Welcome to Gaia! ::

In the lower levels of the Machinist Order Headquarters lies the Lower Cities. This is the place where those who are not well-to-do but not quite outcasts of society reside. There is a lot of crime here though most of it comes from individuals from the Machine Dumps sneaking into the Lower Cities to rob people with actual money. Almost anything (or anyone) can be sold here if you look in the right place. While technically controlled and governed by The Machinist Headquarters, the Machinist presence here is minimal and usually only used to enforce the basic laws of society such as punishing serious crimes like murder, rape and arson. They also keep watch to prevent any threats that may spread to the Upper Cities such as riots, fires and disease outbreaks. Most of those living here are blue collar workers who toil away in the many factories and assembly lines that provide the basic raw materials for the rest of the headquarters. Despite the living conditions, most of the people in the Lower Cities are grateful to be there since they are generally made up of refugees from oppressive and violent non-human regimes and are happy to be under the protection of The Machinist order, allowed to live their lives in peace without fear of persecution or wanton murder by beings too powerful for them to resist.

As Mirai poked her head up into the next level she would see was the massive logo of The Machinist Order painted on one of the walls above her:





SC gave a small smile. "Humanity first, Humanity always," she read. She looked over at Mirai. "Nice motto, don't you think?" Several moments later there was a voice at the other end of the alley that Mirai had climbed up into. "Hey!" it called. Standing in between Mirai and the exit to the alley was a defiant-looking Mary Weiss. "You're not supposed to be down here!" She paused a minute. "You're supposed to be dead actually!" She made her last statement with a bit of hesitation in her voice. Clearly she wasn't fully on board with Saint Clara's whole "kill everyone" policy, but she seemed to be willing to carry it out nonetheless. "Oh dear," SC purred quietly. "That's one of Saint Clara's bodyguards. Her stronger one I think..."

Mary frowned at Mirai as she heard her. "Yes, we know they didn't do too well," she replied. "And I know why you're here. But I can't let you do that. I'm sorry, but, Saint Clara wants you dead. And I found you so...I need to do that." She shook her head. "I don't hate you! I promise!" She added quickly as if it were important for Mirai to understand that. At that point SC laughed out loud, drawing Mary's attention to her. "You must be that spy demoness," she told her. SC nodded, a big smile on her face. "Bingo!" SC replied. "Did you really think I was going to stay in the Machine Dumps forever?" "No..." SC's eyes widened slightly for a moment before she laughed again. "That was a rhetorical question! Gosh, you're so dumb." Mary's frown deepened. "I have orders to eliminate you too." "Oh?" "Yes." She looked between the two of them. "So you can surrender now and I'll make it quick or we can get into a pointless fight and put other people's lives in danger. Your choice."

Mary shook her head sadly. "None of us are innocent," she said quietly with a sad smile. "It may or may not be wrong, but I know that if I don't do as Saint Clara asks then something really and truly wrong will happen. I can't let it." As soon as she finished speaking, a thick red liquid began running down her arm and into her hand, slowly extending into what looked like some kind of blood whip. "I'm sorry, I really don't want it to be this way. But it has to be." SC looked over at Mirai before hopping off her shoulder and finding a safe perch. I'll come in when I see an opening, she thought to her. Mary raised the whip and began spinning it around in a circle as she slowly walked towards Mirai.

So? SC asked as she waited patiently a safe distance away. Mary sighed. "It's not that simple..." She told Mirai. As Mirai's pulse burst forth, Mary raised her arms and let it hit her causing her to slide almost all the way out of the alley, her hair blowing in the wake of it. She lowered her arms and shook off the broken glass that had fallen in her hair. "I see why they wanted you so badly," she told Mirai. Suddenly she lunged forward with incredible speed, extending her whip outwards in a circle effectively creating a whirlwind attack that would lash Miria multiple times if she was hit.

SC nodded. Yup she replied. Mary spun her whip as Mirai blasted her telekinetic energy at her. This time she lashed out vertically, cutting the blast in half as it came towards her, though she seemed unaware of the glass shards behind her. Mary raised her other hand and held it out as if to grip something. As she did so another whip slowly formed in it. Mary's eyes suddenly glowed red and without further warning she lashed out with both whips and began lashing them up and down towards Mirai one after the other in a blur of motion.


Abilities:

1. Flayer: Mary creates two whips and lashes them both out at the same time and in a blur of movement whips them up and down continuously. Anyone caught within the area of this attack will suffer extreme lacerations to their bodies and will bleed profusely from them. Healing effects on these wounds are greatly reduced.

Mary didn't seem to take any pleasure in her success, keeping a grim look during the entire battle. When Mirai disappeared Mary sensed her behind her and turned around just in time to get peppered with shattered glass. The glass pierced her body and lodged itself there. Mary barely winced. Several moments later the glass began to dislodge on its own, finally falling to the ground and shattering into even smaller pieces. The blood that had been flowing from Mary's wounds slowly began to ebb. But Mary didn't wait around to fully heal before launching her next attack. Her attacks heavily reduce healing abilities SC warned Mirai. Mary lashed both her whips down towards Mirai in an X, attempting to hit her straight across her body in the same pattern.


Abilities:

1. Flayer: Mary creates two whips and lashes them both out at the same time and in a blur of movement whips them up and down continuously. Anyone caught within the area of this attack will suffer extreme lacerations to their bodies and will bleed profusely from them. Healing effects on these wounds are greatly reduced.

SC giggled when she heard Mirai but didn't say anything else. Meanwhile, Mary slashed her whips around to destroy the bricks Mirai sent at her. "Just stop drawing this out," Mary said. Her eyes widened in surprise when Mirai drew two swords. She was hit by the blasts and stumbled backwards, more wounds opening up on her and spilling blood. She quickly recovered though and came at Mirai again. This time one of her whips dissolved around her hand, covering it with a thick coating of blood. She pulled back and jabbed her hand towards Mirai's torso, attempting to run her through with her bare hand.


Abilities:

2. Hemorrhage: Mary covers her hand with synthetic blood and attempts to pierce her opponent’s body with a swift jab (fingers together and straight out). A hit penetrates deep into an opponent’s body causing them massive and continual blood loss. Healing effects are greatly reduced on this wound. In addition, the opponent is infected with some of the nano-machines from Mary’s body which will attack them internally. These nano-machines will be defeated by the opponent’s immune system eventually but in the mean time they will cause internal damage.