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Post by Moe on Oct 9, 2023 20:24:26 GMT -6
"Nox," Mark said, trying not to sound too frustrated. He took just a moment so he wouldn't freak himself out. "Listen, I know magic and magical beings exist. Heck, I have dragon heritage. How do you think I got these?" he pointed at his headwings. "I know you're just trying to help, but if I admit those things are real, then I have to admit that gods are real and I'm one of them. And I'm not ready to do that."
"I'm...not going to bs you, Nox. I've struggled with...feelings, way before this." he rubbed at his wrist. There were no scars there, but he's known healers for a long time. "I've done some really stupid things, and I really don't want to go back into that dark place. I've got Tiffany now, and she needs me. So, that's why I would rather just keep telling myself that none of this is real."
What Nox had said, though, did bring a genuine smile to his face. He wanted to continue talking because the truth was, he enjoyed having someone to connect to, and who understood. But he was also scared about his mind wandering off into depression, again. He couldn't afford to let that happen, and tried to occupy his thoughts with building something.
He grabbed a small remote, and clicked on a set of speakers, which started playing heavy metal. "Hope you don't mind my thinking music." he said as he stretched and cracked his knuckles. "Now, let's get to building something awesome."
"I only suggested it as a simple base, since we don't want to go too big, too fast. This is your show, kiddo. You're leading me." he said with a smile, looking over Nox's designs.
----
Meanwhile, Ikuki and Lux were on their way to the park. It was only a short drive, since Mark lived in a well-populated suburb, but it was far enough that it would've taken far too long, to walk.
Nathan was waiting for them close to where the circus was a few days ago, talking with an unknown figure. The closer they got, it was clearly the same robot that had made threats at the circus. Ikuki immediately went into a defensive stance, clutching tightly onto the flower that Mark had given her. Wizards typically use a staff or wand to help direct their spells, but Ikuki didn't have either of those, and held tightly to the only thing she had.
"Whoah whoah," Nathan held his hands up, stopping them. "He's cool, don't shoot! Well, not like, super cool, but he ain't here to hurt us. I think."
"I apologize for hurting your friend. I did not know who he was." the robot said. "I thought he was going to accompany you? Have I been deceived?" he turned to Nathan.
"No! I thought you were gonna ask him to come?" Nathan said to Ikuki.
"He's going through some things." Ikuki said, narrowing her eyes at the robot. "Why do you want to meet him so badly?"
"I am looking for my creator. I believe he knows how to find him." the robot said, flatly.
"Yeeeeah...see, thing is," Nathan said, anxiously. "This dude's like a million years old. I can't explain to him that his creator's long gone."
"I am seventeen hundred years old, give or take." the robot corrected.
"Aren't robots supposed to be exact?" Ikuki said, still not trusting him. "Seems odd for a machine to estimate."
"When one lives for an eternity, trivial things like the passing of time don't seem to be so important, anymore." the robot said. "Please, if you could take me to your friend, I need him to find my creator. There is something...wrong, with my mainframe. I do not know what, and that can only mean I was programmed to not be able to see it. He is the only one who can fix it."
"Uh, Nathan's right. People don't live that long. Even wizards like me can only live a few hundred years, depending on how connected to magic they are." Ikuki tried to explain to the robot that organics are mortal, but it didn't seem to have any effect on him.
"You don't understand. There isn't much time." he began to twitch and his voice became garbled. "I neED tO fINd HiM, Or WE aLL wILl DIe." that was the last thing he said, as sparks and smoke began to pour out of the robot before he collapsed to the ground.
"Yeh." Nathan watched as it happened. "That happened to like, two other ones." he gently kicked the empty shell. "Apparently they're just avatars. Dunno where the real robot is. But whoever's controllin' 'em, doesn't want 'em tellin' us what's really goin' on."
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Post by Banshee on Oct 9, 2023 22:18:25 GMT -6
“I was wondering if you had dragon blood in you.” He smirked as he looked at Mark’s ears. Nox thought they were always neat looking on him but wasn’t sure if they were real or if they were a headband of some kind. But upon this truth being told, he immediately felt okay enough about being an Elf.
“That’s understandable.” He nodded to Mark when he said that he wasn’t ready for accepting it all. It was of a noble cause, from what Nox felt. “You know...one day, maybe I’ll bug my brother about our heritage... Though...he always seems to be reluctant on telling either one of us about it.” Nox scrunched his nose in disapproval. “Not sure if it’s because he doesn’t know? Or if it’s...something that we shouldn’t know?”
Either way, his ancestry was nothing more than a mystery. One that wasn’t really all that interesting at the moment because he’d rather tinker with robots. And when Mark pointed out that it was his show to run, he immediately grinned up at him. “Aw...”
Then similar to his brother, he thrusted his fist into the air with great enthusiasm. “Let’s build this!” he then pointed to a relatively simple design. “I kind of like the spherical designs that some of these have. What should this thing be capable of doing? Answering questions? Pulling out mini guns to fire at enemies? Tell Dad jokes and puns that make zombies wish they were back underground?”
---
When they arrived, Lux noticed that the circus ship was still there. But there weren’t any lines or any sort of events going on. In fact, it seemed awfully quiet and still. He almost didn’t even notice Nathan or the robot until they started to speak which startled him into turning his attention to them.
Lux threw his hands behind his head and listened to them speak about ages. “It’s been reported that the longest living Elf was only 6,001 years old. She was one of the High Elves so...she had all of those fancy powers and whatnot...” Lux then frowned at the robot. He still didn’t trust him and wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to bring it over to Mark’s place. Not with Tiffany being there.
Then the guy started to spark and broke down. Lux flinched and readied himself for a possible rampant robot fight. But...it died. Collapsed onto the ground with a metallic thud. He lowered his guard for a moment and glanced between them. “I wouldn’t bring any of its avatars to the house. He’d get really mad.”
“Ugh...so much...junk.” A familiar voice was heard within the area. It was Entertainer as he kicked away some broken up robot that exploded randomly at some other point in time. Behind him, Onyx was carrying a sleeping infant in her arms followed by Dirk who was politely laying the fallen kicked robots in a better position.
