RP The Neutron Star (VoF)

[DarkGemini24601]

This is the official thread for the role-playing that will take place on the Neutron Star, which is stationed in the Dapsilis System containing the mining colony of Forseti. Please post all relevant in-character solo and collaborative posts here, while leaving any Out Of Character post on the Think Tank.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Stone Rectangle” - Marianela Burrick
Part 1

Clefette System (June 2nd, 2044)
Yentiarte (7:00 A.M., N.A.S.)
New Alcatraz Maximum Security Prison

The world slowly came into focus for Marianela Burrick. Well, ‘world’ was a relative term. To be more precise, she awoke in the confines of her cell. Too-clean yet still depressing gray walls surrounded her in a rectangular box that was only broken by a grid of bars supplemented by a low-level force field that made up the cell’s door. Across the way there were several rows of cells on about seven different stories divided from the half Burrick was in by a rectangular gargantuan center room that served as a mess hall.

Everything’s a rectangle in this place, isn’t it? Marianela thought dryly, knowing she probably had a similar thought at some other time in the past year of her stay here. It all blurs together, anyway, a dismissive voice in her head reminded her. The Hispanic-Caucasian woman pushed herself off her bed, rubbing her eyes to accelerate the process of the room immediately around her coming into focus. There was a single bunkbed - of which she slept on the bottom due to her habit of waking up early - bolted down to the floor. In front of that, closer to the bars, was a small table and pair of chairs - again, bolted down. Finally, there was a simple rectangular holo-mirror - to prevent broken glass from being used as a weapon - in front of a sink, and a dresser - all bolted to the ground.

Once upon a time, Marianela had entertained the idea of escape, but the builders of the prison knew exactly what they were doing. It took her a month or two to accept, but ultimately she begrudgingly realized there was no way out of the hellhole she would be confined to for the rest of her life. “I almost wish they wouldn’t give us the Aeternam Solution,” Marianela muttered under her breath in response to the memory. She wished she could forget such things and accept the reality she was in, but then again, memories of the past - of her past freedom - were all she really had.

“Do you have to talk to yourself?” A voice from above groaned. It came from Juba Zidane, Marianela’s cellmate. She was a fairly tall woman from Nigeria whose had shown up three months ago. Her story was still interesting for Marianela to remember. The daughter of a local construction tycoon, she was well-versed in both traditional and modern architecture of West Africa. However, her parents had not been pleasant people. Her mother was a drunkard who regularly beat her - as evidenced by a slight dent on Juba’s skull and glass scars that had been covered up rather than treated - and her father turned a blind eye, caring more about his wealth than his family.

One day, Juba had taken enough abuse, and had murdered both of them with a laser SMG. And now here she was, likely to serve half of her life in a maximum security prison. Juba’s subsequent statement, this one not sarcastic, broke Marianela from her reverie. “You just going to sit there and waste your morning, Mainlla?”

Marianela shook her head. “Sorry,” she apologized sarcastically. “I was just reminding myself of how such an obviously pleasant woman found herself in a jail cell with me.”

“Jackass,” Juba muttered, glancing over the top of the bed briefly to eye Marianela with piercing brown eyes. “Seriously though, you might enjoy having an extra hour of the morning, but you’re always tired by the end of the day.”

“Better tired than unsatisfied. And we both know why I get really exhausted by the time I fall asleep sometimes,” Marianela defended.

“Good luck with that today. You fuckin’ woke me up.”

“Not my fault you’re the lightest sleeper in the galaxy.”

“Just do your thing, Manilla…” Juba said in defeat, rolling back over and trying to fall back asleep.

“Fine then, I will,” Marianela insisted with mock-offense in her town.

“I didn’t say you could talk while doing it,” Juba grumbled.

Marianela was silent for a few seconds. “You asleep yet?” she asked with a grin.

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare start that shit with me, bitch.”

Marianela chuckled, but quickly quieted down. “Sorry. Gotta get my kicks for the day in. I’ll leave you to your beauty sleep now.” As Juba finally got a chance to start drifting off again, Marianela approached the mirror. Her black hair was cut short and she kept it messy since keeping her hair in any sort of style with only water as an adhesive was more trouble than it was worth. Some small part of her still missed being able to have a spiky line through the middle of her hair, but that was the least of her concerns these days.

Running her hands through her hair to at least wipe away any residual lumps from laying on her side, the prisoner was confronted with a daily reminder of something else she had lost in addition to her liberty. She brought her hands down, staring at the crude mechanical implements. They were just about as responsive as their organic predecessors, but they lacked the sensation of touch. Absently, Marianela ran one hand over the other, bringing it along to the place where it was attached. At around the elbow, flesh and metal met, the former beginning where the latter ended off. The right arm that she gazed upon still had the elbow bone, while the left had a metal replacement.

Would it really have been so damn hard to just give me a synthetic covering? Marianela thought with distaste. She knew the only reason she probably had been given anything at all was to be able to take care of herself - and work. Her right upper arm had another reminder that Marianela had kept herself, but lost track off. Faintly etched with a small broken piece of plastic were faint scar lines denoting each month she had stayed, up until the sixth. She had stopped caring after then.

With a quiet sigh, she went over to the dresser, and retrieved her prison uniform - the only article of clothing permitted to residents of New Alcatraz. It consisted of an orange shirt and pair of pants, each having markings on the side - and in the case of the shirt the front and back - that made it absolutely clear to security who was a convict and who wasn’t. Putting it on with the same reluctance she had every day, Marianela went over to the table. Reaching below it, she retrieved one of the few entertainment items allowed to prisoners - a deck of cards - and began playing solitaire.

8:00 A.M.

By the top of the next hour, a pulsating alarm clock sounded, its flat beeps meant to awaken the prisoners. Ten minutes after the noise had begun to sound, it ended, and the cell doors opened while a pleasant, androgynous automated voice announced, “All Block A Residents, please report to the central mess hall,” over and over.

“See, the other benefit to waking up early is that I don’t have to scramble to get dressed,” Marianela remarked to her cellmate as they walked along the balcony, escorted by mechanical guardians to the stairs. She eyed them with her usual distaste, having a long-standing grudge against them and their shock batons.

“I’m not dumb enough to get my ass fried for being a straggler. You are, so you have to have countermeasures,” Juba replied readily.

“Well fuck you too, then,” Marianela growled.

“Please retain civility at all times,” one of the machine guards intoned.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” Marianela said without a trace of sincerity, having long figured out that they measured only words, not tone.

The two made it down to the mess hall, an expansive set of long tables all level with each other. The women filed in from the side Manilla and Juba had come from, while the male prisoners came from the opposite section of the block. The two headed to their usual spot as the robotic guards began to retrieve food - the head warden was wise enough to realize lunch lines invited nothing but trouble - and met up with two companions they usually shared breakfast with.

The first was a young Russian man named Dimitri, who had somewhat long blond hair and dull blue eyes. Joining him was a Spanish woman named Rose, who had green eyes and red-brown hair due to a permanent dye that had never quite gone away despite the best efforts of the wardens. “Hello, Manilla,” the former said, finding that bastardization of her name easier to say than the full version (where Juba just called Marianela that out of familiarity).

“Yo, dreads,” Rose remarked to Juba - a joke on how the African woman’s hair had been before her hair lost such cohesion over the past three months.

As always, Juba rolled her eyes as Marianela did, and the four sat down. “So, what’s the word today?” Marianela asked the two, particularly Dimitri. The Russian had the ear of some warden that found him cute, and he thus provided a source of information on the local going-ons.

“There was fight in the Psionic Ward,” Dimitri announced. “Apparently there was red psion with fire and blue psion with ice that had falling-out, and both set off fire sprinklers and froze them solid.”

“Seriously?” Manilla said in disbelief. “This sounds like bullshit.”

“Nope,” Rose assured her. “I heard a guard that was present grumbling about the whole thing. You know how psions here are with their emotional spikes.”

“Most of them in the Ward aren’t that tough…” Marianela said, clanging one metallic fist into another. “Too bad they’re kept separate.”

“Even the ones outside of the Containment Block could still kick your ass if they wanted to,” Juba muttered. “There’s a reason they keep them apart from people like you.”

“You don’t get to be pessimistic, newbie,” Manilla shot back. “That’s my job.”

Passing out plates and noting Marianela’s pose, one of the security bots warned, “Please retain civility at all times.”

“I understood the first time!”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Stone Rectangle” - Marianela Burrick
Part 2

10:00 A.M.

After breakfast and an arduous security checkpoint to ensure the prisoners had nothing on their person, Marianela ended up in the greenhouse where she was assigned to tend the hydroponics. There were several gardening areas, particularly a large outdoor farm in the center of the hollow rectangle that made up New Alcatraz Penitentiary. With the combined work of all of the prisoners, the facility produced a significant food surplus that provided for other colonies. The motto of the colony was always reminded to the prisoners: ‘Residents give back to society, Residents sustain society with their penance.’

Marianela made her way over to a row of hanging lemons, beginning to check them to make sure they hadn’t been cut off from their nutrient supply, and that they were maintaining their healthy color. She glanced over at her partner for the area. “Looks good enough to me,” Manilla told a middle-aged Caucasian with short black hair and simple brown eyes. “Sorry I’m late, Jeremy. Forgot I was holding my fork still, and the security checkpoint flipped their shit.”

“That’s alright,” the quiet prisoner replied, going over a row opposite to the one Marianela was at. “Could you check the water pumps for me? They might need some repair.”

“Gotcha.” Marianela went over to pipes in question, discerning that some sealant would need to be applied. As she opened a nearby crate containing the materials required for that, she glanced back at Jeremy, shaking her head. Something about the man compelled her to be nice, where otherwise her sarcastic demeanor would persist. Perhaps it was his gentle way of carrying himself, or perhaps it was his story.

It was hard to believe for anyone who knew him today that Jeremy Campbell had murdered five people. No one was really sure why he had. The circumstances went that he had gone on a camping trip with a group of friends. They had a tendency to tease, but he had never reacted violently before, simply accepting it without protest. Something within the man had snapped one night ten years ago, and on the day he was supposed to return to his wife he had not. Investigating, she had found him splattered in blood in a tent opposite the one containing the corpses, muttering incoherently to himself.

He hadn’t even tried to defend himself in court, and was sentenced to life in prison for murder in cold blood. Reminded of that, Marianela sighed. Maybe her sympathy for him was a little bit of both factors. She finished patching up the water pump, pressing her ear against the side to confirm a soft rush of water stabilizing itself. Jeremy glanced over at her, and she smiled with a thumbs up of confirmation.

12:00 P.M.

Marianela’s lunch was uneventful as always. Hers was the smallest group that had their lunch break at this hour - as the hydroponics area required the fewest people to monitor, and many came from Block B. Thus, she had never really known many to talk to then, and Jeremy wasn’t much for conversation.

1:00 P.M..

After her meal, she wound up in the main outdoor farm for her secondary task of the day. She joined Juba, who was hard at work in a patch of corn plants. “How’s the day been?” she asked, suppressing a yawn at the knowledge that she was going to be out in the fields for a full eight hours.

“The same as always,” Juba muttered.

Marianela’s smirk fell. “Yeah. It is, isn’t it?”

The two worked, and the hours passed. The climate of the majority of Yentiarte was bitterly cold, but the prison was built in a small climate zone that was warm enough to allow crops to grow for a surprising eight lunar months out of fourteen. Neither Marianela nor Juba had bothered to learn the geological reasons why. All they knew was that the sun during the middle of the working months laid down a torrid heat that their clothing only mildly protected them from.

They had grown used to it, at least in some fashion, but while it was not by any means deadly - keeping with XSDF regulations - it was not pleasant. By the sixth hour of this particular day, Marianela had used up all four of her breaks early. Despite that, she felt her upper arm muscles tiring from tending the Earth. She glanced at one of the patrolling human wardens, and called out to him. “Hey… boss… mind if I take a break?” she asked with a pleading smile.

That smile fell as he began to look over his datapad. “661. You’ve already used your four breaks.”

“What’s just one short one?” Marianela protested. “C’mon, I could make it worth your while.”

“I have no desire to fraternize with convicts, thank you very much, 661,” he responded coldly, and began walking again.

“I have a fucking name you know!” Marianela spat.

The man didn’t turn back, but he paused briefly. “I suggest you watch your tone. I believe your behavior reports have been good recently. Let an extra thirty minutes to your shift remind you to keep them that way.” With that, he began walking again.

“You…” Marianela was silenced by Juba’s hand on her arm.

“Don’t screw yourself over more than you already have,” the African woman hissed.

“...fine,” Marianela said in defeat, grabbing her implement again. “Asshole,” she muttered as the warden vanished out of sight.

9:30 P.M..

Exhausted, Marianela finally left the fields, in dire need of some cooling off. She was at the forefront of the mass of prisoners heading to the showers for that reason. Arriving at the checkpoint, she gave no sarcastic remarks today to the warden at the door, stripping down and heading into the shower. The cold water that rained down was a blissful relief, washing away the dirt, sweat, and frustration of another mostly-uniform day.

