Ammokkx

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

<Snipped quote by Ammokkx>



Mom said it's my turn with the Alaya-Vijnana System. :P

@Crusader Lord

its just funny that your idea is to become one with your framewerk when the thing serah has going for her right now is being super in tune with her frame that she becomes one with it, without any special implants of nuffin'

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

my gimmick, stolen from right under my nose

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah thrashed and struggled as Griff covered her mouth again, growling and getting ready to bite him once more. She paused when he quickly explained himself and how he ended up in this situation, and how he had a cunning plan to get himself out. She stood there bewildered as he shoved some papers in his hand and did a terrible job at improvising a play. "You... you...!!" she could barely form her thoughts as she trembled with fear and rage from how he'd just handled her, the paper in her hand crumpling up from how tightly she was clutching it.

Then, the door screeched as it was forced open.

Startled, Serah yelped and jumped to the side as the Lilim bust through and nearly tornado kicked Griff to the other end of the room. While she stopped just short of giving him a new jawline, she still made a clear threat to him not to do that again. Relief washed over Serah briefly as her saviour turned to look at her. She tried to thank her, and so said: "Thank yoouuuuwhoa-" as she then proceeded to be hoisted up on the Lilim's shoulders. Serah blinked and didn't resist, as this was still much gentler than what Griff had been doing. This robot lady also wasn't a big burly man, which helped. The young could feel the adrenaline still pumping through her veins as she was carried out of the room, having only a few moments to compose herself before being asked where 'Ritsu Kaname' was.

"Huh...? The lieutentnat...?" she'd answer slightly bewildered, given what all had just occurred in short succession. Serah was too tired of all of this to question it anymore, though. The nice robot lady also helped save her from Griff, which helped her to not think about it too hard. "Uhm... probably her office, she'd answer Stella. Given the girl was being asked, though, the lilim probably didn't know where that was. So, Serah decided to just give her directions: Actually, I'll just tell you the way. Go straight then take the second door to your right. Go down that hallway, then..."

She'd guided the lilim all the way to lieutenant Ritsu's office, telling the robot her name along the way, then politely asked to be let down. Serah would make her way back to her room from there, flop down on her bed to unwind, and resolve never to speak to anyone of this again. Sergeant Ken would also receive an e-mail from Serah later that day, with her asking if she could schedule some extra self-defense lessons from him.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah was quick on her feet, and did make it a short distance away from Griff. Unfortunately for her, the man in question was extremely in shape and did not miss leg day. It took only a few hallways for him to close the gap and grab her. "Hey, let me-!" she wanted to protest, but Griff was quick to put one hand over her mouth. Serah tried to protest more, but all that came out of her mouth were muffled "Mph?!" and "Mmm!!" noises. Griff dragged her into an empty room and used his muscles to pin her in place, whispering:

"Just be quiet and stop resisting."

Serah froze in place for a moment, fear welling up in her. What was Griff trying to do to her?! She started kicking and thrashing against him as the two of them were leaned against the door of the darkened room, eventually biting down on Griff's hand to make him at least release her mouth.

"Pervert! Creep! Let me go!!" she screamed at him and desperately wiggled to try and get herself free. Then, a female voice came from the other side of the door, saying something about having ten seconds to open up. Serah turned her face over to try and scream as clearly as she could at the mysterious rescuer: "Help me!! This guy's putting his hands all over me!!!"

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah hummed as she paced through the halls of Solaire, a smile on her face from her talk with Aurora. 'Aura's a really nice person,' she thought to herself. It'd been a few days since all the pilots had been brought together, but Serah had felt a little lost in the crowd. Not many people were her age and she'd had trouble really becoming friends with any of them. Aurora felt like the first person Serah actually managed to connect with in a meaningful way, so her head was all abuzz about it. It made the girl want to find another pilot to talk to and become better friends with, get to know everyone before the big test. Both Sparks and Elora looked busy attending to their frames, so Serah went to look for one of the others instead. There were a few locations people could be at; their rooms, the simulation room, the cafeteria, the green zone... and knowing Griff, he was probably hitting up the gym. Serah didn't mind going around to check, as even in the worst case she could find something to keep herself busy with.

