It's raining again. For as long as I’ve been here it's just been rain.. I sit in my quarters scattering stones on the floor in various patterns and tossing them again. There are no coverings on my windows, and nothing breakable was allowed in my solid white prison. The scary thing about being here is that I'm not bored at all - the feigned entertainment has to be a breakthrough in mind control technology yet, even though all I'm able to do is toss these stones on the floor and watch the dark clouds lazily drift by.
I know none of this is really here, and if I was truly locked in a pure white tower of concrete with only a window and a few stones, I'd probably go mad. Still though, there's nothing I can do about it. If she wished it, I could be locked in this 'sane' little cage forever, unfeeling, unnoticing, unchanging. This is truly a torture no one has imagined yet. I wish I could feel something, anything.. But it seems to be impossible for me to have the slightest emotion here.. for her own protection of course.
She, the one I'm always speaking of, the one that captured me here and seized my consciousness in a forever placid asylum, the one who would suffer life and soul for the sake of science. This one is the tall siren known as Kanite Genymide. She, of course, has no feeling for anyone other than herself, and certainly cares nothing for me other than as a test subject. She surely finds me as fascinating as I do her, although I'd rather see her head on a pikestaff than hold a civil conversation with her.
Recently she's been trying different things out on me; I think she's nearing the end of her experimentation, or tiring of the endlessness of the investigation. Typical things like allowing me to feel extreme heat, cold, and observing my responses to different amounts of electricity and toxic substances. I'm getting very tired, and I’m almost certain I’ve gotten a virus or something from that infernal contraption of hers. Lately it's gotten so bad that I'd just have to sit in a corner of 'my room' and stay still, breathing slowly, and for the longest time now, I’ve just been cold.
At least I know I'm alive; the cruel angel hasn’t found a way to kill me just yet. That would be an interesting day indeed, as I haven't found a way myself. If she decides to dissect me somehow, I'm willing to bet I'd just lie there, absolutely enthralled in her findings about me. Either that or laugh. This is such a maddening place, as I've said before; not being permitted to do but what her program will let me. I've nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep, and I'm sure she can see or hear every word I say on her monitoring screens. If there's any consolation to this beautiful, pure ivory hell, it's that she won't let me feel boredom either. In that, I think I'll just rest for a bit.
----
Genymide started up the electricity.
"Blasted monster thinks it's going to relax does it? Lets test out some.. 60 000 volts." She sneered as she typed in the command.
The captive's eyes snapped open then shut instantly upon the impact of the electricity being pulsed into the tank. Kanite turned away to reflect while he shook violently and thrashed about as if he could get her to stop.
Kanite Genymide was one of the only scientists still studying the behavior of misfits and freaks of nature, as it had become quite illegal. Her colleagues had all gone off to study medicine and ways to preserve humanity, while she didn’t care whether the human race had all but gone and died within the year. As long as her curiosity was sated enough in this world, she’d have no qualms about leaving it for a next.
About to stop trying to find a real reason why or how these things got the way they did, to pursue something legal and just as fascinating, she came across a rather intriguing subject. One who couldn’t die, therefore seemed to have no need to reproduce, and could change appearance at will. A subject that wouldn’t be easy to study at all; a perfect challenge for the great Kanite. Now, she had an amazing discovery again, one that she just couldn’t begin to tear herself away from.
As the tank had begun to crack slightly, she turned off the power.
“Too much for a day then.” she stated offhandedly, patting her control panel.
“You disgusting desecration of humanity.. You’re going to make me famous someday.” she grinned and shut the lights, stepping lightly out of the room.
----
I was burning. Burning or freezing, I’m not quite sure which, but it stung like nothing I’ve felt before. I couldn’t stop shaking for the longest time, and it was bloody annoying. I’m still shaking, though now I’m more used to it. I severely doubt I’m going to warm up anytime soon, so I’m just going to continue sitting here, with my arms around my legs, leaning against the cursed walls of my ‘room’.
Taking time to think for a while, I remembered that I had felt the brush of another mind on mine some time ago, presumably another being like myself. I was almost ecstatic when I first found it, but I know now that they probably didn’t even know where I was at all. Still, I couldn’t help but attempt to contact them again, using the same method. Perhaps.. Not so accidentally this time.
Unwisely trying to vocally and mentally contact, I forced out; “H-he..lp .. Mm-m.. me..”
Panting, I realized that I probably hadn’t spoken in months or longer, and was shaking too violently to form proper words anyway.
“B.. Bruder..” I whispered, breaking the faint connection I may or may not have had with the other’s mind.
------
June 21, 5:40 PM
Ekon opened his eyes, startled awake, only to find he was on the train. Not quite the train he’d been used to riding, but a train nonetheless. He let out a small sigh. This train whistled harshly and clicked along it’s tracks, and he was allowed to look out these windows, not at all like the other train. The walls were bright, yet colorless and awkward. The seats were single rectangular boxes set along each side of the car. Having the hanging holds along the top accented the train in such a way as to make it look almost classical, like a futuristic subway from a comic book.
There was only one other person in the car with him, and he appeared to be rather benign. After scanning human after human, he’d learned that not very many, if any at all, had posed a threat to him. This other person had a strange marking across his face, some sort of officer’s coat and long green hair. The man was sleeping, and he thought it would be quite rude of him self to wake him with a mind scan.
~Perhaps he’s traveling to visit old family, or to a reunion of whatever he’s from…~
The train stopped with a jolt and another small screech. He stood and righted himself, turning quickly to the exit. After all, he was here on business. The doors opened with a soft hiss, and he stepped into the cool air of an overcast afternoon in Erden, a small, but nicely functioning city. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, feeling at peace.
~Reminds me of home. Although.. Home was never much like this..~
Just as he stepped off of the platform leaving the train, the other figure opened his eyes and smirked maliciously. His façade was beautifully carried out. Reaching into a pocket on his left sleeve, he pulled out a thin black cigar with the symbol of a small thick black cross, equal on all sides. It looked as if the swastika devoured it’s arms and stood proudly for all to see. He placed it in his mouth and lit it with a fixed lighter, breathing in the tar and toxins with an expression of accomplishment. He blew out the smoke with a flourish and sat back, smiling.
“I’ve finally found him.”
----
A slight man in a hooded sweater made in the likeness of a penguin pulled the thin chain to retract an awning. He had a red and black ringed snake draped around his shoulders that hissed happily with the tune his master was humming, almost as a cat would purr. The man had an eye patch on his right eye, and his hair covered it a bit on the one side.
Catching a familiar looking shape at the corner of his eye, a long coat and chin-length hair in the distance looking at a sign, his face lit up with a bright, cheerful smile.
“Ekon!” He shouted, waving his hands madly.
Ekon turned his head in the direction his name was called, and settled his vision on a person that looked rather like a childlike penguin being throttled by a snake. He walked over to him casually, then stroked the snakes head with a smile.
“I see you’ve kept well Hisata.” He commented.
“The snake is well. Yes. Now how about me?” The penguin-man asked, batting his eyes playfully.
“You, however, look like a dying penguin, with the snake emerging victoriously. I’d suggest a less warm sort of dress.. Perhaps one not so conspicuous.” He advised while tugging the other’s sweater.
“You’re mean.” He countered. “But how about a kiss for your favorite DJ?” He moved his face closer to Ekon’s, puckering his lips comically.
Ekon chuckled and pushed him gently away. “Get off you nut.”
They both entered the building they were standing in front of, in which the penguin-man obviously worked. It was a small-looking place, all gray with one large window and a door with a heavy screen and metal grates over it’s smaller windows. The inside was much different from this, however, and much more colorful. There were shelves of comic books lining the walls, and a counter in the center back. From the ceiling hung models of airplanes and science fiction spaceships characters from comic books and posters. In front of the large window was another shelf with stacks of wearable merchandise, from key chains and stickers to shirts, pants and arm coverings. The back wall looked like a large silver garage door, also decorated with posters of anime and cartoon characters.
“Still running a two-in-one place then?” Ekon inquired. “Those are illegal now you know Heryk.”
