[center][i] UNDERCITY, OUTSKIRTS, UNKNOWN DISTANCE FROM [THE STONE WORKS] [/i][/center] [hr] J-3 [i]moved[/i], charging forward until they felt an unfamiliar, and yet knowable [i]pang[/i] of not-quite-hunger. It resonated in their core, that fist sized sphere of [OBSIDIAN-INK-unknowable-LEARN] in their chest. They slowed, and slowed, coming to a stop and simply [i][BREATHING][/i] until the form they wore shrank. And shrank. And shrank again. Settling on a startlingly ‘perfect’ recreation of a German Shepard. If a German Shepard had a segmented carapace. With six legs, and two heads on twinned necks. They turned, four eyes blinking up at The Ally and Rat. They took note of a singular… Bird…? No. No it was a construct. A constellation… No matter. J-3 turned their entire focus to The Ally, sitting down and whining lowly as ink sluggishly moved along one of the two throats. They clearly wanted to stop and talk, though one head kept looking around, taking note of their surroundings as the air filled with distant— And close by— calls of beasts. What was going on? … Who cared. Focus on The Ally. And Rat. Who was plainly unhappy with his… Situation. [hr] [center][i] Titan’s Fall, Titan’s Tower R&D division, laboratory 3[/i][/center] [hr] [url=https://youtu.be/qcBChuoFkMU]The speakers THUMPED[/url] to life as he worked. Five fingers, appearing for all the world, like the graphics of video games from the early 2000’s, curled around tools that manifested from seemingly nowhere. One hand swiped down, cutting through the air and revealing a length of arm that was pure [i]light[/i]. Or at least, seemingly so. The arms, and hands, and most of the shoulders, were made from what looked like light. Maybe as bright as a candle flame, and colored sunset orange. The torso was clothed with a stylized tee, made from some unknown material, not too unlike spandex. The symbol of the Templar splayed across its front. The exposed throat showed [i]lines[/i]. Like channels on a motherboard, these lines spanned the entirety of the flesh. They seemed to [i]pulse[/i] in time with his heartbeat, and as he moved, the light that rose from the lines turned a burnished red. His thoughts were loud today, ricocheting between different subjects and topics with no control, no serenity. He thought on the hospital… Thought on— [i]The feeling of some unquantifiable weight slamming into him. His legs sparked once, a terrible, brief, flash of pain before they stopped responding to him all together. His arms screamed agony and wailed misery, sending him into an immediate spiral of sweat and cold fear. There was an armored woman in his apartment, nearly horizontal in the rubble that was formerly the wall between his kitchen and bedroom. The Templar symbol splayed across her chest, her beaten up armor. There was a rumble, a thump like a rhino landing from four stories up. Something twisted in his shoulder. A piece of rebar? He couldn’t stop the scream of pain. A silhouette appeared. A monster, a storm given life and flesh, anger given a direction. It was talking, monologuing at the armored woman. Terror gripped him, as much as the haze of pain did, and he remembered opening his mouth—[/i] The piece of plastic and metal at his fingertips sparked. He jumped, blinking that memory away and focusing on his task. His thoughts leapt— [i] A haze. Like a dream that was following you to the surface of wakefulness, trying to yank you back to the depths of sleep. He knew he was… In a hospital. Lewis Memorial? … Whatever. The painkillers were STRONG. But he was lucid. They had said his legs and arms were… Unsalvageable. He would need prosthetics, maybe. He lost a kidney, and a portion of his liver. They could handle that here, easy, but the prosthetics… The hospital had some rudimentary ones, glitchy and old. Hm. And then there was more. He was a deviant! Imagine that. Said that ‘[color=Blue]The genetic markers we’re seeing typically indicate Tinker, Shaker, and Mover, maybe. Some good news for you, mister Lanning…[/color]’ The words were far away, just barely audible, like they were fuzzy in the air itself. Hah. Right. The doctor, or, ‘the dude’ as he referred to him in his mind, left. Mentioned that a ‘Miss Richter’ wanted to speak to him, if he felt up to it. He did. It was a woman, obviously. Her smile was wan, as if she was feeling some kind of guilt. Or maybe because she knew something he didn’t? [b][color=#FA649B]"Hello, mister Lanning."[/color][/b] [/i] More sparks, his face pulled into a frown as his mind focused for just a moment longer, ARI beeped twice as the world [b]s l o w e d d o w n[/b]. His thoughts, however, had not. [i] He had blinked, stared the woman in her eye as she went on to continue speaking. “[b][color=#FA649B]I just wanted to say, Mister Lanning, that—[/color][/b]” His head snapped up. He felt his blood pulse as he shifted in the hospital bed. A burst of anger? No. Just irritation, mild and laconic. “[color=Orange][b]My name, is [u]Felix[/u]. Feeeeeeelix. Felix. Okay? I ain’t DEAD so don’t act like it, dammit. Shit.[/b][/color]” Her face paused, before she gave a soft snort. The wan smile changed— [/i] He snorted himself, pausing in his work as he moved from one work table to the other. The credit card sized piece of plastic sparked, again. He groaned and then paused, a thought rocketing through everything as a certain series of words came unbidden. ‘Find a loophole.’ His thoughts, even through ARI’s perception slowing, leapt again— [i]Eva cleared her throat, starting over again. "Hey there, how're you feeling?" “[color=Orange][b]Like shit! But I’ll get better. They said you had some words for me?[/b][/color]” "[color=#FA649B]Evangeline Richter, Eva if you like. We’re going to take care of you, but I HAVE to warn you. People are going to approach you, make you offers, and contracts. You’re a Deviant now, and that means your life is… Never going to be the same.[/color]“ A pause. He smiled and nodded for her to continue. "[color=#FA649B] But, the least we can do since you were injured on our watch, is have your back. I have a place where you can safely explore your new gifts. Everything you need, including housing would be provided for you in the Eagle's Nest. The catch is you would have to enlist with the Templar for me to legally protect you. It can be an extremely dangerous job, as you know firsthand... so it has to be your choice.[/color]" She took a moment before continuing. “[color=#FA649B]I know you’re smart enough to see where this is going.[/color]” And Felix did, he saw both the hypocrisy, and the kindness in what she was doing. “[color=Orange]You also, y’know, waited till I was lucid, I’m assuming, before making this offer! So…[/color]” [/i]