You are surrounded by bunnies with what seem to be lazer rifles.  They're entrenched around you and a strange bug creature with robotic attachments on it.  The bug stands and begins laying down heavy fire on the surrounding trenches.

Suddenly, everything blacks out and you see a hooded figure staring at you and laughing.  You can't make out any detail of the character, and right as he's taking off his hood...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You're conscious and you can feel carpet underneath you.  Looking around, you find that Andrew is unconscious next to you with his sword in his hand.  You see your sword and your other things a few feet past him.  The room is dark, with a dim light and windows at the edge of the room.  You can't see what's outside, because it's too dark and your eyes aren't adjusted.

You see circular desks all over the place, with a seat in the middle of each.

I slowly get up and adjust a bit then walk over to my gear after I'm past him and making sure I'm out of his reach, I call his name a bit and wake up making sure that I'm not in his reach so he doesn't try to attack me... something I know I'd do if I got woken up like that.

Then I take a look outside once my eyes have adjusted to the light and such.

Andrew wakes up easily and without worry.  He seems to be used to waking up in strange places and simply puts his sword away, following your lead to the window.

Outside, you hear shouting below you.  You find that you're on one of the high stories of a large business building.  At the foot of the building you're in, there's a very large crowd.  You can see them brandishing fire and other objects, though you're too far away to discern anything else about them.

Approaching them from the other direction are men in completely white outfits, carrying what seems to be a white shield.  They're marching in formation towards the crowd.

"That is interesting... what do you think we should do... we could gather more info and then take a guess.... probably our best bet there..  Still, what is your opinion on the matter?"

Andrew couldn't agree more on the matter.  He isn't anxious to jump out a window towards a mutli-story drop into what appears to be police battling rioters.

He thinks that checking out the building is probably the best idea, or perhaps one of the computer terminals in the room.

"Hmmm... I'm going to hop on a computer and see if I can learn something about where we are... I worked with computers a lot back before I was a verser..."

I head over to a computer and turn it on, (if it isn't already) and see if I can learn something about this world, where I am, and what is currently going on in the world, current issues, something and anything important.. and non important if it will give some hint as to the world's status.

You have to hop to the center of the desk to grab the seat within, and get on the fancy computer.

You find a green button on the moniter, which is the only key you see anywhere around you.  Upon pressing it, you see the screen turn on.  It has a square appear in the bottom right corner, and it requests your identification.  The outline of a thumb is in the square, blinking.

I take a quick look around for a fingerprint or something that can copy a fingerprint... preferably both.  If I can find neither than I press my thumb in one the screen and hope things go well.

The computer processes, then reprocesses your fingerprints.  You can hear it hum some.

Then, it speaks in a woman's mechanical voice again.  "Welcome back, Sergeant.  It's been 47 days since your last log-on.  It's suprising that you're back on so soon."

Then, the computer fizzes some, blinks, and returns to its normal screen.  All of a sudden, a circular, clear prison falls from the ceiling around you with a swoosh.  You see something that looks like a helmet with an oxygen mask attached coming down from the ceiling.

A man's voice is now coming from the computer, and is much more emotional.  "Well, Sergeant, I'm suprised that you dared to return.  Perhaps you're not the coward that I thought-or maybe you're crazy like they all think."

You see Andrew run up to the prison from the outside and beat on it.  You can hear his heavy fists thud on it, but you can't hear his voice.

I lift up my ear to the outer part and then shrug, and make a gesture or two indicating I can't hear him.

I also try to say... "I can't hear you, save your energy."

I start talking to the computer...

"Surely, you are mistaken, while I am in different military installations on many different worlds a sergeant... well I don't remember doing anything that bad.... or being a sergeant... there was general... lieutenant... a few non ranking positions that had the equivalent of an officer.. but definitely wasn't an NCO often... so, what do you think I did?  I'm sure I didn't do it, assuming of course you can hear me.. hell you've probably got a camera in hear watching and a microphone to listen to what I'm saying... soo, why don't you show yourself and we can discuss this as men..."

The voice gets more malicious after your last statement.  You feel as if its attitude changed at your last words.  "Sergeant, don't play the fool with me!  You know well that I lost my humanity long ago, and you wouldn't be back here without the same purpose as all the days since the first time you accidentally found me!

But this time, I've made sure that you can't escape.  If you don't put the system on, I will be forced to drain the air from this room and make you put it on, Sergeant.  You should feel good, considering I'm not just killing you and that I'm willing to play by the rules even when I don't have to.  Consider it payback for helping me in another life."

You almost hear him sneer through the computer.  Andrew signs that he understands, and that he's going to get on another computer.

"I'm a bit confused, put the system on? I'm kind of in a cage here, and I've still got no clue what you are talking about... sure, I've been to about 18 or so different worlds, but I haven't the slightest idea as to when or whom or what you are referring to...

If you claim you have the right person, then answer one thing for me... who am I?"

"WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT?!"  The voice booms through the entire cage.  Even Andrew turns his head from hearing it.  Your ears are a little sore afterwards and ring for a few moments.  "I'm not going to play any more games with you, Sergeant, accept for the agreed upon one.  Now put your headset on and enter."

You start to hear some sort of air conditioner system come on, and a slight breeze upwards, towards a hole that's just opened.

Andrew knocks on the cage again, as if he wants a response.  He points over to another terminal, signaling that he's going to get on it.  You don't hear the disembodied computer man's voice anymore.

I reach into my pack and pull out my headset from the world in which I met Pollux..

After that I speak into it...

"Ok, my headset is on... now what?'

I also look around for a headset in case there is one that I didn't see in here.

The helmet with the oxygen mask looks very much like a headset to you.

Upon no answer, Andrew begins heading over to another terminal, and jumps into the seat, just as you had.

I put on the oxygen mask and repeat my last sentence, putting the other one back in my sack, while watching Andrew to see what he does..

You feel the helmet attached the the oxygen mask release something metal from the top, which connects to places all around your head.  Upon touching you, you feel a jolt, then you're swirling in darkness.

You see numbers circling you on all sides, then you're in a tan combat uniform.  You look at your shoulder, and it has a private's insignia.  You hear the man's malicious laugh in your head.  "Sorry Sergeant, but it appears that you've lost your memory of our last encounters.  You'll have to start over again.  I guess I should start calling you Private now!"

Then, you see a green cylinder materialize, then disappear.  You see Andrew in the same uniform you're in standing accross you.  He waves.

The voice comes back on.  "It seems you've brought help this time, Sergeant, but it won't make things any easier-I guarantee it!  Are you ready to begin again-from the beginning-Sergeant?  I've based the coming scenarios differently than the past games, so don't expect to know what's coming!"

You see Andrew instinctively look back for his sword, which is no longer there.

"This sucks... time to play by his rules...  Now, I know I'm skilled even without my weapons, of which I intend to retrieve... but we need to get through this first..

I'm ready, lets begin this."

Instantly, you're seperated from Andrew once again.  You feel a knife in an arm-sheathe, which is located on your left arm.  Also, you now have a pistol holster on the side of your belt.

You're in a metallic room with a three square windows, revealing that the wall is very thin, on one wall.  There are two narrow exits from the metallic room, each the same metal color as the room itself.

"Interesting, well I'm sure this is one of 2 things...3 things.  A real pain in the neck, then either virtual reality, or this is real, but this may be from the helmet thing I put on, so it appears that things are happening like this...  Well I do say, if you can hear me, this is surely interesting.."

I take a good look around then move over and throw the knife at the right most window, gently.  Just to see if anything happens.  If nothing happens, I pick it up, then press against the window lightly to measure how strong the window is.  After that I take the knife and slam the tip through the window, and get ready to shoot fire at anything on the other side.

You're able to throw the knife, and it breaks the weak window in front of you.  You see the knife fly foreward and out of your eyesight.  You then feel another knife in your sheathe.

You see a grotesque alien figure enter the room.  The creature's skin looks dry, and it has a knife just like yours in its hand.  It's about the size of a human, a little bit shorter with green skin.  There are wounded splotches on it.

You call out the fire spell, but it's unsuccessful.  It feels as if you don't have any magic in you when you try to summon the spell.  The creature notices you when you utter the spell, and lunges towards you, knife in hand.

I get ready to bring my knife across my body in a parrying motion, but hitting his arm instead and using my body to spin with the motion, then take my left foot.. (assuming I'm spinning left) and sweep his left leg.  Then push his shoulder down so that he falls, and on his way down I take my knife and slash his throat, then stick the knife into his skull, and prepare for a possible counter-attack.

You miss cutting him with the knife initially.  Still, you're able to spin and trip up the alien.  He crashes to the floor with a loud thud, and you easily take your knife to his throat to kill him.

He seems to become hollow and vanish into the ground, leaving what appears to be an odd version of a chrome pistol behind, as well as what looks like a small CO2 container of a green liquid.  The two are floating right next to one another above where the body just sunk into the floor.

I walk over and pick them up then see what was behind the window.. if nothing important, I go through the door cautiously... the one the guy I just downed came out of..

You go through the doorway and find yourself on the edge of a very large room.  There's a catwalk if you continue to go straight and take a left into another building.  A straight 15-foot drop from where you are, there's a large area spread out under the catwalk towards the other building.  You see a group of four in the same uniform as you are in running accross the metallic field towards the other structure in a military formation.

From the other side, through a window, you see a few more like the strange creature you encountered before with some sort of rifles.  They're aiming at the group that's running on the ground towards the other base.

I remain in the doorway and watch as the men aim their rifles at the people running..

As soon as they fire, I'll run, this way the sound of them firing will cover the sound of me running and I should be able to get to them before they have a chance to act.  This way, if I can get some rifles in my hands I can put my skill with them to use and get out of this place.

