OOC:
Yeah, I always thought perception manipulation made more sense than invisibility for psychics. Anyway, Crunchy's just standing with Hembar for now.

IC: Borso stopped in his tracks as he noticed a discarded piece of metal on the floor. He picked it up and looked at it. "Hey guys, what do you think this is?" Borso held up the piece of metal for the other Sligs to see. "More importantly, why is it lying in the middle of the corridor?"

OOC:
I don't know if Uros asked splat if he could do this, I don't know if he is god-modding or not in this case. I'm going to post as if this happened though, and hopefully I can get some answers or (if there even is an issue) we can sort this out later.

IC:

Ark leaned in closer to the door. He was unable to get close enough to see into the room, the Slig blocking his vision, but he was able to hear just fine, and he didn't like what he heard.

By the time the Vykker started to say "and four", Ark got up, fully intending to charge in there, though his new big friend beat him to it.

As Ark saw the Big Bro throttle the Vykker and throw it to the floor, he entered the room himself. Seeing that the Slig was tending to the Mudokon he stood guard over the Vykker, his tattoos ablaze.

Sorry I been so mega late
uni has taken up most of my time again will try to pop on a sunday.

Any how Mindy is still wandering aimlessly about in the corridors to find the boss's office
it be great if any slig could talk to her as I'm lost at this point now
read through the posts but have no idea where to start next.

***OOC Mini info!***

Nope, I didn’t ask… I woke up today and while giving a quick glance with only half an hour of time I thought “Damn, I want to do something!” Though I hope I didn’t powerplay much…

Of course the idea was for a frigging Big Bro to take the Vykker’s attention, tear apart a door, throw it over both Dionysia and Krik’s heads (Barely missing as when angry he has even more of a problem controlling his strength, that must be said) and making sure Krik was, hopefully, knocked out for a while acting as fast as posible (Since I doubt he would have waited to hear Dionysia scream and probably would've gone for a straight on kill if he was discovered... I think).

Also: Fourth Reason was said by Dbreak a little after the door came one nice improvised weapon that was going to fly a second after those words :3.

-----OOC-----

Be careful Uros, I've had some God-play issues like this before. I think it's OK to grab someone's character, even fight with him but it's still to the owner to decide if their character is out of combat or not. If I were you, I would rather edit my post and stop maybe at the point where you grab the Vikker's neck, right before throwing it. And then wait for Splat's reply.

ooc: Normally that would be a good idea, but on this occasion I have no problem with Krik being knocked unconscious. My only real complaint would be the tearing off of the door, as structural damage is generally considered a little OTT in W@RF, but never mind. :p I'm sure someone will get around to fixing it...


...Eventually...


I shall IC soon.

IC:
--------Flad--------
Flad approached Borso to take a look at the piece of metal he was holding "Hmm...it might have just broken off the R+R sign after that blue guy shot it down." he guessed and looked at KK7 "what do you think? You seem to know a few things about metallic objects, given that thing you where working on back there"

---------Slen--------
"Hey Erp" Slen called still wandering the lab. "He must have gone somewhere else" he thought to himself and left the lab "now where could the cafeteria be?" he began to wander the corridor towards the stairs he fell down earlier when a Slig (Mindy) walked around the corner just in front of him. Slen gave out a yell and fell backwards.

ooc: Soonish.


IC:
Dionysia was beginning to tremble all over - at least the paralysis was beginning to wear off, she noted analytically. She felt numb, her mind refusing to take in what had just happened, and what had nearly happened. "I..." She forced out, "Another minute..."
She couldn't bear to look up into the big-bro's eyes, their recent... discussion still fresh in her mind. But even now she couldn't accept what he'd said. Her brain was frantically denying everything that had occurred since she'd walked into this store room. It couldn't have happened.
"Krik... Is he alive?"


When Anni failed to give any sort of reply, Emlech went on, "It's time for you to come back with me."
"I'm not going back," Anni said defiantly.

Jim, cowering half behind her, was watching this with a rising feeling of panic deep inside his gut.
Emlech looked angry, "You're coming with me, Anni."
"I'm not," She said angrily, and Jim suddenly found the whole thing totally ridiculous! This whole are/aren't/are/aren't children's argument between a vykker and a mudokon; he had the same feeling he'd had the morning Anni had been shot. He felt the familiar panic, especially with the slig so close, but it was like it was boxed tightly inside of him; he had to be the one to act and there wasn't time for panic.
"I'm not here to play games," Emlech growled, "You are my property Anni, and you will do as I tell you or I will have to force you!"
"What are you going to do to me?" Anni asked defiantly. "Arnie won't let you hurt me!"
"I can do what I like; I created you!"

Jim, half a second from grabbing Anni by the wrist and legging it down the corridor, froze. He could see the same expression on Anni's face as he could feel on his own. Anni was created by vykkers?!
She was shaking her head slowly; the vykker was looking smug. Jim snapped out of his shock and leant towards Anni, caught her wrist in his hands and whispered in her ear, "Let's get out of here."

He yanked hard on her wrist to get her going and started running; she was instantly running beside him, "Don't trust him!" Jim shouted at her. She couldn't have been made, whatever the vykker said.

Down the corridor he could hear the vykker yelling at #7 Slig, "Don't just stand there! Stop them!"

IC:
Ark was only vaguely aware of how bright his tattoos were glowing, his attention focused solely on the condition of the other mudokon and the Vykker present in the room. Though, upon hearing the mudokon's words a great sense of relief overcame him, 'She not dead, thank Odd.'

Not taking his eyes off the unconscious figure Ark replied, "I don't know who Krik is, if he's a friend we can look for him later. This guy seems to be breathing though, if just barely," Ark grimaced at his words, 'Gein-narrc'.

Turning to face the her, Ark continued to speak more directly the mudokon, while keeping a watch on the Vykker out of the corner of his eye, "Right now, I'm a little more concerned about you; how are you feeling?"

OOC: Ark knows Krik as Dr. Stone, so he wouldn't know who Dionysia is talking about. Also, I don't think I need to translate "Gein-narrc", just know that it is an insult directed at Krik.