“Yeah.. But without it, where would I get the money to keep the comic shop going? You probably wouldn’t come here just to visit ‘Hissatron’ here with just a couple comic books and key chains to keep you entertained would you?” Heryk replied.
Ekon smirked. “I guess you’re right. If you want to keep me around, you’ve got to stay strange and borderline legal.”
“By the way..” Heryk trailed off, rummaging around behind the counter.
Ekon tilted his head to get a better look at what he could be getting.
“Would you mind wearing this tonight?” Heryk held up a strange-looking outfit that give the impression of being rather uncomfortable. It had a light but stiff fluffy mesh skirt with small metal bats hanging off the edges, and a lace and mesh shirt with leather straps going this way and that. To say the least, it looked.. Very silly.
Ekon stayed silent.
“Just for the show.” Heryk assured.
Ekon let out a breath of relief and leaned against a shelf. The show. He’d almost forgotten that he was here to entertain a group of illegitimate guests, mostly teenagers with nowhere to go and odd young adults, in a strange concert in the ‘basement‘. He was to show them that the comic shop was a worthy place to go, although Ekon could hardly understand how that would happen. It was Heryk’s logic, and that explained everything.
“Alright. But I’m not throwing it into the audience this time. I’m not leaping into the crowd, and I’m not pulling anyone onstage, not even you. Got it? Ekon stated dryly.
Heryk grinned and Hisata formed his little snake-face into something that looked like a wide little smile as well.
“That sounds reasonable. Shall we?” Heryk motioned to a room where Ekon could change into the ridiculous outfit.
Once Ekon checked behind every mirror to assure that it was just a mirror, then searched the room thoroughly for cameras and small holes, he started changing into the ‘outfit’. The small room he was in had a counter that looked large enough to sleep on and a chair that looked quite comfortable to sit on for hours on end. The walls were painted in stripes and there were a few odd bits of clothing and decorations lying here and there. This, he thought, was most likely where Heryk slept when he wasn’t working - almost like his own little home inside his ‘home’.
~I knew he needed to sleep sometime. Crazy fan boy.~
----
June 21, 9:55 PM
In the back of the pulsating crowd of insatiable late night revelers stood Heryk with a proud smile and a jovial snake curled around his shoulders. He wore simple black with glowing things ornamenting him, while the snake was wearing a small black ruffled collar. Heryk watched Ekon with delight, knowing that his friend would bring him a large sum of money this time. This was, by far, the best show that he’d seen Ekon do in awhile. He crossed his arms on his chest and leaned against the wall behind him, still grinning. The people in front of him moved with the music and each other perfectly, the glowing black lights and colorful decorative holograms accenting the scene like a work of art. Heryk turned his head to watch the people still coming into the building, some with brightly colored hair, others with odd various styles, most including heavy silver metal zippers, spikes and belts.
Ekon was up on the stage wearing the ridiculous outfit with pride and pants, singing and dancing with an unknown band. He read the words that were written for him by the bands that played and moved with the music perfectly, as though he’d practiced with them all his life. He was a rare treat in Erden, and his audience loved him.
As the song ended, leaving his fans cheering and shouting for more, Ekon felt a strange presence. He scanned the crowd, looking over everyone quickly, until his eyes rested on a bright green haired male. He had the same officer’s coat and marking on his face as he saw on the train earlier. Ekon blinked, somewhat surprised, then backed into the thick mist from the smoke machines set onstage.
Heryk waved his hands, most likely wanting Ekon to play his usual signature song - Heryk’s favorite. As Ekon caught the gesture, he turned to tell the band. Within seconds, he fell on the stage, unconscious. The band crowded around him, surprised and worried, as Heryk hurriedly tried to make his way toward them. Just a moment later, Ekon slowly stood with his head still hanging down, looking rather like a puppet than the underground electrofreak star he was. He lifted his head and opened his eyes just a bit, showing that they were rolled back in their sockets. Stepping forward with a lurch, Ekon fixed his direction on Heryk. The crowd backed up and whispered to each other, making way for Ekon to pass them as he continued his zombie-like walk toward his friend.
“Ekon..?” Heryk began. “What is it? What do you-”
Ekon interrupted Heryk with a hand on his shoulder, fingers gouging into his flesh with hazardously strong fingertips. As Heryk winced in pain, Ekon tore his comrade’s arm from it’s socket. The crowd moved for the door in a faster break than when they pushed and shoved to come in, hurting each other and breaking things as they ran. People were stepped on, shoved aside and forced into walls in the confusion, leaving Heryk to let out his strangled cries for help.
The man with the long green hair and officer’s coat held a cold smirk on his face as he watched Ekon slowly teas apart his only friend without a shred of mercy. Ekon pushed down then jumped onto Heryk, his broken boots allowing clawed feet into his stomach to shred his organs. He uncoiled an unnaturally long tongue out of his mouth and wrapped it around Heryk’s uncovered eye, plucking it from it’s place. The green haired man smiled maliciously. A strong tail curled around Heryk’s leg, stripping it of it’s pants and skin, pulling the bone out of place. Third and fourth eyes opened above their partners, creating the hellish expression of a monster not seen for centuries or more in Erden, or on Earth itself for that matter. Heryk’s blood gushed out of his mouth as he forced himself to say Ekon’s name once more, though it ended up being only a violent cough. Heryk died confused and afraid, with one hand gripping Ekon’s arm and the other crumpled underneath him lifelessly.
Ekon’s sole spectator stepped forward a bit, still keeping some distance from him.
“Ekon.” He started, a thick German accent emerging from the strange observer in the dark.
“This is indeed an unexpected gift from you. Your only human companion slaughtered into something like.. Ground.. Beef. And right before my very eyes.. I’m touched. Really I am. I can’t stay here long, but I’ll be here long enough to say this. This is only the beginning. It .. Always will be, for you. The world could crumble and fall into the sea long before you should perish, and the very sky will wrap you in it’s caressing black embrace all the while.”
The green haired man ran to the steps that led back into the shop, then looked back at Ekon a last time.
“Take care of yourself. You know heaven can’t help you now.” he said with finality as he ran the rest of the way up the steps.
He pressed a small button on one of his earrings while still running farther and farther from the shop.
“Got him. Better fetch him quickly, this’ll be a difficult one. Schiede aus.”
Ekon refocused his now-red eyes and stared out at the steps, the last thing remaining in the room from a once bustling mob. He stood in the corner of the room slightly lightheaded as he regained control over himself. Confused and nauseous, he knelt down in the large pool of blood spreading from Heryk. Hisata slithered up to Ekon, obviously escaping safely from the possessed monster Ekon was just a few moments earlier. The snake curled itself around Ekon’s hand as if feeling empathetic to what he was going through. Ekon lifted the snake to his shoulder, letting it sit around his neck as it did with Heryk, but also nestled on the shoulder blades of Ekon’s back comfortingly. Ekon lapped at the pool of blood, taking in the unintentionally spilled essence of his best friend and preserving his memory, as he would have done long ago with any demonic companions in the other world.
Some time later, minutes, perhaps hours later, men with bright white coats and large restraining devices came hurrying down the stairs with more men, armed to the teeth to assure their protection. As Ekon continued to solemnly lick up every last drop of Heryk’s blood, the surrounded and aimed their weapons at Ekon, preparing themselves to fire. Hisata hissed and bared his little poisonous fangs as one fired a shot at Ekon’s back. Electrical charge ran up and down his spine as he turned around to guard the sacred remains of his only human friend. Ekon glared menacingly and each and every one of his assailants, striking into them fear of what Ekon may of may not be possible of doing to them. The two unnatural eyes seemed to focus on different people at the same time, as if he intended to strike back at five opponents at once. Hisata slipped down to continue Ekon’s guard while he charged forward, ready to punished those who would disturb this royal funeral for Heryk.
