|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:04 pm
It has been "too long". At least long enough for the Negaverse to get up his butt and question why he hadn't been draining energy like he was supposed to have done. His excuses of it being cold out and school being in session no longer worked, and so he found himself outside again, in yet another park, checking to see if he couldn't just find someone who was sleeping on a bench or something to drain so he wouldn't have to put any real work into any of this. He had been trying to come up with a plan to get out, but he hadn't thought of anything concrete at this time. How was he supposed to leave? Could he find some Senshi or Knight that could house him for a bit? Were they able to do so on their Homeworlds or Wonders? It probably seemed a bit suspicious that he was accessing the Negaverse database a bit more, especially the Senshi and Knight information that they had in there, but he wanted to see if there was a specific way he could contact any of them, or if he managed to get in contact with one if they would be able to do something that wouldn't make them a target as well. He hadn't found anything yet. Maybe if he could talk to a couple more of them, he might be able to find a way, but getting into contact was the hard part in the first place, especially with so many hostile to the Negaverse... While he was contemplating all of this on the one park bench with no lighting, he didn't realize that a familiar aura was nearby and heading toward him.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 6:57 am
Summer had been fading fast by the time Cybele had been recruited to the Negaverse, and it had been long gone by the time she'd started regularly spending time in the city. She didn't remember sunshine that actually felt like something when it hit her skin. She didn't remember warmth that lingered even once the sun went down. It was nice. Cybele was hard pressed to find things that she liked. It was a process of trial and error, every single time. She could tell that she liked spring, though, and with that knowledge, she was willing to get all of the enjoyment out of it that she could. She was spending nearly every evening out in the city, powered up. There was no need for coats and such, now. There were just late sunsets and soft breezes that rustled her long hair. She wasn't even hunting, necessarily. Of course she'd nab energy or even a starseed if the opportunity presented itself, but she had little trouble meeting her quota and was fine just wandering the parks sometimes. Auras were enough to catch her attention, though, and when she felt an agent towards the edge of the park, she changed her trajectory to meet him. When she saw a familiar face on the park bench, she smiled. "Oh, good evening," she said to the Captain she remembered from the beast's forest prison. "Glad to see you made it back to the city all right."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 5:42 pm
He turned his head to see who it was, not having even sensed the aura, and an eyebrow raised when he saw that it was Cybele. "Good evening." He said, though a bit grumpily as while it was a nice evening weather-wise, it was not nice for him in general. "Yeah... I think everyone made it out of there, at least in once piece." He wasn't sure if there had been any permanent injuries. He straightened himself in the bench, crossing his arms over his chest so that he wouldn't be taking the whole thing up in case the Senshi wanted to sit for some reason. "I haven't been doing much since then. What about you? What have you been up to?" He was genuinely curious. Even if he hadn't done much, then he was still interesting in learning about what other Agents were doing, at least so that he could get a read on them as to whom to be wary of. Besides just as a whole.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 5:21 am
"True, I suppose we all made it out in the end," said Cybele, making her way over to the park bench and perching beside him. She was not completely oblivious to the downcast look on his face, and she offered a smile as she added, "It's still nice to see you." Although she still raised an eyebrow as she looked him over. "You haven't done anything? It's been six months." Nearly all of Cybele's life, what she could remember, save the few weeks she'd spent adjusting to her state in Negaspace before everything went down, could be measured out between the time that she'd escaped from that cellar prison and now. It was odd to hear him talk about all that time as if it was nothing, when to her it was everything. "I got a day job and settled into the Negaverse work. I tried hunting and improv classes and now I'm reading Shakespeare. I did help drag Feldspar from the Rift." She rolled her shoulders, settling into a more comfortable position, then glanced over. "Sylvite was really invested in all that. He's her new project now."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 6:43 pm
