Subject Zero — Roleplayer Guild

"I haven't really seen anyone but you."

Those were not the words Nate wanted to hear. He was supposed to be protecting Jackson and now he had lost him. He pulled the sunglasses from his head and ran a hand through his hair as he looked off down the beach, paying very little attention to the way Aya looked at him. Maybe Jackson wasn't here at all. "Damn fine job you did there" he heard a voice in his head tell him. The next thing the girl said to him made him think though.

"You don't know what's going on, do you? I don't really know how I got here which should freak me out more than it does."

"I remember...lights and loud noises...but it's honestly kind of a blur" It kind of annoyed Nate that he couldn't remember what had happened to him but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he actually didn't care all that much. He was here now and he was fine with it. That in itself was pretty weird. He breathed in deeply and exhaled the air through his nose just as slowly. He'd tackle one thing at a time and right now his priority was Jackson. He should introduce himself to this girl. And so he turned back to her and smiled, extending his hand and informing her "My name's Nate by the way"

@c3p-0h

Nate only half paid attention to the ongoing conversation between his duplicates as he reclined in his chair at the table. They were having a conversation about what to do next. The reformists had been devastated. Literally pulverized into the ground by...whatever the hell that thing was. He was sure there would be survivors somewhere. Some kind of hierarchy beyond Cedric that he could report to. But chances were they were either dead or so scattered to the wind that he'd stand little chance of actually finding them. He had left a couple of duplicates in the city to do just that though. He'd have to track down any survivors he could. But in the meantime, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

After the world went nuts, Legion had effectively abducted the rampaging Mu, prank warring him into submission and dragging him from the crumbling ruins of their former life. They had ended up leaving the city entirely, Legion deciding it was best to get Jackson as far away from civilization as he could until he was sure Mu wasn't still in charge of his body. He didn't want to have to deal with any more death. They had arrived at the log cabin in the woods just a short time ago. Nate had blabbered on to the still unconscious Jackson about how he had built it himself. OK so there had been a couple dozen duplicates helping him but he had still technically built it himself and he was proud of that. So proud, in fact, that several duplicates had mentioned it to Jackson as well.

The cabin wasn't huge but there was a charm to it. The old porch swing creaked every now and then but it reminded him of his childhood home and so he had never bothered to fix it. One of the duplicates had mentioned something about how the porch swing represented his own mind. Going back and forth with a pleasant exterior and a slightly annoying creak. He knew he shouldn't have let that guy study psychology. The interior of the cabin was cozy, verging on cramped. This was mostly due to the piles of books that seemed to be on every surface and taking up much of the floor space. Nate had a thing for books and many of his safe houses were cluttered with them like this.

He cast a glance over to one of the small bedrooms where Jackson was. The kid had reemerged some time after arriving. Or at least he claimed he was Jackson. Nate wanted to be sure before he willingly let him leave here. Hell, he'd even settle for Kuro right now.
"We should take him in" stated one of the duplicates as he paced back and forth in front of the fireplace.
A second, sitting cross legged in a plush armchair, raised an eyebrow at him and asked "Take him in where?"
"The government" said the first as he finally stopped moving "Echo base isn't far from here-"
"We are not taking him there!" Nate spoke up almost before the duplicate had even finished his sentence.
The duplicate locked eyes with him and realized he wasn't going to budge on that topic. "Stupid idea anyway" said the duplicate, sheepishly, as he turned his eyes to the ground.

They all knew what went on at Echo base. They weren't going to put Jackson through that. Hell, taking him to any government facility could be dangerous right now with everything that had happened in the past week. Two battles. Two buildings destroyed. Countless dead. Nate wasn't foolish enough to think that there wouldn't be at least some kind of anti meta backlash after this latest round of death and destruction. He knew that if he handed Jackson over to the higher ups, there was a chance that the kid would never see daylight again. They'd lock him away and claim it was "for his own good". And that was if he was lucky.

