Futuristic Reptiles (In the city under a radiation storm)

[Joyeful]

She made a face, seemingly slightly offended. It was one she used to mask concern- that usually pissed people off even more than her fake annoyance.
"Gee, sorry I asked."

Her own tone was sarcastic, with a touch of annoyance. Underneath, again, that concern everyone hated so much. After a minute of silence, Octo sighed.
"So, escape. How'd you get out the other two places?"
It may have sounded like a quick way out of the awkward conversation, and it was- but anything was better than strained silence.

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake turned his head back towards her.

"First time was easy. The guards had compassion. It wasn't a kill-house like this. My cellmate pretended to be sick, and when the guards opened the cell we attacked, took their key passes, and broke everyone out. Second round was a lot harder. I was stuck in there for three months, and one of those was in solitary. That month of hell turned out to be my lucky break. I made buddies with a guard who sympathized with mutants, and he left my cell unlocked one day. He didn't expect me to kill his buddies, but it had to happen for a successful jail break. He got killed in the resulting riot. I almost didn't do another break after that one, but the pay was just too good.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo raised a brow.
"You purposefully got yourself locked up again, so that you could... what, escape and get paid for it?"

She could understand why he did it. But it was hard to figure in why someone would purposefully get themselves locked up for such a small result. "Prisoner next cell mentioned your last cellmate got killed? What'd you try then?"

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake shrugged. "The pay is worth it, and I'm not just escaping. I have to get the whole place cleared out. Usually there's a high profile target locked up in these places that a company wants released, and all other attempts didn't work. I know my first jailbreak was done by the owners to embarrass the warden. These are games run by politics, and I'll happily play my role. I told you that guy was just talking shit. It was an old fashioned 'grab the keys off their belt and let yourself out' trick which worked at first. My buddy Alex got through the las-grid while the guards had it opened. He started fighting them, the grid went up as I was coming in to help, and the grid burned me. If I had been a little faster I'd have gotten through. They told us Alex died, but I don't believe it. He was a tough son of a bitch. I think he was punch-drunk and just ran off.

 

[Joyeful]

"Who exactly is Alex- what's he do?" she asked, "Feels like he'd be popular among the people I steal for and from."
She'd heard many, many names throughout her "career" of sorts, and whatever Alex did, it sounded like he'd make his mark in whatever profession he worked.

The explanation, as far as Snake's face went, seemed to add up properly, especially from what she could see. And it was true- getting a whole prison freed? The pay would definitely be worth it. Octo would have liked to know more about prisoners and politics, but she just never had the time- or wasn't interested enough in hearing what new law was going to try to crush mutants like herself under, thanks to some idiot, fresh out of the underground.

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake shrugged. "Not much, he was a pretty quiet guy. He said he had family, so I told him my plans. He was eager, like you. Though I think he was quiet so nothing stupid came out of his mouth. Huge guy, built like a brick shit-house. I don't know if it was real muscle, mutant-related, or genetic enhancement, but the dude was strong. This cell didn't have a window before he got here. He tried punching his way through the wall, and got hit with tranquilizers for it."

 

[Joyeful]

She looked thoughtful for a minute. "No, I don't think I've heard of him before. If I ever see him, I'll thank him for the light, I guess," she chuckled.
The idea of a family was interesting. Her own had hated her, and she'd left as quickly as she could. She'd never been too envious of those who were happy with their own, but she had wondered what it would be like.
Though, from his reaction earlier, Octo doubted very much that Snakebite was the best person to ask about family life. He seemed more than a little touchy about it, masking whatever it was with... brashness? Was that the word?

 

[Jodyguru]

A day passed, and cups of gruel were placed in the prison cell. In the adjacent cell, a group of convicts started fighting over the watery mash, which woke up Snakebite and Octo.

A guard approached the cells and started banging on the bars with a baton to make the inmates stop fighting. After they settled down, the guard spun around to a half-awake Octo.

