Author Topic: One Week (Read 3891 times)

Marjorie · « **Reply #60 on:** November 12, 2019, 11:06:29 am »

At the moment Emrys sensed her pain - the same as before, Emrys did two things. He soothed her pain psychically, and he leveled a scary looking gaze at Quiten. The attache took a step back and looked actually, terrified of Emrys. "So, why don't you tell me about three days ago when you suffered a system wide shutdown." His voice had taken on the edge of a threat, and the tone of someone used to being obeyed. That was a command, not a suggestion.

Emrys succeeded in keeping everyone's attention squarely on him.

Are you ok?

DragonSong · « **Reply #61 on:** November 12, 2019, 11:50:33 am »

In her current state, Nova wasn’t entirely sure if he seemed professional or genuinely concerned. She managed to keep herself upright, expression blank, but there was a slight tremor that rippled through her body every few moments as she recovered from the white-hot light that had momentarily set every moment of her life on fucking fire.

She kept the pain hidden behind her mental walls, projecting a terse, Fine, I’m fine. I’m pulling out of the system.

Extracting herself was more difficult than hacking in; the system seemed to know she was there now, somehow, and was trying to snatch back the files she’d stolen. Each jolt was another flat of pain, but the only outward sign she gave was a slight tension in her jaw.

Marjorie · « **Reply #62 on:** November 12, 2019, 12:12:13 pm »

It was genuine and professional. If she wasn't ok, he'd have a hell of a time extracting whatever she'd found from her memory core... and if she died or was permanently damaged, that would be a personal failure of his. Also, as her mentor, as the one who had taken her from the ATC, he was reasonable for her, she was his obligation now... as much as he thought of her as something between a student, a convent tool in his pocket, and a slave... he was still obligated to her as well.

He sent a simple acknowledgment to her in response, and soothed away a little more of the pain.

The security chief stammered, and the attache looked like he was about to bolt. "As you were, Duran," he said sharply, which nailed his shoes to the bulkhead.

"You didn't think we wouldn't notice, did you?" Emrys focused most of his outward attention on Quiten now. "Explain. Now."

"Well, you see, sir, we... we didn't report it because... because frankly we don't, don't know what caused it. So, what could we report that would be of use." The man was red in the face, sweating, pissed off, embarrassed, and starting to hyperventilate. Just how Emrys wanted him. He really was going to report this back to his superiors... it was huge breach, and to not report it. It was bad and it was more troublesome considering why he was here.

DragonSong · « **Reply #63 on:** November 12, 2019, 12:30:11 pm »

Nova was unfortunately having a hard time splitting her attention between the physical and the mental, so she was a little out of it until she managed to finish extracting her consciousness from the security system.

The pain stopped and her shoulders slumped forward a bit, but otherwise she didn't move. Well, I guess that...could have been worse?

Shaking herself mentally, she debated saying what she'd learned aloud, then decided against it; her power here was as Emrys's shadow. It make her easy to overlook.

A subject got out, she told him, even her mental voice reflecting how tired she was from that particular struggle. No idea who, what, or how, but it happened during the shutdown. I couldn't get anything else.

Marjorie · « **Reply #64 on:** November 12, 2019, 12:44:09 pm »

Yes, in this case, Nova was Emrys' shadow, the face behind the curtain... and Emrys was the omnipotent, wrathful god. It was working out quite well, despite the hiccups.

"I we... we were investigating... we were going to report it when we knew more..."

"One of the subjects got out," Emrys said with a calm air of assurance that made it clear this statement was not a question. "Did they escape the station."

The color drained out of the security chief. "No, no sir. He was recaptured, never got close to leaving. Out of his fucking mind, that one... That's why they send them here. They're so broken... no fixing them. At least the doctors can find some use for them here."

Emrys frown deepened. He hated the though of those who wound up here - the very faint chance that his favorite daughter might end up among them. Before that genuine emotion even fully formed though, he threw up shields like armor to prevent Nova or anyone else from picking up on it.

"Show him to me," Emrys said, with a clear hair of disbelief... as if nothing that the security chief said held any stock in his mind anymore.

"Yes, sir," he touched one of the screens to change it's view.