10:00 P.M..

Her hair matted down and only tentatively dried, Marianela returned to her cell, escorted by a lone mechanical guard. The force field briefly dissipated, and the cell bars retracted into the walls to allow her entry. As the bars clanked together again and a quiet buzz sounded the return of the containment field, Marianela leaned against the bunkbed’s frame, sighing at the relief of her day being officially over. After taking in that small joy, she asked, “Hey, Juba? Are you awake?”

“...I am now…” A groggy voice responded from above, tinged with irritation.

“I know you said today wasn’t a good day… and I don’t have a lot of energy… but I need something to take my mind off that asshole in the central field. Since you’re awake now…”

“...which is your fault...” Juba complained.

“...maybe I could make it up to you for pissing you off today, Jubs? Pleaase?” Marianela offered.

After a pause, Juba sighed loudly. “Fine. Come up here.”

Manilla smirked, though she wiped off the victorious part of her expression as she climbed up and practically pounced on Juba.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Stone Rectangle” - Marianela Burrick
Part 3 [Guest starring MarineAvenger as various XSDF staff]

Clefette System (June 3rd, 2044)
Yentiarte (8:00 A.M., N.A.S.)
New Alcatraz Maximum Security Prison

A familiar pulsating chime sounded, waking Marianela up from an exhausted slumber. She rolled off of Juba. “Ah, shit… you ruined my body clock!”

“You were the one that wanted to do this,” Juba growled as he was awoken by Manilla, both jumping off and scrambling to get dressed by 8:10. They succeeded with about three minutes to spare, and when those three had elapsed were escorted down to the mess hall where their usual companions were waiting.

“I’ve got some interesting news for you today…” Rose announced quietly. “Keeping it mostly to myself since it’s valuable info and all that, but my warden boytoy informed me of a little something that happened to the Bolotar.”

“The Clefette sentry battleship? Do tell,” Marianela encouraged curiously.

“Motherfuckers got the tar beaten out of them by some of our free kin,” Rose informed Marianela with a grin. “Apparently Slipstream stuck it to that bitch Streczyk. Blew up more than half of her fighter compliment, nearly wrecked the Bolotar too.”

“Holy shit,” Juba responded, though she knew to keep her voice down. “That’s nuts… so that whole pirate war fuckery is really escalating that much?”

“Yep. I hear that the Neutron Star and the Einherjar are swapping places since the more brutal part of the air war’s coming right to us,” Rose continued. “Who knows? Maybe this big sis Trismegistus is gonna break us out, and we’re gonna fuck over the XSDF for all they’ve done to us.”

“You’re dreaming a littttle big there…” Marianela said with a weak chuckle. “Chances of us being broken out of this place aren’t high… especially if the goddamn Einherjar is coming to defend us. Didn’t you tell us last week that they had twenty four fucking Seraphs now?”

“Yeah, but… the TFD seems badass as hell. I’m putting my bets on them,” Rose insisted.

“Attention prisoners,” the automated voice that everyone had practically learned to drown out at this point announced with a jarring, unfamiliar message: “Please follow the wardens to a briefing room.”

“The hell?” Marianela mumbled as everyone began to get up and slowly, cautiously follow after the wardens. There were quite a few of them, and plenty of robotic assistants that led the denizens of Block A into an announcement hall where several XSDF speakers had arrived.

Leading the line of speakers was a fairly large man with square shoulders and a bald head, wearing simple fatigues but the ranking on his arm and medals on his chest showing he was an officer. “Alright, alright, settle down, and we can get this over with so all parties don’t have to fall asleep during this announcement. My name is Lt. Broker. Back home on Earth, I am a recruiter for the XSDF. Here… I am fulfilling the same role.”

Hearing some groans from the crowd, the man furrowed his brow, putting his hands behind his back. “Now I am going to be frank here… I don't give a rat’s ass how many life sentences you are serving or just how much fun you find dropping bars of soap, but I tell you this, I am offering you a chance. That is all this is.”

“Think you’re fucking funny, do you…” Marianela muttered under her breath.

“A chance of freedom.” Broker said with a loud, booming tone of voice. “Those of you not interested, plug your ears and spend the rest of your miserable lives rotting.”

Rose nudged Marianela. “See? These fuckers are desperate… coming to us for help,” she whispered. “Our time will come.”

“Maybe…” Manilla replied uncertainly.

“For those interested, listen up, and listen good.” Broker continued. “Do not think this is your chance to get out of here and after you are on a battleship you can just scurry off in escape. We all know what you are, and your commanding officers will know what you are, and big brother is going to keep a firm eye on you. So those of you dreaming of escape… don’t. You either leave by serving, or by a fusion blast to the face.”

“I am with Rose,” Dimitri noted. “I have no desire to die for people who arrest me in first place.”

“Now… by now, I am sure some of you know the XSDF are fighting an uphill battle right now. Well, we are.” Broker’s eyes narrowed a bit. “And as you may have figured out, we are looking to conscript. The price for conscripting is that you give yourselves to the XSDF as a tool for war. What you maggots get out of it… is freedom.” Letting that sink in for a bit, Broker then added, “Depending on your sentence now, and how hard you work, and time serving, the higher ups are considering giving pardons for past crimes.”

This guy’s a dickhead, but… a chance to get off this rock… to be free again? Marianela struggled to maintain her composure, the thought impossible to dismiss. “This may not be a bad opportunity…”

“I’m not sure about that…” Juba said hesitantly. “Fighting for the XSDF? Selling ourselves to them like servants? That’s…”

“You’re not here for life,” Marianela snapped, before softening her tone. “Look… all I’m saying is this is worth considering.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Rose stated flatly.

“Now for all of you not interested, you will be escorted back to your cells before slop is served. For all parties interested…” Broker finally cracked a small smirk. “I will see you in an hour for orientation.” His tone of voice held equal parts menacing and amused, before he stepped away from the podium to a warden who began giving instructions for first those not conscripting to go back to their cells and telling those interested to stay put before they would be escorted to be given the rest of the welcome party.

Rose and Dimitri both left, either still dreaming of escape or not willing to risk their lives for former enemies. Juba started to leave, but Marianela grabbed her arm. “Think about it,” the Hispanic-Caucasian pleaded. “Either you stay here for twenty years, or you deal with their shit for a substantially smaller portion of time.”

“You hope. They didn’t give us specifics.”

“We can always try to get authorities on our side if they try and keep us too long…” Manilla defended. “My… dad is a lawyer, even if I’d rather not see his ugly mug again.”

Juba was silent for a few moments, and then finally - cautiously - nodded. “Alright… I’ll see this through… even if you’re probably just doing this because you’d miss my touch,” she snarked.

Marianela chuckled. “Don’t flatter yourself too much there.” That settled, the two remained behind to be escorted to orientation as the room fluctuated, some jumping at the opportunity, some hesitant, and some having no desire at all to fight for the XSDF, no matter what the reward.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Stone Rectangle” - Marianela Burrick
Part 4 [Guest starring MarineAvenger as various XSDF staff]

Clefette System (June 3rd, 2044)
Yentiarte (8:30 A.M., N.A.S.)
New Alcatraz Maximum Security Prison

As everyone was brought out of the mess area, barely a fraction of the large group that had been there staying, they were led to a smaller room, which appeared to be a locker room of some sorts. Standing at attention were about six armed and fully armored guards, three flanking each side of Broker, the half African American-Half Hispanic man standing with an amused look on his face once more. “Welcome to the first circle of hell. Now, just to clear up a few things.”

Broker looked to the side, a rather lanky man with a bored look, small glasses and a clipboard standing inconspicuously against a wall of lockers being there, and when Broker’s gaze hit him, he was at attention, stepping in front of the group. “To make a few things clear, although you are all lawless pirates yourself or just all around assholes, does not mean you will be treated too inhumanely. You will have proper quarters, proper meals, and the proper things provided to you to keep up hygiene.”

Pushing up his glasses and letting out a bored sigh. “However, that does not mean you will be treated the same as other soldiers. Whether you want genes to be modded or not is irrelevant. It will happen, no sense lying. Also, a select few of you have been chosen to undergo surgery for a new type of soldier the XSDF has authorized… the Domineers. Implants will be applied to the back of the neck and it will give you a link to your own robotic companion, though do not get funny ideas, as…” He let out another bored sigh. “They have been modified to be put offline if you try anything funny. I heard forcefully ending a link is painful as well, so I would not recommend it. The following lucky recipients are…” Slowly, the man with the glasses began reciting names.

On that list of names, Manilla was on that list. “For those called, please follow me. For the rest of you, enjoy a grilling from our local recruiter.” The man with the glasses turned, as well as three of the guards, some of the guards going to retrive those who were not following along with what they were told.

Marianela followed, feeling a cold sweat building up. “Hey… I… know I’m good with robotics and all… but don’t you think this is a littttle extreme?” The XSDF soldiers flanking her offered no response. “C-Come on guys… I can be useful without this… trust me….” Again, nothing, and Marianela felt her voice too caught in her throat to plead more.

“If you think this will be painful Ms. Burrick, then allow me to put your mind at rest.” The man with the glasses said from the front of the procession. “You will feel nothing, nor will the implant affect you in any negative way. Unfortunately the XSDF needs more Domineers, and you have been chosen, that is all.” He did not look back, though let out another tired sigh. “You may call me Mr. M. You know… my family is very familiar with your own Ms. Burrick. Specifically, your mother. Not really surprised to find you in a prison though.”

“Are… you now?” Marianela said slowly. “Funny. She never mentioned you.” Not that she mentioned much of anything to me about work.

“I’m not surprised. She doesn’t know me, but she knew my father very well.” He said, his usual calm and bored tone being filled with spite.

The fuck is this guy on about? Marianela shook her head. “Riiight… you realize we’re very much estranged, don’t you? Whatever she did in the past to your family is hardly relevant to me.”

“Maybe, but you and her share something very similar. You’re both murderers.” The man pushed up his glasses once more.

“...I know who you are, then.” Marianela grimaced. “How do you think that makes me feel, huh?” she said, her tone a little shrill. “She got to walk for being part of XCOM in the end… though you guys are giving me that option, but only after being stuck in this shithole for a year!”

The man kept quiet for a small while while they walked, though he broke the silence by asking, “Have you repented for what you did? Not to a god, or to the person you killed, but yourself?”

Marianela paused. Answer how you think they want you to answer… these guys aren’t robots that can’t detect tone, Manilla. “Y-yeah. I regret… what I did. It didn’t do anyone any good, including myself.”

M chuckled. “How did I know you would give me a fake answer?” He stopped as the group reached the medical bay, the others filing in, though when Manilla tried to enter, the man grabbed her arm, stopping her for a moment. “Frank Marciovelli didn’t get the justice he deserved, but I know fully well he wasn’t a good man. I hope you take the time you spent here to heart, and at least try to make something of yourself.” The man with the glasses told her honestly. “Good luck, Burrick. You might need it.”

“T-Thanks…” You creepy motherfucker! Marianela went into the room as soon as he let go, momentarily more concerned with getting distance than what was to come for the moment. She found herself in an operating room, having bright lights she was unused to, and various surgical equipment that sent a chill down her spine.

A nurse approached Manilla, asking her to hold out her arm. When at first she didn’t, the nurse asked, “You want to feel everything or not?”

“S-sorry.” Marianela held out her arm, closing her eyes and trying to calm her breathing. So this is… the price I pay for freedom, huh?

After the nurse got done injecting the fluid into Manillia’s arm, she led her over to the operating table, asking her to strip down and lay stomach down on the table, holding out a gown to the inmate as the guards exited the room, though would be one shout away just in case. Everyone else in the room paid no mind to the woman, going through their procedures of preparing the room, though the prisoner would be remiss to miss that strangely all the staff were female.

“So uh… that… Domineer implant the only thing you guys are planning on tacking onto me?” Marianela asked, starting to feel the anesthetic taking effect with a hint of drowsiness.

“You do not have to worry about a thing.” The nurse responded smoothly, with almost a motherly tone as she tried to soothe the prisoner, helping assist her out of her prison suit and into the robe, laying her down on the table. “Just relax, and have a pleasant dream.”

“W-What’s that supposed to mean?” Manilla questioned. “A-Aren’t I… w-won’t I just find out after? Why the secrecy…?”

“Exactly, you will find out afterwards. For now… Relax.” Another syringe was injected into Manilla’s leg, a second anesthetic to finally put the woman fully asleep.

The world went black.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Stone Rectangle” - Marianela Burrick
Part 5 [Guest starring MarineAvenger as various XSDF staff]

Clefette System (June 5th, 2044)
Yentiarte (9:30 A.M., N.A.S.)
New Alcatraz Maximum Security Prison

When it was reborn in white, Marianela felt a strange, dull throb in her back. Slowly, uncertainly, she attempted to stand. For a moment, her nerves refused to respond, and a pulse of panic went through her. However, given time, she pushed herself to her feet off the operating table. As everything came into focus, she found herself staring down at her right hand as she had done the morning of… was it yesterday? Two days ago now? She wasn’t certain. But what she could clearly discern was that it was not the prosthetic she had before.

