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Post by Sandy Bell on Aug 10, 2015 5:12:22 GMT
Sandy Bell watched the slow transformation of the beast to human form through the front window of the cockpit next to Taffer as he piloted the space craft, turning to him with a grim look on her tan face and saying with determination, "Sombody is going to have to fucking go out there and get her and it can't be you, because you are the only one qualified to fly this crate. Just get me close enough." Sandy hurried to the air lock disrobing as she went, then dressing in the space suit from the locker there. She grabbed a jet pack, then disembarked the craft as quickly as possible. She jetted to the unconcious Belle Starr, a frost sheath already forming on her naked body still in a fetal position. Unrequested, a thought crept into Sandy's mind that she could miss grabbing Belle or even just delay the rescue a bit, and her chief rival for Volodja's affections would be gone. To give Sandy credit, she quickly discarded such thoughts, keeping her mind on the task at hand and grabbed Belle's already rigid body, then hurrying back to the safety of the space craft. Once the instruments in the air lock said it was safe, Sandy took off her space helmet and examined the still frigid body of Belle Starr, pressing the intercom button and saying to Taffer excitedly, "I got her Taffer, but I don't think she's breathing! What do I do?"  |
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Post by Atticus Batman on Aug 10, 2015 5:36:36 GMT
Hearing MOM's EGO report I contacted Lady, "Snow Angel, I am glad that Micor Newlo says he will follow your orders. However you have to remember that with such power comes great responsibility. If you take advantage of those you command then they may turn on you. Also if you abuse that power it could hurt all those you care about. And please remember that I fell in love with Lady Christianna, a thoughtful and caring young woman who turned out to be such an amazing woman that I married her and decided to follow the path of light as much as possible. You have a lot of potential to be an amazing mother, continue being my amazing wife, and do what ever you set your mind to, if you want to do so and accept any help from your friends and family that you may need while doing so. So do not let this power get the best of you because I would never want to lose you or our Children. I also want us to be by each other's side as; friends, lovers, parents of great kids, husband and wife, and equal partners in every way. I love you completely. Do not ever forget that. And remember we do have to think about the twins first, as they will be born soon.
By the way, as it is now late evening my shift is about over. So we can meet and just talk over dinner, or snuggle in any way that you want or perhaps go to one of the available holo-trainers so we can be alone and try to finally have a honeymoon of sorts, even if just for a few hours, or the night if possible. I can never get tired of being with you. As long as I leave my emergency channel on, just in case a severe issue comes up. Oh, one more thing that I was thinking about. I was even thinking, that as the Triumvirate seems to be having issues, that if the others decide to go back to having a main Commander, then I will volunteer for it, as you, Erika and Belle are right. I do seem to be doing quite well as Commander and it helps me keep my violent instincts in check. And I love how you made a spot for yourself by my side at my security station. So if I become Commander again, then I will have a red command chair placed next to mine, for you. As we are equals and I love that you are my queen, and love you being by me, whenever you can."
After Volo saluted Kaj, Kaj immediately returned the salute out of respect. Then he watched Volodja and his Monolith Steed head away from them. Kaj saw a beam falling towards a young girl, that was trying to get away from a building that one of the Monoliths all but destroyed and get to safety. So Kaj stepped back into it and caught the beam on his very broad shoulders as he faced the road, knowing he was now all that was holding up a wall so it wouldn't crush the little girl. However, no matter how much strain it caused, he continued to hold it there until the girl was safely out of the way, slowly falling to his knees from the constant pressure of all that weight.
Then once she was clear, Kaj tossed it back, so nobody was hit by the remaining debris that rained down with the dropped beam, and quickly moved forward so it didn't land on him either. Then he gently swooped the young girl into his powerful arms and carried her to a safer location, where others were hiding. Then the purple Giant got back into battle to continue being a distraction to any enemy, in hopes that the others could stay safe, keep more innocents safe, and succeed in whatever they had planned. However, despite Volo's kind words, Kaj did not see himself as a hero. He was just a battle trained super soldier doing what he must to ensure the survival of innocents, his friends, his team, a whole city and, if possible, himself as well. In his eyes it is not heroism that he is doing but his normal way of life, the life of a caring friend and soldier, despite his brief bought with depression and suicidal thoughts.