Ekon let his fingers fly in a bizarre sort of whip movement, hitting the men from at least seven feet away, letting them feel a cold harsh sting and forcing them to move back. He ripped heads off of the guards, bit or whipped off arms and legs. Reaching into their bodies, he pulled out vital organs and strangled some with their own intestines, or let them watch the last beat of their own hearts before he crushed them in his severe grip. Some of the men in the white coats ran out, while others pulled out sedative weapons and aimed them with a precision that would be quite useless in a larger scaled battle. The white coats went unnoticed in Ekon’s rage, and once a clear shot was determined, Ekon was full of tranquilizer darts like the muzzle of a dot that had just chased a porcupine.
With his sight going dark and unfocused, Ekon slashed blindly about, hitting whatever was in his general vicinity. He tore at people, machinery and building until he was attacked with the electrical weapons once more. The white coats had won this one, and dragged him with thick rough nets into a blindingly white truck bearing a black cross mark, similar to the hospital icon emblazoned on each side. The truck drove off into the cool evening, leaving the decimated battlefield of a store behind.
Hisata curled himself up to rest in the bloody mutilated remains of his old master, as if designating himself to keep a constant watch over them until Ekon’s return.
June 22, 4:34 AM
Ekon awoke fully back in a humanlike form to a cold floor, thick metal bars, and the worst headache he could ever have had.
“Blrrry.. Hmm..”
As his eyesight slowly returned, the deadly realization set in. Memories of the night before came flooding into his mind like bats out of hell, painfully etching their marks into his mind. He recalled what he did as if he’d just done it a minute ago, and regretted every second of it.
“I.. I killed him. Heryk.. Hisata was there, he watched me. He.. He saw everything.. I couldn’t.. should’ve.. Her…ryk. Heryk..” Ekon mumbled disjointedly.
“Yes you killed him.” an accented voice stated from across the room.
“You bloody murdered your best friend, and quite messily I might add. Now me on the other hand.. I’d have killed him with a little more discretion. Poison maybe, or just a slight.. Nevermind. It isn’t important. Well. How are you feeling? A mite peculiar? Not dying I assure you. I’d just be too overjoyed if you were. No, you’re just as alive as the other one, though a bit more so.. And his capture wasn’t nearly as violent and careless.. The two of you freaks in one area.. It can only mean one thing.”
The source of the voice jumped in front of the cage and grasped the bars madly.
“A SPECIES CLEANSING!!”
The one shouting like a crazed lunatic was in fact a young woman of about 28, with long auburn locks wrapped into a classy looking bun and a lab coat. She had blue eyes, both bright and long lashed, and small but sophisticated looking glasses to match her eyes and hair.
“I highly doubt that ma’am.” Ekon reassured.
“Then what are you here for..? Decoration?” she quipped.
“What are you here for? Sustenance?” he bit back.
“You’ll soon lean that toying with me is unwise. And unless you want to end up like your little mate there-”
She pointed to a small dark figure in a large reinforced glass containment chamber.
“Then you’ll answer my questions the first time I ask them. Now. What is your purpose here?”
“I..” Ekon started, trailing off. He could no more state why he was in Erden than she could. Clearly the woman was either paranoid about aliens and clone monsters, insane, or both. Ekon sat back in the cage and blinked searching for a logical sort of answer to the rather vague question.
The woman stood and took notes on a clear plastic clipboard, most likely recording Ekon’s behavior toward her questions and being caged. She paced around in the middle of the room, pausing only to write things, far from Ekon’s cage. She tossed a small candy from one of her pockets into the cage, then turned to one of her control panels on the wall.
Ekon picked up the candy to inspect it, and just as he brought it close to his face he caught the smal gleam of a tiny razorblade inside it. Eyeing the woman across the room suspiciously, he popped the defiled sweet into his mouth and spat the razorblade at her with such speed it cut a piece of her hair.
As the woman continued her notes on her clipboard after pressing a few buttons, the feathery lock of hair fell to the floor unnoticed. She left the room with the clipboard in her tight grasp. Ekon looked around the room undisturbed now, observing that it was all painted a bright white with some black and silver equipment. The floor was tiled and there were glass and metal tools lying on tables and hanging on walls. He looked at the small figure in the large glass tank across the room, only to find it was another person. A person with long, wavy, vibrant red hair, porcelain-like skin, and… a long pointed tail. This was indeed intriguing..
Ekon leaned as far as he possibly could to the edge of the cage, trying to get a closer look or a better angle on this other person. The room seemed to be far too large for him to get a proper view. Ekon looked at the doors, checking for the eccentric woman - lest she see him do something strange - then sat in a corner of his cage facing the glass tank. Assuming he wasn’t being watched, he opened a third eye on his face and saw aa much better view or the other captive. It, as the woman had referred to the other, was in fact he, and looked very much like an angel or other creature of greater radiance than any human. He had his claws out, but his hands were fisted, forcing htme into his palms and wrists deeply. There was a sort of breathing apparatus on his nose and mouth, considering he was in a tank filled with some odd liquid.
~Perhaps he’s having a nightmare..?~
The second prisoner’s pointed ears pricked up at Ekon’s thought, as if hearing it. Ekon watched in anticipation as the other stirred. He looked as though he were in pain, though there wereno visible bruises or scratches other than from his aforementioned claws. Once he changed positions, Ekon was startled to find that his companion detainee was the same one that had contacted him in his sleep just the day before on the train. The same one that he had originally thought to be female, and perhaps even elvish or a psybot from the military had turned out to be another creature like himself.
Ekon attempted a similar mental message to the other, similar to the one he had received the previous day.
“I’m here now.” Ekon spoke softly accompanying his message; his third eye closing.
----
Still tossing the stones in the same boring pattens on the floor.. It’s interesting; no matter how I throw them on the floor, they still end up in the same arrangements. It’s obvious she didn’t put too much thought into this program. I’ve tried jumping out the window before, only to jump back in unknowingly using a program loophole and receive an electric shock. You’d think I’d be used to that by now.
“You can try something other than electricity and rocks now Kanite. Unless of course you’re having fun watching the same boring thing every day that is..”
Nothing, as usual. Earlier I was.. Playing. With my transformations.. It seemed to be a more worthwhile experience than picking up those blasted stones again. Merging my hands into the walls had to be the more entertaining one, making it look like the walls were made of a liquid of sorts. I think I’ll do that again.
“I’m here now.”
Interesting. It looks like my message got through to someone awhile ago.. Although I’m surprised I got a reply so soon; or at all for that matter. It should only be a little while now, then I’ll need to heal a bit before escaping.. It’s the perfect plan. I’ll just wait until I’m freed then I’ll go right back to hunting down that traitor. This time I’ll have help of course, and we can rule this entire sector together. It’s.. a beautiful idea.
----
June 22, 6:46 PM
After sleeping for some time, Ekon awoke to find himself in thick plastic restraints, still inside the cage. With some difficulty, he looked over to the other side of the room, as if checking if the other captive was still in the large glass tank. Ekon turned his entire body to face the direction he was looking, in order to cease the temptation of doing anything too revealing of his abilities. As he observed him to still be in the tank, Ekon found himself feeling slightly more reassured in his own situation.
A young girl with dark markings on her face and a black dress entered the laboratory, her head hanging to the side and her eyes wide. She gripped in her pale hands a silver tray with different types of breads and biscuits. Her two long black braids rested both on the side of the tray and on her back, connected by a long thin chain woven through the braids and into her head. She stared in a line straight ahead of herself, unblinking.
“Genymide.” She said slowly, her voice emotionless.
“Gebet. Thank you very much sweetie. Set it on the floor over by that man in the cage ok?” Kanite answered kindly.
“He’s ..dead. Dead like.. Rei.”
“I know Gebet. Just set it there alright? He’ll eat it in time.”
“The dead… Do..not..consume..this kind of.. food.”
“Well this one may. Listen to me, you’re being a bad girl. You have to obey me, remember?”
“Yes.. Es..tut mir leid.. I.. Will obey. Do.. Not… hurt me..”
Kanite whipped around to look at Gebet, ready to give her a lecture, when Gebet finally stepped over to Ekon’s cage to put the bread and biscuits down. Ekon reached over and held the dangling chain connecting her braids and pulled gently, pulling her head into an upright position, only to have Gebet slowly tilt her head the other way.