I continue to wait, waiting for them to start shooting so that I can run.. I try to remain hidden so that they won't be able to see me until its too late.. preferrably so that they don't see me at all.

It's hard to not let them see you, considering you're soon in the middle of a catwalk out in the open after they begin to fire.

After one of the sharpshooters fire a couple rounds at the coming commandos, he seems to see you and brings his gun around towards you, shooting.

He manages to get two shots off, and you're in the 1/4 from their side of the catwalk.  You see all but one of the commandos on the ground dead.  The last one is against the building you're about to enter the second floor of.  He seems like he's about to enter the first.

From this close, you can see that the sharpshooters aren't human.  They look like that dried alien that you killed earlier.

I dart to the door that leads from where I am into the building... (assuming they can't hit me if I'm against the wall.)

When the door opens, I'll stick my knife quickly into the head of whoever is there, then with my other hand, I'll shoot the pistol at the others in the room.

If they don't all go down, then I go back around the door and wait for them to come through, and I will stab whoever open the door, then kick the person behind them assuming there is more than 1.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:21, Sat 08 Sept 2007.

You charge into the room, ducking under one more shot at you on the way.

You're met by one of the sharpshooters at the doorway, and easily stab him.  He falls to the ground quickly and dissipates just like the other alien.  There's only one more in the room to your left, who you quickly dispatch with your strange pistol.  It shoots what seems to be a solid piece of slime at the creature.

It splatters on his chest and he grabs for his chest in pain as it eats its way through.  He's quickly on the ground, dead and gone just like the others.  There are two normal-looking carbine rifles on the ground where the aliens died.  Next to them are boxes that say AMMO on them.  The rifles and ammo seem to be floating a little above the ground.

You can hear footsteps approaching from the other side of the room, where there's an entrance.  The steps seem to be running up an incline towards the room you're in.

Hmm... I wonder..  this is strange.. its hovering, this... they dissipate..  It seems like I'm in some sort of game...  that is the only way to explain this...

I try to walk over the weapons and ammo and see if I automatically gain them...

If not I pick them up as normal... but if I do, then it seems like I'm correct and then I aim my slime gun thing at the doorway, I get down on one knee and aim at the doorway ready to shoot at whoever comes through... if it is anyone but andrew I open fire.

You aim your gun, and you think you see Andrew come up the doorway, so you hesitate.

The person's familiar, and you recognize him after a moment.  It isn't Andrew.  The boy has unkempt hair black, and what seems to be a dark blue long-sleeved shirt on.  He's wearing black blue jeans and no shoes.

He looks up, and it's Ajax's face.  "Avahur, what's going on?"  His hands are in his pockets and he has a very tired and bored appearance.

Then, you hear something electronic shift.  To your left, there's now a screen that's somehow embedded into the wall.  There are three horizontally stretched rectangles.  The three rectangles are as follows: top is blue, middle is red, and the bottom is green.

Above the choices, you see a sign that's white "Please, press your choice."  Each has a different emblem on it.  The blue one seems to have an eagle, the red has a dragon, and the green one has a symbol you don't recognize on it.

"Ajax.. what the hell... weren't you in the sword?  Then again.. didn't that happen after I killed you?  What the hell is going on...?

...

Ok, I know what's going on.  This is definitely a videogame... hell I created them way back.. so basically this is real... but it isn't...

We need to find Andrew, and escape this place... do you still have any skills that would be useful? Magic is null and void from what I can tell..  Also, did you happen to come across a sword or something.  I can do so much more damage with one, rather than a knife.

We need to team up and get out of here, and end this madness."

Ajax laughs a little.  "I can't do anything in this world."  He goes towards a wall, and knocks on it.  You don't hear any sound come from the suspected thuds.  "I don't know what a 'videeo gayme' is, but apparently I can't do anything in them.  I can only observe what's going on.  I can't even touch you."

He comes up to you, and punches hard at you in the gut.  You see that he puts effort into it, but you don't feel a thing and you don't move from the blow.

"I think our connection is the only reason I'm here; however, since I'm not..."  He stops mid-sentence and looks at you, "Why am I explaining this?  Figure it out for yourself."  He leans against a wall, not saying anything more to you.

"Well, I'll explain the concept some time when we are out of here... however I do think that this is just messing with the minds of people in here, and I'm still in a cage in that room.. its just affecting my brain... and so things seem real, and since you have ties you are dragged here, but since your in the sword it can't really affect you.."

I take a short pause and take another good look around..

"What do you know of what's here..  If you're here, but not here, what do you know of this place?  We need to read the central control room... assuming there is one.  From there we probably need to kill someone.  Then we'll be through this mess.  Did you happen to come across something like that?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Sun 09 Sept 2007.

Ajax shakes his head at you.  "I didn't see anything like that, and I explored a good portion.  We're in a room with an unreachable sky.  There are two complexes, both simple and small compared to large buildings, and there's nothing that seems weird but that right there."  He points to the blue, red, and green rectangles on the wall before you, and the sign above saying to press one.

"Well, a dragon, and eagle, and something I don't recognize..  I'm guessing depending on what I choose, it is what I have to fight in the next room.  Considering now that I've got some guns here, I'd rather go eagle.  A dragon is always a pain, especially without some magic to assist me... or my swords, and something I don't recognize would put me at a disadvantage.  So I'm going to hit that button.  Well, time to see what awaits..."

I go and press the button with the eagle on it, and prepare the 3 guns ready to grab the 2 I found and holding the one I had.  I ready myself to move should something happen, like a gate falling from above or whatever.

You press the eagle and the world around you starts to get unclear, until it's replaced by a flat terrain for a distance.  You can see in front of you, past the brown dirt ground, that there's a small canyon ahead, surrounding an 'island' of a hill.  To your left, you see a path leading up to a higher hill and another leading down into the 'canyon'.

Behind you, you hear a metallic noise, and you turn to see something strange-a bulldozer is generating a building from the ground, scaffoldings amazingly appearing in place.

I run towards the high hill looking for changes in my surroundings as I run.  I aim to get to the highest part to see if it can off a vantage point, and see what is beyond it.

When you run up the hill, you find that there's a strange spot ahead, to your left, and in a corner in the same direction.  The world seems to get dimmer, and you think it might even be pitch black.  The strangest thing is that it's in a straight line.

There are a couple unmanned tents to your left, and three to your right.  They seem to be on the corner of the square-shaped hill.  In the middle of this hill, you hear something to your right in the distance.  It sounds like machinery moving around, treads moving accross the ground making a crunching sound on the earth.

Hmm... this is interesting.. well, if there are contacts coming up here, the best way to avoid confrontation is to try to act as if we know each other.. Or, failing that, I could go with somethin like... *ponders a bit* hmm yeah. We'll try that..

I get behind a tent and point my gun towards where they are coming up, as they come into view and see me, I lower my gun slightly and start talking to them..

"Where were you guys, I thought you guys died.  Anyway I need a sitrep, what's the current status?"

OoC: Sitrep is short for Situation Report... however when in a combat zone or for pure lazyness, or quickness for that matter, its easier to shorten it to sitrep, and maybe use an ACE,L report..  Ammo/Condition/Equipment, Location for when talking over the radio, or communicating over a distance etc.  >_> Anyway..

When you call out, you see that it's a light tank.  It has a rocket attachment on its top, to go along with its cannon.  It turns towards you, and begins firing.  The attacks hit the tent, and you don't feel the assault at all.

Just then, you see five men wearing the same uniform that you are run up and get into a tent next to you.  Just after, five rockets are fired from the tent and make contact with the tank, destroying it.  You can hear more treads approaching from the same direction, and some from behind you (where you and the rocket men came from).  You think that you hear footsteps as well, from both directions.

"Well.. thats odd..."

I go and put my hand on the shoulder of someone near me, if it goes through them, then I start walking towards where the tank came from and start shooting any guys I see... If it does actually touch his shoulder, then I tell him to be ready and start moving down the ramp behind me and move around the side to flank the others.

You make contact with a nearby infantryman, who's walking next to a tank.

He replies with a mechanical, "Sir?"  Then, after you tell him the plan, he says, "Sir, yes sir!"  He, three rocketmen and another infantrymen accompany a tank and follow your directions.  You count three tanks and two dozen footsoldiers (consisting of rifle and rockets) left behind to fight the main fight.

It takes a good deal of time to reach the other side by going around.  You hear rockets starting to fire and hit when you're about 3/4 the way there.  The enemy have five tanks in their front, and what looks to be about fifty soldiers.  A fourth of them have rockets, and are moving towards the front.  The rest have simple rifles, and are staying at the back.

They don't appear to know that your group is there.

"I have a few plans of what we can do in this situation, first off, can you guys in the tank hear what I am saying?"

I wait for a response, if getting any form of a response, then I continue, if not, I take note of that, and continue anyways.

"Ok, first plan is that the tanks are bulky and can easily taken out from a distance with inferior numbers, so I'm going to leave them to the others.  Meanwhile, On my signal, we'll need the tank to fire a round or two at the side of people at the front, first round at the center of a 9 foot group, and then another a block over..."

I illustrate what I mean on on the ground.

"Then we'll need you three rocketmen to fire at people in the center area, make sure before we start you all know what targets you and the others have so you don't shoot the same target."

I go an illustrate the general center part of the area on a diagram I quickly etch on the ground.

"Then myself and you two, we'll spray are fire at the group, Our bullets aren't that accurate over a distance like that and so a spray would be better off, to atleast injure those that aren't hit already."

I make another bracket of an illustration of what I mean.

"This should have them panick a bit and then we can fire at them for one more volley from the rockets, then we retreat to a different part of the field behind us, away from the rest of our group.  This way we don't lead them into a perfect ambush position, it'll also make it easier on the rest of the group that's fighting."

"That is plan A.

Plan B is this.."

