Peaceless

Ace Academy - Ready!? Set!? Rumble! - College Team Based Mecha Battles - High Casual

Yeah I'm interested

Mass Effect AU (open)

Helloooo

Is this still taking new people?

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Chizuru Yama-uchi & Natalie TreVayne
_{collab with @Rawk}

Reddish glow emanated from the entrance to Eden, its artificial twenty-four hour light cycle trudging towards evening. Most visitors to the huge greenhouse would cover their eyes as they left the dim metallic glow of the ark’s ‘streets’, and those who were on their way out cast long shadows on the floor ahead of them.

Such a shadow, though exceptionally large, greeted Natalie as she drew near the entrance. What appeared to be a pitch black angular giant split into three distinct figures. But before she could notice any details about them, the middle one darted towards her, two red orbs flashing at her from the middle of its head.

“Your attacker. Where is it?” it hissed at her, its eyes slightly brighter than the light inside. The other two swiftly closed the distance with loud metallic footsteps.

The woman’s eyes shot open while simultaneously being caught flat-footed by the ominous figure, causing her to throw her arms up in a defensive position only to stumble backwards almost immediately due to an unbalanced equilibrium, catching herself with both hands. Immediately both security droid escorts intercepted their charge, putting themselves in between the woman and her assailant. “Stand down Ms. Yama-uchi.” The droid’s modulated voice demanded. Natalie, disoriented from the painkiller’s effects and panicked at the sight unfolding ahead of her, tried to backpedal along the ground, pushing herself away.

“Wha…? What is this?” Was all she’d managed to blurt out while doing her best to avoid whatever was happening.

“You want me to stand down?!” the urgent, accentuated hiss now sounded very familiar. “Look at her!” And as the cyborg gestured at the fallen Ms. TreVayne she made a tiny step forward, grabbed one of the droids by the wrist and darted under its arm to stand on the woman’s other side. A perimeter was formed, at least until the guard droids’ next actions.

“I’d help you up but these guys would try to rip my head off if I touched you.” She said quickly, her flaming red eyes scanning the crowd. Some of them were now stopping to look at the unfolding events, while others picked up their pace and hurried home. Two security guards that lounged around at the entrance to Eden were now walking towards the four in a brisk pace.

“Just point me at your attacker, whoever’s threatening you. Hurry.”

Natalie's eyes darted from the security droids, to the spastic cyborg, and then over to the incoming Agents, all the while wondering just what the hell was going on. What did this thing want with her? Why was she so concerned about an “attacker” when clearly she was the offensive one? And why was she being escorted by-

“Shit.” The woman then realized, through the haze of narcotics and the fast paced scene developing all around her, it was that cyborg who stirred up a shit storm of trouble shortly after launch. The one who'd been held in the brig. But what was she doing out here? Nat never had the chance to get caught up on everything pertaining to the case as much of it was classified or still being held pending further investigation. She had to assume that Ms Yama-uchi was out on parole until otherwise stated.

Both Agents stopped near the woman on the ground, one of which held out an arm to help her up. “Miss, are you okay? Has-”

The Agent's eyes narrowed at the sight of the woman's bruise on the bridge of her nose, cheek, and the bit of dried blood near her lip. He immediately turned to the cyborg with a grim expression, only to turn back to Natalie. “Ma'am, would you like to press assault charges?”

“Assault?” Natalie shot the guard a confused look and then looked over at the cyborg, as both droids flanked her, closing in to apprehend. The woman then held her hand out. “Wait, no. She didn't attack me. I don't actually know what she was doing, but she definitely didn’t assault me. Maybe she’s just...I don’t know, crazy?” Her words came out a bit slow and steady. “You'd think I know if I was attacked by a robot, or by anything for that matter, yeah?”

The Agent arched an eyebrow. “So...the marks on your cheek and nose were not caused by any attacker?”

“What?” A half smile formed on her lips as though he were playing a joke on her, but then recalled having had an earlier accident. “Oh, no. I’d fallen in the transport on the way here, hit my face on...something.” Her hand reached up and touched along a slightly swollen cheek, applying a little pressure on the bruise reminded her that there was, in fact, something there. “...but I guess I’d forgotten, since I couldn’t really feel the pain.” She snorted a slight laugh.”Does that make sense?”

