Forum Thread

Quietly, a newcomer follows the others. His dark eyes survey the group before his gaze rests on the lady in charge. He bristles slightly, recognizing just how dangerous she was. He scowls at her words and he boldly takes a few steps closer to her. His muscles were tense, and there was no telling what the man would've done if not for the fact that his hands were tied together behind his back. But rather than attack her, he puts on a charming smile. "At least take me out to dinner first" he jokes. He bursts out laughing at his own lame joke, causing him to miss her reaction. "Aw come on" he whines when a guard moves between them to intervene. He turns away so that his injured arm would be facing away from the guard. When did I get injured? Aster wonders as he backpedals away from the brute and plops down onto a chair at random. "You guys are no fun" Aster groans.

Sitting in silence, Aster finds that he could focus more on his injured arm. Slowly the past events starts dawning on him. He had been in a helicopter and sent out to fight. Well, he didn't actually fight. He had been distracted by a new pretty flower, and was attempting to sketch it onto his skin when suddenly, he was back onto the helicopter. His arm had been injured when he unknowingly respawned on the helicopter which caused him to notice the new flower sketch. Countless times he respawned on the helicopter, and every time he desperately searched for the flower that gave him the inspiration to draw it... Whenever it was he first drew it.

He had been so distracted by his art that he didn't notice when the fighting stopped. He barely noticed he was being attacked until a tazer fired and missed his crouched form. He nearly cut a line over his art if not for the fact that he had been startled enough to deactivate his powers. The fight was short. He may have gotten lucky once, but he wasn't lucky again, he had been tazed and knocked out.

With his powers suddenly suppressed, he woke up on a new helicopter surrounded by some new and old faces. He was careful to keep his distance. His arm hurt, the bandages that they lazily placed on his arm was barley enough to stop the bleeding. If he had access to his powers, he could slow the bleeding, but only if he remained in the safety of his shadows. All he wanted to do was envelop himself in this darkness. But he couldn't use his powers, even with these ideal conditions where the pitch blackness would have given him an overwhelming amount of strength. But that didn't stop him from constantly trying to activate his ability. He had been so focused that he barley took notice to his cooperative actions, he blindly followed every order in a trance. He didn't snap out of it until that lady spoke. Her presence should've scared him, instead he felt bored. Why would he be scared of a life that he was use to? Everything else that happened was history.

Yes... That's all that happened. An average day in the life of Aster.
•••
Bree continued to remain silent. But she started to noticably shake upon hearing the woman speak. Using nearby auras to guide her, she sits down as far away as she could get from the woman, as if this would somehow save her. Any confidence she had earlier was gone.

The stress of the situation was definitely weighing down on Grey. While he was used to an enviorment like this (Was he? Or was his mind starting to finally crack after all these years?) Nevertheless, he was definetly feeling nervous. His shoulders tensed and he clenched his fists, trying not to panick. Grey had never had anxiety, or any kind of panick, Red made sure of that. But maybe today was finally that day. But as Grey nosed at his jaw, he felt himself relax before he knew what was happening. Some part of him took immense comfort in this simple act, and he smiled a little, though only half-heartedly. But then, another memory sparked, and his eyes widened. San. This was San. He knew San. The memories were slowly flooding back, putting puzzle peices where there hadn't been any before. Though the faces were still blurry, and the voices muffled, he could see himself. See Erin. See San, clearer than ever. Tears sprang to his eyes as he let out a choked, "I..remember," then furiously blinked back tears before anyone could see. Maybe that wasn't the whole truth. Maybe he couldn't remember anything. But that had given him new hope. He tentatively reached up with a hand to scratch San's ears. "I remember you," he whispered.

---

The gentle blunted nails digging into the skin right behind his ears was familiar and he leaned into the touch. It drew out pleased flicks from a lazy tail as he basked in the attention before Grey's words finally hit him. Hastily, a rasping tongue darted out to lave at Grey's cheek and lick away any hypothetical tears than hadn't fallen just yet as San huddled close making sure to give the other all the comfort he needed. Oh how he wished that he was standing on two legs, dying to just gather Grey up within his arms and hug all the tension out of the other, wrapping his hands in his own padded ones as he rubbed in praise and assurance as he had once done before. Instead, tired paws kneaded into his shoulder and if San could speak, he would undoubtedly be worrying and fretting, begging for Grey to not cry and smile instead. Yes, he was overjoyed that the other remembered him but he was more concerned with Grey crying. Crying meant pain and sadness so San was in full Mama mode, fussing over his charge. Sure he was only three years older but Grey was still his child, no matter how old he got. No one was safe from San's penchant for adopting any strays that so much as breathed within his vicinity

