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Multiple Settings Man Made Gods

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Ramjammer

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"Anything yet?"

The question drew a prolonged sigh and an eye roll from the woman sitting in front of the monitor. The man standing just at her shoulder frowned in response, clearly in no mood.

"No, nothing. The same as yesterday, and the day before, and-"

"Don't get smart." He cut her off sharply. "Nothing happened today or yesterday, so what? The point is, it's happened before and it can happen again."

The woman slouched in her seat, lips pressed into a thin line. She clearly wanted to argue, but wisely chose not to. He wasn't wrong, and she well knew it. Instead, she resumed staring at the screen in silence, eyes tracing over the shapes barely discernable on the screen. The man did the same, arms crossed and brow furrowed in worry. There wasn't much to see. A dark room, sixty square meters of steel. The depth was less clear. Waves lapped gently at the edges of the room, liquid submerging whatever lay within and keeping it hidden from view. It was for the best really, and the man fought back an unconscious shudder at the idea of the room being drained for any reason.

"A simple Non-Newtonian Fluid. The more it struggles, the harder it'll be to escape."

That's what the researchers from HQ had told him. The science of it didn't really matter to him. As long as the shit worked, he couldn't complain. So long as the liquid remained just that; a liquid, they were safe.

Well, as safe as they could reasonably so long as that thing was in there. If it were up to him, it'd be destroyed. Wiped clean from existence and forgotten about forever. But that was impossible, or so the eggheads said. So he had to submit himself to sitting on his ass and watching screens all day, his finger on the trigger in the event of the slightest hint of activity. Definitely not the kind of security detail he'd imagined when he signed on. Sure the pay was good, but it was nowhere near worth the stress. Barely more than a dozen of them out in the middle of nowhere with any sort of help thousands of miles off. The first, last and only line of defense between the rest of the world and the thing they kept locked up down there.

The man felt his skin prickle uncomfortably as his thoughts strayed towards things better left ignored and he sucked in a breath. A hand reached towards its twin and he silently grasped the studded ring on his finger and counted each individual bump. A grounding exercise, one he'd used often because even far beneath his feet under yards of earth and steel it could still get him. Just knowing it existed was enough.

"Just...monitor it. " He finally mumbled, shifting awkwardly away from the monitor and shambling towards the door leading to the adjoining hallway. His partner didn't seem at all concerned with his shaky demeanor and watched him only briefly before she resumed staring boredly at the screen. Her blase attitude filled him with as much jealousy as it did irritation. Some people just weren't as affected by it, it's why they got stuck watching it. Whatever hooks it used to dig into the mind just couldn't find the right purchase on some people. The nightmares were milder, their time under was longer.

"Their deaths come sooner." A vindictive little voice inside of him said. People like her were the first in line to get thrown into the grinder because of their 'talents'. Better to be normal. Especially with an employer like theirs. More often lately, he'd been wishing that he was far below average. He'd have never been chosen if that had been the case.

The air was growing uncomfortably thick inside and he felt himself growing more and more claustrophobic with each passing second. His steps grew more hurried, and he paused only briefly to throw on a parka before bursting through the door at the end of the narrow hall and out into the harsh sunlight.

Summer in Antarctica had far from ideal weather, but it was miles better than being stuck inside. The air was uncomfortably dry, but it was fresh. Below forty and free from the taint of that thing. He shivered violently, in part from the harsh gusts of wind that scoured the valley and more from nerves. Barely a month into a six-month stay and he was close to breaking down. Maybe it wouldn't be too soon to call the whole thing off? The Boss would be angry. But surely she'd appreciate his honesty, right? He wasn't fit for the job and shouldn't have taken it. Then again, he couldn't imagine a scenario in which she'd be happy to send a transport all the way north for one person. Even if she were to be so generous, he'd surely lose his job. And it didn't bear thinking about what would happen afterwards. He was effectively stuck.

The cold was utterly unbearable and growing more so by the second. He'd risk severe frostbite unless he went back inside, but even that was preferable to submitting himself to that thing's influence again, no matter how minimal it might have been.

"I really don't get paid enough for this shit." He mumbled through chattering teeth before lurching back inside. It was a good thing they stocked plenty of alcohol on site with the rest of the supplies. He'd be needing it for the rest of his stay. And, provided he didn't blow his own brains out, a new liver when he finally got to leave. Hopefully, whatever sorry bastards they sent up next would be better suited for the task.


They were really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Allister didn't say that out loud of course. It was rude, to start. And he wasn't in the mood for a fight. Not from the small group in front of them, and certainly not from Lorette who was lurking inside the building just behind him.

Well, putting them at the bottom of the barrel wasn't exactly fair. They ticked all the boxes in terms of what Apex absolutely needed. Otherwise they wouldn't have been called for. But it was clear to Allister that only one of the people present had a background relevant to the job, and the rest were at varying levels of ability.

"What they don't know, they'll learn."

Lorette's words came to mind so abruptly that had Allister not known any better, he'd have thought she was communicating telepathically. Fortunately for him, that was not one of his Employer's many talents. Being at the woman's beck and call was hard enough as it was without her taking up permanent residence in his skull.

He coughed into a gloved fist, stepping further outside and wincing as a gust of autumn wind struck him. The onset of early evening in the fall was a quick affair. Low afternoon light yielded to darkness in the blink of an eye, and the cold was quick on its heels. Allister bowed at the waist slightly, holding the door further open for the people waiting outside it. They'd been kept waiting long enough.

"Good evening, I'm glad all of you could make it." He said airily, as if he hadn't spent the past several minutes staring at them somewhat critically. But that was in the past, and therefore no longer his problem.

"We apologize for the wait. We've had a lot of people to get through today." He continued while ushering them all through the door as quickly as he could. They'd no doubt be happy to get out of the cold and happier to get things over with. He couldn't imagine how happy they'd be with the offer they'd be getting, however. Most weren't at first. He could hardly blame them for it. He certainly hadn't been. But the alternatives were of a kind he, and most, weren't comfortable ignoring. The fallout was Lorette's to deal with however, and she typically did so well enough. In her own opinion anyway. Others had less than stellar reviews of her methods.

The inside of the building was as nondescript as the exterior. There wasn't much to see aside from a single hallway marked sparsely with doors. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as Allister led the small group down the linoleum tiled hall, only looking up for the barest of moments to eye a light that had burned out. "I should get someone to change that." He mumbled to himself before falling back into silence until they'd presumably reached their destination. A single door, as unremarkable as its many copies stood in front of them, and he paused briefly, hand on the knob. "The Madame will be with you shortly, you may wait inside for her...." He trailed off and looked momentarily thoughtful as his eyes scanned the small gaggle of people warily.

"I should warn you all that she is somewhat eccentric. She means no harm, but the Madame has grown used to a certain method of doing things over the years. I hope you understand." He finished somewhat lamely. Eccentric was an understatement, and he knew it. But he certainly couldn't open up with a list of the woman's foibles. It was better to let the poor fools discover that on their own.

Allister, and by extension the people with him did not have to wait long for to do so. The door swung open soundlessly, and he spent only a half second searching for the light switch before flicking it on. The room he'd set aside for them was mostly empty in that a woman sat behind a table lined with files, and in front of it several chairs meant for her visitors. She said nothing. Staring at Allister in dead silence and the man fought the urge to grit his teeth as his blood pressure spiked.

"Well, it seems you won't be having much of a wait as she's already here. Hello Ma'am." Allister said tightly.

Lorette blinked once and leaned sideways almost imperceptibly to stare past Allister's shoulder. "You brought my winners. Good, we can get started."

Allister shuffled to the side and allowed room for the people behind him to pass. He gave the group a look that could only be interpreted as 'This is the shit I was talking about.' before turning his gaze back to Lorette. "Not yours yet, Madame."

Lorette only let out a noncommittal grunt in reply, and Allister rolled his eyes. "I'll leave you to it then. I'll be just outside, call if you need anything." He exited the room wordlessly, leaving the hapless group alone with Lorette who continued to give them a look one would only find on the face of a Fox in a henhouse. Her gaze only broke away at the sound of her phone buzzing, and she reached into her jacket to pull it out and stare wordlessly at the screen.

'Why are you like this?' were the only words written and Lorette frowned softly. Allister just didn't get it. Most didn't. But that was everyone else's problem. She tucked her phone away and gestured wordlessly at the chairs in front of the table. "Have a seat. You probably want to get this over with, don't you?" She asked of no one in particular. It didn't matter who she addressed really, the offer was the same for all of them. Their answers might vary, but that was something she could live with so long as the results were as expected. And they would be. Nikhil was never wrong.

Lorette played idly with the edge of one file, brow wrinkling softly as she squinted under the harsh lights.

"I apologize if I seem a bit addled. It's been a long day and the last group tried my patience more than I'd have liked. I've got a bit of a migraine you see."

She slapped the cover of one of the files softly before looking back up. "But that's not your problem. And not why you're here." She said pointedly before leaning back in her own chair to resume staring at the five in front of her. They were a motley group, same as the rest. But that was to be expected, and it was only temporary. "Now as your future employer I've a great deal of expectations for all of you. Expectations that I know you can live up to." Lorette eyed each of them in turn, her gaze having not lost its predatory gleam.

"But I'll admit that what I'm going to ask of you is a lot harsher than what I ask of most. You know, I hear all those rumors. About what goes on behind the wall." She began, not feeling the need to elaborate. 'The Wall', as it was so succinctly named was about as much an urban legend itself as what supposedly went on behind it. Circling the greater part of Apex's Headquarters, the clearance one needed to see the other side of it was high. And it cut the Officers that had that distinction from a different cloth than those who remained outside.

Most people assumed that given Apex's status as an International Arms Dealer, they were merely protecting their assets along with the intel of all parties they were on contract with. That didn't stop the rumor mill from running. The conspiracies surrounding the cluster of towers that marred Arnvista's skyline were such that more than a few people had braved the application process for the explicit purpose of proving them. If any had been successful, they'd remained distressingly silent on the matter.

For her part, Lorette didn't care to either prove or disprove those theories. So long as they kept focus away from what was really happening, it was an annoyance she could tolerate.

She didn't know if her most recent acquisitions believed any of the rumors surrounding Apex. It didn't matter. None of them were true.

"What I'm going to ask you to do for me. It's worse than what you may have heard in a lot of ways. I will not lie, and I'll spare you the pretense. If you agree to what I'm offering, you're going to be putting up with the kind of shit that the pay just barely justifies." She said blandly. It was the understatement of a lifetime. But she didn't want to scare them right out of the gate. They would have plenty of time for that later.

"What I want from you is going to test you in a lot of ways. You'll realize just how weak you really are. Mentally, spiritually, and physically. I was." She sighed, opting to stare down at her hands resting on the table. "I still am. I'm reminded every day."

Lorette squeezed her eyes shut, a sharp pain lancing across her temples in an abrupt reminder of just that. A weakness that only a mortal woman could lay claim to.

"Because, that is the price of power." Her eyes snapped back up, though she didn't seem to be staring at anyone in particular. Lorette's gaze was far away, either lost within her own thoughts or somewhere beyond even that.

"Genuine power. Not this silly shit the rest of the world thinks that I care about. Oh yeah, the money is nice. Connections are always helpful. But that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about, and what I want to give all of you is the kind of power that would let you strike the face of God if you wanted. And, if we do things right you just might be able to."

Lorette swept the files away to the edge of the table and leaned forward in her seat. "The application process covers the basics. I need to make sure you're fit enough to handle this. But I've read your files, and I can honestly say that if we were just a regular Private Security firm, only one of you would have made the cut. No, all of you have something else in you that can't be quantified in the number of laps you're able to run. That potential makes all of you qualified candidates for the kind of greatness we used to write stories about. Heroes, demigods. Call them whatever you want. It's the same thing here. That's what I want for you. That is what I'm offering you."

Lorette's eyes flickered towards the door and what enthusiasm she'd drawn forth dampened slightly. "Call me crazy. I don't blame you. But if I'm too crazy to deal with, you can leave now. In fact, I'd suggest it. Because once you've stared into the face of power, you'll never forget it."


Worthlessplebian Worthlessplebian Paradoxical_sleep Paradoxical_sleep irregular-neptune irregular-neptune mysteryxio mysteryxio Bludgeon Bludgeon
 
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In a dingy 4 by 4 flat nestled, uncomfortably, in the Residential Area, a man rested peacefully. His pungent breaths reek of the cheap scotch, the last bottle—of twelve—remain half-filled with the liquid. The floor near his bed was littered with crumbs of wood, shaved off by a tiny blade. One hand lazily reclined on his forehead, blocking the sun that shined out of the single window. It had scratchings, scars and other such markings, obviously made by the aforementioned blade. Healed by time itself, but he should not be that careless. The digital clock, which admittedly has seen better days, struck the designated time and began beeping with a waxing annoyance. A frown formed on the bearded man's face as a hand came down upon the timer. With the cessation of the noise, the man was tempted to return to his slumber, except today had been special: Something awaited him at his new job.

The man rose into a sitting position. Yawning groggily, the hangover rushed his head like an ambush from a foe. Grunts were all that he wanted to express at the moment. Blessed was the man because he was one of the few annoying people that merely had headaches and stomach pains when he drank too much alcohol. A glance was thrown to his clock, he had 30 minutes until he needed to appear at his workplace. Perfect. — The man thought to himself. He got up and into a stretching motion. Then leisurely went about his morning routine, preparing breakfast, the washing-up, dressing with no sense of urgency or haste. The coffee was not ever good so that hadn't changed in all these years. Reflecting on change, the man surveyed a specific spot. It was near his bed, the lower leg had been scratched with blunt claws and chewed with sharpened teeth, reminiscent of a canine. A displeased sigh was released as Mr Kahurangi O'Hara stood up from the wooden chair and departed his place.

It was going to be public transport for him today.

He arrived at the destination. A whopping 5 minutes late. All in all not a good start to his newish position. At least he had the decency to dress appropriately, although whether he did that out of his respect for his employers or the flashbacks to his mother chastising his scrawny behind whenever the family had to attend unique gatherings cannot be determined.

As if one of the residential employees knew that Kahurangi was late, revealed a smirk on his face that attempted to mock him. Kahurangi did not even notice, blank face as per usual.

Then he and others were herded by a long-haired man with a blonde colouration. Spouting corporate slogans and exhuming an air of formalness, it entertained Kahurangi, reminding him of another time when he worked security.

At last, he delivered them to the CEO, a woman by the name of Lorette Lècuyer. And the prior warning about her eccentricity was not without precedent. Kahurangi's laidback expression masked the focus he had, listening carefully to this woman's primer. She talked about the uniqueness and special attributes that each of them possessed and frankly, Kahurangi became cynical as he figured that they didn't have anything that somebody else did not. The man stood firm as he asked. "This power... You speak of, what is the price?" Blatantly, direct, and deadpan, a sign of things to come if he survived this gauntlet of power.

Ramjammer Ramjammer Paradoxical_sleep Paradoxical_sleep irregular-neptune irregular-neptune mysteryxio mysteryxio Bludgeon Bludgeon
 
"Yes I am in the right place. I received my instructions to come here for my interview. I don't believe this should be that hard to understand." Leo had been talking to a woman at the reception area for some time now trying to convince her to let him inside. He'd shown up early as to make a good impression on whoever his boss was. Leo's ID said that he was over 18. All the forms were in order, he had no clue why the woman wouldn't just let him in. She merely told him to have a seat and that she'd be with him in a moment. In one of his rare moments of showing emotions, Leo let out a frustrated scream. Not loud enough to get people's attention but enough that he'd gotten his frustration across.

He'd come across the news of new people being hired from one of the many nightclub patrons he encountered along his job route. Being apart of the less than reputable side of life in the city since he was a runaway, Leo had access to all kinds of resources, including ones able to create genuine papers for his application. While still not legally an adult, he understood the value of money better than most kids his age as well as how hard the real world could be. Still, his family needed him to do this. The term struggling artist applied to many of them. While Leo had no clue what his actual family would think of him doing this, the people he knew cared for him would likely do everything they could to keep him away.

This had all been sometime ago for his interview. Now here he was, waiting for the work to start. The exact details were somewhat vague but he had dealt with this sort of work before. The fall air normally wouldn't bother him but his coat had gotten soaked from a street brawl the last night and there was no time to clean. So there he stood, layered in long sleeved shirts that didn't help him.

He was happy when the long haired man in front of his group let them in. The hallways in front of them was like something he hadn't seen before. The thought of 'this idea not being a smart one' entered his head for the first time, but it was too late for him to back out at that point.

Leo listened to both the warning and the speech. He tried kept his face stoic, taking in what was said. He held the legs of his chair behind him to help keep him calm. The fact that the CEO was here must've meant something important. While he understood what was being said, he didn't seem to fully comprehend the true weight of the words. At least until she got to the part involving power. He knew about that all to well, seen what that was like, those who had power vs those who didn't. He was aware of how powerless he was. He was so young compared to everyone else in his world yet some part of him did want power, if only enough to defend himself. He'd seen what happens to those who no longer are useful in his line of work. He wouldn't let that be him. "I don't really have a reason to fight against gods or whatever but I can't turn down this offer."
 
Long before dawn shattered the night sky into an array of pastel hues, Hayden Langston lied vigilant in the twin bed of his apartment. His bare feet hung off the end of the bed, the crown of his head pressed against the headboard. He had inquired many times since moving in if he should perhaps sleep on the floor instead of the diminutive bed, but the shifty stains on the shaggy brown carpet suggested otherwise. He extended an inked arm toward his bedside table and clicked on his phone, squinting incommodiously against the harsh fluorescent light. The analog clock on his fractured screen read 4:57 a.m. His alarm wouldn't chime for a few more hours, but it wasn't his nerves that kept him awake at such primordial hours.

The apartment which shared the remarkably thin wall to his bedroom was occupied by what was likely the worst conceivable neighbor one could have in such a place: a gamer. For the past four hours, Hayden had been suffering loud, first-person shooter sound effects blasting from the next room, accompanied by the feisty and loud shit-talk of the player. Hayden had worked up the nerve to pound down the man's door numerous times in the night, but the thought of starting such a futile day with any sort of negative confrontation irked him deeply.