“Mhmm” The Agent furrowed his brow as though thinking for a moment. “Ma’am unless you can tell us what happened-”

“Look!” She blurted out. “Nothing happened, I was just on my way out to the Hub...I mean…here, I guess.” Surveying the area, she set her tired eyes on the entrance to Eden. “I just-I just wanted to get away for a little while.” She then noticed the cluster of onlookers, and then turned back to the Agent standing in front of her, doing her best to focus on him. “Unless you have any further questions, Agent, I’d like to go now.”

The first Sec Agent looked over at the other, who simply shook his head and shrugged, before returning attention to the woman. “That’ll be all then. Just try to be careful.” He said, as he turned to the droids and nodded, before he and his partner made their way back to their post outside of the entrance to Eden.

Natalie let out a deep breath of relief, as the last thing she’d wanted was to go through the hassle of being scanned and then questioned, considering who she was and her current state of mind would lead to even more questions that didn’t need to be answered. She shoved her hands into her pockets, and started walking toward Eden’s front gate, but not before stopping as she was about to pass the cyborg and two droids, pausing for a moment to mentally structure a question.

“Were you trying to protect me?” She finally asked plainly while staring at the female’s face.

Chizuru was silent for a while, her eyes narrowing to their usual dots. Then she leaned slowly towards Natalie until their faces were two inches apart. “Yes.” she said suddenly, straightening herself. “You look hurt, afraid, unfocused. It was obvious to guess there might be some hidden revolt going on while Mr. TreVayne is away.”

She looked both ways, as if still expecting to find a hidden assassin, and spoke a bit quieter, “What is their status, anyway? I have not eavesdropped on Security since leaving my cell.”

The woman recoiled slightly at the abrupt face-to-face the cyborg had insisted on, unsure of what she was implying with the words that followed her hushed voice. Was the mechanical female suffering from some kind paranoia? Had these tendencies been noted in her previous psychological evaluation with Doctor Larson? Was Natalie in any kind of real danger? Several odd thoughts entered her mind, mainly due to the pain killers and their ability to lower ones inhibitions and logical mental processes. Maybe she was the one hallucinating?

“Hidden revolt?” She paused for a moment, curious if the cyborgs reference to Gavon and security-related intel indicated that she knew her identity, considering this would not be a normal conversation held for any random civilian. Unless…

“Miss Yama-uchi…” Natalie did her best to focus on the female's eyes and “dead” visage, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that she was at an uncomfortable distance from the other. “What are you up to?” She knew that was a mistake to ask, but was it? It was true that she wasn't quite in her right mind, nor lucid enough to care much about matters of security, but she only thought of her husband and his welfare at that moment.

“I am on a break!” Chizuru announced cheerfully, gesturing at the entrance to the greenhouse. “Just on my way back to prison. Kind of you to ask.” She stared at Natalie expectantly for a few moments, then frowned. “Wait. What do you mean?”

“Nevermind.” Natalie let out a long sigh. “In fact, let’s just pretend we were never here as this evening has already become too bizarre.” She turned and continued to walk off toward Eden’s entryway, not bothering to look back at the droids. Behind her, the mechanized trio smirked to each other, at least in Chizuru’s head. “Eavesdropping it is, then.” she said to herself, leading her escorts back in the direction of the brig.

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Without noticing, Yama-uchi let go a small sigh. She was staring absentmindedly through the window, past the gray lifeless courtyard of her college, to the lightly rustling leaves of trees that grew between the low buildings across the street. The dirt and dust on the outside of the glass, only partially washed away by spring showers, refracted some sunlight and made her feel blinded by the sun herself. With each inhale, the spicy dampness of spring air she expected to smell collided in her mind with the scent of ink and chalkboard. The latter would soon be greatly enhanced as the teacher flings the board eraser at her head -

Her hand twitched involuntarily. She turned her head with infinite slowness, and some grass poked at her cheeks as she looked at the appendage through the green blades. Her forearm and palm were almost entirely covered by a durable but flexible blue plastic sheet, that warped slowly as she tested the resolution of movement in her hand. She would do this in her past life, in a state of focused meditation she would sometimes reach when laying in grass just like this, feeling the tendons move under her skin. Surprisingly, she could feel the minute vibrations of hydraulic-assisted motion even now, despite having completely different sensors for touch.

