The System

[Yoshimitsu]

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Body:
Fairy, we've updated your body and weapons, like you asked. You've been updated from Yoshimitsu to Fairy now, sorry about the codename but you know how it goes. System gave it us and wouldn't let us change it, like it did before. You've been given two weapons this time, and your general performance has been tweaked - you're faster and more athletic, gymnastic. You might wanna test your new skills out before you get into real combat.
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Select drop point.

You have selected city centre.

Digitising.

It looked like it would be a busy city on any other day. There were thousands of shops on every road, cafés, clothes shops, videogame shops, anything. You name it, it was there. It looked like the last place to be deserted, but that it was. Not a single figure in sight, down every road and side alley, there was no one. Fairy stood in the middle of a crossroad, stood on the sign that pointed people in the right direction. He was certainly an interesting looking individual. He had medium length silver-blue hair that fell to his eyes, that wasn't tidy but it wasn't messy either. Covering his eyes was a futuristic-looking visor, clamped on to his ears with a mic extending to his mouth. He wore a pale blue t-shirt that had a white dragon motif. On his lower body, he wore dark jeans, nearly black but still quite clearly blue. Hanging at his waist on either side, attached to his belt, were two rods. Both of them hand black shafts and ended in what looked like a blade, making them look like miniature spears. Hanging next to one of the spears was what looked like a sword hilt, with no blade. His shoes were the same colour as his hair, though more silver than blue. Fairy brushed from hair from his forehead and looked around, adjusting something on the side of his visor.

"Linkachu, any report on those thieves?" He said clearly into his microphone.
"Nothing yet, Yoshi," Linkachu's voice came through the visor.
"That's Fairy," Fairy replied. "Remind me why we're after them? Why can't the police handle things?"
"They're armed with unfamiliar weaponry, no one's seen anything like it," Linkachu explained. "They sent the police at first, but the guns they're using don't just fire bullets, they fire something... else."
"Something else?" Fairy enquired.
"We're not sure. It looks like an ultra-condensed form of energy. Leaves a small burn, but it completely destroys your insides. You get hit by one of those and you're dead. The end."
"Geez... No clues where they came from?" Fairy asked.
"No clue," Linkachu replied. "Guessing it's from a rogue programmer, then an arms distributor. No leads, though. Check around you - they were seen around the town centre."

Fairy adjusted his visor again, and everything he saw changed. Most of the things around him turned a shade of blue. This change was caused by Fairy changing the visor's vision - from normal to heat-seeking. Anything alive and moving would be picked up instantly, and would be red as opposed to blue. Fairy looked around, scanning for anything red. Nothing in front of him. He looked right... There. About a quarter mile away, in the vaults of the city. A multi-floored building with about a thousand different rooms.
"Linkachu, I found them," Fairy said quickly, switching his visor back to normal and sliding down from the signpost he was stood on. A sudden knowledge of himself flowed into his brain, and he became aware of everything this new body could do. As soon as he landed, he crouched and tapped the side of his shoes, causing what looked vaguely like exhaust pipes to appear, only square. "They're in the Vaults. What's being held there?"
"About a million different secrets of the system," Linkachu replied, sounding rushed. Fairy didn't start running, he started skating - as soon as he started moving, small flames were shot from the odd pipes, allowing Fairy to skate along instead of running. He moved a lot faster than he would have done running.
"What might they be after?" Fairy asked as he skated round a corner and down another road.
"The MCP program's supposed to be detained there, they might be after that," Linkachu replied. Fairy winced when he heard 'MCP'. That program had caused him, Linkachu and the rest of their team a ton of trouble in the past. So much so that they nearly had to erase the System. Fairy skidded around another corner, and skated along the road to the Vaults.
"I'm outside, get here ASAP and try to alert everyone else. If you can, get Sem down as well. Sounds like we'll need a lot of help," Fairy said as he got closer to the building.

The Vault was an impressive building. At least ten stories high and there were at least two hundred rooms on every floor. It was easily bigger than any building around and cut off from the rest of the city. There was a single road leading to the white brick building, and that usually only had a coupld of cars on it, at most.
"Where are all the people?" Fairy asked.
"Pulled them out for their own safety. Didn't want anyone dying," Linkachu replied. Fairy skidded to a halt right in front of a great big hole in a wall. These guns must have blown the hole open. Impressive - the Vault was reinforced and specially designed to resist any attempts to break in. Fairy stepped through the hole, his shoes returning to normal as he did so. He glanced around and adjusted his visor to heat-seeking mode. This proved to be a bad move, however, as every other room seemed to have something in it. He switched to X-Ray. Above him, about five floors, were moving figures.
"Sixth floor.... Linkachu, what floor is the MCP on?" Fairy asked.
"Tenth, top floor," Linkachu replied.
"Get here NOW," Fairy said urgently. "They're already halfway there, and they're moving fast. Lifts are out, I can tell you that already, and the stairs are waaaay to spaced out... We have to move quickly," Fairy said, running down the corridor.

The Vault was like a maze. All of the corridors seemed to link to another somehow, some leading to crossroads, some to forks, some to dead ends. Fairy more or less knew his way around, but he still had barely enough time to catch up to the thieves before they reached the MCP.
"This is too close..." He muttered as he turned another corner and ran down another corridor, his footsteps bouncing through the halls.

 

[Sem]

Digitizing

Sem materialized in a street. He stood up and gazed at himself, making sure everything was unchanged. He had his traditional outfit on. He wore his black tennis shoes, his socks being concealed inside and not visible. He had his black cargo shorts along with his grey t-shirt. His longish black hair covered his right eye, the blind eye. Sem wore his dark grey trench coat as well, and he made use of its hood by wearing it. In his right hand was his staff, a staff that could become a scythe whenever he wished. Strapped to his right shoulder was the sheath for on of his dual blades, the other sheath rested on his lower back.

Sem opened his eyes and looked around the large city. He knew he wasn't far from the vault. Sem pressed the button on the earpiece he wore on his left ear. "I'm in, Linkachu. I'm heading out after Yoshi."

"All right," Linkachu responded. "But be quick, we don't have very much time. Oh, and it's Fairy now, not Yoshi." Sem shook his head and smiled as he raised his staff into the air. Water particles froze on the ground in front of Sem. He lowered his staff and set foot on the ice. Sem immediately started skating on the ice, gaining more and more speed as he went.

(OOC: Pretty much like Frozone from The Incredibles.)

Sem sped around corners and through alleys until he finally reached the Vault. Sem's ice path evaporated as soon as he set foot into the large building. Sem pressed a different button on his ear piece.

"Where are you, Yo- Fairy?" Sem asked as he gazed up the stairs.

"Making my way up the Vault, you?" Fairy responded.

"I just got here, I'll get up as fast as I can." Sem broke into a sprint, his coat began flowing behind him. Sem had been here enough to know his way through the labyrinth that was the Vault. Time was indeed short however, and so Sem would have to try to get through faster than he ever has before. Their enemy, however probably wasn't making it through any faster then they were.

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: I took some liberties with this post, so I hope I didn't step on your toes, El. If so, tell me and I'll edit it.

BIC:

Good. Everyone's been contacted. I just hope we‘re not too late… Linkachu thought as her clawed, furred hands typed away at blazing speed, the main computer unit monitor being reflected off her green visor. The screen was broken down into several sections, each that could be selected and enlarged. One showed a pulled back view of the deserted city, while another was nothing but mindless coding. The remaining three windows were currently scrambled. Linkachu narrowed her brown, inhuman eyes at them. This was the last road to be crossed.

(OOC: No, I have no clue how you'd actually hack something. TV ftw! ;p)

"C'mon, c'mon!" she cried watching the numbers scrolling across the screen, searching for the correct access code, until suddenly there was an loud chime and the cameras blinked to life. Linkachu grinned triumphantly and watched the windows as they systematically revealed blank corridors within the Vault, scanning for life.

One quickly found Sem, while the next soon locked on Fairy. "Good, good..." Linkachu grinned further, though it was generally easy for her to track them. Her happy expression faded as scan after scan revealed nothing on the third window, until finally an alarm sounded and the window blinked to show a group of rushing figures. They were moving fast, but now that the camera was locked onto their position it'd track them indefinitely. She examined the figures for a moment before hitting a button on the PC unit that reopened the channel to Fairy.

"Fairy, I've managed to hack the Vault's security cameras and located our thieves," she said, watching the group closely, "I can't give any defining characteristics - the bastards are cloaked - but there's five of them, ranging in all shapes and sizes… and one appears to have a tail." She smirked at that. It seemed more and more users were getting creative with their bodies and opting for non-human models like herself.

She was what resembled a large rodent with obvious electrical-design influences, most notably the large, yellow lightning bolt on the tip of her long, whipping black tail, and the yellow patches on her cheeks that occasionally gave off sparks. Her body was mostly a light brown shade which melded into a white patch of fur on her stomach, but the outer aspects of her large ears, her paws and feet, and the strips along her back were a darker brown. One would have thought her nothing more than a beast if not for the visor she wore and the belt that ran both diagonally and horizontally across her chest, housing several pouches and compartments. She didn't carry any obvious weapon, but she didn't need to either.

"Thanks for the info, but why are you THERE and not HERE!?" Fairy's aggravated voice came in return. Linkachu frowned.

"Keep your head on! I'll be there. Just need to see it…" And as if on cue, the figures halted before a set of large steel doors, the lead pulling something out from beneath their cloak. A single slender human arm held up the weapon which shocked Linkachu at the sight. For such power she had been expecting something bazooka-like. Instead, the firearm seemed no different than a pistol, the only distinguishing feature being the odd translucent canister on the top. Inside was a swirling, pulsating red energy that appeared rather unstable. "That can't be it…" she murmured with disbelief, but once the trigger had been pulled there was no denying. It was like an explosion had gone off, Linkachu catching sight of the blazing red ball of energy before it'd collided with the doors and, in an instant, incinerated the steel to leave nothing but a large, charred hole.

She gawked with amazement and half-watched the group hurry through the opening as she spoke to Fairy again, "If those guns can do THAT to steel, I'd hate to see one hit a user. They're definitely not being loaded down by them, either. Be care! One false move and it's game over for good, in a very, VERY painful way… And bah! They've already reached the seventh floor. Keep running. I‘ll join you on the sixth floor."

At that she closed her eyes and held a paw over the computer unit. Her cheek patches began to buzz viciously with electricity, generated from the electrical sacs beneath, which soon enveloped her entire body. It seemed to condense then to give off a bright glow, her entire being appearing to dissolve within it, until with a flash the rodent was gone. The energy that remained was quickly zapped into the PC unit and vanished without a trace.

~*~​

Within a deserted hallway of the Vault a single hidden security camera began to crackle, a large, stray bolt suddenly zapping to the floor and crackling wildly. It quickly shifted to a bright glow that grew outward at amazing speed, and with a final spark the energy ceased to leave Linkachu standing in its place. She stood bipedal at a height of about 3 and a half feet, her arms crossed and her tail whipping back and forth as she tapped her right clawed, foot impatiently.

"Leave it to a non-elemental to take his time," she murmured to herself, gazing over her shoulder to see the blasted door behind her. "C'mon guys… We don't have all day…"

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Fairy took a left, then a right, and another left, finding the stairs leading to the sixth floor. He looked up, switching to X-Ray on his visor. The thieves had hit a stumbling block - as soon as they hit the seventh floor, it was full of traps, and the mazes got a lot tougher. Everything on the seventh floor and above was potentially or definitely dangerous, and as such had to be guarded. Fairy ran down the corridor at top speed, switching his shoes to skates as he ran. He skidded around a corner to find himself face-to-face (more or less) with a short mouse-like creature. Anyone else might be alarmed by this, but Fairy recognised this creature.

"Heya Linkachu," he said, grinding to a halt in front of her. "Like the look?"
"It's great, now's not the time though," Linkachu replied.
"Naturally. We're headed up now, but if you'll excuse me..."

Fairy stepped past Linkachu and placed his hand on the wall, apparently feeling for something. He moved his hand slowly as he searched out the wall.
"Hmm... where did I put it..." He muttered. "Aha." He stopped moving his hand, and pulled it back slightly. As he did so, a cord extended from the wall. He grabbed it and plugged it into his visor, downloading the maps of the Vault.
"Alright, let's get moving."

It wasn't long before Fairy and Linkachu hit their own obstacle. They were only on the sixth floor, but every floor had progressively more dangerous programs on it. The sixth floor's programs were dangerous, but not excessively so. An orgnanised police force could take them out. However, there was no police force around, and the programs had been let loose. One such program faced Fairy and Linkachu. It stood at about six foot tall, long black hair that fell to its shoulders, a male physique, with a leather jacket and black jeans. In his hands was what looked like a chain.

"Linkachu, you go on ahead, I'll take care of this guy and catch you up later," Fairy said to Linkachu. Linkachu nodded, and bounded ahead, straight past the program. The program turned, possibly with the intent of attacking her, but Fairy shot in and punched powerfully, catching the side of the program's face and knocking it off balance. It staggered, but recovered and threw the end of the chain at Fairy. The chain shot like a bullet at Fairy, who half-cartwheeled to the side, catching himself on his hands, legs spread, the chain just missing him. Fairy suddenly recognised this program. Chain user, and he could use the chain as a staff. Codename: Monk.

Fairy flipped to his feet and pulled the sword hilt from his belt, aiming it at Monk. Through what felt like sheer force of will, he fired off a number of energy darts from the bladeless sword. Monk, however, dodged these with ease, twisting and bending his body slightly. He ran at Fairy, who bent his knees slightly, his shoes returning to normal. The chain shot right past his head, but missed quite obviously. Without hesitation, Fairy spun and launched a powerful kick right into Monk's gut, knocking him back. Fairy ran in and punched Monk twice in the gut, spun and kicked him again, catching him in the chest, then shot in again, kicking and bringing both hands smashing down into its head.

"Rogue program," Fairy said quickly into his mouthpiece. "Requesting permission to delete."

It took an agonising minute for permission to be granted. As soon as it was, a number of beams of light extended from all around the corridor, all of them pointed right at Monk. Monk's body turned completely white, and changed into a great number of digits, the coding that made the program.
"Sem, what's your location?" Fairy asked as the digits faded away.

 

[Sem]

"Just started on the fifth floor, Fairy." Sem said as he ran into the beginning of the fifth maze. "Where are you?"

"Floor six. I just met up with Linkachu, but she went on ahead. I was delayed by a rogue program. Hurry and catch up, would'ya?"

Sem rounded a left corner. "I'm trying, Fairy." Sem took a couple rights, and then a left. After a few minutes of this Sem was near the end of the fifth maze. After he rounded the next corner there would be a straight corridor leading to floor 6. As Sem went around the corner he could see a figure a few feet ahead of him. "Ah... there you are Fairy..." Jim paused as soon as he actually got a good look at the figure. "You're not Fairy..."

Sem took a step back and pressed the button on his earpiece. "I'll be a bit longer than expected..." The figure before Sem was in long robes. A large hood was worn over their head, hiding most facial features. The sleeves went all the way down to the knees, as did the robe itself. The robe was red, but had purple designs; the hood's edge was laced with a gold-looking material, as were the sleeves. Worn on the legs were very loose, white pants that went down to the floor, half covering the brown shoes. The figure's hanging head looked up to see Sem. As the head lifted the lower half of the face appeared, immediately giving away that this person was female. Sem could see a brief smirk on the woman's red lips, and then she twirled around.

Long needles were sent flying at Sem from within her sleeves. Sem reacted quickly causing the water in the air to form a shield of ice in front of him. Sem then melted the ice and flung the water at the girl's head. She simply knelt down and the water hit the wall behind her. While kneeling down she spun around, quickly pointing her left arm at Sem, more needles came. Sem hopped into the air and over the needles. While still midair, he put his staff on his back and pulled out his swords. Sem came crashing down on the female. She side-stepped however and Sem landed on the ground were she was.

She pulled a knife from her right sleeve and began jabbing at Sem. Sem easily knocked the knife from her hand with his sword. Sem spun around clockwise, aiming at her neck with the dual weapons. She bent backwards and the blades hit the wall. She picked up her right leg, and aimed it at Sem. From the pant leg came a small, razor-sharp blade. Sem blocked it with another plate of ice. He stepped back and flung the plate at her. She jumped over and ended up spinning horizontally in the air. From her twirling body came a barrage of needles. Sem instantly thought of a trick he could pull in this type of situation. His body quickly evaporated into mist, Sem then went behind the girl and returned to normal form. She sensed Sem behind her immediately and turned around. Sem began running and flung his left sword at her. She bent backwards; the blade came spinning past her, just barely missing the tip of her nose. Sem smiled briefly, she did what he was hoping she'd do. Sem spun around after his throw and sent a plume of hot steam towards her feet with his free hand. She jumped into the air; Sem rushed at her and stuck out his sword. As she began falling back to the ground her body met with the tip of Sem's blade, instantly turning her into ice.

Sem pulled his sword back and pressed a button on his ear piece. "Rogue program, requesting permission to delete." Sem walked past the frozen figure and grabbed his other sword that had lodged itself into the wall. As he entered the 6th floor he could see the light from the rouge's dissipating body. Sem then began to trek through the 6th floor, noticing the fresh battle scars on the walls and floor. "I can't be that far behind now." He created a path of ice before him and began skating through the maze.

 

[Linkachu]

Linkachu raced up a twisting flight of stairs on four legs, skidding to a stop as she reached the top. The 7th floor. This is where things would become really dangerous. She gazed town the deserted hallway suspiciously, sniffing the air and catching a whiff of smoke. Pushing off to stand bipedal once more, she pressed the button on her ear piece and spoke, "I've hit the seventh floor, and it looks - and smells - like the halls are laced with hidden defensive lasers. Somebody got brunt by them, too, though probably just their clothing. No blood. You guys proceed with caution"

She released the button and reached for a pouch on the chest strap of her belt, flipping it up and digging through it to retrieve a small, pen-like device with a blinking digital screen down the side. It had a cap on the end, which the mouse quickly flipped to reveal a button. A distinct beep sounded as the button was pressed, and Linkachu could feel her entire body tingle as the device sent out an electro pulse. She'd designed it herself specifically for times like these. The electrical field it created around the user fooled the laser sensors into thinking they were nothing more than a security program, thus preventing any charring and/or painful death. The affects only lasted a short time, though, so she had to make haste.

Pocketing the device, Linkachu fell to all four and raced down the hallway, turning the corner and racing on through. For being such a small creature - in both size and weight - she could move at speeds much faster than standard human bodies, and with increased stealth. After rounding a fourth corner, though, the mouse came to a halt. A short ways down the corridor something was lying in a heap against the wall; something clearly not human.

"Stone Golem..." She murmured to herself. They were common defensive programs that looked like a giant man made entirely out of square stone slaps, and could generally take a heavy beating before ever going down. Even with that said, the buggers were near impossible to completely destroy due to being able to reassemble themselves, so your best bet was to knock them for a loop then take off running. "Hmm… Guess that's one way to knock ‘em down," Linkachu added when she noted the massive hole blown through the slumped over creature's chest. Those weapons of the thieves were definitely the real deal. Even a Golem couldn't repair a hole like that. It intrigued the mouse to no end.

"Careful now, Linkachu… It might still be operational…" she whispered to herself as she began to creep forward one step at a time. Upon reaching the stone monster she slowed her pace even further and watched its emotionless face. Its red eyes that usually gleamed an eerie red were currently dark. "So far so good… Maybe the electro pulse works better than I thought?" the mouse smirked proudly, but she should've known better than to test the fates.

The Golem's head suddenly jerked back, its inhuman eyes blazing red as they locked on the shocked rodent.

"Just priceless…" Linkachu moaned sarcastically before shooting her eyes forward and breaking into a run. She didn't need to look behind her to know that the Stone Golem was staggering to its feet, the thundering boom of its steps causing the entire hallway to tremble as it gave pursuit - and the booming was steadily growing louder. The rodent was half-hopping as she reached up with one paw to press a different button on her mouthpiece and yell into it, "Rogue program. Requesting permission to delete — and hurry the hell up, will ya?!"

The booming had become so loud now that Linkachu could barely hear her own thoughts. She wasn't overly surprised when the Golem's powerful hand closed roughly around her tail, causing her to cry out in pain, and yanked her straight up off the floor. Dangling in the air, she gulped and revolved her gaze to find the monster glaring back at her, its free fist balled and pulled back ready to smash her to bits.

Going into the furious drive, the monster's fist suddenly stalled inches from impact. The other fist that'd been latched around the rodent's tail loosened as well, and Linkachu was left to collapse in a heap on the floor. She quickly got to her feet and hopped back a few steps, watching as the mighty stone giant was hit with several beams from around the corridor and its body turned white. "Geez… About time," Linkachu grumbled as the Golem's white body turned to numbers, then silently dissipated into the air. She whipped her tail around to bring it up by her face and whimpered at the slightly crumbled segment directly below its thunderbolt tip.

Heaving a sigh and turning away, she stared down the hallway to where the thieves had undoubtedly gone and grumbled into her mouth piece to Fairy and Sem, "My broken tail can't be for naught… Don't ask. Let's just catch those bastards soon before something worse happens."

OOC: Boo. I need to start getting more creative with my sentence structure... And assuming El said that if we die in the System, we die in the 'real world', we feel pain in the system too, eh?

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Profile 'Arvensis' loaded. Please stand by.

Logging in...

Select dropoff point.

'The Vaults' Selected.

Digitizing.



The main entrance opened with a soft hum, and he walked in, turning its helmeted head sideways, data from various sensor arrays accumulating, compiled and calculated into the on-screen-display built into the helmet's visor. The helmet was connected via s small system of wires to a rather advanced looking biomechanical armor - about the height of a somewhat tall human. The thing wearing the armor had long brown tendrils of hair that fanned out in an almost cape-like manner from the back of the helmet, bound at the edge by a ring of metal - and that was the only part of him that was exposed. The armor itself was an exceptionally intricate work of biomechanics - it had exceptionally biological curves yet a mechanic nature that could not be denied. The strange organic-metallic 'skin' of the armor reflected the faint light in strange, turbulent patterns giving its dark green surface strange markings upon it The large, back-curving shoulderplates of the outfit seemed to sport an array of impulse thrusters - silent as birds' wings, yet capable of lifting the outfit and whatever weight it may have carried an impressive height into the air. It didn't seem to carry any weapons at all, but rather, the metal plating that covered its right arm seemed to have an intricate looking tapelike device installed upon it.