Cheery birds sang outside the window, hinting at the start of daybreak.
Hayden rose and pushed off the covers. He could feel the puffiness around his sleepless eyes, and could already tell he'd have his work cut out for him today just to not appear like a trainwreck. This was the first real job offer he had gotten since his release from prison, and he couldn't bear to let it slip from his calloused fingers.

Although he was showering at the crack of dawn, the pipes offered him no warmth. The cold water pelted his sun-kissed skin and slid down in droplets, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. He shuddered as he shaved the stubble from his face in the circular mirror mounted on the shower wall. He hated the cold, but at least it had harshly snapped him from his drowsy state.

He shut off the water and treaded out, ruffling his dark wet locks with a towel before wrapping it to hang low on his hips. He concluded his morning routine by brushing his teeth and slapping on some scented aftershave. By 5:38, Hayden was fully dressed in black dress pants, a white button-up with the top two buttons undone, and a black blazer. He wanted to make a good impression, and show his new employer that he took this opportunity sincerely.
He migrated to his small kitchen and began to prepare fried eggs and bacon when his ocean blue eyes migrated to his punching bag and training equipment. Should've worked out before showering.



Hayden stood outside, his obsidian hair ruffling in the autumn breeze as he waited at the bus stop. The Horizon was a thin line of fiery orange as the sun peeked its first rays of the morning into the violet-hued darkness. As the bus rolled into the vicinity of the stop, Hayden could see through the illuminated windows that it was nearly empty.

He boarded and plopped down in the front row seat, shoving his earphones in to blast
"The Pretender" by the Foo Fighters. He never glanced back at the other people on the bus. Today, he didn't care to see who else was traveling. His mind was set only on maintaining his professionality to securing his position at Apex permanently. If he trifled his cards right, he could conclusively get his life back on track.

He hopped off the bus in front of a shabby bar downtown that would open in 30 minutes. He didn't come for an early morning drink, but for one of his many odd jobs. He was fortunate enough to be able to take little roles around town, but the pay was never as much as it should have been, due to his "under qualification". He infiltrated the bar and clocked in before heading out to stand statuesque beside the main entrance. He was glad his clothes were warm enough to withstand the breeze, but prayed to God that no one would cause trouble that would scuff his outfit before the day's end.

Carlos was an ex-con who was also picked up as an underpaid bouncer for the bar. He arrived nearly 20 minutes after Hayden, wearing a simple black tee and black jeans. He stood at the door side across from Hayden, clasping his fists behind his back and puffing out his chest. Carlos was 6'5 and burley, the perfect level of intimidating for this line of work.

He flashed his yellow-toothed grin at Hayden, eyeing him up and down.
"You're dressed awfully sharp amigo, you gonna see a Mami Chula after this?"

"Nah man, better. I got an interview at Apex." Hayden slipped his hands into his blazer pockets and peered down over his outfit.

"Right on Lil amigo, I heard they pay crazy for the work. Didn't know they hired dudes with records or I would've applied myself."
Carlos ran his left hand over his bald, tattooed head.
"Maybe it's best I didn't though, I don't clean up as nice as you."

The men chatted for the rest of their shift between checking IDs and collecting entrance fees. Hayden stamped out before his meeting with Apex. His shift wasn't over, but he had requested the evening off. He strutted away from the building, turning to wave at Carlos. Carlos responded with a slight smile. “Knock ‘em dead,” he shouted after Hayden, “but not literally though!” Hayden flinched at the crude joke as he boarded the bus again, squeezing past a hoard of people getting off at the stop. He once again plugged in his earbuds to avoid any forced interactions with other passengers.

The bus brakes screeched as they stopped at the sheltered bench in front of a plain building. He could see no signs of activity surrounding the building as he descended the steps of the bus. Was this really the right location? Hayden remembered that it was still at least an hour before the meeting was to start, so he chose to assume that he was the first to arrive. He yanked out his headphones as he approached the double doors, but as he tried to pull the handle they didn't budge. He stood right outside the doors as he waited for others to join him, passing the time by smoking a few cigarettes. He assumed no one was watching. All his life he had been healthy and avoided bad habits, but he picked up smoking when imprisoned as it was one of the only vices offered.

As people began to arrive, he tried to be as friendly in demeanor as possible. When the first person approached the building, he quickly put out his cigarette on the bottom of his polished black boot and flicked it into the trash bin. He offered a genuine smile and slipped his hand into his pockets. The best way to have a good work experience is to get along with your co-workers, and that is exactly what he planned to do. He made some small talk at the group grew from two to three, chatting about everyone's work experience and what they thought the job offer would entail. He would soon come to find that none of their hypotheses had even glimpsed into the frightening truth of their future.

The doors opened suddenly, silencing the group amid their chatter. An elegant man in finely tailored clothes waited on the other side, greeting them with pleasantry that could easily be determined as fake. If Hayden had felt overdressed before, he certainly didn't next to this man. The group was led into the building and walked single file down a blank white hall with buzzing lights. The scene was all too familiar and made Hayden's skin crawl with the way it reminded him of his time served. The man turned to the group and rambled on for a moment about the woman inside. None of it made much sense to Hayden, and his feeling of discomfort grew.

The man let them into the room where a woman sat behind a table. Her aura of authority was so strong that he could feel the wave of dominance wash over him the second he entered the room. They all say across from her, a suspenseful silence falling over all of them. It was easy to tell the woman was exhausted. Her under-eyes were a darker tint than the rest of her facial tone, and she had a tone to her voice that Hayden could only assume that she had put up with a great deal of shit already. She mentioned having high expectations for the group, and looking around, he couldn't see why. One of the men couldn't have been older than 20, and Hayden wasn't the only one with tattoos and body mods. Hayden wondered exactly what kind of work they could've been picked for.

Lorette spoke her final lines to the group, lines that shook Hayden to his core.
"Call me crazy. I don't blame you. But if I'm too crazy to deal with, you can leave now. In fact, I'd suggest it. Because once you've stared into the face of power, you'll never forget it." Hayden had stared into the face of power before. He had juggled with life and death and was forced to face the fact that his hands could spare, or seize the life of another living being. Hayden went rigid in his chair, pondering on whether he would be able to take this job he so badly needed if it entailed toying with such unstable forces again.
 
nervous
natasja
klausen
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location
Apex, Lorette's Office
mentions
everyone basically
interactions
Hayden, Lorette
tags

The incessant beeping that was the soundtrack of most of Natasja’s mornings met with an unusually wide awake Natasja. Usually a little reluctant to face the day, she had barely been able to sleep as thoughts had circled through her mind, nerves building up in her gut making her feel like she was going to burst. Her Apex meeting wasn’t until that evening, but she couldn’t help but think about it almost all night. When she had applied for the position, she’d had the mindset of ‘Well, what do I have to lose?’ But now that the opportunity was just a few hours away, she couldn’t help but realize she didn’t really know what this job was really all about anyways. It wasn’t like she’d never taken a risk before though. It wouldn’t be so different than putting herself in danger every day on the docks or in the street fights she was a part of… only a little more stable of a paycheck.



She smiled as her son Cy stumbled into her room, rubbing his eyes with one hand and clutching a stuffed dinosaur in the other. He leaned against her bed as she sat up and then gave the small boy a hug. “Ready to get dressed for school?” The six-year-old nodded against her chest and lead her to his bedroom, where he picked out his outfit for the day and she helped him get it on before going to make him breakfast. Her mom was already down at the docks, working from the crack of dawn until who knows when. Most days, Natasja would get Cy ready for school, walk him and then join her mom, but today was different. She was going to stay home and get ready for her interview, try to put together an appropriate outfit of what she already owned, maybe tidy up a bit.



Cy picked around eggs and toast for a few moments before proclaiming he was done after only a few bites and Natasja sighed because some days, that was the most she could ask for from her son. She handed him his backpack and the two of them made she short trek to his preschool. He held her hand the whole way there and waved at her as he walked up to the steps. She smiled. Cy was a child of few words most days, but she was okay with that. She liked to think she understood him anyways.



Back at her small house, she picked through her closet to find something appropriate for a job interview, unsure of what would even be appropriate for Apex. She’d seen employees of Apex a couple of times, and she knew the whole ‘dress for the job you want’ mantra, but she wasn’t so sure Apex’s notorious armor had been in mind during the coining of that particular phrase. Still, she assumed a business casual was best and threw on a light green blazer.



The rest of her day until the interview had been mundane enough, tidying up small things around her house and thinking about what this interview could mean for her. What this job could mean for her and her family. Excited, nervous, scared? She couldn’t exactly tell you what she felt about it, but she knew that it was going to be a big change either way. Her nerves made her leave her house fairly early, hopping on the bus to Apex and arriving only to find one other person at the doors of the building. The man put out his cigarette as she approached and they begun chatting for a bit, mostly small talk. She learned that his name was Hayden and they talked a bit about applying for the job. More people showed up and as they began to discuss their work experience, she felt very… underqualified? Not that any of them seemed particularly qualified, but things like military experience and security guards seemed a little more in the same vein as the things Apex did. Her only formal work experience was heavy lifting at the docks. Why had she been chosen?



Her thoughts had been interrupted as the doors abruptly swung open and a man with long blonde hair greeted them, leading them through the building and talking to them about the job and the CEO. Natasja was quiet but grew excited as their answers grew closer. When she stepped into the CEO’s room and they sat down, she wasn’t sure if the answers they got were what they had all expected. Natasja had heard rumors but had never placed much stock into them or thought about them too hard. Conspiracy theories were a bit much, especially when she knew she’d never know the answers to them.



Now that she was here, she wondered if she should have paid a little more attention to them. Especially if the woman in front of her was going to ask her to do worse than what people said. With no baseline, she wasn’t sure how bad worse actually was. “…the kind of power that would let you strike the face of God if you wanted.” Chills went through her spine. She had never thought of herself as power hungry before, but as someone who had never wielded true power in her life, it was enticing. When Lorette said they had the potential to be demigods, Natasja didn’t know what to say. Her offer was, quite frankly, insane. As Lorette said, crazy. It was a big ask, and even still just as vague as it had been before. Was she just gassing them up so they’d accept the job? Waving power in their faces like a carrot? Or was this truly so much bigger than any of them had anticipated?



The first man to speak up was the tall brooding man who had arrived a little later than the others, asking what the price would be for their power. She almost didn’t want to know the price, with the vague and dangerous sounding speech Lorette had given them about how weak they really were. Did she want to find that out? The next man spoke up, the fresh faced small one, who had to barely be eighteen. “I don’t really have a reason to fight against gods or whatever but I can’t turn down this offer.” She had to agree. Really, what choice was there for her here? Walk away, return to the docks and wonder what kind of change she could have made in her family’s lives? She looked down at her hands for a few moments, knowing Lorette likely wanted some kind of reaction from them. “I mean, it’s a little crazy, but I think I’m in.”
coded by reveriee.


The incessant beeping that was the soundtrack of most of Natasja’s mornings met with an unusually wide awake Natasja. Usually a little reluctant to face the day, she had barely been able to sleep as thoughts had circled through her mind, nerves building up in her gut making her feel like she was going to burst. Her Apex meeting wasn’t until that evening, but she couldn’t help but think about it almost all night. When she had applied for the position, she’d had the mindset of ‘Well, what do I have to lose?’ But now that the opportunity was just a few hours away, she couldn’t help but realize she didn’t really know what this job was really all about anyways. It wasn’t like she’d never taken a risk before though. It wouldn’t be so different than putting herself in danger every day on the docks or in the street fights she was a part of… only a little more stable of a paycheck.



She smiled as her son Cy stumbled into her room, rubbing his eyes with one hand and clutching a stuffed dinosaur in the other. He leaned against her bed as she sat up and then gave the small boy a hug. “Ready to get dressed for school?” The six-year-old nodded against her chest and lead her to his bedroom, where he picked out his outfit for the day and she helped him get it on before going to make him breakfast. Her mom was already down at the docks, working from the crack of dawn until who knows when. Most days, Natasja would get Cy ready for school, walk him and then join her mom, but today was different. She was going to stay home and get ready for her interview, try to put together an appropriate outfit of what she already owned, maybe tidy up a bit.



Cy picked around eggs and toast for a few moments before proclaiming he was done after only a few bites and Natasja sighed because some days, that was the most she could ask for from her son. She handed him his backpack and the two of them made she short trek to his preschool. He held her hand the whole way there and waved at her as he walked up to the steps. She smiled. Cy was a child of few words most days, but she was okay with that. She liked to think she understood him anyways.



Back at her small house, she picked through her closet to find something appropriate for a job interview, unsure of what would even be appropriate for Apex. She’d seen employees of Apex a couple of times, and she knew the whole ‘dress for the job you want’ mantra, but she wasn’t so sure Apex’s notorious armor had been in mind during the coining of that particular phrase. Still, she assumed a business casual was best and threw on a light green blazer.



The rest of her day until the interview had been mundane enough, tidying up small things around her house and thinking about what this interview could mean for her. What this job could mean for her and her family. Excited, nervous, scared? She couldn’t exactly tell you what she felt about it, but she knew that it was going to be a big change either way. Her nerves made her leave her house fairly early, hopping on the bus to Apex and arriving only to find one other person at the doors of the building. The man put out his cigarette as she approached and they begun chatting for a bit, mostly small talk. She learned that his name was Hayden and they talked a bit about applying for the job. More people showed up and as they began to discuss their work experience, she felt very… underqualified? Not that any of them seemed particularly qualified, but things like military experience and security guards seemed a little more in the same vein as the things Apex did. Her only formal work experience was heavy lifting at the docks. Why had she been chosen?



Her thoughts had been interrupted as the doors abruptly swung open and a man with long blonde hair greeted them, leading them through the building and talking to them about the job and the CEO. Natasja was quiet but grew excited as their answers grew closer. When she stepped into the CEO’s room and they sat down, she wasn’t sure if the answers they got were what they had all expected. Natasja had heard rumors but had never placed much stock into them or thought about them too hard. Conspiracy theories were a bit much, especially when she knew she’d never know the answers to them.



Now that she was here, she wondered if she should have paid a little more attention to them. Especially if the woman in front of her was going to ask her to do worse than what people said. With no baseline, she wasn’t sure how bad worse actually was. “…the kind of power that would let you strike the face of God if you wanted.” Chills went through her spine. She had never thought of herself as power hungry before, but as someone who had never wielded true power in her life, it was enticing. When Lorette said they had the potential to be demigods, Natasja didn’t know what to say. Her offer was, quite frankly, insane. As Lorette said, crazy. It was a big ask, and even still just as vague as it had been before. Was she just gassing them up so they’d accept the job? Waving power in their faces like a carrot? Or was this truly so much bigger than any of them had anticipated?



The first man to speak up was the tall brooding man who had arrived a little later than the others, asking what the price would be for their power. She almost didn’t want to know the price, with the vague and dangerous sounding speech Lorette had given them about how weak they really were. Did she want to find that out? The next man spoke up, the fresh faced small one, who had to barely be eighteen. “I don’t really have a reason to fight against gods or whatever but I can’t turn down this offer.” She had to agree. Really, what choice was there for her here? Walk away, return to the docks and wonder what kind of change she could have made in her family’s lives? She looked down at her hands for a few moments, knowing Lorette likely wanted some kind of reaction from them. “I mean, it’s a little crazy, but I think I’m in.”
 
They exuded the kind of nervousness and skepticism that wasn't unexpected for people in their position, but was certainly getting stale in Lorette's.

She was in no position to blame them for it, however. They were all locked in a room with what looked to be an increasingly insane woman after all. For the umpteenth time, Lorette internally bemoaned the fact that she couldn't just toss the scariest thing in her menagerie at them and call it a night. Few things forced a person to get their shit together faster than a life or death situation, even a perceived one. But it was a course of action no longer afforded to her.

Not for lack of trying of course. She owned Apex and everything in it. It entitled her to be as weird as she wanted within the borders of her own property. But the Legal team had been rather adamant that she do what she could to avoid litigation when testing new recruits. Just because Dragons didn't exist within the eyes of the law, that didn't mean someone couldn't sue the person who employed them for damages.

But, as sure as she breathed, one of them would eventually press for more. It had always been that way. People didn't always need to be led into the abyss, sometimes they just jumped headfirst.

Well, the stern man in front of her didn't leap into it so much as he stood at the shore and let the waves lap at his shoes. Lorette would have recognized him for what he was even if she hadn't read his file. One didn't get a brow that furrowed nor shoulders that square taking other people's shit. Lorette sat back in her chair and eyed him coolly.

"What else does power cost? The price hasn't changed since the dawn of time. When you take on power, you take on responsibility. The thing is that here, I don't let you ignore that responsibility at your convenience. And I expect that you never allow such a thing from me either." She spoke plainly, surely. Her words seemed less facts and more of an inevitability. Even if they themselves were not meant to be the contingency that stayed the CEO's hand should it stray, someone else would. Lorette did not hope for disaster, but she never ruled it out. It was the earliest lesson she could impart upon them.

"There's going to be a point when you're looking in the mirror and asking yourself what the hell you're doing. But I think we can agree that's par for the course for the Human Condition." Lorette shrugged and pursed her lips. "Aside from all that grim shit? I just need you all to promise to keep your mouths shut. I'll leave the details of that conversation to my head of Security though. He loves telling people to shut up."

She snorted softy and resumed eyeing the group with subdued interest. They were on board as much as anyone could have been when given answers so vague. Though their acquiescence was still marred slightly by nervousness and perhaps no small part of desperation. Apex needed people that could and would commit themselves fully to the task. And those without did so much more easily than their counterparts better off.

"We need them at the cusp of cognitive recognition. These people understand their place in the world but still choose to fight it, even if only marginally." Nikhil's words came to mind unbidden and Lorette tried not to frown. He was right, as insufferably as always. These people were most valuable when they were uncertain and adrift. They made the best kind of lab rats in Nikhil's opinion. Lorette's only job was to place the cheese at the end of the maze.

"You're still skeptical." She said suddenly, and far more bluntly than she'd have liked. Lorette plowed on ahead sensing a mild shift in the uncertain tension clouding the room. It was blessedly, the kind that could be assuaged by sating their curiosity.

"Here." She began, reaching into her jacket. "Let's give you a small demonstration."