Kanite smirked then made a note on one of her computer screens.
Gebet wrapped her pale, dainty fingers around Ekon’s neck, to his mild surprise, digging her short fingernails into his skin with a strength unexpected of her slight figure. Her eyes seemed to bore holes into his head with their constant gaze, as though she were always shocked or frightened beyond belief. Her intent was masked well, if she had any idea what she was diong at all, making that possibly the frightening part of things. Ekon couldn’t possibly guess what made her reach out for his neck like that, but began to make assumptions in his mind.
Kanite tapped on the glass of the tank a few times, then insulted and taunted the creature inside. She pressed the buttons on her panel as before, electrocuting him and laughing. The being inside stayed curled at the bottom of the tank, his hands tense and clawing into his upper arms. He dug his fingers farther and farther into his arms, until he could force his hands completely through to the other sides of his arms while his face contorted in agony. He clawed at his own face, at his arms and his legs, scraped his flesh away enough to show the bones under it all. It was as if he meant to claw himself out of his body, to claw himself free of the pain he felt. He looked as though he was screaming, or crying out at least, but the liquid, the glass, and the device on his mouth kept him from being heard outside the tank.
Ekon let claw-like spikes out of his neck, forcing Gebet to let go, then faced in the direction of the shocking. He opened four of his eyes, getting a better view of what was happening. Watching in horror as the other creature ripped and shredded at his own flesh, as he clawed and dug into his own muscles and shook violently, Ekon felt as though he was the one dying. He forced himself to watch his counterpart tear himself apart to feel the same pain as he, to gain for himself the strength to escape the prison of lustrous white.
Gebet stood still with her bleeding hands at her sides, still staring at Ekon innocently. She walked slowly toward the door with an unnerving calmness, leaving trails of blood behind her. The soft clinking of hter chained braids echoed throught he halls while the door eased itself shut, eerily chiming the urgency in which Ekon had to leave this place.
Ekon looked around the room miserably then curled himself in the corner to sleep, hoping the other wouldn’t find a way to kill himself while he slept. Even knowing he couldn’t do anything about it, the hope in itself was a comfort enough to allow his body to rest a bit more.
June 23, 2:24 AM
Ekon was startled back to full consciousness by the bark of a dog. He craned his neck to see where the bark had come from, observing an older-looking man tending to his animal to quiet it. As Ekon watched him pet the dog, he began to feel hungry. He quickly dismissed the thought and sat back against the bars, hoping the dog would just leave him alone with his hunger and practical compliance. The dog however, had other plans, and came wandering over to Ekon’s cage, most likely wondering what was inside it. It sniffed at the bars and growled at the prisoner, who was decently enough, trying to ignore it.
Once the dog had begun sniffing and growling more closely to Ekon’s face, it soon learned that some people just weren’t to be growled at. Ekon rolled out his tongue and wrapped it around the dog’s leg, savoring the taste of it while still attached to the dog. He quickly deprived the dog of it’s leg, quietly grinding the dog’s meat and bones in his appreciative jaws. The rest of the dog howled and barked madly, gnashing it’s teeth in all directions and howling in pain, once again, ignored by Ekon.
The old man stood in shock as his dog went mad, rolling on the floor at the sudden loss of a leg. Kanite made a note on her clipboard, as usual. Ekon looked about the room casually, sending glances of annoyance to Kanite and the old man she was speaking to. He felt somewhat superior, even though he was the caged one who was forced to eat either the dog or the old bread that the little girl had brought him. As Ekon kept the smug expression on his face, Kanite quickly snapped the dog’s neck and held it close to the cage, allowing him to lap at the carcass’ bloody stump while making her assessments. Ekon wrapped his tail around the rest of the dog and pulled it away from Kanite, and still licking it, dropped it on the floor of the cage pointedly.
Once Kanite turned to face the old man, with the back to Ekon, He bit off a large portion of the dog and swallowed it whole, then did the same with the remainder of it. The old man stormed out of the room, insulted and yet amazed. Kanite followed quickly behind him, leaving Ekon practically alone once more. Considering it was a bit of a strange turn of events, he pondered just.. Why he did what he just did. He was hungry, yes, the dog was annoying. This wasn’t sufficient reasoning to take the animal’s life, especially when it could potentially jeopardize his own. The old man that Kanite had brought into the room must have been absolutely furious. Either that, or ecstatic, in which case he’d either have to be completely and utterly mad, or has a plan up his sleeve. Pondering his actions was enough to pass the time apparently, as Ekon soon found himself zoning out and thinking of how or when he’d be able to get out once he came back to reality.
~Reality. What is reality to you? You’re real enough, to be sure, but.. What if you only see one side of it? Then..~
Ekon looked around, taken aback by the sudden intrusion of his thoughts. The being inside the large glass chamber was smirking rather maliciously, turned toward Ekon’s general direction. This blasted place was becoming more strange, more cryptic by the minute, and he was getting annoyed at it’s constant and accumulating puzzle. Ekon pouted slightly, feeling childish, yet cheered by the odd smile and words from his counterpart. It reminded him of something.. From long ago. Something he remembered, but only faintly, like remembering a taste or a smell.. Or the feeling of water on your skin when you know damned sure it’s dry. Ekon tried to send a sort of inquiring feeling back to the other, to get him to explain, words or otherwise what he was trying to do.
~I’m yours..~
Even more baffled by the response, Ekon decided to give it a rest, to either think it over or … sleep. The bread was here… begging to be eaten. Perhaps a bit of it would clear things up a little.
----
Schatten stopped and caught his breath on the side of a brick building far from his scene with Ekon.
~I…probably shouldn’t have done that..~
He laid his hand on the side of his face, feeling a little more tense than he’d expected to feel before he possessed Ekon. Every step of the procedure was planned perfectly, carried out without a flaw, and yet…the sight of Ekon’s demon form in the midst of mere humans was…both breathtaking and horrifying.
Certainly he’d never forget Ekon’s expression as he tore his friend apart…it was empty. Void. As if he were without eyes even, so blinded by Schatten’s manipulative capability - Ekon would have his soul on a short leash for this..
“Schatten. Come in.”
Schatten slid his hand off of his face and clicked the button on his earring again, opening his end of the channel.
“Ja.”
“Augen has something for you. Meet her in Engelschlußel by half eight. Aus.”
Schatten clicked it off and looked around. It was almost three in the morning and Engelschlußel was on the other side of the region. Blinking tiredly he stood and walked back to the train station. Not having slept for more than a few hours in weeks, Schatten felt more than a little dizzy. It’s not like it was a sensation he wasn’t used to… ‘tools like himself didn’t need sleep, they needed to be used.’…and knowing the leader, he’d be used until he died on the way to another mission. He broke into a quick jog to clear his senses, heading for the nearest train station.
As he boarded the train and sat down on a stiff but comfortable seat, Schatten leaned his head back against a wall section and quickly fell into a deep sleep. Having not slept in a few days, and exhausting himself just days earlier by possessing the near-impossible to possess, it was excusable,…as long as he wasn’t caught by any of his superiors that is.
The train was fairly empty, save for a few people here and there making last minute trips or heading home from odd places. The passengers were either tired or bored, not having taken any interest in Schatten, who stood out a bit. People read, stared out of windows, bored holes into the walls with their eyes and slept; not many can really function when it’s early, and it was almost four in the morning. A light flickered at a top corner of the train, causing annoyance to anyone who might have trouble sleeping, and yet not shining enough to read by. It heightened the eerie atmosphere of the train by a degree, as did the night and lack of people, but no one seemed to mind it much.
The train stopped with a loud screech and a jolt, waking Schatten.
~We’ve arrived already?~
He sat up and forced himself awake, blinking hard and opening his eyes wide a few times before standing. Stepping cautiously toward the doors, he realized.. The doors weren’t open. The doors probably weren’t open due to the face that the train wasn’t anywhere near any landing stations. He was in the middle of nowhere, stuck on a stopped train with locked doors. Obviously irritated, Schatten made his way to the front of the train. He noted that the passengers were…missing. The people he had seen just a moment before he’d fallen asleep had all gone somehow, leaving no trace whatsoever. Schatten cursed and pulled a thin black cigarette out of a pocket on his chest.