IC:

Ralph looked sharply at Anni at the vykker's words, "I can do what I like; I created you!"

They had created her too? It all made sense - the skin discolouration for one thing, but he remembered when he and Jim had taken her to the vykkers when she was shot, they made some discovery about her that they refused to let on to the mudokons there at the time. Something about her biology had been incredibly important to them, and apparently it seemed it was very important to this vykker too. But there was no way he was going to let any vykker get what it wanted that easy.

As the other two mudokons ran off, Ralph was swiftly in pursuit. Due in no small part to his "enhancements," he quickly caught up and spoke to them,
"We should go into the ruined part of the factory - it'll be harder for them to catch us in there! Unless you have any better ideas?"

<●-●-●-●-●>

OOC:
Shush I knew that I was just testing!!!!!!!

:p

IC:

After the lift arrived in the basement, Hembar stepped on board and waited for Crunchy to follow. Once they were both on board, she started the lift going upward. As they started to ascend, Hembar felt a pain coming to her head. Not much, but it quickly grew and she gasped, putting her hands up to her head. Everything went black in an instant, but then she noticed something odd.

Even though she couldn't see a thing, it was like she could hear all around the factory. Just scraps of sentences here and there, nothing she could really make sense of.

"Hey guys, what do you think this is?"
"I'll make it as painful as I possibly can."
"The vykker in charge of the lab where you hatched, remember?"
"“How are you feeling? Can you move?”
"What are you going to do to me?"
"This guy seems to be breathing though, if just barely."

Then she had another flashback.

<●-●-●-●-●>

The pink mudokon looked up, surprised, "There are stories about this place, about how nice it is?" She grinned suddenly, in excitement, "That's amazing! I bet Math told everyone! And all the other mudokons who used to work here! Is that why you came here, cus you heard the stories? You looked surprised when I said earlier that the sligs here were sometimes nice!"

Hembar shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not. I'm not really in a position to take up this kind of job, I'm only allowed to do that if it'll help what I'm supposed to be doing. But there are many mudokons who are in the position to work like this, so having a place like this... It's really good.
"And yes, I was a little surprised, because rumours tend to exaggerate things way out of proportion and you did say earlier about nasty sligs."

"In a way I sort of envy you guys, though... I've never had a chance to live like that. I know, mostly it's a slave's life and not terribly pleasant, but sometimes there's places that are ok, like this one seems to be now, and it's just so... carefree, I suppose. Trust me, sometimes being a native isn't all it's cracked up to be!"
She grinned, then she suddenly noticed something white on one of Anni's hands.
"What's that?" she asked.

"Huh?" The younger mudokon looked down, then she turned over her other hand, which Hembar's sharp eyes noticed something on as well, although she didn't get a chance to see what exactly it was, and quickly lowered the white-marked hand.
"Oh, it's nothing. Spilled some paint on myself and I just sort of doodled in it. Guess I should wash it off."

<●-●-●-●-●>

Hembar slowly came back to her senses. Her ears were ringing and she noticed that the lift had stopped moving and she was lying on the floor, with the meech looking over her.

"Paint?" she exclaimed incredulously out loud, "how did I let that go so easily?" She tried to get to her feet, but her head started spinning and she fell back down to her knees. Looking out of the elevator, she realised that they were now on the second floor. She crawled out the door, and looking down the hallway towards the storage area, she noticed the door to the room had been ripped off.

Looking back towards Crunchy, she whispered, "What the hell is going on?"

OOC: Apologies for the long-ish post, and I've made a few assumptions about your character MeechMunchie :p Not much, but as always if you don't like it you can say so :D

***OOC***
Sorry :3 Doing my best to be here as much as possible, failing miserably ^^””” But I am still around here sometimes!

***IC (Dbreak)***

When the glowing Mudokon (Why was he glowing now that he thought about it…) stopped talking he took a fast look at the Vykker. He seemed to be at least moving a bit, it was little more breathing, surely he wouldn’t move for a while… probably would’ve been better if he died, for more than one reason.

“Yea, the Vykker definitely seems to be alive” Dbreak said with distaste “He will feel it when he wakes up though… a lot” A grin slipped through his lips “Outlaws don’t break easily, his kin does… But now onto what is important”

He offered his hand to her again, hoping that she would snap out of it already, and waited.

“That you recover and we get you out of here safely”

His angry feelings had pretty much faded, if he was going to say sorry it would be by getting her out of the immediate harm’s way, which was being here right now. Even a breeding zone for Scrabs would be safer than this place if the Vykker woke up with her around.

***KK7***

“I… dunno” He took a fast look at the device, not taking it from the other slig's hands.

KK7 had fallowed the others but was, yet, scared and shy as he had been without Dbreak for a long while and the more he was away the worst he was feeling now that his mind was taken from his tools and his little playthings (those that would go BOOM).

“I am expert with hand bombs of many kinds and of many builds… besides I am a bit stressed right now… I doubt I can work out what is this, sorry” KK7 lowered his head in shame. He was feeling a b it pathetic at the moment.

OOC:
No probs, my character is pretty vacant most of the time so he'll do pretty much what's needed.

IC:
Crunchy rapped on the door frame with his claw. The edge was very jaggedly torn. This had been done with brute force. The first thing a Meech learns is its position on the food chain, and that was not something that comforted him right now. Crunchy had felt that presence again, a minute ago when his guardian (Hembar) had collapsed. He wasn't sure how much he could trust her anymore.

ooc: I shall wait for Dripik before posting as Anni, but in the meantime...

IC:
Dionysia was still Dionysia, and rolled her eyes at the mud's confusion about Krik, but didn't voice her feelings. "Be ok... soon," She grunted to his question of her well-being. Why were these people suddenly so concerned about her? Why did she matter? She was relieved Krik was alive; suddenly the idea that he might have betrayed her seemed strange and distant; it all seemed like a dream. She felt movement returning to one of her arms and she started moving it so when her strength returned she could push herself up.

And then the big-bro said something that made the walls fall in.
"But now onto what is important: that you recover and we get you out of here safely.”

