Zombehs

ZONES: -system offline-

@Empour

Julian Maius

He didn’t flinch so much as his body tensed, ready to lash out, when someone bumped right into him. A glance backwards revealed no one nearby and by the time he turned around the small statured girl was already some distance away. He was a bit surprised that she hadn’t been knocked over in the bump or that she could move so fast with the stuff strapped onto her, but that surprise quickly gave away to annoyance mixed with worry. Julian could feel that his abilities were diminished for one reason or another, the spark not as intense as usual and he could only guess at what had caused the individual to break off from the group. Despite the scowl, he nevertheless picked up the pace and jogged after the “brat”; couldn’t exactly just walk away and do his usual thing knowing that some teenager was out there alone.

Despite his late start after the girl, his strides were much longer and he made steady progress in catching up. ‘Shit.’ The possibility of losing her pushed him to pick up the pace as she darted around a corner ahead, and he managed the same turn just a few moments later. Yet that was a few moments too late as he slowed to walk on a completely empty street. “Gotta be kidding me,” he muttered as he looked around and tried to find her. The few doors he tried were all locked or led to empty spaces, his rather quiet calls got no response, and the few side-alleys revealed little of interest. Well, that was until the last alley he bothered to check.

He stepped in front of the shadowed alley just in time to catch a Denizen’s attention - as it tore the flesh off a corpse’s arm. Julian froze as he tried to rationalize exactly what he was seeing, while the Denizen seemed to be in shock at having been caught in the act. Yet the moment was broken as the black veil seemed to crack and bright red flames bled out from underneath. “Christ!” He didn’t know if cannibalism was what had set off the transformation from Denizen to Aggressor, but there wasn’t a question in Julian’s mind about what he was witnessing. Even as the creature opened its mouth, Julian threw his arm out and with it a stream of azure lightning. Sparks flew as it arced to pipes and other metal pieces in the alley, and whatever noise the Aggressor had been about to make turned to a screech of pain. It lasted for no more than a second before it was cut off abruptly, and the stream continued for a moment after that. By the time Julian retracted his arm and cut the flow off, it was a completely blackened corpse that slumped over the Denizen’s corpse.

Still, the Aggressor’s cry had been pretty damn loud and Julian wore his grimace clear as day. Not bothering to try and keep his voice quiet, he called out one more time, “Scuba girl. I don’t know if you’re from this Zone, but that was a damn Aggressor death cry. Move it, or you’re on your own!” Arcs of lightning flared to life on his arms as he started to glance around and keep his eyes open. He imagined there weren’t any Aggressors nearby otherwise he’d probably have run into them over two corpses rather than the little cannibalization scene, but who knew how far that call had travelled.

ZONES: -system offline-

The red hued scenery was familiar as Julian’s eyes opened and he glanced at the other two “worlds” with some interest. There wasn’t much time to observe and actually entering would have to wait for another day, so with a quiet grunt he walked through as directed. The passage through the veil was odd as if pressing through syrup that wasn’t the slightest bit sticky. Not uncomfortable and certainly over in an instant, but unusual all the same.

Rather than a brilliant discharge of electricity that seemed to accompany his usual appearance, which likely would have been bad given his proximity to others. Julian was aware of his much more human appearance. From a quick glance it was apparent that this body had a few extra inches in height and also the taste in clothing as some mage pulled out of one of his novels or games. Again it was odd, but not exactly uncomfortable; the robes didn’t seem to impede his movement all that much and the amulet, despite its size, rested easily around his neck.

His eyes were not locked onto his strange new appearance though, not when there was something that stood out against the distant buildings. The creature was easily noticeable even at this distance, and their attention didn’t seem to go unnoticed. His hands raced up to cover his ears as a ear splitting roar filled the air, and by the time the wince had faded from his expression the creature had vanished with several loud detonations. His eyes narrowed at the faint trails left behind as the arcs of lightning that had unconsciously surged forth faded away.

That strange welcoming aside, damn did some of the “Zoners” look fucking weird. It seemed that Zone 2 was filled with a bunch of werebeasts or whatever as the other man had mentioned prior to Elias’ arrival. Given that Smoke Girl, who was probably Miriam given her character, had already answered Julian sufficed with a shrug as he sighed in annoyance. The Nexus entrance just had to be at the edge of town didn’t it? It looked like it’d be a long damn trot to town, fucking joy that was.

ZONES: -system offline-

The conversation had long since died to a lull by the time the cafeteria doors opened once more. The procession of service bots indicated that it wasn’t just another abductee and the fact that the man at the end didn’t wear the scrubs every other occupant had on solidified that. He wondered if the robots would be able to do anything if there were some unhappy souls amongst the two hundred or so individuals around, but quickly surmised that other safety measures had been put in place. Thankfully the “presentation” got underway far quicker than the man in charge had arrived, otherwise Julian likely would have caused an incident. It was one thing to be kidnapped by an organization to face a very real threat. It was another to be kept waiting rather than be promptly briefed.

