onemind: (Default)
THE N E S T ([personal profile] onemind) wrote in [community profile] emptynesters2016-02-03 09:43 pm
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TEST DRIVE #1

LET'S GET (meta)PHYSICAL




WELCOME TO THE TEST DRIVE and thank you for your interest! Though the game hasn't started yet, we've put together a mini-mission with a few different goals for your characters to pursue. In the interest of flexibility and allowing players to experiment with the game mechanics, we invite you to pick your own broodmates, experiment with abilities and specializations, talk to each other and maybe make up some pre-established cr, and generally play around however you like. This test drive will not be game canon, so take this chance to go nuts!

For the full experience, we strongly encourage players to write up a short blurb about what their fellow characters might know about them either through shared time on the Station or through the Nest mental link. Handy links can be found at the bottom of this entry if you have any questions or want to place a reserve.
          HELINOS TOZ
...is the smallest galactic empire located in the second disk of the Silver Halo Galaxy. For thousands of years, the neighboring CONFEDERATE OF BAL and INIVIAL COR(P) have eaten away at Helinos Toz's territory and now have reduced the once-great empire to a single moon ruled by the Last Empress. Though she is a child who owns little in the way of property on the galactic stage, the Last Empress still holds a precious seat in the shrinking Galactic House of Chairs. From this seat she and her allies have managed to keep a stranglehold on the throats of Bal and Inivial’s expansion efforts into the fourth and fifth disks of the Halo. She has accomplished this task by viciously excising loopholes in galactic regulation. Paradoxical though it may sound, the outer rings view the Last Empress as one of the few remaining heroes for the common man against the absorption of either the Bal or Inivial, a symbol of the dangers the two great empires present and a name and a heritage that even today commands respect. While Bal and Inivial may have radically different galactic goals and famously spend their time hounding one another in the house of chairs, they can agree on one thing: the Last Empress and her tiny moon kingdom are a thorn in their side. In an effort to pluck it, Bal and Inivial have joined forces to do away with the Empress and her moon forever.

While a direct attack on the ground empire moon would be an undeniable act of war, and would result in heavy sanctions which would only serve to set their goals back further, there are ways to destabilize the moon without actually putting boots on the ground. Inivial has decided to sacrifice one of their own assets to achieve this: the planet which the moon orbits. Helinos Prime is a cold, dead rock, without it's own atmosphere, as well as the site of a significant Inivial mining operation. It's this very operation that Invivial intends to utilize. By mining directly to the planet’s core, they will harvest a massive amount of heavy elements, cutting heavily into the planet's mass and degrading it's orbit in space-- making it a risk to surrounding inhabited worlds. Galactic regulation demands such a threat be absolutely absolved- by total destruction. Further, it states that these dangers must be dealt with in no more than eight hours, regardless of any other sanctions or treaties. The act itself is quite sterile: a beam weapon located in the first ring which is capable of destroying most planets in a single shot as long as alignment is correct. And once the planet goes, so too does the empire moon.

But even getting rid of the empire’s last land holdings wouldn’t do away with the Empress herself, which is why the Confederate of Bal’s massive armada has opted to choose today for a sprawling training exercise in their space above the empire moon. As is their right under the Secrets and Sanctions treaty, they have refused the operation of any other space traffic in that sector until their exercise has been completed. The paperwork is filed, notarized, and finalized. Under the guise of the Bal and Inivial’s mutual animosity, the two super powers mean to trap the Last Empress with the very rules and regulations she’s spent her young life manipulating to keep them both muzzled.

In summary: the Last Empress and what remains of her small royal envoy are stuck quite literally between a dissolving rock and the hard place of the Confederate of Bal’s guns with no diplomatic wiggle room. Should the empire of Helinos Toz fall, the majority of the house of chairs will turn in favor of expansion and it won’t be long before the Halo’s outer rings become the stage for a vicious war between Bal and Inivial. Those citizens of the outer rings will find their lives drastically changed as those two powers dash to make opportune land (and space) grabs. If the Last Empress can be saved, she might be able to successfully reveal this act of aggression for what it is, and use it as a way to rally the rest of the house of chairs, around her and the interests of the outer rings she stands for, against Bal and Inivial.