It has been a while since Chizuru allowed herself to reminisce, and she had only now begun to realize how fast-paced her life had been in the last few years. Nobody could blame her, of course - it was literally a race for survival. But prolonged exposure to such a way of life may cause one to bury parts of their character in their subconscious, as a defense mechanism, to prevent their very existence from being ground down to that of a cog in the machine. She was aware of this, once, and would choose her schools and workplace by their proximity to gardens or forests. Only there, alone and away from bustling culture, may one truly be alone with oneself. To test abstract thought and to let the psyche dissect and digest the day's events.

It was as if someone tied a stone to her heart and let it fall down a pit, Yama-uchi thought as she lay on her back on top of the grassy hill. She could see her school when she would turn her head all the way left - but today its view was completely dark and distorted, and it made the stone pull at the string around her heart. Some kind of supernatural evil has settled in that large gray building, threatening her even from this distance. In her memory's eye, her friends would wear frightening Oni masks, taunting her with dark magic. She knew it was stupid, but it wasn't enough to simply know this. Her heart simply refused to process this, similarly to dreams where you're afraid of something for no reason at all, but still can't help it. Should she call in sick tomorrow? Just because of some new student in her class who for some reason looked at her two seconds too long, and made her picture their life together?

You know, I was human once. Chizuru realized she hadn't actually said this out loud, despite hoping it would be stronger than her. She made a mental list of every artificial part in her body, and tried to will her biology to reject it, to make her limbs hurt, her heart flutter, or just give her an annoying itch at the seams that wouldn't go away. Nothing. NC technology was just too good. She was a suit within a suit within a suit, within a suit if you count the Vitae. And her soul was at peace with this, despite the thrashing she would give it if she ever found it.

The cyborg raised her hand and laid it across her chest. It took her a few minutes, as it was the heaviest load she lifted in the last few days. This place made her weak. It made her lose her purpose. She could stay here forever, which means everyone on the ship would die, and be fine with it. In here, she could stop caring. Eden was as despicable as it was useful.

She forced herself into a standing position, shaked her legs a bit until they regained proper function, then stepped into her armor. It locked slowly into position as her CPU ran a diagnostic on each piece. She then tested her range of movement and counter-force of each joint, before turning to her escort.

"Alright boys, let's go back."

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

The cyborg paced silently through the public area that led to the entrance of Eden, her graceful steps punctuated by the deep drum beat of her escorts' heavy feet. She had her protective face mask on for effect, but oddly enough nobody was paying the mechanized trio any attention. It was weird, as if it was completely natural to see three soldiers, armored from head to toe and armed to the teeth, prancing through the street. A man she passed too closely looked up to see what the noise was about, gave a barely noticeable nod and went about his business.

Realization hit her a moment later, making her slow down a bit and throw her guards off their pace. With her mask, she looked like them. And being in the front, she looked like their boss.

A small eerie chuckle did make one of the bystanders give the three a worried look. One day, all of this will be hers. Oh yes.

The admiral's final instructions to the prison crew before he left rolled through her mind as she made her way through the automated doors of the climate-stabilized greenhouse - Not their content but rather their taste. Locke sounded indifferent, suspiciously apathetic, but she could tell it was in fact the other way around. He was not one of those men who were always ready to roll their responsibilities off their backs and onto the next in line. He held the weight of the entire ship on his shoulders, and to the practiced eye his effort was actually visible. It calmed her slightly. Even though her reassignment to engineering was probably nothing more than a chiding powerplay.

The air inside the greenhouse was different. Humidity and nitrogen levels were shifted from the ship's atmospheric solution, in addition to various organic substances floating around, in and out of the visitors' respiratory system. The cyborg shaked her head - she was letting the computer in her head smell the air instead of it going through her natural, albeit weakened, senses.

