[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/CEl5jQF.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ifVwAOx.png[/img][/center] [hr][center][color=silver]π•Šπ•–π•‘π•₯. πŸ›, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / β„‚π•£π•šπ•žπ•–π•Ÿ ℂ𝕦𝕝𝕑𝕒𝕖 πŸ™ / / 𝕆𝕦π•₯π•€π•œπ•šπ•£π•₯𝕀 / / πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ˜πŸ˜[/color][/center][hr] A train of see-through trucks rumbled slowly towards the large town of Crimen Culpae 1, the winking city lights illuminating the distance and clearly displaying their destination on the near horizon. A massive truck centered a formation of moving vehicles that carefully and painstakingly maintained a tight boundary around the main vehicle, lights and moving engine components easily visible through the trucks’ strange composition. The material forming the chassis the trucks had come from one of Hephaestus’s happy accidents, a lightweight, physics-defying kind of solid that wasn’t only malleable but far stronger and lighter than aluminum and steel. That it was see through was just a benefit for the military guards escorting the 20 or so students tightly bound with enchanted wrist and ankle cuffs linked together to form a rough chain gang. They had all been warned on boarding the truck that any attempt to escape would trigger an electric charge down the entire link, effectively frying anyone who couldn’t withstand it and then reapplying at harsher currents until they could get a handle on whoever was left. The secondary measure was a very noticeable bomb strapped to the bottom of each truck, magical runes glowing and sliding all over its large, featureless square surface. The guards didn’t mention the secondary measure to the subnaturals, but it was clear there was more to the matter than just magical cuffs and fancy, transparent trucks. The newest additions to USARILN East had come from a variety of locations and circumstances, but all were being shipped like cattle to the meat grinder that was the arguably the most violent and the most powerful iteration of a USARILN in the United States. The convoy of trucks surrounding the largest truck in the center had been carefully ordered to never break formation in any emergency and to simply trigger the explosives if any student attempted to make a break for it, not that many could with the magical suppressor cuffs on them. A few of the soldiers had been surprised to see one of the students with a suppressor collar, but when higher authorities cleared her for transfer, they proceeded with the usual protocols. As peaceful as the night was, the soldiers remained on high alert. It was always a danger transferring subnaturals, no matter how suppressed their abilities were. There was the eternal chance that one of them could have developed an ability that Hephaestus’s equipment couldn’t counter, or could have developed a power that specifically allowed them to break restraints. Something absurd like that. It was like living life constantly wondering about the chances of a meteorite falling on you, because with Dreamcatcher almost anything was possible. The past 10 years had made that painfully, brutally, viscerally clear for everyone. The squad captain roused himself from his thoughts as a subtle rumble passed through the ground beneath them. One of the trucks radioed for a stop. He commanded them to go faster. If they could make it to the Institute before whatever was out there came across them, they wouldn’t have to die with a bunch of damn subnaturals. A massive laser arced through the sky towards a target far to their left and the trucks, command be damned, stopped dead in their tracks as the glowing golden light of Sparrow briefly passed over them, Prism in tow. The two Precursors were dressed in light clothingβ€”Sparrow was in a thin slip of a nightgown and Prism was in a tube top and wrinkled running shorts. They had likely been sleeping not too long ago. Sparrow flew the two of them in the direction of Prism’s previous attack and the golden light suffusing them paused high in the air, waiting for something. A giant, zebra-patterned snake rose from the ground to launch itself at them before a wave of lasers from Prism tore it to pieces. An large owl-bat hybrid hooted at them from another direction, forming out of seemingly thin air as it swooped at them. Another wave of colorful bursts from Prism and the creature was also struck down, the momentum of its movement sending it crashing into the ground a short distance from the convoy of trucks. The golden light flew higher to dodge a massive monkey with a shark’s head and tail leaping at them. The awkward anatomy of its body sent it crashing back down to the ground in a heap as it struggled to try again. Weaker versions of Dreamcatcher’s creatures. Easy to destroy, mostly ineffectual. There was only one known person with that power. Menagerie. The squad captain paled at the realization before he screamed a command to the rest of the soldiers. [color=f7976a]β€œMOVE!”