It had been around Midnight when Jaiden had return to the Lodge, the only sound echoing through the lodge being the that of the door opening as he entered the humble abode. Still cloaked in his altered skin of hardened armor and shifting flesh, his steps made nearly no sound at all as he made his way up the stairs with all the poise and focus of a jungle cat. And yet, there was a since of lethargy to his movements, as if each step was being made through a sea of molasses.

Damn. . . shouldn't have eaten so much damn much. The shapeshifter grumbled within his head, cursing his gluttonous impulse that had driven him to make ample use of the heard of deer he had found resting in a field a little ways away. They had never stood a chance, but it seemed that no action was without consequence. Continuing to grumble internally as he walked upstairs to the bedrooms, Jaiden allowed his altered skin to crumble away from him, revealing the twisting mass that formed his body underneath for a moment before it reformed into his human form. After that, he took the clothes he had managed to snag back from a pair of thieving raccoons, and just got through with putting on the pants before he reached the first door that he noticed. With little thought to whether or not this particular room may in fact have an owner already, he opened the door and let himself in.

If the blonde haired drifter was a little less groggy, he might've noticed the shape currently occupying the bed, sleeping soundly without a care in the world, but at the moment he couldn't have cared less even if he did. Needing to sleep off the night's feast, he simply flopped onto the floor and proceeded to let the bliss of unconsciousness take him, barely remembering to kick the door closed before he drifted off into dreamland.

However, this bliss would be short-lived, as the voice of the brat from before filled the night. Letting out an irritated sigh, Jaiden picked himself off the ground, not really listening to what she was saying as he raised his voice to match hers.

"Oi, brat! Can you shut the hell up while people are- UGH!!" Jaiden's voice was suddenly cut off as the drone suddenly burst into action, throwing the door wide open to take advantage of it's drowsy prey. With a flurry of strikes, it would sink it's needle sharo legs into various points in Jaiden's chest and thoat, lifting him up high in the air, before quickly spinning around to throw him out of the room, smashing the door wide open as he was sent flying into the room across from the one he'd been in. While the stab wounds were more inconveinces than anything else, the suddeness of the attack left Jaiden disoriented, unable to properly understand what had even just happened as his buddy rushed to repair the damage and stabalize his vital functions. Given his feast, the wounds would fix themselves enough for him to act soon, but for right now, he was out of commission for the moment.

Meanwhile, the drone would turn its blood-red optics towards the other occupant in the room, it's needle-like appendages dripping blood as it prepared itself to make another lunge, determined to exterminate as many intruders as it could.

The night had been slightly rough for Ashley. She had gotten roughly five hours of sleep before being awoken by the pain of transformation. There had been enough time to switch into her swimsuit, but the rest of the night had clearly been robbed from her by the wolf flowing in her veins. Ashley had simply been sitting on her bed, now too large to fit within it properly. Sparks danced around her fingers as a form of entertainment. No use in having the power if you didn’t practice with it.

Ashley’s idle mind wandered over the events of the day. The girl they had pulled free of the alien craft was strange. Ashley had barely any time to speak with her, or observe how she acted, so her opinion was limited. Samuel was obviously shy about his status, though was rather polite. Nora tried very hard to be polite, which Ashley was sure would be dropped rather soon as they grew used to the presence of one another. Boxcar was nice, though slightly overprotective. Hopefully that wouldn’t become routine. Jaiden was different, though Ashley had a sour note in her mind already due to his immediate flirting. Typical and expected, like rowdy drunks in a bar, but it was still slightly irritating since Ashley had a feeling that even with her direct shutdown of his flirting he would be trying again fairly soon.

An interesting company, though one that would take a slight bit of work to maintain. With her advanced hearing, Ashley heard the whirr of a machine moving. Dismissing her worries as the air conditioning kicking on, Ashley relaxed against the wall and closed her eyes in an attempt to snooze even a little. A few moments later, and ashley heard a door open followed by a scream for everyone to wake up.

There would be no ignoring this. Ashley was upon her padded feet in moments and yanked her door open, nearly tearing it from the hinges with the force she put forward. Ashley’s head snapped towards Sam. Nostrils flared as she took in a deep breath to assess the situation. The fact that Sam’s wide eyes were staring at an area that was behind Ashley caused her to whip around once again. Now Ashley noticed that the door to a room was open, Ashley bound over to watch as the drone began to jab at Jaiden with sharp tools that were clearly designed to make short work of flesh. Ashley took a deep breath and gave a roar to draw the attention of the machine to her. The roar was pointless in terms of causing fear in the machine, but a fresh batch of adrenaline pumped into her system and combat instincts were overwhelming logical thought.

Ashley didn’t hesitate for the machine to make a move. The nails upon her feet dug into the floor as she launched forward with her left hand extended towards what Ashley figured to be the head of the machine. If Ashley could grab it, she would fling it out into the hallway and pounce upon it once more, lightning sparking between her knuckles and arcing into the drone as she pounded the machine into submission.

There were questions about where the thing had come from, and why it was here, along with other questions such as why Jaiden had been sleeping on the floor in someone’s room, but those questions did not need an answer now. The safety of the people around her was Ashley’s first concern, and thoughts not pertaining to that were swiftly banished from her mind. The focus had to be on the here and now. Thankfully, Ashley’s werewolf form provided her with enhanced vision in the darkness, which would prove useful since the lights were off. There was no time to fumble about turning them on. This drone had to be smashed, and it had to be smashed now.

Jaiden's heavily armored body was a rag doll. The thing had rebuked his attack just as quickly as he made it, ejecting him from the room with ruthless efficiency. Sam's adrenaline-addled mind barely had the time to process the monstrous shape of Ashley's werewolf form surging into Nora's room before the situation spurred her into action.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." Sam babbled, diving for her messenger bag. She hated adrenaline. It made her shaky, stupid, and weak. She second-guessed everything. It made her freeze up, spending more time analyzing options than taking advantage of them. Even if she had been able to react as quickly as the others did, that thing was clearly some kind of combat drone. What was tiny little Sam going to do with her bare fists? She needed weapons.

Her shaking hand curled around something round and pulled back a baseball-sized sphere of matte-grey metal. It took her a moment to recognize the device for what it was; another tip of the hat to the crippling effect of adrenaline on the inexperienced mind. Pieces of the puzzle began to force their way through the fog of war, and Sam made herself use them to build the start of a plan. She pressed her thumb against the active-capacitance sensor and worked at the settings until she found something useful.

Online...
Menu: Power, Settings, Activate

Menu Selected

Record Mode, Discharge Mode, Network Mode

Record Mode Activated

Select Record Mode: Frequency, Internal Stresses, Accelerometer Data, GPS Data

Internal Stresses Activated

Menu: Record Mode, Discharge Mode, Network Mode

Network Mode Activated. Syncing...

