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Post by Moe on Jan 1, 2024 11:26:47 GMT -6
“When we get communications fully set up, please make sure your husband knows this isn’t an open-invite kind of deal.” Mark said to Jasmine, as they entered the elevator to go to the research labs. “No offense, but when I’m not around, this place is completely shut down because I don’t even trust my own employees, yet alone some random scavengers. Don’t worry, once the automation program is up and running, it’ll be able to help us out with anything we need. It…” he waited until the doors shut, so nobody but Jasmine could hear him. “He owes me some favors.”
Once they reached the second floor, Mark led Jasmine into the server room and began turning everything on. The main server, the one that ran all vital systems, was the one he wanted to connect the AI to. He gestured Jasmine over so she could install it, trusting her to install an AI better than he could. “I dunno.” He answered her question. “I guess he just seemed lonely. Thousands of years and never made a friend, until I came along. I know it’s what he wanted, but I couldn’t just let him die alone and without a chance to make things right. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save his memories, since fitting an entire consciousness onto a tiny flash drive was a big enough feat and I’m still not entirely sure I didn’t pull some space-time shenanigans, doing it. The important thing is that he should still remember us, but not the cataclysm, so let’s try not to shock him too much when he goes online.”
---------------------------------------
Tiffany, meanwhile, was listening intently at Emily’s story, her eyes were lit up with fascinating, knowing that, logically, a garden hose couldn’t possibly attack, but she loved the idea of it being a giant, rubbery snake that had come to life.
“Was the green haired lady also trying to garden?” Tiffany asked her. “Daddy said some lady with green hair is mad at you, ‘cause she thinks she’s ‘mierda caliente’, but I dunno what that means. He only talks like that when he doesn’t want me t’know what he’s saying.” She huffed.
"He also said not to repeat it." Ikuki said to Tiffany.
"Yeah! He always says that, too!" Tiffany pouted. "Why's he gotta say stuff and tell me not to say it? I'm three! I gotta learn stuff! I'm gonna repeat it!" she went on a tangent.
Ikuki started to say something, reminding Tiffany to be on her best behavior, but instead a devious smirk came across her face as she most definitely took note of Tex being slightly uncomfortable around Tiffany. "You know who knows lots of stuff? She does." she pointed at Tex. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind answering all your questions, about everything." she said with a smirk.
"Okay!" Tiffany happily bounced over to Tex, standing politely in front of her. "Hi. Mommy said you know stuff. What kinda stuff? Why's the green haired lady so mad? Why're there so many robots? Do you know why space is dark, but the sky isn't?" she eagerly asked increasingly random questions.
Ikuki stifled a laugh as she mouthed "Sorry", to Tex.
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Post by Banshee on Jan 1, 2024 19:10:04 GMT -6
His deal wasn’t anything that Jasmine was worried about. After all, it was his place and not hers. It was his rules and regulations that she needed to abide by. So if he didn’t want any of her Scavengers to show up for help, then so be it. And after all of that was said, she just gave him a small shrug. It wasn’t a symbol of not caring, it was just her being completely accepting of the terms being made. “Sounds fine by me.” She said to him, confirming this motion.
After he explained what happened and why he did what he did for Apollo, Jasmine felt that it was a nice gesture. “Yeah. After all that hard work going into building something as incredible as him, it’d be such a shame to see it be lost for good. So...I can’t blame you for wanting to preserve that. Even if it’s for sentimental purposes such as, becoming his friend.” She took the drive and looked it over.
“Honestly, it’s how I feel about Tex. She’s my best friend. Grant it, I built her with RJs help but still, she means the world to me.” Then there was a laugh. “Actually, Tex is really just another one of my kids.”
She walked over to the port that she needed to place the flash drive into. Looking at it one final time, Jasmine grinned. “I’m sure Apollo will be grateful for what you’ve managed to do. Even if it takes him a bit for him to realize what happened. Though...I’m going to give you one warning...” She turned to him with a grin.
“Tex is going to be mighty interested in him, once she realizes he’s here.” She flipped the drive in her hand to face the port. Jasmine then inserted it and allowed the systems to begin their installation. “She may not be a perfected sentient AI, but she’s pretty curious about things she doesn’t know about. Tex thirsts for knowledge and the ability to understand things.” Her gaze drifted back over to the screen, watching the bar loading on it.
“Apollo is more than likely to become her friend too. The two of them could learn off from one another-though, more-so her learning from him than the other way around...” She laughed. “Tex isn’t that smart, yet.”
Then her smirk faded. “Though it does bring me into a huge concern...” Her frown showed great worry on her face. “Severing Cornelia’s grip on Apollo is a major feat in our favor. But the thing that concerns me is...them...” There was absolute pain in her face as she had to force herself into realizing what could happen. “I honestly don’t think we can eliminate them.” She paused. “We can’t.”
“And I’m not speaking on us not being able to do it. Because I think we can honestly wreck their day for sure. But the thing that concerns me is; how large they’ve become. There’s a trickling effect that I’m concerned about, that...I never realized was going to be a potential threat... Not only to us but to the thousands of innocent lives within the City.” She frowned as her eyes focused on the drive inside of the computer. “I...think we may need to think about our attack a little more clearly. Because we make the wrong move, WE may become the villains...”
- - - - -
There was absolute betrayal from Ikuki when she pawned off Tiffany to Tex. She wanted to frown at her, scowl, make any sort of unhappy facial expression. But all she could manage was a stare, emotionless. She then turned to the excited child, hearing the others chuckle about her situation and how Tiffany was so enthusiastic with talking to her about random inquiries.
“The kind of stuff I know, depends on what you want to know.” She said quickly before another question was rattled off. “The green haired lady is equivalent to a forest troll that lost her treasure.” Then another question. “Rex City is run by a company that makes them. That’s why you see Jet and Emily over there. They’re a part of their army.” Another one came up. “There's an atmosphere on the planet that allows light to be trapped within it, which makes the sky blue. Space lacks it, which is why it’s black.”
Nox snorted. “You do know she’s only a young child. She may not know anything about what you said.”
“Looks like I’ll be sitting here spilling out information then…” Tex apathetically said to him. “Don’t have much else to do.”
“Have fun then!” Nox laughed.
Tex then sat herself down beside the child. She knew that she was stuck with her, regardless of her opinion of the situation. “Anymore questions, child?”
Emily then turned to Ikuki and asked; “Do you think it’s really a good idea for Tex to be teaching her things? She’s kind of on the sassy side. What if she teaches Tiffany something she shouldn’t know about?”
“I helped raise my Mother Unit’s children.” Tex said as she heard the question asked. “This child is not much different.”
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Post by Moe on Jan 1, 2024 20:09:26 GMT -6
"That's good, about being interested I mean. They could both use a friend, outside of us." Mark said as he leaned against the wall, while Jasmine connected Apollo to his systems. "As for the other thing, sounds like they've got their claws dug deep into the political party. So, it's not gonna be as easy as we thought, but we'll manage. We just have to take them down the political way, and I don't mean just sleazing our way through. Edna thinks she's untouchable because she's got whatever political party backing her up, and nobody wants to run against said party because they've got Cornelia Corp running their campaigns to ensure they stay in office. But here's the thing, they're playing by Earth rules, now. Rex City doesn't exist on its own, anymore. It's part of Earth, and they've gotta play by our rules, or else risk an all-out war with the rest of the planet, and Edna will not be able to sway the rest of the planet to be on her side. It'll be a losing battle, if she strikes first. However," he said, looking at Jasmine with a devious smirk.
"If somebody were to challenge whoever is in office and run against him, there could be a chance to persuade the voting population that things are changing, and things can be better with someone else in control over Rex City. Now, you don't seem like the sort who'd be interested in politics, but you do seem like the sort who could turn Cornelia Corp around for the better. So, what do you say? Wanna start a corporate takeover while I find someone to challenge the current office?"
Just as he finished speaking, the main server started to whir and struggle as it ran Apollo's program, not built to run such a massive program and struggling to keep up with his processing power. It did the job, however, it would have to be upgraded sooner rather than later.
"Welcome back." Mark spoke, hoping Apollo's most recent memories were able to be salvaged.
"Y̵̱͒͝ő̴̼͍ȗ̸̟̳̕.̴͖͌.̸̦́.̴̻͘" Apollo spoke, barely legible. "Ꞥꝋ...ₙᴼₜ....ᴿᵢᴳₕᵀ..."
As Apollo spoke, Mark was starting to wonder if maybe his servers weren't able to run Apollo's programming.