The Arvensis powersuit. He was very fond of it - after all, he designed it. Of course, it wasn't half as intricate as it was now back then - he has learned much since.

"Alright, engage Silent Watcher mode." he murmured softly, his voice having a deep, resonant quality to it. Not a human voice. Something spinned and clicked into place within the tapelike device - a cartridge clicked into place within it and the device closed, glowing for a few seconds. And the armor changed. Neural connections broke off and connected in new ways. Relays clicked and electronics whirred to life. The armor's skin assumed a silvery, chrome-like, faintly blue-tinged shade, as if it was made of mercury. And then, the internal cloaking array clicked in and the armor vanished from sight, save from a faint ripple to the air where he passed, barely detectable to anything

The OSD changed. The creature's eyes darted underneath the helmet's visor observing the newly acquired data. The fusion with Scout Alpha was a wonderful success - combining its permanent invisibility with its detector array into the Arvensis Armor provided him some exceptional stealth - and with the data he acquired he pieced together what happened here.

"Well, looks like they started the party without me." Arvensis half chuckled and half winced. "I hope they left me anything interesting behind. And even if they haveen't, I'm DYING to get my hand on one of those weapons and analyze its data. Sniper could really use an upgrade like this."

He made a slight subconcsious tweak, and the thrusters silently kicked in, setting him on a soft hover over ground level. From the data he acquired, the programs through the first few floors weren't much of a threat, and he could easily navigate using the data readings. The sixth floor had a few detectors on it, but a bit of careful dodging could allow him to evade those. No, the real danger was from floor seven on. This is where he'd have to load a different program and let Scout Alpha scout ahead.

"I think I might as well say Hi." he smiled vaguely, and activated the comm system in his helmet with another subconcsious nod. Encrypted channel.

"Yoshi? Link? Sem? 'Vensis here. Sorry I missed the first part of the party. You wouldn't believe how bitchy the uplink server was being..."

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"That's Fairy, not Yoshi," Fairy said into his mouthpiece as he jumped up the steps and skated down the first corridor of floor ten. The rush was suddenly on, much greater than it was before. If he was on floor ten, that meant the thieves were almost definitely at the MCP's room. He skidded around a corner and connected his visor to Linkachu's, Sem's and Arvensis's channels.
"Pick up the pace, and now! They're at the MCP's room!" Fairy said quickly. "Linkachu, how close are you?"
"Not too far now," Linkachu replied. "I'll be at the thieves in just a few moments."
"Be careful, I don't want to lose anyone today," Fairy said as he turned another corner and skated down another corridor.

The MCP was the System's only really successful virus. Sure, there were the odd programs here and there that had to be taken care of, but they were mere child's play compared to the nightmare that was the MCP. MCP... Master Control Program. It was specially designed to infect other programs and convert them, upping their power and giving them a common goal. Initially, the MCP did as it was told, but slowly it developped its own mind... An artificial intelligence that didn't see any need for real people inside what it considered to be its property. The MCP infected nearly everything in the System. Anyone who stood against it was destroyed... except for Fairy's team. After what seemed like an age of fighting, they finally destroyed the MCP.

"Linkachu, watch out!" Fairy yelled, taking one of the rods from his waist and throwing it hard. It soared through the air and caught a cloaked figure's gun, causing the canister to smash and ooze liquid energy on to the floor.
"You sure took your sweet time," Linkachu replied, diving to dodge a shot of energy from one of the other figures. Fairy might have smiled if it wasn't for the fact that two of these figures were still arguing with the door. Fairy ran over to the wall and slammed the sword hilt on to it, sending a rush of energy through it. The energy spread right to the door, shocking the two figures stood there.

"You two keep working," a female voice said as one of the figures pointed at the door. "You two, we have to keep these busy." The figure gestured to Linkachu and Fairy. Fairy's foot slid slightly as he adjusted how he was standing. Luckily, the corridors in the vault were very spacious. There was easily enough room to fight, thankfully. Fairy didn't hesitate, he launched himself from his standing position and grabbed the front of the taller person's cloak, running past him and throwing him powerfully, away from the others. While the person was getting back to his feet, Fairy turned to Linkachu.
"Make sure they don't get through that door!" He yelled, running after the person he'd just throwing. The other figure who was standing with the woman turned and chased Fairy.

"Before we get started, might I at least get your names?" Fairy said as he stood, knees bent, fists raised, turning his head to look at each person in turn.
"It is common manners, I suppose," the taller figure said, pulling back his hood. His hair was white, rather short and very spikey but with no traces of gel. His body unit musn't have been upgraded recently. "I am Ain."
"Aww, man... You're a good boy, ain'tcha?" The other figure said, pulling back his hood. His face was covered in fur with two small, triangular ears on the near-top of his head, whiskers extending to either side of his black furred face. A cat model, this one was new. "I'm Perr. Don't forget it."
"And I'm your worst nightmares," Fairy replied, running at Ain, spinning and bringing his right heel swinging round in a powerful kick. Ain expertly caught Fairy's foot and swung him, throwing him right at the wall. Fairy spun in the air and kicked right back off the wall, shooting at Ain. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten about Perr, who had shot in and punched him right out of the air. Fairy hit the floor painfully, but he was quickly on his feet and conveniently right near the rod he'd previously thrown.

He quickly drew his sword hilt and started firing off energy at the pair. Naturally, they both dodged, but that wasn't the point. While they were distracted, he snatched his rod up and attached it to his belt. The pair was back on their feet now, and closing in on Fairy, who gave a slight smirk. Without hesitation, he flipped to his hands and performed a perfect helicoptor kick, catching both Ain and Perr and knocking them back. Perr, however, flipped in his fall and jumped above Fairy, coming for an aeriel assault. Fairy brought his knees to his chest, still standing on his hands. As soon as Perr was close enough, he thrust his legs straight up, his feet smashing into Perr's face and knocking him back. However, Fairy was suddenly sent crashing further away from the MCP's door and Ain powerfully kicked him. Fairy was on his feet again in seconds, his back throbbing from Ain's kick.

"But daaamn, these definitely aren't any old programs," he said, taking a quick picture of the pair of them with his visor.

 

[Sem]

"Good to see you, Arv." Sem said as he rounded a right corner. "I hope you'll make it here faster than we did." Sem was rushing up the ninth flight of stairs leading to the tenth floor.

"I take it that means you're here, Sem?" Linkachu said, gasping. Sem got to the top of the stairs and started running towards the door.

"Yes, I'm he-" Sem opened his eyes, seeing nothing but ceiling. Something had hit him, and hard. Sem slowly rose to his feet and felt the place on his chest where he was hit. Sem looked up to see a tall woman. She had pale skin and grey eyes. Her long, black hair ran all the way down her back. She wore a black cloak along with a black dress and black high-heels. A dark grey scarf was wrapped around her neck and covered her mouth. In her left hand was a kunai.


Sem straightened himself out and wiped his hair away from his right eye. When viewing her soul with his right eye he saw one thing: black. "Nice to meet you." Sem said. "I'm Sem, and you are?" Sem smirked.

The woman closed her eyes and sighed. "My name is Gelida, pleasure to meet you." she said as she put her right hand on her hip. Sem bowed and then the fight began. Gelida spun around and threw the kunai at Sem. Sem leaned backwards and watched the projectile zoom past his eyes. "I'll tell you right now that you won't survive this little mission of yours. I'm leading out this operation and I plan to have it carried out." Gelida said. With that she ran up to Sem in an attempt to kick him again. Sem sidestepped and got behind Gelida. He put his right sword and pulled out his staff. He held his left sword upside down in his hand.

"The only problem with your plan is that we're here, Miss Gelida." Sem then attempted a roundhouse kick. Gelida stopped his leg with her right arm and grabbed his leg with her other hand. Gelida began spin around and then flung Sem towards a wall. Sem landed on the wall with his feet directly on it. The force created an indent in the wall. Sem used the momentum from the throw and pushed himself off the wall. Right as he was about to pass Gelida he spun around counter clock wise and picked Gelida up with his staff. This caused her to be flung at the ceiling. Sem landed on his right knee and his left foot. Gelida came crashing to the floor behind him.

As Sem turned around he was tripped by Gelida who had twisted herself on the ground. He gazed up and saw Gelida standing above him with kunai in hand. She came down in an attempt to impale him with the instrument but Sem rolled away and got up. She immediately threw another kunai as Sem got up. Sem deflected it with a shield of ice. Sem then broke the shield, creating sharp shards of ice. Sem pointed his staff at Gelida and the pieces were flung in that direction. Gelida rolled sideways and threw another kunai. Sem ran up in an attempt to get her while she was kneeling. Sem spun to the right to avoid the kunai and as he was about to meet in the direction of Gelida was, he brought up his left arm to attack her with his sword that was still held upside down.

Sem's blow was suddenly stopped. Gelida had stood up and blocked his sword with a kunai held in the same fashion as Sem's sword. Sem tried to put more pressure against the woman's arm. Gelida simply smiled and spun around, kicking Sem with her right leg. Sem flew back and hit a wall. Sem held his head and opened his eyes, Gelida had run up and was now assaulting Sem's torso with rapid fire punches. Sem quickly flipped backwards and stuck out his legs, sending Gelida flying into a different wall. Sem had to get the upper hand in this battle. Perhaps if he was in his own element...

Sem tapped the floor with his staff, a dramatic change started to take effect. The floor and the walls began to be covered by a layer of ice. Indents were created in the floor and filled with water. Sections of floor rose, creating vents that gave of steam. Sem made sure this change did not affect the whole floor, so that other battles were not interfered with. Sem walked easily across the ice and the water, up to Gelida.

"No matter how much you change your environment, you can not win." Came Gelida's still cold voice. Sem wasted no time; he sent small waves towards Gelida to hinder her movement. The female easily hopped over the two foot high waves. She landed beside Sem and slid on the ice a bit, her legs spread and her right hand on the ground. Using the heel on her right shoe she spun around and used the ice for momentum. She lifted her left leg and became what looked to be a black top. Sem jumped to the side to avoid being kicked again. Gelida stopped suddenly and threw a kunai. Sem felt pain in his right arm as the weapon cut his arm on the side, tearing through the sleeve of his trench coat. Gelida drew her hand back, satisfied. Sem growled under his breath, he held his right arm and breathed in and out heavily. Gelida seemed the bit least tired however.

"Had enough?" Gelida said.

"Hardly." Sem replied as he raised his arms. A slab of ice under Gelida rose and went straight up to the ceiling. Sem had hoped she would be crushed but Gelida jumped off the platform before it hit the roof. Sem blasted steam at her as she land, burning her arm. She screamed in pain and looked at her burn. Sem skated in near her quickly and hit her abdomen with his staff. He flung around and jumped into the air. He thrust his staff downward, sending Gelida crashing into the icy floor. As she got up Sem rested the bottom of his staff on the ground. He held onto it with both hands and swung himself around kicking Gelida in the face. As she was sent careening into a wall Sem sent shards of ice after her. The shards pinned her to the wall via her cloak. She easily slipped out of her cloak and ran up to Sem. She jumped up and roundhouse kicked Sem in the head.

She attempted to stab him but Sem blocked the blow with his sword and punched Gelida on the cheek. She stumbled backwards and felt her face. She became furious and attacked Sem with several punches and kicks. She began speaking in between her blows. "I... told you... You... will... not.......... WIN..." She kneed Sem in the stomach and then brought her arm down on his back sending him into the ground. Sem laid there on the ice, blood streamed from his cuts and scrapes, his body was bruised. Gelida knelt down by him and spoke. "I told you." she smirked. "You cannot stop us; you and your friends will be defeated."

Sem's eyes suddenly opened. He got up and stared at Gelida for one second until forcefully hitting her side with his staff. He began twirling his staff around and spun his body around to hit her again, then again, and again. He continued beating her senseless with the staff until finally raising his left arm. Water came up quickly, flinging her upward. Sem got under her and swung his staff in a circular motion. She was hit by the staff on her left side as she came down. He skipped on the ice before skidding to a stop.

Sem put his sword away and walked up to Gelida's motionless body. She wasn't dead, no. She was just down for the moment. Sem would take the opportunity to finish her off however. Sem raised his staff in the air and in a flash a blade appeared on the end. Sem was about to bring his scythe down when there was a loud explosion. Smoke was quickly arising from the direction of the door.

 

[Rosie]

Logging in…

New user…

Welcome

Digitizing…

A monster, at least ten feet high, towered above its surroundings. Its half metal, half organic body bent over the small human in front of it. Its glowing eyes burned red, satisfied with what it had found and preparing for the meal. The girl did not look on in fear though; her face was of determination. She stood, ready, sword unsheathed and poised for its attack. Deep purple hair completely obscured one eye, the other unblinkingly staring into her opponent's eyes.

Her hair was unusually cut. It was dark purple at the roots, but gently merged through all imaginable shades of purple, to a brilliant white at the tips, reaching just to her lower back. The rest of her hair was layered, the shortest, her fringe, hanging just above her left eye and slanting down, over her right eye until it reached her back. The left side mirrored this, the layering beginning just below her ear. She wore a simple tunic, a deep purple, loose fitting shirt on the top, reaching her mid-thigh and white, equally loose trousers. A leather belt made of linked circles, crudely decorated, rested on her hips, slightly slanted. On her feet were a pair of purple, slip on canvas shoes, neatly peeking out from under her trousers.

The monster resembled a dragon, half clad in metal armour, but its right side covered in thick scales. It bent over, closer and closer to the girl, its mouth stretched wide open. It hardly expected her to do anything, more to be trembling in fear over its own sheer size. Suddenly, when its mouth was closing in and she could smell the foul stench of its breath, she did it. The girl threw up her sword into the roof of its mouth, her eyes shut tight against the heat and blood that was bound to fall from the wound.

***​

Fayth opened her eyes, her sword still raised above her head. Sheepishly, she lowered it as her sapphire eyes scanned her surroundings. Her imagination had got the better of her again, but luckily there was no one around this time for her to embarrass herself in front of. The large foyer was modern and brightly lit with some lifts on the far side of the room and a large stairwell on the right of a deserted reception desk. She squinted slightly against the change in light, looking for anyone else, but finding no one, assumed they were all on a higher floor.

As yet Fayth hadn't been issued with any technical equipment, like earpieces or visors. All she had was a scrap of paper with a hastily drawn map on and some vague instructions in her head. Without any further hesitation she made her way to the stairs, sheathing her sword into its scabbard, which was attached to her back, as she did so.

Luckily the corridors and mazes were nearly empty, after the others had made their way up, so Fayth only had to sneak past one program, who, thankfully, was looking in the other direction. The girl only made a few wrong turnings on the lower floors, even though her map was awful, since her sense of direction was so strong.

By the sixth floor Fayth was beginning to tire. She'd managed the stairs with relative easy, but her slim body could not give endless energy and she was positive that there would be a fight on the top floor, for which she needed some power left over. Slowing down a little she concentrated on finding her way through the mazes, trying not to think about what was to come.

Finally she reached the top floor, but stood in the stairwell, attempting to catch her breath. Tentatively she peeked around the corner but nearly fell down the stairs in shock. A mouse creature with some kind of electric tail and three other men seemed to be battling their way through a group of people who were mainly dressed in black.

Think now, ask questions later Fayth thought, summing up the courage to step out of the shadows. Carefully she unsheathed her sword and attached her old shield to her arm. The emblem on the shield depicted the silhouette of a rearing horse against a large, silver moon. Old weapons, but they did the job.

No sooner had she moved into the corridor, than the huge explosion flung her back against a wall. She screamed in shock, and fortunately not pain, but quickly clapped her hand over her mouth so as to not draw attention to herself. Fayth peered through the thick smoke, trying to see what had happened.

 

[Linkachu]

Linkachu looked from Fairy's battle to Sem's and grinned. "While they keep those three busy, I'll deal with that door," the mouse whispered, reaching for a pouch positioned on the right of her belt. She unclipped it and dug inside, retrieving yet another strange device. This one was a small, black box, though, with a blank rectangular screen on the top and a blue, shimmering metallic layer on the bottom. While it'd take a high power microscope to see it, the bottom was actually made up of nano chips.

"Hey, fellas!" Linkachu called out to the remaining two cloaked individuals, who were turned away facing the door. Their heads quickly jerked in her direction, and they immediately tensed at the sight of her crackling cheeks. Both attempted to reach beneath their robes for weapons, but their reflexes could not match the mouse's speed. She leaped high into the air as a stream of electrical energy surged from her body and consumed the two individuals below, both crying out in pain and staggering back just enough to reveal the digital lock they'd been tinkering with. A strange device was already attached to the keypad, mad numbers scrolling across its luminescent screen, but as Linkachu sailed through the air she whipped out her tail and caught the edge of the device with the tip, ripping it straight from the keypad and tossing it to the floor. Gracefully she landed directly between the dazed workers, giving one last hop to smack her machine over the lock. It immediately came to life, the red lights beneath its screen blinking rapidly as the device did its thing. Less than three seconds later, the device dinged and the lights turned a calm green.

"Mission accomplished," the mouse smirked, quickly tearing her gadget off the keypad and shoving it back into its pouch. By now the thieves had regained their composure and dove to grab the electrical rodent, but she nimbly ducked their flailing arms and scurried around their legs out of harms way.

The person on the right growled back at Linkachu angrily as the one of the left turned to face the lock, giving a roar and cursing, "Blast it! It reset the lock!"

"You're a swift one," Linkachu chuckled with a sly grin. "I scrambled the system to give it a brand new pass code, and I'll keep on doing it, too. Getting past the two of you was almost pathetic."

"Now that wasn't very nice, was it, Rat?" a voice suddenly came from behind. Linkachu instinctively leaned to the right and watched the clawed hand shoot past her and scratch the floor. She quickly whirled around, whipping her tail out to catch the attacker in the legs and knock him back enough to get a full view of him. It was Perr.

"But it felt so right," Linkachu smirked at the feline. Cat verses mouse. It felt almost wrong. "Do we really gotta do this?" Perr simply snarled and extended his claws further. "Thought so."

The mouse could sense the remaining two thieves coming up behind her and prepared to retaliate, but Perr quickly snapped, "You two, get back to the door! I'll deal with the rat."

"There you go again with the 'rat' comment. You say it like an insult! ... I happen to be a mouse, Mr. Kitty-thing. And if you want me that badly, you got me," her cheeks blazed with electrical energy at that remark, a bolt firing out at Perr. To the mouse's astonishment, though, the cat swiftly dodged the blow and slipped out of sight - directly behind her! "Oh-" she was cut off as a powerful blow struck her in the back of the head, sending Linkachu sprawling across the floor towards Fairy and Ain.
"Grrr..." the mouse grumbled as she pushed herself off the floor, the tip of her tail beginning to spark. "Why a cat? Why did it have to be a bloody CAT!?"

She paused as the distinct footsteps of Perr raced in close, finally using her front paws to spin herself around and fling out the electrified tail. The tip struck the cat dead-center in his chest, the vicious jolt causing him to screech and stumble back. Linkachu didn't waste any time reacting, turning to the anthro-feline and staring hard at the holster on his belt. The object of her desire was still securely within it.

With a burst of speed, she shot forward and nailed the cat in the gut with a head butt, keeping him off-balance just long enough for her to dive for the pistol and rip it from its confines. She clutched it tightly and hopped backwards as Perr continued to stagger in the opposite direction, quickly regaining his composure and giving a hiss. "Alright now, Rat, why doncha give that back now?"

"I'm thinking 'no'," Linkachu replied coolly and held the weapon closer. This thing was too intriguing to give up! She just had to know what made it tick.

With a furious snarl Perr lunged for Linkachu, who's cheeks began to crackle wildly with energy, but before either could connect they were both sent flying as an explosion shook the hallway. Thick smoke filled Linkachu's vision, which blocked Perr and everything else from her sight, but that was the last thing on her mind now. That blast had come from the door to the MCP!

OOC: Yeah... About the 'broken tail' thing *which I totally forgot about >>*. It was hurt, not broken. Heh ^^; EDIT: I edited a few of Perr's lines to make him sound more like El envisioned him sounding ^^

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Fairy glanced sideways, seeing Perr leave him and turn his attention to Linkachu. He should've guessed as much, a cat against a mouse. Fairy focused back on Ain, and just in time it seemed because Ain had started another round of attacks. Ain ran at Fairy and punched powerfully, but Fairy threw up his arms quickly, blocking the punch but sliding back slightly. Ain spun and tried to backhand Fairy, but Fairy ducked, then brought his leg swinging round, his knee smashing into Ain's stomach, knocking him back. Without hesitation, Fairy ran in and jumped, flipping and bringing his right foot smashing down aimed at Ain's head. Ain immediately threw his hands up and caught Fairy's foot. Ain twirled, still keeping a firm grip on Fairy's ankle, and swung him overhead, trying to smash him into the floor. Fairy stopped his decent, his hands flat on the floor. He tugged his leg from Ain's grip, but brought it smashing down again, catching Ain's shoulder. Fairy rolled to his feet again, and was about to attack again when there was an explosion from the MCP's door.

"What was that?!" Fairy yelled over the sounds of people staggering through the smoke. He would investigate, but a cloaked figure had jumped from nowhere with obvious hostile intentions. Fairy instantly ducked, then slid right past the figure. As soon as he was past this person, he flipped, bringing both feet smashing down on their shoulders, causing them to bend slightly as they staggered. Fairy immediately jumped to his feet, but landed on the person's back. He kicked off, and landed right in front of the door.

"Where's the explosion... c'mon..." Fairy muttered, searching the door briefly. He found nothing at first, but it soom became clear that the door was turning red. It wasn't heat that was causing it to change colour. Fairy looked closer. Tiny red digits were spreading along the door. Whatever the explosion was, it had forced open the door slightly and the MCP was slowly getting free. Fairy looked for where the program was spreading from.
"Linkachu, the MCP is getting loose. Reset the locks again ASAP. And by ASAP, I mean now," Fairy said very quickly into his mic. He placed his hands on the door and manipulated the programming. Anyone who knew how could manipulate the programming of the System, but they had to get permission beforehand. If they didn't get permission, or ended up damaging the System somehow, they were instantly banned from the System for a set period. However, Fairy figured that he'd be excused, just this once. The door started moving, and sealed itself up.

