. 102379 was unsure what to say. What would his masters want him to say? He had no answer to that, they had left him here without any orders other than to look after the mage.
'My master was harsh in his punishment. I will be fine.'
In truth his mind was still wounded and sore. The rest of his body was back to it's normal level of pain.
OOC: We'll pretty much be going around in circles until something happens. Was there anything your character would want to talk about or do? We could always move on to a new scene (like being taken to the hospital) if you want.
-
Harsh was an understatement to be sure. The more vengefull part of Vulcan wanted to hunt down the master and drain him of his blood, but the human side of him knew that did not solve much. "Alright...I do believe I will try to rest for awhile...don't come too close, but wake me if you hear anyone coming."
(No, I didn't really have anything that needed to happen. Having him taken where there is fresh blood should be fun though. Finding him alive and taking him to a hospital would be a good start I think.)
-
102379 nodded and curled up on his side. He pulled the shift over his legs in an attempt to keep warm and fell asleep. He was not sure how long he had been asleep but the door swung open and he was startled before realising what the noise was. He stood up and saluted the person, still not kowing who they were.
'102379. You and the captured mage are to be taken to the hospital wing for treatment,' the man said. Obviously he did not care for talking to mages because that was all he said beofre standing at the door to wait.
102379 lowered himself to the floor and went over to the mage. He tapped the creature on the shoulder but was too scared to speak. While the man was here, he had someone to obey.
-
Vulcan opened his eyes with a bit of an animalistic hiss before he caught who it was, but then glanced up past him to the door. Rubbing his crimson and marigold eyes, he slowly eased himself up. He hadn't tried standing yet, but he suspected that was what was wanted of him, so he got to his feet as best he could, wavering slightly. He was overly thin and it became more obvious once he was upright, his clothes hanging on him, but then again, he hadn't eaten in over a week other than what little 102379 had gotten into him that day. Sizing the man up, Vulcan waited complacantly to be told what to do. He was in no state to attempt to resist at this point. That might come later.
-
102379 kept his eyes pointing away from the mage's face. He bowed his head when the mage woke. 'May I lift you?' he whispered. He was frightened of both the mage and the man at the door but had to obey anyy orders given to him by either. His eyes flicked to the scar. He doubted the mage could walk on his own. He probably couldn't walk that far either so they would have to hold on to one another for support. Hopefully they wouldn't fall. His master had always beaten him for falling.
-
Vulcan hesitated in answering as he tried to take a step, but then nodded You're in no state to completely lift me off the ground...but perhaps we can help each other. If I can use you as support on one side, and perhaps a wall on another, you should be able to lean on me as much as you need to. If someone decided touching a wall was a crime, he was probably in trouble.
His body was actually quite scarred. The spike was certainly the most recent, but his body was peppered with scars, but then he'd lived the span of several human lives already, Plenty of time to gain scars, though most of the worst ones came within his first life time while he was still under the delusion that he was actually a normal human.
-
102379 pannicked and pushed himself backwards both mentally and physically when the mage's voice entered his mind. He sat there shaking in utter fear for a few moments before coming back over to the mage. He wrapped one arm around the mage's body, careful not to touch the scar. I'm sorry. He tried to block any fear from getting to the other mage.
They managed to get to the wall but 102379 was still shaking from the mage going into his mind. His master must have done more damage than he first thought.
-
Vulcan tilted his head slightly, studying the mage, though he made no move to go to him. He looked thoughtful, but carefully wrapped an arm around him, holding him rather securely and with more strength than it orignially looked like he possessed. He was leaning almost entirely on the wall between steps. "What are they going to do to us in the hospital?" Vulcan whispered to 102379, deciding maybe mind communication was not the best way to go for the time being. If it was going to cause the other distress, he would try to remember not to use it.
-
102379 was half stabilised by the mage and half helped him. His eyes darted to the mage to make sure he would not fall. The mage was looking at him so he immediately turned his head away and apologised.
'They will heal us,' he whispered. He tentatively moved his thoughts towards where the mage had been speaking through a mind-link. The memories there were cracked and broken so he moved away, not wanting to tempt another panick.
-
Vulcan nodded, flexing his right hand. He could hear the mechanics within it creaking, but most normal humans couldn't. The last time he'd gotten picked up by a lab, they'd played with his nerves and then attatched the hand to them with no anesthetic at all. Not even an icecube to remotely dull the pain or deaden the nerves. That had not been a lifetime ago, that had only been a few months previous, still fresh in his mind. True, that hadn't been a licensed experiment, instead just a silly man who thought it would be fun to see what happened. In the silly man's credit, he had not severed the hand. No, that was the crazy toxic waste beasts who did that.
-
102379 helped the mage follow the soldier. He looked at nothing but his feet and the feet of the soldier. The soldier became impatient at the slow pace and glared at them, 'hurry up! I don't have time to waste on mages.'
102379 cringed and had to hold on tighter to the mage to stop from falling. He would have gone to the floor in a bow but the mage would have fallen with him so he settled for apologising repeatedly and trying to move faster.
-
Vulcan shot the guard such a look, though it was hard to tell if it was intentional or not. When one has gold and red eyes, even the most casual of glances looks intense, though the marigold was starting to tinge red. He was going to need blood soon or something unpleasant was likely to happen. "Come on then" Vulcan said lightly, unperturbed by the repremand. If he wanted them to go faster, maybe he could help the obviously struggling pair, but Vulcan knew that was unlikely and any 'help' given to them was likely to be something more like a beating and less like a helping hand.
-
The guard sighed and rubbed his temples. He went over to the two struggling mages and grabbed one of each of their shoulders. He muttered under his breath about having to play nurse to cripples then began pushing them a little faster.
102379's muscles twitched where he was being held but was grateful for the help. He tried to move faster so that he wouldn't fall and occasionally flicked his eyes to the other mage. The mage had to remain healthy, it was his orders to look after the mage.
-
Vulcan glanced at the guard and didn't pull away. He was rather surprised to be given any form of help by someone other than 102379, but he could smell the hot, fresh blood in the man. This was going to be interesting. Maybe they'd see how low he was on blood and given him a transfusion, it would help stay the blood lust crazies that would eventually turn him on someone. He didn't really like biting people. He prefered getting his blood from the bloodbank, but around here, someone he doubted it would be that easy.
-
102379's skin and muscles continued to twitch where the guard was pushing him. He kept his head low and tried to control his breathing. He would not be allowed to panic or have a breakdown. The guard had already displayed his dissatisfaction with the other mage and him, he did not want to be any more disobedient. He tried quickenning his step but found that he was already going at his top speed.
They finally made it to the hospital wing. 102379 relaxed wen the hand was removed from his back. He muttered his thanks and waited for his next order.
-
Vulcan raised an eyebrow and leaned against the nearest wall. It wasn't yet part of his nature to fret about disobeying. Generally speaking, he was always disobeying some law. There was no community that really wanted something like him hanging around, whether he actively fed on people or not. They found out what he was and they panicked and turned against him. It would be interesting to see what the people in the hospital were used to seeing, though with his luck, he'd be sent to a wing for experiments once they figured out he had regenerative properties...even if it didn't exactly extend to blood in the sense of what he needed to keep the blood lust at bay. "Now what?" He asked, unperturbed by the situation so far.
-
102379 helped the other mage to the wall. It was his duty to take care of the mage and he would do so until he was issued a conflicting order. He felt guilty about it. Everything that had happened to them in the past week was his fault. He shifted and slowly sank under the weight of the mage. He didn't have the strength for this.
'We wait,' he whispered. 'We do what we are told to do.'
A nurse came over and 102379 cowered slightly before apologising for doing so. She called another nurse over and they began talking to eachother and inspecting the pair of mages. 102379's skin twitched whenever he was touched and he needed to focus to control his breathing. 'I'm sorry,' he muttered when he accidently shifted away from a nurse. She had been going to inspect his face and he had moved his head aside.
OOC: Feel free to create or control NPCs. Make waves. :)
-
One of the nurses came over to examine Vulcan. Admittedly, he didn't look well, but she started checking him over.
Vulcan flinched, but then inhailed deeply. "I need blood." He stated quite plainly, closing his eyes as he felt the red starting to seep into the marigold. He could almost taste her and his mouth was watering. "You need to leave"
The nurse looked up in surprise and then glanced over to her friend. This was a new experience. They hadn't covered this in her training yet.
-
'Stand still, mage. I'm not going to hurt you,' the nurse snapped.
The nurse had finished inspecting 102379's face and was now onto his chest. She moved his shift around so that she could see and started mutterring to the other nurse who frowned. 102379 felt the mage flinch and looked towards him. When the mage said he needed blood 102379 gripped tighter to him. If the mage attacked the nurses he would have to defend them without hurting the mage too badly.
The nurses too looked a bit uncomfortable. 102379 shifted even closer to the mage. He now had his head pressed against the mage's underarm. He opened and closed his mouth with want to speak but without any permission, he wasn't sure what to do.
I will hold you. I will hold you. I will hold you. he repeated the words through his mind. Thinking so forcefully began to shake the fragile bonds holding his mind together. He had no idea if it got through to the other mage. He pulled the mage to him, wrapped his arms until they looped the mage's entire body and gripped his fingers deep into the mage's skin. He hoped it wouldn't cause any pain but the safety of the nurses was more important.
-
"Go, please go" Vulcan whispered. He doubted the mage would be able to hold him if he went into full blown, mind lost, blood lust. He was more animal than human at that point. Sweat broke out over his otherwise waxy skin and he started shivering. "Lock me in a room, let me starve to death, but stay out of reach." The benifit of being wedged under Vulcan's arm was that he couldn't reach anything vital with his teeth, or what teeth he had left. he'd lost a fang from the captain's kicking, but the one remaining fang was still enough to break the skin. He'd lost both fangs and still managed to draw blood, though it was admittedly messier and lots more work.
He flinched. Blood lust was something between a transformation, an addiction withdrawl and starvation. Unpleasant to say the least, but something that was hard to fight as it was imbedded in Vulcan's biology. "A bag of blood like you use for transfusions will prevent a lot of trouble" He was gripping at 102379 with his left hand, his right hand was digging into the wall without him even realizing it. His body was stealing from itself and it hurt, it always hurt, but without attacking someone, he doubted he'd get blood any time soon. Hopefully they'd listen to something he said.
-
102379 whimpered as the mage's nails dug into his skin. The mage was so strong, 102379 wouldn't be able to do anything without being connected to a Mordacai. He could not use his powers to hold the mage down without someone to order him to.
The mage was shaking more than him now. If something didn't happen they were both going to die - 102379 permanently. He pushed on the mage to try and knock him over. Perhaps he could pin the mage down. It was unlikely but worth it. He must do something to protect the humans.
The nurses looked at one another and at the mages. They would have to listen to the creature, whatever it was. Some sort of vampire probably. They left and locked the door and went to their superiors to see about the blood stores.
-
With the nurses and their heartbeats out of the room, Vulcan eased a little, but he was nervous and fidgety and going extremely pale, as if the blood was draining out of him. He shifted fitfully, groaning softly. "Oh please hurry" Vulcan muttered mostly to himself, finally realizing he was probably hurting the mage and releasing him, but wrapping his arms around himself as if he could hold himself together from the outside.
It had been awhile since he'd delt with blood lust like this, but he knew this was really not so bad. He'd been through far worse withdrawls--most of them at the hands of a scientist of some kind or another. Once upon a time, one had thought it was a great idea to create a heroin addiction in a vampire and then abruptly cut him off and leave him locked in a cell with no heroin and no blood other than the other vampire subject and a third roommate. That had been an interesting time indeed.
-
I must not let go, 102379 told himself. The mage was getting worse; he looked sick. If the mage died it would be 102379's fault but he could think of nothing he could do to stop it. The fact that both of them were shaking so much wasn't helping either.
Now that there were no humans around, 102379 could speak. 'I'm sorry,' he said.
'If you wish I could help you to the floor.' He hesitated, unsure of what to say. 'Is there anything I can do for you?'
An idea bubbled up from the frayed depths of 102379's mind. Sometimes Mordacai used names to calm their mages when they misbehaved, maybe it would work with this one. 'Do you have a name? I am mage number 102379.'
Asking a question of a human was forbidden but because the creature wasn't human, it seemed safe. If he had done something wrong he would pay for it later, for now he must protect the mage.
-
"Vulcan" He replied. "Do you have no name other than your number?" He asked, leaning against the wall. Somewhere, there was a bit of fear that he would also be reduced to nothing but a number. Vulcan was about ready to tell the mage to knock him out if he tried anything, but he knew that wouldn't actually work. Vampires were hard to knock out and with the bloodlust in full swing, he was more vampire than human.
He gazed the mage over for a moment. "Don't worry, I wont' die" but other people might, and that was what scared him the most. Death, he did not fear. Pain, he prefered to avoid, but he knew it was temporary for the most part. Killing others and being smothered in guilt-- that was what worried him. He had no desire to take lives in most cases.
-
'I had a name when I was a child. The Mordacai in charge of terraforming called me Zelo. My master does not allow me to use it,' 102379 said. 'Were you always a mage?'
Speaking seemed to be helping for the moment so he must continue. He spoke slowly, careful not to say anything that might be forbidden or upset the mage. 'I have to protect you,' he replied. 'And... I don't want...' 102379 clenched his fists. He wasn't allowed to want things. 'It is my fault you are in pain.'
-
"I still don't consider myself a mage, but if you mean did I always have powers? I don't know. I didn't discover them until I was well into my teens." He paused a moment to gain more control over his mind as he felt it pulling from him. "This pain? No, not your fault. This is part of my life. It would have happened whether you were there or not. I wanted to help you, that's why I stopped." He tried to smile, but it looked unnatural as he smiled so very rarely. "Maybe I need to learn to mind my own business...but then again, I don't like people being forced to spend their lives oppressed by others." He might not have been a mage, but once upon a time, he had been one of the lowest members of society, looked down upon at every turn, scrounging to keep a roof over his sister's head and food enough to live. She was the link in his past he never spoke about. His mother, if asked, he would talk about, but few people knew he ever had a sibling of any kind-- and then there were others who figured he was a nasty vampire and never had a family to start with. Technically, he was not a vampire, he was a Kalicrate, but since he drank blood and it usually needed to be human, vampire was close enough.
-
'Thankyou,' 102379 said. He kept his arms around the other creature - who was not a mage - and tried to bow. 'I deserve my fate though, this is where I must stay. I'm afraid you must live this way too. I'm sorry.'
He felt guilty for what would happen to the other mage. His master had often taken him to see how the mages that were brought in were treated. It was yet another way his master had tried to scare him. Now, 102379 was more afraid of disobedience and his master than of any punishment he could be given.
-
Vulcan simply shook his head. He and 102379 would never agree on what was 'deserved' but he didn't have a chance to say anything. The door opened and a rather young nurse nervously entered. He could taste her fear, but more than that, he could hear, feel and smell her racing heart.
Abruptly, the red ring around his marigold irises flooded and eliminated the marigold and he tried to lunge. She had a blood packet in her hands and whether she handed it over or not, he needed blood in some form and her's was fresh and rich.
-
He must protect the human. He must protect the mage.
102379 let go of the mage and started pounding on his back. He was not physically strong enough to do any damage, all he hoped to do was "wake" the mage from his lusts.
He wanted to ask the nurse for permission to speak but he was forbidden to ask for anything from a human. He couldn't even look pleadingly at her. He kept his head down and tried pulling at the mage - anything to get his attention. He put himself between the mage and the woman; neither must be hurt. He was not allowed to let them get hurt.
The bonds of 102379's mind began shaking again. His fear was pulling at the fragile connections in his mind.
He stopped. This wasn't getting the mage's attention. He looked at his scarred wrists and brought them up to his mouth. He really did not want to do this but he could find no other way. He started biting and scratching himself until a trickle of blood ran into his palm.
He was shaking and would have cowered into the corner if the thought he was allowed. He held his hand up in front of the mage and wafted it in front of him, his eyes closed and quickly filling with tears.
Please. He would not be able to hold his mind intact much longer if the mage didn't help him. His mind was crumbling around him. His fingers were shaking because his mind was losing its battle to take hold of itself.
'Please help me!' his mind screamed. He could not voice it, he must not ask for anything. He must. He must stay sane, he must protect.
-
Vulcan latched onto the offered hand, though the blood was weak and his eyes remained on the girl. 102379's blood would not be enough, he knew that instinctually. He could drain it all, but after him losing so much before, it was simply not rich enough to satisfy him.
The nurse looked about ready to wet herself in terror. She could think of nothing to do but finally fling the packet of warm blood at the vampire and lock the door between them.
The packet hit the floor and spurted slightly, splattering vulcan and the mage.
Vulcan turned from 102379's hand and inhailed the much richer scent of the new blood. He sniffled the air, following the trail of splatters over the mage, licking them off without a thought before he followed the trail across the floor and set to draining the packet. It wasn't enough, but it allowed him to regain something of himself.
"Hey, don't worry about me. I'm a crazy blood-sucking demon creature according to the humans...maybe they'll try to keep me from getting too angry" He reasoned rather breathlessly, trying to suck the blood that coated the inside of the bag while he crawled over. "Stay with me mentally if you're going to stay here bodily" He didn't want to deal with an empty shell. Those drove him nuts. " He caught sight of the wound and the red flickered through the thin ring of marigold that had returned to his eyes. "Here" He tore part of his shirt "Bind your hand....are you alright?"
-
His blood wasn't enough! He was too weak for the mage to even consider him. He was a foul abomination and he couldn't even stop the other mage's blood lust. Disgust of himself filled 102379's mind.
The mage began licking blood off 102379. He stayed perfectly still, too terrified to move as he was sniffed and licked. When the mage was finished 102379's legs buckled and he crumpled to the floor. His breath came sharp as he fought to stop from shrieking and to gain a hold over his mind. He began whimperring and shaking. He had to gain control, he had to protect, he had to obey. He could not obey if he allowed himself to break. The pain and breakage receded and he was able to regain control.
He heard the mage speaking and stared straight up into its eyes. 102379's pupils were dialated so that no colour remained but he was otherwise okay. He accepted the rag given to him and stared at it. He was still shaking too much to tie it. He glanced near the nurse then at the mage. He put his shaking arms out. If the mage was focussed on him then perhaps the woman would escape, probably not but it was worth a try.
-
(She locked the door between them so they are inside and she's outside)
"Oh don't be like that" Vulcan murmured as he reluctantly set the packet aside to bind the hand. "If I hadn't already tried to drain you the last time I went into blood lust, yours would have been more satisfying." Vulcan couldn't help but think it was weird indeed to be disgusted that the 'monster' didn't want to eat you.
"Hey! More blood!" He called through the door, figuring the nurse was probably still standing there on the other side of the door. No one wants to explain to their superiors about something bad happening when they're still terrified.
Returning his attention to 102379's hand, he licked off the excess blood around the bandage. No sense in letting it go to waste. "Alright...I'd prefer if you didn't cut yourself for my sake...once I get going, I can't always stop...infact if she hadn't thrown that bag at me, I wouldn't have been able to." As it was, he still felt rather wild and uncontrolled. "I don't want to hurt anybody, and we have to stick together...and that means I can't eat you." He patted 102379's cheeks with the back of his hand. "How much of your blood did I drink?"
-
OOC: Oops, I thought she locked herself in. My bad.
'I'm sorry,' 102379 murmered. He closed his eyes and hung his head with his arms still out. When the mage shouted for blood 102379 started. The only reason he didn't back away was because the mage had his hand.
'I'm sorry.'
'I'm sorry. I must protect humans. If you attacked someone it would be my duty to defend them.' He cringed when the mage stroked him. He was not used to people caring about him or treating him with anything other than disgust or pity.
'I don't know. Not too much.' He had lost more blood before. His master had always consider it better to keep him weakened, just in case he decided to rebel.
He wanted to ask the mage to feed off him if he could no longer control himself. It was better to kill a mage than a human. 102379 did not live much of a life anyway and would not be missed. He hoped the mage was listening to his thoughts because he had no right to ask anything of anyone.
-
"You don't have to kill yourself to protect them though" Vulcan pointed out, attempting to get the bag open so he could clean the inside of it. He finally just bit it and ripped along one side of it as best he could, though having both of his fangs in his mouth would have been nice. He sighed softly in annoyance as he recalled who had knocked them out.
"Hopefully I won't have to feed off of anyone. It seems like they are starting to understand they can't starve me and have good things happen." He figured if they weren't going to feed him, they wouldn't have bothered to give him any at all. He shrugged "There are other things I can feed on, they don't have to be human exactly. Personally, I enjoy evil war-lords when I have the chance, but those are fairly rare." If he was going to feed off a live person, he prefered it be someone who was not innocent-- as innocent as the average person anyway.
"But I will do my best not to kill the humans...but I generally go for the person with the richest blood...which usually means the one who lost blood least recently, and if I keep feeding off you, that person won't be you." He lifted the mage's bound hand "Here, hold your arm up and keep your fist closed to help stay the blood."
-
'If there is no other way, I must defend people with my life. I am only a mage.'
102379 sat watching the other creature and listening. The thought that the creature would go for humans instead of him was frightening to him. If he could not pretect and obey, he was nothing more than a useless abomination. He had to keep his blood rich but how could he do that? He had never been taught much more than how to obey orders and training.
102379 obeyed the other creature. He had orders, orders he could understand. How could he address the creature? He knew its name was Vulcan but his master had never let him into the position where he would be alone with another mage. Were mages allowed to use names to one another?
'What am I allowed to do?' he finally asked.
