Silver Carrot

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Natalie Ellis

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Natalie's dorm room. It was away from all the others. The walls were made of steel-reinforced concrete. Natalie didn't know how thick. Inside was a very cheap-looking bed with a metal frame, on which was a basic white duvet. Natalie dare not spend her precious money on something that could become a wasted investment after one bad night's sleep. And sure enough, the wall closest to the bed was covered in dents and craters a point-blank grenade blast couldn't even manage to make. On the other side of the room was an old chair that had been unwanted, and donated by the the local library for being old and gross and one of the legs was a little wonky. There was also a desk, with a television on it, as well as a dock to charge her phone, and some open books and journals. Natalie didn't have much of a social life so spent a lot of her free time in here using the internet, watching TV, or reading.

But right now, she was inside the room's en suite, in front of the mirror, applying makeup. Yesterday, Natalie had been to the hair salon. Her hair was longer than it was since she came here, meaning she could do more things with it. The day before, she went shopping for something to wear for Homecoming. She didn't want to let Archie down, and times were rare when Natalie could indulge, and just feel like a girl for once. But of course she wanted something that covered her arms and back, which narrowed down options for somebody so tall and old. She had finally found one that did everything she wanted, as long as she wore tights with it.

Now, here she was. She'd finished applying her makeup, more than usual, and looked at herself in her bathroom's foggy mirror. She wasn't a vane person so it was with no conceit that she admitted her reflection was pretty. Nodding in satisfaction, now she just waited. She checked her phone again, just in case, and sure enough, Archie had texted her.

Archie: I KNOW that partie s arnet yor thing but
Archie: i’ll be heading ovcer soon
Archie: and partys arent you4e thibg , but your my thing

Nat felt the fluttering in the pit of her stomach upon reading that. Grammar aside, that was without doubt the most romantic thing anybody had ever said to her. She'd practically counted out the possibility of ever receiving a text like this. She had to text back. She couldn't just copy his words and return them. She had to be original! Picking up her clutch purse, she went to her bed and sat down. She wasted time by first putting her shoes on. (They weren't heeled as she was tall enough already and didn't want another thing to think about)

Natalie: I'll see you by the front door.

She sent that, before thinking. 'Don't keep me waiting' is too cheeky for her, and Archie might take it seriously as Natalie isn't the coy, joking type. 'Looking forward to it' sounds so formal. She's not applying for a job here. No. She's overthinking this. Resorting to cliches. She needs to put what she feels. It needs to be honest and personal even if it's lame.

Natalie: And thank you, Archie. I'm glad you're my date for this.

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Natalie Ellis

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To Natalie's surprise, Archie didn't answer, and instead took her arms. For a split second, Nat had no idea what was happening. Then she had an idea and all the thing abut Archie that she'd been trying to repressed were fed and getting stronger. Soon they'd break out of the cage she put them in. But before anything else could happen, the two butted heads. Natalie barely budged, but still rubbed her head and sucked air through her teeth, not even needing to shake her arm free.

Then he asked her to Homecoming. Not just with him, but with him. He was asking her out. On a date. Girlfriend and boyfriend. Natalie froze. Literally. It was as if her software crashed and she had turned into a human statue. Inside her mind, all the complicated feelings and thoughts she had repressed had been let out, and it was anxiety time. She overthought this, worried about that. Why is he interested in her? Should she say yes? Different question; Did she want to say yes? The answer was yes. She did like Archie. It might not quite be love yet. She didn't have enough experience to know for sure if it was even a crush or not yet. But she liked Archie, quite a lot actually. They were kindred spirits. He might be the only person here who could understand her. They'd made a promise to protect each other. And thinking about him made everything complicated, hence why she had avoided doing it until now. Really, there was only one answer she could give;

"Yes. I'll go with you," she answered quietly, looking up at him. She was very visibly blushing.

