Operation G.T.K.R.M.O.S.G.D [breakout]

[Rikka]

Report 4-6 Written by Dr. Kleppe

[8:26 p.m. Planet PostArch: Vampiric Laboratories]

Barely sixteen hours have passed and the Nigarans have been nothing but trouble. When the child Nigaran awoke the red ringed black eyed girl had been so scared she killed four armed guards with just her voice. An interesting power that I am sure she does not have control over. We were forced to replace the arcane seal strap back on her to seal her voice away. The short black haired girl who had also awoken two hours after arriving has been sitting in her cell quietly. The fascinating part was this older girl had been very docile until we took the child known at Briar for testing.

Alex, assuming the girl is the child’s sister, lost it and contorted the space in her cells attacking the armed guards. For such a young lanky teenager she seemed to know a lot about hand to hand combat. The guards reported that her eyes had changed colors from dark green to light green during the combat though it shouldn't be possible to change one’s eye color at a moments notice. Further research will have to be done on Alex. In the end of the fight we had to sedate the older girl in order to take the younger one for testing. We are going to see how much the young Nigaran knows about combat by placing her against River.

Unfortunately the people who captured the Nigarans also brought two other teenagers with them. I feel it would be better to let them loose, but one seems to have been involved with the Nigaran teenager Alex. This is further proven by the fact she killed 3 Scientists and 4 guards whom approached her and the Nigaran teenagers cell. It was done by some sort of Gravitational manipulation. Further studies on her power is advised. As it is we currently have her cuffed with arcane seals so the incident is not repeated. Until we have orders otherwise we will simply hold them and use them to negotiate with the Nigarans.

Something is bugging me though.

The oldest and by far the most intelligent and powerful Nigaran has been very quiet. Her actions are less of a dignified woman and more of a woman who knows her fate. It leads me to question how we had not caught such a frail woman before. I have been told that despite her looks she was indeed very hard to catch and would not have been caught if not for Project River and the first hostage they took. I assume the woman is just pretending to be obedient which in all honesty is a bit disconcerting. She didn't fight as we tried different compounds of liquids on her. When testing her skills she didn't seem to take it seriously and incapacitated who ever we sent into fight her without any use of her abilities. The next tests were to see if she feared anything. So far all of them have been proven wrong. Next we are testing her against water, we hypothesis that being blind she probably has no water skills. I predict though that she may prove us wrong. She has in most other situations, but we shall see.


[This is the set up phase. My next post is gonna be the breakout phase I just need to know what all charries are doing.]

[Johnathan]

A light breeze passed over the government research facility. Carried on it, dancing lazily through spins and twirls in the air were a myriad of flower petals and leaves picked from the hard stone of the roads and courtyards. They seemed to turn abruptly as the wind changed direction, passing through one of the many guardhouses. When the petals that were once pleasantly pink emerged from the other side, their sickening red tint carried ill omen on the air.

Benjamin Fiore was a silent hurricane of steel. Passing between the complex's perimeter buildings with a single step each, he entered each one in turn and left nothing standing in his wake. Spotting another command console, he stopped briefly and suffused another portion of his energy into it. The wired components sparked and fizzled briefly but otherwise remained intact and active. Tipping his head up slightly so that he could see out from beneath the brim of his wide straw hat, Ben's emotionless eyes glanced over the surrounding area. Spotting another guard house, he took a single step before vanishing in a flicker. The complex was soon encircled by a veritable moat of blood and bodies and only then did the vortex of steel quiet. Sitting back on one of the consoles holding a sheathed blade as blood slowly pooled across the floor, Ben settled in to wait.

Ten minutes. He would wait for ten minutes more to see what the resolutions and decisions of those he was sworn to protect would be. If in that ten minutes all continued to remain silent, he would move to keep it that way, permanently.

[Sabata]

Well, she'd certainly made an impression. The first moment she'd got, she managed to kill several guards and scientists. She would have killed more had they not managed to restrain her, then toss her into a magic resistant cell.

Now Aislin sat seething, tossing a ball bearing she'd grabbed from one of the labs against the wall opposite her. It angered her she'd been locked up. It angered her they were now trying to study her.

Stein, however, she would not stand. She'd trusted Stein, even started becoming friends with her, yet in her infinite wisdom, tasked between choosing using her brain that could concoct cloning with ease or simply betraying people she now stayed with, Stein had chosen betrayal.

The ball bearing dented the wall then began ricocheting around the room as a sudden burst of anger caused Aislin to throw it harder than normal.

