Seeds05
Upper City
Lenna watched the video with misgivings. Judging by the sudden halt one of the others had realized something really important. However for seeds the only thing so important to cause a stop that sudden was another seed.
Flicking through memories Lenna's mind selected two pictures, two of the older seeds. As one of the oldest seeds still alive she remembered them, the two that had escaped. There had been such a ruckus when they'd broken out, and Lenna had been so confused at why. That had been the first time she had realized not all seeds were treated so nicely as her. She looked around at the other seeds in the van, did they want to escape too? Were they treated badly? She heard screams, but who did they belong to? Were they the result of experiments? She didn't know.
With a jolt she realized she'd been given orders, and hurriedly started to work on them, schematics appearing on the screen before moving onto the next. Should she really be helping to capture another seed if they wanted to be free? It was wrong, wrong! She wanted to help the other seeds, not imprison them, help!
Her fingers stopped for a moment, freezing in place as she thought. then someone took the palm computer from her hands and sent the information, taking it as a signal she'd finished. Well, she may have helped indirectly, that wasn't all the information yet, maybe it would give them time... enough time... Please let it have been enough time.
As Ezi felt the presence recede to nothingness he wished Bruce was there with him, to help, or at least he thought he would. He wasn't sure, but he stopped wishing and started thinking. He thought Krotena must be down there somewhere...
"Land, right now, and begin to scour the area. I want groups of three; you have authority, so do whatever you want, regardless of any lowers that may get in your way!" Ezi sat down in a chair that was altogether much too large for his frame, made for someone twice his size, and 4 times his age. "You two!" Ezi said as he pointed to the man responsible for Puck's munitions and the next man closest to him. "You will attend to Puck. See too it that you are ready with extra clips of ammo and keep him stocked up, but inform me immediately if he has engaged anyone for any reason. You will take down any information he relays when he returns from jumps he has made." Not even speaking to Puck, thinking he wouldn't listen either way. Clicking a button on his chair, Ezi brought up a picture on what would be considered the main screen, above his chair, and the door to the cockpit. The pictures were of the crime scene earlier. He still had no idea if they were related, but it seemed connected somehow. He wasn't surprised to see that the sewers connected to the area from the scene of the crime with the information relayed to him. Not exactly here, but if they were running that would be too obvious and easy anyway. He had no picture of Krotena to share with anyone else, and didn't think they really know her if he simply said thats who he thought it could be. Either way the earlier incident was the only excuse he could make for why he was having them stop here, so he had to give them a real reason, rather then simply do it. People work better when they have a purpose and a reason, his military skills class imparting knowledge on how to manipulate people effectively. "Also, there is a rumor that there may be Seeds working with the lower terrorism groups. If anyone sees another seed, disable them and return them to the ship, you have crowd suppression munitions as well as depressants and projectile sedatives to use along with bullets, use all to your discretion. Seeds are to be recovered not killed, I don't care if they shoot to kill, you won't back. Further more, you will attend to Sadui, to protect, and relay any information to me if she hears anything in particular in the area; and Eeounus you have a communications system implanted in your suit. We will be relaying any and all audio information you obtain, if you find something, simply talk and we will respond to you. You have your orders, see to them!"
Ezi depressed a button on his chairs arm once again, opening the main hatch, which folded out and down to become a walkway for those leaving, along with a few others, which then relayed the incoming visual data from each man individually. Their audio data as well but muted, with cameras mounted on their helmets and mics in their shirts, as well as heart and bio monitors on their life signs they were recording and displaying all the information. Each labeled with their number and unit, with 5-3598-5009-44
3, and 5-0316-5541-288 in red to indicate it as a seed's personal Id. The information was all relayed to the screens in front of Lenna, each group had its own screen splitting up the various bits of information.
Puck blinked outside before the doors could even finish opening. "Come one, fuckers! Let's get this party started!" He loaded his gun with the clip handed to him and cocked it with a wide smile, as though he had been waiting for that noise the whole of his life. And with that, he was gone. Off to wreak havoc on anyone and everyone that would get in his way.
Lenna smiled slightly when Puck took off on his own, she never would have been able to direct him and he no doubt made a good scout for the area. As it was she reached out and tapped the other screens, touch sensitive panels allowing her orders to be highlighted and directed to those who needed them. Eeonus she directed to where the incident had taken place in the hopes that the calmer seed would manage to find some clues. An expanding spiral was drawn on Sadui's screen, giving a path in which her hearing would allow her to cover as much area as possible in all directions. As for Puck... he was still? That was certainly not normal. Normally he would be running or blinking, wouldn't he?