She carefully considered who she might talk to. She already felt pretty positively about Elora and Rhylaen, so there wasn't much need to find those two. Lieutenant Ritsu was her superior, and honestly seemed a little hard to talk to. She didn't know much about Minerva, Arrish or Ava. It'd be nice if she could find one of those three. She lost herself in thought and absent-mindedly rounded a corner, her head bumping straight into a set of hard abs as she did.

"Ow!" she cried out in pain as she stumbled back a bit, rubbing her head. Serah was a polite girl, though, and opened one eye, quickly apologising: "Sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you... okay..."

It was Griff.

Not only was it Griff, it was the funniest Griff she'd ever seen. Pulling her hand up to her mouth to avoid showing her grin, Serah could barely contain herself. "Griff? Wha... what are you wearing... ahaha..." she started giggling. It was no surprise, because the usually manlier-than-the-manliest-man Griff was standing in front of her, hair half-dried like a wet dog, wearing half-closed booty shorts and a shirt several sizes too small. It really brought out and emphasized his tummy, abs glistening in the ship's lighting. The glory of his six-pack was only matched by the shirt's low collar really emphasizing his pecs, a truly awe-inspiring chest for any ladies to gawk at.

Serah couldn't contain herself. Her giggling didn't take long to turn into full-blown howling. "Oh... oh my god, I can't, I can't breathe, ahaha!" She couldn't contain her laughter, and wasn't about to pretend to either. "I need... I need to tell Elora about this... and Aura... and everyone..."

She knew that with those words she'd just signed her death wish with Griff, but Serah did not care. This story was juicy enough to give up her life for. The moment she had even a little bit of composure, Serah turned around and booked it, sprinting back towards the direction of the hangar in the hopes of telling everyone what she'd just seen- or even better, have Griff follow her to it.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

In the hangar

Serah stayed slumped against Atty for what felt like an eternity. She’d keep whispering and talking to it with phrases like "This isn’t like me, right?” and "I promise I’ll be okay soon.” To an outsider it looked like she was talking to nobody, trying to reassure herself as she embraced her own body in an attempt to calm down. There was no doubt in Serah’s mind she was talking to her frame, though, and that it would talk back to her. The people around her who saw this, however, were concerned. Something had to have happened to make two of the new faces come to the bay as distressed as they were, both showing the same symptoms of wanting to be near their frames and talking to it. Thus a well-meaning, if slightly misguided engineer walked over, asking if Serah was okay and trying to check on her. The girl got startled and shot upright, eyes wide with surprise as she was addressed.

"Ah… haha… ahaha! Yeah, I’m totally fine! Sorry for worrying you,” she’d say, putting on a brave face to deflect how she really felt. "I just got unnerved a little. I’m… okay! Totally fine. Thanks for checking on me!” she’d tell them with a beaming smile, with Serah having taken a step back. Then another as the engineer asked some followup questions. "No… really, it’s okay-” she’d keep insisting, and they’d get pushier in turn. Serah couldn’t keep this charade up forever. She just wanted them to leave her alone. She wanted to be alone. Alone with Atty. But this person wasn’t going to let her. "I-I’m fine… uhm… excuse me!”

Another step back. Then another. Then a few more as Serah turned around and started running away from the engineer, straight through the docking platform for the frame next to Atty’s. She didn’t make it super far though, as in her haste, Serah tripped right over a stray wire laying around. With a small shriek she tumbled down and over, crashing right into someone who had up to now been sitting in her own shadowed corner away from prying eyes: Aurora. The older woman did catch Serah in time, but that didn’t stop the girl from looking up at her all flustered, the panic clearly written across her face. "O-oh… sorry, I’m so sorry!”