YOUR MISSION is to help the Last Empress escape the empire moon before it can be vaporized by Inivial, and to slide her and as many of her retinue as possible through the lines of Bal’s armada undetected.


          PROMPTS
ONE • DEBRIEF: NOT AS SEXY AS IT SOUNDS
You've been given your mission file (see above) and outfitted with the appropriate gear to see it through. Today that means thermal suits designed to withstand face melting temperatures and a small cadre of ships that seem awfully familiar... if you're not mistaken they're the same ships currently in formation above Helinos Toz. You can ask Prince where he got them or Cathaway for some flying advice, but you probably won't get answers that makes any sense. Hopefully some of you know how to fly. Hug your friends, say your prayers, and wave Station 72 goodbye because it's time to...

TWO • HITTING ROCK BOTTOM
...sabotage a giant plasma drill! Down on Helinos Prime, Inivial's massive mining operation is a veritable labyrinth of tunnels and substations. Luckily you've been provided with schematics (if you feel like using them), and with some trial and error you should be able to navigate your way to key points in the mining operation. It won't be possible to completely stop the machine from coring the planet, but you just need to buy a little time. Suggested targets are the drill's targeting interface, its coolant systems, and its auxiliary stabilizer vents. How do you do that? Time to use your imagination. On the plus side, no one's around to stop you. Inivial already evacuated their on-site personnel which, come to think of it, might be a bad sign.

THREE • HURRY UP AND WAIT
With Inivial's drill momentarily on pause, it's time to rescue an Empress. Does she even know you're coming for her? Well, she'll find out eventually. There's room for six extra people on the ships provided, meaning you have exactly enough room to smuggle her and her closest advisers off of the empire moon. You've got six hours before you can (and really SHOULD) leave. Right now it looks like there's time to kill. Get to know the locals, the moon's bustling trade port, or its local population of cute dragonbirds. You have a collapsing planet below you and a veritable wasps nest of ships above you. Enjoy it while it lasts-- or bypass it all and wait for your window of opportunity with the Empress and her envoy.

FOUR • INTO THE WILD BLACK YONDER
The stealth ships can travel invisibly while in atmosphere, but there's no tricking the sensors of the Bal's ships. Luckily you fit right in-- almost. Pretending to be Bal ships might make the most sense, but what if someone notices you're out of drill formation? Even worse, what if someone detects you leaving the empire moon? No Bal ship is supposed to be down there. You could always try finding another ship to take into space, something with a little bit of stealth or maybe a harmless trading vessel. Then again, no one's supposed to be coming off the moon and into this space at all. Think fast, talk faster, or hope your pilot is really good.

FIVE • WILDCARD
Honestly? This is your show. Go surfing on some subterranean lava flows while stalling Inivial's mining efforts, try to take all the Empress's gold leaf dining room chairs with you when you evacuate the empire moon, or maybe you're done with this whole mission alltogether and want to try hijacking a ship from the Bal's armada and flying it out into space until this whole thing blows over. There's a whole galaxy out there; what else could be waiting for you?


NAVIGATIONPREMISEFAQGLOSSARYSYMBIOTIC SKILLS GUIDERESERVES
insurrectum: (pic#9691639)

FOR THE PRINCESS AND WINE MOM

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-06 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
( PRINCE. ) just go, go back to your bright lights.
[ There is word of a debriefing to come soon and Parker is, for once, glad to have a distraction from his constant buzzing mind, more now than ever, around people of his brood. It is difficult for him to block out others thoughts, even worse to keep his for himself. A constant struggle to damper the need of the symbiote within to connect. A pull to people he does not want to be with, but feels the urge to. It's a terrible affliction.