The smoke was clearing now.
"Ain, how much got free?"
"Enough, Gelida. We can go."
"Good."

Fairy was now stood in front of all five figures.
"You're not leaving after that."

 

[Linkachu]

"Already on it, Fairy," Linkachu replied and dashed towards the door, the weapon she'd stolen from Perr clutched in one paw while the other retrieved the scrambler device from its pouch. With a running leap the mouse slapped the gadget against the lock once more, which immediately buzzed to life. She barely had the chance to catch her breath before the device beeped and signaled its completion, though when the mouse reached up to grab it she quickly stayed her hand and stared in shock.

The machine began to spark, numbers scrolling wildly across its rectangular screen. Its lights began to rapidly flash from red to green. "This isn't good," Linkachu narrowed her eyes, the tip of her tail beginning to crackle with electricity. She hated to destroy her own work, but there was no other way. With one powerful thrust she whipped her charged tail up to slash the device and electrified it, causing it to release from its hold and clank harshly to the floor. There it crackled and sputtered until the lights finally cut out and the screen went dead.

Linkachu bent down to pick it up, examining the lifeless device before sadly pocketing it once more. Ain was right. Maybe it had only been a small amount of the MCP let loose, but it'd been enough. Its reinfection, after all these years of peace from its horror, had finally begun. But for what? What could this group of vandals possibly gain from doing something so reckless?

Through her mouth piece she spoke to the group, "For anyone who missed the show, a bit of the has MCP escaped, and no doubt is already replicating itself. I can't say 100%, but the locks should be reset and secure to prevent anymore from getting loose. Can't imagine what these bastards are after, but let's not wait to see. I've got the door covered incase one of 'em tries to re-open it again. Let's take 'em out!"

OOC: Gonna leave it at that for now. I'll assume that while all of this was happening, the next wave of fighting had already begun.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"I'll handle this one," one of the two concealed figures said, taking a step towards Fairy. Fairy's foot slid slightly, and he raised both hands, ready for battle. However, he wasn't ready for the cloaked figure's first move - he seemed to vanish as he shot around Fairy, and kicked Fairy powerfully, hitting his back and knocking him into the corridor. Fairy landed face down, but he quickly rolled as he heard something above him - to his right, there was a small crater where he had been barely two seconds previously, with this figure hovering right near the ceiling, his pistol drawn.
"What, is your gun not as strong as the others'?" Fairy mocked, jumping to his feet.
"Hardly," the figure said as he landed. He ran at Fairy, jumped above him and aimed his pistol again. Fairy dived out of the way, and this figure made another small crater. Fairy drew his sword hilt yet again and aimed it at the figure's descending body. He shot three low-power bolts, but just when it seemed they'd hit, the figure vanished again. Fairy jumped and flipped backwards, landing directly behind the figure. He grabbed the figure's cloak and swung him round, throwing him into the nearest wall. The figure flipped, and skidded to a halt on the floor just before he hit the wall, his shoes sending sparks everywhere.

"That's it, I'm not messing around with you any more," the figure said, extending a hand. Instantly, a strange black and blue sword appeared there. The blade wasn't thick, but it wasn't thin either, about average sized, jagged and looked beaten but entirely new at the same time. The hilt curved around the base of the blade until it finally joined the metal. Fairy reached for his belt and snatched up one of the miniature spears and lunged at this figure.
"So, might I request your name?" Fairy asked. The figure sidestepped, but immediately slammed his foot down on the rod, trapping it. Fairy did a sort-of half-cartwheel, bringing his foot smashing down on the person's shoulder, knocking him off balance. While still standing on his hands, Fairy picked up his rod and jumped, landing on the figure's shoulders. He kicked off, sending the figure staggering.
"Oh? So you can research it, Yoshimitsu? Do you really think I'm that stupid?" The person said as he re-gained his balance. Fairy ran at him and spun, bringing his rod swinging round wide. This unknown combatant raised his sword and placed his palm on the flat edge of the blade so that he had more defensive power, as he blocked Fairy's rod.
"How the hell do you know that name?" Fairy demanded, jumping back and glancing at the exit to the corridor. This momentary lack of attention proved to be a mistake and he felt a sharp object slice through his sleeve and leave a shallow cut in his arm. Fairy swore, but quickly ran at the figure, flipping over him and launching a perfect helicoptor kick, knocking him to the side. Without thinking, he threw both of his rods at the figure, catching his cloak and pinning him to the wall.

"Oh? Finally learned how to fight, have we?" The figure taunted.
"Somehow, I don't think you're in any position to mock me," Fairy said, yanking down the person's hood. Fairy frowned. This figure looked vaguely familiar, but not like anyone he had ever seen. More like the aftermath of a dream. A wealth of short, spikey fire-red hair with orange and yellow highlights. His eyes were scarlet, with three pupils per eye, arranged like a triangle.
"What's up? Don't recognise me?" The person mocked. Fairy ignored this, and took a picture with his visor.
"Doesn't matter whether I do or not - I've got a picture in my own data now, so I can just ask one of the operators to check for you," Fairy said. "Or I could get rid of you right now, what d'you reckon?"
"I've got a better idea. How about I delete your pictures, and we make our getaway? How's that sound?" The figure said, smirking.
"And just how do you-" Fairy was cut off when the person seemed to explode, blasting Fairy backwards, smacking into the wall. Fairy fell to the floor in an upright sitting position. The rods hit the ground next to him with echoing clanks. Barely conscious, he heard the person walk up to him, felt his visor being removed and heard the familiar button combination to delete data.
"There, see, wasn't that hard, was it?" Fairy heard the person's voice and felt his visor being set back in its rightful place.
"You... you bastard..." Fairy said, trying to push himself to his feet. He got halfway, then fell back down.
"Well, yeah," the figure said. Footsteps, then a faraway voice. "I'll see ya later, Yoshimitsu."

Then everything went black.

*****

"The pictures are gone," the hot-hair-coloured person said, striding down the corridor. "How long do we have left?"
"A few hours," Perr replied. "We've got some leeway now, so how's about a break, Gelida?"
"Log out, we don't have any more time to waste on these... pests," Gelida ordered, glancing back. Without hesitation, she logged out, her body breaking down into a number of digits than ran into the floor, then vanished. Ain and the only remaining cloaked figure followed suit.

"Who are you, anyway?" Perr asked, glancing at the mysterious fighter. The person merely shrugged.
"The hired help. Why?" He replied.
"Well, how did you know that guy's-" Perr pointed at Fairy "-old identity?"
"Well, that's remaining a secret. I do, however, owe him one," The person turned and threw... coding? It spiralled through the air and flowed into Fairy, causing him to wake up. Fairy was on his feet within seconds, looking at Perr.
"I'm out," Perr said, logging out. The other person smirked, then he, too, logged out.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

The door to the tenth floor hissed open and closed. There was a moment of silence, and suddenly, thin air rippled as the cloaking device shut itself down, revealing the biomechanical construct that was hidden behind it. Moments later, and the chrome-like silvery metal that seemed to cover its surface seemed to become even more quicksilvery than it already looked, flowing off the construct's body and into a strange cartridge reader that opened on its right arm, revealing a green 'skin' beneath it. The device closed, whirred several times and fell silent.

The armored figure scanned the room. He managed to notice Sem right away - the half-blind warrior was easy to recognize. He couldn't help but smile silently under his helmet when he spotted Linkachu - he always had a soft spot for the female electric rodent. Then, surely, the silvery-blue haired male that looked vaguely like he was just hit by a truck was Fairy, formerly Yoshimitsu. He winced.

"Okay. First all the security programs mysteriously drop dead, then I hear something about the MCP starting to leak out, and by the time I finally get here, YOU look like you've just had an encounter with the front end of an F-35. WHAT the hell did I just miss?"

 

[Rosie]

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too" a timid voice came form the shadows as Fayth moved into the centre of the corridor. She'd watched the scene unfold in front of her, but not understood what was happening. Who could blame her though, she was new.

"I'm Fayth, someone called Yoshimitsu told me to join you, after I said I wanted to help you guys." The girl was still gripping her sword and shield, but seeing the absence of a fight, sheathed her sword and nervously tucked some or her purple hair behind her ear. Her eyes, slightly larger than was normal, looked around the group but made a point not to look surprised at the strange gathering of creatures.

An electric mouse, a figure completely covered in armour and two other men, who seemed to be relatively normal, though were probably not. No different from you Fayth reminded herself. She still seemed a little out of place with these people though, most of them accomplished warriors, when she had hardly any experience of fighting. They looked modern too, contrasting with her mainly medieval clothes and old weapons.

She shifted her weight nervously waiting for one to answer, aware of their searching eyes.


OOC: sorry about the length but I didn't have much to say and i don't really want to auto anyone.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"We're not altogether that sure, either," Fairy said, picking up his weapons and sliding them into their appropriate holders. He brushed himself off, and raised his hand to his visor. Speaking clearly, he said, "Coding scan, subject codename: Fairy."

Digits ran acorss Fairy's vision as his Visor scanned the warrior's coding, searching for potentially unwanted programs or viruses. After three agonising minutes, the scan finished. No viruses or hostile programs. It seemed that warrior had, indeed, just healed Fairy. That said, Fairy's visor could only scan so far. They'd need the operator to tell him exactly, but that wasn't a major concern.

"We can tell you that bits of the MCP escaped. Not the whole thing, just a few bits of programming," Fairy explained, gesturing to the door. He scanned the surrounding area for traces of the MCP. "It's long gone, and that's a real problem. I'll get a message to the operator and tell them to let us know if it surfaces. Knowing the MCP, it's probably gonna try to get the rest of it free, and we don't have any idea how it might pull that off this time. You know the MCP, Linkachu, Sem, Arvensis. Last time, it just completely folded over the buildings and other programs to release what we'd captured."

Fairy looked behind him at the door, trying to think of how much had got loose. Not a lot, but it was still enough. The MCP was specially designed to not only infect, but it completely re-wrote programs and fully converted its victims, so that they were more like the MCP in a certain form. And from there, it could infect more and more programs until it had an army.
"There's not enough of it to do that yet, though, so we have to work fast. Everyone, scatter and find whatever traces of the MCP you can. I'm logging out for now, gonna contact the operator, let me know if you find anyway," Fairy said, turning away. His body turned into coding that faded away into the floor.

 

[Sem]

"Right then, I'm off too." Sem said as his beaten body decomposed into digits and dissipated into the floor.

Relogging.......

You have a message. Do you wish to read it now?

Body:
Sem, your update is complete. Your swords have been updated, they now act as both guns and swords. They feel a bit different obviously, but you should still be able to wield them well until you get used to them. Your reflexes, speed, and defensive power have been improved as well. Your body remains the same. Your request to keep your name was accepted into the System.
End message.

You have no other messages. Continue relog?

Relogging.....

Relog complete.

Select drop point.

You have selected Town Park.

Digitizing...

Sem opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a wooded area. Sem looked down at himself. He still looked the same, except all his wounds were gone. He grabbed at his new swords from their sheathes and scanned them briefly. They felt nice in his hand and he swung them around a bit before putting them back.

Sem began to walk through the trees, searching for any trace of the MCP program in the park. Not too long after he began searching he heard screams. His ears were able to trace it to the other end of the park by the pond. Sem skated to the location via ice path. Within minutes he was in front of the pond. He could see people running on the other side of the water. Sem wasted no time and he darted across the water. No, he wasn't Moses or Jesus but it was cool nonetheless. As Sem got to the middle of the pond he noticed what the people were running from... The MCP program had already begun infecting other programs. The programs were immature and fairly weak, their only purpose was to infect. The programs were all white. No clothes, no skin, no faces: just white.

(OOC:Think of the wireframes from Super Smash Bros.)

Red digits coursed through the bodies of the programs, along with red sparks. Sem didn't waste a second, he stopped where he was (Which was near the edge of the pond.) and he pulled out his new weapons. No sooner had he done that did he begin firing. The weapons were able to fire rapidly and smoothly. 2, 4, 7, 10 programs went down. There were much much more however and they now turned their attention to Sem. Sem simply stood there on the water and continued firing. His attention was soon averted to his right were a woman was cornered up against a tree by what one would call a male program. The program was preparing to infect the woman with the virus when Sem rushed onto land and impaled the program with his right gunblade. The program let out a gurgled scream before exploding into red digits.

Sem nodded to the woman and turned around to face a female program. Sem twirled around and hit the program with his left sword, the program screamed the same way as the other and exploded. Sem began firing with both his firearms again, more of the programs went down. Sem walked into a large group of them while shooting, but he then began cutting everyone down. The weapons handled well and Sem had almost no trouble adjusting. After a few minutes of this massacre there stood only two programs. Sem ran up and spun around, his left sword ran straight through the program's body. Sem immediately turned around and began shooting the last program with the gunblade in his right hand. The program shrieked and exploded, leaving the red digits in its wake.

Sem looked around, all the people had fled and the area was secure. He pressed the button on the earpiece and spoke into it. "Sem here, the park has been cleared of the MCP programs." Sem then made his way out of the park, lot's of other places had to be cleared as well. He wondered how the other people were doing.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Logging in...

Logging in...

You have one new message. Do you wish to read it now?

Body:
Fairy, we noticed you editted your body template and changed your weapons. That was a stupid and reckless thing to do, and we've sealed off your access to your programming, and the System's programming for that matter. However, as per protocol, we're required to tell you what changed - you can now summon and dispel your weapons at will. Don't let us catch you doing that again.
We did, however, pick up so info for you. There are rogue programs at the School Playground. Log in there and destroy them before they cause any real damage. There were reports of a figure in black there, too.
End message

Logged in. Select log-in point.

You have selected 'School Playground'.

Digitising...

The scene was chaos, as... things moved all over the playground. They were strange, dark red in colour and roughly humanoid. Instead of hands, they had blades that added a good two foot to their arm length, giving them an odd monkey-like appearence. They moved, dragging their blades along the floor, looking to be made of a strange solid goo. Their heads were roughly the same size as their torsos, triangular and without any apparent features. Fairy looked at them for a moment. As soon as he did, however, they all turned their attention on him. Fairy swore under his breath, and summoned his rods to his hands, preparing for battle.

"Aww, now this is no fun, is it?" A familiar sounding voice said as Fairy lunged into the creatures, stabbing his rod straight through two of them and cutting through another as he spun away. He jumped up and flipped, his hands above his head, hacking any attacking creatures in two. He landed and looked around for the source of the voice. There he was, Perr, hanging from the monkey bars upside down, cloak abandoned. All things considered, he dressed quite normally. A long-sleeved navy blue t-shirt with some white patterning and ripped jeans. No shoes, though he was half-cat. Fairy spun on the spot, cutting a number of creatures in two. There were still a great number of them.

"What's up, hero-boy?" Perr said, swinging up to the top of a monkey bar and standing on it. "Gotchaself stumped? Watch this."

The feline raised his hand, and all around Fairy, the creatures melted away. Perr waved lazily, and at least double the number appeared all around Fairy. Without thinking, the warrior spun on the spot, bringing his rods cutting through creatures, but there were still to many. They got over and under his weapons, and latched on to Fairy, completely holding him in place. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't get free, or move his arms even remotely enough to cut through any of the creatures. Their grips trightened, and Fairy dropped his rods. They clattered on the ground noisily.

"Looks like yer trapped," Perr said, jumping from the monkey bars and landing barely two meters from Fairy, pistol drawn. He was very arrogant. He lazily checked the energy canister and made sure it wasn't blocked. He aimed at Fairy, who was surprisingly calm considering the situation. He thought briefly - his rods were on the floor. He could summon them, but what use would that be? There was no chance of throwing them. Then he thought of the sword hilt. He waited a moment, and frowned, concentrating. Perr was aiming his gun now, and his finger was on the trigger.

Fairy summoned the sword hilt and fired as many energy darts as he could at Perr, knocking him off his feet. Instantly, the creatures disolved, releasing Fairy, who summoned his rods and dispelled them. He ran at Perr, grabbing his shirt and jumping high into the air. He kicked off the ground in a certain manner so that he was spinning as he did so, and he shot into the air like a bullet, dragging Perr with him. Fairy shifted slightly, so that he was horizontal as he seemed to hover.
"Hope you like my new move," Fairy said to Perr as he threw him straight at the ground. Fairy flipped himself so that he wasn't spinning and more and landed amazingly. Perr, however, did nearly exactly the same thing.
"Didja forget? Cats ALWAYS land on their feet," Perr mocked, grinning as much as he could. "If you can't even beat me, you've got no chance against the Elites."
"Elites? What are they?" Fairy demanded. Perr jumped, evidently shocked. He clapped his hand to his mouth as he realised what he'd said.
"None of your business," Perr said, turning into code and fading away.

"Playground cleared," Fairy said into his visor. "Keep any reports coming in."
"We're getting a reading from the Outskirts, head over there now," the Operator said. Fairy nodded, and started skating away.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Dog almighty help us all." Arvensis muttered softly under his breath "If anything like that happens again."

A message appeared on the OSD. It was a short message from one of the operators. Something about a wave of strange programs appearing in The Barrens, possible MCP infection, eliminate on sight. There was also a P.S. - Are you aware of your limits?

He had no doubt what they meant. With a small nod, he sent the message back. "As ever."

"Good." came the reply message "You are cleared to scan whatever threats or upgrades at your discretion, provided they are within the limits. Anything exceeding that would require our permission. "

"Understood." he noddded.

"We're counting on you." the final message arrived, and the connection was cut.

"Well... Looks like it's time for me to head out to the Barrens again." he sighed slightly "Possible MCP infection over there too. Just like old times, eh?"

Even through the visor, it was obvious that he had a sad smile on his face. as he turned his eyes to Linkachu.

"Sorry to run out on you like that, Link... Maybe we can talk again later. I've rather missed you."

He then turned his eyes to the purple-clad female. "Also... I don't know you, Fayth, but if Yoshimi... Fairy, that is, contacted you, it means that you have potential. I wish you good luck."

And saying that, he closed his eyes and uttered a soft "Router Epsilon Activate."

A cartridge clicked into place. The Armored figure raised his arm and pointed it forward. The Cartridge ejected, snapping open, and unleashing a stream of data which integrated into a pair of hovering, glowing complex rings of light. He stepped between them, one hovering over his head, the other underneath his feet.

"Relay: The Barrens." he said, and the rings suddenly began glowing, becoming even more ornate, spinning in opposite directions - upper ring clockwise, lower ring counterclockwise. The ring below him began climbing up whilst the ring above him began descending, erasing him from view, until this linked at the center, swiveled by 180 degrees and, rotating clockwise, shrunk into nonexistence.

He was warped to the Barrens.

 

[Rosie]

"May as well join in," Fayth said, and shrugged. She still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. The figures were as mysterious as ever and only one had spoken to her directly. Even more worrying was that Fayth had no idea what she was about to face. The MCP? That helps... she grumbled, being entirely new to absolutely everything. She felt stupid and ignorant, but hadn't had a chance to learn yet, thrown in at the deep end. With a genuine smile and raised eyebrows, Fayth logged out.

Relogging...

Log in successful. Select drop point.

You have selected "Main Shopping Centre".

Digitizing

The whole area was filled with shouts, screams and total confusion. There weren't great masses of programs already in the shopping centre, but they appeared at regular intervals and didn't hesitate to start causing trouble. There was a mixture of forms, some weaker human like figures, but made only of a frame, as if the rest of them hadn't been filled in, other stronger ones with weapons, like those in the playground, and the next generation were just beginning to appear. They were taller than the rest, about 6 feet tall, their heads covered with navy blue hoods and eerily glowing green eyes shining from underneath. Their hands were covered with long sleeves, two long blades emerging from within. They seemed to glide along the floor, no feet to trip over, but also incapable of leaping using only their height as their advantage.

Why are there so many here? Fayth questioned, she'd chosen a place randomly, hoping to avoid such a large gathering of programs. Oh well, I'm here now she thought, making sure that her vivid imagination hadn't gotten the better of her again. Carefully she drew her sword, the familiar metallic sound almost comforting to her. The Medieval shield was still attached to her arm, its surprisingly light metal making it seem nonexistant. The emblem reflected the electric lights, as did her sword, as she felt its weight and prepared herself mentally.

Firstly, the girl made her way, as quietly as possibly, toward the weaker programs, though it didn't seem to make much difference. They all seemed to be involved in the smashing they were doing, so they were practically oblivious to her approach. The first few went down easily enough, her sword sliding easily through their feeble, digital bodies, before they melted into the floor. Soon enough, though, the other frame-like humanoids noticed and began to group around her.

Fayth's sword moved swiftly, her face concentrated and frowning. There was no use for her shield; the pathetic programs weren't exactly putting up a fight. Within five minutes of arriving, they had all been destroyed, red digits melting rapidly into the plastic tiled flooring.

Now came the more advanced programs, abandoning their infecting to destroy the intruder. They trudged across the large floor to her, their hands scratching the laminated flooring, making a faint screaming sound against the cheap plastic. The first one arrived, pulling its blades up with much effort and swinging them at Fayth. "You'll have to try harder than that," she laughed, blocking its attempt with her shield and swinging at its middle, while it clumsily moved its arms back for another attack, spraying red digits over the floor. It melted, crumpling into the floor and disappearing from sight. Soon enough, another wave of the dark red beings came, purple hair flying around Fayth's head as she spun around, her sword slicing through the programs, digits falling to the floor.

After destroying the last of these programs, Fayth breathed heavily, her sword dropping to her side as she rested her arm. When she looked around to see who was next, she found, to her surprise, that only one of the more advanced programs had stayed, the others having moved on to somewhere with more programs to infect, or destroy. No more were being created either. The drop point must have been set somewhere else, she thought, before focusing her mind on the last program and preparing to fight.

Slowly Fayth advanced toward the program, shield raised, sword poised for attack. Suddenly its great green eyes fixed on her, she stayed perfectly still but it could still sense her. Gliding smoothly, the rest of its body turned as its eerie form swept across the wide corridor. Abruptly it attacked, one of its swords stretched out towards her, using its height as an advantage over the girl's small and slender form. Her weak body bent under the immense force exerted on her shield and she winced slightly, pain shooting up her arm. Again and again it struck out, pushing Fayth back with each blow. In between these, Fayth tried to make some kind of counter attack, but it simply blocked all her attempts, raising both of the giant blades and crossing them to block her sword.

