~~ Slim To None <<<>>> OPEN <<<>>> Accepting ~~

[TheLastofTheMissingPieces]

My life destroyed, consumed by a devil's flame.

Ayano stood positioned at an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. She stepped into the basement where there was a single light hanging from the ceiling swinging back and forth flickering once every few seconds. It's dim light flashing upon dead bodies laying upon the damp cold floor. She took a step back hitting the back of her head against the stone wall, no matter how many times she found dead elects around the city, her reaction was always the same. The sound of hastened foot steps rushing down the stairs was the only thing that could be heard through the silence. A young man stopped in the doorway and closed his eyes taking on the scene before him.

"So you still think reasoning with Vex is a good idea?" Ayano's voice came from the darkest corner in the room. "Or is this proof enough of what he truly wants?" She started again when no answer came from the stunned man's lips. "I see..." Her voice trailed off as she raised the palm of her hand and held it in front of her. At first their was just a small ball of light floating inches above her hand in the darkness, but grew quickly into a flame no bigger than that of a candle's, just enough so that the man standing in the doorway could see her face. "Report?" She mouthed promptly and began to straighten herself up.
The man zoned back in regaining focus, he cleared his throat before speaking. "All rooms were empty..." His eyes met with hers for a second and then he lowered them changing his gaze to the floor. His voice lowered. "Everyone we found had been kill or captured by force. There was evidence of a struggle." There was a brief silence before he continued. "Except..."

"Except?" Ayano's voice mimicked his, it seemed as though he had caught her attention.

"We found a girl." He looked to Ayano and paused before speaking again. "She wouldn't let us get close to her. She's hiding in a closet upstairs. We're not sure in what condition she's in or what she's capable of. What are your orders?"
Ayano pressed her lips together thinking for a moment before making her way to the doorway. She placed a comforting hand upon the young man's shoulder avoiding eye contact with him. "Can you show me where she is?" The young man nodded taking slow strides up the steps. Upon reaching the upper room in the abandoned building, he pointed to the closet near the window in the back of the room. Ayano slowly moved across the room and closed her hand making the flame floating above her palm disappear and all was left was a single strain of smoke that evaporated into the air. A young girl was in fetal position on the floor in the corner of the closet. Once she reached her Ayano smiled softly making the fire appear above the palm of her hand once more. "It's okay." She said showing the girl her power. "We're like you." The girl looked up at her as if Ayano had said something wrong.

"The other men were to." The young girl responded in a whisper locking eyes with Ayano shuddering in fear. Ayano turned around giving her comrade standing in the doorway a puzzling look.
He froze staring back at her. "What's wrong? What did she say?" He asked clearly seeing that something was wrong.

"She said..." Her heart stopped and she shook her head thinking of the very thought that something so disturbing was happening right under her nose. "That the men who did this were elects! I-I knew that Vex had turned elects against us, but damn! How could they do something so cold and vile to their own people. Helping the enemy. It's sickening." She spat. Her eyes started to glow a deep fiery red as hatred started to consume her body causing her temperature to go way beyond any normal human being. Her body was glowing in the darkness. The young man moved toward her and took her hand leading her to the window which broke her out of her tirade. Outside the abandon building they were currently standing in, two of Vex's guards had taken place.

"Looks like we have bigger problems." The young man said heading to the doorway. Ayano reached for the girl's hand pulling her from the closet and ran toward the doorway. It seemed as though Vex was always one step ahead of her. She looked to the young man and placed his hand in the elect girl's. "Get her to the safe house on the east side of Salem. Call me when you get there. If it's a war Vex wants... then it's a war he shall get." With that said she sprang from the building window falling a few stories before hitting the ground below her. She stood up straight landing in front of two of Vex's guards. From the heat their bodies were giving off she could tell they were both humans. Her eyes began to glow a deep red as she began to unsheathe her sword and it's tip was set ablaze. "Tell your boss I have a bone to pick with him. That is, if you live to tell him." A very grim smirk crept across her lips as she got ready to strike her prey.


Now and forever... the world will know my pain.




{Out.Of.Character: }

[iYuki-kun]

✚============━┈┈┈━===========✚
☤Dr. Karthus Vandel, MD☤
✚============━┈┈┈━===========✚

"Alright, tell me what I'm dealing with here," spoke a medical doctor with a large white lab coat, short black hair with long bangs and black rimmed spectacles as he snatched a clip board he was able to obtained from one of the nurses on staff that was escorting a heavily wounding man wearing a Salem Guard's uniform. He was moaning from his bloody wounds, laying still on a rolling stretcher, it was almost as the life was sucked right out of him.

"Dr. Vandel you're here!" The nurse breathed a sigh of relieve as she walked over to the Doctor. They and several medical transport personal were helping the incoming patent into the ER for treatment. "Multiple lacerations, perhaps from a large knife or blade no less. Also some very heavy third-degree burns."

