Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hellbane may have arrived first, but Maximillian had been watching his progress from a dozen sets of eyes as soon as he had set foot in the underground detention center. The consultant had the potential to be anywhere in the facility in a heartbeat; Bane would find that his personnel manager for mortal operations arrived quite abruptly from a hazy ripple in space. Ever the picturesque man, Maximillian stood tall and confident before the retinue, utterly unafraid of the walking plague before him.

Your summons, HellBane?

Maximillian watched as Bane passed into the cell. The consultant remained still, his gaze never leaving the contagion.

In the time we have been allotted, no more could be done that has not. Viral and her counterparts will have the tools they need. Any error is the product of undue haste in the timescale...and even then, such things have been quantified and accounted for. The safeguards will hold certainly hold unless actively broken, and they are nigh undetectable. I predict no major issues. If worse comes to worst, I am already engaging in several contingency plans on the side to maintain the operational secrecy of both this project, and this facility.

The strange mortal spoke with a matter of fact certainty over all facets of his work. There was no doubt in his mind that matters would provide satisfactory results...even if they were not necessarily the results Hellbane anticipated. The employer need not know what Max had in store for this project on the side...he merely needed to know that his exacting specifications were met to the last.

Arrangements have already been made. The vehicle has been left as of the last location the subject's modified recollection will be aware of.

The manifested mortal swept his arm forward and took a bow. The gratitude of his employer meant little, beyond that he was fulfilling his duties well. Such indefinable things were only of concern in that they made further progress a far easier goal; Max worked with people only when it served to aid him forward.

Data processing is well underway. The agents will be given everything we possess, and whatever speculation the findings supports.

As Jan was taken by the operative known only as "Viral", Max found himself wishing once more for a chance to finish his studies on the old butler. Despite this, though, he could not hold back the quiet pride in what had been accomplished with the subject in such a brief time. The feeling was short lived, but it was enough to bring a smile his finely chiseled features.

The staff are well sustained. They need not the concern, so long as they are allowed to continue their research with the proper facilities. Sample requisition will not be necessary to maintain the researchers.

You seek the perfect contagion...I seek the perfect human. The proof of my work IS the durability of my staff in your conditions. Continue your production, HellBane, and I will alert you when the next milestone is reached.

And then he was gone, leaving only the hazy ripple in space. With the soft thrumming of delicate gossamer wings, a dozen glowing green orbs opened and lifted away from where the meeting had been. THe brood creature returned to its flight, leaving Bane to do as he wished. As for Maximillian...he had many things to tend to. There was much work to be done on numerous fronts.

Commence the test, Issa. We will observe from here.

*Hellbane sat proud and terrifying in the center of the cultured growth area.
Organic material, damp and pulsing, filled panels ranging all along this wall - panels made from his own flesh, stretched and used as oversized plates to culture the diseases and bacteria that formed the basis of both Bane's existance and grand goal in life.
He himself sat hooked up to the mess from a seat in the center of the row, tendils of living tissue erupting out of his back and shoulders, neck and hips to connect to the plates behidn him, the growth and development of the diseases greatly increased as the living Infection shared his blood with the very walls.

With the odd drip of ichor to the floor to counterpoint his stillness, Hellbane watched a large screen display which showed Issa, flanked by two of her underlings, overlooking a small village, which seemed to be located somewhere in the middle east. Beyond her, a helicopter sat still and silent, movement within showing vaguely in the dim evening light. Suddenly, one of the pilots shot backwards out of the chopper, head sliding from his body as he did so.
Bane's honour guard slipped out of the black machine, revealing that THEY themselves were the subjects of this experiment, and they came ot fan around Issa. It was obvious they scared both the patrol woman and her team, but they stood passive and placid as they gazed over her shoulder at the small image of their master.
Whatever was about to happen... it would be messy. Each member of the team bore a faint scar on his or her temple, courtesy of level 4. This... was Bane's test of under control their urges were, after Mica's display in the holding zone a week earlier*

*The team stood above the village, passive and silent as they stared at Issa and awaited their orders. It was Bane who spoke first, and each of the elites twitched its head, looking for their master, everything in their mental hardwiring built, above all else, to obey HIM.*

Is the target in the village?
Yes sir. Dr Reece is down there somewhere with the anti virus. Scouts report three major pharmaceutical representatives and a mix of their staff also in the village.
Clever, coming out here. But not clever enough. Have the units their orders?
No sir, that was for you to decide. Their chip program is open for input.
I see. Then shall we get this show on the road?