The Delegation From Planet Mechanozoid stopped on one of the garden's many pathways, beside a patch of grass with a tree in the middle. But when Chizuru leaned into her next step towards the green patch, she found herself incapable of proceeding. This was the last bit of grass in the universe. Would she trample it with her boots, due to paranoia? She suddenly felt like a heavy armored bull in a china shop where the china is made out of soap bubbles.

A barely noticeable hiss made the guard droids look down at Chizuru's body. Black rods slowly extended outwards all over her armor, and with a final click the chest piece divided in the middle. She stepped out of the exosuit that was her second home, and extended a lithe leg towards the grass. The suit remained in an upwards position, confusing the droids slightly as there were now two targets they had to follow. It was sort of funny, since it was an actual function the suit had, she thought, and put her weight onto her free foot.

It was a mistake. Cradled in the safety of hardened space-level titanium alloy for such an extended period of time, the foot's sudden cold and prickly sensation was amplified to unbearable levels, causing her to lose balance and lean forward. She threw her hand outwards to break the fall, which only worsened the effect, and found herself flat on her back a moment later. The far too bright illusion of sky overhead, the wet and sharp touch of grass that spread over the area of her appendages that still had the ability to sense touch, and the sudden lightness of her body threw Chizuru into a sort of dreamy vertigo. And for a long moment, she had lost sense of direction and gravity, her thoughts vanishing from her mind without a trace. There was only the sky, the grass, and a small girl as a wall between them, expecting to be crushed from both directions. She took a deep breath, as if to drink up the sky, her lungs resisting for some reason as if the air was made of rock. A strange warm wetness crawled over her face, breaking the illusion. She sat up, coughing, and rubbed her eyes.

Stupid hay fever.

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

An interview with the Architect

_{A collab with @Sep}

Locke had to stifle a laugh. He then cast a finger at the droid to his right. “This machine is top of the line Martian military hardware. From our initial scans it will be stronger than you, and a processor that’s top of the line without all the fleshy meaty bits. If it came to a fight my money would be on the droid.” He nodded to the guard standing at the cell. “As it is, these are your new keepers. So should you wish to fight, all you need do is escape. Thanks to the inability of the United Earth Council to collaborate, I’m holding you under Martian law now since you want to be held so badly.” The admiral could clearly notice a certain lack of attention from the prisoner, as she seemed to evaluate the droids instead of listening to him.

“I have no doubt you have skills, or maybe even abilities that Chief TreVayne could benefit from in performing his duties. Though at this moment in time, all evaluations are to whether or not you will be released into the general population. You’ll return to your duties in engineering under the observation of the Chief of Engineering and staff I appoint to keep an eye on you, however you’ll be in considerably less sensitive areas than the main engineering bay. If you prove yourself to be trusted, given time, I may be willing to re-evaluate my position on the matter. Is this clear?”

“Er, what? Engineering?” she finally turned her head at the man. “If it’s a clearance issue, I’m sure Security have ‘less sensitive’ areas as well.” The woman didn’t sound satisfied, but she wasn’t overly feisty either. “Now, look, I’m not complaining - this is acceptable,” she gestured at the droids with her hands, “But it would be a waste of everyone’s time. What matters to me is not what the Chief of Engineering thinks - but what the Chief of Security does. I will take this opportunity to remind you that the reason I infiltrated Engineering was not because I thought I would be useful there - but because it’s the one place where it’s easiest to hide with a minimal amount of technical savvy and without knowing anyone else.”

The prisoner crossed her arms. “What you’re basically asking me is to prove how good a race driver I am by making me fix airplane engines. Sure it’s a good way as any to gauge personality and work ethic, but is it the correct personality and work ethic?”

Locke merely looked at her. “It is not my concern to what you believe is acceptable, and not acceptable.” He brought a tablet up to view, from holding it by his right hand side and pointed the screen towards Chizuru in the cell so she could read it, it was her dossier. “You are the one who chose engineering, if I may remind you. You chose not to approach the program out of what, spite to your former masters in the conglomerate? If you had approached the program we wouldn’t be having this conversation as you would likely be on the alien planet right now.”