Instead, the hand was sleek gray and black. The gray part were the angled fingers that proved just as responsible as normal ones when the convict attempted to move them. Perhaps even more so, she surmised upon lifting the hand and staring at the black pad covering the back of the hand, and testing the finger’s abilities that she instinctively knew were to slide tighter and sharper and return to a more normal composition. Where the hand ended, the lower arm was the same sleek black, and servos of gray with black armor underneath connected it to the upper arm, all the way to shoulderpads.

Looking down at herself, Marianela became aware that she was in some sort of armored combat jumpsuit. Her legs had similar attached servomotors, though like the arms they were subtle and worked into the jumpsuit. She felt a slight lump in her throat as if something were implanted there. Reaching up to rub it unconsciously, she felt as if she were seeing her movements in slow motion for a moment, as if her reflexes were moving a big faster than her visual perception. What… did they…?

As her hand reached up, it brushed something attached to her head. In another intuitive moment, she opened a second set of eyes - if they could be called that. Her range of vision expanded to a full 360, disorienting her before her ocular receptor began to acquaint itself with processing the information into a form she could understand. Regaining her balance, she tested the capabilities of the Autonetic eyes. No one is in the room. What… what did they do? What did they make me into?

She felt the presence of a fifth limb, and was for a moment confused, before she noticed an Autonetic tail with a spot that could hold objects. Am I even… still me? Apprehensively, she approached the door and opened it.

Standing there was the nurse from before, the one who calmed her to sleep, her face mask removed to show a middle aged woman with blonde and grey hair. “Welcome back Ms. Burrick. Are you feeling any aches or pains?”

“T-that’s what you… have to…” Marianela held a hand over the side of her face, trying desperately to calm herself. D-Don’t throw away your only chance… to free what is left of you. “My… back has a dull throb,” she said weakly.

“I am sure. Come… you have been out for two days recovering, so you must be hungry and dying of thirst. I will give you some medication for the pain and explain to you the wide range of abilities now at your disposal.” The woman told her pleasantly, holding out an arm to the younger woman for support in case she needed it.

With a mixture of gratitude and contempt, Marianela did accept her help, still shaky from all the things she was coming to terms with at once. “Lead… the way…”

After a long while of explaining, some pain medication administered, and a very decent meal being given to Marianela, the nurse - who named herself as Paige- smiled while rubbing her hands together. “And that is just what your implants and other modifications do on their own. With some training, and some time, I am sure you will be kick butt.”

“I… guess…” Marianela smiled weakly. “I’m guessing the officer wants me to report in, then?”

“In a little bit dear. Those big military guys can wait a couple extra minutes. Would you like anything sweet to snack on now or later?”

“I’m fine.” After a pause, Marianela asked more quietly, “I… don’t suppose you have vanilla wafers somewhere?”

The nurse returned a big smile. “Nurse Paige has everything when it comes to sweet. In fact… I think I can have a box… supplemented in your pack when you ship out, but for now a sandwich bag will have to do. Be back in a few.” Like that, the women got up, taking Marianela’s empty tray with her as well, leaving the woman alone for the moment at her table, guards standing by the exits.

Escorted in while Marianela was waiting was a familiar face. “Hey, Juba,” Marianela said neutrally.

Outwardly, there wasn’t much different about the African woman, save for the fact that her irises seemed an orangish-hazel from intensive modification. “Jeez…” Juba uttered in surprise. “They really did a number on you, didn’t they?”

Marianela nodded slowly. “Y-Yeah… they did.” She looked down at her hands, her metallic tail swishing idly with a sharp ‘woosh’ noise for each oscillation. “Not so human anymore…” Not that I was.

“I don’t feel so off… getting used to my new capabilities, but I imagine it’s not as crazy as what those fuckers did to you,” Juba explained. “Was it… still worth it, even considering this?”

“I…” Do I even have an answer to that? A real one? “It… it’ll have to be, I guess. I’ll be harder to kill now… and that’s good.” Marianela sighed, doing her best to shake off her doubts. “Because if they’re going to turn me into a goddamn cyborg, then I’d better be able to live through all of this and win my freedom. There’s no turning back now.”

“Well… if there is one assurance I can give you dear, it is that you are still quite breath-taking.” The older nurse said, returning with a baggy of wafers like she promised. “I wish I had been as beautiful as you in my youth, or retained some of mine.” Paige told her with a small smile.

Marianela chuckled. “Oh, don’t say that. I think you look fine.” She took the bag gratefully, popping one into her mouth without hesitation and ignoring Juba’s raised eyebrow.

“Thank you. You remind me of my own daughter you know. She was such a trouble maker but at the end of the day, her heart was always in the right place. I see you like that dear. While I do not know what you did to get sent here, the fact you volunteered for this goes to show how good you really are. I do hope you remain well through these harrowing times. I would deeply regret having to treat you again… with bad injuries. But… i have confidence you will be fine sweetie.” The nurse said supportively.

Marianela’s smile wavered, but she nodded. “Don’t worry about me… I’ll be fine.” Pushing herself to her feet, she continued. “Probably shouldn’t keep the big guy waiting any longer, huh?”

“No, I suppose not.” Unexpectedly, Paige put her arms around the women and when she let her go, squeezed her arms a bit. “Good luck.”

The two departed from the room, and were escorted to where the rest of the conscript soldiers were gathering. As usual, Broker was at the forefront of it all.

The man looked around the room, pleased at what he saw, the man with the glasses no longer in his company. “Welcome back ladies. Hope you all have rested and recouped, cause you just got through the second level of hell. Welcome to part three. Today, each of you will be assigned a role. Those of you who are now Domineers, will be acquainted with your robotic partners that will serve with you the duration of your time fighting. That said, Domineers on the left side of the room with the engineers, everyone else with me and the instructors to get you distributed!” He ordered in his loud voice, stepping off to go join the other officers.

While Zuba headed off after Broker, Marianela followed the engineers, both curious and apprehensive about what her bionic link would connect her to.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Stone Rectangle” - Marianela Burrick
Part 6 [Guest starring MarineAvenger as various XSDF staff]

Clefette System (June 5th, 2044)
Yentiarte (10:00 A.M., N.A.S.)
New Alcatraz Maximum Security Prison

Marianela was led over to a quadrupedal looking machine, currently resting on four treads that were pulled close to the chassis of the machine. It had no discernable markings or paint job yet, being just a drab gray color that made it look fresh off the assembly line. On top of the body was a currently retracted cannon barrel, a single camera being attached to the side of the cannon, being where the robot could see. “This is our SIF model. Part ATV, part artillery battery, this little tank will probably be your best friend on the field. A couple of things to note, he has two modes. Right now, he is in rover mode, where it is able to move around. It will be outfitted with an autocannon, so it can have some offense on the move.” One engineer explained.

Another spoke up, continuing, “Additionally, it has artillery mode, where the unit remains stationary and can fire that massive cannon with your assistance, or on its own if you paint a target for it. Just be wary that the treads do not get destroyed, and you have to be mindful of him. The camera only sees one way, so he will have blind spots you need to look out for, got it?”

“Believe me, if we really are linked then vision won’t be a problem…” Marianela knelt down by the machine. “So, uh… how DO I link to it?”

“Just… command it awake in your mind. All you have to do is think it and the robot will respond, so it is also advisable to keep a cool head in battle so you can properly communicate.” The first engineer spoke again.

“Great…” The SIF came to life, and Marianela took a deep breath, starting to - almost - get used to being bombarded with information in her head. The SIF rolled back and forth, and Marianela smiled. “There we go…” It folded out into its artillery mode, though made sure to point the gun away from the engineers. “Seems to be working.”

“Good. And don’t worry, nothing is loaded, so don’t worry about accidently firing.” The first said with a smile.

The second engineer got close to Marianella and whispered, “Even though it is technically against the rules, the higher ups don’t really care if you paint or name the thing to make it your own. Just as a thought.” Before stepping back, the two saying their goodbyes as they went to assist the other Domineers.

“Well, looks like you’ll be my partner then…” Marianela rubbed the back of her neck, the machine looking at her but obviously wasn’t saying anything. “What to name you, buddy…” Well, I AM getting the hell out of prison, so why not commemorate that milestone? “Your name’ll be… Sovereign Monolith. Free from this stone rectangle.” The machine seemed to ask “isn’t that a bit long?”, so she amended, “I’ll just call you Sovolith for short, though.”

With that, Manilla turned. “Let’s go push through the ‘third circle of hell’ and see where we end up, shall we, Sovolith?”

***​

​

High Orbit over Forseti (June 15th, 2044)
The Neutron (9:37 A.M., A.S.T.)
Floor 17: Main Hangar

After about ten days of vigorous training (or the third, fourth, and fifth circles of hell) to get the conscripted soldiers up to snuff - more precisely, the skill of XSDF Corporals - the convicts arrived on the Neutron Star the day after the transfer was complete. Now, the ‘sixth circle of hell’ would begin.

Marianela sighed as she looked over the room assignments. The conscripts were all in one section of the soldier wing ‘D’, very purposely set apart from the rest. “So we’re still not technically out of prison yet… just nicer conditions. Hmph. Whatever. I’ve gotten this far… now I just have to kick some TFD ass to win my liberty.” The Domineer grinned. “To hell with whatever any white knights here think of me. This is my battle for myself.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Things to be Grateful for

Brigid searched the ship, desperate to find Korra. "Come on... where the hell are you?!" She had search all of their usual spots, and even a few other places Korra had gone to a few times, but nothing.

"Ms. O'Brien!" A door to the maintenance pathways opened, Baka stepping out.

"Did you find her?" Brigid asked with desperation in her eyes.

"I did! She has taken refuge in holo-room 2." Baka eyes darted about. "I... It is not proper, but I took the liberty of unlocking the door for you. Shall I tell the others?"

"Tell them where she is, but ask them not to do anything now. Korra is probably going to be dangerously unstable. Best only one of us risk it." Brigid took off to the holo-room, ducking, dipping, and dodging around people like they were a part of an obstacle course. When she reached the room, she took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

A simple simulation was running. Soft music played all around. The room was dark with the exception of the center, where a king sized canopy bed with red covers laid, adorned with a number of variously sized pillows. Korra sat in the middle of it, he legs pulled up close. She stared forward, a dead look in her eyes. From her red eyes and dried lips, Brigid could see that the only reason she wasn't crying was because she had dehydrated herself doing so.

Brigid cautiously approached her, slowly climbing on the bed next to her. She took a bottle of water from her pocket, having anticipated this. It seemed to take Korra a full minute to notice it was being offered to her. She slowly took it in hand, but did not drink from it.

The pair sat in silence for several minutes, Brigid not wanting to say anything to upset Korra, unsure what could be said. Korra lowered her head, placing it on her knees and staring down. Brigid sighed, and cautiously said, "Do you... remember when we first met him? We were at each other's throats after exercising in the gym. You were being..." Brigid chuckled lightly. "You were being you, and to distract you, I poured water on myself and asked you to get me a towel. Bad idea. Turns out Kallpa could see right through my shirt. Embarrassing... but he never brought it up again. He... he was good like that, you know."

Korra raised her head, and stared forward again. In little more then a whisper, she said, "He was. I... I was so... in my past... I told him everything... but he never pushed it. I was just... compelled to tell him. He accepted it... accepted me... and never drew attention to it." Her eyes darted down. "It was hard. Not because of him... but because I would question why he chose me. But I was grateful."

Brigid rubbed her back. "Day what you were grateful for. It might make you feel better."

Korra sighed. "I... I'm grateful for the care he showed me. I'm grateful for his forgiveness. For our first time together... and every time after, where he was more worried about my pleasure than his own." She smiled softly. "That he was willing to punch my brother, even at the risk of his own military career."

Brigid moved so she sat in front of her friend. "And... it might not mean much now, but at least he died fighting as a hero."

Korra slowly looked into her eyes. "I... I didn't care if he was a hero. I just wanted him to be here with me. I... I haven't felt like this... since my grandmother..." She lowered her eyes again. "I don't know how I'll go on."

"By remembering that he would want you to go on," Brigid responded. "By remembering all the good times. Holding on to the love he gave you." She grasped the sides of Korra's head, and looked deep into her eyes, her gaze ice cold. "And by making sure every single bastard involved in his death suffers to their last breath."

Korra slowly nodded. Despite Brigid previous assumption, it seemed Korra still has some tears left to shed. They rolled down her cheeks, slowly at first, than rapidly as she threw herself into Brigid's arms. She sobbed. She moaned. She let out long, painful wails of sadness, completely out of control. Her fragile emotional stability gone, her body shot out bolts of electricity. Several hit Brigid, simply holding her friend like sticking a fork in an electrical socket, but she refused to let go.

