Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a routine evening for Hopeite. Steal energy of the unwitting and leave them without so much of an inkling of what had happened to them. Her commanding officer had taught her this, though they hadn't explained why... not that it really mattered to Hopeite. She was told something and she did it. However, that didn't stop the little nagging voice in the back of her head that kept wondering what her commanding officer was keeping from her... what secret knowledge was Hopeite not allowed to learn? Was it because she wasn't ready? Who was that general to decide if she was or was not able to know something? After all they must have been a mere 20 years old. Compared to Hopeite's 30 well... it was insulting.

The thought was enough to sour her mood, it would have seemed. The questions buzzed unwelcome around her mind in tune with the sleepy inhale and exhale of the city around her. She tried to focus on that instead... the low rumble of the lone car on the street as it's low hiss rose to a crashing crescendo beside her before sighing off behind her. The steady thrum of the generators, humming with their constant currents of electricity to the hungry populace around it. The lazy change of the lights to ghostly traffic. Buildings rose around Hopeite like great steel ribs of a gargantuan monster -- asleep or dead? Was the rhythm of the city in the blackness of the night the steady breathing of the beast in sleep or the death rattle of a monster close to oblivion?

Motion to her left caused Hopeite to halt in her musing. Even her irritation left her in the wake of unconcealed curiosity. She had only been told not to interact with her victims... and never told why... and without reason, why should she obey? Something thick and oily curled itself around her heart, drowning all uncertainty in what was undoubtedly treason in it's unctuous depths. It pushed her forward, towards the unwitting civilian with a glib smile. She was surprised, as she looked behind her, that there was not a trail of slime marking her path to her destination.

"Good evening," she crooned, working to make her body language as open as possible.

Oh, a sweet one. Hopeite smiled wider as she approached, taking a long, hungry drag on her cigarette as she did so. She supposed it was thanks to her uniform. Hopeite's digs weren't as... bold... as some of her counterparts' were. she could easily pass for a well dressed lady from an office. Another reason that she was thankful not to be burdened with skulls and chains and god only knew what else. Part of being wicked, after all, was being subtle. How else was she going to keep anyone around her calm? A mask and a bird skull on your shoulders didn't exactly put someone at ease.

"I don't think you can give me the kind of help I need sweetheart," she muttered, waving the lit butt dismissively. "I'm just out for a little fresh air. Hard day at the office and all that." Hopeite stopped a few feet away from the girl, careful not to invade her personal space just yet. She was a child, obvious by her uniform. Meadowview orange set her out against the darkness around her. She gestured to the uniform as she spoke again.

"That's my excuse for being out so late. That's yours honey? It's not safe for kids out after dark, haven't you heard about what's going on?"

Was she new in town or just stupid? Hopeite regarded her new companion with consideration and pursed lips, wondering what to tell her. How much did she really reveal to this young woman? In the end Hopeite held out her arm to the girl in a friendly gesture and smiled warmly.

"It' snot safe to be out at night for any young lady, my sweet," she cooed gently. "And what about all of those overdoses? Sure, the dead aren't a threat, but what about those maniacs who take and sell whatever drug is killing people without any traces left in their systems?" Hopeite shot a sideways glance at her and shuddered. "Who knows what that drug... if it's even a drug... does to you while you're alive!"

She was leaving. This girl was getting spooked and she was going to take off. Damn, Hopeite had come on too strong. It was hard to keep the irritation from her eyes but... she managed. It was her body, however, not her face that betrayed her. Hopeite' arm shot out and grabbed the girl around the thick of her upper arm, nails inadvertently digging into the soft flesh. Was that a growl? Had it come from her? It was like touching her victim had triggered an eruption within her. All through this conversation, something called to Hopeite and she didn't know what it was, but it pulsed beneath her skin and begged for answer, but now... it sung to her, shrieked at her, filled her nerves with fireworks and she was worried that if she didn't figure out how to answer that wild, primal call, she'd lose her mind.

"Let me walk you home, little one," she purred, tightening her grip in the girl's arm suddenly, all pretense lost in the wake of her desperate search for the source of the voice that chanted her name.

No. No she wouldn't tell anyone. Hopeite lowered her eyes to the girl's sternum and realized with sudden clarity where the chorus was coming from. It came from... her. Somewhere beneath her flesh. But why and... how? Hopeite's eyes flicked up to meet the girl's and her expression went from deep focus to a wide, twisted smile. There was an understanding then, somehow, and without having to be taught or told what to do, Hopeite pressed her fingers into the skin of the girl trembling beneath her fingertips and as though by some kind of sorcery, they passed through the skin and suck not into hot muscle and blood, but space. Hopeite could feel nothing with her searching fingertips for a long while until her arm was halfway through the girl. That was when she found something solid.

Electricity jumped from the treasure within the girl and up Hopeite's arm. Her ears rang with the sound of it all. The singing had become a war cry in her ears and only stopped when Hopeite wrapped her fingers around the object and pulled it from its nest. A small, brightly glowing crystal rested in her palm and as Hopeite held it up between two of them and whispered, "I'm terribly sorry my lamb but... you won't get the chance to tell anyone."