Shit. What the hell happens now. If this were a movie, there'd be a scene cut or something. What do we do or say now. Am I supposed to let him talk? Do we just say 'see you there' and walk away? I...just need to relax. Be cool. Stop thinking so much and just say the first things that come to mind.

"Is you hand, uh, better?" Nat asked, weakly, immediately regretting it. Why does she keep listening to herself?!

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Natalie Ellis

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Natalie listened to Radvi as he explained more about Arianna. The more Nat heard, the less she wanted to ever run into her. 'Super-organism'? Natalie almost died to a regular criminal. She still hadn't fully recovered from Death's Head's assault and she'll have scars from that fight she'll never get rid of. What chance would she have against Arianna. At least if they were altogether, Lynn could probably hurt her, or maybe Archie could resist her attacks. Radvi even suggested there was strong proof she was behind the breakout, and could secrete acid. It was like everything that was stopping her from living a normal life was the fault of this one person. As much as Natalie was afraid and wanted nothing to do with playing hero, she did was Arianna stopped and killed, if that's what it took.

Radvi then took a chip out of his glasses, and explained its purpose. It would alert someone to the presence of Arianna if they were within a hundred steps. Being that close would be terrifying and even before hearing about the spares, Natalie knew she wanted one. But he had three spare chips. One went to D. That made sense. If he hadn't been caught thus far, he was getting around. He'd have the best chance of finding her. Radvi gave a second to Eli, and put the third on the table. Thinking about it, maybe Keaton should have it. She's the one who'd need backup the most if she ever came within a hundred steps of Arianna.

At that moment, more guards came, and chased Freaky D away. Radvi followed soon after. Now it was just the group, as it was originally supposed to be. Minus Lynn. Plus Eli. And one chip left. Eli spoke first, telling them how unlucky they were. Didn't Nat know it? She sighed. Even with everything going on, this was still an incomprehensible improvement in her living conditions. But it was still not too much to ask to move past all the danger and fear and start living like Eli apparently had for four years, in Nat's opinion.

Between Eli bringing her up, and Archie's hand, Natalie started thinking about Lynn. More specifically, about their very brief conversation earlier. Maybe the could become friends. It was something to hope for, and to work towards. Natalie will never forget the stare-down in the woods. The hate that was in Lynn's eyes. It was not a pleasant feeling to be hated. And everything that's happened since has only affirmed Natalie's belief that alerting Cara was the smartest thing she'd done on this station since she got here.

Archie's burned hand didn't go unnoticed by Natalie either, after Eli pointed it out. Still, Nat didn't want to say anything. Nat felt like she understood both of them well enough to assume that Archie had tried to touch Lynn while she wasn't in full control of her powers, and burned his hand in the process. If there's one thing Natalie could sympathize with, it was accidentally hurting somebody who was trying to help because you weren't in control. Several people back on Earth with broken bones could attest.

Archie excused himself, as he was going to head to put some cold water on it, but then surprised Nat by asking if she'd come with him. Her brow furrowed, her cheeks flush, and she just look straight up confused, until he clarified that he didn't want her to go into the boy's bathroom, but just to talk to her in private. Natalie coughed awkwardly.

"Oh, that's less weird. Yeah, sure. Give me a sec." she answered quietly, before turning to Keaton.

Keaton immediately suggested that Natalie have the chip, which she was thankful for. Her reasoning made sense, and Nat justified it to herself by thinking that even if Keaton had the chip and it was set off, if it was a busy area 100 steps wouldn't narrow it down much and backup suddenly arriving could give Arianna a chance, and reason, to escape. Whereas Natalie could at least survive getting attacked for a while, so could expose and engage Arianna and then just play for time with less danger of death. So Natalie took the chip, and plugged it into her phone. She then got up, mumbled a weak "See you two later," to Keaton and Eli, and took her leave of the table, finding Archie near the entrances to the restrooms.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked.

