Craving Adrenaline [Open]

[missled]

Adrenaline. That's what she craved, that clear feeling, the sharp cut through her long stupor. Alazne couldn't remember precisely what she had remembered the last time, with the weapon at her throat, she only remembered how perfect her hindsight was. This in itself was frustrating enough, much like being able to take one taste of a ambrosia like food and then have it whisked away again. The memory of the clarity was tantalizing enough, but the prospect of maybe remembering something that was otherwise lost to her was really what had driven her here.

The bright lights and the cacophony were quite enough to drive her out of this place, it wasn't somewhere that she would enjoy under normal circumstances. Of course, she wasn't really enjoying it under these circumstances either. It was out of necessity, a need to know about herself, a need to uncover all the repressed memories that plagued her state of consciousness, that kept her strolling through the carnival, staring at all the strange things that congregated here.

But no, she couldn't get distracted. This would be hard enough as it was without losing her focus. She spun in a quick pirouette, taking in all of the large rides that rocketed past. All of them played boisterous music that clashed horribly with that of the other rides, but somehow there was a nice inharmonious togetherness between the rides. It was as if they were all screaming at her for attention, like badly behaved children.

She walked closer to one particularly loud ride, one that would be intimidating to someone much braver than Alazne. She stood there in awe, impressed by the few people riding it, delighted giggles and terrified screams seemingly both coming out of the mouths of every person on the ride. Did she really want to do this? Yes. She wanted to remember. Just the thought of remembering was enough to put a melancholic damper on the infinite pleasures this place could give. Even so, she wanted to know her own story, wanted the choice to not tell people about where she came from, why she was the way she was. Having no choice in the matter was just forced privacy, she couldn't open up to anyone no matter how badly she wanted to.

The wails from the ride brought her back from her thoughts and jolted her legs to action. They brought her closer to the ride, but not near enough to actually join the line to the attraction. The line itself had a hum of excitement, an aura all its own that seemed almost more attractive than the actual ride. Following the urge to belong to this aura, she joined the back of the line without a second thought, waiting for her turn to scream bloody murder and to possibly remember something about herself.

[miranda]

Although the ride that Alazne had chosen as a focus dominated the immediate vicinity, and while the terror-driven mirth of carnival goers on the whole controlled the majority of the scene, a smaller, more inconspicuous event was taking place directly across from where the ride-in-question's line had formed. The easy description was a collection of tents, three in fact, all piled up caddy-corner to one another. Festive colors were the chosen scheme, though each yellow, orange, and green shade seemed... faded, eroded, almost, as if from constant use and travel. They were a poor excuse for an escape from the partially controlled chaos of the carnival and they were the makeshift storage areas for hoarding the equipment and prizes of the old style game booths that framed the 'backs' of each tent. (The tent entrances actually faced each other, with the three tents forming their own ''triangled circle' with a small gathering space in the middle.) The booth and tent combination closest to Alazne's ride (and thus, the one within her primary scope of view) was a standard shooting game where contestants were challenged to use poorly calibrated air rifles to playfully assassinate cute little rubber ducks as they sped along the horizontal current of a river. The prizes were as one might have expected: random stuffed animals, giant balloons, exceptionally cheap costume jewelry, 'switchblade' style pocket combs, and other such useless 'state fair fare.' There was just one small oddity to this booth - it was unmanned and not a single soul had stepped forth to take up the duck hunt challenge.

And, of course, there was a reason for this void of activity, but we'll get to that in a moment.

The oddity of inactivity had a parallel on its opposite side. Still as a statue, the Hollow Miranda Cashmere stood on-watch in the little 'tent courtyard', though any observer would have had difficulty in identifying exactly what she might have been watching for. Her body was ramrod straight; perfect posture with her arms at her sides. Her 'sword wings' - eight alarming blades that connected at her back - were at her sides, hanging in such a way that they fashioned a 'sword skirt' around the woman. The red light that was her visor's 'eye' moved left to right, then right to left like clockwork, a soft hum accompanying its movement, but other than this, she did not move.