Sync Complete

The entire exchange lasted only a few seconds, as Sam was intimately familiar with her own creations. She had to be; there was no one else to hold accountable if the device failed in the field. Extensive testing was second nature to her. She also knew, from bitter experience, that the internal electromagnetic fields generated by the device could not be a guaranteed success. Non-magnetic alloys existed, after all. She'd had to select carefully from that list to create an outer shell which would not dampen the fields if she needed to use them. That meant that, for her plan to work, she needed an extra measure of insurance to make certain it would work. She grabbed a half-used roll of duct tape and discarded the bag.

Ashley's roar made her freeze in mid-step. She'd been certain that shape was just a stress-induced hallucination, but the roar sounded so vivid, so primal. She almost felt the vibrations in her chest. From somewhere in the back of her mind, Sam's inner voice reminded her that Jaiden might not be the only hulking beast in this motley crew.

"That, or another assassin. No time to worry about that now."

She took a deep breath and forced herself to run. Nora's doorway rushed up to meet her, and Sam couldn't help but regret how quickly. She never got the chance to duck inside, however. Multiple red streaks -after-images from the glow of the sensor eyes- blazed across her field of vision as it sailed through the air, smacking into the railing along the edge of the mezzanine. Its magnetized joints buckled as it curled backward over the railing from the force of impact, and Sam -for once- took advantage of the opportunity just as it presented itself. She jerked the end of the duct tape with her teeth, using her left hand as a spindle so that the roll would spin freely, and stuck the metal orb on the standing end, nearest the roll.

The urge to hesitate was stronger now, as she approached arm's reach. Those limbs looked deadly sharp. She clenched her fist and forced herself to lunge for its upper sections as it recovered from the impact of Ashley's throw. This would be her only chance. She had to act. She tagged one of the metal sections with the free end of the tape and, grabbing the other end, swung it hard. The weight of the roll caused it to whip around the drone three times, locking her device in place.

Sam kicked away from the thing, just as the werewolf came bounding out of the room. She did not bother to determine whether it was her or the drone this thing was after, instead retreating back to her room. Her hands would not stop shaking. She finally grasped another of the devices and remotely triggered her little surprise.

As it engaged, however, Sam remembered one crucial detail. In all of the chaos, she had neglected to warn her housemates of the primary function of her Shrieker device. She had just enough time to cover her ears with the noise-cancelling headphones designed to block the noise of the Shriekers before it tore through even the din of battle with a horrendous mechanical screech. The device cycled through every modulation and frequency in its range, finally settling on a particular tone before losing its charge. Sam had her information. She also had a plan of attack.

Nora sat on a chair in an office. In front of her, three of her superiors sat or stood behind a desk, with the light from the window at their backs casting their forms into silhouette to Nora's eyes. She had to adjust her glasses and squint to look at them, and the scene had a vaguely sinister air that she couldn't put her finger on.

"So, do you accept the assignment?" asked the foremost among them, a red-haired woman in a black business suit. Even though Nora could not see her freckled, leering, smirking face, this woman exuded a confidence that was almost terrifying in its overbearing strength.

Nora gulped as she felt the wall close in behind her and to her sides. It was so unnerving, and she wished desperately that she was back in her lab. There was something wrong here, and it bothered her that she couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was how tall everyone else in the room seemed to be getting - no, it wasn't them, it was the entire viewpoint, the room itself curling around her vision like a fish-eyed lens. She felt yanked backward by an invisible hand, and then the room tilted and she found herself falling, falling...

She stopped, and suddenly she was floating alone in darkness, the sense of vertigo gone completely as if she'd suddenly been set upright water, though she could breathe just fine in the weightlessness. Nora tried to adjust her glasses, but she found they weren't there; and with a glance downward at herself, she realized she didn't have anything else on. Her skin, pale as it was, practically radiated light to the point where she could hardly stand to look at herself for the glare. She tried in vain to cover herself, suddenly embarrassed even though she was apparently and entirely alone. Even a labcoat would have been better than nothing, and probably far more comforting to her than anything else anyway...

-DO NOT OPEN THE SARCOPHAGUS-

The voice that spoke was so deep and all-encompassing that Nora twisted around in her spot to glance behind herself trying to spot the source of it. "Who's there?" she asked, all self-conscious thoughts gone as her curiosity was piqued. "What sarcophagus?"

There was nothing in all the solid, palpable darkness around her that could have said anything, yet once again, she heard it speak. Muffled somehow, it was still louder than anything she had ever heard before, yet it didn't hurt her ears.

-IT SHOULD NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY, NOR COME TO PASS, ELSE THERE WILL BE BLOOD AND SORROW TO PAY-

"You know, this cryptic prophecy stuff would be a lot easier to understand if you'd be more specific," said Nora with just a hint of testiness as she reached up to adjust glasses that weren't there. On some elemental level of her soul, she knew something important was happening, but her analytical mind could not process the information she was being given, like so much white noise on a working radio, and she hated this kind of disconnect in her understanding.

-THIS IS ALL THAT CAN BE DONE - YOU ARE IN DANGER, YOU MUST-

-A W A K E N-


Nora gasped as she woke with a start and shot up to an upright sitting position - just in time to hear the voice of Sam screeching to warn everyone to wake up. She glanced to the side and saw Jaiden push himself to his feet (What is he doing in my room?!) and start to shout a reply back, but the door slammed open and a multi-legged metal nightmare launched itself at him with wickedly-pointed legs. Red blood spattered across Nora's long-sleeved pajamas - the fuzzy dark blue ones, covered with yellow atom symbols and physics equations - as well as her face, and she yanked her glasses away from her face and desperately wiped them off on her bedcovers even as she saw the blurry outline of Jaiden being thrown out of the room. She surmised, through a strangely calm detachment that kept her from screaming or freaking out even as she tasted the coppery tang of blood on her lips, that she heard the door of her room snap from its hinges from the impact of Jaiden's body as he flew out into the hall and, in what would have been comic except for all the red liquid spurting everywhere, flipped over the railing to fall to the main floor.

She had her glasses clean and back on just in time to see the robotic creature turn its laser-guided eyes to her, and she sat paralyzed as her mind tried to grapple with what was happening. Gone was her dream that she had just had, and now she only thought: Am I going to die?

She shut her eyes and screamed.

Then she stopped as her scream was drowned out by a ferocious roar of anger, and Nora opened her eyes to see the drone whirl to face the source of the noise, which was a huge, muscular wolf-like humanoid - a werewolf, she thought dazedly. Without hesitating, the werewolf (who was wearing a swimsuit that clung tightly to her - yes, her - well-built and furry frame) lunged forward and grabbed the "head" segment of the drone with a single immense hand, claws digging into the metal with a screech of protest. Then, with a single fluid motion like an Olympian performing the hammer throw, the werewolf (Is that...Ashley?) swung the drone around and launched it out the bedroom door, then sprang forward herself to give chase.