---

xxxx

─────────╴─╴─╴─ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐍 ❝𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍❞╶─╶─╶─╶────── ─
𝙵𝙻𝙲-𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟷/𝟢𝟢𝟫𝟪𝟧𝟥𝟥𝟨𝟢𝟢
android
allegiance blue
tagging san, grey, andrea, the soldiers
location ???
feeling wary, apathetic, curious
wc; 509
──────────────────╴─╴─╴─╴╶─╶─╶─╶─────────────── ─

Stepping into the underground catacombs, Erin took a sweep of the area, and sighed to herself. It wasn't fear she felt but a general sense of apathy, or just a sense of being proven right. The android had already formulated several theories as to where they were headed after being sedated. Her observations served the purpose of either proving her right, or wrong through inductive reasoning. Predicting the ahead events could be quite interesting in the moment, but it only served to bore her once the moment came. In the end, it was almost like she was waiting for these things to happen. There were downsides to not being caught by surprise.

Still keeping a tight pressure on the shallow cut on her shoulder, even though it was only a slight trickle of thirium 310, she followed her guides without an ounce of complaint. She knew what was going to happen, so there was no real reason to give these soldiers a hard time. Their hateful sneers were only met with a neutral look devoid of emotion. Erin did not feel shame or loathing for her body, this android side of herself. It was simply what she was. Her thought process' overall simplicity made dealing with life easier.

I think therefore I am.

Thank Descartes.

The android nearly staggered when someone shoved her, her hands more or less occupied by the now more than awake San. She flashed the soldier a darkly irritated look that faded when she collected herself again. Go inside. Cold brown eyes raked over him in a scathing glare before it faded into a slight frown and she went inside. Seating herself down, the android focused on optical observation; the conversations around the room made it pointless to focus on any one thing. Blood, cold walls, cell doors. Fine. Her hypothesis was valid in that case, all conditions satisfied. She scowled, but the question of experimentation suddenly sparked a question within herself.

What more did these people wish to learn about androids?

What more was there to learn about herself and this mechanical body? Science was about careful and calculated learning through process and experimentation. The latter was unpleasant, yes, but not the former. Erin did always like learning. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the sweet and feminine voice that called out to her in saccharin tones, or the harsher maniacal one in the front.

“Come on, sit down.”
Her eyes flashed with distaste when she gazed at the Red spy, who would've likely met her demise already had this been any other circumstance. A rough shove came from behind, and she was more or less forced to stagger into the seat, nearly crashing to the floor. San wriggled from her hands, but she hardly noticed as she spun around. A vicious glare automatically found Andrea's eyes, a clear indication to leave her alone before raking over the room. The female merely beamed, undoubtably pleased by this turn of events.

Erin's LED flashed yellow briefly before turning blue.

Andrea clicked her tongue as she smiled at Erin “Awww, don’t be like that. We’re bestiesssssssss” she drawls out, the last letter a hiss as her irises narrow for a second and she fixes her gaze on Erin. “Behave yourself. You wouldn’t want this to…..slip, would you?” She take out something that resembles a USB disk, so only Erin can see it. “I’ll be watching your behaviour, so you better watch out. Otherwise….well let’s just say life wont be so pleasant anymore, got that, princess?” She quickly moves the disk out of Erin’s reach, smiling sweetly, before blinking doe eyes at her as if nothing had happened. She taps gently on Erin’s metallic shoulder, whispering a sort of lullaby as she strokes San. She then turns fully to face Erin, staring at her with a wide grin on her face, tying her own hair into plaits. Her gaze at first glance was kind and cheery, but upon closer scrutiny would be identified as something not so friendly. Every time Erin did something that didn’t please her, she was click her tongue and wave the USB disk as a warning.