An hour later, after more tears, more talking, and more reminiscing, the pair finally stepped out of the holo-room. To Korra's shock, confusion, and anger, Geshtal was waiting nearby. "You!" Again, unstable bolts of electricity shot off her like she was rage filled storm cloud. "Come to rub it in!? Come to mock me!? Come to take advantage of my state to set me up with some bastard YOU approve of!?!!"

Geshtal stepped forward. Whether the electricity that hit him was intentional or not, hit him it did, and his face twisted in pain. Still he pushed forward, despite the repeated strikes that threatened to knock him out, if not outright stop his heart. He quicken his pace, and when he reached her, he did something he hadn't done since before Korra's earliest memories; he hugged her.

So shocked was Korra that her rage filled outbursts ceased as she attempted to understand what was happening. "What... what are you doing?"

"I... am a terrible brother," Geshtal responded. "Try as I might, we are too different, and all that I say only works to further the rift between us. A rift that I created. But know that I do wish for your happiness, and regardless of our differences, I came to understand that Vizcarra made you happy." She hugged her a little tighter. "I regret that he is lost, but as a great soldier, and the man who loved my little sister, and received her love in return."

Korra slowly raised her arms and hugged him back, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. After a few minutes, he stepped away from her, nodded to Brigid, and walked down the hall. "Wait!" Korra called after him. "You... you don't have to..."

Geshtal turned back and shook his head. "It would seem my sympathy was not without success, but you and I both know, the longer I stay, the more likely I am to upset you. You do not need me. You have..." He smiled softly. "You have so many good friends, each more capable than I to help you through this." He bowed his head, and walked off.

Korra wiped her eyes, and smiled down at Brigid. The pair walked in the opposite direction, heading to the comfort of her many allies and friends.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & Zombiesplitter53: "Like a Dancer in Robes."

The Neutron Star, in orbit over Forseti.
The Hydroponics Bay.
June 3rd, 1900 Hours Local Time


Winter panted heavily as she moved the last of the cardboard boxes out of the room, planning to take them out to the trash area later in the day. She had just finished painstakingly recreating her office on the Einherjar with exacting detail after having transferred to The Star. As she stepped back inside, she scanned the room for anything that looked out of place or any places where the area could use a little more in the way of decoration. Finding a few such areas, a bare spot on her desk, a few tables that could use a little something, she quickly brainstormed what she could From the back, the tall figure of a Humiliata stepped into view, unusually youthful looking and without their usual mask. She stepped next to What looked like a struggling batch of carrots, and a green flow of energy flowed from her had and revitalised the vegetables.get to fill those in and complete her work.

After a few minutes an idea came to her, "Flowers! That's exactly what I need to brighten this room up, but... I'd rather not take another trip down to Forseti so soon... I wonder if I can get some from the Hydroponics Bay... Do they even give out any of the flowers there? I guess there's only one way to find out."

After saying that, Camellia stepped out of her workplace and set off down the hall and towards the bay. She spend around ten minutes trying to find the place, but once she did, she soon found herself outside the entrance to the area, looking in at all the beautiful flowers and other foliage.

"Wow... Mammy would fall in love with this place... Now... To find the head gardener..." The psychiatrist thought aloud, scanning the areas she could see.

Camellia stared at the graceful figure, letting out an audible "whoa".

After a second, winter stepped into the area and called towards the Humiliata, "Hey... Uh... Excuse me! Do you uh... Have a moment?"

Volupta turned to her and nodded. "I do. Several, in fact. What can I do for you, Ms..."

"Well... Cross, but you can just call me Camellia..." Winter smiled, "I wanted to ask, do you give out any of your plants to the staff? I have a few empty places in my room that I think one would look lovely in"

"Of course! I grow them, not only for oxygen, but because I wish to share their beauty with everyone I can." The Humilitata extended her hand. "Volupta'Aergianmacaria. Call me Volupta."

"Volupta- Aergian- Macaria? That's Interesting..." Camellia confirmed, thinking.

Volupta nodded. "Thank you! I like your name too. My... I believe humans call them a family name... is a combination of my mother's name and my father's family name."

"Well... I just said that because my family are close friends with an Humiliata that goes by the name of Aergian'hynopheus." Winter stated, "I'm not exactly sure how Humiliata naming works, but it almost sounds like you could be related..."

Volupta laughed nervously. "Well, um... that's a funny coincidence. She... she's actually my..."

"She's your what? You mean you actually are related!?" Camellia asked excitedly.

"Yes... she's my... mother..." Volupta steadied herself, expecting Camellia to lash out.

"No... Really?! That's amazing! My mom is still close friends with her after the war, we even had a big dinner together last time she came to earth! I guess it really is a small galaxy, isn't it?" Camellia's smile widened even more.

"I... r-really?" Volupta gave her a hopeful look. "So you don't immediately hate me because of... who my grandfather is?"

"I uh... Not really, why would I?" She tilted her head, confused.

Volupta sighed deeply. "Because... my grandfather was the man that terrorized the Earth. The Ethereal known as Phobos."

Camellia's eyes widened, "Wait does that mean... Aergi's dad is Phobos!? I... That just seems strange considering her... Temperament..."

Volupta shook her head. "Father... in law? Is that what you call them? He was my father's father, not my mothers. Her father had status, but not as much as my father's family, obviously."

"Right, makes sense." Camellia looked away for a second.

"May I uh... Ask why your skin is so... Smooth... I've never seen one of your people with a complexion as great as yours." She laughed awkwardly.

"Of course." Volupta stepped forward, holding her hands out. Green psionic energy swirled around in a circle. "I spent the last eight cycles rewriting the flow of psionic energy in my body. It keeps my body youthful, almost as if I am constantly being healed. It... It comes at a price, however."

"Constantly healing yourself probably puts a lot of strain on your powers, doesn't it?" Winter hypothesized.

Volupta nodded. "I'm not exactly fit for combat. Other than my green psionics, I can't really use many abilities, and even my green psionics are pretty weak with the exception of my biokinesis."

"Well, personally, I think it's done wonders for you." Cammy blushed slightly as she looked Volupta up and down, "Would it be too forward of me to call you... Beautiful?"

"Really?" Volupta looked down at her hands. "Don't you think I'm... too alien?"

"Not at all, in fact, I rather like how Humiliata look, very regal, elegant, and lithe... Almost like a dancer at a ball..." She explained.

"Well... I do find myself to be the graceful type." She demonstrated by dancing around a bit. "Tee often mocks my for prancing through the hydroponics bay, but I enjoy it too much."

Winter giggled lightly, "You are just too adorable, you know that?"

"Adorable?" Volupta stopped and tapped her chin in thought. "I've never been called that before. Thank you..." Her shoulders slumped. "You... you're not trying to..."

"Uh... Trying to what?" Her smiled faded slowly.

Volupta eyes darted away, and she smiled again, though it didn't seem completely genuine. "So... so what kind of flowers did you want?"

"Oh uh... Right... Heh..." Winter scratched her neck, "Do you... Have any camellias actually?"

"I do." Volupta laughed nervously. "J-just like you name. I have some in the b... back." Her eyes darted about nervously. "Are you sure you... wouldn't rather have some up here, though." She waved her hand towards the flowers by the door.

"Well... I uh... Really like them, more than normal roses actually... They're my favorite..." She stammered out.

"Oh... okay." Volupta waved for Camellia to follow her. "Come with me. I'll show you where they are." She seemed to walk in a way that allowed her to see Cammy as she walked.

As Winter walked with her, she kept her gaze down towards the floor, hoping that little bit of flirting she had done hadn't damaged their relationship.

Volupta, on the other hand, seemed incredibly nervous to walk to the back, alone and far from the door. She came to the main flower garden, and waved her hands to the Camellias. "Is this what you're looking for, Ms. Cross?"

"Yeah, those are beautiful..." She replied, walking up to them and taking a whiff of the pleasant aroma.

Afterwards, she sighed, turning around to face Volupta, "I'm sorry to have to ask but... You've been acting a little strange the past few minutes, I didn't do anything to offend you did I?"

"What, strange?" Volupta looked around frantically for anything she could use as a weapon, and came up short. "M-my friends always remark on how unusual I can be at times. In fact, many of them are coming over soon. V-very soon, in fact. You might want to g-go before they arrive. Th-they are even stranger than I."

"What's wrong? Why are you so nervous?" Camellia put her hands up defensively, "Look, if I said anything that might have upset you I'm really sorry."

"No... no, I... didn't..." Volupta looked like she'd have a heart attack at the sound of the door opening up front, but smiled at the feeling of a familiar psionic signature. "Oh, um... C-Camellia? Would you like to meet my friend Tee?"

"Uh... Sure... The one you mentioned earlier, right?" She responded. Does she think I'm going to hurt her or something...? We were getting along so well at the start... I don't understand...

A slightly larger than normal Sectoid stepped in the back, giving Camellia a curious look. "Hello." He said with his synthetic voice. In an unusual act for him, he approached her and raised his hand. "My name is Tee. I am Volupta's assistant and her guardian."

"It's nice to meet you, my name's Camellia... So uh... You're a Sectoid... Not that unexpected I guess, considering..." She chuckled.

"Considering what?" Tee tilted his head slightly, fairly sure her knew the answer.

"Well, you know, she's a Humiliata. You're people have always had a very close relationship with them." She stated, swallowing, "Of course, I've seen a few Sectoids on their own, but statistically the Humiliata still keep many around as helpers. I understand why you'd stay when you have a mistress as friendly as her, though."

Tee nod seemed to be one of approval. He looked over to Volupta, and noticed her nervous look. "What is wrong, mistress?"

"Wrong?" Volupta laughed. "Nothing is wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

Tee looked back to Camellia and said, "She is giving of a primarily yellow color, indicating a pleasant mood. Though the slight blue underneath and the fluctuations indicate confusion. Has my mistress done anything to upset you, ma'am?"

"I came here to get some flowers, we talked for a bit, we found out that my families close Humiata friend is actually her mother, I told her that uh... I that she was beautiful... but now all of a sudden she's acting super nervous. I mean, was it something I said?"

"Nothing is wrong!" Volupta insisted, her nervousness unusually seeming to have disappeared. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! She was... just so nice to me..."

 

[Frostlich1228]

Part 2

Tee nodded in agreement, but Volupta turned away, covering her face in shame. Tee motioned his head for Cammy to step to the side with him. Winter did as he said, couching down to his level. "My apologies, ma'am. I am afraid this is my fault." Tee glanced over to Volupta. "Her family line includes a few individuals that... make her unpopular. So much so that she has received threats. I have chastised her for being to trust... perhaps a little more sternly than I should have. Last we spoke of this, I warned her to be on guard around those who seem overly nice and flattering. I am guessing this describes you."

"Oh... Well, I really did mean everything I said, you're cute, elegant, and kind... I hate that someone like you is treated badly just because of your family line... You deserve better..." Camellia smiled happily.

Volupta glanced at Tee, who nodded lightly, and she smiled brightly. She quickly walked up to Camellia and wrapped her four arms around her. "Oh, thank you! I'm sorry I suspected you!"

Camellia began to blush much more than before, "Heh... No problem..."

Volupta picked her up a bit, her eccentric nature shining through. "I think you're very pretty too."

"You do?! Really?" Camellia asked with a hint of surprise to her face.

"Well... yeah." Volupta put her down. "I mean... I believe so, based on what I know of beauty, human or otherwise. I mean... silky skin, bright, vibrant eyes, and delightful hair." She looked at Tee. "Am I wrong?"

Tee gave them both a blank look. "I... am afraid I have little experience on the subject."

"Hey uh... You know, if you're not busy we could go and get something to eat together sometime, you know, just the two of us." Cammy suggested.

Volupta scratched her chin. "Um... okay." She turned to Tee. "While I'm out, can you send some Camellias to the room of Ms. Cross?" Tee nodded.

"Oh, You want to go now? That's fine with me, I'm done with most of my moving in." She chuckled.

Volupta slipped her mask on and led Camellia out the exit it, rubbing her wrists nervously. "I... I really am sorry for how I acted, Ms. Cross."

"That's okay, after getting death threats I'm sure I'd be a little paranoid too... And you can just call me Cammy, or Winter if you like." The psychiatrist responded.

"Winter? Is that not a season?" Volupta asked innocently.

"Yes, but it's also my nickname." She chuckled, "I took that name because camellia's can survive in really low temperatures, you know, like in winter."

"Oh?" Volupta nodded approval. "That is very clever. You are very creative, Winter."

"Oh, you flatter me... But... I guess I am..." She said as the reached the lunch area. Camellia walked inside, scanning the room for a nice secluded seat. After a few seconds, she located one by the door, nice and far away from too many people, "We can sit here."

"Alright." The pair quickly got their food and sat down. For Volupta, she had the usually Humiliata nutrient substance, as well as a variety of fruits and vegetables. In the center of it all, however, was a piece that stood out; a simple burger with cheese. Nothing fancy, but Volupta stared down at it in wonder.

