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 Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 9:45 am
Right, wake up, horrible headache, class dismissed, and partner found. Now if you could find the damn dormitory! For a freaking island, this place was huge! Not to mention, all the buildings were hard to tell apart...
"Any ideas?" He asked, lifting his one hand so that the gauntlet was a little closer. If he had to keep these on at all times, there was going to be a problem. He had already tried pulling them off with no luck and all Locke did was laugh at him. Why? He had no freaking idea!
:Dunno' I don't really remember anything.: A pause. :Good luck though.:
The little s**t!
Tapping a clawed finger against the side of a building, he peeked around the corner. Feeling mildly embarrassed.
Which way, which way..?
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:21 am
Gale was neither in the dormitories, nor on the training grounds - a first for him, since he was usually found at one or the other. This time, however, he was on his way back from the cafeteria. After much ignoring of his grumbling stomach, Gale had finally dragged himself away and went to get something to eat.
Now he was on his way back to his dorm, a sandwich held in his mouth as he pulled his jacket back on, sticking his arms through the long sleeves.
<< Who's that? >> asked Jinhai suddenly.
"Who's who?" Gale asked thickly, swallowing a bite of ham and cheese and then taking the sandwich back in his hand, glancing around.
<< Over there - standing beside the infirmity building. >>
Gale's eyes traveled the length of the lawn, freshly mowed, and landed on a figure standing a few feet away. He did not recognize him - the head of sandy blonde hair was as unfamiliar to Gale as the dark red wrappings around his forearms and hands - but there was a general sense of sheepishness about him, at least from the expression on his face.
Ah, thought Gale. He stepped towards the stranger, one hand in his pocket, the other still holding his lunch.
"You're new," he said, not really asking a question. "You're one of the hatchlings, aren't you."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:35 am
Ryan jumped a little when a voice spoke up from behind him. He has been so preoccupied with trying to figure out where to go, that he hadn't even noticed the other boy's approach.
"New? Yeah... Something like tha--hatchlings?" That again? What were they some kind of poultry? He made a face at the mental image that popped into his head. He was sure he wasn't going to grow fond of the word.
"...How did you know?" he asked. He hadn't seen this boy among the few others that had been there. Or rather, people who weren't among the 'hatchlings.' No, he definitely would have remembered a face like this. Hell, he looked younger than he was.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:41 am
All that the other got was a mildly curious glance before Gale lifted one brow and shrugged, taking another bite of his sandwich. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then swallowed, his eyes moving across the newcomer's face.
Nope. Definitely haven't seen him before.
"You don't look like you know where you going," pointed out Gale with a small shrug. "And Bix mentioned that there were new recruits that had arrived - since you seem lost, I assumed that you were one of them."
That, and he had never before seen the new face on any of his previous missions. Bix had said there were several new ones, in the brief conversation he and the white haired one had had in passing, but so far Gale had seen none - at least, until now.
He ate the last of his sandwich, dusted off his hands, then held out one to the other, giving him a half sort of smile.
"My name is Gale Gentry," he said. "Welcome to Deus Ex."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:00 pm
That would be because he didn't...
"I see..." Man word traveled fast. Wait, did that mean they were going to be called hatchlings by everyone? Ah great... "Yeah... though I'm not quite sure 'arrived' is the right word for it..." They were already here on the island, it was just that they had woken up, was all.
"Thanks. I'm Ryan. Ryan O'Conner." He said, extending his own hand towards the other boy, noting the gauntlets again, careful not to scratch Gale with the sharp claw tips. "Ahh... Right. Sorry, don't know to get these off yet." He said, tapping the one gauntlet with the other.
"Did you know where the dormitory is by chance..?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:21 pm
Gale shrugged. "Arrived, awoke, were awakened by the dulcet tones of our fearless leaders - anything works, really. But now that you're actually here, you can move around, instead of being stuck in that horrid pod."
His eyes traveled down Ryan's hand to the sharp-nailed, clawed gauntlets that covered it. "Ah, so you've just gotten your weapon, have you?" said Gale, and held out his own gloved hand again, indicating the silver, rune-encrusted ring on his left index finger. "This is mine. His name is Jinhai, and he's a - "
<< Completely wonderful weapon. >>
" - brat sometimes, but still nice."