What is it Puck? she asked in her own mind, Have you found something?
Lower City
Allowing his firearm to drop to his side, Dryson in hailed deeply. Fuck... was the only word that went through his head. Sending her to join the others was for the best, she'd be of no use to them is she were dead. Then again, the same could be said of him. Suddenly, Dryson regretted sending Addy away. True, her safety came first, especially with her being the new second in command, but the thought of dying alone began t sink into his head. He sighed again. There was nothing to do now but wait for the Uppers to find him. For now, he would rest.
Addy jogged down the street until she rounded the corner, then she pulled her shotgun from the holster on her back, cupped it lovingly and then tucked it under her arm as she reached into her bag for more pills and a shot of tequila from the bottle there. She smiled faintly and re-cradled the gun. It fit her hands perfectly. She shifted her shoulders, as if they itched a bit, moving the shoulder holster she'd taken from Myles' shop into a more comfortable position, the twin .45s slinging low under her minuscule breasts. Clear for her to draw when the shotgun ran out of ammo. She walked and carefully loaded the shotgun with the rounds in her jacket's pocket. Her face held an almost angelic smile, her brow creased with concentration, trying hard to keep out her surroundings.
Myles paced. He was getting nervous. They should have been here by now. He ran a hand over his head and nervously watched the door. Finally, he made up his mind. He gathered the men in the room into a semblance of order, armed them and told them to scatter out, search for Dryson and the other Seed girl. "Stay away from confrontation and keep to the shadows. Report back in no more than one hour. Got it? Half hour out, half hour back. No more. No, go!"
Several nodded, a few greenies saluted. He shook his head, slung a huge .50 caliber sniper rifle over his massive shoulder and moved out onto the streets. People moved away from him, he was menacing enough as it was, but the over-kill gun made him downright frightening. He would head to the roofs and scout from there.
Puck reappeared on the streets of the Lower city. He had never come down here to associate with the lower filth. He glanced around, holding his beloved gun Maria to his chest, cradling her lovingly. Puck pulled out a pair of shades and placed them on his face. It wasn't exactly bright down here, he just thought he's like to look cool. He unbuttoned his uniform shirt and let his tee-shirt show. This gave him more freedom to move, as those shirts were always stuffy and they had far too much starch in them. He was in enemy territory, so he never took his eyes off the street. He wouldn't see the Seed running toward him from behind.
Addy had picked her pace up again. Once the guns were loaded and ready she could move more swiftly. She jogged at a steady lope, rounded another corner, now about three blocks from the bar, she still wants that damn drink. Sometimes things are always better when someone else fixes them. She saw the boy in the street, the uniform shirt billowing in a slight breeze was vaguely familiar. Her powers slammed into her and suddenly she knew this child. Felt his love and affection for the cold steel he held in his hands. She blanked it out as best she could as she kept her head down and moved to run around him. She was sorely tempted to engage him right this moment. But her blood was too high, and shooting him in the back would not be smart. She ducked her head, drew her weapon and prepared to dive around the next corner. After all, who knew what his moral structure would be like?
Eeonus was unstrapped and set free. An attendant would be pointless if his only skill was to be unseen. So here he had one of his first stints of true freedom. Of course they were monitoring his audio, and life signs through his suit. But lucky for him, they couldn't fit much more like a camera if they wanted the suit to be able to go invisible with him. Free from attendants, the straps of a jacket, the padding of his room, and the insanities conjured up by his mind.
He moved forward, and walked around the buildings, looking for anyone or anything. He didn't know if people were simply fearful from the crafts landing or were scarce in the area they landed within. He neared where a small child was, and realized it was puck. Eeonus envied his power greatly. The most capable of all the seeds to obtain freedom. He wondered why he stayed? Eeonus knew if he had that kind of power he would kill the general, and then steal all the medicine he could, and flee. But Eeonus could only imagine that puck might be getting more out of the institute then he was. But just then, he saw someone moving in the shadows of the buildings in the opposite direction puck was standing. He could make out that it was a women and nothing else. He started to walk towards her, at a speedy pace, not fearing that his footfalls would be heard just yet. He perceived the cold long metal in her hands, and took to steadying his pace to mask his presence. Wondering, what she was doing...if she was to shoot puck, why hadn't she?