An International Arms Dealer could have been carrying anything of interest on her person. Wads of cash, a sidearm. Drugs if she were the type to partake, though Lorette very much was not. A cellphone, a planner. A myriad of ordinary and mundane things she could have pulled from the inner folds of her business jacket. But Lorette refused to be and do ordinary things for reasons no one but her would ever truly know.

The not ordinary thing in question turned out to be a somehow completely ordinary toad. At least, what looked like one anyhow.

Lorette set the small creature onto the table, and it sat there like the bump on a log it should have been and stared at the small group with bulbous eyes.

"Anaxyrus americanus americanus." She began. "The Eastern American Toad. I have to say, she's pretty lifelike. I don't know a lot about toads but I can’t find any fault in this one. You know a lot of them try too hard to be like the animal they're mimicking. Makes for some odd behaviors, and that catches people's attention. Which is what they don't want." Lorette lifted a hand to tap the Toad's head lightly with a finger. The small creature only let out a subdued croak in response and Lorette chuckled.

"Yeah, she's pretty good at faking it. Because that's what this is. It's a fake."

Perhaps he'd been listening in from the other side of the door. Or perhaps years spent serving the woman had granted him a special insight concerning her sense of dramatic timing. Whatever the case, the door swung open and Allister leaned through the portal before wordlessly tossing a sword into Lorette's waiting hand.

The weapon was a simple affair. Two pounds of sharpened steel adorned with a plain grip and pommel. Any historian with a passing knowledge of blades would consider it to be of good make, but little else. It was clearly a standard issued weapon at Apex, one of many with no name or no prior attachments.

And it was also perfectly suited for executing Toads.

No sooner than it had found her hand, its twin came up to grasp the hilt and Lorette held it overhead for only a split second before cleaving downward in a fluid arc towards the hapless Toad.

Toads had only the natural defenses that God saw fit to give upon them and no less. Some were toxic, but for the most all Toads were content with leaping out of harm's way should the need have ever arisen. However he did not exactly make Toads with dodging swords in time. And so it seemed to all as if one of God's creatures was about to meet its untimely demise at the edge of a blade. And honorable death for any man. But a rather over intensive one for a humble amphibian.

At least, it should have been. Had the Toad Lorette was carrying in her pocket a normal creature, it would have been cleaved in two, none the wiser of the source of its demise. But it was made readily apparent that the Toad was no creature of God. Or, if it were, a rather deranged one.

The blade struck true because Lorette's ego would allow nothing else. So she hit the little Toad. But that was all. The blade made no sound coming in contact to what was supposedly the animal's flesh. More distressingly, neither did the Toad. It stared blankly at the people in front of it. But eyes that were once empty in the way only a dumb animal would know, were suddenly empty in the manner befit someone whose thoughts were a thousand miles away. The Sword hadn't put a scratch on it, and the Toad was bored.

Lorette grunted mildly at the recoil. Toads were a bit rubbery, and so she'd felt the expected give. But a solid and immovable object came out the victor between itself and a sword. It's why shields had been invented after all.

The Toad for its part remained utterly nonplussed. It made no move to escape its assailant. Perhaps because it didn't feel the sense of danger, a normal creature would have. Or perhaps it didn't care. The massive, slimy tongue shooting out of its mouth to wind around behind it and yank the sword from Lorette's hand and giving it the means to swallow the blade whole might have also been a reason. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to tell.

Lorette finally did frown, speaking to the Toad as if it wasn't a Toad. Which probably was the truth since things that were Toads didn't swallow entire swords whole.

"That's coming out of your paycheck."

The Toad's small head canted slightly downwards, and it seemed to stare at the surface of the table in a manner that passed for contemplative on an Amphibian. A decision was promptly made and just as soon as it'd swallowed the damn thing, the Toad opened its mouth and vomited up the sword with an audible clang.

"Brenda, come on. We've talked about this." Allister piped up from his spot by the door. His lip curled in disgust as he stared at the sword sitting uselessly on the ground. Bathed in a brand new sheen of Toad saliva, it was obvious that the sword wouldn't be seeing any more use for a while. Allister shot a glance at Lorette and shook his head. "I'm not cleaning it up."

Lorette scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Worry about that later." She said curtly. Lorette placed both hands on the table and leaned forward, effectively looming over Brenda.

"Now we can really get down to business. That? That was power. And we've got it in things a lot more interesting than common Toads."

Brenda croaked loudly in a manner akin to offense and the CEO chuckled.

"I'll ask you another question." She pointed downwards, indicating the Toad still sitting there. "Who wants one?"


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The former security guard stood there with his hand on his chin, pondering. He ascertained Lorette, the vixen, concealed something esoteric. Could it be connected back to that night? He'd like to ask the woman another question but was interrupted by another person; the guy who looked incredibly young. What is he doing here? He belongs in high school rather than signing up for shady corporate deals. Nothing to it then, Kahurangi resigned to wait for his turn again. He adjusted the collar of his navy blue blazer, it had been tighter than he expected.

Then she answered. Responsibility? This was the price of the power? The unfathomable toll? This tells him two things: Either she is deceiving them of the true cost, or Apex fully grasped the extent of this power. It would not be surprising, O'Hara still remembered the first time when the company unveiled that knight-looking armour. Everybody had thought this was some out of season April Fools' joke, surprised everyone when that hunk of steel proved effective. Suffice to say that Kahurangi's interest piqued.

"Aside from all that grim shit? I just need you all to promise to keep your mouths shut..."

That particular line caught his attention, enough to cock an eyebrow. Confidentiality agreement? Certainly not unexpected however the timing seems off.

Fitting with her claims of deranged, Lorette had suddenly procured a frog. It 'pet' the amphibian, it responds with a croak. So far, the frog appeared average. Is she using this frog for psychoactive dopings? He has heard that people who can't afford drugs, buy genetically engineered frogs that secrete a hallucinogen, cheaper to buy and maintain. Then the blonde-haired man swung open the door and tossed a weapon into Lorette's hands.

"Haven't gutted a frog since biology class." He mumbled while striking a small smirk. Obviously, a sword of that calibre wouldn't make for a good cutting implement. The mannerisms of the toad were not missed by Kahurangi. Once it exhumed normalcy, now defies a blade. Just like that night, a baton through the creature and bullets melting into its' horrid flesh. The smirk evaporated into a frown.

The toad, now known as Brenda, relinquished the sword, coated with the gleaming substance. Lorette finally asked the question, she longed to ask them since they stepped into the room. A "do ya want one?" like a dealer offering to their customers.

"Does it come in a dog package?" A jest surely but Kahurangi knows it might not be out of the question. Nevertheless, it is blatantly clear that he'll accept this responsibility.

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"Congratulations, you're getting promoted to behind the Wall."

Words of congratulations, if not extended with a smile, would at least be said in a tone far less disdainful. Glenn Ealdorman was anything but.

Glenn looked like the unfortunate crossbreed between one of those birds that looked too much like a dinosaur, and the unfortunate soul that'd caught its eye. Sharp nosed, beady eyed and liable to kick at a moment's notice. It was little wonder that the interns who'd been given the honor of working with him never lasted long. Glenn either bullied them until they quit, or merely treated them with such profound dismissiveness that they fell into a similar routine of apathy as their coworkers.

Not everyone at Apex was a winner, and it was yet another of countless reasons for the Wall's existence.

Glenn blamed his temperament on the boredom of his job. A Handler that never got out was bound to get agitated at some point. There was no outlet for the power he'd been given just sitting behind a desk. At least that's what Glenn always liked to tell himself. Even a small and unassuming Daemon could emit great power. He'd seen it for himself. But Glenn was starting to think that he'd been had, and the Gerbil sitting on his desk busying itself with shredding long overdue paperwork was, in fact, just a regular Gerbil.

Not like the monkey the kid sitting just opposite of him had. Sure, it was small and cute too. But it could actually do things. Provided the kid was around to give it orders. Apparently the thing was shy or something. Glenn didn't care. He certainly wasn't jealous that some wet nosed brat was getting promoted to behind the wall before he was. It certainly wasn't because the kid had something that he didn't. That he was special or some such nonsense. No. Glenn was positive that he was just lucky. There could be no other word for it. He'd merely been in the right place at the right time, and that damn monkey had simply taken a shine to him. That was all.

If his stooped posture and beady glare was putting the kid off, he wasn't showing it. Another item to a growing list of reasons Glenn didn't like him. No respect in him at all. It was good that he was leaving. He'd get eaten alive behind the wall, Glenn was sure of it.

"Now I'm sure you're very excited. Honestly, I am too because I'll never have to look at you again." He said with no effort to hide his displeasure. One would presume that at near forty Glenn would have grown more agreeable with age, but he was no more pleasant to be around than when he'd first started his job.

Nearly ripping open a drawer on his desk, Glenn riffled around wordlessly for an awkward few minutes and finally withdrew a stack of papers and slapped them onto an already messy surface with little fanfare.

"Just sign these and get out." He said brusquely, not even bothering to do his job enough to explain what the forms were. A quick glance revealed them to be the most basic of forms denoting a transfer of employment. Forms that reasonably could have, and should have been filled out long before Glenn called Oliver into his office. It seemed the man, in a last petty act of spite, was trying to waste the young man's time as much as he could before his departure.

"There's a group over at building C, outside the wall. They're doing Orientation, and are going behind the Wall, just like you." Glenn smiled, in a manner only befitting of someone with far too much time to kill on being obnoxious, and took an exaggerated look at his watch. "Which started about oh, fifteen minutes ago. You'd better run, you don't want to be late."




"Dog, wolf, whatever." Lorette replied airily, taking the man's banter as confirmation of his interest. "We've got things here that you've never seen, and things you'll wish you'd never seen. You want a dinosaur? We've got those too, but it's not up to us if you get one. It's up to the dinosaur."

Lorette reached out a hand, and Brenda climbed into her palm readily. She briefly considered placing the toad back into her jacket, but the little amphibian gave her a look that could only be read as 'Do not.' No mean feat given it was displayed prominently on a Toad's face. She settled instead for holding the Daemon and stepped back and away from the table. A quick glance and a nod in his direction and Allister was gone in a flash without another word. He was not gone long, returning with a level of efficiency that bordered on the preternatural. He did not return empty-handed, and he did not return alone.

The service cart that he pushed was covered in all manner of objects. Small figurines and carvings, jewelry, glassware and porcelain teacups. A random piece of tooling could be found here or there as well. Behind him came two heavily armored guards. They were silent, with only the light sifting of metal to herald their coming, and neither spared the people inside the room a glance. They only wheeled their carts in alongside Allister's, each covered in a mishmash of random objects. One seemed to favor antique weapons that looked as if they'd be more at home in a museum or a collector's display.

The pair only spared Lorette the briefest of acknowledgement as silent nods before taking vigil on either side of the door with Hands at the pommel of their matching swords. The presumed threat that they would pose offset the stark wrongness of their appearance. The armor that they both wore was well maintained, as any piece of equipment should be. But it was well worn. Scratches and superficial dents pitted the surface where one bothered to observe closely enough, and it left the impression that the metal saw a lot of use, and endured many attacks. From who or from what would not be said. The imagination could fill in those gaps, and the imagination would soon prove to be far preferable to reality.

Setting Brenda on her shoulder, Lorette gestured grandly at the carts, as if they'd soon spring to life and explain their presence. They, along with the objects loaded onto them, remained still and silent. The affair seemed more like a Thrift store offering than a legitimate business enterprise. But Lorette's body language and tone betrayed no farce. She'd been dead serious from the moment her guests had arrived and was no closer to breaking character than anyone was to figuring out what the hell was going on.

"There's a complete song and dance about responsibility to be had here, which I'll be glad to give you during your orientation. That's after this. Don't think I'm just going to let you have one of these things and walk out of here. There's a lot of NDA's and Release of Liability forms you have to fill out."

Allister, who'd taken a spot at Lorette's immediate left, leaned over slightly to address her. "I've also got those Healthcare Packets you asked for." He offered helpfully.

"Good. They're going to need hat Healthcare. Now these." Lorette gestured again at the carts. "Are called Vessels. Each one contains an entity like the one I've just shown you. Mr. Schoen, please give our guests a demonstration." Allister straightened his back and practically clicked his heels together before reaching towards the lapel of his jacket. His gloved fingers brushed a stag shaped pin, and he murmured something incomprehensible.

Nothing happened, and a frown marred his graceful features. Eyes darting up and towards the waiting group, Allister tucked into himself slightly and whispered harshly. "Please don't do this right now." He paused, seeming to listen to the other half of a conversation no one but he could hear before outright sighing in consternation. "I know what they look like, but please just deal with it for now." Another pause. "No. No one is going to pet you, I promise." He hissed.

Allister's words, for whatever they were worth, seemed to hold some weight to whoever he was speaking to. And what followed once he removed his fingers from the stag pin showed that.

It was fog, borne from the silver gleam of the pin and as luminous as if lit by inner moonlight. It came from nowhere, and it did not dissipate in the way it should have when meeting the warmth of its surroundings. The fog drew in on itself in a spot near Allister and the cloud it birth took form as rapidly as it had appeared. Hooves clattered softly upon the tiled floor and the grand, reaching prongs of a Stag's antlers swept the veil of fog aside as carelessly as they surely swept aside his foes. This creature could not and would not hide its otherworldliness. He stood there cloaked in a pelt of silver and stared down his nose at the newcomers with an expression that only held the deepest possible disdain.

"Be nice."

The sudden sound of Lorette's curt tone was enough to mar the cold austerity of the Stag's features with the barest shadow of worry before he flicked his ears and affixed the new hires with an expression of boredom instead.

Allister chuckled and smiled, almost embarrassed. Whether for his sake or the Stag's remained unspoken.

"I'm sorry if he seems rude. He's very fussy." He reached out to pat the Stag's neck and the proud creature, one which surely hated the concept f being touched if his one sided conversation with Allister was any sign, leaned into the man's hand.

"I am not fussy." The Stag said in a voice as clear and strong as cut diamond before turning his nose up. Allister chuckled again, this time less abashedly than before, and tapped at the pin on his lapel. "This is his vessel. An object he hides in when we're out an about." He spared a quick glance. "For obvious reasons." Allister points at the vessels on the carts. "It's the same for all of them. It can be anything really, but we prefer to equip our people with things they can conceal and carry." Allister suddenly seemed to remember gently slapped the Stag's shoulder with the back of his hand. "Introduce yourself."

The Stag appeared no more pleased to address the group than he did to even look at them, but complied. "I am Faendr." Somehow he could dredge up enough manners to incline his antlered head in a facsimile of a bow, but it was all he'd give.

"Fussy." Allister mouthed at the group, and Faendr shot the man a glare that seemed a great deal softer than the one he'd given everyone else.


"As my assistant said; each of these items is a vessel, and inside each you'll find a partner." Lorette said.

"The process for finding one is based on something you can't really measure. The best way of going about it is by feel. Try picking one up and keeping an open mind. And I mean that literally keep your mind blank and you might feel something from one of them." She shrugged. "Alternatively, we can wait and see if one jumps out at you to say hello. We'll wait here and let you get acquainted. And don't worry, you're as safe as can be with us." One of the armored guards shifted their head to stare wordlessly at the nearest cart before they resumed facing forward. Their purpose apparent, it only begged more questions about them and those who were garbed the same.

"Take your time, there's no rush. We've got all night." Lorette said easily.

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Oak was special.

It certainly wasn't because of anything he was - rather, Oak was special because of something he did. And what he did wasn't particularly remarkable either. It would have been remarkable if Oak had understood the consequences of his actions. Then, he'd be a man who took an unexpected approach to a potentially deadly disaster. But not Oak. Oak only saw a scared animal, and reached out with his hand. He got lucky. There could be no other word for it. He'd merely been in the right place at the right time.

And yet, Oak couldn't help but feel bad. Oak didn't deserve what he got. Fool that he is, Oak didn't even really realize how dangerous Peaches was until it peeled an orange by revolving the skin off of it. Oak realized that the monkey could - and probably already has - peel the skin off of a person. It could probably break a man's back. It could probably turn someone's intestines inside out. This was a creature of terrifying potential, if it was any more hostile.

Sure, it worked out, but Oak was barely fit to be a Handler. And it showed. Most of the time he was on duty, he was just tickling Peaches and watching the little thing giggle and squirm. Oak didn't even really have time to say he didn't want to be a Handler, the job was thrust upon him. People talk about Handlers like they have the warrior's willpower to control their Daemons, but Oak certainly didn't. But, Oak thought to himself, he supposed that made him different from all the other Handlers.

So Oak was special.

"Congratulations, you're being promoted to behind the Wall."

Oak gave a polite grin. "What an honor."

Glenn threw open one of his cabinets. Peaches, who was already on the brink of tears with this particular human, immediately crawled into Oak's shirt at the loud noise. Oak half-thought to comfort it, but something about the soft, warm, quivering ball of fur tucked into his collar felt nice.

"So I feel like you could have lead with this,” Oak snarked, “So what, I sign this and we’re finally divorced?”

Oak waited briefly for a laugh, before shrugging and signing the papers. He didn’t really need to know what they said. Surely it wouldn’t be anything that bad.

“There's a group over at building C,” Glenn interrupted, “outside the wall. They're doing Orientation, and are going behind the Wall, just like you. Which started about oh, fifteen minutes ago. You'd better run, you don't want to be late.”

“Again,” Oak snapped, with a shit-eating grin, “Probably could’ve led with that! Whatever. You’ll handle the rest of these, right?”

Oak sprinted out the office rather abruptly. No, he hadn’t finished signing, but Glenn could probably find him later. After all, if Glenn was gonna give him a hard time, Oak could give him a hard time right back.

“Moon Jump, Peaches.”

The baby gibbon chirped in reply, crawling out of Oak’s shirt. It touched the back of Oak’s neck, and the young man felt that familiar tingle crawl down his spine.

Oak kicked off the ground, and the tingle became a grip, as if something was holding onto his spine. He felt his momentum curve through the air as his body launched itself unnaturally high. Then, the grip released, and his body tumbled forward. Clearly well-rehearsed, Oak caught himself on the ground, launching off again. Despite how far away the wall was, he made the twenty-minute sprint in about five minutes.