"Good news, thief. Somebody is claiming you. You'll be getting sprung soon" the guard stated and walked off.

Snake groaned. "So you've got friends on the outside after all? I guess my plans going to shit, then."

All of this would likely surprise Octo, since thieves didn't keep many friends, or ones close enough to notice that she was missing so soon after her incarceration.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo narrowed her eyes.

"Depending on what it's about... I'm either dead, or I get to walk free. I don't tend to enjoy company, so the former is far more likely- I'd rather risk my chances on breaking out than with someone who'll hang me anyways."

She had made friends and enemies, friendships always short lived, save for those she made with people she worked with often. So this was definitely more likely a death trap, than some lucky break.

Probably someone she'd stolen from- one of the wealthier people. "Seriously. When they come and get me might be a great time to bust out of this shithole."

 

[Jodyguru]

Snakebite seemed lost, like he was beginning to lose hope of escaping this place. He started to think that this was a mistake, trying to bust this jailhouse. Security protocol was just too damn tight.

"Whatever happens, happens. I suppose you'll get another chance at life outside."

A pair of guards arrived, and one of them ordered Snake to rise and put his hands through the bars. He did as he was told, squeezing his swollen hands through so the guard could handcuff him. They opened the cell door to let Octo out.

"No funny business, or you'll be on the short list to the gunner walls. You've been treated pretty well here, all things considered."

"Hell, for a mutie this is high class treatment! Get your ass to the door. Move!" The guards pushed Octo towards the door. As they got closer, a bright pink barrier appeared in front of the door. This was the las-grid that Snake mentioned. A guard moved in front of her and started typing the code in the pinpad.

0...2... something.... 9. She could see a few numbers but couldn't make it all out. The las-grid disappeared and they opened the door. The next room was a gray holding area with a guard stationed nearby. They escorted Octo through the room and out, into a long narrow hallway.

Soon after that, Octo's face was hit with a ray of sunlight. They were in the courtyard of the jail house, a wide open yard of dirt and barbed wire fencing around the perimeter. Across the street was a black sedan with tinted windows. Cars were infrequently found in Nova unless they were a gutted rusty hunk of steel. They must have been waiting for somebody.

"Your bail has been posted. You're free to go." the guard said.

 

[Joyeful]

She began to shake, slightly, seeing the sedan.
Fuck no.

02-9. What was the damn number? She needed to get back in, get away from whoever the hell was about to stuff her like a dead boar.

Snakebite needed her help, too. She could see it, whether that was selfish or paranoid or whatever emotion it was- narcissism? Maybe. But she needed to get back.
"I don't expect you to believe this, but I left a valuable in the cell- may I go back in to retrieve it?"

The guards looked at her suspiciously, so she used the acting she'd forced herself to learn, the kind that got her out of sticky situations, against all the damn odds.
"Please. That horrifying cellmate of mine has been trying to steal it for days, and I really, really want it back. It's a silver ring with a golden crest- of an eagle. It's really important, and he'll get a damn kick out of it if he gets to keep it-"

The guards just sighed, shoving her back in, bringing her back to the cell- the missing number a goddamn five.
"Girl says you took something from her," the guard rolled, "What, a ring? Something like that."

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake looked up from his dark corner of the cell. He was surprised to see Octo back already. In that moment, his hopes were invigorated.

"Yeah...hehehe... I hid it up your mother's craw. She fuckin' liked it too." He cackled. The guard growled and angrily unlocked the cell.

"You dirty fucking bastard, I'll kill you!" The guard charged into the cell. Snake quickly stood up and grabbed the guard by the throat. Octo could smell something foul, like the spray of a skunk but somehow worse. The guard started howling in pain and collapsed. The other guard drew a pistol from his hip and aimed the sights at Snake.