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Natalie Ellis

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"Oh," was Natalie's single, sheepish reply as she calmed down. As she calmed down, she began to shrink. "Sorry, I'm just...frustrated. I had some kind of hope that things would change and it'd be a new start. For some reason, I thought I, I could live a normal life here." Nat punctuated this with a dry, bitter chuckle devoid of humor or joy. "Make friends, go to school, maybe get a job and build a peaceful life for myself. Maybe there's still hope for those things once all this blows over. And thanks for the offer, but I already have a therapist and I like going to see her."

The Agents' answers to all of Keaton's questions made sense. However, as they were talking about Salamandra, their wording affected her. It reminded her that she wasn't here to receive help and care. She was here because she had killed several people, and had injured staff at every facility that tried to actually care for her. The only difference between her and Salamandra was their willingness to cooperate and be rehabilitated. That was the sole reason for their difference in treatment. After all, the needs of humans greatly outweigh the needs and rights of parahumans here. The Agents said it themselves.

Snapping her out of this depressing train of thought, Archie had returned without her noticing, and was standing next to her. He must have noticed how she felt because he put his hand on her arm. She looked at his hand, then looked to the floor. What should she do? Should she say something? Address it? Was it even the right time to talk about this? But what if she didn't? Would ignoring him hurt his feelings?

As she was pondering this, he had removed his hand again. She glanced up at his face just long enough to see he was frowning, before returning her eyes to the scene in front of her, trying to play it cool. Had he taken his hand away because he mistook her looking down and thinking for discomfort? Had she hurt his feelings anyway? Was the look on his face even anything to do with her? She didn't know. It was too crowded in here to talk to him anyway, and she decided it didn't feel like the right time after all. Not with Radvi and the Agents here.

One thing the Agents said caught Natalie's attention. Cara's real name was Caroline Fuller. Was she a real person? Or had she been once? Natalie admitted she didn't know all that much about Cara and thought she was simply the station AI software. But if she was a parahuman, or a former parahuman, Natalie wanted to ask her about that, and to talk to her. Most of the time, Natalie didn't really have anybody to talk to. But Cara? Cara was always nearby.

Finally, Radvi signalled to Freaky D, who's helmet turned into a screen and started playing a film depicting a woman standing next to a bloody and battered man in a chair. Nat's stomach turned. That was the teacher. The body they'd found together during their first week. It was only a few seconds, then the clip changed to one of a first-person perspective fight scene against the same woman. Natalie was dismayed to realize that if she was ever cornered alone by this woman, her strength would be next to useless, and she'd be killed. Natalie, though she hated to admit it, was scared of this woman. Especially if Amelia was right and she was coming after them. Hopefully that jar full of goo Radvi had received went towards helping the guards to find and deal with this woman before she found any of them. Natalie was surprised to hear that Archie had met her on the first day. That would be a very chilling experience to remember. But at least they now had a name to put to the face; 'Arianna'.

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

@Nate1008

1) Human or parahuman

2) idk but nothing that could destroy the station probably

3) Nope

Mobius Academy: The City in the Sky

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Lydia Creel

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Lydia had heard a few doors open and close in the hallway as other dormmates checked out their rooms. Maybe some of them were already unpacking and settling in. Lydia didn't want to unpack until she'd met her roomate and they'd agreed on the distribution of space. The last thing Lydia needed was an enemy on her first day. So she'd decided to check out the common room, which was just as nice, if not nicer, than the rooms. It really felt like they were living in an upmarket hotel instead of student dorms. No expense had been spared. She'd checked out the little kitchen in the corner. Quite a simple yet stylist little workstation. Lydia wondered if any of her dorm mates could cook. Or would it all be on her? Oh well. Different jobs for different people. The chairs were all comfortable in the TV area (she'd tried them all) and the TV was large and modern but they really needed a games console or some DVDs or something in here. That was high priority.

Shortly after she finished looking around, another girl came into the common room, and Lydia got up out of the chair she was currently sitting in with her eyes closed. She faced the newcomer, who had short blonde hair. Well, dark roots were showing, battling for dominance and winning, but she'd still call it blonde. The new girl seemed pretty chill and agreeable, which definitely made Lydia feel batter. Something she'd kind of been worried about was her lack of education, her upbringing and her lineage putting her at odds with a school full of Captain America types, but it looked like her fears were misplaced.