She desperately wanted to kill the guards in the most messy, painful ways her powers could devise, rescue Alex, and tear the whole research facility apart, but what she would do to Stein paled in comparison the first chance Aislin got around the scientist.

At least half of that seemed to come true when with an electric click, the doors slid open. Aislin emerged and the two guards posted on either side of the door were immediately turned inside out.

[Stein]

River walked down the hallway loosely holding Arthur in her left hand. Mr. Claude had said she had to keep it with her, but she wasn’t sure why, it was just a stuffed bear. She’d pulled it apart already and had found nothing, though it’s stomach still bore a gaping hole from the procedure. River continued down the stark hallway towards the training rooms. She was going to spar with someone today, some part of her brain told her to stop and not to hurt …Briar? Who was Briar? No, she was to spar with someone today to continue her training.


She turned right and entered the largest room and stopped; looking around the bare white walls she could see the small room where Mr. Claude was sitting to observe her training, glancing at the guards she noticed that they were bruised and several were missing due to more severe injuries.She began looking around for her opponent, but the only other person in the room was a 10 year old girl. She blinked as she look at this girl more closely. Tall with hair so black it shined purple even under the flourescent lights, and black and red ringed eyes that glistened with the gleam of withheld tears. River was standing about 20 feet from Briar. Briar? Is this the girl her mind was flooding her with memories of?



Red ringed eyes looked over at the girl who had walked through the door as her eyes widened. River had walked through the door. They had activated her. They were using her to test, possibly kill her. Shivering she blinked back the tears that surely would have fallen. Backing up quickly to the farthest wall she could be at, her eyes never left River. Alex would come wouldn’t she? Bridgit would save her. But they had been knocked out with a blue liquid of sorts. Shaking she risked a glance from River to the man behind the glass watching it all. A tear escaped her eye before she could stop it but she quickly wiped it away before anyone could notice.


River blinked as the girl backed up from her to the farthest wall. Had she done something wrong or hurt this girl? She tilted her head to the side “Why are you crying? This is just a sparring session to test my skills against yours. No one will die, you wouldn’t be here unless you had a skill I needed to learn, or an ability I needed to learn to fight against.” It was obvious River didn’t know what was going to happen here, to her this was just another sparring session. The speaker crackled to life as a scientist’s voice came over the intercom. “Miss Briar, we’re going to test your skill levels and ensure River’s training has not faded at the same time. Please use the full extent of your affinities and skills. Do you require any weapons to start? There’s a pad on the wall where you can type your request if you prefer not to say it aloud. River, you may also retrieve your weapons from the wall, we’ve re-filled your gun cartridges, and there’s a new gun for you to test later, do not touch it yet.” River nodded and turned toward the wall as a panel slid open so she could retrieve her weapons.


Briar blinked as River seemed to be very calm telling her she wouldn’t die. Unfortunately Briar knew she was going to die here unless someone got them out. Slowly she moved to the pad and typed in daggers. She wanted daggers to protect herself. She knew she wouldn’t last long against River though. Maybe a few seconds. Getting the daggers she quickly retreated back to her previous position. If in a bad situation she had to have the wall to her back. That’s what Alex and Bridgit had taught her. Watching river she spoke so quietly it might not even be noticed. ”They are going to kill me. Just not yet.”


River picked up several daggers along with her guns and turned to face Briar again. She blinked upon hearing Briar’s near-silent statement. “They’re not going to kill you at all, why would they?” She blinked and looked up at the scientists visible in the window. “She’s right, why are you going to kill her? She’s done nothing wrong…...Where’s Arthur?” She asked, a little bit of a timid sound edging into her voice.

“Gomez, you forgot to put up the mental-barrier. Reactivate her and start the match.” one scientist said to the other. River blinked and twitched for a minute before a cold look settled in her eyes. “River, we’re going to test your skill levels and Miss B’s at the same time. Are you ready?” River gave a slight nod as she refocused on Briar. “You may begin when ready. Miss B, please use the full extent of your affinities so we can be done quickly. Begin!” Gomez said before clicking the speaker off so he could observe the fight


River made the first ‘move’, the room went pitch black as she drained the light from the room and moved to be beside Briar.


Briar started her shaking again as River went from activated to deactivated from her words. The calmer part of her mind logged that information away for later. Maybe they could get her out of here too...if they got out. Soon enough River was activated again and sent after her. When the lights went out she panicked and the room was lit up again by a fire all over Briar whom was crouched on the ground holding both daggers.