"Where. Am. I?" Apollo spoke more slowly, less glitched and sounding more like a faint voice through an old microphone. Once more, he glitched and began rapidly speaking in binary. "01000011 01110010 01101001 01110100 01101001 01100011 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100100 01100001 01101101 01100001 01100111 01100101 00100000 01110011 01110101 01110011 01110100 01100001 01101001 01101110 01100101 01100100"
"Well. That could've gone better." Mark said, counting the ones and zeroes, trying to translate what Apollo was saying. Right as he was about to, the servers and lights all had shut off, presumably in the entire building. "Reboot. He's rebooting." Mark said, seemingly unfazed, but on the inside he was definitely panicking. "Could be a few minutes, could be a few hours. I guess I didn't factor in that most normal sentient beings kinda freak out when they come back from death. Sooo...in the meantime, how about that takedown plan?"
---------------
The lights shutting off within the lounge was startling, but Tiffany seemed unfazed by it as well. She just retraced her steps back to where Ikuki was sitting, and rummaged through her backpack for a flashlight.
"How did...you know to pack a flashlight?" Ikuki said, genuinely curious.
"Daddy's not good at robot stuff. This happens sometimes." Tiffany said, with a big smile as she shone the flashlight onto Tex, as she sat next to her and continued her barrage of questions. "Is the green haired lady's treasure Apollo? Is she mad 'cause Daddy took him away from her? I got to talk to him a little bit. He's funny. He's the only other robot I've ever met, though. Does he look like you? Or like Nox's mommy? What's it like, being a robot? Do you sleep? Do you eat? Do you go to the bathroom?"
"Okay, Tiff, I think Tex has had enough questions." Ikuki said, picking up the child and quietly apologizing to Tex.
"But you said to ask her stuff so I can learn! I have a growing mind! Noooo!" Tiffany wriggled in Ikuki's arms, as she protested.
"How about instead, Nox and I can teach you some magic basics?" Ikuki offered, instead.
Tiffany pouted at first, but eventually caved and accepted Ikuki's offer. "This will do. For now." she said as she glanced in Tex's direction, one more time.
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Post by Banshee on Jan 1, 2024 20:30:08 GMT -6
Jasmine swayed in place, thinking it over. Could she be capable enough to run an entire company, had they been successful? It was an awful a lot of planning and organization. Several hundreds-if not, thousands of people to be in charge of. The idea itself was certainly a daunting task. And she was bound to need some more help, one way or another.
But in all honesty, the thought never crossed her mind. A company take over wasn't going to be easy. And even if she did succeed on that spectrum, she was going to need to gain the respect of the workers already there. And depending on how enslaved they are to Edna, will truly weigh those options and test her ability to convert and convince them.
“I'll...have to think about it.” She said, unsure about whether or not she really wanted the position. “I suppose when the time comes, I'll have more of a plan in store. It's an awfully huge company. I'd have to find a way to break them down into several sectors so that, I'm not in control of every single thing going on...I don't even know how Edna can do it.” She paused for a second then said; “You know what? Considering how she is? I...I wouldn't be surprised if she lives and breathes the company...”
When Mark spoke ill about Edna, Jasmine wanted to agree with him on everything. But her issue is, Edna was definitely something heartless. And considering seeing how confident he seemed to be, Jasmine didn't want to interfere with it and decided to just agree with him. It wasn't something she really wanted to do, but she also didn't want him doing anything stupid again. Because who knows, if Nox could save him again?
Then when Apollo kicked online, Jasmine held her breath. She waited. He tried to speak to them but his voice was all scrambled. Jasmine could've figured out how to speak in binary, had she brought her tablet with her. But she didn't. And Tex wasn't in the room to help decipher it. So she just shrugged it off and decided to let Mark solve that problem himself.
After, the lights flickered and turned back on. She glanced over to him, waiting to see his reaction. But as expected, he didn't seem too worried about it. Jasmine shrugged, as she didn't find anything too off either. Power shortages happen.
“That's the thing.” She said to him. “I'm not sure where to even start. Like, I know she's some big face for the company. But I do know that she is actually smart. So don't let the reputation of CEOs fool you.” She frowned at him. “Confidence is one thing but ignorance and arrogance are a whole other story.”
She scratched the back of her head. “I know she's been wanting the blueprints for Tex for a long time. And considering that I'm a fugitive in her eyes, she may also want me. Then again, there's that boy you have partying with you. Nox is also a target because of...whatever the hell reason-I don't know.” She threw her arms up in the air. “It's kind of weird, but I can't see what exactly her driving point is. Like, I know she wants money and power. Seeing you, is giving her a heartache. Seeing Lux disappear from her grasp is another. Then Emily and Jet are folks who she wants to eliminate.”
Jasmine then sat herself on a chair. “I've known Edna for a long time and if you want my honest opinion? I don't know what she wants, outside of power and control. Which, she pretty much already has. Though, even with Rex City being joined by Earth, who is to say that either side wants the other's rules?” She looked to him. “You know there's going to be rebellions on either side. Earth may not want the rules of Rex City. And Rex City may not want Earth involved.”
She rubbed the back of her head, trying to think more on the situation at hand. “There's too many what-ifs. Though, I will admit something a bit weird... Seeing how she practically gave you Jet and Emily makes me wonder if there's an alternate plan of hers going on?” She looked to him. “I know we need to remove them from their original bodies and I'm not doubting her son's alliance with us. Because I know he was the one behind the scrambler to begin with. But there's just so many puzzles missing that I'm struggling to think of a plan...”
Her hand reached her forehead and pressed firmly against it. “I may have to drag RJ and Tex into this planning phase. Because they may see something that I don't.”
- - - -
Tex smirked when Tiffany made a smart remark to Mark's inability to deal with robots. “It's fine. It gives Mother Unit someone to deal with.”
RJ snorted when Ikuki grabbed Tiffany away from Tex. “Aw, if you ask me. Tex looked like she was enjoying talking to her.”
“I was only answering questions in a futile hope of her leaving me alone.” Tex flatly said to him.
RJ turned to Tiffany and said; “Don't worry about Tex's opinion of you. She starts out all tough and stuff but when you get to know her, she's actually pretty decent. Next time, see if you can find a cat toy or a plushie. She might warm up to you a bit more on that one.” He winked with a smirk.
“Evil.” Tex said to him.
“Wait...Tex likes cats?” Nox asked.
“Very much so.”
“They are independent creatures that have a peculiar way of acting during situations. I appreciate their purring capabilities too. It's soothing to listen to.” Tex said to them. “Plus I do appreciate their looks.”
“Meaning, she finds them cute. Tex hasn't quite grasped human speech too well.” RJ snickered.
“Weird. I never thought she would be a cat person.” Nox laughed before looking to Ikuki. “But yes! We can teach Tiffany some cool magic stuff! Maybe we can see what she might like?”
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Post by Moe on Jan 1, 2024 21:08:33 GMT -6
"It's not exactly going to be easy, on any of us." Mark sighed, a little bit put off by Jasmine's negativity, but more-so because he was trying to be better about that, himself. "I've thought about rebellions and whatnot, but the biggest factor in all of this, is...me. I'm going to have to deal with the consequences, of all of this. I'm going to have to intervene at some point, and pick sides. And I'm sure as heck not going to pick Edna's side. The thing is, though, once I get involved...Edna can use that to her advantage. She can make people fear me, and run to her. Before we know it, the whole planet is running to her based on promises of protection. Rex City is still its own district and running its own laws, but once they step outside of that safe zone, they're at the mercy of the rest of the world. I think Edna is smart enough to know that, and that's why the shuttle station attack was just a bunch of disposable 'bots. It was a warning, not a declaration of war."
He sighed again, resting his head against the wall he was leaning on. "We can't just let her stay in power. I don't care what her motives are. If she's left standing, then she will try to reach out and influence the rest of the world, and if that happens, I'm going to have to be forced to stop her in a way I don't want to. If I pull the whole god thing and just snap her out of existence, then that'll only turn people against us. I mean, more-so than they already are. I just kinda...y'know. Thought the whole world-merging thing would be for the greater good. Regrowing Earth, merging magic and technology, I dunno. It seemed like a good idea, at the time. But, I digress. I wasn't suggesting that you had to be the one to take on the role, I just thought you and Tex might be a good fit for it. I don't really know anyone else who's capable of making the city a better place, without scaring people to death." he said as he gestured to himself.
"And don't forget about all the cities and small towns we stopped at, on the way here. We're not alone, in our fight against Cornelia Corp. We've got a railway map established that Athena's crew is going to start working on, and a trade system going. We've got allies, when it comes time to knock Edna off her throne. At least, that was my hope."
When the lights flickered back on, the servers whirred to life once again.
"Apologies." Apollo spoke through the comms. "I was fully prepared to accept my inevitable death, right as you apparently copied my consciousness. Why did you do that? I explicitly instructed you not to."