"Hey," Lydia greeted, taking one of her hands of out of her pocket to give a short wave. "I'm Lydia. Lydia Creel. Just got here. Place is looking pretty nice, huh? she accented this by whistling, and looking around at the common room.

@KZOMBI3

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Natalie Ellis

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Natalie tried not to let it show on her face that she was skeptical of Eli's claim that she was just asking Archie about food. Luckily, Radvi mentioned that was about to leave and let them talk among themselves, which Nat was pleased about. But before that happened, there was a disembodied voice, and two men materialized out of thin air. Natalie turned to face them. They now had her full attention.

She listened, and noted that Radvi knew who they were but wasn't exactly on good terms with them, meaning that they were staff or otherwise in there in some official capacity. They chose this moment to talk to the group. They introduced themselves as Mr. White and Mr. Black. Could these two look or act any more like shady henchmen from a James Bond film? Still, Natalie would hear them out. They didn't seem to be the violent types. They were explaining that they were interested in this group, which was, Nat supposed, understandable as they'd been at the center of every significant tragedy thus far.

Freaky D chose this moment to drop from the ceiling and Natalie's knuckles tensed. The last time she saw him, he'd kicked Archie in the face. In a way, he'd caused a lot of the events that had led to the four of them being in this situation. But she still wanted to hear more of what the Agents were saying so she looked away from him, failing to hide how pissed off she was at his presence.

The agents went on to reveal that they were incorporeal, which made sense and also explained how they were able to appear out of nowhere, and also explained how they knew so much. Maybe Lynn and Keaton were right to have been paranoid seeing as how there were invisible eyes watching them all along. However, it was clear the Agents needed their help. They needed the group to be their hands, and their muscle. They didn't know much more about what was going on than Natalie did, it seemed, but the drawback was Natalie didn't know anything that they didn't either. She was fairly sure of that.

Archie was the first to ask a fairly basic question, but before it could be answered Lynn started to heat up. Nat could feel the sweltering heat from where she stood. She watched Lynn go on a tirade, that Natalie actually found herself almost completely agreeing with. Natalie found herself envying Lynn. Lynn had no fears about speaking her mind. About letting you know when you were pissing her off. Natalie was. She was terrified of getting angry. She suppressed those emotions. She suppressed those thoughts. She was positive and optimistic out f necessity. She needed to believe in the establishment because how else should she keep things together? Right now, Natalie was grateful that the questions she dare not even ask herself were being asked.

But then she noticed that Archie was growing slightly, and he had his hand on his chest. Nat turned and was about to approach him but Lynn got there first, still high of that furious energy. She grabbed him, chastised the Agents more, and stormed off. Archie was no longer turning, and he followed after her. Natalie watched them leave until the disappeared from view, and audibly sighed. She had made a promise to look out for him and protect him. She failed to stop him turn on the first day. He'd turned in the restaurant after she'd fled like a coward, and it was Lynn, not Nat, who's stopped him turning when they found the body, because Natalie was too weak to even look after herself in that moment. And again now, it was Lynn who's snapped him out of another transformation. Archie had helped her in the forest, and had been single-handedly responsible for her not killing more people the day of the breakout. Who was she kidding? She couldn't look out for Archie. She couldn't even look out for herself.

She turned back to the Agents, sighing and snorting and looking like she was trying very hard to remain calm with the emotions running high inside her. "I don't know anything that you don't. You already know so much. Why do you need our help? I came here because I'm mentally sick! Because I need help!" She explained, her voice getting louder with every sentence and her face creasing with frustration. Her eyes were like the weary, aggressive eyes of a hissing cat. She was almost starting to shout now as she got closer to them, and her eyes were glistening. "I came here to get treatment! Because there was nothing Earth could do for me anymore! How am I going to be of any help to anyone else?! That's supposed to be your job!"

