Academy City 2

[Marky]

The young girl in the cloak frowns at Sam's response. "If you're going to be that weak, then so be it!" she shouts, energy crackling around the tip of her wand. "I'll make you understand! From now on, you will serve me!"

Leaping to the side, she swings her wand about, sending the sizzling energy towards Alyssa!

Sam's eyes go wide as she quickly sends her flail out away from her to block the sizzling energy from Alyssa and knock it away!

[Harri-chan]

"Uh... I meant in my last school... ", she said, looking suprisingly nervous and unsure of herself. Her brown eyes widened slightly, watching Yuki for her reaction to the lie. The teenager chewed her bottom lip, tugging the bright yellow and white cheerleading dress into place. Pulling out a yellow hair tie, she quickly fastened her brown curls into a loose ponytail, and removed the decorative pink bow she'd worn all day. Setting a pair of yellow and white sneakers on the floor, she was still watching Yuki as she knelt down to tie the laces. "What else would I mean?", she asked with a nervous laugh.

Summer lay there, as silently as she could. She knew her Mom probably wasn't going to be happy that she was getting her school uniform dirty, but if she could get proof of what was going on in video form, it would definitely make up for it. It was hard to fight the urge to climb out and try and fight these guys off, but she had to keep reminding herself they had guns, and there were a lot more of them than her.

[Azathoth]

The soldier opens up the side door, but... no one seems to be outside!

The girl squirms a bit at the medic. "Like, I don't really like needles and stuff..." she protests, but is forcibly injected! As the substance flows through her veins, she shudders... but then her eyes seem to take on a greater degree of clarity. "Who am I? I am..." She glances down at herself. "I was Eric Benton. I guess I'll need a new name now..." Her expression becomes a bit more speculative. "... You guys really aren't CTC, are you?"

The soldier... looks back. "No one outside, boss." The Field Commander rolls his eyes. "Go out and check... and close the door behind you." The soldier sighs... but hops out of the van and looks around as the door slides shut again.

The Commander looks back to Eric. "No, we arent. We are people you shouldnt cross... and depending on how helpful you are we may return you to normal. Or revert you back into a giggling simpleton."

The van passes through the space between dimensions, finally returning through another portal into the reality of the Pastrylands, into what was once the outer boundaries of the Sand Academy for Young Women! They find themselves in a broad, empty dead zone. The surface has been stripped down, the grass and topsoil stripped away to only leave a bare and dusty field of rock and sand. Clouds of dust swirl about here and there, although something seems a little odd about some of them.

Scattered across this empty field they can see armored bunkers, buried deep into the rock. They don't seem like defensive bunkers, with no signs of weapons or even gunports, but each has a hatchway built into the top.

Across the field, located at the heart of the quarantine zone, where the student's union building and other central buildings of the Sand Academy were is the heart of the Color Isolation and Containment Facility proper. A heavily reinforced concrete and steel dome, they can see main entrances facing the four gates in the outer wall, although there seem to be other secondary service entrances located along the length of the dome's wall. A few guards are visible -- drones, soldiers in body armor, and the occasional soldier in powered armor, but they largely seem to be patrolling around the main entrances.

The van's outside shimmers... then puts up a chameleon cloak. Inside, the young scientist points out one of the bunkers. "There. Infiltrate and clear. But for Azathoth's sake... do it without alerting the whole facility." The van begins positioning itself over the hatch... a universal docking/cutting arm locking onto the hatch and sounding it out for electronic locks and sensors. As the van begins disrupting short burst communications... aiming to isolate whoever may be in the bunker.

[Helel]

"Gyaaaaah!" The shorter man cries out as he's struck, before he collapses into a heap on the ground. Rick, meanwhile, makes a break for cover... but Reya's shot goes through his thigh, fortunately missing any vital arteries. He goes down with a shout, clutching at his wounded leg. "You... you shot me!" he gasps, but that's the only words he gets out before the lightning arcs over to him next! Now both men are down on the ground, held paralyzed by Maris' electricity!

With the pair paralyzed, Reya approaches Rick, frowning at him disapprovingly.