Outside the door, she heard Boxcar bark out "What in blazes is going on up there?!" as his claws clicked noisily up the stairs toward the racket. The drone landed hard against the mezzanine railing, and for a moment, Nora thought she saw the orb-shaped sections briefly separate from each other before a minuscule jolt of electro-magnetism between each segment brought them all back together - just in time for a roll of duct tape to circle around the drone like a modern-day bola. A small sphere was attached to the tape, and it made a dull gonging noise against the machine as the two collided, stuck fast by the tape. Then Ashley's muscular bulk was in the doorway, and Nora could hardly see what was going on as lightning flashed across the surface of her fur as she punched and swung her arms, each bolt of electricity leaving lingering trails of light in the relative darkness of the lodge at night.

And in the next moment, she couldn't hear what was going on, either.

Nora fruitlessly covered her ears with her hands, though somehow through the din, she heard the simultaneous yelp of Boxcar and Ashley, and heard Boxcar tumble down the stairs while she saw Ashley recoil back with her massive paws clamped over her ears. The blonde scientist had heard many a loud noise in her days testing massive, powerful guns and rockets, but none of that prepared her for the auditory torture that lashed across her body's cells like a spiked whip.

Then it was over, and Nora took a sharp intake of air as she realized she had been holding her breath against the noise. She focused back onto the drone and she finally reacted by doing a quick gesture to activate her glasses. A Heads-Up Display lit up in her field of vision and instantly poured streams of data from passive sensors built into the lenses, recording and analyzing as she saw the robot drone curl and uncurl like an injured caterpillar on the floor outside her room. It moved jerkily, its round sections heavily dented, scratched and scorched in places where Ashley had raked it with claws, knuckles and lightning. The burnt ozone smell of electric discharge filled the air around it as it wriggled and spasmed...

And then the segments all separated, and Nora saw at least a dozen strobing laser beams radiate out in all directions as each segment - an identical match to the "head" with their own laser sensors and a quad of pointed legs - fell away from the others. While a few of the lasers were missing from damaged sockets, and a couple of the segments teetered precariously on bent or twisted legs, most of the segments appeared to be somehow still functional after the barrage of attacks laid into them. And what was more, they were independently tracking targets now, and aiming to leap towards a different lodger each, a few of them rolling down the stairs to attack Boxcar and Jaiden while the others sprang toward the people on the upper floor.

Nora threw off her covers and reached for the blue tab transponder necklace. Her ears still rang from the noise of just a minute ago, and she knew that Boxcar and Ashley in particular were probably suffering from the effects even more poignantly than she'd ever personally know, but she had sat out of enough of the fight.

"Th-they're damaged and malfunctioning," she stammered as she felt a wave of lightheadedness roll through her as she stood in her bare feet on the carpet of her room. Yet, somehow, her adrenaline turned her blood ice cold instead of heating it up as the increased pulse rate should have done. Icy calm gave her a detached strength to face the situation head-on. "Don't let up, they won't take much more of this!"

The readout on her glasses told her that the majority of the segments were not going to take much more punishment, and the fight wasn't over yet.

Sam barely registered Nora's words over the clash. She grabbed her bag and whipped around to face the drone which, to her horror, had now disengaged multiple sections for individual targeting. Even worse, as her eyes swept across the length of the hall, she came to the realization that her attack hadn't just damaged their attacker. Boxcar's pitiable yelping and Ashley's roar of surprise now made much more sense to her. She let the bag's strap slide through her fingers until it slipped to the floor.

"I can't risk doing that again."

Now, where had that thought come from? In a house full of perfect strangers, more than half of them better equipped than to kill her with a gesture, the thought of continuing her sonic assault seemed somehow...wrong. It felt excessively sentimental to her, but she went with it. The plan, now, was to reach the others and regroup. There had to be a club, a wrench...something Sam could use against these technological terrors.

But there was a problem. Through the confusion of battle, for which Sam again "thanked" Adrenaline, she could pick out at least three sections of the drone skittering down the hall...directly toward her. One target was bad enough, but three? She stopped in her tracks. Her mind went blank.

---

Sam saw herself in that chair, again. It was terribly disturbing, being outside of one's body, but that feeling yielded to curiosity and anxiety. For a moment, she wondered if the drone had been a dream. This, then, would have been just another scene in the play her mind put on for her. Nightmare imagery was certainly not rare for her. But it didn't feel like a dream.

As she drew closer, again examining the exposed brain matter at the top of her head, she observed the tiny metal spiders again probing her neurons. They seemed to be focused on the back half. Stranger still, Sam could feel their pointed legs crawling around inside her head. It...was not painful.

One of the spiders seemed to be calling the others. It faced them, then set to work on a specific lobe. The others joined it. Sam could feel something change. She felt...

---

Sam's dilated eyes sharply refocused. She clenched her jaw and, leaving the bag behind, ran out into the hall. Nora still had the only weapon she could safely use against these things. Ashley had been throwing lightning-charged punches at the thing, and with tremendous success. Her shock gloves did not carry as intense a charge, but with the werewolf temporarily incapacitated, they would not have the luxury of relying on her to recover quickly.

The spider-like drone segments briefly reminded her of the creatures from her dream, but...they were different. These things were a clear and present danger. The dream had been frightening, but she hadn't gotten the feeling that she was unsafe with them. These attackers were another matter entirely.

She pumped her legs and charged. The three drone segments crouched in anticipation, no longer advancing. They appeared to be calculating a safe angle of counter-attack. Sam, knowing that an electronic system would never feel the pain, instead relied on the blinding effect of her capsaicin ejectors. She shoved her left sleeve upward and raked the device across their diminutive phalanx, splattering a thick, foaming substance across their sensor eyes. She leapt over them, trying for a Hollywood-style tuck-and-roll, but achieved only an unflattering bounce-and-slide.

"Doc!" She emptied her lungs with the effort to maximize volume, as she picked herself up. "Gloves!"

Ashley slammed her fists into the drone with disturbing ease. Sparks flew from her hands and arced across the frame of the machine. It was only when the sphere Sam had attached to the device began to sing it's ear-shattering song did Ashley relent. The sounds thundered in Ashley's ears and she let out a growling roar of pain as her hands flew to her head and she rolled off the machine. Ashley clamped her hands down on her ears just in time to prevent her sensitive eardrums from rupturing. Her hearing was now dangerously tender, and Ashley was dizzy beyond belief as she lay curled up on the floor. Ashley felt her healing factor kick in and start to repair the damage, but her vision swam as her senses were thrown for another loop as they were repaired.