---

*Grimm would follow the others, she didn’t know where they were headed. She just hoped to stick with her new found comrades.*

---

Dantier was surprised by the amount of people who chose to sit in the back, like him. Well, the reason was obvious, but it scared him that everyone else felt similar to him. He heard a quiet and somewhat raspy voice beside him, causing him to jump and his heart to beat quicker. He took a deep breath and looked at the person next to him, the only one in the area who could've been the one talking, and gave her a confused and partially angry look. "Jesus christ..." he said in a hushed tone, examining her. She didn't look familiar at all, but the state her body was in was. She was extremely thin and her eyes were dark, blank, and sunken in, and her voice sounded like it had broken from the thousands of screams she cried out, not a single one reaching the eas of someone who would help. "Sorry... Dantier, was it?" He looked at her with suspicion and confusion covering his face, how did she know his name? Before he could say anything about it, she spoke up once again. "Oh, right, you guys are quite famous around these parts, we already know quite a bit about you. I'm Ledia by the way, pleasure to meet you..." That last sentence was said with a heavy amount of sarcasm, like she also carried the hatred everyone else seemed to have, but somehow that didn't seem to be the case. Dantier only noticed a few seconds after she finished talking that she had held her hand out for him to shake, and he did. Her hands were cold, and he could've sworn that his hand sunk deeper into her skin than it was supposed to, almost like she wasn't tangible. He was still quite wary of her, considering how weird the conversation already was, but he decided to just roll with it. There wouldn't be a way out anyways, so why should he care about the outcome? He sighed and pulled his hand away, looking down solemnly at the floor. All of a sudden, his battered collar was grabbed by those ghostly hands and pulled closer, catching him completely off guard. He was too terrified to move, especially after realizing that he was making eye contact with the woman at the front of the room, who gave him a deadly stare that seemed to cut through his skin. "Don't die, got that? Whatever you do, make sure they don't kill you, ok?" The voice chilled his spine, and the cold air coming from the ghostly girl, hitting his ear like ice was unsettling. He slowly looked over at her with his eyes wide, only to be met with her mouth forming the words "Final Hope." He was finally free from her stare when she had turned her head to face the woman covered in black, in which he immediately let his head drop to face the floor. Final hope? What the hell did that mean? Did it mean they coud somehow escape, all because he specifically came here? No... That couldn't be right... Why him? He was by far the most unimpressive and weakest of the bunch, why would he be the one? Of course, all of that could've definitely mean something else, but he had a sinking feeling that it didn't. He turned his head to face her one again, but the sound of the voice he had heard only minutes ago echoed in his ears as the lights dimmed.

"Oh please, stop your yapping! Don't you know of a thing called respect? You're not allowed to communicate while you are in this room, am I correct?" All at once, the ones who were already in this room before them begun to speak in the same robotic tone, including Ledia. "Yes, Madam." They all seemed to have a pained expression, appearing as though they were speaking against their will. The room became silent as the realization hopefully hit everyone else in this room, the realization that this woman was in full control, and there was nothing they could do. "Wonderful! Anyways, let's get onto the part everyone wants to know.... Why are you here, and what is going to happen to you, correct?"

---

"A billion stars in the sky, little boy." The most soothing voice echoed in his head, awoken from a long slumber. The voice was from a female and was sweet. Chip didn't know how to react to this voice echoing feebly in his mind, forever occupying the space. Until that forever segment ended and his brain flooded with thoughts, thoughts he couldn't harness. He couldn't grab ahold of them and shake them, screaming "What are you?" No. He wanted to scream "Why are you?" He hadn't yet wanted to be reminded of the past this soon, he'd rather have it be flashed before his eyes in his seemingly inevitable death. Chip didn't remember if he had a good past life or a bad one. But most likely bad, as all of the people here. They've been tortured, beaten, experimented on, and probably had trauma. Not probably, they definitely had trauma.

Chip kinda desperately wanted to know why they were there. His hands began to twitch.

---

"Yes ma'am!" Aster shouts, completely ignoring the order to remain silent. "I'm sure we're here to take a vacation from all the fighting right? How nice of you!" Aster gushes. He sits in silent for a second, then gasps. "Oh wait- sorry, forgot I wasn't supposed to talk!" Aster's eyes widen in mock fear. "Oh no, I spoke again! How silly of me! I'm-" he was quickly interrupted by a nearby guard kicking him in the stomach, knocking the breath out of Aster. He hunches down, coughing and struggling to breathe. Any sarcastic remark was drowned out by his coughing. He didn't really care though. With his face mostly covered by some loose strands of hair and his face lowered to the ground, he couldn't help but smile to himself in secret. He noticed a good handful of people were terrified. He hoped his dry humor and boldness would give them at least a little bit of strength.
...
What an idiot Bree thinks to herself with a small smile. It was nice to see that at least one person here had some fight left in them. She attempts to wrap her arms around herself, trying to both appear smaller and comfort herself, only to remember that her hands were still tied. She sighs to herself and lowers her head in defeat. She already had a good feeling on what was about to come and it certainly wouldn't be a 'vacation.'

