It is the distant future, and the world is a desert wasteland. Humans, unable to live in the newly dry and inhospitable climate, flocked to Oasis settlements- strange, walled off cities with water and plants and everything the old world was, created by strange, unknown forces, only to find that to live there, they had to pay with their souls. Most- if not all- humans gladly payed the price for the guaranteed safety of themselves and their future kin.

Some didn't, and managed for live outside in a rough, harsh and unforgiving world. Knowing this, the forces that created the Oases made a force of patrolling "husks (humans without souls) to find the surviving humans, and reclaim or destroy them. They go on long journeys, sometimes not returning to the oases for weeks at a time. They're armed and trained for combat, and are quite a beast to take down. Often, reclaimed survivors are used.

~~~

The humans with souls, however, are close-knit. They resent how the majority of humanity is without souls- each group and person with their own reasons. They intend to, once their numbers are built up- be it from straight up having kids, or stealing them from Oases before their souls are stolen- to free an oasis, and claim it for those with souls.

The more technologically inclined among the survivors developed a system for making, and introducing, man-made souls into husks instead of killing them, albeit untested due to a lack of husks nearby.

That's where we start. A group of survivors, each with their own reasons, create several experimental souls, and go out to hijack some husks. They then, upon successful hijacking of husks, infuse the husks with the souls. The new souls work in the husks, and though some have strange faults and are unstable, they have a soul (or two) each.
~~~

"PATROL SQUAD A19, REPORT TO THE GATES." A loudspeaker called, bursting through the streets of the Oasis, falling on the deaf ears of the civilian husks around. They simply continued with their business, crowding the streets of the market quarter, buying foods and trinkets, haggling prices, living.

As Freya exited a small building, one she'd been issued and made her home, the crowds parted for her and her heavy boots. Hefting a bag on her back, she walked, emotionless and quickly, to the nearby transit center. Some husks stopped and stared at her, watching her go, but she didn't care. She had other things on her mind. She hadn't yet met the team she had been assigned to, and already it was time to patrol. So much for having time to settle in.

As she thought about the most efficient way to work with her group- and, about how they would be, the bullet monorail sped into the station, stopping as if timed for her. She boarded, and sat down before the vehicle took off, heading quickly towards the gates.
There were several other people on board, some of which- a few children and an old man- stared at her. She felt as if they could tell she had not been born in an Oasis, their judging eyes on her- especially the old mans'. In response, she moved her hair to show the metal studs in her ear, hoping that they carried significance here.
All it did was bring one of the children- A child who was still in the process of having their soul removed, come near curiously.

"Why's your ear shiny?" The child seemed to be a boy, as far as Freya could tell. "And, why do you have those marks on your face?"
She arched a brow, sliding her glasses down to look at the child, her lifeless eyes meeting the child's.
"They're shiny because I was awarded studs, for bringing more people to safety." She explained, feeling like she had to dumb down her words. "...They indicate my rank in the patrols. The marks on my face are there because of my job. Some people don't want to be safe, and will hurt others to make them go away."

Though her memories caused a logical error in her head when compared to her words, she didn't mind. She knew she was speaking the truth now, even though she had a dangerous job. As she understood it, She was to patrol since she had insisted to live a life of danger.

The child nodded, moving at first so he could better see Freyas' piercings. "Oh wow! You must be really good at your job, since I've never seen another person with those!" The childs' enthusiasm and what was left of their soul made Freya uncomfortable, and she moved her hair back to cover her ear. "But..Who doesn't want to be safe?" The child moved to the other side of Freya, unable to hide how he was looking to see if she had more studs. Hoping the child would go away, she parted her hair to show the other studs.

"...People who don't know any better." She looked at the child coldly, glancing to the others who were watching her nervously. "...Go back to your friends. I am due to go on Patrol today, and I would rather not talk." She adjusted her bag, the kid moving away, though, watching her until she got off.