“Brother, you really need to not treat them so poorly. Remember what happened? You nearly lost everything...”
“Bah.” He hissed as he looked at his ship.
Onyx apathetically glanced to Dirk and sighed. “He’s not going to change his ways. Don’t even bother with it.”
“Seriously?” Dirk planted his hands on his hips and stared at his brother. “You almost died. Your kid almost died. WE almost died. And yet, you still want to pick a dang fight? If those things are linked to Cornelia Corp, they’re bound to rip you from the inside and use your spine as a jump rope.”
“Oh look, the group that came and bothered us are back...” Entertainer ignored his pleading brother. “We’re not here to cause trouble. And for the record? I politely returned belongings to the idiots that we lured in. So-“
“We’re not here to bother you.” Lux interjected. “We...actually came here for a different reason. So don’t get your knickers in a knot.”
“Smart mouths like that, boy. Get you into trouble.”
“Good. Then I can be a nuisance like you.” Lux frowned at him.
Dirk stepped in between them and turned to Nathan, as he recognized him from the carnival. “If you don’t mind me asking, how is your friend doing? Is he okay? I...uh...am sorry about how things turned out...”
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Post by Moe on Oct 10, 2023 17:11:17 GMT -6
"Over six thousand?" Ikuki was taken by surprise. "Wow, I know dragons who aren't even that old. That even pre-dates Apoll-OH." it suddenly occurred to her. "That's Apollo! It has to be!" she said, poking at the broken avatar. "These are all avatars, right?"
"Yeh." Nathan shrugged. "He said his core was somewhere else, but he had dozens of avatars that all looked the same. I thought he couldn't leave Olympus, though?"
"That's why they're avatars." Ikuki said. "If this really is Apollo, then our side of the world might already be doomed."
Nathan took a moment to do something he very rarely did; think before he said anything. "I dunno, Ikuki. If he was on our side to take over, he would've done it already. He's clearly able to get himself over here, even with avatars. Plus, it sounded like he was warning us about somethin' else."
As the trio were conversing, the group from the circus found their way over as well. The trail of robot bodies was hard not to follow, after all. Nathan narrowed his eyes at them, fists in a ball and ready for another fight. Then, Dirk stepped between them.
"He's fine. We gotta healer to fix him up." Nathan growled a low, scary growl. He shook his head as he felt himself losing control, and stepped away for a brief moment.
"Mark?" Ikuki blinked. "Oh! You're the ones from the other day! Don't worry, he's fine. He can't die." she said, completely nonchalantly. "Those robots you're kicking around, did any of them happen to say anything that could link them to Apollo? Like, where they came from, who they're looking for, anything that could help us?"
"Uh," Nathan was still hung up on the part where Ikuki said Mark couldn't die, so he didn't add anything to her questions. He shook his head, trying to compartmentalize his thoughts. He wasn't as good at doing that, as Mark was. "Ikuki, I really don't think that's Apollo. He's on the other side of the world, he can't just beam himself over here."
"Not without a network, no." Ikuki smirked. "But he can set up posts within a reasonable distance of each other, and network himself to those, gradually stretching across the planet until he lands here. So, we just need to find his outpost within the city. If it is him."
Nathan blinked. "What." he said, not fully understanding.
"Like this." Ikuki grabbed a bunch of rocks, carefully spreading them out across a small distance from each other. She tapped the one in the center, causing it to glow a brilliant golden light. "This is Apollo's core." she said, as she demonstrated. "This smaller rock is an outpost he built, a ways out of the city." she tapped another rock, causing it to glow as well, and causing a small string of light to connect the two rocks. "Then another, and another." she said, as she tapped more rocks until they were all connected by the same beam of light. "Now, all of these smaller rocks are connected to the big rock." she then grabbed another rock, and smashed one of the smaller rocks, causing chips to fly off, each one glowing the same yellow light. "These small chips are the avatars. They're connected to the outpost, which is connected to his core. Once connected, he can stretch out as far as he needs to, until he gets to his destination. Which seems to be Kaiser City."
"My god," Nathan breathed as though shocked at the revelation. However, that was not his first thought. "You're a nerd, too. No wonder you're crushing so hard on Mark."
Ikuki blushed, but didn't even try to deny it. "Okay, I didn't know it was that obvious. Thank you for pointing that out." she said, looking away. "But let's try to focus on the task at hand, and we can make fun of me, later. You," she looked at Entertainer's group. "Might be useful. I understand you weren't the most noble group of people, but it seems as though we might have a common enemy."
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Post by Banshee on Oct 10, 2023 18:07:50 GMT -6
He was struck with awe when she said that she knew dragons who weren't as old as that Elf that he mentioned. Lux hadn't met the Elf either but his knowledge of the Elf was due to someone he knew that was related to her. Apparently, she had set the world record of being the longest living mortal of the planet. And no one else had gotten remotely close to living as long as she did.
Then Ikuki began to chirp about someone named Apollo and how networking was involved. At first, Lux wasn't sure about what she was yammering about but when she started to break everything down, he quickly understood it. Then the thought of their planet being doomed, sort of sent a chill down his spine.
“Oh man...” He mumbled to himself as he glanced towards the side. “I wonder if that's why Cornelia Corp is being so...” Lux couldn't finish his sentence. He dared not to think that the corporation that was practically gutting his home, would even want to work with someone so dangerous. It had to be for global domination or something. Control. Fear tactics. Either way, he felt that there's going to be a lot at stake.
Entertainer remained calmly annoyed with Nathan's reaction. However, he said nothing to the man and merely glanced to Ikuki when she questioned if they had obtained anything worthwhile from the robots. “No.” He flatly said to her. It was his attempt of hiding his annoyance with having to work with them. “Other than their garbage about danger and whatnot. Nothing remotely interesting came from them as we kicked aside their dead bodies.”
After shifting their sleeping infant in her arms, Onyx added; “Yeah, they keep repeating the same phrases over and over. One, they're looking for someone. And two, we're in possible danger. But what kind of danger is unknown to us, outside of us fearing robots stripping humanity from their worth.” She shook her head. “This sort of thing is what we're trying to prevent. But we didn't...realize that they had a whole laser gun waiting to fire and destroy us in one sweep. That sort of power...should not exist.”
