Welcome to Gaia! ::

Dark clouds hang over the industrial complex of Aekea. Smoke stacks reach out of its refineries toward the skies in defiance. The blue sky, scarred by marks of dark green, gray, and ash, shows no mercy for the denizens below. Parts for everyone's homes, cars, appliances, as well as every luxury imaginable is manufactured here.

Aekea was once a growing industrious town, showing much more promise culturally, and economically. The last Market crash left the Aekea in debt, forcing it's most prominent members to sell the rights of the property to Omnidrink Corp. Once obtained, the global conglomerate turned the potential mecha into a refinery, manufacturing brand name merchandise at an aggressive pace. Before too long, the automobiles, the housing commission, and even the furniture Faktori were all run by Omnidrink.

Many protested against this monopoly of industry, petitioning against it's unscrupulous business practices, its morally obtuse justification of the pollution of Baasken Lake, as well as the declining rate in air purity. Anyone that stood up to the giant was bought, or murdered.

Omnidrink then lay siege to the mechanical civil rights act, accusing mechanically altered Gaians, Zurg, as well as neighboring Orcs of being menaces to modern society. A bill was unanimously passed, known as the Sub-Humanoid Control Act, where any non elf, human, or vampire would be registered, and relocated to the New District of employee resources, where they would live and work in the factories, producing Omnidrink products. In an effort to keep a controlled morale over it's 'employees', Omnidrink allowed a limited amount of luxuries, including a Tavern, Sponsored by Omnidrink, a housing complex, sponsored by Omnidrink, and various products, ranging from hygene, to alcohol and cigarettes, all made by Omnidrink.

A Menacing hospital resides to the north of Aekea. Once known for being one of the best hospitals in all of Gaia, it was bought out and renovated by Omnidrink, turning it into an Asylum for the chronically ill. Many Aekeans speculate that testing for future products are done here for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, as well as unofficial government projects.

A handful of Aekeans, some knowing one another from Aekea's "Golden Years", others new faces, had come together in attempt to bring down OMNIDRINK. Relationships were made, tested, broken. Homes and lives were taken, bodies were left bleeding, bruised and broken. Despite all of this they fought two battles. One was for the freedom of their home and their friends. The other was an internal battle which left them questioning if the people lost in the first battle could ever be considered a price worth paying for the betterment of Aekea.

Three months have passed since the tragic fall of the Crane. In the aftermath of the "terrorist" attack, the death toll of Aekeans from all walks of life had surpassed the casualties from the previous Crane accident four years prior.

Despite the loss of many citizens, the business district of Aekea has prospered. With countless people homeless, Omnidrink has allowed all victims to live within the factories. The only thing they asked in exchange for the housing and food was more hours of labor. Children worked and slept alongside their parents in any space available. With the middle and high school heavily damaged, the growing members of society had two options: become labor, or become a menace.

Gangs of all races and ages sprung up in the aftermath, and with many parents unable to care for their children other than give them a place to sleep and food to eat, many young Aekeans looked elsewhere for a sense of belonging.

Propaganda had spread like wildfire throughout the town in opposition to the Resistance. The faces of key members were plastered on buildings and rewards for information were plenty. Dirty lies were spread by Omnidrink in attempts to bring the wounded town to their side. There was no mercy for those who showed signs of resistance; Re-Education had blossomed over the past months and the concept of mercy no longer existed.

Futile attempts were made to get into the Orc Caves, where it was rumored that the core of the Resistance were in hiding. Few made it inside, and were made an example of by unseen magics rather quickly. The Makawee was an opponent feared with reason, as orc magic was unknown and cruel.

It is with this as reality that Aekea exists. What is the fate of this industrial town?

Patrol, eat, train, patrol eat, sleep, patrol, eat, train...

Life had fallen back into its regular rhythms since the fall of the crane for the Regulator forces. Their part in clean-up was over by week 3, their dented ranks filled with fodder from any shithole on Gaia with conditions less promising than the adequate paycheck and shiny armor of the Regulators. The new recruits were getting dumber and dumber, and it was clear the officers were desperate to keep their competent troops alive. Kilo and Victor were no different. The enlisted men under them had been rushed through basic, and more and more of their time was spent whipping them into shape with every casualty they suffered. The budget cut wasn't helping. With all these fancy new genome projects going on upstairs, the prospect of layoffs was constantly lingering overhead. Soon they'd be able to make unlimited meat, and all they really needed of the boys in white was a solid head for leadership. Competition between the higher ranks was getting fierce.