He laughed a little. Not at what she had done or her, but the fact that he just forgot to include his day-to-day life. Not that he was one to really talk about it. If he did that meant that the Negaverse would be able to find and watch him that much more easily. "Well, if you mean that stuff, I've mostly been studying like usual. As much as I like the outdoors, if I have to be out in the cold I like spending it in my cabin." Away from people and with the possibility of bears attacking. At least that brought some excitement to the cold winter months. "Glad to hear you're starting to find interests though." He had no idea who Feldspar was, other than he had been some lost Lieutenant. Of course he had gotten a message about some rescue mission or something but had responded he would be unable to go. "I think that all suits you at least." Not the Negaverse stuff. Just the other, normal civilian things. "Sylvite huh. She's certainly been getting quite the spotlight on her." It was ever since she done the kidnapping mission. Maybe it was just coincidence, but he was sure he was starting to hear her name more and more frequently, even though he knew that there were plenty of other Agents out there. He took another look around and could tell that there were no civilians close by. "I thought the park would have more people, but I guess they want to stay indoors tonight." He said, moving so that he was now looking up at the sky, though it caused his hood to fall down. "If you really want to see something interesting, you should try getting father away from all of the lighting in this city. I have a cabin you could visit sometime. That way you could see the stars as they really look, at least as well as you can here on Earth."He wasn't sure if he could really start talking to her about why she was in the Negaverse again. While he didn't believe she would have snitched on him, he couldn't pretend that she would keep it to herself since she seemed to be too interested in helping the Negaverse right now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 3:48 pm
"You asked about it, before," she said, adjusting sideways so that she could look at him as they talked. "You wanted to know what I was going to do outside of being a soldier, so I thought I would give you an update." Many of the other officers did not care what she did so long as she showed up for missions and continued turning in hauls of energy and starseeds that were over and above her quota. That was fine. Serving the Negaverse was the purpose of her life now. She understood that. Still, it was nice, she thought, to have someone who asked about the rest, sometimes. She followed his gaze to the sky, the closest thing that the city had to nature. Even the trees here were planted in manicured rows, unlike the ones she'd seen other places. "I'd love to see your cabin, sometime," she said. "I think I like the forest more than other places I've been. With the classes and everything in the city, it's strange." Her lips twitched to the side in a rare show of emotion. "As if I'm trying to a real person when I'm not, I suppose." Faustite's solution was to stop trying, and perhaps she'd get to that point in time. For now, she still read plays and enjoyed weather and tried talking to people, sometimes. It was only a short moment before she was back to the polite smile and the slight, interested tilt of the head which came as second nature to her. "What are you studying?" she asked.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 5:14 pm
He turned to look at her, surprised that she would care what he thought and that she remembered. "I... well thank you. It's nice of you to remember me for things like that, and I am interested. You can't just be in Negaspace forever, you have to have a life outside of it." He wasn't sure exactly why he was thanking her, but perhaps it was because she felt that she could trust him in telling him about what she was doing in her civilian life. It was... weird. At least to have a fellow Agent do such a thing. There would have been no question if it was some random civilian friend. But to make a friend in the Negaverse was totally different. Friends... something he didn't have for a long time. And he had practically lost all of them, as few as there were, as he holed himself up in his cabin after he had been forcibly corrupted. It... hurt to think about. And it hurt that he may lose what was the beginning of a friendship when he planned on purifying. However, that part still hadn't been figured out. He frowned when she mentioned that she wanted to be a "real person" and sat up to look at her more directly. "You are a real person. You weren't someone they plucked out of the Ether and put you down here on Earth. Just because you lost your memories, I'm assuming that's what you mean, doesn't make you some ghost or fabrication or robot or something. You bleed right? You need air to breathe too? You are a real person with your own life and your own goals, even if they currently center around the Negaverse." He furrowed his brows. "I hope that those in the Negaverse aren't saying things to make you think you aren't real. Don't you think there's something wrong with that if they are? You were corrupted into the Negaverse, why would they want you to think that?"His belief? They wanted to keep her as some sort of manipulated captive. If she didn't have anything else to do or to be interested in, then it would be much easier for her to blindly obey. It was... concerning to say the least. Geo thought if he was able to keep some of his memories during his powered days, then he would make sure to go looking for her. His face relaxed when she asked her last question. "Environmental Science. I want to do what I can to help save the planet." He gave her a sad grin. "Kind of useless while I'm in the Negaverse right?" He grinned happily this time. "Can't help but want to do my part though for the planet. Learn how everything works and see if there isn't a way to help it heal."He smirked. "You have to come to my cabin now. There's a guest bedroom there if you feel comfortable enough to stay the night, or we can set up some sleeping bags and tents outside. It's a way to really get into nature that I often find myself doing. I think you would appreciate it. And it might make you feel more alive as well. I know it always re-charges me to spend a night in the woods."