But not one so big as the constant watch of the clock. Twelve hours is a bigger, better window than the eight he used to have, but it is still a constant worry. And the problem is that any sooner throws his whole body off balance, while too late lets the σ-Virus eat away at his body and mind.

He checks his watch around his wrist. It's getting close. He should go get the vaccine stored in secrecy in his room, just in case they spend too long to wherever this mission is. Parker walks opposite of where most people are going, to the sleeping quarters. Tries to avoid touching people, navigating through the bodies easily, sleek and trying his best not to touch anyone. Doesn't want the flood of thoughts and garbled emotions prickling at his chest.

He stops when a figure looms over around the corner he turns. Prince. He stares for a second, almost angry, but then again, he usually is very tense around him and Cathaway. Like he knows they are aware of his infection. He wishes they did not.
]

I'm getting something from my room. I'll be there in a second.


( CATHAWAY. ) Goodbye to our emptiness.
[ The mission was a relative success. The Empress in safety, the Hosts out of danger and back on Station 72. If it could have gone better? Most likely, but that is not his concern to assess nor grade these things. Nor does he care to. If there had been people from his home, maybe he could care a little more. As it is, he doesn't want to care. He doesn't want to give into the urge of the symbiote, the connection, the network.

There are too many things swimming inside his body that shouldn't be already. He doesn't need other people's thoughts and emotions when he can barely block his own. For someone who is usually so graceful with his physical abilities, he sure is a clumsy idiot when it comes to holding back his brain.

But there are other afflictions in his head right now. It hadn't been necessary to take the vaccine during the mission, but his clock is ticking close to the twelve hours now. He always tries to find an empty, hidden space to inject himself. Both because he tries to keep his infection under wraps and because it's... well, it's weird to just sit down and shove a needle in his vein.

Also, he fucking hates needles. Ironic.

Down in the engine room, where it's small, noisy and above all, empty, he sits between two tall towers of-- whatever alien technology it is, and rolls up his sleeve, pulling the syringe and garrote from his bag, setting him between his legs. Pulls it around his arm, curling and uncurling his fingers to bring up the vein, holding the syringe in the other.

Obviously, it is when he is in this compromising position that he gets caught. Obviously.
]

... This is not what it looks like.
regalled: (Parried)

[personal profile] regalled 2016-02-06 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[This one.

He could almost sigh. He doesn't, though, because as gratuitous of an expression as it was, it didn't begin to cover the situation. This one was trouble. For the moment, more for himself than anyone else, but who knew how long that would last?

For now, however, the mission took precedence over Prince's well founded worries. The mission the boy was walking away from.

It's not that he doubts his words, although the emotions that flash and flare up in him, barely stilled by Prince's own immeasurable quiet, don't instill any particular confidence. Neither does the way he's sneaking around. A guilty conscience. Prince manages to curtail the urge to lecture him, at this moment. The task at hand was more important, and he needed the new Hosts to be as prepared as they could be.

Even he knew that sometimes that didn't mean berating them.]


I will accompany you, then.
insurrectum: (pic#9691642)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-06 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Parker doesn't like him. Doesn't trust him. Then again, that is nothing new coming from him. But the fact that he can be so quiet is almost as bad as the cacophony of thoughts that explode in his head when he is around other hosts. Maybe part of it is jealousy, because he is well aware he can't shut down his thoughts or control his emotions and this-- this guy makes it look like the most effortless task in the world. And he knows he isn't, can see by the way other struggle as much as him (or maybe not as much, he might be one of the worst around these people, but the point is, there is a struggle), but that doesn't mean he doesn't blame himself for not being able to be like...

Well, like him. Quiet.

But, obviously, he isn't. Might as well have screamed at him to go screw himself with the sudden irritation that flares up. Clenches his jaw, eyebrows curling the skin of his forehead in a frown.
]

I know where my room is.
regalled: (Default)

[personal profile] regalled 2016-02-07 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
I did not suggest you didn't.