It was clear that Aurora had been crying. But that had not stopped her from moving to catch the younger girl as she tripped. But strangely her first reaction wasn’t to directly make sure that she was okay. Instead she glared up at the massive Framewerk that shadowed them.

“Sleepy! Don’t be rude!” She scolded, her voice rough from her crying. “She’s not done anything wrong.”

It was only after that she turned her attention to the person in her arms. “Hey, sorry about them. They’ve never quite liked others, but that doesn’t give them any excuse.” She would say, giving a wobbly smile, still shaken from earlier. But she wouldn’t deny that having someone else nearby was helpful now that she had gotten past the worst of it. The warmth was grounding.

“Are you okay though?”

Serah blinked once or twice as she got a good look at Aurora’s face. "Ah… yeah, I think,” she’d answer the older woman, taking note of how exhausted and red her face looked. It didn’t take her long to connect the dots, with where they were and who she was. Aurora must’ve come here for the same reason Serah had, to seek comfort near her frame. The young girl didn’t know Aurora well enough to enjoy the hug, so she pushed herself away and sat down just opposite to her.

"I actually… think I know what you mean,” she sheepishly said, scratching her cheek. "Atty doesn’t like it when other people come near me either. I don’t know how to describe it… I can just tell he doesn’t like them. He’s very protective of me.” Serah looked up at Sleepy from below, noting its impressive size, and said: "I’m sorry, Sleepy. I didn’t mean to fall on her.”

“Atty?” Aurora would ask, wracking her mind for which frame could be being talked about. “Oh, do you mean AA-XOTRY? That’s a wonderful nickname.” She would add. Before looking back at her own Frame. “Be nice, we could learn a thing from her and Atty.” She told the looming warmachine.

She shifted a little to give Serah a decent amount of space in the small area they had to themselves. “I take it you are one of the other Pilots then. I’m not sure we’ve been introduced. My name is Aurora. It's a pleasure to meet you, even if the circumstances are a bit odd.”

"Mhm! I know,” Serah would respond, some of the spring in her step returning. "I remember you from that one time in the shower. You know, on the first day? You told us about how Sleepy protected you. He sounds really nice to you!” Serah would talk and talk, forgetting she’d been asked her name. Her eyes were sparkling when the focus was put on the girls’ frames. "How long have you known Sleepy? I haven’t been with Atty that long… but it feels like it’s been forever! It feels nice and safe inside his cockpit, and he talks lots to me… too…”

‘Oh,’ she thought to herself. ‘I probably sound crazy to her now.’ She’d been told before that frames don’t talk by both recruiters and other pilot-prospects. "S-sorry… I’m getting a little ahead of myself, huh?”

“Huh, I’m a bit jealous I’d say.” Aurora would reply with a thoughtful look at Serah. Before looking back up at Sleepy.

“I’ve known Sleepy for most of their life. I got to see their blueprints before their construction was finished.” Aurora would go on to answer, partly glad to be able to skim past a prior interaction with them. Since she didn’t remember the shower talk that Serah was talking about. But also slightly disappointed as well. Since it made it harder to get their name again. Though at least now she had something to connect them too. “Even got to witness the final installation of their original systems. But I’ve never had them talk back to me. At least never clearly.”

“I’ve always been able to feel out their mood by the sounds of their engine, or the servos when they walk.” She would state with a fond smile. ”And while I’ve always found Sleepy sweet, though they’ve never shown anyone else that side of them.”

“I chalked it up to it only being the two of us now. But It would be nice to hear if I’m right. Or just to talk to them in general.”

Serah closed her eyes for a little while and listened carefully, but no matter how long she listened, she couldn’t hear Sleepy’s voice. "Mmm… I wish I could tell you. But Sleepy won’t talk to me. Only Atty does,” she told Aurora, opening her eyes again and looking straight at her. "But I think you’re doing it right. Even if you can’t hear Sleepy’s voice, you can still tell how he’s feeling, right? Atty’s voice isn’t that clear either. I feel it more in my heart when I’m near him… I feel his thoughts and his emotions. I feel that he cares about me and wants to keep me safe. And when I’m upset, he goes quiet too. It feels like a warm, silent hug.”

