Green, dim outline...green, dim outline...teal, light outline; Got somewhere you need to be? The monorail only goes so fast, sir.
The man shifted his weight between his legs as they frequently glanced at their watch. The lighter outline highlighted the inconsistency in the crowd, the slight blue tinge hinting to mild stress. Slowly, the highlight faded as members of the crowd also took on slight blue hues, more so than the first man. With a blink, color returned to the world and we were pulling up to the station. The figures of the crowd rapidly gaining features as the vision settings resumed rendering in standard mode; many of them were stealing glances at me as it donned on me that I had been staring, again, putting the congregation at unease. As far as Nightmares went, I wasn't that imposing. However, the mask from which the light pink wisps of hydrogen byproduct from the tank of flavored coolant I had been enjoying during the ride sometime put people off. Gas masks tend to carry the connotation of danger of a rather unsettling type and I didn't really need it, but the coolant boosters help me relax. I'm not a fan of crowds...or people for that matter. Especially when they look at me like that...
Gawd I needed this redeployment.

Redeployment...

I couldn't get off of the monorail fast enough, toting my bags over my shoulders. Their combined weight would have been staggering for me before the incident. Now? I could juggle this shit if I wasn't personally invested in maintaining the functioning and in-tact qualities of their contents that I had come to like about them so very very much.

The idea of a base operating out of a dead volcano was fascinating. "Geos Vulpes"
It was already a fortress in concept, and to be loaded with Nightmares to boot? It astonished me how the war wasn't already over, but I suppose an idea like the faith is a tricky thing to stomp out, especially when the verminous faithful breed like bacteria.

There may never be a shortage of the mind-slaves that make up the body of this Ouroboros serpent which holds the world in its grip.

Hrm...

Gawd I love watermelon...
[i]"...Good gawd, Kass! He was just a kid!"
"I know"
"Kids shouldn't die like that..."
"......I know."[/i]

I shook my head of the voices, the onboard assistance trying to simulate my thoughts as I thought of my first day back in the field. It had a knife...and surprisingly fragile limbs.
I thoughtfully look down at my free hand while riding the walkway. It was strange to be detached from sensations beyond diagnostic readouts. It made me a bit more thankful for the work put into my new tongue. I miss bubblegum, but taking a deep breath reassures me that I'll survive.
I stop the door to the elevator to the barracks with a leg, the steel doors clicking with a metallic hollowness on my shell before letting me in. Silently, I take my place next to the only other passenger. Before I could reach the pannel, I noticed the button to the floor of my destination had already been pressed; the man may very well be a member of the squad. He seemed agitated, though. Perhaps in some sort of discomfort from new augments? It happened enough to be expected; I've been there too...maybe not wherever he was, but relearning to function on the very basic level wasn't the best, either.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

The soft [i]'Kehhshhh...'[/i] of each of Jack's breaths, accompanied by small boiling sounds from inside their chest and the operation of the elevator were all the noise other than what Cade made. The doll-looking passable android stood otherwise motionless, perfectly balanced in their stance with the large bags still hoisted over their shoulder. The sound Jack made cut out for a few seconds before they broke the silence with a muffled, "N3?"