It was impossible to tell how long she had played this sentinel role, but after another few minutes of immobility, it might have seemed that it would go on forever. And then, without warning:

"Initializing countdown."

A short breeze moved through the 'courtyard', disrupting Miranda's hair slightly.

"Five... four... three... two... one..."

A sound seemed to jump from the tent behind her. It was like static, with a spark.

"Sentinel subroutine gamma, status inquiry. Loading... Status check: completed. Analysis concludes re-charging of Solaris version seven-point-three, configuration model 'Rush verified as successful. ... Scanning. ... Scanning. Discharge of Solaris omni-tool confirmed. ... Reverting to standby mode. It is requested that the operator re-initialize sentinel subroutine or set status to 'autonomous' at their earliest convenience."

As Miranda's form seemed to shift into a slouch, the sounds of scuffling that were coming from the tent behind her also ceased. A beat passed. The tent flapped opened and-

[aylin]

-out stepped the pink-haired, green-and-white school uniform clad Null Leech named Lin Kovarik.

"OhmyGod!" she exclaimed, her arms going skyward and her back arching as she stretched mid-walk. She followed this movement with a purposeful yawn. "What a pain in the neck, but... what a satisfying ending, right, Miranda?"

Though she voiced a question and moved to a position adjacent to the Hollow, Miranda did not immediately reply. Unperturbed, Lin continued on.

"I mean, I guess it was a little extreme... but it's nothing that hasn't been tried on us before, y'know?" continued the Leech as she plucked her glasses off of her face. She kept going as she began to inspect the lenses. "Besides, I really needed the energy. Hmm... Miranda, activate autonomous mode and follow me."

"Directive received. Initializing autonomous mode." The Hollow's response was instantaneous.

"And give me a status report, if you would. How are your energy reserves holding up?" This question came as Lin lead her Hollow partner out of the tent courtyard. "I didn't even think to check before paying that bastard back for his cheating-"

"Inquiry acknowledged. Energy reserves are at nominal levels for normal operation, Lin."

"Well ain't that nifty," Lin said, slipping her glasses back on with a bit of a grin. A few more steps took the pair directly back into the path between the game booth tents and the noisy ride. "Just keep me updated on it. It's enough of a pain in the ass tweaking you up when you're golden. I really don't wanna mess with it if you're in the red. Anyway..." The girl stopped, her amber eyes scanning the carnival crowd. "What do we do now? I'm totally not annoyed anymore... so now I think I oughta have some fun! But, ah... there isn't much of an appeal to that for you, is there?"

The Hollow did not bother to respond to Lin's rhetorical question.

"Tch. But I haven't been to an amusement park before. I'm definitely not letting you rain on my parade for that. Miranda, go stand over there. Ya know, outside of the ride's gate. When you get there, get to scanning. I want you in surveillance mode, alright? One eye- er... I mean, focus on me, but watch the rest of these cretins, 'kay? I wantcha watchin' my back, so if anyone tries anything, be ready to pounce."

"Order acknowledged. Task list reconfigured to reflect new objectives. ... Initializing."

And with that, the Hollow moved to the place that Lin had directed. Miranda's path just so happened to have her pass directly across Alazne's line of sight. Lin, on the other hand, gave a short laugh and promptly sprinted into place in the line for the ride. She paused once she got there, leaning over to pull up one of her socks that had inconveniently bunched itself down at her ankle.