Soon enough, Fayth's arm ached so much that it was nearly impossible to hold it up. She was also nearing being pushed into a wall, where she could almost certainly be overpowered by the huge program's strength and height. What about… her mind asked frantically, running through all the possibilities [/I]it wouldn't work on a program, not that I ever want to use [/i]that anyway… the other half of her mind answered and carried on through the possibilities.

Finally, after one final blow, she felt the cold wall behind her and the program began to close in her. Now or never she said and used the two meters of floor she had left to turn and run at the wall. Carefully she timed the jump, and then kicked out from the orange wall, her sword poised. Biting her tongue in concentration she half pushed, half threw, her sword into the creature's head. Its eyes glowed brightly, before disappearing in the mass of tumbling black digits. Her metal sword made a pure note as it hit the floor, vibrating and resonating through the now empty corridor.

Fayth breathed slowly the adrenaline in her body still making her feel queasy and unstable. She picked up the sword and sheathed it on her back, removing the shield from her arm and inspecting it for any visible damage. Pain still throbbed in it, she could feel it pulsing, and winced each time it did so. She hung it by her side carefully and carried her shield in her left, sword hand as she looked around the rest of the shopping centre, looking for any more programs, desperately hoping she didn't find any.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Oh, come on now, this is just ridiculous," Fairy said, bending over backwards, a beam of energy soaring over him. Fairy immediately straightened his back, and threw up both arms, guarding against a kick from a furred foot. He hopped to the side, fiddling with his visor. He flipped backwards, and opened a channel to the operator.
"Operator, y'know that upgrade we talked about? Yeah, I want it right now, thanks," he said quickly, spinning on the spot, and bringing the back of his hand smashing round at Perr's head, knocking the feline off balance. Fairy jumped back a few foot, and prepared to defend again.
"We can't give you it all at once, so get ready for some random changes," the operator's voice replied as Fairy ducked, then uppercutted, knocking Perr back. "Technically, we shouldn't give you this upgrade, but we understand the circumstances are slightly... special."
"Good. Now hurry up, will ya? I can't defend all day," Fairy replied with a smirk. In actual fact, he felt like he could defend all day. Especially since his defense and countering seemed to vastly superior to Perr's attack.

Fairy hopped back, avoiding quite a nasty cat scratch as Perr swiped at him.
"Aww, now can'tya just stand still? Make my life easier?" Perr said, jumping back and drawing two energy handguns. Fairy summoned his sword hilt, only to have it vanish a second later.
"Dammit operator, pick things in a better order next time," Fairy muttered, jumping back. No chance of blocking these attacks, he'd have to dodge them. Or stop them before they could fire. He jumped to his left as a bolt of red passed by him. Frowning, he dived to the side. These were weak shots. Fairy scanned the gun as he jumped again. These were not the same as the last ones.
"Fairy, you've got one of your upgrades! Try it out - you can throw wind blades," the operator's voice said. Fairy nodded, and grinned slightly as his visor vanished.

Fairy jumped back, the grin still clear on his face. He raised his hands up in front of him, and focused hard. Instantly, the knowledge of how to use this new ability became apparent. Without any further wait, Fairy guestured, and a wave of wind shot from his hand and shot at Perr, much like a giant flying blade. Only invisible. And probably much more painful. Perr, however, with his catlike reflexes, dived to the side. The wind blade continued until it hit a building, where it promptly exploded, taking out some of the said building. Fairy smirked, and tried to summon one of his rods, only to find that gone too. Fairy gave a small grunt, but quickly shrugged off his shock and charged Perr, grabbing the front of his shirt and throwing him powerfully. Perr flipped in the air and skidded to a halt, but that wasn't the purpose of the attack. Within seconds, Fairy had shot in again and was launching a flurry of punches and kicks which caught Perr by surprise and passed his guard easily. Perr slid backwards, but somehow managed to recover and was defending. Just.

Fairy felt an odd sensation in his hair. He didn't have to ask what it was, he already knew. His body template was being changed. His hair was no longer silver, and it was considerably longer than it had been. His hair had that 'just-got-out-of-bed' look to it, but upon closer examination, it also looked to be styled perfectly. It was no longer silver, now it looked like faded blues, multiple shades of blue, some near lilac, some near turquoise, some just completely blue, but all of them looked faded. Fairy jumped and flipped forwards, bringing his heel crashing down at Perr. Perr, however, threw up his arms and blocked the kick. Quickly, the feline grabbed Fairy's ankle and swung him round, throwing him. As he flew, Fairy saw his clothes changing. His top, no longer a silver shirt. It was a blue-purple, with sleeves that stopped at his mid-forearm. He also now had black fingerless gloves, with red hearts on the back of them. His pants changed, no longer black with silver stitching. They were navy jeans, that were frayed at the bottom. Sewn on to them were lighter jeans that had been cut up, but the jeans were still nearly perfectly symmetrical. Fairy grinned slightly as he flipped and landed on his feet.

"Upgrade, eh? Thought you'd been a bad boy, and hacked yer own programming?" Perr mocked, aiming at Fairy with his handguns.
"Fairy, we've finished the upgrades. You can now conjure mini-tornadoes and weak lightning. You've also had your name changed again, you're Wray now. And your new weapons are two swords, try 'em out," the operator said. Fairy, now called Wray, grinned slightly. He extended his left arm, and summoned one of his swords to it. It was certainly an interesting sword. It was all either pale yellow, pale blue or white. The hilt was completely white, and the end curved slightly, but still felt perfectly natural. The guard was both pale blue and pale yellow, and curled around the base of the blade. The blade was very ordinary at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, it looked very intricate. It was white, with one edge pale yellow and the opposite edge pale blue. Carved into the metal were a number of symbols, which made no sense to Wray, but doubtless they were important. Wray threw the sword up and caught it with his other hand, then shot in at Perr, ready for some real combat.

"How in the hell didja do that?" Perr demanded, hiding his guns and extending his claws as far as they would go, with was about five inches from the ends of his fingers. They shone slightly in the sun. Wray jumped and spun, bringing his sword sweeping round horizontally, but Perr raised a paw and blocked it, albeit barely. Wray crouched low, drew back, then lunged at Perr, catching the catman off guard.
"What are you, dancing?" Perr mocked. Wray grinned slightly.
"Yeah, looks like I am," he replied, spinning to his left, then flipping and bringing his sword slashing down at Perr. Perr tried to defend, but the shock of the impact sent him staggering.

"You're gettin' better, aintcha? Might have to get some more help on this one. Catchya later," Perr said, logging out. Wray spun his sword in his fingers, then dispelled it.

"Heya folks," Wray said into his mouthpiece. "Got another upgrade. Just call me Wray, now."

 

[Linkachu]

"Alrighty then... you guys do that... just leave me standing here... alone..." Linkachu murmured as even the newest recruit, Fayth, logged out and vanished from the hallway. She revolved her gaze down to the pilfered pistol still clutched safely in her paws, smiling softly to herself.

Now I can figure out what makes this thing tick.

She rotated it in her paws, looking up and striking a pose with the gun. The mouse held it for a moment, finally letting her arms relax and stowing the pistol in one of her various pouches. "I wonder if I made the right choice on this body? … Ah well. I'll leave the random shifts to he-who-changes-his-name-once-a-day… Might be exaggerating a tad," she chuckled to herself.

With one last look over her shoulder at the still sealed-tightly door, Linkachu gave a soft sigh before her body turned to coding and phased out of existence.

***​

Logging in...

Logging in...

You have one new message. Do you wish to read it now?

Body:
Linkachu, we have received your message. The security system of the Vault has been thoroughly analyzed and new security programs have been put in place to prevent future break-ins. We will be closely monitoring the activity of the MCP to hopefully avert the events of the past from repeating. Until further notice, the ban preventing standard access to the city has also been lifted. It should be back to normal in a short time. We have also accepted your request to keep the rogue weapon, but we caution that you avoid further field usage. Use it for research but nothing more.
End message

Logged in. Select log-in point.

You have selected 'Command Center'.

Please enter access key: 0-0-4-2-0-0-7-1-3-3-7

Access key accepted.

Digitising...

For a split second Linkachu found herself within a pitch-dark space, but the lights immediately brightened as her presence was acknowledged by the control system. She was back in the command center, a location not widely accessible by the population of the System. A user both needed permission granted by the System Operators to select the location and knowledge of the access key.

Neither was easy to come by unless you were on Linkachu's good side. Safe to say, only Fairy and her other companions could access the area - minus any of the operators who decided to drop in. It was the deal they'd made ages ago to even allow her the private space. An interesting story that was… but now wasn't the time to reminisce. She had more important things on her mind.

"Welcome back, Linkachu," a synthesized voice chimed, just as it had been programmed to.

"Thanks, WATA. Good to be back after that ordeal," Linkachu replied dryly as she dug the pistol out of her pocket and headed across the room. She stopped before a large, two-doored steel cabinet with a touch-pad on the front, gently pressing her free paw against it and waiting as the lock system read her coding. Much like a finger print, every user of the System had an individual coding pattern - like DNA. No matter how many times a user changed their form, their internal coding remained the same, which was very necessary knowledge for the sort of work Linkachu did. Once she'd tapped into that code, no one in the System could escape her.

Too bad the most usage she got out of it was generally just tracking down Fairy, or whatever else he may be calling himself that day. (OOC: Face it. You were asking for those jokes )

Once the lock had accepted her, the cabinet doors released and the mouse pulled them open. Inside was an impressive collection of gadgets and trinkets found around the System - many of which were black-market ware. The rows upon rows of the cabinet were beginning to get rather packed, but there was still a few empty spaces here and there.

"I'll take a look at this later on… Can't be bothered right now," Linkachu grumbled as she placed the pistol gently on the middle shelf, between a black metallic box and a semi-translucent forest green gem pendant. Both objects didn't look like much, but they held their own secrets - as did everything in her collection.

Closing the doors tightly until the device relocked, the mouse spoke to her central computer unit once more, "WATA, any messages while I was away?"

"There was one transmission sent while you were outside the System. Replaying transmission now…" WATA replied. The voice that spoke then was new, yet oddly familiar: "Heya folks. Got another upgrade. Just call me Wray now."

Linkachu was chuckling even before the transmission had ended. "Yes. Of course it is. Why am I not surprised…?" She reached up and pressed the button on her mouth piece, "Hey, Wray? Can't wait to see the ‘new you'. What are you up to now? I'll join you."

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

It was a bleak day at the barrens.

All days were bleak. Cold wind blew, picking up dust and tiny grey stone particles, ruffling the semi-withered looking grassy area. A small group of animals, vaguely resembling gazelles in body shape (except with greyish, stone-like craggy skin, strange legs, with three fingers each that resembled splayed hooves in a triangular pattern and large, eyeless, nearly disproportionate to their neck heads which had no antlers but rather strange slingshot like horns) grazing peacefully suddenly scattered in panic, bleating, when a portal that was not there before spun into existence, rotating on its side and separating into two rings, rotating in opposite directions, moving apart from each other, and as they moved, they revealed the form of a biomechanical armor-clad being. As Arvensis finished materializing, he stepped off the lower ring and onto the dry earth, grass crunching silently under his heels, as the two rings snapped, into two strings, merging into one stream of data. which flowed into an open data cartridge that appeared out of no where. The cartridge absorbed the data, snapping closed and clipping back into Arvensis' cartridge reader.

With Router Epsilon recalled, Arvensis surveyed the scene. The cawing of crow-like birds was audible, barely, against the noises of the wind. Arvensis sighed.

He was home.

The Barrens. The place where programs nobody wanted went. Some mutated due to the harsh conditions, adapting to survive, becoming the many monstrous denizens of the region - nothing more than large, misfit animals. He probably scared away a pack of Thunder Antelopes. Most of them were just trying to live in peace. However, several turned violent. Life on the barrens was no easy feat for anyone. And yet, he has done it.

~*~

He first ventured into the barrens early on, before he even became what he was today, salvaging technology from the barrens, fighting and deleting programs that turned violent, honing his skills. At the time, he had no purpose whatsoever. He survived the barrens, trading technology with others like him and occasionally taking an odd job or two into the barrens. Everything seemed to lead him there. That was his life.

Until one day he found it - only a seed, and yet with so much potential. He didn't know who or what created it, but it was clearly abandoned and left behind in a great hurry, in a small abandoned installation that someone has foolishly set up, mayhap as a testing ground. And as his fingers first touched it, something happened. It began to glow, as if it were activated - asleep for milleniae, just waiting for his touch - and a beam of azure light fanned out from within its core, analyzing data of all that was around it. The powersuit he wore at that particular moment was broken into particles, absorbed into it along with various other instruments and scanners that seemed to lay scattered around the installation...

A flash of light, and then silence. He stood there gazing in awe at what was formed. It was like the powersuit he always wanted but could never hope to scavenge. It was a mere array of a small chestplate, leg and arm modules and a small, unadorned helmet, nothing more - with a texture he has never seen before. He was afraid of it for a short while - but with his powersuit going, and it being the only alternative, there was only one thing he could do.

And when he donned the helmet, he knew just WHAT it was that he picked up, what happened to his powersuit. SEED Omega, a semi-sentient, intelligent program, with an instinct for self preservation and evolution. Like an infant symbiotic lifeform, it would enhance his abilities to a great degree, content only to scan and analyze more things as it went - not to the point of destruction. Now it was complete, and could synthesize its own data without need to acquire data to grow.

No, complete wasn't the right word. He still had much work to do on it.

But first he had to request the permission of the operators to use it. After all, if it was abandoned at such an early state, mayhap it was dangerous...

~*~

And now he was there again. He knew the barrens like he knew the back of his own hand. It was only natural that if something went amiss in the Barrens, the Operators would call upon him.

... Something swooped above him. Something living.

The attack came three seconds sooner.

Three programs - with the general mass and shape of a mountain lion, but with armor plates akin to those of a armadillo, spikes jutting out of their sides, and twisted, beaked faces, tusks growing from their sides, burst out of the grass, surrounding him from all directions, emitting a chorus of wailing screams. There were others to come soon, judging by the replying chorus from the background.

Already? he growled, Jetting to the air, a safe distance away from the snapping beasts. He needed help against these numbers.

"Gemini Beta, Activate!" he roared into the heavens, pointing his arm downwards into the center of the circle. The cartridges rolled, clicked, ejected, opened.

A sleek, streamlined anthropomorphous figure, blades attached to its arms, growing out of its wrists and extending past its elbows, appeared on the ground. The creature was vaguely leonine and vaguely draconic in appearance and had a slender body, with a long blade-tipped dragon tail, digitigrade feets tipped with vicious looking talons, and a distinctive bio-mechanical look, strange markings flowing alongside its body. On the whole, it looked like something that was partially mythical, partially biological, not ancient and not new...

And then its eyes began glowing. It was alive. And lethal.

The program leapt up into the air, releasing a feral roar-growl, akin to that of a large cat. Its body began glowing - and then it split in two, a perfect clone of itself landing by its side. There was a reason why Arvensis named his rapid, Melee strike unit Gemini Beta - Gemini could split itself in two, the two clones coordinating their efforts with each other as well as with Arvensis. Each clone could split itself in two as well, but past the first division, every split lowered the clones' power levels. These were ordinary rogue programs - nothing that he hasn't handled before. He knew how many Geminis were needed to handle them.

There were now Eight Geminis standing on the field, blades extended, ready to strike. The creatures drew nearer, wailing again to summon reinforcements...

And then the Geminis pounced, two taking on each of the creatures while the final two stood at watch, preparing to attack should they be needed. It was a clash of teeth and claw, and Arvensis watched it all from above, using his helmet's OSD to obtain data about the programs.

Sure enough, they showed no sign of infection - just the usual feral types of programs he has dealt with countless times before. Allowing the Geminis a large amount of freedom in the battle was possible.

Then he noticed something in the distance. Something LARGE. He couldn't get a zoom on it, but it was definitely approaching.

"What in the..." he murmured "Scout Alpha, Activate."

The cartridge reader clicked and whirred again, unleashing a sleek, chromelike, silver-bluish birdlike form which seemed to flow as if it was made of liquid metal. The form blurred as its cloaking device kicked in, vanishing from sight save from a vague distortion of light in its wake. Arvensis pointed it at the distant form, and the program flew off.

"Relay data to OSD." he muttered, and suddenly a small window opened in his display.

The zoomed view provided by Scout Alpha revealed a group of massive, lumbering forms - gigantic, hunchbacked quadrupedal creatures, about the size of large whales, with thick armored hides, massive muscles, a long thin neck that tapered from the body's base to a head that looked ridiculously small in comparison to the neck, a long trunk-like muzzle with six eyes (three on each side), a long, fleshy tongue with strange, frond-like structures sticking out of its sides (giving the whole thing the appearance of a massive pink fern) occasionally emerging from the muzzle, as if tasting the air. Massive, tusk-like spines grew from the sides of the base of the neck, giving the neck the vague appearance of some strange elephant's trunk. Several of the beasts had large, sail-like structures on their backs and longer, more dramatically curved tusks than the others. The creatures advanced on an array of eight long legs, which vaguely resembled a cross of the legs of an elephant and a camel subjected to extremely low gravity, sharp protective dewclaws gleaming. The herd moved slowly, deliberately, a deep, rumbling growl emanating from the creature's throats.

... They were in the wrong part of the barrens. It couldn't have been...

"... Planeswalkers?" Arvensis blinked, unbelieving. He zoomed in closer and sharpened the image. "Planeswalkers." he growled as he noticed the faint red glitters upon their skins. A shift to red of his OSD and the text "Warning: Infection Positive." confirmed it.

The MCP got its hands on a few Planeswalkers - most probably via parasitic programs. The MCP could NOT have infected a program of this magnitude on its own. This could only mean trouble. If the MCP used the sheer mass and power of these largely peaceful giants to wreak havoc among the humans...

He had to eliminate them before the MCP managed to infect more of them.

Underneath him the battle was coming to a standstill as the last of the Ankyleos fell, dissolving into data. The creatures were still advancing in the distance.

He would definitely need some help.

"Gemini Beta, Regroup and Recall!" He commanded, the anthropomorphic bladed programs melding back with their clones into one program, which dissolved into a stream of data and was retracted into its data cartridge. "Scout Alpha, keep track of these Planeswalkers."

Then he activated the long distance transmitter. He grimaced when he heard the message about Fairy's second transformation. "And I haven't even had the time to get used to call him Fairy." he rolled his eyes, then launched the message.

"Wray, Link, Whoever, I need some serious help here. The MCP got its hands on a few planeswalkers." he transmitted the images "I think it's safe to say what could happen if one of these things got out of the barrens alive. I'm going to need some help here, those things are pretty much immune to conventional weaponary."

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Dammit, Arv, do you always have to pick the big things to fight?" Wray said, shooting past Arvensis, flipping and releasing a wave of wind blades which cut through the air (literally) and smashed into the first Planeswalker, but did little to no damage and split off to either side. Wray landed, then threw up his hands, blasting out wind from his palms. The wind spiralled around the herd of planeswalkers, trapping them in a tornado. However, the first of the creatures stepped right through the spiralling winds and continued its rampage. Wray hopped back so that he was on line with Arvensis.
"Pretty tough, wouldn't ya say? So, what d'ya reckon?" Wray asked, grinning. "I give 'em five minutes to show up."

"Are we really that predictable?" A female voice said from somewhere higher up. Wray looked up, and to his right slightly. Sure enough, five figures were stood there, four of which were wearing black cloaks, the fifth being the only person to have abandoned his. Gelida, Ain, Perr, the orange haired one and the still cloaked figure. Wray put one hand on the back of his head, looking slightly sheepish.
"What can I say? I'm just that good," Wray said. "So, what's the plan this time?"

The orange haired male jumped from his position on a nearby rock formation, flipping and landing skillfully about ten meters away from Wray, directly in the Planeswalkers' path. His cloak flapped slightly in the wind.
"As you know, Yoshimitsu, we're trying to release the MCP," the figure said. "And we've decided, what better way is there than to go into the Vaults with an army of programs?"
"Oh, so you're just a bunch of psychos, then?" Wray said, conjuring his white sword.
"Oh no, we know how to control the MCP, unlike its creator," he said.
"Control it? It can't be controlled! Don't be so stupid!" Wray said, raising his free hand. Immediately, a blast of wind shot through the Barrens, a visible force, catching all the dust and dirt as it made its way to the cloaked figure. However, the orange haired individual merely raised his hand, which was glowing faintly red. The wind hit it, and simply stopped. Wray frowned.
"Just who are you, anyway?" Wray asked.
"A name? Alright. I am Roran," Roran replied, summoning his own sword. Fairy raised his palm to the sky and focused briefly. No longer than a second afterwards, a bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens, directly at Roran. Roran, however, raised his sword. The electricity caught it, and the sword glowed as the energy flowed through it. The warrior then slashed the air in front of him, releasing the energy in the form of a blade, which cut through the air. Wray jumped to his left, and the blade soared past him.

Wray spun to be facing Roran, but Roran had managed to close the gap between them in that time, and was already starting to attack, with a spinning slash. Wray jumped back and flipped, landing on his free hand, then pushed himself up again so that he was on his feet. Roran was a fast fighter, as soon as one attack had ended he had launched another. Wray dropped down so he was doing 'the splits', Roran's sword cutting the air above him rather than his neck. Without hesitation, Wray raised his palm upwards, sending a pillar of wind blasting from it, which knocked Roran away. Wray was on his feet again, but quickly jumped from them, as the herd of Planeswalkers was upon them. He landed on the first Planeswalker's back, and looked around. Roran had vanished. then, something made a very fast collision with his stomach, something foot-shaped, which knocked him off one Planeswalker and on to the next. Wray was on his feet quickly and raised his sword just in time to defend against Roran.

"You're dancing in my ballroom now," Roran said as he attacked again. He brought his sword swinging down vertically. Wray quickly raised his sword, but he was still thrown back by the force of the attack. He landed on the next Planeswalker's back.
"What the hell was that?!" Wray said, picking himself up again. He glanced around. He wasn't doing anything to the Planeswalkers.
"A little program I made. I get a sudden burst of energy every time I say some witty comment in battle. I just have to think of something witty beforehand," Roran said, jumping from the Planeswalker. Wray jumped high into the air, flipped and landed on the leading creature again. He jumped over to its head, and stood on one of the tusks, the creature's constant jerking not managing to shake him off. He looked at the head, and placed both palms in front of him, blasting out a sheet of electricity. It caught the creature and made its way into its body via the eyes, flowing freely through it.