*Back in the lab, Bane held out his hand. Into it, a small black device almost like a pager was passed to him. He slid the cover upwards, revealing the green screen beneath, then produced a small keypad from his pocket, which he plugged into the bottom of it. Then, he began inputting his orders...

1. Seek Dr Russel Reece
2. Use villagers to ascertain whereabouts if necessary
3. Execute with extreme predjudice.
4. Secure anti virus
5. ....have fun.

A brief flicker in each of his elites, then a slow grin. They had their orders. Now it was time ot execute them. Bane slid his pager away, then settled back to watch as the experiment began*

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*Sven licked his lips. Night... his preferred hunting conditions. Stood above the village, he looked down on it as his colleagues fanned out and vanished. Such a beautiful night.
He rested his left hand on his gun... and his right on the baton at his hip. Dressed as all the others in a plain jet black and form fitted jumpsuit, his suit was only slightly different in that it had crossed straps on his chest, instead of on his left thigh, to carry the few things he took with him.

As darkness deepened, he could see the lights coming up below. Away to his left, he made out Alison drifting into the treeline and then.. gone. The active camoflage built into the suits worked like a charm as always. Scent, sight and silence guarenteed...
In some ways, it ruined the hunt for him, but... Order 5. ... have fun. The words played over and over behind his eyes. There would be time for a PROPER hunt. Once the objective was secured.

With that in mind, he leapt off the cliff and dropped like a stone, only to be lost within a few feet.*


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*Alison crept along the tree line. The first objective played over and over inside her head. the first place to look would be the village hall. She closed her eyes and focused. Her suit flickered, viral tendrils snaking up and over it like a mass of writhing snakes before it settled again. Where there had been a skulking woman, now there was a beautiful young lady in a designer suit, carrying a briefcase.
Walking confidently in high heels, she entered the village and nodded to the locals. To any questions asked her, she replied with the affirmation that she was there to speak with the doctors about building a new hospital in the village and could they point her to the village hall?
Within minutes, she was surrounded by hopeful villagers. A hospital was big news out here, and so needed. By the time she got to the village hall, she was surrounded by about 80% of the village, all of whom followed her into the heavy duty building...*

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*Mica watched Alison change. Soon enough her plan became clear and he dipped inot his thigh pocket for his pager. Murmuring into it, he waited for it to recignise his speech as words and transmit to the others, then he started following her, keeping low to start with. Then, he too shifted his attire and walked out to join her, carrying a roll of papers that looked like plans as he fell into step.
Within ten minutes, the hall doors closed. No scientists within. Nodding to Alison, Mica took the village's leader into a back meeting room and closed the door.

Speaking the lingo wasnt hard. The chip in his head translated and provided him with the language he needed. And of course... there was nothing like body language. The man had such delicious looking full lips.....

TWITCH

The chip detected the endorphins and adnrenaline in his brain rising unbidden and short circuited the electrical impulse causing it.

SEEK DR RUSSEL REECE. USE VILLAGERS TO ASCERTAIN WHEREABOUTS.

With his mind reset, he dropped his guide and laid the situation on the line briefly, painfully and quietly. Thre eminutes later when they emerged, Mica took a seat in the middle of the room while the doors were locked, discreetly. The head man then started explaining that plans for a new hospital had been drawn up that woudl bring great profit to the village. The villagers would be asked one by one to go into the back room with ALison and place their vote whether they wished it to go ahead or not into a ballot after examining the proposed plans. This was ot ensure an unbiased vote.
The first villager was called by Mica, who stood smiling in his suit and tie in the middle of the room and marked them off on a register provided by the councilman.*

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*Cora glanced down at his pager.

VILLAGE SECURED IN HALL FOR QUESTIONING. COMMENCE MOP UP. EAVES AND WESTBROOKE.

That was Mica and Alison tied up then. That left him to hunt for stragglers.
Ahead, a small cluster of buildings on the edge of the village looked inviting. Light on upstairs indicated someone was home who hadnt yet heard about the cover story Alison and Mica would be spinning and THAT meant...