Dirk looked towards the side, worried about the idea of humanity as a whole, dying to robots firing lasers. “The whole thing is terrifying.” He admitted.
Entertainer remained quiet for the most part and allowed the other two to speak for him. He glanced to Onyx when Ikuki mentioned that they weren't the most noble of souls to be working with, but they have the same common enemy. That, his entire team agreed with a nod.
“We do. And...” Onyx glanced towards the side for a moment, as she didn't enjoy being the primary person to speak. “I may not be much into computer science, but from the sounds of everything... If Apollo has networks that he can access and consume...it's really no different than a plague that infests a city and spreads outwards. Either way, they're dangerous and need to be stopped.”
“But how? With us alone...” Dirk said as he turned to her and his brother. “I'm the only one that you have that can do anything to the robots. My ability can melt metal and burn off skin. It's so...horrible but if I have to do it to protect folks...and fight an army...” He was clearly terrified of facing an entire robot army. “I don't know if I can do it.”
“We're not going to use you as a weapon.” Onyx cleared for him. “You are an Elf too. We're not going to destroy these robots while killing you. As this young woman said...we have a common enemy. The least we should do is set aside our differences and combine our minds together to come up with a plan. Right?” She turned back to Ikuki. “I know we're not the most trusting, but I can assure you that we mean serious business when it comes to destroying robots.”
“We're from Rex City.” Dirk explained. “The city was once in control of a human Mayor who had a pretty good grasp on things. But then money talked and he gave the power to a corporation who creates robots and machines to do jobs for people, so they don't have to. And some of these jobs are as mundane as, stocking shelves in a store to dangerous ones like...uh...dealing with explosives and whatnot. But they've also got their hands on security which...in the end has been more of a problem than a blessing. People are afraid to leave their homes. And if you're a smart mind who is rebellious? Then you're hunted. It's horrible.”
Lux nodded, agreeing with him. “Yeah...I'm from the Northern part of the city which...is actually connected but our Deity has been blocking access. But I fear that within time, she will lost her strength against what's being created and done.” He frowned. “That's why Nox and I really want to learn as much as we can to fight back. We want our home to stay intact. We don't want to lose it and watch it become a dusty sand dune like the Western part of our City became.”
Entertainer walked over to Nathan and Ikuki. He held out his hand to them for a simple shake. However, his eye was on the red fellow as he could tell that he wasn't liking the idea of working alongside him. “Don't worry, Red. I'm not a fan of this either. But why have extra enemies when we have a bigger fish to fry? My handshake is a promise. A promise that my crew and I will not betray or try to destroy you in the process. It's an alliance.”
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Post by Moe on Oct 11, 2023 11:04:25 GMT -6
"Oh, the lasers are ours." Nathan corrected, as he pointed to the sky. "Kaiser City has an aerial security system, to prevent skyward attacks. The lasers are a last resort sorta thing, though. Lotta bad guys in this city, an' all." he shrugged. "Actually, it's kinda surprisin' you guys made it here, without clearance."
"I don't think it's robots, he's warning us about." Ikuki said as they explained the situation, in their own city. "If this really is Apollo, he has a hatred of organics. If he's making an effort to bring his consciousness to this side of the world to warn us about something that could endanger all of us, it has to be something he can't control." she said, rubbing her temples trying to figure out the connection.
Nathan meanwhile, had his phone out and calling someone.
"What are you doing?" Ikuki asked.
"Calling Mark." Nathan shrugged. "He's the only one who knows what he's doin'. Didn't he give ya' the rundown? We all kinda suck." he explained to her. Truth was, they did all kind of suck. Mark made efforts to try and turn the group into a real bunch of heroes, but in the end, they all relied too much on him and could barely work on their own most of the time. Nathan included.
Mark, meanwhile, was having a great time hanging out with Nox. He was strumming his guitar along with the music that was playing, while walking Nox through the building process. The kid was smart and didn't need much guidance, but he offered assistance wherever needed. After all, it was important not to hover too much and to let him accomplish something on his own. He almost didn't hear the phone over the music, nor did he even want to answer it. After the third ring, he groaned and slid his chair back toward the desk, grabbing his phone.
Nathan explained about everything that was going on, with the robots, the avatars, the warnings, and the people from the circus. He was a little hard to hear over the music, but Mark got the idea.
"I know." he replied.
"What." Nathan said flatly.
"Nate, I figured that out during the whole laser thing. He's been stealing city information, can control dozens of avatars and hacked an aerial security system that I helped design. He's been trying to get into my personal security system, but I'm able to set up new firewalls every time he gets close. Not just anyone can do that." Mark explained. "He's likely got outposts stretched across miles, to be able to reach out this far."
"Yeh, Ikuki already explained that, using rocks."
"Impressive." Mark twitched his ears out, signifying he was indeed genuinely impressed. Though he had become good at masking expressions on his face, his headwinds always gave him away. "He said he was looking for his creator. One of the lead scientists had the same name as my dad, maybe he thinks they're the same?"
"Yeh maybe." Nathan said. "Anyway we're gonna call a truce with Entertainer's group, to try and find his outpost in the city. Maybe from there, we can talk to him directly."
"Good idea. Keep me updated. If you need me, don't hesitate to call again. I've got my old suit if-"
"Nope. Rest." Nathan hung up on him, then turned to Entertainer. "Truce accepted. For now." he said, accepting and returning the handshake. "But if you turn on us, I swear to Athena herself that there will be hell to pay." he growled in a different voice than his normal one.
He shook the voices out of his head, as he shook Entertainer's hand. "Sorry. Ignore him. Long as you're on our side, you're one ofus. You got our backs, we got yours."
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Post by Banshee on Oct 11, 2023 16:29:57 GMT -6
Nox was enjoying his time with Mark. Listening to him strumming on his guitar, made things certainly more fun. Plus, like minds and similar interests definitely helped move things along. He also enjoyed the fact that Mark wasn't being hand-holding but was expert enough to offer guidance and help whenever needed. Which was a lot in the beginning but it gradually became less and less to the point where Nox would purposely ask for help, just to keep Mark involved with the creations.