"Specialised electricity," Wray said, cartwheeling over the Planeswalker's head and on the the other tusk as Roran jumped up behind and slashed, his sword now catching the tusk and bouncing off harmlessly. "Completely eradicates alien programming. I've been upgrading, what can I say?"
"Clever," Roran said, jumping on to the tusk Wray was on. Wray jumped back, and on to the next creature, sticking his tongue out.
"Didja catch that, Arv?" Wray said into his mouthpiece. "I'll send you the details, but anyway, if this electricity gets into a program, it eradicates the virus or viruses infecting the said program. It doesn't tend to work on major infections, but as far as these things go, it should work."
Wray recited a complex code, and instantly some coding vacated his body and soared towards Arvensis. He looked up, and saw Roran lunging at him. No time to dodge or defend, he'd have to take the attack as it came. He tried to raise his sword in time, but no such luck...

Suddenly, a rush of black collided headlong with Roran, knocking him out of the sky. The final cloaked figure landed right in front of Wray.
"I'll hold him off, you deal with the Planeswalkers," a male voice said. He jumped from his position, following Roran. Wray blinked.

"Well, damn."

OOC- Yerr. Plot twists =]]

 

[Sem]

OOC: You guys better start posting. I spent two hours on this post, then my internets thought it'd be funny to die so I spent two MORE hours on it… *Cries.*

Sigh….

BIC:
Sem skated through the city continuing his surveillance to make sure all was safe. He didn't know how many had gone off to fight the Planeswalkers; he only hoped that a couple people have stayed in the city. He thought their enemies were smart enough to know not to just march upon the city with an army of programs. Sem was almost certain that it was a distraction to leave the city unguarded to fight the Planeswalkers while something else began an assault on the MCP vault.

In Sem's search he found only three areas that seemed to have been attacked by infected programs. The Park, where Sem was, the Playground, and the Main Shopping Center. They were the only places Sem found that had moderate damage done by the infected programs. It seemed the whole city had been cleansed of the threat. The people here did a fine job at protecting the city. Sem was still weary however and spent a few more minutes skating through out the streets.

"There's no danger here…" Sem reassured himself as he rounded a corner and stopped in to the middle of a street. He put aside his paranoia and reached for a button on his ear piece and spoke, "The city is safe, no need to worry. I'm heading out to the Barrens to help with the Planeswalkers. See you soo-" Some movement to the right averted Sem's attention. Movement he would not have even seen due to his blind eye had he not turned his head at that exact moment.

Sem heard a reply in his ear as he turned to face the alley. He was too distracted to hear anything they said. There was definitely something there. Sem heard a metallic rattling but no footsteps. The figure then stepped out into the open where Sem could see him. Though the he appeared to be an it. A program in fact, at least Sem thought it was at first. The program wore a deep black robe that was torn in several places. It had no hands, no feet, no visible skin or eyes. A hood covered what would be a head, but in the hood itself was only pure black abyss. Where its right would be floated a wicked looking scythe, a rusted old chain flowed out of the left sleeve and dragged behind the program. The end of the chain could not be seen for it was still in the alley. Its back was slightly hunched and its arms were at its sides, as if they were heavily weighed down. Around the beast was a veil of shadow that turned everything into night.

Sem recognized the program almost immediately. It was a Muerto, one of many that had been the result of too much tampering with the System's coding. Muertos were extremely deadly as anyone with an ounce of sense could tell. Muertos were very rarely seen, Sem could only recall of reading two documented Muerto sightings. They kept to themselves and did not venture out into the light. They inhabited many parts of the System, if a place was dark, desolate, and empty, chances are that a Muerto was there even if one did not see it. They blend with the darkness and only come out when they need to feed. What they feed on is not known, it is speculated that they feed off of negative emotions and are drawn towards them when they are hungry. This has never been tested obviously because they have been known to take people back to their lairs. There the person is kept alive only by a thin strand of life. The Muerto feeds off of their suffering, misery, and will to die. That is another reason why they are rarely seen, they usually have a source of food in or around their lair. Instead of being a called a program they are called a corrupt code, CC for short.

The Muerto was facing Sem, staring at him with an empty gaze. Sadness, hopelessness, and doubt worked their way into Sem's mind as the air began to cool and Sem's breath began to show. The Muerto did not breath, did not make noise, and did not move. The only thing that did move was the chain and its robe flowing with the wind. Another emotion was boring into Sem like a poison: fear. Sem would be able to hold it off for a while as he was trained to never be afraid in any situation. To give into fear was to give into your own demise. Sem knew he had to quickly defeat this corrupt coding before its venom fully worked it way into his body.

Sem quickly pulled out his sword guns, spun around and began firing at the Muerto with the one in his left hand. The Muerto lifted its left arm before Sem had even begun firing and small portals appeared in the air that enveloped the bullets. Then with the arm still raised, the Muerto thrust it forward and black tentacle-like things rushed towards Sem. He side stepped the mass of vines and quickly cut through them with the sword in his right hand. The pieces fell to the ground and evaporated into a black mist, the rest of the tentacles slithered back into the sleeve and the arm fell limply back the Muerto's side. The Muerto raised the other arm and pointed the scythe at Sem. Sem put his swords away and pulled out his staff and upon doing that the blade emerged from it. Muertos has a knack for identifying their weapon of choice and it seemed it wanted to duel Sem scythe to scythe. Sem held the scythe in his right hand and touched his scythe with the Muerto's scythe and the battle commenced.

Sem spun around and brought his scythe to the Muerto's torso. The Muerto simply flipped its scythe upside-down and blocked Sem's attack. Sem repeated the movement but in the opposite direction and was met with same result. Sem jumped back and began twirling the scythe around in his hand. He ran up to the corrupt code and crouched down as he got near, then jumped and spun at an angle, bringing his blade up for a vertical slice. The Muerto floated to the side then hovered backwards, bringing the scythe above its head, it then floated forward and brought the scythe down upon Sem. Sem held his scythe up horizontally with both hands to block the attack. Sem spun to the right and tried to swipe at the Muerto's side. The Muerto was in sync with Sem's movements and its weapon met with Sem's with a loud clang that echoed through the street. Sem spun to the left and angled his weapon this time hoping to catch the Muerto off guard. Hope was useless however.

*clang*

Again the weapons met and the fighters were both in a lock, each was pushing against the other. Sem gazed into the emotionless hole that occupied the hood. Sem felt a pang of fear flow through him and he didn't notice the Muerto lower its head until it was too late. The Muerto had pushed Sem back using all its force, Sem flew out into the street and barely landed on his feet, skidding backwards on his feet about a yard until finally coming to a halt. Sem looked up in time to see the Muerto raise its right arm to its left and throw the scythe at Sem. Sem jumped and twisted horizontally and as his head faced downward he could see the scythe pass right below him and hit a wall where it got stuck.

Sem landed on his feet and left hand. He switched the scythe into an upside-down position in his right hand. He ran up to the defenseless Muerto with his right arm behind him. As Sem was about to swing a powerful force hit his back and he was knocked onto his knees in front of the Muerto. The Muerto had called its scythe back into its hand and in the process the handle of the scythe knocked Sem down as it flew back to its master.

The Muerto lifted its left arm and threw Sem's weapon out into the street, and again summoned the shadowy tentacles. The black vines grabbed Sem and forced him back across the street and into a wall on the complete other side. The Muerto then proceeded to cross, its scythe dragging behind it, making a hideous screech as it made contact with the asphalt. As the Muerto neared, sensations flowed through the tentacles and into Sem. He was soon overcome with fear and anxiety. The vines also seemed to be sapping away Sem's strength and Sem soon felt very weak. The Muerto glided onto the sidewalk and its black cloud consumed Sem. The darkness was so thick that he could not breathe and the only thing he could see was the Muerto. The CC raised its scythe for the final blow when a loud hiss came from the alley from which the Muerto originally came. The Muerto hesitated, and then lowered its scythe, remembering why it was there in the first place. It walked back out into the middle of the street. It looked at Sem and released him, the tentacles retreated back into the sleeve. The Muerto then tug on the chain that still led into the alley. A loud raspy noise was heard as another thing emerged from the alley.

This one was far larger than the Muerto. About two hundred feet long and as thick around as a bus. It was a Basilisk. Its large head was about twice as thick as its body. Large yellow eyes peered at Sem, who was smart enough to know not to look directly into them. A black tongue slithered from the mouth full of venomous pores and razor sharp teeth. Its body was a dark forest green, almost sickly looking. Segments of armor ran along its body, making it difficult to attack with sword and gun. It was a special metal that would not easily succumb to lasers or beams of energy either. A helmet rested on the serpent's head. Few patches of skin were visible, those that were had hard scales, it belly was uncovered too, but how strong those scales are is unknown. At the tip of the tail was a large blade-like piece of armor. Around the creatures neck was the chain that came from the Muerto's sleeve.

The Muerto looked at Sem one last time. "You have been ssspared by Deattthhh today, for I have more important mattersss to attend to. Be ttthhankful, for you will not be ssso fortunate nexxxt time…" Sem watched as the Muerto led the Basilisk to the MCP building. When they were no long visible he then fell onto his side.

"I failed." The only thing he still had strength to do way think and worry. One of the many things that was worrying him at the moment was how would the others find out in time? Sem had no strength to do anything at all. He couldn't stay awake either. How he longed to be able to do something. There was still hope perhaps… Who would still be here in the city? Wray was be off helping Arvensis; that Sem knew for sure… That left only Linkachu and the new girl…

Sem could ponder no longer and gave into himself, he lost consciousness there on the sidewalk.

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: Well, damn. I should've read El's post sooner. A month later and I just read it yesterday @_@
I've read both his and Sem's posts now, though. Let's see if I can figure out what to do...

BIC:

"Damn. Will this madness never end?" Linkachu grumbled as she rummaged through her storage case in preparation of heading out after Arv's distress call. She eyed the weapon she'd stolen from the thieves intensely, debating whether or not to heed the words of the operators. At a time like this, a weapon like that would surely come in handy - but if it were to fall back into the wrong hands...

It wasn't long before a new transmission sounded over her PC unit speakers, though - this time from Sem. "The city is safe, no need to worry. I'm heading out to the Barrens to help with the Planeswalkers. See you soo-" It cut out then, a bit too abruptly for comfort. A grave feeling washed over the mouse.

"Dammit all! Who knows what that guy's gotten himself into! I'm sure the others are already battling the Planeswalkers by now, too..." Another debate. There was a chance that Sem's finger had simply slipped and everything was fine, but even she knew that was naive. The others wouldn't be able to track his location easily either, so it was left up to her to check it out herself.

She eyed the pistol again, growling to herself and shaking her head. Finally the mouse snatched it off the shelf and stuffed it into her pocket, whirling around and calling to her master computer, "Get me the location of Sem - NOW!"

***​

Even though the ban had been lifted, the city was still eerily silent, which made the sudden crackling of one of the lamp-posts particularly noticeable. The electrical energy hit the ground with the sound of a thunder-clap, and out of it emerged the lightning elemental rodent. It was true that she could've simply jumped locations like the others, but this method of traveling - where it was actually possible - was at least three times faster.

"SEM!" she cried out as she raced towards his lifeless body collapsed in the middle of the street. His body was still warm, and there didn't seem to be any critical wounds. The mouse sighed with relief. "You're going to be okay… But what did this to you…?" she murmured more to herself as the electric mouse stared down the street. The Vault wasn't too far from this location. That realization made the mouse growl, "Another attack on it already?! I‘ll make them wish they‘d never entered the System!"

She quickly activated her voice uplink with her companions and tapped a few more buttons on her visor. "Guys, I'm still within the city. Sem is down, and whoever attacked him is most likely headed for the Vault. I'm sending our coordinates, but I can't wait for backup. I'm not letting those fiends take one step inside that building again!"

Once the signal transfer was complete, she killed the communication and glared down the street. On foot, she'd probably wouldn't be able to catch up in time. But fortunately, elementals weren't bound by such limits. A thought occurred to her then, though. If Sem hadn't been able to take out the attackers alone, what chance did she have at it? This was a suicide mission.

She considered her options. The team was probably off in the Barrens by this point, so there really wasn't time to wait. There weren't any other reliable players she could call upon in a high danger situation like this, either. Unless…

Linkachu accessed her communication channel once more, only this time it was a private frequency - one few people were privileged to have. "Hi, it's me. I know this is a lot to ask, especially during a time like this, but right now it may be the only way to prevent a full-blown release of the MCP. I'm heading for the Vault. Wait for my signal. Hopefully, I won‘t need to send it. Linkachu out."

Her body was already glowing brightly as the call ended. She looked to the nearest street lamp, and in an instant vanished into a bolt of pure electrical energy. Since she didn't have the exact coordinates outside the Vault on-hand, the mouse sped through the area zapping from post to post at a speed only a trained fighter could hope to track. It wasn't long until she finally came upon the Vault, zapping to the ground once more with a fierce bang - mere meters before a huge monster and its rider. The beast abruptly halted in surprise, and both watched curiously as the electricity took the form of a very pissed-off Linkachu.

Linkachu recognized them right away. It was a Muerto and a Basilisk, both dangerous foes to trifle with on their own, but together? It really was suicide.

"Nothingggg more than a mousssssse?" the raspy voice of the Muerto made Linkachu's skin crawl. The noisy, rhythmic breathing of the Basilisk didn't help the matter.

"Muerto! What are you doing within city limits!? You don't belong here! Turn away now before you‘re erased forever!" Linkachu cried defiantly, making sure not to look the Basilisk directly in the eyes. No matter how threatening she tried to be, her words fell on deaf ears.

"I havvvvve no time for youuu, moussssse!" the Muerto snapped in return, a twisted malevolence creeping into its words as it muttered, "Kill her."

Linkachu's yelped in horror as the Basilisk reared back its large, armored head and released a heart-stopping roar. It was too close, and with her back up against the Vault's locked gates, there was no place to run! The beast's feet boomed ominously as it rapidly closed the distance between them, the mouse frantically reaching for most powerful weapon she had - the pistol. There was no time to think - the Basilisk's razor-sharp teeth exposed as it opened its mouth wide. Linkachu held up the gun and shut her eyes, the air pressure of the beast's snapping jaws caressing her face just as the trigger was pulled. The blast that shook the area was deafening.

The mighty Basilisk and its rider were thrown back countless meters as Linkachu smashed against the gates so violently the wind was knocked out of her. Her eyes blurred over, but she could hear the agonizing roar of the Basilisk as it trashed about in pain and desperation. If the blast had been directed anywhere else, the beast's armored body and tough hide might have taken the brunt of the attack, but the blast had surged straight through the reptile's open mouth and down into its belly. If everything that they'd said about these rogue weapons was true, not even it could survive a direct blast like that.

It'd been said that, while the condensed energy of the weapon burned straight through metals and the like, it only left a small burn on organic creatures while utterly destroying their insides. This seemed to hold true, because when the Basilisk finally collapsed to the ground in a heap, dead, there were no outside marks. A random passerby would have no clue how it‘d actually died.

The voice of the Muerto howled in anger as it regained its composure, appearing to have taken less damage from the blast than Linkachu herself. It climbed down from its fallen beast and turned its haunting "face" towards the mouse, the frustration evident in its bodiless voice as it snarled, "You willllll regret that!"

Linkachu, who was still gasping for air, noticed only then that the pistol had been blown out of her hands to now lay several feet away. She barely even had the energy to move, let alone lift a single arm. There was nothing she could do but stare in terror as the Muerto rushed.

OOC: FYI, I don't want the weapon destroyed or taken away by the enemy (aka. I want it back after). Whatever happens in the meantime is fair game.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

- Echo One, This is Echo Three. Do you copy, over?

- Loud and clear, Echo Three, what have you got to report?

- I've spotted the infected herd. Quite a few of them, it seems. Rather fast moving too - It seems that the parasitic strain that attacked them is guiding them somewhere. They have a common cause. I've got multiple user sightings, too.

- Friendly or Hostiles?

- Difficult to tell. Their configurations are unfamilar. A deeper scan would be required to determine who they are. We've got some commotion going on down there - they seem to be fighting among each other.

- Two factions?

- I'm not sure. Two of them are definitely working together, one just sent the other a string of coding. I can't read it from up here, but it appears to have something to do with code purifications. The other two seem to be fighting each other at the moment, but... Echo one, I think I've been spotted. I'm moving out of the way.

- Keep me posted, Echo Three. Stay out of range until it's safe.

- Roger that, Echo One. Echo Three out.

~*~

The thrusters flared to life, propelling Arvensis into the air, the string of code twirling around his fingers as he caught it. "Wray, you've just made my day." he grinned "I've been looking for this type of code for a while."

He held the code in front of him, and closed his eyes.

"SEED Omega, Scanner Activate!"

As he said that, a panel just underneath his chestplates slid open in a suspiciously organic manner, its two halves sliding underneath the chestplates and revealing a round, faintly glowing azure crystal, beset within the polymerous, dark substance that consited the non-armored parts of the powersuit, like a lens of some sort. And within it, the light grew brighter, spinning like a vortex. Like a camera's shutter, perhaps, complex digital patterns flowing under the surface of the light, growing ever brighter...

And then the beams came. A faint array of laser beams, like a barcode scanner of some sort, extended from the center of the crystal in some kind of a star. Arvensis let go of the code as it hovered before the scanner, which surrouned it in an elaborate box of light - a suspension and containment field - and then ran over its surface, analyzing it, breaking it apart and absorbing it. Then, it was over. The coding vanished into nothingness, fully absorbed, and the containment field collapsed, the beams of light returning to the crystal which folded back into itself as the panels closed. Arvensis' eyes opened as the newly acquired data filled his mind, composing itself organically into the Delta slot of the cartridge reader, a new cartridge forming within it in a flash of light, and instantly snapping into the cartridge reader.

"Purifier Delta, Activate!"

The cartridge snapped open, and within a cloud of glowing fog, its edges refracting the light around them creating rainbow patterns along its edges, appeared a beautiful white creature, vaguely humanoid, vaguely angelic, vaguely male, vaguely female, and yet neither of them. The creature's head combined feline and archosaurid traits and posessed a long mane of tendrils that faded from physical to noncorporeal until they blended with the fog around it. It had arms and legs that started off rather slender and then expanded to posess the appearance of, curiously, a mix of wing and flippers, covered in feathers. A long, thin tail was flowing behind it, fading itself near its end into a trail of prysmatic-edged mist. A series of ribbonlike extensions was flowing in two parallel lines along its back and tail, ending in what would have been considered its eyebrows - these two extensions were also the longest. Strange iridescent markings broke the pure whiteness of the creature at times. And its eyes... When its eyes opened, they were all colors and yet no color at all - ancient and deep beyond recognition.

Healing Support Program Purifier Delta, completed at last. He has been working on it for a while. It had the symbiotic transferrance qualities of linking programs, the code regeneration ability displayed prominently by stone golems and other programs, various augmentation codes - and now, finally, the one final piece of coding he was looking for - a restoration program that disinfected foreign contaminations.

The creature floated in the mist, silently, without need to move a single muscle, Then, it emitted a soft, melodious cry - like whalesong and yet more complex than whalesong could ever be - and began flying - in soft, flowing movements, like a marine mammal's swimming - flowing, leaving a trail of iridescent mist in its path. The creature flowed, its body fading into transluscence as it flowed around - and through - the herd of planeswalkers. And where it went, the red glitters melted away like they never existed, parasitical programs breaking apart and melting, soothing the enraged, confused beasts a bit - but still, not enough to stop them from stampedeing. Arvensis watched the program with a smile underneath his helmet. With its influences, doubled with Wray covering the ground it didn't cover, they should have no problem at all.

~*~

- Echo One, did you see THAT?!

- I did. What the hell is it?

- I don't know. I have no idea where the hell this program suddenly came from, but it seems to be purifying the viral infection. It's going to make our work a lot easier... I think it's about time we rode I...

a small explosion.

- Echo Three? Come in, Echo three!

- I've been *chzzzzzt* hit! Some kind of a pr*chzzzt*ctile weapon! Unknown orig*chzzt*, aborting miss*chzzt*n!

- Echo Three, you're breaking up!

- *chzzzt*I'm sorry, Echo One... If I survive this, I'll re*chzzzt*op with the ot*chzzzt*rs. Good hunting, Ec*chzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt*

Static.

- Echo Three? Echo Three? ... Shit. All units, this is Echo One. Prepare to charge on my signal. We've lost our air support, so get your rods ready, we're going to have to do it the hard way. Any unregistered users are to be apprehended, but NOT killed. Incapacitate them if they resist. No one hurts the clan in their territory and goes unpunished. We'll see who did this the moment we get them to the base and scan them. Now... let us go... FOR THE BARRENS!

~*~

Dawn cracked in the distance. A dusty, pale white-pinkish dawn, casting faint light upon the bizzare vista of the barrens. Something was stirring a dust storm in the distance - a herd of thunder antelopes, as it registerred on Arvensis' scanners. Thunder antelopes? Charging after Planeswalkers? This couldn't be right, unless...

The resonating cry of 'FOR THE BARRENS!' confirmed his suspicious.

Out of seemingly no where, as if it has just jumped out of water, a massive, ancient-looking thunder antelope emerged from the suddenly rippling air, its slignshot-like horn larger and more elaborate than an ordinary thunder antelopes and its skin plated with hydraulically and electronically powered armor, electronic gear flowing along it, enhancing the creature's natural abilities. The creature emitted a deep growling noise, its large muzzle opening and closing several times. And if the creature was impressive, its rider was twice as impressive.