"Wow..." Camellia looked down at it and back up to her, "I didn't even know you liked hamburgers."

"I don't. I mean... I've never tried one. Even with my unique biology compared to my own kind, I've never..." Volupta looked up at Cammy. "Is it... good?"

"Oh, absolutely! Nothing better than a well made hamburger." She replied joyfully, "Whether they are well made on this ship though, I wouldn't know, I haven't had one here yet. Though the burgers on the Einherjar weren't half bad."

"I've heard there was an Ethereal general who insisted on sampling select dishes on every planet he was on, no matter how sick they made him. I wonder if he ever had one of these." Volupta lifted her mask, and slowly bit into the burger.

"Well?" Camellia asked, eagerly anticipating her response.

Volupta smiled. "It is good! Very good, in fact. Would you like to have some?"

"Sure! In exchange... You can have a bite of what I'm having." Camellia took a fork from the side of her plate and used it to lift up a apple slice, although there was something different about it, it was coated in a thick sugary gel and covered in nuts of all kinds.

Volupta gladly took a bite, smiling even wider. "Wow... so sweet! What is it?"

"It's a caramel apple, one of my favorite desserts." Winter answered as she took of bite of Volupta's burger, "This is actually pretty good! They must have better chefs here or something,"

Volupta took another bite of the burger. "What is this made of, by the way?"

"Oh uh... Grain, meat, cheese..." She listed off, "Nothing crazy I assure you."

"Meat? Like... for an animal?" Volupta looked at the burger suspiciously. "I have never had meat. Is it... okay?"

"It's full of protein, probably like what's in your nutrient thingys, it also has a a decent amount of fat depending on the quality of the meat, so too much is bad for you, though, you could say the same about all food."

Volupta lowered her shoulders. "I-I meant... is it okay for me to... eat an animal..." She looked away. "Am I being silly?"

 

[Frostlich1228]

Part 3

"No, you're being caring and considerate towards other living creatures... The problem is... We... Humans at least, need meat to survive and stay healthy, that protein is important for us..." She shrugged, her smile dropping a bit, "I personally like to think they are giving their energy to us so we can live happy lives... But I don't want them to suffer or anything... It should be as painless as possible."

Volupta nodded. After a moment, she took another bite. "It..." She giggled softly. "It does taste good."

"Human food is great, just... Don't binge on the stuff, you don't want to get fat." She chuckled a bit, raising a slice of apple into her mouth, "So, if I may ask, when was the last time you saw your mom?"

"M-my mother." Volupta slowly put the rest of the burger down, and absentmindedly poked at her vegetables. "N-not long. Only about... um..." She lifted a glass of water to her lips and mumbled, "...almost sixteen... cycles..."

"What?! That long? Why?" Camellia asked with a shocked expression.

"It is not that long, is it?" Volupta chucked nervously. "It's only been... 190... Earth..." Volupta's expression sank. "It is hard to... explain. Um... I'm..." She sighed. "I'm an outcast, Winter. I was excommunicated from the path nearly 16 cycles ago. I was hunted. It is the reason why most of the other Humiliata hate me here. I am either the outcast who betrayed my people and my grandfather... or the granddaughter of a hated overlord that brought misery to so many races."

"So you've been by yourself for... One-hundred and ninety years?" Camellia looked away for a second, "I'm really sorry..."

"No, no. It wasn't all bad," Volupta insisted. "I had allies in the beginning. And... while I did lose them... I had my Sectoid friends. And Tee has been by my side for ten years, and has nagged at me since the day he walked out of his cloning vat. It... it has been lonely... but I've had some allies. And now I have new friends. Like you."

"Yeah..." Camellia smiled brightly, "You know... I might be able to get Aergi's call number from my Mom... You two could talk to each other again... She's not like she used to be, she helped us win the Subjugation War, she saved a friend of my mom's life, she's really changed you know..."

"She has?" Volupta thought to a moment, than shook her head. "No... no, my mother probably only helped to save herself. My people... they don't change very easily, even after long spans of time. She was always a coward, willing to let my people get away with their actions, even if she knew it was wrong. And... and I was nothing but trouble for her. She wouldn't want to talk to me anyway..."

"I think she would..." Camellia put a hand on one of Volupta's, "My Mom really opened her eyes... Don't you think yours deserves a change after all these years?"

"I... I suppose so..." Volupta nervously took a bite of a strawberry. "If you think your mother wouldn't... mind..." She slowly nodded.

"She wouldn't, just find me whenever you feel ready, okay?" Winter replied with an encouraging tone.

"Okay..." Volupta ate in silence for a few minutes before asking. "What... what should I say to her? My mother, I mean."

"Tell her you forgive her. Mom explained to me that she felt awful for her actions during the war and wanted to do everything she could to fix what she did. I can't imagine she's proud of exiling her daughter... Maybe she thinks you hate her for what she did to you..." Cammy explained.

"Shouldn't I?" Volupta avoided eye contact. "I mean... she could have tried to stop them. She didn't... she could have done something. Anything. But she didn't... She just let us be taken away. She knew they were probably going to try and execute us. She... sh-she abandoned me."

Camellia stood up and walked over to her, moving her hand to Volupta's shoulder, "Hey... People make mistakes right? And your Mom... Well she's made a lot of them, some she's still trying to change for the better... I think she thinks she failed you... That you hate her and never want to see her again... I think she'd be elated to know her daughter still loves her, even after all everything she's done wrong and all the mistakes she's made throughout her life."

Volupta placed her hand on Camellia's. "She... she might not even know I'm still alive..."

"Then... That's just another reason she'd he happy to see you..." She smiled, "Listen, even if you call her and she doesn't want to see you, what do you lose? You'll just end up back where you were before you made the call. However, if you call her and find out she loves you, that she has missed you all this time, then you can have a mom again."

Volupta smiled. "Yeah... you're right. Alright. I'll do it."

"Good, just head over to my room and give my door a knock whenever you're ready. In the meantime, I'll go get that number from my Mom." She smirked a little, "You know... I really enjoyed this..."

Volupta giggled lightly. "I did too. You're a really good friend, Winter. I feel like I've know you for cycles already."

"What do you say about doing something like this again sometime?" Camellia responded, "We can watch a movie together in my room if you want..."

"Yes." Volupta nodded quickly. "I would like that very much."

"Then it's a date!" Camellia replied excitedly, quickly placing a kiss on Volupta's mask and running out of the cafeteria, "Just come by whenever!"

Volupta slowly pulled off the mask and looked it over. "An interesting Earth custom?" She shrugged and placed it to the side, continuing her meal.

 

[Black0ut]

Black0ut & ZombieSplitter53 present: Dark Times, Pt. 1
June 18th,2044
1305 hours
Gym, XSDF Battleship "The Neutron Star"

Korra's fist pounded into the punching bag before her, vibrations shooting through her arm. Usually the life of the party, one to seek attention, Korra had an aura to her that said she wanted to be alone. Visions of the enemy, the ones that took a part of her heart, flashed in her mind, driving to hit the bag until her arms felt like mush.

Wolfe stood in the doorway, quietly watching Korra, debating whether his presence would upset her more than she already was. ...Why the hell am I standing here, thinking this out? I should be comforting her... The big man thought. Walking up slowly, Thomas did not utter a single word, instead opting to hug Korra instead.

Korra flinched at the touch. She had an angry expression at first, but after a few moments, she relaxed and hugged him back.

Wolfe continued to hold her in silence, feeling truly powerless to end Korra's misery. Damn it, Vizcarra. Why...? Why didn't you run away? Why did you stay and fight? This...is my fault. If I hadn't been so tough on him, maybe he'd still be here...I wish you were here, Vizcarra. Helping me take care of her despite all the fights we would have been in... Wolfe began stroking the Tamearin's hair with his synthetic arm, hoping that the simple motion would help her in someway.

Korra sobbed softly for a few minutes, not caring who saw them or what they thought. When she finally spoke, she muttered, "I-I'm sorry..."

Wolfe remained quiet for a minute longer, then he simply said, "Don't be sorry. You haven't done anything wrong, Korra."

"You don't understand." Korra sniffed. "After Kallpa told me what you said to him... after he was gone... I-I didn't come talk to you... because I-I blamed you..."

The big man shook his head slowly. "I...know I wasn't right when I had that argument. And I...understand why you felt that way. I fucked up pretty badly... and if blaming me makes you feel better, then I'll take whatever you dish out. All I want, is for you feel better." The big man said, his voice wavering.

"No." Korra stepped back, gently placing her hand against his chest. "I was mad. I... I still am a little bit. But it was wrong of me to blame you. It both insults you, by blaming you for the actions of those TFD bastards, and Kallpa for thinking he would die because of flag at you said. He died... because he was a hero, one the was overwhelmed by a dark force."

Wolfe's expression darkened. "I wish I had volunteered for that mission in Kallpa's stead. At the very least, a hero wouldn't have had to die. Only a monster." Stepping back from his daughter, the big man looked at his arms with disgust. "He was right. I am a monster, a shadow of what a good man should be. And the only reason I partially changed was due to you. You and your kind demeanor." The medic offered a grim smile, his face becoming more stoical. "But, I'm afraid I'm going to be getting more reckless, as a result. So, I'm going to ask a difficult favor. And I'm sure you're not going to like it..."

Korra rubbed her wrist nervously. "W... w-what is it?"

Wolfe closed his eyes and lowered his head, the pain finally showing itself on his face. Looking back up at Korra, he said quietly, "I want you to forget all about me, Korra." ...she'll be better off not knowing me, not knowing about 'that'.

Korra scoffed, and stepped forward. "What? Even if I could... why would I want to do that? Yes, the thing with Kallpa pissed me off, but that doesn't mean I want to forgot about your kindness. You want me to forget how you made me feel important as a friend, not an object like so many others? You want me to forget all the things you've taught me? Why... why should I forget the closest thing to a real father I've ever had?"

Wolfe sighed. "...Korra, if I tell you... why I'm asking this favor from you...you'll be incredibly hurt over it. It will change how you view me, as well as making you very depressed." The medic said quietly, avoiding eye contact. " I ask you again, are you sure you want to know?"

Korra grabbed Wolfe's wrist. "Please, tell me. I won't just... cast off a friend without good reason."

Wolfe looked at Korra, a sad smile being present on his face. "I'm sorry for what you're about to know, then. I've only told one other person and their...reaction to my predicament made it clear that I really shouldn't tell anyone. But you wanted to know, so, I'm going to be blunt with my situation."

The medic lowered his head and said, almost inaudibly, refusing to give eye contact.

"Korra, I'm dying."

Korra's eyes sank in, her face turning pale. "W... what do you mean? You look perfectly... how... why?"

Wolfe looked away, the pain he was causing Korra too much. "My first week aboard, I received a transmission from my last civilian doctor on Earth. He told me that the disease that had killed off my closest friend, had infected me. So far, from what they've told me, its incurable. With the doctor's help, we guesstimated how long I have to live. I have a few years left to live." The medic explained. "That's what I didn't want to tell you. And that's the reason I want you to forget about me."

"What!" Korra rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tightly. "I-I don't understand! I-if you're dying... are you saying you want to die all alone?"

A single tear fell from Wolfe's eyes, retelling the diagnosis proving to be to much for the old cyborg. "No. But I don't want you to see me die and I don't want to die for nothing. That only leaves fighting Trig's army." Wolfe said hugging Korra back. "My time is closing in. And I'll fight with everything I got, but even if I survive the war, I'll only end up in a hospital, ending up...not myself. So, I'm pleading with you, Korra, just forget about me. Go be with Brigid, and the others. Please." Wolfe lowered his head, the tears pouring out in a full torrent, the man's normally unbreakable composure being shattered.

Korra cried herself, the revelation that her father figure being at death's door, so soon after the loss of the only man she had given her heart to, earth shattering to the young Tamearin. She seemed to lose her strength, sobbing loudly as she dropped to her knees, cupping her hands over her eyes.

Thomas sat down next to his daughter, wrapping his arms around her to try and comfort her. That was a fucking bang-up job. I made my daughter cry. When she was already grieving...I'm the most horrible father in the world...and this another thing I can't fix.

Korra continued to sob for several minutes, everyone giving them space, those knowing her likely assuming it was about Kallpa, and part of it was. She had lost one person she had been so close to. Maybe distancing herself from another when she had the chance was the better option. "Mr. Wolfe?"

 

[Black0ut]

Dark Times, Pt. 2

Thomas slowly nodded. "Yes, Korra?" The big man responded quietly.

She clenched her teeth and glared into his eyes. "No..."

Wolfe was quiet for a moment, the glare catching him off-guard. After a moment or two, the medic responded simply with, "No?"

"Neither of us get off that easily." She placed her hand against her chest. "I understand what you are trying to do. But what kind of person would I be if I just abandoned you like that? Just.. pretended you were already dead? Or never existed? I... I can't, Wolfe... I simply can't."

