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 Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:51 pm
"Shivas would rather not be spotted by a lot of people, as the project is a secret, and exposure would compromise it. However, if someone (shady, perhaps, or not) were to be found trustworthy, then they'll show themselves in secluded areas. Running out into public would be disasterous."
With the exception of missions (and their occasional “side trips”) Narcissus had seen surprisingly little of the city. Most of his work being in the seedier quarters, and with little time allotted for pleasure, the Shiva was eager to experience the ritz and glamour that Calanom must surely offer.
He was disappointed.
After hours of padding along, his mirrors blazing in the intense sun and hazy air, Narc was livid. One fashionable boutique after another had he tried to enter—only to find that bio-mechanical pet devices weren’t allowed inside. It took a lot of control not to rip someone’s face off. Some pratty little lesser, a custom to be treated like a lapdog by the unfortunately wealthy? Narc hissed, pausing by an alleyway, his mirrors re-arranging themselves in agitation.
What was that word they had used again? Conspicuous. Yeah. That was it. Swinging one copper rectangle down in front of his face, the Shiva began to mutter.
“Not a damn clue…fleshbags…if only I could…”
His brother, twin ever by his side, was little comfort—merely mimicking his movements. He could not be blamed, Narc supposed, his twin could only sympathize so much locked so very far away.
Narc sighed. His brother followed suit. All of this humidity was making his fur frizzy. Irritably, he
To Narcissus, the idea of self-control was one he rarely dwelt on, and ever more rarely exercised. Like any sedentary and unused muscle, this was paining the shiva considerably, who was not used to be easily dismissed.
Retreating further into the alley, Narc turned his blue and yellow eyes towards the street. There had to be something he could do incognito. To return to Fissure in his current state would be to admit defeat, something Narc’s pride would not allow.
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:43 pm
Cyan eyes peered about curiously as the regular .exe wandered the streets. Her nuzzle often pressed softly against the store fronts to peer inside. Most often in the store fronts were attractive items, such as vividly colored clothing, or delicious edible treats that even her human would surely enjoy tasting.
Though she wandered the streets alone for most of the morning now, nothing of particular interest came up in the store fronts. .exes were often not allowed indoors, or if they were had to be accompanied by a human. How boring. .exes were tamed machines, not wild animals that would rabidly bite someone out of fun. But what could Lambda do? Absolutely nothing.
She continued her aimless walk along the streets, not really paying attention as to where she was headed. As she unknowingly wandered into the alleyway, her head tilted to the side curiously as a strange smell caught her nose. It was a .exe scent, she knew that much...but it had a strange scent to it. An unusual scent. What was it?
Curiously, the female pursued the scent with a certain curiosity. It was definitely a .exe scent...but not that of a normal one. Then it hit her, could it be one of those strange .exe-like creatures that she often saw on the news? Those weird, abnormal, deformed .exes? Junkeaters, if she recalled the name correctly?
Even though her human advised her to stay away from dangerous situations such as this, her curiosity simply would not let it go. Who, in the same situation, would abandon just for the sake of safety?
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Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:03 am
Pascal watched the stores from afar while walking. People inside were of various sorts, humans in some kind of hurry, Malacynes is some kind of hurry, even shapeshifters in a hurry. The only shapeshifters he really noticed, though, were selling pretty but expensive accessories, and were shifting every minute to show interested customers that they don't only keep from vanishing, they also added some charm and beauty to about any alternative form. The .exe didn't mind the transformations: he was supposed to change himself at some point in his life. Sometimes, he would sit to watch what was going on inside, and someone would go out and tell him .exes weren't allowed indoors, even though he wasn't even thinking about coming in: he prefered watching people over the products.
A numeric clock in front of a bigger shop convinced him: going back home right now would make him wait several hours. Windowshopping had become somewhat boring to him, but he didn't dare leaving the main street: he feared he would else get lost he he didn't just walk straight, following the main crowd.
Then something left the crowd. The size, the metallic parts and the floating wings and tail convinced him it was not one of the rare quadrupedal Malacyne he already saw today. He hungered for a bit of company and discussion. Forgetting his decision not to leave the main street, he followed her.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:01 am
Despite his brooding stare towards the street, the shiva lying on the hot asphalt was nonetheless not paying much attention, preferring instead to lift his stomach up and down, shifting to a position which would not dirty his fur. Therefore, when Lambda stuck her nose in the alleyway, Narcissus was quite surprised, and reacted in such a manner.
Scrabbling to his paws, eyes wide, Narc immediately relaxed again. Oh. Just a standard. His mirrors fell back across his spine, and he sniffed haughtily, in an attempt to look as if he’d been expecting an interruption all along.
Peering down his golden snout at the standard, he could not help but take note of her coloring. It was a beautiful pattern but—and he reassured himself with this—no doubt groomed carefully by some ape every night.