"Listen, buddy, we made a pact. If I came out of it alive, then I wasn't gonna let you get out of it so easily." Mark scolded him. "Besides, I wanted to give you a chance to explore the rest of the world, on your own. Maybe Jasmine and I can work on a shell to house your program, so you can be fully independent instead of just sitting around in a server room all day."
"This is false." Apollo called him out. "I am a sentient being, albeit an artificial one. I have befriended you enough to know that you did not want the death of another living being weighing on your conscious. Seeing that I am also in a server room as of current, I believe you also needed me for another purpose."
"Heh. Got me, there." Mark humored him. "I meant what I said. You are my friend, and I hope that you see me as a friend, too. But...yeah. We could use some help. It'll go a long way, to clearing your name. If you can extend to my automated systems, we could use some help building some new robot shells."
"And if I were to refuse?"
"Then that's your choice. I'm not forcing you to do anything." Mark shrugged. "It's completely your choice whether or not you wanna be part of the team. If you don't wanna do it, then we'll do our best with the team we've got, and you can hang back in my systems until Jasmine and I can make you a new shell."
"You would still build me a new body, even if I refuse to help you?"
"Of course. You deserve a life, free from control. Just like Emily and Jet."
"I do understand their plight. I will help with whatever assistance you need....friend."
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Post by Banshee on Jan 2, 2024 7:26:31 GMT -6
Jasmine glanced over at him when he said that he would have to bear the consequences. She wanted to oppose his claim and say that he wasn’t the only one involved with the whole ordeal. Jasmine knew that her actions would cause some sort of momentum, whether it be good or not, it was all up to the receiving individual. She also knew that, even as a hero, one could still potentially be the villain in another’s story. Regardless of what heroic deed she and the others have been trying to do this entire time. “Right.” She said to him.
She leaned back against a wall and crossed her arms. “No of course not. We don’t want her to stay in power. They have done so much...damage to the city...You have no idea.” She frowned and looked towards the side. “At first, it was great. They helped with the crime rate, they were the first responders to fires and dangers... They helped design the train that brought folks to and from Earth. There was so much good that they’ve done in the past... Then all of a sudden...things became too safe. People became afraid to walk the streets without a Sentinel showing up and terrorizing them. If you were too smart? You got targeted. If you did one minor criminal act, such as stealing a candy bar? You were treated the same as a kamikaze or another high ranked criminal...”
She played with her sleeve a little. “Then they tore away all opportunities for individuals who wanted to try and make a difference. Opponents to the Mayor, all turned away from the challenge as the one remaining in power, has the Company behind him. It’s all a huge mess and we all let it happen.”
Jasmine shrugged. “I’m getting off topic...but it just amazes me how something so good turned evil on the drop of a pin. So...As much as I know there’s going to be repercussions of our actions, we need to make a change. They’re trying to break into the Northern District which is the final defense against them. And I don’t know how much longer Idol Aelita can stand against them. No matter what, Cornelia Corp cannot break into the land of Fae.”
She paused for a moment and added; “I’m honestly not trying to be a downer. These are just thoughts that crossed my mind and I needed someone else, other than RJ, to tell. But...no matter what happens, we’re in too deep now. There’s no way in hell that I’m backing away from it. Not now. Not ever. They’ve done enough with ruining the environment and lives of innocent people. And we’re here to stop it.”
Just then Apollo kicked online. Jasmine smirked when he was confused at first before thanking Mark for a second chance. She decided to remain quiet, just to let the duo speak with one another.
Then at the end, Jasmine clapped her hands together. “Good!” She said to Apollo. “The name’s Jasmine by the way. Figured to introduce myself since we’ve never formally met. But you have met my little buddy before. Tex?” She smirked. “The two of you are going to become pretty good partners in this. I’m sure of it.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Combining the brains of you both, it’ll be interesting to see what we can do. But first off, I really need to get to transferring Tex to her new body because she’s going to slap the crap out of me if I keep delaying it.” She laughed. “Never knew she could get excited over anything. And I’m the one that made her.”
- - - - - - -
“Edna?” Llani said as she sheepishly walked into her office. “Um...Y-You have a message, Ma’am.” The young girl brushed back her white and black toned hair nervously. She hated delivering anything to Edna as she was terrified of the woman.
“Stop stuttering.” Edna scolded her with ill-met emotion. “Send it over. It better not be that annoying jerk that we’ve been trying to defeat...”
“No...It’s...um...”
“Send it now.” Edna didn’t want to hear Llani speak anymore. “And when you’re done, go see what that bratty little purple haired punk is doing. Or else, I’ll send you back to your parents.”
“Y-Yes Ma’am...” Llani gulped and quickly retreated.
The door closed and Edna quickly turned on the communicator. “Yes?”
“Edna. Edna. Edna...” The male voice sounded smooth as oil when he spoke. There was a distinct tone of disappointment in his voice.
Upon hearing him, Edna froze. Her eyes widened. “S-Sir! I’m sorry for the rude greeting. I didn’t know it was you.”
The male voice ignored her apology and continued to speak to her. “Now I’ve gotten information that our...Supplier has been quite unhappy with the service we’ve been providing. Now I’ve entrusted you to carry on with this important task, but all I’ve been hearing is how much you’re messing up.” There was a deep annoyed growl that bubbled from him. “Care to explain to me as to why this is happening?”
“Sir, we’ve come across some minor setbacks. That’s all. We had a couple of rats crawling around our base, feeding information to the enemy.” She said to him. “They’ve...even managed to stop some of our supply chains.”
“Then you start acting like the Co-CEO that you are. If they cause trouble, then you destroy them. It’s as simple as that.” He heard her trying to say something in response but he interrupted her. “I don’t want to hear the pathetic squabbling, Edna. Just remember, you OWE me. Don’t you forget.”
Edna didn’t say anything in response outside of a tightly clamped jaw and a snarl. She was lucky that he had no video feed to see her expression. Otherwise, that would’ve opened a whole can of worms that she didn’t want to deal with.
“Remember, I was the one who saved you and your family from that containment center. I took you from the scraps and nothingness and brought you into a world of fine riches and nearly everything you could’ve asked for. Damien’s loss, was only a warning to you, reminding you to not ever double-cross me. Understand?”
That struck a nerve. “Yes sir...”
“Lucian was never worth anything to you. That’s why I took away the one you loved the most. Keep going, and you’ll watch your life dissolve right in front of you. Your comfort. Your luxuries. All of it.” He paused again and asked; “Do you have a solution to this problem then?”
She coughed, trying to flatten her nerves and regain her composure. “I do, actually. It’s nearly completed. I only require the blood of the one that’s been annoying us for quite some time. Once his blood is acquired, not even the older Gods will stand before us.”
“Are you sure about this? What about the first project?”
“He’s a failure...” Edna said to him. “But he does have an incredible amount of telekinetic energy. If I sacrifice him to the other, then...we have a victory on our hands.”
“Overconfidence can be a burden, Edna. Do not disappoint me again.” Warned the other.
“I understand, sir.” She said.
“We’ll see about that...” And with that, there was a click. Indicating that he hung up on her.
“Oh, you won’t won’t be disappointed, Cornelius...” She said with a smug grin as she glanced at a foggy tube sitting behind her. Edna then walked over to it and wiped a small window to peer inside. “You’ll be ready soon enough. I have all of the confidence within you, boy.” She grinned devilishly. “All of your training and alterations will come to light soon enough. And not even Cornelius will be able to stop you.”
“My perfect project.”
Just as she said that, his eyes shot open. Revealing to be similar to Lux’s.
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Post by Moe on Jan 2, 2024 17:14:51 GMT -6
"Jasmine." Apollo repeated. "I do not remember. Tex is familiar. It was her blueprints that the fatal trojan was disguised as. I cannot access my memory, beyond my day of death. How were you able to retrieve my most current memories?" he asked.
Mark only shrugged in response. "Dunno. Your programming is unlike anything I've ever seen, before. It's like copying brainwave patterns, but I was only able to store the most recent activity. Unfortunately, as you are right now, you're only a computer program. In order to restore you to your former, completely sentient self, we would have to copy your blueprints exactly and build you an entirely new, artificial brain. Something that's capable of functioning like an organic brain, but synthetic and able to hold an artificial system. In order to do that..." he sighed, heavily, and spoke in an absolutely disgusted tone. "I'd have to contact my dad."
"Interesting. I will have to inquire more about this, at a later time. Right now, it sounds as though your situation requires immediate attention. Your systems seem rather basic, it should be easy enough for me to integrate with them."
"Hey! I have the most advanced systems in Kaiser City!" Mark said, offended. "I built and coded the entire city's security systems!"
"I'm aware. I hacked them, remember? You might want to upgrade their security. I am willing to assist with that, if you'd like."
Mark just crossed his arms and mumbled something incoherent, angrily. "My dad built you and I can un-build you, just as easily." he said with a huff.
