Ciphered Defiance

[voracity]

<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_08/CODE.gif.bcde11af660e585625de007db19e1e8e.gif" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="69919" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_08/CODE.gif.bcde11af660e585625de007db19e1e8e.gif" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

[media]
​

[/media]
In a very far future, humanity has evolved, changed .. for the better they say. Looking around, there is some truth in that statement, and the general public is more than pleased with the results. However, there are some things that are just never meant to be found, to remain hidden, to never see the light.


But not everybody gets that, that's how monsters are made, that's how the end draws near.


Diana [Tentative Name] wakes up with no memories, in a world of numbers and codes, but even she can feel the clock ticking, and she must team up with an unlikely ally to scramble for answers, to bury the nightmare before it sets itself upon the human race.


Sometimes, the end is inevitable, but damn it all if she didn't even try to resist or fight back.


These codes are monster exclusive


It's our encoded resistance


Our


Ciphered Defiance

What was it that went wrong?


Two women are thrust into the spotlight, and now carefully watched through the lenses of cameras from the paparazzi. First impressions are always important, and so they smile and bear with it when the flashes go off and when their names are called.


Behind the lights though?


These two just can't stand the other, getting off on the wrong foot, a misplaced comment here and there, and suddenly they have to deal with trashy magazines digging their noses in, their agents, and public relations nagging at their backs. Not to mention, they both have to deal with each other on set, too. Fun.


To save their reputations, and possibly the rest of their careers though, it seems like they'll have to be spending a lot more time together.

... And just how is it that they got to this point again?

This is a closed one on one with @kindaemissary

 

[voracity]

Elena Fraye

​

Location: NYC[?]


Date: 11/22


Time: 9:20 AM


Mood: Sleepy



​

Elena huffed, pulling the beanie on top of her head down further, hoping that it would protect her against the chilly winds that were threatening to freeze her ears right off. The red head wasn't a big fan of the cold weathers, but at least it wasn't snowing yet, she mused, as she walked briskly down the crowded streets. Others, the redhead observed, had picked out more ... sensible things to wear to combat the chilling weather, but it's not like Elena didn't want to wear a scarf, or mittens, or even those ridiculously big poofy jackets that made her look like a house! However, first impressions were very important, especially in her line of work. Saying the right things and delivering quality-acting could only bring her so far, sometimes you had to dress the part, lure the people, the sharks and the fish, in to get what you wanted.


Which would explain the redhead's choice in black jeans, that weren't doing such a great job in keeping her warm, the thin grey shirt that was simply too loose, too thin, even when layered with the black leather jacket she had unzipped over her shivering frame. Feeling another shiver run down her spine, the redhead finally decided to take action, to make a little stop and get warmed up, least she arrive at the audition with clattering teeth and shaking like a leaf. Heh. What a sight that would be.


Pulling her phone from her pocket, Elena peeked at the screen, finding the time. 9:30AM. Perfect. It was still relatively early, a small stop at Starbucks wouldn't hurt, she decided, and quickly spun on her heel, turning the corner, having already memorized this particular route. Soon enough, the redhead stepped into the small coffeehouse, and let out a silent content sigh as the warmth seeped into her very cold bones. Standing off to the side to avoid blocking off the entrance, Elena let herself warm up a bit before pulling her wallet out - ready to order something.


As she approached the counter, Elena greeted the barista with a glowing smile, a smile much too cheerful for someone who had been rolling around wide awake for the most of the night, she thought to herself, groaning, mostly tuning out what the girl had to say - the usual 'Welcome to Starbucks' jazz. Once she was sure the girl had finished speaking, Elena pulled out a paper bill, "Good morning, a tall vanilla latte, please?" she ordered quietly, handing the money, received the change in return, then went to stand, waiting for the order to be complete.


While waiting, Elena sat at one of the empty tables, and pulled out her phone. There wasn't anything to do in particular, nobody to text and nothing exciting to read, but sitting around and doing absolutely nothing ... was a bit odd looking, at least this way it would look like she was expecting someone. The minutes dragged by, other people's names, and orders were called, slowly, and Elena could feel her ire building up, impatience eating away at her with a vengeance. Just as she planned to storm up and demand - with a smile of course - her order, a notification popped up.


