Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
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Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Nov 2, 2014 1:07:54 GMT
Lexi and Valerie stood under the enormous oak tree that now stood where the lab had been not twenty-four hours previously and sighed. "I appreciate the thorough disintegration of the building," Valerie started (Lexi could tell there was a 'but' coming) "but it has rather destroyed any evidence of the directions in which the other Experiments disappeared." "You can't tell at all?" Lexi asked without much hope. "If the people stamping around hadn't done it, the plants made sure of it." Valerie said dejectedly, putting her eyes through their paces for perhaps the fifth time in the last hour. "Plants?" "One of the Questers they sent to oversee the closing of the lab has power over plant life." Valerie explained. "How else would this tree have gotten to this precise spot?" "Fair point..." Lexi admitted. "I may be able to track them if I know what I'm looking for." Valerie turned to her, eyes glazed over. "We may have trouble finding One. It appears they began their experimentations on rodents. A mouse, to be precise, with some bat, squirrel and rabbit thrown in for good measure. Thankfully it's rabbit-sized, which should help, however it does appear to have rather impressive wings..." She projected an image of the creature onto the trunk of the tree and Lexi understood immediately. It was a large furry rabbit-shaped thing, with well-sized leathery wings like a bat, a long fluffy grey tail that was clearly squirrel and a very mousey face and whiskers. She was right, they could have problems with this one. "Right..." Lexi said slowly "What about the other two?" Eight was apparently some kind of walking, breathing fish; though it was such a bizarre combination that she couldn't have guessed which fish were in it, nor could she decide what the feet had belonged to. Eleven looked like some kind of terrier-sized insect or arachnid. Valerie explained that it was a combination of scorpion, spider, hornet and the DNA of Simon's cat. Simon was, according to Valerie, one of the scientists, though apparently Six had killed him during the escape. Lexi shook her head, unsure herself whether it had been in despair or disbelief. She eventually decided on both. "Okay, so we have a poisonous cat-sized many-legged crawler, a walking fish that apparently doesn't need water, and a rabbit-sized bat." She surmised, incredulous. Valerie nodded. "Where do you even start with this lot...?" She sighed. "Alright, where's the nearest body of water? That fish thing may still have an instinct to swim upstream or something..." It was a long shot, she knew, but she couldn't think how to find either of the others. Eleven might go looking for somewhere to build a nest, if there was enough hornet in it, or build a web somewhere if it was more spider. It might go to Simon's house, if enough of the man's cat was in it and it had the feline's memories. All she knew about scorpions was that they were often found in the desert. The damn thing could be anywhere! Then there was One, and everything in it hid in a hole of some kind, but what was most dominant? The squirrel and bat would go for somewhere high, while the mouse and rabbit would go for somewhere low. Even worse, if the rabbit was the most dominant of them it would undoubtedly be digging an entire warren somewhere underground. At least Eight was more or less a fish, and therefore probably headed for water. Damn humans always trying to play Gods!