<< How rude. >>
Gale's brows lifted and he nodded. "The dorms? Sure, but they're in the other direction - you're a bit off, but if you follow me I'll show you."
He gestured towards the other and set off across the grounds again, glancing over at Ryan after a moment.
"Haven't figured out how to de-summon your weapon, then?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 3:47 pm
Ryan nodded. He had a point and he couldn't agree more. He couldn't even remember going into the pod in the first place... Then again, he didn't remember much when it came to Deus Ex in the first place.
"That's true enough. Maybe after a day or two my head won't be pounding like this either..." He attempted a grin and ended up shrugging.
"Yeah, this is Locke, I got him just before I came..." He looked around the place again. "...here." Wherever here was.
He looked curiously at the ring on Gale's finger. Confused by it's appearance.
"THAT'S a weapon?" He asked, pointing at the ring. Suddenly Locke didn't look quite as pitiful. "...How do you fight with it?" Maybe it was a magic based weapon--like shields and stuff--he really had no idea. Nor did he know that he was staring at an de-summoned weapon.
"The other direction..?" He repeated, promptly looking in the direction mentioned--the right direction.
"s**t... That explains a lot."
"Wait... de-summon? You can do that?" He lifted the gauntlets again, this time giving them a harsh glare. "..Locke?"
:Hey! Its not my fault you never asked.:
Aaand that had explained the laughing earlier on. This guy really was an obnoxious little brat.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:01 pm
"Don't worry," said Gale, waving a hand. "The headache goes away too. Then you get your uniform - " He plucked at the scarf around his neck, which did a good job of hiding the scar. " - and voila, you're an official trainee. What division are you, by the way? Do you know?"
Ryan was looking at his ring, and Gale's eyes followed his gaze towards it, holding his hand back up, his brows drawing together in confusion.
"How do I fight with it?" he repeated, and then it hit him. "Oh! Well, it's easy. Jinhai?"
The weapon's voice was lazy. << You rang? >>
The ring glowed brightly momentarily, then disappeared completely, dissolving into nothingness. A second later Gale was holding the full-length sniper rifle between both hands.
"Like this," said Gale with a grin, and spun the rifle around like a baton before it vanished again, melting back into the ring.
"You'll have to ask, er, Locke, was it, yourself," explained Gale. "Jinhai knows instinctively when I want to summon him."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:18 pm
"Division? They haven't told me anything like that yet. I guess I'll find out soon though, yeah?" He shrugged.
"I'm guessing you're one of the trainees that woke up months before us, like that Bix guy had said?" He still couldn't believe that they had been asleep for months. Or longer for all he knew... How long had they all been out?
As Gale demonstrated summoning and de-summoning his weapon, Ryan watched with an expression of amazement and shock. Ah! So THAT was how it worked and here he had thought he was going to be stuck with these on the rest of his life. Silly him.
"That's pretty cool. So yours is a gun then?" Looks like Locke was back to being the pitiful one.
"Ah I see." He looked at Locke curiously. "So Locke, you gonna' stop clinging to me now?"
:Damn... and I was waiting to see what you were going to do when you had to hold a tooth brush.:
The weapon made a 'tsk' like sound before dissolving into a red light, only to reappear as a small key chain like item that hung on Ryan's belt loop.
"Huh... That helps a lot."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:44 pm
"Ahh, so you haven't met, er...that guy, then," said Gale, nodding in understanding. "Er...be grateful so far, he's a bit of a handful. But he'll probably be the one who'll tell you which division you're in. There are several different factions, each one assigned to a different task. For example - " Gale turned around, showing the two crossed scythes on the back of his jacket before pivoting back to face Ryan. " - I'm a Death Hunter; I'm mainly assigned for information gathering. It also means my leader is, er...that guy."
Clearly whoever "that guy" was, he was not high on Gale's list of friends.
He nodded at the other, and then said "Yeah, a few months. Bix - I'm rather amused he was your, er...teacher of sorts - and I have been here the same amount. We know our way around a bit."
Ryan clearly had not been with his weapon long enough to know how to do anything with him. Gale watched, slightly amused, as he spoke to the gauntlets - which were pretty cool, actually - and there was a vibrant red light that engulfed them. After a few seconds, the gauntlets had disappeared, and there was something dangling from the waistband of Ryan's jeans - a keychain.
