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 Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:36 pm
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Out of boredom, Wilson had managed to closely examine each face displayed across the monitors at least once throughout his stay on the island. Some faces disappeared over time—whether through termination or waking up—and others faithfully remained even as the sleeping candidates around them changed bit by bit, day by day. Yes, some faces never changed no matter the years that passed. No matter how much he pulled the mask over his tears, no matter how many nights he fell asleep whispering wake up she had always slept in the same pod. Had it already been three years since he’d first stepped into life as a hunter?
Familiar faces in a familiar, cold room as he lazed in a wheeled chair. Legs were drawn close to his chest while he idly spun it to and fro. He had examined each face once upon a time, and he knew very well the face of a certain Bradley Evans. A younger cousin he had looked after during his childhood, but somewhere along the way the family visits had lessened until they ceased altogether. He couldn’t remember why, but Wilson could still remember two boys playing in the snow, daring each other to see who could climb the backyard tree the highest, someone crying as they fell and ultimately broke their arm. Boys will be boys, Nana lamented as she took them to the hospital. Sometimes, when it became too painful to watch her and it became too boring to watch the others, he would stoically watch Bradley and try to reminiscence and cling to the remaining threads of happiness he had.
It was that same young boy’s face that came to mind as one of the monitors showed signs of life, genuine life. The entire waking process always took forever, beginning from waking consciousness to leaving the pod. Forever was enough to allow Wilson to wrap his mind over the situation his cousin was waking up.
His heart tugged in opposite directions simultaneously—another piece of family coming together, only to end in suffering—
He took out his phone to send a text.
And waited patiently, nervously as Bradley pried his way out of the pod. His chair swiveled slightly when the younger man came into view. “Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” His voice came out quiet, forced-casual as he tried to smile naturally.
the_scowling_cat came out longer than i intended oh well!!!
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 9:01 pm
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It was almost funny. The thing that had made becoming a hunter so hard for Eva was leaving her home--leaving her family--and yet...somehow, her arrival had Deus Ex had only served to reunited her with the very same people whose lives she thought she had been disappearing out of. Whenever she thought about it, she'd feel a surge of happiness light through her at the knowledge that she had loved ones so close by, but then...
To be completely honest, there were some days where Eva wouldn't even wish this place or this job on even her worst enemy. For everything that this place had given her, it had also somehow managed to take away so much as well. Honestly, sometimes she wondered what would come first: her own death, or the death of everyone she cared about?
And it seemed like another person had been added to that ever-growing list of people Eva held near and dear, as the abrupt text from Wilson sent her heart fluttering. Immediately reverting her weapon back into its totem form, the woman offered her training partner a hasty apology before she went sprinting off to the pod room. Although Wilson had been sparse on the details, the fact that he had mentioned Bradley could only mean one of two things.
Blatantly ignoring the fact that she could have been disturbing anyone else present, Eva burst into the room, wide-eyed, gasping, and pretty much the complete opposite of the quiet and collected Wilson. "W-Wilson? Bradley?" Combing her fingers through her long hair, she glanced left and right until her gaze focused on the familiar pair standing just a few feet away.
.Syusaki HI SORRY replies will be kind of slow/crappy as I study but I didn't want to keep you guys both waiting so OTL
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 9:16 pm
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He found his legs somewhere around the fourth pod and glanced around. Well weren't these things just... fancy. Bradley seriously wanted to figure why he was in one to begin with but he wasn't dead and that was better than anything, to be quite honest. He rubbed his chin, taking note of the lack of stubble as he walked around, looking for the exit.
Being alive was much better than being dead. The concept brought up two little cousins, who he'd heard at... some point, were dead themselves. It was incredibly fuzzy, but he'd been best of friends with them at one point. That was why.... Nope, nope nothing else. He glared at the floor some feet in front of him. His head could get situated with the times anytime now.
A voice made him stop and turn to his left. It was soft and slightly awkward, like they were holding back. Bradley turned to look at the owner of the voice. He blinked twice.
"Uh... hi? Who are....?" he cut himself off, getting a really, really good look at the slightly older man sitting in the chair. Something, something about him tried to trigger something in Bradley's pod sleep addled brain. His brown eyes flicked to the young woman who'd burst into the room next. He glanced between the two of them half a dozen times, with the knowledge he knew them but couldn't place them at the moment.
He cleared his throat and tried again. "Uh so... I have no idea where I am ... or much of anything. Could you, uh I guess, point me in the right direction?" He scratched the back of his neck, awkward and embarrassed by his lack of knowing anything at the moment.
Bradley looked between the two of them again. Damnit, not being able to remember things really, really sucked.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:49 pm
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Trotting towards them, Eva stopped beside Wilson and clasped her hands behind her back, beaming up at the newly-awakened man with a bright-eyed smile. Staring up at him intently, she absently nodded along to Wilson's welcome, freezing only when he turned to address her. What else...?
"Uh..." Lifting a hand, the girl rubbed at the back of her head sheepishly. "Don't get killed" was the first thing that had popped into the mind, but that hardly seemed like an appropriate thing to say to someone who had just woken up (and was her family, no less). "And just...get ready to jump into things, I guess. Things happen pretty suddenly here, but we'll try to brief you wherever we can."