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2021 5:21 pm
Cybele stared at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. They stood out against the darkness of her clothes, and it was clear, even in the dim lighting, that they were flesh and blood the same as anybody else's. She could feel the warmth where the knuckles were pressed against her palm. "Yes, I have a pulse," she said with a slight tilt to her head, almost amused at the robot comparison. "I'm living. I'm just living a lie. It's strange. When I go to talk to someone and they start asking basic questions, I have to pick a city where I supposedly grew up and hope that they don't have family there or some other reason to start digging too deep about my past." The small talk was getting a little easier as she started to become comfortable telling her supposed story and as she added details to it. That didn't make it any more true. That wasn't all there was to it. There was something else off about her, and she knew it, but when the thoughts of that came up, like they did now, she was quick to push them away again. "It's easier like this," she said instead, running a thumb across her ribbons and down the side of one of her wings. "I don't have to lie, and there are even things about being a senshi that I can almost remember sometimes." She glanced back to Geocronite with a hint of a smile on her face. "Perhaps I should just be trying to make my friends within the Negaverse, yes?" That would be the correct solution. That would be better than spilling her doubts in front of Order senshi, the way she had been. "So yes," she said. "I'd love to see your cabin. You don't have to talk me into sleeping over. I've bought a bit of gear already. We can talk about your school, your life, too. That's fine." Her smile widened. It wasn't anything that would matter much, to her, but that was all right.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 8:01 am
Geo didn't make any faces, but knew that she was avoiding talking about the other side of her on purpose. She didn't want to have to think, that maybe she had been forced into the Negaverse, that all of this was a lie, that she was on the wrong side... It would be scary for anyone. He wasn't surprised at her reluctance, just sad about it. He hmm'ed at her suggestion of friends. "I'd still be careful. No matter how tight of a group it may seem here, the bottom line is we all answer to a higher ruler, and what they say goes." And if that ruler decided one day that they had to kill their friends, it was either kill or be killed. It irked him that he was still in such an organization. "If that's what you feel is most comfortable, I won't stop you." He said with a sigh, moving his hand to palm his chin. "Glad you're taking the opportunity though to check out my cabin. I don't get to show it off much, whether powered of civilian and sometimes I think that people often need a reminder of what their original roots as humans were." It had made him wonder how it worked on other planets. Was the same evolutionary line played out on them as well? Traits that were allowed to pass on, changes in cells, had they been at work too? He wanted to know, but whether or not he would be able to talk to a Senshi or Knight about it was up in the air. "We can find a time to do it then. As much as I'd like to say I'm busy, I'm not. I don't need to study that much and even though I'm going for certain degrees, I don't know what I'm going to do with them."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 2:08 pm
One comment against the Negaverse could be brushed aside, but two? Cybele's brows knit as she looked the other agent over. His face was blank, perhaps too blank. "Of course there are orders from time to time," she said, raising a shoulder in a casual shrug. "That should not interfere too much with relationships, though. Does the Queen have a habit of pitting us against each other when someone hasn't turned traitor in one way or another?" It didn't seem that way to her, but her experience was admittedly limited. She was careful to keep her own face blank as she watched him and thought back to what he had said before, back when they had been together in the prison. If he was so dissatisfied with the Negaverse, then perhaps he had a reason to fear-- No. She would not think about that, either, not without a more solid reason. "Do you like history, then?" she asked, allowing a small smile. "Or just living more primitively to connect with nature every once in a while?" Her knowledge of history had been wiped with the rest of her memory, and although she'd watched a few overview videos to try to know at least the basics, it might be useful to know slightly more. It might be nice to know more about nature, though. "I'm not busy, either. I only work part time."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 11, 2021 5:27 pm