Serah put her hands on the floor behind her and leaned back, her gaze shifting sideways to Atty. She could still just barely make it out from the two girls’ hiding spot. "It just feels like… we’ve already been through a lot together, somehow. He wouldn’t accept any pilots other than me. They all did terribly on the tryouts. And I don’t think I could ever pilot anyone else, either.” With those words spoken, Serah turned her attention back to Aurora. "Everyone seems to think frames are just machines… and I thought so too at first. But I can feel Atty’s heartbeat. I can hear his voice. So I think… I think you should be able to feel Sleepy’s heart, too. I hope he’ll talk to me too some day, ehehe...”

“Mmm, I get that. Me and Sleepy did go through hell together after all. It’s one of the reasons I know there’s more to them than just being a machine.” Aurora would agree softly, leaning into Sleepy's foot a bit more. “The lesson earlier… It pulled me back to that time.” She would say after a moment.

Her gaze went distant, memories only just out of sight. She wasn’t worried about them though, not here next to her dear partner. “But we got through it together, and everything that came after as well. So it’s okay if I can’t hear them the same way you can with Atty. I know Sleepy’s with me until the end. And maybe we’ll be able to learn from you two. We’ve learned so much since we joined the pilot program after all.”

The younger girl watched Aurora’s face, her movements, as she gave a small glimpse into her past. Serah told her: ”I could tell. ‘Cuz I was the same just now… remembering something I can’t forget.” She touched her tattoo subconsciously again. "I saw the look on your face, and that you were here next to Sleepy and I guess I just… didn’t feel alone.”

Serah jumped up and dusted herself, doing a small twirl with her hands on her hips. She certainly looked more energetic than before, though a part of her was still hurting. But when she’s hurting, she can’t help but put on a brave face for others. "Aurora’s a really pretty name, by the way. I’m glad I got to know you and Sleepy a bit better. I think I need to go and apologise to Atty, though, ehehe…” she sheepishly said again, glancing in its direction. With a small wave, Serah told the older woman: "I’m Serah! Let’s be friends, okay Aura?” and ran off towards her own frame again, full of vigor as she’d always been.

Aurora gave a small wave as Serah ran off. In a little bit of awe that the other girl had bounced back so quickly. But heartened as she too felt better knowing she had someone else who understood in their own way. “I’m glad we got to talk as well Serah.” She called out before the girl got too far.

She then turned a look back up towards Sleeping Thunder. “I get it, and thank you. But you didn’t have to be rude about it.” She told them. Before shaking her head and standing up. “I’m going to head out too. But I’ll come back soon I promise.” She adds patting the foot with no small amount of affection. Before walking off, back towards the rest of the ship.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah covered her head with her hands, as if she was ducking for cover, when Aurora and Ava were starting to shoot down the line of questioning she'd started on. Of course Serah wasn't sympathetic to the Cruxi, hatred for them burned strong in her heart too. But just blind hatred wasn't enough for her. She wanted a reason why they were being invaded, why her parents had to die and why her life had to be thrown completely off the rails. She's not the type of girl who can live off pure hatred like that. If every action the invaders took was pointless, some meaningless lust for conquest, then all that would leave in the aftermath is hollow.

So cue her tentatively pleasant surprise when Lorenzo didn't take the opportunity to exit stage right, and instead actually circled back to answer her question. Though she almost wished she hadn't asked, as the video he projected afterwards was downright haunting. Screams, gunfire, marching troops and the scared, shallow breathing of the unlucky civilian who was caught in this situation. The blaring, haunting message repeating over, and over. A shiver ran down her entire body as she hugged herself, her mind racing. She was all too familiar with screams like that, the day in her childhood where she was caught in the attack being fresh in her mind like it was just the day prior. And the person who recorded this... in a cramped space, alone, and scared out of their mind...

They were almost like...