Addressing the few remaining soldiers who had not yet departed on their elliptical paths out from the ship, "Tap me on the shoulder if any situation changes, I will be,...meditating on the current events." With that statement he turns from the group, and closes his eyes. His mind leaving his body, he soars at first above the ship to get a good look at the surrounding area. He could seek puck down below along with the other men moving out in a circle. Here they are in the middle of the lower city, and they barely know what they are looking for. With the vague pretext that the assailants could possibly be around somewhere here, because there is a passage that leads from the site to this general vicinity. Yet, he knew she had to be around here somewhere. Thinking about it, she had escaped had she not? If there are seeds aiding the resistance movements, who could it be if not her? He had seen many confidential files while he was floating about the compound. He had a pretty good idea about how many seeds there were, how many are still alive or out of their containers, and who is still here. He had heard that the first generation was different, but none of the doctors that he eaves dropped on ever said why, both knowing what the other was referencing too. But what he gathered, seeds haven't always disappeared because of their death, but some have escaped. He thought that of Krotena. He watched the men spread out from his aerial view. Then started to fly to the buildings, taking in what they were. Flying through several apartment complexes, a restaurant, some abandoned buildings which to Ezi's surprise looked even closer to collapse then the other buildings he had previously viewed. After seeing the general of the upkeep of the area he had to wonder at how much worse a building could start to look before it actually collapsed. He flew through a bar, and through several other buildings he couldn't quite identify. Circling out until he got to his limit of distance, and then started to circle back in towards the ship. He could search every building, but unless the resistance had their base of operations just sitting out and ready for action somewhere, he wasn't going to be able to identify it he didn't think. People living covert lives, he didn't think would have all the means to identify them displayed at any time.
Footsteps... Puck heard them and a grin graced his young face. He spun around quickly, opening fire upon Addy. The bullets sprayed in a barrage toward her. He didn't know who she was, nor did he care. He began laughing manically as the bullets sprayed.
Dryson opened his single eye at the sound of gunfire. It went wide and a sudden sensation of panic washed over him as he knew that was not her gun firing but it was coming from the direction she had gone. "Shit...Addy" He pushed himself onto his feet, his serum still in the process of healing his aching body. He moved as fast as his feet would allow, toward the growing sounds of bullets. Thankfully, they weren't very far from where he had collapsed. He rounded the final corner and saw the white haired child. Dryson pulled out his gun and aimed right for the back of Puck's head.
Addy felt the Seedling hear her footsteps and her mind reeled from it. He just didn't give two fucks, a little older, and maybe a little less Seed, and she would have taken the time to admire his coldness. She clenched her jaw, swallowed the agony and channeled it into her own fury. In that split second that she felt his fingers tense around the trigger, she spun her torso around and returned fire. She continued to run past him, running backwards, trying to dodge as many of the bullets as possible. One of them clipped her side and she snarled, furious and deadly cold all at the same time. She felt Dryson arive and just as she dove around the corner for cover, she smiled back at the demon Seedling. She drew the shotgun from its holster. "Let's see you face MY favorite weapon, you little fuck!" With that shouted war-cry, Addy lowered herself to the ground in a sniper position, just able to see around the building's corner and allowing Dryson the high ground while she would aim for his knees and torso.
Eeonus moved to follow her, not too closely, moving to the same side of the building, and then turning the corner on her; just as she had on puck. So that if puck decided to fire at her from that side he wouldn't get caught in that reckless seedlings fire, but also keep an eye on whoever this woman was. He had no weapons himself, and really had no desire to involve himself in this fight. But hey, he thought...if he has direct assistance it wouldn't go overlooked, he could only imagine the doped up nights he might be having if the institute was actually happy with his work.
Ezi heard the shots from his vantage point, and immediately swooped down from the sky to inspect the situation. It's her! It's really her! And he is trying to kill her! Ezi, enraged, and powerless to do anything but watch in this current state, avoided flying too close to the psychic seed. He cut the power and his mind flew back into his body instantly coming awake. Ezi swiveled in his chair to face the few remaining staff aboard the vessel. He clicked on his com-link and broadcast a wide array message to all operatives. "All men, report to puck's coordinates. I repeat report to puck's coordinates. At least one seed is spotted exchanging fire with puck. Load suppression munitions and shoot to disable. It's a female, I want her, and anyone working with her incapacitated, and taken aboard." Ezi then excluded puck's communicator from the next statement. "If puck resists or makes further attempts to kill, you may incapacitate him as well but only if necessary." Ezi then loaded his magnums and stuck two extra clips of ammo in the holsters. He began to head towards puck's position, having known what direction it was in, and knowing it would take some time for the other men to arrive, as they had spread out a significant distance. "Guide the men to puck's position, and prepare the ship for prisoners." He said behind his back as he left the ship. Two seeds, and two men left aboard.