The facts flashed into her head: she couldn't stay; Krik had tried to kill her! He wouldn't let her go now! But...
She was dependant on drugs that her vykkers provided her with every two weeks; without the injections they gave her, she wouldn't survive a month!

She couldn't stay, but she couldn't leave. Fear crushed down around her and suddenly it was hard to breathe again, as if the paralysis had returned. She was going to die!

-----OOC-----

Well, I'm waiting for Dripik to post as well. I hope he will be able to do it soon :D

OOC: Dripik is a tad busy with university work, but he notices when his presence is needed somewhere. And although he has no motivation for any sort of written projects nowadays, Dripik will try to muscle up a reply.

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

#7 Slig listened to the conversation between Anni and Emlech. It seemed that the Vykker will have some trouble with retrieving Anni, seeing that she seemed quite reluctant to leave with Emlech. Jim was also with her, covering behind Anni, possibly because of #7 Slig's presence, but he wasn't too bothered by that at the time. He concentrated on his task.

Suddenly, both Mudokons broke off and ran down the corridor. With Emlech shouting at him, #7 Slig ran after them. He had no idea how he could stop them without causing harm to any of them. It was RG who specialized in hunting Mudokons down...

"RG, come in." he spoke to his SCU while running, hoping that he'll get an answer. As usual, RG did not let him down.

"What is it, Slig organic?" came the robotic voice of RG from the device.

"I'm trying to catch Anni now - Boss' orders. Could you help me out? You can log into the security system, can't you?"

"Naturally." said RG in a cool voice. #7 Slig heard a few metallic steps, a dozen clicks, and finally RG's voice. "The security feed shows three Mudokons running down the corridor of the ground floor, closely followed by a Slig."

"Yeah, that'd be me. Where do you think they are heading?"

"Seeing that they are trying to avoid capture, I think they are looking for a place where they could hide. If I were in their place, I would either choose the older part of the factory, or the basement that can be accessed from the Production Lines. The former option is more likely."

"I see. Can you seal access to the older part? Is there a door there?"

"There is one. Activating..." said RG.

Among the background noise of the factory, #7 Slig could here a new sound: a rather low, foreboding mechanical rumbling coming from the end of the corridor. He could see the hallway which led to the older part of the factory. A thick metal door was slowly sliding downwards, designed to bar access to the run-down section of the factory.

"Curse this old machinery. Come on!" muttered #7 Slig, eyeing the door's slow descent.

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

Slowly after Emlech leaving, SU appeared at the door of the Office, wanting to talk with Arnie. The Glukkon was getting tired of all these appointments and meetings for the day.

"Well, if you can fit through the door, come on in and talk." Arnie felt that he can ignore being polite with a robot, and he also wanted to get over it quickly.

-----OOC-----

Hurray for Dripik, then :)

WARNING : I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE EYE-BLEEDING THAT MAY OCCUR BECAUSE OF THE GRAMMAR MISTAKES IN WHAT FOLLOWS. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED :p

NB : If something really stabs you in the eyes, please refer to the first line of my signature. Thanks.

-----IC-----

SU-01 finally obtained his long awaited meeting. But he had to choose his words carefully as the boss seemed to remain a little bit irritated. Another problem was, despite the invitation to come in, there was no way he could fit into the room or even get past those long shaped glukkons door. He remembered his last improvement was including a detachable holo-projector. The time has come to put it to test.

"Thank you, sir. It won't be too long. My armor will stay out of your office, though."

He turned over and "parked" his body next to the door. His eyes shut off and a little module shaped like the regular anti-chant spheres hovered from the top of his head and into the boss office.

"Calibrating..." said an voice from inside the module.

After a few flickering silhouette appeared quickly, the lens stabilized and a slig hologram appeared. He was wearing a military jacket with a few medals on it and his mask was an uncommon model, has it was only the lower half of the regular model, with the eyes uncovered. His pant was also slightly different from the regular model, designed for an indoor use as it looked less bulky than its military counterpart. He looked around and took a few steps towards Arnie's desk. Trying to avoid clipping through anything, he sat on the chair in front of the desk, his hands resting on his metal legs.

"This discussion will inform you on the main reasons why I'm here. First, let me tell you a bit of my story...this will help you understand better the purpose of my presence.

First off, I haven't always been a robot. I was a slig initially. As you know, all of us Sligs have been through the Slig's Training Camp before being assigned to a facility to guard. Due to a matriculation error I was assigned to the Tactical, Security and Troops Management Department without going through all the basic military training. I did quite a good job there though. A few years later, I was promoted Head of my department. My first really big project was to rewrite the training methods from scratch. I did that over a year. A whole new an improved thing.

Sligs would be trained in a more army-minded way. Instead of being brainless mercenaries, they would be disciplined soldiers, with a judgment capability. The project was meant to make us really autonomous and much more efficient to better serve the Cartel. I ordered new guns, blueprints for pants that are able to jump, automatic turrets to put around the barracks, and so on. Nothing was set yet but it sure would be a big turn in the Slig history.

When I sent my report to the Magog Cartel as I was supposed to, they took it as a rebellion attempt. Three days after, I was found dead in my office. Killed by one of their Mudokons assassins...That's right...Mudokons assassins. Created and trained to kill in a dark labs of some secret Vikkers facility. So yes, I was dead and replaced by a Glukkon who put everything back in place.
So how am I standing here in front of you...Or outside of your office to be more precise. Well, when your neck is snapped, as in my case, your brain is still alive for one our or so...and luckily, I had an appointment 10 minutes after with a Vikker I owe my life.

I've met him when I ordered the guard turrets. He was sharing my point of view on the slig and mudokons condition. When he found my body, he took it back to his lab where he made a backup copy of my brain before my body died completely. He was working on a secret project for the Robotic Departement of the Vikker's Conglomerate. An autonomous Snoozer. Since they failed to create a fully autonomous AI for the robot, he got the idea to transfer my brain data into the machine. A tactician slig in the body of an experimental Snoozer was pretty tempting for them. Although I don't know if I'm really the original or just a copy with the same memories.