"I need to know how many of you are willing to sacrifice your lives so that we have a greater chance at success.."

"Also in plan A we may get injured or die before we can retreat, as there are no guarantees in war."

I wait to see who volunteers if any..

"Sir, yes sir" echoes from inside the tank.

After hearing your plan, they say, "Sir, yes sir."  Every one of the soldiers, including the ones inside the tank, say that they're willing to sacrifice themselves to win.

"Good, this reminds me of my time as a general... but that was many years ago.. ok, on to Plan B."

I start to draw a rough picture of the enemy again,

"What we'll need then is you guys in the tank, to head towards them firing and random groups of soldiers, and you three rocketmen will need to each fire a shot from a distance past the tank and into their line.

You guys in the tank, I'm going to need you to cause as big of a distraction as possible and take out as many of them as possible.. throw a volley at the tanks towards the beginning and try to run over whoever you can.  Rockets are dangerous to everyone at close distance.

So you 3 will need to aim towards any group holding rockets, so that the tank will survive longer, likewise we'll aim and shoot from a distance.

We will then have to retreat back a bit and reload and what ever else is needed.  5 minutes after we get back if nothing is coming, we will need to send a scout party to relay information to us, which will have to be you two (infantry men). You're gear isn't as cumbersome and you know the layout and what is to be expected.  Run for no more than 5 minutes to see what is going on, and then come back.  If you get into trouble along the way, one of you needs to stay and do what you can to delay them so the other can get back in time to warn us, so that we can prepare.

Now I am fine with both plans, what do you think we should do?  I've got an idea of an order, although I want a general consensus.."

None of them seem to have any idea of what you're asking when you wander what they think of a plan.

They have absolutely no input.  All they do is repeat your plan to you, word for word.

Simple-minded people... a blessing and a curse.

"We go with plan B, so stick to the plan, us 5 will stand on each side of you and start firing, while the tank moves in, then myself and these 2 riflemen will back out while you 3 stay for another round, and the people in the tank wreak havoc.  Ready, let's start."

I move next to the tank and see if they do the same.  If everyone follows the plan perfectly, then after the first volley I retreat and head back to the main line and see their progress..

If no one follows the plan I give them all orders to attack and kill then enemy, then I just head back as they all die.

The lot start their planned movement foreward, facing the group and prepared to flank.  Then, suddenly, you hear six small explosions from your right.

About 100 yards away to your right, there's a buggy with six fixed barrels on top of it, the barrels smoking.  More importantly, you see six streams of smoke flying towards the tank, and there are six collisions in a matter of seconds as the rockets impact the tank.

It becomes severely damaged, but it appears as if it'll still run.  The army ahead that you would flank is now sending soldiers towards you-a small band of rocketmen and riflemen.

"RETREAT!"

I start running at top speed back towards the main army.

You're the quickest in the run back to the main force, the others dragging behind in a uniform fashion.

The tank stays behind, and heads towards the buggy that shot it.  You hear a gratifying small explosion that couldn't have been the tank, but then you turn to see the rocketmen that were approaching destroy it.

At the main force, you see that they've been supported by more tanks, and they even have snipers in a tent picking off foot soldiers waiting to enter the battle.  Your side of the force has five tanks and about fifty men in reserve, waiting until the battle is over for something.

It's then that out of the corner of your eye you see something strange.  Ajax is laying down on a rock, twiddling his thumbs like a child waiting for something to do.

"Hey, Ajax, lets go for a run, I'm letting these fools to take care of their own war.  So, lets get outa here!"

I continue running past everyone leaving behind those that were with me in the dust.

Ajax shrugs, and jogs with you in the direction of where you originally found yourself here.  There are now several metal buildings built, many of which have evident movement going on, though you can't see what's being produced within.

There's a semi-steady flow of troops coming out of one building and making a formation nearby, while there's another flow of tanks coming out of another building and heading towards the main battle.

Ajax looks at you, and asks, "So does this mean that you've given up on this situation?  What's going to happen when you stop playing along?"  He actually has a hint of curiosity on his face.

"Not sure, so I'm going to find out.  Anyway, I'm more of looking for a quiet place to meditate... I've got an idea.."

I head over to the MCV...

The MCV just finishes building what seems to be a large square drop zone on the ground when you come over to it.  It turns, faces you, and stops moving, as if it knows that you're planning something involving it.

You see that no one is inside the machine, but that there is a cockpit space inside.

"Don't worry I'm not gonna do anything severe.. just gonna hop in the cockpit and take a look at what's goin on.."

I head over to the cockpit cautiously..

Inside the cockpit, which Ajax stands outside of waiting, you see large rectangular buttons with pictures of buildings in them, some of which you've seen.  There's also a map on the windshield that shows you your surroundings from an arial view.

A final thing that catches your eye is some sort of clipboard device next to you.  It is metal, and has instead of the thing to hold paper, a holster for a metal pen-like object.  One side has a screen, that is blank at the moment.

I look for a device that would control movement and such, gas, brakes, steering wheel, etc..

This'll be interesting.

It takes some time to experiment, but you find that for some reason the controls come quite naturally to you.

For a moment, you have a flashback that you don't remember.  It's about the operation of large maintenance equipment.  You feel like you can move fairly freely, considering the vehicle's size.  You don't see any gas gauge.

"Hey Ajax, want a lift? I'm thinking about doin' something interesting."

Regardless of what he does, I eventually end up driving the vehicle off in a roundabout route towards where I believe my enemy's HQ or base camp to be.

As I get close to it, I kind of wave to them, and hop on out (Not entirely but enough so that they can see me).

"I figured you guys could do something interesting with this..."

You hop on out, and keep on falling  all the way through the planet and beyond.

A distant voice echoes through your head.  Its a voice you seem to recognize...maybe....

*You're needed elsewhen, right now.*

PT

You see your normal surroundings swirl around you.  You're in the booth again, with a headset on.

A mechanical voice shoots accross the screen in front of you, [IMPOSSIBLE!!  HERESAY!]

Another voice booms in your head.  It's Ajax.  Avahur!  Get us out of this contraption now!  The vent above you is activating itself again, sucking air out of the confined space.

"I'm a verser, anything is possible...so long as you're in the right world..."

I scramble out of the vehicle and get a good 40 ft away or so..

You're no longer in this simulation.  You're in that booth you were before jacked into the system.

I remove the helmet and put my hands in front of me and cast the most powerful fire spell I know I can safely cast.. Then once the bars on the cage have been heated (if they haven't broken off) I take my shield and bash the bars attempting to escape from this cage...

OOC: Excellent dice rolls because...I'm in a really really good mood right now, and you've been patient, lol.

You build up the magic in your hands, and unleash as much as possible on the plastic prison around you.  Although you feel the air get thin, you see that the plastic is melting faster.

It only takes one bash of your shield and you jump out from the trapped terminal.  The computerized man is shouting obscenities at you, and calling you a coward.  Andrew is right next to you.  It seems like he had been attempting to get through the plastic himself; however, he didn't use his special arm for it.

"I'm a coward!? You're the one that's too afraid to face me face to face, come and fight me like a real man, and then if I run, you can call me a coward.  As far as I can tell, you're the coward."

Then moving over towards Andrew..

"So, how was it, what did ya do?"

"Me?"  Andrew asks, "I tried to break that thing down a couple times, but it wouldn't budge.  Then, the next thing I know, I see the helmet you put on go haywire and you start to move again, breaking out yourself."

He gestures towards the window, "However, the fighting outside seems to have become more intense."

"Weird.. I was sent inside a game of some sort.. then versed to another world, because I was 'needed' or something, then I got sent back here, and that is when I broke out..  Well with things getting more intense, and the fact that magic works here... Things can be interesting... Let's go check it out."

I take a look out the window then proceed to find a way down.

Out the window, you see that the army of men with riot uniforms have pushed the others so that they're crammed down only one street now.  The battle's being pushed away from the building you're at, and bodies are scattered on the ground.

Out of the room, you find both an elevator and a door to stairs.

"Lets take the stairs..."

I open the door to the stairs and cautiously descend them being as quiet as I can, and stopping at the bottom.  Once I am at the bottom I will listen to see if I hear anything significant, and if not, I will pull out a pistol and crack the door open slightly peaking through to see what is on the other side..

Upon reaching the bottom, you find that there are two large, metal doors that lead outside.  You can see the horrible scene of the remnants of the battle outside, bodies on the ground.  Some are still moving and groping in pain.

Observing through the window, you also notice that the building seems to be barricaded closed from the outiside.  You're not sure if you can get out easily through the wire, wood, and rubble outside.  You're not even sure if you can open the door.

--...look at them, Avahur.  They're ripe for the picking out there!  Shed blood-give me strength!--  Ajax taunts in your mind.  You can almost hear a malicious thirst in his voice.

Interesting, that looks like fun, Ajax, depending on how things go, you might be in for a feast...

I move cautiously into the room with my gun aimed at any entrances... As I move by the metal doors I try to get a better glimpse of what exactly is going on, I also after doing a scan and quick search throughout the room to be sure there is no one else, I proceed to see if there my be a way to remove the barricade by conventional means or by magic... Whichever way seems the most logical.

Wood burns, so that may clear some but the wire and rubble would be a pain.. maybe if I create water then shoot fire on the water to create steam it can cause a smoke screen of course so we could move around seemingly undetected...atleast in the sense they won't know exactly where we are and our movements will be hidden..

Outside, the battle seems to have left the area, but you can still hear the noise of the fighting.

OOC: How strong of a fire are you using?  Same question for the water and fire combination.

Hmm.. well theres also that....  It's probably easier to get rid of if I'm outside...  I might die though...  oh well, its worth a shot anyway..