“Don’t be lazy..” an accented voice drawled from inside the engineering cabin in front of him.
“I haff no use for an idle fool. No matter how goot he may be vith operations.”
“I haven’t slept in days, Augen. It was inevitable.” Schatten snapped back to the voice.
The door in front of him opened with a soft click, leaving the body of the engineer that was most likely leaning on it to fall unceremoniously to the floor at Schatten’s feet. A beautiful woman stepped forward over it, her white long locks swaying with her as she walked. She looked in her late twenties and very classy in her gray business suit, despite the fact that she was blind, and her eyelids were sewn shut. She wore a serious expression and held out an envelope, pulled from the inside of her suit jacket.
“Don’t let it happen on a mission again.”
As Schatten reached for the envelope, Augen pulled his arm toward her in a firm grip and slapped him hard with the back of her other hand, forcing the unlit cigarette out of his mouth and across the train.
“You should know better, whelp.” She growled, releasing him harshly.
He took the envelope briskly and opened it. Inside was his written orders from the supreme commander and … a small, but intricate rosary. He pulled his orders out and put them into a waist pocket, as usual, then held up the rosary skeptically.
“Compliments of der commander. He says, ‘Vell, ve’re up against damons, right? Might as vell be protected.’ I give it to you, you wear it. At least carry it vith you. Blessed vith a lethal dose of cyanide once you press the beads hard enough, in case you feel like dying early or if you come across some vampire. Your choice.” Augen smirked and turned around, clearly finished her meeting.
“Be careful. I don’t vant to have to kill you later.” She finished solemnly before walking back the way she came.
Schatten placed the deadly rosary into an empty chest pocket with a zipper then patted it gently. He then nudged the dead engineer with his foot and started back to his seat. He picked his cigarette off of the floor and placed it in his mouth, lighting it with the same fixed lighter he had used before. Walking back still tired, Schatten cleared his mind and finished his cigarette before going back to sleep.
----
June 23, 5:30 AM
Ekon blinked slowly, feeling slightly nauseous and very dizzy. He dropped the bread piece, knowing it was definitely the cause. Kanite was most likely taking notes, as usual, watching Ekon suffer and torturing the other captive in the tank. He crushed the already dry bread under his palm against the steel floor, then brushed it out. He grimaced and held his head, his vision swaying. Acknowledging that there was little he could really do about the whole predicament, he sat back and mumbled threats and degrading comments about them, how they had the nerve to experiment on people like this.
~Then don’t let them live to repeat their mistakes..~
Ekon looked around, suddenly hearing the voice from all directions, surrounding him. The bars and shackles wavered then faded, leaving him only in a completely white space. No fragile equipment, no cursed bread, no walls , no ceiling or floor. It was simply…Empty. Ekon looked around in shock, surprised at his being suddenly alone. He was able to stand, walk around, jump, do anything freely. He could even float around all day, without a care in the world, not that the boundaries of the previous plane were dissolved. It was a strange feeling, bringing insecurity and, well… boredom. He blinked hard, feeling relieved at his sudden freedom, and yet wishing for it to stop.
There was now a floor. A strange-looking checkered floor, huge black and white tiles going on forever. He couldn’t float now, and there was a limit to his jumping. He realized that in his mind, he created a boundary. He created his own sort of cage, where he felt free, yet… limited. He felt a little regret, but then, who can live without any border? Ekon sat on his floor, looking around himself in awe. He wasn’t a little girl in a fairy-land from a book, following her constantly late rabbit and little disappearing dream-cat. He was a full grown… human being…? That wasn’t right. No human could move dimensions or planes as he did… no human would be able to take the shifting. Shifting - this was a familiar term. Ekon thought hard, trying to remember just why nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Holding his hand out in front of himself, he stared at his fingers. Long, pale fingers, shapely nails, the fingers he’d always remembered seeing - they were what he saw now, though something about them this time seemed… unusual. He slowly forced spikes out of his knuckles, admiring their sleek, black shine.
~Humans can’t do that…~
Ekon heard an echoing laugh, deep and delighted, coming from behind him. He thought to turn around, but the room turned instead, swinging the source of the laugh in front of him. Fiery red hair danced around an ashen, angular face, the same face he had seen in the tank, but much healthier-looking. His odd companion’s piercing green eyes gazed with mirth into his own, as though he were looking at a friend or even brother that he hadn’t seen in years. He was tall, though with a slightly thin build, and wore an unfamiliar, plain robe that matched with the entire room. A very familiar appendage greeted him now; the long graceful tail that he’d seen in the tank, swaying back and forth like that of a cat that had just spotted a mouse. He stood like that for some time, in front of Ekon, unmindful of the room looking like a giant chess-box. Ekon looked up at him expectantly.
“You don’t remember who I am… do you?”
Ekon continued staring at this new and sudden addition to his ‘world’ A floor, cold and odd, then company. Something felt either missing or wrong… other than the obvious.
“No… I don’t.” Ekon answered, while turning away and immediately filling with guilt.
“That’s fine… for now. You don’t remember Erstion either I take it then..” The other person turned away from him, a sad, yet angry look settling on his brow.
Ekon stood, finding himself at about the same height as his conversational partner. He wrapped his arms around him instinctively, then stared away, watching the floor. He felt a slight wave of awkwardness and confusion to his predicament.
“I… apologize.”
The other person smiled, leaning his head back a bit on Ekon's shoulder. He wrapped his tail around Ekon, returning the hug without turning around. This too was familiar, and Ekon’s confusion at not being able to remember anything of it was getting downright annoying. He felt that he should try harder; that once, it had been more important to him than his own life, however unimportant that seemed presently. His own tail swished in lazy arcs on the floor beside them, indicating his pensive state of mind. He could have stayed like that for hours on end, had he not been interrupted from his thoughts by a peculiar purring sound.
Ekon promptly let go and looked at - whoever it was that he couldn’t remember - blinking pointedly.
“Hey.. That was relaxing..” he complained childishly to Ekon’s disbelieving expression, uncoiling his tail.
Ekon stood back and watched him unnecessarily dust himself off then look around almost nervously.
“Well, I’ll just have to re-introduce myself then. If you ever forget me again, I swear I’ll…” he trailed off.
Holding out a sharp, black clawed hand theatrically, he asserted himself. “I’m Reize.”
----
June 23, 7:40 AM
Gebet calmly stepped down the long hall toward Kanite’s lab, unsupervised. The familiar clinking of her braids in chains was her only herald into the rather empty room, and she remained unnoticed by either of the captives. Her bloody bandaged hands gently pressed the necessary buttons for her to reenter the large lab, allowing her to step in. Shakily, she turned her head slightly to allow her vision to wander around the room, wide eyes scanning for people. Taking note of Ekon’s dazed state, which looked somewhat like hers, she felt a wave of satisfaction. She scoffed a bit, as if she now thought herself superior in her condition. Looking away as much as she could, she continued scanning the room, just in case she was being watched from any of the covered spaces around the room. Not detecting any human activity, Gebet quickly continued into the room and headed toward Kanite’s control panel. She felt around in places, obviously having a hard time looking down at what she was doing, and it seemed like she was searching for something.
Giving up after a long while of feeling the buttons in their places, Gebet knelt down on the floor and removed the protective paneling in places. She pulled at wires, whether they were in use or not, apparently attempting to sabotage Kanite’s machinery. Red, green, blue, black and silver wires, striped and plain, plastic covered and bare, soon they were all disconnected somehow, at some point in their circuits. Piles of broken, pulled out wires lay around the open panel, exposed to the world as they were never meant to be. Gebet reached far into the large panel with both her hands, rather unexpectedly, and grabbed onto something. She pulled at it, gripping tightly, though it was burning her hands to touch it. Soon, and rather predictably, she pulled the box as far as she could save for one large wire, and it happened to be an exposed one. Gebet was electrocuted, not that it would severely alter her mental or physical state much, and lay on the floor clutching the now completely ripped out box. Smiling slightly, with the half of her mouth she could smile with, she hugged the box and passed out, never once closing her ever-open orbs of green.