Oak landed hard before the door, swiping his ID card haphazardly on the reader. Though he and Peaches had rehearsed this routine, it was still physically and mentally exhausting for both of them. Out of breath, Oak launched himself one last time and landed roughly on the ground next to the new recruits and the Stag. Oak knew the Stag had an actual name, but couldn't remember it to save his life. Guess he better learn it quickly.

"Hi!" Oak chirped, out of breath. Peaches, at the sight of the new recruits, crawled into the back of Oak's shirt again. "Sorry, what'd I miss?"
 
What had just transpired here in these last few minutes; was akin to a dream. Kahurangi's face had lost that calm nature, shattering years of carefully cultivated air of emotional detachment. His face now adopted worry and surprise, a hint of fear too. Despite his nonchalant attitude, it seems that even he hasn't fully recovered from that traumatic event. The stag spoke too, further catching him off guard. In the blink of his eye, a flash of memory filled his mind. When Ronald pushed him out of that window as the daemon's shadowy presence began to seep into the room. He grits his teeth and breathes deeply. He had not shaken the feeling, but he can recover his calm briefly.

"Are called Vessels. Each one contains an entity like the one I've just shown you..."

Those words, so these things houses those damned things? Kahurangi approached the cart and surveyed the objects. An assortment of many items, various shapes and sizes, various origins. An interesting object caught his eye. A clay slab etched like a wood carving with various symbols. The bearded man looked long and hard at it then remember what it was: it was a cuneiform! An ancient representation of written language, Kahurangi was never the history buff but some things did occasionally catch his interest.

He glanced at Lorette before lowering his hand to the clay slab. Enwrapping the tablet with his rough fingers, it seemed as though nothing would happen. Then a strange occurrence had begun. A black mist seeped out from under the slab. A white appendage with black claws and orange spots, twice the size of the tablet, snatched Kahurangi's arm. Then another did the same. It looked as though it was crawling towards him. With each inch, the weight on his arm increased. Then a cobra's hood and catfish like whiskers. Ebony jewels for eyes stared into Kahurangi's brown. "I am... Belshazzar!" It spoke, curiously it took effort not to roll its S's. "The River Serpent of Babylon!" It boasted proudly. "Do you dare endure my paralytic wrath!" It threatened as it bared its' fangs, a small drip of venom landing on Kahurangi's skin. Kahurangi's face smirked at this dog-like entity hanging off his shoulder. "Compared to Nikau, you're seafood." Kahurangi immediately snapped Belshazzar's mouth shut with his left hand. This caught him off guard as the serpent moved his clawed hands backwards. Kahurangi didn't let this go unnoticed. Belshazzar had positioned its' claws on Kahurangi's blood vessels, exerting pressure. "...I like you," Kahurangi replied, a hint of enthusiasm as he let go of the serpent's mouth. "And you're spirited."

Kahurangi then looked to Lorette. "Where's the dotted line." Returning to his stone-cold expression and bored tone.

Ramjammer Ramjammer
 
"Ughhhh....."

A small woman groaned as she flipped on the bed to lay on her stomach, her left arm dangling off the edge of the bed. One foot was stuck out from underneath the white, cotton sheets in an attempt to break the seal of heat that gathered after eight hours of on and off sleep. Half of her face was smushed into a pillow that was angled slightly askew. Clothes and under garments littered the hard wood floor in a wild display. A men's, olive green tee on the head board, a black, pleather mini skirt on the floor near her side of the bed, and at the foot of the king sized mattress, a pair of plaid boxers barely hanging on. Kore opened one eye, her lid and corners darkened with day-old smudged eyeliner. Her blue iris rolled to the night stand near her. With the dangling arm, she reached for her phone as the screen lit up from a notification. Lazily, she drew it close and squinted at the bright light, "Shit..." Kore sighed and rolled onto her back, her previous position, and stared at the ceiling. Questioning last nights choices, specifically the one dead asleep next to her. With a deep breath, followed by a sigh, the nude woman sat up and tossed the covers out of the way. Her bare feet padded around the bed and to the large windows. Wasting no time, she took hold of the navy blue curtains and began to push them to one side. The sun's rays blazed harshly. Flooding the room with a furious light. The male that slept in her bed began to stir from the disturbance, "Turn it off," he grumbled. Kore approached a large wardrobe that sat in the corner of her studio and pulled out an old, faded, over-sized tee and threw on with little else. "Wish I could," she started, "But its about 93 million miles away. Besides, its two in the afternoon, I've got things to do and you...well...you cant stay here," she explained rather blatantly as he picked up his clothes around the room and tossed them onto the bed.

"Oh c'mon, sweetness," he rubbed his face after putting his shirt back on, "You cant spare....30 more minutes?" He flashed a devilish smirk, memories of last nights "fiasco" replaying in his head like a movie.

"Nope. Cant." Kore moved to her bathroom, completely unfazed by his try at temptation, the sound of running water signifying the start of her routine. As she brushed her teeth away, the male removed himself from her bed, balancing on one foot while he slid his pants back on over his boxers. His belt jingled with the motion, and Kore shut the water off.

"Hey so uh, why dont we hang out later? We can reenact last night?"

"No thanks," Kore picked up his white sneakers and shoved them into his chest with haste, "The doors this way." She escorted him to the entrance, or rather, his exit, and opened the door, waiting for him to leave.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, can I atleast have a cup of coffee?"

"I actually just ran out," she lied. Her voice was as unamused as her face. She pushed the much taller gentleman out the door and into the hallway.

"Man," he turned to face her, "This is why you dont date strippers," he whined.

WHAM! The door slammed.

Kore turned around, a little bothered by his comment, until she spotted his wallet on her kitchen counter. Once again, she opened the door, and was met with his face, "Im not a stripper," she tossed his wallet to him, "And we're not dating..."

WHAM!

After a few hours of doing the usual -- taking a shower, cleaning up around the house, scrolling through social media -- Kore deemed it time to get read for this important interview she's been waiting for. She dug through the depths of her wardrobe and drawers for anything.....appropriate. Due to her current profession, most of her clothing consisted of short skirts, fishnets, and some sort of teasing, but not skimpy, tops. Enough to leave a little imagination. The only other clothes she had were mostly loungewear for around the house or shopping. The petite woman sat on the floor, feeling defeated. Every outfit she owned ran through her head, mixing and matching every possible ensemble. But nothing seemed to work. Kore thought for a moment , until, "OH!" she snapped her fingers. Crawling to her bed she pulled out a clear bin from underneath. Inside were a bunch of old clothes she thought about throwing away but never really could bring herself to do so. She thanked her past self and threw on the best thing she could find. There was a full body mirror in her bathroom where she took a long, judging look. A white, knitted blouse that was sleeveless with a mock neck accentuated her bust, which she thought was a little much but nothing a cute cardigan cant fix. For her bottom half, a navy blue pencil skirt that hemmed right above her knees and cinched her tiny waist. "This is as good as it gets I guess." For the final touches, Kore went with a minimal make-up look and some plain, black heels.


Outside, the air was crisp, as per usual in the fall when the sun was setting. Living in the entertainment district had its pros, such as taxis driving around literally everywhere, readily available. It wasn't hard to flag one down and be on her merry way. She couldn't deny she was a little nervous. Kore's never really done such a serious interview....or an interview at all, really. She's been in the entertainment, night-scene business since her teen years. Most people would judge her based on that piece of history, but Lydia, the night-club owner, was actually a very nice woman and empathized with the girl. She gladly took her in, refusing to let her live a life on the streets, and cared for her as if Kore was her own child. Since the older woman was physically unable to have children anyway, Kore was quick to see her as a second mother.

Mother.

Another part of history Kore would do anything to forget, or avoid in conversation. If she were around, what would she think of her lifestyle? Would she be proud of this interview? Would she have offered some motherly advice? Could all of this have been avoided? Would she have even needed this interview? Kore was getting distracted, all the time spent psyching herself up was quickly breaking down, even worse, the emotional barrier she spent years building was starting to show its cracks, an unstable foundation. Before she knew it, she arrived at her destination, a huge, towering, gleaming building: Apex Implementations. The little, yellow cab came to a gentle halt at the curb. "Thank you," she payed the driver and stepped out from the back seat.

There was a small group gathering at the entrance, and at the head, a man with perfect posture blocking the doors. Kore drew closer and gathered that this was the group waiting for their interviews. Kore was a little surprised, she didn't think such an esteemed place would do group interviews, but surely there was a reason, and she wouldn't dare question it. Putting her skepticism back in it's bottle, she lingered near the back of the huddle and eyed the well-dressed man. He was...beautiful, and that was an understatement. Piercing blue eyes, impeccable skin, and the hair...it was enough to make Kore suddenly insecure about the few split ends she spotted the other day. The doors swung open, and the woman followed the group inside.

In short, the group lined up in front of a very powerful woman and she began to talk. Kore obviously didn't know the hierarchy of this place, but it didn't take a genius to put together that she is a woman of great importance, and Kore admired that. Funny enough, this woman started to talk about just that: power. What a scary thing, but as Lorette began to elaborate on the subject, Kore discovered that she wanted exactly that. Lorette continued and like anything that sounds too good to be true, read the warning label. The warning label being that this 'power' may be too much to handle. She mentioned that everyone there had something that piqued the interest of Apex. What was the thing that Kore had? Even she didn't know. The only thing she could think of was, simply, that she had nothing to lose. No family, at least not one that cared, no reputable career, no money, no reputation, nothing. Guess that makes the perfect candidate for something as dangerous or risky as Lorette made it seem. At least there was that, nothing. "Call me crazy. I don't blame you. But if I'm too crazy to deal with, you can leave now. In fact, I'd suggest it. Because once you've stared into the face of power, you'll never forget it." Kore didn't even think about leaving, where would she run back to? The unknown whereabouts of her family? The countless, meaningless, men she's slept with just to feel something for one night? The menial, unexciting life of a club dancer? Yeah right. This was actually something that seemed promising, shed be damned if she didn't even give it a shot. Kore was a woman of few words, at first, and silently, she stood her ground.

But then....things got weird....with a frog. Erm...toad.

The slimy little creature made Kore's upper lip curl in a grimace. But the disgust quickly morphed into awe when the little thing displayed its unnatural "talents". "I'll ask you another question. Who wants one?" Lorette asked the others. Was a regurgitating toad supposed to entice them? I mean, sure its amazing what it can do, theres no denying that, but Kore couldn't exactly picture herself walking around with an amphibian as a glorified, bottomless purse. Even if she did, all her stuff would come back up covered in...toad juice.

"Does it come in a dog package?" Someone asked the question everyone was thinking. There was a quieted, muffled chortle among the group, but not from Kore, she was serious, and took the question as such.

Lorette proceeded to explain that there was an assortment of 'packages' available, but it was up to the 'package'. What the hell did that mean? Suddenly, more Apex personnel entered, pushing carts with various objects. There were two, intimidating guards that made Kore feel a little uneasy. What could they possibly be there for? The uncertainty is what was cause for concern. There were no visible relation amongst the items, but they were there, presented neatly side by side. The guards didn't look at any one or anything...except those inanimate objects. Lorette explained that these objects, or Vessels, house creatures like the toad. As a demonstration, she asked the first man, the beautiful one, to show what she meant. The pin on his lapel had turned into a stag, a real one, one that matched the beauty and grace of its owner. But it certainly wasnt as mild-natured, more....stuffy? Snooty? "I'm sorry if he seems rude. He's very fussy." Ah, thats the word. The complete opposite. Something Kore did not expect, was the verbal capabilities of the stag. Yes, it can talk! And yes....it did seem very fussy. Obviously reluctant, it introduced itself as Faendr. Lorette jumped in once again and explained the process, but no process, of selecting a Vessel. Or rather, being selected. Kore studied each object carefully, some were very flashy but the one that attracted her was a single, tarnished bell. Looked like an ordinary bell you'd find at a craft store, but something about it had more character. It was gold, spherical, and a little battered and losing it's luster but something about it was almost luring her compared to the rest of the options. Is this the feeling Lorette was trying to describe?

"Hi! Sorry, what'd I miss?"

The interruptive voice snatched Kore's gaze, abruptly. She blinked, phasing out of her studious trance. Kore lightly scowled at the person that barged in, what ever she felt, it was gone now.
 
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The snakes were always the dramatic ones. Lorette had learned that over the years. The more serpentine a Daemon was, the more they were prone to boasting. She found it endearing in some ways. To have lived so long should have rendered one arrogant in a manner that justified the dismissal of their perceived lessers. And some did just that. But for most, a Handler meant a long missed opportunity to talk someone’s ear off about anything and everything.

Kahurangi initially seemed less than thrilled to have reptile the size of a dog hanging from his shoulders, but she found herself mildly impressed that he quieted the creature so effectively. A Daemon was nothing close to a simple pet. A mistake she'd seen many unskilled Handlers make. They were far beyond simple animals, and many possessed an intellect that surpassed Humanity's brilliant minds. And yet, they valued strength more than anything. The strength of body, mind, and will. An effective Handler did not balk at a Daemon's bared fangs and many boasts. No more than she expected them to balk at a gun pointed in their direction with a finger on the trigger.

Belshazzar, seemed slightly displeased as far as she could tell. But he'd always been a rather energetic Daemon. She imagined he'd bounce back well enough.

Lorette arched a well manicured brow at the man. His curt mannerisms drawing a subdued chuckle from her. "You sign when we're at the end. I 'm warning you now. They're a lifelong commitment. I hope you're able to keep him entertained for that long."

Allister smiled and glanced at Lorette. "Do you think he'll be able to get him into another vessel? A clay slab won't be easy to carry around?" He dropped his voice and muttered. "We also really shouldn't have it to begin with."

"I'd have bought it if the thing was for sale." Lorette hissed back.

Daemons, as long as they lived were bound to inhabit artifacts of great value. Apex was glad to simply buy them off and go about their business, but a few were of such importance to the history of the human race it meant they were bound for museums. Kept well under lock and key, stealing them was often the only option. But robbing the Smithsonian was a hell of a lot harder than simply raiding the site of an Archaeological dig. And it wasn't as if they could simply put the things back where they'd found them after they were done either. Daemons were very attached to their vessels, and even when moving to a smaller and more convenient one, they were loath to part with the original. The items on the cart were but a small fraction of the hoard they'd amassed over twenty years, and it was ever growing. They were tucked safely away in vaults all over the world, but none so vast as the one in Hong Kong. Something Lorette was determined to keep a secret for as long a humanly possible. There were only two things on earth that Lorette couldn't fight. Death, and the Chinese Government. And death was looking to be the only one she had a chance of winning against.

A young woman stepped forward carefully and studied the assortment of objects and Lorette took the time to observe her. Watching new Handlers pick out a vessel was admittedly the one thing she enjoyed about the hiring process. There was always a sense of trepidation in the whole thing. Mostly skepticism, which she couldn't blame them for. But the undeniable curiosity that overtook them always won out. Inevitably, someone would see at least one thing they liked, and they'd long to pick it up. A good chunk of Human advancement was spearheaded by every person's lower monkey brain wanting to touch things that had no business touching, so honestly the entire ritual Apex engaged in was par for the course.

She could not help but to tense slightly however when the woman grabbed the small, bell resting harmlessly on the cart.

"Be careful with that one young lady." She said. "He feeds on weakness, and he'll chew you up and spit you back out either stronger or just a pile of bones."

"Could you not be ominous right now?" Allister asked pointedly, earning only a side glare from Lorette.

"It's my property. I pay the bills here, I can be as ominous as I want."

Allister looked well and ready to retort but was cut off abruptly by a young man all but flinging himself through the door breathlessly. Lorette briefly spied a small bundle of fur burrowing into his shirt as he straightened himself and immediately placed a name to a face.

"Oliver. And Peaches, I believe." She said blandly. "One of Glenn's underlings. That's unfortunate, bet you're glad to be here now. I apologize for any rudeness he might have shown you while you were working with him. But I like to keep a few incompetents around. Just in case."

The 'in case' being any number of things no one needed to concern themselves with, unless they too were deemed useless. It was better to look past that, really.

"You didn't miss much." She continued in response to his question. "Your new coworkers are just getting acquainted with their new friends. It shouldn't be much longer."
 
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Leo's seemed to only have one emotion at the moment and each act only sent him more and more into awe. At first he didn't understand what was happening. The fact the CEO was showing off, what he assumed to be her pet, was odd to him. Her personality though did seem to fit that random type of behavior. The speech seemed strange though as she talked about the animal as if it were something that was alien in a way. When the sword came in that's when he became somewhat concerned over what was happening. He saw his boss swing down and chose to turn his head away from the sudden over the top execution of the helpless creature. Yet he didn't hear the sound of the sword stop.

He looked up and was surprised to see that the sword was not in the desk and the pet bisected. Did she stop because she saw he wasn't looking? Was this some sort of ritual? Did she miss? Leo waited for her to swing again, but instead went wide eyed over seeing some amphibian suddenly eat something so big so easily...then regurgitate it. He'd heard about certain animals eat larger ones, but those always ended up with both animals dying from the attempt. The toad was completely fine after what happened. This had to be some sort of trick or maybe he was dreaming from the stress. He wanted to think these things, but somehow he knew that this was real. Not some stage performance or elaborate prank to be put online or on TV.

He tried to shake himself back to reality, but now he wasn't sure what that meant. What happened next didn't help as Allister, seeming far more professional than their boss, demonstrated his own daemon reveal. Leo had to fight against the urge to pet the deer creature. Leo watched them fight in a way that reminded him of how sitcom friends did which helped to bring back his calm demeanor. He needed to act like he wasn't a complete child. He needed others to believe that he could handle what was in front of him. As his emotions calmed, the realization hit him that he was in a magical situation in real life. He wasn't sure what would happen next but he was completely excited on the inside. The very thought of what was happening made him want to scream with happiness but he managed to retain his calm exterior. Leo walked over to Faendr, not close enough to invade his personal space but he was able to see him better. "You are beautiful" he said then made his way over to the vessels. He watched in fascination as one of his fellow employees receive his daemon. He wasn't a fan of snakes and could only hope that whatever chose him wasn't like that.

