[center][h1]R E B I R T H[/h1]

Collab with: [@yoshua171][/center]

[center]8:00A.M. Kasio Korp HQ[/center]

His four hands fidgeting where he sat in the corner of the board room, the Doctor's eyes flitted between the figures arranged. He hadn't thought they'd call him into the meeting just because he'd been involved in the experimentation on the new drug. Funny how such things worked out, he thought with a brief grin plastered across his stiched face. The plump humanoid Licentia just couldn't help but grin slightly, his large eyes almost manic as he looked around. His strange multijointed fingers--most possessing more than two or three joints--twitching and fiddling with small needles while he listened.

After a few moments of prattle from one of the board members, the Doctor simply couldn't help but pipe up. "Excuse me, but I do believe we came here to discuss the final trials and results of the drug," said the Doctor, irritation plain in his voice.

"Why, of course we did, Kasain. I was just getting to that."

The Licenti narrowed his eyes, his plump midsection shifting slightly as he stood from his seat, his mass suddenly lengthening out--plump features becoming more sunken as his flesh redistributed itself over his frame--his height rising considerably till he reached nearly 7 feet, where he loomed over everyone in the room. "You're lying. I study anatomy for a living and do work on it, including that of you humans, don't think you can lie to me without me knowing. The little ticks give you away Mr. Desae. The quirk at the edge of your lips, the way your fingers straighten your suit, and the arrogant look in your eyes. All tells. Every. Last. One." Each word was punctuated quite harshly, and to add insult to them they were spat out and much of that spittle landed on the human's face.

Then, without ceremony, the Doctor turned his head, a smile forming on his lips as they fell upon Aeris--the company's CEO--before his mouth opened to speak, sharp teeth revealed as he did. "Ms. Kasio, if you would kindly lead the meeting I'd appreciate it. I think we've all had enough of Desae's prattling, yes?"

The Licenti's many spider-like fingers twitched anxiously as he waited for her response, hoping he'd not have to manually shut the man up by sewing his mouth shut.

A table of 12 individuals sat in stunned silence at the "Doctor's" speech, their eyes falling toward the head of the table. A woman of prim and calm elegance sat in silence as Desae and the doctor--Kasain, as she knew him--traded words. Glowing blue eyes wandered over each face present in the room, a veiled smile resting peacefully on her face before she rose from her seat, delicate hands resting on the dark wood of the table. [color=#3098C1]"As you wish, Kasain."[/color] The vampire's voice was soft, but held an air of power to it. Commanding may have been the proper word.

"Thank you," he replied, before taking his seat, body shrinking back to the plump form it typically kept--a form far less threatening to those present. He sat quietly, waiting on her words, attentive.

[color=#3098C1]"As we know, this drug was meant to propell a Human's ostium into a state of flux, one which would allow more people access to their magic. However, what we don't know is how well it's been working."[/color] Aeris Kasio's voice carried over the silence in the room, her body straightening, she began to walk behind each of the board members. As she moved, her chestnut colored hair flowed out behind her, leaving in its wake a gentle fragrance of jasmine. A clear remnant from the shower she had taken only three hours prior to the meeting. 

[color=#3098C1]"I'd appreciate an update on the preliminary test results."[/color] The woman purred as she passed behind Desae, glancing down at him as he looked up at her. She feigned ignorance as his eyes leered at her chest, over which a snug white blouse rested.

Eyes lighting up, Kasain spoke, "My pleasure!" He said, sitting up in his chair, the fidgeting of his fingers ceasing while he spoke, "When I was given the serum it was hardly anything useful. However, after some tinkering I got it to work on rats, and then on primates. I haven't been given the go ahead to test it on humans, for obvious reasons. Still, there is one problem I've picked up on. It opens the Ostium and sends it into flux, but doesn't necessarily increase the individual's ability to control it. Granted we've been testing on animals, so I suppose I should not have expected to see such results from their ilk." With that he fell silent.

[color=#3098C1]"I see."[/color] The woman nodded as she returned full circle to the head of the table. [color=#3098C1]"So, what do you think should be done to fix the problem, Kasain?"[/color] Aeris queried the doctor as she sat back down in her chair, her body relaxing back into the cushion.

"If only it were so simple," he said, glancing down at his hands for a long moment. After enough time had passed that it seemed he had zoned out Kasain suddenly shifted back into full gear, his cadence swift, "I'd need willing subjects to test it, but I would hnot want to sully the company's reputation--nor my own by extension. It is a difficult issue to address I think. Perhaps if we were to request assistance from a hunter? Perhaps to locate some fauna of a more magicla nature? If we can see how the creature handles the drug I may be able to modify it to better suit your purposes."

He stopped a moment, seemingly breathless, before he finished, "If it suits you of course. Still, it is just a theory of mine," he shrugged, eyes becoming somewhat dull. He had tired himself out some, but that was always a good thing with Kasain. He'd be back up and at 'em in no time. Such was the strange Licenti's way.

[color=#3098C1]"All right, I'll see what we can do about that.[/color] Aeris nodded to Kasain before rising from her chair once more. [color=#3098C1]"With that, this meeting has fulfilled its purpose. Have a nice day, gentlemen."[/color] As she finished speaking, the womana sauntered out of the room, her demeanor one of satisfaction.