"Thank you... sir..." she said with a shaky voice. Fear, anger, anxiety- it all bubbled up inside her as her face went pale. Serah felt like throwing up, the room spinning around her. She... she needed to be anywhere else than this classroom for a bit. As class had been dismissed earlier, she did not feel the need to ask for permission either. With a hurried "Excuse me..." she got up and swiftly made her exit before anyone could stop her. Before even Arrish got up, not listening to a word he said. She needed to be gone.

Serah stumbled through the hallway a bit, breathing heavily as she broke into a cold sweat. Its like the world ahead of her stretched on infinitely, the hallway elongating with every step she took. She couldn't think straight. The only thing on her mind right now was seeking comfort.

Serah knew one place she could get that. The one place on this ship she felt the safest. She navigated the hallways, shaky as she was. Though she'd been on the ship for less than a week, the girl had a remarkably easy time navigating it, like she'd lived here for a year already. As for her destination, the place she wanted to get to, it was none other than the hangar. Bustling with engineers like usual, doing maintenance and checkups. She was keenly aware of them, their faces, their words of concern as the young girl passed them while hugging herself. She deliberately ignored every single one.

She just wanted to get to Atty.

She reached her frame and leaned against its leg, going limp as she slumped down against it. Its metal shell was cold to the touch, yet Serah always felt warm inside when she was near him. A familiar, familial warmth. An old friend who wouldn't leave her side. She couldn't hear his voice like this- he never really talked if she was upset. Despite that, Serah still took comfort in the presence of her frame. She knew he wanted to protect her. She felt as much the few times she got to ride him. They'd known each-other much longer than this, the young girl thought to herself. Else he wouldn't be so sweet to her.

"If I'm with you, Atty... maybe things won't be too bad." she said wistfully, a dull throbbing pain in her heart. Subconsciously she reached for her tattoo, fingers grazing her cheek. "Because I know... you wouldn't leave me alone. Even if I went mad."

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah looked to be absent-mindedly following the class, but she was paying more attention than you'd expect. She listened to the explanation of cruxi society, how they were a conglomerate of races and the various differences that were observed so far. Cloning technology used for mass producing troops, self-destructing equipment... they definitely sounded prepared for a war effort. Serah was definitely curious about humanity's enemy, she wanted to know more about them. Then Lorenzo dismissed class and looked to be sorting his documents for a quick exit after.

Serah shouted: "Wait wait wait! I have questions!" and raised her hand up in an attempt to stop Lorenzo from departing too quickly. "Cruxi obviously have to be able to communicate among themselves, right? 'Cuz they're a bunch of different species. Can they talk to us? Have they tried talking to us? Even just as a threat?"

Its not like Serah was keen on talking to a cruxi. It just seemed strange that the species would only want war, and nothing else out of humanity, if they were a conglomerate like Lorenzo said. Something at the back of her mind also nagged her, like she'd seen it before. But it was an unsettling thought. "Also... have the cruxi ever deployed a human or tevrainian to fight for them? Like... mind-controlled or something?"

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah watched Elora waddle off after being debriefed by Ritsu, tracing her with her eyes. There really was something familiar about her. Even though the blue-haired girl was joking about not having seen each-other in a while, it rang surprisingly true when she'd said it in the moment. Serah's not one to sweat the small stuff though and instead let her eyes dart around the room to see who was still around... which was pretty much everyone, really. The tall glasses-wearing woman was chatting about frames with the friendly looking guy who's shirt was... indecipherable. The red haired man was talking to the short, winged person. Serah hadn't really seen a tevrainian up close before, only heard about them. She looked kind of neat. Two of the older women in the group seemed to stay silent, keeping to themselves. Then there was the rude man from before, picking fights again.

Serah wasn't really sure who to bug. She didn't have much experience talking to guys older than her, but the girls didn't look very friendly either. But then she overheard the friendly guy quipping with the blonde-haired one, who'd already gone off to bug one of the girls... most like to pick another fight. Maybe she should step in and do something about that...