And now I'm here because I've recently got informations indicating that the Magog Cartel is watching his Glukkons Executive. They are trying to discourage the few Glukkons on Oddworld that have a little concern about their Mudokons employees. And those who don't accept their orders...Well, they end like I did, with the head upside down. They haven't studied your case yet, but I won't be surprised to see them knocking at your office door in a few month, weeks or days...So my first objective was to warn you about the potential threat you might have to face if you keep your Mudokon-friendly politic. However, if you want to keep things like they are, and I would more than approve this decision, then I'll do everything I can to protect you, your associate and your plant."

***OOC***

Classes son will come to an end, if I pass or not I don’t care :p will be here more after summer vacations arrive.


***IC (Dbreak)***

A cracking sound was soon heard as the Big Bro tried to catch Dionysia’s attention as he took his hand away.

“By now anyone in your position would’ve been planning how to get out of here, screaming like mad or ordering things around since it seems you have two people willing to get you out of here” He looked at her coldly “I heard enough from the Vykker to know of your origins more than anyone would want, which for many would’ve been enough to shoot you instead of him… or both if a particularly sadist individual was involved and didn't want money from capturing such a bastard”

Stepping aside, Dbreak came close to the Vykker in order to examine and take everything he carried or had carried previously to this little encounter [Probably the bag and nothing else?] before throwing it at the girl’s feet with little to no concern in how well or bad was the previous owner… well, asides his particular interest that (if possible) his bones were broken beyond repair and he could die soon.

“I may not be a genius, but I doubt it takes orders from… someone like him…” Dbreak tried to empathize that bit as he signaled at Krik, probably more than enough to carry his point around “To keep you in line. I think he would need something to keep you in line, it could be anything and I am not asking… but even if I am wrong, you may find something of use in his belongings anyway”

Dbreak took a peek to see if someone was coming before pointing at Dionysia with his huge fingers.

“Now hear: By now that I am sorry doesn’t mean a crap to you, probably it wouldn’t either if I said so earlier or in any better circumstances. You can think this is pity, charity or whatever the *Censored, believe me* you want to believe it is, but I am getting you out of here and if you have any problem afterwards you will work it out. I doubt you are going to surrender to anything after betting your life against all you probably had to bear AND a Big Bro… no matter if it is a softy like me. Got it?” He looked at both Mudokons after checking his weapons only in case, though he doubted he would need them if lucky enough “And now pray tell: Any of you have any plan or do we walk outside the facility happily like nothing happened? Don’t get me wrong but I didn’t think of anything since this is MY FIRST DAMN DAY AND I DON’T KNOW THE PLACE” He sighed and thought *I love welcome parties…*

IC:
Ark didn't reject to the Slig coming over and taking the Vykkers possessions. I just keep an eye on the female Mudokon, she had gone strangely silent, she must still be in shock.

Listening to the Slig talk Ark keep trying to get a grasp of their options, which is why Ark was prime to respond when the Slig asked his question.

"I agree with the big guy about wanting to help you, and while I normally wouldn't be sure that we should be hauling ourselves out of here; I agree on getting out the area too."

"The way I figure it, we should take him to security and you (Ark gestures to Dbreak) say that he assaulted someone and detained him, which is technically the truth. But don't specify because he seems to have some ownership of her, and they're more likely to believe you than me, since I've had a previous incident with the Vykker. Meanwhile, I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she all right, and take her to a more public area."

"We stay near each other, and if it all goes downhill I might be able to get her out of here. I have contacts and means to get in touch with them. But we should play by the rules... for now."

Ark faced both of them his tattoos were finally dimming down to there usual black. The girl seemed too out of it. Walking towards her, Ark asked (in hopes of getting her a little more focused), "Look, we're both here to help you, and we're going to figure this out. Now can you tell me your name, and where you think you are?"

ooc: In your own time, Gretin... :eek:

IC:
Dionysia ignored Krik's bag when it was flung at her; he wouldn't carry the drugs she needed if he wasn't going to inject her, and it was almost a week early for the injections anyway; he simply wouldn't have brought them. She was, however, able to push herself up onto her elbows.

Dbreak's sudden and cleverly constructed rant was enough to stir her, suddenly. "I doubt you are going to surrender to anything after betting your life against all you probably had to bear AND a Big Bro."
She held still a moment longer but he was right; she wasn't going to stay here. Her heart quailed at the thought, but she had to get out. She would rather waste away than... than... than the alternative. She didn't know how long the resolve would hold but it wasn't going to waste.

She listened to Ark's plan and spoke, "No, leave Krik here; he won't wake up for a while and he won't identify Dbreak - I doubt he saw him long enough to recognise him, but even if he did, he came here secretly to find me. He won't want to advertise the fact he's here. Just leave him. Please, just leave him."

She pushed herself up onto her knees, but didn't trust her legs to hold her yet. "I'll be alright in a minute and then... then I should just get out of here." She forced her face to not show her fears. She looked at Dbreak, "Maybe you should stand guard down the corridor until I get my strength back. It'd look pretty bad if someone found us like this, and a big bro could easily head off anyone coming this way."


"No, ruins," Jim grunted in reply to Ralph, putting far too much energy into running to form grammatically acceptable sentences.
Jim was a few metres ahead of Anni and pushed himself as hard as he possibly could when he saw the door ahead of him closing, but he was just too slow; he skidded to a halt in front of it and Anni crashed into his back a moment later. They spun around but #7 Slig was behind them, blocking their escape. Emlech appeared at the end of the corridor far beyond at a more sedate pace. His hand was in his bag.

"Please, let us go," Anni hissed to #7, "You don't know what he'll do to me; don't let him take me! I want to stay here!"

Emlech was annoyed that the slig hadn't taken a more direct approach; he had a gun, didn't he, and a high ranking slig should know how to use it carefully! But regardless, it had been reasonably effective. He reached a claw into his bag and closed it around a snuzi he had hidden away there; he didn't want to use it but he wanted to get out of here, and if they forced him to act...

***OOC***

One more month x3 one more darn month…

***IC (Dbreak)***

He looked a bit puzzled yet as to why the Mudokon girl was protecting the Vykker… or at least it seemed like she was doing so, but anyway.