As Briar lit herself River could be seen beside her, a dark shadow still across her face where the light couldn’t reach. River simply appeared back across the room from Briar and un-holstered a gun. She aimed and shot an arc of holes in the wall approximately 1-foot above Briar’s crouched form and around one side. She blinked as she looked down at her left hand, she was still holding the bear with the green bow on it’s neck. Why was she still holding it? She tossed it up into the air and as it came down round-house kicked it towards Briar, pinning it to the wall about 6 inches above Briar’s head with a dagger through one of it’s ears. She then paused, giving Briar a chance to counterattack.

As shots were fired Briar screamed accidentally shattering the glass pane, and anything made of glass in the room Claude was in. The sound waves didn’t stop at shattering the glass but also sent the glass into the room. Briar shut her mouth as she realized what she had done. They were so going to have River kill her now. Looking up she spotted Arthur and made sure not to burn him but instead stood up in a burst of speed taking him down and holding him. Noticing the tear in his belly she had no way of fixing it here. Looking at Activated River she hid behind her barrier of fire and intensified the heat so that anymore bullets would simply disintegrate before actually touching her. Suddenly the whole room seemed to shake as something exploded and the door opened to scientists and guards streaming to and fro trying to get everything under control.

[Rikka]

The blond woman walked between at least ten guards as she was marched toward yet another test. Her eyes scanned the hallways as she saw the codes and security radio waves fly past in her mind. Her fingers twitched in her arcane seal cuffs. Her leg bands had been replaced with arcane seal cuffs as well so that she could shuffle along on her own. For the past 8 hours she had been mixing signals and internally re-coding their systems. She just needed a bit more time. Hearing a door open she was shuffled into a room and was greeted with the scents of overworked scientists, coffee, sterility, and cold sterile metal. ”Welcome Nigaran. Time for another test. If you would please step into the box.” As much as it sounded like a request it was not. Shoved into a box the strap linking the two cuffs on her hands and feet were removed before a door shut behind her.

Spreading her hands out she felt the sides. They were just a little over 4 feet x 4 feet and the top of the box was a little more than a foot above her head. Moving her hands through the air as if she was trying to make sure no one else was in here with her, Mekura was actually opening up the scientists computer and noted the camera recording her in a glass box that seemed to be airtight. However, she seemed to be standing on a grate of some sort. When the smell of water hit her nose it took all her will not to panic right then and there. She was out of time if she wanted to get the others out before she panicked. Feeling the security towers go out one by one she took a deep breath and let it out. Someone was here from the academy. Not having to worry about the security towers she found the one that was simply disconnected from all the others and tapped into the camera to see what was up. The camera moved showing bodies and a sea of blood before landing on Ben. Something loosened in her chest, making her relieved and something else she would ponder that later. She could get the students out without harm now. Taking another deep breath she disconnected from the camera and got to work. ”Experiment commencing in 10...9...8” Her breathing hitched as the computer made its announcement knowing what was coming but she kept her mind focused. She couldn't panic not yet. ”7….6….5”

Scientists looked up from their computers as movement from the box caught their eye. Blinking they watched subject 05689 hands rapidly flying through the air. ”Whats she doing? Has she finally lost it?” One said. ”Whatever it is it can’t be good.” ”4….3….2….1”

”Start!”

As the computer announced the start of the experiment she made her move.With water gushing around her feet alarms went off all over the base. Electricity turned off in some wings trapping guards and scientists in rooms unable to escape. Opening her eyes she blew up several science wings with sonic booms. The doors on all the student’s cages opened up allowing for escape as doors all the way to the front base slid open and closed creating a clear path for the students to escape. The scientists stared at her with amazement and fear as they realized they had under calculated the woman's abilities immensely. Blowing up another room near by she felt the water reach her knees as her breathing hitched again. This time she was unable to get a regular breathing pattern back.

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Groggily the black haired girl sat up and rubbed her head. Whatever they had used to knock her out had done the job. It was hard to even stay awake at the moment. Sleepy dark green eyes stared at the runic cuffs on her wrists. Her whole will seemed to shatter as she realized they had taken Briar. Briar was their world. Standing up the room spun around the 19 year old's head making her sit back down. Bridgit a little help? Okay. I don’t like the stuff they gave us. Closing her eyes she let Bridgit take over and exam the cuffs. Without giving it another thought she popped her thumb out of place and pulled the right one off when the guards weren't looking. Popping it back into place she did the same with the left hand.