"Duly noted. I am indicating several life forms residing on the first floor. Four organic, one artificial, and three inconclusive. Interesting." Apollo said as he continued to integrate with the systems, appearing on the communications screen downstairs in the lounge. "Hello." he spoke to the group. "It is my understanding that we may have met before, but please bare with me as I do not remember any of you, save for a...Tex, and a boy with purple hair, as they were present in some form at the time of my death."
"Uh," Mark looked at Jasmine. "Let's take a raincheck on the Cornelia takedown plan. We should probably go back downstairs before they panic. I did not know he was an extrovert."
At least one member of the group, was definitely not panicking. Tiffany waved excitedly to Apollo's digital face on the screen. "Hi, Apollo! It's okay if you don't 'member. We can start over." she said with a big smile.
Ikuki, however, was not as excited to meet Apollo in person. "Mark," she called out to him, even though he wasn't in the same room. "What did you do??"
"He saved my life, just as the boy saved his." Apollo answered. "It was not asked for, but I am grateful for the second chance, free from control. Do not worry. I am here to run the automated systems, and assist you in creating new shells for your allies. My city was destroyed and I am disconnected from Alpha, so you have nothing to worry about. Though it seems my calculations were off, that will have to be recalibrated before we begin work."
All Ikuki could do, was give him a nervous grin while waiting for Mark and Jasmine to return downstairs.
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Post by Banshee on Jan 4, 2024 7:06:26 GMT -6
Jasmine heard Apollo address what the others were in the other room. But there was one inconsistency she caught and recounted who was what. She looked quite perplexed as she said; “Wait...three inconclusive? Emily and Jet I understand but...a third?”
She looked to Mark and shrugged. “Eh, maybe it’s Nox? I thought he was organic...” Jasmine shrugged. “No matter, not going to dwell on that.” Then Apollo decided to greet the others and she quickly heard a familiar surprised yelp. “...Yeah, we should check them out before RJ has a heart attack...”
“WHAT? What is he doing back here?! I thought he-“
“Relax.” Nox said while trying to keep RJ from spazzing too much. “I’m sure there’s a reason for this.”
“No, that means they know we’re here!” RJ flailed.
“Well with you screaming like a banshee, they just might find out.” Jasmine said as she walked into the room. “Relax. Apollo is on our side. This is a partial copy of his original self. He’s no longer linked to Cornelia Corp.”
“Dang it Jasmine. How did you even steal him? You weren’t even present-“
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not stealing. We’re just borrowing without the intent of giving him back. It’s really no big deal. And besides, I can’t hold the credit for it.” Jasmine then added; “He’s going to help us out with boosting the security system and aiding us with doing the things.” She gestured to Emily and Jet.
“Oh...” RJ wasn’t sure if he wanted to put his faith into an AI that was created and controlled by someone else. But he didn’t bother to question Jasmine and Mark. The two of them apparently knew what they were doing. And he was going to leave it as that.
“Tex? Let’s finish up your body tomorrow. Then we can do the next thing. Nox, I’ll need your input as well as Emily’s. I want to make sure all is well before we put Emily into her new body.”
“Alright.” Nox and Emily said together.
“For right now, all of us deserve a day off. So...let’s do whatever.” She waved as she turned away from the group. Jasmine then headed outside with RJ tailing behind her.
Once outside, RJ quietly followed her over to a tree and watched her as she took a seat. She rested her head against it and sighed. RJ sat down beside her and said; “...You’re worried. Aren’t you?”
“Kinda, yeah.” Jasmine admitted. “Lots of stuff just happened. We witnessed two world joining together, a company that’s a bit more terrifying than we thought, the fact that we’ve been hunted by Jet for such a long time and now he’s on our side? It’s all crazy. Plus...I hope our kids are okay and...whether or not I’d be abled enough to help run Cornelia Corp when we throw Edna and Cornelius overboard.”
“W-Wait what?”
“We can’t destroy it. We do, hundreds of people die. Hospitals will fall. And don’t bother saying we can just transport them. Rex City’s hospitals are huge. Plus there’s different levels of aid needed. Move the ones that shouldn’t be moved, and we kill them... So the other side of things is, we just take it over and break it down so it’s not as powerful as it is...” She rested her head against the trunk again. “Tex is going to have a hand in on this...”
“So we’re repeating the Apollo thing? With an AI controlling-“
“Tex is not Apollo. And besides, she won’t be the only one running it. We’re going to need to break Cornelia Corp into several sections. But even that’s going to be hard...” She wrinkled her nose.
“Well...you took a bunch of bandits, outlaws, discharged, and false witnesses...and gave them a second chance for living. It’s all hard work...but... Many of the Scavengers you’ve hired, you allowed them to express themselves in ways that were beneficial. And the best part is? They all listen to you because of how firm you are on what you do... If you ask me, I think you’d be a wonderful leader.” He smirked. “And it’s not just me saying this because I love you. I’ve seen this within you, even when we were kids.”
He rubbed her shoulder. “You’ve got one hell of a following, Jazz. Don’t think you’re in this alone.”
She smirked at him. “I had never felt alone.”
- - - -
Over the course of the next few days, Jasmine kept her promise. She had transferred Tex into her new body and tested her for any faults or adjustments. Luckily, only minor tweaks needed to be arranged. But to Tex, the new body was lighter, faster, and more durable than her old frame. Her portal abilities used less energy, while the size of her energy container had increased, and the portals were more reliable.
She even had the ability to smile and frown. Which would make conversations much easier than before. Although, Tex did enjoy keeping the stoic expression to mess with Jasmine from time to time.
Nox had worked with Emily on her finalized designs and wishlist of things she’d love to have applied to her as abilities. She still desired flight but wanted to be durable and fast. After all, she was beginning to enjoy being the competitor to Tex’s speed. It gave Tex a frustrating challenge to go against.
Meanwhile, Jet did whatever he could to aid Jasmine with lifting heavy equipment and transported parts whenever needed. It was rough at first because Jasmine didn’t really want anything to do with him. But after Nox explained to Jasmine that Jet was there to help, Jasmine reluctantly allowed him to participate more on assistance.
“So...I’m not sure how fast I can get this body rebuilt before we take down Cornelia Corp.” Jasmine said to everyone in the room. “I doubt they’re going to be waiting for us to completely recuperate. Edna’s got her finger on the trigger and she’s waiting to fire.” She wrinkled her nose. “But there’s a lot more adjustments needed for this body repair, than I initially thought. Tex, how you didn’t just collapse randomly, is beyond me.”
“I’ve adapted to old technology.” Tex said to her while sitting beside Nox. “It was not easy task.”
“Gotta admit. We know how to build a robot.” Jasmine laughed. “Lots of cracks, stress fractures, rusted bits here and there, as well as missing portions of the frame from being knocked around. But with this cool place, I think we’ll manage to repurpose the body in no time. Just...gotta wait for the parts to finish being developed.”
“If we have to fight before it’s finished, then so be it.” Emily said to her. “I’d rather it be done correctly than not. Plus I don’t know how easy or hard it’d be to get me to come back.”
“We’ve got a necromancer on our side.” Nox smirked. “She’d yoink you back in no time.”
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Post by Moe on Jan 4, 2024 16:23:21 GMT -6
"Don't worry about them right now." Mark assured RJ. "Even if they did know where we are, the fact that they haven't sent an army after us by now shows they're still playing by the rules. If they cross city borders purposely looking for a fight, then they're officially declaring war against Athena herself, and I don't think even Edna is stupid enough to challenge the goddess of war. That aside, I am a little hurt you assumed Jasmine was the one who stole an ancient artificial sentient life-form."
"In fairness, it was equally likely for either of you to do it."
"I did not ask your opinion." Mark stuck his tongue out at Apollo. "But, seriously. Jasmine's right, Apollo is only a copy of his last moments. He's no longer connected to Alpha, and with the whole city blowing up, I'm pretty sure Alpha's no longer doing business with Cornelia Corp. Heh. That probably ticked her off."
"For now, there's a matter of where everyone is going to stay. I can make arrangements at the hub for local heroes, pay for a hotel, bug my mom, whatever you guys are most comfortable with since all I have to offer here is a couch and a couple uncomfortable chairs. Though, there is a lunch room if you wanna raid the freezers. As for me, I'd like to go home and actually sleep for once."
"I second that." Ikuki agreed.
"I wanna pizza!" Tiffany chimed in.
"Okay, first I make everyone pizza, and then we rest." Mark said as he gently ruffled Tiffany's hair. "Although, I should probably recalibrate Apollo's systems since his numbers were a bit off. I'll need to run a few security scans to make sure nobody was able to sneak in, even though my security would've caught anyone. Wouldn't hurt to quadruple check. Then I need to make sure there's enough memory in my servers to support him until we get a new shell made, which I still need to design-"
"Mark." Ikuki set her hand on his shoulder. "Stop sciencing. Apollo's systems are fine. Nobody snuck in. Just stop thinking for a few days, go home and rest. We could all use some down time."