----
Ekon’s eyes widened as he watched Reize’s claws dig deep into his wrist, along with a very firm handshake. Small glossy pearls of blood rolled down onto their hands, moving unnaturally slow and thick before dropping to taint the unusual floor. He looked up, only to find an insanely ecstatic look on Reize’s face, watching Ekon’s blood fall. He watched Reize for awhile, half afraid and half interested in what or why he was doing this.
Reize licked his lips, then met Ekon’s eyes for an instant before licking the blood off of Ekon’s wrist. He removed his claws from it, then held his arm gently while kneeling down to continue cleaning the wounds he made. He looked up at Ekon again, with a softer smile than before, tail still moving in it’s feline state.
Ekon opened his mouth slightly, as though he were about to say something, but kept quiet. He looked at Reize with a perplexed expression.
“The well has long gone dry, meine liebe. Don’t be surprised if I’m taking everything and anything for nourishment these days…”
He sighed, kissing Ekon’s wrist gently as he stood.
“Your blood still tastes as sweet as it did the first time.. Not that you’d remember it at all.”
“Why can’t I remember anything? What’s to remember that I’ve forgotten? …who… and what… are we?"
“I can’t answer all of your questions here, it’s… not safe. But free me, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know… and more.” Reize smirked. “I’m sure you’ll have many questions..”
Ekon sat back on the floor, almost pouting at his lack of communication with the other man. He couldn’t ask him many questions, he couldn’t find a way out of his mess… things … had taken a step backward.
“There is fire-starters are gathering…but they won’t hurt you if I’m still here.” Reize said quietly, looking off into the distance.
Ekon looked up at him. “…What?”
“Figure it out, you’re smart.” Reize quickly answered with a smile. He turned and knelt in front of Ekon, brushing his fingers along his cheek. “Lieblich… don’t forget me now, ok?”
Ekon nodded blankly, watching his companion quickly fade from the odd place he was in. He blinked and looked around, seeing the floor still go on for miles and miles in the pale white ‘sky’. He stood and started walking, even though walking wouldn’t get him anywhere, thinking about what had just happened.
----
Ekon’s eyes reopened, all five blinking to adjust to the light. His black, green, blue, brown, and red orbs didn’t seem to take in his surroundings, as if they just weren’t there, and he stood. Phasing through the cage didn’t prove to be too difficult, although it may have gotten him feeling a bit nauseous.
“Haven’t done that in awhile..” he growled, his voice sounding somewhat sleepy, but stronger and more confident than usual.
He looked around the room, not seeing anyone and seeing no obstacle of the machinery, then made his way -through random objects- over to Reize’s containment unit. He looked inside calmly, but was greeted with an eerie and rather painful-looking sight. Reize was curled up as tightly as he could, while claws were embedded in his arms, his hands stiffly keeping them there. He was all cut up, most likely from his claws earlier, and open wounds gaped out at Ekon all over. His tail was wrapped around himself, looking like in a sad attempt to keep him warm. His face was pinched in pain and sleep, as if he was dreaming of a particularly terrible dream.
Ekon’s knees refused to support him while he stood watching Reize, and his hands shook as he placed them lightly on the glass.
“..Baby… what’d they do to you?” he whispered, his voice cracking slightly.
He closed his eyes and rested his head against the glass, and moved his hand to phase through the glass to touch Reize. He stroked his arm tenderly, not being able to completely feel him while in a immaterial state, and watched him stir.
Kanite came into the room, fully rested and ready to do a little more research on her captives. She stepped in almost grinning at how she could best threaten one to ask the other questions, or take samples of tissue, or expose them to different substances, then noted that something was … amiss. She walked over to her control panel and panicked.
“How?! Who.? WHY?” she gasped loudly, picking at bits of hardware scattered around on the powerless controls helplessly. Seeing Gebet lying on the floor a little ways away, she stood, quite angered, and kicked her as hard as she could.
“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME YOU LITTLE UNGRATEFUL -”
“R…recon..”
“FOR WHO?”
“..cili..”
“WHAT?"
“..a…ation..”
Kanite kicked her again, then looked around in anger, seeing if she had damaged anything else important while she was gone. She noted that nothing was on, obviously, because the control panel was out, and… the monster’s cage was empty.
“Did you free that thing too?” she asked Gebet, seething.
Gebet smiled her cheery half smile, and looked away, in Ekon’s direction.
“DID YOU??” Kanite shouted in her face, pulling her lithe body up to standing by her hair.
Not getting any answer out of her, even after shaking her violently, she tossed her aside and stalked around the room, hoping to find Ekon in a daze, wandering on his hands and knees. She smirked at the thought. She inspected the cage with a frown, not finding any proof that Gebet had unlocked or broken it in any way. She saw something moving out of the corner of her eye, something dark, shaking slightly as if it were laughing or crying. Smiling maliciously, she turned her head completely, to see Ekon almost fully in demon form, half absorbed in Reize’s glass prison. He looked as if he were whispering to Reize, trying to feel him or wake him in some way. Quickly, Kanite stepped over to Ekon and Reize, eager to ruin the moment.
“Found him have you? Heartless monster. You can’t wake him like that, his mind is still mine.” she laughed quietly.
Ekon pulled himself out of the glass and faced Kanite, completely materializing in front of her. He glared through his tear-streaked face, ready to rip her apart at the slightest move.
“Free him.” he growled, sounding somewhat otherworldly and ominous.
I don’t think I will. He’s a rather promising example that I can use… after all, once I find out the secret of your immortality, you’ll both be worthless freaks and I’ll be rich.”
Ekon smacked Kanite hard across the face, despite being over three feet away, with his long claws scratching out large chunks of her cheek. She screamed and fell, clutching the side of her face and kicking her legs. Ekon leapt onto her, with his large-clawed feet coming out of his boots again. He dug his claws deep into her stomach, raising his arm to strike her again. She continued her useless screaming and kicking, while her organs were being shredded with every move of hers.
“HE’LL NEVER BE FREE!! I WON’T ALLOW IT! ONLY ME!!” she kept screeching, trying with all her might to get Ekon off of her.
“Your assistant will be allowing it then.” Ekon calmly snarled at her, whacking the other side of her face with his opposite hand.
Once Ekon had sufficiently sliced her body with the velociraptor-like claws from his feet, he impaled his fingers through her lower jaw straight through her head, and pulled her skull and a part of her spine out of her twitching corpse. He stood and walked over to his cage, still holding her bloody head on his hand. He pulled out a bar examined it for a few seconds, then spread the fingers on the hand holding Kanite’s head so that it fell apart and off. He then drove the stick deep through her head and into the ground, leaving only a small bit showing.
Closing his eyes, he dropped to the ground. He had gotten back at his lover’s captor, but… without stealing the key to free him. He clutched his head with his bloody hands, wracking his brain to find a safe way to free Reize completely.
Gebet pulled herself off of the floor and stood tall, her head still flopped to the side with her half-grin and wide, unblinking eyes.
“I...c…ca..” she said somewhat clearly, practically unaffected by her beating from Kanite. Ekon snapped his head up at the sound of Gebet’s voice. His eyes narrowed as he recognized her as the one that brought him bread and tried, quite unsuccessfully, to choke him.
“You can what?” Ekon asked, deciding to be a little kinder to her, seeing as she did try to help.
“ge… get. Fix.”
“Someone to fix the machine?”
Gebet nodded, still smiling her little half smile, her wide eyes sparkling. She put her hands together in front of her in such a cute, innocent manner that Ekon just had to smile back, and let her go.
“Alright… but only to free him, not to… to..” Ekon couldn’t finish. The point was there, so it didn’t really matter.
Gebet left the room in a brisk walk, her chained braids clinking cheerfully behind her.
~Cheerful? When did that eerie sound become a happy one?~
Ekon walked back to the tank where Reize was kept and felt along the glass.
“Soon now… you’ll be free meine lieblich… and we’ll continue on like we did so many eons ago..”