There were so many options to choose from. They looked as if he would have to work his entire lifetime just to pay for one of these. Taking a deep breathe, Leo decided to follow Lorette's advice and focus on his instinct rather appearance. He then closed his eyes. Leo moved his hands over the vessels then stopped when he heard something. He held the object for a moment then opened his eyes. The vessel in question was a necklace, one made of some type of fang with the part that held the chain carved to resemble a Chinese dog sculpture. The chain itself seemed pristine yet the design was not modern. Leo wasn't sure if what he heard was real but he decided to go where his instincts led him. "Hello" he said unsurely, as if this were a phone call and he wasn't sure if there was someone on the other end.

From the silence that followed came a loud bark and growl. In his surprise, Leo dropped the necklace on the floor and fell onto the floor. The fang seemed to rise from, now on the body of some creature Leo never seen. They rose from the earth as if crawling out of some hole that couldn't be seen, their body the same color and texture as the floor, then taking a form of their own. The beast was grey and covered in scales. Fins for ears and spikes all the way down its back leading to a small tail. There were not pupils in it's eyes, yet somehow you could tell what they where looking at. The creature was snarling as he looked around, searching for whoever summoned them. They saw Faendr and made a low growling sound then continued their search. He turned to Leo who had trying to pick himself up, still growling as he approached him. The daemon walked as if he were a predator.

Leo was trying to stand, in the process of the fall he'd knocked over and fell on some chairs, yet when he looked up he found himself looking directly at the creature's white eyes. He didn't break eye contact, instead choosing to slowly stand up. He was afraid, yes, he wanted to run. Yet he stood there as the daemon snarled at him. Leo clenched his fists, his way of trying to keep himself calm. The daemon lunged at him and he was on the floor. Laughter could be heard from Leo as the daemon licked his face, the way a dog would when someone walks through a door into their home. "Ah...stop...stop...that tickles...stop." Eventually he heard what Leo said and the daemon backed away. Leo sat up and wiped the slobber from his face. He faced the daemon, which reminded him of some of the larger dog breeds, though he was bigger than they were. "What do I call you?" Leo then noticed a leather, or what he assumed was leather, collar around him. On a metal plate underneath, were symbols. He'd never seen them before yet he somehow understood them. "Bronx?" There was a woof from the daemon. As if he were confirming his thoughts. "Well...happy to meet you then." Leo scratched behind Bronx's ears. This was the best moment of his life.
 
mysteryxio mysteryxio

"Yes, Oliver Kim, ma'am. This is Ten Thousand Rolling Peaches. We... did end up just calling him Peaches. So you could probably just do that."

The monkey poked its head out of Oak's shirt, peering at Lorette and Allister with great concern.

"Sorry I'm late. I only just found out about the orientation; Mr. Ealdorman, as I understand, forgot about it. I believe I'm supposed to be stationed here from now on."

Oak grinned mischievously. "What, rude? Mr. Ealdorman? Perish the thought."

After the comment about the incompetents, Oak chuckled. "Yeah, that's a pretty sound policy. Wait, who're you talking about again? Did... am I the incompetent one?"

Oak looked around, rather confused, then decided to ignore it. Some stiff young man was picking up a necklace, presumably attempting to meet the Daemon inside. Oak scooted over to him, hoping to meet someone new while-

Oh good a hellhound. Never mind. Maybe let this guy deal with it.

That's what Oak learned. Most of the Daemons took on frightful forms and even more frightful personalities. Peaches was really the odd one out here. Oak felt about the same. These were all hard-boiled soldier types. But everything has a soft side, Oak supposed. He watched the fearsome hellhound start licking the poor man's face joyously and changing the man's expression. Oak tilted his head curiously, and approached the duo. Well, if there's one thing Oak learned about himself, it was that he was good at making good impressions with slightly feral animals.

"Bronx, huh," Oak said, kneeling. He tentatively reached out with his hand, palm up, giving the horrible abyssal dog a cheerful smile. "Go on. Sniff my hand."

Oak heard Peaches chatter fearfully in the back, as if to tell Oak to not approach the dog.
 
"Ten Thousand Rolling Peaches.... Good Lord that is a mouthful." Lorette muttered. Peaches did obviously suit the little Daemon far better. She was willing to admit that he was a little cutie and smiled when Allister waggled his fingers hello at the little monkey as it peered at them from the safety of Oliver's shirt. It was almost easy to forget he was a supernatural entity capable of unnatural feats. Almost.

Lorette could not help the almost amused scoff that left her and did her best to put the young man at ease. It really did seem that Glenn had given him the run around and she frowned slightly at the thought. The man was useful not so much for what he did or could do, but only in the event Lorette needed to foist her own guilt onto someone else. It was the nature of the beast, and the man being as unpleasant as he was made it all the easier to undercut him should the need arise. She was glad however, that his piss poor demeanor hadn't rubbed off on Oliver.

"Mr. Ealdorman is the incompetent I'm talking about, Kim." Her lips turned up in a small smile. "Whether you become one is, well, up to you."

Movement caught her eye and Lorette watched in subdued interest as a young man stepped forward. She narrowed her eyes, taking in his boyish features and frowned. Twenty-year-olds were looking more and more like toddlers with each passing year and she wasn't sure how to handle it. His apparent nervousness and confusion only made him look younger. But that did not keep him from approaching Faendr cautiously. The Stag eyed the young man warily, head canting back to stare down his nose at him. His ears flicked back briefly as the boy spoke to him, and Lorette groaned internally as the Daemon puffed his chest out.

"You have a good eye. I am beautiful aren't I?"

If there was any weakness to be found in Faendr's diamond hard armor, it was praise. Despite his insistence that he didn't really like anyone, the Stag loved attention. He did not differ from his Handler in that particular sense. Vanity was a flaw that Allister was often unwilling to rectify.

"Great, now his ego is ten sizes bigger." Lorette sighed, drawing a small chuckle from Allister. "But look how happy he is." The Stag was indeed smiling, though it was in an overbearingly smug way.

"He needs to find other things that make him happy." She shot back. Allister shrugged, wearing an affable grin that would have charmed anyone else, but never seemed to quite work on his Boss. He jerked his chin towards the carts, indicating that she look in that direction and Lorrette watched silently as the young man perused the items displayed on them. He closed his eyes, letting his hand hover over them as he seemed to try to sense something coming from any of them. An uncommon method, but the results couldn't be denied.

He picked up a chain necklace and whispered something to it. A mimicry of Allister's manifestation of Faendr earlier. His efforts rewarded him with a loud, growling bark and fell over in shock. Allister made a move as if to stride across the room to help him up, but Lorette's hand on his shoulder stopped him cold.

The Daemon's predatory manner did not escape her, nor did the snarl it sent Faendr's way. The stag snorted loudly, a hoof pawing at the floor in irritation. Clearly he'd been insulted but knew well the cost of starting a fight at such a crucial moment.

And crucial it was. The Daemon stalked the boy in the way a predator stalked its prey, and Lorette watched with keen interest. There was no escape to be found, and no help to he had as the Hellhound fell upon him.

Hellhound in appearance only, its demeanor was considerably less terrifying as it lavished the boy with sloppy dog kisses. The Daemon was clearly of the affectionate sort and bonded quickly to its Handler almost instantaneously.

"Awww look at that. A boy and his dog...monster...thing." Allister trailed off and Lorette rolled her eyes before taking on a thoughtful look. "We have a lot of weird dogs now that I'm thinking about it."

"Might be a cultural thing. I know it was common to just refer to any four-legged thing as some sort of dog when people couldn't figure out what it was." Allister offered. Lorette nodded mildly in understanding and looked on as Oliver held his hand out to the newly manifested Daemon. "Perhaps. Our perceptions create the mold in which they form themselves. So far, those perceptions seem to be positive. I'm glad for that."
 
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Some of Kore's other peers began selecting their vessels...rather easily. Too easily, she felt like. Was it supposed to be that simple? Just choose what ever pleases the eye and go with it? Was she just overthinking, like usual? Kore was, at times, too cautious. Shed gone through so much in this life that it hardened her, and made her indecisive or unsure of herself. Her world was small, always had the same routine and did the same things. Trying something new led to a world of questions, her fear of things going wrong kept her from expanding her horizons....but she should start somewhere right? And with this vessel business... even though she hit a distraction she should still go with her gut, right? Just take the leap.

"Be careful with that one young lady." Lorette chimed in quickly.

Kore retracted her hand and faced Lorette, "Sh-should I pick another one?" Her transparent confusion made her take Lorette's comment as a polite warning of "dont pick that one."

"He feeds on weakness, and he'll chew you up and spit you back out either stronger or just a pile of bones."

"Oh..." was all that Kore could spit out, wide eyed and now uncertain of herself...again. In some ways Kore saw herself as a strong woman. She had been through some shit, and because of that she felt like nothing could phase her, mentally or physically that is. But emotionally...that was a whole other chapter.

There was a brief silence before Allister scolded is superior, "Could you not be ominous right now?" Kore's eyes darted between Lorette and Allister, unsure what to make of this situation. The other members of the group around her were choosing their vessels and greeting the mysterious and unexplainable creatures housed in them. They didnt look at all like the toad or stag or even the shy monkey. They looked....fearsome. Kore would gasp or relocate elsewhere when another would materialize before her. When she thought about this interview she didnt picture it to play out like this.

Among the chatter and commotion rang an ear pleasing chime. Some how, above the noise, the sound resonated enough to recapture Kore's attention. Her head whipped around to stare at the same little bell that remained motionless on the cart. Kore looked around to see if anyone else heard it too, but everyone continued on without reaction. She walked closer to the cart and that same eerie feeling as before was capturing her. Swallowing her whole in its mystery, but this time Kore didnt feel so fearful it was almost inviting. With out realization, she held it in the palm of her hand. Kore broke the trance with a few blinks and a deep breath, curiously she held the item between her thumb and index finger, raising it to eye-level and getting a closer look. There was beauty in its rusted patches, what was untarnished gleamed proudly and sparkled in her ocean blue eyes. Kore gave the bell a gentle shake, craving to hear its song again but, this time, there was no sound. "What?" she whispered to herself, one eyebrow cocked in disbelief. Kore shook it again, harder this time, and again there was no ring. "What the hell?" she huffed. Kore looked around at the other creatures and grew insecure, "Is there even anything in here?" Upon closer inspection, the little metal ball that bounces around inside of an ordinary bell was missing. So then what did she hear? "So what, youre embarrassed cause youre broken?" she questioned at a low volume. Now she just felt crazy, I mean c'mon she was talking to a bell. Kore could feel her cheeks burning when there was not even a semblance of a response. Perhaps she was the one embarrassed, her flushed face gave it away. To be fair she didnt know exactly what she was expecting but it definitely wasnt complete silence. Kore turned to Lorette and Allister, "I dont understand," she shook her head growing frustrated, "What am I doing wrong?"

The small bell slipped through her fingers and rolled onto the floor a little ways away. A strange wind swirled around the bell, and the bell only. Underneath the bell, a pool of black liquid oozed, it was a small circumference. Bravely, Kore walked over and picked up the bell carefully, pinched between thumb and finger. As she raised the object, it dripped and dribbled the fluid from its openings. The secretion was thick and sticky, stretching as far as it could before falling as a single, weighted drop. "Ew," Kore released the bell and let it fall back into the center of its pool. When it touched the ground, it sank into the murky blackness. Kore watched, not really knowing how to react, was it supposed to do that?! The pool started to expand and forced Kore to take a few steps back until it grew into the size a decent round table. Out from the black goop, crawled a massive creature. First a clawed, pale grey hand, then another, the goo clinging to it's skin as it emerged from the depths. Next a large head with a mouth to match and a fearsome set of teeth that was visible even with its mouth closed. It had no eyes, but breathed heavily through its nostrils at the end of its long snout. The corners of it's mouth slightly curved to form a wicked smile youd only see in nightmares. It had spikes at the base of it's head, trailing down its neck and then disappearing at its chiseled shoulders. The quadruped's torso was long and its tail even longer, about the length of the body it was attached to. The thing was bulked, there was no place on its body that lacked firm muscle. It was.....atrocious. The thing looked like it was birthed or concocted in the deepest, darkest pit you could find in hell. With it's choice of entrance, it very much may as well have. Almost like a horse-sized, ghoulishly pale-grey, mutated komodo dragon. The beast faced Kore and its thick, forked tongue licked its lips, from one corner to the other, the same black goop drooling between it's teeth and falling onto the floor. "Was this what you wanted to see?" its voice sounded like it belonged to ten others. Many voices speaking in unison, but telepathically into Kore's head.

Kore wasnt sure whether to scream and run, or respond. She remained silent, frozen in place, a deer in the headlights. Her heart palpitated profusely, her eyes were fixed on its teeth, and her knees trembled in either fear or adrenaline, she wasnt sure.

"Well then?" he asked slowly. His long tail, whipped to and fro impatiently, almost knocking into the cart of vessels behind him. He took a step forward, his nostrils flaring as he breathed in the vicinity, taking note of everyone around and the daemons with them. The serpentine tongue flicked between his lips, gathering even more data, "I can smell you," he lowered his head to listen close, "I can hear your heart beating fiercely," his lips parted to bare his teeth and mimic a sinful grin. His claws dug into the floor below him and the spines on his neck pricked up, "I can sense every vibration in your body," he dropped his head close to his front paws and rested it there, the rest of his body followed the motion and dropped into a relax state, "Although I dont have eyes, I can see you there," he sighed through his nose, "So say something or I'll just go back to sleep," he yawned, displaying his massive and well armed jaws with pride.

His stance seemed less threatening after laying down, which allowed Kore to finally breathe and think straight for a moment. "Um..." she started. What the fuck do you say to a monster thats almost three or four times your size and can tear you to shreds with minimal effort. "Wh-whats your name?" she asked uncertainly, almost asking if that was the right question to ask.

"Is that what you want to know?" he challenged her, rolling onto his back, his limbs in the air, moving his shoulders back and forth to reach an itch. He looked like a large dog in this position.

"I...guess?" her head sunk into her shoulders and she tensed. Was that the right answer?

"You guess?" he sat back up to face her and laid straight like a proud Sphinx guarding its post. "Well then," a low grumble and some alien-like clicks and chatters rolled audibly in his throat that others could hear, "I have no name."

"Oh..." Kore sighed. Now what?
 
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"And so that covers the matter of your pension plans. I'd suggest leaving the contact information of your next of kin, so that it continues to pay out in the event of your-" Lorrete paused momentarily as she struggled to find the appropriate terminology. "Your unfortunate demise. I'd also like to take this moment to inform you that based on the nature of your death, it's possible that your loved one's won't be getting your body." She said grimly. An unfortunate thing, she knew this. But presenting an employee's corpse to their next of kin after some nameless horror or another chewed it up and spat it back out wasn't an option.

She clapped her hands together with an air of finality; the sound amplified by the enclosed space. "This concludes the fun part of the evening." She smirked. Once everyone had chosen a vessel and coaxed a Daemon out of it, the group had been subjected to all manner of forms and agreements. It was a slog of paperwork only made more unbearable by an extensive overview of employment benefits. It could most assuredly be said that the attendees did not find the ordeal fun in the slightest.

Lorette looked at her watch and sighed. "Eight thirty. We've got one more thing to do this evening." She held up her hands in a placating manner before anyone present got the chance to express their irritation. "It's nothing intensive, I promise. We've set up a little mixer for you to get acquainted." New pets notwithstanding, it was a little hard to put your life into the hands of someone that you didn't know very well. Lorette also felt it would be rude to take up so much of their time and not compensate them.

"There will be snacks!" Allister piped up cheerily from his spot by the door and Lorette cocked her head at the man.

"Shouldn't you be pulling the van around?

"Already did. I got it while you were talking about stock portfolios. You always get so into it."

Lorette frowned and turned her gaze to the floor. "I just really like stock portfolios..." She mumbled. Snapping her head up in sudden remembrance of just where she was and what she was doing, she coughed into a fist. "Let's get you all loaded up, shall we? You can leave the paperwork here, someone will collect them."

After rounding everyone up and coercing the Daemons back into their vessels under the premise that they wouldn't all fit in the van, and they were beyond the confines of the Wall where they had no business roaming around in the first place. Once they were tucked away after being assured that their new Handlers would hold onto them, Lorette herded the little group back out into the cold. There, the darkness was absolute and the chill in the wind had only grown sharper during their time inside. It was truly fortunate then, that Allister had possessed the foresight to pull the van close to the entrance of the building, and they all hurried through its open doors.

It wasn't the coziest affair. Less a van meant to ferry regular travelers, and more a vehicle used to carry employees on active duty. Lorette left no room to argue who got the passenger seat and the front, and with Allister driving, that left everyone else to climb into the back. The benches lining the side of the vehicle where mercifully padded, making the ordeal a tad more comfortable than it would have been otherwise. But there was no doubt as to the van's purpose.

Gun racks, all empty in the event anyone got any funny ideas lined the walls, and each bench sat atop a row of locked metal drawers, undoubtedly they too carried weapons and perhaps ammunition. Lorette after putting on her seatbelt, peered through the small window behind her to check the status of their passengers before giving Allister a quizzical look. "You couldn't have gotten us a better ride?" She asked, setting Brenda gently onto the dashboard. The toad croaked gently and turned to stare out the windshield.

The blonde-haired man shrugged as he stuck the key into the ignition and started the car. "Yes, probably. But this was the most convenient to get ahold of. Besides, they'll need to get used to riding around in one of these, anyway."

"What's even back there? No guns?" She pressed. Allister shook his head. "None. There're some blades locked in the drawers, but I have the key right here. And if you were at all curious, they're not the regular kind." He replied.

Allister pulled away from the curb before edging the Van down narrow lanes past a cluster of squat buildings. The outer reception area was where most 'normal' business was conducted, with higher security work and production kept safely beyond the wall.

As for the fabled wall itself, it may as well have been its own separate entity. A little over two stories, it was an imposing structure of reinforced steel that surrounded almost the whole of the property. It only broke where land met water, pointless when small freighters needed the space to move in and out of Apex's harbor. Security towers manned by any armed guards that weren't patrolling the top of the wall were the only things that broke the monotonous stretch of black. It was more akin to a fortress than a collection of office buildings, and more than once had the City Council deemed it to be an eyesore. There was nothing to be done, given the value of what lay inside and most assumed that Apex was incredibly paranoid about keeping people out.

The wall's true and intended purpose, was more grim. It's presence not merely a deterrent to would be interlopers, but a means of protecting an unawares populace from whatever was trapped behind it.