“Well, I doubt anyone would believe me anyway” He said with a grunt, he preferred to end it there and then, but since she didn’t want him harmed… “However I hope you recover soon, because I have the feeling we should be somewhere else fast; namely out of here”

He took his leave and waited in front of the open gate (since the door was used in the newly made olimpics…) with the dumbest and angriest face possible as to appear more or less normal by Big Bro standards since there was little more to do right now and he didn’t want to wait any longer if the girl was going to come back to her senses and bitch because he tried to help. Dbreak simply hoped that they would get out of there soon since the next time he saw a Vykker it would end as conceptual art in the walls… so yea, getting out of there was the best option to not get the unconscious Vykker as part of the factory right now.

OOC: Man, SU delivering a speech like that when I should be working on my EA comics...

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

"Believe it or not, I noticed that." said #7 Slig, panting, as a reply to Anni saying that she doesn't want to go with Emlech. He came to a halt not too far from them, clutching his gun. The rifle was more for an intimidating sight rather than actual use - buckshot is not exactly the best type of ammo for crippling a target, but at least the door stopped them for the time being.

"I don't have the authority to decide on you staying, Anni. That Vykker and the Boss had an agreement, and now he wants you back. Don't make this any difficult for us, OK?"

Judging from Anni's behaviour, #7 Slig doubted that Anni would listen to reason, but keeping her talking might buy Emlech an idea to come up with an idea to calm her down, one way or another.

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

Arnie was at first fascinated by the Slig hologram which delivered a rather long speech about his background. The story sounded rather extraordinary - Vykkers transferring the mind of a dead Slig into a Snoozer...

"Mudokon assassins...?" asked Arnie, just to bring himself to saying something meaningful. "Surely that's a bit farfetched..." He just couldn't imagine Mudokons being trained by Industrials to kill other Industrials - it practically undermined the whole 'native terrorists' concept. Then again, Dionysia was almost along these lines...

The last bit of SU's speech, however, brought him, along with his throbbing temple, back to reality. "Oh, the old story again?" he said a bit louder. "I guess one can get used to the fact that everyone wants to kill them, right? But answer me this: if the Industrials want to give me to the Slogs so badly, then who sent you? You speak of an objective - who gave you that? Is there a group of Industrials who support the way I treat my workers?"

OOC: Ooh, look I posted.

IC:

Ralph, alongside Jim and Anni, noticed the door closing, but he realised that with the speed it was closing compared to the speed they were running, they weren't going to make it. So, rather than speeding up like the others, he slowed down and stopped smoothly beside the other two mudokons.

As he observed Anni desperately trying to plead with the slig (#7), he was having a bit of an internal conflict himself. On the one hand, he didn't want to cause trouble for himself, and getting involved with these two didn't look like it was going to help with that. But on the other hand, he knew that there was no way this vykker (Emlech) should get his hands on the female mudokon, even if he was claiming "ownership" for having created her.

OOC: There we go, I've posted now Splat.

:D

Just kidding, I wouldn't do that to you :p

IC:

Hembar was still lying in the doorway of the lift. Trying to get herself back on her feet, she grabbed hold of the nearest wall and started lifting herself up using the wall as a support. Then she noticed her skin was starting to glow blue, getting brighter and brighter.

"No!"

There was a flash of light and Hembar vanished, being replaced by a group of birds, which started flapping around erratically in circles. After doing this or a few minutes, they suddenly flew off as one, in the direction of the room where a big bro slig (Dbreak) had just stepped out to guard the entrance.

They flew straight through the doorway, then up to the roof where the started forming a horizontal circle. There was another flash of light, and then the birds were gone, being replaced by Hembar who fell down from the circle to the ground. She landed on her feet, but being too weak to stay standing she fell down on her knees.

"Help," she managed to whisper to the two mudokons in the room (Ark and Dionysia), before collapsing to lie flat on her stomach.

OOC: Sorry, MeechMunchie, looks like I've deserted you again :(

ooc: Huzzah!


IC:
Dionysia was a bit surprised that Uros didn't seem to recognise the power his body alone could convey. He was a big bro; he could unnerve anyone into going away with just a waggle of a weapon and a nasty scowl. She was pondering the strange big bro and actually beginning to think about some of the things he'd said to her about himself when there was a bright flash of light and a mudokon dropped out of the ceiling, narrowly missing her, and landed on the floor, wobbled and collapsed, evidently unconscious.

Dionysia stared; if the mudokon's clothes (which were hardly standard issue) weren't proof enough that the girl was a native, then the fact that she had fallen out of a blazing light was something of a giveaway. Such a blatant display of native power was terrifying; her first instinct was to leap to her feet and run to fetch a slig but her legs could barely move! And...

And she couldn't go to a slig. Whatever happened, she had to avoid trouble. A lifetime of fearing natives wrestled with her survival instincts, but then if she was going to escape, talking to a native couldn't hurt. She leant over the girl cautiously, examining her for any sign of external wounds, "Can you here me?" She asked loudly, unsure of what was wrong or if the girl was even unconscious. If she didn't get a response she'd check for pulse.


Anger swelled inside Anni at #7's response. "You horrible slig," She hissed furiously, "All you care about is your stupid boss; you can't think for yourself at all, can you?-"

"That's enough, Anni," Emlech said, cutting off her tirade. He was catching his breath and walking sedately towards them. "Enough of this childishness. You're coming with me."
"I'm not!" She hissed.
Ignoring her reply, he went on, "It can be easy or I can have this slig carry you onto my train. Make up your mind now, as I haven't got all day to stand around."

Standing beside her, Jim was waging a silent war with himself. He couldn't let Anni be taken away! She had to get away; it didn't matter where! She just had to get somewhere the vykker wouldn't find her. Long ago, when he had first come here, she had talked about escaping. It had seemed idiotic then, dangerous, terrifying, but between that or going back to being a specimen pinned to some vykker's collection...

He stared at #7; the slig's attention was on Anni, and his face was hidden by a mask. But it was always the masks that had scared him most, the leather instead of skin and the blank, stretched eye-pieces... He tried to force himself to imagine the sunken, half-blind eyes behind the glass, and suddenly he threw himself at #7 with a roar of, "RUN, ANNI!"