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Nov 4, 2014 2:57:30 GMT
Officially, the portal archives was a section in a room just off the normal archives. Upon arrival, however, Jessica was convinced it was an entire building all of its own within the one room it apparently occupied. She still wasn't used to all the absurd dimensions in the Hub. It just didn't seem possible. Then again, so much of what she had seen since 'joining' the QA was meant to be impossible, according to the laws of science she'd grown up with... Emilie entered a few minutes later, staring up at the towering shelves full of beautiful old yellowing scrolls, bound neatly in blue and yellow ribbon and sealed with wax stamped with the QA crest. "They're gorgeous..." she breathed in wonder. "They're dusty." Jessica noted, coughing. "Nobody uses them now that we have the portals upstairs." The official informed them. He sounded sad, almost heartbroken. "Technology advances and magic becomes obsolete." "How do they work?" Emilie asked, a great curiosity swelling inside her. "Oh, they're quite simple really. You merely read the writing on a scroll aloud and you're at your destination in seconds. The scroll disintegrates upon arrival, but you're where you wanted to be so you don't need the scroll anymore anyway. However, they are extremely limited." "They only go to one place each, and need replacing once used." Jessica guessed. The official nodded. "No wonder the programmable portals made the scrolls obsolete..." Emilie sighed. "It's a shame though, they are beautiful." "For all your youth, Emilie Golding, you're an old soul really, aren't you." The official said with an affectionate smile. Emilie smiled back. "So why are we here?" Jessica asked, trying to bring the conversation back to the point. "We're having significant difficulty pinpointing Meghan." The official admitted. "So we decided-" "-You're not seriously telling us to do what you're thinking, are you?" Emilie asked, a little worried and a little excited at the same time. "I'm afraid so. That's the one thing the scrolls can do that the portals can't." The official replied. "Non-psychic over here. Someone want to fill me in?" Jessica said, confused and irritated. "They want us to use the scrolls to go from world to world looking for Meghan. They're usable from anywhere, while the portals upstairs are only operated from here." Emilie explained. "Which would be twice as many trips and close down the system." Jessica said with understanding. "Precisely." The official nodded. "Doesn't that mean we need to take a scroll of every single destination with us?" Jessica asked, already suspecting the answer. The official nodded again. The three of them looked wearily up at the shelves lining the room from floor to unseen ceiling, each containing thousands of destinations.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Nov 4, 2014 19:41:55 GMT
"There used to be a lot more World-Jumpers, you know." Chiyo said, a far away look in her eyes. "Were there?" Ani asked, genuinely interested. It had occurred to her sometime yesterday that this seemingly young woman with shocking blue hair knew an awful lot about how the QA used to be. If she paid attention, she could learn a fair bit. "Oh yes, many more. I worked with a lot of them, the ones who didn't need scrolls and portals to get around. Most of them could take you along if they wanted to." "What happened?" "Some died, some left after the change in management. Some just disappeared. It's difficult to track them, you see, because they have the whole multiverse to hide in. Management wasn't too happy about it either. Stripped people of the power if they discovered you had it. I reckon they've been breeding it out of the races they tend to get working here." "They can do that?!" Ani couldn't believe it. "Of course they can." Her reflection replied impatiently, motioning for Chiyo to continue. The woman didn't seem fazed in the slightest that a reflection was talking of its own accord. "How long have they been doing it? Can they really breed an ability out of an entire sentient race?" "You'd be surprised what a bit of magic and a little persuasion can do." Chiyo sighed. "They started, as best as I can figure it, a few years before the assassination of a top level Quester. I have it on good authority that the new management at the time orchestrated the whole thing, hired the woman's parents to do it without telling them they were after their own daughter! Many others left because of it, especially when it became clear that the majority of Quester deaths in the previous few years were all world jumpers." She took a moment to collect her thoughts, and Ani and her reflection, who was in fact her sister, waited silently with baited breath. "That was a good few centuries ago though, and the Association lost a lot of truly stunning Questers around that time. Some of them may still be alive somewhere, a couple of them are, I believe, but most of them will have died a long time ago." Ani and her reflected twin sister stood silent in their shock, neither having any idea what to say.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Nov 6, 2014 1:22:06 GMT
Miraculously, the ridiculous walking fish had indeed been heading for water, and had actually been going in the right direction. However, as it was essentially a fish with legs, and fish as a species generally weren't used to having legs, Experiment Eight had very little idea how to use them to get around. When Lexi and Valerie found it only a few miles away, the poor thing was flopping helplessly across the grass. The pair looked pitifully at the creature's desperate struggle to reach water it seemed to no longer need. Lexi shook her head in dismay as she picked the ridiculous thing up by its unused feet and held it at arms length, its bony ankles between her forefinger and thumb. "Any luck working out where the others went?" She asked, staring at the creature in her hand as it wriggled vaguely, potentially trying to escape its present upside-down state. Lexi held it firm, but turned it right-side-up so that it looked as though she were holding the world's most absurd bouquet. Valerie, eyes glazed over, shook her head. "The forest on the edge of the city has the highest probability of finding one or the other, but they may have ignored it in favour of a different direction. They also have a significant head-start." "So basically we have no real idea where they might have gone?" "Correct."