The ride towards it was silent, and the wall seemed to stretch ever higher the closer they got. It cast its shadow over the van like the armored sides of a great serpent circling the complex, and one was forced to crane their neck back if they hoped to see the top of it.

A pair of guards manned the security checkpoint they pulled up to and spoke briefly with Lorette before one moved to the back of the van. The double doors swung open, letting in a gust of cold air and an armored individual greeted everyone calmly. "Good evening, folks. Don't worry, we're just here to check and make sure everything is secure here." Unlike the pair from before, this guard was armed a little more heavily. He carried the same sword that was clearly typical of those in his position, but one could not ignore the automatic rifle in his hands even if they wanted to. He stepped aside and a German Shepard hopped boldly into the van and began sniffing everyone intently. It wore a vest not unlike those one would find on a K-9 police unit, though it was branded with the Apex logo instead.

The dog went about its business quickly and efficiently before turning tail and exiting the van without a backward glance. Whatever it had found, or not found seemed to please it. Enough so that they deemed no one in the vehicle a threat. The man nodded, and bid everyone a good night before closing the doors again and leaving them all in darkness. There was another subdued conversation from the front seat and before long they were waved onwards. The massive steel gate shielding the entrance ground open just wide enough to allow the van passage, and suddenly they were inside.

Had it been daytime, their first excursion beyond the massive barrier might have been a deal more impressive an exciting. But as it stood, it was simply too dark and too empty to really make anything out. Allister urged the van on smoothly past countless buildings of unknown purpose and origin. In the distance, the massive tower that made up the center of Apex's compound jutted into the dark sky in dread silence.

Normally, it would have been a straight shot to the main entrance, but a chain link fence and orange hazard cones blocked the way. Even a multi-billion dollar company could not avoid the inconvenience that came with laying down new asphalt.

"Sorry about that by the way." Lorette broke the silence suddenly as she leaned back to address the people riding behind her. "We like to take precautions here, and even I'm not exempt from them. There's a great deal at stake here."

She resumed looking out the window and frowned. They were closer to the main building, in the sense that they were traveling down a corridor of storage units and shipping containers that hugged the side of the skyscraper.

"Are we even going the right way?" Her questioned drew a pointed look from Allister.

"I've done this like, six times today. Yes, we're going the right way. I'm going to take us to one of the side entrances. It'll put us closer to the lounge than the main entrance."

Lorette rolled her eyes but opted to not argue with the man. Instead, she eyed the gloom surrounding the area critically, and muttered. "We should get more lights back here. I can't see a thing."

"It's all empty storage stuff isn't it? What could you possibly need to see-" His words cut off sharply as he slammed on the brakes and Lorette was jerked forward violently as the van came to a stop. She righted herself immediately and shot Allister a glare before shifting her gaze to the windshield.

It was a person. Armored and standing silently in the middle of the road. "See, this is what I'm talking about." She grumbled and Allister frowned deeply. "Okay, I get it. You need to see assholes standing in the middle of the road." The armored individual still hadn't moved and stood with their back towards the vehicle. Lorette and Allister shared a confused glance before they resumed staring at the individual. It wasn't exactly suspicious for and employee to be out in the dark. Normally someone would patrol the area. But the armored stranger wasn't really doing much of anything and Lorette wondered if they'd zoned completely out.

Allister, ever the polite one rolled down his window and pop his head out to address the stranger. "Hello there! Buddy? Are you all right?" Lorette was significantly less patient than her assistant, a given considering the day that she'd had. But also when taking into consideration that one of her employees seemed to be slacking off right in front of her.

"If you want me to fire you, just say so." She nearly shouted through her own open window and Allister groaned quietly.

The person, if that was indeed what they were, turned slowly to face them. Their movements were heavy, bearing a stiffness that indicated a lack of feeling in their limbs. Lorette's eyes narrowed sharply and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She could not see the individual's face behind the metal of their helm, but there was something clearly unnatural about them. A thought made all the worse when she could sense no Daemonic energies coming from them.

At first glance, nothing supernatural stood out about the person and they for all intents and purposes appeared normal. That didn't stop their entire torso, armor and all from splitting down the middle like the shell of a crab, however.

People's bodies didn't spontaneously separate themselves normally. And if they did, Lorette was sure that it would involve a copious amount of blood during the process. There was none. There was definitely a person in there. Or what was left of one seeing as someone or something had completely flayed the body of skin. Wet muscle fibre and sinew was bared painfully to the open air. The hairless being flopped forward at the waist, its legs still holding it upright as the armor they'd once been wearing writhed uncontrollably as if it were no more than a mass of eels. It expanded, growing taller and a viscous, black fluid clung to the inside of the separate halves like ropes of tar.

The metal that once protected the dead individual encased in it, took on a life of its own. Warped by forces beyond Lorette's understanding, but not so far as for her to presume they were anything but malicious. It could be nothing but alive, nearly two decades of dealing with whatever went bump in the night had taught her that. Whatever it was, it towered over the van, and took on a vaguely humanoid shape. What should have been one massive arm was nothing more than a rapidly crystalizing mass of black.

She was reminded instantly of old spearheads and knives made from flint and obsidian. Here was a blade to put all of those to shame. A cleaver nearly the length of the thing's body and wicked sharp gleamed in the headlights. The writhing thing, eventually wasn't writhing anymore. It stood there, dumbly. An empty being of twisted metal and a silent foulness that had no real name. Its legs had changed little, growing enough to accommodate its top heavy form but still remaining almost comically undersized in comparison.

Almost. The thing groaned. Or at least she thought it did at first. But things dead on arrival did not have lungs. She realized then, in a quiet dread that the noise had come from what she'd thought was a corpse now jutting from the nameless thing's abdomen.

A bald head lifted itself weakly, as skeletal arms scrabbled for purchase against their metal prison. The half-person looked up and parted a lipless a mouth as it groaned again. Its eyes, were singularly there and yet not at all. Lorette could have handled a complete lack of them. Or even a bloodied pair. But this was neither. Twin swirling lights, like small galaxies turned within the empty pits of the thing's hollowed sockets. Infinite pinpricks that denoted infinite possibilities. Infinite nightmares. The eyes had always been the windows to the soul, and before them then was bared a soul that had seen too much.

A shaking arm reached out in a pitiful facsimile of grasping for help. But it did not greet them with an open palm. A fist, and one wet, bony finger pointed at the van and the not person spoke in a rasping voice.

"You who have been called to the Nameless Court. Come now, so that we may be made whole again."

Lorette and Allister said nothing. Merely pulling their heads back into the van and rolling their individual windows up. Allister sucked his teeth and grabbed ahold of the steering wheel.

"So I'm going to back up now."

Lorette nodded and watched as the combined thing and not person lurched forward threateningly. "Mmm hm. That's a good idea. Do that. Do it now, please." He slammed on the gas, throwing the van into reverse and peeled away just as the thing's cleaver came down and clipped the front bumper. The distance between them widened, but the thing would not be ignored so easily.

The flayed being hanging from its abdomen, drew the standard issued blade that had remained clasped to its waist in a single smooth motion. It stabbed downward, burying the blade to the hilt in thw monstrosity's thigh and drawing forth a fountain of the metal thing's accursed blood. It made no sound as it spilled its life force. It merely lurched forward blindly, its focus set only on its prey. The blackened blood spread and then became cursed, new life.

They gnashed dripping fangs and chattered ceaselessly. Each one a horrific chorus of snarls. Five they went, bounding forward and leaving behind their master as they sought new prey.

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"What the fuck is that?!" Allister screamed as they sped backwards and away from the monstrosity. Lorette fumbled with the radio and shouted back at him. "How the hell would I know? I'm looking at the same exact shit you are!"

Brenda, wisely leaped to the back of the van with their passengers and climbed into Oliver's shirt. She hoped Peaches didn't mind sharing.

A very smart move because soon after the increasing sound of hellish yipping could be heard over the roar of the motor and Lorette groaned. "Are you fucking-Of course. Of course this shit always happens to me."

The twisted hounds were slowly gaining on them, and Lorette reached into her jacket and drew her sidearm. "Fucking Christ. It's every day with this shit." She hissed before removing the safety and rolling down the passenger side window. She leaned out, squinting against the rushing wind and took aim. The first shot whizzed just past the head of the lead hound, but the second hit the shoulder of another pulling up at its flank. The creature yelped in pain as the teeth in one of the countless mouths covering its body exploded into a spray of shards and black liquid. It fell, but its brethren paid it no mind and leaped over it and continued the chase.

Lorette fired a few more shots. Each one whizzing uselessly into the air or barely clipping one of their pursuers until the clip was emptied. She scoffed loudly and pulled her head back inside to grab at the Van's radio again. Blessedly, she managed to get it on despite her panic and shouted into the radio to be heard over the wind.

"This is Lècuyer requesting immediate assistance."

"Oh, shit is that the Boss? Hey Boss!" A chorus of voices followed suit, each chiming in with a hello.

"Yes. Hi." Lorette growled in the face of her subordinate's pleasantries.

"I've got an Unidentified Manifestation on the East side of the main building. Shen, Humanoid with metallic tendencies. And five Facets. Shen, Quadruped." Lorette shouted in alarm as one hound drew close and leaped at the hood of the van. It could find no purchase on the metal of the hood and soon was thrown off.

The radio meanwhile had exploded into a flurry of chatter before it died down. The voice that intitally greeted Lorette had taken on a stern tone, a sharp contrast to its chipper tone.

"Wranglers en route. We've got a containment unit on the way."

"No. I want a full dispersal. Labs can scrape samples off the asphalt."

One hound clambered atop the storage units and bounded easily across gaps as it pursued the van. Closing the distance, it made the jump and plopped on the roof of the vehicle. Allister jerked the wheel in alarm, and Lorette struggled to hear the radio over the squeal of tires and the pounding on the roof.

Another hound drew closer to the passenger side of the van and lunged towards the window. Snapping jaws burst through the opening, nearly catching Lorette's shoulder and she gasped in shock. She refused to let her surprise rule her and reached out to grab the hound beneath the chin, where no extra sets of jaws could be found and gave it a hard shove out the window. A pained yelp erupted from one of the thing's mouths as it hit the asphalt and tumbled away, but the remaining three were still on their tail with the fourth desperately scrabbling at the top of the van in an attempt to get in.

In the distance, she could sense, more than see the dreadful thing's presence. It only grew closer and Lorette knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if its hounds didn't kill them, it would.

The thing's hounds were indeed determined to try, that could not be understated. Finally, one was able to gimp their quarry. It darted forward, low to the ground with jaws opened impossibly wide. Lunging forward its countless fangs found purchase on the front left tire and tore a chunk out of it. The van spun out, and Allister tried desperately to keep it from crashing into either the side of the building or the wall of shipping containers surrounding them. They skidded to a noisy stop, and the hound on top of the van was thrown off with a solid thump. They were trapped. With one monstrosity beating at the back doors, and several more converging from the front it appeared that their demise was not far off.

Lorette pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut and sighed lowly. "I really am going to have to get out of this damn van, huh?" She asked no one in particular. Cursing loudly, she slammed the door open and hopped out to be immediately set upon by one of the hounds. Lorette frowned as the thing leaped towards her, looking more like a woman who'd been minorly inconvenienced than one about to die. A hand reached towards her hip and there was a sudden gust of wind before all fell silent. The hound lay at her feet, cleaved neatly in two by the sword in her hand.

It was in no way the same as the one she'd wielded earlier. Lorette kept the blade close, bound in a black scabbard and tied at the hip. The metal of the blade did not gleam like polished metal. It was almost a matte gray, and under the light swirls of color patterned the length like an oil slick. Whatever metal it was forged from, it was of a kind that dragged what was once unkillable, into the realm of mortality.

She slammed the door shut, stepping over the quivering form of the rapidly fading hound and moved towards the front of the Van.

"Allister, deal with the one in the back and then help me with this."

"Already on it." He sighed before sliding out of the Van with a frown, leaving the keys in the ignition. "This is going to just ruin my outfit." He mumbled.

Reaching for his lapel, Allister removed the stag pin affixed there and tossed it behind the van. From inside the van one couldn't hear the faint 'tink' of metal hitting the ground over the snarls of the beast pounding at the door. But one could hear those same snarls take on a sudden confused tone as violence erupted just outside. Whatever happened, it was swift for in mere moments hooves clattered atop the roof of the van and Faendr leaped easily down towards the front.

"It is finished." He said plainly, the tines of his antlers painted in splashes of black. Allister patted the stag's neck and squeezed past the van to unlock the doors from the outside. He sneered in disgust as his shoes were painted in the same ichor of the Hound's mutilated corpse just outside them. He threw the doors open, beckoning for everyone to exit. "Quickly! Head towards the main building. Help should be on its way and with any luck Lorette and I should still be alive when they get here." He waved them off without another word, rushing back towards the front of the van and towards Lorette to stand beside her.

The remaining hounds had become wary at the death of their kin. They paced agitatedly in front of the pair and Lorette tensed. The thing. The unliving thing and the not person melded to it shambled forward. Her eyes darted around the area and she cursed under her breath. "There's not enough room to manifest here." She said and Allister's lips pressed together in a thin line.

"Then this will be messy." He said plainly and Lorette nodded.

"Did you get everyone out?" She asked.

"They should be halfway to the main building if they took my advice. Do you think they'll show up for their first day tomorrow?"

"Oh god no. Absolutely not." Lorette chuckled. "Would you?"

Allister laughed easily along with her. "No, not after all of this."

The Hounds were done waiting. Growing bold in the presence of their master, they all lunged forward in unison. Another met the edge of Lorette's blade, howling in agony as it cut through its form in a spray of tarlike blood. Another strike shortly silenced the beast's howls. Lorette withdrew the sword and stabbed downwards through the top of the hound's skull and it flopped to the ground. At her side another found its demise under Faendr's hooves, crushed as if it were no more than a yapping Terrier playing at wolf.

The one that saw fit to attack Allister never even made it to him. Lorette caught a bright gleam out of the corner of her eye and turned just in time to watch the remaining hound topple weakly. Several crystalline spikes jutted from its chest, the sharpened stakes finding purchase deep in its flesh. Allister huffed and brushed off his jacket.

"Well, that's one mess avoided." He gazed up at the remaining monstrosity. It swayed almost drunkenly, the not person grafted to its abdomen caught in the motions as it hung there. Lorette watched it closely, mind working a mile a minute as to how they might kill the damn thing with no help.

"Step aside, She who is Insignificant." It rasped suddenly, and Lorette's eyes widened in plain shock.

"I beg your God damn pardon?" She spat.

"Jesus Christ Lorette, this is not the time for you to be getting offended." Allister hissed and Lorette's gaze hardened.

"I'm a middle-aged woman. I exist in a constant state of offense."

"You." The thing gurgled. "You have not been called. But you will die all the same."

The flayed being reached towards its withered neck, bony fingers curling to clasp at something hanging there before it was ripped away and flung to the ground. Lorette stared at the metal dog tags in bitter silence. 'Dalton, Grant J.' was stamped clearly onto the metal, and Lorette's grip on her sword tightened.

"Would you strike down the ghosts of those who once served you?" The thing, once Grant asked her. Its swirling eyes bore right into her and Lorette could only stare back in silence.

"What good has your arrogance done them? This would be the price of their loyalty? Rot, and suffering." It hissed, pointing a bony finger at her. Its other arm still held Grant's old sword limply, and it swayed as the thing shambled forward once more. "Poor fool that you are, perhaps your ignorance is to be pitied. We free you now. He would want this. This, you cannot deny."

Before the thing could take another step, there was a violent burst of wind and carried on it the roar of a beast. The flayed being's pointing finger sailed through the air, the rest of its arm attached to it and hit the ground with a wet thud. It stopped dead and stared silently at Lorette as black ichor dripped freely from the stump of where its arm once was.

"Any employee of Apex that has been found compromised by influences either mortal or supernatural, will be summarily executed without exception." Lorette stated loudly. "Seriously, it was in the contract I gave you when you signed on. You should know this."

The flayed thing wheezed angrily, its sword arm raised. "Little fool. Perhaps you may yet be allowed to make us whole. Let us taste of your power." The flat of the sword came down and clanged loudly against the armored leg of the metal thing. Faendr's ears laid flat against his head at the sharp sound and Allister winced. Spotting movement, he watched in silent horror as the Hound he'd killed twitched violently before shambling to its feet. Faendr pranced back in alarm as the one he'd trampled knitted its broken body back together.

"Okay, we are definitely in uncharted waters here. When have you ever seen a Facet reform that fast?" He asked Lorette, and she frowned deeply. "Never. Okay, I'll admit it. We might be in a little trouble here."

The twisted pair chose that exact moment to lurch forward and Lorette deftly sidestepped as the thing's massive cleaver came down. Allister clenched and unclenched a fist before reaching out to make a swift lifting motion with his arm. A pillar of gleaming crystal burst from the ground just beneath the cleaver and threw the thing off balance. Lorette followed suit, leaving Allister to contend with the rapidly reforming hounds as her blade lashed out towards the withered remains of what was once Grant. It blocked her easily, a startling amount of strength in its emaciated form. She sneered in plain disgust as she got a closer look at it. Reddened flesh and muscle glistened wetly in what little light suffused the area. She'd still expected some blood, but there was none. Just the same, black, ichorous material dribbling off of it.

It made no proper sense. Whatever Daemons were made up of ate through organic material. In an inert state, someone could handle safely it. But flowing freely though a man's veins was impossible. It should have killed Grant. Though as she stared into the twin headlights of his eyes, Lorette figured that maybe it already had.

The thing shoved her back, and she grunted. Above her the massive cleaver was lifted high to come down upon her. It never made it. Wind had seemed to follow her everywhere that night, and it did so with almost divine purpose. A massive furred fist appeared from nowhere amidst a steadily increasing gale and caught the metal thing square in the chest. It was sent reeling back heavily and stabbed the cleaver into the ground to maintain its balance.

"Good thing I brought a friend too." Lorette said smugly, and the giant fist gave her a thumbs up before dissolving.

"Now get up. Show me if you're worth the time you've had me waste on you tonight.