[Darius Flynn]

The carnival was typically a ‘peaceful’ place. Not tranquil by any stretch of the imagination, but fights were a rarity in such a wondrous surrounding. This wasn’t the case, however, in one tent on the edge of the carnival. A tent with a larger man standing by the entrance, the gambling tent. Tensions grew high in here on occasion, from people losing their money. Accusations of cheating flew through here like the birds in the sky. “You’re a liar and a cheat, get out of my tent!” The gruff voice echoed. The sounds of a struggle followed. After a few moments, a man flew out of the doorway of the tent, apparently thrown. He hit the ground hard and bounced up, rotated as best he could, and got his feet under him. He stood and arched his back, allowing the bones to crack, to relieve the pain. He brushed the dirt off of his long, blood red, suit coat, and put the matching hat back atop his head. He looked one way, in the direction of Everai, and thought about going there for some fun, they had great hot springs. He shook his head and made his way deeper into the heart of the carnival, wondering if he could swindle his way into a good deal, or find someone to have a good time with.

The mans name was Darius Flynn. Black hair spiked its way from under the hat, shading his eyes as best they could. Semi-translucent, bat-like wings sprouted from his back, twitching eagerly as he walked, a trait that most Leeches shared. By trade, he was a hunter. If you needed something, he’d find it, for a price. Today, however, he was relaxing. He paused and watched as all the rides whizzed past, smiling lightly at the disharmony of the sounds. Chaos was a feeling that Darius held very near, and loved causing it whenever he could. He shifted through the crowds with a great deal of fluidity, every so often pulling wallets and money pouches from their resting places on people with children. It was easier this way. Soon, he paused again, looking at an almost barren line for a ride. He smirked softly, seeing what looked like a butterfly-winged leech, or what could be the most pathetic beast he’d ever seen. Not too far behind her in line, a school-girl? Did they even have schools in this world? He shook this though from his head and approached the line, standing a few paces away from Aylin. He shifted his head slightly, eying his surroundings, and got an almost disgusted look when his eyes fell upon something out of the ordinary. “Damned Hollows… Pathetic excuses for humans, if you ask me…” he muttered under his breath, barely audible for anyone. He was fairly certain Aylin heard the comment, however.

[aylin]

“Damned Hollows… Pathetic excuses for humans, if you ask me…”

Prior to these words drifting to her ears, all the noise was little more than background. Following her sprint to the line (which wasn't moving at all, much to her chagrin) and her prompt physical admonishing of her poorly behaved sock, Lin had predominantly shifted her focus to the physics of the ride in front of her. To be specific, it was not truly the physics of the ride itself - no, that would have classified her thought pattern as 'certified nerd' and, having just amped herself up for what she considered to be "child's play", she'd determined that going into 'scientist mode' just didn't fit the picture. Instead she turned to something much closer to home - herself.

Did the speed of the ride matter?

Sure.

How about the torque and the g-forces?

Definitely.

But worrying about them just for the sake of worrying about them just wasn't cutting it when it came to holding her interest. Instead, she was silently theorizing about their effect on her. She knew she wasn't exactly the largest thing coming up to try and test itself against the 'beast.' She also acknowledged that she wasn't exactly the most sturdy of souls, either. As such, the questions evolved like this: 'What sort of acceleration would the ride need to... smush me into a pancake the moment it took off?' And: 'On a turn, just how much force would be needed to disrupt my grip and smash my head in to the side of the car? How about tear me in half completely?'

It was really a rather morbid way of thinking, but she couldn't help it. It was only two nights ago that, bored out of her mind, she had began pressing Miranda with various inquiries as to the stores of information held in her database. Furthermore, she'd been too lazy to actually bother hooking up her omni-tool and creating a text display; instead she had 'learned' by dictation and, as such, was actually beginning to annoy herself with her questions because she simply could not recall ANY of the equations that might possibly elucidate answers to her questions.

And so it was that, as Darius approached, Lin was making a rather less-than-cute face. She couldn't remember the equations and, astonishingly (not really), she had only just begun to consider the fact that 'physics' probably didn't matter one single bit when it came to the digital world. ... Unless, of course, the one that had 'programmed' the ride had intentionally done so with 'normal' physics in mind. She was literally mentally asking herself 'What if-' when:

“Damned Hollows… Pathetic excuses for humans, if you ask me…”

***Cue the sound of the record player's needle slashing across the vinyl***

"Huh?" - Ah... the most educated response ever.

