open log » ❝ The VR Program ❞

[initiatesnpc]

Date & Time: August 5th, mid morning.
Location: Anywhere characters happen to be/the VR.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: From August 5th to August 8th, characters are plunged involuntarily into the VR Program.
Warnings: Potential violence within the threads.

When the chance arises, she's quick to take it. The programming is incomplete, she knows; the simulation isn't ready — but she's not likely to get another shot at it. And so she moves, slipping through security codes to input the command. The machines hum to life with nothing but a flicker of a green light in a dark room, and it takes only seconds to establish connections. The signal is sent out; the weapons respond.

In a single pulse, reality drops away.

There will be darkness at first as the mind realigns itself to the signals being sent it. Slowly, the darkness fades, forms take shape. People take shape. The setting is terribly familiar, plucked from the user's own mind. It might feel like a dream at first, with events playing out as if predestined, the would-be dreamer moving through a familiar and unalterable route in them. But as things begin to feel more and more realistic, as more senses more fully connect to the simulation, awareness will change. This is not a dream. This is more than a memory.

Welcome to the VR.

Only 20 minutes later, in some underground quarters, Doctor Sponde is roused from an undignified sprawl. He's hastily briefed and shuttled toward the command center, looking grim. He knows the problem demands an immediate fix, but… well, this is some complex machinery. It could take some time. It could take days. He gets to work.

Comments

[boughtabookstore]

You being there doesn't surprise me.

[ She had her own temporary problem, Madison advancing to try her out. (Madison's lips curled back in a snarl, Madison trying to drive her fist into Roslyn's face.) She parries the blow, drops the lamp to go hand to hand for long enough to go for the weak spot, break her nose.

Madison would never have let her get close enough to do that. Not in a million years. ]

You then being here, that surprises me.

[myownbestfriend]

Emma, it turned out, wasn't particularly good in a fist fight. But her glittering diamond form made her all but invulnerable, and the simulation scaled difficulty according to skill, so she was managing well enough, even if Shaw refused to stay down. Pounding him bloody was really rather therapeutic, though the others kept interfering. While Koltira watched, Emma failed to dodge a blow from Pierce, though it succeeded in doing nothing more than knocking her back a few paces.

"You were always a tiresome little man." Emma grabbed his wrist, intending to throw him, but instead ripped out his arm...and then looked surprised, since she shouldn't have been strong enough to do that. With a shrug, she clubbed him over the head with his own wayward limb, and he staggered back, the skin on his face peeling back to reveal the metal beneath.

"Well. You're new," she said, looking at Koltira and still holding Pierce's arm, sparking from the shoulder joint where the wires had torn.

[boughtabookstore]

She's not going to kill them, not going to hurt them more than she has to because whatever they might be the faces they wear have been hurt too much already. Bent and twisted in the worst ways and she can't watch that happen to them again.

Piri makes his move and Roslyn turns her face away at the last second, listens to the kick rather than watches it. It leaves her wide open to Madison's first attack and at first she retreats under it before standing her ground, taking a stance.

"I'm serious, Nathan, you should get out of here." She moves just a bit to the left, watches Madison (not quite Madison) turn with her.

[sacrificar]

[such chaos was unfitting for a so-called trial, as halibel was placed right the middle of the shooting. upon her arrival, said shooting was shifted towards her.

though she doesn't feel threatened herself, halibel still moves for cover if only to get her bearings straight and assess just what exactly was going on.]

[boughtabookstore]

[ She ducks into what shelter there is with him and yanks it closed behind her, taking the moment of (relative) calm to assess the room and the people in it and then Stark's makeshift lab before she speaks. ]

No idea.

I was walking along the road minding my own business thirty seconds ago.

[ Her glance shifts to him, a quick check for injuries. ]

How long have you been in here?

[healplz]

[ It's not a run as much as a controlled and purposeful stroll that brings him into Emma's world. One second it's empty air, and the next there's a priest in elegant robes striding in. He glances around, taking in the woman— apparently made of diamond— and the others arrayed against her. There's no question whose memory this is, then.

He backs toward her, eying the others, with his bone staff raised and readied between himself and the danger. ]

Please forgive my intrusion. [ Always with the manners first. ] Are you well, ma'am? I can heal you.

[myownbestfriend]

[Accustomed as Emma is to "hearing" new people telepathically, her psychic deafness in diamond form means Ashraf takes her by surprise. When she whips around to look at him, Namor yells something about her inevitable demise, and lands another hit that sends her hurtling through a bank of computers.