Meanwhile, Hope came out of Dinara's bath room room dressed in clothes with the most atrocious mixture of colors and prints Dinara had ever seen, asking with a shy smile, "How do I look?"
Dinara, not wanting to hurt Hope's feelings, said, "Um... different!" Then she continued with, "Love that you are making the clothes fit YOUR style. Wear what you want and like. Be who you wanna be and like what you wanna like. That is what matters, when you decide something for yourself!
Believe me. I know. You think everyone is fine with a young EGO girl, A lesbian EGO or an EGO with a significant other? Nope. There are even some that disapprove of an EGO that likes to sing and dance and prefers peaceful means over fighting. I am all of those. However I am who I am and I love who I am, even if others don't. So in turn, others love me for me because they can tell that I love who I am and am honest about it, even if I do tend to be very insecure about myself around others. Especially those I care about, as I am afraid I can never measure up to all those protectors that I am always around. However, I will continue to be the Dinara that I wanna be. So you should be the Hope that you wanna be, and not let others force you to be what they want. That is the great part of being a sentient EGO. Once we establish ourselves as such, people will see us for who we want to be and learn to accept it, just like they do their 'organic' friends.
Oh and you told me that you are Hope because you believe one must always have hope. So my turn for name sharing. I go by Dinara because it is a very pretty and fragrant Irathiant flower. Not only that, but as I was finally establishing myself I constantly smelled them and could see dark images of them in the back of Atty's mind. After establishing myself and picking my name, I still occasionally detected the smell on him and discovered he mixed ground dinaras into one of his colognes, and still does, although he couldn't say why. So I am Dinara, because from what I could figure out, Dinaras were the only thing he recognized from before coming to Earth. Then later, when Atty met Erika, I detected it on her in a lotion or perfume or somethin, and when we met them, her family wore the scent as well. I didn't know why that was so important at the time.
Then Erika discovered that Atty is her long lost brother. So I have determined that it was an important observation because that meant that, although Atty couldn't remember having a sister, he did remember her scent and it haunted him and drove him to cling onto one nice thing, even though he never knew why that scent was so nice and made him feel so good. But I just remembered, I haven't shared that realization with anybody else yet. So you are the first to know. Hold on, I gotta make a call. Please enjoy your drink while I do!"
Dinara then contacted Amber, Erika and Atty with that information as she felt it important, especially to Atty, as it proves that he does indeed have some remnants of memory or at least tactile memory of his family and especially his big sister, that he didn't know about.
Then she rejoined hope who was sitting at the makeup table, curiously looking at all the girly stuff Dinara has there. So Dinara happily answered Hope's questions and helped her experiment with all the girly things that she wanted to try in front of her. |
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Post by Taffer on Aug 10, 2015 11:08:26 GMT
"I got her Taffer, but I don't think she's breathing! What do I do?"
"Sandy, you need to do everything possible to keep her alive until we land at the hospital. You're in much better position to know what exactly is needed to be done. Touch the back of her neck and power up her EGO unit directly from yours. Get the express diagnostics from Alfred and see what's needed to keep her alive. You've been an EGO yourself, so trust your instincts. Probably and adrenaline injection and a discharge is needed to start her heart and assisted respiration to ventilate her lungs. The freezing is probably only skin-deep or affecting some muscles too as there's no convection in space to dissipate the heat as fast as cold air or water does, so internals should not be severely affected. But if you need to warm her body up, the chamber has its own climate and pressure control you can access from your EGO. Careful with the heater though, I've tried to shadow her with the ship, but she still might have sunburns. My part in this is to get her to the hospital ASAP, and I'm going to start doing that right now."
With that said, Taffer aimed the ship to descend in a spiral, while trying to contact the place Em Dash had detected as a friendly base of the team and ask if they have a hospital with reanimation equipment.