----
Reize stared down at his left arm, remembering the warm feeling he had felt on it only a few moments before. He could see his veins moving in the pale flesh of his wrist, so he watched them for a bit. He trailed his fingers from the veins he saw up his arm, to the place he felt the warm touch. It was familiar … and comforting.
“Either my body’s bleeding - unlikely… or the other one out there…has merging powers.
Interesting..
This could be useful in the plan… if I even carry it out. I’ve got a feeling I won’t even be able to walk properly, never mind fight once I get out of here. I’m never going to get anywhere if I keep falling asleep though… damn. And last time I fell asleep I had a dream… I.. never have dreams.”
Reize lifted himself off of the ‘wall’ he was leaning on and walked toward his ‘window’. It was still raining, the program still faithfully running it’s loops.. Only…he noticed the same drop of rain kept falling, over and over again. Usually that drop didn’t come again for at least a minute. Something must have gone wrong with the program. Reize backed away from the window, worried that it might have caught a virus or that it was being tampered with. Usually this wouldn’t be much of a big deal, but with his consciousness still inside it… a virus could prove fatal. He picked up a rock and threw it across the room. The rock bounced hit the wall and then…disappeared. No rebound, no landing, just - gone. He looked down, horrified, at the rock, which was back in the same place he picked it up from. In an attempt for his safety, he sat in the middle of the room, away from and fearful of the walls, the window, the rocks … everything in the entire program that kept him sane. The very things that would keep him from going mad were thing things that were driving him to madness, simply by functioning as best they could.
“Where does one go… when they’ve been rejected by reality… and fantasy is mocking them?” Reize whispered to himself, while curling his knees up to his shoulders and wrapping his arms around them.
“I need to get out of here… I want to go home..”
----
Schatten opened his eyes and sat up, thankful for the long rest he was able to have after completing his last mission. After a brief shake to his head, he was thinking clearly again, and he remembered the envelope that Augen had given him, along with the rosary. He pried the soft white-gray paper on the tab apart, pulling out a dark red sheet of paper.
~Weird colorful bastards.. ~
He read the instructions to himself more than once, making sure not to miss anything too important. They basically stated that he was to get out of the train, go into Engelschlußel and find any worthy hired thug that looked useful. Expendable, of course, since there was barely enough for all the other marked warriors like himself on the payroll anyway. This hired meat was then to be sent into the lion’s den, to test out the demons’ reaction to their rebellion. Simple, a -child- could do it, …but Schatten wasn’t -quite- that cruel.
He stood and placed the letter back into his pocket, only just realizing that the train wasn‘t moving, and tilted dangerously to the right. Looking out the windows on the door across from him, he saw big hills of snow lumped all over itself on the ground, thick and sparkling white.
“Snow. Great.. In Juni? That’s ridiculous..” he sniffed skeptically. He stood, brushed himself off, then pried open a nearby door, readying himself to jump into the tall tufts of fluff. He leapt, soon finding the snow wasn’t quite as high as he expected.. Even if it was thick and tall anyway. Stuck knee-deep in blinding white snow that wasn’t cold, but very wet, Schatten threw his head back in utter annoyance.
“Frack. Cold. My…my… pants.”
He blinked hard at the pale blue-white sky, attempting to focus his eyes a little. He looked around as best he could to take in his surroundings.
“Judging by all the white crap, I must be near Engelschlußel by now.. A few miles maybe, lights.. Aren’t all that visible in all this …”
He waved his hand with his statement, not quite caring that he was talking with only himself to listen, and that he’d certainly no need to explain. He lifted a leg high up, just barely reaching above the snow, and hopped into another spot, almost getting stuck with both his legs stuck knee-deep and much further apart than before.
“Damn it. Don’t tell me I’m going to have to hop all the way through this..”
He began dragging his legs forward powerfully through the snow, clearing a nice high path for anyone wishing to follow. He lifted the bottom of his coat to flow around to the back of his legs, rather than letting it squish against the fronts of them and trip him in the snow.
“I’m going to hate snow for a long… long. Time.” He said to himself, scowling at the ground just in front of himself.
After an hour and a half of trudging around in the snow, Schatten was soaking wet and tired, but finally in the city of Engelschlußel. It was a nice little place, mostly full of people reliving the highlights of “Die Alte Welt” and such. What it must have been like to decorate a huge tree in the center of a city at Christmas, or to hold gigantic festivals to bring in the new year.. To experience parades through the city to remember the past or to celebrate further acceptance of new races or orientations into the norms.. An age… of innovation. It really was one of the best cities in Erden sector, celebrating everything human or earth-like. Schatten looked around at all the bright lights and cheer in the main square - and despised everyone.
“Bloody snow-lovers. Bloody snow. Fracking wet pants..”
He strode through the streets, finally drying off a bit due to the fact that it actually wasn’t all that cold outside. He stopped in an old darkened area of the city, full of gambling places, inns, bars, arcades… lots of places where people never slept. One building seemed to catch his eye, it sticking out the most in it’s rustic, ancient design.
“The ‘Sechzehn Fisch’. How… charming. A bar named after… sixteen fish.. Hmm.”
Schatten walked into the building through a rather tightly made heavy wooden door, thinking it would be a remake of those old taverns that people like to reminisce about. After stepping inside and closing the door quickly behind him not to let in any snow, he immediately found he was quite mistaken. Not only was it not a musty old tavern filled to the brim with third world war veterans, it was... practically a fetish club. Glowing lights, modern club styles and shady underground types made their appearance, some brand new freaks, some very similar to the old early millennium ones. He took a few deep breaths of the thick air, getting himself used to the heat, smoke and smell of many different types of alcohol and drugs people had out.
“Ah, … home.”
Heading over to the bar at the back of everything, Schatten made a mental note at all the exits and the suspicious looking people, as he was trained to do. He noted exactly three doors in sight, one leading to an upper floor, one emergency exit to the left of the bar, and the door he just came through… and most likely a trap door behind the bar counter as well. As for the people, well… any number of these freaks could pull a blade or bottle on him, never mind the ones with machine or plasma weaponry, or the ones that kept to martial arts.. The ones that looked as though they proved any threats were nearer to the entrance and walls, carefully wrapped in clouds of hallucinogens and fungi. Fun… fun. He picked out a stool at the counter near the middle, with lots of room around him to move quickly, and yet enough people around him to… use as shields.. And, let’s face it, he liked the feeling of complete strangers in BDSM rubbing up against him as they passed.
He sat with one knee against the bar and the foot of his free leg on a rim at the bottom of his stool. Leaning over slightly, he curled his right hand under his chin, not quite touching his face. A dark, busty, young thing in latex and an apron progressed toward him, a lusty smile on her glossy red lips.
“What’s your pleasure, sir?”
“I’ll have a…”
He glanced at a younger man to his far left, quickly taking in the absolute relief on his face as he sipped his glass.
“Whatever he’s having… on the rocks.”
The tender looked at the young blond, with a pierced eyebrow lifted.
“That’s a Hemalican drink sir..”
“I don’t care.” Schatten interrupted slightly, now watching the boy lick his lips with a smirk while talking to his friend.
The girl turned around to make his drink, clearly not getting her point across. She quickly rummaged about, picking up whatever was necessary, then set the odd concoction down in front of Schatten in a large, round, elaborate glass.
“There you are sir.. I believe you’ll find it a little different than most of our liquor, unless you’re used to drinking things with bovine blood.”
He smiled and pulled his drink a bit closer to himself with both hands, relishing the soft tinkle of tainted ice and the sweet smell of the exotic alcohol.
“I can see why he liked it..”
She rolled her eyes and walked away to tend another customer, her shiny, cherry-colored smile lingering.
Schatten locked eyes with the blond boy, while tasting the contents of his glass slowly. The boy twitched a fanged smirk at him, then got up from the bar with a coat in one arm and a handful of tush through his friend’s back pocket. Schatten looked back at his drink with a sardonic-yet-entertained expression, just in time to miss a group of six or seven creepy tubs of muscle heading in his direction. Their apparent leader, a larger bald man with a thick red mustache, stepped very confidently up to Schatten.