Emlech, startled by the shout, acted instinctively. His had was already closed behind the handle of the snuzi in his bag; he yanked it out and fired at Jim. The shot was fired from dangerously close range; electricity arced through the mudokon's body and he screamed as he crashed into #7, throwing both of them to the floor. Jim lay on the ground as still as a rock.

Anni, too stunned too run, stared, her anger ebbing away and her face going pale.


ooc: Dripik, if you object to Jim running into #7, just let me know and I'll edit as soon as I get the chance ;)

-----IC-----

Upon hearing Arnie's question, the holographic slig smiled and answered calmly :

"Well yes, there is. You would be surprised to know how many we are. Mostly sligs, and I can safely assume that you have already employed a few of them without even knowing it, a few Vikkers and fewer Glukkons. Not that your race have less concern about their workers conditions, but they are aware of the risk of acting as such. Most of us sligs go unnoticed by simulating beating up mudokons. And the Magog Council doesn't want to risk any conflict with the Vikker Conglomerate, as they provided and still provide most of the Industrial technology.

Our main objectives are to enhance the Mudokons conditions inside the Magog facilities and to try to make sligs more independent from the Cartel.

We can be found in almost every level of the Industrial world. From your basic guard who hide food to give it to the mudokons in his sector after lunchtime, to the slig instructor at the Barracks who voluntarily skip the "beat mudokons, get promotion" part not to mention the Vikker scientist who fake testing mudokons only to release them as a part of the test protocol...and so on. We can't change everything in a snap of fingers, but things like this will help us to achieve our goal. We are also designing safer machinery for the Cartel factories. They are currently testing meat-saws and recyclers that does not work as long as a living entity is detected within their action range. And then they pretend it to be a more "efficient, profit-making" model to sell it to the Glukkons. So even the Magog Cartel help us without knowing it.

The Glukkons are also important to our cause as they can do all the paperwork to cover our activities and use their company as testing environment for us. Clearly, they are the root of everything and that's why the Magog try to hit us where it matter the most. And without them... without you, things are meant to stay as they are. With a dozen Glukkons on top of everything and millions of living being who suffer in the all mighty Moolah's name.

My first objective was to warn you and now it is to help you in the best of my ability and keep you out of trouble with the Cartel. Your main concern was the terrorists attacks. Well, we are in touch with those so-called "terrorists" and so far, they have never attacked any of our facility, because they know we are on the same side.

OOC:
You wont get rid of me that easily :)

IC:
Crunchy was torn from his idle thoughts my an ominous blue glow behind him. It was the mudokon (Hembar). He backed against the wall, shrieking and averting his view in the glare. Suddenly, in a nova of blinding light, she vanished.

Gradually recollecting his senses, Crunchy looked around the now empty lift. Something, on the very edge of perception, drew his attention. A faint, near-invisible tangle of blue trails weaved through the distant corridors. With a new sense of determination, Crunchy set off to see where they led.

IC:
--------Flad--------
Flad took a closer look at the device Borso found and KK7 could not identify "nope, still no clue what it is" he said finally "we'd better keep hold of it anyway, it might come in handy later." Suddenly the muffled sound of a Gunshot from the floor below quickly followed by the screech of an animal coming from the nearby lifts startled Flad. "Did you guys hear that?" He began to fumble around trying to find somewhere to put the strange device when he came across the radio he left on his pants "Brilliant!" he exclaimed, put down his gun and picked up the radio with his spare hand. "This is Flad, I just heard a gunshot, is everything alright?" He looked at the other two (Borso & KK7) "Ready to go?"

OOC: Gunshot? Are you referring to Emlech's snuzi blast? Because I don't think that would make a "bang" as such. And Crunchy (the animal that shrieked) is on the floor above the R&R, whereas Emlech and Anni are on the floor below ;)

IC:

Ralph, like Anni, was stunned by Jim's sudden actions and Emlech's response. But he quickly decided what his course of action would be, for better or for worse.

Stepping in front of Anni, he said clearly, "You're going to have to go through me first."

<●-●-●-●-●>

Hembar lay still on the ground for a few minutes, not stirring even when the black mudokon (Dionysia) loudly asked if she could hear her.

She could, in fact, clearly hear the other mudokon, but she felt too weak to give any sort of response. She was starting to hear things from other parts of the factory again as well. Realising that her eyes were shut, she opened them, but instead of seeing what was in front of her, she could see three mudokons cornered in front of a closed door, with a slig and a vykker blocking off their escape...

She witnessed Jim's brave attempt at giving the mudokon escape, but it looked like it was fruitless! The other male mudokon stepped in front of her, but what more chance did he have than Jim?

"Anni..." the native mudokon mumbled weakly, then summoning all her strength, she pushed herself up to her hands and knees, looking straight up at the black mudokon. A dim green glow started pulsing from Hembar as she said, now speaking very clearly,

"I hear you. Now you hear me, it's not me you need to worry about. There's a young female mudokon, pink skin, on the ground floor who is in grave danger. There is a vykker down there who I fear has much worse intentions than the one who just attacked you. It is incredibly important that he doesn't get to follow those intentions through. Please, if anyone can help her now, it's you.

Painfully standing straight up, she offered her hand to the other mudokon to help her up.

***OOC***

This may get bloody 83… or not? X3 Also I would like to be a Slig XD… mebe, but I think I am too ugly 83 thanks for the fathering anyway Splat XD (Do I look like a Big Bro x3?).

***IC (KK7)***

“Gunshot?” He asked more to himself than anyone else “I think I heard something… but can’t be sure with this new place” He said, shivering all the way as he toyed with some small balls in his pocket: He had a few grenades for many uses (gas, smoke, the typical shrapnel one or fragmentation grenade and other for not so military uses) “Should we take a look?” KK7 was a bit surer of himself as he found one of each to have in case he would find a problem…

And tecnicaly this wasn’t even his first day at work.

***DBreak***

“Then time is up for talking, mind you”

The huge Slig came up again after the ‘little’ speech and stood not too far away from the group of three Mudokons.