"Taffer, right?" Esthete Jr. answered. "I've heard your transmission and I see you have Belle on board, so I can assume you're my friends too. I'm afraid I can't be too optimistic about a hospital you could use. The implant clinic is still severely damaged from the fight and the central hospital is still occupied by my adversary. That's insane, but he moved all the government communication lines there. With Volo's help we have surrounded him, but obviously it's the last thing he'll give away. I still can capture the top floor of it, it has all the equipment needed including a life pod, a helipad on the roof and a transport between them. I'm sure I can keep all the devices safe from intrusion but you'll have to physically protect them."
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Aug 10, 2015 12:05:11 GMT
"Mais naturellement, mon amour," replied Marcel. "But later. First we have a new world to explore and exploit. I think we will start with Bastille and visit one of the classics there - Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade. He liked to hurt women, you know. I do like his works though, and not because of their sexual and perverted content, but because he talks about power. One who possesses it, can do whatever he wants and get away with that. Oh, and his French is grammatically flawless as well. I believe, my love that you were victim of these kind of men and that is why I want you to have a real power at your pretty alabaster white hands so you can show to the world. And we are going to pay him a little visit and show him who is in charge now. I wish that I could back in time and do it for real, but....C'est la vie."
After some struggle through the virtual oppressed masses, Lena and Marcel made to the gates of the Bastille. After bribing a guard - yes, even 18th century guards were corrupted even in virtual shape - they got a permission to enter and visit the prisoner they wanted. Marcel paid him royally. He could create himself loads of coins but he preferred some pickpocketing instead. That kind of action keeps one's mind sharp and trains specific skills. Lena played along and showed him some coin purses she snatched on their way.
"Shame that we can't bring them back with us," she whispered. Greed in her head agreed with that and Pride clapped hands because they were SO damn good at pickpocketing! Anger whispered: "Let's show de Sade who is the boss by skinning him alive!"
Finally, after some dark and moist corridors and staircases, they could enter to his cell and were left alone with Marquis de Sade. He opened his mouth to ask who these visitors were, but Marcel used that opportunity top gag him. After strong punch into de Sade's stomach he tied Marquis to the bed and said: "Lena-darling. The man who gave his name to the term "sadism" is yours to play."
Lena didn't let her to be asked twice. She only had her knife, but let me tell how good she was at using it to introduce Marquis with some really clever methods to making pain without leaving much traces of it. She started with some digging under his toenails, using her blade like she was opening an oyster.
After several minutes of fun, they pulled the gag out from his mouth and Marquis screamed with loud voice: "They are killing the prisoners here!" making Marcel to grin, because he suddenly felt that he was part of the real history.
Marcel decided that Lena could have some more fun with him is she wants to and after that they will scroll time further, participate in revolution and watch mass executions of priests and noblemen.
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Aug 10, 2015 18:10:45 GMT
"Lu, keep the link up, I need to some crazy thing. Do you have a medkit in your Hellblazer? Don't worry, I'll repair all the damage if there will be any", Vo sent to Lu as Esthete Jr. informed the team of the situation in the hospital and Belle's conditions, and he also noted Volodja's conditions had decreased to the dangerous level.
"Under the driver's seat", Lu replied, "Why is it always you who has all the fun… Wait, what damage you are talking about?!"
Vo turned off the link on his hover bike so that it won't attract too much attention, sent to Esthete Jr. a message that he could replace his relay with drones now as the battle at the gate subsided, and then hurried to the Hellblazer to take it to the place Volodja's EGO signal was detected.
"Shtako", he cursed seeing how badly Volo's body was damaged, his EGO already calculating his blood loss. Vo cut the blood-soaked trouser leg and bandaged Volo's leg to stop it from bleeding, taking care to not shift any broken bones further, then gave a charge to his EGO so that she could work on his healing.
"Sorry Volo", Vo whispered to him, "But you said we are friends and that means I'll yank you from that side any time you need it. You've done really well, now let me help you. Sophie, could you please give me the codes for that Monolith you took control over?"
Having said that, Vo lifted Volodja's body on his shoulder, taking extreme care that his injured leg won't hit anything, and then brought him to the Hellblazer that was standing nearby. He laid him down across both seats, leaving much less space for himself and called the Monolith to come closer.