Ashley would be down for the count for a while. Ashley didn't notice the drone split up into twelve segments, and would've thrown a bolt of lightning among them had she been able. The clicking sound of the newly independent segments deploying needle like legs made Ashley wince due to her still tender hearing. Hands still clutching her ears, Ashley struggled to rise. Even as the pain began to dull Ashley was still groggy and could barely see straight. Pangs of pain began to bring Ashley back to focus as a pair of drones began to climb up her legs. Knowing where to aim now, Ashley brought her hands down on her thighs and Grabbed the two drones climbing her legs. Ripping them away before they could embed their need-like legs into her thighs Ashley brought her arms back and smashed the drones into once another, fusing their frames together and hopefully disabling them for good.

Dropping the wrecked drones and grabbing hold of the railing to steady herself Ashley shook her head and pawed at her ears once again. Her hearing was both numb and buzzing as her healing factor was not yet finished. After a few moments Ashley closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening her eyes again, Ashley noticed that Sam was now running and sliding her way towards Nora and yelling for gloves. The words were muted and muffled as Ashley's hearing repaired itself. Ashley could do nothing more than wobble slightly on her feet as she tried to recover her sense of balance.

However, Ashley noticed a drone shuttling it's way across the floor towards Sam's leg, and shakily raised her finger to point at the drone before shouting. "Drone." far louder than she thought she was speaking due to being unable to hear herself speak except muffled through her skull. It was as much warning as Ashley could muster, since she knew that letting go of the railing would cause her to fall.

Ashley would've shocked the drone herself, but it was simply too risky to shock something so close to Sam. Ashley didn't know what Sam had on her that could be metal, and with lightning being, well, lightning there was simply too much risk involved in using it around those that would be considered friends.

Nora's mind instantly grasped what Jane asked for, and she darted over to the back of the desk chair where she had laid her white labcoat. Her hand snaked into the side pocket, found the gloves, and she yanked them out as she turned back toward the doorway where Jane was just getting to her feet. "Catch!" she called out, and then gave the gloves a forceful underhanded toss toward Jane.

Once the gloves were out of her hands, Nora whipped the labcoat itself on over her shoulders with a flourish, and she felt a little more protected. One of the drones skittered toward her, wobbling back and forth in an evasive maneuver. Nora took the chair itself into her hands and swung it, clumsily - it was only luck that she tagged the small drone with the end of one of the chair legs, sending it spinning dizzyingly back into the hallway out of her room.

Meanwhile, Boxcar downstairs was still shaking off the effects of the Shrieker after he got his battered and bruised body back up to his full four feet at the bottom of the stairs. That had hurt! And he wasn't much for the skittering things that scattered from above, a few of them hopping down the stairs or outright over the edge of the mezzanine, through the openings in the railing.

One of the drones flew at him from the stairs, its pointed legs aimed right for his face. Boxcar reacted with his honed animal instincts and reflexes, and darted to the side just at the last moment. He grabbed the legs of the drone in his teeth and gave it a whirl before letting it go, where it launched into the rec room and bounced on the floor in there. It wobbled up to its feet, but Boxcar tipped over a stack of weights it had landed next to, and the clattering weights fell and crushed the drone underneath with a satisfying scream of twisted metal.

Boxcar got back to the living room, but as he perceived the fallen Jaiden and the three drones that surrounded him, just as the wolf was about to growl a warning, he felt a jolt of raw animal fear strike through him and he recoiled with a whimper. It wasn't the drones he was afraid of, as he sensed a rising primal danger coming from Jaiden's blood-spattered hole-riddled body that didn't make sense, yet was there all the same. He wanted to go up the stairs and help with the fight, but he had a certain inkling that he did not want to get in Jaiden's way, so he dove for cover behind one of the couches and poked his nose around the corner to keep an eye on how things were going.

Sam took a knee and caught the gloves like a short-range pass. The irony of such a method did not escape her -she had hated every second of P.E.- but she put it out of her mind. With one eye on the approaching drone Ashley warned of, Sam did not have the luxury of taking the time to even don her weapons, let alone waxing poetic about the futility of fitness programs at either her old schools or the facility. Instead, she had to discover a method for deploying her weapons in a manner which would have some kind of effect on her assailants. Ashley's lightning-enhanced punches had only weakened them; she'd had to physically destroy their bodies before...

"Bingo." Sam smirked knowingly. She surveyed the area near Ashley and locked eyes on a dismembered drone leg, still twitching from the last electrical impulses from its CPU. She lunged for it and wrapped her gloves around the longest, straightest portion, briefly struggling against its flailing. Her hair whipped across her face as she snapped her head back to locate the approaching drone.

Sam planted her right foot and came out of her crouch like an animal. She launched herself into a twisting lunge, swiveling at the hips, and brought the pointed end of the drone's leg into a hammer-fisted swing. She dumped her lungs into a primal war cry, absolutely ignorant of the fact she'd even mustered any vocalization at all. Teeth clenched, Sam threw her body weight into the swing and drove the pointed end of the leg directly into the approaching drone's sensor eye.

Two things followed Sam's attack. The cracked polycarbonate of the drone's sensor eye sparked briefly, just as the red glow began to die, and her shock gloves registered the sudden deceleration through their built-in accelerometers. She knew the impact would be enough to engage their capacitors, still charged from the earlier confrontation. With the trigger mechanism activated, the electrodes embedded in the palms of her gloves dumped their charge into the drone's leg...and straight into her attacker's circuitry. With a direct path to its internal wiring, the drone's hardened defenses against electrical overload had been completely bypassed. Its limbs locked and, with sparks flying from the hole in its electronic eye, it hinged backward on its hind legs and clanged helplessly to the floor.

"Yeah, bitch!" Sam bellowed, thrusting her fist into the air. She quickly reconsidered her premature celebration as the two remaining drones closed in.

As the drones began their approach towards the downed figure of Jaiden, the ground around his fallen covered in a thin pool of red. Their sensors read that he still held some faint life signs, and while there was another target nearby, he had already felled one of their number already, not to mention that Jaiden seemed completely defenseless, and as such, a much better target.

However, when they got closer, they would notice a strange frequency resonating in the air around the body. Oonly Ashley and Boxcar would be able to hear it, due to their animalistic senses, but everyone in the lodge would feel it, a strange rumbling drone that caused their teeth and insides to vibrate in a very disconcerting way. Not only that, but strange electrical signatures would begin to flash within the body, much stronger than what should be possibly generated within a human body, especially around the cranial area. While the machines hesitated slightly at the sight of these disturbances, their single-minded purpose to kill and the continued in action of Jaiden embolden the automatons to go forth with their assault.