[This could be easier. If he did something as simple as reaching out- it would not even require physical contact- he could discern the exact cause of his reluctance. He could know his heart and answer to his fears.

Things were not meant to be easy. Things worth doing were meant to be done right.]


Nevertheless, I would accompany you.
insurrectum: (pic#9989336)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-07 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ To be fair, there are a lot of things that could be the cause of his reluctance. The first one being that he really doesn't like to have something inside him that opens his thoughts to others, but he is hardly a single-mind with those thoughts. Then again, he is also an antisocial idiot with appalling people's skills who doesn't play well with others nor does he make an effort to. And making friends is like pulling teeth.

Basically, all of him is a mess.

His teeth grit. This time, he does half-sneer, lip curling in near disgust at the notion. It makes him think of the military facilities he was bound to during his life. Couldn't go anywhere without a chaperone.

Can't escape then even in space hell.
]

Don't you have something better to do?

[ He doesn't seem to care about the answer, already turning on his heels to continue his journey to the rooms. ]
regalled: (Default)

[personal profile] regalled 2016-02-07 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
[The clash of his emotions and the twisting of his features are not likely to dissuade Prince, who has in his time seen far worse. This boy was one of his wards, he was his responsibility. He could handle rude, childish blustering.]

The only task I have now is to assure the young Hosts are prepared for their upcoming mission.

[He follows behind him, at a comfortable pace. Refusing to allow the distance to grow.]

That includes you. Are you prepared, Parker?
insurrectum: (pic#9691641)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-07 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ He did not expect him to give up, but he hoped he would. It only serves to further his irritation as Prince walks behind him in even stride. For a second, he wants to break into a run and make him chase him, if he is so adamant in following him, but Parker is not that childish.

Although his words certainly aren't helping him. A creeping feeling rises the little hairs in the back of his neck and he clenches his jaw again, lips thin in disdain.
]

Don't. Call me that. [ A knee-jerk reaction. Host. To more than one living thing. Host to a parasite, host to a virus. Sometimes it's suffocating to think about that. How much of his body even belongs to him anymore? It makes him angry. Makes him desperate. Sometimes he just wants to claw at his skin and-- pull them out. Somehow.

Those are thoughts reserved for sleepless nights.

He scoffs at his question.
]

I guess we'll see. [ He actually feels very confident he is. But he's not giving him the satisfaction of a proper answer. ] I'll let you know if I end up with my brains painting a wall.
regalled: (Default)

[personal profile] regalled 2016-02-07 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[He doesn't sigh, but he does exhale slightly louder from his nose, lips thinning in turn. The boy is prickly, the lines of his shoulders and the tangle of his emotions. He was skirting a dangerous line. Many young Hosts touched upon that level of- distress, disgust, forced it up on themselves despite their natural ease. He himself had done it, before he had settled.

But to maintain that discomfort for too long took a toll. It presented dangers. Ones which he doubted Parker would hear from him now, and ones which would, in the end, have to wait. The mission at hand was more of a threat to him than himself, for the moment.]


You may find that difficult to accomplish.

[And if anyone in the multiverse could say that and mean it without any humor, it would be him.]

You would do well to stay with your brood.
insurrectum: (pic#9991327)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-07 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Being a handful is a commitment Parker is very devoted to. And Prince would be right to think that Parker would not hear from him; he could tell him all the horrible things that could happen should he continue to deny the symbiote, the dangers of it, and he would still not listen, stubborn to a fault. Hell, even at the edge of death he continues to be stubborn.