Then when the phone rang, he stopped for a moment to look at it. He hoped that it wasn't something dire or had anything to do with his brother getting into trouble. Lux was known to get into mischief without meaning to do so. In fact, he practically held his breath for a moment when Mark did pick up the phone and spoke through it.
Quietly, he tinkered away and listened to Mark's side of the conversation. Once Mark hung up, he then asked; “Question. I'm sure this is a lot more in depth than I am imagining it to be. But if this Apollo guy is trying to hack your systems all the time, is it not possible to get an approximate coordinates as to where he is located? Or is his data encrypted to where it's not as easy as it seems to locate him?”
“I'm still in a huge process of learning stuff about machines. It all fascinates me but it's so much to learn. I'm definitely not going to grasp it in a few days but over time, I'd like to hope that I can somehow put my brain to work and possibly benefit the team...or even aid my brother in some way.” He rubbed his hair out from his eyes, being careful not to get grease on his forehead. “Lux is amazing at fighting...it's just too bad he doesn't see it himself...”
- - - - - -
Entertainer raised his eyebrow when the threat of a result of betrayal was in store. Then when Nathan quickly said to ignore him, he quickly assumed the guy had some sort of split personality thing going on. He was no expert on such qualities on a person but he simply shrugged it off. As he was no saint either. “It's fine. I can assure you that there will be no betrayal. I've learned my lesson the last time.”
Dirk and Onyx glanced at one another. Neither one of them truly believed that he learned his lesson. Entertainer was as stubborn as they came. And if it meant doing something for the sake of wrecking robots and achieving his own goals, he will burn bridges. If need be.
Onyx only hoped that whatever they did, their child wouldn't be harmed during the process. And when she looked at Dirk who appeared unsure about everything going on, she also hoped that Entertainer wouldn't lose sight of Dirk being his brother. A young brother. One who followed him like a shadow and did everything he did. Dirk was in a constant need of guidance of his brother. This often led him into trouble which made it hard for him to understand and handle. Because unlike Entertainer, Dirk was a soft-hearted and emotional fellow who often broke apart when things became too insane.
Lux wasn't sure on how much they should trust Entertainer and his companions. Plus, he was a bit weary about the idea of Dirk being the most threatening of them all. His ability, he could melt machines into puddles. That could only lead one to wonder what flesh would look like, had he lost his sight and attacked them without reason.
“So...What else are you guys trying to investigate?” Asked Dirk. “Is there anything we can do to help? Maybe bring back some of these bodies for parts or something?” He then knelt down beside one and checked it over. “It's amazing on how functioning these things are. And to be mass-produced at an alarming rate? This guy we could be going against...he's...dangerous.”
“No duh.” Lux blurted. “I'd like to think we could hack into the system or something. But the guy probably has fail safes galore and probably already knows that we'd be curious enough to dissect one of his avatars.” He frowned. “Man, I wish Nox was here. He'd know what to do, I think.”
“For a kid, you speak awfully intelligent.” Onyx said to him.
“When you're raised by an older brother who is all serious business about education and battle styles, it's not really that surprising.” He sighed. “Reese means well but he forgets that we're kids. And just because we have the ability to turn into swords, doesn't mean that we're mere tools.”
“Sounds like a you problem.” Entertainer dully said but was greeted with a harsh elbow to the chest from Dirk. “What?”
“Be nice. We're helping them out. Don't get them mad.” Frowned Dirk.
“Alright. Alright. Give me a break. I'm not used to working with others...outside of my crew.” He frowned. “What else are you lot expecting from these things?”
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Post by Moe on Oct 11, 2023 18:49:24 GMT -6
"Hm," Ikuki knelt down beside one of the robots, deep in thought. "I wonder..." she stood up and tapped her chin, thinking about something. "I doubt we would be able to track their IP, since we already know where the source is coming from. We need a way to contact him directly, without his avatars blowing up. Do you think Mark could get one of these working, again?"
Nathan shrugged. "Dunno. Probably. What're ya' thinking?"
"Apollo is an AI program, but he's also completely sentient. If that's the case, I might be able to talk to him through his consciousness." Ikuki explained. "Basically a form of astral projection. Magic and technology don't really like to mix, but if Apollo truly is completely sentient, then in theory it should be possible...but I'm going to need Mark's help, to do it."
Ikuki grabbed one of the shells, huffing as she picked it up. She had a tiny, thin frame, but was much stronger than she looked. "I can take this shell back to Mark's place, and see if we can't get it working again."
Nathan thought about everything for a moment; "I think I'm gonna try getting clearance to go to the Expanse. Olympus supposedly has an underground city fulla humans, so if I can make connections there, I can try going straight to the source. Confront Apollo, directly."
"That's incredibly dangerous!" Ikuki gasped.
"Yeah well, sometimes we gotta take the risk. Plus who knows how long it'll take to actually get clearance to travel out there. It's worth a shot. Just...don't tell Mark. He'll tell me not to." Nathan said, as he started heading in the opposite direction. "Don't worry, it ain't the most dangerous thing I've done." he said with a grin.
"Hm." Ikuki pouted. "Well, guess that's leaves us, then." she looked to Lux. "And them." she glared at Entertainer's group. She didn't know anything about them other than what Nathan and the boys had told her, but it was enough to make her not like them.
----
"I've tried." Mark shrugged in response to Nox. "The IPs are coming from all over the place. He's smart enough not to hack it himself, and uses third parties. His outpost is most likely outside of city limits in order to stay hidden. Should be easy enough to find. Thing is, I don't think he's looking for trouble. I think he's looking for help. I'd just assume stay out of his way. While I try to help anyone who's asking, I find it really hard help out a guy who blew up half the planet. Also, that goes there." he said, point at a wire and some circuitry Nox was working on.
"And hey," he said as he ruffled Nox's hair. "You both have your own talents to bring to the team. Just because you both have different talents, doesn't mean you can't find a way to use them together. Differences are what makes a team great, after all. Like me and my sister, for example. She's a total hothead. Never been the sort to think anything through and just smashes her way through problems. And I'm the logical, pacifist. Use an enemy's own force against them. We've both got our own, very different solutions to the problem. Sometimes it doesn't work out all that great, when we're alone. But when we work together? We're unstoppable." he said with a smug grin.