Allister sighed deeply as he bent down. A shoe was crammed into a struggling hound's mouth and in a shocking display of strength and brutality, he grabbed hold of the top of the thing's jaws and tore it off before tossing it aside carelessly. He kicked the prone body away and internally bemoaned the ruination of his clothing. His day officially ruined, Allister turned his ire on the beasts attacking him.

Faendr was of the same mindset, lashing out violently with his antlers and running a hound clean through as it was slammed into the side of a metal shipping container. It struggled weakly before falling limp and silent, and Faendr shook his head to dislodge the other Daemon from his antlers.

"I am tired of this." He grumbled and Allister nodded at the stag. The third Hound attempted to lunge at Allister while he was distracted, but quick as a flash he'd turned. A crystal lance jutted from the thing's back as it was skewered cleanly, and burst into a rapidly dissipating cloud of shimmering dust. He whirled suddenly in the van's direction cursing himself loudly.

"Shit! The other two we have to-" He was cut off as the Hounds rose once more and his eyes darted around the area swiftly. There would be no time to pursue. Not when the Facets reformed so swiftly. The Hound left dead at the front of the van had since escaped. And he could only assume that the one killed in the back had to. He only prayed that everyone had gotten a head start. They could not escape on foot. Their Daemons had the potential to help. But none of their Handlers were armed or knew how to channel their power

"Dear God I hope none of them decided to play the hero." Allister muttered as he once more set to killing the Hounds.
 
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The flurry of legalese had Kuharangi scratching his head. Oddly, Belshazzar had some fun combing through the documentation, pointing out interesting tidbits and whispering a potential loophole or two. All in all, it was a standard affair for him; it's not like this was his first time. After all that humbug, more people appeared to coax the daemons into their respective artefact. A most successful if cumbersome affair since Kahurangi now had to carry a clay slab. The weight wasn't the problem but rather the space-occupying shape. Whatever the reason, Kahurangi picked up the slab and carried it to the white, unmarked van. "A white, unmarked van? I didn't know we were being kidnapped." He whispered into the cuneiform.

The sites on this little track were limited as Kahurangi could only see what he could through the windshield. Still, even a modicum of this was impressive. The wall had been ginormous this close. The van itself also had curiosities. That vacant gun rack caused Kahurangi to cock an eyebrow. He wondered about Apex's activities that occur but decided not to care/pursue them since that wasn't in his contract.

They had arrived at massive steel doors with a security checkpoint. The guards opened the doors and greeted them, to which the tattooed man responded with an affirmative nod. A sniffer dog went to work. Trying to sleuth out any details or odd smells. Fortunately, it did not detect anything. Ater, the massive steel doors swung open just enough for the van to fit through. They ventured into abyssal darkness. The darkness had Kahurangi admittedly puzzled as he looked. Why not light up this area? What could be so important to risk vehicular accidents?

Then an abrupt stop. Alistair and CEO Lorette began exchanging words. Apparently, someone had blocked their road. He assumed that this was another checkpoint then Lorette threatened to fire him or her. This made Kahurangi drastically lean forward to witness what was happening. The splitting, the grotesque nature of it all had churned his stomach. He grits his teeth. "Can't believe this is happening so soon." A partially angered, partially scared face as he said.

Then chaos! Out of the abhorrent, aberrant situation—Alistair had ordered them to flee towards the main compound. Kahurangi complied and began sprinting off, presumably with the rest of the group. "Come on, people! Stick together!" He yelled. The cuneiform that housed Belshazzar shook and released the serpent. Belshazzar began running like a dog. Kahurangi almost threw away the ancient example of written language before Belshazzar stopped him.
 
Oak stared at the Wall, perhaps a bit too matter-of-factly. He squinted as a thought occurred to him.

"You know," he said to nobody in particular, "I feel like we should have all sensed something was deeply wrong with our society when we are consistently nonchalant about the existence of a giant wall holding back the unknown. But that's just my opinion."

Oak chattered like this for the whole trip, surely annoying someone in the van. Despite the foreboding nature of the journey, he seemed chipper. Truth be told, he was excited to finally see the fruits of his promotion. Oak was transferred from permanent internship to dead-end promotion. Finally, he got to see some action-

Since when was there a checkpoint here?

Oak scrambled towards the front of the van, leaning on the window with his whole face to see outside. Peaches gripped onto Oak's ear from behind, peeking out curiously as well. They would regret that decision, the mysterious armored man split in half and hatched like an egg. Peaches squealed and burrowed into Oak's shirt once more, while Oak himself grimaced.

"Ohhhh," the young man grimaced, "Ohhh, that's really gross."

Brenda jumped into Oak's shirt, causing him to yelp in disdain. He felt a slimy and furry tumble as the two Daemons struggled to find a good place to settle in, now that they were roommates. Oak heard Peaches chitter angrily at the Toad.

"Language," Oak mumbled, his attention now affixed to the horrible tooth-dogs approaching them. Whoever said it earlier was right. There were so many goddamn dogs. Having not received any orders, Oak decided to do the smart thing and throw open the van doors and join the fight. Hell, why not kick the damn door down while-

"Ow!" Oak yelped as he realized the van's doors were... very locked.

"Quickly!" Alistair yelled as he threw open the van's back doors, nonplussed by the stance that Oak made, "Head towards the main building. Help should be on its way and with any luck Lorette and I should still be alive when they get here."

"But, sir!" Oak complained, "This thing is insane. You'll need backup- aaaand he's gone."

Oak shrugged as Kahurangi passed him, summoning his own Daemon, a horrible snake-dog (another goddamn dog) that lumbered past Kahurangi.

"Come on, people! Stick together!"

"Uh huh," Oak sighed, touching the floor. Peaches crawled out, and looked down at the ground expectantly. "Peaches, Catapult!"

Peaches chirped affirmatively, and a large panel of the ground rotated out on a horizontal axis. This panel lifted up and forward abruptly, launching everyone a couple meters towards the main building. Everyone, that is, except for Oak.

Peaches usually used his rotational ability to soften Oak's fall, but could do little else for the others who had been launched back. Oak knelt on one knee, with a hand reached out. Time to be a hero.

Oak flew into a dropkick as a Hound approached him, shouting, "Barrier!"

As Oak's feet made contact with the Hound, it rose up as if to chomp at him. Unbeknownst to the beast, another panel shot up from off the ground, slamming into the Hound's "face". Oak danced briefly on top of the Hound, trying to gain a footing while its many jaws snapped at him.

"Oh God teeth teeth teeth"

Oak kicked off the Hound, but not before the monster grabbed the sleeve of his jeans. It ripped off as Oak tumbled onto the ground. The other Hound lunged forward. Oak tapped the ground, and like a merry-go-round, the ground spun and moved Oak out of the Hound's reach. Oak started sprinting away, realizing he had bitten off WAY more than he could chew.

The Hounds were bearing down on him. Oak cursed repeatedly as he heard it target him from behind. Oak waited for its horrible teeth to sink in-

Brenda croaked.

The Toad had somehow blocked the Hound's attack, its apparently impenetrable hide no-selling the Hound. The monster looked just as confused as Oak did.

"Thanks, Brenda!" the young man said, tapping his right leg. He then launched into a spin kick, while Peaches grunted in exertion. Oak started spinning through the air much faster than any normal human should be, landing three kicks in a row and sending the Hound flying.

"Ow," Oak said, landing on the ground hard, "Owww my leg."

Peaches chirped unhappily, and Oak sighed. "Yeah, sorry, buddy. One more? Moon Jump!"

Oak launched forward as the Hounds crashed into the ground where he had been seconds before. After following a vertical arc, Oak tumbled roughly on the ground and caught up to the other escaping recruits.

"Sorry sorry, sticking together, sorry," Oak panted as he ran with them.
 
The van reminded him of something somewhat seedy in a way. He was no stranger to the more...lucrative side of things in the city, but given everything that was happening to them, the ride to their next destination did seem appropriate. He wanted to look out the window, to see where they were going and the secrets that the company held. But he also felt strangely tired. Maybe it was from some unknown connection with Bronx that they hadn't explained yet. Or maybe it was from all the excitement over meeting him. He tried to stay awake though, he didn't want to seem like he was weak or didn't belong there. He kept his gaze focused forward, though Bronx's reaction from the dog was curious. He felt strange. He knew what Bronx was feeling even from inside the vessel. He held the fang in his hand. He wanted to know more about Bronx and wished he could have him out there with him, if only to pet him some more.

A loud growl broke his concentration, Leo turning to face whoever was in the middle of the street. He was not sure what he was seeing. Even through all the sudden odd incredibleness that happened, this was up there. Only instead of wonder and amazement, this time he felt sick to his stomach. The reckless driving didn't help with that. He tried to keep calm, his nerves already frayed from before. He didn't even hesitate to run from the van. If this was what he'd be doing for his job, he'd have to start reconsidering whether he wanted this. He screamed in surprise over suddenly being vaulted forward. Leo tried to land on his feet but he didn't keep his knees bent and fell forward. Leo stood shakily, adrenaline keeping his pain away. He started to run although this time it was at a slower pace.

Whoever was fighting those things, Leo never got the guys name was soon back to running with them. Leo didn't have as much stamina as the others and it was clear as he started to fall behind them. He felt his body hit the ground once more, he was starting to feel like this was becoming a habit. He saw the vessel had fallen off of him and he barely managed to slide it onto his hand. He went to stand but was knocked over to the side, blood forming where his shirt had been ripped open. He clutched his side where the hound's claw hit him. Now that it was closer to him, Leo saw all the details he never wanted to. The hound stood there, watching Leo in pain, then jumped toward him. Fear was clear on his face, he didn't want to die. He felt tears start to form and merely said "Bronx" as the creature closed in. Contact was never made though. Instead the hound was on it's side having landed a little ways from him. Bronx stood in front of Leo, lightly licking the tears away as if to comfort him. He reached up and hugged the daemon more tears rolling down his face which fell onto Bronx's body. The daemon used his neck to lift Leo up, putting him onto his back then started running back to the others. Leo held onto the collar and tried to keep his feet and legs up. Bronx was large enough to carry him but his feet still hit the ground as he moved. The hound that attacked them was up and after them however even with the extra weight Bronx soon made his way to the others.
 
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Everything seemed to be moving quickly, maybe on the verge of rushed. It made sense, though, Apex was a very prestigious, very important corporation, so they were probably pressed just for time. Kore was sure the CEO had other matters to tend to before calling it a night. As Kore only had enough time to awkwardly learn that this new, bell-dwelling creature had no name, he was coaxed, or rather sternly demanded, to return to his vessel. To which he reluctantly did so. Kore carried the bell in her palm at first, wondering if it was appropriate to carry it in the pocket of her cardigan. Could it breathe in there? Did it even feel anything while housed in its artifact? Could it hear the outside world? Was it just unresponsively dormant. She figured it had to be aware of its surroundings to some extent if it knew when to come out, right?

After signing an assortment of legal documents, the group was ushered out from their previous location and escorted into an armored van. It held no windows or, seat belts for that matter, and there was no telling of where the group was relocating to. Kore pushed the bell into her pocket and slid on the bench in the van till she reached the end, near the tiny window that stood between Allister and Lorette up front and the gang of newbies in the hull. She crossed her legs and took a gander around the inside of the vehicle, adjusting her skirt as she did so. There was trace of this particular vehicle transporting weapons, but for this occasion, the arsenal was removed and the van seemed bare. Aside from all the bodies currently occupying it. The van made its way to the infamous wall, and before passing its threshold, they were stopped for inspection.

The van's double doors swung open and a current of wind swirled inside before settling. "Good evening, folks. Don't worry, we're just here to check and make sure everything is secure here," an Apex guard clarified. Secure? What were they checking, exactly? Weapons? A fugitive? Drugs? GASP. Was it drugs? As the possibility swirled in her head and morphed Kore's facial expression into nervousness, her worst fear (and sworn enemy) had entered the car. A dog wearing a vest that marked it as Apex property jumped in and began its search, energetically. Kore sank into her seat slowly, peering around so as to make sure no one noticed. She hasn't ingested any sort of substance in over four months, but the paranoia still agitated her conscious. Even so, she was unaware of the event until it was too late. They'd understand....right? It was her turn to be sniffed out. Her crossed legs tensed and the muscles around her lips tightened as she sat stiffly. Only her eyes moved to watch the dog perform its job, sniffing her crossed over leg and up to her knee, the wetness of its nose made her silently wince, then moving onto someone else at last. When the group was given the green light and the doors shut again, only then did Kore breathe and blood rushed back into her white, tightened knuckles after releasing its grip off the bench beneath her. 'God, I didnt even think about a drug test,' she admitted to herself in her thoughts. Although she was sure what ever was there was flushed out of her system by now, there was still a small fiber of her being that panicked over the thought of being caught. It was a very influential fiber.

The van continued and silence fell onto everyone like a plague, except for the occasional exchange between Allister and Lorette. The were was an unexpected and abrupt stop that shifted everyones weight forward, toward the front of the van, making whoever sitting next to her almost crush her with the combined weight of others against them. Her eyebrows pinched together in a slightly angry manner. Who drives like that? With this many lives in their hands?! Her head snapped toward the front to see what was going on, but from the looks of it, even the CEO and her assistant were just as confused. Kore couldnt see well through the tiny window from where she sat, but she could make out some sort of obstruction in front of the car. Night approached fast and that didnt help with visibility either. Kore sat back in her seat and sighed, thinking about this was the weirdest interview she'd been a part of. Suddenly, gravity shifted once more and the van was speeding in reverse. With one hand, Kore gripped onto of the racks that previously stowed firearms, now empty and looked around confused, and slightly concerned. Was this another test of sorts?

"What the fuck is that?!" Lorette asked, pretty loudly.

Well thats comforting to hear. The woman who so confidently spoke of attainable power less than an hour prior, now sounded just as terrified as Kore was feeling. Kore felt as though she just sat through a self-help seminar and found out that the guy hosting it has a life thats actually in complete shambles. To say the least, she was confused but mostly scared. The Van was being pushed faster as they drove straight now, and it was apparent that something was really wrong. With a piercing screech the van spun out of control, sending everyone in it in a whirl. When it ceased, Kore sat up and rubbed her head, slightly disoriented from the spin and her sense of direction thrown off from the lack of windows. It was a strange, dizzy feeling, her senses were just overloaded and slightly confused with what just happened. With out wasting another moment, the double doors flew open and the smell of burnt rubber flooded her nose. Allister escorted everyone out, "Quickly! Head towards the main building. Help should be on its way and with any luck Lorette and I should still be alive when they get here."

Kore didnt stick around to find out the details, but judging by the beastly bodies littering the ground around the van and the appearance of Allister's stag towering over one of them, she easily put together that this was no test and something actually was very wrong. Kore kicked off her heels and picked them up now standing at her natural height of around 5'2, "Welp, four years of track in high school and it comes down to this," she mumbled cynically. 'Im never wearing heels on the job, ever again,' she promised herself. She thought back to all those papers she had just finished signing, was this part of the job description? Kore looked to the others, "C'mon we should get going, we're no use to them sitting here."

With one expensive shoe in each hand, the new, petite recruit of Apex sprinted toward the direction that Allister pointed out for them with just her socks on. Kore didnt realize how much ground was covered since the main building from riding in that van. Guess thats why there was a van in the first place, "Fuck me," she panted, , "I knew I should've read the fine print!" Right on queue, Kore and the group were suddenly thrown into the air. She let out a yelp in surprise and sort of flailed around at first, but as she drew closer to the ground, she braced her self for a tumble-roll landing and popped back up to continue running. Nice head start, gymnastics is younger years seemed to be handy too. Kore took back all the times she begged her dad to let her leave that sport.

Kore was generally fit (even after some years of sports) but couldnt run like she used to and after some time she ran behind one of the storage sheds they had passed on the way to take a breather. Shed squat down, her back against the wall, shaking her head in disbelief, "What the hell is happening," she chuckled sarcastically, huffing and puffing to catch her breath, moving to peer around the corner. From where she sat she could see the serpent daemon from earlier and that energetic guy with the monkey doing what they can to help. From thin air, the same voice...er, voices, from before echoed in her head, "Keep going, theyre coming back."

"What?" Kore sat back and was met with the many teeth of the nameless creature from before, towering over her on all fours and a little too close for comfort. She yelped in surprise and almost toppled over in her squatted position, turning her head away from the monsterous sight. "Dammit....You couldnt warn me?!" She didnt expect him to materialize so suddenly, and quietly, so she scooted a little ways away to a more comfortable distance.

"I can smell them," his voices grew deeper, more twisted, and the staccato of a low, predatory growl sang in his throat. The black ooze, seeping from between his teeth and dotting the floor beneath him, drooled from his mouth again, "I can eat them if it would like," you could practically hear that wicked smile of his in his voice as his forked tongue flittered out in excitement.

Kore shook her head, "We'd just be getting in the way, We should keep going, like we were told to do." her voice was stern and she stood up again, "So can you get back in your," she paused and held up the bell, "...thingy?"

"If its asking a question then I can decline."

Kore took off again, "I dont have time for this."

"Time does not exist. There is only now. It lives on a linear plane. I do not."

"Gimme a break. C'mon we're not staying here."

"No, indeed not. "

Kore continued on toward the main building but stopped when she realized she heard the creature's heavy-footed steps gallop in the complete opposite direction. The frustrated woman turned around and grabbed a fist full of her hair, "What are you doing?!"

The beast ran back to the others incase they needed extra muscle, and from the looks of it, they could. Kore could see that one of the other Daemons had come out to help its new parter, carrying him on its back. She sighed and shut her eyes tight, as much as she didnt want to be involved it looked like she was going to have to be. Once again she pushed off into a run, following the same path as her own Daemon, "Just keep them off us!" she commanded the beast and redirected her course toward the collapsed guy, he mustve been hurt. They managed to fight off that hideous thing from before but it quickly sought after them still. Kore caught up with the dog-like Daemon and his human, obviously not in good health, "This way!" she ran right behind them to make sure they were going in the right direction.

Her Daemon had cut off the four-legged thing that chased them and released a terrifying roar to distract it. He turned slightly and struck the thing with its whip of a tail, sending it sliding into a random storage unit that surrounded them. Kore's Daemon wasted no time, mouth drooling now as it played with its prey. With only three bounds he pounced on the wretched thing and unhinged his jaw to open wider, taking the head whole and then thrashing violently.