The moment that one of them laid a single robotic claw with crimson ichor that surrounded their prey, however, the menacing frequency immediately ceased. The relative silence was short-lived, however, as it was soon replaced by a violent sort of squelching noise as the pool around Jaiden erupted into a trio of strange, biological growths that surged forward to latch on to the three drones. For two of the drones, the growths simply smothered them, coiling around them and squeezing against their metal frames until they gave way with a final screech of tearing metal. One of the the drones, however, was merely restrained and crippled, it's pointed legs torn apart and it's chassis becoming infested with a disgusting mass of flesh and sinew that pried it's metallic shell open to reveal the electronic innards within. From this biological mass, several thin strands of nerve tissue were formed, spreading their root like tendrils into the machine, sparks of reddish electrical energy issuing forth every time they made contact with the drones components.

While this happened, Jaiden rose from the ground, the blood on the floor making it's way slowly but surely off the ground and up his legs, once again joining the rest of his body. Even what had soaked into his clothes fused itself back into the vessel, leaving his clothes as clean as they had been before, not counting the several holes that were currently in his shirt. With somewhat glazed over eyes, he grabbed his head, unable to clearly understand what happened to him. He'd been sleeping, only to be soon awoken and attacked by something, then thrown over the railing to the ground. He remembered being extremely angry, both with himself and with whatever had attacked, and then, he was standing unsure of what had even happened in the time between. It was just a strange blur.

Despite the sickening noises which rose from the lower level, Sam's attention remained on the two blinded drones which lashed the air in front of them in the vain hopes of making contact with their target. The expanding capsaicin-based foam had completely obscured their sensor eyes, which told Sam plenty about how their targeting systems and optics were set up; they clearly had no contingencies for active scan which would penetrate any semi-solid matter. That information seemed like it lost some value when the two halted their desperate flailing and, seemingly in complete sync with one another, pitched forward on their forelegs and began scraping their sensor eyes against the narrow band of carpeting which ran the length of the mezzanine.

Sam backed away, uncertain of any course of action which might carry with it a chance for survival. She could hit them again with a Shrieker, but she'd seen what that had done to even those members of her group without enhanced senses. The foam had been a desperation move on her part, and had already served its only purpose by allowing her to position herself to deliver the one killing blow she'd managed. That victory now seemed shallow as she found herself flanked.

"Guys!" She shouted, attempting to maintain composure. "Go for the eyes! It's your best chance to crack 'em!"

With that, she backpedaled past Ashley and made for the laundry room. She had absolutely no idea what she was going to so, but she knew it had to be something. Hopefully, a ritzy place like this valued the concept of a fully-stocked cleaning closet.

If Ashley could put a description to her current situation, it would be "Dizzy" along with "Deaf" and "Annoyed." Earplugs would be a smart investment for the future, but at the moment Ashley had to deal with what she had on hand. Thankfully, what she had on hand was an advanced regeneration of her hearing. Sam had destroyed another drone, and two were blinded. Ashley could feel her hearing start to regenerate itself as her hearing steadily grew less and less muffled. Soon, it felt like her ears were simply clogged. Swallowing, Ashley felt her ears pop and her hearing clear. Blinking focus back into her eyes, Ashley let out a growl and returned to work. The two blinded drones were first, and Ashley merely crushed them underfoot with stomps powerful enough to rattle the floor.

With those drones now crushed, Ashley took a moment to observe the rest of the situation. Sam had advised going for the eyes, but this information was largely irrelevant to Ashley. There was more than enough power in her muscles to simply smash the drones with impunity. The three remaining machines would make for easy work. However, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Nora was holding up a chair in defense. Shifting her vision, Ashley saw that Nora had given a good whack to a drone and disabled it. Not satisfied with leaving Nora with merely a disabled drone, Ashley took a few steps and brought her fist down on the currently immobile drone, smashing it beyond repair.

Ashley straightened, giving Nora a look over before calmly asking. "Are you alright?" It was at this point that her adrenaline began to wear off and she noticed that her nose felt like it was on fire. Sneezing violently to try and clear her airways, Ashley looked out to the hallway and noticed a haze of the spray that Sam had used to blind the drones. Sneezing again, Ashley gave another shout. "Everyone! Get outside! Whatever was sprayed is still in the air! Don't breathe!"

Heeding her own advice, Ashley covered her nose with her hands and ducked out of the room. Jumping down the stairs and landing with a thud, Ashley sought the front door and, after checking the lock, yanked it open and dashed outside. Taking a deep breath of air, Ashley sneezed again and again to try and clear her nose. Hopefully the others wouldn't be so badly affected, but for now Ashley was once again in a world of pain.

Sam surrendered to a coughing fit as Ashley made her exit. It was becoming difficult to see, now that the expanding capsaicin foam had had enough time to work its magic. The fumes which resulted from the chemical reaction on contact with air had not been a great priority for Sam, who had admittedly designed the chemical for maximum debilitating effect; in fact, she had considered the secondary effect of airborne respiratory irritants an unintended benefit until now. But she had not fought in close quarters with any target which lasted this long before, nor had she remained in any combat area for long enough to witness the effects this burning miasma would have; Sam's mind would have invariably been focused on retreat. Certainly, she had never been in the position of having to defend others. Now, with blurred vision and watery eyes which refused to stay open, the only thing she could see in the gloom were the two remaining sensor eyes prowling ever closer to Nora's doorway.

One of the drones rocked violently to the side, a severed drone leg bouncing off its metal skin with a hollow clang. It knocked into its partner, forcing both drones to regain balance, after which both relocated their tracking systems to follow the trajectory of the leg back to its source. Sam's footfalls were the only sounds then, hammering the floorboards of the mezzanine, propelling her at the highest speed she could achieve. She readied another leg and swung as she entered melee range.

Both drones leapt in unison, their legs uncoiling with enough force to leave inches-deep depressions in the hardwood flooring. One dug into the wall while the other rebounded off the ceiling and landed in a defensive posture. Sam tossed a split-second glance over her shoulder as she continued for the laundry room. As she expected, her assault had prioritized her as a higher threat than Nora.

"Great. Now I have your attention."

Sam went into a baseball slide near the staircase and, grabbing the banister with her free hand, used her momentum to fling herself around the corner. She stumbled coming out of the slide, but managed to slip into the laundry room and slam the door behind her. The drones, wary of their new target, advanced slowly, running their sensors over the frame and hardware which held it shut.

"Now what, genius?" Sam demanded of the image in the mirror. She threw open cabinets, drawers, anything which might contain useful components for a quick and dirty solution to her...problem. She found laundry detergent, cleaning chemicals, an old toolbox she felt certain would have been used for maintaining the washing equipment... Finally, her hand curled around an older model flashlight. She recognized the general design, having used something very similar back on Earth. With just a few more items, it would serve well enough.

She dropped her gloves on the tile floor and fumbled with the catch on her multi-tool belt sheath. The tool resembled a Swiss Army knife, but built into a pair of sturdy, stainless steel pliers, which she employed to make quick work of the material holding the power source of one of her gloves in place. Once the battery pack had been removed, she set to work emptying the flashlight of its internals. Outside, she could hear the drones working on the door. They were probing it; testing it, to determine if there was any risk in simply breaching it, as they had done to Nora's door.