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Post by Banshee on Oct 11, 2023 19:58:33 GMT -6
“Hey...” Lux said as Nathan began to turn away and head off towards the Expanse. He didn't know much about the place himself. But after hearing Ikuki say what she did and see how Dirk and Onyx winced at the mention of his adventure; he had a feeling things may be rough and more terrifying than originally thought. “Um...” He looked down at his hands before looking up at his new friend.
“I just want to let you know that I had a lot of fun hanging out with you the other day. Playing video games for the first time was really awesome and I appreciate you showing me how to play them.” He then smiled at him. “I know you'll be awesome out there. So...you better promise me that you can play games with me again when you get back!”
Onyx saw the struggle Ikuki had with picking up one of the bodies. She then ushered Dirk over to her to help her lift it up. “Dirk. Help her out, there's no need for her to carry a heavy carcass like that all by herself with you standing there.”
“R-Right...” Dirk hesitated as he wasn't sure how much Ikuki would appreciate his help.
“I'm not doubting your ability.” Onyx clarified to her as she was one to know how tough a woman can actually be. “I just don't see the need for you to strain so much carrying that thing by yourself. Please allow Dirk to help you so that it's not going to exhaust you.”
Dirk gave her a weary smile. “I'm...uh...just lead the way. I'll follow your steps. I-If that's okay.” He laughed a bit nervously.
Onyx then turned to Entertainer and frowned. “What are we going to do in the mean time?”
He eyed the boy and Ikuki. “Well...I'm going to be safe and assume that she's not going to be willing to show us where she's dragging the body to. So perhaps we should hang back here and see if we can discover anything else.”
“Dirk?” Onyx turned to him. “Are you going to be okay without us?”
He looked a bit nervously between Onyx and Ikuki. “Um...well I guess as long as I don't step on toes, I should be okay?”
Onyx frowned while shifting her sleeping child once more in her arms. “If anything happens, we're only a call away. We'll find you as soon as possible. But...” She turned to Ikuki. “If there's anyone worth trusting out of our team, it'd be him. Just tell him what to do and he'll do it. And...this isn't an insult to him by any means...but he's the most non-aggressive member we have. At least, here currently within this area. The others are out scouting for us or they returned home.”
“He's going to be fine. Dirk's not a child.” Entertainer rolled his eyes. “Let's go see if we can find anything else out to help these guys. Anything is better than nothing. See if we can see any patterns to their antics. Focuses-outside of looking for some guy or whatever.” He waved as he began to walk past Lux.
“Hey, Mister Entertainer?” Lux motioned for him to look back to him. Once Entertainer did, Lux said to him; “I...really liked the show-from what I saw of it. Your team really has an amazing talent. I just...wanted to let you know that I had fun. That's all.”
Entertainer knelt before him and smirked. “Thanks, kid.”
“Maybe...if you guys go back into performing again...Maybe you can do without the manipulation and just focus on the talents? It really hides their shine...Believe me...I know how it feels.” He frowned. “And if you do, can I come and see you guys perform again?”
“You know. You're a sweet kid.” He ruffled his hair. “Maybe. We'll see if we survive this craziness first. Then...maybe when we go back on the road again...I'll make sure that I send you a personal invitation to the show.” He winked. “Without the manipulation.”
Lux smiled at him.
“Alright Onyx. Let's get going and find stuff for these guys to tinker with.” He motioned her to follow after him. “If we find anything, we'll contact Dirk and tell him directly.”
Lux then trotted over to Ikuki and Dirk, watching them tag-team the robot and carry him back home. “Do you think you guys can get it to work or something? Maybe my brother can help? He's...no expert by any means but he's been learning a lot about machines and whatnot.”
- - - -
Nox listened to Mark speak as well as point out the mistake he almost made with crossing wires. He then followed the direction given to him and connected them together. The kid then rubbed his chin as he thought about whether or not he was missing something.
“...Yeah...I heard stories about him...but I never seen the part of the planet he has corrupted. We were always warned to never travel over there because of the dangers it could have within it. Lux of course wants to explore it but he's a bit too afraid to go over, I think. But...” He sighed. “I know within time, he will get that brave itch and go out there. Breaking all the rules that Reese and our sector have placed. It may make him an outlaw which then would prevent him from re-entering our home. Not unless he confronts our Deity first or...something. I don't know...” He shook his head.
His hair was then ruffled which made him smile up at Mark. “You're right. Lux and I are two very diverse individuals. However, I do agree with you that maybe one day, we can really work together as a team and be a pretty cool force. I just...need to get him to focus on the situation in front of him and get him to listen as well. But...I also need to work on being a bit braver. But...being brave isn't always the needed ability in battle. It really just takes learning your enemy first-kind of what you said.”
He then weaved some wires through some gaps in the board to connect them to another item. “Have you always been interested in technology like this? Or was it something that happened that struck your fancy? For me? I first witnessed a woman fighting some sentinels with a robot at her side. I don't know who either one of them are, but the robot was amazing to see. And when the sentinels fell apart, I sort of scavenged some of their parts and started to tinker with them.”
Nox then laughed. “It got me into trouble though. I accidentally triggered a SOS signal which brought a bunch of sentinels to our house. Reese...was not happy about it and had to tell them that I was just some stupid kid who didn't know any better. They bought it and took the parts with them, only giving him a fine to pay.” He paused for a moment then added; “Reese knows I'm very intelligent for my age but he only said that in hopes that they'd believe him and not kill me off. Which worked, so him calling me stupid doesn't bother me,”
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Post by Moe on Oct 11, 2023 22:35:19 GMT -6
Nathan couldn't help but smile back at Lux; "I had fun with ya', too! Don't worry, I'll be back off and on. It's part of city security to not let just anyone in and out, who knows how long clearance is gonna take. Plus, I'll probably hafta go through a lot of dumb survival training and all that." he shrugged.
"I still think it is incredibly dangerous and stupid." Ikuki struggled to lift up the empty robot shell, until Dirk came to help her. She gave him a look, still not trusting them, but accepted his help. "But it isn't my place to try and stop you. And it also isn't my place to invite you into my friend's home." she looked to Dirk. "I appreciate the help, but he was wearing his suit and mask, the last time he saw you. If he's going to reveal his identity to any of you, it needs to be on his own terms."