Lowering the tablet again he sighed. “At the end of the day, this is the offer. You need to wait, earn your trust and then if by the time we send an away team to a planet you’ve not gotten yourself into any trouble we’ll see how well you can follow orders and act as part of a security detail. You chose this path, you’re going to have to deal with the consequences. Now, do you have anything else you wish to add?”

At the end of what seemed a short but violent internal struggle, the cyborg poked a finger at the forcefield with startling speed. “What the hell do you mean, chose not to approach the program? I have applied numerously, through different channels! None of them were public due to the secrecy around the Daedalus Project, which may explain your information, but you can rest assured all of the high brass knew about this application. I was rejected at the threshold by a reason so ridiculous and hypocritical I even considered sabotaging the program in order to see these Holier-Than-Thou cowards burn in the flames of irony with the rest of us!”

“Ten thousand people!” She threw up her hands. “Ten to the power of four people died for each member of this crew, including those in cryostasis! Are you humanity’s best, Mr. Locke? Knowing I was rejected? Are you ten thousand times better than me?”

Locke retained his cool. Some people could. “Admiral Locke is the correct title-” he said cooly as he raised his hand as if correcting a child. “-Also I am sorry. I may have missed something in your file, the part where you fought during the Three Day War. I was there above Mars, three fleets.” He raised three fingers, emphasising his point “Three Fleets. The bulk of Martian, Federation and Conglomerate forces-” His voice began to raise the more he spoke. “-the best and the bravest fought a fleet a fraction of the size the one that was coming for us! Three god damn fleets!”

He cleared his throat. “I don’t know what it was your Conglomerate Masters thought you could do but by god get your head out of your own ass. What could you possibly have done? What could a thousand of you possibly have done? If everyone had been changed like you, and I mean everyone. We may have stood a chance I suppose, but at what cost? How much of you is actually human? Your problem with your Conglomerate masters blocking your entry, I’ll admit that is unfortunate. That’s the problem when a Government does research it was banned from doing and doesn’t want anyone to know about.”

Locke moved in closer to the force field. “Though I don’t give a damn how good you think you are, you do not get to choose to be a security risk aboard my ship. Am I better? Well not physically but I was given this post, I may have had my reservations but I am responsible for the safety and wellbeing of these people and I will see them land safely on a new world or I will give my life to see that come true. You better believe that. You stowed away fine, but you come to me directly, instead of causing some facade and call it a test. That isn’t your decision to make, nor is casually suggesting the sabotage of an Ark. Do you realize what these Arks even represent? Do you even care?”

“I have looked at the numbers.” the cyborg’s voice was now strangely monotonous. “There was only one way to make a project at such a scale work - bleeding everything else dry. What you are looking at is a prototype, the best that could’ve been done with the given budget and personnel. Hah, budget, kind of amusing to think in such terms when humanity’s future is at stake, right? We were not amused.”

“What these Arks used to represent to me was a backstab in humanity’s artery. It is funny how quickly we adapt to new horrors, though. The arks, this ship, is the only Earth I have left. But you must understand, at your rank, you were part of this betrayal for me. I could have never approached you. And even now I still think whether it would’ve been better to burn to death with the rest of my friends and my family. They were not good enough for this program, were they? They wouldn’t’ve made a difference. I will. In their name and in the name of Old Earth.”

She took a deep breath, with a loud hiss of air but barely any movement of her chest. “For this, I will endure - Being looked down upon by you for being a mere child in the Three Day War, even though I doubt most of this ship’s crew was selected with this parameter, wasting time in Engineering in the same way you consider my drill a waste of time. It is not such a bad deal, Admiral Locke. I am ready for the transfer.”

“I don’t look down on you for being a child during the war, I was just making it clear to you that no matter how many of you were made it wasn’t going to do anything in the grand scheme of things. An army of cyborgs would have been effective had the Devastators shown any interest in invasion rather than just attacking us. These Arks represent hope, and if we could have got every human possible aboard then I wouldn’t have left until we had done so. We had to save the few in order to have a future.” He sighed, that wasn’t really a conversation he felt that he was ready to have with himself, let alone anyone else. Everytime he brought it up he still felt a twang of guilt at not staying behind, even just himself to contribute to the fighting.