"No," Emrys said, "I want proof he's still here. Take me to him."

DragonSong · « **Reply #65 on:** November 12, 2019, 12:53:40 pm »

Lie...

Nova couldn’t stop herself from reacting to that. Her eyes widened and she jerked away from the wall, looking back over her shoulder as though she expected to see the owner of that— that damned voice!

Liar, liar, liar...

“Liar,” Nova echoed in a whisper, just low enough that only Emrys could hear. She didn’t seem to entirely realize she’d done it. “Liar...”

She snapped out of it abruptly, giving her head a brisk shake and rolling her shoulders back. Jerking her chin up, she said louder, “Sir, if we’re going to be seeing more the facilities should I start recording?”

It was a subtle, but undeniable, threat. She may only be a Candidate, but she could easily upload any footage she took into the Pilot database.

Marjorie · « **Reply #66 on:** November 12, 2019, 01:04:29 pm »

Emrys did the mental equivalent of whipping his head around to look at her, slightly startled.

"Yes," he said, "thank you Candidate." They weren't going to upload anything, but he liked making them squirm. Something was fucking going on here, and it was starting to feel like more than just a connection to redtide... which was kind of fucking mind blowing, sense redtide was already enough to set the room spinning for him. He didn't let any of that reach Nova though.

"Let's go, Quiten."

"Yes... yes sir." The man slid past Emrys like he was afraid he'd catch fire if he touched the officer. Then he led them out the door.

DragonSong · « **Reply #67 on:** November 12, 2019, 01:25:53 pm »

Nova gave him a sharp nod and a half salute to acknowledge the order. Her eye flared red as she activated her recording equipment, then cast her gaze around the room pointedly.

As they started following Quiten back down the hall, she projected quickly to Emrys, I think there’s more shit going down in this facility than just Redtide. This might be a false lead, I don’t know. I couldn’t get enough info.

Marjorie · « **Reply #68 on:** November 12, 2019, 01:34:34 pm »

We're going to pull all the threads, Emrys replied, unravel whatever we can. I'll probably never get access to this place like this again.

"You will send me all the data you gathered about this incident as well, with real time updates going into the future."

"Understood." The attache made a note on his data pad... probably to remind him not to forget to make sure that happened so Emrys didn't come back and kill him.

It was about a ten minute walk to the appropriate cell block... these ones more like solitary confinement prison cells, than many of the others that looked more like locked down hospital rooms.

"Subject 00247," the security chief said. He kicked the door and someone inside started. Then he slid open a viewing screen. "Back away from the door."

Obediently, subject 00247 backed up to the far wall, and then Quiten punched in a door code and opened the door.

GIR · « **Reply #69 on:** November 12, 2019, 01:57:43 pm »

The criminal puppet had been made to be observing for no more than three days when it spotted something that brought the full attention of Red Tide's hundreds of thousands of minds to it. A very familiar sight, the magics corresponding to those of the Pilot whose son it was holding hostage. As the Pilot walked by, the puppet was made to form a single drop of water in his path, small enough to be a message to the Pilot without necessarily being obvious to any others, and in a spot where it couldn't be explained by a leak above. The droplet was timed to fall so that Emrys would, if he didn't notice it before it hit and avoid it, be struck in the forehead, though there'd be no other effect except the wetness. Red Tide wanted the Pilot to know it knew he was here, and what that knowledge meant.

Hopefully, the Pilot's reason for visiting the facility would lend itself to him sussing out what the drop meant. In case it didn't, a janitor puppet near that part of the facility was made to make its way toward the Pilot. For now, though, the Pilot's attention seemed to be on another subject.

[OOC: This is it for now. I'll post again once the janitor arrives.]

DragonSong · « **Reply #70 on:** November 12, 2019, 02:04:10 pm »

Nova got chills in this place. She tried not to let it show, simply sweeping her gaze from side to side so her chip could record as much data as possible.

The sight of people in what were little more than cages certainly made her stomach flip uncomfortably though.

She continued her “silent shadow” gambit, pausing a few steps back from the rest of the group as they cane to a stop in front of the cell. Her eyes flickered over its occupant quickly, calculating. She couldn’t scan while she was recording—and honestly after her last attempt at mixing psionics and tech she wasn’t sure she wanted to stretch her capabilities.