"You know, it's idiots like you that threaten society due to their stupidity- and our mission to boot. We don't have the time for this, so Maris will just rewire your brains to turn you into grade school teachers or something. They always need more of those. Have a good life."

Reya picks up the ray gun from earlier and examines it while sparks and more electricity flow into the pair, scrambling their brains and rewiring them to think they're aspiring to be teachers- they pass out when Maris finishes, and by the time they awaken, the girls are already gone, heading back to their dorm via back alleys and such as before, trying to stay out of the way of the other craziness going on in the Academy City- but with that ray gun stowed away in Reya's backpack.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

"Uh... I meant in my last school... ", she said, looking suprisingly nervous and unsure of herself. Her brown eyes widened slightly, watching Yuki for her reaction to the lie. The teenager chewed her bottom lip, tugging the bright yellow and white cheerleading dress into place. Pulling out a yellow hair tie, she quickly fastened her brown curls into a loose ponytail, and removed the decorative pink bow she'd worn all day. Setting a pair of yellow and white sneakers on the floor, she was still watching Yuki as she knelt down to tie the laces. "What else would I mean?", she asked with a nervous laugh.

Summer lay there, as silently as she could. She knew her Mom probably wasn't going to be happy that she was getting her school uniform dirty, but if she could get proof of what was going on in video form, it would definitely make up for it. It was hard to fight the urge to climb out and try and fight these guys off, but she had to keep reminding herself they had guns, and there were a lot more of them than her.

Yuki blinks, and frowns slightly. "Well... I've heard that there's some people that get transformed, and turned into little girls or boys... like the Sand Academy used to do." She hugs herself, shivering slightly. "Something like that would be scary..." she admits. "But when you said that, I thought for a moment... maybe you were like that," she says, glancing to the side, as if not wanting to look directly at Katherine.

Meanwhile, Summer can hear the soldier in the van ordered to get out and look around. The armored soldier steps out into the alley, closing the door behind him... although this close, Summer's phone might be able to still record the voices within, at least well enough that they can be filtered out later.

That I didn't. Remember I have a limiter in effect that prevents me from using this level of technology. I can help you clear this mess up though if you want. I have a 'person' who works for me that could clear that right up quick.

The guard leader looks puzzled at Raleigh's comment -- it seems he actually knows very little about Raleigh or his capabilities. "I'm... not sure I can permit someone unauthorized access to our computer systems. I will have to contact someone with more authority."

Pulling out a phone, he dials a number. "Hello... Doctor Bellisarius? We've got a situation at the lab..." He glances at Raleigh. "Someone broke in briefly -- no, they don't seem to have gotten very far, but our security system is compromised. Someone claiming to have been partially responsible says that he can help..." After a moment, he sighs, and hands the phone to Raleigh. "Here, you explain it to her."

"That's a lot of 'what ifs' you know?" Ashley asked as he sat down with his legs crossed. "And to be honest, I wasn't doing all that because I felt that I could; I was asked to do so by some person in the shadows complaining about the CTC, and how the place seemed a bit too bland and boring and everything. They asked me to help liven it up a little, and so I decided 'why not?'" He pulls out some orange juice and drinks it. "Besides, you don't have to lecture me or anything; I'm not a little kid. I'm 1548-years-old, even though I do look 10."

"It may be a lot of 'what ifs', but it seems obvious you'd never stopped to consider them before." She shrugs. "I don't really care how old someone is... just how old they act." She eyes the vampire. "So... care to tell me about this individual who convinced you to do this? I assume they're behind the other incidents currently going on..."

With the pair paralyzed, Reya approaches Rick, frowning at him disapprovingly.

"You know, it's idiots like you that threaten society due to their stupidity- and our mission to boot. We don't have the time for this, so Maris will just rewire your brains to turn you into grade school teachers or something. They always need more of those. Have a good life."

Reya picks up the ray gun from earlier and examines it while sparks and more electricity flow into the pair, scrambling their brains and rewiring them to think they're aspiring to be teachers- they pass out when Maris finishes, and by the time they awaken, the girls are already gone, heading back to their dorm via back alleys and such as before, trying to stay out of the way of the other craziness going on in the Academy City- but with that ray gun stowed away in Reya's backpack.