“Like everyone else here, you’ll get your chance to prove yourself. Though now you need to earn back trust. Your Psych eval looks promising, and once our robotics expert is back on the ship she’ll give you the once over before you’re released back to your new duty station. Though if you wish, under escort, you may visit the garden of Eden for an hour or so, many aboard the ship find it therapeutic and relaxing.”

The garden of eden is not real. Chizuru closed her mouth, then suddenly realized she did not say that out loud. Did she want it to be real? “There’s no rest for the wicked.” She forced out of herself, her voice on the verge of faltering, “But then again, no one refuses a shower before going back out to war.”

She stepped away from the energized threshold. “I wish to believe this isn’t the last time we discuss this, Admiral Locke. I would fire everything I have at you otherwise, but you have managed to shake me, and I have lost my edge for now.” She slowly lowered herself into her usual sitting position in the center of the cell. “I accept your proposition - all of it. Please do not decrease the stopping power of the security you assign to me until I am deemed trustworthy. I will make sure they are not wasted should a real security breach occur.”

Fallout: Brothers to the End

@vietmyke hit me if you ever plan on restarting

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

In a process typical to her by now, Chizuru's face cycled through widely different expressions - surprise, disgust, curiosity, aggression, and finally amusement - and she fluidly rose to her feet.

"Mr. Locke, a sight for sore eyes to be sure." She said slowly, looking interchangeably at the Admiral and his mechanical bodyguards. "Finally someone takes me seriously on this ship." Taking a step towards the force wall, the cyborg scrutinized the droids with her shining red eyes. "Yeeesss... these may work well. I will request to beat one up later."

She was silent for a long minute after centering herself in front of Locke again, her augmented face stuck in an artificial half-smile, as if goading a response from him. "Well, let's get down to business. I am not sure how much of Mr. TreVayne's report has reached you, nor have I read such a report, so please stop me if I am saying things you already know. I have infiltrated this ship with the sole purpose of joining one armed crew or another, in order to use my acquired skills to humanity's benefit. After studying the ship's personnel structure I have reached the conclusion Mr. TreVayne's security forces are an appropriate destination. Due to unforeseen side-effects, my first official encounter with his crew was a bit angry, so I have decided to run a short drill before turning myself in, the results of which the Security forces had better analyzed already, because let me tell you, they are far from perfect."

The cyborg tilted her head slightly, to see if the Admiral was actually listening. "In a meeting with Mr. TreVayne, where I have officially requested to be accepted into his roster, we have set the path which would make this possible. Among the points this path hinges on, the two most important ones are Dr. Larson and you. She would not budge about the results of her testing, so I have no idea where I stand. Thus I have no choice but to assume I did fine. And now, Mr. Locke, I am at your mercy."

She spread her arms to the sides. "My purpose was set in flesh and steel, to stretch the proverb, ten years ago, after the Three Day War. I am a tool to be used by humanity, a sword to cut a path for our fate in unknown waters. Take me, Mr. Locke, and use me. It would be a horrible waste otherwise."

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Professional Blacksmith - Aftermath

_{Collab with @Xandrya and @Rawk}

Warden Marcus Harrisen switched off the earpiece communicator and sat back in the leather armchair within his office, staring out the small window and across the corridor toward the interrogation room which currently held Doctor Melanie Larson and the cyborg known as Chizuru "Iron" Yama-uchi. He received the inevitable call from Deputy Jerrol Haas - via instructions from Chief Gavon TreVayne - that Irons was to be released from custody based on a series of legal “technicalities” preventing any further prosecution. However, considering the circumstances of the cyborg's initial discovery and falsified identification in order to slip onto the Ark undetected, conditions would still need to be met in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the Vitae’s crew.

He eventually made his way to the holding room, where it appeared Doctor Larson was wrapping up her evaluation with the cyborg, and stood at the end of the table with his hands folded in front as he addressed Chizuru.