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The monorail ride over, Freya was now in a dryer, less green area near the gate. There were few other husks around, sans a large armored jeep being loaded with supplies, and some Patrol officers. She approached, nodding to them respectfully as she approached.
"Freya from squad A19, reporting in, and waiting for assignment." She pulled down her sunglasses, finding that still, even now, the hairs on the back of her neck stand up when making eye contact with a husk of higher rank.

"SALUTATIONS. YOU ARE ASSIGNED TO THE ROLES OF INSTRUCTOR, DRIVER, AND DIPLOMAT ON YOUR PATROL." Its voice wasn't too loud, but it felt as easy on the ears as a jack hammer. "PLEASE WAIT IN THE VEHICLE PROVIDED. YOUR COMRADES WILL BE HERE SHORTLY." Desiring very much to not hear the Officers' voice again, she got behind the wheel, pulling her sunglasses back up, fixing them in place to make the hairs on the back of her neck go down. As she began to mentally prepare (again), the Officer approached her. "IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT YOU'VE YET TO MEET YOUR NEW COMRADES. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THEM?"

"...Negative." She responded quickly, her body, mind, nad memories agreeing that she loathed the sounds an officer made.

Hunter has been known to do stupid things, really stupid, Like "Borrowing" and M249 S.A.W. from someone and camping out in the sand on a believes HUSK route. Hunter know how to shoot it, he did it once with his cousin. Only this time, he went an a loner mission, armed with home made explosives, a stolen machine-gun, and stolen ammo, He had his AK with him but he guessed if he really needed that he was already screwed.

Hunter just sat in the dune, he was reckless yes, But he had some smarts, he found a hill with a good line of sight on the "Road" and had decent cover in this patch of sand, there was the remains of a stone wall next to him, if that didn't provide some good cover out here nothing would (A bullet proof truck might). These guess didn't stand a chance, and if they got close Hunter had the home made bombs, sure they were not perfect but if you are with in 5 feet of one when it goes off you are losing a limb. Hunter felt good, he was protected by rubble, had a good weapon, and a line of explosives in front of him. he was ready to fight.

Rory was pacing by the front gate, he was to wait there until squad A19 reported in, then he was to report to them and join their patrol. after a short while an officer walked up to him and told him that squad A19 had arrived and to report to them at the vehicle being prepared. he made his way over to the armored car, earning glares from some of the newer patrollers because of his appearance, as he approached the vehicle he noticed the stud in the drivers ear, "A19...Freya?" his voice reflecting both his strength and mental instability.

Jonathan started his morning like most… with a yawn. It was more bestial than human and resembled that of a lion. Perhaps it was just his imagination, either way he got up and checked his traps and alarms. Lucky for him he caught something that looked like a big lizard. “Poisonous…” He recalled as his mind went back to when he traveled with his father.

“One bite from this little fella and well, it’s all over.” He replayed what his father told him as if reliving the memory. With a smile he grabbed the creature’s neck with an almost lightning fast movement. He pulled out a gar with a small portion of some kind of bladder over the lid and placed the lizard’s teeth onto it. Slowly he milked the toxin and once finished he placed the creature into a small cage. He went over to his pack and refilled a bladder with the toxin. Once finished, he started to collect his belongings. It was strange to him to have such a great backpack but his father taught him what ones were “healthy” and others that would slowly harm a person’s body.

He recounted his arrows for his bow and his bolts for his crossbow. He was running low on the crossbow bolts and made a mental note to keep an eye open for some. Weeks ago he had to use them to fend off some people who wanted his stuff. Crazy people claiming that he needed to come to one of the Oasis places. However he loved his freedom and quickly ran and hid. He used his crossbow to create noise in specific areas allowing him to find another route away from the crazy people. Sadly he wasn’t able to reclaim his bolts like he usually did. With a small grunt he started to move again. He was hiding in some old ruins of the past. Probably a store or something maybe even a hospital but he didn’t know. Most of the building was worn away taking the identity of the building with it.