xxxx

─────────╴─╴─╴─ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐍 ❝𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍❞╶─╶─╶─╶────── ─
𝙵𝙻𝙲-𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟷/𝟢𝟢𝟫𝟪𝟧𝟥𝟥𝟨𝟢𝟢
android
allegiance blue
tagging andrea, the soldiers
location ???
feeling angry, shocked, resentful
wc; 642 words
──────────────────╴─╴─╴─╴╶─╶─╶─╶─────────────── ─
There was no denying that this woman was indeed a very veritable temptress. Erin wasn't one to deny that, even if she had never drawn in by that sort of thing. Lustrous black fell in waves to frame a face marked with nymphlike grace and proportions. But her beauty was a cold and terrible thing to behold, and the android found it was hard to enjoy it without seeing the rot beneath. Something terrible lurked there, and she was in no rush to find out what it was. Even if she had her guesses. Andrea was probably as bad as any of the other scientists.

Awww, don’t be like that. We’re besties." And the last syllable was drawn out with an astute venom, irises contracting in an almost serpentine manner. Erin's hackles immediately raised at the condescending tone from a woman whom she had just barely met a few minutes ago. How did she presume she was suddenly the one in charge. At the same time, however, her android programming was beginning to spark, drawing a web between the woman before her.
"Best friends? Oh come on, that's silly." Erin replied, deliberately leaving out the slang. Her voice was scathing and coated with frost, "You don't just become 'best friends' after you've met someone for twenty minutes. I don't see why you're bothering either." If we were on the battlefield, I would've killed you by now. She hadn't realized that it came out so condescending, but looking in hindsight, she didn't feel like taking it back either. A little later, she realized that maybe a little less anger would've been better. It was not wise to show all of her emotions at once, or to reveal what subjects seemed to interest her most. Why does this bother her so much anyway? And why me? Unless Andrea's sudden interest was merely a ruse to get under her skin, it seemed ultimately pointless.

But when Andrea drew out of her pocket a small USB, waving it around like a prize. Though initially confused, Erin made to turn away, but in the seconds when she had been staring at it, her vision soon identified it's contents, drawing red lines across her vision. Shock hit her like a blow to the face, thoughts soon bombarding her brain. How did she get that? It was supposed to be guarded. Files on her memory, the core fibers of her life from all those years before. Perhaps even things about her android side that even Erin didn't know about. The shock soon morphed into a great resentment, and she dug her hands into the bottom of her chair until her knuckles were white. Wouldn't it be good if it was destroyed?

... watching your behavior ... watch out. ….well lets just say life wont be so pleasant anymore ...princess? The voice switched back to dulcet tones, calm as a mirror's surface. An unnerving sense of triumph oozed from her voice, invading the space between them. A great sense of injustice was quick to take root, fiery and tenacious even as she tried to force it down. She had encountered condecension from humans before. But it was never so overt; at that last word, Erin found that she could no longer keep her silence.
"I'll ask you respectfully." She replied as neutrally as she could, stifling the instinct to bite down on every word. "To only call me Erin. Or FLC-2001. I don't respond to such...acronyms." Remembering the disk, however, she added hastily if not begrudgingly, "But like, whatever. Do what you want." Getting into a cat fight was, as the expression a dead end. All she got in return was a teasing wave of the USB disk and a stroke on the shoulder. The android inadvertently squirmed under the touch, being quite unused to affectionate physical contact. Turning away, Andrea turned her attention to San, leaving the android with the noise of her thoughts. The android found herself avoiding eye contact more and more, discomfort roused every time.

When the loud voice came from the front, the woman calling them out for talking, she was relieved, and she murmured, "Yes madam." These humans were tactless like animals, their understanding of her android traits far less comprehensive than Andrea's sinister curiosity. Their contrl was fragile. Plotting an escape, it seemed, would not be so difficult.

“Twenty minutes? Really? I’d say I’d known you for much longer then just twenty miserable minutes. But don’t you remember? Ah wait. Of course you don’t.” She smiles sweetly. “We-lll, since you said it so nicely, Erin, I’ll just call you that from now on.” She gripped the chair, swinging her legs, making sure to hit Erin’s, all the whole innocently smiling. Lips unmoving, she hissed out “I know more about you then anyone will ever know. Whatever you did in the past, I know it all. Don’t. You. Dare. Cross. Me. Otherwise my hand might just slip…and who knows? All those dirty, honest truths will come pouring out, then everyone will know about you.” Cold legs found even colder metal of the android, and Andrea purposely nudged it, gently yet oh-so-obviously, a warning for Erin, to not use that tone again.