Emma stands up, brushing glass shards from her hair, and promptly hurls an office chair at Namor, which he dodges handily. She'd really only meant to signal her displeasure, anyway.]

Bloody Atlantean.

And who might you be, hmm?

[That last is addressed to Ashraf.]

[healplz]

[ Well, apparently being made of diamond means she's as strong as diamond as well. That's impressive, and Ashraf drops all thoughts of healing her. ]

Ashraf Salib, a priest. [ And because he's been through a few of these by now, he adds: ] This is no true memory, and your friends are no longer your friends. [ Not that she seems to have any trouble fighting them, as some have...

He lifts a hand toward her, casting a few helpful spells. The first is a blessing, to improve her strength and endurance. Then a spell of agility, to raise her speed and reflexes. He's about to add a shield, but that's about when a man that seems to have a speed enhancement of his own rushes forward to land an uppercut. Ashraf, predictably, goes flying. ]

[woahwoahawkward]

See, these were exactly the sorts of distractions that he didn't miss at all in battle. She's -- implying things again, and he finds himself stumbling as well for a moment when Cailan's foot (Andraste's grace, how had that happened?) connects solidly with the side of his head. He sighs, removing the gauntlet from one of his hands so that he doesn't end up accidentally cracking the man's head open, and takes a swing for Cailan's face.

"I'm starting to think that running wasn't so bad an option!" At least if they were to run, he might not have to see familiar faces.

[onemoredeath]

That... wasn't how this went. Takegami tensed behind the table, his fingers stilling and the feel of his weapon - those handy sneaky rings - flexed against his skin. The police had to get around the table to get at him and that was just enough time for him to move.

But then a kid came into the room, stumbling and breathing hard and reacting like a combat veteran towards one of the detectives. Takegami's mouth twisted, sorting through the memories, and that was when the officer standing at the wall darted in and wrapped his hands around his throat. He snarled, pushed against the table, throwing his weight back. He and the chair went backwards, taking the officer with them. Takegami rolled to his feet and used a sharp jab of his elbow against the officer's throat, cracking it.

"Watch the detective."

He pulled the baton free and hit the officer again just in case him struggling for breath was a ruse.

[myownbestfriend]

Yes, I'd noticed.

[The unemotional diamond form makes her usual dry humor practically Saharan, and she watches Ashraf get knocked on his ass with nothing more than a raised eyebrow.]

Hmm. He appears to be pulling his punches. That should have at least broken your jaw.

[Emma drums her fingers on her thigh, thinking.]

Keep him distracted for a moment, will you?

[She just asked the healer to hold aggro. Don't invite Emma along on your raid party.]

[onemoredeath]

I think all of this is connected.

[ He didn't exactly elaborate on what 'this' was, being too busy moving away from man hopping around. That was another thing - these people, whatever they really were, did not seem to react beyond a simple acknowledgement of their injuries. Robots or maybe a kind of clone that didn't register pain. A normal human wouldn't even try to walk on a busted kneecap. ]

It's the only explanation.

[healplz]

[ Oh, man, that is so not his role. But he only nods, looking grim and rubbing his jaw as Pierce lurks. ]

I would appreciate your keeping it a very brief moment.

[ First things first, as he pushes himself to his feet, he casts a fresh shield over himself, and then a quick heal. His spell of holy light is in progress even as the man launches himself forward for another attack, and his blow lands against the shield at about the same time Ashraf's spell lands against him. His skin blackens under the searing light, but... not much. It would take a very long time to kill him with this spell, but it's all Ashraf has. He renews the shield while it's still holding, and begins casting holy light again.

Not a very fun use of time, but at least he looks used to it. ]

she will

[payback]

< Dodge who?! What's going on? Why am I a bird? >

[Confusion aside Rin rolls in midair, beating her wings as she coasts over the city. It's evening and cooling, there are no thermals to ride; other birds of prey rise up towards her through the air. What is going on here? She's been attacked in so many memories. Who'll attack her now?]

< Who are you? > [She doesn't even know it but she's using open thought speech, not that it matters at the moment.]

[payback]

[She can tell, too, that he's fritzing in and out of focus, like a picture won from a bad signal. Reaching out to him, automatically:]

What's your name?

[myownbestfriend]

[With Pierce distracted and, presumably, on a lower difficulty setting now that he's attacking someone less tough than she is, Emma sneaks up--well, strides up, her heels clicking on the warehouse floor--behind the cyborg, clamps his head between both hands, and drops out of diamond form.

The pink flash of Emma using her powers without delicacy or restraint glows bright around her head and Pierce's both, and he instantly crumples, bleeding from nose and ears.]