But all that paled in Kilo's eyes to their new CO. With their former Major indefinitely out of commission, safely tucked away somewhere in the bowels of OMNIDRINK's labs, and with the now highly competitive officer pool, it was decided the best option would be for the pair of Lieutenants to experimentally respond directly to Colonel Delocroix. Victor and Kilo had both been considered for promotion previously, and corporate decided the best way to test their mettle for the upcoming martial makeover would be to leave them with the rank and field requirements of a Lieutenant while giving them the added responsibility of an absent Major, all while under the scrutiny of the omniscient Colonel. Either one would sabotage the other to break the cycle and claim their prize, or they'd work their asses off until the clones filled in the ranks. It meant Kilo had very little wiggle room to see her true mission through, and every day she knew her partner would inch closer to turning her in. It was taxing.

The pair took their usual route on foot patrol, a trio of privates following behind. Just a little longer... she repeated in her head as she marched, waiting patiently for the day she'd be able to break this hell of a cycle.

-----

367 sat in the makeshift workshop of the orc caves, just as he'd been doing for the past 54 and a half days. If he could feel listless or exasperated, he'd be suffering both to the extremes, but instead he just sat. Staring into the open alcove at nothing in particular. His eyes glowed a pale, dim blue, his body a hodgepodge of metal panels. His arms were all new, their sleek white and black plates extending up over his left shoulder where the canon Black had designed for him was mounted. His legs were a mixture of rusted police-bot scrap metal, new plating and old wiring... his faceplate untouched. But his chest...

54 days ago, he had been excitedly led into Derek's workshop, where the blueprints for his new body were laid out next to the robotics lab. He remembered the thrill, the squeeze of Miss Hakobe's hand before he'd been put on back-up power for the duration of the upgrade. He remembered waking up disoriented, and he remembered staying that way for quite some time as the group tried to fix his programming hurriedly in this very alcove. He remembered finally coming to, only to find that he was tethered to a small generator, his legs were only partially responding to his mixed up systems, and his chest plate missing, revealing the mish mash of circuitry and metal from anywhere they could find that was keeping him together. The raid on Derek's lab had started so suddenly that nobody had a chance to think about what they were taking with them, and his unconscious body had been rushed out mid-procedure. It was a miracle that they'd found the parts within Hakobe's workshop just to get him in good enough shape to turn on.

The rebel crew did what they could to keep him running, every so often managing to get their hands on something to patch him up just a little bit more. Derek's lab was now completely inaccessible to them, leaving the rest of his upgrades lost. Worst of all... he knew he was beat. Constantly in need of an external power supply and his legs too glitchy to operate effectively, he'd failed in his mission to keep his friends safe. He'd failed them, he'd failed himself, and he'd failed his Captain.

He's back, but is he the same?

Ellipses...

The past three months for PQ had felt as if each day were an eternity in hell. There were late nights in which she would stay up, staring at the condensation on the cave walls and try to describe how she felt. Equally so there were long days in which she spent staring at 367, racking her brain in attempts to save him. To make him who he used to be. Not better, just....functional.

Dreams, when they came, if they ever came, were her only escape. Nightmares haunted every waking moment. Although technically the nightmares were the very painful reality that had set in for the rebellion.

There were so few of them left, now just whispers on the tongues of hopeless citizens. OmniDrink knew where they were, and had been trying to get into the Orc Caves for quite some time. Makawee had managed to keep them out, but at a heavy cost.

Many of the orcs had moved to other caves, deep within the recesses of the tunnels. Makawee's people had been in too much trouble. And Harlow had been in too much danger. After a close call which almost left the little girl in an OmniDrink foster home, PQ realized how selfish she was being. And so after much inner debate, the cyborg sent her daughter along with the others. She was one of them now and would be safe.

PQ had to keep telling herself that each night or else....or else what was all of this for?

With her minimal knowledge of the inner going ons of the company thanks to her vampiric friend, she knew her friends were almost long gone. Ash was in the Asylum, Black and King Re-educated, and Hayley...well, she could only hope for the best for her.

She and Hakobe had talked, clearing up miscommunications. Both of them had a common goal, to fix 367.