"See?" said Gale. "Much easier to transport now."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:57 pm
"That guy?" He repeated confused. "I think, other than... Bix, there were only three others. Someone was talking to us when we just woke up. Couldn't see very well at that point, but he wasn't very pleasant... and then there was someone who called himself Dr.H--who had shot his assistant that was in some golem thing." He pointed to his head, indicating where he had shot her.
Hopefully he wouldn't have to see any of the latter three anytime soon.
"Ah teacher yeah... kind of felt like we were being baby sat, to be honest." He scratched the side of his cheek thoughtfully. "Seems like an okay guy though, this Bix."
He nodded when Gale spoke.
"Definitely is. Solves me a lot of problems too."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:38 pm
"Ohhhh," said Gale, and let out a laugh, shaking his head. "So I see you met the estimable Doctor H - and the assistant would be Clarice, by the way. You'll probably meet her later, since it's rather rare you see one without the other. And don't worry," he added, waving his hand in a noncommittal way. "He does that a lot. Clarice is fine. Ar - "
Gale stopped abruptly, his face closing off. He hadn't meant to mention the leader of the Mist faction; not now, at least, not when it was still so new.
"Someone, er...stabbed me in the neck during a training exercise," he continued, though with a little less amusement than before. "It's not anything really unusual around here.
"Also, now that I think of it..." Gale tapped his chin thoughtfully with one gloved finger. "That voice you heard when you woke up is probably That Guy."
He hadn't really talked to Bix too much - it had been merely a passing conversation, really, but from the sound of it, Doctor H had done the same sort of introduction to Deus Ex as he had gotten.
"Bix is pretty cool," said Gale with a smile. "He's probably my closest friend here. A little strange and mad for girls, but a good guy."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:00 pm
"Yep... Though I'd rather not have met him." Dr.H was a creepy man. Really, he was. Just like one of this insane scientists you read in a book or see in a movie and now Ryan wasn't sure how he felt about knowing that someone like that actually existed. "Ah, so he had done stuff like that before..." Yep, definitely a creepy man. "I hope I don't stuck working in the same division as him..." He paused. "I assume he is in a division, yeah?"
He tilted his head a little when Gale broke off his sentence. Curious to know what 'Ar' was a part of.
"Someone stabbed you? As stabbed you, stabbed you? Real life stab--not in that pod simulation thing?" And this happened often?
Great... Locke, you are so not leaving my side!
:Ahah! Are you scared now?:
"Joy... I'm guessing I'll be seeing him more than I like then?" Though he was really hoping Gale would answer with a 'no.'
"That's good for you. Nice to know that friends here won't think you're weird for pointing something out that they can't see." He huffed at the memories and shook his head.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:35 pm
Gale let out a snort. "Unfortunately, there's no escaping Doctor H. Everyone knows him, and everyone has to deal with him - even if you're not under his division.
"Which," he added thoughtfully. "Now that I think of it, I don't really know if he's in his own division or not. He's just kind of....there."
"...all the time."
"Er," he said, then laughed. "Yes. But don't worry, it didn't hurt. I didn't even really feel it - or I wouldn't have, if she hadn't told me she was doing it in the first place. It was a demonstration of sorts. It felt wrong, yes, but not pain."
His eyes slid sideways to Ryan, giving him an apologetic sort of grimace. "Yep."
<< This guy seems pretty decent. >>
He hasn't called me "kid" yet, so I like him.
"It takes some getting used to, but - " Gale clapped a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Once you get over the initial shock, it becomes second nature. Oh, here are the dorms."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:48 pm
Ryan listened as Gale talked and then groaned. He was really hoping that that was a once in a blue moon thing... Apparently not.
"If you say so..." The idea of someone stabbing him in the neck and not feeling pain was a little difficult for him to believe. "I think I'll be a little cautious until I get to know the place better. Just to be on the safe side." Yeah, like that would ever happen.
He looked up at the dorm building with interest when they arrived. It was larger than he had expected and he couldn't find it?
"Thanks for showing me the way. I'm sure finding my room in that will be about the same amount of fun, but at least they're numbered." He grinned at the other and gave a slight wave.
"See you around."
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