---

The glare. All he saw when he looked at her was a glare, either directed at him, or at someone else. Strangely, even though her eyes were clearly ot looking at him specifically, he could feel, and almost see said eyes pointing right at him. This woman was getting into his head, wasn't she? She hadn't even done anything terrifying compared to what he had seen, yet the fear and hopelessness he felt was unlike anything he had experienced before. He took a deep breath and got quiet, keeping his eyes ahead of him but never making contact with anyone. Talking. He heard talking, a familiar voice to his left. No, wait, two familiar voices. He looked over to see Andrea and Erin, both of which seemed to be having a... pleasant conversation. "Silence." A firm voice once again flied through the room, sending yet another chill down his spine. The order was clearly directed at Erin and Andrea, which was unfortunate because he knew very well that they most likely wouldn't listen. Regardless if they did or not though, she continued. "I'm going to be blunt with you, especially since you already have the answer I was oh so generously going to give. I have gathered everyone here today to study you, whether you like it or not. It will be painful, yes, but in the end I assure you it will be worth it." Oh what a stupid lie, one so stupid it looked like she was trying to make it seem like one.

Dantier sighed and let his head drop, his hair covering his blank face. Ledia, of course, took notice and leaned down to try and meet his eyes, but was unsuccessful. "You know what that means, don't you... Well, I expected that considering... nevermind, I'm sorry." Dantier ignored pretty much everything she said, considering how pointless it was to say that. He couldn't stop thinking about how the rest of his life- no, everyone's lives- were going to play out from here on out. Everyone he knew and caed about was going to be forced to endure hell, one far worse than everything fom before, even when their bodies were at their limit. That made him wonder... How did everyone still have the will to live? He had lost his long ago, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it, but them? They still fought to stay alive, but for what? What did they have to live for? Thoughts like these began to swarm his brain, making it almost impossible to hold back a tear that was desperately trying to form in his eye. He only managed to hold back more because something else got his attention, the sight of someone that wasn't familiar to him. It was someone with a load of tattoos all over their skin, but had the same lack of joy that everyone else in this room had. He barely knew the guy, not even knowing his name, but he knew that he vaguely remembered seeing him back on the aircraft, a time that seemed like so long ago. He scoffed quietly as he watched the poor guy get beaten up for 'acting out' or whatever, almost letting out a chuckle at the hilarity of it all if he weren't interrupted by the lady once again. "You're terribly late, and unbelievably annoying too... I just hope you know how cruel the consequences can be, Aster" She practically spat out his name, like he was the scum of the earth, which only made Dantier's fear turn into hatred and annoyance. She was practically a strict teacher, and this was her classroom. The image of him being back in school of all places made a grin appear on his face, but just like every other time, it was soon wiped away.

With a snap of her fingers, the masked men came walking down the lanes between the rows of seats, heading straight for Andrea and Erin. "Let's begin, shall we? And because you two were a lovely pair of chatterboxes, you get to be our first volunteer, how exciting! Now, everyone else, follow me." The men grabbed both of them and carried them off, The woman following close behind. A strange feeling suddenly washed over Dantier, like he had gotten drunk, as well as separate from his body. He felt incredibly sick, and he couldn't even control his own body as it stood up and moved towards the one he assumed was causing this.