Dr. Vandel looked over the patient quickly but carefully as he noticed there was a lot of heavy bleeding, despite the breathing apparatus and IV units attached to him already. "This man is going into shock from blood loss! We must get him to the operating room, stat!" His orders followed without hesitation as all around the injured man rushed him to the operating table and they all managed to hastily but gently place his body down. "Someone give me some gauze and bandages to stop this bleeding! We need to treat these burns as well right way! And quickly hook up that heart monitor! I want to be reading his vitals!" More nurses and aids rushed in, doing as they where told, Dr Vandel pitched in as well, stopping the man's bleeding and patching him up the best he could but as soon as the vitals were hooked up to the monitor, he was getting no pulse or reading whatsoever. "Fetch me that defibrillator!" Quickly a medical aid handed, Dr Vandel the device as the others strapped the lifeless victim tightly so the shock of his defibrillator would not make the guard jump off the table. "Clear!"

~*~

...all this was pretty much one of many Dr. Karthus Vandel's hectic days at Salem General Hospital. The Doc managed to save 11 out of 12 of those men that came into the hospital that day, that last man that was mentioned before didn't make it. Dr. Vandel, or Karth as others would call him, was getting better at this sort of thing, but a single loss was still unacceptable in his book and only cringed from the loss. His twelve hour shift had now just ended and the night had already fallen as walked to his steel blue simple yet brand new, 4-door sedan. He wasn't too much into sports cars, even though his decent enough wages could afford him one in due time. He just wasn't one that wanted to draw attention to himself like that. Karth only thoughts were on the many Salem Guards that were under the command of Vex, the City's ironfist Ruler, who had once threaten to make things worst at Salem Medical when they were treating Elect patients. But now the hospital was strictly a 'Human-only' hospital and Karth didn't like this new policy one bit. Pretty much a good portion of the population of Salem was completely cut off from medical care. Still, those Guard's, even though they were ordered to fight for a man whom was ruthless in his ways, were still being wounded and killed everyday because of the constant conflict against the Resistance Forces. But the real truth of the matter was that their was death on both sides, and that was something the Salem Doctor didn't want to see happen in the long run.

Karth drove out the the parking lot and managed to make the drive several miles down the road to his favorite coffee house. He really needed a pick me up now after going though that blood mess once more. He managed to drive in and put his four door Sedan in park right up front. As he got out he noticed that they seemed very few customers sitting idly by. Nothing too out of the ordinary but it was better than being at the hospital no less. He couldn't never get use to the medical grade coffee there and all they really had was decaf anyways. The Salem Doctor was quick to enter the coffee house as the bells that were attached to the door rang out, announcing his presence. "Deliliah!" Karth called out in the almost empty coffee house, his voice echoing out. "You around?!" He could feel his feet drag as he slumped over to his usual spot in front taking his seat on a bar stool.


============━┈┈┈━===========
➸Current Location: Confections Cafe
☯Mood: Exhausted
☀Thoughts: When will this senseless killing end...?
♂♀Interacting with: Delilah, if she is around
============━┈┈┈━===========

Current stand on Vex's Anit-Elect policies: Neutral (undecided)

[Her Malevolence]

↬Hear the sound. the ˚˚angels˚˚ come-screaming ﹛d o w n • y o u r • v o i c e﹜
↻ ι'vє, heard you've been B l e e d i n g ! ! ! Make your choice,
♩♪♫♬ They say you've been p-p-pleading, Someone (s)(a)(v)(e) Us
Heaven h e l p • u s now, come crashing down..

• • • • • • • • • •

If the lack of cars traveling down the street near the edge of the city wasn't reason enough to believe that it wasn't normally populated around this hour, the silence was. But that was exactly why it had been chosen for the meeting. This spot in particular was near one of the few areas where Delilah met those willing to pass along information her way so that she might pass it along herself. And despite how cold it felt and how the mere shadows cast along the brick walls of the alley gave her chills, she was proud of what she was doing. Of course it wasn't exactly something she would flaunt around. No, that would defeat the whole purpose of it's secrecy. The very thrill of knowing that you were slipping information to others, classified information, right under the government's nose. With how many feared elects or the power that Vex held over everyone it wasn't a surprise that there was a lack of individuals willing to help the cause. Humans could be selfish and unreasonable at times and Delilah was no exception. In fact, becoming an informer to the elects that visited her for information had not all been for their benefit but for hers as well.

After her parent's deaths she had felt the need to help elects avoid the same fate not only for their safety, but to be able to feel as if she was doing something to right the world. To make sure that her parent's hadn't died in vain. To focus on that rather than weep over her loss. In due time she became more attached to the cause emotionally and began to fully realize that she could contribute to helping innocent elects so much more than she had just by giving the occasional tip. During work she would keep her ears open for any information that Vex's men let slip. In a relaxing environment it was easy to say things one shouldn't. Secrets about newer developments in elect trackers, upgraded weapons, experiments, locations, you name it. To them it was merely chatting about work. To her it was a goldmine of information that could be passed on to the next elect rebel that popped into her shop.

