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 Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 7:53 pm
Dreams faded in and out as she slumbered. One after the other over what felt like years, what actually WAS years. No more concept of time or space, only random nonsense - whatever her idle brain conjured up for her.
She dreamt she had woken up before, walked even. Another time that she was part of Wonderland. However, one dream in particular kept repeating, over and over. It started as a fleeting thought, just someone somewhere calling her name in a whisper. It has escalated to a demanding roar as the voice seemed to finally lose patience in her.
Melody~
Get up!
I will not ask you again.
I said WAKE. UP.
MELODY!
It repeated, louder and louder until suddenly - nothing.
Her eyelids twitched, her body still felt numb. A familiar sound finally broke the silence. Thu-thump thu-thump thu-thump. It was promptly drowned out by screeching alarms and a loud hiss of pressurized air.
Her door popped open. Her eyes shot open and immediately began to dart around the room. She couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu.
Was this another dream?
She gently ran her palm along the edge of her pod. It felt real.
"Hello?" She inquired, unsure if she was alone this time.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 3:49 am
Lawrence did not get pod duty on his rota very often since the incident, so when he saw it that morning it took him by surprise. He wasn't about to complain though, some relaxation in the quiet of the glorified mausoleum was just fine with him. He did not realistically expect anyone to wake up while he was there, after all the last person he had woken up was Horace and even then he had been forced to disguise himself to do so.
Of course, like everything else in Lawrence's life, things did not go at all to plan, within only a few hours the waking alarm on one of the pods went off and he reached it just in time to see the door open.
"Relax." was the first thing he said, stepping into the light cast from the pod, all brilliant white fabric and pale angelic skin. "You are all right. Take it easy, you have likely been asleep for a very long time." His accent was definitely English but with the sing-song hint of Swedish woven into it.
He looked over her paperwork, resting the clipboard against his missing hand as he did so. "Melody?" he asked, seeming familiar with the name and giving her a searching and intense stare. "I knew someone named Melody once." he signed something in the document and tucked it under his bad arm again, extending a hand to help her out of the pod.
"Are you in a hurry?" he asked cordially. "Because I can explain where you are, if it helps."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:48 am
At the voice, Melody instinctively reached out her hand. Only one thing was undeniably certain to her right now, she wanted out of that big metal contraption.
She grasped his hand tightly as he assisted her free of it. She stumbled a bit, but thankfully did not fall due to his assistance. Her legs still felt half-asleep and were about as useful as a pair of stilts. Still, they managed to keep her standing as she curiously scanned the room for others. It was only her this time.
She looked back at Lawr and smiled rather weakly. "No hurry," she assured with a dry raspy voice. But a thought had crossed her mind, and she checked him over for wings. "Did I die?" To be fair, he was rather... unusual looking. In her search though, she had noted his missing hand, can spirits lose parts to them? Is that how it works? Not like she's been dead before for comparison...
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:06 am
He nodded. "Then I can explain, standing for a bit might help you find your bearings again somewhat, if you feel nauseous or like you might faint, please tell me and I will try to help you." It wasn't so different he realized, from tending people waking up in the infirmary.
"Well, this is Deus Ex Machina, and you are presently on an island somewhere in Bermuda as far as I am aware. You presumably signed up for this life at some unspecified point - or were kidnapped, though I am assured that kidnap is rarer than the former these days." he smiled as if this was a very funny joke.
"In a sense you died, I am informed it is some part of the process, but now you are no longer dead, congratulations. Your continuation of this not-dead state relies on you finding the creature who woke you up and claiming them as your bonded weapon. It is a lot to take in, but you will get over it soon enough."
"Welcome to the supernatural army you likely signed up for, here is hoping you don't regret your choice too soon. Hahaha." he shook his head. "I'm sure it will be fine. I am here to help whenever you might need a hand."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:37 am
Melody shifted her weight from foot to foot as her legs gradually 'woke up' and started to tingle uncomfortably. "I will. Right now it mostly just feels like I've been sleeping directly on top of all of my limbs for a year."
She patiently listened to his explanation of what had happened and where she was. It seemed vaguely familiar but still questions niggled at her.... questions that had to wait a moment as she suppressed the urge to join in what she was sure was a hand joke. She was sure, but not sure enough to go for it. She cleared her throat. "Does that mean we're zombies or spirits now?... Like.. um... angels?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:36 am
"Mercifully that fades quite quickly. Once you have your weapon, you will I daresay, feel better than you have ever felt in your life to date. You should make your peace with any aches and pains which blight you." He was still rather satisfied every day that his back no longer hurt and hopefully would never hurt again.