She sat on the creature's back regally, with the elegance of a warrior queen. Her body template seemed to be a cross of human and feline, with lionlike paws at the tip of her legs and a wild, long mane of copper-colored hair growing out of the back of her hair, framing her face - her eyes were invisible, covered with what looked like a cross of virtual reality goggles and a helmet, long triangular ears trailing backwards form between the leather straps that held the thing on her face, tipped with lynxlike tufts. Her skin had short, tan-colored fur, with strange arrays of spots and stripes running around it in helical patterns. She wore the kind of powersuit that was common on the denizens of the barrens - a dark, tight fabric suit that started at the neck, and reached to the ankles, leaving the arms exposed, and vaguely armored segments on the chest, thighs, legs and arms - leaving the hands and feet exposed. One of her hands (tipped with delicate yet fierce looking claws) was holding on to the harness of her mount, while her other hand was raised into the heavens, holding a complex looking rodlike weapon of sorts that sparked with electricity. A long, leonine tail tipped with a long copper tuft of fuzz waves behind her. Her mouth had small fangs which displayed even when it was closed.

And as she shouted, Arvensis couldn't help but recognize who she was. He was not surprised when the herd of thunder antelopes charged in amidst the planeswalkers that dwarfed them - also ridden by users of various body templates but the same armor - a clan uniform that he has once recognized. One that he has once worn.

Techrunners.

He watched them drawing their own complex rods and extending them, lashing at the Planeswalkers, an electric lasso like field launching from the rods and locking onto the planeswalkers - they were rounding them up and sedating them only a bit, to guide them back to where they belonged, and his eyes gravitated to her. He lost track of Wray and he lost track of the two battling men in capes. He couldn't think. He could feel, vaguely, how the infection has been cleared from the Planeswalkers and how Purifier Delta was returning to its cartridge. He could feel that the leader was focused on both the creature and the runners... And he knew what the Techrunners would do with them.

And when the leader's eyes turned to him, he did the only honorable thing he could.

"Wray," he said silently "Don't fight them. If they ask you to surrender, come peacefully. They will not kill you, but they may stun you if you resist. And don't try to log out. They've probably already got their logout inhibitors activated. Nothing in this region can escape unless if it already had."

And then he powered his thrusters down, walking slowly towards the leader, turning his eyes to her - as if seeking one final confirmation that she was indeed who he thought she was. And then, he bowed his head in defeat.

"We meet again, Yarrow." he said silenly.

"I don't know how you know that name, stranger." she said, her voice cold and untrusting (he shuddered at the way her voice changed so much) "But you are in violation of the clangrounds. One of our scouts was shot down and anyone in this area is a suspect. You will stand down peacefully and will be taken to one of our outposts for a scanning that will confirm your identity. Then, we shall determine your risk level to the clan. If you are found a threat, you will be given the choice - to leave, or to be destroyed. These are your options."

"I surrender to your authority, Yarrow." he said "I know better than to refuse the word of a clan leader."

"Your voice sounds familiar." the leader said, a tint of wonder slipping into her voice, before she came to "But then again, voices can be altered, faces can be changed. Body templates can be modified, and I for one, cannot trust one who hides even that behind a complete suit of armor. Though you may seem familiar, there is only one way to find out. If you know us, then I have no need to tell you what would happen if you try to log out."

"I've always wondered how the operators never had a chat with you about those logout inhibitors." he grinned, though she would have not been able to see it.

"The operators never cared enough about the barrens to give a damn. But what can one expect of an outsider? Stand still, please."

Arvensis could do nothing but obey. He did his best to hide his feelings as the leader removed two metal rings from the sides of one of her mount and snapped them open. The rings expanded and snapped closed around Arvensis' frame, holding his hands tied to his body and his legs together, and projecting a soft field that would follow the thunder antelope wherever it went.

"You've changed, Yarrow." he said, slightly sadly "And yet you haven't changed one bit."

There were no more words. As the final Planeswalker was rounded up, The Thunder Antelope reared up and dashed off into the distance, Arvensis' prone figure hovering after it, rapidly. He couldn't help but stare at his captor, memories assaulting his mind. Memories where rather than trail behind her, he rode by her side. Of data and honor, and missions into the abandoned cores of experimental technology, salvaging useful equipment and adapting new forms of technology. He remembered expeditions to the rim of the Barrens in search of unknown mysteries, trading posts in the wilderness, battles, at times - Just two techrunners, following directives of their clan leader and yet taking them their own way. He remembered all he once was, and all he left behind to join with Yoshimitsu and the others and battle the MCP in the outside world.

She could never understand it. She asked him to stay with her. Stay with the clan. Protect the Barrens. Why would the rest of the world matter? It never cared about the Barrens, except as a glorified junkyard. Why was it worth saving? She could not understand that if the world fell, sooner or later, no matter if all the clans united together, the Barrens, too would fall. She was fiercely protective of her homeland, and maybe, he thought, a bit naive.

He could tell her who he was, but she wouldn't believe him. Not until she personally deep-scanned him. Time have changed her. Anything about her that was naive was now bitter and suspicious.

What has become of you, my dearest Yarrow, after I've left to save this world of ours?

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Y'know, Roran, I'm not sure what to make of you," the figure said, standing nearly perfectly still and looking at Roran. "How old are you? What to do you gain from wrecking the System with the MCP?"
"Oh please, Pyro, don't give me that old speech," Roran replied, his hand hovering over the fastenings of his cloak. "If I do have something to gain, how do I benefit from telling you? I'm not stupid."
"Maybe not," Pyro said, pulling down his hood. His hair was dark brown, but not so dark that it looked black, and had blonde highlights which fused with the brown nicely. His eyes matched the dark brown of his hair. "But you did just imply that you've got nothing to gain which makes you either the hired help, or a psycho. Personally, I reckon you're a psycho."

Roran unclipped his cloak and let it fall to the 'ground' (the planeswalker's back) silently. He looked very formal, wearing a white, pocketless, long-sleeved shirt, which was perfectly clean. Covering his hands were black leather gloves, probably for grip. His pants were the darkest black, neat and tidy, perfect, and stopping at his boots. Attached to his belt was a pistol and his sword. Everyone about him seemed 'perfect'.
"I do declare," he did declare, "it's nice to not be wearing that cloak."
"Is it? Let's see then," Pyro said, shedding his cloak too. It fell to the 'ground' with a loud thud. Roran raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Weighted cloak. I can move better now," Pyro explained biriefly. He wore a black shirt, but the shirt had a white collar, white sleeves and white patterning which made the shape of a dragon. He, too, wore gloves, but his were fingerless, likely to aid his reactions in his hands. He wore casual, quite baggy jeans, which also had white patterning up the sides, making a flame design. His trainers were navy blue, with bright red laces. Two daggers rested on his belt. It took three seconds for Roran to realise that Pyro's body template was a newer model. Pyro grinned. Roran glared.

Then they both charged at each other.

*****

"Lesse, the MCP infection's gone, but these stupid things haven't stopped charging yet," Wray said, landing a fair bit ahead of the herd. He raised both of his palms and focused hard, bracing himself for the force of his next attack. He didn't doubt that this attack would be devastating, not only on the barrens and the planeswalkers, but on Wray himself. Wray concentrated, and released his attack. He slid back at least five meters, his feet digging into the ground, Wray only stopping because his feet were being stopped by roughly a foot of earth. Wind exploded from his hands with the force of a giant cannon. It ripped up the barrens, picking up dirt, rocks, stones, boulders, and hurling them at the herd. It ripped chunks of earth up, and threw them. Then, the wind dropped as suddenly as it started, and Wray stood there, palms still raised, panting.

The wind lasted no longer than five seconds, but the effect was devastating. It looked like a bomb had exploded in front of Wray. However, the attack served its purpose - the planeswalkers had been halted. They were just stood there now, looking confused. Wray heaved a grin on to his face. The attack, because it was so strong, used so much of Wray's energy. He was lighthead and breathless, his vision blurry. He had barely enough energy now to stand up.

Then, Roran appeared above him, sword drawn, falling fast. Wray barely had time to look up.

*****

The wind did nothing to either Pyro or Roran. They jumped around, blades clashing constantly as they moved, neither warrior showing signs of weakening.
"So, fancy giving up yet? Or should I carry on kicking your ass?" Pyro asked, spinning and bringing a dagger swinging round. Pyro held his daggers oddly, the blades pointing at the ground rather than the sky. Roran raised his sword and held it, tensing his arm. The blades clashed, and neither warrior's weapon moved further. Roran reckoned that Pyro could twist his daggers in his hands to hold them however he wanted. Without waiting, Roran drew his pistol, but Pyro spun the other way and cut straight through the barrel of the gun, smashing the canister holding the energy. It spilled everywhere, liquid rather than... energy-like. It burned straight through the ground the pair were standing. Pyro looked at the hole for a second, but then re-entered the fray...

... only to find Roran had gone. Pyro looked around quickly, and saw Roran running over the not-so-large space between Pyro and Wray.

"Shit," Pyro muttered, sprinting over the hard earth. There was no time. Roran had been given more than enough of a headstart, Pyro had no chance of catching up. Blindly, he grabbed both of his daggers and threw them as hard as he could, before tripping over a chunk of dislodged earth. He fell, rolled, and was on his feet just in time to see the result.

Slice.

One of the daggers cut through Roran's cloak and stuck into his sword-wielding arm. He fell to the ground, barely a meter in front of Wray. However, he looked like he had no intention of halting his attack. That is, of course, until a loud shout filled the air.

"FOR THE BARRENS!"

Roran vanished. Pyro paled.
"Fuck... techrunners," he said before logging out. Wray would have questioned it if he hadn't lost consciousness.

*****

The Muerto was merely meters away from Linkachu when two daggers shot through the air like bullets. One dagger bounced off the scythe harmlessly, but the other stuck into the front of the Muerto's robe. Thought it didn't look like it had any physical body, it still had to feel pain, or at least react to attacks. The Muerto stopped advancing on Linkachu, instead hovering back slightly. Pyro jumped over Linkachu, catching his dagger as he did so, flipped and kicked the Muerto in the chest, sending it staggering backwards. He ran forwards, pulled his dagger out of the Muerto, then headbutted it powerfully before jumping backwards, staggering slightly on landing. Muerto's were harder than he thought. Maybe the headbutt wasn't such a good idea.

"Corrupt Code, deleting with or without permission, naturally," Pyro said, adjusting his mouthpiece slightly. It was well hidden, behind a camo-code. It blended in with its surroundings, his face in this case, so was completely hidden if anyone tried to take it. He sidestepped, as the scythe came swinging down at him, though the Muerto was still a fair distance away. He grabbed the chain, and swung the scythe, throwing it powerfully at the Muerto. However, it stopped in mid-air.
"Oh yeah... Scythe and Muerto are one. Forgot about that," Pyro said, smacking himself in the forehead, then jumping directly up, as the Scythe came down again. He landed on the scythe, crouching. He kicked off the scythe, spun in the air and brought his heel smashing into the side of the Muerto's head, sending it staggering to the side. He landed, but charged the Muerto again, launching a powerful uppercut, dagger ripping some of the robes. A black substance oozed out of the Muerto. Pyro jumped back, and raised both of his palms.

"How cannnn yooouuuu be immunnne to our effectssssss....?" The Muerto rasped.
"You can take away my happiness all you like, but it doesn't get rid of my dedication to my job, or my will to win," Pyro said.
"Permission granted, Pyro. Delete away," the operator's voice said. Pyro grinned, and launched a sheet of white flames at the Muerto. They burned at the Corrupt Code. Pyro watched as the scythe melted and the robes burned up. He watched as the charred remains faded into coding, which scattered and faded away.

"Alright, HQ, stampede stopped. Only needed as a distraction, and half of the Muerto threat was already taken care of. Muerto deleted, and their group seems to be alright, thought a little shaken," Pyro said. He listened for a moment. "Understood. I'll check back in a few hours."

And with that, he logged out.

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: Alright, here's the post I said I'd make. If it turns out that you didn't want something this rash to happen so soon, then let me know and I'll replace it with something less System-shattering (and I seriously mean that, so don‘t be afraid to ask - I wouldn‘t want to be the one who screwed the plot in the ass). Otherwise...

BIC:

Linkachu was still partially stunned by her blow, yet even moreso now from the battle she'd witnessed right before her eyes. It was like her knight in shining armor had appeared out of nowhere to save her life, then vanished before she could even ask his name. She'd never seen a model quite like his before.

"What… the heck… just happened here…?" the rodent murmured groggily as she slowly pushed herself off the ground and steadied on her feet. Scanning the area curiously, there was no other moving figure to be seen. "Heh… My hero. I'll need to track him down later and thank him. But first…" Her sly grin shifted to a look of sternness as she toggled the controls of her communicator and opened the private link once more.

She didn't have the chance to speak before a masculine voice piped up, "I take it my services weren't needed after all?" He had a bit of a chuckle to his tone, which made Linkachu feel slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry for contacting you like that… I didn't know what else to do. Nobody told me there were other players involved."

"Isn't it your job to find out that information?" the male replied, this time his mocking clearly evident. He could sense from the rodent's tense grumble that now wasn't the time for jokes and decided to change the subject. "I see you went against our recommendations and used that weapon."

"Eh…" Linkachu yelped weakly, revolving her eyes to stare down at where the pistol lay quietly. It appeared to still be intact. "What can I say?" she replied as she walked over to scoop it up. "Considering all that‘s happened recently, I chose power over logic. I‘ll accept whatever punishment you see fit."

"Always the noble one… You haven't changed a bit," the male said with a hopeful, yet weak sigh.

"No… Not like you," the rodent replied, unable to mask her envy. Now she really felt uneasy. "Anyways, sorry to bother you. I'll avoid doing so again in the future…" She trailed off as a quiet, but distinct, alarm sounded in the background of her call. The voice on the other end had gone dead except for his sharp, awing gasp. "Hello…? What's going on over there? I don't like the sound of that alarm."

An echoing roar suddenly stole her attention and turned it to the sky. The sky! It had begun to change from a clear, cloudy blue to a purple-ish red, the clouds darkening and twisting into unusual shapes. The roar sounded once more, much louder than before. This time she'd felt its tremble beneath her feet.

"Uhh… Hey? What the heck is going on here-WOAH!" The wind blasted her so powerfully and unexpectedly that she was almost thrown off her feet. She braced herself and crossed her stubby arms in front of her face in attempt to dampen its pressure, crying into the communicator above the howl, "Why are we experiencing winds this powerful in a place like this?!" The next thing she knew, rain was pelting her relentlessly like tiny bullets and thunder boomed as lightning tore through the sky.

"Log out now, or we're pulling you out!" the male's voice suddenly piped up again. He sounded frantic; very unlike one of his stature.

"Tell me what's going on!" Linkachu retorted angrily, her furred body already drenched. There was no way she'd just flee without answers, and the threat of being forcefully logged out grated her nerves. But when the nearby buildings began to twist and warp between solids and endless lines of coding, and a blackened shape the size of a whale appeared on the horizon, speeding through the air towards her so fast it seemed ridiculous, she knew.

"Initiating City-wide evacuation!" was the last thing she heard through her communicator before her own body turned to coding and vanished from the world. Her memory would never forget what she'd seen then in the sky above her, though, or the way its burning red eyes had stopped her heart.

***​

The massive creature hovered above the Vault, now alone in the city area aside from the rogue programs who'd recently spawned. All users within the city limits had been pulled out, just as it'd assumed they would be, and the crazed weather had ceased. But, for the moment, that was all the remaining operators could do in attempt to keep order.

Its multiple pairs of bat-like wings were spread broadly to keep it hovering on the spot as it gazed down at the tall, white building with inhuman, crimson eyes. What could almost be considered a smirk crossed its jet black, furred, dragonic face. This would only take a few moments.

Spreading its muscular, dark red arms, a ball of blazing energy began to form between its clawed hands. The orange-ish glow reflected off its scaled limbs and chest and steadily grew larger and fiercer, as if the energy itself desired to break free and consume its very wielder. Soon the pulsating ball was several meters in diameter and ready to feed.

With a crack of its black, spiked tail, the beast thrust its arms downward to release the blast in a concentrated beam. It scorched the very air and tore through the roof of the Vault, ripping viciously through the many floors straight to the basement levels below, pulsating outward in a wave that incinerated everything it touched. When the attack finally ceased, not even a piece of scarp metal remained; only a deep, blackened, earthy hole. And yet, the blast had been controlled with such precision that even the surrounding fencing still stood tall.

"It is done," the creature's deep, rumbling voice murmured to no one in particular. If anyone had been standing by at the time, they would've heard its malevolent chuckle as its massive form turned to coding and disappeared into nothing.

 

[Sem]

*tick...... tick... ticktick..tickticktick*

Sem woke up to the sensation of rain falling on him. It felt good, and he felt his strength slowly returning to him with each drop that touched him. Sem was able to get up after a few seconds, he stood and stretch. He was sore, but the aching was slowly fading as well. It usually didn't rain in the System, but most people liked when it did. Most people would dislike this rain however, as it fell fast and hard.

Sem walked over to where his scythe still lay and suddenly remembered what had occurred before. What happened to the Muerto and the Basilisk? Sem's head filled with worry again, he looked to what he could see of the Vault, the building still seemed intact and all was quiet except for the rain pelting the city. Nonetheless he would alert his teammates. Sem reach for his earpiece and was about to press the button when a powerful blast of wind came rocketing towards him from down the street. It created the most bone chilling howl as it passed the buildings, and almost knocked Sem over as it passed. Sem quickly gathered the rain falling about him and created an ice wall before him. As soon as he created it, it cracked with the force of the wind. Sem reinforced it with more of the rain and fell to the ground when he was sure it would hold.

Sem called into his earpiece. "What in the world is going on?!" Sem shouted, trying to make himself audible over the wind. He could hear other voices shouting on the line he was using. Alarms blared in the city and people shouted into intercoms located throughout the area.

"Remain calm and log out! If you do not then you WILL be forced to!" the voice said, though Sem doubted anyone heard.

"Could someone tell me what's going!?" Sem asked again as he looked around him, debris flew everywhere.

Sem heard no response. Then suddenly someone said, "Initiating evacuation procedures!"

"Wait! No!" Sem shouted back, but to no avail. He saw his legs begin to disintegrate into code and looked up just in time to see a large black creature in the sky.

***

Sem woke up in a familiar place, all was calm. No wind, no rain. Only seconds before he had been in what he thought to be the end of the world, or a virtual world that is. He was in a room, clean, white tile was on the ground, and the walls were white as well. There were machines, computers, and monitors all over the place. Wires raced across the floor leading to several locations. He looked to his right and on the wall was a monitor that showed the System, more specifically, the MCP building: it was in ruins. No Muerto or giant snake was to be found. Sem was angered, no one liked being force-logged out of the System, especially he and his teammates. Sem rose from his chair and quickly got a drink of water from the kitchen.

Sem didn't look that different in real life than he did in the system. His hair was a dark shade of brown instead of black. He had no awesome weapons of course, and no hydrokinetic powers. His trench coat was replaced by a black sweater, the zip-up kind. Except he never zipped up his jacket, and the hood was never worn either. The sleeves were rather long though, and could easily pass his finger tips if he let them, but he usually had them stop half-way across his palms. Sem had a different name too, James is what it was.

Sem walked back to the white room and sat in another chair by a computer. He logged into a computer and opened a video link with one of the operators he knew. Before long he could hear the tip tap of people typing on keyboards. Infront of the screen was a face, a face that looked tired and grumpy. Sem noticed a cup of coffee on the desk. This man was an operator he knew as Rob. Behind Rob was a flurry of activity. People ran around the room carrying various disks and documents. Rob did not look up at Sem but continued staring at his computer screen. "You shouldn't be talking to me now, just let me work please." Rob stated simply.

"Why were we force-logged out of the System?" Sem asked.

"The users were in immediate danger. You know that an evacuation must be issued in such an event to keep the users safe, you guys are no exception."

"But why log us out when we were needed? None of them will be happy about this, especially Elliot."

"It would've taken too much time to remove you from the evacuation list." Rob continued typing. "Besides, you were busy being unconscious anyway."

"I was awake when the log out began! Plus I didn't count on running into a Muerto."

"And instead of requesting deletion of Corrupt Coding you engaged it!" Rob retorted turned in his chair and facing Sem. Sem had no response to that and remained silent.

Finally Sem asked, "And what happened to the Muerto and the Basilisk?"

"Katie and another agent took care of it. Now will you please leave? I have enough to stress over." Rob returned to his work and Sem obeyed. He touched the screen and closed the link. He thought of what would happen to the System now that the Vault was destroyed and the MCP was obviously loose. This would be the hardest task they would ever have to face, but they can't do anything about from the outside. They have to go on the inside. There would be a lock on logins, but perhaps with a bit of hacking and a good stealth program, they could go undetected in the System. Katie would be the one to ask and so Sem made his way back to the big computer in the room.

He sat in the chair and connected himself to various wires and cords. Sem then leaned forward and typed the location of Linkachu's base then pressed a button. A five second countdown started and he leaned back.

3…
2…
1…

Sem's vision went black for a second and then came back. He was inside a room, grey tile lay on the floor, and the walls were made of concrete. The room was empty. Under Sem was a round pad, the pad that people landed on when they entered the base. It was light green with light blue rings that glowed. Sem walked forward and entered a hallway. Various rooms lay off to the sides, one for each of the teammates to be exact. At the end of the hall was an elevator. Sem stepped into the round elevator and pressed a button causing it to rise up into the round hole above it. Dozens of circular lights lined the perimeter of the tube and shone light blue. The elevator stopped as it exited the hole and hovered above it. Sem was in a dark room now. The only light came from the giant computer unit in front of him. Wires ran everywhere and there were many buttons on the board under the monitors. The buttons flashed different colors.

Sem noticed a large safe to his left, where Linkachu kept all the various stuff she's found. Shelves lined the other wall. Sem's eye came to rest lastly on the empty chair. He sighed, "I knew Linkachu wouldn't be here yet." Sem returned to the elevator and it lowered. In the hallway Sem walked into one of the rooms on the left. He was greeted with a rush of cold air. This was his room, and where he usually was on the rare occasions he was in Linkachu's base. Water cascaded from the ceiling, down the walls, and into an indent in the ground. The indent went around the around of the room and was about a foot deep and a foot wide. Black marble covered the floor and walls, ice coated the ceiling.

A Large monitor was on the left wall; in front of it was a circular pool of water about four and a half feet deep. In front of the pool was a circular couch that went about halfway around the pool. The couch was of black leather. Sem wondered why he had such a big piece of furniture, no one like being in the room anyway and said he was crazy. Sem walked across the water and sat on the couch where he would wait for the sound rodent feet scurrying across the ground in the hall.