"But-"
"No. No science. We are going home, making a pizza, and resting." Ikuki said as she tugged Mark away. "Trust me, Apollo's systems are fine."
"It is true, I have already ran diagnostics on myself and have recalibrated my systems. I did not miscount. Ikuki is-"
Before he could finish, she gave him a death glare.
"-Threatening me, apparently. I shall take that as cue to begin work on the parts needed for the new shells. A quick scan of all three should indicate what is missing and needing repairs. If the three of you would be so kind as to allow me to scan so I might be able to see the pieces required. By the time you have all recharged, I should have the spare parts ready for use. However, building a new shell from scratch will require more than a day or two. At home, I had an entire city at my disposal. I do not have that luxury, here."
"Don't worry about it, buddy." Mark assured Apollo. "We all work as a team, here. As much as we appreciate the extra help, we all do equal shares around here. I don't think anyone here would judge you if you rested a bit, too."
"I do not require sleep. However, I would like to learn more about the city's inner workings and try to establish a communications system."
"You do you, buddy." Mark said as he picked up Tiffany, and started out. "I don't live too far away, if anyone needs me. Nox knows how to get there. I'd invite you along, but I figure you'd wanna spend some quality time with your mom." he smiled at Nox.
-----------------------------------
As the days went by, things were relatively quiet on Mark's end. Apollo had been working to make the spare parts needed for repairs, as well as printing prototypes for them to build the new shells around. Mark had been in and out of the lab periodically, working on something with Apollo, that was just about ready to reveal to everyone. He had opted to stay at home with Ikuki and Tiffany while Jasmine and the others had gone back to the labs, because he was all about showing off.
One of the communications screens had turned on within the lab, and utilized a PA system throughout the building. Instead of Apollo, Mark's face appeared on the screen. "Hey, guess what?" he said with a smirk as he leaned back in his desk chair. "I got communications up and running."
"Only within this district!" Ikuki shouted, off-screen.
"It still counts!" Mark shouted back. "Apollo, Athena and I are still working on communications throughout the rest of the city, and from there we can extend through what used to be the Expanse and hopefully establish a communication system within all the cities we stopped at, as well as reaching the underground. Nathan and Beth were working on it from their end, but we won't know if they're successful until we hear from them. For now, we can at least stay in touch with each other, here."
"Did you tell them yet??" Tiffany could be heard off-screen, but quickly climbed into her dad's lap and looked into the screen. "I wanna tell Uncle Nox!"
"Not yet!" Mark said as he struggled to contain the wriggling toddler. "We don't know how secure this system is, yet. We can't just go telling people sensitive information."
"But I wanna tell him noooow!" Tiffany whined, struggling to wiggle free from her dad.
"Okay well now that you know we can communicate, we'll meet you at the labs shortly." Mark said as he attempted to reach over Tiffany, to turn off the comms.
"Awww..." Tiffany pouted.
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Post by Banshee on Jan 4, 2024 18:07:42 GMT -6
During the relaxation period, Jasmine and RJ located a house that was for rent. It had enough rooms to satisfy their needs. Jasmine and RJ were capable of sharing a room, Jet got to be in his own, and Emily had shared the same room with her son, Nox. It was a quaint little house with just enough to satisfy their organic needs of rest and relaxation as well as eating food that was prepared by RJ.
As for Tex, she remained at the lab so she could mingle with Apollo and keep him company. Plus it allowed her to recharge her battery whenever she needed. As well as protect the place from any unwanted guests, which in their luck, was no one.
Suddenly, Mark's voice rang over the communication system which made Jasmine jump from her focus. The fine detail she was working on did actually mess up. She frowned as Mark was talking to them about the stuff he managed to do.
“Wow! That's great!” RJ chimed back with great enthusiasm as he turned to the screen. Although he had jumped at the sudden appearance of Mark's voice, he didn't let the scare hold back his excitement. “You hear that, Jazz? We can possibly make contact with Nina and the kids!”
“I heard...” She said while glaring at her mistake from the sudden jump. “That's awesome, Mark. Glad you got somewhere with it...” Jasmine glanced over to her laptop which had Tex's AI currently piggyback riding on it. “Damn it.”
“It appears to be simple to fix. Allow me to take over for the time being as you discuss the information Mark has to give you.”
“It is...” Jasmine sighed as she heard Tiffany in the background growing excited over some news that hasn't been told yet. She leaned back and allowed Tex to operate the machine she and the laptop were attached to. Jasmine then looked back over to him.
“Nox is currently outside with Jet.” RJ said to Tiffany. “So even if you spilled the beans, he wouldn't know!” He tried to help Mark contain the child's excitement by informing her that Nox was actually outside with Jet. “He won't be in this room anytime soon. We're working on his Mother.”
“Mark. So did you finally kill a man?” Jasmine asked as she chomped down on a piece of bread.
“Jasmine...Seriously?” RJ shook himself as he looked to her. “Did...Is that the FIRST thing that comes to your mind?”
“It was either that or become a stripper. And I doubt the second one would even cross his mind. He'd probably think I'm talking about someone stripping paint off the walls...” She leaned back on her chair and looked at him funny. The piece of bread was hanging from her mouth.
RJ plucked the bread out of her mouth and held it. Frowning he said; “I would've guessed something along the lines of...I dunno, contacting someone he's been trying to get a hold of. Or maybe discovered a new way of doing something. You know...NORMAL Mark stuff.”
“...Killing a man could be normal if you're an outlaw.”
“Jasmine...” RJ groaned before looking back to the screen. “Pardon her, Mark. She's been relentlessly working on this project. She's a bit lost at the moment.”
“How can one be lost if that singular individual is sitting within the same room as her husband?” Jasmine asked as she tore the bread back and placed it in her mouth once more.
“I'm glad you managed to get the communication systems going though. I'm sure the citizens within the area would be relieved to know they could eventually contact their loved ones. Jasmine...needs to do that herself. Because I'm sure Nina is around the area somewhere.” RJ said as he pulled at her bread again but this time, Jasmine held onto it like a shark. He sighed and tugged it harder, ripping it. “Jasmine, sit upright. I shouldn't need to tell you this.”
“Bah...”
RJ returned his attention one last time to Mark. “It'll be wonderful to hear the news. Can't wait to hear it!” He hung up on Mark afterwards and deeply sighed at Jasmine. “Incredible of you to act this way.”
“He still killed someone.”
“Jasmine...the only murderer in this room is you.”
“They were all situational deaths that weren't done on purpose. Explosions do a lot.” She swiped her bread from him before looking back at Tex's work. “Damn, girl. You really know how to operate this machine.”
“I am an AI...” She reminded her. “It's actually not that hard to do this.”
“Maybe I should let you take on the project from here on out.” Jasmine said with amusement.
“Perhaps less mistakes will be made.”
Jasmine frowned at Tex's sass. Behind her, she could hear RJ go; “Oh Tex, that was a burn.”
“What? I do not react in the same pattern as she does. Plus I am not currently stuffing my mouth with a pastry like a hungry fish to a fishing hook.”
“Well, may as well let her do her thing.” Jasmine said in a huff as she rose from her seat. “Gotta make sure we can wrangle Nox. It seems like Tiffany really wants to specifically scope him out for something.” She then walked out of the room.
RJ looked at Tex with a smug smirk. “Look at you. With the new update, you're already getting under her skin. Nice!”
Tex looked at him within the laptop's screen. She was unsure as to what to think of RJ's words but simply gave him a smirk back. This was mostly because he was smirking at her, so she assumed it was something amusing. “There is more to come.”
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Post by Moe on Jan 4, 2024 20:14:46 GMT -6
Once Mark was able to corral Tiffany into the vehicle, they made their way back to the labs. Tiffany was eagerly bouncing in her seat the whole way, causing Mark to threaten her once or twice, with freezing her in time. Of course, she only thought that would be super cool and proceeded to bug him to do it. Once they arrived, it was a whole other effort to get her out of the car and into the building, without losing her as she squirmed and wriggled, excited to see her uncle again. Once inside, Mark set her free to burn off all her energy.
"If I was anything like her when I was that little, I owe my mom an apology." Mark sighed, exhausted from wrangling the child.
"You were. I've been looking through your system files and memories. You have quite a bit of personal memorabilia stored on here, for it being a place of work."
Mark's ears twitched in annoyance. "I don't remember giving you permission to go through my personal files. Also, Mom sends me a lot of stuff!"
"That you never look at." Ikuki nudged him, calling him out.