Andrew, I' about to try something that may end up versing me...    I'm hoping it doesn't because it would be really sweet if I could actually get it to work..  but ya never know until you try..  I'm sure I'll end up seeing ya again..  Also if we do get separated and ya run into that man in another world, do us all a favor and verse him for us...  I'm just waiting for the day I can meet him... it is sure to be interesting...

I walk over to the door, and while carrying my stuff, I proceed to touch the rune that would allow me to phase through objects, and I attempt to phase through the door to get to the outside.

You get to the part of the door you deep least thick, and activate your rune.  You focus on all parts of the rune at once, eyes closed in focus.  Then, you start to move foreward.  You can't feel anything around you.

After a good amount of steps, you open your eyes and see that you're outside.  Andrew's looking at you from inside with a smile.

OOC: I'm giving you 1@4 for all rune use for succeeding right there.  What runes do you have again?  You have phasing and one more, don't you?

Ahh, its good to see I didn't die there...  maybe it was just the stoneskin rune that gave me issues...  I should try that on a world I hate..

I proceed to take a look around and see what is going on, then use flammas jacio on the stuff blocking the door to see what I can melt/burn off...

Wait a minute... duh..

just before I cast it, I alter the target to be a section of the door with nothing blocking it.. (or the least amount) then after I'm done with the spell, I use lavo to cool it down, then I take my shield and slam into the door to break it down..

An area near the edge of the door is hardly protected, other than some large balls of barbed wire.

Your spell is more than enough, and spreads a little further than you expected, going deeper into the building.  Still, it gets the job done of burning a hole in the door as well.  It takes a few attempts to fully cool the area, due to how powerful your flames were.

In a matter of minutes, you and Andrew are standing outside.  The buildings are all at least 15 stories high.  There's a main street that goes left to right where you are, as well as one in front of you, where you remember the battle was heading.

One man in complete police uniform on the ground grabs your ankle, as well as others holding their hands up, with pained looks.  There are men dressed in various outfits, but the only uniform present is the riot gear the police-looking people are wearing.

I reach down and grab the man by his shirt and pull him up to where I am..

Explain what went on here, now!  Failure to explain results in death, choose your words carefully..

I say in the most evil voice I can come up with, thinking somewhat of how Ajax would say it, if he were me.....

You pull the man up and get a quick assessment of his injuries.  He's bleeding profusely from his waist, and you hear cracks as you lift him.

When you talk to him, his eyes go wide with fear, and he coughs up blood.  While jambling on for a moment about being sorry, he spits up more blood, coughing too hard.  After a few seconds, he's dead.

Ajax, listen up, these fools are almost dead, so you'll have to wait to be fed until we find some worthy opponents...

Can anyone tell me what went on here?

I ask the crowd up dying people..

You see a man moving some towards you.  He has to move at a crawl, due to a wound on his side.  There's still a large piece of shrapnel in his rib, and he's hiding something behind him from you.

"I'll tell you what you want to know, as long as you do something for me."  He's wearing jeans and a thin, long-sleeved gray shirt.  He has a utility belt with a pistol holster on as well.  There's no pistol inside it.

ughh.. pitiful people....

I go over to him and heal his wound a bit, at least to something more manageable.  If it is still bleeding after that, I produce a small flame to burn it to stop the bleeding..

What is it that you want?

He manage to stop a lot of the bleeding and he removes he shrapnel himself.

When you ask him, he moves to the side, gesturing to a boy, approximatley eight years old, behind him.  "I want you to get this kid to Spectrum, and don't let anyone hurt him.  I have to get back to the fighting soon, now that I'm healed.  What do you want to know?"

What is going on here? What happened, who is on each side of the conflict, and what does each side stand for... why are people fighting, and what side do you represent?  Answer these questions, and to spectrum I shall arrive safely, with the boy...

The boy may be a lifeless corpse but he'll still arrive there... *thoughts of laughter* indeed this shall be interesting... or maybe once I find out all that I need, I can kill the boy here then kill this fool...  ahh well we shall see what I find out.

I go over to a nearby wall and do a wall-sit while I wait for him to answer.. if no such available wall is present, then I shall remain standing as I am occasionally rubbing the hilt of my blade...

There isn't any wall appropriately near the man.

He watches your hand closely as you play with the hilt of your blade, and he speaks quicker.  "We don't have a name, but the military calls themselves 'The Eridian Legion'.  They want to enslave and conquer everything that's left since The Lightless Day.  Please, I'm willing to tell you more, but that's all I know about the conflict.  We are simply fighting for our freedom."

"The Lightless Day?  Please explain..."

I continue to rub the hilt of my sword casually, not really paying attention to the motion, just interested in what people's reactions are..

"That's just what we call it.  Maybe your people call it something different or something.  I don't recognize you as one from Spectrum.  It's the day when all of the lights went out-when everything stopped working and all of this chaos began.  I hear it had something to do with an AI system going rogue or malfunctioning-something like that."

Sounds fun..and the military wants to enslave and conquer people?  Well, that sounds just up my alley...  Thanks for the information..

I proceed to kill the boy, and then the man.  After that I kill off everyone in the surrounding area that has seen me, with the exception of Andrew.  Once that is finished I head back over to him..

We have the information that we need..  In order for us to do things as we please and to not get tied down to a single side we, atleast for here, will go by the saying...'Anyone that sees us that is not a confirmed ally, must die.'

You proceed to kill everyone around you.  There are a few who attempt to flee, only to be cut down on their hands and knees.

The one who gives you the most trouble is the man you just spoke to, but you slice his throat open with Ajax very quickly.  You feel Ajax in an ecstatic state as you go around and end every life around you, the blood being soaked into the black blade.

Andrew stays still, staring at you throughout the whole ordeal.  All he can do is stare, until you approach him.  He pulls his sword out quickly, pointing it at you before you can reach him.  "You're the man that killed my family-killed me-destroyed my whole world, aren't you?!"

Ajax chimes in your mind, This kid is powerful, Avahur.  A plentiful bounty indeed.  Let me kill him.

No, we will not kill him.

As I've said, I haven't killed you, or your mother.  I don't kill family, that is something I grew up learning as I fought alongside my family.  Kill all who threaten you and your family, as the leader of the household it is the father's duty to protect his wife and children.  Andrew, you're the only family I have left, and so I will do what I can to protect you, but seeing as we are versers, and you are old enough, I see you don't need much protection.  Plus my sword, Ajax here can telepathically communicate with it's wielder and he says you are very strong, so, the person that looks like me, well he threatens me and my family, and that is something tat can NOT be forgiven.  SO please bare with your father for now, you will see what I have planned eventually..

I hold my sword defensively until he lowers his weapon, at which point I sheathe Ajax.

His eyes stay on yours, until he brings his sword down angrily on the ground.  Andrew then quickly sheathes it, looking down at where the dead little boy is now.

"Okay then, where are we going now?  You just killed anyone who could've given us directions."

"I prefer to wander, by wandering you learn your way around easier than people telling you where one thing is and getting lost on the way.  We'll go down this street away from the building and see what's around.."

I sheathe my weapon and walk onwards.

Andrew doesn't seem to follow your logic, but comes with you nonetheless.

While walking, Ajax is rambling in your head about how you're finally 'getting it'-that no one is really important but 'Avahur and Ajax'.  He wispers to you about Andrew, and the fact that his morals are too strict for him to continue to walk with the two of you.  You should probably verse him out now-he'll only get in the way in the long run.  I think there's more people up ahead.

You start to hear small noises of fighting up ahead, and you judge that the noises are about 200 meters off.  You can barely hear the combat.

Don't worry about Andrew, the last thing we need is more enemies..  although that isn't a bad thing either.  But I don't intend on killing my son, unless of course it would further one of two or three of my goals.  Even then, he's a verser, so he really won't die.  Don't worry about him for now.

I proceed to head towards the combat, keeping a good distance away...perhaps entering a nearby building so that I can get a better view of what is going on, without directly endangering myself.

You can eventually see the backs of an army of men with riot gear.  They have shields facing away from you, and are pushing as a phalanx that fills the street.

About 10 meters before reaching them, you and Andrew are able to sneak into a three-story building next to them.  It seems like an old structure, much like many other buildings around these parts.  They're made of brick, while the buildings you were just near when you began hearing the noise are made of metal and were skyscraper high.

From the roof, you and Andrew can look down and see the battle perfectly.  No one is using any weaponry that you can see, although there are some in the crowd of ragged looking people lighting up molotov cocktails and throwing them at the phalanx of riot officers.  The fires don't stop them at all, as the men push forth with shields and metal batons.

I remain watching the battle, observing what each side is armed with what they they do to win, and proceed to watch until the battle is over.

The side with the rugged, disorganized soldiers is equipped with knives, clubs, and even just long planks of wood for some.  Others are using their bare fists, and some have acquired riot shield and baton to fight back against the 'police force'.

It doesn't seem like they're using any strategy.  The ragged group of men are relying on numbers, which are dwindling quickly, while the phalanx of riot guards are depending on their protected flank and inpenetrable wall of soldiers.

The battle starts to move away from your further as the police army proceeds.  There are scattered bodies on the ground, some still moving, after they pass.

I continue to watch the battle..

Ajax, if I give you some magic power, think in one run we could easily slice through the men in police uniforms?

The sword moves out of the sheathe some, and you hear Ajax in your mind.  If you give me all of your magic, you could throw me down there and I would kill all of them on my own.

Tempting.. but no.  We need people to question, and police always are rash about things... I've died many times by people that don't understand, mainly military personnel.  So, we'll kill them off, question the others, and if they are unresponsive we'll kill them.  Either way, you'll get a nice feast.  So, only half first..  Although, if we get all the info we need, I may just kill off the rest,  so ya can get something to eat..

