|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 5:59 pm
It had been a while since Reine had stepped into the life labs; the first time she'd attempted to explore the place, she'd been ambushed by Robert and practically shoved into a pod.
Now they'd worked things out, though, it felt safe to come back. She hadn't quite had a chance to familiarise herself with the environment, yet, and there was no one else around that she could get directions or any information from. Hmmm...
Looking around, she decided to head towards the sign that said 'Petting Zoo'; that looked interesting, at least, even if it turned out to just be lab rats.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 10:41 am
Madison had dutifully put on a set of the shapeless, vaguely odd-smelling coveralls that Clarice had recommended to her a few weeks ago. Not her favorite thing to wear, at all, but given the contents of the 'petting zoo' she was taking no chances. Who knew what the 'cute' little occupants might spew at her? The trainee moved down the neat rows of cages, dutifully dispensing some of the candy she'd bought in Halloween to each horrible monstrosity.
Even if some of them did actually look kind of cute. Shhhh.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 5:35 pm
It wasn't lab rats. Granted, there were a few things that looked like they vaguely resembled rodents, but the rest of the creatures were a whole range from 'please cuddle me' to 'would not touch with a 10-foot-pole'. Were these.. monsters? The real form of students they'd seen before?
Reine would've expected them to be.. bigger, but perhaps they were just being suppressed. She caught sight then, of a girl that didn't look completely familiar; someone she might've caught a glance or two of before.
"Hey there," Reine called out. "Need any help?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:28 pm
Madison looked up at the call, tilting her head ever so slightly to one side as she, too, tried to figure out who the other person was... "Sorry, I don't remember your name - you're one of the new 'hatchlings', right? My name's Madison~ and sure, you can help if you want! Just feeding the little freaks their lunch. There's plenty of candy to go around! Mmm, rotten guts flavor..."
Ew, rotten guts flavor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:00 am
"Reine," she called back, carefully approaching the other girl-- "Oh! So you're Madison.. I've heard of you. Um. Alpha-2? I was 10."
So far the other phoenixes had greeted her cheerfully, other than Robert and Petra, of course, but Reine still felt a little like the odd one out. She had no idea if she'd actually get along with Madison, or the last mysterious girl- Ennea.
"What're these, anyway?"
It made.. some sort of twisted sense, Reine supposed, that they were being fed candy; presumably, they were from Halloween. She did hope that Madison was joking about the rotten guts, though.. As she looked into the container Madison was holding, she felt her stomach flip. It was lucky she didn't have anything to throw up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:47 am
Ah! That was where she'd recognized her face from... and wow, this was sort of awkward. Part of her wanted to ask what on earth was up with all that random drama at the end of their last big mission, but that would be a really, really crappy conversation starter. "Oh, right! Yeah, I was A-2... so you're the original Phoenix, huh? Rose from the 'dead' before any of us. Hah, now that I know the trick it all seems so simple... golems and stuff, y'know?"
The little freak in a nearby cage made a grumbling noise, and Madison rolled her eyes before fishing out a candy and tossing it at the creature. "Glad you woke up, anyway~ there's not all that many left sleeping now, I don't think!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:55 am
"Heheh, I didn't even remember that, though. Just that somehow, I woke up back in the tent. Come to think of it.. that horse on the beach, it's one of the ones here in the compound now, right?"
It felt a little strange, though, if flattering, to think that Phoenix had been named after her.. sort of. They probably hadn't intended that to be the case; as she recalled it, they'd thought she was a zombie or something.
"Yeah, golems. Pretty clever. I kind of wonder how they really work, though."
She watched Madison feed the creatures, letting herself relax a little. They didn't look altogether too scary, considering their sizes, especially, and shyly, Reine reached to grab a handful of candy, then threw one at a pair of fluffy.. creatures attached by what looked like a stalk.
"Thanks," she smiled, blushing a little. "I.. think I've met most of the other phoenixes already? Except, um, someone named.. Ann.. Annie?" Reine couldn't quite recall the name, except that it had sounded kind of unique and pretty.
"I do think of the others," she admitted. "Like the doctor. Not.. Dr. H, our doctor- A4, and A12, as well. I haven't been awake that long, but I miss them.."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:02 am
"Annie?" Madison looked thoughtful. "Ennea, maybe? She's, um. A... 9, I think? Man, I can't remember who anyone was any more. Replaced the numbers and stuff with names, y'know?"