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Nov 7, 2014 2:03:05 GMT
DG and Katara stood in the corridor outside the cell, looking in at the white coats once more. The room was back to normal, not a root or vine to be seen anywhere. The scientists were still mostly huddled together in a corner, however. None were dead, but most were bruised and several were bleeding. "I still don't see why we can't just kill them." Katara growled. "It's not like they don't deserve it." "They don't deserve it." DG said flatly, a cold look in her eyes. "Death would be too easy. No, they deserve far worse. They deserve to live with what they've done. They deserve to spend the rest of their lives persecuted and fearful of what might happen to them." Katara looked at her, surprised and impressed. "You'd make a fine Shadowdancer." She said eventually. She'd meant it as a compliment, but she wasn't sure DG saw it the same way. "What about the other one? The leader." "Oh, I think we should leave him to Lexi." DG replied wickedly. "Emilie can play with this lot when she gets back."
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Nov 12, 2014 2:38:13 GMT
Emilie and Jessica appeared very suddenly in a small explosion of parchment, which disintegrated as soon as they arrived. Jessica fell to her knees almost instantly, and it was all Emilie could do not to throw up. "Why do they never explain the possible side effects?" Jessica groaned, getting shakily to her feet. "Because they know we'd never agree if we knew." Emilie stated once she was certain she wasn't about to be sick. "I hate them sometimes." "Me too. Though, to be fair, he didn't know what would happen..." "Well, that just fills me with confidence." Emilie nodded her agreement with Jessica's well-founded sarcasm. "Where are we?" The woman asked, looking around at the trees in every direction. "I thought we were meant to come out in some kind of field..." "Life goes on, even if we leave it alone," Emilie shrugged "and this lot's had centuries without us." "Doesn't anyone come to this world?" "Of course we do. We just don't use this spot anymore." Jessica considered this for a moment, worry beginning to etch into her face. "Emilie... We're not going to end up appearing in the middle of a tree or something, are we?" She asked hesitantly. Emilie stood still, trying to come up with a way of explaining that she didn't have a clue without panicking her companion. "I don't think so..." she said at last, but her voice wavered and Jessica knew the truth.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Nov 12, 2014 23:36:33 GMT
"So let me get this straight," Ani started, trying to take in everything she'd just been told "HQ had a bunch of their own people assassinated and everyone else scattered?" Chiyo chuckled to herself a little. "That's the gist of it, I suppose." "But how do you know all this?" "What do you mean 'how do I know'? I was there, wasn't I." Ani looked genuinely taken aback, and for once her reflection was the same. "But I thought this all happened centuries ago... How old are you?" "Oh, time is such a relative thing, what with living outside it and working within it. I honestly couldn't tell you my age if I spent all day working it out." Chiyo sighed. "I'm old, though. Believe me when I say I'm old..." "You don't look it." Ani's reflection said, very clearly. "That's magic for you." They stood and watched the creatures through the window in silence for a while. "You said you worked with some of them, the world jumpers I mean..." Ani started "...Who were they? Would I know any of their names?" "I doubt it." The apparently young woman replied sadly, and now that she looked closer Ani could see an old soul behind her young eyes. "They were some of the best though, trust me on that. The best Questers, the best agents, the best friends..." "Your friends were murdered and you're still working for the people who orchestrated it? Why?!" "Fear." Chiyo replied simply. "I'm a coward, and I don't want to die. If I ever leave the Questing Association I know I will." "What, they'll kill you?" Ani asked. "But don't you get sent on some of the most dangerous quests? You always come back, surely you can't be scared of dying after all that?" "The QA's magic is what keeps me alive. This is not my real body." Ani and her reflection-sister gaped. There was definitely a story in this. "Okay, you know you're going to have to explain that, right?" Chiyo smiled a little and nodded. "Once, when I was very young, I played a game on the internet." She began. "It was a virtual