Lenna heard the transmission and her eyes widened, they were fighting one of the escaped seeds! The ruckus she'd heard so many years ago, how she'd been guarded, it was all... Lenna had to help! How could she help both sides? Or at least not make an enemy of the ones who wanted to stay at the institute.
She just wanted everyone to be where they felt happy, and she was certain some of the seeds right now didn't want to be at the institute, so she would help them! But how? Lenna carefully drew the lines, instructing the men to get to the place, as indicated by Ezi.
However... she had been careful to leave a path free for the escapee, the soldiers were in the right place to leave a not-entirely straight path to freedom for her, enough, but not too suspicious, especially as the way Lenna had directed them WAS mathematically the quickest....
She knew she was making excuses now, but she could defend her decision of route if necessary. Now she just had to hope the rogue seed took the chance she was given. If they did bring her in... maybe Lenna could help her? Maybe she could even... help her escape again? If she managed that she might be able to do it for the others, mightn't she?
Dryson narrowed his single eye and took aim from beside an abandoned building. He felt the pain shoot up his legs into his spine and winced. He had never pushed his body this far before and didn't know how much longer he could hold out. Over the past few days he had just been pushing himself more and more. Dryson placed his finger on the trigger and muttered to himself, "Come on you little shit-head, die like the filth you are." Just as he pulled the trigger his leg gave out. The bullet went stray and not only completely missed its target, but gave away his position. "Shit..." He began rubbing his aching leg.
At Addy's war cry Puck began firing back, his grin still growing. He had her out-gunned by a long shot. Her measly shot gun would be no match for his dearest Maria.
Another shot was fired from behind him. Puck suddenly stopped both his barrage and his laughter. He spun around, his eyes narrowing as he saw Dryson. Puck blinked to avoid any further bullets from Addy and he reappeared right next to Dryson, his teeth clenched practically growling. "YOU tried to shoot me, you disgusting lower."
Eeonus received the transmission and didn't know what to do. He had no way of seriously affecting the battle. Since they were already identified and location known, his reconnaissance was unnecessary. But perhaps he could save them time if he was to be able to disarm the woman? She looked as emaciated as he was, which was saying quite something. If he was able to get to her without detection, he was sure she would be too distracted by the male and puck to react in time to his assault on her weaponry. He slowly and silently moved forward toward her.
Ezi, finally got close enough to see Krotena; yet where was Puck? He saw her at the edge of a building looking around. He could see her only through an alleyway across the street, it would only be another minute. He could also see two of his men, both a bit behind him, due to having been farther from the ship in the opposite direction than Ezi. He didn't really think anyone was going to get there before him, he knew the way already, having traversed it with his mind previously. Good,...I know as soon as I get there, I will already have back up...and human shields if I need them. Ezi checked a small screen on his communication device, displaying the identification tags of his men in yellow, and seeds in blue. Puck had moved away from Krotena; who was he after now? Also it appeared as though Eeounus was stalking Krotena; which seemed highly unlikely given that she will know he is there. Ezi saw no reason to inform the other seed of his probable folly, seeing his invisibility and re-con as a dull and useless application of his own abilities. Two other men were closing on pucks position, he thought they would close in within moments. Ezi stopped for a few seconds, allowing his men to catch up; and at the same time he projected his mind up into the air. Flying overhead, he spotted puck next to another man,...flying closer he didn't know who it was, but judging by the weaponry, he must be working with Krotena...most likely just a supporter of the rebellion. Although he was heavily bandaged, which seemed odd. Ezi indicated the two yellow dots on the screen, highlighting them, and clicked an open communication. "You may immediately begin firing on the lower. Do not allow him to die, he will have much important information."
Immediately thereafter, several shots of very small darts flew from the guns of two of the agents, flying over the heads of the seeds. One straight north of them, and another north west of them.