So why was she standing in a dark alley at night near the edge of the city? Well she had recently come into contact with a man who had some useful information about the locations of some elects in hiding. Why was this so important? Because he wasn't the only one who knew. He had gotten this information off of one of Vex's men and there were rumors that the location was to be raided and the small group of individuals killed on the spot or imprisoned. He wasn't able to give her all the details of what he had learned let alone all the paperwork containing the location of the hiding elects and reports the guards had done on the case seeing how they had been at the cafe at the time. What little he had told her had been written on a napkin that he had handed to her before leaving. She had agreed to meet him in this alley at the edge of the city for the sake of keeping a low profile and avoid any eavesdroppers.

It was getting a little late and it already felt as if Delilah had been standing there for an hour at the least. Hugging her black trench coat around her, she was about to turn and walk off. Just as she did so she ran right into a dark clothed man. After giving a quick apology it was then that she squinted into the dark and was able to identify him as the one she was waiting for. Grabbing her wrist he pulled her back into the alley before he handed her a manila folder with writing on it that seemed so perfect and elegant she couldn't tell if it was hand written or not. "I suggest you put it in your bag. Don't let anyone see it. And don't let anyone take it from you. It has all the info you will need on that group in particular. I don't know what else might be in it. I didn't have time to peak. Judging on how much I had to pay for it though it was pretty damn important though. Just don't lose it." He said in a gruff voice before patting her shoulder and walking off before allowing her to speak. Looking down at he folder Delilah peered through it's contents for a quick second before putting it carefully into her bag and heading off in the opposite direction from the man and onto the sidewalk.

"So that was it huh?" She asked herself aloud as she shoved her hands into her pockets and began walking on her way back to the coffee shop. The light sound of her heels making contact with the cement as she went on her way. It was going to be a fairly long walk but she didn't mind to much. If she wasn't working she would have been out and about on the streets anyway. Technically she was still supposed to be at the shop. But if there was one thing the old man who owned the place understood more than anything, it was Delilah's drive to help the elects. He knew very well what she was up to and he encouraged it saying that if he 'hadn't been such an old geezer' he too would be with the rebellion fighting at their side. Alas he was an elderly man and no longer in his prime. It was one of the reasons Lidia was to inherit the shop. His children had no interest in him or his business. It was sad really to think that ones children refused to speak to their elderly father. He hadn't specified the details of why that was so but merely said that they didn't agree on certain matters concerning the government. What she did know was that his son was a guard. Given that she assumed it might be over the matter of elects. Then again that could just be her being hopeful. One could only wish more humans would side with elects. But this was not the case in Salem. There were even a few elects that actually worked for Vex.

By the time she had made it back to the coffee shop there were only a few customers left lounging around chatting amongst themselves. She quietly snuck in the back door of the shop through the alley and upon entering smiled as she let her eyes shut and took a deep breath. Never had she been so happy to smell the delicious scent of fresh coffee and bakery treats. Despite how the smell lingered onto her even hours after leaving the shop, it wasn't the same as actually being here. Removing her trench coat, Delilah hung it onto a hook on the wall near the door before putting on an apron. All just in time to hear a familiar voice calling her from the front of the shop. Making her way through the kitchen she hurried out of the double doors that led behind the counter to see Karth seated at a bar stool in front of the counter. With a smile painted across her lips she walked over with a small wave."Hey Karth, hows it going? Long night? Look a bit tired. What will it be? It's on the house." Karth was not only a friend of Delilah's but one of the very frequent customers that popped in the Confections Cafe. Though at the moment he looked a bit run and it made her curious as to how his day at work had gone.

• • • • • • • • • •



xxxxxxxxxx

{Out.Of.Cupcakes: }

[copious sage]

Vex was having a day.

And although 'having' isn't exactly a word that embodied that day; it was the only word he could think of and that was good enough. "No, get...what the ******** is that?" He groaned placing his finger on a face; the paper on his desk was covered in spots of blood. He could barely read the name. "And what the hell happened to you?" The man standing in front of him was dark haired, tall and round. He had a habit of drinking and Vex didn't fault him. His job wasn't easy. "Don't! Ey! Don't touch that!" He called having his attention snatched by one of the guards sifting trough his filing cabinet.

"I had to kill one of the elects, Sir. She was insubordinate."

"Well have the ******** decency to wash your hands before you touch my paperwork with that inhuman slop."

"Yes, sir." He hesitated, then continued. "This is Dr. Karthus Vandel. He is a doctor at the hospital in Salem. He has been doing a real good job, thought I should keep you posted."

"You thought wrong."

The man's name was Kane. He was in his late thirties and started working when Vex's father when he was in power. "Yes you do. You are suppose to be supporting anyone that supports you. We are trying to gain the trust of the people of Salem, so we can flush out the elects."

"Who the ******** let you in here anyway?"

"Sir please."

"No, take this and get out. Go! Now!" He took the paper and flung it off his desk, shooing him with a single hand, as if he were a fly. "AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WASH YOUR HANDS."

His tone was annoyed as he touched the button on the communicator in his ear, watching with amusement as Kane stumbled after the paper, trying to catch it before it hit the ground. "I want Farthou and McCarthy on the streets tonight. Tell them I want bodies."

It was then, the old wooden door creaked open.

"What is it now?"

"We think we found the girl you are looking for."

"I was looking for TWO girls. Can we not count in this place? Do we all need to go back to elementary school?" Vex asked rhetorically, his eyes borrowing into the man in front of him.