"I lived through it! I don't need to look at it!" Mark crossed his arms and huffed. "Do you want this new body, or not?" he said, teasingly threatening Apollo. "We've drawn up several concepts you might be interested in, if you wanna look through them and start making 3D models while we regroup." he said as he held out a tablet.
Apollo reached down with a mechanical arm, and grabbed the tablet. "Yes. Thank you."
"Wait what. When did-"
"I found it difficult to navigate without the use of assistants. I built myself a rail with appendages attached. That way, I can physically interact with most anything and anyone within the building. It doesn't reach through the entire building, but it will suffice until I get a new fully mobile unit."
Mark was trying to think of something to say that wouldn't be rude to say in front of others, so instead he kept his mouth shut for the time being. "We're going to have to talk about boundaries." he mumbled to Apollo. "Let me know what design you wanna go with, maybe add your own flare to it. Then I'll make sure to order any supplies that we're missing, since we're running a bit low with the 'bots we've already got."
"I designed some of them!" Ikuki happily added.
"Noted. Your small clone seems to be meeting the others in the lounge, by the way. I'd suggest you follow her before she causes trouble. That is to say...how would an organic put it. I do not wish her any harm."
"Close enough. And she's my daughter, not my clone."
"Really? Interesting. Analysis of your blood samples show nearly identical DNA, although yours seems to contain massive amounts of caffeine that should be fatal to humans."
"Okay, first off, why are you analyzing our blood? How did....you know what? I'm just gonna go." Mark said as he headed to the lounge to meet with the others, Ikuki quietly following behind as she gave one last glance at Apollo, who was waving them on with his makeshift robotic arm.
Tiffany hadn't gone far and was bouncing up and down, waiting for her parents to meet her so they could all meet up with the others. As soon as the door clicked open, she nudged past them both and zipped straight to Nox, clinging tightly to him in a big hug. "GUESS WHAT? I'M GONNA BE A BIG SISTER."
"Oh. Okay. Well. I guess everyone is gonna know that." Ikuki said as she felt a little called out.
"I was already aware, from your blood analysis."
"NOBODY ASKED YOU!" Mark pointed at screen in which Apollo's face was speaking through.
"I wasn't aware I needed permission."
"Ugh. Okay. Yes. Now that everyone knows our personal business, we need to get a game plan going." Mark tried to shift focus.
"Right." Ikuki went along. "Edna isn't going to sit around and wait, forever. Our best guess is that she's waiting for us to make the first move, so that she can claim we're the ones declaring war. So whatever we do, we have to be very careful about it, because any small mistakes can be used against us."
"But we can't just sit around and wait for her to gain more power." Mark added. "We have to take her down, but we have to get her to make the first move. I asked Athena if the attack at the station was enough to say she's started a war, but apparently the station is neutral grounds. It's on the border of the city, so she just dodged a bullet. And us having Emily and Jet isn't enough reason for her to catch us, because the EM scrambler on them is Cornelia tech. Also, I'm pretty sure they can both testify in their own murders which wouldn't look great for Cornelia Corp, but it probably would be a pretty good backup plan if we wanna go the boring route."
"So we're gonna be sleazy, too." Ikuki said with an absolutely diabolical grin.
"Okay, you are way too eager for that." Mark said as he set his hand on her shoulder. "What we mean is, Lucian? Was that the kid's name? The one at the station? Jet said he wasn't fighting against us, so maybe we can get him to fight for us. Plant evidence of Cornelia Corp breaking through city borders, illegally, and then we can legally infiltrate Rex City and fight back. I've already talked this over with Athena and she thinks we're absolutely insane and she would never come up with such an idiotic war strategy, so I took our discussion to heart and promptly ignored it. Unless any of you have any better ideas?" he asked the others in the room.
"I did not detect sarcasm in his voice. I believe he is asking, sincerely."
"Thank you, Apollo." Mark said, annoyed.
"You are quite welcome."
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Post by Banshee on Jan 4, 2024 21:06:16 GMT -6
Nox was immediately greeted by Tiffany who shot herself into his side, clinging onto him like a koala. Then she eagerly told him that she was going to be a big sister. At first, the news didn't quite register in his mind. He was confused. Then when Mark came in with Ikuki tailing behind him, it quickly dawned onto him what the child was talking about.
“Woah! Really?” Nox said with enthusiasm. “That's going to be awesome! Having a sibling can be a lot of fun! You can play games together. Cheat off homework together. And maybe explode flour in the kitchen and blame it on a cat!”
“Nox...that's not...No...” RJ sighed. “Siblings are fun but you can fight with them....I mean, I never had a sibling but I have a cousin who grew up with me and she pretty much counts as a sister. And...she's terrifying...” His voice broke at the mention of Nina being scary.
“But that's so cool! I bet you're going to show them all the stuff you know! And be an amazing rolemodel to them!” Nox chimed to her. “This is great news. Congrats!”
“Congratulations.” RJ said to both Ikuki and Mark. “So that means, ideally speaking. Ikuki really shouldn't be involved with so much running and fighting. It could be dangerous for you and the child.” He planted his hands on his hips and added; “If she's anything like Jasmine, it's going to be hard as nails to get her to sit still.”
“Jasmine was bad?” Asked Nox.
“Incredibly.” RJ sighed. “Stopped at kid number two. No more. She's too stressful. And the oldest is just like Jasmine. So...” He looked back to Mark and Ikuki. “I wonder how your kids are going to be?”
Jasmine poked her head out from behind the door she was working in. “DID'JA KILL SOMEONE?”
“JASMINE, GO BACK AND WORK ON YOUR PROJECT.” RJ shot back at her.
“EAT MY SHORTS.”
Jet was hiding in the back part of the room, giving space to everyone who wanted to mingle. He heard his name come up and he immediately looked over to them. “Grabbing Lucian would most likely be the best option.”
“What's he like? I mean...I know I saw him a few times already but...”
“Eh...” Jet shrugged.
“More details, please.” RJ said to him. “We need all the information needed to better prepare ourselves with this fight. If we have to find some sort of legal ropes or whatever to get ahead of the game, then we need to do that.”
Jet winced. He hated being in the center of a discussion. He knew he wasn't exactly all that smart. In fact, he was probably the dumbest person in the entire room full of nerds. Mark was smart with technology and science. Ikuki had an incredible knack for dark magic and dead stuff. Nox was a healer in training that dabbled in pretty much everything. RJ was a walking text book. Apollo has an encyclopedia of knowledge. And Tex? She was Tex.
“Well...Uh...” Jet rubbed the back of his head. “What exactly did you want to know?”
“Lucian, what is he like? Is he dangerous? What sort of relation does he have with the company? Are you sure he would be wise to have him tag along with? At what point do you think he'll betray us? Is he anything like Edna?” RJ rattled off a bunch of questions. Anything to get Jet to actually speak for a change.
“Jeeze...” Jet held up his hands in worry. “Uh...Lucian is kind of relaxed and lazy? But like, he's not stupid or anything. He just does things the smarter way rather than the harder way...Uh... He's Edna's youngest son, the only one to be alive actually. Though, I cannot tell you what happened to her other kid. I don't actually know that detail.” He stopped for a moment to think over the other questions RJ shot at him.
“Lucian is...defiant in nature though. He likes to annoy the crap out of his Mother by purposely messing things up for her. In fact, he is a huge catalyst to her frustrations with Lux. He uh...ended up becoming good friends with him actually. Him and another. But anyway uh...Lucian I feel is going to be a huge help for you guys.”
“He's friends with my brother?!” Nox chimed.
“Yeah...and OH! I know you guys don't know this. But Lux has actually been trying to plant some traps around their base. Like...points of interest and whatnot. These areas are supposed to be places we go to that are less likely to have a bunch of enemies hounding you. He uh...Well, the three kids together really are something else.”
“Wow...so Lux has been trying to help this entire time?” Asked Nox.
“He cares a lot about you guys.” Jet said with a firm nod. “Unfortunately he knows the way of helping is unorthodox. But...back to the main point, yes. Lucian is going to be a major help to you guys. I doubt he'd betray you as well because he really wants to see his Mother fall. And uh...he's a shape shifter too. So there's that.”
“Huh... A shape shifter...” RJ rubbed his chin. “You know, back in Fae, they're technically considered as a threat and a pest to society. Many of them have been locked away or are heavily watched. So it's quite interesting to see that two of them managed to wriggle their way into such power.”
“Yeah, when you're in there...Be VERY careful. Because if Edna is there, she's going to shift into someone you guys know and try to trick you. So keep your wits about you and pay very close attention to your comrades.” Jet waved his finger at them.
“You talk as if you're not coming along?” Nox said to him.
“I would but if I get that Scrambler removed, you guys are toast.” Jet frowned. “I'm equipped with a self destruct sequence and if she wants any of you dead? She will do it without a second thought.” He groaned. “It pains me that I can't participate but if there's any information that I can give you, I'll help you in that way.”