-
"As far as I'm concerned, you can do whatever you want" Vulcan said. "Well, let me be more specific. I suppose that's a little broad after having no freedom." He leaned against the wall rather weakly. "Speak to me freely. You can address me by my first name if you wish, if that makes you uncomfortable, 'hey you' will work fine as well." 'hey you' was one of the better things he had been called. "If you feel upto it, you are welcome to speak to my mind-- I will let you approach that if and when you are ready and will try to remember not to break into your head before then unless something dire comes up".
He wanted to pull some sort of escape attempt, but he knew 102379 would never ever go for it, and vulcan didn't want to leave the poor thing behind, not now. "Cutting yourself is only a last resort, temporary solution at best...don't use it unless you have no other way..and I mean really look for other ways." He glanced over "Feel free to ask questions, to say anything you like. You keep calling me a mage, so if we're both mages, we're equals and you don't have to be scared of me...except when I'm a crazy blood sucking thing." He was disgusted with himself for his own reasons. Most creatures shunned him, and honestly, he didn't blame them much, though he often resented them.
"Is that what you wanted to know? Or did I completely fail to answer the question correctly?"
-
In 102379's dishevelled mind, the list of the things he was allowed to do sounded a lot like list of orders, although a lot more kindly put than he was used to.
'Thankyou V-V-Vulcan,' he forced himself to use the mage's name, almost spitting it out from effort. 'You don't need permission to enter my mind, I will protect you. I cannot enter your mind, I don't have the ability.'
He was speaking a lot but Vulcan had let him. It was true though, they were equals. 'Are you healing well?' he asked. Theer was nothing he could do to help the mage heal so unless the medical staff came back, they would have ot sit and wait. He would not feed the mage unless it was important, he would only do it if the mage was about to bite someone.
He went over to the mage... Vulcan and sat next to him. 'I'm sorry for how you have been treated. You may get a kind master who will let you have freedoms.'
-
"I'm healing as well as can be expected, but in time I'll be perfectly recovered." Oddly enough, he did scar, despite his healing abilities.
"Perhaps you're right-- besides, whoever is in charge of this silly program obviously has some guidelines. They didn't approve of your treatment after all." He of course had no intention of letting anyone bolt anything to his head. He would bring down the entire station before he'd allow someone to do that to him.
"How long have you been with that crazy captain of yours anyway?"
-
'I deserved the punishment my master gave me, he only gave it to me because I failed him. I am no longer in his service though, I have failed him again,' 102379 said. On several occasions his master had been reprimanded for some of the more serious punishiments he had been dealt.
'Seven years, before that I worked on terraforming.'
102379 was once again calm - or as calm as he ever was. Hie eyes were back to normal and he had stopped shaking. With nothing else to do he curled up his legs and began playing with the hem of his fhift. There was a loose thread and he began wrapping it around a finger.
'My terraforming masters disapproved of me being used for warfare; I was more useful creating water and cooling the air. They have been outraged at my progress with my master.'
-
Vulcan's eyes wandered over the walls, seemingly aimlessly. "Everyone has their own skills, yours seem to lay with creating things...the water, terraforming, whatever you want to call it, not ...whatever the captain had you doing. " He had a special level of despising for that man. "You can't make someone do something they can't do...like when he had you trying to contain me. I've had a lot of practice getting out of things. I've been alive longer than both of you put together probably" He was likely older than a couple of these 'planets' they were now trying to live on.
"Besides, water against a volcano is a little one sided" Granted enough water could stop the lava flow, but where someone would come up with that much water that quickly was unknown in these ocean-less areas. On the reverse, a little lava could turn quite a bit of water into steam.
"You failed because your master was weak." Vulcan stated, though he doubted the poor abused creature in front of him would agree. "If he'd been strong enough to see your strengths, and use them, you would have done well, but he was too intent on trying to make you be something you weren't." His eyes continued to wander. He would discover a weakness in the station somewhere, and he would exploit it and he would escape...or he would eat any scientist who came near him with a bolt.
-
'I am an elemental; elementals are meant to be powerful attackers. My master wanted you alive so all I could do was try to hold you down or knock you out,' he looked up at te mage when he remembered something. In an appologetic voice he said, 'I sucked the air from your lungs. You don't need to breath.'
'I only used water once. You are just stronger than me. I, I control all four elements as well as enhancing. I should not have failed, I should have controlled the air around you, it would have caused you a lot less pain.' There were a lot of things 102379 would have done differently during the fight. His actions had been flawed and his master had been dismissed because of it. The thought of what would happen when he was sent back to his master filled him with dread. He would take whatever his master gave him.
'I am weak, not my master. My master knows I am weak but he hates my abilities also, with reason. He used me properly, I just failed to obey. I must do better next time.'
-
"You're right, I don't need to breathe. I'm not sure if I'm technically alive by human standards or not. My heart doesn't always beat either." He shrugged.
Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "Hate is a weakness....it's actually a very great weakness" He shifted uncomfortably. "Hateful men cannot do great things...they're too busy hating and spreading evil. It blinds them to good and allows them to do stupider things than they normally would, especially if they are vengeful. If he had just told me to be on my way and not decided he needed to make a trophy out of me, and had not attempted to press you way beyond your limits, things would have turned out much differently."
The door opened and a couple objects came flying in their general direction and two plates of food were dropped unceremoniously on the floor in one swift move as the door shut again, no human becoming visable at any point.
Vulcan whirled into a crouching position, releasing a frighteningly animalistic snarl as one packet hit him and barely managing to catch the other as it nearly hit 102379. More blood. Maybe everyone would live after all.
-
'My master did what he thought was right.' there was truely nothing more he could say really. He had to defend his master, his master was human and Vulcan would have been free if his master ad not acted. As for pushing 102379 beyond his limits, his limits were too small and had once been a lot larger.
102379 didn't even have time to blink before the packet of blood was snatched from the air. He looked at the mage before crawled over to the two plates. He pushed the clean food onto one plate and put food that had fallen on the floor on the other. He licked his hands and carried the food over to Vulcan. He placed the larger, cleaner plate of food in front of Vulcan. He needed more food than 102379 did.
He sat down, this time not as close. Vulcan's reaction had frightened him. 'Are you okay?' he asked.
-
Vulcan drew a deep breath. "It just startled me" He said quietly, trying to bite a hole in the bag a little more gracefully this time. "You don't have fangs do you?" he mumbled from around the blood packet, trying to rip it without wasting any of it. He didn't want to rip it open and split it in half in the process. "I run a lot more off instincts when I'm low on blood, healthy reasoning taking a back seat." He finally pulled the still unopened packet out of his mouth and looked it over with furrowed brow. "They didn't give us knives or forks did they" He mostly stated, but there was a hint of hopeful question-- if Vulcan ever was hopeful.
As he'd gotten older, he'd gotten less pessimistic as he'd learned nothing lasted forever, including torture. He had the ability to out live anyone doing the torturing so it was only a matter of time before guard was let down somewhere, or the building was completely disbanded or destroyed.
He flexed his mechanical hand in thought. He didn't really have confident control over it to use it to rip the bag. "He would have to knock out my fangs" He grumbled, chewing at the corner of the bag. If he could just get the top opened without spilling it, he could suck it right out. Maybe he was shaking too much. Had they drugged him? Now he was parinoid. He hadn't known a compound to be invisible to his higher senses, espeically in blood, but with the way technology had been moving, it wasn't an impossibility.
-
102379 didn't have fangs. In fact, if he hadn't been born a mage he would have been perfectly human.
'No, sorry. Could you use your fire magic to burn a hole in the top? Why would we be given cutlery?'
102379 had never touched a knife or fork since being given to his master. He had always assumed it was because they could be used as weopons. He waited for Vulcan to start eating first, he did not want to seem rude.
The next comment that Vulcan made confused him. Nobody was going to knock out his fangs, unless he was disobedient.
-
"I don't have fire magic, I control the techtonics of planets, so I can use the lava and magma and thermal vents for heat, but up here in space, I can probably heat my body enough to short circit something or another...but I'd probably melt the entire packet." He heaved a frustrated sigh and stuck the packet in his molars, clamped down and pulled slowly until he felt blood enter his mouth. He gulped greedily, trying not to go too fast, but not let any of the blood escape from his lips.
The captain during their scuffle, had knocked out his fangs. They were simply the longest teeth and seemed to be the most weakly attatched-- and the last thing to regenerate.
"eat" Vulcan said past the packet, motioning to 102379
-
102379 picked up a potato from his plate and bit into it. It was burnt on the outside but any food was better than nothing and he was grateful for it.
He enjoyed the feeling of being allowed to communicate and eat as he wished, it was very rare but he had no idea what he was meant to talk about. He would not be able to talk about anything that would upset Vulcan, nor anything that was confidential.
'How long have you been alive for?' it was the best he could come up with, it made him feel foolish so he went back to eating and hoped that Vulcun hadn't noticed.
-
"I don't even know what year it is anymore. I think I was born in....1982? Something like that" Vulcan commented, taking the packet out of his mouth and picking the plastic out of his teeth. "How long have you been alive? And would you happen to know what year it is?" Time passed completely differently for him than it did for 'normal' people.
He reached over and grabbed something off one of the plates. He had to pace himself with the blood. Too much at once and he'd be effectively drunk.
-
OOC: Is there a calendar to RotE?
'I am seventeen, I think. I'm not sure what year it is either, I don't think I've been told. You aren't going to finish the blood?' 102379 asked. Perhaps Vulcan was saving it for later but hopefully the medical staff would give him more.
A knock came to the door and 102379 bolted upright and saluted, expecting someone to enter.
'Is the vampire stable?' ordered a man's voice through the door.
-
OOC: Not that I know of.
Vulcan finished the piece of solid food in his hand-- possibly a potatoe, he wasn't entirely sure-- and washed it down with the rest of the blood. "Don't you worry, I won't let it go to waste." There was still the second packet available to him, but that he tucked into his shirt. He would need it later in the day, but didn't want to down it all right now. He wanted his wits clear.
His eyes shifted to the door a split second before the knock sounded, and then glanced at 102379. "Stable enough for the time being. I won't lunge at anyone." Vulcan casually replied. He seemed to have no concern about talking to anyone in particular. He answered almost all questions in the same tone of voice.
-
102379 continued saluting as the door opened and two men came in, both holding weopons out. He shied over towards Vulcan, immediately regretting it. Showing fear was allowed but backing away or protecting himself was not.
'If you think you can control yourself then you shall be taken to a hospital bed,' said the man who had spoken earlier. The markings on his shoulder told that he was the higher ranking of the two soldiers.
The lower ranking man went over first to 102379 and placed charged handcuffs around his wrists. 102379 knew from experience that making any sudden movements or moving his hands too far apart would cause them to electrocute him and burn his wrists. He put his arms out so that the man could attach them more easily. He then went over to Vulcan.
-
"As long as I continue to recieve blood with my meals, I see no reason why I should be a problem in a hospital bed" Vulcan replied, glancing at 102379. He seemed so young and vulnerable, Vulcan't couldn't help but want to protect him, though why he felt that way towards a person he'd barely met, he couldn't say. Perhaps it was because all of his own friends were dead and society as a whole hated him in general.
He casually looked between the armed men, mentally calculating their firepower, their strength, sniffing out any abnormalities in them. Were they human? Did they have powers? There was a lot he could learn by smell.
-
OOC: Sorry, I should have been more descriptive. I thought you might want to play around with them too :)
Neither man was an officer, nor were they Mordacai so they could not control the mages mentally. They had been trained in how to deal with hostile creatures and had ample weaponry for the task. The guns they were carrying would emit pulses of energy that would burn through organic material only. It was much like how a strong acid can burn through skin, only the pulses would work much faster. They also had gadgets attached to their wrists that would shoot out nets to neutralise the mages (both physically and magically).
Neither man was afraid of the two creatures standing before them. One seemed too terrified and submissive to try anything and they had been told that death was not a permanent thing to the other: they could use any force necessary.
The soldiers' orders had been simple: search and placate the mages, take them to their beds then restrain them to the beds. The senior soldier asked if either of them had any weaponry or anything that could be used as a weapon.
102379 shook his head but was ordered to speak up. 'N-no, sir. Sorry, sir.'
'Look at me when I'm speaking to you!' the higher ranking soldier ordered.
102379 cringed. His master forbid him from looking at anyone; a mage must not look upon his betters. It was a conflict of orders and it made 102379's head feel dizzy. Finally he looked up and cringed away from the freshly shaven face of the soldier. The soldier seemed satisfied with this and went over to Vulcan.
'Do you have anything on you that can be used as a weapon?'
-
Anything could be used as a weapon if one was creative enough, but he checked his pockets even so, not sure if anything might have been added or subtracted from them while he was unconscious for so long. "No, I don't" He replied, looking the man right in the eye. His pockets were empty, that didn't mean he was harmless, but he had no weapon.
Vulcan could finally feel the blood working through his body, color was starting to return and he felt like he actually might be able to stand up without getting overly dizzy.
-
Once the soldier had turned away, 102379's head went straight to his chest and he closed his eyes. He focused on his breathing, he didn't want to upset the soldiers by going into a panic.
The soldier did not like the look in the winged mage's eyes. 'We'll need to search this one. I don't trust him,' he said to his partner.
'Even without weapons I don't think I'd trust him,' said the other. He held the mage in place so that the other soldier could search the creature's clothing.
-
"There's a blood packet in my inner shirt pocket" Vulcan stated "Part of my lunch I haven't finished yet" He shifted to make the searching of his clothes easier. "If you would please avoid puncturing it, I'd appriciate it" Something in his tone suggested that puncturing it and releasing the blood would be a bad idea, though there was no threat there. It was simply a fact of his anatomy. Free flowing blood made him less than controlled, especially when he was in a weakened state, though that was rapidly improving now that he had some level of blood in his system.
There were lumps of what felt like bone near his shoulder blades and many scars of various ages, but there were no weapons, simply his vampire traits, minus the fangs currently, tectonic abilities, wings that were currently retracted into his back and his mechanical hand.
He sure did have a lot of scars for a self-healing mage though, even he didn't understand it.
-
102379 kept his head down and hoped Vulcan would continue cooperating, he didn't want to see the mage get hurt again.
'Okay, they're clean, let's get them out of here.'
A hand grabbed his arm and he startled, drawing in a gasp and flinching at the touch. He began stammering apollogies and soldier snorted in amusement. He was pulled from the room and into the main hospital, where there were two vacant beds for the mages to be strapped to.
The senior soldier was dealing with Vulcan. Now that the weopons check was over, he too would be bound in handcuffs and taken to a hospital bed. 102379 tried to glance behind without turning too much, hoping he could see Vulcan and make sure he was okay. If anything happened to him, he'd somehow have to the protect both the humans and Vulcan.
-
Vulcan hesitated just a little but then held his wrists out to be handcuffed, though in the back of his mind he was wondering what the cuffs would do to his mechanical hand. Not having both hands was a rather new development, so he was still discovering if things caused it any problems or not and it seemed like logically electricity pulsing through cuffs would be a bad thing, but if they were only activated if he tried something, maybe he'd be okay..
He did not resist, besides, if he was leaving, short of letting himself be bolted in the head, he was not leaving any time soon without 102379. He gave the mage a very slight nod of reasurance. He didn't intend to do anything.
-
102379 climbed. He watched the senior soldier with Vulcan, ready to react if anything happenned. He moved his hands away when the soldier went to strap him in. If he was strapped in he would not be able to protect the mage. This unnerved him, either way he would have to do something he doubted he would be allowed to explain his behaviour without breaking a rule. Hopefully they would decide that the handcuffs would be enough.
-
"Is it entirely nessicary to tie us to the beds? We're shackled, locked in a room, on a space station in the middle of nowhere." Vulcan stated. "And it becomes difficult to drink blood while laying on one's back...and without that, we have a problem" Or rather, they had a problem. Rampaging Vampires in a confined space could not be a good thing.
-
The soldier sighed and gave Vulvan a bored look. The mage clearly did not understand how dangerous the situation could get. He spoke to Vulcan in a condescending voice. 'You are in a hospital ward with wounded soldiers, Mordacai and other mages. The other mage is safe but you have already proven to be a hazard. What would happen if you decided to attack?'
-
"As long as I get relatively fresh blood with my meals, that won't be a problem, but if you feel better about it, you can tie me up between meals, he, however is not a threat and is determined to make sure I remain in control of myself, so it might be in your best interest to leave him able to help me if I should need it." If his wings got away from him while he was on his back though, there would be a problem.
-
A nurse came over and loosened the straps put on 102379. The poor starved little thing was looking like he was about to start shrieking and he was pulling at the bonds. It flinched at her touch then muttered an apology for flinching. This must be the one sent over from Captain Kaenos.
'Thank you officers, I will take care of them from here,' she said. 'You, hop into bed and make yourself comfortable. Is there anything I can get you to make your wings more comfortable?'
The soldiers remained. 'I'm sorry ma'am but we have to stay here until that creature is tied down.'
-
Vulcan shifted to make sure he wouldn't hit anyone, but then let his wings unfurl from his back, stretching them a moment before folding them up again and allowing them to sink into his back. "Well, if I have to be restrained on my back, maybe a couple of extra pillows" His wings retracted fairly well, but there were still bony protrusions that could get uncomfortrable on hard services. "But otherwise, not really, unless for some reason, they manage to unfold themselves without me meaning to."
He glanced at the guards, raised an eyebrow at them, looked at the nurse and climbed up into the bed, placed his wrists and ankles willingly in the restraints. The nurse was being polite and simply doing her job. He wouldn't hold it against her for the time being, though later on, he very well might have to go against her wishes.
-
The nurse collected some extra pillows from a trolley and placed them under and around him. She then tightened the straps of the restraints, they were tight enough so that he couldn't move around too much but not so tight that they would cut off any circulation. 'How is that?' she asked.
She then went looking for a clipboard and pen. 'Okay, now that he's restrained you men can leave. I don't want you in the hospital any longer,' she said before brushing a strand of greying hair from her face and turning back to Vulcan. 'I am Nurse Kelley and I will be looking after the two of you until you are committed to service. I will need your name, age, abilities, allergies, weaknesses and any other information that may be useful in treating you. After that I will assess the damage done to you and hand it over to a doctor.'
-
"That's quite a list" Vulcan said thoughtfully "I'm afraid I don't have all that information, but I'll give you what I can" Polite behavior went a long way with Vulcan. If she'd been rude about it, she wouldn't have gotten a word out of him, but because she was treating him as human, he didn't want to get her into trouble. "My name is Vulcan, I'm not sure how old I am" He was much older than he liked to admit to. People started asking too many questions. "Abilities...wings, tectonics, I'm kind of strong I guess" He shrugged as well as he could in the restraints. "I don't really think about it much, so I don't have a list prepared for you...and occasionally, I discover new things." He paused to recall the other portions of her list. "I don't think I have a specific alergy, but sometimes my stomach is rather sensitive, and I have scarring in and on my stomach, so I do my best to avoid vomiting as it's more unpleasant for me than the average citizen." Hopefully, they wouldn't use that against him. He'd read people wrong before, but Kelley didn't seem like someone to play sweet and then assist in torture/experiments.
"I need blood regularly or bad things start happening. Sometimes, old wounds and things start re-opening, like my body is sucking the energy and blood out of past mendings. Also, without blood, if I go long enough, I...lose my mind in a way. My body needs the blood to function properly and without it, it's kind of a withdrawl of sorts. I don't even know what I'm doing at some points-- but that's one of the later stages. Blood with meals and everything will go smoothly" As long as no one tried to put bolts in his head. That was absolutely not going to happen.
"Oh, I have some healing abilities. Normally, if my blood stores are up, my body will heal itself for the most part, and sometimes, if the circumstances are right, I can heal others as well." He flexed his right hand "And that hand is artificial. I ran into a crazy scientist after having a...toxic waste robot monster, or something equally strange, bite it off. He grafted the mechanical hand on to the nerves before my body had a chance to regenerate it...or at least I think it would have regenerated it."
He looked up at her with his goldenrod and scarlet eyes "Did I fail to answer any of those questions properly?"
-
OOC: Wow, that was a good post.
'You are doing well.' The woman wrote notes and ticked boxes off on the clipboard notes then unstrapped the mage. 'Now that the soldiers are gone, you are in my care. I have been told that the other mage is responsible for you. If you do anything wrong it will be on my head, and possibly his,' she said. 'Undress now, I need to take a look at you. Are there any painful or uncomfortable areas? I heard you were skewered.'
102379 shifted uncomfortably, he would have apologised again for harming Vulcan but he was too frightened of being disobedient and speaking out of turn.
-
OOC: Thanks, it helps when my muse shows up...however, it does not help when the website eats my post *kicks it and starts over again* Nor does it help when I get called away every time I attempt to continue writing it. *le sigh*
Vulcan considered it a moment and shrugged "Mostly, I guess I'm just sore, though I'm not entirely sure my wing fully set." he admitted, delaying taking his shirt off for a moment, but his eyes went a bit distant and he peeled it off, revealing a very scarred body.
When he was younger he'd been shot multiple times, simply caught in the crossfire of a gang war, wrong place, wrong time, nothing more. Everyone had been amazed he survived, much less with all of his faculties intact. His body was littered with the scars of the bullets. Several of them had ripped clean through his stomach and out the back-- which was the main reason vomiting was such a pain for him, his stomach was patched back together.
Of course all of this had happened before he realized what he was. He had lived when most people would have died, but he didn't have the ability to heal himself. It seemed his body had gotten better at it as time went on.
"I don't intend to do anything to get the two of you in trouble. You don't hurt me, I don't intend to hurt you...though I do need blood. Without that, I am not so good at controling some reactions. A pint or so with meals usually works once my stores are back up again."
-
She watched him take off his clothes and frowned when his eyes glazed over. She observed his body and scrawled down more notes on the clipboard. 'Will you be needing extra blood for the next few days while your stores are replenished?'