"The Marchesi sisters."

"I'm getting gray hair here..."

"Well, we could send someone out to keep an eye on the girls. Climt maybe?"

Vex sighed standing up, his lean body towering over his assistant. "Perhaps..."

Vex was having a day.

[OneWingedStrawberryAngel]

~Casper Collins~
~Cassiel Barlow~
◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥

♪ You can hear my voice clearly as see me speaking distinctly...

The bell on the front of "You're under a rest" music store clanged as the door opened outwards to the nippy air. Cas walked out of the door, his carrot-red hair an even brighter orange than usual in the light of the lamp post that stood outside. he turned back to look inside the shop as he held the door open, his emerald green eyes locking onto something inside while yelling "see you later" back into the store. From inside came the calls of "Good work today Casper" "See ya" and even a "Close the damn door". Cas smiled softly and let go of the door, letting it swing close as he pulled his light jacket around himself and stepped out under the lamplight.

Cas sighed softly, his smile dropping as he pulled out his mp3 player, fiddling with his earbuds as he tried to untangle them. He hated having to walk back to his apartment in the darkness of the night. It wasn't that Cas was afraid of being found. He'd managed to modify and erase enough data on himself those many years ago that, with the exception of a few people, no one would be able to tie him down as Cassiel Barlow. With five years of it working, he really doubted that he'd be found now. Unfortunately, no matter how much data he changed, it wouldn't change the fact that he was an elect and ever night walking late in Salem was playing Russian Roulette with the guard. Cas had a programmed jewel, with love from mum, but it wasn't like he hadn't had his close calls and he didn't like tempting fate.

Cas placed his now untangled earphones into his ears, turning on his mp3 player as he did so. As the sound of Queen's "Prophet Song" started quietly through the earphones, Cas tensed up without even thinking, being filled with a feeling of remembrance and foreboding. He didn't even remember putting it on his mp3 but it had been one of his father's favorites.

"Prophets speak out and preach to the people around them despite the risks that it might bring upon them, Cas. They don't speak for their own fame or fortune. A true prophet does it only in hopes of helping those around him. And that, Cas, is a power that can shatter falsehoods and defeat armies if you believe strong enough. All it takes if for the right someone to stand up and speak out."

He stood under the lamplight for a little, just looking up at the sky and listening to the song in silence as people on the street passed him without noticing. His face went slack and emotionless, finally walking from the spot he'd been at and walking down the street in the direction of his apartment, moving with the crowd and purposely falling into the herding the normal people on the street created unconsciously on their individual commutes home.

... But do you know what you're doing as I'm talking to you ♪

◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥ ◤◢ ◣◥
♫~Cadence Scale~♫
0 1 2 3 4 5

[Shield of Giggity]

<==============================>
Antonio Ziegfield

I can serve up two things. A good martini, and a bullet for all sizes of skulls.
<==============================>

Tonight was going to be a low night, Zieg just knew it as he slowly polished one of the finer glasses that the Heavenly Nights Bar had for perhaps the eighteenth time that night. The bar had a couple of regulars slowly sipping on their drinks to delay themselves from having to go back to whatever they called home.

The bar itself was not too big, considering all that they really did was serve drinks with the occasional bar food that would make the alcohol go down all the easier. The size of the bar was never a problem though, as the real room was in the back part of the building, and upstairs where Zeig and his co-owner and best friend, Ziggy, lived. Wiping the glass once more, he could hear one of the regulars drunkenly order for another drink, only to receive a small shake of Zeig's head in response. "You've had enough, Rich. Go home to your wife," Zeig insisted gently, despite knowing the reason as to why the man did not want to go home. Still, it would not do to have a drunkard having died from alcohol poisoning and drawing the attention of those who would look too much into it and might accidentally stumble upon the cache of weaponry and technology that he had...procured from generous members of the Guard.


He was running a dangerous game, and doubted that there was not an Elect in the city, nor a Guard, that knew of his business. He stayed on the good sides of both of them though, and prevented the other from simply torching his place to the ground by doing something that earned him much distrust and respect all at the same time. When an Elect came in, desperate for help and with little else to go due to the advancement of the Guard's latest advancements in tracking, Michael always had a dampener to block out said latest technology. They were anything from wristwatches to necklaces and chokers, thought the Guard knew them as far more bulky and difficult things to disguise which was why they were not simply taking everyone that crossed their path and tearing off any jewelry that they wore.

On the flip side, whenever a dangerous Elect came in for said piece of technology, Zeig would give him a defective piece, or an inactive dampener, and send them on their way before calling an old Guard buddy from back in the day to track said person, or take them down. He was an arms dealer, a blackmarket salesman, and even a bit of a b*****d at times, but he would not let a monster like that roam the streets without being kept in check. On the flip side, due to his connections, and the ways he obtained the devices, he would in turn offer information freely to the underground resistance if they so asked without so much as charging a cent, but only because the information he had was limited to the weapons and technology, and would usually expect a sort of payment in the form of the any procured excess technology. His strength lied in the fact that he didn't choose sides...out loud.