Ezi touched the blue dot as he began running, gesturing to his men to take the lead towards the woman, and opened communication. "Puck stand down, our agents will disable the assailant."
Puck froze as the sound of that pompous Ezi boomed in his ears. His teeth clenched so tightly that one of his k-9 teeth cracked from the sheer pressure. Dryson was sitting, his leg had given out, his chest was heaving and he was sweating a mixture of blood and perspiration clean through his bandages. He lost his grip on his gun and his arm fell to the ground. His eye was loosing focus and Puck's face began to blur. The medication wasn't working anymore, his body was rejecting it and it suddenly became an adverse reaction. The younger seed finally saw what he was. Dryson was a seed. Puck wanted to destroy him, however, if he were to do so, he could loose his only chance to prove himself to the general that he should have been made leader. For the first time in his life, Puck followed Ezi's order, he didn't shoot the Lower in front of him. However, he did take a moment to introduce Dryson to the butt of his beloved gun. The white haired solider hit the already suffering Dryson clean in the diaphragm, knocking the last breaths from him. He fell flat to the filthy disgusting ground. Puck lost himself again, however, instead of shooting him, as per usual, he began to beat him with his gun. The barrel, the butt, it didn't matter. Maria was making his motionless body bleed. Puck could hear Dryson's bones cracking under the barrage, his blood mixing with the dirt and mud around him. Some of his bandages would split open, causing more pus to come forth. Puck began screaming at the fallen Locust at his feet. "Damn you! You piece of filthy shit! Die fucker!" He was just screaming the frustrations of a child turned solider. His mind reeled and he continued beating. Finally a solider came and restrained Puck, disarming him from his precious Maria. At the sudden realization of being touched Puck snatched his gun and blinked. Just like that, he was gone. The solider called for his back-up.
The Rice Institute had sent out a second platoon, unknown to the Seed's and their squad, with the exception of the one. The soldiers came in trucks that resembled tanks in their size and armor plating. There were three, each with the capacity to contain eighteen armed men. They came barreling out, guns blazing. They took formation and held fire. Five moved over to Dryson. They picked him up and loaded his body, cuffed and shackled, into the first tuck. The squad's leader was screaming for Addy to stand down. His screams were intense and overbearing, as was his attitude.
Myles ran. He ran the way a man his size shouldn't be able to. His sides heaved as his bulk bolted down the side streets, laden with twin duffel bags filled with weapons and excess artillery. His assistants and a handful of other locusts followed him in a wide V pattern extending back from him. The streets cleared about a block and a half in front of their double-time parade of heavily armed resistance, no one wanted to be in the way of the coming violence. Myles gritted his teeth as he heard the rumble of tanks and with a few hand gestures sent his troops fanning further afield. They flooded the alleys and buildings, taking sniper and flanking positions. With a shout Miles called the halt to those remaining with him. He dove into a side building, it's windows blown out from the firing. He watched the soldiers taking Dryson away and Addy bolt. Each of the Locusts had an earwig communication devise. Myles whispered fiercely into the receiver of his, Stand down! Dryson's been taken! Addy's on the run! Stand DOWN! he then switched off his receiver and waited for the rest of the Locusts to fade back into the shadows. They were far too out gunned and out manned. He'd figure out later how to arrange the rendezvous.
Her side ached. Her head pounded with the blood of her icy cold rage and the sickening emotions rolling in waves off of everyone around her. Nothing was going as planned. Addy tried to climb to her feet but her side just tensed and with a scream she was back on her stomach. She shoved the pain away viciously and used her shotgun as a temporary cane to lever herself to stand staring at the chaos that their seemingly simple mission had become. She felt the shadow behind her; the familiar feel of its eyes watching her made her skin crawl as she spun to fire a round from the .45 that had been at her hip. It, of course, hit nothing and she tried to focus beyond the growing nausea that would soon knock her out. Then she felt Dryson get hit. His agony pierced like a red hot beacon through the haze like no drug or booze ever could. She swallowed the bile that rose scorching her throat and whirled. The gun came up and her eyes widened suddenly clearly focused as she watched the Seedling she'd been firing at beat Dryson's unmoving body. A slow, high-pitched keening slipped from her lips as she took in his broken bandages, the increasing pain, the sudden allergic reaction, and the joyous rage sliding like a familiar lover through the Seedling; his gun a violent extension of his small hand. Her hate was completely overwhelming. The gun went off just as he disappeared, the round embedding itself into the wall where his head had been mere seconds before. Mouth dry and fingers lifeless she didn't really hear the soldier yelling at her, merely stood with the gun at her side as the men in black fatigues carried Dryson's body away to their trucks. Father will hear. He'll fix it. she thought, suddenly listless as the adrenaline left her system. As soon as the loud solider attempted to subdue her, her head snapped up. Dryson's words sang in her head. The Locusts need a leader. With him gone... there was no one else. Myles would need a Seed's insight. She smiled maniacally at the boisterous soldier and bolted. Quickly turning the corner and dodging through buildings and alleys until she was thoroughly in the underground. Only then did she stop, back pressed to a moist brick wall, and was violently ill.