'Hmm, interesting. What is the extent of your regenerative powers? Are they based on the amount of magical energy you control, or how much blood you intake?' The nurse ran over Vulcan's wing with firm, expert fingers. Occasionally pressing on a spot and asking if it hurt or what he felt. There was a strange lump on one of the bones, which probably indicated that the bone had set without being realigned first. Luckily, a healing mage would be able to repair it, otherwise the doctor would have had to re-break and set it again.
When she had finished examining the wing she went on to look at the large scar on his back, there was another scar on the other side in the same position. 'This would be where you were skewered, right? I'm surprised you were able to survive this. How did you get it?' she asked.
On the bed, 102379 whimpered and turned away. He wrapped himself up into a tight ball and was trembling slightly. The nurse turned and frowned at him before turning back to Vulcan, there was something deranged about that mage. 'What's wrong with him?' she asked.
-
"The wing doesn't seem to want to fully extend and it's a little tender there" He admitted when she started pressing around on it.
"Well, I apparently re-grew whatever the stake went through, and I've re-grown my wings a time or two, as well as my fangs" Which he was currently missing. "I'm not sure if I can regenerate a full blown limb or not, I lost my hand, but it was replaced by a mechanical something before I had a chance to see if I could or not." that had not been a fun experience. The scientist had been toying with his nerves just for the fun of it.
"And yes, until my stores are fully restored, extra blood is appriciated."
"Strictly speaking, I didn't survive it." He motioned her closer so he could keep his voice lowered "Well, he was under orders by that insane captain to keep me on the ground, prevent me from escaping...who knows what. The poor fellow was already exhausted physically and ability-wise, and to continue attempting to follow those orders, he did the only thing he could attempt at the time...hold me to the ground with an earthen stake of sorts...he still feels terribly guilty about it, though I bear him no ill-will over the matter. I understand he has no choice but to follow orders." He shrugged "by the time the official people from...here I guess, got there, I was already mostly gone and I died, and then I woke up on this station and here we are now after a rather long, grueling process or two." Running around with no blood just wasn't any fun.
-
'Well, when I've finished my notes the doctor will come have a look at you, along with his healing mage. They should be able to get you fixed right up,' she said.
She gave his hand a glance as she went to examine the other parts of his body. The poor creature may be able to heal himself, but he wasn't very thorough about it.
'Unfortunately, cruelty is common to mages. Personally, I find it a waste. You should be relatively safe here so long as you obey whoever ends up owning you. You don't seem that bad and if you remain that way, I'll put in a good word with some of the medical staff.' She glanced over to 102379 before continuing, 'he'll have to go back to his former Mordacai though.'
She moved in close, making sure the handcuffs were still on beforehand. She frowned as he spoke, giving another glance over to the huddled mage. He had his hands around his head now. No wonder he was such a wreck, what could be going through his mind right now?
'The poor thing. I can send a report to the captain's superior but there is nothing else I can do except heal his wounds.'
-
"Well ma'am, I'm not very keen on the idea of having whatever bolted to my head and being subjected to the stuff that he's been through...especiall y when no one seems to care enough to do anything other than temporarily remove the kid there from the slavery of the captain." Vulcan said plainly. "I don't understand this organization in the least. Perhaps you can shed some light on the matter at some point"
-
'You can put your clothes back on now, everything seems in order. The doctor and his mage should be here shortly to heal you.
'It's okay, the headbanding process doesn't hurt. It's so that you and your Mordacai are in constant mental contact and so you don't use your magic without guidence. What's happened to him is very rare but he is still the property of his Captain,' she explained.
'It is up to a Mordacai how they treat their mage. If they do go too far in their punushments, a Mordacai will be reprimanded but their mage will not be removed from them. If they make their mage useless, they have to live with a useless mage until the mage dies. Sometimes swapping does happen but I can't see anyone wanting this one,' she said before turning to 102379. 'Okay,' she quickly glanced down at another page in her clipboard, 'Zelo. Please stand up now. I have to do your physical.'
She watched as Zelo silently obeyed. He was still holding onto the bed with one hand and still did not look up. He did however flick his eyes towards Vulcan though. 'He really seems to like you, either that or he's frightened of you,' nurse Kelley noted. 'Zelo, please take off your clothes.'
Kelley had been trying to make her voice sound as calm and caring as possible but the mage still behaved like he was about to be whipped. He turned his back on Vulcan and removed the cloak and shift, dropping them to the floor. Zelo kept himself hunched over slightly and tried to cover himself up as though he was ashamed of all his wounds.
On his left shoulder going across to much of his upper back was a brand mark. It looked like it had been repeatedly burned into his back. It was Captain Kaenos's Medical Identification Code, the Mordacai must have branded his mage in some strange attempt to placate him. She went over to have a closer look. He flinched as she held his other shoulder so that she could get a better look.
'What was he like before he was forced to hold you down? Did you see anything of him or his behaviour?' she asked Vulcan.
-
"Physically, it might be painless, but for everything else, it's cripling. Do you know what it's like to have someone in your head constantly? I'm surprised more of your mages don't turn out cracked." He'd been mindlinked once upon a time himself. It had been accidental, but it was a completely different relationship. They'd been..well, strangers at first, but they'd become friends, but they had been on equal footing. There was no slave and master standing..and in all honesty, having powers like a warlock on top of his 'vampire' powers had been quite nice.
"He was standing out in the sun, getting dehydrated and overheated while the captain did whatever it was he was doing inside. He was afraid to talk to me, afraid to take a drink of water, even though it was obvious he needed it." He looked up at Nurse Kelley. "That's how this whole thing started. I tried to give him a drink of water. I don't feel that I deserve to be enslaved for offering a drink of water to a suffering being."
"He is more scared of that captain than he is of even death and dismemberment. He was willing to fall right out of the sky like a rock in his attempt to follow orders. He's convinced he has no value at all, not even as a mage. I don't think I've ever seen him at full strength. I don't know what he's actually capable of, I'm not sure he knows what he's actually capable of." Vulcan admitted, adjusting the shirt against his wing lumps.
"Mostly, he's scared to displease anyone. He has to be perfect all the time or that beast uses their mind link to cause Zelo enough pain to have him writhing on the ground and bleeding through his mucus membranes. His eyes were filled with blood..." The imagine was clear in his mind and quite possibly in Nurse Kelley's as well if she did not have a block of some kind on her mind. "Even now, just the simpliest touch to his mind, gentle or otherwise sends him into this...panic."
-
'You're right, I don't know but the mages rarely complain about it. Being connected to a Mordacai can be good, the Mordacai usually see them as human a bit more when they see how a person thinks and feels. It makes them realise just how similar they are in many cases.
'Zelo shouldn't be treated like that but that's not why you've been taken in. You have magic powers and in our eyes, that makes you a mage. I like to think of mages as human but having a gift like yours or his can be dangerous, just like having a gun can be dangerous. If either of you were to attack right now, you could destroy the whole station,' she said. She accidentally brushed Zelo's back and he stepped forward to get away. He stammered out an apology. 'Shh, shh. Easy. Nobody's going to hurt you.'
Kelley noticed Vulcan moving his wing, 'would you like me to get you something for the pain?'
Nurse Kelley continued listenning and shuddered when she caught the image of Zelo huddled to the ground, bleeding from several points across his head. Unfortunately, Zelo seemed to picture it too and crumpled to the floor with his hands over his temples. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' He started shaking and put his head to the floor in the way that made him look like he was preparing to be kicked.
Nurse Kelley put her hand on his un-scarred shoulder and started whisperring to him, telling him that he hadn't done anything wrong, that she wasn't going to hurt him. 'Don't do that again,' she said as she looked up at Vulcan, 'Can you help me? What do you do when he gets like this? How long does it normally last?'
-
"With that logic, all your mordacai, should be linked up to anyone with a weapon of any sort." He pointed out rather dryly.
"No, thank you. I'm fine" Vulcan assured, stretching one last time before he settled down on the floor in front of Zelo. "Mostly nothing" Vulcan admitted with a shrug. He talked, but that didn't seem like doing much to him. "Alright, you don't have to appologise for being beaten half to death." He gently placed a hand over one of Zelo's hands, trying to descretely draw the focus of his mind to something else without actually touching the mind or making it obvious he was using powers. He glanced up at the nurse "Usually not too long...at least not this severe stuff. He's always a little...jumpy"
-
OOC: When I say 102379, 102379 is the narrator, when I say Zelo, it is Nurse Kelly.
Zelo moved his hand away from where Vulcan touched it. 'I'm sorry, Sir,' he muttered. He was still shaking and he kept his head low. It was a good thing he was able to speak still. She had been worried that he might be a mute or be totally defective after what had happenned to him.
'I need you to stand up. I need to do your physical and I can't do it with you crouching on the floor.'
Zelo pushed himself to his feet, still not removing his head from his chest and not looking at anyone. She tried to help him but he flinched each time. She gently lifted his head so that she could see his face clearly. He might not be cowerring on the floor shaking but his face was still pulled into a frightened grimace. His eyes kept flicking over to Vulcan too.
'I'm sorry,' he said to Vulcan. He tried to cover himself up again, tried to hide God knows what from them. Nurse kelley was getting slightly frustrated with the mage.
'Look, Zelo. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help you and I need to look at your wounds so they can be healed.'
The mage nodded and dropped his arms. His stomach was covered in giant bruises, probably where he had been kicked while lying on the floor. All over him were various scars, scabs and burn marks.
'Do you know how much of this was sustained during you fight?' Kelley asked Vulcan.
-
"I would have expected him to break a limb falling to the ground with me as he did, but I think he came out of that alright...He did burn his hands pretty badly, partly my fault, mostly the captain's." He had provided the heat source, the captain had forced the mage to touch it. "And..." He closed his eyes, trying to see the fight in his mind. He'd been dead between the fight and now, it was harder to simply pull the memories right to the front of his mind sometimes, or at least the details. "The captain...he was cutting me." He ran his hand down to his lowerback "Hacking away at my spinal cord and cutting the kid's arms in the process" He opened his eyes "I think other than that, they're the result of abuse rather than fighting."
Vulcan was attempting to turn and look at his back. He hadn't seen it in awhile, and while it apparently worked, he was curious about the damage done to it.
-
Nurse Kelley lifted Zelo's arms and examined the scars - or one scar rather. Most of the way up his arms were just one large scar. It looked newly healed but there was very little muscle under them. He turned his head away so that it was pressed against his shoulder, facing downwards. He must have thought he'd done something wrong because it jerked back into position. He opened his mouth to apologise but nothing came out. 'Stop squirming, I promise I'm not going to hurt you,' she said in an exasperated tone.
She rubbed her fingers across where the bones were to check for breaks, there were two in his left forearm and he let out a little squeak when she touched them. She wrote down everything as she went.
The nurse let go of Zelo and turned to Vulcan. 'That's disgusting. And against regulations. Did you want me to tell the doctor you need an x-ray or MRI to check for any unseen damage. In fact, after this I may just check your motor control.
'Your back seems fine though; there are large scars down your back but I didn't see anything wrong with the spine. I assumed they were old scars because they have healed quite well. Have you attempted to heal him as well? If he faired as badly as you say he had, his arms should be in shreds by now. To you have any reserves of power left after all this? Do you know if he does?'
'Oh, and another thing, I noticed fang marks on his neck. How much blood did you remove from him?' she asked. Zelo automatically turned his head slightly to try and cover the bite marks.
-
"I did try to heal him, I could probably try again...it might not be very strong healing, but I've probably got some in there since I've fed recently" He glanced up at Zelo. "Oh..um...There were kind of extenuating circumstances at the time, and I wasn't entirely in my right mind-- but I didn't drain him....but probably more than a pint, but less than two" Definately survivable, though enough to make a person lightheaded upon standing and perhaps a little weak.
"I rather doubt he has many reserves left, but I could be wrong, but even if he does have reserves, I don't think he's mentally stable enough right now to use them" Zelo seemed quite near cracked in vulcan's opinion, though that of course wouldn't stop him from befriending the mage. Vulcan had a tendancy to befriend odd and needy beings-- after all 'normal' ones thought him a monster most of the time.
Vulcan shrugged "If you want to test my motor skills, fine, if it makes you feel better, but I don't think all of those tests are nessicary" and he wasn't entirely sure putting him though those machines wouldn't break them. After all, he controlled elements of the earth, melted rock, moving plates. Wasn't there a magnetic force within that somewhere? Not to mention the metalic minerals. If either of those were strong within his own body, he'd probably break the machines and then they'd be mad at him-- but it was simply a thought, not a theory, not proven, not even tested, so he wouldn't argue.
-
'No, I don't want you healing him. You will need the ability for yourself, in fact, if you aren't already doing so I would appreciate it if you do it now,' she said. If his reserves were running low, he would be less likely to use any magical attacks later. 'A healing mage will take care of Zelo.'
Nurse Kelley nodded and went back to examining Zelo as she spoke, 'very well. As horrid as it is to think of anyone forced to this condition, at least he won't be considered fit for service for quite a while. His mental state will probably keep him safe in the medical wing.' Hopefully the thought of being away from his master would cheer the little mage up.
She found no more new breaks or wounds on Zelo's body but she was concerned about his stomach. The bruises looked deep so there was a possibility of internal damage. She had no choice, she would have to get Zelo to talk for himself on this matter. 'Zelo, I want you to speak loud and clearly. I have to ask you a few questions, okay?'
The mage nodded, paused then spoke, 'yes, Ma'am.'
She asked her questions and he spoke in a halting, hesitant voice. Each time he spoke he acted like he was going to be beaten for it. The poor creature was giving her a migraine so she rubbed her temples. She kept asking him to stop flinching but it only ever lasted a short time before he would start cowering again. Finally irritation got the best of her. 'Stop that. I order you to stop flinching and cowering.'
Zelo stood perfectly still, his eyes on his chest and his back completely rigid. Kelley immediately regretted ordering him to do something. She put her hand out to try and comfort him and apologising to him. She tried to get him to make eye contact so that he could see that she was concerned for him but he just didn't seem able to do it, in fact, he didn't even seem able to set his eyes upon any part of her.
'Oh dear. Do you know what to do Vulcan?' she asked. Hopefully using his name would calm Zelo down. She didn't want him going into another panic.
-
Vulcan just kind of shrugged at the request to heal himself. It was mostly an automatic thing. Healing others was what took concentration and extra work. Self-healing was just part of his anatomy it seemed to him, but he wasn't going to argue about it. If it made her happier to think he was working to heal himself, he'd do that.
He watched silently, but intensely as she interacted with Zelo, his eyes slowly narrowing as he observed the two attitudes. Kelley growing irritated and Zelo fearful. He rose from his place and came over. "Soft tones. He doesn't need to be bossed around. His boss beats him. No good memories there." He settled onto the floor beside Zelo's feet. "Hey kid, you want to have a seat with me?" He asked almost lazily, but gently. "We can have a little chat, or just sit if you'd rather" Did he know what to do? No, not really. Would he try? Of course. "It'd make me feel better if you'd sit with me" Maybe spinning it that way would convince him. "Nurse Kelley won't mind if you sit."
-
Nurse Kelley watched Zelo's eyes flick over to Vulcan. The mage didn't move. He stood there looking at Vulcan, obviously wanting to sit. She guessed that without permission, he couldn't do it. 'Zelo,' she said, 'you can sit if you want. I'm just going to drop in these notes off to the doctor and I'll be back.'
She would have locked them back in their beds but she doubted that the two mages could go anywhere with Zelo in such a condition. The hospital was the safest place for him right now so hopefully Vulcan could understand that.
She rubbed his hair in an affectionate manner and he didn't flinch, that was probably because he had been ordered not to. Kelley wondered if she should retract her order to stop him flinching, or if he would even be able to relax afterwards.
-
"Would you rather I stand with you?" Vulcan asked, shifting his legs as if he were perparing to get himself up off the ground, though he took this opportunity to stretch his wings also. They would be closed again the moment anyone entered the hall, but he could stretch them a little in the meantime. They were sore and one was still a little on the crooked side where it hadn't quite set right. The healing mage perhaps could fix it, or it would correct itself over time with his own healing powers, but either way, he doubted it would last.
"I do think she was trying to help you somewhat and simply got frustrated. She probably doesn't meet many mages who are so used to being treated badly that they're scared of her. Personally, I don't think she's so scary looking, for working in a place like this, she seems downright nice. I think if we try to cooperate with her, she'll try to make sure we don't get hurt unnessicarily." But there was no way they were bolting that thing to his head. If he were a normal mortal, it would be bad, but it wouldn't be quite so bad as if he couldn't die. He'd be a slave for possibly the rest of time.
-
102379 literally flopped to the floor. He didn't even bother to curl up or right himself for fear he might be doing something wrong. He listened to Vulcan talk and nodded. He couldn't think of anything to say so he just sat in a heap on the floor, staring at the ground. Eventually he lifted his head to look at Vulcan but still did not say anything. He was having trouble on coming up with words or anything to say so he just sat there frowning.
-
"We'll be alright. You seem to have adapted to this life already. Do you ever think about leaving it?" He was rather curious to see how far the brain washing went. Normal brain fuction would demand escaping at least once in a while, but he didn't see that desire within Zelo.
Vulcan gently touched his shoulder "Do you hurt anywhere?" He wasn't sure he trusted these 'healing mages' completely. For all he knew, they would mess with his insides and disable him somehow, but that was just his grumpy, suspicious nature poking through again. Oddly enough, he'd been far worse about being grumpy and suspicious when he was younger, improving with time rather than the other way around as was typical. Old men became grumpy and cynical. Young men were often stupidly trusting, at least in some things.
-
102379 shook his head. He'd never thought about leaving, even as a child. It was what he deserved and it was up to humans as to what to do with him. All he had to to was obey.
102379 had been ordered not to flinch so he didn't even move when Vulcan touched him. He opened his mouth to speak and waited for the words to come out, 's-stomach, mind, arm.' He looked at Vulcan's scar again and then at all the other wounds he had received in the fight. 'And you?' he asked. He wasn't entirely sure if he should be talking but Vulcan seemed to want to.
-
"My wing is a bit off, but nothing too serious" Vulcan said lightly, leaving his hand on Zelo's shoulder and trying to shuttle the healing powers through the younger boy at at least numb the pain for awhile if he couldn't fix it. He was breaking rules, but then, breaking rules was usually what he did.
What attention wasn't focused on the mage, was focused on the hall, listening for noises, any indication that someone was coming. A footfall, a scent, a vibration.
-
102379 could feel his stomach healing itself. It wasn't right, he shouldn't be healed. He couldn't move away either. He had to accept whatever was given to him. 'I not,' he said. 'No. I don't deserve.' Having a hand on his shoulder was making him uncomfortable. He was scared of what he didn't understand and he didn't understand affection.
-
"Few of us deserve anything at all, but it's better to give a little here and there and make life at least bearable for a moment or two." Vulcan stated. "You simply do as you're told, you're probably more innocent than anyone else in this entire building" Fear was something Vulcan understood, but he and 102379 delt with it in two completely different ways. Vulcan locked it off, pretended it wasn't there, that he wasn't scared, or simply refused to deal with it. It seemed 102379 froze up and cowered. Vulcan did not have that luxury in life. He'd been on his own without friends, master or family-- it was up to him entirely to handle whatever came his way. Freezing was not an option.
-
102379 shook his head. He could not pull away, he would not pull away. He must accept what was given to him. He had no right to ask Vulcan to stop but letting himself be healed was disobedience. He was not allowed to be healed without permission. He was being disobedient. This was bad, very bad.
As the wounds on and in his stomach healed, 102379 gave out a whimper and put his head in his hands. 'I'm sorry. can't,' he muttered into his hands. As the healing started going to older, less important wounds 102379 started to fight the healing. He should not be healed and he should not ask Vulcan to stop. He would accept any punishment later if he had done the wrong thing but at least he would be staying loyal.
-
Vulcan sank into his mind a moment, closing his eyes and feeling 102379 though the healing process. He sighed and backed off. Physical healing wouldn't help much if the kid forever felt guilty for it, or it caused him any more mental torment. The kid had more than enough torment of all sorts.
"Alright, fine" He murmured, settling back, trying to stretch his wings again. He was half tempted to break the wing, reset it and heal it on his own before the healing mages showed up, but the idea of purposely breaking his own wing just seemed unappealing to him.
"You know, the healing mages will come fix you up anyway" It wasn't like he could go on being his crushed little person forever.
-
'I'm sorry,' he said. He nodded at the mention of the healing mages. There was nothing he could do about them, he would have to take their healing because the healing had been ordered by a human. Vulcan on the other hand was a mage and 102379 had not been ordered to be healed.
102379 was not used to such kindness, he had been with his master for seven years. Seven years of conditioning would take time to overcome. Kindness would take time to get used to and understand. He hoped Vulcan would be around for then, if it happened.
-
Vulcan seemed to mentally wander off into his own little world, his eyes intense and focused on some unknown thing far beyond the room in which they were confined. Kindness was indeed something to get used to. He'd known what it was like to be treated like trash by everything around you, then he'd learned to trust people eventually, only to outlive them all by a very large margin.
An unknown female flickered briefly though his mind, a bitter, sad tenderness accompanying it before the eyes of the female were suddenly vacant and dead a split second before the image vanished all together from his mind, replaced by a montage of bloody murders and a heart of anguish slowly turning to stone. It was how it had all started really. It had set him down the path that had brought him to this place
-
OOC: ooh interesting. I can't wait to see what he was thinking about.
Nurse Kelley came back, followed by a timid looking nurse who practically hid behind Kelley. 'Oh, stop it. They're not going to hurt you,' Kelley snapped. 'Look. He's been fed so he's not going to attack people willy-nilly. Are you?' Kelley glared down at Vulcan and Zelo. Really, today was getting more tedious by the moment.