After about of minute of staring at Lambda, Narc’s bad mood had only deepened. “Well?” He snapped. “What are you looking at? Some of us haven’t got all day!”
Well, he had. But she didn’t need to know that.
Noticing a large yellow and green standard walking towards the alleyway, Narc was feeling distinctly…boxed in. His brother mirror swung up briefly and was then forced down back to its friendly position.
We can’t have them figuring out about you, after all?
He thought, and then cautioned himself.
If we get all worked up over meeting two lessers in a city full of them, we'll only be easier to find.
Besides, he could go laugh at some poor junkeater later. That’d make him feel better.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:21 pm
When Fissure got wind that a strange .exe had been seen prowling the streets, well, suffice to say some of the higher-ups weren't too happy. Luckily, no one who saw it thought it was anything greater than a weird custom or a new morph form. Still, Elizabeth was dispatched for reconnaissance.
Peering down from the grating of an overhanging fire escape, Elizabeth could see that the culprit was Narcissus. The mirrors were a dead giveaway. And why shouldn't it have been Narc? He's had close calls in the past, too. She huffed. The greenhorns should really know better that to dismiss him. Honestly.
There were some standards nearby, too. She didn't wanted to spook them (they could become valuable allies to Fissure one day) but Narc really did need to be scolded. Wrapping her tail around her leg spikes and keeping her wings rigid above her, she hoped she just looked like a large standard to the unknowing below. She spoke thus:
"Narc, what have you done?
Your ego should know better
Than to strut the strip"
The words bounced back to her. Hmm. Haiku again? She seemed to be stuck on haikus this week. Not that it wasn't an enjoyable form of poetry to speak the first one hundred times, but it was getting old. She would have to ask for a poetry book one of these days to expand her vocabulary...
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 1:52 pm
Spade loped down the street, silver-gray head swinging from left-to-right. Audryn was back home, working fervently on a paper she had to turn in later this evening; she had asked her "newborn" .exe to run out and grab something for dinner. Clearly the girl was putting a lot of blind trust in the .exe's navigational abilities; the only three places Spade had ever seen were the inside of the local Factory, Audryn's small but suitable apartment, and the short walk between them. And then, only once - yesterday, in fact. Not to mention, the poor thing didn't know what on earth her owner wanted for dinner (though she seemed to remember Audryn muttering something about a "Lean Cuisine," whatever that was).
To make matters worse, everytime sweet-tempered Spade stopped to ask directions, she was brushed by, waved off, or generally ignored.
"How rude," She chimed gently to herself the fourth time this had happened, looking with mild disgrace at the shopkeep who had just shooed her on. She sighed - and then caught the scent of someone (or rather, several someones) who might be able to help her. .exe; she knew that scent.
Not wishing to impede on whatever conversation might be happening, Spade approached the alley quietly. What an odd place to meet, she mused silently. When no immediate sounds of conversation reached her perked ears, Spade chanced a greeting.
"Excuse me?" She queried politely, peering in to the darkness. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm afraid I need a bit of help."
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:39 pm
Noting vaguely to trust his brother’s instincts more in the future, Narcissus edged back slightly further in the alley. He would apologize later, but for now he had a situation.
Two standards he could deal with. They were, well…standard, and their reactions to new situations could generally be considered the same. Hardly more than apes or dogs, after all.
However, Elizabeth…
Narc would’ve rather died than admit it, but the spined Shiva was more than his equal in wit and power, and several months his elder. Previous missions with her had only strengthened his intense dislike of the other Shiva.
Flinching slightly as her poetry rang out above the street, Narc swiftly swung up his mirrors into a defensive position. It was clear incognito had done him no good. All it had caused him to do was ignore his brother’s good advice. Scouring his brain for a plan, Narc decided to buy some time.
“Beth! How…nice…to see you again!” The words gritted their way out of the Shiva’s mouth, in an unhappy attempt to sound nonchalant. Elizabeth could be tedious, with her circuit-to-mouth problem. He’d always tried to be nice to her, of course. One should be good to the less fortunate, he briefly reflected.
Briefly would be the word, because only shortly after he had sighted Elizabeth, he noticed the next standard
This really was not his day.
Glancing back at the casino-colored .exe who had just poked her nose in, Narc couldn’t help but wonder vaguely if his magnets had been set a bit too high.
Perhaps, however, this sudden magnetism could be used to his advantage.
Fluffing his fur and strutting imperiously, Narc looked around briefly to meet the gaze of each .exe in turn, ignoring the inquiry of the new arrival. Trying not to worry about his ribbon’s placement too much, Narc began to loudly speak.