Eeonus chased after her. Adrenaline coursing through his veins having the bullet fly past his face Eeonus could still feel the hairs prickling his neck. If he could keep stalking her they could follow his control beacon right to her, and perhaps the headquarters of the Locusts. As he chased the woman down, thanking that she was probably too worked up to hear his footsteps trailing hers, his heart pumped away his medication. Slowly, as he followed her through the alleyways, the walls began to crawl with bugs, sickly green scarabs. As his mind began to get muddled passageways began to turn into an intricate maze; running forward through a cloud of bats to continue where he thought she had run, he found himself in a dead end. He thought she couldn't be too far, but the world kept shifting around him and he could no longer keep his bearings. He sat next to an overturned sewer drain, and tried to use the comm. device in his clothing, shifting back to visibility. He felt a flash of dizziness as he phased back, but he was well within his safe period without over extending his power. It fizzled and gave him nothing but static. The thing had to be so thin, for them to incorporate it into the suit to become transparent. They were still unable to fashion it properly. He didn't actually care about going back to the institute, he just needed his medication. Slowly the monsters crept in, as though they realized how much strength they'd regained, and he shivered in a corner that he backed himself into. He was actually a little more pissed then scared at this point, having gone all this way just for the meds, and now he is stuck without them anyway. “Fucking shit,...”
Ezi was appalled. This was his victory. This man was to be his capture, as was Krotena. Now she is getting away, and they are stealing his glory. Ezi walked over to the man, who towered above him, but attempted to make himself seem comparable even still. “What is the meaning of this, who are you, and with what authorization do you take my charge?!” Ezi glared at the man, his tri pupil appearing to shimmer through his squinted lids. In reality, he was vibrating the air with his mind, right in front of his face. It was a really easy trick, with a mind like his he discovered it as an intimidation tactic, from an early age. Using it to scare lowly soldiers, who refused to take him seriously into submission.
Oh, it had almost worked! Lenna thought before blinking, one got away, the other stayed. But... why should they stay? Okay... so she liked it, but if others didn't they should be allowed to go, right? If they kept them here against their will were they just slaves? They would be horribly unhappy... Part of her was slightly surprised at these thoughts, was she thinking against the institute which had always been kind to her? But the others weren't okay were they? What was the right thing to do?? She needed to talk to the others... well... as close to talking as you could get with pencil and paper. She needed to know more, to know what was really going on before she made her decision.
Puck found himself in the Upper city once again. He had blindly blinked himself into an alleyway. Trash was strewn about and there was a stench in the air that resembled spoiled milk and death, enough to make anyone ill. It was hard to believe that places such as this still existed at all in the Upper city, it was always so perfect and cosmopolitan. Clearly this was a place that was merely off of the radar of the street cleaners. Somehow, though, it felt fitting that Puck would end up here in his current state. The small solider looked about for but a moment then sat down next to the dumpster, his legs pulled tightly to his chest. He stared at the subtle light coming from the street ahead of him. His face felt wet. Puck brought up his small hand to touch his cheek. What the...? Puck was crying. For the first time in his life, the Seedling cried. He didn't quite understand it, but finally emotion took him and he just broke down. He buried his face into his knees and began bawling. His gun slid out of his hand and came to rest next to him on the cold damp ground. The overcast skies soon began to bring fourth rain. The cold droplets weighed down the stench in the darkened alley, as well as the child's spirit. His heart, if he could be considered to have such a thing, was weighed down. Puck was completely unsure as to why he felt this way. While his body shivered from the cold, his mind began to mull over what had happened to make him feel in such a disgraceful manner. Puck slowly began to replay the events in his head.