He pulled his goggles over his eyes and pulled up his scarf. It was a sandstorm outside and perfect camouflage to move through just in case he was followed. His bike clicked as he walked and made strange noise when the sand hit the hollow pipes. He had found a contraption that kept the chain and gears clean of sand even in a sandstorm. He had placed the cage on the back of his bike, it had a metal resting place for boxes and other things of that shape. On the front of his bike he had a few cloth bags full of random crap he found along the way. With a small grunt of effort he started to ride the bike, luckily for him he had scouted the area and wouldn’t run into any of the buildings. His legs moved up and down as he pedaled the bicycle. His older tires were meant for mountain terrain and didn’t work all that well in desert… sand… more sand. The tires failed him after a week of use and that was giving them credit. His new ones were created for such use and were completely rubber. They didn’t require any air to keep the hard form required to ride.

Water was the new gold. In a world where things didn’t grow because it was covered in sand. Water had become so scarce that people had fallen to drinking bad water. Some were mutated and some became weakened in the mind. The combination made the lifestyle of the wastelands even harsher for those who were still “human.” For a few hours he rode the bike his breathing not getting faster at all. Slowly he stopped and pulled out a map he had drawn. It wasn’t all that great but it was specialized and he knew what it meant. Others who read it wouldn’t understand what his scribbles meant. This didn’t mean that he didn’t know how to make an actual map. He had learned how to do such things from his father but refused to do it because he figured everyone was evil. If they wanted to know of an area they would pay him money for the information and like mentioned before water was gold.

He pulled out an ocular scope from an old sniper rifle and used it to scan the area. Once done he placed it back into his pocket and started to pedal again. He headed for a settlement that was far from the Oasis in the south. The settlement was named Metro or so that is what they called themselves. Only someone from the lost world could recall the original name. Sadly there weren’t any of the old world people left alive, with a soul in any case. Water could be found deep underground but only towns built underground had access to such a reservoirs. Most had gardens and even livestock… as well as extremely high security. Soon it wasn’t too bad for people to start becoming miners again. People who developed strong pillars and walls for the caverns to keep standing even with all the weight above.

“Halt!” A guard ordered him as he aimed his gun at John and he wasn’t the only guard. There were many of them. Slowly John got off his bike and looked at them. He pulled out a small badge that signified scavengers. They somewhat relaxed but still had their guns aimed at him. “I’m here on business gentlemen. Someone was looking for a live Venom Lizard and I caught one. Lucky huh?” He said showing his hands in s passive non-threatening gesture. With a grunt they walked up and noted all of his weapons. “You know that if you start anything in the town you will be shot. There will not be any questions just you dead.” The guard said and with a nod Jonathan guided his bike into the town.

Once inside he made his way to a small farm where people had many different kinds of animals. With a smile he pulled down his scarf and walked up to one of the people. His other hand still guiding his bike. Once he pulled his scarf down he moved his goggles up so people could see his eyes. “Hello!” He greeted them and soon he was walking away with four gallons of fresh water. He placed it in the front basket on his bike. He made sure to cover it so people didn’t know what it was. Slowly he made his way through the town and sold everything he had found. Either by exchanging it for things he needed, like bolts and arrows or sold it for food and other supplies. He sold everything except for the weapons, ammo and medical supplies. He went to what was an inn in these days and rented a room with some bullets. Once he did he want down the stairs into a cool somewhat damp area, his room. With a smile he laid his stuff out and closed the door. He placed a trap facing the door and made sure to tell the innkeeper not to disturb him or have anyone open his door.

Huck was a guy well known from the sane settlements and when he asked for something like this it was for their own safety. The trap consisted of his crossbow aiming about at the waist of someone. The tip of the bolt was dipped in that venom from the lizard. Once he rigged the trap to the door he moved over to his stuff and started to organize it better. He has taken out a small cup and filled it with water, he drank a little every now and again. Once he was finished he laid down and went to sleep.