Sem leaned back and grabbed a remote. He pressed a button and the screen came to life, he pressed another and two poles began to come out from between the cushions on either side of him. The poles stopped about a foot from Sem's torso and a screen appeared between them. It was actually a keyboard. Sem started typing away on the holographic keyboard and looked at video feeds of the city. Everything was lifeless and desolate. Getting in there would be tough, and moving around would be very difficult with the MCP loose. They would need a special code to keep from being infected. Linkachu could figure it all out though, Sem only hope she would get here soon.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC: This post could have been a lot better, but I've been forcing myself to write it, pretty much. Just to get this RP moving. See? I do care...

The outpost seemed even more bleak in the light of dawn - a small base of metal and rock, not too far out into the clanlands - it was a border outpost, nothing more. They wouldn't risk bringing two potentially dangerous strangers any further deeper.

While the majority of the riders remained behind to herd the Planeswalkers back to their rightful region, there was still a large enough group of techrunners that rode with Yarrow. Arvensis gazed at the riders, searching for any sign Wray. Soon enough he spotted him - also surrounded by rings and trailing behind a Thunder Antelope, but looking unconcsious - the Techrunners found him like this, it was clear. He didn't have the glow of awareness inhibitors around him. As the small pack reached the gates, Yarrow's antelope reared up violently, followed by the others, coming to a halt.

The female raised her hand, and the riders dismounted, standing still as a scanning ray from within the fortress seemed to sweep across them for a second. Then, the gates silently opened. Two Techrunners from inside the gates - both human-models: a thin, brown-haired girl and a male with long, black hair and a somber look to his face - and, exchanging silent nods with Yarrow, proceeded to take the Thunder Antelopes to their pens. Yarrow twirled a finger in the air in a strange runic pattern - as did the rider of the Thunder Antelope that carried Wray's suspension field. The hovering rings changed, binding themselves to the riders rather than the antelopes. Arvensis sighed with quiet resignation.

That was when he noticed the other techrunners turning to a different path than the one Yarrow was leading him by. He found it curious, but thought nothing of it.

That is until the metal door slammed behind them, when he began to feel thoroughly uncomfortable. Yarrow grinned a little to herself, detecting this - like a predator detecting fear in its prey, as she removed her goggles, revealing the slit-pupiled golden-green eyes that he always remembered. She gazed at him for a second, and finally spoke.

"Make yourself comfortable, stranger, because you're probably going to be here for a VERY. Long. Time." she said, a bright light suddenly bursting into life behind her.

It was an interrogation room. It had a deep-scanner the kind of which he has never seen before - it wasn't anything like the Cat-Scan Tunnels he used to remember vaguely. This was something completely different - It reminded him, vaguely, of his own internal scanner, only much more crudely-designed - without the perfect crystal harmonics of SEED Omega's core - but, as usual for Techrunner technology, a recycled mishmash of old and new wired together into a single working device that looked both grotesque and beautiful in the same time. the scanner itself - a twisted cross of a camera and a particle cannon - was mounted on a strangely formed grooved base - designed obviously to turn down in a 90 degree angle as it curved from top to bottom - and pointed towards him. The camera itself was wired to a complicated - almost sinister looking machine. Yarrow approached him, so close he could almost feel her breath. He gulped "Well then, let's see what you look like." preparing to reach for his helmet

"I wouldn't try that if I were you." he replied "SEED Omega is designed to protect itself. If you attempt anything that would trigger its automatic safety measures, I don't know if I'll be able to stop it."

"SEED Omega." she said, as if tasting the name "Curious. Well, We'll find out more about this armor of yours soon enough."

The Techrunner clan leader walked over to the operation console of the machine, tapping a sequence of buttons. The camera twirled up to the topmost point of its mount, turning downwards over the top of Arvensis' head. A glowing blue light burned to life behind the 'camera lens' of the scanner, and within moments a complex bluish-purple beam shot out, deepscanning the coding of whatever was under it. Arvensis felt his breath quickening - he didn't know what influence would that sort of beam have on SEED Omega. He winced when he noticed his bio-armor's texture ripple and change, seemingly reflecting the beam onto itself before it stopped.

"Curious. It seems to resist even the most powerful deep-scanner we have." She said with a bemused voice "But the bit of coding we have managed to read is quite fascinating. It appears, stranger, that your exo-suit protects you as well as itself. That you share a symbiotic relationship of sorts and that this program is intelligent... VERY intelligent. I wonder where did you scavenge it. But I fear that this means that I cannot scan you thoroughly. And this means that the next stage is going to be a lot more painful."

"It looks after its own. Like we used to." Arvensis muttered softly "When Sal'dryn of the white flame..."
The techrunner's eyes widened and she hissed "You know too much, for an outsider. This makes you either a spy or a traitor. Neither of which is welcome."

"Yarrow..." he said weakly, and sighed. He expected this to happen.

With a single soft mutter, he began the sequence that would unlock the bottom half of his helmet. The panels softly slid open.

"You can remove the helmet now. I gurantee that I haven't changed my body template since." he said.

She did so. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"It can't be." she exclaimed, tapping a few buttons on the scanner, which instantly zoomed into position and scanned the face that was revealed. soon enough the data appeared. Data which could not be denied.

"You came back." She gasped.
"I've never given up on the Barrens, Yarrow. In spite of what you may think." he said. "I left to protect the Barrens."
"Yes, I'm assuming that's why we had to move in and round up a herd of perfectly safe Planeswalkers." Yarrow glared at Arvensis, her voice dripping with sarcasm "Thank you so much for nothing, Arvensis." He winced at the way she said his name. "You must be so proud of yourself - you abandon the Barrens, the only place in the System that would have been safe when everything else has fallen, oh-so-heroically trying to save the entire world - the world that doesn't care about anything that happens here - and now, the MCP you boldly went to defeat is running loose again, at our doorstep. Here, have your helmet back." she said, placing the helmet back on his head "Looks good on you, you know? Also, spares me the need to see your face. To look you in the eyes. You're nothing but a traitor, Arvensis. That is all you are."

He bowed his head sighing as the helmet fitted itself back into place, its panels closing and covering his face again.

"You've changed and yet you haven't changed at all, Yarrow." he sighed "The MCP has been contained for a long time. It would have remained contained too, if it weren't for the group that Wray and I were fighting today. They allowed a fragment of the MCP to break out, and who knows - maybe by the time you got us here, they managed to free it entirely. That puts all of the world in danger. The Barrens too."

"Don't worry about the Barrens, traitor." Yarrow growled, turning away from the saddened armored figure "The barrens will be safe even when no place else will be. The world can be reduced to nothing but the MCP, and the barrens would hold on. We have been working on defending ourselves before you left us, and we continued working until this very day. But you wouldn't care anyway. If only you have stayed... If only you'd have known..." she suddenly caught the change in her tone - from angered to what he could only define as flustered - and she stopped talking, a soft blush coming to her face for a second. She closed her eyes. "But it doesn't matter now. You're not one of us anymore."
"... No... I suppose not. Guess the whole 'Once a techrunner, always a techrunner' thing is only valid in theory." he sighed.
The female shuddered, and suddenly made a quick jerking motion in midair. The rings' glow died down and they clattered to the floor, allowing Arvensis to move again. He remained still, head still bowed down.

"Like he's waiting to be executed." Yarrow's eyes widened at the thought, when a male voice on the comm system interrupted her reverie.
"Yarrow, Morgan here. We've processed the second captive - It appears that 'Wray' here is the latest form of Yoshimitsu. THE Yoshimitsu. He's still unconcsious, we've taken him to recieve some medical attention. "
"Affirmative." Yarrow muttered rapidly into the comm "Any further news?"
"We located Echo Three. She seems a bit shaken, but she looks like she'll manage. She retired to her quarters to rest a while before debriefing. Echo Three says that it was certain that the projectile weapon that hit her originated from a third party. Seems like there was another group that logged out before we activated the inhibitors. She saw them log off before she crashed."
"Roger that. See to it that our... guests... are taken care of until this 'Wray' recovers. Then, we'll question them and let them go. I don't think they're any threat to the barrens. Send in someone to interrogation room 3 to guide our guest to the recovery wing. I think that it'd be better if this 'Wray' wakes up seeing a familiar face."
"Understood. Over and out." she responded, and the comm system died.
"Feel free to walk out of this room... Someone will come to take you to your friend soon." she said, turning her eyes to Arvensis, and nodding. She tried showing as little emotion as possible.
"Very well, Yarrow." he said, nodding in her direction "Thank you."
He turned to walk away, the metal door opening softly with a hiss.
"... I missed you, Arv." he suddenly heard her say, her voice almost a whisper.
"I've missed you too." he replied softly, but had she heard it or not, he could never tell, as the door closed silently behind him right after he said it.

But he could not get the image of her eyes out of his mind.

OOC: And there ya have it. El, you can wake up in a dimly lit infirmary-type setting... I'll be there.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"I'm a bit famous, aren't I?" Wray said, opening his eyes to see Arvensis sat on a chair next to his bed. "I've been awake for a bit. I heard what they were saying. 'The' Yoshimitsu, eh? What d'ya reckon?" He had a huge grin on his face, but it soon faded when he saw that Arvensis was looking less than cheerful. Wray sighed silently and half-shrugged, then reached across and patted Arvensis on the shoulder. He wasn't sure if Arvensis had felt the pat under all the armour, though.
"Curse that armour. Curse it to hell," Wray thought, then chuckled to himself.

However, the laughter was cut short when a report came through from an Operator. Private channel, direct to Wray. Wray didn't doubt, however, that Linkachu would get the same message, though from another operator. Wray listened intently. As the message went on, he gripped the bedsheets, slowly tightening his grip, his knuckles turning white, as was his face. His pupils shrank slightly and he had a look of shock and horror on his face. It took him a good few minutes to recover. He came back to reality to find Arvensis's helmeted head looking at him.

"This... isn't good... Something logged in to the System not long ago... And it blew up the Vaults. Every single program that was there's now been released. The whole city centre's off limitsto everyone. I've been given permission to enter, but no one else has," Wray said, his voice shaking. "Arv... every single hostile program that was being contained's been released... All those programs we contained, we nearly died trying to stop, they're all loose and under the MCP's control. We've all been given locations. Arv, you've been told to protect the Barrens, since most of the stronger programs are there. I've got to go to the city centre, with another agent. They didn't tell me who. Arv, us two are the only two with that healing code, yeah? Stop the MCP..."

Wray put his hand on Arvensis's shoulder, and then logged out, bypassing any security the Techrunners might have trying to stop him.

***

Logging in.
Logging in.
Select log-in destination.
Warning: You are not authorised to enter: City Centre.
...
Logged in.

Pyro materialised in the middle of a crossroad. The weather was apparently nothing to him. The rain was coming down in sheets, it was more like being underwater than in a thunder storm. An ice cold ocean, coming down constantly. The wind, much like chilling daggers, biting at exposed skin painfully. Thunder and lightning came down, a flash followed by a rumble, as Pyro saw the forked electricity crash all over the city. No one but an operator, or at very least someone with the skill of an operator, could do this. Pyro raised his hand to his earpiece and listened intently.

"Understood. Waiting for Wray to appear, then will proceed on his orders," Pyro said, nodding. He turned on the spot, waiting for some indication of Wray's appearence. It didn't take long for something to appear, but that something was not Wray. One of the rogue programs, its eyes pure red with the MCP. It was not one of the mass produced programs, it was specialised. It stood at seven foot tall, half human, half horse but not a centaur. It had the head and legs of a horse, but only two legs. Its arms had horse hooves and were quite long (or perhaps it was the legs being bent that made it appear so). Its fur was crimson, except for a white mane, chest and tail. Pyro jumped back, and readied himself for battle.

"Scan Program," Pryo said, and his headpiece became visible. A lend extended from his earpiece and covered his right eye, digits flashing across the screen, information being fed through the earpiece.
"Scan Complete. Elite Program: Horse. One of twelve Elite Programs, only to be used in an emergency. Subject appears to be infected and violent. Do not engage," the scanner said. Pyro gritted his teeth and swore under his breath. He remembered his lessons on the Elite Programs. They were deadly. They were designed to combat only the most violent of programs, that no one could handle.

And here one was, facing Pyro.

"Emergency, I repeat, this is an emergency. The Elite Programs are loose and likely to be under the MCP's control. I have engaged one. If I don't return... Well, I'll give you three guesses why," Pryo said, looking grim. He reached for his belt, drew one of his two daggers and held it in between his teeth, ready for combat. He would not wait for Horse to attack, because its first move would definitely be deadly. He would try to stop it from attacking until help came. If help came. Pyro, faster than lightning, threw his other dagger powerfully at Horse, and quickly followed it with a flying roundhouse kick. Horse raised one arm, and the dagger rolled off it, but Pyro's food made contact with Horse's shoulder. It's foot slipped slightly, but otherwise it did not feel and impact from the attack. Pyro landed, and then ducked under Horse's guard, launching a powerful uppercut, hitting the underside of Horse's head and knocking it back. Horse staggered back a couple of steps. If Horse had been someone like Roran, it would have thrown it backwards.

"Pyro, we can't send you any reinforcements. You'll have to hold out and pray that Wray appears soon. Please, try to stay alive," Pyro heard his boss say, her voice sounding concerned... almost... tearful. Pyro suddenly had a new resolve to fight. Someone still wanted him alive. With this, he found a sudden energy to combat this Elite with. He jumped back and raised both of his palms, releasing a wave of flames so hot they were invisible, fire so hot the rain had no effect on it. Horse did not move. The flames hit with deadly accuracy.

But rolled off to either side. While Horse's white fur had greyed a little, there had been no real effect. Pyro swore to himself. His resolve wavered a little. He had never fully appreciated how strong the Elites were before, but he was finally starting to now. Horse moved for the first time. It took a slow step forward, towards Pyro. With the first step, the ground shook. Another step, and the ground cracked. Another, and Pyro nearly fell through the earth. What was this power? Nothing should be this strong. Was this the effects of the MCP, or were the Elite Programs just this strong? Pyro was paralysed by fear. It was getting closer and closer. What was this? Pyro had never felt fear like this before. It was at an arms length...

A sudden gust of wind threw Pyro back, just as Horse swung one of its arms. Pryo landed slightly painfully, out of Horse's reach, and a figure was suddenly visible on top of a warped building. Wray had just logged in.
"Elite Program or not, you're just another pawn of the MCP," Wray said, both of his swords appearing. He jumped from the building and landed in front of Horse, out of its reach, and in between Horse and Pryo. "Pull yourself together, Pyro."

Wray spun his swords in his hands, so fast they resembled circular saws. Wray frowned, concentrating. Immediately, from the white blade, a pillar of wind blasted out, pulling up chunks of earth and launching them at Horse, as well as attack Horse directly. From the darker blade, electricity was flowing freely. It mingled and fused with the wind, creating an electrified blast that threw Horse back. Wray called off his attack and dispelled his swords, turning to help Pyro to his feet.
"You didn't know about the Elite Programs? Twelve of them, each based on a different animal. Horse is roughly earth based too, which explains the earth shaking when it was approaching you. It's slow, too, unless it's running or something, so attack it fast, and attack it strong," Wray said, grasping Pyro's hand and pulling him to his feet. Pyro nodded, for once feeling a bit stupid compared to Wray. He had been better informed last time, but this time... Well, there was a first time for everything.

Wray launched the second wave of attacks too, charging at Horse. Horse threw one of its arms down in front, sending waves through the earth, but Wray jumped and landed on the Elite's arm. He flipped forwards, standing on his hands, and brought both feel smashing down on Horse's head. Pyro followed, shooting in with a powerfull punch, smacking the head up as Wray knocked it down. Horse staggered backwards, but recovered quickly and clapped both hands together, sending out powerful shockwaves that knocked both Wray and Pyro back. Wray planted his feet firmly in the ground, preventing him from falling over. Pryo did the same, but he immediately shot in after the shockwaves had ended, both of his fists surrounded by a haze. It was the invisible flames. Pyro ran at Horse and launched a flurry of punches at Horse. Wray followed, jumped over Horse, summoned his darker sword and started spinning it, releasing sheets of electricity. It looked like they'd won, but...

BOOM!

Horse released a massive amount of energy that blew both Wray and Pyro backwards. Pyro smacked headlong into a warped building, while Wray came skidding to a halt at a lamp post. Pyro was unconscious. Wray was dazed, but he recovered quickly and was on his feet in seconds.
"Operator, force log out. Username: Pyro. I'll stay in the City Centre to take care of any other rogue programs. Avoiding engaging Elite programs," Wray said into his mouthpiece. He watched as Pyro was logged out, and then manipulated the wind around him. Immediately, he faded from sight, and started patrolling the city.

OOC- Ok. Katie, you character'll get a message explaining the MCP's release and all that. Then, you're free to make up a section of the System (beach, forest, moutain, whatever, you name it ). Sem is too, obv. Regarding the elite programs, i have a list of 12 animals they're based on. PM me for more info.

 

[Linkachu]

Alone in a white room surrounded by wires and technology, a human female was slumped back in her chair, eyes unfocused and staring blankly at the ceiling. The wires and headset that allowed her to dive from one reality to another were hooked up and ready to go, but the monitor in front of her was blank. She'd been in this state for sometime now, thoughts overpowering her desire to move or speak. What she'd just heard through a private communication channel, and the things she'd seen with her own two eyes shortly before… it all seemed like a dream.

How long had she been outside the System now? An hour? Two hours? Who knows what could have happened within just that short time period. The MCP was loose - she hadn't needed the call from the operators to tell her that. They'd locked off the City to all players except for a select few, Wray being among them. The female would've been bothered by this information if not for what had followed afterwards. The Elite programs, the 12 legendary defenders of the System modeled after creatures of timeless mythology, had been set loose against the operators will… set loose and infected by the MCP. At first they hadn't been sure if all 12 of them had met this fate, but it seemed much more likely now. Not only that, the Elites appeared to be scattered, meaning nowhere in the System was safe.

"All of your companions have been designated a location to protect," the all too familiar male had told her during their conversation. It had been months since they'd held an open communication face to face, and yet his eyes - his bright, shining blue eyes - were much more troubled than ever before. Staring into them made the female‘s heart ache, and she found herself occupying her gaze with other distractions throughout the discussion.

"Let me guess. I've been sent to the forest?" the girl replied, eying the male on that note. His gaze shared the same tinge of nostalgia that hers did.

"Yes, Katie… After all, out of your group, you're the one who knows it best."

"Out of the group, eh? Even my mapping abilities weren't on par with yours," Katie replied with a soft smirk, memories of old dancing through her mind. "No matter how hard I tried, I could never quite seem to reach you…" The smirk faded with her memories, and her eyes wondered once more to the empty space around her.

The male had given an uneasy sigh, pausing a moment before saying, "I think that's everything I wanted to tell you. Pass the message on to Sem. It doesn't seem like Rob told him everything he needed to know. The guy called at a bad time, heh… Anyways, I‘ve still got lots of work to do myself, so I‘ll let you-"

"Mark," Katie cut in then.

The male gave a "Hmm?" and stared back at her intently.

"I'm not jealous anymore," the female said bluntly, meeting Mark's eyes once more. "Well, I am a bit, but that's from a technicians perspective, heh," she gave a chuckle then, letting it quickly fade back to her previous tone. "Anyways, I know why they chose you, and I'm happy for it… Not everyone has the sort of gift you do, and I'm sorry for making you feel ashamed. I was young and ignorant."

"Katie… Why are you bringing this up now? That was years ago." Mark asked curiously, a touch of worry in his expression.

"Maybe I don't want to leave it unsaid anymore?" Katie murmured. "We don't live forever. When all this with the MCP is said and done-"

"Don't say it. You're not going to die," Mark retorted firmly and narrowed his eyes.

"Mark, you're above us now. You're needed too much to risk your life by protecting me anymore. I'm expendable," Katie said with a bitter smile, the male's expression twisting with disagreement but giving no reply. "Hey, it's not like I plan to die. There's still too many things to see and toy with! But… I just wanted to tell you. One less burden to carry, you know?"

"Yeah…" he simply said with a nod.

"We had some good times together, eh?" Katie grinned. "Plundering ruins, searching for lost technology, battling monsters, going head-to-head against other parties - there was nothing better!"

"Heh, you said it," Mark‘s expression brightened a bit.

"Those were the days alright…" the female trailed off into nostalgia. It felt like such a long time ago now, before the MCP had ever come into being…

Suddenly a yell came from the background of Mark's call, and he turned to say a few words before returning to face Katie. "Sorry to cut this short, but I really have to go now. Take care of yourself down there, alright?"

"Always do," Katie replied with a smile. At that Mark had reached forward to hit a button and the connection went dead. She'd stared at the blank screen for a few moments, the sadness of days gone by still hanging over her. Those days would never return, not as long as the MCP existed within the System. Heaving a sigh, she'd given the monitor one last glance before whispering, "Goodbye, Mark…"

***​

Location accepted.
Logging in.
3…
2…
1…

Linkachu materialized in the all too familiar control room, feeling once more at home with the low hum of her computer unit in her ears. She immediately noticed on one of the smaller monitors that another individual was currently within the base. His presence made her smile. "I should've known it'd take more than that to keep Sem down."

She wasted no time heading out to the elevator to track the male down, taking the brief walk down the lower hallway to come upon his own, uniquely designed space. It made her chuckle. The guy had been obsessed with water and ice as long as she'd known him.

Stepping into the chilly room, her fur covered body acting as sufficient protection against the chill, the rodent waved a paw and hollered from the entranceway. "Hey, Sem! Good to see you. Did I keep you waiting long?"

***​

"So that's about the all," Linkachu said at last, looking across at her companion from her perch on a slightly uncomfortable, icy stool. "I'd had my suspicions beforehand, but the operators confirmed it. That thing we saw in the sky was, indeed, a model owned only by the operators. Its power is as limitless as the operators themselves. If they hadn't pulled us all out the way they did, everyone in the city could've wound up dead within seconds."

She'd explained to Sem the plan for each of their group to patrol and protect a location within the System, but one segment of the story still alluded her. Even Mark wouldn't spill the details when asked. Just who had been controlling that beast? Had someone, somehow, actually managed to bypass the security of the operators to take control of it, or was there actually a rogue operator out there…? Either answer scared her beyond the telling.