Although given how roundabout this Eli was making the explanation, the urge to interrupt and simply tell the man to get on with it was hard to clamp down on. A quiet sigh was had when the point was finally made and Julian raised his head as the room’s lights flicked back on. With a shrug he stood up among the many still seated around him. "Suppose it's my home turf too." It was rare that Julian worked with others in the "dreamscape", so he didn't particularly care too much about the other volunteers. Still...

It’d be interesting to see what abilities the blonde manifested given she was from the third zone, and he’d yet to hear anything about it. The pudgy kid had his head on right he supposed, the questions were good ones, even if his attitude was rather cheerful for the morbid task ahead. He had no idea who Miriam was in the Zone given the drastic appearance shifts that could occur, so he reserved judgement. The last girl seemed to have her priorities mixed up and her head in the clouds, but, small frown aside, he kept quiet and turned his attention back to Eli.

Now hopefully this was done in a more timely manner than Eli had arrived.

ZONES: -system offline-

He was inclined to scoff at the kid’s implication that this Eli’s “revelation” would blow their minds, but then again the teenager didn’t even look old enough to drive. To be granted the chance to fight back whatever monsters wanted to rip their way into their world would have been mind-blowing he supposed had he not figured it out a few weeks after the dreams had begun. It seemed that at least a couple of the others were at least interested in what the other boy had to say, and he stood from his seat to make his way over to the slowly forming group. Suspicions and theories he had, some of which looked to be practically confirmed, but asking the people in question would likely be for the best.

“Not really, I throw lightning around,” he said in response to the older blonde as he nodded to the others around. “We’ve been split into three distinct groups,” Julian continued as he gestured towards the colored scrubs since there was at least one of each color in those around Henry. “That aside, if anyone’s followed the situation, it’s clear there’s three distinct type of attackers. Likely, three different locations where each strain resides, since I’ve only ever seen the first type in my dreams. That correct so far Henry?” While confident in being correct, the other boy did seem to have the explanations from Eli already.

ZONES: -system offline-

An outstretched hand fell down to cover Julian’s face as he groaned out quietly to drive away the lingering traces of the night’s deep sleep. The noise cut off as he muttered, “Just a moment longer…” in a disappointed tone. Of course with those spoken words, so did he notice the silence that had replaced the constant sound of both distant and close machinery. As his hand moved away Julian’s eyes narrowed at the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling before he sat up and scanned the unrecognizable room. ‘So it’s finally happened,’ he thought to himself as he slid himself off the bed and shivered a bit at the cold flooring under his feet. He’d tossed the idea back and forth a bit after the strange dreams had began, but after a few months he’d dismissed it. Yet here it was rearing its ugly head in reality as if to laugh at him.

‘Wonder what organization it is?’ The thought bounced around in his mind as he examined the furnishings in the room. The pieces of furniture were normal as far as he could tell and even the cabinets were empty which made Julian question their placement. The doors were disappointing since one didn’t even have a handle and looked to be remotely controlled while the other led to a bathroom. He did however use the facilities provided and grabbed the placed clothes as he left the white tiled room. By the time he’d closed the door the TV screen in the corner turned on and a recorded message began to play.

He glanced down at the uniform and scowled a bit before he turned his attention back to the television. ‘Tacky.’ He didn’t think anyone could blame him either since the clothes were basically what the doctors and nurses wore in hospital during operations with a tacky 1 printed on it. When the TV turned off at last he glanced around in thought before he decided to just get it over with. Not entirely comfortable with the thought of simply shedding his clothes, he slipped the rather baggy scrubs on over what he’d worn to bed. It didn’t exactly look nice, but it wasn’t as if he gave two shits about anyone’s opinion at the moment. A bit of grey cotton and the top of his cargo pants could be seen, but apparently it was fine as the security lock disengaged nonetheless.

It didn’t take long for him to reach the designated cafeteria given the directions had been clear and everything was clearly marked. He wasn’t all too surprised that he wasn’t the first to arrive given he hadn’t really hurried, really he’d moved more at a leisurely pace. Taking the closest seat to the entrance, he noted that he looked to be one of the older individuals here, but otherwise simply waited for things to move on ahead.

ZONES: -system offline-

You all are terrifyingly calm about waling up in strange places...

@UrbanEvolution

Well considering they've been fighting monsters that show up in reality, I'm sure some of them have lost all the fucks to give.

VIGILANCE: Memento Mori

It's in the Character Tab.

ZONES: -system offline-

Muh shame has been buried, never to see the light of day once more.

ZONES: -system offline-

2. I suppose this will be revealed as the roleplay rolls, but what exactly is the goal once the characters enter the Zones; do they simply walk looking around or do they actually have objectives to accomplish?

@chaOzone

Primary objective seems to be to rid the Zones of the hostile creatures in each (Aggressors, Beasts, Abominations). Other objectives will probably crop up as decided by the GMs.

ZONES: -system offline-

<Snipped quote by Zombehs>

The hell is a Xerath?

@SepticGentleman

A thing.