[/color] The trucks started up again, speeding towards the Institute and leaving behind the scene as quickly as possible. Precursors fighting each other. In the terrifyingly unpredictable world, the only source of hope was the Precursors, and even then, that hope was thin and speckled with doubt. And now it seemed their worst fears might be realized. Either Menagerie had finally lost his mind like the rest of Dreamcatcher’s creatures (which opened a can of worms about the rest of the Precursors and all subnaturals), or something even worse was going on. A betrayal? A desertion? Menagerie had been unheard of for five years. To show up again fighting his fellow Precursors was a cruel joke. But with the errant Precursor’s ability to spontaneously generate shadows of Dreamcatcher’s creatures, they couldn’t afford to offer any help. The creatures were simple for subnaturals to fight, but they still proved a challenge for conventional weaponry. A screeching wail from a giant floating head with insect legs extending from it pushed the trucks to move at almost breakneck speeds. As Prism rained hell on the latest creation, they left the scene behind, no small amount of relief surging through them. The fight didn’t move from that point as Prism dropped a hail of lasers at some unseen target on the ground, shredding another creature just as it came into existence. He would have to report the incident to the director of USARILN East immediately. There could be no delay here, not with Menagerie potentially a rogue agent now. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ifVwAOx.png[/img][/center] [hr][center][color=silver]π•Šπ•–π•‘π•₯. πŸ›, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / π•Œπ•Šπ”Έβ„π•€π•ƒβ„• 𝔼𝕒𝕀π•₯ / / π”»π•šπ•£π•–π•”π•₯𝕠𝕣'𝕀 π•†π•—π•—π•šπ•”π•– / / πŸ˜πŸ›πŸ˜πŸ˜[/color][/center][hr] [color=f7976a]"I'll forward this to the DoD, but without visual confirmation I can't guarantee any immediate results. If they sortied Sparrow and Prism, then they likely already know,"[/color] Director Zhang tapped away on her keyboard without looking at the captain as he saluted and left the room. She hadn't revealed any surprise outwardly when the flustered man had scurried into the room, out of breath and lacking all the discipline and control that she had come to expect from military folk. It was disappointing, though her disapproval had been overwhelmed by the news of Sparrow and Prism having been sortied to take care of Menagerie--or what was potentially Menagerie. Similar powers were not uncommon. She had been ready to put the institute under lockdown when news of the disturbance had awoken her roughly two hours ago, and she was still quite ready to do so. At the very least, reports indicated Prism was doing a spectacular job keeping the fight contained, though the sheer volume of creatures the supposed Menagerie was spawning at this point threatened to overwhelm her. It wouldn't do to have the students attempt to take advantage of the chaos to escape, especially if they were aware that Prism was occupied. The director flicked through the hefty stack of papers on her desk--dossiers on the recent arrivals--checking over certain ones she had tagged with a red Post-It note to indicate high risk. The purple Post-It note attached to a "Hazel Baker" drew her eye and she pulled the girl's papers from the overall pile. At least they had warned her beforehand about this girl attending USARILN East. She had reluctantly agreed to their "socialization" tests on the caveat that if anything extreme happened, Hazel would be sent straight back to them, potentially in a bodybag. The stipulations didn't seem to bother them in the slightest. [color=f7976a]"Director, they're gathered in the containment cell,"[/color] a voice called out to her from the door of her office and she looked up to find her secretary politely tapping his wrist to indicate the time. [color=f7976a]"Thank you, George,"[/color] she stood up, waving him away as she headed to the bathroom to make sure her appearance was in pristine condition. She couldn't afford to look weak in front of the subnaturals, with as many Aberrations as they had on hand. Most of the worst ones behaved more feral than human, and found anything less than total domination and visually impressive authority weak, so she had become quite used to the routine of having a perfectly managed look to avoid any sort of impression that she could be intimidated or threatened. It didn't always stop them, but at least it gave plenty of them pause for thought. Of course, she had staff on hand to take care of any who tried to attack. Her reflection in the mirror surprised her greatly. She looked tired. It wouldn't do. With a few splashes of water to her face, Director Lina Zhang took care of the slight oil that had been glistening on her forehead and rubbed away the rheum in her eyes. She brushed several black locks out of her face, the strands straying from the neat bun on her head. It bothered her that her hair was already rebelling when she was swamped with this much work--like some augur of doom on the horizon. Ridiculous. She really was tired. The bun took a good 10 