Pulling up the app entirely, Elena only took minutes to skim through the entire article. Thankfully, her order was also completed within those precious minutes, suddenly, with a skip in her step and a much more genuine smile, if not smirk, to offer the barista, Elena thanked the woman and turned on her heel to leave.


The latest article detailed of an actress Elena was fairly close to, someone who she did not get along with, but had worked with in the past. And oh boy, the initial joy she had felt in her heart when the article all but slandered the actress, questioning her life choices and even snagging some rather embarrassing pictures that would make even the dancers in a club blush. Ahh .. life was good, coffee and a small, silent victory in hand, if Elena nailed the audition later in the morning, then everything would be set.


With a satisfied smile, the redhead tilted her head back, taking a generous sip of her coffee. To the audition now.

 

[kindaemissary]

LIV CHARIS

​

After tossing and turning through restless sleep, Liv finally bettered herself by getting out of bed and trodding to the bathroom. The hotel room was comfortable, of course, with downy pillows and the softest sheets she had slept on in a long time, but her anxiousness was getting the best of her. She had barely slept in days with all the pressure building on her three tons at a time. If anything sleeping in a new bed didn't make any of that easier. She had told Daniel that staying in a hotel wasn't a good idea, but he had insisted, and now here she was: staring at herself in the mirror, hair a mess and eyes bloodshot. She needed to brush her teeth.





"Take a shower and dry your hair," Daniel called from the bedroom. She could still hear him clearly - the door was wide open. "We don't have a lot of time before we have to be at the call, but I'll get Eliza over here soon. I'll have her pick up breakfast."





Liv peered out from the other side of the door and sent him a glance. "Isn't that your job?"





Daniel sent her a glance and she turned around and shut the door before slipping out of her pajamas: loose NYU t-shirt and leggings, sports bra and panties. In the mirror, her body looked lithe. Slender. One of the producers on her last product, a failed TV show that never got airtime, told her that she was too skinny and too fat for the screen. And at the same time. It was a quandary, clearly, but Liv couldn't help but be self-conscious. She was slowly becoming part of a world where appearance and physique meant more than anything else.


But she was good at acting. Better than anyone ever thought she would be, quite honestly. Her parents thought she should have paid more attention in grammar and math when she was in high school and less time prancing around like drama club would actually get her somewhere. And boy, they were wrong. They supported her through it all. Her parents might have wanted "better for her" but once they came to that she had potential, they stopped beating the same bush.


Naked, Liv climbed into the shower and quickly scrubbed at her hair with shampoo. She knew it would be pinned back and styled, but she hated going anywhere with dirty hair. Her roots seemed to get dirtier much faster than any other part of her body, which was irritating, but it was better than sweating on her back. Liv was glad to have grown out of that with puberty.


Forty-five minutes later, Liv was perched at the hotel's desk chair with a robe on and her hair being pinned it to the back of her head, courtesy of Eliza who had shown up with two dozen donuts (way more than any of them could eat)


"I figured since it was exciting you needed edible excitement," she had said


"Excitement," Liv had said again. "Excitement, Eliza, not diabetes."


Getting ready went smoothly. Liv had her hair securely pulled back into a tight braid against the back of her hair, long tail curled up into a crescent against her neck. It was easy for Eliza to style her hair since she wanted it up most of the time, hating the way hair on her back felt.


Liv changed into dark tight jeans and a forest green sweater before allowing Eliza to chain a necklace around her. She pushed in two pearl earrings and checked herself in the wall-length mirror. Her reflection looked much older than she felt - still a sad, lonely twenty-four-year-old - but that could help her image. It could also hinder it, of course, but she'd have to take the risk. She wasn't famous enough for one outfit to make a difference anyway. She had been in a few TV shows as guest stars, but nothing big. If her audition went well today, well, that could change just about everything.


Daniel procured her oxfords from the other side of the room and handed them to her as she sat down, fastening them on quickly. "If this doesn't work out, don't worry too much about it. Another miss didn't stop Drew Barrymore and it won't stop you either."