"Sorry. He just already hates me enough, as it is. I don't want to out him like that." she said with a nervous grin, hoping he was understanding of the situation.
----
Mark meanwhile was still distracted, in the basement. At this point, Tiffany had woken up and he had brought her downstairs with them, and he was trying to balance focus on her, helping Nox, and fixing his suit. All the different situations going on at once, was a good distraction from other thoughts floating about in his mind.
"For good reason." he said, as Nox talked about the Expanse. "If you look beyond the bandits and monsters, it's full of leftover radiation. I wouldn't worry too much about it, though. Around here, you have to get clearance from the city council, before you ever step foot on the one shuttle that goes out there. Even if you do get clearance, you have to go through a lot of survival training, and after all of that...there's the slim possibility they won't let you back onto the shuttle, to come back home. Security is really tight, to prevent anyone from coming into the city. A little too tight, if you ask me. The world is too segregated...I don't think the world will ever heal, if we keep everyone hidden from each other. Sure, it might suck for a while, but imagine what could happen if we all just learned to tolerate each other?"
"Heh. Sorry, the state of the world is kind of a bummer." he apologized. "But to answer your question, yeah. I've always been a nerd. Got bullied a lot, in school. Having wings on my head and dragon eyes was one thing, but also wearing glasses and being smart? I was a prime target." he said in a bitter tone. "But my...friend..." he said in an even more bitter tone. "She always had my back. Probably why she ended up going to police academy." he stopped himself, before going any further. He was referring to Tiffany's mother, but stopped himself from talking more about her and hoped Nox hadn't picked up on it. There were a few things he was bitter about and hated talking about. One being his daughter's mother, and the other being his father, both of whom ended up leaving him.
"But I digress. Yeah, I've always been a nerd. Always liked biotech, and interested in how the human body could work with technology. I've got my own business for making cybernetic prosthetics, y'know." he said with a proud grin. "Probably the only thing I'll ever admit I got from my dad, was my smarts. I don't remember much, but I do remember him being really into programming and-..." something clicked in his mind.
"Uuuuuuugh....." He didn't want to admit the godhood thing. He didn't want to believe either he nor his father was a god. But he couldn't deny that he had just said earlier, one of the lead scientists on the Apollo project, had the same name as his father...and that Apollo was trying quite hard to get into his security system. "I think my dad created Apollo...." he groaned.
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Post by Banshee on Oct 12, 2023 6:02:44 GMT -6
Dirk rose his hands after helping her lift the robot and backed away. “That's fine. I uh...can go help Nathan? If that's okay...”
Onyx shrugged as it was all on Dirk's terms on where he wanted to try and help. In fact, she saw a small spark of determination within him that he wanted to do something without his brother hovering over him. And for that, she gave him a small nod, letting him know it's okay to do things on his own. Entertainer on the other hand, didn't appear to seem too worried about Dirk going on his own. Whether this was him hiding his true emotions or not was a mystery.
“It's going to be tough.” Onyx said after Nathan mentioned the security clearance and trials. “You may have to prove yourself to them too.” She then frowned. “Don't get too upset and emotional over this. Alright? Please let us know if you need help at all.”
“I-I will be fine! I promise.” He smiled back before turning to Nathan, whom he wasn't too sure about. “I will uh...accompany you instead then... I'll...make sure I don't get too close...” And for that, he made sure that he was exactly six feet or more away from him. Just so he didn't annoy him for being too close.
Entertainer tossed a device to Lux. “Fine. We'll contact you this way if we find anything.”
“Alright.” He nodded before deciding to help Ikuki with the robot, to the best of his ability. “Thank you guys.”
“Don't mention it.” Entertainer said as he turned his back to the group and proceeded to guide Onyx away from them.
Regardless of Nathan's opinion on the matter, Dirk did follow after him and refused to say anything. He would speak up if he was spoken to, or if he found something of actual interest. Other than that, Nathan had a really quiet partner to tag along with who didn't make annoying sounds or trivial chat.
Lux then turned to Ikuki and said; “This thing is really heavy! I never realized how solid a robot can be. You're super strong!”
- - - -
“Aww!” Nox whined when Mark mentioned that he was picked on for being a nerd. “That's not cool. Nerds are really neat to have around. We see things that others don't and...” He sighed as he couldn't really relate to being picked on. “...That's the weird thing. Lux was picked on more than me. But I think he also kind of looks for it.” He snorted.
Then he went quiet when Mark explained how the world was so divided and things weren't as cheerful as they should. And it was true. It would be a lot nicer if everyone just got along instead of trying to end one another on a daily basis. Nox nodded, agreeing with him. “It's kind of hard...We're naturally pretty aggressive but it doesn't help when the wrong people have the voice of power and money. It always seems to make things much worse when money, politics, and, in some cases, religion are involved. That's why I stick to science! Though...with magic being involved with this world, I have no other choice but to believe that's true too. As I'm capable of doing some minor magic...like turning myself into a sword.”
Just for Mark's luck, he didn't pick up on the fact that he didn't want to talk more about his friend. Nox merely thought it was just another story that he didn't seem to want to travel to, as he was mostly more focused on his question. And out of respect, Nox kept everything he asked, geared towards the question. However, he did make faces at Tiffany, attempting to make her giggle and smile while Mark did speak. This was just to keep her entertained.
“Wait...what?” He blinked when Mark mentioned that his Father may have created Apollo. “Why in the world would he want to create something so dangerous? Was he planning on glassing the planet or something?”
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Post by Moe on Oct 12, 2023 10:16:18 GMT -6
Mark had to take a few seconds to process his thoughts, and try not to snap or sound too angry. His dad was a sore subject, after all. "Ugh. Good question. I'll have to do something I really don't want to do. I'll have to talk to him." he groaned. "I want to say I don't think he would purposely cause the destruction of the planet, but I also didn't know he was...what he was...until a couple days ago. Apparently, there's a lot about him I don't know. So maybe he was trying to destroy the planet, it honestly wouldn't surprise me at this point." he ranted.