'Okay you two. The doctor won't be able to see you today. In the mean time, I have to wash you both and get you changed into something cleaner: namely, patient garbs. if you do try to run away, everyone will know where you are supposed to be.'
She looked at Zelo, who was getting very uncomfortable. He was not flinching or cowering but his breath was becoming ragged. She gave him a (slightly forced) smile and sighed. 'I'm sorry Zelo. I'm not angry with you or your friend. It's been a rough day and the younger nurses,' she shot a look at the lady behind her, 'are not helping one bit.
'Arkifa happens to be one of the ones who came to see you earlier and now she's terrified she's going to be turned into a vampire. Can you please reassure her Vulcan?'
-
The images in Vulcan's mind stopped as the steps sounded beyond the door. He looked up mildly as they entered, listening to Nurse Kelley's words and giving a mute nod to acknowledge he was listening while he watched Zelo for a moment.
As he was addressed, he looked up to the terrified young nurse. It probably wouldn't help to know he had only turned two people in his entire life. The rest of them had simply died when he took it too far. "I appologize for my abhorrent behavior previously. I was not in my right mind. I have no intention of harming you." He glanced at Nurse Kelley. There was still that clause of blood in place. No blood, he could not be held to his promises.
The thought of that girl lingered in the back of his mind though. He tried not to let himself think of her ever really, but something would trigger a memory and shuttle it right back into his mind.
-
'See Arkifa. If you're that scared you can wash Zelo instead, just be gentle with him and try not to yell. He's been mistreated and is very scared,' she said, her voice still crisp with irritation. 'Vulcan, you're with me.'
She watched as Zelo bowed to the younger nurse. The younger nurse glanced at Kelley then looked back, 'er, thank you. You don't have to bow like that.' Young nurses, they always seemed out of place at the first sign of something out of the ordinary. 'Just hop up and I'll take you to the washroom.'
Zelo rose but kept his head low, following as though he was being pulled by an invisiable lead.
'Right, you're turn,' said Nure Kelley.
-
"Is there any particular reason I cannot bathe myself?" Vulcan asked, though unargumentitively even as he prepared to follow where she lead.
His eyes followed Zelo as the nurse let him away. Hopefully she would be reasonably patient. He had long realized the mage required a lot of patience.
-
'No there isn't. It's just that most people in here are more wounded than you. It is policy to have someone with you so that you don't try anything,' she said. Nurse Kelley doubted he would try anything but with everything that had happened so far today, she was not going to take any chances.
She noticed that Vulcan was looking at the mage again. The two were strangely close for having only just met. 'Don't worry, we'll be in the same wash-room. He'll be in a cubicle near us and I'm sure Arkifa will scream if anything happens.
'Before we go though, I want to talk to you about Zelo's master. He was in here over a week ago with severe burns and the psychic mages were picking up on his anger. He plans to claim you as his own. Unless he is demoted you will probably be his from the time you leave the hospital.
'I have asked some of the doctors if they will take you in instead but it doesn't look good. In the next few days you will be tested for your abilities,' she said. 'Zelo is NOT to know about this. From what I have seen, it will be hard enough when he goes back, let alone finding out that you might be in the same situation.'
Nurse Kelley ushered Vulcan ahead of him and went off to the wash-rooms where Arkifa was already washing down Zelo. He had his back to Arkifa and had his eyes clenched tight. Every now and then he would make frightened noises and Arkifa would back off. When this happened Zelo would stammer an apology and go back to normal then Arkifa would go back to cleaning him.
-
Vulcan had questions. He did not particularly fear the captain, but he was not eager to be a slave either. He let Nurse Kelley go. He'd try to ask her later, for now, it looked like he was set to bathe himself, which he definately prefered. He didn't much like people touching him in such ways if it wasn't absolutely nessicary.
Chances were, he'd outlive the captain, but what did that mean? Would he be freed? disposed of? Handed off to someone else? But how to ask without making it obvious he was long lived, possibly immortal? That was the difficult part, but maybe just asking since the mages seemed to be younger than the captain, it wouldn't seem so weird.
"Ma'am? When you have a moment, I do have some things I'd like to ask you" He said as he scrubbed himself down as best he could.
-
What did Vulcan want to ask about? Was there really that much he needed to know? Nurse Kelley nodded and got a sponge, which she was technically meant to be using on Vulcan, and handed it to him. She then unlocked one of the many closets around the hospital and removed two towels and two sets of green garbs. They had buttons at the back and loose, elbow-length sleeves.
'Keep it quick. Arkifa, you've been a nurse here for three years now. If you can't handle washing dried blood out of a patient's hair then maybe you should just go,' said Nurse Kelley.
'It's not that. He started bleeding. There's scabs around his bolts and I think I scratched the surface,' she said. When she said this sank to the floor and apologised, as though it was his fault he was bleeding.
'Arkifa, just go.' Nurse Kelley sighed and sat next to Zelo. She moved his hair around and used the towel to dab the little scratch. It wasn't as near as bad as what Arkifa made it out to be, she shouldn't have scared Zelo like that. 'It's okay Zelo, it's not your fault. It's just a little scratch, it wont bleed for long. Please stop stressing, you haven't done anything wrong and I'm not angry with you.'
In fact she was irritated with him but it wouldn't do well to have him know that. It wasn't his fault he was like this, it was his Mordacai's.
-
Vulcan was watching the blood curiously. It seemed now was not the time for questions, particularly as Zelo would quite likely be upset by the things he intended to ask.
He began scrubbing himself down. For all the times he had been absolutely filthy due to lack of cleaning facilities, he actually cleaned himself quite thoughly-- possibly better than the nurses would have been able to, but then, he knew exactly how much pressure could be used without causing himself any serious bodily harm, though his skin was oddly pinkish once he was done, but that would fade shortly to his normal shade of pale.
-
Nurse Kelley did not notice that Vulcan was watching the blood, her entire attention was on Zelo. This was why they had needed two nurses. She could not keep a good watch on Vulcan while babying Zelo, who seemed to need a lot of attention. If anything bad happened, at least she would able to order him to sit still while she focussed on more important things. She hoped it wouldn't come to that though.
'Vulcan, there is a towel behind me and a garb. When you're dry I'll button you up,' she said. Her voice left no room for argument. Just because she was showing compassion to the two mages, did not mean she was going to accept any silliness.
She finished washing Zelo, which involved too many apologies for her liking, then dried and dressed him. 'Zelo, I'm just going to look after Vulcan now. Do you think you could sit down on the chair over there?' she asked while pointing across the room. Zelo nodded and sat down.
-
Vulcan finished scrubbing and complied, allowing her to button him up mostly because he figured she needed to feel like she was still doing her job. "What happens when a mage outlives a Mordicai?" He asked softly. Surely it would happen eventually. Mages could possibly be quite young while the Mordicai with his experience, could potentually be quite a bit more mature.
-
Nurse Kelley gave Vulcan a quick inspection to make sure he was properly clean and dry. She guessed where this was going, he was referring to himself. 'You'll get reassigned,' she said as the did up the back of the loose fitting garb, 'or if it is found to be your fault you'll be punished and perhaps sent to TRIM or military research.'
-
TRIM was probably quite like the place where he'd gotten his hand replaced. He flexed it unconsciously. "What if a mage is no longer found to have powers?" They were enslaved because they were useful and concieved to be a threat due to their abilities, logically, if they were used up, they would no longer be a threat.
-
Nurse Kelley paused for thought. She wasn't entirely sure what happened to "reformed" mages. 'I'm afraid that's not my area of expertise. I guess they could be sent to TRIM. I don't think many people would consider them fully human so I doubt they'd be trusted,' she said eventually. 'Was there anything else?'
She should have been getting the pair back to their beds so they could rest and she could get back to other patients.
-
"Oh there are always more questions to be asked, though I believe at the moment, I only have one more." Vulcan stated. "Suppose someone frames a human as a mage? Projects powers onto them, making it seem as though they are a mage when they actually are not? Would that make a difference? Or would the people in charge of this slave market not care that they had a false mage, and simply use them for something else?"
-
'Yes, it would. Or at least I would hope so. If that were the case, we have psychic mages that would be able to delve into the human's mind to see if they really are human or not. Why do you ask?' she said. The question had been a strange one. She had not been expecting anything like that; she wasn't entirely sure if there were mages that could project their abilities. There had been a side note on Zelo's chart that he could enhance other's abilities but it didn't go into any more depth than that.
'Okay Zelo, come over here please. I'm going to take the both of you back to your beds. Vulcan, please drink that blood transfusion so I can get you a fresh one. It's going to turn to jelly.'
-
Vulcan wrinkled his nose in what might be called a playful guesture "Mm, Jelly" He said, though the thought of trying to drink coagulated blood repulsed him somewhat. He'd forgotten about the packet actually until then, but he picked it up, worked it open with some effort and drank it easily, running his tongue over his fang-less teeth. "Maybe your healing mages can help me after all" He stated, tilting his head to let his broken and missing fangs be seen. "Blood packets are so much easier to open with those." He trailed along obediently towards their beds, thoughts of coffins and mortuaries running through his mind at the irony of the situation.
-
Nurse Kelley raised an eyebrow. It was good to see that Vulcan had a sense of humour. 'You could have been waiting until it was extra sold so you could eat it with a spoon, how would I have known?' she asked. 'They will be healing you and I never said you had a choice.'
He would have to understand that just because she was being lenient, her and the rest of the medical staff were not going to shirk their responsibilities. When the time came he would be healed, tested and have a headband attached to his brain. 'I will come to check up on you at the end of each of my rounds, which is about every two hours,' she said before drawing the blinds around their beds.
-
Vulcan's eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not reply to her statement about him not having a choice. Chances were, most of his body would be healed of its own accord by the time they got around to him, but his fangs always seemed to take forever to regenerate.
He settled down onto his bed and took a deep breath. Perhaps he had enough control over his mind to shut off the powers within. He'd have to try. There was no way anything was being bolted to his head, though chances were, even if they tried it, it wouldn't work properly for long. There were too many things his body would withstand that metals could not.
-
102379 was sitting at the head of the bed, staring at his hands. The new scars had covered his brand so that it no longer showed at all. When he was healed would it still remain? He hoped it would. His master had given it to him because it marked him as his master's property.
-
Vulcan glanced over at Zelo. He liked thinking of him with a name rather than as a series of numbers. It felt better somehow. "What's wrong?" Vulcan finally asked from his position mostly flat on his back, though he had an odd arch to his posture to keep the pressure off his wings. He hadn't yet found a good way to lay with them revealed, but with the one being crooked, he couldn't easily absorb them either.
-
102379 looked up, feeling slightly puzzled. 'Nothing, did I do something wrong?' he asked.
Perhaps he was mean to be laying down. He always felt safer when he was curled up though. He straightened his legs over the covers but remained sitting up.
-
"No, you did nothing wrong as far as I'm concerned, you merely looked like perhaps your throughts were causing you some distress" Vulcan stated, glancing at the door and then sitting up himself. If the intended to strap him down on his back, he'd never get any rest at all.
-
102379 thought before replying. He shouldn't lie but he didn't want to upset Vulcan either, either way he would be doing something wrong. It was shameful that he'd even had the brand and that he had let it disappear. His master was going to be furious. Finally he said, 'I can't see my brand. The other, the other scars are covering it. I should not have let this happen.'
-
Vulcan nodded thoughtfully "Well, perhaps the healing mages can fix that" Vulcan gazed solomly at the scars. He knew he'd caused them "But really, you were following his orders when the other scars appeared, so it's not as if you intentually obscured the brand." He didn't personally understand wanting to be branded as property, but he was accepting that he didn't really understand Zelo very well at all anyway.
"Do you remember what the brand looked like?"
-
102379 nodded. It was better to have scars than go against an order. It just meant that when he was sent back, he would have to be rebranded. Perhaps his master would have him to it himself.
'Yes. I don't know what it says though,' said 102379. It was the first time any of his masters had deliberately harmed him. The experience wasn't something he liked remeberring. He'd only been ten years old and hadn't understood why he had to be hurt all the time. His master hadn't liked it when he cried.
-
Vulcan nodded thoughtfully. If it really came down to it, Vulcan could probably re-brand Zelo, copying the mark off a memory. "Do you remember what it was like before you lived with your master? How old were you when he took charge of you?" It seemed the older he got, the more questions he had.
-
'I wasn't as weak and I was more obedient. My team's master didn't find as much to punish me for and he only ever yelled. I. I was happy,' he said. The last part made him uncomfortable and he had to stop himself from pulling his legs back up. 'I was ten.'
-
Vulcan nodded thoughtfully "I was ten once" He said softly. That was a long time ago, before the incident with the girl that had shown up in his memory. "I spent a lot of time hiding and trying to stay out of the way." And protect his sister, but mentioning her would mean remembering and possibly answering questions. He almost smiled "Maybe I should have continued using those skills, hmm?"
-
102379 nodded, grateful that that Vulcan had changed the subject. 'What did you hide from? Did they have Mordecai there too?' he asked. As far as he knew, the only people that didn't have Mordecai was on Earth. He'd been in battles against them and they let their mages work amongst them like humans. 'Where did you live?'
-
Vulcan slipped off his bed and took a seat on the edge of Zelo's. "I lived on earth a very long time ago, back when it was still a living planet." Vulcan admitted "I hid from my mother and her friends. The abused various substances and were...not always kind towards us children, so we just stayed out of the way as best we could, wander the neighborhood until it was too dark to stay out another minute, then we'd sneak in and try to get upstairs without being seen, and hope none of them had taken over our room...that happened more than once. Come home to some drunk, strung out freak sprawled asleep in our room...more often than not, bodily fluids everywhere." Vulcan rolled his eyes. "Then one day, my Mother just never came home." He shrugged "I don't really remember being sad that she was gone, but they took the house, so life got more difficult very quickly, but I think for the most part, it was better, for me anyway."
-
'Were you a free mage then too?' he asked. He shifted closer to the head of the bed and finally gave in to curling his legs up when Vulcan came over. He wrapped his arms around his legs and looked down past his knees. 'What was your mother like?' he finally asked. He'd never had a mother, at least one that he could remember. He shook his head. he should not be thinking about this sort of thing. He was a mage and there should be nothing in his life other than obeying his master.
-
"At the time, I didn't know I was a 'mage' as you put it. I'd never had any powers, nothing weird ever happened related to the things I can do now, but yes, I suppose I was technically free. I had no master." Vulcan hesitated at the next question though "She was only my mother because I was expelled from her womb, I do believe that was as far as the link actually went. She was selfish and chose to continue her lifestyle rather than take care of her children...in some ways, she was probably like your master. She'd hit me sometimes, but usually it was her friends that hit me...she just didn't stop them from doing it." Vulcan explained softly, his hard eyes looking somehow vulnerable for a split second. He shrugged "Would you rather hear what a "real" mother is like?" He could borrow Duke's stories about his mother. Vulcan used to find himself a little envious of Duke and his sister for their parents, but in the end, they'd all ended up in the same place, on their own, trying to scrounge for food, so it seemed no matter how good your parents were, you could still end up screwed over.
-
'I-I'm sorry, Sir' he said while bowing his head. He felt guilty about bringing it up. He hadn't realised that mothers could be bad. 'No, thankyou. I'll listen to anything you wish to talk about. I'm sorry. I should have thought before asking.'
-
"It's not your fault" Vulcan assured "I had a friend once, he used to talk about his parents. They both died, but they loved him and his sister and wanted the best for them" He liked to think about how things could have been different sometimes, and then others, he knew it really wasn't worth it to dream so big. "They'd go for walks in the park, fly kites, go on family trips, laugh and play. His parents wanted him to do well, helped push him in school to be the best he could be. I always wondered what that might have been like. I barely got enrolled in school in the first place, and I didn't always understand the work that was given to me, but I liked school, it meant I got out of the house."
-
102379 sat silently and continued staring past his knees. He pulled the gown over himself more in an attempt to cover his feet. He wasn't entirely sure what to do; did Vulcan want him to talk about his life too or did he just need someone to talk to? 102379 would do whatever Vulcan wished, if it was within what he was allowed to do.
-
Vulcan glanced over at 102379 and shrugged slightly. Watching so many friends grow old and die had left him extremely lonely in his life. Perhaps that was why he felt the need to talk now. "Have you ever known someone who died?" He finally asked. Most people didn't understand what it felt like to actually watch someone die, particularly at your own hand, but he didn't really want to admit that he was a murderer-- or had been. Statute of Limitations on the crimes had long run out, but they were still there in his mind, along with that girl who had died. The image of her bloody body on the floor of a delapidated apartment building appeared in his mind briefly before he shoved it away.
-
'I don't know. I haven't seen any of the mages from the terraforming projects since I left. My master does not like me talking to people,' he said. He paused, his master would probably be angry with him for this. He was under the nurses's control now though, so he had to obey them instead. 'I have seen people die in battle though. I've killed people too.'
-
"It's hard for me when I take a life. I don't like doing it...but well, you've seen how I can get when I don't get blood for a long time. Things beyond my own control do happen." Things within his control had happened also, but he didn't talk about those. People were already scared enough of him just because he was a 'vampire'.
-
102379 nodded. 'I don't like killing either but if my master says it is right, it must be,' he said. 'Have you ever tried drinking your own blood?' The thought made him feel sick but if it was the difference between harming a human and that, he would do it. Humans came first.
-
"No, I never tried that, but generally, when I go into the blood lust phase, my own supplies are so low, it wouldn't make any sense to drain what I had left. I used to have friends who would allow me to drink their blood when the authorities wouldn't bring any. We were locked in a cell for a long time. the people in charge of that place had no idea what they were doing."
-
'What happened?' he asked. He had the sense that this was something that Vulcan needed to talk about. In fact, he was frightened of what the answer would be. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that here.
-
"Nothing happened to them...though there was one boy I didn't like and did end up turning at one point-- which probably kept him from being killed through the course of the tortures they did on him." Ironically, something done out of blood lust fueled hate had saved the man's life.
"I only took a little blood from my friends...less than what I took from you" Vulcan explained. "One was a vampire herself, and she regenerated her stores much more quickly than the more human ones, so she volunteered most of the time."
-
102379 nodded, he was starting to get to the point where he was nervous to talk. He had to go on though, so long as Vulcan wanted him to. 'Di-did the she-vampire need blood too?' he asked.
OOC: this will probably go in circles again, what would you like to happen next or do you want to keep going with their conversation?
-
"She did, and I would allow her to have mine, and my friends would also help her when they were able...but she had been a vampire much longer than I had and so had been able to go without blood more easily." He shrugged slightly "I'm not sure why I never got to a point where I could go a long time without blood...maybe because I'm not a vampire" He definately had vampiric qualities, but he was not a vampire as far as the species went.
((Well, the men could come in and test him, the healing mages could try to fix his wings, Vulcan will eventually try to escape, but he knows to bide his time, but if they try to put one of those bolt things on his head, he will go crazy...and the whole thing would probably keep melting anyway. Any of these sound like fun to you?))
-
The door opened and Zelo stood up to salute when Nurse Kelley came in. Behind her was a tired looking man with a headband attached to his skull. He looked up and smiled at the two. His face was wrinkled with weariness and he stooped slightly. Both were holding trays of food, one of which had a transfusion packet on it.
'Hello again Vulcan, Zelo. The doctor is busy looking after human, ' she scowled, 'patients so he won't be able to see you,' he explained. 'Instead, I'll be looking after everything.' She looked over to Zelo, making sure he understood. He was looking a lot less nervous than earlier.
'This is Notto, mage number 120036879. He's going to heal you both. He's had a long day so he'll be draining some of Zelo's magical stores,' she said.
-
Vulcan glanced over at Zelo. Surely that didn't seem right, draining the weakened mage's power from him. He'd barely had any until recently as it was. "I'm certainly not an acute case. I am quite willing to wait until he has had a little rest." Since there seemed to be an insistance that he needed to be healed.
He was watching 102379 though, trying to guess if draining of his stores seemed to be a reasonable request, or if he minded. For all he knew, it was like when he had been drinking the blood of his friends. Other people balked at the idea, but it really wasn't as bad as it seemed.
-
'Stop trying to stall. It's not going to work so you might as well get used to how things are run around here,' said Nurse Kelly. She watched as Vulcan kept his eyes on the other mage. 'Zelo has had over a week to recover his stores and draining his magic will not harm him. It would be worse for both of you if we didn't.
'Notto, extract as much energy as you can from Zelo. Try not to touch his mind though,' she ordered.
Zelo sat perfectly still and silent as Notto came over and got him to lay down. He made no objections when a hand was placed on his forehead and chest, which began to glow. Zelo closed his eyes tight but made no other sign that he was getting nervous. 'You have to let it flow Zelo. Take a deep breath and relax,' soothed Notto.
-
Vulcan observed both with curiosity and caution. This was certainly a different experience, and while he was doubting he'd like it, he was learning to look at even unpleasant things as 'an experience' rather than taking them solely on their unpleasant nature.
"Why does draining his power benifit us?" Vulcan finally asked, turning his often unnerving gaze upon the nurse. It was almost always an intense gaze, simply because his eye color made it seem so, and perhaps because his eyes were often narrowed. "It's not as if he would attack anyone" As far as he could tell so far, the poor mage had no attacking powers to use within the confines of the station.
-
'That's it Zelo. See, it's not so bad,' assured Notto. Zelo's eyes were still clenched but obviously he was a little more calm about the situation. The light around Notto's hands dimmed and he removed them, nodding at Nurse Kelley. 'I think that is all I shall need. What do you wish me to do now?'
'Notto has been running flat out all day and he has next to nothing left. If he were to heal you without draining either of your powers, he would have to dip into his reserves and life force,' Nurse Kelly explained. 'So you can stop looking at me like that. I'm not going to let him get hurt.' Glared back at Vulcan before turning to Zelo again. He sat up again but he wouldn't look at her. That was normal, at least for him. He never seemed able to look at people.