“As you can all see clearly, I have called you poor…ah…” He stopped himself from saying inferior, but it was a close call. “…unenlightened beings together today to enlist you in a…a…”
Narc struggled briefly to find the right word.
“…adventure which will help your fellow .exe and” Don’t say meatbag, don’t say meatbag… “Human companions alike. As I’m sure my good friend Elizabeth can tell you, there’s quite a junkeater infestation on the South side town. We’re going to clear it up, and we need your assistance. It’ll be, err, fun.”
Wrinkling his muzzle with distaste, Narc found it hard to believe that he had orated all of that without puking. Glancing to side at his brother briefly, Narc saw his twin shared his disgust. While of course Elizabeth would remain unfooled by the rather bad improvisation, if Narc was dragged back having accomplished something, perhaps Fissure's b***h in Chief would be less angry.
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:14 am
The first thing Pascal saw was a festival of eyes. They weren't supposed to be so many. Many different eyes, looking at him, staring...
... silly you, he thought, realizing the disturbing crowd was but reflections of him and other .exes. "Phew!"
But that had been startling.
He looked around. The first .exe was normal, the other one who followed them looked pretty okay too, Elizabeth seemed a bit large but otherwise normal... but the one with the mirrors wasn't reassuring. His speech was hesitating, and his eyes didn't quite follow his smile, quickly looking at the mirrors, stressed.
And anyway, after confusing a single .exe with a whole menacing crowd, he wasn't enthralled.
That, and he didn't quite like the sudden speech about junkeaters. He grimaced, confused.
Looking at the other females was less creepy. At least, he hoped they were as female as they looked or sounded. Yep. There's the big one who speaks well, the brown one with nice fur, and the white and red one who was cute. For a moment, the whole scene looked better.
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:54 am
Despite being in the company of several other .exe, Spade's attention was caught most by the one called Narc. Perhaps it was his golden fur and his gleaming mirrors; perhaps it was just his genuine good looks. Regardless, Spade felt a slight flush creeping up her neck, and bowed her head submissively. The word 'junkeater' had registered, but she hadn't really known what it meant. It sounded frightening, though; particularly the "eater" part.
"I don't mean to sound rude," she was proud to hear her speech was smooth, not stammared as she thought it might be. "But really, I'm just on a short errand for my Master. She is busy and hungry, and I am new - I don't know where the store is, or what to get her."
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:19 pm
Within moments she found herself along with the other .exe surrounded by a rather large crowd of fellow .exes. The only other times she were surrounded by so many at once would be at a gathering with her human companion, or at the park while socializing with others. These, however, followed with the same curiosity she carried. Of course, they were guided by that weird scent, she assured herself.
The pinkish colored fur .exe seemed rather normal on the outside. Even though her speech seemed...impaired, she figured it was just the preferred speech, or the new 'hip' thing as the television always called it.
Narc, as he was called...was different. Floating mirrors? Not to mention those golden accessories around his tail. Maybe he was a custom? Or even a new morph type. Whatever it was, it appealed to Lambda in many, many ways.
Her ears perked up intently at the false words from Narc's muzzle. She didn't know any better, and thusly, bought the entire thing. Junkeaters wasn't really a new term to her. It was programmed and occationally the media would mention it for a few brief seconds (if even that). The long, brushy tail waved from side to side, eager to hear more about this "mission".
Cyan eyes peered briefly over to the cute little female beside her. "The store is right around the corner. Go back out of the alleyway and turn left. Keep going until you see it. Maybe you should get her seafood? Mine always likes seafood. She says it's her favorite thing and always hungers for it, but never buys it," She nodded intently, feeling helpful.
Of course, her intentions were not in any way ill-mannered. What she spoke was the truth. Her master adored seafood, most of the time. Why she never bought it, or ate it daily? Who knows, who cares? Lambda didn't know seafood would be expensive. Food in her mind just...appears out of nowhere. They "beam down" onto the planet...or something like that.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:33 am
Spade started slightly at Lambda's response; so intent on Narc, she hadn't even noticed she had been standing so close to the other .exe. With some reluctance she tore her eyes from the gorgeous blue and gold, and peered politely at Lambda. She took in the other female's agreeable candy pattern and friendly (though they appeared distracted) eyes. A rasher .exe than Spade might consider this other .exe "competition," but no such thoughts crossed Spade's mind.
"Thank you," she replied with a bow of her head, backing out of the alley. She paused in the entryway, glancing at the gathered .exe (and, for the first time, truly seeing them all). "Good luck, then, with your mission." She offered a tentative smile, another quick bow, and trotted off to the town.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:05 pm
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and scowled at Narc. If it was one thing that made her irritable, it was nicknames. Elizabeth or nothing, thank you very much.