The reply to his answer makes him groan, low rumble in the back of his throat, coupled with a petulant eyeroll. Not that Parker is any good at jokes either. To be honest, if they stand too close a black hole where all humour goes to die could be created.
]

I don't belong to one. [ Words that make his insides churn and stir and tangle uncomfortably, denying a desire that he has (no, no, doesn't, not him, the thing inside him, the same as the other thing inside, the thing that, when he goes over the limit, makes him crave for meat that is barely cooked, flesh--). ]

Whatever this mission is, I'll do it. But don't think for a second it's anything other than my will.
regalled: (Riled)

[personal profile] regalled 2016-02-07 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[That draws him up short- the slightest hesitation in his step, focus narrowing further than it already was. Prince was never relaxed, but the words make him even more tense. There are many things he would accept from new Hosts. Many things he could understand, from personal experience and from the droves of students he has had before. Reluctance was typical. Anger was understandable.

This, though? He would not entertain.]


I do not care what you do with yourself, but as much as you would deny what you are you will not deny them. They did not ask to be part of yours, and I will not allow you to endanger them.

[There was no quicker way to earn his ire than to risk those you fought beside. Parker would not and could not understand it yet, what it was to be in a brood. Even if you were as Prince, and had drawn your line in the sand, they were yours. And, like all allies, like all comrades, their lives were yours to protect. It went beyond a tie you did not ask for.]
insurrectum: (pic#9688908)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-07 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Perhaps that was his line of thought. It wasn't Parker's.

While he is not one to let others around him die, he doesn't trust others easy. He doesn't find the concept of a brood, an instant connection, plausible. It is a nightmare, really. To fight beside one, to become part of a group, for him, is about facing challenges together. It's about building the trust. No-one earns that just because some parasite is crawling around your brain that connects you to others. Unwillingly so.

He knows he has struck a nerve when the words spill out. And much of them struck his. Parker stops, abruptly so, and turns on his heel slowly, anger in his face. He is not broad nor tall like him, but that does not make his presence slight. His jaw is set, his eyes cold.
]

I didn't ask to be part of them either. I still don't. That doesn't mean I'm throwing them off a bridge. [ And then, accusatory: ] I'm still human. [ He's not a rotting, undead corpse yet. ] I don't need something in my brain telling me to help others to do it on my own.
regalled: (Tested)

[personal profile] regalled 2016-02-07 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you think your humanity is enough to protect them?

[Calling on his heritage meant little to Prince. He'd met enough humans in his time to know their dedication to protecting others was suspect at best. Some had done well. Others had left their brood to die and known only when it was too late what that would cost them.

Humanity was not what defined a person. Action was. And the only actions he'd seen from this boy had been childish, defensive, and without the slightest thought to the health of the rest. Prince hadn't needed the symbiote to know responsibility. Perhaps this one did.]


You are weak. If you die, it will cost them more than you know. If you are very lucky they will take the weight you will not carry.
insurrectum: (pic#9991353)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-08 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yes, it is. Or so he believes. It is his humanity that keeps him going against all odds. It is his humanity that tries his best to keep his friends safe. It is his humanity that is so self-destructive that he refuses to die victim of the σ-virus.

But the thing is, he doesn't want to protect them all. Not really. He won't let them die, but he isn't willing to go out of his way to risk his own life for them. Not yet. He doesn't know them. He doesn't know if they are themselves or accepted to be part of this-- hivemind. He can be as selfish as he can be giving. It is not Prince's disapproval or distaste that will change him. If anything, he will keep pushing against the tide just to push him away.

He grits his teeth. You are weak. He refuses to accept that. Anger seeping through his pores.
]

Then go worry about them, asshole.

[ He turns again, faster steps to the rooms. Trying to keep his distance, as always. More so now. ]

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polyphonos: (Default)

[personal profile] polyphonos 2016-02-07 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[With the mission completed, the ships and the hosts recovered, small adjustments to the Station need to be made. It isn't a matter of turning away from this slice of of the multiverse, but it is important to obscure their presence here. Nonetheless, it's small work; she can do it on her own.