"... Yes." Freya looked towards the husk who approached, a brow cocking up when she noted his appearance. "I assume you're part of the squad. I'd say hop on, but your skin looks... Northern. Have you let the Officer know, so he can ration us out some sun-guard for you?" She buckled up behind the wheel, adjusting the mirror to see a sleeping husk in the back seat. "I know how a sunburn can effect performance, and I'd like to prevent that." She glanced to the back of the jeep, at the cases of supplies, and again to the sleeping husk.
"Hey, Officer," She called, leaning out of her door. "Can you grab us one of the blankets from the back? We've got our night-shifter resting up, but she's probably gonna get burned."

Stretching like a cat, Exo rolled over, barely staying on the seat, "We all here yet?" she muttered hearing the voice of someone other than that loud-mouthed Officer, the one who hated that she had slept in the jeep. but really, if she had stayed at the dorms, there was no way she'd be up and at the gate in-time. Sitting up, she blearily rubbed at her eyes, before wincing and shading them from the sun, "can we go yet?" scratching the back of her neck, she pulled her lose, long, midnight hair back into a high pony-tail. Grimacing and squinting, she wasn't the biggest fan of the sun, Exo noted the female in the front, probably the person she'd be deferring to. "Sir." she stated, "Exo Neversong. Scout, night-shift. Reporting in." Her words were slightly stunted, a result of having little less than a few hours sleep.

"...Hm. I'm not sure. I haven't had the time to meet with everyone since I was assigned the squad." Freya began, looking from behind her glasses at the faces of the two others that were around her. "...The list of names I had gotten, though, was just three- myself included. If this guy here is in the squad, then we are all here." Her eyes settled on the odd male husk to the side of her, resting a hand on the steering wheel.

"...If I read correctly, are you Rory..?" She thought back to the list of squadmates she had gotten. "...You had no last name on the sheet. An oddity like that would make sense on... Someone with an odd appearance, like yours." Hoping she hadn't hit a sore spot, she adjusted the seat, putting the key in the ignition. Turning to the girl in the back, she began to answer the other question she had asked. "I'm waiting on one member to get a go from the Officer. I do not like to hear him more than I need to."

"Aye" Rory said "Rory, second Lieutenant, Dragoon" reciting his rank and position as he looked from the husk in the back to Freya "reporting to squad A19, from D17" he nodded to Freya, she requested a blanket for the night-shifter in the back, she was addressing the officer but Rory went and got one himself, climbing into the back of the jeep he handed the blanket to the Night-shifter, he then turned back to Freya, "sun-guard, unnecessary" he said answering her earlier question.

Nodding her understanding to the lady in the front, Exo watched the other husk, Rory, as he headed off, and then again when he returned, climbing in the back and handing her a blanket. She thanked him, curling up and shutting her eyes; they wouldn't have stayed open longer even if she tried. She didn’t actually sleep, just sort of snoozed, still hearing everything, but managing to rest up anyway. They'd wake her if they needed her, and hopefully not until then.

"Ah, good." She turned to watch the strange husk as he got the blanket himself, trying to not outwardly show her confusion. "...I feel as though it's necessary for one to have their full name known- at least, on paper if not said- to the people they're working with. It prevents infighting and helps each member get along better." She explained, popping her shoulder and turning back to the front. "Ah, the sun-gaurd is necessary, too, if you were referring to that." She almost had a hint of a smirk as the night-watch, Exo, fell back asleep. "Since this is everyone..." Freya began, before leaning out of the car.
"Officer, All Squademates Accounted For!" she called, her voice bouncing off of the buildings around. "Ready For Final Check-Off, Sir!"
The officer approached, scanning the three with unfeeling eyes.