Finally, after managing to get the drunk patron out of his bar, Zeig let out a final sigh of relief until he pulled out his PDA. He was scheduled for at least one weapons meeting later on in the day, but knew it would be...a bit more difficult that usual with this particular meeting. Sighing as he tapped the screen a couple more things to close out any windows he had, Zeig pocketed his favored PDA and began to make his way into the back of the bar and disregarded the regular that sipped his drink as Zeig knew that the woman would not be any trouble.

_________________

Condition: Green
Location: Heavenly Nights Bar
Mood: Calm
_________________

[Minty Andee]

Cassandra June Marchesi
Location: Landshark ♪ With: the music ♪ Action: Working

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀

Late afternoon sunlight streamed through the vertical blinds hitting the bed where Cass was dreamily counting dust motes. Stretching until all her limbs went ridged and then relaxing she looked at her clock. The blue numbers glowed the time, she stared at the minute and counted her heartbeats, waiting for the time to change.

"66" She whispered to the empty room, satisfied her time stream was correct. Yawning she padded to the kitchen to start the coffee before she showered and dressed for the evening. The cold linoleum on her bare feet distracted her as she looked down at her toes, feeling how the temperature of the floor and her body attempted to equalize. Eventually she finished starting the coffee and made it back to her bedroom.

Evening came and Cass finally emerged from the apartment with her travel mug in hand and messenger bag slung over her shoulder ready to go to work. While most people on the street hurried along, heads down focused on their destination, Cass's eyes were on the clouds as her wandering pace carried her through the streets eventually bringing her to the nightclub, Landshark, where she was the DJ. The front was still locked, and not having a key she leaned up against the building to wait for the owner to let her in.

A flock of pigeons flew out of the ally and Cass watched as the feathers on their wings slowly undulated through the air.

"Cassandra."
"CASSANDRA."
"CASSANDRA!"

"Hmmm...? Oh. Hi boss." Cass said dreamily to the exasperated man yelling for her attention.

"Hi yourself Cass. Get in here and set up."

"Right boss."

Checking the sound and hooking up her Macbook, Cass was in her element. There was a lot about the world she just didn't feel like she could grasp anymore, much of reality was like a dream half remembered, but here with the vibrations of sound and music and tempos and the rhythm of the dancers. From the sound check until the last clubber went home for the night it was the only time Cass felt really connected with anything.

The first revelers were coming in, the house lights were down and Cass was plugged in for the night.

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀

[Versus Fate]

Nathan Mercer

He remembered how he got here...

Nathan awoke in a morgue on a slab just before two scientists attempt to cut open his torso with a scalpel. The two men panic and leave, terrified of him. Nathan doesn't understand why they're so frightened and doesn't remember anything about his previous life. He runs after the scientists in an attempt to escape. Though Nathan was an amnesiac for a while, he realizes that Vex’s guards are doing something wrong when he watches them kill the two scientists trying to alert the authorities to his reanimation. The soldiers notice him and he jumps meters in the air, easily scaling a chain-link fence. After escaping, he finds himself trapped in Salem City, being pursued by the military. He soon discovers that he has the capability to consume others and take on their appearance and memories, along with their special skills. With no recollection of where he came from, Nathan decides to track down those responsible for his situation and consume them in order to uncover the truth behind what has been done to him, caught between the Rebellion Forces, Vex’s guards who are the hunt for him, and the police force. Only after consuming one of Vex’s top guards, he learns that he was hand-picked for something called “Project Extinction” and that Vex had his family assassinated. He has made it his mission in life to find and kill Vex.


And now, he was here; on his way to an apartment complex in the West side of Salem, among the rooftops. One of the Rebellion elects had tipped him off on an ex-employee of Vex’s. A scientist, Dana White, who may have some information regarding “Project Extinction”
Nathan moved in silence and with haste as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop. His genetically modified DNA allowed him to do things most people would classify as ‘supernatural’. Then his blue irises caught something in the particular area that Dana's apartment supposedly lied:

"Smoke." he whispered to himself.

Upon his arrival, Nate was met with a convoy of about 10 of Vex's guards or so outside of Dana's apartment. From the looks of it, they had already raided the place, killing whatever lived inside, Human or Elect, and set it ablaze.

"The Boss said to be on the lookout for a guy wearing a hood. Said something about, he can run really fast and jump high or some s**t..." said one.

"Heh, what they call a guy in a hood that can run fast? A ******** homeless person looking for his next meal." one joked.

Nathan wasn't exactly homeless, but he was rather hungry.

Nathan wasted no time, and leaped from the rooftop and his fell to the ground. Being a subject of the virus, Nathan could control his body mass at will, meaning he could shift from being a 190 pound male to two tons of pure destruction. When he landed her broke through the asphalt, as the ground shifted and the guard's convoy trucks flipped.

"What the ********] cried one as he and three others walked slowly and cautiously towards the crater that Nathan had just made.

Wrong move.

Nathan leaped out as his arm shifted into a massive black and red blade. He easily sliced his way through the guards until he got to the very last one, the leader; a colonel. The colonel dropped his gun, "W-w-wait! You're that hooded guy, right?! The one that got away?! I know all about Project X or uh extinction or whatever...I can tell you all about it!"