And yet here Parker is on the floor of the empty engine room. She feels it before she reaches the doorway, though only just - she's expecting the chamber to be empty and his is a very small, very remote presence at the corner of her mind that demands focus only when in close proximity. She is surprised to find it here. It's a statistical improbability, though his use of the kit between his legs is unsurprising.]


It is not uncommon. [She does not smile, but her posture where she stands in the doorway is easy.] Would you like to explain or would you rather continue pretending it is a secret?
insurrectum: (pic#9688909)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-07 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It doesn't matter how easy Cathaway stands. It doesn't matter that she doesn't make her presence a thundering one. For him, it will always be one. The fact that there is a certain... familiarity to her presence coming from within, from the symbiote, it only makes Parker want to reject it actively harder, that feeling. It isn't his. If there is something he clings to with everything he has got, it is his individuality, which he knows hangs by a fine thread. A very thin one.

He doesn't move from where he stands, fingers curled into a fist, tighter in her presence. The veins of his pale arm slowly growing darker, noticeable even in the dim light of the engine room. His jaw clenches, his upper lip curls slightly. Her words gut him. He knows this is something he can't hide forever, especially not from them, but pretending sounds... fine by him.
]

I'd rather continue pretending. [ He says through gritted teeth, feeling his mouth growing dry. A beat. ] What can I say? Diabetes is a hell of a disease.

[ He's hilarious. ]
polyphonos: (Default)

[personal profile] polyphonos 2016-02-07 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[Of course he would. Cathaway makes a small, mild noise that's very near to a tired sigh. The look she gives him is one very similar to a mother's mild disapproval, a sliver of disappointment, but there's no disdain. Young hosts often have a habit of pretending they have secrets to keep; she sympathizes even if she cannot understand.]

Sweet hatchling, did you really think we were not aware?

[She doesn't move from the doorway of the chamber, but she does reach out with her mind - not to Parker, but to the Station. She is here already and might as well make the time count. She can do both at once.]
insurrectum: (pic#9989338)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-08 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ Those words. They leave a sour taste in his mouth. He keeps his arm still, his fist curled, his muscles slightly jumping. His heart races against the ceiling of his mouth. He knew, in a way or another, that his secret was not a secret, not from them, but it was something he wasn't willing to accept. He barely accepts it himself, much less admitting to others.

But the more he delays, the more he can feel it. The slow, slow turning of his stomach. The very gradual blurring of his vision. The way he can feel himself grow a little colder. Sweat running down the back of his neck. Tastes like iron in the back of his mouth. Heartbeat slowing down, erratic.
]

Like it fucking matters what I think.

[ Is she going to stand there? Leave a boy to inject himself in peace, no? Rude. ]
polyphonos: (beta)

[personal profile] polyphonos 2016-02-08 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
Of course it matters.

[She blinks slowly at him, patient and steady and true. It mattered because he was a piece of them, a piece of her. In time, what was true for him would be true for all of them. As with all things, this too was a matter of balance. His thoughts and feelings were tied to and shared by his brood and given time they would find their way through to the rest of them. That is, in essence, the best case scenario.

(She moves mentally through the engine room, through the Station's sequencing; there is a door to this sliver of the universe and she draws it halfway shut.)

The other is that he will simply die in the field. Neither is preferable. He has a good mind; she would prefer it in working order. Which is why, ultimately, she gives to the wave of offense she can feel sizzling up the link from him. Well, that, and she's finished her work here.]


We will stand outside until you've finished.

[Cathaway leaves the doorway and moves into the corridor beyond, setting her back to the wall. He will have to come out eventually.]
insurrectum: (pic#9691649)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-08 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ Parker feels the hairs at the back of his neck rise. He doesn't like the way she watches them. Doesn't want to be observed by her. He doesn't want anything from her at all.

His breath becomes rougher, ragged and slower. Almost imperceptibly so, a gradual change. One he can feel, every step of the transformation. One that grips him from inside and twists, twists, twists, like a knife in an open wound, drowning in fear. Becoming something else. Dead man walking. Images flash in his mind. Blood dripping down an open mouth. The wet sound of flesh ripped apart. The texture of teeth on wood.