Pulling herself from her thoughts, PQ slowly picked up the wrench. With Deceptus's files, she was able to turn back into her cyborg body and had done so. But Makawee was able to change her back and forth when she wished using pieces of PQ's human body. Hair, nails, blood, and even pieces of skin. Each transformation was by no means painless, and they left her exhausted. But she was free, and it was worth it.

With this magic, PQ was able to go into town and live amongst the people using a secret tunnel that put her in the sewers. They did not know who she was, but they knew she was there to help. They hid her, gave her food to eat and floors to sleep on.

One of the greatest gangs that had come to power in these times was the Screwdrivers. An old chapter in PQ's past had come to help by sheltering the youth from the factories. When she was in town, she was at their head. She'd spend days in town, slowly gathering information, looking for gleams of hope in the eyes of the Aekeans.

Secretly though she watched. She watched for her lost friends, knowing they could not see her. Her face was registered under a different name, all legal thanks to Willamena. Nevertheless she hoped that they knew that she was coming to save them.

Blinking tears of frustration and pent up emotions away, PQ took a deep breath and wiped some grease from her skin. She was planning on going to town but knew she had work to do first.

"Alright 367, let's see if this works..."

367 looked up to his mechanic slowly through the old crack in his faceplate. "You real....r-really think it might?"

The break in his speech was marked an accompanying screen glitch, his eyes distorting and flashing off before flashing back on. It happened every once in a while these days. What was more distressing for this robot in particular was how flat his voice was. Not because of any wiring issues in his emotion centers, but precisely because of the emotions running through them. 367 was broken in more ways than one.

367 looked from the device to the woman holding it. She was smiling. That was nice. Who knew? Maybe everything could be fixed. At the very least, he figured it wasn't likely to make things worse.

"A heart? Like Mr. Krivvek." He paused for a moment. "I won't spew all that gross liquid everywhere, will I?" he asked with sincere concern.

Deceptus stood up and walked out of the room he was in and into a room that contained PQ in human form and 367 but he would leave it to PQ to tell 367 it was her when the time was right. Deceptus nodded at 367 so he would not feel as if he were ignored. "I don't have worry about that either. What's goin' on?" Deceptus let his bird now perch on his arm while using the other hand to play with a small burning fire.

The soft snores of a slumbering adolescent were heard in another, darker part of the secret tunnel, the only thing illuminating it right now being a work lamp on the dimmest level and twin red orbs, which dimmed to reflect their bearers' shared exasperated relief.

"Creator Hakobe is finally asleep....All of her...."

Unsurprisingly, the past three months had been one trial after another for Hakobe, Eguze, and the silent figure. When Ash had triggered Hakobe's mind to tear itself apart and drove her further into madness, he had literally torn Hakobe's mind to pieces. Nobody could really tell at the time, especially when she had passed out from blood loss due to wild self-harm. However, from what data they could gather, something else, something far before that break, could've actually aided to said break....but Eguze and the figure were too tired to really think about it right now. Another day of keeping Hakobe under control had gone by.

"....One of us should go and check on Miss Gadsby and Mr. 367. Should it be me or you?"

This question was asked every day, with one or both assisting PQ in keeping watch over Hakobe. With Hakobe's generally unstable condition, it was not a good idea to leave the troubled teen alone for long periods of time, let alone unnecessary amounts. She was especially not allowed to work with sharp and/or dangerous equipment without supervision.

"Are you sure? ....Well, alright, then. If anything happens and I can't do anything about it on my own, I'll come get you or Miss Gadsby, like always."

As the figure turned to leave, Eguze stopped him with an added afterthought.

"Oh, right....You should take this with you. I found it when I was sorting through the items in Creator Hakobe's workshop."

Eguze picked up and dropped his findings into the figure's hand, to which the figure stared curiously at. He had heard passing remarks from the others, even its creator herself, about it, but....

"....You most likely know who it should go to."

The figure nodded once. It wasn't a curt one, as he abided to a code of politeness, but rather one of understanding toward a message that would come off as vague, cryptic, or even stand-offish to those in the dark about all this. Working together on their daily task for a few months had lead to such comprehension of one another's actions, habits, and words, with the last applying much more to Eguze than himself.

With his eye glowing, as if he was trying to make up for his lack of a mouth to use to make even the weakest of smiles, the figure gave a casual, tired wave to Eguze before he left the room completely, making sure to be discreet out of courtesy to their sleeping "patient". Eguze watched him go, even when he was out of sight and the sound of his metallic footsteps faded into the distance....

"....Good luck....Joe...."