'Zelo, I need you to remain calm. Notto is going to heal Vulcan's wing and body. Do you think you can handle that?' she asked.
-
Vulcan crossed his legs on the bed and glanced at Nurse Kelley. "Is he able to heal my body without touching my mind?" He knew asking such a question could raise red flags, but when people actually started rooting around in his thoughts and memories, he didn't do so well himself-- partly because it could expose just how rediculously long he had lived, and also because he didn't like to share about a good portion of his past-- particularly his first lifetime. The dead girl. He didn't talk about that, and if people started digging it up, it was possible he could do something stupid while lashing out in emotional pain.
He still didn't understand why Zelo was the chosen one. Logically, if he needed more healing powers, Vulcan would be the likely choice, he had healing powers to some degree. "And not that it really matters, but for the sake of my own preparation, is this going to hurt?" He didn't imagine straightening a bone would be pleasant, particularly one as delicate as a wing, but it was a good thing to know. Surprising a vampiric creature with pain was generally not a good thing.
-
'Notto can only heal the body. He has no control over the mind. Why do you ask though?' she asked. She wondered if he had anything important to hide. It might be wise to have his mind scanned, just in case.
Notto shook his head and gave a tired smile. 'It won't hurt unless you struggle. People seem to describe it differently each time, but it won't hurt unless you fight against it,' he said. Nurse Kelley's eyes flicked over to Zelo. He seemed to understadn but it was hard to tell with him. Even the smallest thing seemed to frighten him.
-
"I ask because there have been times I've had people go digging in my mind and trigger some rather unpleasant physical reactions out of me, and if I'm going to keep my promise of not hurting anyone as long as I get to keep drinking blood, I need not to have blind physical reactions drawn out of me by people prodding my brain with their magic fingers" Vulcan stated, which was true as well and when it came down to it, he could usually lock portions of his memories away and avoid their detection, but that was extremely hard work. "And you had told him not to touch Zelo's mind, so I thought I might ask for the same courtesy"
"Alright then, I won't struggle" Even if it had hurt, he probably wouldn't have struggled as long as he was aware that it was going to hurt. He didn't really have a higher pain tolerance, in fact, there were some things he was really quite a baby about, the difference was the outward reaction. He had learned to hold in his reactions quite well for the most part, as well as do what he had to do, regardless of how much it hurt-- such as possibly re-breaking his own wing. His wings, like his fangs had been lost in 'battle' before. Breaking the bone was nothing compared to having his wings ripped from his body. "Go ahead."
-
Nurse Kelley would have to put a note on his medical file about that; she couldn't have people dipping into his mind without him being restrained. 'I have not explained this properly. Notto is a healer. He can heal your mind but he cannot see what is inside it. The reason I asked him to aviod Zelo's mind is because I'm not sure how much he can handle right now. What if he panics while Notto is healing his mind?' Kelley asked.
'Get onto your bed, if you will. It would be best if you were lying down. Zelo, please lay down also,' she ordered. Her voice was calmer than it had been earlier, she didn't want to upset either of the mages more than they already were.
-
Zelo and Vulcan seemed to touch minds quite easily, so it was not a completely unwarrented assumption, but he nodded and complied by climbing into the bed and chosing to lay face down and avoid the problem of arranging the wings when they weren't inclined to fold properly.
Many of his scars were several hundred years old and disinclined to be erased completely, though the scars in and on his stomach were likely still the most pronounced (with the exception perhaps in comparison to fresh, serious scars). He glanced at Nurse Kelley though. Restraints were not something he particularly enjoyed-- except perhaps in the thrill of finding new ways to break them.
-
Zelo lay down but couldn't help curling his legs to his side a little. He stared at Vulcan's back to where the spike had entered. When Notto went over to Vulcan, Zelo's fingers twitched and he looked anxious.
'Zelo, he's not going to be harmed. There is no need to fret,' said Kelley. Notto glanced over and tilted his head, partially because he wanted to know if he should continue, partially because he was so tired. 'Go ahead.'
Notto placed one hand on the scar where the spike had gone through and the under through Vulcan's hair. Deep blue lights flared from each of his hands and trailed towards each other. Niether Kelley nor Notto would know how it felt for Vulcan, it depended on how much he resisted and how tolerant he was to healing.
-
Vulcan flinched briefly, but then relaxed. It was an odd sensation to have a stranger pouring healing through his body, but he was at least practiced wtih the feeling of healing, so he didn't fight against the process, but he did lock his most secret memories into the 'vault' in the back of his mind, just incase.
"I thought he was supposed to do the wings" Vulcan commented without agitation. It just seemed to him that since Notto was so tired already, healing the one thing that actually needed healed made more sense than dealing with the scars he didn't really care about first, but maybe not having a constant sign of where Zelo had stabbed him would help the mage feel less guilty, and if that was the case, he didn't mind.
-
Notto was too focused on his healing and probably couldn't hear much so Nurse Kelly treid to explain. 'I'm not exactly sure how his brand of healing works but he always places his hands in the same positions, either on the person's front or back. He can explain it to you after he's had a rest. You're his last two patients for the day.'
The two blue lights connected and started trailing around the rest of Vulcan's body, making it look like he was glowing blue from within. Nurse Kelley looked around for a chair and brought it over. It had been pushing it to send Notto to heal the two mages but there were no others available right now.
Zelo's fingers were moving a lot faster now, wringing about themselves. When he realised he was being watched he stammered out an apology and stiffened his arms at his sides. Nurse Kelley continued watching him for any sign that he might do something drastic.
-
"Zelo, it's okay, it doesn't hurt" Vulcan assured, though when he felt the bones in his wings starting to change shape he drew a quick breath in surprise. "Well, that's a new sensation I can't recall ever feeling before" He said, trying to lighten Zelo up a little and show the poor mage that he was not being harmed as far as he could tell. Oddly enough, once the wings were healed completely in turn, they folded and then disapeared entirely into his back, leaving him looking mostly human.
He was starting to relax fully now that his wings were not poking out at awkward angles and resisting their natural positions. The muscles in his shoulders were actually quite tired from supporting the wings at a half open position all day.
-
Nurse Kelley was glad to see Zelo relax again but didn't have time to see if he was alright. Notto was swaying slightly so she needed to guide him to the chair first.
'Do you want to leave Zelo for tomorrow?' she asked. Just how much had he tried to heal Vulcan? His orders had been to heal all recent wounds and leave anything that had already healed. She would question him about it later, once he'd recovered from healing the mages.
'I can do it, I just need to rest a while,' he said in a soft voice. He slouched forward with his elbows on his knees and his eyes closed. 'May I have a drink, Ma'am?'
Kelley nodded and went to get it.
-
Vulcan slowly sat up and started checking himself over. Considering all the organs in the path of the spike, there was perhaps quite a bit to heal. His own body patched to the point of survival first, and then moved on to the fine tuning-- though it was not a perfected art.
"Once Zelo and I are both healed...what happens?" Vulcan asked quietly, watching Notto with a bit of curiosity. It'd been awhile since he'd drained all of his own power by overuse-- or flat out losing control and having it explode.
-
Notto looked up at Vulcan and smiled a small smile. 'You will become one of us,' he said, trying to make a joke. 'Is everything in order?'
Nurse Kelley came back and handed him a glass, to which he bowed and accepted gratefully. Kelley watched him drink before turning to Vulcan and saying, 'he is not fit to go back to service so he will be kept here until he passes all the health checks. I think Captain Kaenos is his master, he will decide what happens to him.' Nurse Kelley's voice took on an icy tone, demonstrating just how much she didn't want that happening.
'Notto, it is time you got onto healing Zelo now. For his sake, try to take it very slowly if you can,' she ordered. Notto finished the water and went over to Zelo, who glanced at Vulcan once more. He was frowning in what looked like confusion until Notto put a hand on his shoulder. Zelo's face flashed with fear before going blank. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long for him to understand that nobody wanted to hurt him.
-
Vulcan nodded "Things seem to be in order" He flexed his back "Mostly, it was just the wings that hadn't healed correctly" Laying on a broken wing while it healed apparently caused misalignments to occur.
"It's okay Zelo" Vulcan said quietly "Notto will fix you right up just like he fixed me." though using such a tired mage probably held risks, in his opinion. He knew his powers got less reliable and weaker the more drained he became. He'd also accidentally killed an island full of people because his powers went haywire-- that was back when he was first learning he even had powers. He closed his eyes a moment. That had been bad. Also one of those memories he didn't like to think about or share. He didn't think anyone was going to believe he had committed accidental mass murder anyway, even if he did get it taken to trial-- not that it leagally mattered anymore. Statute of limitations did not extend hundreds of years. But for him, it really wasn't a matter of being caught and prosecuted anyway. It was the people. He was a monster, he didn't want to be a murdering monster on top of it.
-
102379 forced himself to remain still as Notto placed a hand on his forehead and the other on his belly. He had been ordered not to cringe, otherwise he would be cowering back from the healing mage. He did, however, let out a whimper. 102379 wasn't so much afraid of what Notto was going to do, as much as he didn't understand that he was allowed to be healed. He kept thinking about how his master had given him these scars, these punishments. Who was he to dispute them by allowing them to be healed?
On the other hand he would be displeasing the nurse if he didn't heal properly. The conundrum terrified him, he was going to disobey a human either way. This was bad, he should not be disobedient and he didn't deserve this kindness.
'You have to calm down, Zelo,' Notto murmured. 102379 saw the blue light before closing his eyes. He could feel the healing flowing through him and he shied away from it. He was wrong; being healed was wrong. His master had punished him for a reason and he should not dispute it.
The healing spread further through his body, healing the more recent wounds first. It then started swimming into the brand on his shoulder. Without noticing, 102379 started clawing at his hospital garb and clenched his eyes until they started watering. He was not in pain, just terrified.
-
102379 forced himself to remain still as Notto placed a hand on his forehead and the other on his belly. He had been ordered not to cringe, otherwise he would be cowering back from the healing mage. He did, however, let out a whimper. 102379 wasn't so much afraid of what Notto was going to do, as much as he didn't understand that he was allowed to be healed. He kept thinking about how his master had given him these scars, these punishments. Who was he to dispute them by allowing them to be healed?
On the other hand he would be displeasing the nurse if he didn't heal properly. The conundrum terrified him, he was going to disobey a human either way. This was bad, he should not be disobedient and he didn't deserve this kindness.
'You have to calm down, Zelo,' Notto murmured. 102379 saw the blue light before closing his eyes. He could feel the healing flowing through him and he shied away from it. He was wrong; being healed was wrong. His master had punished him for a reason and he should not dispute it.
The healing spread further through his body, healing the more recent wounds first. It then started swimming into the brand on his shoulder. Without noticing, 102379 started clawing at his hospital garb and clenched his eyes until they started watering. He was not in pain, just terrified.
-
Vulcan hopped down off the bed 'Zelo, what's the matter?" He asked in concern, trying to catch his clawing hands and make them be still. He tried to feel the emotions, to read the mage and discover the problem. "Come on, you can tell me" Vulcan encouraged. "Calm down, you're okay."
-
Nurse Kelley came closer when Zelo started clawing at his clothing. When Vulcan had touched him, the young mage jerked his hands away and started clawing at his head instead. 'Notto! Stop the healing now! Something is wrong,' she shouted.
Notto did not appear to hear though and she had to pull Notto's hands off the mage. The tired healing mage immediately slumped and needed to be half carried to the chair. As soon as he was in the chair, he fell asleep. She kept a hand on him so he wouldn't slump.
'What on Mars did you think you were doing?' she snapped at Vulcan. 'Here, hold onto Notto so I can take a look at Zelo.' Kelley was furious, if there had been something wrong Notto would have stopped.
-
"Obviously not since you had to pull him off youself" Vulcan replied evenly. "He's not okay." Vulcan pointed out "Clawing at yourself is not a healthy responce to much of anything" But he came and held onto Notto to allow her to look Zelo over. He was not a nurse, but he felt he knew Zelo better than she did, at least mentally.
He sighed and just watched, holding Notto so he wouldn't fall out of the chair, but he felt oddly angry at the situation. It had been awhile since something little like this had actually hit deep enough to make him angry, and he wasn't sure exactly what it meant. Normally, he simply didn't care. Maybe there was something special about Zelo...or maybe he had just been alone so long he attatched himself to Zelo. That was also possible, and possibly problematic. Attatchments could be used against a person, they were leverage. He glanced back to Notto, taking his mind off the previous train of thought and returning it to the situation at hand.
-
Nurse Kelley felt sure he had tried to do something with Zelo's mind. He had also been in hers if he knew the thought about Notto stopping. She would have pointed out that Zelo hadn't started clawing at his head until Vulcan had touched him but it would probably prove unwise if Zelo could hear them bickering.
She placed her hands on top of his and tried to pull them away. He was fighting very hard indeed to claw at himself. He might get worse if she just pulled her hands away. The only thing she could do for him was speak to him and hope he listened. If he didn't she'd have to try to wake up Notto.
'Zelo, I want you to listen to me. Nod if you can hear me,' she said in a soft tone. 'You need to let go of your head and tell me what's wrong.'
There was no change. It was a shame she didn't know what was going on in his mind. That seemed to be the problem rather than any physical pain but if it was the problem, it would be unsafe to send someone in to have a look.
'Vulcan, wake Notto and see what you can find out, now,' she ordered before turning back to Zelo. There had to be something she could do for him; she couldn't touch him because that seemed to make him nervous. In the end she just issued continuous reassurances that he hadn't done anything wrong and that nobody was going to harm him.
-
"Notto" Vulcan said, giving the mage a gentle shake "Nurse Kelley wants your help" He was starting to feel bitter towards the whole situation. Nothing seemed to be going right, but then it never did go 'right' exactly, but it usually evened out. Maybe Zelo was too far lost to save. He was too devoted to a cruel master to ever make it in the real world, especially since he'd never agree to leave without permission.
"Notto" He was highly tempted to feed Notto some of his own power, but didn't especially want to get himself locked in a dungeon so soon after arriving. "Zelo is going to really hurt himself if you and Nurse Kelley can't help him, and she can't help him without you" Which he found incredibly ironic. For as much as Mages were hated, they were also indespensible. Without them, the 'humans' would have no quality of life on Mars at all.
"Maybe he'd be more at home if he was beaten, branded and pushed beyond his limits" Vulcan mused quietly "this is so completely different than what he is used to, maybe he can't adjust." it was simply a theory, but Vulcan's eyes narrowed as he thought about it. "I don't think he's afraid of being hurt. Hurt is what he knows...kindness is what he doesn't know....because he's not allowed kindness, only cruelty from his master....what hapened to the brand on his shoulder?" Vulcan was good at picking up little details...besides, burned flesh had a distinctly unpleasant odor to it that was hard to miss, even after time had passed-- though that was partly because Vulcan's friend had often burned himself, so the smell was incredibly familar and easy for him to recognize.
-
Zelo's fingers were starting to draw blood now, it was worrying Kelley. She hurried over to Vulcan's empty bed and pulled of the first layer of sheets to wrap around Zelo's head. It turned out to be a struggle to do even this because she had to keep moving his hands away. At least when she'd finished he couldn't claw any himself any more.
Nurse Kelley pursed her lips at Vulcan's mutterings. 'That is disgusting and cruel. He doesn't need any more pain than he's already been through. He's unstable, the way to stabilise him isn't repeating what caused him to be unstable in the first place,' she said in an irritable voice. She had to admit though, he did have a point. If she could just get someone in his mind without any harm coming to either mage, she could find out what was causing the problem.
She turned Zelo over slightly to have a look at the back of his shoulder. Along with other scars that were perhaps too old to heal, there were only faint brand lines, where before it had been red and swollen from recent re-application. Branding wasn't unusual for Mordecai, it was symbolic to them. It showed their ownership of the mage, that the mage's life was entirely in the Mordecai's control and taught the mage to act with fear and respect. It was a revolting practice and to do it twice was just unacceptable.
'How did you know it had healed?' she asked.
-
"Partly, because brands have a distinct smell, and partly a guess. He was so worried when it had gotten burned over before we got brought here, I just thought maybe Notto had healed it. I imagined that might upset him. He seems to want his brand to stay, to remained marked as property of that maniac" He shrugged "I suppose that's what a good mage does, devote themselves to their masters, even when their masters break all the rules and practically kill them." He was not fond of the captain in any sense of the word.
"And I don't mean he should be beaten, but maybe....maybe we have to go about helping him differently." Sugar-sweet kindness sure wasn't working. "More authority and a firmer hand of instructions maybe? And he doesn't really seem to know his name, just his number."
-
'That is what a good mage does but not a good Mordecai. Mages are a valuable asset in the eyes of the military and should be kept healthy. There are disciplinary actions in place for those who don't follow these rules,' she explained. Her voice took on a sharper, more unforgiving tone. 'You are incredibly stupid, mage, to speak that way of the Mordecai in a military base run by them. I'm not going to punish you for it because I think some of what you say is well founded, but there are others who are not so forgiving.'
She turned back to Zelo, the poor creature was still clawing at the sheet around his head. 'Zelo, 102379 you are to let go of your head, now. You must not harm yourself,' she ordered. She didn't want to overload him with orders but it didn't seem to be working. Whatever was happening inside him, it was beyond where she could reach.
'Notto, for Gaia's sake, wake up!' she ordered. 'Vulcan, see if you can reach him. I need him awake and able to speak if I'm going to be able to do anything for Zelo.'
-
"I have not met other Mordecai to know what they are like. I was not talking about them in general, just specifically his master." And honestly, Vulcan could care less what they tried to do to him. "But I'm glad you are able to see from where I am refering."
"Notto" Vulcan said more sharply, gripping the mage's arm and allowing a tiny bit of power to 'accidentally' pass between them. "Wake up, We need your help" Vulcan encouraged. He figured it power was transfered, even just a touch, he might be able to wake up.
In the back of his mind though, he wondered what the military base would do if they found themselves with an army of vampiric mages stronger than them. The thought was somewhat entertaining, though he'd never inflict that on a mass of people who were already victimized enough as it was.
-
Nurse Kelley noticed Notto's eyes fluttered open then closed again. 'I'm awake,' he muttered, his eyes still closed. 'How may I help you?'
His voice was hushed and he still needed to be held up. They would need to make this as quick as possible; Kelley was unsure how long he would last and it would be cruel to force him to stay awake for any period of time. 'Zelo is panicking; I need you to tell me what happened,' she ordered.
He murmured something but she didn't catch what it was. She wanted to go over to him so she could hear better but she couldn't leave Zelo's side when he was like this. Nothing seemed to go right for the poor mage.
-
Vulcan rose, easily carrying Notto over towards Nurse Kelley as if he weighed nothing. He should have been able to make out anything Notto said being so close.
"Can Notto take power from me like he did from Zelo?" Vulcan asked "Or can I give him power?" He was worried about his little 'friend' even though he knew in reality, their friendship would be short lived, at least in the grand scheme of things.
He was calm, standing there holding the mage, waiting for instructions. He was good at following instructions when he wanted to be, though often it was a matter of asking him correctly. He was disinclined to help people who treated him like a monster.
-
'I don't like it but you're going to have to. If you can, it would be great if you can relieve some of his tiredness too. I don't want either of them getting any worse,' she said in a concerned voice. She looked at Notto in almost an endearing manner. 'The poor fellow's had too much on his plate recently.'
She reached out and touched his forehead, at least he didn't have a fever. 'Notto, I need you to tell me what happened,' she said in the same tone as before. 'Did anything unusual happen while you were healing Zelo.'
With his eyes still closed, Notto murmured, 'so much sufferring. There was a block and I tried to get past. He panicked. Something happened and his mind-.' Notto groaned, 'I tried to contain it.'
-
Vulcan nodded and settled onto the floor, Notto still cradled in his arms. His wings extended and unfurled, arcing up and around him and Notto like a shelter. He gently felt the mage over, finally placing a hand on his chest. He wasn't really sure how much power the mage could take, so he started off slowly, allowing small quantities of power to pass between them and observing Notto for signs that he either needed more power, had enough power, or was becoming overwhelmed. Vulcan suspected he contained more power than Notto could probably hold, but he didn't really want to reveal that either. Controling tectonics and magma deep within the earth required quite a bit of power-- and it had taken him years to master containing it also. It was his power and he had not been fully equipped to contain it without training. He had to do this carefully.
"Maybe the captain doesn't want his mage to be healed?" Vulcan suggested lightly without looking up from what he was doing. He felt like he was pouring teaspoons of power at a time into Notto, which was probably the safest way to do it, but it felt to him like it was taking a long time, even if it wasn't. "Really, most of those wounds were inflicted by the captain." Vulcan pointed out.
-
'The more I found out, it seemed the more horrific his treatment has been. I wouldn't be surprised if his master did put a block on him,' she said partially to herself, partially to Vulcan. 'Even if he is taken in by another Mordecai, the mental scarring alone will last his lifetime. How is it that nobody has picked up on his treatment beforehand?'
As soon as she was finished her shifts, she was going to have to sit down and read all of Zelo's short medical history. So far she had only scanned it enough to know that he had been transferred from terraforming to active duty and that he didn't often come to the hospital.
Kelley nodded and turned her attention back to Zelo, trying to think of anything that would alleviate some of his suffering. She tried speaking to Zelo again and ordering him to stop clawing at himself, which had the same results. She sighed as she looked down at his mangled form. She couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for Zelo's predicament. Firstly, it had been her orders to heal him that had caused him to become anxious. Secondly, she had pulled Notto off him, thus stopping him from being able to contain whatever was happening in Zelo's mind.