"Oh really?" Nathan hissed, "Well, you're more valuable to me Consumed than dead, huh?" he said as he got his hand around the man's throat, lifting him up and then impaling his hand into the man's chest. When he did, he consumed the colonel as Vex's guard dissipated into red and black matter than flowed into Nathan. Turns out the guard had been lying. Nathan knew that much, it was just fun to mess with them. But he had found one valuable source of information: the guard had spotted a lot of dead elects over on this side of town and he caught sight of a girl that seemed to control fire. It was worth an investigation. Nathan took back to the rooftops, leaping from one to the other and making his way through Salem City.

\\ I am the Apex Predator////

[Evisorater]

Eaon Verite

An eye for and eye and the whole world goes blind

Eaon yawned and stretched, it had been a long day, she then grabbed her coffee and took a sip. She frowned as she looked at the brown liquid, it had gone cold, how long she had been up here she couldn't say, but it had been long. She looked across to the building opposite her, where her target was, still having a meeting. She picked up her rifle and looked down along the barrel, aiming at her target, for it seemed the meeting was coming to an end. She then happened to glance at her other target, "Bugger," she grumbled as she put down the rifle and picked up her camera, she was fortunate that both of her targets were within viewing distance of the roof she was on.

She took a couple of photos, frowning at the annoying scene she was watching, she hated cases where she had to follow cheating spouses. Her thoughts then strayed to the conversation she was going to have to have, Not only is you husband cheating on you, but he is doing it with another man, I'm sorry honey, she thought feeling both pity and annoyed as she packed her camera away, Gods that is definitely the most annoying part of this job. She picked her gun up again only to notice her targeting leaving the room, "Oh for gods sake," she uttered, frustrated that she couldn't be over and done with this and then aimed at the targets car, only to notice a group of guards beating on a couple.

She ground her teeth, they were probably elects being beaten, she wanted to shoot them so badly, but these were specially made, untraceable bullets that were hellish expensive. She spotted her target and quickly took aim, Well hopefully the sound of a gunshot will cause them to come running, she thought and fired, watching as her target fell to the ground and seeing the guards pointing in this direction. She quickly disassembled her gun and packed it away and then looked at the guards, one of them pointed at her and she grinned devilishly, it wasn't like they could Identify her from this distance, but they could tell there was someone up here. She placed her mask on, still grinning, Looks like I'm going to be having some fun tonight, she thought and started to climb down.

I guess then the goal is blind the rest of the world first.

[Ingou]

Renée Young ✂ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I don't know how I came to this
There is blood lust in my eyes
And someone in my mind saying
"I have forced you here
I'm hiding, right here inside you"

▼

A figure, though unseen in the pitch-black interior of the room, stretched slightly. Said person wasn't sure how long she had snoozed in the semi-plush office chair, but it certainly was enough to cause discomfort and stiffness. Wearily, the figure reached across the desk the chair was pulled flush to, a slender hand fumbling in the general area a desk lamp was located. Two clicks of a knob and a dim light illuminated the room, revealing the occupant to be a woman.

The female yawned, stretching once more before smoothing her hands over her hair. Not that it was uncommon for the woman to look disheveled, but it was a habit she had acquired over the years. She didn't want to look as though she had just rolled out of some stranger's bed, let alone her own. The blonde locks that went just below her shoulders were a bit out of place, but it wasn't too terrible of predicament. A soft sigh escaped the full, soft pink lips of the woman, her right hand moving to rub her closed eyes. The glasses that she had fallen asleep with on her head were knocked off, the thin, black metal frames making a soft clatter as they hit the floor.

Another sound was heard. Distant, in the corner of the room. It was muffled and and strained. It came from a dingy mattress in the corner of the room.

Instantly, the woman's eyes snapped open, her hand roaming down to one of the armrests of the chair. She craned her head over to where the sound had came from, her pale blue eyes narrowing as a scowl took over her features. Her eyes fell upon the filthy and mangled form of the Elect that had been put in her charge hours ago. "Quiet, worm!" she barked out, her voice harsh and cold. "You won't be suffering much longer. I'll be sure to end your miserable existence before the day is through." She wasn't exactly sure what time is was currently, but the task of looking at the watch that encircled her left wrist seemed like a hassle. She would guess it was the afternoon, but her internal clock was almost always wrong, considering her work hours changed constantly.

Standing up, the female then wandered over to a cabinet filled with various medical tools, the heels of her shoes clicking behind her along the tiled surface of the floor. She pulled open a drawer, removing a shiny, clean scalpel, the corner of her lips twisting sadistically. "I promise that if you talk," she drawled on, her tone carrying a false hope to her captive, "That your death won't be as painful. You just need to give me the location of any of your safehouses."

The man that had been shackled to the wall, his crumpled form in a heap on the mattress below his bindings, stirred slightly. He wasn't striking, just average looking, no notable features aside from the cuts and bruising his tormentor gave him earlier. His torso had many lacerations that were still bleeding, the shirt he had on (if it could even be called a shirt now) was torn to ribbons and clung to him. His pants were dark, but damp with his own sweat and blood, though otherwise in fair condition. He looked miserable, defeated, but still he did not betray his allies, his kind.