minutes to redo, but Director Zhang was satisfied with the sleekness of her head now that she had patted down her hair with water. Taking a moment to ensure her makeup hadn't been smeared by any droplets, she gave a cursory glance to the light blush and contour across her high cheekbones, before scrutinizing the tip of her prim nose for any excess shine. Her thin lips pursed angrily at the small smudge of lipstick on the corner of the mouth that she had apparently missed in her hurry to dress earlier. It took far too long to clear away before she was satisfied and her lips eased back into their customary politician smile. Her dark brown eyes in the mirror stared back harshly in the fluorescent bathroom lighting and the cattish lift on the outside corners of her eyes gave her an almost predatory look. After thoroughly checking that her dress shirt was still tucked tightly around her trim waist and snugly into her skirt, she rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. This would work. Director Zhang swept out of the bathroom with a clean, brisk stride, heels clacking sharply on the marble tiles as she swiftly made her way to the elevator that would take her down to the massive containment cells below the Institute. They customarily ushered all new arrivals through an underground garage and into a reinforced chamber provided by Hephaestus to await Director Zhang's personal check of all new students. In this case, she had also found it necessary to summon Lawrence Ellison and Lillianna Brandt. The former for his generally pacifying effect on the worst of the students and the latter because she was technically also a new arrival, having been there only a week beforehand through circumstances there weren't at all surprising these days. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ifVwAOx.png[/img][/center] [hr][center][color=silver]π•Šπ•–π•‘π•₯. πŸ›, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / π•Œπ•Šπ”Έβ„π•€π•ƒβ„• 𝔼𝕒𝕀π•₯ / / β„‚π• π•Ÿπ•₯π•’π•šπ•Ÿπ•žπ•–π•Ÿπ•₯ β„‚π•™π•’π•žπ•“π•–π•£ πŸšπŸ› / / πŸ˜πŸ›πŸ™πŸ[/color][/center][hr] The new students were gathered in the massive, blank chamber, still linked together by the chains of their magic-negating wrist and ankle cuffs. [color=f7976a]"Welcome to USARILN East,"[/color] she greeted them with a cold smile. [color=f7976a]"I am Director Lina Zhang, and from now on I'll play the role of guardian and prison warden to all of you. Generally, welcoming parties at three in the morning are rescheduled for seven in the morning to allow everyone time to sleep. But as I understand it, your convoy ran into some trouble along the way. I'm here to make sure this potential mishap hasn't given any of you thoughts on escaping."[/color] She gently waved her hand, but it wasn't directed at the students. The guards who had been waiting for her signal marched into the room, surrounding the new students with their guns raised and safeties off. It didn't particularly bother her that Lawrence and Lillianna were included on the potential death counts. [color=f7976a]"As you've realized by now, the cuffs suppress your abilities, and the two nearby without cuffs do not have enough firepower to save you. So here are your options: my soldiers proceed to outfit you with the standard tracking cuffs on your ankles and you [i]do not resist in any way[/i], or I point at any unruly members of the group and they die."[/color] She paused with a slight frown when her phone buzzed briefly. A quick check confirmed the message and she resumed smiling. [color=f7976a]"Prism has finished dealing with the nearby issue and is on hand for any potential trouble with the new arrivals,"[/color] she explained, [color=f7976a]"but I find it a massive waste of a Precursor's time to deal with trifling matters, so I'll give any of you that wants it an easy exit. Just let me know if you would like to escape. I'm a proponent of free will, after all,"[/color] her smile grew wider as she made the joke, [color=f7976a]"and you certainly have the free will to tell me if you'd rather die here than later at Prism's hands."[/color] The director beckoned to another guard near the door, who came in and stood in front of her. She took a pistol from the belt on his waist and checked the safety, flicking it off before turning back to the students. [color=f7976a]"I will personally see to your execution, in that event,"[/color] she announced kindly. [color=f7976a]"But I'm also willing to answer any last questions you might have, of course. Feel free to discuss my generous offer with your peers, particularly Lawrence--"[/color] she pointed her gun at the blonde-haired boy [color=f7976a]"--and Lillianna there,"[/color] then repositioned her aim towards the waifish girl sporting a similar shade of hair color. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ifVwAOx.png[/img][/center] [hr] [hider=OOC: Interaction Tags] [@Kyrisse][@Snagglepuss89][@Diggerton][@Deathmyster][@dragonmancer][@RedDusk][@Baklava][@Piercing Light][@Gisk][@Chasers115][@Apokalipse][@Lasrever][@GreenGoat][@PapiTan][@Alupi][@Riffus Maximus] [/hider]