Her feelings were only partially right, however. Pulling Notto off Zelo had stopped Notto containing the destruction but it had not been her orders that had caused his mind to break. Zelo's mind had been left fragile from his master's last mental attack to the point where touching it too much would cause it to break. His mind was split into several pieces and was now trying to pull itself together once more.
-
"Because, he is a mage." vulcan reminded. "He's the captain's property, and no one wants to get involved. I imagine it's quite inconvient to investigate and make a report." He wasn't hostile about it, but there was something in his tone that suggested maybe such incidents were not isolated in his observation and he did not agree with the people who refused to get involved when something obviously needed to be done.
"Notto, how are you feeling?" He wanted some feedback so he didn't underpower or overpower. Maybe it was the wrong kind of power. That was possible since he didn't think he was really a mage, unless mage was just the broad term for a person with abilities.
Vulcan tuned his senses. Emotions were physical, sometimes they even put off scents. He wasn't understanding what he was getting from Zelo, but Zelo was not his responsibility at the moment, so he turned his senses on the mage in his lap.
-
'You are correct of course, but mages are of value. If a pilot ruined his ship we their superiors would reprimand them for it. It is the same with mages. Destroying a mage is a punishable offence,' Nurse Kelley explained. 'Most Mordecai value the mage's use enough not to let them get to this point, however.'
Zelo still wasn't showing any response to orders or touch. Wherever his mind was, it was beyond her capabilities to fix it.
'I will manage,' muttered Notto. Though in Kelley's opinion, he didn't sound very convincing. She was starting to think that he was the type of person that would try, even if doing so was too risky. It wasn't just energy that he needed now, he was tired. No, tired was an understatement. He was exhausted and may even fall asleep while in Zelo's mind.
-
Vulcan nodded "I suppose" he agreed, with Nurse Kelley. He didn't know or trust much about the Mordecai, but if they were seen as 'equipment' of sorts, then they too deserved to be taken care of and given regular maintanance
looking skeptically at Notto. "Notto, you're not looking very much like you'll manage well" Vulcan commented rather dryly. "Nurse Kelley, how is it in a place this big, there is only one healing mage?" That didn't make any sense to him at all. It was like having one IV bag, or one doctor in a full sized hospital.
-
'The other healing mages are busy and Notto is the only one who knows what happened to Zelo,' Nurse Kelley explained. Nonetheless, it would be best to see if there was another mage available yet. 'Stay here and don't do anything else until I return. I'm going to see if there are any psychic or healing mages available yet. If Zelo makes any changes you may talk to him but don't go into his mind.' She wanted to make sure that nobody went in there alone and she was there in case something happened.
With that she left for the nurses' station. 'Hello Carmile, are there any psychic mages or healing mages available? Notto has been overtaxed and my patient has made a turn for the worst.'
Carmile checked on his computer to search for spare mages. 'How bad is he? There are some in each of the emergency wards but they might be needed at short notice. Other than that, they're in use.'
'I'll need at least one of them. Please have one sent down,' she said. Carmile nodded and she returned to Zelo, Vulcan and Notto. Hopefully nothing had happened since she'd left.
-
Vulcan nodded and simply sat with Notto, watching Zelo. Hopefully nothing happened while she was gone, since he didn't really have anything to help with, and Notto didn't seem to have anything left to help with either, being as exhausted as he was.
His mind was wandering aimlessly with nothing to focus on, which was generally not such a good thing for Vulcan considering the things his mind had a tendancy to wander to.
Part of him wondered if Zelo wouldn't be better off separated from his mind. There'd been several times where he wanted to completely forget his life, or even give up his life (which he had tried and failed to accomplish at some time). He glanced mildly up as the Nurse returned, not entirely pleased to see that she was alone, but at least she had come back.
-
Nurse Kelley looked down at Vulcan and Notto. They seemed to be doing okay, though Notto still looked tired. 'They are sending up a mage from the emergency ward. If anyone needs them again, we will have to return him or her. All the other mages are being used I'm afraid,' she said before turning back to Zelo. 'Has he showed any signs of change?'
The sheets around his head were getting torn up. She replaced them with some new ones before turning back to the two mages on the floor. 'Notto, before anyone goes in there you need to give me a better description of what's happening in there. I'm not sending anyone if it's going to risk harming anyone.'
-
Vulcan was listening to the sounds in the hall, someone was certainly on their way. Their feet had a very odd combination of submissiveness and importance, as if on a mission, and sure enough, after a moment, a new mage entered the room. She bobbed a slight curtsy to Nurse Kelley, waiting for instructions, or permission to speak. It should be fairly obvious she was an emergancy room mage by her uniform, but she hoped they'd get right to work seeing as she could be called any second, and would be obligated to run back to her proper location.
-
'Come in and speak freely, my child,' coaxed Nurse Kelley. 'I'm not the type to get angry for you speaking up.'
Admittedly, she hadn't quite been expecting the mage that had been sent to be so quiet. She usually looked after this ward and didn't have much to do with emergency. This was a more general ward, for mixed injuries that did not require intensive care. She could send Zelo off to the intensive ward after this but he may feel displaced or get nervous after waking up somewhere different.
'As you can see, Zelo here has gone into a strong panic,' Nurse Kelley said as she turned to the mage. This is more of a doctor's job but they're all busy with human patients. 'He was forced into a battle he was not strong enough for than tortured for failing. He was unstable and when we tried to heal him, he ended up like this. Notto said that something has happened to Zelo's mind. He hasn't said exactly what. Before anyone goes in there, I want to know what we're up against. Vulcan, is Notto ready yet?' The girl needed as much information as possible but there was also the constraint of time. Hopefully what she didn't get from Kelley, she could get from Notto before entering.
-
"Yes m'am" She said "I am on loan from the emergancy ward, and as such, the emergancy ward is my primary obligation. If I am paged, I must go" She explained, bobbing another little curtsy. Part of the quietness was simply her being out of her element. She knew exactly what she was supposed to do in the emergancy ward. This, was definately new for her.
"He's about as ready as I can get him." Notto was as full as Vulcan dared to make him "He's tired beyond just being out of power though. I'm not able to help with that, that will require rest." He explained as politely as he could manage.
"Has his mind fractured?" The girl asked. It was a common enough injury, resulting from extreme mental pressure. Perhaps it was due to the bolts in their heads that their mental injuries did not look like human ones.
-
What a strange girl, Nurse Kelley thought. She seemed both shy and assertive at the same time.
'I know, we won't keep you long. Are you a psychic, healer or both?' she replied. She need to know how to approach the situation. Healers didn't generally know what went on inside the mind but psychics were not as good at healing.
'It was too much hope to think you could. Notto, are you ready?' she asked. Notto nodded and offered a hand to be helped up. It was a strange gesture coming from a mage but Kelley obliged. 'Help him on the other side, will you Vulcan.'
Notto nodded. 'Yes, I saw an earlier memory. He has been abused across the link,' he murmured. He was practically snuggling into Kelley by now. She patted his head but didn't say anything. Tiredness must be causing this strange action.
'I haven't seen a fracturing of this magnitude before. What can you do for him? I don't want you going in alone so are you able to work with Vulcan here?' she asked.
OOC: I don't want him completely healed because he's still going to be fragile in a later (or con-current) thread.
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"I'm a little bit of both" She said lightly "I have more practice at healing though." She was the alternate in the ward. She was called when the others were not available. She gazed at Zelo a moment though "He's rather severely damaged" She didn't touch him in any way, but she just looked "He may need to be sedated at some point to give his mind a rest while it heals."
She looked over at Vulcan. "I can work with just about anyone, but What is he?" She asked nurse Kelley. He was not in uniform, he did not have a band on his head and his mind seemed ancient. Perhaps he too had been abused.
Vulcan supported Notto, annoyed to be asked 'what' he was rather than 'who' he was. He was a little perplexed by Notto's behavior. He certainly was unlikely to be extra affectionate from anything Vulcan could give him. Affection was something the majority of people did not get to see from him. Compassion perhaps, but not true affection. He was no longer close enough to anyone for that.
((okay. We'll just paste him mostly back together then, deep scars remaining and all that, keeping him nice and fragile))
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Kelley was glad that the girl had both abilities; it meant that she would be able to examine Zelo's mind rather than generally healing the area, like Notto would have done. 'I know he is badly damaged, what I need to know is whether or not you can fix him. Can you tell me any more about his mind beyond what Notto has already said?' she asked. 'Sedation seems like a good idea but we'll see how to act next after you and Vulcan have repaired the immediate dangers. If anything unusual or potentially dangerous happens, you are to leave immediately.
'As I have already said, this is Vulcan. He is a vampiric mage of some description but has not been tested or inducted yet. He was the one Zelo was forced to battle. They have a bond of friendship and he will be able to help you,' Kelley explained. Hopefully the girl would not be uncomfortable with working with a rogue mage, or whatever he claimed to be.
OOC: thank you :)
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Vampiric mage, that was a new one to her, but she simply nodded. He didn't seem to be harming Notto, and he had certainly had plenty of access to the exhausted mage's throat. "Alright then." She said, her eyes drifting closed as she almost seemed to go into a trance of some kind, tiny points of light drifting around the room like miniture fireflies. "There are numorous deep and repeated wounds through his mind. The pathways between the band connections and the nurons are nearly obliterated." She drew a slow breath "He's been tortured. If this treatment continues in his current state, his mind will be lost and I will not be able to fix him" She opened her eyes and the points of light seemed to settle over Zelo.
"His master was horribly cruel to him. The slightest hint of disobediance and Zelo would be on the ground, writhing in agony. I don't know exactly what he was doiing to him, but even his eyes were bleeding by the time he was done." Vulcan stated quietly.
The female mage nodded "That would be the torture across the mind link causing that I do believe, though I've never seen anyone do it extensively enough to cause the type of damage I see in his mind, along with the physical damage you observed." She looked up to nurse Kelley. "I can heal him, but it will not cure him, but I believe I can heal him enough to return him to a mentally functional state, though he should perhaps be put into a static slumber. He needs time to heal before he is returned to his Mordicai, or touched through the mind band." She slowly approached the bed, waiting for Nurse Kelley's instructions, but in the mean time, she was trying to file through Vulcan's memories and see what had occured and was surprised to find herself forcibly blocked.
"Ask me what you want to know, but don't help yourself to my mind." He stated firmly, the back of his gown bulging a moment as his wings reactively wanted to unfurl. It was almost an animal instict, like a cat fluffing up to look bigger.
She looked at him sternly. "We were instructed to work together, you do not have the training to be in his mind, so I only need your infomration." As a emergancy ward mage, she was used to being a little more forceful with the 'fresh' mages who were not yet trained and assigned.
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Kelley shook her head and looked down at the mage clawing at the sheets. 'That is some good news at least, I was worried he would be too far gone. Will the healing take one session or many. If you need more energy, Vulcan can supply it,' she said. Her free hand rubbed across her face and pushed a stray lock out of her way.
'Vulcan has had his powers for a long time from what he has hinted at. I am sure he is in perfect control of them without needing to be trained. You will go in together and support one another, unless you would prefer to go in with Notto. You may be trained but he has the benefit of knowing Zelo and having his trust,' Nurse Kelley said in a terse voice. It was partially to let the girl know that she was in control, not the emergency ward mage. 'There will be time for mages and Mordecai to go through his mind when he is initiated.'
Notto was clearly in no state to go anywhere and would be sent to the mages' sleeping quarters as soon as this was finished. 'Notto, you will remain vigilant over what is happening to the two mages while they are in his mind, after that you may rest. The two of you will link up now.'
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"I'm not sure how many sessions it might take, but I think I can get him to stop clawing at least" The female mage gave a nod "Yes ma'am" She said, flexing her fingers a moment and giving Vulcan a glance over. He hardly seemed like someone who knew how to safely go through such damaged mind. There was a temper in there. "Vulcan, I would prefer if you fed me power and allowed me to mend the damages. I'm afraid if we both go in to heal, the strands of his mind will fully unravel."
Vulcan gave a nod, encasing his mind with a block. No mages or Mordecai were going to go through his mind if he could help it.
She flinched a little, surprised at the influx of power as he touched her arm. Together, they entered his mind, Vulcan somewhat hovering over her psychic shoulder as he watched and eased his healing power into her. Apparently, today he was the generator of power. Maybe he could escape being a mind slave yet.
It was quite a while later when she finally pulled out of Zelo's mind and nearly crumpled to the ground.
Vulcan swiftly, easily, and without emotion caught her and deposited her in a chair where she wouldn't fall out. "I think he's mostly taped back together." Vulcan said with a sigh, stretching slightly. He was itching to fly. It'd been awhile since he'd been confined in a space that felt so small. He gave a nod towards the mage in the chair "She might need a drink of water or something." He perched himself on the foot of Zelo's bed, watching his little friend. It was a rather sad thought to think that Zelo was currently his only friend, and it made him dislike the captain that much more.
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Nurse Kelley pursed her lips. Stopping him clawing at himself would make them feel better but would it make any change to Zelo? It couldn't do any harm so long as she wasn't just blocking off his ability to claw at himself, though she seemed thorough enough to heal his mind rather than the symptoms and signs. She nodded and waited patiently for the three mages, including Notto, to get to work. Notto looked up at her apologetically. It appeared he was too tired to work with the other two, no matter what he said.
'You're not in trouble Notto. Frankly, I was surprised you were still trying to help,' she said as she struggled to get him to Vulcan's bed. Vulcan wasn't using it and Notto was getting heavy. She wanted her hands free in case there was an emergency so in the meantime, it would be of more use for him to just sleep. With her help he clambered up and almost as soon as he was balanced, he fell asleep. The poor mage had pushed himself far enough.
Back with Vulcan and the healing/psychic mage, things seemed to be going well. Zelo's hands went slack and she was able to place them to his sides. He didn't wake up but that was probably a good thing. Sleeping would be more relaxing than having to deal with whatever thoughts possessed him while he was awake. She moved back when he let out a whimper, thinking he was going to wake up but he remained asleep. She decided to leave the sheets around his head. She would replace them with proper bandages when she was sure he was stable.
Kelley did not have time to react when the mage fainted and was grateful that Vulcan was fully alert. His reflexes did not seem impaired by the draining of his energy. Either he had a greater store than most mages or his other abilities were not affected by his magic. It was likely that both were true. 'Thank you Vulcan,' she said. 'I am guessing you will need some water too. Shall I get you a transfusion bag while I'm out?' She would get something for all the mages. Notto may or may not be awake to drink anything but it was good to be prepared.
She would discuss what went on with him when she got back. She had not wanted to leave while they were inside Zelo's mind, mainly because nothing seemed to go right around the boy and she wanted to be here in case something else did.
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"Yes please, though water would also be appriciated." He casually sank into a chair himself. He was tired, true, but that didn't mean he had to be dramatic about it, and feeding power into another was by far easier than actually doing the detail work of mending a body back together, and particularly a mind. There were so many things that could go wrong in a mind, he was actually rather glad she'd insisted she do it.
The female opened her eyes slowly and glanced around the room, but didn't try to get up. She half expected to get a call down to the Emergancy ward now that she was semi-drained. It usually worked that way. No one would need her for a week, and then she'd get three calls one after the other.
Vulcan's abilities were not hampered by lack of magic. He could be completely without magic and his wings, reflexes and strength would remain, and he would hope his regenerative properties of his own body would remain as well, but he didn't know for sure. They definately slowed way down when he was drained, but he hadn't had them fail completely yet.
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Kelley nodded and left the room. On her way to the transfusion fridge she checked on one of her other patients, a Mordecai with burns that refused to be healed. The bandages on his arms needed changing because he had been refusing to sit still so she had to get one of the other nurses to re-wrap him. Wrapping bandages was something even the fresher nurses knew how to do. She called over a boy perhaps a year younger than Zelo and instructed him to look after the Mordecai. Mordecai were often a nuisance to deal with because they felt so high-and-mighty about themselves.
Nurse Kelley got one and a half of the oldest transfusion bags. The fresher ones would be more useful for patients with real blood loss. The second one must have been from someone who got nervous half way through. It would not be useful for transfusion because it was too small but it would do for feeding purposes.
Next, she went past the food trolley and picked up a tray. On it she placed the blood bags, three glasses of cordial and some biscuits. It would be enough to give the three mages some energy while they recovered. On second thought she got another glass for Zelo and a packet of jelly. Jelly would be easier to feed him than biscuits. She might be feeding him for several days if he did not wake up, he wasn't capable of chewing or feeding himself.
She couldn't think of anything else she may need so she went back. If something came up she could send one of the other nurses to get it. She checked on the Mordecai, who was refusing to stay in bed, and went into Zelo and Vulcan's room.
'The cordial should boost your blood glucose levels better than water,' she said, placing the tray on the end of the bedside table and moving it closer to the sitting mages. She picked up Notto's glass and put a hand on his shoulder. She would help him drink it.
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"Thank you" Vulcan said, accepting what he was offered and carefully working to rip the packet open. His fangs still hadn't regenerated, so the packets could get a little tough to tear.
"Thank you ma'am" The mage said, leaning back in the chair and eagerly drinking her cordial. She didn't even bother to question what was in it. She was used to accepting whatever was handed to her.
vulcan curiously watched her. That was a good thing to note. Poisoning a mage would be exceedingly easy. He of course wouldn't poison anyone under normal circumstances, but it was still good to have all your options scouted out, and slipping a tranquilizer into a drink was a nice alternative. Besides, if he was going to kill someone, he might as well not let their blood go to waste.
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Kelley glanced at Vulcan as he tried to open the packet. She'd forgotten to get a pair of scissors to cut it open with. She turned back to Notto, deciding that she would get a pair if he still hadn't opened it by the time she'd finished getting Notto to drink something.
Notto stirred as she shook his shoulder lightly. He murmured to her asking if he was required. 'No, I just need you to drink something then you'll be able to sleep again,' she explained. He nodded and tried to push himself into a sitting position but was too tired. Kelley held him down and used a controller to tilt the head of the bed enough to get him to drink. She held the cup to his lips and watched him drink, careful not to have too much liquid flow in at once.
Notto slumped back and his head tilted to the side before he'd finished the cordial. His magical stores may have been full but he was still exhausted. She put the bed back and turned back to Vulcan and the other mage. 'Do you need assistance with that?' she asked him.
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"No, I've got it" Vulcan assured from around the packet as he managed to bite a hole into one corner and sucked the blood from the packet at a leasurely pace. Honestly, he was rather suprised that they bothered to accomedate him with his odd needs, but then again, offer blood transfusion packets, or have a raging crazy vampire loose in an enclosed, but person filled institute.
"Ma'am?" The mage addressed "are my services required further?" She was on loan, which meant she was expected to return as soon as possible, and if she were to be discovered lounging and her services turned out to be required in the Emergancy ward, she'd be in trouble.
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'See if you can heal some of his physical wounds without causing any anxiety to him but don't touch any of the older wounds. Also, I know this goes against principals but if you are able, I'd like you to unheal the brand on his shoulder. Having it relieved seemed to heighten his panic,' she instructed. 'If not, you may return to your warden.'
She would have to take her leave shortly also. She needed to return Notto to the sleeping quarters and check on her other patients. She started running through in her head all the things she need to do. Now that Zelo was stable, or relatively so, she would need to hook him up to a drip and make sure he stayed that way. If he woke up that would be a better way to feed him but she didn't want him awake before he was ready. He had a lot to deal with and it was best that he got as much rest as possible.
Now what to do with Vulcan? His wings were already flexing and she was already taking a risk by allowing him to go around with only a set of handcuffs. She could send a note to the people who tested abilities but then he wouldn't be likely to return for when Zelo woke up.
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"Under your specific orders, I will attempt to unheal the brand" She had to make it clear they were orders. Unhealing was controversial and she could think of no normal reason it would be done. She rose from her seat again and approached Zelo, delving into his body this time and drawing the healing out of the brand and transfering it to the other recent physical ailments, trying to start with the ones that would bother him most.
Vulcan managed to remove his shirt and let his wings stretch. Having them folded and confined was making them ache, though he suspected much of it was a mental crampedness. Ironically, he thought it would be nice if they had an aviary around so he could fly. That would never happen, but it was an entertaining thought for the moment, though he didn't particularly like birds. He liked bats.
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'Yes, I order you to unheal his brand. The mental damage it causes is much worse than the physical damage,' she said in a stern voice. She knew just as well as the mage that it was unconventional but right now, keeping him stable was more important.
'Vulcan, I would appreciate it if you kept your clothes on,' she warned. Why did she feel like a babysitter around these two mages? Most of the other mages were either violent or submissive when they were captured, not relaxed enough to start removing clothes.
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Vulcan looked at her a moment. "This shirt is not slitted to allow my wings to breathe" He explained almost in a monotone. Sometimes, he felt like he had too many personalities running around in his head, but really, all it was, was him changing over time. He considered for several moments not putting it back on, but deciding it wasn't worth getting into a fight over, he slipped it back over his head, though the back of it bunched against his neck as it couldn't slide down past the wings.
The female mage worked through the newer wounds, trying to ignore the fractured mind for the time being. His brand slowly rose from his skin again while the rest of the recent ones slowly faded away. "Shall I lock him in a sleep state?"
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'I will find something more suitable when I have time. For now I expect you to remain fully clothed at all times,' Kelley said, rubbing her temples. She was already risking enough by not having the two mages strapped down and the unusual scenario with Zelo, surely he could see that.
Kelley nodded at the girl, 'only lock him in lightly. I don't want him trapped in sleep in case it causes him more anxiety.' Not that she could prevent him from being anxious, it seemed a natural state for him. 'Once you have finished you may leave.'
She turned back to Vulcan again. 'I have other duties to attend to. You are not to leave this room. Is that clear? If Zelo wakes up or anything happens, you are to call someone from the doorway. I will be here as soon as I can,' she said sternly. Hopefully he would obey. 'Is there anything else before I go?'