Wolfe slowly shook his head. "An incredibly smart one. You wouldn't have to grieve over me. You would be happier. I...wish that you were more heartless. You'd be able to break away from the grief I would inflict upon you. But, instead, you are a kind, loving person, who is fiercely loyal of her friends and shows exemplary bravery. You are the kind of person that is rarely seen in this universe of ours. Where as I am a broken man, who can't function in normal society, and is a horrible human being in general." The medic said quietly, looking away from the Tamearin. "I honestly don't deserve to have someone like you."

"Why are you always so hard on yourself?" Korra took a deep breath. "Are... I should not ask you this, since it's another one of my people's blasted taboos. But... are you a religious person?"

Wolfe shook his head, his gaze returning to the Tamearin. "No, I'm not a religious person, Korra." The medic responded

"I'm... not really either, to be honest. But Tamearin religion doesn't really push for one to be. It is actually taboo to bring it up with aliens unless they bring up the concept of religion first." Korra took a deep breath. "As I said, I am not very religious, but I do take inspiration from some aspects of it. I see some things as metaphors to better myself. There is a place known as Ehvanhis Vnaawehk Cbaync; the Hell of Piercing Cold. It is reserved for the treacherous, those who betrayed or abandoned others that trusted them. You are suspended vertically, your arms and legs outstretched and held in place by shackles of ice. All around you are thick icicles, like spears. The wind howls and adds to these spears, and just as you let your cold heart allow you to pierce the heart of one who had faith in you, so too are you pierced by these slowly growing icicles, which stab into you and grow until they completely consume you, at which time you are restored, and the process starts all over again."

Wolfe paused, the description slightly unnerving him. "Sounds like a fun place." The medic said sarcastically.

"It is not to meant to be anything less then pure agony. You must repeat this process one hundred times, with how long it takes depending on the severity of your sin." Korra grasped Wolfe's arm. "I do not know if this is a real place, but I do believe in its lesson. Of the horridness of betraying others. To abandon you when you are dying, in an attempt to save myself from grief... I can't. You are to special to me. You deserve better."

Wolfe looked at Korra, his eyes showing the sadness he felt. "It's not abandonment if I ask you to leave. You're not asking to leave me while I die. I'm asking you to distance yourself, so you don't feel pain. I'm trying to save you from the pain you'll feel." The big man replied, his voice having an unusual softness to it.

"But don't I have a right to choose whether I feel that pain out not?" Korra looked away. "What will you do if I refuse? Will you... push me away?"

Wolfe sat quiet for a minute, weighing his options. "No," He said firmly, "I won't push you away. If I was less selfish, I probably would do so. But, I'm not selfless. And I'm not going to lie. Asking you to forget about me is probably the most selfless -and hardest- thing I've done. I just..." The medic sighed in frustration, "I don't want my daughter to get hurt over me. That would be more painful than any religions' hell." Wolfe proceeded to look away from the Tamearin.


Korra slowly looked at him. "When... when they told me Kallpa was gone, there was a brief moment when I thought it might have been better if we had never met. But I decided the good times we had, the love he showed me... and the better person I've become because of him... it was worth the pain I feel now. I feel the same is true about you."

Wolfe sighed, his energy seeming to fade. "Alright. Since you feel that way, I'll give up my attempts to persuade you." The medic replied with an exhausted tone, looking a bit older than he actually was.

Korra watched him sadly for a moment. "Why... why do you do this to yourself?"

Wolfe smiled grimly. "If I told you my history, you'd be more sad knowing about it. " The medic answered quietly.

Korra shook her head. "I don't care. I care about you, but you are always so hard on yourself. I want... I need to know why."

 

[Black0ut]

Dark Times, Pt.3

Wolfe's expression darkened. "As you wish. I told you I lost my arm in the war. I didn't tell you what led up to that point. So, the first thing you have to know was that I was already training to be soldier. If I wanted to, I could have been a sniper. Had the accuracy needed for it. Anyways, over at the military school, you're given a unit. They're your new family."

"So, I met my unit and soon I had a few friends. Had one person I hated, but everyone accepted her, so I did too. We had heard about the alien invasion, but our thoughts were that we would have everyone once we had graduated. We were fools."

"The school was attacked. We didn't even know what hit us. My best friend Corey was delivering the punchline of a joke when the walls blew in and a plasma bolt melted his face. Some fucking joke."

"So, the rest of my group, and a few adults, rallied together and we just tried to survive. We lost Duncan, as we were fleeing, a plasma bolt to his chest ensured his death. We eventually made it to a crossroad, on the right side, further down the hall was the armoury, and on the left, the exit to the complex. Most of our group went to the armoury, and only my friends and I left. A quarter of the others didn't survive, doing a last stand kind of thing that worked, but at some horrible costs. But the Adults gave us guns to escape with."

"There were only four of us left. Johnny, Glitz, Jenny, and me. Surprisingly, we were all couples. Jenny was my girl, Glitz and Johnny were one. Well, one of the Sectoid's took over Glitz, and she shot Johnny, before sticking the gun in her mouth and pulling the trigger."

"There was a hilltop within running distance, so Jenny and I took off like bullets. We reached the hill and jumped over. I...remember seeing a plasma bolt coming as I was falling. We rolled down the back of the hill. I thought we were really lucky to have made it down the hill. But as I went over to Jenny, I...I realized she had a hole through her stomach. I...I'm not going to tell you what we said to one another in her final moments. But a soldier, who had decided to use the hill as cover, came over the top, before a shot took his head and his life. I picked up his gun and rushed to the top of the hill. I shot at them, and I killed a couple before the return fire took my arm. You know the rest."

"So you feel like you failed them?" Korra asked. "Is that why you treat yourself some kind of monster? Because it isn't fair. There was nothing you could do!"

"Having the people you care about ripped out of your life within one day, that'll warp you. Hearing your father call you over the phone shortly before some unknown assailant killed him?" The medic shook his head and then sighed, a tired look appearing on his face. "Yes, I blame myself, Korra. Always have. Always will. Korra, I helped lead them out of the mess, and towards the armory. I failed everyone...in so many ways..." A single tear fell from the medic's face. "Guess I was too cocky, huh?" Thomas said bitterly.

Korra gripped both sides of his head, and looked him in the eyes. "Don't do this. It isn't fair to yourself. Let me ask you; if you were one of the ones you died that day because Jenny led you... would you blame it all on her?"

The Cyborg closed his eyes, thinking about that situation, if the roles were reversed. "N-no. I wouldn't. But that revelation doesn't help. The fact of the matter, is they died due to my ignorance."

"Then learn from it!" Korra punched him in the arm, even though doing so made it feel like she punched a block of metal, mostly because that was exactly what she had done. "Your time is limited. You might not be a religious man, but do you want to take the chance you'll meet them in the next life and have to explain to them how you were the one of them that made it, but instead of cherishing that life and living it up for the rest of them, you spent the whole time kicking yourself? You said what you first said would make me sad, and it dead. You said the same thing about this and it didn't. You know why? Because I don't think it is your fault, and neither should you!"

 

[Black0ut]

Dark Times, Pt.4

The medic sighed. "Korra, I can't just get over it and change how I view that section of my life. It was my fault. I made a mistake, one that costed me my closest friends. I've accepted this fact." The big man stood shakily, the outbursts taking their toll. "However, I'll try and be a bit happier from now on."

"That is all I ask of you, Wolfe." Korra stood with him. "I care about you. You're like family to me. Your pain is m pain. I'll weather that pain with you, because that is what friends... what family is for, but I'm also going to do everything I can to lift you up. Now... and until the end. Because I... I love you. Probably more than my real father."

Wolfe hugged Korra, trying his best to stop himself from crying. "I love you too, Korra. I...I'm sorry for everything I put you through. I see now my actions hurt you, far worse than the news I delivered. I'm so sorry, Korra. I'm...pretty bad at being a father, aren't I?" The medic said, a stray tear dropping onto Korra's shoulder. No. I refuse. I refuse to die. I refuse to die and leave Korra! Maybe I should talk to Alice...inform her of my condition and see if she can help...

Korra shook her head. "No... you're a fine father. And I thank you for caring so so much."

The big man said nothing, the tears that threatened to overtake him rendering him mute. More of Wolfe's tears hit his daughter's shoulders, the medic barely being able to say, "I love you, Korra." before he began to shake, the tears pouring out now, the stress, pain, and heartache Wolfe had felt, rushed out, finally having an outlet to use. But the big man was still silent, as he refused to make a sound.

Korra rubbed his back. "Come on. Why don't we get you some coffee or something. You need to sit down and take a minute or two."

Wolfe stepped back, wiping the tears from his face. "Yeah, that would be nice." The medic chuckled, "It would seem that my plan to cheer you up has backfired, and instead you're comforting me. It would seem that the tables have indeed turned."

Korra led him out of the gym, and Korra patted him on the back. "Maybe. But in a strange way, you did make me feel better."

Wolfe smiled, the mirth he had lost beginning to reappear. "I did? Huh. I thought I ruined your day for, at least, a few years." The medic said, slouching slightly as they walked.

"Of course not." Korra led him to the soldier barracks. "If anything, you reminded of what is important. Kallpa would want me take a lesson from how he stood by me, and stand by my friends."

Wolfe's careless mirth subsided, a pensive look replacing it. "I concur. those values are important." The medic looked away, lost in thought. After a moment, the medic looked back, after remembering something. "Jelani and I were talking, about vehicles the other day. How cool would it'd be, if we could roll around in some ATVs shooting at all the bad guys? However, I grew a bit perturbed by our vehicle usage. We have hover tanks, alloy tanks, and A.T.V.s, but we've barely used them. This war would end a hell of a lot sooner, if we used our vehicles." The medic rambled. Noticing what he was doing, the cyborg blushed slightly, embarrassed about going off on a tangent. "Sorry about that. I get a little sidetracked every now again, mostly about random thoughts. Sorry if I bored you."

"No, you didn't," Korra assured him. "Maybe they're saving for if and when the enemy starts using them more. Or maybe they're afraid to lose what we have, given our distance from Earth." Korra shrugged "I don't know. I'm not much of a strategist."

The assurance worked, Wolfe's hyper-active mind relaxing. "Perhaps you're right. No one knows what Command is thinking, so maybe they are just trying to be conservative with our vehicles. Who knows?" The medic shrugged.

Arriving at Thomas's room, Korra held the door open for him. "I wanted to thank you for being so honest with me. I know it must have been hard."

Wolfe's mirth disappeared at the mention of the previous conversation. "Yeah. You know, you're the second person I've told all of my history to. And, as you've probably noticed, I'm not the most...open person to talk to. It's just...harder telling people about myself, considering that my history sounds like a horror show."

Korra hugged him again, and whispered, "You can always talk to me."

Wolfe smiled, and returned the hug. "Thank you, Korra. That means a lot to me." The big man responded sincerely. Meus fortis, pius, quod optimus filia. My strong, dutiful, and best daughter. I think...that's a good description of Korra. The medic thought to himself.

Korra held him for a while, than stepped back. "I better head out. You need rest, and I need a shower."

The medic nodded. "Alright. Take care, Kor." Thomas replied, a smile on his face.

Korra nodded. Looking a bit reluctant to do so, she headed out towards her room

 

[DarkGemini24601]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “The Goddess and the Messenger, Part 1”

High Orbit over Foresti (July 19th, 2044)
The Neutron Star (1136 Hours, A.S.T.)
Floor 7: Corridors near Main Lab

Tee was knocked to the floor, clutching his head in pain. Two humans and Replitan pushed Volupta against the wall, staring coldly at her with dark intent in their eyes. "You were warned," the first human, Allen Quinton, snapped, folding his arms.

"We know all about you," the second, Kendra Sanders, said. "And we know you don't have the ability to fight back. For one born of such a monster, you are surprisingly weak."

"I... I already reported that someone like you was threatening me," Volupta said. "You hurt me, and they'll figure out..." the Replitan punched the wall, and Volupta yelled, cover her head. "Please. Just... leave Tee out of this. He didn't do anything."

A figure rounded the corner and paused. "I have heard that there were some giving the doctor trouble with threats, but I have not heard of any acting on those threats." Hermes crossed his arms, his metallic arm-feathers grating against eachother on purpose. "Surely I am mistaken in what I am seeing, and have no need to make a report or take defensive action against a security risk."

The two humans took a step back, but the Replitan shot him a dirty look. "Back off, robot!" he hissed out. "You obviously know not who she is, or what her family did to my people."

"On the contrary, I was informed. It does not matter. She is not pursuing actions that could result in her being discharged at he moment. You are," Hermes stated

Sanders swallowed hard. "Look... maybe we should just..."

"We should do nothing but what we wish." The Reptilian man slowly but aggressively walked towards Hermes, snarling. "What is he going to do against the three of us? He can't report us if we disable him. Disable it." He stopped in front of Hermes. "Now... I suggest you leave before I report you for being aggressive, and have you dismantled."