---

Andrea was being led to a intricate, very high tech looking chamber where she was stripped of anything other than her clothes. Well…the disc was jammed under her skin so they couldn’t see it nor retrieve it. The thing was— Andrea. Wasn’t. Scared. Not at all. She had experienced pain, and the one thing she learnt was that pain made her stronger, made her better. Actually scratch that— she experienced something others called pain. Unless it was really brink of death painful, she couldn’t feel it. Numb. That’s basically how she felt. Hollow, empty, emotionless, painless…perhaps that was what made her such a good manipulator. She is roughly shoved onto a bed, and they begin hooking her up to many different machines. The blood they extracted was pitch black, and the more they extracted, the more her eyes glowed black. They asked her various questions, and burned her when she refused to answer. She ripped apart the chain holding her to the table, holding her arm in mock pain. “Oww…..owww it hurts, it hurtsssss please I’m begging you just stop.” The woman grinned, taking out a pair of pliers and ripping a fingernail off. She clutched that finger, tears dripping down her face, eyes red as blood. She cries out loud, evidently making the woman pleased at her pain. After about an hour of that, burning and shouting of questions, she was covered in several burn marks that somehow weren’t that severe. She sits up, grinning. “Was that good? Eh? I learnt it in acting school. Oh wait I didn’t have an acting school, it’s just natural talent. What do you think, more or less emotion? Huh? Huh? What do you think? Any good?” The woman is furious upon hearing this, and throws her roughly onto a metal chair, with chains so tight she could barely move a muscle. The woman tried skinning her, using a rusty carrot peeler to peel off the skin. Andrea screams in laughter, insanity laced through each laugh, growing higher and higher as her hair grows blacker, eyes hollow, fingernails sharpened. She rises in the air, ripping the chair from the floor, pain and happiness one the same together. She explodes into a mass of black, chaos magic, shutting off all electricity for a mere two seconds, before collapsing, laughing gaily as she coughed up blood…once..twice, then all was still. The woman seemed shocked, and went over to examine her, stabbing her with a knife— no response. She gingerly opens an eyelid, and Andrea leaps up, screaming “BOO” he hands swiftly slashing under their armpit. The woman smirked. “Bad choi— what did you do to me?” The woman asks, horrified, as blood pours out. “Learnt it in 4th grade or something. The brachial artery. It is the major blood vessel supplying blood to your upper arm, elbow, forearm and hand. It starts in your upper arm, just below your shoulder, and runs down through the crease in front of your elbow. It separates into several branches along its route. This artery is deep, but severing it will result in unconsciousness in as little as 15 seconds, and death in as little as 90 seconds. Didn’t you know? Buh-bye, nighty night.

Andrea was bleeding in various places, bruised, burned, cut and worse. She was in a very bad condition, but happy. The pain was exhilarating, and that was all she could feel. She grinned, a cynical laughter ripping through the hallways, so loud and so high pitched it broke glass. The laughter rang out through the corridors, eerie, creepy, joyful and crazy, before she collapsed for real this time, half smoke half girl.

---

Annoying? Aster wanted to challenge this bold claim. But he was still going through a coughing fit and had to remain silent. Without moving a muscle he side eyes Andrea and Erin upon hearing the boss lady call them out. No! Don't take them! That's unfair! They did nothing wrong! He clenches his teeth and raises a head up, this time wanting to fight her for real. But his body wasn't cooperating with him. Rather than stand up and try to fight the boss lady until a guard eventually overwhelms him, he is forced to walk away from her!

He felt an urge to spit out insults as we walked out of the room after Dantier, but whoever was controlling him smartly forced his mouth shut. How insulting... Aster grumbles to himself. For now, he would worry about the larger group. He knew Andrea could handle herself and Erin looked capable enough. Realizing he has control over his eye movements- most likely so they could still look around in terror- Aster surveys the people around him, realizing a smaller girl was walking next to him. He remembered her outburst on the plane and recalled her name to be Bree. Even under this spell she seemed to be visually shaking. Aster would've given anything to have the opportunity to comfort her, but he was unable to break out of this spell. He would just have to bear with it for now. No use stressing over matters you can't control.

Chip didn't pay attention at all, that was until they started walking. He wasn't used to others taking over his body, nobody here probably was. He was behind most of the group, and didn't even try to resist because he knew pain and torture would go down for those who resisted. Some of his hair fell in his eyes and he tried to take his hands back from this power, but then he stopped. He would just have to deal with it for now.

---

Red eyes widened and suddenly a blur of black attached itself to the nearest masked person, sharp teeth digging into any available flesh. The snarling cat splashed the drab scenery with red, one tail whipping up to blind one of the men to try and drag him down. It worked for a heart stopping second, the shift of weight having his own muscles bunching. As he prepared to leap, a firm hand grabbed the cat by the scruff, yanking him off his victim . Of course he immediately attempted to claw the offender, spitting as he fought his way to Erin and Andrea's side but his body wouldn't listen to him and he was instead hauled away like an unruly stray. A firm hand dug into his neck, as he attempted to writhe in frustration a low hiss rattled right next to his mangled ear. "Keep struggling and you'll watch us as we play with your friends." Came the threat and almost immediately San went slack, looking mournful and furious at the same time

He couldn't bare to watch what was going on, each theatrical scream wrenching open a new wound in San's fragile heart. He almost wanted to look away, the metal chair sparking an unpleasant curl in his stomach, but he was also utterly transfixed by the scene. There was something beautiful in the haze of black and splatter of red, an artistry behind the gruesome destruction and death that had long since been a daily part of his life.