"ALL MEMBERS ACCOUNTED FOR, CHECK." It began, Freyas' jaw tightening as it "spoke". "WATER RATIONS," it moved to theback, lifting the covering off of the supplies in the back. "CHECK. FOOD RATIONS, CHECK. AMMUNITION, CHECK. WEAPONS, CHECK. APPREHENSION TOOLS, CHECK. CONTAINMENT EQUIPMENT, CHECK." The list went on and on, for what, to Freya, felt like days, until the Officer finally hit the last check, and moved back to Freya. "CHECKLIST IS COMPLETED. YOUR RUN WILL BE A THIRTY DAY RUN. YOU WILL RETURN AT NIGHT." At this point, Freya mumbled along with the officer, knowing his speech word for word. "APPREHEND ANY BODY OUTSIDE OF THE OASIS. IF ANYONE IS APPREHENDED ALIVE, RETURN IMMEDIATELY. IF A DEAD BODY IS APPREHENDED, PUT THEM IN CONTAINMENT AND RETURN AS NORMAL. IF ANY TROUBLE ARISES, REPORT IT ON THE RADIO."
Freya looked to the radio that was in the car, hooked in near the clutch. It was a typical radio, akin to the kind she had read were used by transporters in the times before Oasis. Above it were two screens- a GPS, and a radar; neither of them were on. At he end of the Officers' speech, she started the jeep,revving its engines. The wall opened nearby, to the large and unforgiving desert, and she drove out, turning on the GPS and Radar once the gates closed.

Freya drove in silence for a while, checking behind her to see the oasis before speaking. "Well, we're out now. Buckle up, because I have a right of passage for the newcomer." She let herself smirk deviously, flicking the mirror to look at the sleeping scout, then looked ahead, to a large, ominous sand dune. "If she was seasoned she wouldn't be sleeping like that." She almost snickered, flooring it, speeding to the dune.

Piotrek was up in one of the buildings around the entrance to Metro, he was watching the surrounding area and had noticed a scavenger on a bike headed for the entrance, as it was one scavenger on a bike he let him pass to the gate guards. after a while he headed back as another sniper took his place, the guards recognized him and let him in and he headed to his room and took off his gas mask and put his rifle on a rack before heading out again to get something to eat.

After a nice rest he woke up. It was more that he woke up because of a nightmare he kept having. In his dream he could see shadowy figures. People had told him stories about the demons that HUSKS were. He knew it to be a farce but ever since he was a child he had nightmares. It could have been about some greater evil, perhaps the ones who made the Oasis. But he never could see what they looked like. He packed his things and disarmed his trap. Once finished he walked out and explored the town. He wasn’t sure why but he felt like he needed to keep moving. Soon he found himself in front of what passed as food establishment. He ordered a few things with a smile and waited.

Snapping her eyes open, Exo frowned for barely a second, gathering together her conscience enough to work out where she was. She hadn't really fallen asleep, just a tad more asleep than she had intended. Slamming her eyes closed against the blinding light, she sat up, just as the jeep pretty much literally jumped a massive sand dune, evicting a grunt from Exo.

After the jeep had finally felt like it had settled back on the ground, she started fumbling through her pockets, fishing for something, growling softly as she couldn't find, ……… got it. Hooking a long thin strip of material out, she wrapped it round her eyes, protecting them from the sun. The material was still thin enough to see through, although it stopped the sun from getting to her eyes quite so easily. It didn't really impair her vision, but rather, saved it for the night.

Exo's night vision was, by far, better than her seeing during the day, but it also meant that she sometimes had a problem with the brightness of the sun, something she was getting better at dealing with.

Freya let out a snort of approval as the car settled, jolting everyone in it around. "First rule of a patrol is to always buckle up." She had a hint of a dry chortle in her words, glancing back at the scout. "Huh, a blindfold? I used to do that, until I found a better solution." eyes going back to the sand in front of her, she slid a pair of un-mirrored sunglasses out of her pocket. "Use these- they protect your eyes more than cloth." She tossed the glasses in the back carefully, glancing at the displays in the jeep.

"The last reported inkling of a live body was north, about a days' drive. If my experience is correct, they have moved either closer- to enter the safe radius- That is, the area around the Oasis that we believe to have extensive knowledge of- or, farther into the north." Freya explained, reviewing terminology for the new scout in the back to keep silence at bay. "Rory, keep an eye on the radar. I will head to the last reported spot, and once there we will decide which rout we should take." At that moment, she let her dialogue stop, the sound of the jeep being the last noise.