"I don't know what the Queen does." Though he was sure it wasn't any good. "It's better to worry about your superiors. And other Agents at your level. They had to earn the right to be there. They weren't just converted like you." Even he had been promoted, though he was unable to understand why. Perhaps they thought that the more chaos he had within him, the more willing he would be to accept it. He chuckled and looked up at the sky. "Connecting with nature is more my style. While it's interesting to see what has gone on in the past, I'm more interested in the here-and-now. Even if we are Agents, there's going to be a day where we are no longer here. And we're human. I want to experience things without all of the destruction that is needed to make life convenient." He sighed and moved his head so he was looking forward again. "Sometimes I think that being some other animal would have been a better alternative. Some animals may be destructive, but not like humans. Not like in the name of convenience like we do it. It's more instinctive to them, they act on survival, not because they want to destroy a patch of grassland to build a parking lot."He turned to look at her. "Good. I'll have food so we don't have to go hunting and skinning animals or whatever, though it's a good skill to have as well in case you ever need it for survival. But you'll be able to just try out what it's like not to have everything given to you, or at least needing a currency exchanged to be able to get it." He got up and stretched his arms, feeling a bit cramped on the bench now. He took out his tablet. He didn't trust her enough with his phone number, not yet. "Should be able to send you a message pretty easily. That way we can set up a time later. Though I should be free this weekend if you want."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 1:07 pm
"I know my situation is unique," she said, lips pursing slightly. There were others who had been brought over from Order, of course, including a few who had been corrupted against their will, but she had yet to meet anyone else who had joined the ranks at Eternal or General. "I'm as careful as I can be. I try not to pull rank." Was he jealous? Was that why he was acting off? Losing over twenty years of memory and identity seemed a steep price for jumping through a few bureaucratic loopholes, but then, some agents did struggle a bit with getting promoted. She kept thinking about that, watching him closely, while he talked about humans being the real destructive force or something. It wasn't something she had enough information to comment on. Of course she'd seen some resources about going green when she'd been doing her research on hunting and the outdoors, but she wasn't sure how it applied to her when she lived in Negaspace. She nodded along, though, and eventually said, "Yes. Let's bring food. While I'm sure I can skin something, it turns out tracking is more complicated when there's no magic to help you." Through some stroke of luck, she'd killed one deer back during hunting season, but it was far from a consistent source of food. "But this weekend sounds good." She stood from the bench, rolling her shoulders. "I can text you Friday to check in?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 3:54 pm
Perhaps he had gone on too long of a rant. He sighed. "Sorry, just something that's brought up in environmental science a lot. Lost my train of consciousness there." He said with a small smile. Part of it probably wasn't even about the Negaverse, just life in general. He didn't comment on her not pulling rank. He knew she wouldn't do that. Most who did usually did it because they felt they needed power over something. He didn't feel like she was that type. He nodded. "Yeah, I tried tracking a wolf once. Easy to see the tracks in the dirt. Grass though? I would have to dedicate a couple of decades to be able to do it." Movies and video games made it look so easy. He nodded, bringing his phone out to make sure to put the event on his calendar as a reminder. "Sounds good." Looking at the time, it was starting to get late. "I'll be waiting for your text then. It was... good talking to you Cybele, even if it was mostly me just ranting." He said with a sad smile on his face. "But I appreciate being able to call someone... a friend in the Negaverse at least." He decided that was the best title for her for now. Perhaps she was still just a friendly acquaintance, but being able to talk to someone about something not related to the Negaverse was pretty nice. "I have to get going now though, didn't realize how late it had gotten. I'll... see you around though." He said, waiting for her goodbye as well before he started to make his way back to his cabin. He would have to start cleaning it if he was going to have a guest over. It wasn't too dirty, but it certainly needed a good dusting. stari_maga Ending post from me! Thank you for the rp!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