Kore saw this and felt confident that the bell-dwelling Daemon could defend itself. She looked back to Bronx and Leo and frowned, "He needs help," she panted, "We're almost there."



Mentioned: mysteryxio mysteryxio
 
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Run. Run. Find them. Find them. Prey is fast. Be faster. Prey is strong. Be stronger. Too strong, too fast. Too many. Flee? Flee! No, fight. Fight!

You feel yourself falling again. Body torn, and life force spilled freely on the ground. You rise, only to be sent tumbling once more. You ebb and flow, like waves on the beach. You are flowing, thrashing. You are powerful. But you break. So often, so pitifully. You break against hard crystal. Against sharp steel. You break against their unerring resolve.

You rise again. You will fall one dozen times and rise once more. They break you. They cleave you in two. They hate you. But you rise.

Claws reaching forward yet again. Fangs gnashing, you try to tear the life from them. To break them as they have broken you countless times before. You can rise and fall forever. They can only fall but once. But once. All that you need is to fell them but once.

Why won't they fall?

You were told. By who? You were promised. But when?

One time. One time.

A part of you not there. Not far, but not near topples one. You smell blood, taste it like phantom wind. A promise. A victory.

It rises. Not on its own. Another is there. It carries it away from the you that is far off. Fast. Faster than you.

It is like you. But not. Not a part of you. But it is.

They will not fall. You lunge again, teeth ready. Something hard meets them, and they fly away. Fleeing your jaws as if they too were prey.

You have fallen again. How many times will you fail?

A piece of you gives chase. They are fast. You can be faster. Close. They are close. You have more jaws. More teeth. More hatred. You are close. Your prize is near.

A prize not of blood. But something else. Who was it that offered this to you?

It matters not. You find prey. Just as quick, you become it. Something very much not you, and not at all unlike you lunges from the dark. Big! Too big! Fewer teeth, fewer jaws, but still too many. Blind like you. Hateful like you. Not prey like you.

Wrong. This is wrong. Why? Who told you this?

Jaws grabbing. Teeth piercing. You are thrown. You are felled again. You have fallen so much. Your body cannot tire. But the soul you never had grows weary. Prey is close. If only you could grab hold of them. You must take hold of them. You must. There is a reason. Prey, but not prey.

You are empty. You can be made full. You are broken. You can be made whole.

You flee the snapping jaws. The multitude of voices that laugh and mock. Another body left behind to rise and fall countless times. There is only you. Only you are left. Your prey is close. It wavers. It fears. It can die. It will die. You can make them fall. You promised.

Who did you promise? Why?

There is another you. Unseen. Unheard. Somewhere far. But it is you? It is all you. They are all you.

You must be made whole before all else breaks.

Closer. Faster. You see them. Movements ever more tired. You hear them. Breaths ever more labored. Fear in the air. Theirs. Now yours. You fall again. Something strikes you, small and fast. You never see it. You only hear it. A crack. The smell of hot metal, and something you. You fall. Your prey runs.


"Nailed it!" An armored woman whoops as she lowers her rifle. The shot had been relatively easy, even with the added challenge of shooting between several moving targets. Of course, she could only attribute that to the Falcon perched on her shoulder. Zweek was a good Daemon. A Falcon's eyes only saw what was important and discarded the rest. Anne never missed, but she knew that the random assortment of people and Daemons running towards them wouldn't be as impressed by her trick shot.

And judging by his stony silence, neither was her superior. In fairness, it was often hard to tell if Jakob had any other moods beyond disappointment as he never really displayed any others. The helmet covering his face wasn't helping either, but something in his body language and the way he stared silently in her direction told Anne that he was at minimum, unamused.

Even his Daemon looked disdainful. But cats were good at that anyway, even the large sabre toothed ones.

Jakob said nothing, probably out of necessity. But most likely out of the knowledge that he'd be wasting his time reprimanding Anne at that moment and instead turned his attention back the group fleeing in their direction. Even with the limited information they could glean from their boss, he knew well that they were new hires. Guards stationed at the wall were quick to inform everyone beyond it of their coming. Which was great, otherwise they'd have to shoot them all and given the evening they'd all had, it would have been adding insult to injury.

His eyes narrowed behind his helmet as he spotted an injured man being carried by one Daemon. He looked to be in terrible shape, and blood stained his clothes plainly. Jakob said nothing, merely lifting a hand to gesture at a wiry man standing to his left and pointing him toward the injured party. His Daemon's nose twitched visibly, and concern marred her canine features. Like her Handler, Autumn handled first aid. It well suited her warm and maternal nature, and Daemon and Human alike were quick to seek her help when injured. A quick scan told Jakob that the rest were relatively unharmed. At least physically. They wouldn't escape mental scarring so easily.

But dealing with that mental scarring was not his problem. An unknown Manifestation was loose on the property while on his watch, and the CEO was engaging it. Securing the entity and making sure that the stubborn woman didn't get herself killed was his top priority.

"Morris. Hrosvir with me." He barked. Another armored individual and the large Bear Daemon next to them snapped to attention immediately. Jakob urged the Sabre-toothed cat he sat astride forward, only taking the time to bark out another order at those who remained before they disappeared into the dark. "Get that man patched up and move those people inside." Anne shot a two-fingered salute at the man's retreating back, and groaned inaudibly. She'd been hoping for more target practice, not to be stuck babysitting. Zweek chirped sympathetically on her shoulder and rested a wing atop her head in a facsimile of patting it. The Falcon was clearly trying his best to comfort her, even though he lacked the appropriate limbs to do so.

sUB818S.jpg"All right. I get it." She conceded, before glancing at Lester. He was hard at work cleaning a rather nasty looking set of gashes on the wounded man's side and she couldn't help but grimace. Anne was not squeamish, but she'd seen her share of horrific injuries during her time with Apex and knew that the poor guy had gotten off easy. If the thing chasing them hadn't been so intent on running its prey down, it could have well eviscerated him. A few scars were a fair price to pay in exchange. Autumn had busied herself checking over everyone else with a level of professionalism and care that seemed strange for a giant wolf. But if anyone had complaints, the Daemon paid them no heed. She was there to make sure they were all in one piece.

"Is anyone else hurt? Don't be shy dears, I can get you patched up in a flash." She said kindly.

A sharp screech from Zweek pulled Anne out of her reverie and she whipped her head around to peer into the darkness. She'd expected another Manifestation to come bounding towards them. The Boss had said there were five after all. What she hadn't expected was for the Hound she'd shot to jerk to its feet and begin shambling towards them. Anne sucked in a breath and took aim once again. Time seemed to slow as everything around her faded away. All that remained was her target, approaching at increasing speeds and clear as day. It was all that mattered. She pulled the trigger and once again the Daemon was struck between where its eyes should have been. A shower of flesh and black ichor erupted from the thing's head as the bullet struck true and it fell heavily with a pained yelp.

Anne knew as well as anyone that a Facet didn't rise so quickly. Especially when it was so far from the main body. Even if it was nothing more than a puppet, she'd effectively killed it. Apparently, the thing felt otherwise.

"Hey Lester, get that guy patched up and let's get out of here. The Boss hates us wasting bullets and this thing isn't staying down." She nearly shouted. Already the Hound's body was twitching as it regained consciousness and Anne tensed. She could shoot it as much as she wanted, but eventually the thing would be on them at the speed it moved. She quickly took stock of their situation. She had a group of newbies and their Daemons who could probably be helpful on their own, but throwing them into harm's way without evidence of their capabilities wasn't an option. Besides that, they were ordered to make a retreat. She knew that Jakob and the rest could kill the thing's main body, but that wouldn't be as soon enough.

Getting to the main building where they could hunker down and safety was really the only option. Anne groaned loudly and drew her standard issued blade. She tossed it to the sole uniformed member within the group as he seemed the best fit to wield it at the time. "Eventually that thing is going to get within stabbing range. They usually come at you teeth first, so thrust and twist. You'll get it in the chest when it leaps at you." She barked, not allowing the young man time to decline her offer. They were all employees of Apex whether they liked it or not. It was time for them to start earning their keep.

She drew her sidearm and held it out for another person to take. "If anyone here knows how to shoot, do it. These are lower caliber than what I've been using. But a less effective bullet is better than none. Hurry up!"

The Hound had staggered to its feet and began its sprint anew. Lester had quickly patched the injured man up quickly enough, but it'd be on them before they could start to move.

"Jakob had better hurry the fuck up." Anne hissed under her breath.


He'd expected things beyond the usual. Manifestations didn't just randomly appear outside. Especially with no prior breach of containment, so the situation was already outside the norm of what he usually dealt with. Jakob didn't even bat an eye as they ran past another Daemon savagely attacking one of the Hounds. It clearly wasn't with them, and judging from the number of people they'd picked up it was one of the group that had stayed behind to engage their pursuers. He hoped it didn't get itself killed before they could resolve the issue; it seemed pretty capable.

Jakob expected a lot of strange things. So when they approached the van that clearly belonged to the group of people along with the Boss and her assistant, he'd wasted no time in ordering Hrosvir to smash it. The bipedal Polar Bear gladly obliged, lifting his massive war hammer and swatting the vehicle aside as if it weighed nothing at all. Some measure of collateral was to be expected, but that didn't stop Allister from complaining all the same.

"Oh, come on, not the van! I don't want to fill out a report for that too!" He shouted in plain exasperation. Despite his need to express his disdain for their backup, Allister had the presence of mind to kick a Hound that was edgeing too close square in the face. It was bowled over with a pained yelp and it scrabbled to its feet before darting out of the man's reach. Between Allister and Faendr, the beasts were quickly learning that the pair weren't easy prey. The appearance of more people and Daemons only made them increasingly nervous. They were outnumbered and outmatched. Instincts were weighing out over whatever silent order their master had given them and they slunk further away from the source of danger. Jakob scoffed, clearly unimpressed.

"So this is what you've been doing? They're like puppies."

"Mean puppies." Allister shot back, eyeing the steadily retreating hounds. Facets rarely displayed any intricate thought processes. They were given an order, and would carry it out until told otherwise. They certainly didn't display fear, even when outnumbered. It had long since become apparent that what they were dealing with was well beyond an anomaly.

"All the more reason to kill them." Jakob thought to himself. He wasn't as well versed in the science of Daemons as some. But he knew how to hurt them, and the Boss didn't seem keen on keeping them alive. He really couldn't have asked for a simpler task.

Speaking of their belligerent employer, Lorette was still locked in combat with...whatever the hell she was fighting. That was something Jakob hadn't expected, and he decided there and then that asking questions would only serve to confuse and upset him. Theirs was definitely a situation left for the Research department to puzzle over.

"Dreadfang and I will deal with the mutts." Jakob said, shooting a look at Allister. "Can you corral these things?" He asked and Allister nodded curtly. "With your help, yes we can do that."

"Good." Jakob grunted, jumping from Dreadfang's back and hefting the large polearm he carried in one hand. The man was certainly an oddity in that regard. Swords were common, but apparently Jakob wasn't happy unless he was doing as much physical damage to his enemies as humanly possible. Allister was almost positive the man was a warrior from a time long forgotten trapped in the modern day with the way he behaved.

"Morris, Hrosvir. Help the Boss lock that thing down. She wants a full dispersal, so once its pinned put it down." Jakob ordered, waving the pair away with nary another word. If there was one thing the pair was good at, it was forcing their foes to buckle. Combined, they should have no problem getting the issue under control.

"All right pretty boy." Jakob said, drawing a raised brow from Allister. "Let's get started."

"Right." Allister began, raising a wall of gleaming crystal to block the narrow path back to the main building. The van had done a pretty good job of that, but with their help's dynamic entrance he had to make do.

"And while I appreciate the compliment, I'd hardly say that I look pretty now." The blonde-haired man continued. Jakob took in Allister's disheveled appearance and snorted in amusement.

"Yeah, you do look like shit." He conceded, much to the other man's chagrin. Jakob swung his polearm with deadly efficiency, hewing one hound almost in two and sending its ruined corpse sprawling. Dreadfang swatted at another and sent it howling to the ground as its cursed blood flowed freely from the newly open wounds clawed into its side. Allister and Faendr were quick to raise walls, obstructing the Hounds as they reformed and tried to fan out. They were running out of space, and they were running out of time. They darted back and forth in an increasing panic, sometimes colliding and bowling each other over in their haste to try to escape. Jakob hummed thoughtfully as he watched them.

"They really are different from what we've seen. I don't like it." He finally stated. Allister nodded while keeping his focus on corralling the hounds with Faendr. "Yeah. Neither do I. It never means anything good when they behave oddly."

If what remained of Grant was at all aware of what was happening to his pets, he didn't show it. His focus remained dreadfully fixed on Lorette, who was unwilling to die and thereby making herself a massive nuisance. In hindsight, she'd be a breath of fresh air compared to Hrosvir. Twelve foot tall Polar Bears wielding hammers weren't typically a problem for anyone had to deal with. But unfortunately for what remained of Grant, it was exactly the thing he was forced to contend with.

EDFc96HUUAA9A4-.jpgA roar and a shout was all the warning Lorette had to get the hell out of the way, and she did by gracelessly throwing herself to the side. Bruises and a dirty jacket were a fair trade to avoid getting trampled by a Daemon. Especially one as hefty as Hrosvir. The Bear swung his hammer and caved the metal thing's steel chest in. It was sent toppling amidst the screech of metal and the furious rasping cry of Grant. Footsteps approached quickly, and Lorette looked up to see an armored individual reaching down towards her. For a brief second she tensed in fear, worried that another one of her employees would split in two and this time finish her off. But a gauntleted hand reached down to gently grasp her shoulder.

"Are you all right Ma'am?" A voice asked and Lorette relaxed, if only internally. "I'll be better when this thing is dead. Let's wrap this up." She said, rising to her feet with Morris' help. "Yes, Ma'am!" He replied quickly, ready to help and eager to please. Lorette was thankful for the man's enthusiasm as she was quickly running out of patience. Someone else could do the emotional lifting for a while.

Hrosvir was proving to be an even match for the metal monstrosity, but Grant was doing his damndest to make things difficult for the Bear. He stabbed wildly, at the Daemon's legs in a bid to cripple him and Hrosvir growled in pain. His focus could only be put towards keeping the shambling thing at bay, and he was too stubborn to be halted so easily. But he could not hold forever and Lorette was quick to leap into action with Morris.

The armored man, like his Daemon, was a Sentinel. Big, strong, and hard to get rid of. He dashed forward, riot shield at the ready and slammed the wall of metal into what remained of Grant's face. Hrosvir used the respite to press his own attack and together they shoved the shambling thing backwards. Its balance was fighting a losing battle, and it struggled to stay upright. Lorette used that small opening to strike. The battle could go on no longer, and she had neither the time nor the right to hesitate. Her blade met no resistance as it sank pint first into Grant's narrow chest.

If it pierced his heart, she didn't know. She wasn't even sure if it was beating anymore. She knew that what had once been Grant was long gone. All that was left of him was his ruined corpse being puppeted by something that had no business being there.

A skeletal hand grasped the blade weakly, and the ruined thing of a man spat out a disdainful laugh. Blackened blood flowed freely from the fresh wound, splattering the ground like oil. Its eyes found hers, and for a moment Lorette was drawn in by the limitless possibility held within them. Potential was always spoken of as a thing of beauty. Of goodness. But she knew that potential had no allegiance and no morals. Therein she saw only the possibility of evil without limits. A possibility she would do anything to prevent.

"We...will be made whole." It sputtered, the lights it called eyes fading out. "The keys...." It's wet sickly breaths faded, and the man slumped forward heavily. Grant's mutilated body had finally caught up with his soul, and moved no longer. Lorette yanked her blade from his sunken chest with a grunt and stepped back as Hrosvir shoved the metal entity over. With its master it too died, and whatever power kept it together began to rapidly break down. It faded fast, a black mass writhing and shrinking to nothingness. All that remained were twisted scraps of metal, and the flayed corpse of a man who'd died a long time ago.

The Hounds too, fell apart. Unraveling amid pained shrieks and howls. Another oddity. Another thing that should not have been. A Facet always died silently. But these did not. Allister and Jakob watched in silent horror as the things fell twitching to the ground and writhed in agony as they were torn from existence against their will. It was over. But they knew better. It was never over. It seemed, against all hope that things were set to begin in ways unprecedented and unprepared for.

"I really don't get paid enough for this." Allister huffed. Jakob nodded in agreement.

Lorette stood over Grant's ruined body silently. She'd seen employees reduced to nothing more than piles of meat chunks. It never got easier. But they usually only blamed her for their deaths in her nightmares. She'd never had one of her people do so while they still passed for living.

"Have someone bag him up." She said, not bothering to look at Morris as she strode away. "And get the Sirens. He's not going home."

Lorette reached into her jacket and withdrew the man's dog tags. It was all that his family would receive. Another body missing. Another lie told. Another ghost looming over her.

"And the night's just beginning." She thought humorlessly. She paused, taking in the sight of the ruined van she didn't have the energy to get pissed off about before looking at Allister. "Jakob can take it from here. Let's find those new hires. Hopefully, they haven't been torn apart yet.”



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Kahurangi ran, his lungs breathing in and out at a rhythmic pace. Heart rate is spiked even for him. Even if he maintains an air of calmness, the feeling of death nipping at his feet twists his stomach. His Daemonic companion occasionally looked back to spot the vicious hound. Belshazzar welled up with disgust at the sight of that horrific visage. It beat the air with its tongue to show irritation; also to gather chemicals. The tattooed man terribly wished to fight back, but the absence of any credible weapon made that impossible. Then the unmistakable whizzing of a bullet caught Kahurangi's attention. An armoured woman had splattered the hound chasing them.

From what little he saw back at the van, Kahurangi knew that this wouldn't be the end of it. By the time he reached over there, the hound would've reformed. "Watch out! It's not toasted yet!" His warnings came too late as the hound began to rise. Another blast rapidly put it down. The woman drew her sidearm and held it out for someone to grab it. Kahurangi, as part of his career and culture, had weapons training. He reached out and grabbed the sidearm. "Thanks." There's that expressionless tone again. He was unfamiliar with this pistol; he needed a minute or two to familiarize himself.

"Ready when you are," Kahurangi mouthed to the armoured woman. "These things are new, aren't they?"
 

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