And his story! How utterly unbelievable. If there was a junkeater infestation, she would've been notified of it. The staff knew how much the hunt meant to her, even if she wasn't slated to participate for the week. The most sickening part was how enthralled they were of Narc's lie. Even if only one of them had the enthusiasm that the sorry excuse of a shiva below her had feigned, they were, for the most part, brought in under his spell.
Oh, but what's this? In her musings, Elizabeth failed to observe the conversation that sparked the playing-cards colored standard to leave. She caught something about going to the store, but nothing more. This wasn't good. She was obviously very new, or very smart. The latter was doubtful, but either one could pose problems. A new .exe, not knowing better, might blab to their owner of Narc or herself, who would in turn blab to their friends, which could get picked up by Firewheel. A smart .exe was a far worse possibility, because then information wouldn't be distorted by word of mouth, but rather taken directly to the highest bidder. Neither was a pleasant possibility. There was always the chance that it wouldn't be mentioned, but it was so slim that she didn't give herself a chance to draw hope from it.
The .exe rounded the corner. While she knew Narc would never let her live down caving in to his plan, getting rendered limb from limb was a far more unpleasant prospect. Of course, now she would have to show her true self to them once they started moving out. But, if there were any junkeaters on the South side, or even nearby, she could most certainly get them to come and prey on the fearful standards. Who would suspect anything if all the evidence of an .exe death was eaten?
She maneuvered herself on the slim fire escape platform, and called out to the green-eyed .exe.
"Wait, my dear, come back!
If you join our quest, rewards!
Master need not know"
She looked down at the enthusiastic .exe.
"You there, yes, you now
Fetch her, tell her there is food
For Master at end"
A steely look was all that Narc received, as if saying, you started it, now you continue it. The sickly-yellow standard wasn't looking so good for all the talk, it seemed. For him, she just beamed a reassuring, sincere smile. He looked like he needed one.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:14 pm
Lambda was way too naive for her own good. She was the type to listen to authoritative figures without a second guess or doubt in her mind. They were at the top giving out orders for a reason, she would tell herself constantly. Plus, Olivia always got mad if she didn't follow her directions. Angry Olivia was not something Lambda enjoyed dealing with, ever.
She nodded at 'Beth''s words. Her body quickly ran towards the little red and white .exe she spoke with earlier. "Hey! Come back! The pinkish furred one said that there'd be food in the end if you followed us to the mission. Come with us! It'll be worth it...I think." Her voice at the end trailed off with uncertainty. In reality she actually had no idea what this 'mission' would turn out to be like despite the fact that it was entirely made up.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:38 pm
A smirk crossed Narc’s muzzle briefly at Elizabeth’s frustratated glare. It disappeared as quickly as it came when he noticed that it was she who had headed off Little Miss Subservient. Though he didn’t consider the standard a current threat, his brain irritably conceded the future threat possibilities.
Resuming his strut around the alley’s perimeter, Narcissus noted with approval the eagerness of the brown and gold one. The yellow and green standard was more worrying, however. Failing to notice Pascal’s disconcertion with his reflections, Narcissus grinned at him, rotating his mirrors’ positions again. Gesturing a paw at the standard, he aimed his swagger towards the alley mouth. Narc glanced back into the alley, locking his eyes back onto Pascal’s.
“Coming along?” He paused, tail swishing. “Or are you considering a chicken morph?”
And without further ado, Narc sauntered out onto the hot street.
The pretty little gold and brown one would eat up anything they told her, Narc reflected, so she didn’t pose a problem. The .exe with the Spade could be difficult. Glancing at his brother briefly, they both nodded their assent. Either way, the yellow-belly would be a liability. If he followed along, oh, we’d see what would happen. If he stayed in the alley…
Narc slowed, the crowd of foot-traffic annoyedly shunting around him. Briefly examining his claws, he waited for the standard to come to a decision. Hmm…their natural steely color was endearing, but an orange-gold to match his mirrors wouldn’t look half bad…
Pay attention Narc, you have to take Elizabeth into account…
Sometimes Issus could be really annoying. Forgetting his earlier resolution, Narc shoved thoughts of his brother aside. Turning his sight back towards the alley behind him, the Shiva briefly turned thoughts from damage control and personal hygiene towards where he would actually find a junkeater. There had to be some lurking about.
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:15 am
If there was something Pascal hated already, it sure was being considered as the last thing he ate. The concerns he may have had about this meeting vanished into thin air, as he stepped forward, ignoring the escaping Spade and the female .exe who followed her.
"I'm in", he mumbled.
Pascal gave a quick look at Elizabeth. Her smile hit him right where it matters, and decided her poetry was trustworthy. He smiled back, slowly filled with a warm and fuzzy feeling, pushing away the previous uneasiness. He thought it would not be nice to leave them, they needed and deserved the help of a third .exe.
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