reality, an entire world online. One day my friend and I were playing and we found a new portal. It looked different from the usual ones, and we were the only ones there, so we went through it. Turns out it was a QA portal there by mistake. When our avatars came through into the real world our bodies slipped into comas. The QA gave us both a choice that day: go back through the portal into the virtual world and return to our normal lives, or work for them and remain as our avatars. We both chose the latter, and the QA collected our real bodies before too many questions could be asked. Now they keep my body alive, and as long as it's alive and in a coma I can't die as this avatar. But, if I leave, they stop keeping my body alive and it's so old now that magic is the only thing holding it together. It would die, and so too would I." There was silence for a moment as Ani and her sister processed the story. "So... You're not scared of dying on a quest because you know you can't..." Ani said tentatively "...But what happens if you get an injury you should die from?" "Online, it's called 'respawning'. You go back to the last place you saved the game, or the last checkpoint you went through, or the designated safe zone. The same thing applies to me. I disappear there and I respawn in the portal room downstairs, good as new. It gets frustrating, but I prefer it to the alternative." "That's... I..." Ani's reflection seemed to be struggling to find the right words. "I don't believe we've been introduced." Chiyo said to her, changing the subject. "Oh! This is my twin sister, Mirati." Ani said hurriedly. "Pleasure." Chiyo said with a nod. "Just call me Ati, please." Replied the reflection. "Now, I'm willing to bet there's a story to you two as well." Chiyo said with a smile. Ani and Ati exchanged an uneasy glance, not entirely sure how to begin.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Nov 27, 2014 2:40:28 GMT
"How're you doing?" Meghan asked Six, who was looking more and more normal the longer they were together. "Are you okay?" Six nodded its strange head, but there was a noticeable quiver in the movement. It didn't like being in this tiny room at all, and after the cells and restraints at the lab, who could blame it? It had perfectly good reasons for being claustrophobic. Meghan walked the perimeter of the room, running her hand along the walls, but they were all irritatingly solid. If Six hadn't still been facing the wall they'd been pushed through she wouldn't have known it from the others. They were identical, right down to the imperfections in the concrete. If there was a pebble in one wall it would be found in exactly the same place on the other three as well. It felt, to Meghan at least, that the room was merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. But no matter how hard she tried, Meghan couldn't even get her hand back through any of the walls. It was all starting to look worryingly hopeless.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Dec 17, 2014 3:26:49 GMT
"How long will that enhancement last, do you think?" Jessica asked as she and Emilie appeared on the nineteenth world, which seemed to be largely swampland. "Honestly couldn't say, even the Doc didn't know, and he can't hide anything from me." The girl replied. "But you can hear the entire world!" Jessica said, incredulous. "How is your mind not exploding?" "After doing this for the last eighteen worlds, it's gotten much easier." Emilie said, quickly adding "She's not here. Where to next?"
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Dec 17, 2014 3:44:14 GMT
The fish thing was learning about knees, much to Lexi's irritation. She was still holding it up like a bunch of flowers, only now it was working out that its legs could bend, and that meant it kept smacking its head on Lexi's arm or hip or wrist or whatever was closest to it as it swung around helplessly from its bent knees. They had finally found a clue as to the whereabouts of the remaining two Experiments. It appeared that they may have headed for the forest on the edge of the city after all. Or one of them had, at least. Experiment One could fly after all; the odds of finding its tracks on the ground were incredibly slim. However, Experiment Eleven had left a bit of a trail. It clearly had enough spider in it to produce webbing, as some of it had trailed behind and wrapped itself around some thorny roots. Things were finally looking up. Well, except for Experiment Eight, who couldn't help but look down...
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