Humming softly, quite pleased with her work, Reneé undid a button from her white dress shirt, she edge of her bra coming into view, as well as a fair amount of cleavage. Nothing else had seemed to get the prisoner to talk, so the figured she'd try a little fan service. Of course, if he didn't say anything that would be fine as well. She had plenty of time to sit around and continue delivering the man into agony, but she needed some intel to give to her superior. She watched as the male's jaw clenched, already steeling himself for another attack. 'Oh my, he is going to be troublesome.'

-

A few hours later, the woman threw another bloody scalpel upon the tile floor of her lab, the once-sanitary item joining a group of at least fifteen bloody, and some broken, of it's fellows. Letting out a frustrated growl, the woman was beginning to lose her temper, aggressively removing the shirt she wore from her form. She tossed the blood-spattered garment in a random direction, moving swiftly to retrieve another clean shirt from a small closet in the room. She wasn't going to bother replacing her skirt, the dark fabric not showing any signs of her interrogation upon it's surface. At least, not any immediate signs. She pulled out a white lab coat, slipping the cool-to-the-touch garment over her fresh shirt. The blonde moved to the small sink in the room, turning on the faucet and thrusting her hands into the chill water. Soap was then lathered, making sure that not a speck of filth was to be found. Once that task was complete, a disposable towel came next, then shutting off the water.

Her black heels clacked in her wake as she made her way back to her desk, her form bending over to gingerly pick up the her rectangle-framed glasses from the floor. Absentmindedly, she placed the accessory back upon her head, the dark persona instantly fading to the 'host' personality. The woman brought a hand to her mouth to hide the slight shock on her face; her lab was a mess. Not to mention another elect placed under her watch was now dead. Sighing, the woman glanced to a manilla folder that lay open on her desk. The file's contents held information about herself, and what she had been subjected to, but it was all written in a code that she was unable to decipher. She had no way of knowing how to translate it, the scientist long been dead who wrote up the report.

Another loud exhale escape Renée, a small frown on her face. 'If only you had just told me where your fellows were hiding. It wouldn't have been so bad.' she said mentally, a downward twist still tugging at her lips. 'I hate not having any findings to report. I hope I don't get reprimanded for not making any progress.' Now it was time to do the 'walk of shame', to update Vex on yet another failure she accomplished today. Walking through the entire route there was not nearly as bad as what words, or even object, might be thrown at her.

The office loomed before her, a guard hastily exiting as though there was gunfire nearby. That certainly didn't bode well at all! The woman just had to accept her failure and carry on, so she lifted up her right hand and knocked on the massive door. "Sir," the title left her mouth after she entered the room, stopping a few feet short of the desk inside. Her icy blue eyes watched the man carefully, head up and back straightened.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

►Location: Capital Building XXXX►Company: Vex XXXX►Attire: Just The Usual XXXX►Mood: Defeated

[Sagacious Novelty]

Ariadnae closed up the library that night much later than she had wanted; hurrying off the last small child. The same little boy that was always there until the library closed at it's usual time. He was an elect, or would be-- both his parents were, she knew them well, before they passed. It was likely he was going through the change now, but Ariadnae had never been very good with support. Especially since she hadn't been given much when she was growing up. Xavor was around of course. Aria had met him after discovering that everything she touched practically exploded when too riled up. He taught her to control it using drugs; a good fix for the time, until she tried to find a real job. Who knew she could fail something as simple as peeing in a cup?

There were preparations to be made of course. Open up the basement, seal of the door and pretend to leave, just in case someone was watching. Her heart raced- although this wasn't the first time she had allowed a meeting in her place of work. If it didn't go off without a hitch however, she wasn't sure what would happen. The library was family owned; given to her when her father passed. Her mother wanted nothing to do it, reminded her too much of him. Aria had always found her father's memories comforting, she couldn't understand her mother's dismay.

Closing up as she normally would she left out of the front door and moved around the back, taking a stroll around the block before coming to the alley way. She passed through to where the dumpster was and moved it, unhinging the door which lead to the basement of the library. She only waited a few minutes before people started coming, moving silently through the now darkened streets. She hoped they didn't draw too much attention. They greeted the girl with uncertain smiles and nods.

[Hehaku Tokuo]

Location: Salem Hospital (Hidden Floor) xxxxxxxxxxx Company: 1 Subject

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"Push your controlling values aside, and dissect your own life. It's not about my beliefs. It's about personal choice. It breaks your heart to see me consume, but it shatters mine to see people follow you. You ask me to be blameless, but who are you to decide what's right?"

[[[Side Note: This is happening in sync with Yuki's post >.< ]]]

∝╬══→ Ӻoot steps echoed through the long hall way of the hidden hospital floor. A man wearing dark plated armor from head to toe, cloth-like garments swayed in the air, and the infamous glowing cross lit up the dimmed hallway. Casually he had walked up to a plastic curtain door. On the other side he could hear groaning, it was a man. Apothecary waved an arm through the curtain and suddenly the room had lit up with a motion sensor activating the lights. He grabbed a clipboard and looked over his own notes on the man. Looking over the man again he could tell the drugs were wearing off on the guard. He was going to have to tie him down sooner than planned. While the man remained on a stretcher, which Apothecary had stolen from the hospital along with many other things, he moved the stretcher to another room. After he left the room the light had turned off from the motion sensor. The further he went down the hallway the more the man became aware of his surroundings.