"I know," Liv breathed, and she pulled on her jacket from the back of her chair and stood up. It was already 9:50 and her audition was at 11:00. They still had time to get to the studio, so she didn't need to worry, but the proximity was getting to her.


Eliza handed her a coffee and Liv took a small sip, sighing. "Just take it with small steps, okay? You'll get there, even if it's not with this movie. Just have faith in yourself and it'll all work out."


Liv wanted to huff, to laugh at her sister and point out all the failures out there that never made it. More than anything, she wanted people to know that she was good and recognize her hard work and look at her talent like it was something desirable. She couldn't be a washout. She had to do this, to get this role.


"I'll be fine," she said, and she followed Daniel out of the hotel room, leaving Eliza behind to do her own sightseeing. I'll be fine.

 

[voracity]

Elena Fraye

​

With a mostly empty cup in her hand, Elena was more than glad to rid herself of the trash when finding a garbage bin while turning the corner. The warm drink had done wonders for the redhead, who now felt more awake, more aware of her surroundings, and not to mention, the realization of actually auditioning for an arguably ‘big’ movie, that could boost her up quite a few leagues, was starting to really weigh down on her.


Auditions were never easy, even for those who may have had their names already out and easily recognized. Finding the right person for the character was always going to be a long, and agonizing progress - for both the director, and the auditionees themselves. Sometimes there weren’t too many who would show up at the studio, which would make one question whether or not the production would be worth it. Then you had the other side of the whole picture: when many were present, hungry for the same role you have your eyes on and ultimately the competitive streak and anxiety build up to great levels until -


Before Elena’s inner rant could really begin to shoot itself off, the redhead caught the sounds of loud ringing, it’s rhythm accompanied by the sound of chimes, which had her digging through her pockets to reach her phone at once. A quick glance before answering it, Elena caught the time - 10:30 AM - and a rush of relief had the redhead relax just the tiniest bit as she greeted the person on the other side of the line.


“Natalie, what a pleasant surprise,” except, not really Elena easily greeted the other woman with a quiet, but careful tone. She could never tell what kind of mood her friend, her agent, was in first thing in the morning, it was always different, and there wasn’t exactly a tell-sign of any that Elena could rely on. It was quite frustrating, and while it made her agent rather difficult to face sometimes, at least she was competent in her job, and not nearly as annoying as some of them were. That, and Natalie had a heart, something Elena was sure she had thrown hers aside some time ago while entering the industry.


“Elena, you’re up. Good,” she heard on the other side, and she couldn’t help but to frown as she heard the voice on the other side. Natalie’s voice sounded hoarse, raspy, had the other woman just woken up? “I really hate you sometimes,” Natalie continued, her words coming slowly, almost slurred, “spent the entire night worried, tossing ‘round … and you’re probably planning to just push the doors open and look down on some poor fidgety girl like you’re going to eat her alive or something,” the blonde went on, groaning.


Elena had no idea what to say. Natalie’s ramblings were amusing at times, albeit confusing, was there a point to this call? She should say anything at all, or would that be inappropriate? “Uh. I don’t think I’ll do that?” at least not when you bothered to make this call “More work for you when the ‘poor girl’ decides to file something on me, accusing me of being cannibal,” Elena tried, appeasing her agent in the morning was definitely hard work.


A few more minutes of senseless rambles from her agent, the blonde finally delivered a final message, “Good luck, ‘Lena … tried to see who else was looking for the spot, and the movie is low key enough that nobody TOO important was interested … just watch out for uh … some tv specials, most of them are seeing this as a chance to jump up the ladder and they have what it takes, you know. Some of them have a history quite similar to your own, tv guest starring, some modelling, half season regular ... “


Before Natalie could continue, Elena decided that enough was enough, she didn’t need her less than stellar work history recited to her early in the morning, especially right before an important audition. “Natalie, it seems my connection is breaking. Tragic. I’ll call you once I have everything all said and done. Ta.” With a cheeky grin, Elena waited only for a few moments to hear Natalie’s outraged and indignified cries on the other side before hanging up on her friend - both knew that Elena would apologize and make up for the rudeness at a later date.