"Hello?" came a voice from the street.
It was a woman and her young daughter. The plump woman called out again to Puck, "My boy, are you okay? Did you loose your Mommy?"
Mommy? Puck brought up his tear stained face from his knees. His gaze met her's.
"Mommy, look how dirty he is," said the girl of no more then five.
"Well, dear," replied her mother, "He's probably the child of a lower. I'm sure we could drop him back off at the nearest entrance and someone will find him eventually."
A lower?....Me?
The woman reached into her pocket and pulled a handkerchief out. She wrapped it around her hand and then reached out to pull Puck to his feet. Such was the way of the Uppers, she did not want to sully herself by touching a lesser being. Puck reached out his left hand slowly at first, then, with his right, he picked up his beloved Maria and fired a short burst through the woman's face at point blank range. The back of her skull was blown out and her face was missing. The small girl began to scream, but before she could get anything out, Puck had blinked behind her and snapped her neck with a loud crunch. Her body fell lifeless to the ground. He brought up his gun to his lips and kissed her on the side of the barrel. She was still warm from firing the shots that killed his would be rescuer. Puck licked his lips, tasting the sulfuric tang of the gunshot residue. He looked callously down at the two bodies before him, "Don't compare me to any filthy humans, regardless of status."
Leaning against the cold wall was helping Addy regain her composure. She took huge, heaving breaths in a vain attempt to keep from heaving her guts out again. The ground was already spattered with vile smelling liquid and bile with small chunks of the last bologna sandwich Dryson had given her. With that thought she felt her chest heave painfully and she choked out a wracking sob. He was captured; probably dead, and there was nothing she could do about it. Fuck, she was in charge of a whole fucking militia now. The Locusts would depend on her. HER, the one who could barely stand to be in the same room with any one else without wanting to down a whole five bottles of tequila. She shook her head and angrily wiped the tears from her cheeks.
As her mind came away from her own inner turmoil she suddenly felt a familiar ache in her head. Someone nearby was in pain. She swallowed an acidic wad of phlegm and stood a bit straighter. The pain was intense, almost like her own seed sickness, but it was tainted with loathing and abject horror. Not for the first time she wished her ability allowed her to see as well as experience what was going on with the invader in her skull. She whimpered as her head began to throb with her own sickness. It was strange that there were no internal side-effects to whatever was bothering them, and absolutely no external forces that she could feel. They were alone, she could smell and feel the street around them, she could even taste the blood in their mouth as they bit through their tongue. She staggered a pace or two back down the alley she'd retreated down and followed the senses that were making her sicker as she got closer.
Shortly, she rounded another corner and there he was. A seedling, judging by his ears. A young one, too. She swallowed and tried to block him out and, failing that, tried to simply dull the pain. She stood back from him and called out, "You're sick. Take your meds. Don't they teach you fuckers anything in that damn place?"
She swallowed back another mouthful of bile and reached into her bag. She took a long swallow of tequila and felt slightly better. As she put the bottle back in her bag her hand brushed the communication device that Myles always told her to carry. Her eyes widened and she shook her head, momentarily calmed by an influx of shock, Huh, who'd have thought I'd ever use this...
She punched a series of buttons on it and spoke briskly into the receiver. "Myles! I mean, base! God damn it I hate this thing! Yo! Tech Nut! Help!"
Myles heard his comm devise buzz with an unfamiliar voice in his ear. "kssshhhtdamnit! ksssshhhhtYO! Tech Nut! Help!" His mind went blank and confused as he realized whoever it was was trying to use one of his older models. They didn't have as good a range as his newer earwigs. He took out the transmitter from his back pocket and fiddled with it, trying to calibrate it to receive the signal better. It had to be a Locust; no one else would have this signal at all.
"Come again? This is base. Myles speaking. Do you hear me?" As he spoke, the earwig still in his ear picked up his voice and transmitted it just fine.
Addy sighed with relief as she methodically rubbed her throbbing temples and slowly backed away from the child writhing in terror and unknown pain on the alley floor in front of her. She barked back her reply into the device "MYLES! THIS IS ADDY! SEND HELP AND MEDS! I'VE GOT A SEEDLING! REPEAT: MEDS NEEDED! SEEDLING IN DANGER!"
Myles blinked, shocked, A seedling? How? "Copy! I understand. Leave your device on, I'll find you from it's signal. Over and out!" He switched signals. "Locusts, to me! We've got a situation." With that order given, he turned the transmitter over and flipped open a small screen. "Addy."