She sighed nostalgically at the mention of the remaining sleepers. "Yeah. It's like... I don't quite remember them the way I used to? So much has happened since then. At least for me. But it'd be nice if they woke up too. I try not to look at the faces in the pod room when I go through there, heh. Too creepy..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:55 am
"Ennea," she repeated thoughtfully. "I guess you tend to do that, after a while, I mean.. it's more natural..." Reine trailed off, wondering why she still identified herself, to some degree, as 'A10'. The Phoenixes had been pretty important to her, and some part of her was still worried that even if they'd accepted A10 as one of them...
They might not feel the same way towards Reine Walker.
At least she had Boss and Robert, she supposed.
"I guess I'll get used to it soon," Reine agreed. The strays had had months, while she'd woken up just weeks ago, the memory of the island trial still fresh in her mind. "I.. kinda.. had a bad experience in the pod room, so.. heh."
Turning away, she chucked another fear candy at something that looked like a squid.
"I'm not sure I can stand to go back in there for a while, at least.."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:08 pm
"Ugh." Madison made a face. "Did you see someone you knew, or something? That's kinda why I try not to look. I know the chances are, like, one in a million or something, but... well, Robert and Petra..."
She let her voice trail off, then shook her head sheepishly. "I, uh, am I being super nosy if I ask what was up with that random... stuff... at the end of the last big mission? If I am, don't worry about it and I won't bring it up again, but... I guess people knowing each other right outta the pod from before is kinda interesting," she admitted, giving Reine an almost shy look.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:29 am
"S..something like that." Reine lowered her head, embarrassed; she wasn't about to tell Madison that Caelius had forced her back into a pod for about 24 hours as punishment. "I.. didn't see anyone I knew, but I mean, the faces are kinda creepy, huh?" Hopefully that tied off that particular thread of conversation; Reine didn't like to think about it too much.
"It's okay." There was a long pause after that, punctuated only by the clatter of candy into the tanks, but then Reine smiled up at Madison. It was fine to trust her, and she'd asked really politely. "It's mostly cleared up now, and.. it's like, a super long story.. I wouldn't even know where to begin." She shook her head, sighing.
"I grew up with Robert and Petra," she said. "If you were there you probably caught some of the conversation. Petra's my sister." There wasn't much more she was willing to reveal, even to a fellow phoenix- or rather, she simply had no idea what to say.
"I kinda, um, didn't expect to see them here, I guess?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:05 am
"Ooh... yeah, that makes sense. But wow, what are the chances? Robert knew Petra before, and then his sister is here somewhere, and so's your sister... I wonder if somebody higher up planned that?" She looked towards the door with a suspicious look. "Who knows why anybody higher up does anything, ugh."
She grinned at Reine, relieved. "So, you done this duty before? Don't get too attached - even the cute ones are secretly little shits. Like this one." She pointed at a cage labeled 'Mawbbit', in which a seemingly innocent, if very brightly colored, rabbit sat. "Here, little s**t~~"
At the sight of the dangled candy, the Mawbbit opened its entire body. Instead of just its mouth. "Ew, ew, ew," Madison said, flicking the candy into the sudden maw.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:37 am
Reine blinked in surprise. "She's.. here, too? Huh.. coincidences." She didn't have particularly fond memories of Poe Morris- if any at all, really, she'd barely ever seen the girl, and Robert never talked about her. It wasn't as if she could say anything, though, her own relationship with Petra wasn't the best.
"It's possible that it's genetic? I mean, the ability to.. sense things, and stuff. I'm not sure about other factors, though, but I heard Ariane and Jeremy knew each other, too." Reine had to laugh at Madison's comment about the higher-ups, though.
"That's a mystery we'll maybe solve one day? I sorta feel like we're like the team rocket goons, if you know, you ever played pokemo--"
Shrieking, Reine almost tripped over herself, staring at the Mawbbit in horror.
"I.. it's actually my first time here," she breathed, terrified. "I.. what..?!" That thing was disgusting! Why did it even need such a huge mouth oh god why...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:05 am
"Hah, I did the same thing when it did that little trick at me the first time." Madison thumped on the 'tank' that contained the Mawbbit. "After that, I don't trust any of the little 'cuties'. I think the ones that are just icky to start with are almost easier. No surprises."
She made a face at the next tank over, which held a 'Foxfire Shadow'. "This one thinks it's a puppy. Look at those teeth~" Indeed, the thing had snaggly fangs sticking out of its jaws.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 6:37 pm
"Y..yeah," Reine yelped, still unwilling to go too close. "Ughhh, what are these things, anyway? Like.. the monsters we saw on that forest mission when we were in those golems?"
The trainee tiptoed over to the next tank, peering over it suspiciously. There were what looked like fish swimming around, and the tag read 'Floresce'.
"T..these look okay?" Though, she was fully expecting them to be like piranha. "They're called floresce... wonder if they grow in the dark, huh?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