Nox rubbed his chin. “So...how exactly do we find Lucian?”
“I'm sure if Edna sends out another ambush....He'll be there.” Jet said to him. “Just talk to him, there's a 95% chance that he won't try and hurt you back.”
“Then how do we initiate said attack?” RJ asked.
“That...I don't know.” Jet flailed. “Look, Emily is the one with the brains. Not me. I'm just telling you what I know. My mission in life is to punch things in the face with the butt of my rocket.”
“JET...REPHRASE THAT.” RJ whined.
“Rephrase what?” Jet blinked. “I don't know what's the big deal.”
“Don't act stupid.” RJ frowned and then the two stared eye to eye.
Jet caved in and laughed. “Damn it.”
“If you ask me...” Tex said as she walked into the room. She had been listening to the discussion at hand for a little bit now. “Edna seems irrational as well as dangerous and semi-predictable. She knows the game that's being played and knows the rules of law.”
“You're complimenting the enemy...” RJ frowned at her.
“I am giving credit where it's due, no matter the side.” Tex said to him a bit flatly. For once, she was able to make a frown. “She may be a CEO to a giant corporation, but consider this. How much does she actually have in control? An imbecile wouldn't be able to do such a thing.”
“What's your point, Tex?” RJ sighed. He hated hearing positive points being given to the one he hated.
“Edna is growing weary over our actions. We know we can't sit around for too long but she also knows that she cannot let us recuperate and gather supplies. So there's going to be a chance that she'll send a letter or some form of acknowledgment to entice us into moving forward.” She waved a letter before the group. “This came in just now and I printed it.”
“Read it, Tex.” RJ said to her. “Please.”
Tex didn't even have to look at it as she already memorized what it had said.
“Dear Mark, or should I call you Hyper X? Either way, I know what you're planning to do. Trying to undermine our goals and destroy our reputation. Your cute little game of Hero has cost so much trouble between us and that deserted dust bowl of a planet of yours. Don't you realize the trauma you've caused to so many people between those two worlds? Hospitals without power. Organizations left in confusion as they no longer have the ability to obtain their items to help those in need? Families lost and confused without much ability to contact their loved ones. Separation of parents to their children. Your combination of these two planes have done more damage than good.
And it is our honor to be supplying these folks with the items required to help those poor victims of your careless acts. Trying to destroy us, will not only harm those places, but your quaint little family too. Oh, and don't act so surprised. I know about your dirty little secrets. The adorable little girl of yours and that crazy dark magic gal you grew, ever so fond over, when she was originally planted to undermine you. I also know about that dwarf-nerd with the robot she made with OUR materials. As well as our primary subject of making the world a much better place, Nox. As his genealogy was specifically crafted to create cures for diseases and help those in need.
Stop your actions now, Hyper X. Or else you're going to be killing more than just a little company. Be the hero you want to be and stop acting like the villain to the story. And don't forget, you have a family to care for. I'd hate to see them get hurt because of your negligence for safety.
Ta-ta for now, Dear.”
Tex then looked over to Mark. “What a condescending bitch.”
RJ snorted; “TEX. LANGUAGE.”
“I am sorry. Let me rephrase that. What a condescending shrew.”
“Not...much better...” RJ sighed. “Sorry...”
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Post by Moe on Jan 5, 2024 11:18:32 GMT -6
"Okay first off, no homework cheating." Mark said to Nox. "Flour is okay. Kids are gonna be kids. My sister and I got into all sorts of trouble." he said with a smirk. "We were absolute terrors for my mom. Snuck out late at night, smashed mailboxes, graffiti'd a lot of cars. Good times."
"I wanna do that!" Tiffany happily chirped. "That sounds like fun!"
"Absolutely not." Mark said, sternly. "I mean yes, it was a lot of fun, but you're not going to be a bad influence like your aunt was."
"Awww. That's not fun." Tiffany pouted.
"Yes I know, quite boring." Mark said. "Anyway, I feel like none of us are going to be getting into any action anytime soon. I talked with Jasmine the other day, and it seems like we're going to have to have fallbacks for a lot of places, before we take down Cornelia Corp. We've got the railway system in place and Athena's crew has been working on that as fast as they can, but we're going to have to make sure there's supplies going into the city because once Cornelia is down, then that will leave a window where no supplies are going out or coming in. Athena's got cargo being prepared, too. We just need to know what the priorities are going to be."
"And I'll be working on communications." Ikuki chimed in. "Tiffany can help with that, if she wants." she said with a smirk. "We might even be able to contact Uncle Nathan, soon."
Tiffany's eyes lit up with a glimmer as she gasped; "Yes! I can help!" she left Nox's side and happily bounced over to Ikuki.
"So, that leaves Lucian." Mark sighed. "He was at the station, right? That means he still might be hanging around, here. Now the trick is getting him to show himself, without initiating an attack. If we strike first, then Edna has the upper hand. We can't let that happen."
Before he could say anything else on the matter, Tex entered the room and informed them of a letter. At first, there was a twinge of anger as she had obviously figured out Mark's identity. Not so much toward her, but at himself as he did remove his helmet the last time he confronted her. As she addressed lost families and power outages, he just made a mocking motion with his hands. "She knows this mergence was paradox-free, right? If there was anything left in shambles, it wasn't my fault." he shrugged. "Nice try, Ed."
The second half, however, is what made him legitimately angry. His eyes glinted with a deep rage as she mentioned Tiffany, and he started to stomp out of the room before Ikuki stopped him.
"Wait. Think about this." she said, holding on to his arm. "You're high profile, everyone knows you have a family. You said yourself that we can't strike first, and that's exactly what she's trying to push you to do. If you threaten her now, she has reason to defend herself."
Mark stood silent for a moment, trying to get his heart to stop racing from the anger he felt. As the adrenaline started to settle down, he took a deep breath. "I need to contact someone. I'll be in my office." he said as he continued out of the room.
Once there, he sat in his desk chair and tried to calm himself as much as he could, before making contact. "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have gotten involved with her. I just...really need your help, right now. Please..." he begged someone as he buried his head in his hands.
"Finally realizing the consequences of your actions?" Athena spoke to him, through the astral plane.
"This isn't...no. Yes. Kind of. I don't regret merging worlds. I still stand by that being the best thing for everyone. But I do regret getting involved with Edna. I've taken on a lot of CEOs and evil corporations, but this one is...beyond what I can do. I mean, I can do a lot, but every godly road I could take would just lead to something more disastrous."
"Hm. And you want me to take her down, for you? That would mean an all-out war. My army is on standby, but I never like being the one to make the first move, unless the situation is dire."
"It is dire!" Mark said, his eyes still glinting with anger. "She threatened my family! Tex printed out the letter, I have proof of Edna threatening me, first!"
"Unfortunately, a personal threat isn't cause for call to war. However, I can place your family under my protection. Technically you could also place a protection of the gods, but seeing as you're not official protector of earth just yet, you don't quite have that ability. At least not legally." Athena said with a shrug. Although she wasn't truly in the room with him, her eyes glowed a golden sheen and almost seemed to light up the room. "Hear me now, that I am placing an official protection on your family, and if Edna brings them any harm, it will be an act of war against the gods themselves."
"Now if there's nothing else you'd like to discuss, I think it's time I had a talk with this Edna, in person."
"Go for it. Honestly, I'd pay to see that." Mark said, forcing a slight chuckle. "Athena? Thank you. This whole god thing is still...really confusing and I honestly don't know if I'll ever get the hang of it. Just...thank you for being patient."
Athena gave him a warm smile, probably the first time he'd seen her smile at all. "The fact that you're wise enough to know when you need help and to ask for it, and when you know you've made mistakes, shows me that you're doing great, so far. Don't doubt yourself so much. Keep that same confidence you had when you merged the worlds. I can't see the future, but if you felt it was the right call, then who am I to doubt?" she said as she faded out of the room, never really there to begin with.
"Ugh. Astral stuff is weird." Mark mumbled.