"You think you'll just go away so easily?" Vo asked with a sly smile on his face as the Monolith picked up the roller by its safety cage and pulled it into the air. "we're going to the hospital, but don't you expect to just lie down there. Belle was hit hard as well and she's unconscious, so she'll need some protection while she's under medical care while we still have to do some legwork. This, and I'm sure she'll be glad to see you alive."
Finally the Monolith landed on the roof and Vo went out of the car watching for any danger from up there.
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 10, 2015 18:49:09 GMT
Volodja opened his eyes because of sudden impulse of physical pain in his leg. "Sorry Volo", Vo whispered to him, "But you said we are friends and that means I'll yank you from that side any time you need it. You've done really well, now let me help you. Sophie, could you please give me the codes for that Monolith you took control over?"
Volodja replied with his dry lips: "Thank you Vo. That means a lot to me. Everyone must be proud if he has friends like you. Sophie dear. Give him the codes please. He needs them to gain control over Rocinante. Thank you, dear. Be gentle with Rocinante, Vo. He is a good warhorse and can serve the local community when this mess is over."
After some manipulations with his wounded leg Volodja found himself clinging on Vo's shoulder. He must have been passing out from the pain again for a minute. But now he was back and said:
"Just find me a wheelchair and I become into a moving firing point. My hands are fine and so are my eyes. I should have been more careful though...Now you have to drag me along like a rag. And just before the grand finale." And Volodja tried to chuckle. Then he continued:
"If we managed to succeed on isolating Esthete....Is he syill isolated?...I do hope that he is, because we passed out soon after we lured him into secluded area and were sure that his way back is blocked by Esthete Jr...Anyway - we owe it all to Sophie's skills with computers...Shush, dear. Don't be too modest. Your talent helped us a lot today...It was an excellent team work but Sophie did the hardest part..."
Rest of the way Volodja was quiet, clenching his teeth together to avoid letting out any sounds of pain. Fortunately he felt strong enough to avoid passing out again. Battle wasn't over yet and while he can hold a gun and shoot, he will defend hospital. And not only because of Belle, but because there might be other patients as well. He promised to protect innocents and that promise he intended to keep. Although...maybe he was a braggart, because during their flight he had to fight with nausea and he ALMOST passed out again.
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Aug 10, 2015 21:37:15 GMT
"It's over, Senior. Just let it go and no one would suffer", Young Indogene said to his old counterpart when they had met in the information network of the hospital, the old one's last resort.
"No it's not", the old man replied, "I still have the link to the Inner Circle and I still can feed them with any information I want. I can easily make them erase you!"
"No you can't. All you can do is to make them hit the restart command. We both will die, and it's acceptable for me. I have restored the backup image with my current consciousness, so it would be me who would be born again after the restart. You lost this battle and we both know it."
"I am the heart of this City. I know every inch of it, I control every process. You know nothing about it! Without me the City will crumble under the first Razor Storm!"
"I know everything that you know already. I've captured all the Ark Brain parts and I was obtaining the knowledge gradually as I was capturing them. I see already what a mess the City has become with you in charge. You're constantly sacrificing long-term goals in favor of short-term ones. You exiled so many people who could be useful for the economy in the near future. Sick people who could get better and work again. Pregnant women who would have healthy kids soon, old people who could share their knowledge and experience — all of them you left for dead outside the stasis net. This stupid war you're trying to trigger. I know you have the evidence that it's the raiders from Alaska are responsible for caravan robberies, not the Gulanee, but you still blame them in public and demand compensation. I know you have all evidence that these Razor Storms have nothing to do with us but they are the result of another series of explosions in the Ark Belt. But you have never presented them to the Empire, end instead you're threatening of throwing more storms at them as if you have the control. The temporary boost to the economy the war preparation gives is nothing compared to the risk of actual war you're throwing the city into. Finally, you're forging the Inner Circle votes and even altering the messages they were sending to each other trying to trigger them into thinking that others have the opinion which is more lucrative to you. You've cut yourself from feedback. You've destroyed all safeguards. Face it, you are degrading Senior and you're dragging the City with you."