Andrew, let's go.  We're going to question the men that are being pushed back, military personnel over react to everything, and can't calmly assess a situation.  So, we'll proceed to wipe them out, unless of course they'd be willing to cooperate, in which case they can live.  But really, standard soldiers can't understand the mindset or how complicated things can get..  as a former, general, captain, and so on, you'll have to understand to bare with what I'm saying, until you can see the larger picture.

I proceed to leave the building and head over to where the soldiers are.

You reach the back of the soldiers' line, and one looks back to see you.

Immediately, two lines of them turn, underestimating you and Andrew.  One speaks over the sound of the battle.  "You two-what are you doing here?!  Get back to your camp immediately, or suffer the consequences!  We've routed your companions-now go!"

He still looks over you in some confusion at your clothes and weapons, but the line stays firm, moving foreward a step in unison.

Hmm? What are you talking about? I'm your reinforcements.. I've been sent here to secure the line...

Do I look like one of them to you?

I walk over slowly, and cautiously..

He stares at you skeptically for a second.  "Well, I suppose that isn't at all strange.  Why would someone come so close to so many enemies?  Okay, I don't know what you can do right now, but we need someone to scout the area and pick off any survivors that we've missed."

Before that I need a sitrep... and in that sitrep inform me of what's going on here.. upon coming about this area, I've been instructed to help you, but I didn't receive any information about the state this place is in.. hell I don't even know who the enemy is.  Could you please in that sitrep explain things, and then I'll go take care of things..

"We've been here for two days hunting these people down.  We have no idea where they came from-it seems like hundreds of small villages have combined their strength in this rabble.  They came to us directly in an assault.  We were lucky to be able to fight all of them back.

After a day, this unit was sent out to find and kill them all for such boldness."

During the conversation, the phalanx has moved up three yards towards the fighting.

Very well, what's your rank?

I take a look around us...

You see the same environment as normal around you.

When you ask him his rank, he looks somewhat confused.  The men around him do as well, then he says blankly.  "I'm just a soldier.  I don't completely follow.  What are you talking about?"

Just a soldier, eh?  Whatever, I'm General Avahur..  Continue about your business...

I walk off a bit.. and then turn around.. waiting to see if he goes back to what he is doing..

Don't worry I've got a plan.. they will all die soon enough..

You turn to walk away after they return to their lines, facing foreward.

You think that you hear one say something about you being 'insane', but they continue to face foreward, pushing the line up.

Gah, fine!  Just hurry up with it already-I'm getting impatient!

I quietly walk over to them, dump about half my energy into ajax, and proceed to cut down the guys in uniforms.. assuming no one looks back towards me.. if they do I tell them to turn back and concentrate.. then I proceed to cut them down...

Ajax seems to not pay attention for a moment, then you feel him raise joy from the sword.  Haha-finally!  Let's see if this works out there!

Just as you draw Ajax out of his sheathe, the blade turns into a smoke, and you're only holding the hilt.  You hear Ajax in your head say, Hold on to that for me, will ya?

The smoke is gone in a matter of seconds, and you see an explosion of fire in the middle of their line, near the back.  The man all fly back some, and one in the back line is kicked down.

You see the familiar face of Ajax.  His clothes as well are the same as the last time you saw him.  He has a sword hilt on him, but no sword inside.  He's smiling broadly and maliciously, as he tackles the man next to him, biting his neck deeply.

Ahh, Ajax, its been a while since I've seen ya like this...  last time I saw you like this was when I killed ya.. man good times back at the academy...  Anyway, we might as well enjoy ourselves, eh?

I draw my ninja-to, and switch hands so the hilt is in my left and the ninja-to is in my right, making sure to never let go of the hilt, when I am switching hands..

I proceed to cut the line down as Ajax does his thing..

Andrew looks at Ajax cautiously.  Ajax, with a blood-covered mouth and neck, looks back at Andrew and they trade a glance.  Then, the two move towards other enemies to fight.

The combination of Ajax's bloodthirsty and insane appearance, Andrew's massive strength, and your sone-cold killing face, is more than enough to scare the men into letting their guard down some.  In a matter of minutes, the three of you have killed fifty men.  There seems to only be about 75 left in the phalanx, which is still pressing foreward; however, more men are facing your direction now, forming a line.

You hear someone shout an order to hold the phalanx still, because they're being ambushed from behind, and to form a box.

I continue to attack each person around me, then back up a bit, and shoot fire at the men trying to form a box..

Hmm.. Incendo should work for this...

The men stay solid in their phalanx, while your fires are stopped by their shields.  They seem to have a newly raised determination about them, as a group.

A blood-covered Ajax is standing next to you.  His mouth is dripping with blood, down his neck and into his shirt, which still mysteriously remains dry.  "Well, what's the plan now, then?  They don't seem to be so frightened of the supernatural anymore."

They can't do much to us, but we can't do much to them right now, let's retreat and we'll come back later, if we were fighting each other and they didn't have a protective shield up all the time, we could do some damage, but that isn't the case now.. We retreat for now..

I head back fr the building I was in before.. watching to see what the men do as I leave..

They hold their ground, and you're able to leave peacefully.

Back in the building, everything's the same.  Ajax addresses you vocally, saying, "Well, I'm getting kind of bored.  I'll see you two another time.  Give me a call when a battle's starting, Avahur."  He then becomes smoke once more, and forms into the black blade of your sword.

Andrew says immediately, "I don't like that guy.  Why didn't you tell me that your sword was possessed?"

I did.. I told you my sword was sentient.., not really possessed.. but sentient.  As the sword has a personality and can communicate with me mentally..  Seriously though, he's quite the evil one...  Don't worr-- well worry, yes.., just be on your guard if he's out and about.  Ajax knows you're very strong, he can sense it.  He's got some nifty abilities, he's a powerful ally.

I proceed to a vantage point where I can see the battle, perhaps the roof, and take out my sniper rifle.  Once it's set and ready, I will aim it down and shoot 3 guys, the one that directed people to get into a phalanx, if I can recognize him... If not, then I shoot 3 people in the front towards the crowd.. making an opening for them...

You don't manage to find the man who gave the order, considering he was just a voice in the crowd.

However, you easily pick off three from the front of their line.  After the three shots ring through the air, all the noise on the ground stops, and everyone looks up at you.  Some look fearful, and others hopeful.  The faces are different from person to person, no matter which side they're on.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:56, Wed 12 Dec 2007.

I yell out to them..

Sure.. stop the fighting when guns are fired..   I was kinda hoping you officers would hurry up an die..   Well, I'll be going.. enjoy doing whatever it was you were doing...

I pack up the gun and move around on the roof..

Well, Lets get some sleep..  this roof looks fine to rest on...  We shall continue in the morning.. I need to recover some energy.. using magic does take a lot out of you.. and I'm in the mood to sleep.  Andrew, that sound fine with you?

Andrew just looks at you with a blank face for a moment, but follows suit and sits down against the door to the roof.

You fall asleep fairly easily, but you're woken up to the sun coming up.  Andrew's over you, and says, "There are people at the door.  They say that they're not looking for any trouble, but want to talk to you.  They've sent a representative from both sides to talk to you."

I create some water to splash on my face and  get up...

"Ok then.. I shall speak with them.."

I head on over to the door to speak with them...  opening it cautiously with one hand on ajax in case something funny happens when I open it...

You reach the door, and the police officer tries to have a high-and-mighty attitude.  He says in a deep voice, that's still wavering with some awe, "Wher-ere did you get that g-gun, civillian?!"

The other barrages you with a question before you can answer the officer's, "Is it true that there's a faction out there that still has the lights on?  Can you take us there?"

"First off, who are you calling a Civilian?  I'm General Avahur... or you could call me Captain Greg Mathews if you'd prefer... or let's see what other names do I have...  I know there was one I got when I killed achilles in the battle of troy way back in ancient times... hmmm... *rambles a bit* Anyway, just call me Avahur..

As for the gun.. does it matter?

Third faction?  Lights still on?  Eh...  I don't know about any third faction.. I do know that I'm just a verser that has a sentient sword... a son, and an extreme love of killing and war..  Not much more than that.  I just happen to come to this world.. apparently some person that looked like me was here before..

So there probably is another faction out there somewhere.. but really, why the hell are you guys fighting anyway?"

They both answer your final question immediately.

Officer: "For the good of all!"
Rioter: "For our freedom!"

They're both confused about what a verser is, but they don't question you about it.  Togeather, they interrupt one another and explain to you that all the lights went out at once when something took over all the systems in the world.  A faction that 'still has light' has either managed to rewire everything, or was protected from the infection from the beginning.  It would be a new hope for both sides.

The rioter even ends up calling you a fortune for all men, saying, "We are blessed by your presence."  He bows, and the officer looks scared for a moment, and starts to kneel as well to you.

"So, let me get this straight.. no power, no lights, and no electricity?  Then how the hell did that machine in that building way back there work...  and gahh..  whatever... There are probably people behind this...  I've got a building I need to go visit..perhaps its' got some power still..  Anyway.  I'll be back later..  Why don't the two of you, go back and tell your respective sides, to quit the fighting for a little bit...  a temporary pause in battle, if you will, until I can figure something out..  and when I do, I'll let you all know and you can choose where to go from there..

I understand the need to fight for freedom, or the good of all, as you said before.. but officer, let me tell ya something.  Good is just a point of view, what you see as good can be seen as evil to someone else.  So are you really doing good, or are you becoming the very thing that you are fighting against?  Who is your real enemy?  Perhaps its those that caused the infection.. perhaps not..  we shall see, won't we..."

The rioter smiles some at your last statement, and the officer looks down some, in thought.

The two leave you, and they give the impression that they'll be staying nearby in seperate camps, so that they can keep an eye on one another, rather than just report back to their bases.

I nod and leave the building heading back to the building that I was in when Andrew and I versed to this world..