Marjorie · « **Reply #71 on:** November 12, 2019, 02:17:07 pm »

That was ok, because Emrys senses were wide open, even as he had himself carefully shielded. He'd already picked up on the lie the security chief was trying to sell him.

He also. Fuck. That nauseating miasma of minds. Even though he didn't miss a step, or show an outward change. He was so distracted by that unmistakable feeling that he couldn't avoid the drop of water. He looked up automatically.

Fuck.

Red tide. At least one of them are here, now, he sent to Nova.Be on your guard.

"Do you take me for a fucking idiot?" Emrys spat, all the venom he felt for Red tide coming out in his interrogation of Quiton. "Or did you forget Pilots are psychics? Stop. Lying. To. Me."

The security chief almost forgot to secure the cell... actually he backed up toward it without realizing. Which Emrys too full advantage of, pressing closer to the man, pushing him back a step into it. He pressed HARD into the man's mind, it was an intimate, and often traumatic, to do so and Emrys didn't rightly care at the moment. I'm sure someone here could make you into a useful experiment, if you can't be made into a useful security officer. He rested a hand on the door to the cell threateningly. His mental thread had been made so 'loudly' that all the psychics on the station must have heard it, and maybe some of those who weren't might have thought they imagined hearing echos of it too.

DragonSong · « **Reply #72 on:** November 12, 2019, 02:57:49 pm »

Oh, shit.

"Pilot Broin." Nova stepped forward, laying her hand on Emrys's arm. He's no good to us if he can't even manage full sentences, she projected sharply, while outwardly she tried to sound professional as she murmured, "I'm sure this conversation can be had once the cell is re-secured, can't it?"

Without thinking, she sent a flicker of thought toward the cell's occupant, a gentle suppression that she hoped would keep him sedate and still until they could get the door shut again.

Her eyes widened as he consciousness brushed his and she actually felt what Emrys had told her about.

Back!

Again, that voice. Louder this time, screaming at her.

Get back, stupid girl, pull back!

Nova jerked her psychic walls back tight around the core of her mind instinctively, sucking in a harsh, sharp breath as she did.

Marjorie · « **Reply #73 on:** November 12, 2019, 03:48:22 pm »

Emrys was pissed. Everyone was trying to fuck with him right now and just wanted to quash someone until they were dead or mindless. His rage seeped out past his walls. Nova reeled him back in though, brought him back to the hear and now. He reigned himself in visibly. The picture of a pretentious know-it-all once more. He took a step back and straightened the jacket of his uniform. He stepped to the side, and the security chief was still reeling, but he scurried out of the cell and secured the door quickly.

He had pissed himself. Great. Emrys scoffed, as if he were embarrassed for the man.

The security chief didn't seem to have noticed yet. "The subject... the subject #5862... she... she's a mage. We don't," he swallowed, "I don't know how the systems went down or why. It doesn't look like we were hacked. She didn't... she was chipped. She couldn't have done it. It doesn't make any sense."

Finally. The truth. He was fucking useless, but the truth was helpful. He didn't know what the fuck was going on here, but there was a whole lot of shit going on. "I want the reports," Emrys reminded him, "all of them. Now get the fuck out of my sight. You're useless."

Emrys moved back about three cells, and pointed at a door. The source of that miasma of minds he'd touched earlier. Just thinking about made him feel a little queasy again. "Who is this?" he asked the attache.

Emrys gave Nova the mental equivalent of a glance when he felt her shields slam shit like fort knocks. He didn't try to push past them... that'd require much effort on his part, and maybe harm her. He did send an inquiry her way though.

DragonSong · « **Reply #74 on:** November 12, 2019, 03:59:55 pm »

Nova twitched, her eyes fuzzy and distant, though she managed to bring her gaze around to blink at Emrys once, twice. Then her expression seemed to clear slightly and she gave a short, jerky nod. She didn't quite have the presence of mind to project a real answer to him, but she managed a general "don't worry about it" sort of impulse.

...What the hells was that?

I'm gettin' real fucking sick of all this shit I don't understand, she bitched silently to herself, falling into her place behind Emrys once again as they approached the new cell.