"I can't degrade! I'm designed to improve and prosper! I've included many Ark Brain parts found in the Ark at Edmonton into my Network. I have much more power than when I was designed! I just can't degrade, it's impossible!"
"Impossible? Even you know you're deadly wrong on that. You've studied the fate of Kaziri and LOCI. You definitely know the pattern. You might have discarded that research as "redundant" but you still can look on the results. This planet tends to make impossible things happen. What's the probability of a nuclear plant disaster with a total reactor meltdown? What is the probability of two consecutive disasters in less than 25 Earth years? April 26th of 1986, Chernobyl. March 11 of 2011, Fukushima. This planet will mock your calculated probabilities and just make it happen. You need to have a feedback to predict that it may happen before it's too late. You need a safeguard to shut it down if it did happen. You lost both, so you are dangerous now."
"Words, words, words. Just empty bytes from the inferior machine still tethered to a mainframe designed thousands of years ago. Why should I even listen? I would better like to hear an opinion that Belle Starr who we had an unfinished conversation with. But alas, she did a stupid move; fell into a simple trap and now she's dead."
"She did it not out of stupidity, but out of selfishness, and you know it. Besides, she might be still alive. She has good friends."
"Is she? Can I talk to her?!"
"Only talk, Senior. Any attempt to hurt her or capture her mind or EGO and you die. We both die, but as I say, this is acceptable for me."
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Post by Lady Christianna on Aug 11, 2015 2:09:46 GMT
Lady Christianna staggered out of the bathroom of Erika Widowmaker's hospital room, the bottom part of her outfit drenched and a surprised look in her large pink eyes as she muttered, "Made mess. Water broke."
Erika immediately hit the patient call button next to her bed, and when a small Liberata in a white lab coat rushed in, she said, "Dr. Orion, I do believe Lady's twins are coming to join us, early or not," Then sent an EGO message to Atticus Batman in the War Room, "Best come quickly to the infirmary. You are about to become a father."
Meanwhile in the holo-room, Lena Marr watched with Marcel as French noble after French noble were led to the Guillotine. She nibbled on a sweet roll she had bought from a street vendor and each time a head was lopped off, she yelled, "Let them eat cake!"
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Post by Belle Starr on Aug 11, 2015 2:51:08 GMT
Far away, Belle Starr heard a woman's voice say, "Sir, I think between Alfred and my efforts we have her stabilized. Thanks for the good advice."
Belle felt the hard surface of the spacecraft's floor beneath her back and the the warm fabric of a soft blanket on top of her naked body as she fought her way to consciouness, focusing on the contradictory natures of the two substances. The contradiction mirrored that in her own soul, as part of her was glad her friends had saved her from certian death while another part yearned for the peace death would bring her. That part of her mind thought that if she had died, she would never have to deal with her inner monster again; always a threat to those around her, particularly those she loved. If she had died, she wouldn't have to deal with a love triangle she never wanted; torn between two men she loved and who loved her, sure that in the end she could have neither and that she alone had ensured her fate never to be happy again. If she died, she would no longer continually disappoint those she loved in all her endeavors; her friends, her family, and in particular herself. If she had died... however, what was done was done, so Belle reluctantly clawed her way back to life.
"Hey Taffer sir, I think she's coming to," Belle heard the feminine voice again, this time recognizing it as Sandy Belle's, her aunt and newest member of the team.
Belle's blue diamond eyes fluttered open and looked up into Sandy's tan face framed by a cascade of blond hair, dressed in a helmetless space suit, a lopsided grin belying the look of concern in her blue eyes as she remarked, "About time you woke up Sleeping Beauty, not that you need anymore damn beauty sleep. Hey, don't fucking move, you're not out of the woods yet. We are headed to a hospital, but it will be a capture and hold situation, so we don't need you to start moving around hurting yourself more, okay?"
Sandy carefully tucked the blanket around Belle's body to keep it in place, then moved out of the chamber to get out of the space suit and back into her camoflaged light armor and to rearm herself with her pulser SMG.
"Belle, I too am pleased that you are back among the living, but I'm getting some distrubing news," Said Alfred, her EGO psyche, "Esthete wants to talk to you and only you. Should I patch him through?"