"Our weapons are creatures such as zombies and so on. We are technically only half." he couldn't help but smile, distinctly flattered by the emphasis on angels. "Though some of us do try."
"You are still rather human you will find, though there are new hazards to concern yourself with than illness or bills."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:45 am
"My weapon?" She echoed. He had mentioned it twice now, a possible indication of its importance. Especially as he went on about the good that came with one... and then the not-so-good.
"What kind of hazards are there now?"
She was still grappling with imagining herself as half zombie... and then quickly wondered what the man's weapon might be, "So, if I understand correctly, you are only half-angel then or--?" That might explain his unusual appearance at least.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 8:17 am
"Yes, your weapon, it is too late to back out of it now, it waits for you in the cove and it is what you need to survive. The hazards themselves range from dangerous attacks on this base, missions in dangerous warzones, strange status effects, all sorts of things you will no doubt experience."
He did laugh out loud at the implication he was half angel, already warming considerably to this gullible young lady.
"My weapon is a ghost, I am not entirely sure of what sort." he said with a smile. "But I am very flattered that you would think I was angelic."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 8:26 am
"Ahhh... a spirit then. I think I see." She took a few uncertain steps in a loop and looked relieved. "Finally," she sighed. She didn't even address the dangers he'd listed, one or two of those possibilities maybe, but all of them? Not right now thank you.
"If my weapon, is say, a zombie. Will my parts start... falling off?" Her inquiry was earnest. While yes, she was curious to meet her weapon and hoped it worked well with gawdy, it was a very real concern she felt she should brace herself for.
After all, he did have a sort of.... spiritual look about him. Ghost made sense.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:12 am
"Hahahaha. No, no not at all I assure you. Our weapon's nature and species influence only the appearance of the weapon they create. You do not need to worry about taking on the appearance of the creature itself, that would be ...unfortunate for some."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:51 am
Melody looked both relieved and somewhat disappointed. "Still, I don't know where you get your looks from then. You seem very... ethereal." She nodded, she had almost wished they had as it would have been so worth it all if her weapon was something like a dragon... still, "weapon form?" She pondered out loud while looking at him. "where is your weapon?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:20 am
"Why thank you." he said, bowing in a gentlemanly fashion. "I was simply born this way, it is all natural I am afraid."
He held up his good hand and displayed the watch he wore. "Weapons have several forms, when not in immediate use they take a shape known colloquially as a totem. My weapon is a watch, as you can see here." There was a flash of white runic light and where there was a watch previously there was a long and lethal set of blue talons which he wiggled, even on the hand which was missing.
"This is weapon form." And then they were gone. "Their former and true form is only residually visitable via golems but you will learn all of this from your weapon itself, who you will be able to hear at all times once you bond in your head. I sincerely hope you are the sociable sort."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:34 am
She oohd and ahhd at both the watch and then the claws. Quite fascinating. A treasure that could never be stolen. She wondered, idly, if her "totem" would require an entirely new set of clothes to properly showcase. Then she wondered if she might get stuck with a man's watch, one not as attractive as this gentleman's for that matter.
"I hope my weapon is half as lovely as yours." she vocalized her doubt.
Golems? Yet another familiarity that she can't quite... recall. Still, she let it go in favor of the concept of weapons which amused her substantially more.
"Oh yes, I love company! I'm not sure how I feel about it being in my head, however."
Melody sighed and shrugged at him, "I guess all that is left now is for me to receive my new weapon. Let them answer a lot of these questions that I don't think you can answer for me. Not to say you aren't wise, I just doubt you know what they look like at this point in time."
She did have one more question though, it was so quiet and... well... "How many others are there? I mean, like you and me... who are awake?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:51 am
Butch in Lawr's head went absolutely bananas at being called lovely and Lawr cringed visibly as he broke into a chorus of good boys and other cheery declarations of delight. "He is enjoying being told he is lovely." he said before shaking his head. "And I am sure your partner will be fabulous."
He nodded. "But yes, that is all there is to it, meet them, speak to them, see how you feel. Someone by the cove will guide you to the quartermaster to arrange your dormitory and uniform."
At the question of numbers he paused. "Hm. Quite a few. A few hundred perhaps." he said. "Possibly more, this island is the headquarters but we have outposts across the globe. I do not unfortunately have a statistic to give you. A lot is all I can say, but it is a small enough community to get a little claustrophobic at times also. You will experience it yourself I imagine."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 11:03 am
Melody smiled at both of them, Lawr and Butch, in that order. "Good. I was starting to get worried that this island was, for the most part, deserted."
"Oh!" she suddenly realized something. "Where are my manners?"
She held her hand out towards Lawr, palm down, "I am Melody. Melody Bell."
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