Rory simply held onto the side of the jeep as the driver girl speed over a dune rather the buckle a restraint, the only sound he made during the jump was a low growling laugh but the scout had woke up and put a cloth over her eyes before Freya handed her a pair of darkened glass lenses as a shield from the sun and ordered him to watch the radar.

"yes Kommandant" Rory said as he moved over to the radar. he stared at it's screen watching for anything to come up

"First rule of a patrol is to always buckle up."

She nodded, then snapped her head back up from searching, to see a ……… something landing in her lap. "Use these- they protect your eyes more than cloth." Carefully picking the objects up, Exo peered at them, examining them from every side before deciding they had to work like the ones the squad leader was wearing. Finding the arms, she pulled them on, carefully extracting the cloth from beneath, and tucking it back in her pocket. "Thanks" They certainly worked better than the cloth, shading out the sun, while leaving her vision pretty much unchecked.

Listening silently to the report of where live body's had last been seen, Exo was definitely glad that terms were explained, she'd heard some of them before, sure, but better to have them explained once to many, than once to few.

Once his food arrived he took it from the bar and moved to a table alone in the back of the room. He sat in a chair with his back into the corner. Quickly he placed his food onto the table and started to appreciate his meal. It had been a while since he didn’t have to cook his food and for him it was like Christmas. Rat burger… now to most in the old world this undoubtedly sounded disgusting but here it was paradise. Shiftily, he looked around as he produced an old ketchup packet. With a small tug it opened and he wafted the smell into his nostrils. It was a good packet, lucky for him. With that he spread it all over his food and started to eat. It didn’t take long for his ears to start picking up people talking.

“But it’s the last Bible!” One man said… he looked like a Bob so that is what he named him in his head.

“Yes and?” A small woman said… she looked like a Sarah. Once again in his mind that was her name.

“How else do you think that church of crazy people are controlled?” Bob asked Sarah.

“WITH FEAR!” He yelled but somehow made it sound like a whisper. As if something or someone was about to steal all his money.

“Umm… I’m not following. You know I don’t know what a bible is or how to read right?” Sarah said and with that she walked over to the bar. She ordered something and Bob followed her. Probably trying to convince her about this book. It was all fun and games… until some crazy priest ended up with a bible after the Oasis farms formed. The amount of power that book held over the weak minded… sheeple…

Jonathan shrugged and continued eating his food. Ahh French fries. So fatty and full of salt… Something that was grown around this town, most likely. He say back and slowly picked at his food in hopes that something interesting would happen.

"No problem. Don't damage them." Freya grunted, rolling her shoulders to prepare for the silence of the drive.

Most patrols were like this; dead silent, with minimal chatter. An occasional word, after the first initial interactions on the ride were done, only arrised in needed circumstances- like, when there was a shift change, or something on the radar. The silence could also toy with the perception of time with the unprepared husk- much like it was threatening to do for this ride.

To Freya, it felt like almost no time had passed between the ending of the conversations, and their arrival to the area where a body was sighted. Cautiously she stopped the car, glancing at the radar. "...I don't see any signs of life. Rory, did you catch anything..?" She glanced again, noticing the tail end of a sandstorm at the far reaches of the screen. blandly she looked up to scan the surroundings, and sure enough, to the east of the jeep was a massive sand plume blowing away from them. She sighed and got out, picking a tool from the back of the car and going to where there was rough signs of a shelter. "You all know your jobs- get looking for any signs of travel." She spoke lackadaisically; this kind of thing happened most times, but they were required to check anyways. "If anyone has any ideas about where the body could have gone, tell me."

Rory let out a dull growl as he responded "nothing but the sandcloud" he looked up from the radar towards it. He hopped out of the jeep and picked up a scoped rifle and started on a short patrol coming around to the area there seemed to have been a shelter in "it smells recent" he said "but the sandcloud must have blown through, covered tracks" he brought the rifle up and started scanning across the horizen.