Stretching Bridgit looked around with drowsy light green eyes trying to figure out the best way to get to Briar. They had to get to Briar. Standing Bridgit kept herself up by giving Alex half control. Stumbling they blinked as Alarms started to go off all over the base. Soon enough the entire compound shook from several explosion. Bracing themselves against the wall the girls watched as a Scientist ran down the hall on fire and screaming. Suddenly her door opened much to the guards surprise. Bridgit gave a creepy grin as Alex stumbled out and looked at them being unmerciful as she widened the space in their hearts and watched the blood drain from their bodies. Waving her left hand at them the hearts went back to their normal size bursting due to the increased blood pressure. Bridgit giggled as they dropped dead before the girl stumbled down the hallway trying to find Briar.

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”Stop the experiment! Now! Get her sedated before she destroys the--” The man was cut short as a woman spoke up. ”Sir we cant! The computers have gone haywire due to the explosions messing with the circuitry.” The man flushed red with anger before starring at the clear box where the woman was actually panicking. ”Then let her drown. What a mess she has made! Quickly go help the others and leave her.” The other scientists quickly vacated the room, with one more withering look toward the woman who was up to her abdomen in water and pounding on the clear walls he left as well.

Mekura gasped at the air as her mind tried to freeze in her panic. It took all her willpower to keep the waves under her control as she denied Scientists and guards alike access to the security systems. Slamming her hands against the glass she tried to break it wanting out. As the water level rose to her chest she lost control over the waves and became completely blind. Pure panic rose to her chest causing the woman to beat helplessly against the glass. She was terrified of water. Anything beyond a bathtub terrified her. A terrified gasp escaped her chest as the water level rose above her shoulders. She was going to drown here. She was going to drown! A sob this time escaped her lips as she used the walls to keep her head above the rising water. Soon enough the dreaded water claimed that space also leaving her to flail at the walls uselessly under the water.

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Briar seizing her chance to escaped took deep breaths to calm her nerves and let out a high pitched command to deactivate River. Dropping the fire ring around herself she hurried over to River and placed the beaten stuffed animal in her arms. Looking at the glass window which some guards were starting to come through she panicked and lit them on fire along with the tiny little room sending them all screeching from the room. She noted that Claude was not there anymore. Slightly scared, and slightly unnerved she looked to the door as Alex and Bridgit stumbled through the doorway. Racing over to her sisters she gave them a big hug. ”Lets out of here. Mekura seems to be giving us a way out.” Quickly Alex tried to tug the young girl out of the room. Briar signed that they couldn't just leave River here. ”Oh yes we can. Shes a government play thing. But she doesn't know any better. They have had her for so long. Fine get her up and lets get out of here.” Briar quickly moved to River and gently shook her. ”River its times to wake up. We need to go now.” Her voice was soft and she barely had it under control. If she had to keep talking she might end up hurting someone with it again.

[Johnathan]

Ben raised his head as the complex shook with explosions. A pulse of chi radiated out from his form, quickly passing over the entirety of the complex. Standing up, he rounded out of the door and released a blinding flash of gold. Five copies of himself stepped away in different directions. When he spoke aloud, his tone was cold.

"Make sure the kids get out, but only intervene directly if it's needed. Lead them to the north gate. Nothing else gets out alive." There was a thunderous crack as the air around them raced to fill the cavity made when five fully grown men suddenly vanished. Raising his hands out in front of him, the air in and around the complex fell deathly still. Then, with a swift clap, the area exploded with movement.

Leaves, petals, stones, grass, paper: anything left lying about the complex suddenly surged to life, rising into the air like a massive flock of birds. With nothing more than a slight gesture the massive collection of objects roared through every opening the complex had to offer. Doors, windows, ventilation systems, pipes: every available space was torn open as the incredible swarm of mundane objects acted as miniature razor blades, mincing anything in their path to shreds. In seconds the complex was flooded. The swarm passed over the students harmlessly as though it were nothing more than a strong gust of wind. Everyone else was torn asunder, leaving nothing more than a spray of red and gore lining the floor, wall and ceilings.

Ben took a step forwards and vanished. One, two, three: three steps was all it took for him to navigate the facilities and reach the room where Mekura was held. The swarm surged ahead of him shredding through the security doors and with another step he alighted next to the tank where Mekura was being held. There was a flash of silver as he drew his Katana and struck eight times in succession so quickly that they may as well have happened all at once. The tank was shredded, reduced to fragments of industrial glass in a moment. These too began to fall, only to stop and join the rampaging swarm.

An immovable object, Ben stood as the torrent of water flooded over him, snatching Mekura gently out of the flood. Looking up, he pointed with his blade and the swarm cascaded in that direction, barely even slowing as it burst through the protective glass separating them from the control room and eviscerating everyone within.

Sheathing the blade, Ben dropped into a knight's kneel and sat Mekura on his knee, leaning her forwards and supporting her so that she could cough up any water that she might have swallowed. He brushed her hair back as the hard line of his mouth thawed into a reserved but warm smile.