Shield against that, you horrid little bigot.

[She immediately resumes diamond form rather than risk Namor or Shaw doing something she'll regret.]

Thank you, that was quite effective.

[payback]

"S-sorry! Sorry!" Obedient and easy about it for once Rin scrabbled backwards out of his way, staring as she did about the blood slicking down from - was it his eyes? He was bleeding from the eyes. Her heart thumped. "What are you doing? Can I help?"

The offer was reflexive more than anything.

[healplz]

[ ...Well. Ashraf eyes the crumbled, bleeding man with a little unease, but, well, it's effective. He relaxes just a little and moves closer to the woman, eying the two remaining opponents. ]

Is that magic? [ he's totally got a spell to help with that if it is.

And in the meantime, he waves a hand toward the men, once for each. There's a brief beam of light, the faint sound of swords clashing, and nothing else. But the next blow landed on them, physical, magic, or otherwise, will deal twice the damage. ]

[myownbestfriend]

Probably not as you understand it.

[She's not sure how much she wants to reveal to a stranger about being a telepath. People get ever so mistrustful--not that it's a bad idea when dealing with Emma, but she doesn't like making her own life harder than it has to be.]

My name is Emma Frost. Watch out for Namor. He's faster than Shaw.

[She nods her head at the party in question, who's hovering about three feet off the ground with his arms folded, like a video game boss during a gap in his pattern.]

[effective]

She can't tell what's real and what isn't any more, and at this point doesn't really think it matters. Her steps are silent as she walks through this place, born of long practice hunting with Gale.

Gale, who'd attacked her. It doesn't make sense.

She's on edge, but the prisoner still looms out of the darkness at her. Maybe she'd been too lost in thought. Jumping, her reaction is instant, instinctive; it takes only half a second for her to have an arrow set to the string, but there's no counter attack forthcoming.

She meets his eyes, and her breath stills. Katniss knows that look. The words tumble out of her mouth before she can stop them. "I can kill you." It's not a threat. It's an offer.

[twiceadays]

Tony Stark. If anyone could find their way into something like this, Shepard supposes that it will probably be him. She doesn't hesitate to slip one of her pistols from its place on her hip and slide it over to him. "You're in luck. I always carry spares!"

There's something about having someone else here that eases her. It's difficult enough to face things on your own, but to do it against people who are meant to be close to you... Well, at least she can share the burden.

"The big one," she says, leveling her rifle at the krogan. "He'll regenerate as quickly as you can fire a shot off, and he likes to make people into paste." She points her gun at Kaidan, whose hands glow blue from his biotics. "That one is more impressive than me with those biotics. So be careful."

[insecrets]

I'm not strong enough to control the demon.

Finnick has been wondering about these dream sequences, how easy it is to win these fights with little damage to themselves, but he doesn't say a word. Running? He can deal with that.

His eyes slide to the poor, dead girl where his trident is sticking out of her. It stands straight and proud. "I need my weapon back first." He should just leave it behind, he figures, but he can't. It's his.

[insecrets]

[He made his way over to her, avoiding his friends as best as he could manage. Could he kill them? Yes. He was sure if it came down to him and them, he'd kill them in a heartbeat.

But Annie was another story.]

Let's move out of here, then. Most of the district is here for my wedding. [And what a disaster this had turned out to be now, so unlike how he truly remembered it.] There'll be places we can go without being mobbed in.

[oxfordian]

Charles' expression twists into a little bit of a grimace at that and he shrugs his shoulders. "It is not," he explained. "It is some sort of trial—a test, by the Initiative," he murmured, before he was ducking himself down with quite a bit more force to avoid any and all blasts that were coming their way.

After a few moments, Charles smiled to himself. "Ah, perhaps you are even lucky that I am here," he was saying—voice louder over the noise, as he grasped his sword and brought it closer to himself. Then, he realised the implications of his words and he swallowed them; quickly recovering. "I mean to say that this—experiment should rather change its difficulty level when I arrive!

Perhaps it will become easier."

[insecrets]

[Finnick hears Peeta, but he also sees Peeta in the crowd. His eyebrows knit together in confusion but it's brushed away as he stares up at Annie. His Annie. Beautiful, angry, violent. She leaps for him as another arrow is let loose, and part of Finnick just wants to lie there and let what happens happen.

How can this be happening?

It can't be. It can't be. It can't be.

It's last moment, but Finnick rolls out of the way just in time for Annie to hit against the floor where his body had been just a moment ago with a cry of rage. He winces at the sight and sound before he dives under a table and knocks it down.]

Peeta, do you have a twin brother I never heard of?