He slithered up to the cool wall and raised his head over the sill by a fraction. No one downstairs. A noise caught his attention and he slid along the wall to peep around it, activating his camo just in case, though he had absolute faith in his own sneaking skills.
He watched as two men, one older, one younger but still in his 30's, headed out into the forest, carrying guns. That was ok. Lisa would mop them up. This left him with... yes... he could hear them... a mother and her toddler upstairs.
Sliding in through the unlocked back door, Cora began investigating the house, looking at the stairs like a snake in a birds nest full of eggs....*

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*Lisa knew the others were all working on the primary goals. As always, that left her job as permieter guard. Oh, sure, the village was pretty big, and basically circular. Didnt matter. She was enough to hold the line. No one woudl get in... or out.
She was on the far side of the village when one of her many plants sensed movement heading for the permieter she herself had set up.
A few moments, and she'd skirted most of the village and was catching up on her prey. There, ahead, two males. She slowed and blended against a tree, watching them with enhanced night sight, as THEY tied to find their own prey in the dark.
Hunkering down onto all fours, the small almost androgynous woman crept after them, a geist in the darkness. Up ahead, that's where she'd take them. There was a small clearing and plenty of space to work without them being heard back at the village. Moonlight obscured behind a cloud... she crept in unseen with a wicked grin on her face. Soon... soon, it would be play time... the sooner, the better... her little song birds would sing... they all would, if it meant the Elites got some deserved RnR*

*Lisa was enjoying stalking the two men ahead. They smelt healthy. That was good. Better was that they stopped in the clearing, analysing deer prints and the direction they believed the creatures had gone in.

She too stopped, watching them. Music swam through her head as she grinned. She could smell them so clearly, their blood, their sweat, their acumen.... how delicious. She swallowed convulsively as she thought of the soft, malleable organs inside each man, the heat inside their gut....

TWITCH

Hunt first, and answers... then there would be time to bathe in the pool of organs she would take from this flea bitten village...
Setting her hands against the earth, she caressed the dirt and bade the viral influence in her own body to flow free. To taint and poison the land beneath her.*

I will deny you, this world belongs to me...

*Her voice was childlike, a whisper in the dark. The tree to her left turned a dark black, leaves withering as she used it to permeate the other plant life. Slowly, tendrils of the ivy that grew on it wound out into the clearing. The two men were now heading for the far side, and the animal track the deer had used. Suddenly, the ivy reacted much faster as Lisa got full hold and SHOT across the clearing, wrapping around the two mens necks and yanking them painfully to the floor.*

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Father and son, Adad and Sargon, had wandered into the forests edge, seeking to bolster their supplies with a fresh kill, adding venison to their fairly unvaried diet. Things were tough in their little village and natures bounty was what kept most families going.

Deer ran rampant in the forest, and it would take but a few hours to catch, kill and butcher the meat for home.
Adad was very pleased. Sargon had once found tracking difficult, and at times spooked their prey, but of late, his skills had vastly improved, and it was HE who picked up the hoof prints and determined the direction they had moved off in. Adad crouched next to his son, tilting his head to confirm the direction, a hand clapping Sargon on the back with a deep smile as he rose, his old weathered features content as the two began moving quietly after their prey - recent droppings said the deer were likely close.

Neither heard the vines behind them, neither even knew that's what had hit them. All Adad knew was SOMETHING was tight around his throat, pulling him form his feet in suprise, his breathe rushing from his body as he hit the hard packed earth. He dropped his bag, fumbled for his knife with one hand while his other fought to tear the contricting force from his throat, eyes seeking Sargon... only then did he knew what was going on.
Sargon too was fighting, thrashing on the ground as more vines crawled up his legs, binding them, then his arms, tearing the knife from his grip. Adad struggled as he watched his son's body go limp, his own throat too consricted to cry out, but he had his knife now... and the vines had not fully turned on him yet.
He had to be fast. Had to save Sargon. And thats when he saw her. The girl stood near the tree across the clearing, her hand on it as she watched them with a strange look on her face.
Taking it as suprise, he extended a hand towards her, mouthing for help as he thrashed, blood spots beginning to appear in his eyes.