“Hey. Mr. Rock Star… can I have your autograph?” the thugs behind him chuckled darkly.
Schatten wore a wry smile as he turned fully toward his drink, blatantly shunning the drunken idiots.
~Large, mind,… but still idiots..~
The same man pushed him by his arm slightly. “MR. ROCK STAR.. CAN YOU HEAR ME?”
“He’s too pretty for you, Rawlo..” a smaller looking man called from the back of the group.
“Izzat so? …Is dat it, girly-boy? Don’t like me ‘cause you’re too proud a’ your femmy face?”
The man now known as Rawlo sat next to him and leaned against the counter with a huge, dirty arm. He grasped Schatten’s jaw with a greasy mitt and turned his head toward himself.
“Real pretty..”
Schatten looked at him through his lashes with a self-righteous expression, then pulled his face stiffly away from Rawlo’s hand. There was no way he’d go for a burly asshole like Rawlo anytime soon, but it was fun playing with him.
“Little BITCH..” Rawlo growled, slapping Schatten clean across the face.
~A drunk -and- violent.. It‘s a wonder he‘s still single.~
Schatten pasted on an injured-looking face, barely masking his freakish enjoyment.
“Oops. I hurt a girly-boy.” Rawlo said sarcastically, posing a hand in front of his mouth. “You boys think he’s had enough?”
The men behind him started shouting for him to hit Schatten again, cheering him on to fight him.
“Beat his brains out!”
“Le’see some BLOOD!”
“You heard ‘em. Blood. Won’t stop ‘till you bleed a good bucket o’ blood, pretty eyes.” Rawlo taunted at him, clearly attempting to scare.
Schatten grinned cynically at that, took another sip of his drink, and faced Rawlo completely.
“What do you all want anyway?”
“Yer ass, bitch. In the alley. Screaming, broken, bleeding. We’re gonna fuck you up…wipe that hero attitude right offa yer smug little mug.”
Rawlo was seething, his veins popping out on his arms, the men behind him ready to brawl. Schatten almost purred at the prospect. He finished his drink quickly, then dropped his money on the counter and left the bar with a classy flourish. He flipped his hair around a few times, adjusting his coat slightly. People stared after him, either a little shocked that this androgynous small fry was actually going to try to take on a bunch of drunk, violent, pro wrestlers, or shocked that he practically stood on the bar and shouted with glee; “I’m going to go get beaten, raped, and left to die in the back alley, so don’t look that way on your way home!!”
----
Gebet’s hair chains clinked back down the hall. She had in tow a rather powerful looking man, possibly in his late twenties. He had longish, thick, messy black hair, thin, squared glasses, and a smart suit under a pressed lab coat. Following the similar trend of face markings that people seemed to have around this company, this man had two lines from his mouth down his jaw, making him look rather like a puppet or a nutcracker of sorts. A not so tattoo-like scar dripped from one side of his forehead to his upper cheek on the other side of his face, making him look somewhat sinister at a glance.
“I help… b.. belonging..” Gebet announced, proud of her usefulness.
Ekon lifted his head off of the glass a bit, to better see who she had brought with her. He looked dependable enough, and yet… he didn’t feel that he could leave the other half of his soul to the hands of this newcomer. With a little apprehension, he leaned his back and arms on the glass protectively and greeted him.
“Hello. …You can fix it, right?”
“So quick to business. Yes, I think I’ll be able to fix it, but..” The stranger scratched his chin in thought.
Ekon frowned a bit. “But?”
“But I don’t think I’ll be able to retrieve all the data lost. It could come out of there a vegetable, or insane, or even dead..”
Ekon stood then lunged at the stranger’s throat, infuriated.
“Don’t. EVER. Call -MY- mate. IT.” he growled darkly.
The stranger stumbled back a bit, taking in the fact that Ekon could easily knock him over and spread his guts all over the floor like strawberry jam, but didn’t. A threat. This creature obviously wasn’t stupid enough to kill him over an insult if he was needed, but still had the pride of a prince. He blinked and winced, letting the blood that Ekon’s nails squeezed out run down his neck in a sign of complete surrender. His quickly developing respect for the creature digging his fingers into his neck rose even more when he noticed a shine to his eyes, as if he were about to burst into tears at the entire prospect.
~He feels just as deeply as humans do... perhaps even more so. Hmm…~
“I apologize, master Daemon.” he rasped out with an effort, taking a chance with his choice of words. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Ekon let his throat go and grunted slightly, looking away. The stranger was perceptive, he could sense that… but to forgive him and treat him with more respect than fear? He wasn’t an ordinary man at all, that was plain…
“Let’s get started then.”
The man rubbed his neck lightly at the wounds, spreading the blood around, but soothing the pain. As he turned to follow Gebet, he finished his conversation with his name.
“I’m Vladimyre, by the way.”
Then, not wanting to insult the creature further, he moved over to the mess Gebet made while dumping out Kanite’s machinery. His eyes widened and he quickly knelt down, caressing the pieces of shorted wire and crumpled cables.
“Ge.. Gebet? WHAT DID YOU DO TO THESE THINGS??” he asked with a panicky-mortified expression.
Gebet sat down on the floor and hid her face with her knees and arms, unmasking an almost childlike innocence. Her braids hit the floor with a loud clink, and she shook with what would normally be tears.
“S…sstop.. Kan… it…te.”
UNFINISHED MATERIAL. I APOLOGIZE.
He rocked himself lightly, with his eyes closed tight. Parts of his robe fading to black or gray then flashing back to it’s regular white was a little too much for him to take.
“I want my Ekon back.. I want my precious Erstion.. I want to get the hell out of this place and eat that bitch’s brains.. I need to do something.. Anything..”
He tried phasing through the floor as he did through the wall earlier, only putting his face through this time, to see what would happen. This time would be different, he knew, but.. It turned out much more different than he expected it to be.
Wide eyed, he stared at the black, green, blue and red data that flashed around, pulses of electricity and memory moved in one direction or the other.. It was like being in a huge technological dream world. Chips went floating by, numbers and letters and symbols all formed themselves into all sorts of shapes, mostly cubes and pyramid shapes. A wall of green letters and numbers floated toward him, and he felt this tinge of utter curiosity at what it might feel like to reach out for them. Just as he moved his fingers with the thought to touch them, it all turned into bright red ones and zeroes and formed what looked like one of Reize’s hands. Not quite feeling terrified, Reize pulled his head back through the floor and sat back, catching his breath. He looked around and put his hands down, only now realizing he was about a foot away from the floor, obviously experiencing a glitch in the system. He couldn’t reach through the air to touch the floor without getting shocked, and couldn’t stand because more walls were moving in closer to him from every side. If the program would have allowed him any definite feelings, he would probably have gone insane from lack of space and everything malfunctioning before his eyes.
He laid himself down, curled up, still ‘floating’ in his little room. Being rather exhausted with not feeling anything but a twitchy calm anxiety was starting to catch up to him. Sounds came to him now, bits of ‘Unst’, ‘Bay’ and little jerky ‘-ll’s’ fuzzed through the room, as if on a severely malfunctioning intercom system.
“Oh Gott, I wish I could sleep… I need… something.” He whispered to what he wished was solitary black, hoping that perhaps a tinge of insane hope, someone might still be listening.
----
A cloud of colorful smoke escaped the bar, immediately clearing the small area above the door of all it’s impurities as Schatten stepped back out into the semi-cold. He shivered with a not-quite freezing chill, holding his elbows closer to himself, looking around the town a bit. His breath crystallized beautifully, and he almost thought he was still smoking one of his prized cigars, even though was running a little low. Looking behind him with an actor’s grace, he smiled a false wistful smile, which only proved to provoke the burly violent goons following him outside even further than his flaunted actions earlier.
"Are you -still- following me, lover?" he called, in a girlish tune.
Rawlo staggered and swayed, his dark red face twisted in a tired but angry grimace. He likely wouldn't remember this beating in the morning, if he bothered to think at all between shots of tequila and puking.
"'mm gonna fuck you UP!" he shouted.