"Strange place to pick for a date, don't you think?"

[Rikka]

As the water took over the box she kicked one of the walls and pounded on another with her hands. Her lungs screamed for air and she ended up breathing some of the water in the end. When she didn't think she could hold on any longer the glass around her seemed to fall to pieces releasing her and her tormentor into the arms of Ben. Coughing up water she pulled in air to her lungs as her body trembled from her panic and near death. Her hands grasped his robe shakily as she pulled yet more air into her lungs while she started to steady herself. Hearing Ben a slight chuckle left her before she coughed again.

"Just don't ever take me swimming. How about I take you up on that offer of a drink together."Her speech was broken between breaths and coughs. As her lungs cleared she sat up before resting her head on Ben's shoulder and worked on getting her breathing back to normal. Unfortunately her shakes still hadn't gone away.

[Sabata]

Eventually, the guards stopped charging Aislin and started running the other direction.

Aislin decided to get a tad creative. The air pressure around a straggler dropped. His lungs exploded near instantaneously and he fell face first on the ground.

A hail of claws tore through the bodies of a significant number of the rest of the group. Aislin continued to tear through guards with similar methods until she found herself staring down a room containing Alex/Bridgit, Briar, and some girl she hadn't met but seemed to remember having had an incident in the gym at some point.

Aislin ran into the room, overjoyed to see everyone relatively safe. "Come on, there can't be that many guards left." Aislin said quickly. She quite wanted to have a nice touching reunion, but there didn't seem to be time for that.

For one thing, she was rapidly running out of methods with which she could kill guards and it was starting to lose its fun.

Maybe she would need to find Stein soon. The guards had been very good practice for everything she wanted to try on Stein.

[Stein]

River stood stock-still for a moment as she silently watched Briar’s shriek shatter the glass in the room and accidently assault multiple scientists. Her ear-guards had activated in time to save her from being knocked-out and as the mental barrier had fallen she’d received thoughts of panic, fear and hopes to escape this place. She glanced over at Briar and blinked at the girl’s intensified fire-shield and looked again at the shattered glass and dying scientist who hadn’t escaped the blast. “I’m dangerous...like you…” she whispered to herself as a high-pitched noise turned her world black.


River blinked as she opened her eyes at the sound of Briar’s voice. She looked around and found herself in a sterile white room that smelled of antiseptics and blood, she could feel Arthur in her arms, but, she was surrounded by everything she despised. Briar. Where’s Briar? River blinked for a moment as she remembered what she’d done in the last 2 days. She’d almost killed people, she’d kidnapped several students, and was one word away from killing Briar. She was about to break-down when she blinked and her eyes refocused. She stood up calmly and looked around at the surrounding room and people. Names and facts ran through her head as she looked at Alex...and Bridgit who were both comforting Briar. She turned and walked over to the wall, removing all the weapons from the wall including the experimental gun muttering to herself “People don’t like to be meddled with. we tell them what to do, what to think. don’t run, don’t walk. We’re in their homes and in their heads and we haven’t the right. we’re meddlesome.” She looked down at the bear she was holding and walked over to Briar stopping 1-2 feet in front of her and held out Arthur. “Will you please take care of him for me? He’s very special and I want him to get out alive?” Briar nodded and gently took Arthur from River and cradled him. After Briar took the bear River walked past them and ran down the hallway using her speed affinity towards the holding cells.

She stopped to watch Aislin kill several guards outside the ‘training-room’ with depressurization and bone-spikes. River’s dress was covered in blood from several different people and was carrying blood covered daggers, she blinked as she watched and said “It’s not Stein’s fault, it’s Mr. Claude’s. I guess it’s mine, but, not entirely. Claude is on the 4th floor, room 466.” She was staring into the distance for a moment “Two-by-two, hands of blue. He comes when you call. Up the elevator to the left, Don’t turn right, it’s wrong even though it should be right.” She looked at the guard Aislin had depressurized “Mr. Chevez, age 50; He had a family and grandkids. He was due to retire today.” Aislin blinked and River was gone; the guards coming down the hallway fell as if they’d had their throats slashed mid stride. She ran into the holding cell containing Gabby cutting down stray guards as she went. She scooped up Gabby before remembering what was happening to Mekura and ran down the hallway towards the labs. She stopped to walk into the lab and froze. Looking at Mekura and Ben she stood completely still and tilted her head to the side. Her face was overcome with an expression of curiosity as she viewed this almost-intimate moment between Ben and Mekura.