But of course, she caught herself. A slight shake of her head discarded the fog of distraction and her focus turned to the voice that had interrupted her nerd-flavored mental 'machinations.' She immediately turned, giving Darius a side-profile view, and wrinkled her nose.

((OOC note: I tend to denote 'thought dialogues' italicized and bracketed by the ~*~ symbols. It might be stating the obvious, but these aren't 'voiced.'))

~*~Of course it has to be some GUY that shows up and makes stupid comments next to me. Sonofa.... Nngh. Whatever.~*~

"Pathetic excuses, hm? Maybe I'm a little slow, bat-man," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly and her hands moving to her hips. "But I don't exactly recall there being any humans with wings back in the day, either. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I'm not saying anything like kettle-callin'-pot or anything, but... ah..." She raised a brow and gave a sarcastic smirk. "But maybe I'm sayin' bat-callin'-bird? Oh, and ya know there's that other one... somethin' about the man with the glass house not castin' stones, right?"

It almost seemed choreographed. As soon as Lin's little diatribe finished, the roving red light of Miranda's visor shifted... and glued itself on the pair of Leeches in the line.

[missled]

As the wait in the line became more and more tedious, Alazne's excitement went down a few notches and she started to watch the interactions between the people around her. In front of her there was a small beast that seemed to be part rodent, unique but not rare enough to actually hold her interest for long. Plus, the beast seemed to be slightly enraged by the fact that he was too short to actually go on the ride and was now plotting out loud to himself, and Alazne did not want to get involved with anything like that. The being running the ride was interesting, she couldn't tell what she was supposed to be. Oddly shaped, but she supposed carnies were always odd, even in a dream. In this reality, they were bound to be even odder than carnies in the old world, so she didn't stare much. Alazne didn't want the female (Was she actually female?) striking up any conversation.

Her eyes were drawn to the game booth nearest to her which seemed eerily inactive. There was no carnie calling out to the pairs walking by, daring the males to try to win something for their females. There wasn't even anyone trying to play the game, although Alazne didn't blame them. There were plenty of live things in this world to shoot, one simply didn't need to test skill against cute little rubber duckies.

There seemed to be a hollow standing guard outside of the booth, which was a sign to Alazne that she was not to see whatever was happening over there. She didn't want to know and she didn't want to get in trouble for knowing. Her eyes scanned the other, more active, carnival games that were happening around her. A small smile passed over her lips as a fellow leech in a bright red suit got thrown out of a nearby gambling tent. Serves him right, she thought as she looked back towards the rubber duckie booth without thinking.

The hollow that was guarding the booth seemed to now be guarding the ride that Alazne was in line for. She froze imperceptably, looking around, praying that this was just for safety reasons and not for some plot to get someone's energy. Her wings fluttered, lifting her a few centimeters off the ground, ready for flight. She used to be one of the better fighters in this world, but as the weaker got picked off for their energy, now she was at the bottom of the foodchain.

Alazne noticed that the slightly intimidating leech with bat wings was now in the line and arguing with another leech, both behind her. Her eyes flew back to the hollow, which seemed to now be focusing on the argument. Alazne herself focused on the argument as well. It seemed to be about the characteristics of humanity and from what she could tell, the man in the suit had started it. Should she interfere? It wasn't something she would normally do, but the hollow was putting her on edge. If this turned into a physical fight, Alazne was close enough to be caught up in it.

"Fighting r-really isn't necessary. I-I'm sure he didn't m-mean anything, he's probably j-just mad about being kicked out of the g-gambling tent." Alazne commented quietly, her stutter quite audible. "He d-did get dirt on his suit afterall. I'd be m-mad too." She said with a smile, trying to bring peace.

ooc:// Still no hugs for you Death.