“You’re free to go, as clearly you have an ally looking out for your…interests.” The Warden’s tone of voice and expression showed little compassion for the situation as he continued without missing a beat. “However, per Admiral Locke and the welfare of this ship and its crew, you will be assigned temporary quarters near SecCen and subjected to 'round-the-clock supervision until your psychological evaluation results have been processed and cleared by Doctor Larson.”

He motioned with one hand to the woman sitting across from the cyborg before continuing.

“In addition, you will be required to have a full systems diagnostic performed by a certified technician, with routine check-ups as needed, and access to this ship will be restricted to all non-essential areas only. Are there any questions?”

The cyborg's face contorted visibly at the warden's words. An ally looking out for her interests? Her guesses for the meaning of this development were all on a scale between 'bad' and 'horrible'... well, there was also the Chief Engineer, but she never did find out what his motives were. In fact -

"Yes, I have questions." her coarse voice conveyed distress. "What kind of allies do I have that somehow make the chief of security release an unevaluated threat into the ship? I mean, not to bite the hand that feeds me here, but Mr. TreVayne's conditions for my release are logical and acceptable. What changed?"

Chizuru threw a look at Dr. Larson's direction, gauging for response at this event. She also hoped she would be able to see a hint of the evaluation result.

"Chizuru, these matters could very well be above Chief TreVayne's paygrade." Even though Melanie didn't want to get involved in such matters of security surrounding Chizuru's freedom, she too couldn't help but wonder where the sudden change of heart had come from that had led them to cut her loose. Yet once more, the cyborg's need to question their methods made Melanie wonder whether her discussion with Admiral Locke would be a favorable one regarding Chizuru's status.

"This may be the case, as Miss Larson has pointed out." The Warden added. "Although I believe the correct answer to your question is that no such 'ally' would allow legalistic absolutes to get in the way of common sense...but that's all I can comment on the matter."

Harrisen turned to the guard nearby who then handed him a thin datapad.

"So without further delay." He continued, keying in some information on the small computer. "You are officially released from my custody and allowed restricted access through the ship at your leisure, shadowed by two plain-clothes Agents. Furthermore, your locations -whether static or roaming- will be monitored by our ship's A.I. and, or course any unauthorized and/or criminal activity will void this agreement." Harrisen looked up from the screen for a moment at the cyborg, raising a bushy eyebrow and causing his forehead to crease. "So please do not make me regret allowing you freedom, Chizuru Yama-uchi."

"What the hell..." the cyborg hissed through her teeth. "Wait, is Mr. TreVayne available? I don't want this to ruin everything..." She gave Harrisen the same hopeless gaze one gives to a government clerk when facing an illogical bureaucratic wall without the know-how to bypass it.

But then there was a change in Chizuru's face. An internal struggle gained more and more of her attention. She forced her eyes shut, as if her thoughts pained her.

"No." she rose from her seat and at that moment, Harrisen took half a step back and shouted “Sit down Miss Yama-uchi!”, his deep booming voice echoed off the metallic walls -alerting the two guards outside the door- only to be overshadowed by the cyborgs continous efforts to make a point.

"This is wrong." She continued. "No bureaucratic bullshit should ever win over common sense, or more importantly, the safety of the human race." She struggled for words, as if boiling from within. "Look,"

Her arm flew sideways. A dozen loose plates around her forearm spiraled forward, forming a wide black blade that pointed outward above her palm. There was a sudden pressure in the air of the room, and Melanie noticed the ends of her hair curling upwards slightly, as small arcs of energy began walking the blade's length, discharging into the air around its point.

A single taser round from the lead guard's assault rifle was discharged, ricocheting wide off the cyborg's metal skull plate armor, towards the unfortunate position of the only civilian in the room.

"Shit!"

Melanie's reaction was not one she would particularly be proud of, but given the circumstances, who could blame her. She dropped her belongings to clutch her neck as soon as the charged tip of the taser made contact with her skin. As if the pain wasn't bad enough, her vision also faltered, and she had to lean forward on the desk for support before her legs completely failed her.

"Warden...I think--I'm gonna be sick."