Things have gotten interesting... although, it doesn't seem like I can gain any powers by being here...  So, it looks like if I solve this I can get some nice quiet time to relax and train..  My skills are good, but they need to be better...  Hey Ajax, how exactly were you able to transform like that?  Is there a way you get your powers? You never transformed on any other occasion, so why did you do it this time?

OOC: Sorry about this.  I thought that I'd posted a few days ago.

Andrew decides that he'll stay behind for now and rest, perhaps talk to the groups there and gather information.

On your way back, Ajax discusses his powers with you.  The majority of the ones he knows are from the Academy, while telepathy was something that he already knew.  I gain powers when you kill powerful enemies with me-or even shed their blood.  The transformation took me a while, because that guy we met in the woods a while ago was really tough.  I mean, I haven't even scratched the surface of his powers.  If all goes well, I won't even need you to give me magic anymore.  This guy was packed full of it.

I laugh at what Ajax told me, finding that to be interesting... and then proceed over to the building.

Without incodent, you find yourself in front of the building that you busted out of the night before.  It seems as if all the fire has been put out here, but there's still some hot metal debri in the way.

I shoot some fire then some water to cool it down and bash my way through.  Then I head to the stairs and up to the top floor.

As I move to through the floors I pay attention to whats on each door as I go up the floors.. When I reach the top I wait and catch my breath, then prepare for what might be on the other side.

As I go up I get ready to shoot fire at the first thing that surprises me, and I grab the hilt of my sword as I move ready to draw it if need be.

The first floor is reception.  Most of the floors on the way up have been either worn off with time or they seem unimportant.  For example, it has a clinical psyche department and a floor dedicated to custodial use.

A few floors worth mentioning on the way are:

"Interaqua Net System", which is the floor you originally versed on.
"Experimental Labor Engines".

You judge that you're about 1/4 the way up currently, but it took a long time to get that far.

I move on to the top..  stopping every now and there to catch my breath and look for anything interesting on way up, but not stopping till I hit the top.  When I hit 1 floor down from the top I stop catch my breath fully.  Waiting to see if anything happens..

You continue to move, until you think you've covered the same distance as before, judging that you're half-way up now.

You don't note anything curious, except for the reason you had to stop.  There's a ceiling that cuts in the middle of the stairs.  It has a burnt-in message on it, where the stairs would lead, which reads:

"Whomsoever passes beyond this point will enter a dark, unholy ground.  All the lights of the world will never return for the one who passes into this place."

"Dark, unholy ground?  Sounds fun.  Onwards we go.."

I make my past it, either by bashing through the ceiling with my shield, or using the fire, water, bash combo as before.  Either way I do what I can to get past it, and see what's on the other side...  Even so much as lighting a small fire with a snap of my hands to use as a guide if need be, should it actually be dark, and not some ploy to keep people away.

You can't bash through the wall with your shield.

Also, when you try to hit it with fire, it only burns the outside, just like the letters were burnt into the ceiling.  You feel like you don't have the proper leverage to get through; however, you notice something.  You hear noises above that sound mechanical.

I shoot water and such in hopes of short circuiting machinery, to keep whatever is keeping it from opening, to be gone, so that I may open it..

You shoot the water on the ceiling, but all it does is make it wet.

It still doesn't open; however, the noises above you do increase.  You think that you hear footsteps as well.

I bash my shield against it 5 times, then yell at whom ever may be  on the other side.

"Hey, open up, I'm curious as to what's on the other side, and I don't care what happens to this world.. Hell I'm not from this world, I'm just wondering who made people go crazy, and would like to congratulate them on making this place violent.  Then proceed to wonder if they can teach me how they did that so I can do it elsewhere.. After all don't you all agree that chaos rocks and it allows for the killing that people like myself enjoy so much?"

I wait and see if anyone answers.

"Who is that down there?!  You sound familiar!"

When you hear the voice from above, you recognize it as well.  You can't place where it's from, and the accent seems off, but you definately know the voice.

The voice calls back down, after some banging, "Hey, is this a trick or something?!"

Hmm... possibilities...

"Of course I sound familiar, who do you think this is, now open up man, seriously."

Only way to figure out who it is is to see them, plus this could be interesting if its someone I recognize..

The voice hollars down to you again, "Why didn't you appear up here?  I know some machines can be stupid, but I didn't expect something this strange.  I have my suspicions.  Who are you-what's your name?"

"Does it really matter, why should I have to tell you my name...  Of course machines can be stupid,  I didn't appear up there as I'm a bit drained right now.  Once you see me, you can confirm for yourself."

Hmm... if I can make this to work things can get interesting.

You hear footsteps heading away from you.  The voice says, "Don't bother with this again.  You can't fool me."

After ten minutes, he's still not back.

"Bloody hell, this is Avahur.  Somebody open up.  Can't a General get some respect around here?"

"What?"  You hear the voice above shout, and you hear a release.  Suddenly, the door above you slides out of the way, and the stairs continue into a hallway.  There's a man with a rifle, pointing the gun at you.  He's in full tactical gear, as well as a helmet that you can't see through.

Without speaking, he just holds the gun, pointing it at you.

"Hmm a gun, very nice, but I'm a verser, so shooting me won't really do much, and I can just kill you when I return here.  So lower the gun, I don't intend to kill anyone yet, I just have a few questions that I'd like answered."

"What do you want?"

The man asks, still holding his gun towards you.  Then, he explains, "I'm just leary.  I won't shoot unless you make an aggressive move, so don't worry."

"I can walk through walls, if I was here to fight I would have done so already.  Anyway, who are you, and what's going on here?"

The man says, "You can call me Sergeant Candid.  I'm here trying to stop all of this madness that's going on.  I'm here to stop the central computer, and bring light back into the world.  It's only a matter of time before it finds a way to mobilize and destroy everything.  What is your business here?  It's a dangerous place."

"I was looking for a way to return the light also... perhaps we could work together in bringing it back?  I've got a multitude of skills that could be beneficial...


Look, two different sides of people are fighting outside and they sent me to find out whats going on and to try and bring the light back, or whatever.  Dangerous you say?  Look at what I'm wearing, I do dangerous stuff all the time, let me give ya a hand, surely we can work something out."

He nods and takes off his helmet.  It reveals a heavily bearded man.  The last two inches of his beard are tied off by a piece of string.

He gestures you to come up the rest of the way, then hits a buttom that shuts the floor.  "I'm Collin Wright, and I've been trying to stop a man that I used to work with from getting out of this factory for the longest time, but I've recently realized that that's impossible.  He's already international-wireless.  He's jacked the internet, so he could be in a military base on the other side of the world right now making an army for himself.  We have to stop him."

All this time, he's been leading you through narrow corridors that are lit up, and he brings you into a room.  It has the same kind of chairs that were in the office that you got trapped into being zapped into a game, but it also has a desk with numerous laptop computers on it.  All of them seem advanced.

"Very nice set up you've got here, mind if I charge my laptop?  It should be fine..  I just need to record some information.. a lot of information actually..

Also, I was in a room a few floors down, it kind of looked like this, but I got trapped and was sucked into a game of sorts...perhaps this was done by the man you're trying to stop?  Anyway, we've got quite a bit to discuss."

"That certainly is a strange model..."  He attemps to grab it from you, but still looks at it from a distance if you don't let him take it.  "That's so long ago, I don't think anyone would have one these days.  Still, here's a cable that will fit."  He tosses you a cable connected to the wall.

"You can have one of mine if you want.  They're coming out the demon hole in this place-there's so much stuff.  I can work almost all of it myself, and build over half of the things here.  I've actually been working on a new item, but it's still in developement."

"Still, on another issue, about the possible help you could offer.  My mind's old, and I don't have the same endurance that I used to.  That man that got you is the new god of this world.  He single-handedly controls all technology, aside from a couple rooms that I have blocked him out of in this building."

He sits down in one of the chairs, and says, "I think that I can jack into his system.  There's a small chance that we might be able to stop him before he's able to build up an army.  If we can destroy him in cyberspace, then he'll be gone from the world and we'll be able to restore everything in one act.  What do you think?  Are you willing to help save the world?"

"Yes, however I will need a few things first.  First of them, is I need to record a bunch of data on this laptop, second, another laptop would be great, you said this was an old model?  That makes me a very happy person.  I've got knowledge on old models, however in order to be useful here, I'm going to need training.

Can you do anything out of the ordinary, per se? Or all that you can do in this world is limited to technology?  If technology is all that there is, then even with an army, there is a lot we can do.  But that would take time, and perhaps if you'll listen, you can teach me some things, and I can teach you some things.  I'm not your average person."

I start to record all the data on my verses from the last time I recorded..

"Wow, that was a long time ago.." I mumble to myself as I boot it up and see when the last time I recorded anything was.  From there I start typing very rapidly, recording everything.

As I type I make a couple comments.. "If you'll wait until I'm finished, you can take a look at what I've got here.  It may be a bit far fetched, but if you can believe all that I'm typing and have typed in here, then you can guess that we've probably got an edge on whatever this guy is planning..."

"All right, I suppose that the only extraordinary thing about me is my knowledge of technology.  I'm fairly certain that I'm the last scientist on the planet.  I can teach you technological knowledge intimately, which is easier if you're relatively understanding of such things already."

You're just about finished, and he reads your verser autobiography, looking over at your bag of items on occasion, as well as your outfit.  "Interesting, very interesting.  Don't take it personally, but for the time being, I won't entertain you in the belief that this is fact.  I'm a skeptic.  Still, I am interested in teaching you.  It feels wrong to let my knowledge die with time."

"A scientist, eh?  Well that should be fun, teach when you're ready..

However, a skeptic, then as a scientist and a skeptic.. probably a requirement for a scientist anyway, try to understand, or at least give thought to it, and me being able to do this....and no it is not a simple parlor trick."