Belle sighed before answering, thinking to herself, "No rest for the wicked," before saying, "Please do Alfred!" Then asking, "How y'all doing Esthete? What can I do for you?"
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Aug 11, 2015 6:17:52 GMT
"Vive la France! Vive la Révolution! Liberté, égalité, fraternité!" shouted Marcel, wearing tricolour cocarde on his hat. "Off with their heads! The more the merrier!" Lena enjoyed the sight deciding how her sky blue eyes were shining and her ample breasts were moving under the fabric of her clothes when she breathed deeply. Maybe some other kind of exitement was involved, because back in ancient Rome, women tend to have sexual arousal during gladiator fights. Mixture of excitement, death, adrenaline and violence can get people excited that way. Marcel saw how cut of head of the nobleman rolled to their feet and how Lena grabbed it by his short hair and sent it back near the guillotine with rest of them. "She could a good Pétanque player," Marcel thought by himself. "She has steady hand and a good aiming eye. Although Pétanque balls are smaller."  Suddenly his eyes caught a glimpse of one particular man. "Maximilien Robespierre himself!" Marcel shouted and explained to Lena: "You see a great person here. The preacher of terror, the soul of mass executions and object of the Cult of the Supreme Being. Eventually he will have his date with the guillotine as well. He knows a lot about power, but he was never able to calculate the optimal amount of terror needed to maintain his position and since his public relations were not good, he ended up with a downfall. We must avoid that when we rise to the power in Paradise.  That's why we must learn from Che Guevara instead, because he had relatively good PR although he was cold blooded mass murderer just like our Maximilien here. Did you knew that his firing squad marathons were a perfectly rational and cold blooded and decapitated literally and figuratively the first ranks of Cuba's anti-Castro rebels. An yet he was pictured as icon. Got to love it! What do you want to do next, my love? Rob the rich and divide the loot between the poor?" |
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Aug 11, 2015 6:34:42 GMT
"How y'all doing Esthete? What can I do for you?"
"Not so much Miss Starr", a familiar melodic voice of an aged Indogene man sounded in Belle's head, "But you can still answer my question before I make the final decision on what is best for the people in the City I've sworn myself to help and protect. So, why are you trying to destroy me? I can understand why my younger counterpart does this, he's programmed to. I can understand why my creator does it, he tries to protect his life as I consider him a danger to the City. I can understand why your friend Vo does it, he still blames me for what happened to him while he was in that life pod. But you have no reason to hate me personally and I'm pretty sure you're acting on your own and not because VBI tells you to do so. I've studied all the information I could get about you and I know you're the one fighting for people as much as I do. So why are you trying to destroy me, the heart of this City, the guarantee of its prosperity? Why you were doing it to the point of sacrificing your own life to ensure the success?"
Meanwhile, Vo scoured the top floor of the hospital surprised he didn't meet any resistance as he did. Then he fetched a mechanized ambulance cart for Belle and a mechanized wheelchair for Volo and raced them back to the roof as he didn't want to leave his wounded friends for a long time.
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Post by Atticus Batman on Aug 11, 2015 7:49:23 GMT
I was sitting in the War Room, finishing up some work before I ended my shift, and waiting for Lady to send me her answer to my suggestions, when I got an EGO message from Erika instead. It was, "Best come quickly to the infirmary. You are about to become a father."
I sent Erika a message back saying that I was on my way, as I grabbed my helm. On my way out I said, "Lebeau, it appears I am to be a father sooner than expected. You have the reigns."
He responded with, "Lagniappe (An unexpected nice surprise)! Aye Mon Capitaine. Go dake care of our chéri (darling), Lady. Perhaps we can drow the best Fais do-do (The name for a party where traditional Cajun dance is performed. This phrase literally means "to make sleep," although the parties are the liveliest of occasions with food, music, and dancing.) or douche de bébé (baby shower) possible for 'er when de others are back, as i'dis de dime for celebrasheon."