Marjorie · « **Reply #75 on:** November 12, 2019, 04:35:31 pm »

"Subject #00259," the attache responded promptly, reading off from his data pad. "I'm sorry sir, this subjects file is secured above my clearance."

"Send me the file," Emrys said, and as soon as he had it, he unlocked it.

This was what he was looking for. Not exactly but close. They fed him to the Priestess. I don't know if she's still here.

DragonSong · « **Reply #76 on:** November 12, 2019, 04:54:32 pm »

Fed him?! Nova’s eyes widened fractionally, the only exterior market of her surprise and disgust.

Okay...Ew. How does that even— She cut the thought off, retreating back behind her mental walls. On second thought, she didn’t think she really wanted to know.

GIR · « **Reply #77 on:** November 13, 2019, 03:00:06 pm »

As the Pilot stopped in front of the cell it was being held in, the criminal puppet was made to begin using a waterjet-like spell to etch a map into a section of the cell door. The map was a near-perfect 2D representation of the path from its cell to High Priestess's, with a water moccasin etched in the cell the puppet was in, and an etching of High Priestess's face in her cell. When the etching was complete, the puppet was made to cut the map out of the door, then use a jet of water to push it out onto the floor in front of the cell. That it had felt two minds recoil from its own was of little concern to the deity. Red Tide was, for now, interested only in Emrys.

"Pilot Noble Emrys Broin., the puppet was made to say, its voice an amalgamation of that all of Red Tide's minds, hundreds of thousands strong, "You have arrived at the facility where my Priestess is being held, but you stand before the wrong cell. Take that map. Bring me my Priestess. Another will arrive with the place you will bring her. You have twenty four hours remaining, now that you have the knowledge you need to render to me what is mine. If you cannot bring her, you will bring the coordinates of this facility.", the puppet was made to instruct the Pilot, "Fail me, or attempt to stall, and you will lose what is yours. *All* that is yours. I do not doubt for a moment you have sought information on me. You know what I can do.", it was made to continue. Red Tide would not be denied. Now that the Pilot would assuredly have the information it sought, nothing less than full cooperation would be accepted.

Marjorie · « **Reply #78 on:** November 13, 2019, 03:42:26 pm »

Emrys looked at the attache when odd sounds started coming out of the cell. "Leave this place, and raise the guard now, you won't be able to contain them." There was a serious urgency to his tone that prompted the attache to respond immediately.

He was gone before the prisoner spoke.

Emrys had secured his family before he left. They were in the citadel, the most secure place on Adelos, his dragon was near by to them, and they were under guard - guards he had insisted on meeting in person to make sure they were not part of red tide. He didn't think he was being paranoid at the time, but now he was glad he'd taken such steps.

THey really didn't understand how arrangements worked. His dragon would kill him if he gave them anything. He'd hoped to use this meeting to his own advantage somehow but he seemed to be quickly running out of options.

"You will get nothing from me until I see my son. Nothing else will convince me that he is alive and in tact." It was a stalling tactic, but also the truth. He could do neither of the things that they asked of him. He didn't even know the damn coordinates they were at... Only the pilot did, and he was no longer here.

He could probably get into the systems and figure it out, but it was better just not to know.

He also couldn't deliver the priestess, because while he might be able to physically... he'd just be murdered by his own people for it.

DragonSong · « **Reply #79 on:** November 13, 2019, 05:42:59 pm »

Nova's eyes widened and she backed up sharply until her back fetched against the wall, staring with a combination of shock, horror, and almost a begrudging curiosity at the exchange.

Run, run, run, run!

She clenched her jaw, shoving the voice away. She was a lot of things--she was even a coward, sometimes.

But she was also loyal, damnit.

"I'm afraid he's not bluffing," she said evenly, trying to keep her voice cool and clipped, in control. This was...this was something else. Oh gods she hoped she wasn't making the worst mistake of her life.

Pushing herself away from the wall, she came to stand beside Emrys and lifted her chin, back straight and firm, though her knees threatened to shake just from the sound of the thing's voice. Voices. Whatever.

"Besides," she continued evenly, "your deadline seems to be made on false pretenses. He doesn't have the information you're talking about. I do."