[Johnathan]

"Hmmm" Ben hummed as his eyes remained distant, focusing on the collection of entities he was using to shred the complex's occupants. He began to gently rub her back as she brought her nerves under control. "If you pick the location, I'll bring the drinks."

[Rikka]

Briar watched River as she attempted to wake her up. Alex and Bridgit watched as Briar woke up River who looked like she was getting ready to panic. In a moment though, Alex Bridgit and Briar all realized she had activated. In a second Alex had Briar beside her as they watched the usually timid girl go about muttering to herself and collecting weapons. She seemed lucid enough.

Briar watched her and despite Alex's warning when River approached her she took a step forward taking the bear. Then she was gone running down the hall. Briar turned to her sister right as Aislin walked in. Alex/Bridgit braced themselves against the wall as the room spun again. They felt like they were going to be sick. Briar nodded to Aislin as she spoke. Alex looked to Aislin as Bridgit worked on keeping them upright. "Don't think were gonna have a problem. Both Mekura and Ben are here to help.And River. Rivers helping too." Pushing away from the wall Alex/Bridgit stumbled out the door to follow after Aislin while Briar steadied them.

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Mekura slowly worked on getting her body to work the way she wanted it too. It was hard. She wanted to be farther away from the water and she had a feeling it was going to take a while before she would take baths again. Which was fine, showers were always quicker. Taking a deep breath she got the scent of alcohol but underneath that was a earthy almost sunny smell to Ben. Letting the shaky breath out she took another breath as her nerves calmed down to a manageable level. She would admit later that his scent had helped a lot. "How about tonight at my house after all this is over with and the students are safe?"

Her voice was steadier as she lifted up her head and let go of his robe with her right hand as she waved it through the air opening a few camera wave lengths. Some were still intact but most had been ripped to shreds by Ben's little army of objects. Noting Aislin, Alex and Briar on the move she tried to locate Gabby and River only to find River staring at them from the door way. Blinking she stood up slowly keeping her left hand firmly attached to Ben's clothes using him as an anchor since the water underfoot threatened to send her panicking again when her feet splashed in it. Looking toward River, Mekura looked her over with the camera. "River whats wrong? Cause we need to go now."

[Sabata]

Mr. Claude . . .

River didn't seem terribly stable, but still. Couldn't hurt.

"You two go ahead and get out. I have some business to attend to." Aislin stated to Bridgit and Alex.

She quickly found an elevator. The guards had gotten very good at running and now she couldn't be particularly bothered with thinning the ranks. Besides, there might be another Chevez in the mix there.

The doors of the elevator opened on the 4th floor and Aislin found herself staring down several gun barrels. The rifles quickly inverted and their users ran.

The nearest door was 456. Fairly close. It appeared turning right would bring her up in numbers.

Striding up the hallway calmly, humming to herself, she came to 466. She turned the knob only to find it was locked. Aislin stepped back from the door a few paces and then concentrated on the ball baring in her hand. A small through sent the steel marble crashing through the knob and locking mechanism.

Aislin strolled into the locked office. "Mr. Claude, I presume?" Aislin asked.

[Stein]

River righted her head and blinked "Nothing's wrong, it's nice that you trust him so much, everyone needs someone they can trust...even assassins." When Mekura pointed out that it was time to go River gave a curt nod and went to turn. At that moment the emergency signal echoed through the compound activating and calling River. She set Gabby on the floor and disappeared down the hall and up the stairs, not even bothering with the elevator.

[Rikka]

Mekura blinked at River called her out on trusting Ben. Definitely more than she thought she could trust a person. Cheeks tinting pink she was about to tell River to take Gabby out when the girl turned set Gabby down and went running down the hallway. As an annoying sound came over the intercom. "River!" Swallowing the remainder of her fear she let go of Ben and raced over to Gabby. Checking the poor student over she got a sad look. "I'm sorry I got you involved Gabby. Please follow Ben out of here. Alex and Briar should be here soon." With that she gently helped Gabby to her feet and raced after River.

[Rikka]

As the locking mechanism on the office broke open, an almost static feeling field erupted across the immediate area. Aislin’s mind would be filled with a faint fog and a sensation of buzzing like from a muted tube television. Mr. Claude slid his chair immediately to the left and a faint click could be heard as it locked itself into an evacuation mechanism. His right hand slipped under the lip of his desk onto a control panel at the same time he looked up to see who had come to face him. His greased back black hair was in disarray, as though he had been moving hastily moments before, and his pale skin showed signs of perspiration.