"Sorry for dragging you into my family drama." he sighed. "Just once, I'd like to have a nice, relaxing day. No bad guys, no evil robots, no family drama. I have been eighteen for only a few months and I already hate being an adult. You have no idea how easy you've got it." he said to Tiffany, sticking his tongue out, causing her to giggle.
"Guess we'll have to pick this up, another time." he said to Nox. "Great progress, though. Diggin' the spherical design. Sleek, modern, clean. Who knows, maybe someday we can be business partners." he smiled at Nox.
The smile quickly faded as the basement door clicked open, and Ikuki peaked out. "Hey! I have something cool you might want to look at!"
"Oh. Okay. I guess we're past the point of knocking." Mark grumbled. "Yeah, sure. My basement lab full of secrets and sensitive information is totally open for everyone to just barge in. Go ahead, make yourself at home." he said, sarcastically.
"Really? Thanks." Ikuki said; it was unclear if she was being genuine or sarcastic in return. She hauled the robot shell through the door, and dragged it downstairs. It was thin and compact and didn't weight as much as it looked, but still just enough to be a little too much for her to completely lift and made a thud on every step.
Mark cringed at the loud noise, but Tiffany thought it was funny. "I'm worried about you." Mark said to her, as she giggled at the body being dragged carelessly downstairs.
"So, care to explain why you hauled one of Apollo's avatars into my home?" he turned to Ikuki, rather annoyed.
"It's dead, so I thought you might want to take it apart and study it." Ikuki shrugged.
"I...ugh. I can't even think of a good argument for that. Dangit, you're right." Mark hated admitting she was right, but she had him figured out. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to study Apollo, himself. There could be leftover data within the shell, after all. "But next time, a warning would be appreciated."
"Noted. Sorry." Ikuki apologized. "I also had an idea of how we can try to talk to him directly, since his avatars keep blowing up. If you can get this thing working just enough to where I can put a magic trace on him, I should be able to speak directly to Apollo through the astral plane."
"He's a robot." Mark said flatly.
"He was artificially created, but he's fully sentient. We can at least try." she explained to him.
"It would be a waste of time and effort, you're not going to be able to read a robot's mind-"
Ikuki got uncomfortably close to Mark's face before he could finish protesting. "We. Are going. To try." she insisted.
"Okay. We're going to try." Mark gave in, blushing slightly as she got closer.
Ikuki smiled at him and turned to drag the robot shell closer to his desk; "Um, I can watch her while you...do whatever you're going to do, with this robot." she said.
"Nah, she's fine." Mark helped Ikuki prop up the robot with one arm, while still holding Tiffany in the other. "I've learned to balance science and parenting. She likes watching, anyway. Gonna grow up smart, like me." he said with a proud smile. "Plus, we've got some extra help." he said to Nox, hinting that he could absolutely help study the robot if he wanted to.
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Post by Banshee on Oct 12, 2023 11:00:57 GMT -6
“You're fine. We all have our form of drama from time to time.” Nox laughed at him. “It's fine, honestly. I'm just having all the fun I can possibly have with this stuff.” He then smiled when Mark complimented him on the design of the robot. He too loved how simple it was and how smooth everything seemed to be going together. It was his first real big project with someone and it honestly made him happier than anything to hear such a positive reinforcement.
Then when Ikuki came in, he was more focused on the disabled robot. His eyes widened as she plopped him onto the table with a heavy thud. He just couldn't believe that a woman of her stature could manage something as heavy as that. Then he glanced to Lux who seemed exhausted from trying to keep up with her.
Lux flopped onto a chair and breathed heavily. He didn't say anything as to why he was so tired but Nox quickly assumed it was because he and his brother were so small, in comparison to the adults, that it must've took extra effort to keep up with her. And knowing how stubborn his brother was, he figured that Lux continued to tell her to keep going at full speed.
Nox then looked at the robot once more as Mark got flustered with the closeness of Ikuki. He couldn't help but snicker at their conversation and how quickly Mark backed away from her actions. It was actually kind of cute to him.
Then his eyes glistened with delight when Mark told him that he was the extra help for dissecting and repairing the robot. He eagerly clamped his hands together and looked up at them both with absolute excitement. “Really? You'd want me to help? This is so cool!!!”
Lux smirked at how excited his brother was over the ability to help with such an important project. In fact, it pleased him to know that Nox finally found someone nerd-enough for him to hang out and do things with. The two of them shared a fondness for technology. But then a thought came to his mind. “I wonder what I can do? Technology is far too insane for me. I don't understand all of the little trinkets and do-hoppers that go inside of them. I just know they work and that's it.”
“I guess you can do whatever Ikuki is going to do?” Nox wasn't sure either. He knew how lackluster his brother was on technology.
“I don't know much about magic...” He looked down at his hands.
“What if Lux held onto Tiffany while we worked? That way you can have both hands and she can still enjoy watching us tinker with the robot?” Suggested Nox. “This also allows my brother to help too!”
“If there's too many people in here, it may be more of a burden.” Lux said to him, knowing how tight spaces can sometimes lead into trouble. “I don't mind doing other stuff if there's anything else that's needed!”
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Post by Moe on Oct 12, 2023 14:36:58 GMT -6
Mark had settled Tiffany into one of her rocking beds, hoping the rocking motion would lull her into a nap, soon. "She's fine." he said to Nox. "I'm right here, if she needs me. I appreciate the offer, but I already rely on people to help out, more than I should." he said with a little guilt in his voice.
Meanwhile Ikuki examined the robot, deep in thought. "Actually, before I do any magic, we'll have to re-wire his entire circuitry and do a system reboot. He was heavily damaged, so we'll have to figure out how to recreate him exactly as he was. Even then, it's a longshot whether or not he'll be able to reconnect with his host."
Mark looked at her, stunned. He thought she was strictly magic, and that he and Nox would be the ones doing all the technology stuff. He caught himself staring when she looked over at him, and shrugged in a "what?" gesture. He quickly looked away, blushing a lot more heavily than before.
"THERE IS A TRAINING PROGRAM YOU CAN USE." he stammered, quickly trying to derail Ikuki from his staring. "I mean, it's just a few VR programs, but you might be interested in them." he said to Lux. "Um, I've got a couple bow staffs over there, too. My sister and I do a lot of training together, but I programmed her battle style into the VR so I could use it when she wasn't available for lessons."