Snake dropped the guard, whose body was blistering and bleeding with horrific pustules. Open sores formed that seemed to be smoking, like he set the man's insides on fire.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo had seen enough death to ignore it. In all honestly, it alighted a sort of adrenaline in her, and without a thought, she reached an arm towards the guard, wrapping her fingers around his neck.

"This is for keeping me locked up in a place with almost no light, and no water."

With that, she squeezed, feeling the bones lengthen in the way they always did, smooothly- and now she saw why people dubbed her "Octo".
When the guard dropped, either passed out or dead, her fingers returned to their usual proportion. "So, you feel like getting the hell out of here?" she asked, looking for where keys were.

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake pilfered a gun, baton, and keys off of the guard. Octo's guard had a pistol and baton as well. The prison was lighting up with men hollering. Snake let out a long sigh and rubbed his hand. It felt a little better, but using his power gave him fresh burns on his fingertips. It felt like how somebody with a UTI feels after peeing.

"Not until I finish what I came here to do. I can handle it from here, if you wanna save your own ass." He was looking towards the far end of the cell block, which had stairs leading to the second floor. He needed to find the control center, so he could get all the cell doors open at once.

 

[Joyeful]

"Some ass in a black sedan is out front- might be narcissistic to think it might be for me, but I'm a thief. I make enemies. I'd prefer doing this as opposed to being stuck into another cage, and roasted over an open fire," she replied, grabbing the pistol and weighing it in her hand. It would work.

"Where to next, boss?" she asked, glancing around at the suddenly much louder prison. It reminded her of a betting ring. Shaking away the comparison, she looked over at Snakebite.

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake checked the ammo in his magazine and snapped it into the pistol. He smirked at her and walked past her down the hallway. "A dose of healthy paranoia keeps us alive. Duck." He said, then whipped around, brandishing the gun in Octo's direction. He fired a couple shots, and a guard fell down. The one from the holding area had come through to investigate the disruption. He fell in the doorway, and when the timer on the las-grid ended, it chopped him in half.

Snake ran upstairs, and they came across another las-grid which blocked entrance to the second floor.

"Fuck! They really love these damn things, huh?" Snake hadn't thought of everything. It really seemed like he was improvising this whole prison break affair.

 

[Joyeful]

"They probably used the same code. They were far too cocky when parading me through," Octo replied, speedwalking forward and punching in the same code she'd seen- 0259.

"Hope this works. Whatever bail was posted for me, it's probably going to shit now," she muttered under her breath.

 

[Jodyguru]

The grid blipped green and disappeared. Snake started laughing and gave Octo a one-armed hug around her shoulders. "Ha, brilliant! I knew you were the ticket outta here!" He sped through the door and into the second prison block. This one was much quieter than downstairs.The prisoners were behind thick plastic walls, and there was lots of medical equipment stationed around the place. Each of them seemed low energy, laying in beds or sleeping with machines attached to them.

"What... is this place?" Snake thought out loud. This was a very different feeling than the jail house he spent a month rotting in.

"It is where we house the most dangerous mutants." A voice spoke in the room, clear as if one were standing next to them. "Ones with mental and psychic abilities. They require different care, as you can see."

A person came into view across the hall. It was a man with gray skin and blue veins visible in his face and hands. He looked like a preserved mummy wearing a long black uniform. He was there, when previously the room had been empty.

"I must ask... why do you persist through my domain,when the front door was so easy to find? You do not... ah yes... you seek to free these people. How pitiful" the man who was clearly a warden started chuckling softly.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo shuddered, looking at the man. "Why is that considered pitiful? You're the one standing twenty feet away and not bothering to talk to us normally."

Maybe too bold, for someone of her standing, but he was a mutant. And he was toying with them, obviously. She only stepped a few inches forward to not get caught on the other side of the las-grid. "And why such important prisoners in such a shit prison?"