“Ah, you are…” he began, eyeing Aislin with a note of caution. “Aislin,” his face twisted momentarily into a grimace before falling level again. “Melanthios?” His words had a subtle question to them, as though seeking to confirm something he was not entirely sure of.

A small smile crept onto Aislin’s face as she fought back the agitation in her mind. ”Why yes, my name is Aislin. she replied to Claude, refusing to confirm or deny the Melanthios part he seemed to question. She continued calmly up to Claude’s desk, and laid her hand down on it. ”So, allow me to elaborate on why I’m here. You somehow bullied someone I considered a friend into betraying me, kidnapping someone very important to me, then myself when I tried to stop her.” Aislin stated. She followed up with a question. ”Would you prefer depressurization or being turned inside out?”

As the girl approached, Mr. Claude simultaneously depressed several buttons on the hidden control panel. The first began to emit a high frequency oscillation, beyond the normal hearing perception to most over the complex’s intercom. The frequency was an emergency activation signal for River that would simultaneously call her to his office. The remaining two were a kill switch of sorts that would activate the moment his hand left the console, or the signal was interrupted.

“Well, let’s not be hasty now. While this unfortunate,” Claude paused as though the words he was about to say would leave a bad taste in his mouth. “Misunderstanding has obviously shrouded us in a fair bit of confusion, there’s no reason we can’t come to an agreement of sorts.” He raised an eyebrow in a contemplative expression. “Certainly one such as,” another pause and grimace. “Yourself, can see the possible benefits I could offer to you as a business proposal.”

Aislin continued to smile serenely at Claude. ”I’m thinking depressurization. I always did hate the stink of weasel.” Aislin commented to Claude. However first she wanted him to have to run. His chair creaked for a few seconds before it crumpled in on itself and then expanded with all its inside parts on the outside. ”Anymore oil you’d like to exude before your lungs pop?” Aislin asked, calmly, as if presenting a guest with a platter of hors d’oeuvres.

As his chair crumpled beneath him, Claude fell backwards into a spin as his hand left the console. Desperately he latched onto the pole from the chair that was still firmly locked onto a set of rails into the floor the moment before the wall opened behind him in a set of thick security doors. The rail catapulted off dragging him along the ground behind him as he cackled madly.

“I hope you burn here in these labs you abomination! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!” The thick doors slammed shut behind his sliding form.

River received the emergency activation signal and disappeared from the hall, setting Gabby down before taking off. River stopped and walked into the office as she watched the doors close and Claude disappeared into the wall. She glanced over at Aislin...hadn't she been speaking to this girl earlier? She blinked and looked at Aislin, as if sizing her up and looking for her qualifications. “Why was I activated? Did you attempt to harm Father?” Her eyes unfocused for a moment “But he’s not ‘father’, he’s simply Mr. Claude.” Her eyes refocused again “It doesn’t matter what I call him. I would not have been called if you were not attempting to kill him. How would you like to die?” She said as if asking an honest question. “I could kill you with my brain if you’d like..I don’t think it’s painful”

Great, now she had to talk down River before strangling Claude with his own intestines. ”River, you don’t want to do this. He’s using you. If you kill me, all you’re doing is letting yourself be killed by the fire.” Aislin stated. ”I wouldn’t be surprised if Claude is responsible for everything that’s happened to you, killing me only plays into his hand.” Hopefully that would at least keep River from attacking while Aislin thought of more things to say. Whatever Claude had done seemed to have a tenuous grasp on River at that particular moment.

River looked at Aislin. “Would you like to specify what Claude has been responsible for in my life beside giving me training and a place to sleep?” She walked over to the desk and rifled through one of the drawers. She pulled out a file that had Aislin’s name on it and read the entire thing in less than a second before returning it to the drawer “I’m surprised there’s not more information on you that this, these tests are at least 6 months old. At least they tell me an estimation of your affinity levels.” River looked Aislin up and down “I don’t need to kill you, I simply have to stop you from following Mr. Claude.” River pulled out a pistol, aimed at Aislin’s knee and shot at her kneecap.

Aislin flinched at the gunshot and found that the bullet only grazed her knee (in the process, tearing her skirt). On impulse, Aislin had done something different with her abilities she possibly couldn’t have done normally. Aislin immediately responded by causing the pistol River held to turn inside out. ”Because a home and food are worth the pain you’ve been caused, I suppose?” Aislin replied to River, immediately throwing her ball bearing at River, aiming to have it slam into her arm and break it.

River cartwheeled to the side using her speed affinity to dodge the ball bearing and crashed into a nearby file cabinet. Papers and files scattered everywhere. One went flying towards Aislin to land near her feet, it was labeled Project ‘River’ River looked at her pistol which had been turned inside out and used her speed affinity to toss it at Aislin’s head, if it hit it should knock her unconscious.