"I am performing my security duties just as a combat droid would. I request that you stand down, or I will be forced to contact command or take action myself." Hermes seemed unfazed, and the temperature in the hallway seemed to drop signifigantly.

"All I see is a malfunctioning drone that doesn't know what side he's supposed to be on." The Replitian reached down, pulling out a pair of knives and grinning widely as he turned. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Should have drained more heat energy. Or perhaps the exothermic assailent believes he can act before he loses energy. Hermes added to the heat he had concentrated around himself, and directed it to encase the Replitan's head. It was enough to give him incipient heatstroke in a few seconds.

The alien dropped to the floor, and the two humans through up their hands. "W-wait. I..." Quinton motioned between the two of them. "We didn't... we thought we were just going to scare her. We didn't know... he was going to go that far! Please!"

"If that is true, then do something for me. State both of your names. I shall commit them to memory. You may leave and my report shall only include the Replitan, but if anything happens to the doctor I shall assume it is the fault of you two first." Hermes dragged the unconcious reptile up against the wall so that security would have an easier time carrying him. "So I suggest you encourage anyone with ideas similar to yours to keep their distance."

"R-right. I'm Allen Quinton. Ship maintenance."

"Kendra Sanders," the woman said reluctantly. "S.... s-security... just started..."

You've done a poor job then, Hermes thought to himself. "Go ahead and take him to the brig then," he said, motioning to the Replitan. When the two had left, he approached Tee and Volupta. "Are ypu two alright?" The android asked with a weariness that had not been evident in his tone earlier.

"Y-yes, of course. Thank you." Volupta dropped to the Sectoid's side. "Oh, Tee. Please forgive me."

"There is... nothing you need... forgiveness for." Tee slowly sat up, holding a hand against a large bruise on the side of his bulbous head.

"Of course there is." Volupta started healing it. "When we found out their names, I was the one who insisted we confront them about their dreadful threats." Volupta gave Hermes a sad look. "He tried to earn me I shouldn't go alone. But, as usual, I did not listen to him. And as usual, he was right."

"If you back someone into a corner they are more likely to do things they otherwise wouldn't. Hence why I did not pass judgement on the other two," Hermes explained. Shaking his head, he added, "I wanted to thank you for what you did. I was able to remember the rest of my time with my friends thanks to your efforts, and with them recalled the last gift I received from someone dear to me."

"You were? That's wonderful!" Volupta helped Tee to his feet. "What was the gift?"

"Mistress..." Tee shook his head disapprovingly. "That is likely a person matter. You should not him to expect to simply tell you."

"Oh?" Volupta placed a hand over her mouth. "Sorry. I am still working on my social manners."

"It isn't, really," Hermes said, "although Tee is correct about ediquette. But I understand." His optics narrowed for a moment, and then expanded to normal size again as a set of clicks and whirrs sounded from the joints in his armor. The android removed his helmet gingerly, placing it at his side in his right hand. "She accomplished this for me."

Volupta clapped her hands together in excitement. "That is wonderful! I can only imagine the imagine the burden constantly having it on was." Volupta's eyes darted around a bit, examining Hermes, as this was the first time she had seen him without the helmet on.

The android's metallic eyebrows seemed to be the only imitation of hair, as he had none on his head. His skin was a pale white, somewhere between a normal European tone and white facepaint in hue. "Somewhat of a burden... Though I personally like the design. Even if it makes what I am immediately recognizable. It'd be hard to deny it without my armor anyway."

"Well, I'm not sure about that." Volupta shrugged. "I'm not sure what I expected, but you look more human than I thought you would. It is quite interesting. I do not suppose you remembered who made you' do you?"

"Not to my knowledge. The memories preceding my time at Slipstream were wiped amd may be harder to access. I was with the Trids for a time, I assume... But they don't have that sort of expertise. And apparently my armor's lock was programmed in an alien language."

Tee gave him an odd look. "Slipstream and the Triads? So, you were a pirate for a time before coming here? Interesting."

Hermes nodded hesitantly. "At least in my time with Slipstream, I never killed an innocent. I hope the same holds true for my service to the Triads..."

Volupta rubbed her wrists nervously. "Ironic we would become friends," she muttered a bit too loud.

"Why would that be?"

Volupta hesitated. Tee shook his head. "It is a fact that Commander Mason graciously kept out of public knowledge. When my mistress first decided to leave her seclusion, with no other place to turn to, she ignored the warnings of a certain Sectoid, and tried to join a pirate group. I believe one of them was the Triads."

"I assume you didn't know what they were really like," Hermes assumed.

Volupta's eyes darted down. "Well, I... I wasn't sure. But I figured... no one would accept me but criminals, and since I would just be acting as a doctor, it would... somehow free me from the guilt of their actions. I... realize now how stupid that was."


"I doubt you could have know you had better options," Hermes offered tentatively.

"Still, it is embarrassing." Volupta looked around. The XSDF has been so kind to me, a few individuals being the exception. To think, had the Triads not attacked me... I might be working for the one's who oppose you."

"But they wouldn't have, now would they?" Hermes argued. "Hypotheticals related to the past do no good for anyone."

Volupta smiled. "You're right. I guess when you're as old as I am, you tend to have a lot of past to dwell on." She motioned down the hall. "Do you mind walking with me. I enjoy our talks."

Hermes shook his head. "Not at all," he replied, following her lead.

"Can you tell me a little about these friends you remembered?" she asked as they walked.

Hermes sighed. "Well.. I worked with a group of four. I was the fourth member. Our leader was an Armenian named Manishak. She was cold... a bit ruthless as one would expect of a veteran pirate. There was Jishin, our third member, and a laid-back sort of guy." Hermes closed his eyes briefly. "And there was Grazia Di Mercurio. She was our tech specialist. Skilled with robotics and electrical engineering in general, even though she never had a formal education in her craft. She wanted to be a fashion designer, after all." Quietly, he added, "And I loved her. She's gone now, though... I seem to have a penchant for losing close friends."

 

[DarkGemini24601]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “The Goddess and the Messenger, Part 2”

Respectfully silent for a few moments, Volupta carefully asked, "What was she like?"

"She had a lovely voice... almost angelic. She was kind, but she certainly had a sense of humor that bordered on sarcastic."

"It must be hard. I imagine, with how vivid your memories must be as an android, remembering her now... it must like losing her all over again." Volupta looked away. "Do you... regret remembering?"

"I can't say I regret it. It conjures up negative emotions... but... without the memory, her gift would have been meaningless," Hermes replied.

"Still, it is quite interesting how you are capable of love. It goes a long way to showing how advanced A.I. can be." Volupta smiled. "Do you think you'll love again?"

Hermes glanced over at the Humiliata. "I'm... unsure, to be honest."

"Yeah... I can understand why you'd feel that way..." Volupta frowned and looked down. "Since I lost my love... I have been lost when it comes to the question of love. Somehow, I doubt I will find any of my people that interest me..."

"Besides the loss, why is that?" Hermes inquired.

"They are all so... stuck up, you know? They are trying to change, but even so, they have this aura of arrogance about them. It's... smothering." Volupta sighed. "Plus, they all look... ahem..."

Hermes chuckled. "I understand. Aren't Humiliata and humans compatible, though? You have options."

"You think so?" Volupta thought for a moment. "I... I don't know. I doubt I'll find a human interested in me. And even if I did... there is the... the age thing..."

"Well, that matters less with the Aeternam solution, but I don't see why a human would find you unattractive," Hermes replied. "You have an exotic beauty."

Volupta stammered for a moment, a bit thrown off. "I-I do? What... what do you mean?"

It was Hermes's turn to be flustered. "I-I mean... you are just as attractive as any human woman would be... b-but with skin that a human... wouldn't usually have."

"Oh... I see." Volupta looked down at her hands. "I never really thought of that. Does that mean... you think I'm attractive?"

"I... well... I suppose so..." Hermes stuttered.

"Well..." Volupta not so lightly bumped into his shoulder, hurting her arm in the process but playing it off. "You're not so bad yourself. B-by... human standards, I mean. Not... not that I care about looks... so much. I care more about a good heart. N-not to say you don't have a good heart! Because... because you do!"

Hermes smiled weakly. "It would make sense, I guess... two that have lost finding something together... I just... worry that it would be wrong. If we were to... be close like that... would it be dishonoring the memory of those we loved?"

Volupta folded her arms. "Well... I'm not saying we should... even if it might work. I mean... we are both beings that have troubled pasts... we are both beings with extended life expediencies... we are both beings who struggle to be excepted, even if yours as an android is likely harder..." She chuckled. "We both came to the XSDF after they rescued us. But... if we did... I don't know. Before he died, Tardeni told me... to not grieve him forever. That his time is over, but mine is not, and I should not turn him into a shackle to the past. Now that I think of it... that might be exactly what I've been doing for the past four cycles..."

"You didn't really have many other options, stuck on a frozen world," Hermes noted.

"I suppose not... though I feel I have avoided seeking such a relationship with others here. The closest thing was with an individual who was already involved while intoxicated." Volupta's eyes darted back and forth, and she quickly added, "Nothing happened."

Volupta chuckled nervously. "I don't. But... it would seem something about an Earth plant known as cocoa had an... odd effect on my people."

"I was unaware of that," Hermes affirmed with a faint smile.

"Yeah... so was I," Volupta admitted. "Can you imagine my embarrassment when I actually met his significant other. I never thought the color in my cheeks would fade."

"I don't believe I've ever seen a Humiliata blush," Hermes noted.

"We did not do it often... Though it is easier for one with a youthful form such as myself." A little embarrassed, Volupta's cheeks turned a slight shade of purple to demonstrate.

Hermes smiled slightly, but otherwise hid his amusement well."Regardless, I'd be willing to try my hand at a relationship if you would be. Grazua lived her life to the fullest in the moment... and I am reminded of why she did with recent events. One's life can end at any moment." Shaking his head to clear the somber thoughts, Hermes added, "Beaides, if I am being honest, I may have had an interest in... Someone else before regaining my memories. She is no longer here though."

"Oh?" Volupta hesitated before asking, "May I ask... who that was?"

"The... former lieutenant commander, Aya Brea," Hermes admitted.

"Really?" Volupta rubbed her wrists nervously. "I have heard of this woman. She was... highly respected by many. I can see why you would be interested in her."

"She... would not be a problem, it that is what you are thinking," Hermes insisted. "It was never anything more than a consideration."

"No... it isn't that." Volupta sighed. "I fear that I could not measure up to her. I fear I could not measure up to many. I am... impulsive. Childish. Scatterbrained."

"Intelligent," Tee added, still following behind. "Kind hearted. Living."

"I... believe I know of whom you speak..." Volupta thought for a moment longer, than smiled, extend her lower right arm to Hermes.

"The fourth android?" Hermes verified, gently takimg her hand with his own. "Have you met them?"

"The... gooey one, yes..." Volupta slowly nodded. "Pour thing has this mindset that the only means of obtaining independence as an android is complete removal of organics from the equation. I have set forth to prove it wrong. To show organics can change."

Hermes rubbed the back of his neck. "I suppose I should be glad that myself and the other two had a conversation about furthering our rights outside of that one's presence."

"Anything you can do to further this would help change its mind." Volupta squeezed Hermes hand. "I must be honest with you. I am... inexperienced. I have not been in a relationship for over fifty Earth years. And before that, I had only ever been with one man. To say that I am unfamiliar with the proper way to go about this would be an understatement..."

"I never formally learned how to pursue these things either," Hermes replied. "I imagine we'll learn together at our own pace."

Hermes shrugged. "Lunch?"

Volupta nodded in agreement. "Tee, do you mind if I head off with Hermes while you start our work?"

Tee bowed his head. "Of course, Mistress. Please, enjoy yourself."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Dahlexpert & ZombieSplitter53
Putting things in Perspective

Soldier Barracks
Room of Korra Devolina

Korra laid with her eyes closed but her mind awake, trying to relax a little after a stressful day. This was one of the few she had tried talking to more than just close friends, and it had left her feeling drained. Maybe a shower would help. Maybe a meal. Either way, she was too apathetic to do either.

Noire knocked on Korra's room's door, whistling to herself. "Hey Korra? It's Noire. Are you in there?"

Korra slowly got up from the couch, yawning a bit as she opened the door. "Yeah, Noire? What's up?"

Noire entered the room, and frowned at Korra. "Wow, you look really bad. Are you alright, Korra? I mean... your eyes look pretty red."

"Yeah... haven't been... sleeping a lot lately." Korra sighed and smiled softly at Noire. "You look good."

"Well, my brother and sister graduated. So I'm happy about that. They also sent me pictures of them graduating."

Korra nodded. "Human graduation. I heard you... have ceremonies and such, right?"

"Yeah." Noire shared the pictures with Korra." "See, those two in the robes are my little brother and sister. The guy in the military jacket is my other brother, the man wearing a regular shirt is my dad and the woman with the blue and a little bit of black hair is my mom."

"I see you get your looks from your mother," Korra commented. Mostly to herself, she added, "Father isn't bad looking either, though..."