As the studio came into sight, Elena took a moment to turn to one of the windows of a store, waiting until she could see her reflection on the glass. Frowning at the state of her windswept hair, Elena made note to give it a good shake once she made it inside. Giving herself a quick, slightly critical once over, Elena abruptly turned away, crossed the road and let herself inside the building. It wasn’t too warm stepping into the building, Elena realized, her frown stretching as she decided to leave her beanie on just a little longer, until she could feel her ears again at least. Looking down the hall and endless number of doors, Elena set herself to looking for the proper room, or at least finding some sort of sign as to where it would be.


Curse her sense of direction, lackthereof that is.

 

[kindaemissary]

LIV CHARIS

​

The cab took them quickly to a studio on the other side of the city. Twenty minutes seemed to pass by seemingly fast without the throes of traffic to slow them down.


It was almost nice. The ability to swim from one of side of traffic to another without too many cars to obstruct the flow. Liv grew up in a city - nowhere near the size of New York, of course - and knew the struggles of traffic during busy times of day, but for some reason she was anticipating a low.


As they drove, she nursed her coffee back. It scalded her throat but seemed to calm her nerves nevertheless.


"You need to stop being so jumpy," Daniel said through the silence. "If you get yourself worked up before you get there it's not going to go how you want it to, and then you'll be even more upset."


"I know," Liv breathed, and it was true. She knew that overthinking the audition and the process was only going to make her more on edge than she already was. If she kept thinking about everything that could go wrong, it was going to go wrong.


Like forgetting the parts of script she was supposed to have memorized. Or reading the wrong part of the text. Or talking at the wrong time or making enemies with the casting director or not making eye contact or forgetting to introduce herself when she entered or--


"Liv."


"Sorry," she muttered, exasperated. It was surely easier said than done, remaining calm. Liv knew that she had everything together and was prepared beyond belief, but there was still so much that could go wrong.


Daniel slid out of the seat as the cabbie pulled the car outside of the building and held the door for her on her way out. "You know exactly what you're going to do when you go in there. You've had the script for two weeks. Everything they wanted you to know you have memorized. Don't worry just yet."


She knew he was right.


They entered the building, Liv right after Daniel, and Liv couldn't help but rub her forearms with her palms in hopes of warming up her skin. The November air was crisp and cool, and always seemed to leave her skin freckled with goose skin. She loved the transition period, though. Especially in the city. When she walked the streets, she loved to see hot breath leaving people's mouths and the damp leaves crushed into the edge of each sidewalk. Back at home, it was just leaves falling and frost, and yes, it was beautiful, but she loved to see the humanity when she was in the city. At home it was just nature. In New York, it was everything.


Daniel placed his palm against the small of her back and strode her forward. The building wasn't massive, wasn't overwhelming. Just a regular business complex that happened to hold her future in one single room on the fourth floor. No windows, one door. Three people watching her and only one other person to help her out.


She knew that Daniel would be in the room with her, on the sidelines, but it did nothing to help the rapid pulsation of anxiety that shook her core and sent her into her mind.


What if I fuck up? she thought to herself. This is it. If I really want to make big break, it's going to have to happen. I'll be too old for these roles in a couple years. This could be my last chance.





Liv pushed herself down the hallway, script tight in her right palm and coffee hot in the other.


The main lobby was mostly empty aside from a receptionist at a large mahogany desk and guards by the door, some meaningless bystanders. The hallway, on the other hand, was crowded with people who by-God knew what they were doing. It was obvious that most of them worked there - the Picturehouse emblem was on every breast pocket she passed.


She was looking for 212 and a woman name Cheyanne Tomas, one of the casting director's assistants. Her appointment was - she looked at her phone - in twenty-one minutes, so she still had time.


Would having more time matter if she messed it up before she got there?


Stop being so self-deprecating. You're good. She huffed to herself, and Daniel threw a side glance at her. If they don't like you, there will be hundreds of other opportunities. You have another two auditions next week. You could do TV if it meant breaking out of this monotony.


Liv straightened her shoulders and pressed the call button on the elevator.