I snap my hands to create a flame, then after a few seconds, I disperse it.

"I can do a few other things, but due to the fact we are surrounded by computers, I wouldn't want to risk them getting wet."

"I'm ready to learn if you are ready to teach."

"I'll consider it."  He says with a blank face after you create the fire in your hand.

Then, he immediately throws a heavy book at you.  "That book is in a series of six that describe technological advancements in general for the past twenty years.  I plan on thoroughly teaching you one volume in the set every day, at most every two days.  You will read with comprehension constantly, with no breaks, while I lecture about it.  You will also need to know in depth what I'm saying.  If you're ready for this, so am I."

"Should be fine.. I took a speed reading course about 14 years or so ago.. so I should be able to read through and understand most of it, and with you teaching me, it should be fine.  I'm ready whenever, let's start."

You speed read while listening to Collin's lectures on the books.

You finish both of the first volumes in the first two days, with enough time to get a good 8 hour sleep and get rid of a migraine each day.

When the third volume comes around, it starts to give you some trouble.  The machinery is becoming more abstract to you, and it takes a day and a half to cover the subject.  You have a terrible migraine during it, but you push forth and finish the fourth book in another day and a half.  You start to dream about equations, graphs, and how certain combinations of machinery can do different things.

During the fifth volume, you manage to press hard and finish half the book in a day; however, when you almost reach half of the book, you fall from your chair due to the migraine and lose consciousness.  It's a rush of feelings in your head.  You feel the pain of all of the information being crammed inside, but all of the information gives you a sort of high as well in this dream-like state.  Things start to fit togeather some.  You finish the fifth volume by the end of the next day.

You have just as bad a migraine during the sixth volume as you did in the fifth, but you push through it and you feel a soothing absorbtion of knowledge in your head.  You finish the book in two days, and Collin gives you the next day to rest and recall everything you've learned to him.

You now have an in-depth knowledge of how their technology works.  It's much like modern technology, but they've managed to engineer a new sort of microtechnology, as well as more advanced robotics (some of which is also micro).  The new technology has a looser base than the technology you knew about before, and can hold much more information and energy.

Collins gives you the latest computer, completley generic.  He says, "This is a tool for you to use and care for.  I want you to treat it like another part of you.  Customize both its interior and exterior to fit you personally in time."

Do you have any questions for Collins or about the knowledge that you've just acquired?

OOC:
Post Modern Technology: 1@1
Speed Reading: +2@1
Learning (Auditory and Visual): +1@1

"Well, that was interesting, I understand quite a bit more now.  While, I have no big questions right now, I'm sure I'll have some in time as situations arise.  Perhaps I can teach you something, skeptic or not, it'll give you something to ponder when you're out of ideas for taking out the other guy."

I walk around for a moment and gather a small amount of energy in my right hand..

"Here, skeptic or not, give this a try, whats the worst that can happen?  You don't believe it and that is that.. Gather some energy into your hand.  Close your eyes and concentrate on your hand, whichever hand is your primary one, just concentrate on taking some energy and having it flow into your hand.  Then snap your fingers and say 'flamma' if that doesn't work, then step outside for a moment, there is something I want you to try.  If neither work, then I'll be done for now, but if one works, then regardless of how skeptic you may be, it can give you something to ponder."

I demonstrate the fire once again and wait to see if he tries it.

Collin looks at you dully, but humors you.  He raises his hand up and snaps his finger, saying the spell barely audibly.

He shrugs his shoulder when he fails, not suprised.  Then, he follows you out of the room into the metallic hallway.  "If you're going to make a mess, can you show me in the stairwell instead?"

"Fine."

I walk over to the stairway. On the way there I speak to him. "Ya know, if you're going to humor me a little, at least put some effort, yeah I know it doesn't sound like anything much, but a lot of surprises and techniques can be applied.  Take a look at what I was just taught, a lot of things can be applied if the situation arises."

Once we get there I look to him and "Please cup your hands."

Once he does, I proceed, "Put as much energy as you can muster into your cupped hands, and then says 'aqua' and if all goes well water will form.  Just put some energy into it, seriously."

For a moment, he's reluctant to try.  Still, he cups his hand and says the spell aloud.  Once more, nothing happens.

He says to you, "I suppose that I'm not ready to accept any such reality at the time.  Or perhaps I've lived in this technology for too long to accept it.  Either way, I cannot do this at the moment.  If you like, I can teach you how to use the laptop properly before we begin lessons again tomorrow."

"Maybe, but I suppose, if you're not willing to accept it..  Here then keep the knowledge for when you're out of ways to go.  Then when you've got no where to go, you need to start from the bottom and go up.

Anyway..."

I cup my hand produce water, and throw some on my face, then create a strong gust of wind to blow my face dry.

"Shall we begin?  Let's see how the laptop works."

He teaches you how to use the laptop like you already know first.  The keyboard is set up in some odd assemblence of letters, but he says that you're able to change that if you want to later on.

Near the end of the day, he teaches you a function that your old computer did not have.  This laptop can wirelessly connect to any nearby electronic instrument and even control it remotely, depending if the instrument has effective firewalls set up.

He says that there are other things that he can teach you to install into the laptop, but that's for another day.

I thank him and (assuming there is a place to rest that I know of) inform him I'm going to get some rest, as there is a lot I'd like to get done when I wake from my slumber.

(If I don't know of a place to rest, I ask him where one would be, and then see above)

Before you go into the room, Collin tells you that he'll have an assemblence of items from here on out and the lessons will involve you learning how to build and operate them.

You sleep in a room near the one with all of the computers in it.  The room has the essentials-a bed, cabinet/desk, and closet.

Inside the closet, you find some comfortable silk clothes that are your size.  They're of a design you're unfamiliar with, but you've seen Collin wear clothes like that occasionally.  The clothes are in blue, black, and white, including pants, shirts, and undergarments (the pants have sock parts already attached).

When you go to sleep, you start to have a lucid dream.  It's of a place that you used to love and consider a haven, a home.

Then, the colors distort and spiral all around you.  Ajax is suddenly there, holding the sword he's bound to in his hand.  You're equipped with your normal items.  "Avahur, you've gone a few days without taking life.  I'm confused.  I assumed that we understood one another.  You destroy life and I look after you.  I found another ability in that hooded man, which is allowing me to be here right now."

Ajax holds the hilt of his sword and charges at you.

(assuming a don't wake up)

Ajax, I thought you would have understood my intentions by now.    I am getting myself ready, first I learn the way of the world, then, once I know all there is to know, I kill those that know more than I do.  Then there is no one stronger than me left, and I can proceed to kill whomever I want without worry, on this world I can lead a revolt and end up slaying nearly 50 people in a matter of minutes.  Remember back in Troy, the first time we were there, it took some time, but I eventually ended up fighting in the war, how much did you feast then?  YOU of all people should know by now, the manner in which I do things.  First get information, and then do as I please.

I proceed to draw my sword and parry his attack following it up with my sheathe, then giving him a chance to stand down, if he doesn't then I move in to attack.

You bring your sword up, and for a moment the two of you are deadlocked; however, he doesn't anticipate the sheathe, and you manage to hit him accross the face.

He starts to circle you a couple meters away.  "Okay, Avahur, I'll be honest with you on this.  It isn't simply about a lust for destruction for me anymore.  I want control...  And the quickest way for me to get that right now...is to kill you-in here."

You see his swordhand twitch and you know that an attack is coming from it, plenty of time to react.

Rule number one, never reveal your plans to the enemy.  Rule number two, talk to get close, then kill me before I can react, don't give me ample time.  Its for these reasons that I won't lose.

I stretch out my hand and run towards him shooting fire with the incendo spell.  After that, once I'm in close, I stop the spell and go in for a slice, if he parries, then I shoot an incendo at his face from point blank range, if it connects I use my foot to kick him away then shoot him with fire.

If I miss and he hits me, then I roll with the blow and do a spin to reduce the damage I take, then while I spin away put my foot down opposite him and create dust from my left hand and blow it at him with wind in my right hand, using the very basic spells.  Then should it succeed or not, I put some distance in between to get ready for what is next.

Your first blast of fire hits him square in the face, and his head is ingulfed by it; however, he brings up his sword and parries your slice.

Then, you continue your assault.  He jumps over your fireball at his feet, but you manage to kick him while he's in the air.  He flies backwards fromt the force of your kick and lands on his back.

The fire goes out from his face, and you see that he isn't wounded.  He's simply laughing histarically.  "Well, I suppose that you aren't half bad at this."  He is still laughing, and he finishes, "I guess I underestimated you this time, but I could still win if I tried.  Still, I suppose I'll wait until I'm sure of a 100% victory...right after I tap into Thanatos' divinity..."

Then, Ajax dissipates in a cloud of black smoke.  He's out of your dream, and you wake.  It's still the middle of the night, and you see the black blade and feel something more foreboding than you have before.

Ajax, you should know I only get stronger.  If you do beat me, it is because I am weak, and for that reason I should lose.  However, I don't intend on ever being weak, and as I learn more, you will continue to see you have no chance, not when we met on the academy, and not now.  The future doesn't look to be much different, except that I will be stronger.

I sit up and get into a meditative position.  From there I concentrate or work on trying to lift myself up as I am without changing my position.  Should I get into the air successfully, I concentrate on keeping myself suspended in the air for as long as I can.

You go good with your levitation for a short while, but then you get tired.

After the tiredness, you start to feel a stinging pain all the way down your spine.  It just continues to burn and hurt, until you lose focus and fall to the ground.  You're flat on your back, and you can't move a muscle.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:55, Tue 29 Jan 2008.

Not so bad, gives me some time to relax and meditate...