The two girls head back to the dorm, managing to avoid any further incident! The dorm supervisor seems to be quite relieved to see them. "Oh, thank goodness you two are all right! You weren't back yet when I did my last count... did anything happen to you? We've been notified we may have to evacuate to the shelters..." she says, checking over the two girls for any signs of injury.

Leaping to the side, she swings her wand about, sending the sizzling energy towards Alyssa!

Sam's eyes go wide as she quickly sends her flail out away from her to block the sizzling energy from Alyssa and knock it away![/quote]

The young girl in the cloak gets a grin of fiendish glee as the crackling bolt of energy curves, arcing away from Alyssa to aim for Sam instead as she flings the flail to the side to protect her friend! It was a feint!

The soldier... looks back. "No one outside, boss." The Field Commander rolls his eyes. "Go out and check... and close the door behind you." The soldier sighs... but hops out of the van and looks around as the door slides shut again.

The Commander looks back to Eric. "No, we arent. We are people you shouldnt cross... and depending on how helpful you are we may return you to normal. Or revert you back into a giggling simpleton."

The soldier steps out of the van! He can't see anyone around... only his comrades, gathering up the last of the yellowed individuals and waiting for additional orders. At least the smoke has largely cleared, although there's the sound of sirens approaching.

Meanwhile, Eric pauses, her still somewhat-ditzy mind trying to process that. Finally, however, she frowns, as she realizes that his fate does hang something by a thread. "So... what do ya wanna know, then?" she says, a slightly surly tone in her voice.

The van's outside shimmers... then puts up a chameleon cloak. Inside, the young scientist points out one of the bunkers. "There. Infiltrate and clear. But for Azathoth's sake... do it without alerting the whole facility." The van begins positioning itself over the hatch... a universal docking/cutting arm locking onto the hatch and sounding it out for electronic locks and sensors. As the van begins disrupting short burst communications... aiming to isolate whoever may be in the bunker.

The van drives over the armored top of the bunker, positioning itself over the access hatch. The docking/cutting arm will find that it possesses an electronic lock with an access keypad, although apparently it can also be activated remotely. As the van begins disrupting communications in the area, there's no sign of an alarm.

[KonokoHasano]

"It may be a lot of 'what ifs', but it seems obvious you'd never stopped to consider them before." She shrugs. "I don't really care how old someone is... just how old they act." She eyes the vampire. "So... care to tell me about this individual who convinced you to do this? I assume they're behind the other incidents currently going on..."

Ashley just sighs. "Honestly, it's hard to stop and consider such things from time to time. After 1,500+ years, so many things seem to run together, and such things as that often lose an impact. I really do try to keep hold of my humanity, but said humanity has been bashed, burnt, twisted, stepped on, fondled, and so many other things over the years that stopping to consider those issues can be difficult when seconds and minutes can feel so irrelevant and all."

He shakes his head solemnly. "It's not that I really refuse to regard or consider things, it's just that it often gets hard to do so due to other factors." He scratches his head. "It could be worse; I could have ended up like a bunch of other vampires and think that humans are mostly just cattle. Those kind of vampires piss me off."

"... anyway, I don't really know too much about the person, just that they don't like the CTC at all, and are planning something with the park."

[Raleigh]

*Taking the phone.* Hello Doctor. I'm afraid I caused a bit of a stir here with one of my powers getting somewhat out of hand. It caused some of the people here to be incapacitated. I suppose someone slipped in and put something on the machines while that had occurred but I can assure you it wasn't myself. I can however help clean it up easily enough if they will allow me access.

[Marky]

The young girl in the cloak gets a grin of fiendish glee as the crackling bolt of energy curves, arcing away from Alyssa to aim for Sam instead as she flings the flail to the side to protect her friend! It was a feint!

Sam eeps as she quickly tries to retract the flail and tries to jump out of the way of the oncoming crackling bolt of energy!