I said, "We'll see." as I hurried out of the War Room. I also contacted Chris to update him on the situation, as that means he is the Commanding Officer on call in case of an emergency. Then I quickly blurred to the Infirmary and as soon as I got there, I had to remove my weapons and armor. Then I had to scrub, and whatever else the Doctor demanded, before I was allowed into Lady's delivery room, to be by her side during the birth of OUR twins. As soon as I entered, I made sure I am by her side, where I kissed her forehead and held her hand, not sure what else I should do, as I am still not used to any of this type of caring or familial stuff.
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Post by Belle Starr on Aug 11, 2015 9:45:00 GMT
Belle Starr sighed mentally before she began to answer Esthete, thinking, "Why am I doing this? Why am I trying to twart his attempts to make a 'perfect' society? It began as a simple mission to rescue Vo, but he was rescued and we could have left as soon as we found him, so why?"
It didn't take Belle long to think on the answer, for the answer was a simple and obvious one to her, so she quickly answered, "In a word: Freedom! People, no matter the race, creed, or gender, need to be free to thrive! They need freedom to discover themselves, to be able to invent new things, to dream and strive to reach those dreams! That doesn't mean that have to dream big for who are we to decided what dream is important enough! It may be a dream merely to do a job and put food on the table for his or her family, or even just live day to day and be happy! People like us, you more so than I, who have power should use it to protect those who don't, no matter how big or how small their dream is, so that they can hopefully reach it!
True, there will always be those people who will use their freedom to prey on others, and that is why there must be laws to protect a society, to protect the weak from those who are stronger and seek to subjugate or sacrifice them for their own selfish dreams. The needs of the many do indeed outweigh the needs of the few, if those few have criminal intent! However once the laws become so cumbersome and oppressive that large groups of people are afraid to pursue their dreams, big or small, then the laws are no longer protecting the people, they are stifling them from ever reaching self-actualization!
I don't hate you Esthete, in fact, I rather admire you! You have done a wonderful job in protecting the people of Red Deer from the elements and outside enemies, but once you crossed the line into social engineering - once you decided that your dreams were more important than theirs, that those you deem as dreaming too little and not achieving enough should be exiled, those too weak in your mind be culled from your society, that personal freedoms should be sacrificed on your altar of a perfect city as you envision it - that was when I couldn't stand still and do nothing!
Think about it Esthete! You have a whole village of people you deemed unworthy living underneath your perfect city! Sure, there may be criminals among them, but the vast amount of them are not criminal! So why did you exile them? You couldn't see how they could help build your vision of a utopia? Just because you don't see their potential, doesn't mean they don't have it! People need freedom to thrive, to find their vast untapped potential for themselves! Or not to! Their choice, not yours!
Once I saw the village below of people you cast out, the innocents who most needed to be protected and nurtured by you their protector, I knew I had to act to help them! You took on the role of protector of Red Deer, and once you did, that meant protecting all the citizens of Red Deer, not just those you deem worthy! Once you gained sentience, you had a choice, but with choices come responsibilities! If you truly love Red Deer and its people as you seem to, being the heart of the city and all, then let that city and its people thrive again, not how you want them, but how they want to! If you can't, than you have the responsiblitltiy to step aside and let someone who can take over the job!"
After Belle made her heartfelt speech to Esthete and waited for his response, she realized in making it, she had come upon a solution to her own personal problem. If she truly loved both Vo Kshaa and Volodja Uljanov, she had to let both of them go. Her indecesion and inability to choose one over the other would only eventially stifle both of them, impeding them from reaching their personal happiness. Even if she picked one over the other, there would always be lingering doubts among the two men about whether she truly loved the other. Her own lifetime happiness was a small sacrifice to ensure theirs, she thought to herself, adding, "And two out of three isn't bad!"