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Something very subtle changed in Vulcan's eyes as he watched Nurse Kelley. "Yes ma'am" He said simply, laying across the bed on his stomach. He was already bored, this was going to be interesting to say the least.
The mage nodded slightly and eased Zelo into a sleep state. She'd used it many times, it kept those coming into the emergancy ward from thrashing in agony or any of those things without heavily drugging them and risking interaction. She stepped back and watched to see if Zelo reacted, reading to release him if needed before she would simply leave the room.
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Zelo seemed to be doing okay from what Nurse Kelley could see, that was, he looked asleep. After one last check of his temperature and heart rate she turned to the mage. 'I think that will be all. I shall send for you if anything happens. What is your number, name and supervisor's name?' she said as she left, ushering the girl out with her.
There were a few loose ends to tie up before Kelley was completely finished with the two mages. Now that Zelo was in a semi-artificial sleep, he would need his vital signs monitored and to be attached to a nutrient IV. That would require a team of nurses but at least she didn't have to be there. She had enough to deal with without having those two take up all her time.
Also on her to-do list for those mages was get Vulcan another shirt, get Notto moved, tell the inducting surgeons know that Vulcan was ready to be headbanded. At least it was nearing the end of her shift. She could do one more round then get those mages sorted before she left. Hopefully the night nurses wouldn't leave a mess for her to fix up tomorrow.
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Vulcan watched as they left before hopping up off the bed and examining the room. He doubted he'd actually be left in this particular room, but he was here for now, and if it afforded an escape route, that was good. Not needing to breathe did come in handy quite often. Granted, you couldn't actually fly in space with wings, but you could catch a passing ship. Fire proof also helped.
He paced. He really didn't want to have to kill his way out of the station. He'd seen what masters did to their mages, even though Nurse Kelley said that was the exception to the rule. He was an exception to the rule himself. He doubted most mages were several thousand years old, or if they were, they weren't aware of it. Images shot through his mind, memories, escape ideas, diagrams of the areas immediate to his room based off the sound the foot steps made when they walked through them.
All the while, he still had to pay attention to that front hall so he'd be back on the bed before anyone returned. Making sure Notto was fully asleep, Vulcan scaled the walls, getting a sense of the materials, the chinks, the vents. He was absolutely not going to be banded.
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A team of nurses came in to set Zelo up with monitoring systems and an IV. The systems of this age were smaller and more efficient than their predecessors so needn't be kept in the wards. Nobody wanted an unruly mage to break something when it wasn't in use.
'Tsk, why is that one awake?' said one of of the girls. A long skin-coloured tail flashed in annoyance. 'And shouldn't it be strapped in until it's been banded?'
'Tany, if it's that much of a problem you can fix it yourself. We need to get this one hooked up and stop swinging your tail before you break something,' said a man with a quiet voice. He started removed some patches from a sterile packet and placed them on various parts of Zelo's body, straightening the mage's limbs as he did.
'You, mage. You're the blood-sucker aren't you, the one that went psycho at Arkifa?' she said, exaggerating slightly. 'You'd better not pull any funny business tonight or I'll have you so strapped to that bed you won't be able to move.'
'Tany, hold this one's skin taught so I can get the line in,' said the man. It was as much to stop her being a pest as needing help. He slipped the needle on the end of the drip-line into Zelo's arm and hooked the bag onto the stand, which also held the monitoring device.
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Vulcan glanced them over, refusing to reply to that title and comment. He was not a blood sucker. For all they knew, he didn't speak english. For all they knew, he didn't speak at all.
It would be interesting to see what they did if he suddenly decided to lunge and decapitate one of them. He pondered a moment, deciding it would be too messy and pointless. It'd just get him put into a higher security room, not any close to escape.
He perched on the bed, eying the celine. He could hang from there like a bat. That'd be nice. He missed the bats. They'd been good company for those dark nights alone.
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Tany was glaring at Vulcan as she unwrapped the sheets from around Zelo's head. She was too focussed on the blood-sucker to realise that she'd pulled at his hair instead. Zelo made a tiny noise but didn't wake or stir otherwise.
'Tany, watch what your doing. I don't want the sleep seal broken,' said the man, pulling Tany's fingers off the sleeping mage.
'Stupid animal. I know it's planning something.'
'Focus on what you're doing or leave,' said one of the other nurses. They were starting to get annoyed with Tany's behaviour.
Tany turned back to unwrapping the sheets but continued glancing over her shoulder at Vulcan and swishing her tail. One false move and she'd have him locked in a holding cell.
She looked at the mage in front of her. There was blood on the sheet around it's head but the skin below had been healed. The rest of it however, was till covered in old wounds. It was meant to be healed so why was it still so broken looking? She hadn't been told anything about the pair, she was only one of the nurses that set up IVs, life support systems and monitors.
'Makes you wonder what it did,' she said. 'It must have been a terrible mage.'
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Vulcan hardly glanced at them, but without moving, a voice seemed to spread through the room. "Actually, those were acquired while being obedient." The disembodied voice stated. "That mage has done nothing wrong, save for perhaps being assigned to an abusive Mordecai. Perhaps you could limit your conjecture and finish the task you were assigned to do"
He rose slowly from his perch on the bed and crossed to a chair at a greater distance from them. They annoyed him and he hated them for the things they said about the poor little victim they were supposed to be caring for. He set his gaze on them, but did not move again aside from his silent watching. He was a little worried they'd actually hurt Zelo in their carelessness, but surely Nurse Kelley would get them for that, but then again, Nurse Kelley could not be with them all the time. She had shifts too.
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The nurses looked up when they heard the voice but Tany was the first to blame Vulcan. 'That's it. I can't stand its misbehaviour and the way it glares at us,' she snapped. She went over to Vulcan and raised a hand, slapping him firmly across the face.
'Tany, come back and finish his bandages,' ordered the man who seemed to be in charge.
'Bad mage. No magic,' she slapped him again. 'Bad.'
'Tany, come and finish this now. I won't tell you again to behave,' he warned. 'If I have to have you sent home, I will.'
That got Tany's attention and she went back to Zelo, still glaring at Vulcan. 'It's not as if it needs the bandages. There aren't any scars from where it apparently clawed at itself.'
'The bandages are in case it claws at it's head again. Obviously Nurse Kelley has better foresight than you.'
Tany muttered and went back to work. She kept glaring at the mage, feeling him watching her but she was already in trouble, she wasn't going to get into more because of that creature.
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Vulcan's skin grew smoldering hot with the second slap, the marigold of his eyes bled red as he set his gaze on her. His mind was slowly turning, plotting, considering. He'd go out the trash chute. Even compacted, he'd revive most likely. "Why bother healing a mage at all if you abuse them anyway?" He asked, shifting so his legs were draped over the arm of the chair. They were lucky he was not vengeful and evil. He'd have taken them all out by now. That was another option. Over heat the engines, bring the whole craft down, but he didn't really want to fall out of the sky, or incinerate everyone.
He wasn't sure why Nurse Kelley sent this group of baboons in to tend Zelo after she'd spent so much time trying to fix him up. That hardly made sense.
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Tany screamed at the heat and went to slap him harder. 'We only have to keep you to regulation levels, blood-sucker,' she hissed.
'Tany, no! Leave now and run your hand under cold water. I'm sick of you,' ordered the male nurse.
'Fine, but I'm getting a suppressant.'
'No, you're not. Nurse Kelley left a note saying nobody was to touch him until she returned.'
'Well, if the day nurses have a problem with it, I'll just use a short-span one.'
'No. Stop being insolent and leave. Your shift is now over,' he ordered again. He watched her leave before turning to Vulcan, 'I apologise for her behaviour. It is inexcusable.'
The nurse had finished with his work on Zelo so went to check Tany's. She had been so focused on the awake mage that he was worried she might have made a mistake. He held Zelo's head and gently turned it from side to side. It seemed fine. She may have been a rude, mage-hating idiot but she had at least bandaged him properly.
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Vulcan gave a slight nod, almost like a mini bow. When shown respect, he responded in kind. "Thank you for seeing the sleeping one was taken care of properly, both of you" Vulcan said, looking up to include the other remaining nurse.
He sighed softly. "I don't understand why anyone would continue to work in a place where they hate the people they must help." His hand gently touched the redspot she had left on his face. The heat had been more automatic than intentional. The tiniest hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. Pinning her to the ground and making her think he was going to suck her blood might have been entertaining-- but considering how hard he worked not to be considered a 'vampire' it was only amusing while it remained purely mental.
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The nurse went over to Notto, who did not wake up when shaken lightly. He just murmured about a mind-link. When Vulcan spoke he looked up.
'Cariah, go get a wheelchair. This one's not going to be able to move by itself,' he said before answering the mage. 'You're welcome but I don't see why you would be concerned. Wasn't it the one that brought you in? Why did Nurse Kelley put you two in together?'
Nurse Kelley rarely prone to making bad decision so she must have had her reasons. He just wished she'd had more time to put in a full report on this mage before leaving. She'd only had time to update 102379's medical records, which indicated prolonged abuse. Unless it's master still wanted it, it would probably be sent to TRIM as being defective.
'Tany applied to work with people, not mages. Unfortunately for us, her training means that she is qualified to work you creatures too,' he said. He turned back to Notto and shook his shoulder again to see if he would wake.
-
"Yes, he is the one who brought me in" Vulcan replied carefully. He hated the fact that all three of the 'mages' in the room were being refered to as its and creatures. He was starting to prefer being called a vampire. "But he was only following orders, and Nurse Kelley put us together, because so far, he has needed me to some degree." Though he suspected that was coming to an end as his mind healed. He hoped so. He couldn't run away if Zelo still despierately needed him.
"To work with mages takes greater knowledge and training than working with humans?" He would have thought it would be the other way around-- not because mages were easier, but because they were lesser. They didn't matter to the staff it seemed.
"That one, is quite exhausted and drained." Vulcan stated, indicating Notto "He will not move any time soon on his own."
-
'A mage shouldn't need anyone except its master,' the nurse said. 'If this one continues to show weakness its master will probably discard it. It would be better if you didn't associate yourself with it.
'I noticed, thankyou. Why do you think I got Cariah to get a wheelchair?' he asked. He removed an electronic notepad from his scrubs pocket and went through to find Notto's schedule. 'Mage number.... 22937518. You've had a busy day,' he muttered. 'Ah yes, it seems Nurse Kelley has seen fit to cancel your appointments for the early morning shift.'
'No, we practice on mages before moving up to people. The reason Tany is still working with mages is because she is trained with the machines rather than general nursing,' he explained. 'It is also why her bedside manner needs working on.'
The nurse decided to check over anything that the monitor could not detect while he was waiting. Out of his scrubs' pocket he got an electronic notepad and started selecting tests. He lifted 102379's eyelid and used the light from the screen to detect the eye's reflexes. There was very little movement, which was not surprising considering the amount of nerve damage the creature had received.
-
Vulcan was glad to hear Nurse Kelley had given Notto some consideration concerning his work shifts. He had definately been over-worked today, though for all Vulcan knew, this could be normal for just about every day.
Vulcan nodded. Tany's bedside manner most definately did need work. "Is it common for nurses to slap their mage-patients around?" It was something that was probably best if he knew ahead of time so he could do his best to control any potentual burns.
He watched as the nurse checked Zelo. He'd seen penlights used, but never an electronic notepad screen. Work with what you have, he thought to himself.
-
The nurse took hold of 102379's left wrist and examined the deep scarring. It was puckered up and purple looking and had obviously been gone over multiple times throughout the mage's life. 'Mage, why wasn't this one healed properly?' he asked. It was not like Kelley to leave a job half-finished. He looked on his electrical notepad and saw that it said "resisted healing: reasons unknown".
'We have the authority to do what we want with you, so long as you are to regulations. Most of us, however, choose not to.'
Cariah came back and gave Vulcan a shy smile before going up to the nurse. 'Hi, we have a bit of a problem. Tany didn't go home and she's wanting the mage sedated. She's saying he's dangerous and waving her hand around,' she said quietly.
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"Well, a lot of his wounds, like the brand there, were inflicted by his master, and he seemed to be horribly distressed by the healing of wounds his master had intentionally inflicted on him...so they didn't heal the old ones." He explained
Vulcan shrugged a little "I never touched her" he pointed out, finding it rather ironic that she had slapped him and was now claiming he was dangerous. He had his doubts that sedation would work on him, but he would play along with it. It might even work in his favor.
He settled onto his bed, stretching his wings one last time before folding them in and laying back. It was nice to have people to talk to, even if they did refer to mages as 'it'.
-
The nurse gave a frustrated sigh and shook his head. He would have to go sort Tany out before they dragged the mage off to god-knows-what punishments. 'No, I can understand that you didn't mean to burn her but the fact it, you did,' he explained. 'Mage, you and Cariah get 22937518 into the wheelchair. I have to see to Tany.'
Before the nurse could do anything, Tany burst in with a large syringe in one hand and a taser in the other. She looked gleeful and her tail was swinging slightly.
'Tany, I told you before you're not going to use a sedative on him. Go back outside and return that thing.'
'This isn't a sedative: it's a magic repressant and I have permission to use it,' she said, giving Vulcan a malicious smile. The male nurse moved so that he was between the mage and Tany.
-
"Don't be too worried" Vulcan assured the male nurse as he helped put Notto into the wheelchair, figuring he would at least do that before Tany tried to attack him. "It'll melt" There was no way he was letting Tany do anything to him. Nurse Kelley was one thing, but Tany was pressing her luck. He only kept what appeared to be a casual eye on her as he returned to his little bed.
"Do you find it entertaining to abuse creatures who have no legal right to defend themselves Tany?" He asked curiously. He well knew retaliating would only get him in trouble, but at the same time, she was supposed to be taking care of people, not gleefully looking forwards to trying to skewer them with large needles that supposedly were for the purpose of delivering medicines. It was no wonder they wouldn't let her be a 'real' nurse for humans. He narrowed his eyes on her abrubtly with almost animalistic focus.
He considered it a moment and then addressed the male nurse "Would it be helpful to you at all if I managed to get out of her reach?" He did have wings after all. He could sit up on the celine long enough for Male Nurse to get the crazy tail lady out of the room.
-
'Be silent mage,' ordered the male nurse. Goading Tany would only make things worse. When Vulcan spoke up next, the nurse groaned at it's stupidity.
'I am not abusing you, I'm stopping you from using your nasty mage-powers,' Tany snapped. Her eyes were still on Vulcan, its eyes glaring straight back at her. 'I wouldn't even have to use it if Kelley had done her job properly. She should have left you tied to the bed until you were head-banded. Come here so I can inject you.'
'Do not use any magic or leave this room,' said the male nurse. If the creature tried to escape they would be prepared but it was still forbidden for mages to use magic without human permission.
OOC: when do you want them to take him to be headbanded/have Zelo wake up/ Vulcan escape?
-
Vulcan just looked at Tany with almost an 'I dare you' glare. There was no way in space he was going to simply walk over to her and allow her to stab him, but he did not say a word. He sat in silence where he was, not wanting to reveal his abilities. He might need them. Walking the walls would come in handy.
Gearing up for potentual attack, his bodytemperature rose sharply, even as he sat perfectly still as if waiting for orders. It was not exactly magic, instead, it was his own strange biology.
OOC: Maybe 'in the morning' have Nurse Kelley come back, or you could have this nurse group try to get him there-- he'd feel less guilty about getting them in trouble anyway...and Nurse Kelley would be more likely to catch him. pretty much, whenever.
-
'You will people's orders, Mage,' Tany snapped. The tone of her voice caused the sleeping Zelo to cringe. His muscles tensed for a few moments before he fell back into a normal sleep.
'Tany, give me the syringe and I'll handle it myself,' he soothed. 'Mage, unless you have a good reason why we shouldn't I have to inject you. If Tany has got the correct one, it will last until tomorrow morning.' He shot a glance at Tany and she grumbled as she placed the syringe in his hands. Tany's eyes however, did not leave Vulcan's.
As the male nurse checked the syringe, Tany noticed heat shimmers coming off Vulcan's body. It was using its magic again. 'Stevan, it's using it magic again. Now you have to agree that it has to be locked up,' she said.
-
"She's causing Zelo distress" He informed, almost without inflection. He knew they didn't care about Zelo, but at the same time, he also realized the male nurse at least knew he was supposed to see that they recovered correctly.
"My body temperature is not magic." Vulcan said, offering an arm to the male nurse. Magic lay within controling the tectonic elements, not extending his wings or his body heat. "If you'd rather, I can do it, so you don't risk hurting yourself." He was perfectly willing to talk and behave politely towards the male nurse. Tany however, was beginning to look like something that should be made into a snack. "Though if you wait a few minutes, and she doesn't spawn any new defensive responces, it should cool down shortly."
-
The nurse doubted Tany could last long enough around this mage for its body temperature to decrease. 'Tany, take the mage in the wheelchair to its bed. After today's behaviour, I'm going to put forward an application to have you suspended. These creatures are military property and though this one hasn't been behaved entirely within merit, you should not have stooped below its standards,' he said. It felt good to know that she may not be around for a while: he wouldn't have to deal with her.
'Cariah, check on the sleeping mage. I don't want it waking up before it is ready.'
'Now for you, mage. Your body heat will denature the enzymes involved so I will have to wait. If Tany ever comes near you, you are not to goad her or misbehave in any way, do you understand?' he asked. The creature didn't appear to be all that intelligent from what he'd seen.
-
Vulcan watched Tany go in a placid manner, glad to be rid of her, but she was also kind of fun to provoke. True, she could do him harm and get him into some rather unpleasant situations, but he loved watching how people reacted to things he did. Tany was so easy to provoke. All he had to do was look at her and she was hopping mad.
"Very well" He said quietly, laying back on the bed, his gaze drifting to Zelo. He was beginning to realize and accept that even if he got Zelo out, he'd never adapt to life with freedom. He was brainwashed. The only thing he knew was obedience to that tyrant of a master. He wouldn't be able to say a proper goodbye either. He knew that much. Zelo would probably be under oblegation to tell the authorities he was running away, and that wouldn't do. He at least needed a bit of a head start.
-
Cariah came back after tucking sheets over 102379 and making him a little more comfortable. 'His heart rate has increased from a semi-coma to a sleeping level,' she said.
'How high a heart rate? Will it wake up?'
'60 beats per minute, though given his condition I would say that is the equivalent to a normal person's 55bpm. Should I give him a sedative?'
'No, it was put in a light coma because it might try to wake,' the male nurse said. 'You can finish these two off. I have more important things to attend to.' He handed Cariah the syringe and glanced at 102379 before leaving. He didn't see the point in taking care of a creature that was probably going to be TRIMed or put down. He didn't have Nurse Kelley's belief that it could be fixed, or the care to do so beyond what he was ordered.
-
"He's supposed to remain sleeping" Vulcan said quietly to Cariah, but otherwise did not move. It was obvious they didn't care about mages, but then again, it was possible they didn't care about anyone.
He could probably go back in. He'd watched the female mage put him under and supported her through much of it, but Zelo's mind was also a very fragile and dangerous place. Going in at any point was risky, and he certainly didn't have the actual training to know exatly how to do it.
"How long have you been here?" Vulcan asked. He'd gotten to a point in his life where he liked conversation. When he'd been younger, he'd been extremely terse and often rather technical, never much for chatting. He'd say what he needed to and nothing more. Maybe living alone in the woods for who knows how long had awakened his need for human interaction finally.
-
'I know. Nurse Stevan mustn't want to use the sedative incase it interacts with what's already been done to him,' she said. She pulled over the spare chair and sat next to him. She felt a bit uncomfortable being alone with him after what she'd heard about him. Surely he wasn't as bad as what Arkifa had made him out to be.
'I've worked in this ward for six months, before that I only dealt with the mage ward. Has your body cooled down yet?' she said.
'I'm Cariah. Where were you before you came here?' She gave him another nervous smile and offered out her hand so he could shake it. Her nervousness was the main reason she had never worked with people before. That and she was too friendly with oddities; people didn't like it when you smiled at the mages.
-
"Yeah, should be cooled down by now" At least to a reasonable level. His body temperature ranged all over the place. He shook her hand and then offered his arm for the injection. He didn't much fear needles.
"I'm Vulcan" He said "Before here, I just lived on Mars wherever I found a place." He shrugged. That was this lifetime anyway. At one point, he'd lived on earth like every other human of the time.
He observed her a moment, offering half a smile. "Why do you work here?" She seemed much more friendly than the others had been, even if she was apparently scared of him.
-
Cariah chewed her lip slightly when Vulcan took her hand. 'You're still too warm. Do you think you can lower it without using any magic?' she asked.
'Pleased to meet you,' she said. 'We are on Mars, or do you mean you lived in the Wilderness?'
She wasn't exactly sure if he was telling the truth about that. If he'd been in the cities, surely he would have been caught long before now, or at least sighted. If he'd been in the Wilderness, where had he got any blood? She didn't want to pry, however. He would probably be questioned and mind-raped later so there was no reason to talk about anything that might annoy him.
'I don't know. You probably don't believe me but the people here are usually friendly. I like talking to patients too. Some of them have had the most exciting lives,' she said.
-
"Generally, no, I'm not very good at changing my temperature at will. We can lower it just like you do for humans with fevers though, damp cloths and such" He offered. He got the impression she didn't want to sit with him forever, waitng for his temp to come down.
"A little of both. I traveled around alot, never managed to see this place before thouigh" He shrugged. Mars was a fairly big place really. "Didn't spend a lot of time in town. Someone got it into their head that I'm a vampire, and then they pulled the whole, torches and pitchforks thing on me in some of the smaller settlements." That had actually managed to surprise him. He would have thought it would have been updated to plasma cannons and sharp impliments or something. But fire and farm tools? So cliche.