[Harri-chan]

As she finished tying her laces, Katherine stood up, blushing a little and seeming slightly nervous. "My Mom told me about that place. She said those girls never even remembered being older". Her dark brown eyes watched Yuki, and for a moment she considered the possibility that the girl had once been older, but soon pushed those thoughts away, telling herself she was just trying to avoid the embarrassment of admitting a younger girl was smarter than her. "Do you... think that's what happened to me?", she asked, sitting down on the bench beside her, making herself even later for practice, which was not like Katherine at all.

Summer took a risk, crawling towards the side of the van to try and get a better look at the soldier as he searched around. It sounded like only one had stepped out... and she thought she could take on one. She might even come out of it with a weapon, and then she could really kick some butt!

[Azathoth]

The soldier steps out of the van! He can't see anyone around... only his comrades, gathering up the last of the yellowed individuals and waiting for additional orders. At least the smoke has largely cleared, although there's the sound of sirens approaching.

Meanwhile, Eric pauses, her still somewhat-ditzy mind trying to process that. Finally, however, she frowns, as she realizes that his fate does hang something by a thread. "So... what do ya wanna know, then?" she says, a slightly surly tone in her voice.

The soldier makes a circle of the van. "Still dont see anyone, boss... but it looks like the authorities are closing in."

The Field Commander nods, then looks back to Eric. "Well for starters... what were you people doing here? And are you a part of a bigger organization?"

He pauses. "We will finish this interrogation on the move. Technically we did nothing wrong... but I'd rather not have to explain things to them." In his mic. "Start packing it up, you lot..."

The yellowed girls corralled together, tied with tight cables, the solders get to packing everything up, removing all traces they... or the other group for that matter... were there. Well apart from the zombies. They leave them for the CTC to clean up.

The van drives over the armored top of the bunker, positioning itself over the access hatch. The docking/cutting arm will find that it possesses an electronic lock with an access keypad, although apparently it can also be activated remotely. As the van begins disrupting communications in the area, there's no sign of an alarm.

The docker runs a bypass to the keypad... then a code cracker. A one way forcefield shimmers into existence as the troopers hover above the docking portal... waiting for the hatch to open. The Squad Leader starts giving directions as the Scientist watches. "Once it opens, flash and clear. It may be filled with nothing. It may be filled with surplus protoype advanced combat robots. Either way, you are not surprised by anything, got it?" The troopers nod a series of affirmatives.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

As she finished tying her laces, Katherine stood up, blushing a little and seeming slightly nervous. "My Mom told me about that place. She said those girls never even remembered being older". Her dark brown eyes watched Yuki, and for a moment she considered the possibility that the girl had once been older, but soon pushed those thoughts away, telling herself she was just trying to avoid the embarrassment of admitting a younger girl was smarter than her. "Do you... think that's what happened to me?", she asked, sitting down on the bench beside her, making herself even later for practice, which was not like Katherine at all.

Summer took a risk, crawling towards the side of the van to try and get a better look at the soldier as he searched around. It sounded like only one had stepped out... and she thought she could take on one. She might even come out of it with a weapon, and then she could really kick some butt!

"That's kind of scary in its own way..." Yuki admits, shifting uneasily. "Imagine forgetting everything you knew? Your family, your friends..." She shudders, before blinking at Katherine's question. She blushes slightly. "S-sorry, Katherine..." she says. "I didn't mean to suggest that you were weird like that... it's just... your comment was kind of strange." She offers a shy smile. "You're so nice and all... not like the other kids..."

Summer can see the armored soldier circling around the van. She could possibly ambush him, although his comrades aren't far away, and he is wearing personal powered armor. It'd be tricky...

Ashley just sighs. "Honestly, it's hard to stop and consider such things from time to time. After 1,500+ years, so many things seem to run together, and such things as that often lose an impact. I really do try to keep hold of my humanity, but said humanity has been bashed, burnt, twisted, stepped on, fondled, and so many other things over the years that stopping to consider those issues can be difficult when seconds and minutes can feel so irrelevant and all."

He shakes his head solemnly. "It's not that I really refuse to regard or consider things, it's just that it often gets hard to do so due to other factors." He scratches his head. "It could be worse; I could have ended up like a bunch of other vampires and think that humans are mostly just cattle. Those kind of vampires piss me off."