Casually slinging one arm around Wilson's shoulders, she reached out with her free hand to playfully--and relatively gently--flick Bradley on the forehead. "So Brad, how you feeling? Got any questions?" If he was feeling anything like she did when she first woke up here, then the answer to that would have been a resounding yes.
Syusaki ONE MORE REPLY and then bed
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:07 pm
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The young man jolted at the flick to his forehead; it was something he was familiar with on a personal level. Someone, when he was younger, had the habit of flicking him in the forehead when he was being silly. That, plus the obvious look from the other one, gave Bradley the feel he knew these people.
Except he couldn't remember them! The most frustrating part of the whole thing was he recognized them on some level, but couldn't ruddy place them at all. He remembered tiny little kids who he guessed could have vaguely passed for them, once. Babe single digit face didn't exactly equate to twenty something face though.
It was clear they knew him so it was only a matter of time before he remembered them, surely. So yes, he had lots of questions. "Uh, sorry, this is probably incredibly odd but uh... I do, er did I know the two of you before... I ended up in that pod sleep thing?" That was a good start, get the elephant out of the room.
(To be fair, once he actually, realized that those two were his cousins, it was going to hit him like a truck. But, you know.)
"Also... What is a hunter, and what are these partners? " he attempted to give some sort of smile, that classic smile of his that clearly would have mimicked Wilson at one point. "Sorry, having a s**t a** memory... sucks, ya know?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:46 pm
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Both Ian and Alistaire did a comical rendition of themselves, staring at the new hunter with identical expressions of bemusement - though for different reasons. It was Ian, however, that broke first, shaking his head and laughing as he helped the guy out.
"No a**l probing unless it's the kind you like," he said with a wink, and Alistaire made a soft noise of disgust beside him, which Ian deliberately ignored. "You're at Deus - unfortunately not the bat cave, but sort of similar. More like the monster hunter cave, if you catch my drift."
He stuck out his hand. "My name's Ian."
A cough, somewhere behind him.
"And this is Alistaire," Ian added, somewhat reluctantly. "My brother."
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:15 am
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Kylee Chang was used to sleepless nights.
Her previous aspiration to be a forensic technician meant that it was a requirement, of sorts, to be up at the strangest hours. And after being accepted into college, numerous assignments and essays and research had certainly taken its toll. It was never unprecedented for her to jolt awake and realize that her cheek was planted onto a flat surface instead of a pillow, and her cup was only left with the dark dredges of coffee stains. Of course, she had never been dumb enough to leave her contacts on while studying...
But as she found herself slowly becoming conscious, she could not help but think of curse words. Her glasses were not perched atop her nose as usual, her eyes felt completely dry and everything was a blur before her.
The next thing she realized was that she was definitely not at her study table. It took a few dozen blinks before her vision swam back into clarity and she found herself in what she could only describe as a containment unit.
"W-what?" Kylee squeaked out, reaching out a hand. As if sensing she was now awake, the lid slid open, but the girl remained frozen within her pod, eyes wide in shock.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:04 am
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They knew her name.
Kylee remained utterly still as she attempted to balance out what she could infer so far, to gauge whether this was friend or foe. On one hand, they knew her full name, and from the sound of it, she was welcome here. This girl didn't seem too hostile... but, it also didn't exactly sound like she was the friendliest person either. And to add to the other side of the argument, they knew her full name. Sure, she didn't give her name out wily-nily to strangers, but she also could not recall--
"Ow." She said with a grimace, holding her head. "Um, pardon me, but do you mind... explaining why I've been asleep for... like what seems like forever?" It certainly felt like she had been very well rested. Her limbs were stiff as she stumbled out of her pod and she had to steady herself by reaching out for something solid--
Woah. There were other pods. With other people in them and they seemed to be in some sort of stasis. Kylee stared, eyes wide in disbelief.
"How did I get here?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:52 am
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And this was why Ami hated pod duty. Not only did it involve interacting with people, it involved people who were always idiots. Not intentionally, certainly. But a lack of information still created ignorance nonetheless.
"You have been selected. A more correct question is why am I here, Miss Chang." She pursed her lips, scribbling something that resembled "unusually plain," and then continued. "Before you speak, listen. You are here to eliminate the threat known as Halloween. You probably know them as the shadowy creatures that go bump in the night."
She flipped the paper over, ready to fill out the more vague questions on the form. "This is, as I already stated, an academy. We train select individuals the mechanisms for combating the blight this world still so unfortunately possesses."
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:05 am
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Selected. As per the older girl's instructions, Kylee was silent as she listened, slowly taking in the information that was currently being presented to her. She had been chosen to deal with Halloween, the name given to shadowy creatures that went bump in the night--
That very bit of information seemed to trigger something in the recesses of her mind. At the very least, she remembered being approached by someone with a white and yellow coat like the one this woman was wearing. And she recalled agreeing, because she was so relieved it was not all just her hallucinating...
"...I see." She said quietly. There were still blanks in her memory and attempting to sieve out more resulted in another jolt of pain through her mind. It would come to her later, probably. "So, um, where do I go from here, Miss...?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:41 am
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