"That's an excelent way to look at things. You'll learn a lot approaching people kindly and treating them as if you can learn something from them, even if it's just a new exciting story." He was discovering that he liked this girl, which was almost unfortunate since he knew he'd be leaving shortly. "Do you believe all mages are monsters who should be caged and controled?" He was curious about her view on this subject. It was the blanket belief of the area after all.
-
'Cooling your skin down won't do much. I'd have to put you in an ice bath. Do you get sick if your temperature drops too much?' she asked.
'You were chased with... pitchforks? I didn't know we had any farms on Mars,' she said. In her surprise she forgot how nervous she was of him and actually managed to laugh a little. Pitchforks! She's never even seen one but the thought was amusing.
As soon s he spoke again however, she calmed down and became nervous again, though not as much as before. She was starting to like him. He was one of the mages who had a nice personality, even if he was stupid enough to goad Tany.
Cariah nodded. 'I always get more information out of the page patients than the other nurses. People speak more fluently when they're not scared.'
She shifted uncomfortably when he asked for her opinion. 'I'm supposed to say yes to that but mages feel emotions the same way and get hurt the same. A scared mage behaves the same way as a scared person,' she admitted. She paused and bit her lip, frowning slightly and feeling very uncomfortable. 'I don't know.'
-
"I don't know is a wise answer. Don't be ashamed of it" Vulcan stated lightly. "You have a mind of your own and you haven't completely molded to what everyone says you must believe, and that's good. People with minds of their own have prevented many horrible things from happening, and changed the world from time to time." His eyes seemed to soften a little.
"No, I don't get sick if my temperature drops too much, but it would probably be better to put me in a cool bath and then add the ice a little at a time so I don't accidentally flash-steam it or something." He was accustomed to ice, or at least he had been at one point in his life. He had after all, had a friend named 'Freeze'.
"And maybe they weren't pitchforks, but they were similiar enough that they reminded me of them. I didn't really stop to ask them what that pointy object they were trying to impale me with was." He shrugged. He'd been impaled before also, even with a wooden stake through his heart. He wasn't a vampire, but no one seemed to believe him.
-
'Edanith won't change. The people here don't all believe that mages are monsters but it would be hard to find many people who don't think mages should be controlled. You really should learn to behave as they tell you,' she said, giving him a worried look. 'I'm guessing you won't like it but it's better than being punished for it, right?'
Cariah bit her lip before deciding what to do. Nurse Steven had told her to "finish them off" so that could mean she was allowed to start the ice bath herself. It was a simple procedure but she didn't want to irk anybody by moving Vulcan.
'Do you promise not to run off while I take you to the bath?' she asked. She would let the staff at the nurses' station know what she was doing but she wanted his word first. He seemed trustworthy enough and he hadn't tried anything with her so far.
-
"That's what people have said about lots of things. Time will cause change, though it may happen slowly enough that we do not see it." Or most people wouldn't. Most people died within a generation or two of when they were born.
Vulcan considered this for a moment. "Under reasonable circumstances, I promise not to run away while you take me to the bath" He finally stated. He didn't want to be beaten and tortured. If they were going to do that, he was going to try to run away. It wasn't reasonable for anyone to expect otherwise.
He rose carefully from the bed, doing so slowly to keep her at ease. He knew making fast motions was a good way to make people jumpy.
((sorry it took me so long to reply. I didn't realize you'd come back))
-
(I'm not really back, just at my dad's place).
'Has there been a time when Edani liked mages?' she asked. She was partially curious, partially proving that some things didn't change. To most people, mages were necessary but not wanted.
'So, um, if I hold your hand and lead you to the bathrooms, will you burn me?' she asked. She felt sure he wouldn't intentionally but she still felt uncomfortable. Anything could go wrong, as it was, the only reason she would hold his hand was because it was better than tightening the restrictions of the handcuffs. He had been nice to her so she would act in kind. In fact, she would probably still be kind if he wasn't. Mages went through enough as it was.
She gave him a smile as he moved off the bed, appreciating that he was trying his best not to agitate her.
-
"I'm not sure they ever 'liked' mages" Vulcan admitted, pulling the pillowcase off his pillow. "But there was this thing called freedom, and it was technically against the law to imprison someone just because they were different. Of course it did happen from time to time. Mages, or whatever you'd liked to call them, have almost always been feared. The methods of dealing with that fear though, have changed. Instead of just killing them in mass, now they are forced into slavery in an effort to 'control' them." He shrugged and wrapped the pillowcase around his hand before offering it to her.
"I will do my utmost not to cause you harm. The fabric should provide insulation between my skin and yours should I have another flare up. My temperature tends to be something I do not have a great deal of control over." Just like people usually couldn't control their own temperatures.
Not cuffing him was probably a very good idea. Metal melted, and gave him another potential weapon...which could work in his favor, but he would not bring it up. "Will you be administering this bath, or will I be handed off to your superiors?" He'd been drowned at one of the other institutions, and was not eager to repeat the experience.
-
There wasn't anything Cariah could say to what Vulcan said so she took his hand and didn't reply. Nomatter how she looked at it, mages had very little freedom. Whether that was a good thing or not, she was unsure. On one hand mages could be destructive if they chose but surely there was another way of making sure they didn't destroy anyone else.
'Thankyou,' she said. 'Why does your temperature react like that? Could you possibly control your temperature by controlling your emotions, that is if they are linked to one another.' Probably not, otherwise he would have thought of it ages ago. He was obviously old enough to at least remember what it was like before Earth was destroyed by the Aedolisians.
Cariah almost asked what he thought she could do but realised how silly it would look. Se already knew the answer anyway. 'I'll be doing it. I was told to look after you,' she said.
Something vibrated in her pocket. Nurse Steven had messaged her to tell her that she was to take him to the headbanding doctor's room. She read it several times over before believing it. She had thought he would have a little more time to recuperate. Hadn't that been what Nurse Kelley had wanted for him. She would ask about it when Vulcan had been injected and the drug was working. If she alarmed him beforehand, he might flip out and melt half the ward.
She looked at Zelo before asking, 'do you want to say goodbye to him before you leave? Unless you hurt yourself, you might not see him for a long time.' She couldn't deny him that small courtesy, even if she wasn't going to tell himm why.
-
"My temperature is a self-preservation response. It's along the same idea as adrenalin in human species. It's not something the human can consciously control, and I'm not sure my body temperature is something I can consciously control either-- at least not fully." He had controlled it to a degree many times, but if someone was going to go around slapping him while making him angry, keeping the temperature down got difficult.
Vulcan glanced at her for a brief moment before shifting over to the bedside of his little mage friend. "Hey" He murmured, though he didn't expect Zelo to hear or understand him, but didn't want to simply leave either. "They're going to take me out now. I don't know if I'll be back or not, but I thought I'd say good bye, just in case" Vulcan said quietly before rising again and returning to the nurse's side. He wasn't surprised to feel the bland emotionlessness anymore. It was a very common response to potential emotional pain for him. He'd been that way since he was a small boy, at least as far back as he could remember.
"Alright" He said simply, offering her his pillow-cased hand again, preparing to follow her, though he suspected there was something more than what she had said. All he needed was a tiny lapse in attention, a garbage chute, an unguarded pod...something that lead outside. Even just an airlock, Straight into space. True, it was hard to move that way, but it was better than being banded and tortured for the rest of his already, exceedingly long life.
-
Cariah watched as the mage talked. The silent mage didn't react, which was probably for the better. Both mages had been through a great deal together in the short time they'd known eachother.
'It might not be too bad, you know. If he doesn't get better he may be shipped off to TRIM or be allocated a new master,' she said, hoping it would offer some consolence. TRIM was a pretty bad outcome though, she'd heard worrisome stories about the place. Hopefully Vulcan hadn't.
She took his hand and led him from the room, closing the door behind them. She walked him over to the showers. 'The baths are just beyond here. I need to talk to someone so I'm going to have to lock you in,' she explained. She wanted to know what exactly would be happenning to Vulcan.
-
"Alright" Vulcan said with a nod, standing quietly, though his fire-toned eyes quietly took in the room. There had to be vents. Air had to circulate somehow. He liked to know his surroundings, and just knowing where the vents were, was somehow comforting in a small way.
He couldn't trust that this place was going to send him anywhere remotely endurable for extended periods of time. In all likely-hood, he figured he'd be sent to TRIM as well, and he had indeed heard stories of it. He'd already had his stay at some testing institute. It had been torture, and he was not eager to repeat the experience, but oddly enough, he was even less eager to have a headband and a master. He would rather be sent to TRIM.
-
OOC: By fire-toned eyes, do you mean they'd turned red? I'll edit this if you didn't.
Vulcan didn't seem to behaving any different from what Cariah could see. He was behaving himself and following her instrustions. Hopefully he would remain like this. It was too much to thikn that he had already resigned to life at Edanith.
As she entered the bath room she looked up at him. His marigold eyes had turned red. 'I thought you had amber eyes,' she noted. 'What happened to them?'
-
Vulcan glanced over at her. "The outer rims are red, the inner part is kind of a golden color most of the time, but sometimes they are more red than others" He replied lightly. Really, they hadn't changed much, though perhaps the light in the room reflected the red more than the light in the previous room had.
-
'Oh, what causes them to be like that?' Cariah asked.
After awaiting his reply she turned from him and securely locked the door on her way out. There would be hell to pay if he escaped while she was meant to be looking after him. 'Stay here while I talk to the nurses at their station. I won't be long.'
-
"I'm not sure" Vulcan admitted. "Perhaps it is a similar reason to why your eyes are the color they are." He shrugged slightly "Every species can be a little different."
He watched her go, examining the room for weaknesses without moving from the spot she had left him. There was a vent, but he was dubious he would actually fit in it, and having the walls bulging around him as he wiggled through was a good way to give away his location and get himself shot or otherwise blown apart.
There was a drain, but that was even smaller. He looked up. There it was. The climate control duct. He could fit through most of it at least and chances were good it either led to some mostly unoccupied control room, or to a unit sitting on the outside of the facility. Either would do.
Now all he needed was a true opportunity. He didn't want to get the nurse into so much trouble. He would try to wait until she had handed him off to some supervisor if he could, but the trouble she would be in if he escaped, was less than the trouble he would be in if he didn't.
-
Cariah came back looking a little worried. It turned out that Tany had persuaded the doctors that Vulcan was well enough to be let out of hospital. How she was going to explain this would be an even worse problem. She unlocked the door without looking at Vulcan and drahhed ina trolley stacked with ice bags.
The squeeking of the trolly echoed over her silence. The door clicked as she closed it.
'Hop in the bath now, please,' she said before turning on the cold tap.
-
Vulcan obediently climbed into the bath, but he looked her over almost knowingly. There was the option of making a break for it, of course, but generally speaking, aside from a last moment of desperation, it was a bad idea.
"It's okay" He said calmly, waiting for further instructions from her. Maybe he'd get transfered to Tally's care. Her, he would gladly plow over and escape from without a care as to how much trouble she would get into. The mean streak said the more trouble, the better.
-
Cariah hefted one of the bags of ice and slowly emptied it into the water. When the bath was only half full she turned off the taps and waited for Vulcan to adjust to the water before adding a second bag.
'How are you feeling. I don't want you getting a cold or going into shock,' she said, attempting a smile. She tried to find something to talk about other than what was going to happen. Mordecai did do their best to keep their mages "functional" but the idea of Vulcan going into Captain Kaenos's care worried her. If he'd ruined Zelo, he was bound to ruin Vulcan too.
'Have you been under service anywhere before?' she asked.
-
"I feel fine" Vulcan assured "Cold, but I do believe that's the idea." He tried to smile, but it was not a natural action for him. He simply didn't smile much, but then, recently, he hadn't had much reason to.
"Not like a mage, no" Vulcan replied, shifting in the cold water to get comfortable. He didn't seem bothered by it, but then again, if he was bothered by it, the bath would probably be filled with steam rather than water. "I have been confined before, and I have worked for people, but I have never been a slave." And he didn't much like the idea of it either.
"How did you come to be in this position yourself? Taking care of mages and all?" It seemed strange to aspire to be involved with the enslavement of a race...but then, that was his view, not her's. Her's was culturally colored to accept the actions as normal, rather than view them as slavery as he did.
-
Cariah nodded and felt his skin with her hand. It still seemed a bit warm so she busied herself by organising the towels and clothing on the trolley. She also had a eat blanket unless he became too cold, but she doubted he would get hypothermia from a cold bath.
'Oh. What happened to you last time you were confined?' she asked.
'I studied nursing,' she said with a shrug. 'I am a nurse; it's my job. I'm sure you've had many in your life also. As for taking care of mages, I could take care of anyone if I wasn't so... nervous. '
Perhaps he meant why did she do the job, she wondered. It had simply been what she had chosen to do and had decided to stick with it. If she made a few lives a bit better in the mean time, all the better.
-
Vulcan shrugged casually "They tried stuff to see what would happen, called me a vampire and all sorts of things like that. I guess they were just curious about how a vampire's body worked...I might be too if I were a scientist" He admitted. He didn't seem to bear them any ill will, but then again, to hold grudges for hundreds of years was just stupid.
"Well, I'm glad to have met you at least." Vulcan said with a nod. "I have appriciated your treatment of me. You have been most fair and treated me with kindness."
He was considering asking her for another blood packet, but wasn't sure how to go about it, as it seemed abrubt, and she would possibly find it incredibly creepy. He had when he first started drinking it.
-
'What are you if you're not a vampire?' she asked. Surely he would have been able to explain that to the "scientists" if they didn't know what he was. Either that or he was in denial but that didn't seem as probable.
Cariah smiled, 'thankyou. I'm sure a lot of the other people here will be fair to you, you just have to jive them a chance. Don't judge everyone by Tany's actions.'
She reached out and touched his skin again. It finally seemd cool enough so she went over to the trolley and set up the syringe and needle. She tapped lightly on the side of the plastic and allowed a small amount of liquid to dribble out. 'Here goes nothing,' she said as she came over.
-
"Well, technically, I'm what we called a Kalicrate...it's just another species like anything else. A humanoid species." He shrugged "I suppose for their purposes I was close enough to being a vampire."
"Well, I try not to judge any group of people by one individual, but this has been a rather mixed experience. Several of the nurses have been at least...polite." Not exactly friendly "I haven't met any other mordicai except the one captain."
He watched her work for a moment "What is it that does again?" He had to be prepared for the needle, or his temperature would spike again in defense, and depending on what she was injecting him with, that might possibly be a very good thing.
-
'I've never heard of a Kalicrate before. Are your kind rare?' she asked. 'What is the difference between you and a vampire?'
Cariah smiled, 'you sure did choose the wrong Mordecai to meet. Most of them treat their mages well, I guess it goes to being linked together all the time. The ones that hate mages have either had bad experiences or they block the link so that they don't get too familiar.'
'This is going to stop you from using your magic. It will only work until morning. Nurse Kelley won't be happy if you weren't fully functioning when she gets in.'
She crouched next to him and reached for his arm. 'This might sting as it's going in but after that you won't feel anything.'
-
"Well, depending on who's rendition of a vampire you follow, typically, they can't go in the sun, must feed on blood, have pointy teeth, some of them have to be in coffins with dirt before dawn, others, just avoid the light, some have super strength, some have super speed, some can travel in unconventional ways, some have wings....the list goes on. Me, yes, I drink blood, I usually have pointy teeth, I often prefer night, but I can go out in the sun if I choose to do so. I suppose the main difference is that I am not as dead as a vampire should be, I'm not repelled by vampire charms and I have other, non-vampire abilities...like the body temperature thing" He admitted. "A true vampire is cold and death-like, no pulse, no breathing, no blood pumping through their body." He could of course do without breathing and blood pumping through his body, though he found it horribly unpleasant.
"I'm not really sure if it's a rare species. Humans hated us, felt threatened by us, I suppose, since many of us were stronger than they were. They certainly had a go at controlling us and our numbers. I haven't spoken to another Kalicrate in a good many years now. I didn't keep track of any of them over time." He shrugged. All of his friends were dead as far as he knew, but that just served to remind him how insanely old he was getting.
"Alright, I will let you know now, my body temperature may not be altered by that then." Mostly, the only thing that would be altered, would be his ability to 'command' rock, earth and magma. That was his power. "Wait a moment" He requested, flexing his back and allowing his wings to unfurl a moment. No need to have them trapped in his back. He'd be ready to rip them off by the end of the night if he could just get to them through the skin. His body tended to absorb his wngs while he wasn't using them. "Alright, go ahead" He sat quite still, taking his injection without comment. Not having to worry about causing earthquakes might be nice. No sense in eliminating a settlement if he didn't have to. He hated involving civillians. Generally they had nothing to do with the situation.
"Why would Nurse Kelley be upset if I could not use my powers when she came in?" It seemed control was the goal, and stripping him of his powers certainly seemed like a method of control.
-
She listened to Vulcan with all her interest as he explained what he was. No wonder the scientists had been interested in him, though she wouldn't say that out loud. 'Vulcan, I want you to do something for me. When you get your Mordecai I want you to do everything they say. Don't get yourself in trouble. You're too nice a person to end up in a TRIM testing lab,' she said when he'd finished. There was also the fact that if he misbehaved he may end up with a more undesirable Mordecai like Kaenos.
Cariah watched in fascination as his wings materialised. She hadn't paid any attention to his wings beforehand and was amazed at how seamlessly the moulded to his body. Once he had settled again she knelt next to him and injected the liquid. 'There, all done. Your magical abilities should get gradually weaker as this spreads through your body. After hat you won't be able to use them until some time in the early morning,' she explained.
'You were to be inducted during her next shift. She wanted you in the same condition as when she left I guess,' she shrugged, hazarding a guess. 'I don't think it has anything to do with your powers exactly, maybe she didn't want any drugs running trough your system when you got the procedure done.'
She got up and removed two towels from the trolley. One she put on the floor and the other she held out for him. 'Er, do you want me to leave the room?' she asked, blushing a pretty shade of pink. She turned away from him and collected a new set of clothes from the trolley, the last thing left on it other than the ice bags.
-
Vulcan had his own theories about what would happen if someone tried to forcefully merge minds with him. Chances were, he'd end up killing the both of them since he could already reach into minds without the headband and his body would probably be determined to melt the foreign body off and away. Not to mention he knew he could endure torture for extended periods of time, and he also knew that no organization lasted forever. However, being bound to a mortal seemed worse. After all, if his master, attached to his mind, died, what would that do to him? He died enough on his own, he didn't need to feel anyone else die, and heaven forbid he actually get attached to his master. He'd come close to losing his mind before, he wasn't eager to do it again.
"Don't you worry about me. I'll be fine" He offered one of his awkward smiles to try to reassure her to some degree.
"Well, I suppose, depending on the procedure, maybe they don't want to worry about interactions...or perhaps they need to know exactly what I am capable of doing before they can screw things into my brain." He could only imagine the fires that would be started if someone actually tried to screw anything into his head.
"If you're uncomfortable, I don't mind if you'd rather step out" He said with a shrug. "You're a nurse. I'm sure you've seen more interesting things than an unclothed body anyway." He pointed out. "Where do we go after this?" Good things to know. He wanted to avoid getting her in huge amounts of trouble, but there was only so much control he could have over that. Opportunities might or might not open up with other nurses.
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Cariah had wanted to give him a little comfort and kindliness before taking him away. 'It was more for your comfort than mine but I think I'd better stay with you,' she said. Once she thought about it, it wouldn't look good for her to leave the room right before she was meant to take him to be headbanded. 'I'll just turn around.'
Cariah paused. Should she tell him where they were headed. If she did then he'd try to escape. They'd both be in trouble if he did that. People were usually nice to mages but once they were disobedient, there was only so much people could handle before they hurt the mage.
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Vulcan dressed, watching her back for the time being, taking her avoidance of telling him where they were going, to mean they were going to be headbanding him in the near future anyway.
"Well, might as well get things overwith" He said with a sigh. He actually hoped they had her pass him off to someone else before they got to head banding, someone not so nice that he wouldn't mind getting fired or punished.
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OOC: How do you want to end this? Do you want him to get out before we close the thread? I kinda want to make this as quick as possible (the other one too).
When Vulcan was finished getting ready Cariah opened the door and waited for him to walk out. She would be one step behind him the whole way to the surgery. He'd been responding well to her, which in the eyes of the nursing staff, was one of her redeming qualities. She was always able to placate the "creautres".
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(She can just drop him off with the people if you want. Leave him in a holding cell in the care of the surgery people. A supposedly secure room and none of them ever see him again and just leave it at that. The other one, pretty much just fix it so Louhi gets put up for a new Mordicai I guess, or just leave it if you want. )
Vulcan went as directed without fail, keeping close observation of his surroundings. He would find a weak point and he would exploit it, and he would escape. He was not enduring TRIM, and they were not putting that THING on his head and reading his thoughts. There was absolutely no way he was going to consent to that.
He obediently stood as she directed him, waiting to be taken to the operation room. He prefered not to fight his way out, but he would if he had to.
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Cariah started walking to where Vulcan would be headbanded. She made sure he remained in his sight as she walked. She wanted to hold his hand or put hers on his shoulder to comfort him. She nibbled on her lip as she walked, unsure what to do. If she comforted him too much he might get nervous or the other staff might get upset with her. He was only a mage in their eyes afterall.
OOC: Thanks. If he doesn't escape from her in this post he'll go in the surgery room.
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Vulcan's attention was following the airduct, through he was still looking straight ahead. The airducts went everywhere. "I'm really sorry" He murmured almost the same time he shot across the room at inhuman speeds and went straight up the wall and across the celine like a spider to the main vent in the room, which was big enough for him to wiggle into quickly, and then the vents were silent aside from the occasional creak of the support bands as he slid through them with stelth and speed. He would escape and go into hiding for awhile.