---

─────────╴─╴─╴─ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐍 ❝𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍❞╶─╶─╶─╶────── ─
𝙵𝙻𝙲-𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟷/𝟢𝟢𝟫𝟪𝟧𝟥𝟥𝟨𝟢𝟢

android
allegiance blue
tagging andrea, the soldiers
location underground laboratory
feeling annoyed, indignant, stoic
wc;
──────────────────╴─╴─╴─╴╶─╶─╶─╶─────────────── ─
"...you said it so nicely, ... call you that ... now on."
Violence begets violence. Erin's blank mask of apathy briefly wavered as malice pervaded Andrea's normally impermeable mask, a clear sign that her words were hitting their mark. Though she was not known for being defiant or unruly, the android did have a certain penchant for getting under her opponent's skin. She reflected that this was a habit better befitting HRN-2005, even if he had departed long ago. A human name dangled just outside of her reach. In the space between responses, Erin pulled up her memory archives, and threw in several key-words. Andrea's words, honeyed but vicious, sank into the background as she pulled up a rough search.

1. Lysander
2. Andrea Lethonia Kingsley
3. HRN-2005

1. Vocal patterns
2. Battle
3. Memories

A few minutes later, Erin realized sheepishly that her query was too vague, however, she was surprised nonetheless when all that came up was memories on the battle that had taken place barely one hour ago. Her thoughts became disjointed. That's...that's exactly what I said. Twenty minutes. The battle...How do I not remember? Erin was aware that her memory could be considered unreliable at best, but it bothered her nonetheless that she was missing vital details in the meantime. That moment of silence was all Andrea needed, and cold brown optics soon met gleeful gold which hid such knowledge. Knowledge of Erin's darkest secrets, her very identity. This time, the deep pit of unease was harder to swallow around.

"twenty minutes? ... much longer than..."
The android scoffed coldly, surprised that she was even humoring this stupid idea. "Yes, just twenty miserable minutes, that's it." The android retorted firmly, reassured by the ice in her voice. If Andrea was trying to get in the android's head, well, she wasn't making good headway. "Besides even if—."

... don’t you remember? ... wait... of course you don’t
Erin scowled at the interruption, striving to finish her train of thought before she could forget it. The saccharine beam alight in her eyes, coupled by the unwavering smile was unnerving, to say the least. Either this was a practiced gesture, or Andrea was truly amused by Erin's irritation. A sharp flash of aggression pooled over her features, making her eyes flash dangerously. The last thing she wanted was to give satisfaction to a Red spy, even if right now there was no true difference. "What I was going to say, before I was interrupted, even if I remember you, I don't consider it to be very—." But the red spy had done enough waiting. With surprising vigor, she twisted around to look Erin directly in the eye, knocking the android on the shins with swift rebuke. The android stifled the urge to kick her on instinct, the contact automatically perceived as hostile. I don't take orders from you.

... than anyone will ever know. ... you did in the past, i know it all. don’t. you. dare. cross. me. my hand might just slip…who knows? ... dirty, honest truths ... then everyone will know about you.
Erin stifled the urge to roll her eyes. Oh, as if you know the half it. Andrea's condescending tone and smile drew shivers of discomfort up her spine, making her feel more annoyed than frightened. Her shoulders squared, a prideful glare in her eyes as Andrea swung around, tapping Erin's metallic leg as a warning. The android held her gaze for a few moments before retracting it. They were breaking the rules already by talking. As far as the android was concerned, this battle was over. And another one was just beginning. A careful mask of apathy befell her face, draining her visage of emotions as the women started speaking again. Curiously, the woman's voice did not give her as much of a headache as Andrea's did. But nonetheless, it made her tense up. A surprised start ran through her body when she heard her voice named along with her companion — for something so simple as talking — 

Grey's face hardened as he stood up, following the group. "Preety sick tutorial, if you ask me," he muttered, earning himself a crack on the back of the head from one of the guards, which caused him to shut up, evreything swimming in front of his eyes as he fought to regain focus. As he kept going, evreything seemed awfully familiar. He hadn't been through something like this in Red. This feeling of familiarity was something far deeper. He worked his jaw, eyes narrowing. No matter how familiar this felt, it was still sick and horrible.