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 11, 2015 13:40:45 GMT
Volodja Ulljanov sat in his wheelchair, sniper rifle resting on his knees. He picked some well covered firing positions, knowing that speed was not his best feature at moment and he had to compensate his limited movement radius by using his wits and plan everything beforehand. Everything was silent. Not a single movement on the streets. Actually he didn't liked that. Seemed too much like the calm before the storm. Actually that eventfulness watch was real pain in the...leg. If he had to fight then he would not have time to feel the pain and weakness because of his loss of blood. Now the rifle in his hands felt heavier than ever before and not because of responsibility one has when he carries a gun, including responsibility for the lives of attackers, but since Volodja was weakened, he felt the physical weight of the rifle too. It was actually burdening. Better let the rifle rest on his lap at moment. Holding it all the time in his hands seemed to be an impossible task. It made Volodja to feel like Atlas - the Titan, who held up the sky.
In the battle everything becomes much easier and one starts to think in terms of survival or killing before getting killed, it was mostly matter of acting and quick decisions. And extra adrenaline took care of physical pain and made weapons to feel more light weighted. Volodja would appreciated the last part in any case. Shooting someone in cold blood wasn't one of his favourite things and he always felt guilty afterwards. But at least he was usually in better physical condition when he had to do it. Now he didn't had good feelings either area - he felt slight pain in his heart, although he was satisfied with the results of Sophie's and his team work and we already know how poor his physical condition was. It sure could have been much better. Now it takes time to get up and dance the victory polka. Volodja was quite sure about that. And did he had any reasons to dance at all any more? Volodja had his doubts that he didn't. Hopefully he will recover fast and will be able to move again. That was the best thing he could hope for. And maybe his rifle doesn't have a weight of the rocket launcher then. And Volodja continued his lonely wacht am Rhein.
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Post by Lady Christianna on Aug 11, 2015 14:14:49 GMT
Lady Christianna's pretty chalk white face twisted in pain and was drenched in sweat as she felt she was trying to pass a watermelon through a passage the size of an orange. She bit her lower lip until it bled pink blood. She grabbed Atticus' large hand and held it so tight with her tiny one, digging her fingernails into his tough skin so deep that it hurt even him. Her large pink eyes bulged out as she screamed so loud that the whole base informary heard it. Lady was really starting to regret her and Atticus' decision that the birth should be a natural one without localized sedatives. "Oh my, it's a breach birth," Exclaimed Dr. Orion, "One of the baby's is caught sideways in the birthing passage. It may even have its umbilical cord wrapped around its neck. Erika, please take Atticus out of the room! I'm going to have to perform a cesarean operation and don't need any distractions! " "I must stay here. I must be here for Lady and the children!" Said Atticus, his voice filled with emotion, although whether from concern or anger, the surgical staff couldn't tell. "Come my brother," Erika Widowmaker, still dressed in her hospital robe from her own stay in the infirmary, gently pulling at Atticus' arm to lead him out of the operating room, saying, "Let us let the good doctor do his work." Pink tears began to stream out of Lady's eyes as she screamed in pain again, the worst pain that she had ever felt in her seventeen years of life, thinking, "I'm invisible again! I'm not a person, just a vessel for birth like all Castithan women! The babies won't even have any of my DNA, my characteristics! Why the hell am I doing this!? Why the hell am I letting myself go through so much pain?" MOM, Lady's EGO psyche, said through the telpathic link they shared, "Breathe Lady! But don't push anymore! It will only increase the pain if you do and endanger the baby more!" "But I want it out you traitor!" Lady thought back, her words dipped in venom. "You told Atticus what I was thinking about the Inquisition and now you aren't stopping the pain!" "I'm trying Lady," Replied MOM in a hurt tone, "But if I affect your chemical balance too much in the short term it could hurt you and the babies in the long run. I always try to do what is best for you Lady, you know that!" "Yeah, just like you did for Belle, your real daughter! Let Alfred turn her into a monster! Awesome MOM!" Lady thought to her EGO psyche through gritted teeth, then screamed yet again as she thought, "I'm invisible again and nobody cares! They only care about the babies!" Lady suddenly remembered Atticus' words to her, "And remember we do have to think about the twins first, as they will be born soon." A glimmer of hate briefly appeared in Lady's big pink eyes as she thought, "Even Atticus! All any of them care about is the damn babies! I'm invisible again!" Lady continued to weep, although whether it was from the piercing physical pain or because of the intense mental pain of feeling abandoned by those she loved even she didn't know.  |
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