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 Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:07 pm
"Training room. Top of the range VR technology. The walls are able to change their look, and microbes in the air allow for a change in the photons received by the eye, creating a perceived reality different from what is truly here. Heat, moisture, light are all controlled by environmental controls.
...I'm very rich, I'm afraid."
Smiling softly, she tilted her head back to enjoy the fake sun, warmth seeping into her skin, warming her from the outside in.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:09 pm
From his now seated position, Nines squinted and looked skywards. There was nothing for it; he was now wholeheartedly confused by the sun in the sky. The explanation helped, but it didn't change the shock value allowed by the chamber's peculiar abilities.
My God...that's insane.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:13 pm
"Indubitably. I'm quite mad you know, the media says so, and we all believe everything we read in the paper.
It provides for good stress relief. And practical experience, to keep me on form. Some days though... it's nice to use just to pretend it's spring a long time ago, and that the coast is a few minutes ride away."
Leaning back, she rested her palms flat on the grass and straightened her legs in front of her. She wasn't going to rush him.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:21 pm
Damn...
Squinting at the sky, he stared off until there were small points of black in his vision. He looked out wistfully, thinking of distant things for a while.
I haven't seen anything like this in way too long...it's sad. God knows I'm trying to get there, but it's damn sad...
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:24 pm
"I agree. And worse, as time goes on, you forget other things if you don't hold on to them with all your might. I don't remember how food tasted when I was young. I miss that.
I miss being able to ride too. I spent a lot of my time in the saddle... now though, animals wont come near me if they can help it. I don't blame them."
She smiled sadly at Nines, knowing how he felt, especially as she felt it too. it was nice to pretend the sun was real sometimes... but it always made knowing the real thing was denied more painful after.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:32 pm
He sighed, and slowly eased back until he was laying in the grass, basking in the warmth.
I've got a little brother who's enjoying days like this. Kid's just going into college now, and he keeps asking when his brother's going to come pay him a visit. Poor kid's been stonewalled; so far as he knows, his brother's working across the country.
He sighed again, this time deeper, more pained.
I just want to go home and have a family. Kid didn't deserve to be stuck alone in that house, and I promised him I'd take him with me. I've been covering his tuition since nobody else will, and trying to find a way to go home without having to explain to him what happened. I couldn't look the kid in the eyes and tell him what I have to do nightly. I couldn't bear the thought of it. And every job I take that makes me hold a weapon in my hands pays a little bit more of his schooling, puts a little bit more funding to finding a way, but it also drives me a few steps further to never being able to truly go home.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to think too hard on it. His off hand was uprooting a clump of grass at the thought, and he wanted to maintain at least some of his composure. It took his a few seconds to force the lump in his throat down, and keep his voice from cracking.
So now I'm basically told I need to go and kill more people or else more and more freakishly bad things drawn from some poor ******** nightmares happen. Either way, I can't ******** win, and I'm terrified somebody will find out what I'm trying to do and use it. God knows, I couldn't drag the kid into this life.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:43 pm
"You told me about him. Nines... there's no way to make this easy. You wont ever be human again - that's impossible. And to be as we are, around those we love... its hard, if not downright dangerous. One frenzy, one mistake, and either he dies, or you do at his hands cos he decides to open the windows one morning.
We don't get to go home, we don't get to have conventional kids, and in time... we either learn a new way, or we die for the old one.
I'm not saying what you are doing is wrong. You SHOULD pay to put him through college, give him what you never had. But he will grow old, and he will die, and you will not. He will live and love and experience... while you are stuck in limbo. And that's the greatest pain to bear.
Paying him visits is possible, if done carefully and so that you cant stay. I knew a man who claimed to be an architect so he could pop in to see his daughter, and dash off again to 'catch a flight' to the next job. Of course, this lasted only about 15 years before he had to pretend to die... he wasn't getting older, and she was...
Let me pay you. Mind the bar for me, and take the wages. Use them to get your brother through college, and then get him his own place. Set things right... because one day, it'll be either the truth, or never seeing him again.
I'll let you know what Ice wants done, and if its morally acceptable to you, you can do it for a bonus. If not... I'll take care of it myself. We can try to live a lie for a while, at least give you a chance. It's the best I can offer. What you are longing for... it's an impossible dream. And I wish it wasn't."
She spoke with that even tone, knowing what she was saying was the exact opposite of what Nines' would want to hear, but also knowing it was the truth. Without bringing kin into the same world you inhabited... you could not continue to charade for long. This, in itself, was a lesson all Kindred learnt, and one Nines' could only teach himself, with time.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:51 pm
He listened, and it took a strong degree of respect garnered within the past few days for him not to interrupt with a violent outburst. He bit his tongue, keeping his mouth shut until she was done. By then, he was shaking visibly, both in despair and rage.
I know a guy. A doctor, a mage. He's working on it, says he may be able to find a way given some time and the resources to run the work. Says something about revitalizing the avatar through applied quintessence. He's theorized about it but never had the chance to truly apply his theories.
Even saying it after her rant made it sound more feeble than it was. In his head he still had some hope, but her words didn't help his already fragile grasp on it.