She dashed towards him. Help was coming. He relaxed, drew a tiny breath as his neck constrictied away form the vines before they tightened again, but... the woman stood over him, smiling darkly. Leaning down, she grabbed his knife hand and started to squeeze. He'd have yelled in pain if he could, but all he COULD do was drop the knife, which nicked open his neck as it fell into the dirt, point down, next to his head.
Staring at it in dead shock of how easily it could have pierced an eye, he remained frozen as the vines caused his eyes to see only red, and then there was a wet sensation on his neck... someone was licking him..... and then there was only darkness.*

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Oh how delicious their struggles. Her vines tightened and she could FEEL their struggles as if the plants were fingers of her own, knew their pulses as they sped, then slowed, under the tendrils, even feeling the blood exloding behind their eyes as she held them.

The old man was looking at her. Pleading. How could she refuse? Childishly, daintily, she skipped across the space between them, a rhyme on her lips, a smile on her face as she stood next to him. He was offering his hand to her. She accepted, squeezing her small nails into his pressure points as hard as she could, her smile sugary sweet, until he dropped hs knife. It nicked him.
Instantly, she could smell blood, and that was what she wanted. Fluids, organs, warmth. She was always so cold. Dipping her head, she licked at the old man. Divine.

Hauling both into the tree line, Lisa took her time tying them down under so much vine they COULDNT move, but left their faces, and lower chests bare. Once she let go their necks, they regained colour and life swiftly, their gasps for air and bleary responses drawing childish giggles from the female as she clapped her hands.
Once she knew both were looking at her, and aware, she slithered down from the branch she was sitting on and settled on the legs of the younger male, her voice a high lilt as she spoke*

Where are they, mon ami? Where are the clever ones?
Who are you?! Whats going on? Get off my son!
Quiet old one, your turn will come. Where are the scientists?
I... I do not know what you are talking about! Please, let us go! My father is old, we only sought to feed our family..
Ah yes. Mummy and the little tyke. So very sad...
What have you done to them?!
Nothing. But Cora... well, he likes a little nest of eggs. Where are the scientists? No more asking nicely!

*Lisa leant down, and slashed open Sargon's stomach, or at least through all the layers of his skin, leaving the nacreous white of membrane showing through the rent, bulging in the large wounds before blood obscured it, leaving only pulsing red and white, staining to a deep purple at the deepest points. Sargon screamed, both struggled, and Lisa licked the warmth from her fingers*

Yummy...
NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE!
SILENCE! Unless you will tell me where the foreigners are, be quiet old man! Wait your turn!
We dont know! Cant you see we dont.... agh... know?!

*Lisa smiled and leant down. Ignoring the screams, the pleas, she reached into the massive rents she'd already caused in the younger male, and gently ran her claws over the shifting membrane. It split like a delicious grape skin, spilling out what was within. Organs bulged and rose, blood gushed. A delicious sight which had her licking her lips in want. In moments, her hands were buried in the opened stomach, the noise of her captives totally ignored as she indulged her passion, pulling one organ after another free, using her sharp little teeth to bite each free of the connecting tissues and valves.
Sargon fell silent at some point, but it was ok. His heat woud last a few hours past death. The old man was crying now. Good. Salty tears were just another bodily fluid after all. Delicious.

The girl went to him and crouched on his chest, licking the savoury fluids from his cheeks, in turn spreading his sons blood over him. She took her time and was more gentle with the old one, asking him again and again what she wanted to know. She was certain he didnt know the answers she sought, but she was thorough.
When she was done, she curled up on the soft bed she'd made. Organs squished under her small weight as she cleaned her hands up with gentle licks of her tongue. She'd setthe intestines aside. She didnt want those. And so long as the bodies remained warm and no more tried to escape, she's lay here in the gore she's extracted until it cooled. Then... it would be time to seek new heat. How wonderfully tempting. She couldnt wait for her companions to get the information they all needed to then enjoy themselves... so much material to work with.*

Hurry my sweets... bring little Lisa her deserts...

*Such a clear night. Svgen stood on the far side of the village, near the communal shelter, watching the stars overhead.

Tick, tick, tick, tick... some mental coundown, a pulse in his body held him still as he watched clouds pass over the stars above. Such bright lights, winking out.
One...zwei...drei...quatre...cinco...six...siete...ocho...nueve...ten...