"Well, he's my dad, so I can't comment on his looks, and it will be uncomfortable for me to talk about. Anyway Korra, how have you been? You look... well, not good."

Korra's eyes dropped, and she stepped away. "You know about our loses recently, right? I... I was really close to one of them."

"Oh Korra, I'm sorry to hear that, but that's the price of being a solder. The people that we care about might not make it back. That's something we don't like to think about, but it happens." Noire put her hand on Korra's shoulder "I'll tell you what Korra. How about we go have some some fun."

Korra sighed, and slowly nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

"We're going down to the planet. You need to, one, relax, and two, you can get some fresh air."

"Um... okay. I guess." She looked down at the regulation clothes she was wearing. "Should I change?"

"No, I would say what you're wearing is fine. Come on, it's time for you to see something other then this ship, and some human culture as well."

Korra nodded. "Okay." She jotted down a quick note for the others, than smiled at Noire. "Lead the way."

Noire led Korra to the shuttle that took them to the planet. Once there, Noire said, "So welcome to the surface, first thing's first; lets walk around."

Korra chuckled as they walked. "If your career here doesn't work out, you should try being a tour guide."

"Oh, ha ha, very funny. Well, at least your laughing, so we're off to a good start. So first thing's first. Ket's try giving you some good food. I know the stuff on the ship is the only human food you've had. I want to point out that our food tastes better then that. I will take you to a restaurant and possible give you some deserts."

"That... that would be very nice..." Korra lowered her eyes. "But... why now? Why me? In sure you'd have a much better time with Van Dam or O'Brien than me..."

"Well, for one, it's been a while since you and I hung out. Actually, I think this is the first time we hung out. Second, Brigid told me you have been feeling down lately, and Brigid is a little to busy to hang out with you. Third, I just want to."

Noire led Korra to a Chinese restaurant. "Here, this is a Chinese restaurant. There is a nation on Earth called China. I'm sure you will love the food here."

Korra nodded, but suddenly patted her pockets. "I, uh... kinda forgot to bring any credits..."

"Yeah, I know, you weren't expecting to come down here. I have no problem paying for your meal."

"Oh... thank you, Noire." Korra nodded in appreciation and walked into the restaurant.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

The waiter found a table for Noire and Korra and brought them a menu. "I will have my usual. Korra, what will you be having?"

"I... don't know," Korra answered. "What would you recommend?"

"Give her some rice, with some shrimp on it. And toss in a few eggrolls for the both of us."

The waiter left and returned with both their food. Korra saw steam coming off the rice. There wass also some soy sauce next to the plate. Noire's plate is a lot bigger with rice, shrimp, and some vegetables, and topped with orange chicken.

"Sigh, I have been looking forward to this. Don't worry, Korra this is really good."

Korra took a cautious bite, and a smile spread across her face. "You're right! This is delicious!"

Noire dug into her plate, quickly eating half of it andgrabbing some eggrolls. "See, I told you that it's pretty good. Try some of the shrimp and eggrolls. They're pretty good two." The waiter walked over to Noire's table and brought her a second dish, but also brought some dumplings. "Thank you. Oh, Korra, once you're done with that try some dumplings as well."

Korra did as she was told, delighting in the taste of each dish. "This is all so wonderful. Much better than Tamearin food. It all tends to be... pretty bland."

"Yeah. See? Human food is pretty good when it's not transfered from another ship and processed." Noire swallows her food and watched Korra eat. "Try not to eat too much. I have another place I want us to go to."

Korra slowed from shoveling food to eating it at a normal pace. "I-I... I'd like to go to Earth someday. See what it is like. Visit all the places people tell me about. I was planing to after the... war..." Her face dropped, remembering who she had made those plans with.

"I'm sure you will like Earth. I tell you what. Once this war is over, I will show you my home planet. How does that sound Korra?"

Korra nodded sadly. "Alright. Thanks, Noire."

"Sure thing." Noire sees Korra finish eating and paid for the check. After they left, she took Korra to another so called restaurant. "Ah, there it is. Korra, come here. You're going to love this place. I'm sure you never had really good human dessert before. Time to try some and probably bring some back."

"I've had some of that jello stuff on the ship," Korra said. "O'Brien always goes on and on about something called a chocolate sunday."

"Right, that's called ice cream, and I'll get you a Sunday as well. Cass loves her cake despite her attitude. I will also have to get some for myself, and some pudding as well. Any thing you want to try other then a sunday, Korra?"

"That pudding stuff sounds interesting," Korra answered.

"You want to try pudding? Alright. Excuse me, ma'am, can I get a sample of pudding for my friend?" The lady grabbed a small spoon, dipped it into some chocolate pudding and gave it to Korra.

Korra smiled in delight as she bit into it. "Magical! I could eat this every day!"

"Well, that will be bad for your diet. It's good to have dessert sometimes, but not everyday. Besides, you wanted to try a Sunday, right?" Noire asked for a chocolate Sunday. After five minutes, the woman gave the sunday to Korra.

Korra seemed to melt in delight at its taste. "Why are we not allowed to have chocolate on board!? This is so good!"

"Because you will eat too much of it and not train. Anyway, I have to pick up some things here and then we have a few more stops to make, alright?"

"And you don't mind if I come with?" Korra smiled softly. "I'm... enjoying your company."

"Sure. The rest of the stop isn't that important, but it is some thing I like to do." Noire grabbed the desserts and headed to a music store where some kids started gathering around Noire.

"Noire's back, welcome back Noire."

"Hey everyone, how are you?"

"We're fine, are you going to play us a song again? Yeah, yeah, are you?"

"Yes of course. Hey, Korra, can you hold the desserts for a moment. Oh, and can you grab the cupcakes that are in the blue bag." Noire realizde Korradidn 't know what a cupcake is. "They're the small things with colorful paper around them."

Korra nodded, slowly reaching in for the cupcakes and smiling as she watched the children.

The kids grabbed the cupcakes and thanked the strange woman. Noire went into the music store and asked the store owner if she can use the instruments there. The owner had no problem letting Noire use them, and she grabbed a saxophone and started to play it in front of the kids. The kids gathered around Noire as she played one of the songs her mom taught her.

Korra smiled widely as she watched the children dance around her, never having learned to play an instrument herself. She listen to the smooth tunes her companion played, clapping along with the kids.

After about an hour of Noire playing with other instruments, the kids thanked her and left. "Sigh... thank god for my lungs. "Few, those kids wore me out. "

"That was great, Noire." Korra placed a hand on her shoulder. "I never knew you were so good with kids!"

"When you live with two brothers and a sister, and your parents want to go out, you learn. Now, we have one more place to visit." Noire took Korra to a flower shop. "Hey, Korra, I need to pick out some flowers, but I'm not good at this, can you help me pick them. They're for my boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?" Korra slowly walked about the shop, oddly having a knack for color arrangements of all things. "What's his name?"

"Um... his nName is Victor, and he's off planet. I need something to tell him that I miss him from the bottom of my heart."

Korra felt a small pang in her chest, but said nothing. She only picked out some flowers and arranged them, offering them to Noire. "Here. The lighter yellows and violets on the outside give off an aura of friendship, but the red in the center shows your... your burning passion within..."

"Thanks Korra. I'm sure he will love these. Now, there is one more place we need to go, and I have to insist that you where a blindfold for this one and ask no questions."

Korra laughed. "Yeah... why not." Korra closed her eyes, and allowed Noire to blindfold her.

Noire took Korra for a good little walk. "Alright, Korra. You can take off your blindfold."

Korra took it off and saw that there in front of the soldier memorial. Korra's mouth opened and closed, and she suddenly turned away. "Noire, I... I-I..."

"Korra, I'm your friend, and I understand that you're hurting after you lost your boy friend. I lied about having one so you could pick out the flowers. I did this to help you accept what he died for. I took you around town, and showed you so many things, so you can understand what he died for. Yes what I did was sneaky, but it was necessary. And no you will not run away from this."

Tears ran down her cheeks as she closed her eyes. "I... I-I understand, Noire..." She slowly took the flowers from Noire, and turned back to the memorial, but didn't move at first.

Noire put her hand on Korra's shoulder. "Well, take this one step at a time, alright. I'm right here for you if you're feeling too scared."

Korra nodded, and took a deep breath, walking towards the memorial with Noire at her side. It wasn't long before she found Kallpa's name, and she knelt down in front of it, placing the flowers down. She sobbed loudly, placing her hands over her eyes.

Noire continued to hold Korra shoulder. "Korra, I want you to remember today. Today you saw many things. And tried a lot of things. I showed you everything today so you can see what he fought and died for. I may not have known him, but he gave his life defending this colony."

Korra nodded. She reached over, wrapping her arms around Noire. "Thank you, Noire. Thank you so much. I'll never forget today."

"I hope you don't. I'm glad to help you out, Korra.And never forget that I'm here for you."

"I know. Thank you." She looked down at the memorial, running her hand across Kallpa's name and silently wording 'Goodbye... and thank you'. She stood up, and gently smiled at Noire. "Can... can we go get some more ice cream?"

"Sure, and I'll throw in some cake and pudding as well."

 

[Dahlexpert]

The fallowing colabe was done by Dhalexpert & Frostlich1228

Entering the mind of an honor bound mercenary

The Neutron Star, in orbit over Forseti.

Near the office of Camellia Cross

Cassia stands in front of Winters office, contemplating whether to enter the doc office or not.

"Sigh it's been a while since I been here, though I did come a long way since Last saw winter sigh maybe she can give me some more advice on being normal or whatever. Cassia knocks on the door almost hoping Whiter is not there.

"Korra? Is that you?" Camellia's voice asked from within.

Cassia opens the door,

"No it's not Korra, it's someone just as bad if not worse then her. Hay doc it's been a while, as you can see I'm kinda missing something since I last saw you." Cassia points to her new metal arm.

"Cassi-Ahh! What happened? You lost your arm?" Camellia sat behind her desk, a surprised look on her face.

Cassia looks at her arm, and remembers that Camellia has not seen Cassia new limb.

"Ou right you never seen my new limb, I had this thing for a few months now. This is what I get for me getting bad memories, and hearing your advice about being normal.

"Are you trying to say I caused this somehow?" She asked, confused.

"In some way yes, if I never came here then I would have never have had thoughts about my old comrades. If I never came here then my old memories would have never came back, I had them burred for years but for some reason they came back."

"What does that have to do with you losing your arm?!" Winter exclaimed, clearly upset.

"During my last mission when we were pinned down, it reminded me of the last time I saw my comrades. Seeing those men & women pinned down and having the enemy having weapons that could cut through us like butter. IT reminded me of my comrades and I would not let that happen again, and it's your fault for making me remember my dead friends and feeling this since of normality for people I hate."

So I distracted you from your mission and you lost your arm..." Winter replied with a dead tone.

"Sigh no it's not your fault i'm just venting, I actually wanted to talk to you and actually get the whole psycho doctor thing that you do."

Psycho doctor? What're talking about?" Winter asked, her expression fading a little.

"Sigh I need to vent about some things that's bothering me, can you help me with it?" Cassia says in a defeated toun.

"Fine, I'm here to listen..." Winter replied slowly, calming herself down after Cassia's previous words.

Cassia sits on the couch wondering where to start. Thank you doc, alright were to begin. First let me start by saying I love battle, I love fighting, I enjoy the sound of gun fire and the sound of my punches heating someone’s face. I love fighting with swords and shields I love combat, but the I hate the quiet I hate coming here on this ship were I do nothing to you have any advice?"

"Well... We have the holo-training room, have you been in there yet?" Camellia asked, drinking some water out of a paper cup.

"I have but, killing a fake target is not the same as killing a living breathing person. For some reason I came to love killing people, I enjoy seeing there last gasp seeing their eyes go fully white and a simulation just can't do that." Cassia Sayed as she starts to smile wickedly

Camellia gave her a worried look, "Uhh... That's... Nice?"

Cassia looks at Camellia "Your scared aren't you?”

"I just... You're very... Descriptive? I guess what my Mom told me about your aunt wasn't exaggerated..." She replied, rubbing her neck.

Ou don't worry I’m not as scary as my aunt, see I just like killing and if I’m going to stay on this ship and not lose my damn mind I need your help."

"Well... Could this need to kill come from trauma in your childhood?" She leaned back, pulling out a notepad.

"Most likely, see I was born in the wilds of Alaska see my village in in a part of Alaska were it's dark for months on end. I live in Deadhours Alaska and the part were I lived I had to fight to survive, day by day I fought for food water and keeping the animals away from my food and turning them into my next meal."

"So, when you were a child, a day rarely went by where you hadn't killed something, is that correct?" Winter asked as calmly as possible.

"Yea that was my life, it's were I learned to appreciate everything. I had to learn the art of survival, and it was in that frozen wasteland that learned to become the ultimate survivor. I learned to appreciate the land of every planet, and to appreciate every animal and plant and use them to make weapons and heal myself."