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Natalie Ellis

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Natalie arrived at the group. Archie looked even more nervous than usual, the girl beside him was happily eating food and Radvi was also there. She decided to tackle this in order. This was supposed to be a meeting between the group of her, Archie, Keaton and Lynn. Who was this new girl? And why was she talking to Archie? Nat turned to her, gave what was to Natalie a smile (her lack of social confidence or people skills was at complete odds with her general appearance. Perhaps she wore lots of makeup so people would think she had it together) and offered her hand.

"Hi, I'm Natalie. I don't think we've ever met. You are?"

Revenant: Chapter 2- The Hunted (A Sci-Fi Adventure)

Taleste

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There was little technical work that she could do, so Taleste was currently at her old spot, in the cockpit, watching the radar. Or at least she should have been. What she was actually doing was whittling wood with a knife whilst glancing at the radar every minute or so. She was leaning back on her chair, and had her bare feet resting on the console, cross-legged. When she was a thief, there was little she could actually help with on the ship besides cargo, inventory and watching the radar. Now she was a pirate, that was still all she could do to help. She knew next to nothing about software or engineering or piloting. She knew how to lie, cheat, steal and fight, and there was little cause for any of those things in her day to day life. As such she was usually left to her own devices, and as such, had taken up the Skaldrum hobby of wood-carving in her spare time. She wasn't very good at it and wood, though plentiful in markets and port towns, was scarce on this ship, so she just worked at the three pieces of wood she did currently have, ever so slowly and carefully.

She saw the shuttle approaching on he radar out of the corner of her eye and smiled. It was about time. Sheathing her knife and setting the carving down on top of the radar, Tal left the cockpit and headed down to the docking bay to greet the captain and his lover, the pilot of the ship. When they left the shuttle, they'd see Tal waving at them from the doorway. "Cap. Horrorshow. 'Ow went the mission?" she asked in her thick accented voice, which had admittedly become much easier to understand now that it had been heavily influenced by the Skaldrum dialect. She still said 'whun' though.

@Crossfire @Gardevoiran

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

Natalie Ellis

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Natalie made her way straight to the mall as soon as she received the text to meet at Panda Express, though it took a while as she had almost reached the dorms at that point. She'd considered going back to change, but A) Change into what? She didn't have a large selection. Was probably already wearing her nicest outfit. And B) They would all be there. This was a group meetup. At catch-up as the four hadn't spoken properly in a month.

Arriving at the mall, she felt a little intimidated. It was loud, and it was busy, and the constant worry in the back of her mind that if she lost control here, it'd be a massacre was sticking in her head and keeping her tense. For such a large open space, Natalie was feeling claustrophobic.

She spotted the Panda Express, and not too far away from it, spotted a guard. The uniform drew her attention. Of course, then he saw who he was talking to. Some girl Natalie didn't recognize, and Archie! Nat got a lottle closer, wondering what was going on. It was only when she got closer that she saw that the girl was smiling, and the guard was Radvi, the one who'd questioned her about the body. He seemed nice and seemed like he took his job to serve and protect seriously. Natalie breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that something might be wrong of that Archie was in trouble, but it didn't look like that was the case.

As she got closer, she carried on looking around and to her surprise, saw Lynn, in some kind of perfume or candle shop, peering out from the side in the direction of the meeting place. Natalie didn't need Keaton's powers to suss that Lynn was hiding because of Radvi. Natalie sighed and shook her head. One day, Lynn's complex of acting guilty even when she was innocent was going to get her into trouble one day. Natalie headed into the candle shop and approached Lynn from behind with her arms folded. She wasn't going to broach the subject she wanted to talk to Lynn about. It wasn't the right time and besides, the window may have completely passed on that.

"Hey, Lynn," she greeted, with a slight smile on her face. "Thought I'd come and tell you that you kind of look like a stalker right now."