Nate rose from his seat and wandered over to the window where another duplicate was waiting. Knowing exactly what Nate wanted, the duplicate didn't even bother acknowledging him and simply a small comms device to his mouth and spoke into it "Check in".
"Sector one clear" came back a response, quickly followed by four other sectors checking in and signalling that everything was good. Legion had left a small group of duplicates to patrol the perimeter in case anyone from the underground or anyone else decided to follow them here. They were also there to keep an eye out for Jackson trying to escape. They were doing a great job of staying hidden too. Nate couldn't see a single one of them as he looked through the window. At least he hadn't gotten rusty.

Turning back from the window, Nate headed towards the bedroom door to check on the kid. But as he raised his hand to knock he stopped. "Wait..." he said turning to the duplicate at the window.
"Somethings wrong" added the duplicate, finishing his thought as he looked out the window at the growing darkness. Nate felt something slip in his mind. The empathic connection he felt with all his duplicates told him something had happened to the perimeter team. They were gone.

The lights suddenly shut off and all four Legion's immediately reached for the the guns in their waistbands. The duplicate at the window was the first to fall as a bullet shattered the window and connected with his skull. The front door was suddenly blasted from it's hinges and a blinding light was shone in from the doorway and the window, staggering everyone inside with its brightness. What followed next was a blur of motion. The light was gone and in it's place was complete darkness, lifted here and there by the muzzle flare of several firearms. Legion exchanged fire with whoever or whatever was attacking. Nate couldn't see a damn thing. Whoever this was, they had taken him entirely by surprise. It had been a long time since an enemy force caught him on such a backfoot...Well unless you counted Mu. But honestly, who could have seen that coming?

He felt the nearby clones drop. He was too distracted to prevent himself from automatically reabsorbing them, the process only compounding his overwhelmed state of mind and distracting him even further. He fired one last bullet in the direction he thought the enemy where coming from but in the muzzle flare of that bullet he caught sight of something from the corner of his eye. There was someone behind him! He turned just in time to see something heavy connect with his face.

The world faded to black.


"Wake up, dummy"

Nate slowly opened his eyes to see a duplicate standing over him, obscured somewhat by the sun behind his head and the dark sunglasses Nate currently wore. "What?" he asked, the sound barely more than a whisper "What happened?"
The duplicate looked off for a moment as he thought then turned back to Nate and informed him "Not really sure. I remember a lot of flashing lights and then...Beach"
Nate propped himself up on his elbows, finding that he was lying on a sun lounger and was indeed on a beach. "Did we party too hard again?" he asked the duplicate as he tilted the shades up to the top of his head and looked around.
"Maybe" answered the duplicate "But would we do that with the kid around?"
Nate sat bolt upright at the memory of Jackson. "Shit!" he proclaimed "Where is he?" The duplicate only shrugged and Nate stood, looking around. There were people here and he was surprised to realize that he actually knew more than a few of them. No Jackson though. Of course that didn't mean that the little creep wasn't hiding nearby in whatever plane he hid in. His eyes stopped scanning when he spotted a girl nearby. He definitely knew this one. Anna or something...Ava?...He couldn't remember but he did remember that she could astral project, which meant she could find Jackson if he was lurking somewhere.

Nate took a moment to look down at himself and realised he was wearing a pair of swimming trunks that were a little too small for his tastes. "What's this?" he asked the duplicate with his hands wide and a clearly confused expression on his face.
The duplicate shrugged again and, through a smirk, said "Good advertising?"
Nate just rolled his eyes and pushed his way past the duplicate who took his place in the sun lounger with a sigh of relaxation. "Hey...uh...you" Nate called out, trying to attract the girls attention but still not remembering her name. He approached her and asked "Have you seen kid around here?" He raised a hand and said "He's about yay high, dark hair, gives off a kinda pervy vibe?"

@c3p-0h

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King of the monkeys.

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