Sam stabbed the power pack with the needle-sharp drone leg and jammed it into the flashlight's empty casing. She took a deep breath and came away from the door, just as one of the drones thrust one of its legs through it. They punched two more holes before Sam made it to the wash sink, where she set to work filling a small plastic bag with water. She spun the bag and curled the opening around itself, to prevent premature release of the liquid, then used the pliers to bend the end of the battery contact spring on the flashlight's tailcap. She screwed it tightly shut and whirled to face the door, just as it came off its hinges.

"Come and get me, fuckers..." she growled, holding the flashlight in front of her. She hadn't realized she was backing up until she bumped into the Clothing Materializer. Its door whizzed open and yet another idea came to her. This thing wasn't made of wood. It might just hold up a little better against the drones...especially if they were damaged.

She waited as they advanced, still trembling from the adrenaline, anticipating a grisly death. The drones flanked her before preparing to strike. It seemed they had learned from their earlier failure, brought on by Sam's divide-and-conquer approach. They crouched and Sam felt every muscle in her legs tense up.

When they finally leapt, Sam kicked off of the base of the Clothing Materializer into a low, sprawling slide. She slammed the tailcap of the flashlight against the floor, the impact causing the bag of water inside to burst. She could feel the lithium reacting with the water instantly; a strange fizzing vibration in the casing of the flashlight. She threw the flashlight into the chamber with them and scrambled to her feet just as they turned to face her. Without a second to spare, Sam brought her palm down on the 'door close' button, sealing her enemies inside.

Just moments after the muffled 'boom', the Lodge's fire suppression system finally kicked on, though Sam could not determine whether it had been from the mist, Ashley's lightning, or from her improvised explosive device. Whatever the cause, she visibly relaxed when she picked up the sight and sound of electric arcing from the edges of the materializer's door frame. At first, she said nothing; she simply sighed. Then, gradually sinking to her knees, arms limp and fingers brushing the floor, she just laughed.

Sam didn't really do anything to set himself up in his new room, all he did is open up his suitcase and put it at the foot of his bed for easy access to his clothes. He undressed himself for bed and lied there thinking, not about any one thing in particular, just about whatever random thoughts happened to pop in to his head. His dad was chief among those thoughts, he wished his dad was still around, then maybe he'd be able to learn from him how to control his powers better. At one point he couldn't pinpoint the waking thoughts turned to dreams. Nothing really happened as tends to be the case with dreams, but his dad was heavily featured.

Sam woke up to a horrible screeching noise, and what sounded like a fight going on a few doors down. He tried to get up and out of bed but he was wrapped up in his sheets, he must have been tossing and turning in his sleep. He stood up, still wrapped in the blankets, took one step and fell flat on his face. "Okay Sam, stay calm, don't want to lose your cool." He tried to roll himself over but ended up smashing his knee in to the bedpost, it seemed he was closer to the bed than he thought he was. "Fuck, ow, my knee," at this point his skin was starting to smoke. "They're just blankets, how the hell am I so tangled in them?" Once more he tried to stand but he slipped again and just stayed on the floor. He was breathing heavily now, unable to contain his frustration, "god...DAMNIT," he erupted in flames and simply burned the blankets off. "Think you're so tough now, huh!?" He was talking to blankets, clearly he was not in the best state of mind.

But he was free now, and ready to go help his new friends. As he grabbed the doorknob he remembered something important though, he sleeps in the nude, and had not put on anything due to his blanket situation. He quickly ran over to his suitcase, throwing his clothes all around looking for a pair of boxers, of course they had to be at the bottom of his bag. At last, he was at least wearing boxers and he was ready to help with whatever was going on. As he threw his door open his hair was flaming, and houses sprinklers came on. He saw the girl from the crash over by the laundry room on the floor, and she was...crying? He ran over to her, not even seeing what was in Nora's room, and upon closer inspection she wasn't crying, but laughing. Had he missed it? Did Sam somehow miss an entire skirmish just trying to get out of bed? At this point his hair was back to normal and he was dumbfounded. Fine, if he missed the whole fight he'd try to play it off like the dummy he was, "um, did I miss something?" He hoped she didn't flip on him for not having been in the fight, though the laughing could be from having a nervous break so anything was possible.

The underground security system recorded the demise of the last drone segment's transponder signal. It did this mutely, with no emotion, as it sat in the darkness and examined the data it had received. The entire battle had lasted only a matter of minutes, with a full and decisive victory by the intruders. There was no sense of loss; in fact, the system viewed this as a successful outcome. An outcome that would now change the way it would welcome the intruders.

Several of them demonstrated special powers, but all of them had shown a ferocious "will-to-survive" that marked them differently from the typical person of even such a world as Faiza. The system wasn't aware that its creator had proposed a theory about the idea that there are PCs and NPCs - Powered Citizens and Non-Powered Citizens. The idea behind this theory was that PCs, even ones that didn't have outright powers or abilities that differentiated themselves from "regular" people were still defined by a fierce drive to change the world around them, even if they themselves were not aware of this motivation. NPCs, meanwhile, usually faded into the background and served to create a foundation of "normalcy" that was the perfect environment for PCs to enter and manipulate as they saw fit. The system also wasn't aware that it was technically "politically incorrect" to classify individuals by some nebulous sense of narrative, and was part of the reason the creator had been rejected by society at large. But these factors were of no real importance.

What was important was that flags had been triggered. If the intruders had been marked as NPCs, the system would have continued to drive them away with increasing countermeasures until they left. But since they were clearly PCs, the system waited to see what would happen next. Waited with the infinite patience of a computer with no imagination or understanding of its own purpose beyond its programmed parameters. There would be no barring of the gate, no shutting of the door; they would be welcome to enter, as was planned by the creator.

---

Nora stood at the door to her room, a breathing mask apparatus over her mouth and nose. Her eyes stung a little, dazed though they were as she surveyed the damage the robots had wrought during the attack, but the lodge's built-in sprinkler systems were already diluting the strong chemicals in the air.

Unlike conventional sprinklers that used only water, the lodge was equipped with hidden nozzle sprayers and a complicated array of sensors that could detect not just fires, but other forms of environmental hazards such as a buildup of noxious gases or toxic substances, as well as discern the source of a fire and determine if it was electrical, chemical or otherwise. Then, a computerized series of chemical tanks would add to the spray of water just enough of whatever was needed to help neutralize the threat, or if water would only make the situation worse, a flame-retardant soluble liquid was used instead.

The best part was, it was all non-toxic, washed out easily with a little water and evaporated quickly. And, it was lemon-scented.