"Stand down Agent!" Harrisen held his hand out toward the guard. "Dammit." He exclaimed, seeing Doctor Larson hunched over the table holding her neck as he ran to her side and simutaneously opening communication in his earpiece. "Code Red18, medical assistant needed in Interrogation Room 2, electrical shock to the neck, possible paralysis..."

"I'm not sure they'll...make it on time..."

Melanie felt a wave of nausea invade her system as her skin became sweaty and cold to the touch. She reached for the warden in an attempt to communicate to him the terrible symptoms she was experiencing, but the little strength she had left her just as her vision got worse. Without warning, Melanie dropped to the ground, missing the edge of the table which could have seriously innjured her had she not been as lucky.

Meanwhile, the cyborg's first reaction was to grab the table's edge from below to flip it at the guards, the sword already retracted into her arm. The fact that it was bolted into the floor slowed her down enough to notice the Psychiatrist collapse. With an unnerving catlike motion the black-clad prisoner leaped under the table to position herself between Melanie and the doorway.

"Dr. Larson!" she reached out to turn the limp woman over, but quickly realized it would be similar to picking her up with scissors. Returning to an upright position, she looked at the Warden. "I haven't realized how on edge your men were! I can't do anything for her..."

The Warden shot Chizuru a look of contempt.

"And what the hell did you expect during an otherwise 'peaceful' negotiation where a cybernetically enhanced super-soldier such as yourself suddenly decides it would be wise to abruptly stand and pop open like a goddamn utility knife?"

Harrisen pressed his fingers against Doctor Larson's neck. "Her pulse is slowing..."

"I don't know what is it that you want." He finally said as he looked straight into the cyborg's dark eyes. "But if you're as honorable as you claim to be, then my suggestion is that you stay put in the cell we initially placed you in until further notice. Clearly we were wrong to grant such concessions to a being we hardly understand..."

Chizuru held Harrisen's glare for a moment, then collapsed into the chair previously occupied by Dr. Larson. She was quick to return to her original train of thought, as there was nothing she could do for the Doctor. "Perfect." she exhaled. "That's actually exactly what I wanted." She looked at her hands as the claws retracted. "You and your boss are in control again, Mr. Harrisen. Until I pass physical, technical, psychological and personality evaluations, I should stay here, despite what legal technicalities may suggest."

The cyborg gave the room's camera a "Let it be known that putting me under surveillance of two guards outside of a cell is a joke. Either release me fully after satisfactory testing, or test me further until satisfied" look.

The Medical team, along with a small supply droid and a gurney, entered the brig and hustled toward the interrogration room. After a quick scan of the woman's vitals and a few words with the Warden on what had transpired, they eased Melanie onto the gurney, which hovered a few inches from the metal floor, and quickly headed for the med-evac transport that would take them to the nearest med-bay.

"Escort Miss Yama-uchi back to her cell." Warden Harrisen motioned to the guards. "I think we've had enough excitement this evening."

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Over the last few days it feels like I'm the only one who sees "colabs" as collaborative authorship of our interactive and ongoing story. The colabs I've been in so far have very much been a "you do your part, I'll do my part" affair. If I wanted that kind of interaction I could just go to short roleplay and have a back-and-forth short posting session.

@LegionPothIX

You know you could've mentioned it earlier, dude. After reading this it is clear to me the two of us at least are not on the same page - And this is quite fine as long as the two sides actually discuss and resolve this. I at least am not convinced your approach to this game is better than mine, and thus have no intention of changing the way I write.

To me this is not a story I co-author. To me it is on character level. I write as a personality that I conceive as credible that reacts to the world she is in, her power over the world's events limited to what she can physically do. This is why I refuse to plan IC stuff in OOC, other than when I need to use some piece of lore that was not discussed yet.

And I also believe that the entirety of the latest events was caused by using a piece of lore that was not discussed yet.

Anyway, this should have never reached a point where you avoid this group. If my playing style does not suit you, we can end this local interaction right now and avoid friction in the future. I am pretty sure it will not break the story or any of your characters.

I do however believe that the question of civillian law on the ship should be discussed with the DM, in a manner completely unrelated to my character.