“I don’t know the place but I am sure that won’t be a problem if someone directs me to help you bunch now” He said with a low voice that meant he was a lil angry by now. This second Vykker could very well met his demise as if he had to tear another door apart this time he would make the bulb head one with the metal “Which, if you don’t have any other plan, I would ask that it LOOKED like you are possessing me or something”

Note: He knows about shamanistic rites and some magic the Mudokons have, but obviously possessing is not info you give to industrials :p it is already bad enough that they have those frigging robots and control spheres around.

“And I mean LOOK because I don’t know if it would harm me if any of you did it for real” He poked at the tattooed guy “So since you have glowing things there (I don’t know what the hell they are for) I suppose it should be convincing” Dbreak turned and went out of the room again “So come on! If it is urgent you either have something else in mind or you think of it as we walk down there! No more time to lose or the girl may get hurt or even worse!”

OOC:
Yeah, the Gunshot was meant to be the Snuzi, but I forgot about all the background noise of the factory drowning it out. I also thought the Sligs might hear Crunchy through the lift, but I wasn't sure if it was a full lift or the roped platforms like the game.

IC:

-------Flad------

After KK7 spoke Flad calmed down and realised that he didn't actually hear a gunshot, he heard a faint sound and his imagination took over. "Oh, it was probably nothing, must be my mind playing tricks on me." He said and spoke through the radio; "ignore the thing about the gunshot, I was just being paranoid" Flad reattached the radio to his pants and picked up his gun. "I suppose we can check it out if we want, it's either that or we wait around for the boss by his office. What do you two think?"

ooc: Lifts are the roped platform kind seen in the games.


IC:
"Anni?" Dionysia repeated, trying to remember why the name seemed significant. Then she fixed it to a face and remembered the mud Stivik had wa- mudokon Stivik had warned her about ages ago, on her first day in Rupture Farms.
Worse intentions? Well, she knew of all people what vykkers could do, and wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it ever again.
The big-bro came bursting through the door at that point and barked something about saving the girl. He stormed out again and Dionysia pushed herself slowly to her feet, "Don't worry," She told the native, "I'll find her." Because if she was saving this girl, she wouldn't have to think about anything that had just happened to her, or what was gonig to happen within the very near future.

"Give me a chance," She called after Dbreak, staggering towards the door, her feet still numb and unwieldy, "One of us was just electrocuted in the spine." She hurried out as fast as she could, "There's a lift just down here that'll take us all the way to the ground floor; can you work the pulley for us?"


"Good grief," Emlech scoffed and said ironically to #7Slig, who was still on the floor, "Are all the mudokons here suicidal?" He raised his eyes to meet Ralph's, raised the snuzi to point at his chest and addressed him without a trace of humour, "I'm switching this to a 'kill' setting. Move."

Anni was unaware of any of this discussion; her eyes were fixed on Jim, willing him to move, but his chest seemed incredibly still; he didn't so much as twitch.
Anger began to drain back into her empty mind; a white-hot anger that twisted her insides and made her mind burn with heat. Pain seared in her black-tattooed hand and shadows danced over her skin, stretching out into long, ethereal claws at the ends of her fingers. Her heart-rate quickened, her breath came into her lungs in sharp, violent gasps and crimson fire danced in her eyes.
Her back straightened; she looked straight ahead, through Ralph, in the direction of the sneering vykker. And suddenly she screamed and leapt at it; she threw out an arm that, witch incredible strength, threw Ralph into the air, to her side, and sent him crashing into a wall so hard it left a dent in the metal. Emlech's eyes widened in amazement in the half a second it took for the screaming shadow to cross the distance between them and bury its shadowy claws into his chest.



ooc: Actions with Ralph were kind of loosely pre-arranged with Gretin a long time ago, though if you object, Gretin, I shall edit (I know he's heavy but she has powers!!).

(Also, if anyone wants to overhear her scream I would appreciate it if you could let Dionysia and crew get to the scene first; I know they're a floor further away, but they got to the lift first! :dodgy: Thank you for your co-operation :))
Uros, feel free to move Dionysia and Dbreak into the lift when you next post. I guess Ark can decide if he came with us when he appears.

Oh, and :eek:!!!

OOC: No problemabobbles, she has scawy powas!

IC:

Ralph smirked as Emlech tried to scare him off with the snuzi.

"I'm not moving anywh..." his voice drifted off as he suddenly had a very bad feeling about his current situation. He slowly started to turn to the mudokon standing behind him, but before he could react to anything a huge force lifted him in the air and sent him crashing sideways into the wall with a loud clang.

Landing face down on the ground, he tried to push himself up, catching a glimpse of of the frightening scene unfolding in front of him. But then he shuddered, as flashes of light flickered throughout his skin, and fell back down on his face, lying still.

<●-●-●-●-●>

"Thank you," Hembar smiled at the dark mudokon, "Good luck!" She relaxed slightly, she just hoped that they could reach Anni before it was too late.

She suddenly felt cold - it was like the whole atmosphere in the building had changed. Then she saw why - she saw a shadowy form, similar to a mudokon but with huge claws, standing in front of her threateningly. Screaming in unison with the young mudokon down below, she covered her face as the shadow leapt towards her.

After a few seconds of nothing happening, she dared to look again, but saw nothing - a hallucination? No, it was far too real, unlike the face she had seen earlier when the poison had first started affecting her. Corporeal? No, but real? Definitely.

But whatever it was, it wasn't really there in front of her. Which must mean that it was... down below where the others were heading!

OOC: Oh, people getting abused in the factory... Arnie will be pleased...

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

"All you care about is your stupid boss; you can't think for yourself at all, can you?-"

#7 Slig didn't respond to this - arguing with a child was prehaps not the best thing to start in a situation like this. He just could not risk his job on the matter. Of course, he had no idea what Emlech's plans with Anni would be - judging from the average Vykker image, nothing good - but he just couldn't bother with anything done outside of Rupture Farms.

"Look, the business between you two is not my concern, Anni. Just try to..." At this moment, Jim lunged at #7 Slig, which made him fall on his back, banging his head into the floor, with Jim landing on him and telling Anni to run. His gun slid sideways, out of his reach.