I stay in my current position, close my eyes, and proceed to meditate.  While meditating I recall past events, and focus on the elements to which I can use.  First I focus on the element of fire, and try to attune myself with the heated, fiery spirit of Fire, then proceed to the mellowness and smooth motions of Water.  After that, the free-spirited, and lightness of the wind, and air.  Then to the foundation of planets, the earth which is a strong foundation and carries the burden of everything on it.  I proceed to meditate and try to attune myself with the elements knowing what may happen in the days to come, and doing what I can to be prepared and ready.

Well, there's Ajax, so I suppose there might be elemental spirits, similar to Malachai back at the Academy.  Perhaps if I can attune myself to nature, I might be able to command the elements better and improve my capabilities..

I stop thinking and calm myself, proceeding to try to attune myself with the elements.

Every time you focus on an element, a different part of your spine depending on the element feels better, as if it's being mended and cooled.

After a while of this, you find that you can move your body again; however, you're sluggish and you feel hot all over your body.  The heat starts to go away with time, and your speed returns as well.

Hmm.. that is interesting indeed... perhaps I should look into this more, while I have time..

I move into a sitting position against a wall and proceed to meditate, focusing on Fire first..and continuing to focus on it, and mentally reach out to fire, and the burning power that resides within the element.

You try to connect with the element again, but you don't feel the bond anymore.  You're unable to reach out to it, or even feel it anymore.

Nothing happens, but you look at the clock and see that you have only a couple more hours to rest before your next lesson with Collin begins.

Try to disturb me in my rest Ajax, and I swear I will kill you... or maybe just get rid of you...  I'm sure you wouldn't want that.  Unlike you who relies on the wielder killing, I can kill perfectly well with any sword I wield, and I've got two others.   Disturb me in my rest and you WILL starve.

I proceed to rest in my meditative position, try to get some sleep, first by relaxing my muscles, then relaxing my mind.

If you could give me a list of 10-20 items that you'd be interested in learning how to build/operate that could be moderately futuristic, it would help me out now.  I can do some rolling to see if Collin knows them, and we can continue from there.

I go over things in my head about possible things I may want to consider asking if they exist, or if they can be made..  During my thought processes I manage to come up with a few things to ask him about...  They are the following, but not limited to...Lightsaber, Sword with energy/plasma as a blade, Energy shield, Hi-Tech flashlight, mini laser (like pocket laser type of thing), Glasses that allow the wearer to see front/behind and in both directions up to a mile and everywhere in between adjustable. Belt or other device that can protect the wearer, either with a shield of force, electromagnetically, or whatever, a very badass hi tech bulletproof vest, or the equivalent of the time period,  Scientific gadgets that he thinks might be nifty, Bag of holding or equivalent type of thing, Artificial intelligence device, small or large, that can be injected into machines or whatever and control them,  similar to cortana in the halo series, else some form of artificial intelligence.. perhaps to enhance laptop, hi-tech watch, artificially enhancing the body.

Collin actually gets on one of his computers when you start talking about the things you want to build.  It seems as if he's thinking very quickly, and he answers all of your queries about them being buildable.

He relays that in this world technology was to the point of making lasers, but they never thought of practically applying them in battle.  About the energy shield, he believes that the two of you could make a shield of sorts using lasers, which would destroy anything that attempted to go through it.

The flashlight is very possible, and he said that he would've suggested it anyhow.

The best bullet proof vest they have is worse than the quality you got when you were in space and met Pollux.

He can hook you up with a new metric watch, but they're harder to make due to how small the technology is.  It's more of an advanced thing to make, and he says he'll address it later if there's time.

The two things that seem to spark his interest most are the ideas of "a paradocial matter storage device" and the artificial intelligence.  It seems as if they were on the edge of developing effective A.I.s but were unsuccessful.  The project ended when the world's lights went out.

Collin asks where you want to begin.

"Let's start with the lasers."

You have to wait a bit for Collin to work before he figures out how to build a laser.  He explains that they have a safety feature on their lasers to stop upon hitting a certain density of matter, so that they wouldn't kill anyone if someone messed up with a laser.

Then, he teaches you how to build it.  He gives you a toolkit, which you've learned about through his lessons, as well as a bunch of miscillaneous parts and equipement.  You can tell by looking at the equipement that you'll have to take some machines apart that he's put in front of you to get all of the parts you need for the laser.

"Well in that case, let's build one with the safety, get used to handling it, then remove it, else build a new one without the safety.  Seriously, don't worry so much about rules and regulations.  Safety is nothing, die over 10 times and you don't care about it.  Besides, when I die here, I take stuff onto the next world with me.  Don't believe me if you don't want to, but trust me, its not fun.  Good luck in the afterlife, and while your there, well see if anybody I've sent there remembers me.

Anyway, just had to get that outa my system.  So, as I was saying, I care nothing for safety, I'm a General, captain, and so on in several different worlds.  So I'm qualified to handle weapons of any sort, so it'll be interesting.  Let's see if I can create this.."

I proceed to try and create the laser, should I succeed I remove the safety, or rebuild it without the safety..

The safety is easily removed, especially with Collin's guidance.

After grueling hours of dexterious work, you learn how to build and disassemble the laser safely-without damaging the laser's components nor endangering yourself.

By the end of the day, you know intimately the workings of the mini-laser; however, your hands hurt from doing such precise movements, and they're shaking some.

"Well that went well, after a short break for me to give my hands a break and recover, and lessen the pain I'm feeling, perhaps we should go on to the flashlight."

I get up and walk around a bit, outstretching and closing my hands, getting the blood flowing, then keeping them lazily at my side to keep them relaxed.

They don't recover enough to move freely until the next day.

The two of you then begin work on you building your own flashlight.  It's actually quite simple, even if it's advanced technology.  It only takes a few tries before it becomes effective, and you're able to repetitively build it again and again from scratch.

Still, your hands hurt a lot afterwards, and he suggests you dip them in cool water he brings to you, and let them rest.

I nod and dip my hands into water.

While their relaxing and chilling, (literally), I take deep breaths, then once they feel a bit better, I take them out and dry them, then proceed to meditate.

Your meditation works and helps soothe your hands.

For the rest of the day, he lets your hands relax and he just gives you a stream of consciousness writing piece (the equivalent of Joyce's work) to read.  That night, once more, Ajax doesn't visit you during your sleep.  You've stopped receiving any thoughts or emotions from the sword.

Ajax, ya still there?  While I'm sure this is very boring for your right now. Just absorb it and learn patience, its a virtue you know, and it can often be the deciding factor in war. 

I proceed to meditate and read, if Collin is ok with it, then I get a full day's rest before I proceed with trying to do the energy shield with him.  I work on focusing myself and keeping my mind sharp while my body is lax in not training...

For the shield, all Collin does is put the materials in front of you, and doesn't explain how to build such a thing.

He's also given you raw materials for you to wear it on.  The materials could be made into a metal belt, metal gloves, or a metal protector that would cover your forearm up to your wrist.

It seems as if he's testing your innovative abilities for this, since he's already taught you how to build a laser.

"Interesting, well consider this then.  Do you think it would be possible to create it on the fore arm, like a normal shield, but similar to the laser which has only one beam.  So like, sort of like a bunch of lasers all around the inner frame aiming inward to form a shield.  Would something like that be possible?  If not then an extremely large and wide beam that could be very wide and large that could protect me if worn on the belt or something of the sort.  Before I even consider trying to do something, I want your opinion to see if from your knowledge something as such would be possible.  Rather, theoretically possible..."

Collin just smiles at your statement, giving you a small nod.  Then, he leaves the room.  "I'm going to gather data on the developement of artificial intelligence while you work.  The best of luck on your shield's completion.  Just know that if you use lasers, things won't simply bounce off.  They will be destroyed most likely."

"Perfect."

I go to work on creating a shield for my forearm, doing what I can with what I know.

You manage to be able to make a shield 1-2 feet in diameter for your forearm.  The way you and Collin test it is by plugging it into a power supply.

The shield does have a chargeable battery on it so that you can use it elsewhere.  At 1 foot diameter, it will last 10 minutes until it will go out.  With a 2 foot diameter, it will last 5 minutes.

"Hmm.. that could be a problem.  While I'm glad that it works, the time limit on it seems a bit too restricted.  Do you think there could be a way to lengthen the amount of time it can stay active?"

"Of course.  The only reason that your shield has a short time limit is because it has a weak mobile energy source.

If it's constantly plugged into a power source, it won't go out as quickly.  Also, if you build a power generator or some other power system that's more effective, time could increase."

"Very well, then lets set to work on a power generator for this thing..."

The two of you get to work on a small power generator.  He presents you with the designs, which you can half-way understand, of a 4x6 meter power station.  It's the smallest effective unit that they have.  Collin is iffy on if it's even possible to make it small enough to carry around.

"Hmm.. well in that case, we can come back to it, lets see if we can do something about possibly making that storage device I mentioned earlier.  Its a very interesting concept, and I was wondering if it'd be possible to create something of the sort."

I let out a deep breath and look at him waiting for an answer.

"Well," Collin smiles, and he takes a small box, which seems to be about 30 cubic centimeters large.  "I've been working on this on the side for the past few days.  I think that I've finalized it, but I wanted to wait for you to try it out."

He gives you the box and shows you a button to press to open it.  There's also a screen on the side where you look for items you already have in it.  "Whenever you're ready, Avahur."

"Ok.  Let's put the Flashlight in there and see..."

I press the button to open it, and insert the flashlight.

You press the button, and you see the box begin to open.  That's when you feel an inexplicable gust start to blow from behind you towards the box.

Quickly, it opens wider and everything in the room starts to move towards it.  Soon, the force is too great for you to stop, and you're against the small entrance of the box.  It's sucking you in harder and harder, until you feel flesh rip and some of your internals go through.

Everything else dies into darkness.

OOC: That's the end of this world-a botch for the little box thing.