"All we can do now is try to survive and figure out how to stop the MCP. I'm going to try to track down Wray and Arv and see what they're up to. After that, I'm heading for the Forest of Ruins. Where ever you end up, take care. The Elite programs could make quick work out of any of us if we weren‘t paying attention."

With that she hopped down from the seat and gave Sem one last, "Good luck. We'll all need it," and headed back for the control room.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Wray crept around the corner shop and looked down the road, examining everything in his sight. The city was a mess. Buildings had somehow been damaged, warped or twisted strangely. Signposts had twisted, the signs scrunched into balls much like paper would look, traffic lights curved into circles, and strange programs patrolling everywhere constantly, all with one thing in common. Red. Red eyes. Red with the coding of the MCP.

But Wray was distracted by this ever so slightly by a single program that appeared to be following him. Horse, somehow tracking him. He wasn't sure how, he had masked his appearence fully and a program was incapable of smell. And, as far as his studies had told him, even Elite Programs didn't have tracking systems unless the user's initial programming did. Still, it was managing to follow him. Wray glanced back to see it searching the area fully for him. He thought through his different lightning based attacks, and the basic coding of any program. There was a way to disable anything temporairily, as long as you could stop the initial coding from being processed. Wray thought through his studies on Elite Program Coding and looked at horse, frowning.

"Night night," Wray whispered, releasing threads of electricity from his hands. It wrapped around Horse, who looked at it as it curved around him. However, the program could not tell what the electricity was, and was unable to fight it as it sunk into it, and stopped the core coding temporarily. Wray had just enough time to make his getaway, manipulating the wind behind him to give him extra speed as he ran. Wray skidded to a halt, looking behind him to see if Horse was still pursuing him. Nothing followed him.

Slash.

Wray jumped and spun on the spot, looking for the source of the sound. Behind him, he saw Roran bring his jagged blade cutting down on a program, which turned to coding instantly. Wray stared blankly. Roran? Attacking MCP infected programs? Why? He snapped back to reality, and fired off a lightning bolt at a program that was about to attack Roran from the behind. That program, too, turned to coding. Wray dissolved into sight, both swords drawn and ready for action.

"Hmph... Yoshimitsu. Finally decided to make yourself useful?" Roran said coldly, his eyes narrowing slightly as he saw Wray.
"That's Wray. And if you're destroying these programs, that makes you my ally," Wray replied, equally cold.
"Ha. No, not quite. Your assisstance is much appreciated though," Roran said with a harsh laugh. Wray gritted his teeth. He didn't know how long he'd be able to stomach fighting alongside Roran. It'd be easy, provided the arrogant user didn't speak. Wray responded with another attack, spinning on the spot and driving one of his swords through the head of a canine-based program that had just jumped at him. Apparently, these programs were the weaker ones from the Vaults. Wray glanced sideways to see Roran armed with a chain, which was darting around him, apparently with a mind of its own. Wray recognised the weapon, it was what Monk used. Why, and how, was Roran using it?

The chain shot past Wray's head while he wasn't paying attention, but instead of hitting the teenager it reduced a program behind him to coding.
"Watch yourself - you're not useful if you're dead," Roran said, the chain coiling around him arm. Wray shot him a filthy look, and thought briefly back to Horse. That lock was not that strong, even less so on an Elite program. A normal program would have half an hour before the lock broke, enough time for a getaway or just to remove it from a battle if it was being annoying. An Elite program? Wray figured he would be lucky for five minutes. It hadn't shown up so far, though. Wray had some time. He raised both of his hands, and started letting off charges of electricity randomly. The lightning shot from his hand and cracked the ground, frying any program that was hit by it. A canine program yelped and faded away. A Monk raised its chain in defense but the chain melted and Monk, too, was reduced to coding. Wray pulled both of his hands back down and re-summoned his swords, looking for the next target.

"Cannon fodder's gone," he said, jumping and landing back to back with Roran. "Well, some of it anyway."
"Open your eyes, see just how many programs that can be spawned. This is the power of the MCP," Roran said, his voice so cold it made ice jealous. Wray looked up and examined the scene in front of him. From either side, there were countless programs. All of them were weaker programs, and easily destroyed on their own. However, there were thousands, maybe even millions of these programs. Wray gave a small smirk. He never did fully grasp the danger of these situations.

"Think you can handle them?" Roran asked, that mocking tone evident in his voice.
"Oh I dunno, it could be tough if just one more shows up," Wray said, smirking again.
"Then that'll have to be the one I take care of," Roran said, his arrogance shining through.
"What, you're fighting too?" Wray asked sounding genuinely shocked. Without hesitation, Wray shot into the action, wrapping himself in a cloak of lightning and quite literally mowing through the first hundred or so programs, reducing them to coding before they knew what was happening. He skidding to a halt, with the programs surrounding him. Without pausing to think, he discharged an enormous amount of electrical energy that burned straight through all the surrounding programs and reduced them to coding. These things were pathetic. Wray summoned both swords yet again and started cutting through the programs, one slash leading into the next, fluid and perfect movements that carved through programs whole, with no chance of being hit.

Until something hit him, of course. Wray was sent staggering to the side. He collected himself and turned to see what had hit him. It was Horse, finally able to move again. Wray dispelled his swords, and placed both hands on his back, palms facing behind him, gathering electrical energy there. He knew how powerful Horse was. Still, with a bit of luck, he should be able to match it while he waited for Roran, if Roran would help. Horse was slowly walking towards him, the ground shaking with every step. The lightning was visible in Wray's hands now, a pulsating ball of white light. Horse was an arms length away...

Wray spun on the spot and stood, arms outstretched to either side, one right at Horse's chest, the other in the direction of the army of programs. The energy released with a thunderous boom, eradicating every single program that was behind Wray. The electricity hit Horse in the direct centre of his chest, throwing the Elite program backwards. Wray gave a small smirk. That wind attack against the Planeswalkers had been powerful, but the sheer volume had taken it out of him. However, these much smaller attacks were much less of a strain on his energy. Wray turned and sprinted down the road, glancing back to see Horse on its feet again, chasing him. Horse was very fast, but that didn't surprise Wray - it was a horse after all. Wray sprinted faster, but horse was catching up. Up ahead, a signpost. Wray made a quick calculation, then jumped at the signpost and grabbed it, his momentum sending him swinging around it. He firmly held his feet together, and thrust them into Horse's side, aided by the swinging movement and speed. Horse staggered to the side as Wray landed smoothly, ready for the next round of attacking. He ran in, both swords in hand and ready to attack, spinning and bringing the lighter blade swinging around, but withdrawing the blade as soon as it touched Horse, trying to cut through the skin. Wray stabbed and slashed at Horse, constantly moving to attack the Elite program, giving it no chance to fight back.

Of course, an Elite program can not so easily be attacked. It threw up both arms, sending a shockwave out that forced Wray backwards. The user held his arms in a cross and bent his knees, so he slid backwards rather that got thrown. As soon as the shockwave ended, Wray ran in again, but Horse spun, arms outstretched. If Wray got hit by that, he'd likely be thrown through a neighbouring building. However, he did not - he jumped just before he was within range, and with amazing timing kicked off an arm as it passed, his swords vanishing as he rose gracefully. He threw both palms down and released a beam of electrical energy mixed with wind. It smashed right into Horse, triggering a huge explosion. Wray landed, crouched, both swords back in hand and resting on the floor. Horse was still standing. Wray's eyes widened slightly and his pupils narrowed. How could anything put up with such an assault? Elite program or not, Horse should be dead by now.

Suddenly, something flew over him. Wray shot to his feet, looking at what had just moved over him, and saw Roran fighting off Horse with a flurry of punches and kicks, all of which evidently had a devastating effect on the program. Wray watched Roran fight, dazed by how Roran was so easily fighting the program off. However, he snapped right out of his daze when Horse fought back, throwing a single powerful punch that threw Roran high into the sky. Wray shot up and grabbed the back of Roran's shirt, spinning in the air and throwing him right back at Horse. On the way down, he grabbed his sword and held it in front of him. Horse threw up both arms, and the two clashed, sending powerful shockwaves ripping through the area. Windows shattered, bricks smashed, buildings shook. Wray landed and shot in, wrapping himself in an electrical cloak once again. White energy flowed over his body as he ran, faster and faster, moving as fast as lightning itself. His feet left the ground, he was flying towards Horse, no longer two seperate entities but he had become the lightning bolt itself. Closer and closer, until they collided.

Horse shattered. The speed, the force, the power of Wray's lightning based attack had simply ripped apart the coding of the Elite program. Wray's lightning cloak faded and he came skidding to a halt, panting. Then, he had the wind knocked out of him completely when he saw what happened. The red coding that had been left behind by Horse was not fading, it had not vanished.

It was swirling around Roran.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Wray demanded, the air around him crackling with electricity.
"Hahahaha," Roran laughed, his eyes a more vivid red. "Can't you see? I am absorbing as much of the MCP as I can. This has been my goal all along."
"Why?!" Wray shouted as chunks of earth around him broke from the ground and shattered as the electricity in the air flowed around Wray.
"I have always had the MCP in me. Long ago, so long ago now... The MCP infected... No, I absorbed some of the MCP's coding," Roran said, a maniac smirk on his face. "Do you know its effect on Users? It infects the mind, you change, you're just a pawn. Now, it is my duty to release the MCP and grant it a host body."
"And what makes you think I'll let you do that?!" Wray said, his voice suddenly quiet and calm.
"As long as you keep destroying drones, I can always get more of the MCP. If you fight, you aid me. If you don't, well... You're not protecting the System. You can't win this time," Roran mocked.

"Watch me."

Wray discharged every last bit of electricity he had in his body and released all of the wind he could muster. The effect was amazing. The buildings around him smashed and shattered. The ground exploded and threw itself in all directions. Any wind or rain was simply stopped and removed. Wray grabbed all of the energy and drew it into his palm, a pure white glowing orb, blinding and painful to look at. His hand was shaking as he tried to contain the energy. He aimed his palm at Roran, and released the energy in a beam.

It was massive. A good three meters wide, moving faster than light. There was no chance to dodge, and the sound was deafening. However, Wray's energy quickly died, and the beam stopped. He looked up, on one knee, panting, eyes half closed. And Roran was still stood there, still standing strong.

"That's right, kneel before me," Roran mocked, his eyes burning brightly. Wray, with the last of his energy before he collapsed, logged out.

 

[Sem]

OOC: Let. There. Be. LIFE!

BIC:
The sky was bright blue; a few puffy white clouds covered it. The sound of seagulls filled air, as they chirped and called out to each other. A dull roar could also be heard, and a salty smell penetrated the air.

Sem stood on a large rock looking over the vast ocean. Waves crashed against the rocks Sem was perched on, drops of water sprayed everywhere. Sem was currently connected to the ocean, and could feel everything going on in it. He was waiting, keeping a steady watch on the water and the beach itself.

"Will it come?" thoughts swirled in Sem's head.

"Is it already here?"
"Are you strong enough to defeat it?"

"Could this be your last assignment?"

"…"
"Will you die?"

That last thought was sinister indeed; the tone was more malevolent than the others, yet calmer as well. It didn't matter though; Sem could not succumb to these thoughts. Such things would be his downfall, and what use would he be then?

Sem sighed as watch the ocean. The wind was blowing; Sem's hair and trench coat flowed with it. He could stand there, looking at the ocean all day, such an amazing thing. His fascination with the element was unsurpassed, and most thought it was unhealthy. He integrated the element with his virtual self as much as he was allowed to, and he was given even more privileges when he joined Wray's little band of heroes.

The group itself was full of some crazy organisms, and Sem fit right in, though he didn't talk too much with any of them. He would talk if necessary, not afraid to ask for help and to ask questions, and he was good with team work. But he was good working alone, and he preferred it that way most of the time.

Sem abruptly stopped scanning the area and focused on a spot in the water. He felt a large disturbance coming from that area. Such a disturbance could only be made by the thing he was looking for: an Elite Program.

An explosion of water was seen and a being flew out of its wake, landing on the beach. Sem eyed the program. It was aquatic, a humanoid-shark-creature-thing. It had a large head and a mouth almost as big, filled to the brims with rows and rows of teeth. The underside of the creature, the part that went from the lower jaw to the inner thighs, was white. The rest was dark grey. The Elite had gills, as well as a large fin on its back. Supporting it were a pair of powerful legs, and the Elite sported a tail as well, with a fin on the end. Red MCP code cackled all over its body, confirming that it had indeed been infected.

"Pity." Sem said to himself. "Such a creature would be powerful ally." Sem cocked his head as he stared, the creature had seen Sem and was now facing him. It was about five hundred yards away. A match with this creature would not be easy. Both of them were able to control water, and water would do minimal damage to either of them. A very bitter sweet situation.

Sem could hear the creature roar as it started running at him full speed. He threw down his weapons, choosing only to battle with his own knowledge of the element and how to control it. Sem raised his arms up towards the sky. They began to tremble as a large amount of energy passed through them. Gradually the skies darkened, black clouds filled the once blue sky and rain began to pour. Lightly, but then harder and harder. This was one of the things Sem was not permitted to do, make the heavens shed their tears, or as most would say, change the weather. But it was a dire situation, and he could be let off, just this once. He would do anything if it could possibly help him with this beast.

The creature was close now. Sem stood his ground on the rock and held his arms out towards the sea. Still facing the creature, he then thrust his arms the opposite way, a large wall of water followed them and placed itself in-between Sem and the incoming Elite. He brought his arms back to his center and then lowered them slowly, breathing out as he did. The wall froze, and instantly cooled the air in the area.

The program did not slow down, nor did the water elemental, Sem, expect it to. The creature ripped through the wall like it was nothing, the ice melted as it did so. The Elite looked up to the rocks and saw that Sem was gone. Instinctively it looked over its shoulder and saw Sem standing right behind it. The creature growled, malice as cold as ice was shown in its black, abyss-like eyes. Sem held his arm out in front of him and gather the melted water above his head to form a large sphere.

Sem held the ball of water in place with his right arm raised above his head. He spun around and as he did, grabbed water from the ocean with his left hand. He launch the sphere of liquid at the shark, and formed the water in his other hand into long icicles, before throwing them too.

The water Elite simply put his muscled arm out in front of him and the sphere of water splashed against it. The bubble burst and water splashed everywhere. The shark then sidestepped to dodge the icicles.

"He's pretty fast." Sem thought, narrowing his eyes. Sem raised one of his arms for another attack, but he felt something wrap around his arm, then something took hold of the other. Water began to surround Sem, restricting the use of his arms, meaning he could not escape, and his fingers were useless in this kind of situation. Sem could only watch as he was thrown out into the ocean. As soon as he fell into the water he was free of his bonds and he went back to the surface.

Sem spun in circles while floating, the water revolved around him and began freezing. In a matter of seconds Sem had created for himself a small island fortress, about the 15 feet in diameter. The Elite would have to come out into the water if he wanted Sem. And Sem would to make sure he would not make it easy for the program. Sem had to take every precaution possible in order to stand a chance. This is the moment where all his training, practicing, and experimenting would have to come into play.

OOC: Yeah, I little short. But the whole battle would take a while, so I'll finish it off in the next post.

 

[Rosie]

Soon enough, Fayth appeared in Linkachu's base. She didn't know quite what she was doing there, but she thought it'd be a good idea to get to know some of the team before going back into the city. Slowly, Fayth made her way down the hallway, peering around the doorframes of some of the rooms, looking for anyone.

"Whoa," she said, as she looked into one of the rooms on the right side of the corridor. The floor was carpeted with the greenest grass and the sky was picturesque blue. "Its like, something out of a fairytale book, or my dreams," Fayth whispered, slowly wandering into the room. There didn't seem to be any walls, a trick of the eye but magnificent nevertheless, instead hills rolled for miles and miles across the horizon.

Fayth let out a slight gasp as she noticed the beautiful herd of horses grazing quietly at the other end of the room. Gently, she began to edge towards them. One looked up, a beautiful bay with a black mane and bright eyes. Fayth raised her arm, her fingers beckoning to the horse, who allowed the girl to approach and stroke her affectionately on the neck. All of Fayth's worries about he MCP were forgotten, in the moment of almost pure bliss.

OOC: There was originally only going to be one horse, but I thought, "What the heck" and went for a whole herd. Sorry its so short, but I'll make up for it later.

 

[Linkachu]

OOC: Ooo... Rosie, we're going to need to discuss what the "real world" is like outside of the System, because we don't actually live in houses with parents... or easy access to other humans actually. It might be better if you just cut that description right out ^^;

BIC:

"Alright... Now to contact Wray and Arv. I hope both of them are still in one piece..." Linkachu murmured to herself as she entered the control room once more.

"Welcome back, Linkachu. Fayth entered the base while you were away," the synthesized voice of the computer unit suddenly pipped up.

"The new girl?" Linkachu asked herself curiously. She still had not had a proper introduction with this 'Fayth', nor had actually seen her enter the base before. "Bring her location up on the main monitor."

"Location confirmed. Displaying now."

An area new to even Linkachu herself appeared before her, the mouse watching silently as the lone figure on the screen stroked the mane of a magnificent horse. The environment was nothing short of beautiful.

"Heh... Guess I should go greet her. Wray will have to wait." And with that the rodent turned and headed back the way she'd come.

***​

"Amazing..." Linkachu murmured to herself as she entered the new room. She stepped further into it and took a nice long scan around her, smiling as a cool breeze caressed her face. Nobody else had a space quite like it. By default, whenever a new individual first entered the base, a room was formed out of their own image - their thoughts and dreams. The end result was always something Linkachu rather enjoyed seeing.

Fayth was standing only a short distance away and seemed to be oblivious of the mouses' presence, too lost in her own little world. Linkachu almost felt bad shattering the moment, but she was running out of time as it was... "I take it you like this place?" she mouse called to the human female with a grin. "You would, seeing that you created it with your thoughts."

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

OOC: Ok, so this post sucks. But I really had to get SOME RPing going.

It was a large, round hall, sparsely decorated. A round table made of what felt and looked like a blend of metal and wood governed its center, surrounded by chairs. Four data-orbs hovered in what would have been the four corners of the room, putting everything said in the room within records. A fifth data orb hovered in the center of the table, its multifaceted surface twisting and turning like a Rubik's Cube. A banner hung on one of the walls - It was black, and upon it was inscribed the symbol of a white flame - this techrunner clan's symbol. And before it, on one of the chairs, sat Yarrow, looking even more regal than she usually did. The other inhabitants of the room - techrunners of various templates, most of them humanoid (although Arvensis could spot a tall Anubis-model and an amphibian model or two) - have already left it after the debriefing has ended. No one remained in the room but Yarrow - and sitting opposite to her, Arvensis.

"Alright. I think that went pretty well." Yarrow said, tapping a small button on her chair. A round orifice in the table opened and the data-orb slid inside it, its internal light source fading to darkness as the orifice closed. The other data-orbs' lights also faded, a protective black covering sliding over them.

"I don't think I particularly like that pilot." Arvensis replied, nodding at the clan leader "Something seems a bit... off about her. She's a bit too... detached, if you know what I'm saying."

"Arv, she was shot down, had to jettison, and you know how pilots are when they're cut away from their formation." Yarrow nodded "She might take a while to recuperate completely, but I trust her."

"Maybe, but I still don't like the looks she gave me. The others shot me wierd looks too, but they just seemed suspicious. Hers looked almost... predatory." he said.

"You're just being paranoid. Either that or a few years outside made you really full-of-yourself." she grinned evilly.

"Look who's talking, miss leader-of-the-clan!" Arvensis glared at her playfully.

"In another time and place, I would have had a thing or two to say about that." she grinned, her eyes glittering a moment... Before she shook her head, becoming serious again "But times have changed."

"Yes." he nodded, a little shudder running through him "They have."

~*~

Footsteps in a metal corridor. Two in armor, two in light boots.

"So, How have things been out here?"
"Here and there. You would have known a lot more if you actually stayed." a frown "Told you, the MCP does not concern us as much as it does the world out there."
"If the world out there would have fallen, the Barrens would have eventually toppled as well. You know that as well as I do."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that."
"You're underestimating the MCP, Yarrow."
"You're OVERestimating it, Arv."
"I've been out there fighting it for quite a while. I think I should know what it is capable of."
"So have we, in our own ways. We know a good deal about its coding and its integration into programs. In fact, I think that we know enough to..." A pause "Nevermind."
"What you know now may not be what the MCP is like anymore. It was only recently unleashed and already it seems to be becoming more advanced. Using smaller parasitic programs to control things that it couldn't possibly infect when not fully unleashed... The MCP is evolving, Yarrow. It always is. It always seemed one step ahead of us when we fought it back then..."
"But at its root, it's the same MCP, which means that even the simplest infected program could give us insight into..."
"Into what?"
Silence.
"You're being very mysterious."
"Times have changed, Arv. You're not one of us anymore. I cannot reveal information that shouldn't be leaving the Techrunners to an outsider."
Silence.
"Somehow, I expected that." a sigh.

Footsteps in a metal corridor. Two in armor, two in light boots.

And the dawn of events great and terrible, yet to come. It was going to be one hell of a long day.

 

[Rosie]

Fayth snatched her hand back as she heard the voice behind her, reminding herself of where she was. She looked around, and then turned completely to face the mouse, smiling as she saw the familiar face. The bay horse looked slightly put out for a moment, before shaking her head so her long mane tossed over it and returning to grazing.

"I created it? But I've never been here bef-" she paused, "Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting. Yes, it's true. This is my dream and where I spend most of my time day dreaming to be honest. My levels of concentration are… well; I spend a lot of time here, the version in my head anyway." She smiled again at the mouse, trying not to stare, saying "Pleased to meet you. If you didn't know, I'm Fayth." She had never thought about choosing the form of an animal instead of a human. If she had, it would definitely have been a horse, but that had numerous drawbacks.

"Beautiful, aren't they," Fayth said, turning back to the herd. "Graceful and elegant and yet so mysterious. In a weird kind of way," she added quickly, trying not to seem fanatical or odd to Linkachu.

"Oh," Fayth said, remembering herself, "I completely forgot. What's happening in the city? I can't believe it escaped my mind. What can I do? And what am I expected to do, now that I'm a kind of member and all that?" she paused, giving the mouse time to answer.


OOC: Yeah, again it's short, but there's only so much I can say without boring everyone senseless.