I...I dunno. I have to try, at the least. God knows, I have to try.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 2:01 pm
"Immortality is a blessing and a curse, Nines, not an illness one recovers from. All attempts in the past to achieve this have ended in the vampire becoming a worse monster, or dying from it.
I won't stop you, I won't force you. You are newly dead enough to still have something to live for, as a man. For me, that time is long since passed. I know how you feel, but I felt it myself so long ago I wont claim to be able to truly appreciate it right now.
Do what you must, but remember all I have said. If you run... I cannot help you. I have given you what options I can. Both to make you more comfortable, and to advise you from my own experience. When and if the time is right... you will come to me.
Until then... I suggest you think on things, study with me, and decide your next move.
All of my offers remain open - both working for me, whether as a hired gun or bartender, and to have a key to the house. When the time is right... just ask."
Standing up, she felt he needed some time alone to think properly, without her looming next to him, or putting the pressure on.
A door appeared in the middle of the field as she reached for it.
"Stay and enjoy the warmth. When you're done, close your eyes and reach for the door or wall. If you give then 'program end' command, the room will return to normal.
Once you leave, you wont be able to re-enter without me, so take your time.
Good night, Nines."
Stepping through the door, she was gone, and the door too vanished. Somewhere in the field, a small bird began to sing, a single cloud passing over the sun.
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Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:00 pm
For quite some time, Nines sat, huddled over with his chin resting upon his knees. There was a great deal on his mind, and very little of it was good. No words were spoken, no movement noted apart from the artificial breeze drifting lazily through his hair.
An hour passed before he slowly reached out to his left, and spoke the command to shut the simulation down. The sun was extinguished and the hill sank into the earth, returning to the drab, grey chamber he had originally entered.
From there, he withdrew to his chambers, not commenting to any soul he met along the way about the streaks of rusty brown staining his cheeks.
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Dagoth DeSeer Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:09 pm
The crimson haired pirate walked up the long drive towards the mansion, he let out a low whistle when he previously got to the gates. It came as no suprise that they swung open to him the moment he arrived, he was sure that Roan had been waiting for him. He rolled his head side to side and adjust the pack that was slung across his shoulders, a long tube with all his few belongings wrapped in a hammock. Dagoth nodded his head as the music blasted through the headphones he wore, his boots slapped against the hard drive as he marched forwards.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:13 pm
Indeed, the ex-pirate was anticipated at some point, and instruction had been given to the staff to allow entry as and when he arrived.
The staff, such as it was, were good at remaining out of sight, and this was made even easier as the house currently had way less staff than if it had been being lived in by a large, mortal family.
It was Jan who opened the main door to Dagoth as he arrived, quirking a perfectly plucked brow.
"Sir is expected. These are your long term necessities?"
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Dagoth DeSeer Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:23 pm
"You what?"
It had been a century since Dagoth had last required himself to rely on airs and graces. His current habits were hard to break, he looked closely at the man bowing before him letting a small interested sound escape his throat. Cocking his head to one side before dropping his headphones around his neck and shuffling to pause the track currently playing.
"....sorry mate, yeah this is all my kit."
Dagoth stepped through the door and was in awe of the mansion before him, this was not the kind of digs he expected a "vampire" to own. It was cliche in places and expensive the kind of home that brought alot of attention and problems.
"Is...sh....Roan here?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:31 pm
"She is indeed home, sir, you will find her Ladyship in the Green Drawing Room."
Wry amusement suffused the butler's professional tone as he allowed Dagoth to enter the open hall area.
"If sir would kindly pass me his things, I will see that they are placed appropriately in sir's allocated lodgings. Follow the rear hall behind the stairspast the ballroom, and you will find the Green Drawing Room through the fourth door on your right.
...Her Ladyship has had a long day, I would suggest sir is punctual and genteel in his approach...."
Dagoth was being Buttled.... the butler's unique brand of trolling. Overly polite, Jan was smiling as he held out his hands to take the man's things, which would no doubt find their way efficiently to a plush room.
For Dagoth however... so long as he acquiesced, he would get a good look at more of the plush mansion as he sought the room in which Roan did indeed sit, curled on a huge comfy chair, politely ignoring her book, in favour of staring blankly out the window.
She would be hard to spot at first... she wasn't moving at all, and may as well have been a statue in the room, as the Lady of the house.
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Dagoth DeSeer Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:47 pm
"I bet."
In one deft motion Dagoth swung the pole from his back and unclipped the roll from it. He'd hand the bedding over to him not without a giving a look of "dont steal my stuff" and resting the staff into his inner arm. The pole was still covered in an old grey canvas that didn't give away its design.
Dagoth would take an oppertunity to look into the man's eyes before turning towards where he was being directed and proceeding in a brisk pace. The Butler was no slave or servant, he was there because he choose too. The thought rocked his mind, everything he read and had been told had said they like slaves mindless beings. Whilst he could smell others in this home and noticed one or two scurrying about trying to stay out of site that one wasn't under any spell.
Dagoth stared at the door for a moment before gathering himself together, using a small sharp knock and entering the room. His draw hit the floor, the room was beautiful, the smell of fine living, old books and real wood furniture polish struck his senses. It took him a moment to spot Roan when he did he struggled to hide his child like awe at his surroundings.
"...nice home you have."
'that was ******** stupid Dag'
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