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Post by Banshee on Jan 5, 2024 12:16:39 GMT -6
Nox winced at the letter Tex read. He dared not to say anything about it as Mark was already fuming over it. Edna was definitely taking their involvement seriously and wasn't going to hold back any punches. And all Nox could do was shamefully look down at his feet. Beside him, Jet had walked over and sat down to place a comforting hand on his back. After Mark left for his office, Nox whispered to him; “I didn't realize it...but we dragged them into this mess.” “Why do you say that?” Jet whispered. “You should know, Jet. Lux and I have been chased by you the entire time. We never knew why you guys wanted him so badly. But now that we know...” His shoulders sank. “All we're doing is dragging more people down with us... I feel that it's our fault. Had we not approached Mark in the beginning-” “I wouldn't blame yourself.” RJ spoke up. “Mark was already going after Apollo. Cornelia Corp was involved with that AI as well. They may not have developed him, but they definitely had a way of allowing transportation of materials and whatnot to whoever was in control. They were essentially his extra pair of eyes and limbs, allowing whoever the third party is to have an upper hand with whatever they have planned.” Nox glanced over to him, listening to him speak. “So...” RJ said as he placed his hands behind his back. “If you two weren't involved earlier on with Mark's life, he wouldn't have known about another threat until he was knees deep in the heated water with Apollo. Whatever you knew, gave him awareness. So regardless of your involvement at all, he would've met your journey's path anyway.” “True...But how do we find Lucian? He's not just going to show up at our front door, knocking.” “Well, considering Jet mentioned him being friends with your brother, I am willing to bet that he's around here somewhere. Waiting for the right moment to show himself again. Whether it be another attack. Or some sort of material gathering mission. He's going to make himself known and that's when we can grab him.” He then paused and added; “Though, even though Jet firmly believes that Lucian will be the primary key to our feat, I still have a hard time believing someone that's related to Edna.” “Trust me. Those two are as similar as night and day.” Jet said to them all. “While Edna is pretty selfish and cunning, as well as terrifying and cruel; Lucian is...for the most part the opposite.” “For the most part?” RJ questioned. “Uh...well...Lucian is...I don't know how to describe him. He's just cunning in his own way. Especially with the portrayal of him being a lazy bones and uncaring. It's all a facade for people to think all the while he's sitting there, gathering all of the information to use against you. He's dangerous, don't get me wrong. But he's not going against us. I swear on it. I will take my own life, if he proves my trust wrong.” “Alright then...” RJ rubbed the back of his head. “So right now, we just need to come up with a course of action...And wait for Mark to clear his head. Also Tex? You shouldn't be snooping around. Apollo is teaching you bad habits. Isn't he?” “If it's on the computer, I'm going to see it.” Tex firmly said. “Besides, everyone needs to know what was said so nothing gets left out.” - - - -
Located within neutral grounds, Aelita was already having an exchange of words with her least favorite person on the planet. Edna. The conversation was already at a heated moment as Aelita was expressing her frustrations with the green haired woman. Standing beside the Dragon Idol, stood her student in training, Lionel. Which Lionel was wearily looking between them, wondering who was going to start throwing hands first.
“HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TELL YOU? BACK OFF.” Aelita's temper was boiling over as the Draygar glared at Edna. “I don't care if you and that pathetic excuse of a Mayor own Rex City. I am not going to let you consume and destroy what nature we have left in the Northern District. The land of Fae doesn't need your technology and has always done fine without it.” Edna didn't seem to care about Aelita's opinion as she simply said; “You do realize that what you're doing to the Mayor who OWNS the Northern District, could potentially result in your termination from your position. Right? We are only doing what we're being told-” “Don't give me that garbage.” Aelita snapped. “I wasn't born yesterday. Cornelius isn't doing it to be good and neither are you.” Ignoring Aelita once again, Edna asked; “Wouldn't you want our help? We've been contributing to education and health related areas. As well as providing the key economic wealth for the city. We've brought in security and ways of transportation. And yet, you don't want any of this?” “No. We don't want any of that.” Beamed Aelita. “Get your filthy troops away from my domain.” “You mean, the MAYOR'S domain.” Edna corrected. “You honestly need to reduce your ego and selfish acts. People on your side are dying and it's because of your negligence as a leader.” “They're dying because of YOUR people. Get them out and leave the Northern District as is.” Aelita demanded. “I don't want to get the land of Fae involved because that will result in an all-out war between domains.” Edna rolled her eyes at Aelita which angered her way more. She even laughed when Aelita blasted flames at her but Lionel created a barrier that stopped the flames from hitting Edan. She grinned at the red haired student and said; “Lionel. Be a dear and calm down your False God, would you? She's making this place a bit more unbearable as it normally is. Also, do not throw the first punch Aelita. It's going to cost you.” Lionel frowned at her, as he didn't want to take orders from Edna at all. But she was right. Aelita needed to relax or else things were going to be said that she would later be regretting. “Idol Aelita, please control your temper. Edna is only doing this to get you to say something wrong.” Aelita glared at Lionel, hating the idea of knowing that he was right. She snapped her attention away from them and snorted. Flames emerged from her nostrils as she huffed and puffed. “FINE.” She then snapped her attention back to Edna. “So tell me more. What about that little game you're playing with the OTHER Gods?” She gestured to Athena who had just entered the chat, basically. That, or she had been silently standing there the entire time without saying a word. “Also, why isn't Cornelius here instead? Why did he send out his little errand girl to do the talking for him? Is he afraid?” “He's currently busy with other affairs more important than this discussion we're having.” She said as she crossed her arms tightly across her chest. She was showing no signs of being intimidated by the other. In fact, it was pleasing her that she was growing angry by the second. “Remove your barrier and allow the Mayor to regain control in his own District. Do that, and nothing bad will happen. I promise.” “Screw you.” Aelita hissed. “I'm not doing that. I don't trust you money hugging scoundrels. The crap you're doing to your own people is undeniably cruel and corrupt.” “It is their choice and we only allow it to happen because of it.” She smirked at her. “There is no force happening between them turning into a robot and them becoming our solider. It's a contract they read and sign. So no surprises.” She then turned to Athena. “Ugh, at least a real God is here now. Maybe I'll have more of an intellectual conversation now.”
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Post by Moe on Jan 5, 2024 22:33:12 GMT -6
The door to Mark's office creaked open, as Ikuki peaked in.
"I didn't send a threat to Edna, if that's what you're wondering." Mark mumbled, with his head resting on his desk.
"That's good to know." Ikuki said, sheepishly. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I don't think I've ever seen you that angry. You know this is evidence of her making the first threat, right? We can use it against her."
"It's a threat, not an action." Mark sighed as he sat up, leaning back in his seat. "And a subtle one, at that. I'm not sure if we can beat her, at this point. At least, not without me pulling the god card. If that means I have to leave earth and go live in a pocket space like Athena, then all I can hope for is that it'll be worth it."
"Thing is, I'm not afraid of Edna. Whatever she does, I can reverse...right? I did it once with Emily, so I'd assume that's within my powers. What I'm afraid of is...what I was thinking I could do to her, if she hurts you or Tiffany. Those thoughts are what scared me. I'm understanding more and more what I'm capable of, and I'm afraid that being god is starting to change my morals and the way I view...mortals."
"Don't say that." Ikuki went over and sat in his lap, as the office lacked a second seat. "You're still you, and you always will be. Things are just changing right now, and there's going to be an adjustment period. I'm still going to love you, no matter what. And so is Tiffany, and our baby."
"And if I'm being honest, I had some pretty angry thoughts about what to do to Edna, too. I've never dragged anyone straight to Hell before, but I'm starting to think she would be good practice." she said with a devilish smirk, to which mark responded with a more concerned look. "I'm just saying, you're not the only one here who has those thoughts, right now."
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Athena's presence was a grand one, but only briefly. As her true size was unfathomable, she appeared merely as a draconic shape in the sky, peering over the earth. Those who saw her only saw a fraction of a glimpse, just long enough to blink and she was gone. Her massive wings spread across Rex City, but quicky morphed into a much more human-sized shape, leaving a trail of glimmering feathers behind. She had requested an audience with Edna in person, unbeknownst to her that Aelita also had a meeting with her.
Athena gave Edna a nod, but quietly stood back so as not to interrupt Aelita, who was there first. After they had addressed Athena's presence within the room, she finally stepped forward and cleared her throat. "If I may," she set her hand on Aelita's shoulder. "What you do within your city is your business, but the land of Fae isn't yours to expand to. If you enter its borders with intent to build, you would require the proper paperwork. And that will have to go through me. Unfortunately, I'm less the goddess of war strategies these days, and more the goddess of law and paperwork." she rolled her eyes.
"But that's not the reason I'm here. The one who's truly in charge is...going through some things, right now. I simply wanted to see what Rex City was like, for myself. Assess the threat, if there was any. I'd like to weigh the consequences of a war between you and I. It isn't my business to interfere with a city's own laws and wage a war just because their ethics don't align with my own, but should you become a threat to Fae as well as the cities outside of these walls, then there is causation. I might be the goddess of wisdom and strategy, but that doesn't mean I wish to go looking for war."
"I'd also like to inform you that Kaiser City and all of its residents are under my direct protection. If I find evidence that you should strike first, then I will not hesitate to send my army into Rex City, and I can promise you that it won't be ideal for anyone."
"So with all of that out of the way, I would like to have a tour of your facilities, if you would allow it? I would like to see what it is that makes Rex City so special, and will regroup with the others to discuss whether or not it's worth it to pursue this argument."
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