"Ooo, you do field repairs?" Serah would chime in, getting between Griff and Sparks before things could escalate too far. "Atty's armor is really light. I'm going to be drawing a lot of fire out there, so I hope I can count on you to keep me safe!" she cheerily said to Sparks, quickly glancing in Griff's direction to make sure he wasn't looping back around to give in to Sparks' provoking. "Lets try and be friends, okay?" she'd kindly tell him and waved goodbye, hurrying to Minerva's side before things could get out of hand there, too.

"Physical stuff? You must train a lot, huh?" Serah would say to butt into the conversation, peeking her head out from next to Griff as she looked up to him. "I'm not that strong myself, ehehe... what kinda stuff do you do to keep yourself in shape? Maybe I could learn something from you!"

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Serah didn't like cramped ships much. Those had some very nasty memories attached to them. She was hesitant to get on this one, even, but its not like she had much of a choice. She'd been drafted with no other prospects open to her. Once on the shuttle, things weren't so bad. Serah kept to herself, her eyes closed and humming a little familiar tune to herself. One picked up a long time ago. She wasn't sure from where, though. The journey felt familiar and safe, unlike her initial gut instinct- though all the people were strangers to her. New faces, new names she'd get to know, maybe. It didn't feel right at the time talking to anyone. Too crowded, too loud. So she kept to herself, cheerfully humming her little song and taking note of everyone on the ship.

Even so, when they landed, Serah was the first pilot out and gave herself a nice, long stretch as she did. Something about a space so stuffy didn't suit her. Well, unless it was inside of Atty's cockpit. That one suited her just fine, it felt safe and familiar. She was smiling to herself and had a spring to her step when she thought about it. She couldn't wait to pilot him for real- she was only allowed brief control before as part of the testing procedure before. She wanted to examine his parts and practice her movements- it made her buzz just thinking about how fun it would be.

Before any of that, though, there was a proper initiation to take care of. Serah silently took note again of the people around her as they walked side by side. A lot of them were much taller than she was, but there looked to be some girls her age. Or maybe not... well, at the very least, they were girls her size. And one of them... looked oddly familiar. Maybe she was just imagining it?

Serah just followed along, hands clasped behind her back, keenly listening to everyone else being introduced. 'Officer Ritsu is pretty cool,' she thought. Mature, calm, collected- the polar opposite of herself, really. But the other superior officer... Lorenzo... when he turned to look at her, when he said the following to her:

"Yes...I can see you have the potential for greatness, lassie. You have the eyes..."

Her heart stopped. Her shoulders stiffened, she caught her breath and shivers ran down her spine. Despite her being more or less the only one to get a positive comment from this man, she feared it. A primal fear welling up from deep within her psyche, a voice screaming at her that he's bad news. Even as Ritsu got the briefing back on track, his gaze lingered on her just that little bit longer. Long enough to make her deeply uncomfortable.

The rest of the briefing went without incident, for a time. Ritsu and Lorenzo ran the cadets through their schedule and the upcoming test, seemingly to determine a squad leader. Serah glanced over at everyone again, but nobody seemed too eager for the role. She didn't think herself really suited either. Well... until one of the guys spoke up, anyway. Loud and boisterous and calling for a skirmish among the group. A... weight lifting skirmish? For pilots? Was physical strength really that important to pilot frames? Surely even she'd make a better leader than this one...

The question distracted her for just long enough that the comment aimed towards their tevranian friend flew right past her, and was only snapped back to reality when the group began to bicker among themselves. When Aurora sidestepped the whole issue asked her question to the officers, Serah took the opportunity to sneak past everyone. This way she, too, could sidestep Griff's grandstanding entirely. Waddling on over to Elora, the first words out of her mouth were: "Long time no see!" It must have surprised the girl given the deer-caught-in-headlights stare she gave Serah in return. The energetic one just kept her hands behind her back, looking up at Elora like a curious little birdy with a warm smile. "Hehe, sorry. I just have this feeling you remind me of someone. I'm Serah- Serah Gene. What's your name again?"