He turned back to the robot and Ikuki, who was leaning over it with her head rested on her hand. She was giving Mark a knowing smirk, but didn't say anything.
"What??" Mark said, flustered. "I...I just didn't know you were that kind of nerdy! It..it took me off guard!" he tried desperately to focus on the task at hand, but found himself glancing back at Ikuki, who was snickering at him.
"I learned about this kind of stuff, so I could learn how magic actually effects technology, and to see if it could ever be possible to fuse the two together." Ikuki finally explained. "Magic and technology have never been able to work together, but that's because neither of them try to truly understand each other. I figured if I learned advanced technology before becoming a fully fledged wizard, then maybe I would have the knowledge to understand why magic effects tech the way it does."
Mark caught himself staring and blushing at her again, but this time didn't even try playing it off. "Ikuki, I have severely misjudged you. You wanna rebuild a broken robot, with me?" he said with a flirtatious smirk.
"I thought you'd never ask!" Ikuki mirrored the expression.
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Post by Banshee on Oct 12, 2023 17:15:35 GMT -6
Neither brother were expecting Mark to have such an outburst because it caused both of them to jump in unison. Then Lux, since he was the one Mark was directing the shouting to, froze in place and even held his breath. He dared not to say any word to him, until he realized that he was speaking about a training program.
“Oh?” He said with an eagerness that erased his shock. “That's kind of cool! I'd love to try it out and see what I can learn from it.” And from that, he jumped up and walked over to the device that Mark was talking about. After he learned how to use it, Lux was more than happy to just take a bash at it and figure out how to use it on his own. Leaving him distracted from the intense nerd-fest going on.
Nox laughed at his brother's eagerness but returned his attention to Mark and Ikuki. Silently, he watched the two interact with one another. The more close she got to Mark, the more embarrassed he became. And if Nox's eyesight wasn't failing him, he could've sworn that he saw some blushing going on.
He had to admit. Ikuki was someone quite different. She was smart. Pretty. And very straight forward when she wanted to be. It really showed when Mark attempted to do something that she felt was a bit much. Then she would set him straight and he'd listen. It was quite cute seeing Mark get all red in the cheeks whenever he looked at Ikuki.
Nox giggled at this thought and said; “L'amour brille aussi fort que l'étoile polaire.” (The love shines as bright as the North Star).
Unknowing of what his brother had said, Lux laughed just at the right time. “HAH!”
Nox grinned at him before returning back to this massive project that was placed before him. The robot was certainly something so foreign to him. Technology such as this was most often hard to come by. And to fully understand it, he'd have to have more time to study it. But he knew that there wasn't enough time for him, currently, to do so.
But he did listen to Ikuki mention what needed to be done and he began to look closer at the cables and the other variety of guts the robot had. “Wow...” He said to himself. “This thing is so intense. I've never...This is just incredible.”
“WOW THIS THING IS SO WILD.” Lux shouted in delight, completely unaware of what was going on around him. “I feel like I've been living under a rock my entire life.”
“Eh, figuratively...we have.” Nox sighed. “It's unfortunate that Reese is very against technology. But just think of the crazy stuff that can happen if technology and magic could unite as one? It would be most interesting to bear witness to.” He shifted his glasses a bit but kept his attention stuck on the robot.
“So...I wonder if we need to create something...like a holding cell of some kind that is organic but capable for a machine to understand? Like...” He rubbed the back of his head. “I'm not sure how else to explain it. But if Magic and Machine do not mix, chances are...there's got to be something to do with the fact that most magic comes from something that's organic. And considering that an AI is only computer technology and has nothing to do with organics inhabiting it...” He stopped as he felt like he was rambling.
“Not quite sure how else to explain it...”
“Organics have magic and technology doesn't. So you need something organic that can sit between machine and magic to build a bridge between them. Is that what you're saying?” Asked Lux while he was still trying to figure out how to operate the VR equipment that he had on.
“Thank you for organizing my thoughts.” Nox laughed. “He may not be the brains, but I can explain extremely difficult situations to him and he grasps it.”
“We are identical twins.” Lux commented. “You stole most of the height though. Jerk.”
"So yes..." Nox said to him. "Though I am not sure on how to do such a thing...that's the only idea I have that comes to mind as to how one can bridge the two together. But...we're going to have to do a lot of studying to do that. Unless someone else has a better idea?"
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Post by Moe on Oct 12, 2023 19:15:12 GMT -6
Mark almost didn't even notice the flirtatious behavior, until Nox said something in French. Mark was multilingual and understood what he'd said, but it caused him to blush and start stammering in response, defaulting to his heritage. "I...we...¡Apenas la conozco, no estamos enamorados!" he whined as he sank into his seat, burying his face in his arms to hide his blushing face.
"Heh." Ikuki laughed, as she pet Mark's hair. "You're funny."
"Noooo...." Mark tried to ignore them, burying his face even tighter in his arms.
Ikuki continued petting Mark in a teasing way, purposely trying to fluster him even more. Then she turned her attention to Lux and Nox; "That's actually right! Magic comes from the heart, and since machines don't have that, the magic usually tends to explode when they come into contact with each other. I'm sure it could work if somebody put their whole heart into a project, but it's still tricky to get it to stick."
Then at Lux's comment about something being in-between, Mark's ears perked up. An idea had sparked. "That...is genius." he said, scrambling for a notepad. "If we can get the mainframe functioning again, there might actually be a way for you to speak directly into his mind." he said to Ikuki, while scribbling notes. "The way my suit works, is it's connected to my neural network. My brain controls the HUD, basically. If I can make you a similar suit, I can program Apollo to work as the HUD. He would be watered down quite a bit, but still connected to his core while the suit would be able to channel your magic. It would be the in-between, connected to both you and him."
"Do you think you two know enough to try and get the motherboard working, again?" he asked Ikuki and Nox.
"Um, maybe?" she looked to Nox.
"If you can, then I can work on the suit." he continued scribbling notes. "I..am going to make a lot of coffee. It's going to be a long night."
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