"... anyway, I don't really know too much about the person, just that they don't like the CTC at all, and are planning something with the park."

The girl in the uniform looks at Ashley sympathetically for a moment. "Well, for all that you say you've gone through, you do at least seem to hold on to some of your humanity." She smiles slightly. "I suppose that's a testament to your character. You do have a point... you could have been far worse."

She glances across the gleaming skyscrapers of the city, the city's lights coming on as evening falls. "The park? Hmm..." She frowns. "Do you know any details?"

*Taking the phone.* Hello Doctor. I'm afraid I caused a bit of a stir here with one of my powers getting somewhat out of hand. It caused some of the people here to be incapacitated. I suppose someone slipped in and put something on the machines while that had occurred but I can assure you it wasn't myself. I can however help clean it up easily enough if they will allow me access.

Raleigh can hear an older woman -- perhaps middle-aged? -- sigh on the other end of the line. "How troublesome. While I would appreciate the help, you have not given me many details to work with. Perhaps you can give me your name and tell me a bit about yourself and your powers, before I decide whether or not to allow you access to the computer systems of my lab?"

The young girl in the cloak gets a grin of fiendish glee as the crackling bolt of energy curves, arcing away from Alyssa to aim for Sam instead as she flings the flail to the side to protect her friend! It was a feint!

Sam eeps as she quickly tries to retract the flail and tries to jump out of the way of the oncoming crackling bolt of energy!

Caught flat-footed by the feint, Sam can't quite dodge the redirected attack! She feels a jolt pass through her body as the energy strikes her... and then a throbbing develop in her head. Emotions start to well up inside her, memories mustered by the psychic energies. She can recall the people at the arcade, their expressions of discomfort and disapproval at her appearance. Every look of uneasiness, every stifled insult, each memory is amplified in Sam's mind, encouraging feelings of anger and revenge. These people, with their dislike for transformations... so smug in their superiority. How did they know how it felt to be transformed? They deserved to be brought down a notch, to be taught a lesson. Let them suffer, so that they could feel outcast too! Turn them into what they hated, so that they could be hated! They deserve it!

As Sam's body twitches from the assault, Alyssa's eyes widen. "D... Don't hurt her!" she pleads, glancing at the grinning girl in the cloak, before looking back at Sam with concern.

The soldier makes a circle of the van. "Still dont see anyone, boss... but it looks like the authorities are closing in."

The Field Commander nods, then looks back to Eric. "Well for starters... what were you people doing here? And are you a part of a bigger organization?"

He pauses. "We will finish this interrogation on the move. Technically we did nothing wrong... but I'd rather not have to explain things to them." In his mic. "Start packing it up, you lot..."

The yellowed girls corralled together, tied with tight cables, the solders get to packing everything up, removing all traces they... or the other group for that matter... were there. Well apart from the zombies. They leave them for the CTC to clean up.

The zombies continue to struggle and groan, overcome by their transformed natures. Still, the bonds hold, meaning they can only snarl at the troopers as they make their preparations. In the van, meanwhile, Eric considers for a moment. "We had some plans to cause trouble for the CTC. Our group doesn't really have a name... we kind of just gathered together, united by our dislike for their arrogance. Protecting these weaklings here, driving out anyone who wants to just have a little fun transforming people. We figured we'd show them. There was that incident at the Council building, someone trying to blow it up with violent and yellow. We figured we could do something similar... at the very least, this city'd be overrun with a bunch of ditzes and zombies. At best... heh, BOOM! Explosions everywhere!" The girl laughs. "It would've been awesome!"

The docker runs a bypass to the keypad... then a code cracker. A one way forcefield shimmers into existence as the troopers hover above the docking portal... waiting for the hatch to open. The Squad Leader starts giving directions as the Scientist watches. "Once it opens, flash and clear. It may be filled with nothing. It may be filled with surplus protoype advanced combat robots. Either way, you are not surprised by anything, got it?" The troopers nod a series of affirmatives.

The docker does its work, electronically forcing the lock to disengage, and then opening the hatch!