The voice recognition chip he'd implanted immediately picked up his voice and the command and a small red dot began to blip on a rough map of the lower city. He'd surveyed the city himself one summer and built the digital map's specs from that. He knew it was probably out of date somewhat, but he knew it would certainly help him in trying to find their new Commander. He had to bring her and her prisoner help. As one or two other Locusts arrived at his location, he absently barked out a series of orders and her tentative location. They ran off immediately to get medicine and medical supplies as well as weapons. He knew they would proceed to the rendezvous point at Addy's location: an alley about seven blocks away. Myles took off at a run, his eyes flickering between the screen and the road in front of him. Hopefully, they could contain this latest problem with no real incident.
Eeonus was huddled trying to block out the feeling of beetles consuming his flesh. He scratched at his eyelids trying to remove them, grunting as he drew blood. Eeonus started hearing footsteps; were they real? A women, swathed in black shifting clothing slithering about her body. He didn't recognize her, but he was still right enough to know that she was real, whoever she was. She yelled at him to take his meds, and then started talking to someone else, he didn't know who though. "Meds,...Where, I don't have any, I need some. They don't give them to me, do you have some, please! I need them!" Eeonus, climbed unsteadily to his feet. He began to run towards her, but fell a few feet back from her over trash he thought was only an illusion. "Please, I need my meds!" But as he said that black bugs flew into his mouth and he began to choke and writhe on the ground, trying to cough them out. When the feeling left he laid on the ground breathing heavily for a moment, to catch the breath he thought he lost.
The solider looked down at Ezi standing before him. "This is no longer your mission." The large man handed off a piece of paper. On it, were Ezi to take it, he would see the signature of the general and his new orders to stand down and follow what the new commander had to say. "Orders from the top. Stand down." His voice was booming, even when he was just speaking, a true solider speaking with pride and determination. He looked away from Ezi for a moment and spoke into his headset. "Take the prisoner away." With that, the truck that held the Locusts' leader went into gear and drove off, one armored car, complete with turret, following it for protection.
Ezi's shoulders slumped, and his mouth shut. His determined glare failed, and he took the paper and read it quickly. He wanted to crush this mans skull. But these were orders, and years of drug-aided conditioning couldn't counteract the instinct to follow them. "All groups head back to the ship, we are leaving." Ezi clicked off his comm device, took one last long look at his replacement, he wanted to remember his face; and left back for his ship.
Lenna looked up as the smaller seed entered. She had been glad she wouldn't have to deal with whether the escaped seed would be caught or not but thinking about it, she hadn't trusted that soldier's voice at all. It might have been better to at least have a chance to make things okay. Also, the seed who'd just entered didn't seem at all happy about it. Whatever was happening, she still wanted to make him feel better, or at least have someone to talk to.
Lenna gave a slight smile, indicating the empty seat next to her where he could sit. Sometimes she really did want to be able to talk, ask him if he was okay, what had happened... but she was almost sure he wouldn't want to be mothered, so she could only listen, and perhaps prompt him with a bit of typing.
'What happened out there?' She typed/asked, looking across with a curious glance.
The broken and bleeding insurgent leader lay on the bed of the truck. The side of his face registered a slight chill which was the cold steel of the floor. He heard a slight humming, a mere fraction of the deafening engine that roared as they moved from the bowels of the lower city. Something was binding his hands, cuffs that the soldiers had placed on, and his fingers twitched ever so slightly at the sensation. Dryson could only make out bits and pieces of what was around him. His body could not even register the pain of his broken bones or his sickness any longer. The words the soldiers spoke to one another sounded jumbled and distant. All he knew was that he was not in a safe place. However, the seed was too tired, too broken to even open his only good eye to be able to truly gauge his situation. So he lay there, motionless, bleeding and listening to the mutterings around him.
The soldiers that were sitting in the vehicle stared at the fallen seed. "What do you think this guy is?" "I hope I can't catch whatever he has." He felt a slight shove on his side. One of the men kicked him with his boot in an attempt to roll him over onto his back. He was dead weight and moved with the van. Dryson's arm was swelling more from where Puck had broken it. They finally emerged from the depths of the Lower City and back into the daylight. It had started to rain while they were battling below. Soon the water would start flowing down the drains into the Lower City.
Stumble!