[Darius Flynn]

"Pathetic excuses, hm? Maybe I'm a little slow, bat-man, but I don't exactly recall there being any humans with wings back in the day, either. "


He smiled at this, a laugh escaping his lips. "You're rebuttal is implying the fact that all humans must have 2 Arms, 2 legs, 1 Head, and nothing more. I don't trust in the physical manifestations of anything, never have. Im talking mentally and emotionally. While a computer can think faster, and more accurately than myself, I can feel emotion. If I were to, say, kill any of the people in this line, I'd feel remorse. If that thing killed someone, it'd be able to walk away without a second thought, and not feel a damn thing." Darius said, his wings twitching slightly.


"Fighting r-really isn't necessary. I-I'm sure he didn't m-mean anything, he's probably j-just mad about being kicked out of the g-gambling tent. He d-did get dirt on his suit afterall. I'd be m-mad too."


Darius shifted slightly, attempting to catch the gaze of the other leech. "I got thrown out because I beat them at their own game. And the dirt in the suit will wash out. I just dislike the inhumanity of robots. One almost took a loved one from me way back in the real world..." He paused, averting his gaze momentarily. He looked back toward the Hollow and noticed it staring toward him. Had it picked up what he was saying? It's possible. "It seems we have someone listening to us." He muttered, glaring at Miranda. He shook his head and sighed, continuing to move through the line.

[aylin]

There was a glance tossed at the 'let's-not-fight' girl, then a bit of a rolling of eyes and, ultimately, a rather defeated slouching of posture towards the male in red from Aylin as the newly formed 'discussion group' slipped into participation mode in front of her. The other girl had given a tentative smile; the male in red a laugh of amusement... but for Lin, she was just there. Her expression could have been positive or negative, depending on whether or not her observer's felt her slouch was genuine or merely... over-dramatic. (In truth, it was the latter. That was just how she was.) But her disposition seemed to balance once Darius returned to the subject of Miranda. The pink-haired one straightened up and gave an adjusting tug to the hem of her skirt. She decided to address the other girl first.

"Fight, huh? So... like, are you the apologist or what? I mean, I don't see hearts'n'hand grenades floatin' about, do you? And, hell... if it's a win it's a win, and if it pisses the house off... ain't that how it's s'posed ta go?" She gave a rather aggressive shrug. "Butterfly, sweetie, there ain't no touch of gun-shy needed here." She smirked at Alazne. "Unless Mr. Bat over here's plannin' on shootin' the place up, of course. But me? Nah... I mean, I don't really look like a fighter, right? I'm sweeter than sour, but only if ya get lucky. Speaking of..." And now she swiveled around to face Darius. "Ya know..."

And she paused, her mouth twisting to the side. She stood a moment, looking the male leech up and down once or twice, then offered another shrug and the shake of her head.

"Whatever. Ya might be right in the whole 'assumption' thing. That's partly why I'm glad my wings are just about invisible. But the rest of it? Ha. It's all good to say that, I guess. Sounds.... right humanitarian. 'Cept I happened to be owned by a 'human' back in the day that certainly wouldn't fill your 'remorseful' shoes. Quite the opposite, in fact. Why, compared to that, a blank slate's one that's much more preferable. Gradients and spades, darlin'. The lack or the push is what makes it 'human'... right? And... for your information... of course[/b] she's listenin' in. I told her to. She's mine, afterall. So.... as a note.. if you are plannin' on shootin' the place up.... don't think it's gonna be free, yeah?"[/color] And at that she made a gesture in Miranda's direction, although the Hollow didn't so much as move. "It's that whole failsafe thing, ya know? Power in numbers and all of that... uh... logic and rationale. Always good to have someone watch your back, right? And in my case, it's a certainty. Like, one-hundred percent. Umm.... like a constant in physics or chemistry, right? Or the whole 'yes-no, if-then' logic of Java script?" She took a step backwards, when compared to the pair she was conversing with. "By the way, my name's Lin. Why don't the two o' you introduce yourself, too, seein' as how we seem to have everything in the world to discuss at the moment, eh?"