 

[Jodyguru]

The man shook his head. "You are misguided fools. Our kind does not deserve to exist. Mutants are a cancer on society. These dregs you seek to save will only disrupt the harmony of society. Thieves, murderers, sinners of every stripe being loose in the city will do nothing but harm. For these reasons I collect them, study the interesting ones, and dispose of the rest. You, Richard, are one of the interesting ones, which is why I kept you alive this long."

Snakebite let out a small gasp and thrust his arm out, aiming the gun at the warden. "How the fuck do you know my name? I never give that out."

The warden laughed. "Such a simple fool you are. I read your mind the second I spotted you. Although, your friend is a little harder to probe. Perhaps I'll keep her for observation."

"Probe this!" Snake roared and fired the gun. A forcefield formed around the warden, prompting another laugh from him as the shots bounced off of him.

"Weakness breeds weakness. I must say I'm disappointed that you aren't as interesting a test subject as I hoped."

A strange blue energy balled itself in the warden's hands, and he blasted a psychic pulse at the pair of inmates.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo instinctively dropped to the floor, yanking Snakebite down with her. Maybe the problem with this fool was that he was looking for the past- and at the moment, she was only focused on the present.

"Funny, you're so hypocritical. If you hate our kind so much, I would have thought you'd have killed yourself by now. You seem to be one of those boring tomes of useless bullshit- go to hell."

 

[Jodyguru]

"We are not the same. You are weak flesh bound by tumors and murk. I am an ascending being. My life's work will shape humanity, bringing us into a new era of prosperity. I'll trample over thousands of your ilk to reach my ideals!"

The ground started trembling. The plastic walls were vibrating. He was charging up something intense to try and kill them with.

"You gonna listen to that bullshit, or are you gonna go strangle his fuckin neck?" Snake asked and helped Octo and himself back to their feet. He told her that he'd cover her, and he started firing rounds at the warden. Shots bounced off his shield, and the rumbling subsided for a moment before continuing again.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo grinned, despite the situation. "Call me a fucking psychopath, I think we're on the same wavelength."
Inch by inch, she moved forward, feeling the trembling of the ground- and then she just used her slime to stick to a wall, like she'd done so many times before on heists and the like. Though the plastic was much more slippery than whatever she'd climbed before, it made it all the easier to get to the insane warden quickly, especially with all the shaking.

It was when she hit the forcefield that she wondered what in hell she was doing. "Okay, ass playing god, can you give me any tips of ascension, then? I'm interested."

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake fired two more shots before his gun clicked empty. Octo had the other gun. He took the baton and started running towards the Warden.

The Warden ripped a hole in the ground with a psychic blast of energy directed at Snake, who took the hit and reeled backwards onto the ground. He was a little bloody and sapped of his stamina. After that, the psychic turned his attention to Octo, who crawled on the wall towards him at rapid speed.

"Let me see your third eye... appear to me" He hollered, trying to gain access to her thoughts.

Octo would feel a stranger inside her head. It was a voice different from the thoughts in her head.
"Its roomy in here... not much going on. Let's see what's in your subconscious, hm?"

For now, she had control over her body. All that the warden could do was view the inner mind of Octo, the thief.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo was good at keeping things from strangers. But even then, she knew that sometime, the psychic psycho would make it to the part of her mind she hated the most.

She compartmentalized for a reason, but she wanted to distract the man for a minute, and tossed a name out. Random, something she'd probably read somewhere- except it did mean something to her. And it led to a twisting train of thought, hopefully one that would keep the warden occupied.
Aliya Wynd. Make what you will of that.

She was still looking for a place where he was unguarded on the outside, where the forcefield ended, or maybe stopped for a second. Dammit, she was a thief. She'd gotten that damned las-grid passcode- so what was the passcode to this guy?

Snakebite, or Richard, whatever he wanted to be known as, was another matter entirely, but she set that aside, knowing she'd have to deal with it, but not now.
I have to wonder- if you're so intent on finding my thoughts, why don't you go ahead and share something with me?

It sickened her to talk to the man, but he was already reading through her mind, so what the hell.