∝╬══→ Ʉpon entering another room the light lit up to show a stainless steel table. Surrounded were a lot of sharp and misshapen tools that wouldn't normally be found in a hospital. Then again Apothecary wasn't exactly trying to save this man he was pushing around. After moving his subject to the cold table he began strapping him in with metal shackles, leather belts, and even drilling a few things in. As the final hole was filled from the drill, the man was fully aware and panicking. He began to scream and curse at the top of his lungs, but all his energy used to scream was in vain as this entire floor was sound proofed so that no sound will get out. Apothecary had soon attached several tubes to the man to have his vitals show up in digital form on a screen. Wanting to end the screaming Apothecary leaned in close to the man and held his jaw tightly with his hand. Squeezing tight he thrust his hand up to stretch the man's neck out, and soon the veins were popping out from the adrenaline in the man's system. Using his other hand, Apothecary reached over to a stand and grabbed a syringe that already had been filled with an injection to paralyze its victim temporarily. Carefully choosing a vein, Apothecary stabbed the man in the neck with the paralysis syringe. Slowly he injected half of a dose into the subject's body. Instantly the man's body had started to react to the alien liquid in his system. He then watched as the man's vitals had begin to slow down in pace thanks to the new heavy drug inside him.


∝╬══→ Ѧpothecary turned around to casually open a cabinet with hundreds of small vials. He lifted his right hand and panned through them all until he came upon a bright reddish-orange vial. Taking an empty syringe off of his person, he filled it completely while walking back towards the man. As the man laid there helpless, still fully aware of what was going on, Apothecary unrestrained him from the neck up. This allowed him to move his subject's head freely while on the table. Once the restrains were off, Apothecary lifted the man's head all the way forward so the back of his neck was showing. Near the ball of his head the syringe meet, and as the vibrant liquid was pushed inside Apothecary whispered to the man, "And now we wait and see if you will be a success or a failure...number two-hundred and ninety-seven." Gently taking the syringe out, Apothecary looked to grab a small patch of gauze and covered the fresh wounds. When this was done he quickly strapped the man back in, just in time so that he began to shake violently. It seemed the half dose of paralysis wasn't enough to counter act the new injection. Knowing this test was a failure Apothecary had left the room to leave the guard in darkness, pain, and soon to be dead.

"You've crossed the line. Don't say another word. I won't hesitate to put you in your place. You are the straw that's crushing my back. You are the salt that's burning my wounds. You ask me to be blameless, but who are you to decide what's right? Don't say another word. However, I thank you for this pen and ink ammunition. Thank you for the inspiration."

[Star Shuutaa]

Alisa Jane Marchesi
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦ ❤ ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦


Deep brown eyes opened wide in shock, her body gasping for air as if she were choking in her sleep. The warmth of the afternoon sun striping her abdomen and face brought her back to reality. This was somewhat an unusual scenario for Alisa.

Either her dreams were simply dreams, or they were visions of the future, slices of the day ahead or things to come. They were never usually too exciting, since her life was currently less than that. But this was rather vivid, fast, the pieces fleeting from memory like dreams usually did. There was running, screaming, surroundings whizzing by so fast... Alisa wiped her brow of sweat and panic, frowning that she was unable to recall too many details like usual. Shaking the thoughts away, she went about getting ready and going out, unable to entirely shake the unsettling feeling in her gut. Going about things like normal would ease her mind. The daily routine of waking up, working in the coffee shop at all hours, then coming back to her cozy apartment was anything but exciting, but there is a form of comfort in repetition. Days filled with acting as normal and inconspicuous as possible, without being obvious. But that's how it is when you're an Elect and trying to survive nonviolently, right?

The day went by as usual, nothing out of the ordinary stuck to mind as the sun set and vanished. The silence that settled in both outside and inside made Alisa feel tired, so as the few customers who were lingering were already helped, she went into the back and took a seat on a stool next to the baker's table and sighed, closing her eyes. It wasn't unusual for her to sleep for awhile here, it was easier than running back to the apartment, then running back to open early in the morning. Though she had slept a good chunk of time, she had no dreams or visions, before she heard Delilah's footsteps as she entered and ran about just as a customer entered. From the muffling she could gather, she assumed it was Dr. Vandel coming by for his routine visit and coffee.

Alisa sat paused in the back as her eyes opened, small waves of uneasiness coming back once her thoughts had traveled to earlier that day... Her head shook and brushed her bangs out of her face before dusting her apron of any flour, then making her way to the front with her favorite mug in one hand, the other coming up to her face to rub her eye of sleepiness. "Hello hello." She laughed softly to Delilah and Dr. Vandel as she began to pour herself a cup of coffee with a yawn. "Heh, don't mind me, I didn't sleep too well last night."