#7 Slig didn't even have time to react when he saw Emlech retrieving a Snuzi from his bag and pointing it at the back of Jim. Before he could show any signs of objection, the Vykker shot at Jim, rendering the Mudokon motionless. #7 Slig could not see Jim's face, so it was hard to determine whether he was unconscious or... Nonetheless, #7 Slig had to get back on his feet quick, so he tried to roll Jim sideways.

But in the meantime, a quick succession of events happened, which #7 Slig could not see much, but when he finally managed to roll Jim off, he saw Anni's back, surrounded by some mysterious aura, with an arm at Emlech's chest. He scrambled to his feet quickly, but the presence rendered him unable to act.

-----OOC-----

Holy shweet ! Killer clawed Mudokon ? Where did she get that from ? o.0
Well, I'm happy my character is safe (?) in Arnie's office right now. XD

IC: Borso nodded. "We'd better go check it out" Borso reloaded his pistol and looked around. "If it wasn't a gunshot, it was probably a piece of machinery malfunctioning. Either way, it causes a problem for the factory"

Borso started walking, "C'mon, the worst thing that happens is we get exercise!" Borso walks ahead and pulls the lever for the lift.

***OOC***

ASAP! One, Two, One, Two x3! School is still bitching but soon I will be free at last >:3 And this is getting interesting so more in for me X3! (I miss writing seriously :p)

***IC (KK7)***

“Don’t… really know” He said a bit nervous as he played with his tentacles a bit “My buddy told me to go meet the boss, yet I don’t want to meet him alone… um… not meaning anything bad to you guys” He scratched his head a bit “But I get nervous with new people…”

Gulping down a bit he touched those little balls yet again to get some reassuring, if nothing else he felt safe with some possible BOOM action in his side.

“But why not? I mean, doesn’t matter what it is, maybe we can get some brownie points with the boss and he will be less scary maybe?” He chuckled a bit, thinking he was acting a bit silly being so nervous.

*** Dbreak ***

“Oh you have your chance already” He said without stopping as the Mudokon girl was besides him “But coming here and seeing that I have to do a bit of ‘side works’ the first day isn’t getting me happy… nor is it the fact that I probably will lose the only job I can be comfortable with asides bounty hunting Outlaws (That right now is not a good job sadly…)”

Dbreak grunted, sighing mentally as he stepped on the elevator waiting for the girl and any other Mudokon to fallow, if they wanted (or could), but he wouldn’t wait for too long.

“However it lights my mood a bit if I help you two out of here in one piece: You do the rescuing, I help you two out. How does that sound?” Getting ready he took the pulley firmly “Only problem for you will be getting a tight grip on something because…” he chuckled at that, the last time he used an elevator the poor thing ended broken “…we are going to fly right down there, no security belt included.”

A few seconds he would wait for anyone to join, maybe a minute, but no more than that if someone innocent was about to get it. He was weird, yea, and he liked it that way… it was refreshing to step out of the bounds most Sligs had. He didn’t care much if he lost the job for what he was about to do, nor would he care if he would end up fighting to get out of here afterwards, or not getting out of here at all.

Right now he simply wanted to help at any cost.

Note: He is simple anyways :p friendly muscle mass that only wants to help those that need. Dbreak may look complex (doubt it) but he is not really so :3.

ooc: Uros, I'm going to take the lift to the ground floor, if that's ok. Otherwise this post would consist of "Dionysia walked onto the lift." Still, if you want to change anything I do, say so; I'm happy to edit.
Sorry, Ark. You can say you came with her if you want, or, I dunno, stay and look after Hembar?


IC:
The vykker was screaming as it struggled, impaled on her claws, its eyes wide, mouth gaping; she sneered at its pathetic efforts to come free of her and drove her claws in deeper.
Something moved behind her; something that couldn't be allowed to see her! She pulled her hands free of the vykker and spun round, curling a hand into a fist that caught the rising slig, #7, in the face, throwing him to the ground again with luscious strength! Then she spun back round to the vykker who was staggering and dying. She waited until he was about to fall and swiper her claws up, catching him under the chin, forcing him back on his feet; she was going to make this last...


Dionysia nodded at Dbreak's warning but since there was nothing to hang on to except the slig himself, she simply braced herself. Suddenly the big-bro started yanking on the rope, sending them down through the factory jerkily but rapidly.
As soon as she reached the ground floor, she jumped out of the lift, about to take off running, before realising she had no idea where the mudokon was; 'the ground floor'? What kind of useless directions was that?!

But where would she run if she wanted to hide down here? Either the ruined part of the stockyards. Both could provide potential escape from the factory, but which way should she go?


ooc: #7 was knocked out with permission from Dripik. ;)

-----OOC-----



I'm just SO sorry...but this HAD to be done :happy:

IC:

-----Slen-----

Slen gave a quick apology to the Slig (Mindy) he almost walked into and continued on his quest for the cafeteria. He cautiously made his way down the stairs to the ground floor, the memory of last time still fresh in his mind. "I have no idea where I'm going" Slen thought to himself when he reached the ground floor. "Well, there's two ways to go" he thought. As he was pondering Slen heard the sound of something hitting the floor with some force off into the distance. "well now I know which way I'm going" he thought and started off in the opposite direction of the noise. "best not to get involved, probably Sligs messing about with another slave" he shivered. "Just get to the cafeteria, get the food, take it to the guy in the lab and find this 'Otto' guy. What could go wrong with that?" he thought aloud.

-----Flad-----

"Brownie points" Flad laughed, "that's just what I was thinking. So it's decided then" he said, "we'll go check it out, if we're lucky impress some bigwigs and get jobs, I like it." he approached the lifts and began to wait for the lift beside Borso. "Hopefully this will go better than when we were chasing that native around eh?" Flad chuckled to Borso and turned back to KK7. "There's no need to be nervous of us KK7. There's probably nothing going on down there and we've got your back, right Borso?"

OOC:

Man, this is exactly what I was saying to Splat yesterday when I read that part! Awesome job!