As the eleventh light winked out, he moved. Faster than sight, he was at the door, faster still, a black shadow sliding inside, into the kitchen, under the massive communal table, senses alight and aware.
Peace. Quiet. Rest. It would never do.

Sven's speciality was the mind. And he could FEEL the room full of sleeping men and women two doors away. Mostly older kine, it was the women in particular who caught at his nose. He grinned widely as he placed both hands against the floor and exerted his will. Viral laden shadows shot away from his fingers, splitting like roots as they shot for the sleeping forms, passing under doors and around furnishings to eventually reach the targets.
Sleek, thin shadows of poison slid over each man or woman, feather light, until they found ears, noses, mouths, tear ducts. Then the horrific tendrils pierced inside and sought blood vessels, brain matter, membranes, any medium through which the veritable cocktail of hallucinagens Sven carried could be transmitted.

Then, like some perverse Pied Piper, the Elite started to charm his puppets. His mind stretched easily into each with his poisons acting on their bodies, causing everything from drunkness to overdose to coma. And of course the wonderful range of emotional and physical problems in between.
Like dancing marionettes, those left alive woke, and rose. Men and women aged 50 and over all, they acted like violent teens, the women thrashing and screaming, scratching and clawing as the men charged them, hormones running wild in their minds as the primal urges surged forth under Sven's practiced hand, sending them in some sort of rape trance, only the scent of female flesh clear ot their addled minds.

Oh how the women screamed and the men growled. Music to Sven's ears. Satisfied he owned all that moved in the room away from him, he rose and walked calmly in to watch the chaos as dear old granny was pinned to a wall by loveable old grandad and raped until she bled. And bles shim, grandpa had forgotten to put his teeth in as usual.
And there was Uncle bleeding terminally from clawed out eyeballs as Aunty ran for the door. Right towards Sven. Of all of them, the woman was the only one not enegaged in desired and unwanted carnal lusts. He grinned, and ran his hand gently over the baton at his waist, then drew it and held it out, a bar across the door in front of the unseeing and terrified woman. Depressing the button on the side, he laughed as the electric jolt raced into her body as she connected with it, throwing her backwards, back into the still developing orgy.*

And this is how my name will shine and shine again, Above you child, Alight and scarred I'll leave you alone in this place...

*Humming softly, he waded in after the woman, who twitched, and staggered to her feet, then ran for the window instead. Two, three, four large strides and he had her by the hair, another jolt to her neck sending her back to the floor, into the mix of blood sweat and other fluids coating the floor as the rape scene reached fever pitch, the 'drugs' permeating each of the other kine reaching dangerous levels. Already, several more lay dead as the combination of rape and intoxication overloaded weak hearts.*

Try and run again, and I'll set them ALL on you. Would you like that, my little old dear? Three holes may not be enough... shall we make some more?

No? Then I suggest you tell me where the scientists are.
I..I..I.I....Who... what....

*sven snorted. Such weak things, women. Leaning down and grabbing her hair as the twitching in her limbs slowed, her twisted his hand until clumps of hair came away in his hands, making her scream*

Answer me! WHERE are they?!

*Behind him, in unison, the men left alive snapped the necks of their screaming, pleading, begging and foaming wifes, friends, lovers, neighbours, then turned as one to look at the woman Sven held down*

NO! Please no! I dont know! Who are you? HOW are you doing this? Let me go!
I want those scientists, and I want them NOW. Deny me, and we'll see just how much damage an electric shock can do to your insides, whore...
I dont know! I dont know! Get them away! Please dont.... no!

*Another victim, another dead end. Sven sighed, and pushed her to the floor. The DOWNside to the skin suits the Elite's wore was the lack of room to truly enjoy the hard-on he got watching his puppets enjoy the whore, AND the new holes he so carefully cut and burnt open, until they all finally succumbed to the drugs he pumped them with, one biting of fboth his OWN tongue, and that of the woman in one smooth move. A novelty, even for Sven. Applauding the dance he had led himself, Sven shook his head and went to the window, looking out over the empty gardens towards the square beyond.

Silence. Stars winked overhead, brightening as the breeze pushed the clouds away. Ein, dos, tres, four, cinq, sechs, shichi, eight, kyuu, zehn. What a beautiful night.*