---

Dantier watched in horror as everything went on, his eyes glued to the scene in front of him, some strange force making him unable to tear his gaze away from the screen that separated him and Andrea. He suspected it was a one way screen, meaning Andrea or anyone else inside couldn't see the group, while of course, him and everyone else could. The screams she gave out were painful, ringing in his ears and ripping through the air, causing loose objects to shake and weak glass to break. Unsurprisingly, nothing that was being used to contain whoever was unlucky enough to end up in these rooms was broken, they probably prepared for something like this. All of it was still quite frightening, especially the moments when a concerning amount of blood was being spilt. Wait... blood? Dantier looked closer as his eyes began to focus again, allowing him to see what was going on. Andrea... She had a knife? Didn't they strip her of everything she had? And... She used that knife to stab the woman? A glimmer of hope started to rush through his body, the sight of her corpse laying on the floor next to the hopefully alive Andrea was unimaginable. Was it that easy? Were they all free? The drugs had worn off by now, judging from what just happened, and these masked men didn't seem to be much of a problem to handle. Could they just... Walk out of here?

His hope was soon shattered when he realized that he still couldn't move, and neither could anyone else. All of their eyes were positioned right in front of them, watching Andrea as well. Wait... Why? Why couldn't they move? She was dead, wasn't she? The woman doing this to them, she was dead, right? Andrea killed her... right...? "Interesting... Thank you for that wonderful demonstration Andrea. Oh, I see... Anyways, let us resume our testing." That voice... That voice was perfectly healthy, a voice that seemed unbothered by what had took place. The voice was right behind him, but he couldn't turn to face it, instead he was forced to watch as the body right next to Andrea's faded away and instead took the form of a body that belonged to a masked man. What...? "Don't... Don't give me that bullcrap you monster!" The growl in Dantier's throat was deep, his teeth practically grinding against each other as he spoke. "She killed you! You're supposed to be dead! You can't just evade death like that! What the hell did you even do?!" He wanted to get up and get in her face so badly, but the hold on his body was too strong and he was still unable to move. "Yes, I suppose that is true... But you see, that man took my place, and now he's dead. Simple, correct? Now, quit your yammering and enjoy the show." Show? Was that really all this was to her? A stupid show? He wanted to yell at her, send thousands of curses her way, but he couldn't. It seemed as though his mouth was clamped shut, only increasing his rage. He knew that at this point it was hopeless to even try anything, but he couldn't help but to think that there was.

His hopes were now crushed, a world of pain was ahead of them, and none of them could do anything about it. At least back in the lab they could attack their captors, and they did quite often, but here? Good luck even having control of your own mind. All he could do was sit in silence as he watched the man on the floor be pulled away in a body bag, and Andea be dragged away on a cart, which seemed to go towards another room further back. He could only hope that her wounds were being taken care of and that she was given time to recover, but in this hell hole it didn't seem likely. The room was then swiftly cleaned and the extra men in the room returned to their positions. "Now, for our next guest... Erin! Would you please step into the room for me, dearie?" God her voice and language was so annoying. She was obviously trying to sound oblivious and sweet, but the amount of excitement and cruelty in her voice made her efforts worthless. Dantier would've rolled his eyes and told her to shut up, but of course, he couldn't.

---

“Where am I?” Rey slid in and out of consciousness, vaguely aware of the various tubes and needles attached to him. It didn’t hurt, but it seemed to be making him feel weak and dizzy all over. What was it injecting him with? With blurry vision, he squinted at one of the tubes. It was bright red. The tube wasn’t bring stuff into his body, it was taking things out. Blood. Normally, at the rate in which the blood was leaving, it would be no concern of his. But why was he feeling this way? He felt a scratch on the side of his cheek, probably a minor injury when he was (probably) dragged into the room. But minor injuries like that healed quickly. But this time, it didn’t heal.

Everything was silent, and Reyna was nowhere to be heard. Was she the source of his healing powers? “Reyna, you there?” Thought Rey. Normally, a rather rude and arrogant voice would answer inside his mind. But this time, there was none. He couldn’t heal. At the rate this was going, he would be drained. He would die.

Concentrate. Go back. Focus. You have to get to Reyna. Rey closed his eyes, imagining the marble palace he had always seen whenever he met Reyna. Images flooded his mind. Tubes. Blood, all of them so similar, yet undoubtedly not his memories. This was Reyna’s, who had been in one of the same positions as he did. Who was she? Go deeper. Fetch more info. Probing more into his mind, more and more pictures emerged. Then, all shattered. He fell back into the abyss like he always had, and back to the marble palace.

His real body was still chained up. He had to find Reyna, and fast.

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