Aislin glanced at the file and quickly snatched it up as the pistol flew at her. More sure of what she had done, she managed to curve the gun away from her more successfully than the bullet. Aislin glanced over the file again and something quickly caught her attention. ”So, you want to do this? You want defend someone who forced you into being an assassin? Who likely took you from your home? Saw you as nothing more than a project? You’re more than that, River. Much more. Do you want this River? Please, wake up, this is benefiting no one. Aislin stated, holding back an attack for if River attempted another strike.

River paused and looked at Aislin. “I was not forced, forced implies there was another option, this is all I’ve ever known. I did not know my parents, I do not know where I came from, I don’t even know what species I am.” River blinked again “Killing is all I’ve ever known, I do not have any other skills; I can kill, maim, and torture; I can speak 15 different languages but only when given an order to kill. Without a mission to be used for I become nothing. I don’t even have a real name.” River stood there quietly, she has spoken all of this without any hint of emotion, as if reciting facts for school. River didn’t see a reason to prompt an attack if Aislin was only going to talk, she was accomplishing her mission either way. River heard someone coming up the stairs and recognizing it as Mekura aimed a gun at her as she walked through the door.

Mekura apparently had not been fast enough as she entered the mess of a room holding her hands up as a gesture of goodwill. Standing there she dripped water onto the floor while she looked in River’s direction as she spoke up about becoming nothing. It made Mekura’s heart go out to the little girl who had been taken from a home world she would never know. ”River. You will not become nothing. I know where you’re from. I know what species you are. Would you like to know? I can tell you once we are all back at the academy safe and sound. Wouldn’t you like to play with Briar again? Watch the beautiful displays she can put on? I bet Arthur would like to play with Briar. Right?”

River stood frozen watching Mekura, she knew that Mekura was more of a threat than Aislin at the moment. Even after Mekura finished River stood there frozen, the mentioning of the Academy, and Briar, had caused her pause, but being reminded of Arthur had broken the wall between Activated River, and timid River. River blinked, her eyes dilated as she blinked at the gun and had the reaction to it she had to it the first time she held a gun, she stared at it and threw it onto the ground as if it was burning her. She collapsed into a ball on the ground and screamed, every moment of the last 500 years flooded her ‘untrained’ brain, every exercise period, every mental training session, every single person she’d ever hurt, killed, or assassinated. She grabbed the sides of her head in both hands and ceased screaming “Dangerous. She’s a creature of extraordinary grace, given the right trigger this girl’s a living weapon...BUT WHAT ELSE!?!” She took a deep shuddering breath, tears leaking from her eyes, and spoke clearly “The secret is spoken, the wall is broken...She understands, she doesn’t comprehend.”

Aislin didn’t seem to be making any headway until Mekura came in said something about someone named Arthur, and River broke down, finally. She truly felt sorry for the girl, but she didn’t really have time at that moment. Aislin immediately went for the steel doors that Claude had hidden himself behind. She grabbed onto it and the steel started crumpling under her fingers. It took some effort, but she tore the steel doors away and through them into the corridor behind it before continuing down it.

Mekura slowly got down on her knees. Spotting the gun she pushed it away before slowly crawling toward River. Stopping near her she hesitantly reached out and placed a hand on River. ”River come back with me and I shall show you what else you can be. You don’t have to be a weapon. You can be anything. Come here honey.” Gently she pulled the younger girl into her arms and slowly rocked her like she would a small child. Holding her with her left arm she used her right hand to softly wipe away her tears and push the loose hair from her face. ”Don’t worry its going to be okay. Now lets get going alright?” Supporting River princess style she stood up and heard Aislin following after Claude. Deciding to leave him to the Vampire, she quickly headed back the way she had come to catch up with Alex/Bridgit and Briar.

"Where's Arthur?"

”He’s with Briar remember? She’s keeping him safe for you.”

River’s eyes were still dilating back and forth as her ‘2 minds’ tried to mesh, but she didn’t fight Mekura as she was picked up and carried down the hallway where she’d come from. River continue muttering quietly to herself, but did not speak up to say anything else.

Mekura held her close and rested River’s head on her shoulder. She would figure out a way to help her once they were out. Then she would teach River all about Nigarans. Soon enough she caught up to Alex/Bridgit and Briar whom were stopped as they worked on getting Gabby moving.

----------------------------

Mekura stopped by the three girls and looked at them all. ”We need to get going now. Where’s Ben?” Using her hearing she tried to locate Ben.