There's no sign of a counterattack, and if the troopers venture inside, they'll find the bunker... empty! At least of people. The space beneath the hatch is actually fairly small and cramped, with only room for a few people at most, because the bunker itself is actually filled with armored, largely featureless cabinets, with only a central access chamber to allow servicing and maintenance. Examination will reveal that the cabinets are, in fact, highly sophisticated computer systems, with massively parallel nanoprocessors running in liquid helium baths to keep them cool. It's an extraordinary amount of computing power packed into a small space, but it doesn't seem to be connected to any outside system, other a few connections to monitor their status and watch for any problems. How odd...

[Raleigh]

The name so far as you all know is Raleigh. A bit about myself I suppose could be summed up in 'primordial energy entity capable of manifesting a material form subject to shapeshifting'. My powers would take too long to list so lets assume that if you can think of it I can do it with the exception of evolving I suppose. I technically can never rise above the position I already hold either. I can however adapt rapidly to environment, threats, and events. That work for you?

[KonokoHasano]

The girl in the uniform looks at Ashley sympathetically for a moment. "Well, for all that you say you've gone through, you do at least seem to hold on to some of your humanity." She smiles slightly. "I suppose that's a testament to your character. You do have a point... you could have been far worse."

She glances across the gleaming skyscrapers of the city, the city's lights coming on as evening falls. "The park? Hmm..." She frowns. "Do you know any details?"

"That they chose the park because of all the people that would gather there after work, and something about it being a bigger show than what happened to the council. Honestly, I mostly thought they were just going to pull a large prank or something, though now I'm not so sure."

[Helel]

Reya and Maris are uninjured from their little scuffle, though the both seem to have some burned clothing due to their earlier encounter and use of powers/handgun. Reya sighs at the fussing regardless and then seems surprised at the mention of the evacuation.

"Wait, Evacuation?"

'Sis, Maris wants to know what evacuation is!'

"It means... leaving."

'Maris doesn't want to leave though, Reya~'

Reya looks at the supervisor pleadingly, hoping for some sort of an explanation.

[Azathoth]

The zombies continue to struggle and groan, overcome by their transformed natures. Still, the bonds hold, meaning they can only snarl at the troopers as they make their preparations. In the van, meanwhile, Eric considers for a moment. "We had some plans to cause trouble for the CTC. Our group doesn't really have a name... we kind of just gathered together, united by our dislike for their arrogance. Protecting these weaklings here, driving out anyone who wants to just have a little fun transforming people. We figured we'd show them. There was that incident at the Council building, someone trying to blow it up with violent and yellow. We figured we could do something similar... at the very least, this city'd be overrun with a bunch of ditzes and zombies. At best... heh, BOOM! Explosions everywhere!" The girl laughs. "It would've been awesome!"

The field Commander humphs. "So your just a bunch of punks who thought you would cause some chaos..." He pauses. "Would you and your friends be interested in jobs? Black Isles Tech works with transformitive technology... and we make sure things font get boring. If you want we could even haul in the zombie girls out there and give them an antidote..."

The docker does its work, electronically forcing the lock to disengage, and then opening the hatch!

There's no sign of a counterattack, and if the troopers venture inside, they'll find the bunker... empty! At least of people. The space beneath the hatch is actually fairly small and cramped, with only room for a few people at most, because the bunker itself is actually filled with armored, largely featureless cabinets, with only a central access chamber to allow servicing and maintenance. Examination will reveal that the cabinets are, in fact, highly sophisticated computer systems, with massively parallel nanoprocessors running in liquid helium baths to keep them cool. It's an extraordinary amount of computing power packed into a small space, but it doesn't seem to be connected to any outside system, other a few connections to monitor their status and watch for any problems. How odd...

The soldiers clear the bunker. "All clear, boss..." The Scientist hops down... looking around at the scene. "Hmm... this looks... suspect. Leave a Tech with a cracker here... give them a blink suit as well. We likely wont be back here. The rest pack it up and continue."

A scientist woman with thick glasses heads out of the armored van and into the facility. She huffs at the soldiers... before heading over to the maintenence network and going to patch into the system manually. The rest of them get into the van and head off! "To the Color Containment Facility... its time we stop playing around..." The Van drives onwards! Remaining cloaked.