[center]4:45 P.M. Kasio Korp HQ Rooftop[/center]

With her work day largely over, the CEO of Kasio Korp found herself seated on the side of the building's roof, eyes trained on the ground below her. For a moment, her thoughts wandered to the events of the day, most notably the work she'd done to get the serum approved for more testing. Before long she was wondering what other uses the serum might be able to have. Would it be possible to cure any diseases with this project? If she was honest, she wasn't sure. She trusted Kasain, having worked with him for a long time even before she was able to win ownership of the company from the previous CEO. 

When her thoughts fell on the man who previously bore responsibility for this--her family's--company, a scowl pulled against her freatures. He was a small, pig-like fellow with a face that resembled that of someone who had been repeatedly struck with a brick. Even his voice irritated her, it was squeaky and unnecessarily high pitched for a man in his forties. 

Once again, she found herself likening the man to a pig, this time, however, she simply smiled.

After a few minutes of listening to the traffic and noise of Ominar, she pulled herself to her feet. Kasio Korp was the tallest building in the city. A fact that the vampire was [i]very[/i] proud of. For a moment or two Aeris' mind went blank, and soon enough, she found herself falling from that very same building.

The wind lashed out at her body, almost as if in defiance of her fall. As she closed the distance between herself and the ground, shadows puled and writhed before flowing out toward her body. The seemingly living shadows pooled on the woman's back, and after a moment a pair of wings were beating back the air around her body, effectively slowing her decent. Time seemed to slow down as her body hovered above the ground for a few minutes, eyes glancing at the faces of those who stared at her in confusion.

With a gleeful smile, Aeris propelled herself forward, just barely above the rooves of most cars. For a few moments, her wings beat furiously before finding the right wind and simply gliding along as she headed for destinations unknown.

Bobbing and weaving through buildings, she felt so [i]free[/i]. It wouldn't be long until she reached the edge of Ominar, and likely, a group of watchful Prae. They didn't seem to like it much when their Licentia "citizens" could leave the ground. Bit of a shame, really.

[center]5:00 P.M.[/center]

As Aeris reached the warehouse district, she was greeted by the sight of a rather large crowd going into one particular warehouse. After some thought, her wings disappeared and she dropped to the ground, elegantly landing on her feet. Once on the ground, the human-licenti hybrid found herself blending into the crowd rather easily as they flooded the warehouse.

It didn't take her long to smell something familiar, something that made her move about the crowd in a search. What she found surprised her to say the least. [color=#3098C1]"Mai? What're you doing here? Also, what is even going on?"[/color] Aeris' unnaturally blue eyes gleamed with curiosity, along with something else. Something likely for only her brother, the man she now stood beside, to understand.

A familiar scent reaching his acute senses, the hunter frowned slightly, a confused look coming upon his features even before his sister appeared before him. [i]Why was she here,[/i] he wondered even as she emerged from the crowd, finding him in no time like no one else could. Then came her question and, as she neared him, thus separating from the larger crowd, he responded quietly with a tiny smirk tugging the corner of his mouth. [color=#2E6A95][b]"I could say the same thing to you. Though, if you must know immediately, it's because I wanted to keep an eye on...well, [i]this[/i],"[/b][/color] he gestured widely, sweeping a hand out to indicate the crowd and their location.

[color=#2E6A95][b]"Some kind of resistance from what I can gather. I'm wondering how they intend on going about this. If it's liable to hurt more than it helps...well."[/b][/color] He trailed off, leaving the statement open as he gave a hard look to his sister. After a moment it softened and he asked, [color=#2E6A95][b]"How was the meeting?"[/b][/color]

With her back against the wall, the vampire's eyes stared out over the crowd as her brother told her what was going on. [color=#3098C1][i]A resistance? Interesting.[/i][/color] Her thoughts danced over the possibilities of what the movement could do given they had the proper resources. There were about as many negative consequences as there were positive ones. She frowned a little, silently hoping that they--this movement--would tread carefully. What they had now, even with the Prae [i]peacefully[/i] watching over everything, was tremulous at best. If people weren't careful, they would feed into the propaganda that the Prae were spreading.

When Mai asked about the meeting she'd had this morning she beamed up at him, diverting her eyes from the crowd for only a moment to meet his. [color=#3098C1]"I think it went well. Kasain once again put Desae in his place, which gets funnier every time it happens."[/color] As the woman started to talk about what had happened that morning, a voice spoke up over the crowd, and her attention turned to it.

She listened quietly as the human man spoke his piece, and the crowd responded in kind. The leader, she presumed, was very good at using emotions to get responses. That could be a good or a bad thing, depending on how it was used. As she thought about it, she realized she wasn't very surprised by the fact that people's families were being taken. She hadn't heard anything about it until now, but she wasn't surprised by what the Prae were stooping to. They wanted the path of least resistance, and they probably thought that would be best.

In her opinion though, what they were doing was just going to start a war. Sure, they hated Licentia, that made enough sense what with [i]him[/i] roaming around somewhere within Ominar, but why subjugate Humanity, too?

Her mind started to wander as the leader of the resistance spoke vaguely about the plan he and some other individual had worked on. She almost didn't hear him when he asked for people from the crowd to stand with him as leaders for that mission. She found it interesting that he would just take anyone who walked up there. That didn't seem like a very intellegent idea. Were there not primary members of the resistance that he already [i]knew[/i] he could trust?

[hider=GM Note]
Aeris' thoughts in the last paragraph are an assumption, do not take them as fact.
[/hider]