Nora's mind recalled these facts, which before they had known only clinically from having read over the lodge's safety equipment. Now she was seeing it in action as the spray from the sprinklers soaked into the carpet around the mezzanine. She wasn't exactly sure which chemicals were being used now, but it was effectively breaking down the intense capsaicin foam into a harmless bubbling mix. A secondary mist was being laid down by the sprinklers to counteract the peppery smell from the air. Without any effort on her part, cleanup was already occurring, and she stood there, suddenly a little warm with the adrenaline running through her system, dampened by the discharge from the sprinklers, and almost giddy with the excitement that had torn her from a strange dream that she half-remembered.

I should take at least one of those drones for study, she thought, musing comfortably with this impulse for understanding. It would be so much nicer if that was all she had to do, merely sit back and analyze.

Then her sense of responsibility kicked in as she gave a quick start, blinked her eyes, and strode to the mezzanine railing to try to look at everyone at once. Her glasses shone with tiny lights as she examined the scene while her hands rested on the wooden rail. Jane and Sam were over in the laundry room, with Jane visibly in shock as she laughed in the odd white noise silence of the sprinklers, and Sam was trying to see if she was okay (in his boxers, but at least he had those on, thought Nora as she blushed a little and moved her gaze quickly on). Ashley had left by the front door, which still was open to the warm night air outside. Boxcar still crouched by a couch downstairs, watching intently at Jaiden, who sat in the middle of a mess of crushed drones and, despite the holes in his clothes and her own memory of the spraying blood from earlier, Jaiden was remarkably unbloodied, though he did look a little like he had just woken up.

In a single sweep of her light blue eyes, she analyzed the situation. No serious injuries, she thought in review. The regenerative abilities of both Jaiden and Ashley are functioning better than their reports indicated. The drones no longer present a threat. Aside from possible trauma and adrenaline...it looks like everyone is okay.

Then Nora thought of the door, and realized they would not be okay if even one more of those robots came through. This was my fault, she thought matter-of-factually, and she gripped the rail more tightly with her hands in a rare show of anger as her brow furrowed. If I had insisted on checking out what was down there earlier, or at least had gone down there to take a look for myself, this wouldn't have happened. We could have sealed the door, or taken the fight to the drone, instead of being ambushed like this. Ambushed!

Another wave of frigid ice went through her. There wasn't anything stopping the same thing from happening, if it hadn't already begun. She had to get help, and fast, if-

Get help from who, sister? she berated herself mentally. If I call Cybertronics like this, they'll just fire me outright instead of being polite and shunting me out of the way! And that's if they don't just shut down the entire lodge project, and these guys will all be kicked out...nope, no more waiting, no more hesitation, I should have taken care of it in the first place!

Nora went back into her room and gathered a few things - some slippers for her bare feet, a few tools that she slipped into the pockets of her labcoat - and came out and went immediately down the stairs and towards the rec room and its yawning door into the basement, trusting that Sam would be able to help Jane out for now, and that all of the others would be all right. The transponder for Boxcar's collar swung about on her neck as she moved with definite purpose. She felt guilty about just leaving the others so quickly, but she knew time was of the essence - and she was also terrified that if she didn't do this now, she'd chicken out.

Boxcar, finally able to draw his eyes away from Jaiden, fell into step behind Nora silently. Nora only barely acknowledged his presence - she knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from her anyway with the shock collar, and she felt reassured having his company.

When she entered the basement and switched on the light, Nora stood there for a moment, hesitation creeping into her heart again. She stared at the open door, which led into a dark hallway that looked like a gate to the Abyss in the dimness of the single lightbulb above her head. The basement was cooler than the upstairs areas had been, but she could swear she felt a chill breeze rising from the depths of whatever laid below the lodge.

Then she tightened her grip on one of the tools in her pocket to stop her hand from shaking. "Let's go," was all she said, and she started forward into the automatically-lighted hallway, with Boxcar at her heels.

"Shouldn't we stuff something in the way of the door? In case it closes on us again," said Boxcar, sounding very nonchalant.

"If the door closes, then that means whatever is down here can't get at the others," Nora said...then realized how awful a picture that sentence painted, leaving them trapped down here, and she giggled nervously.

"Okay, but if we reach a spot where the corridor ends suddenly, don't say anything about a 'dead-end' all right?" grumbled Boxcar. "Place gives me the creeps already."

So the two began to descend the stairs at the end of the short hallway, lights automatically clicking on as they went, detected by various motion sensors and other electronic eyes that scanned ceaselessly and without conscious thought.

Sam just knelt there, sopping wet and silently staring at the clothing materializer. The occasional spark echoed from within the sealed chamber, and the bright red blinking of 'Fatal Error No. L57-T' intermittently lit up her face. The overhead lights had all gone out after the blast, giving her half-second silhouette a surrealism typically reserved for alien monster movies. She'd laughed once, but it echoed in her mind, over and over again.

"It never ends." She shook her head. Another awkward silence followed, and it seemed like she would never move again. Finally, she took a deep, shuddering breath and hauled herself to her feet. She turned to face the man in the boxers. For a moment, it seemed like she had something to say, but, failing to find the words, brushed past him. She headed straight for her room and began to collect her things.

Jing Shen

Shen is driving his motorcycle through the dirt road that stretched before him into the darkness, his vision illuminated by the bike light and the dim pale moonlight. He is wearing a a black shiny motorcycle helmet, a brown poncho with a blue diamond pattern with a large water skin strapped to it. Beneath the poncho is some loose fitting breathing thermal wear for regulating temperature, a tool belt wrapping his waist, carrying sharpened daggers. Upon his feet are tan boots with toe protection forged from solid steel. On his back he carries an enormous bag filled to the brim with all the practical supplies a pragmatic traveller would need to survive a long trip, as well as packing several sharp blades and a hunting rifle.

Shen knew the journey to the cabin would be long and he needed to make this pilgrimage so that he would find a teacher worthy of training him to use his power to his maximum potential. This eagerness to meet his new master exhilarated him as he speed forth to meet them at the cabin, which now came to view. He slowed his speed as he closed the last few hundred yards before parking near the front entrance. He embarked from his cycle and took off his helmet, causing his long flowing hair to cascade like a dark waterfall from the night sky, shining silver from the moon. After his long and arduous journey, he was ready to rest in the inviting house before him.

Just as Shen approached the door, a somewhat muffled, but clearly heard explosion of great force erupted from within the house, startling him. He had no idea what was going on, but sudden explosions were rarely ever a good thing, and there could be people inside the house. It might even be under attack! Shen ran next to the suspiciously open door, hugging the wall. His senses flared to life as he used them to examine his surroundings. Shen heard some form of sprinkler system go off from the inside. At least now if he enters he has plenty of ammunition to work with should things get hairy. He also heard some subtle footsteps pacing in a somewhat erratic manner. He could also hear some faint whispers but could not make out the words. The person’s footsteps suggest someone who is injured; someone who needs help. If there was an attacker or attackers, they probably weren’t one of them. A pleasant lemon scent wafted past his nose, letting him now the automated defense system is dispersing some form of counter measure to chemical intrusion.