She says something he doesn't quite hear. His breathing is loud in his ears. Everything seems to slow down. She exists. He shakes his head and focuses on the vein popping. Hand not very steady, but enough to push the needle in. Pump in the antibodies. The infection is not fought immediately, but he can feel the drowsiness settling in. He slumps back against the wall, head down, chin to his chest. It might take him a little while longer to come out.

And part of it might be because he wants to avoid her.
]
polyphonos: (gamma)

[personal profile] polyphonos 2016-02-08 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[Luckily she is both patient - with the adjustments made to the Station's position, this is the most pressing duty she can think of in this place - and more than capable of entertaining herself in the interim. There are a thousand small points of light which she might follow from her place here on the Station, a wealth of places that her mind might stretch to. There is always work to be done and satisfaction to be derived from it.

Sorry kid, you're not getting out of this one. She can out wait you.]
insurrectum: (pic#9994096)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-09 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Lucky.

It takes him a while to readjust to his body pushing back the infection. The symbiote helps, not as slow as it used to be when he was home. Sometimes it took him an hour to be fully operational. Now, he barely needs more than twenty minutes on a bad day.

And he hates to feel the help the parasite provides.

He has his things packed, holstering the bag over his shoulder as he leaves the engine room. Stops, for a fraction of a second, when he finds her there. Eyes still a little red, like a bad night's sleep, but fading. Fingers gripping around the strap of his bag. Then he pushes past her, no words. There's nothing to say.
]
polyphonos: (delta)

[personal profile] polyphonos 2016-02-11 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[While Parker may be under the mistaken impression that he an avoid an awkward conversation simply by walking past her, Cathaway has no intention of being outmaneuvered. She rolls her weight from the corridor wall and trails after him like a shadow, content to simply follow if he feels so strongly about avoiding the inevitable.

She is patient and there is a pleasure to watching someone's walls crack, even if it's born of irritation.]
insurrectum: (pic#9691639)

http://i.imgur.com/ftkPU1p.gif

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-13 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That isn't very nice of her. It is irritating and rude. But he supposes she doesn't care about either - or if she does, she is doing it on purpose and he doesn't want to show her it's working. Because it is.

He keeps walking without a word, the constant chiming of her chains faint behind him as they walk. He grunts, sighing harsh through his nose and shakes his head.
]

What do you want?

[ Besides driving him insane, that is. ]
polyphonos: (Default)

meow meow meow

[personal profile] polyphonos 2016-02-15 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[His outburst doesn't cause her pace to falter; if he continues to move, so will she - a patient, chiming jingle of a shadow.]

We wish you would be honest with us. Your affliction is a detriment to your fitness.

[She can understand the sensibility of keeping it under wraps while out on mission, but here they should be as a family; if weaknesses were hidden from those closest, there would be no way to compensate for them when facing a stranger who might exploit it. It would be best if he simply came clean, wouldn't it?]

What will you do when your equipment runs out?
insurrectum: (pic#9989329)

[personal profile] insurrectum 2016-02-19 09:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ The way she says what she says makes him feel bile in the back of his throat. His shoulders tense, his jaw clenches. Affliction. That's a terrible way of putting it. But he feels absolutely no inclination in talking to her, any of them. He didn't talk to his friends back home about it - out of fear, which he will never admit out loud, only in the dark hours of the long nights, fear of rejection and abandonment - and facing this reality all by himself suits him fine.

Obviously, the fact that he does not consider any of them a part of himself, something he rejects as hard as he rejects the σ-virus.

The pertinent question, however, does leave a cold running down his stomach. He swallows dryly, the soft pulsing of the puncture wound in his arm seems to sting hotter.
]

The same thing everyone does.

[ Put a bullet in his head. ]

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