Lack of gunfire or any significant noise after the explosion eased Shen’s nerves a bit. He craned his head aside the door so that he may catch a glimpse of the inside. As soon as he saw that the coast was clear, he took a moment to simply breath and clear his mind. His mind will need to be focused and alert before he enters. After a few breathes and stretches, he finished preparing his body and spirit for combat. He started into a soft guard, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. He was now in a trance of pure focus and determination, detaching himself from his fears and concerns. He stepped slowly and methodically into the halls, making nary a sound as he went. He felt connected to the water around him, like an extension of himself that he could manipulate as naturally as his arm and legs. There were others in the house, he could sense it.

As he turned one of the halls, he saw someone next to a door singed by fire, probably the source of the explosion he heard before. There is a young brown haired man garbed only in a pair of boxers, likely caught off guard. Shen spoke with a soft tone of voice from across the hall as he slowly approached them, hoping not to startle him as they seem quite shell-shocked. “Are you alright? I heard the explosion from outside.”. Shen was curious what happened here, but tending to whoever were unfortunate enough to be caught up in this chaos took higher priority.

Ashley shuddered some as she approached the lodge. It was a bit colder than she had imagined previously felt and the adrenaline from transforming back to her human form was still being digested by her body. Cursing under her breath as she stepped on a rock Ashley hopped for a few moments before she made it back into The Lodge. Walking upstairs Ashley plugged her nose to avoid being re-exposed to the fumes swirling around the air. With Nora missing, Ashley gave a frown. This would be a lot nicer to tell her in person, but unfortunately some things must be done one way or the other. Ashley shook as she pulled on the first decent clothes she could dig out of her backpack before slinging it over her shoulders.

Grabbing some paper and a pen, Ashley wrote a hasty note. “Dear Nora. It is with great regret that I must announce my leave. The drone attack has shaken something deep within my being, and I felt like I was going to lose control of my werewolf form while I was pounding away at the machine. I was thankful that I didn’t, but it is something that I’m not willing to risk again.

Don’t beat yourself up over this, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have come anyway. I’m sorry. I don’t think a life of action is the life for me. -Ashley.”

Folding the note up, Ashley taped it securely to Nora’s door before turning and walking downstairs and into the garage. Opening the garage, Ashley hopped on her motorbike and started it up before gunning it into the night and back towards the city. She probably wouldn’t be seen again, not for some time if at all. Ashley felt bad about leaving, but she didn’t want to lose control of the werewolf form that she had previously felt like she had almost complete control over. That wasn’t something that Ashley could live with. A life of relative peace was better, in her mind.

---

Rebecca would’ve been swearing had she been able to speak. Unfortunately, as she tumbled through a rapidly changing vortex of rainbow colors, she couldn’t speak at all. Rebecca also couldn’t move, which terrified her more than anything else. As she flipped lazily end over end, the only thing that reminded Rebecca that she was still alive was her panicked heartbeat and the rapid colors flashing by. Rebecca chose this moment to be glad that she didn’t have epilepsy, as the seizures would probably be worse than the sensation of falling.

As Rebecca turned over again in the seemingly endless void, she noticed that something seemed to be forming. A shade of dark that stood out against the colorful void. Rebecca was being deposited somewhere. The growing portal of dark was just as terrifying as not being able to move. Rebecca had heard the horror stories of bad jumps depositing people into space or some other unknown void. As Rebecca felt a rush of wind she braced herself. At least, as much as she could brace herself while being unable to move.

After a few moments there was a sudden rush of air and Rebecca felt herself slam into the ground. Her eyes were welded shut in fear as she slid a few feet. It took her a few moments to remember how to breathe. Rebecca slowly began to crack her eyes. She could breathe. That was good. Rebecca began to stand up, slowly. Everything was sore from impact, but otherwise Rebecca seemed to be fine. Frantically, Rebecca reached into her jacket and felt around for a bit. An audible sigh of relief came after Rebecca’s hands found purchase on a pair of smoothe synthwood handles. Her revolvers were intact. Drawing the two of them. Rebecca inspected them in the light she had. They seemed to be scratch and nick free. Good. Rebecca stuffed them back into their holsters. She didn’t need to scare anyone by having them out of their holsters.

Looking around, Rebecca spotted a few faint lights off in the distance and, with a sigh, began to walk. Rebecca tripped briefly before catching herself on a tree. Shifting the balance of her feet from her heels to her toes, Rebecca resumed walking, but blushed when she noticed that walking this was put quite the sway in her hips. Rebecca wasn’t quite used to looking the way she did, and so things were slightly more awkward than they typically would’ve been. Regardless, Rebecca knew that she needed to get moving. Better to get sheltered somewhere sooner rather than later, especially since Rebecca seemed to be in a forest. Conditions could be unpredictable at best and hostile at worst. Indoors was preferable.

Walking faster, Rebecca approached the building, now recognized as a lodge, and approached the strangely open door. Something smelled horrible, and it reminded Rebecca of some of the chemical agents that she had used and been exposed to a few times. Knocking loudly at the doorframe, Rebecca took a few steps into the building and announced her presence. “Hello? Anyone here? The lights are on and your door is open.”

With that being said, All Rebecca could do was wait and see who or what responded.

Jaiden

As Jaiden slowly regained his senses, the monstrous biological constructs that surrounded him quickly began to deconstruct themselves, returning to the large pool of blood that was now being washed away by the citrus-tinged waters that rained down from the sprinklers up above. Wiping at his eyes, which seemed to be watering and stinging a good amount for some reason, Jaiden looked around to see Sam in his boxers, some blue-haired chick(?) walking in on the scene, and Ashley leaving for the door. Looking down at his hole ridden shirt, Jaiden then recalled what had just fuckin' happened in the last 5 minutes or so, and from that recollection, made a choice.

"Yeah, fuck this. I didn't sign up to this little retreat to get fucked over by robots in my sleep." Kicking aside the drone next to him, which sparked and beeped faintly in response, he walked towards the door, only to find a bombshell of a woman walk in. Where her and Blue late arrivals or something? Whatever the case, Jaiden wasn't in the mindset to gawk or hit on either of them, feeling both pissed and perturbed about the the robot attack, as well as the fact that he couldn't remember anything between getting flung off the balcony and a few moments ago. Instead, he decided to give the two newcomers some advice.

"Look, I don't know why you and Blue over there are here, but I'd leave while you can. I just got fuckin' stabbed full of holes by a weird-ass robot, and if I weren't a freak of nature, I'd be laying dead in that puddle of blood over there. So like I said, get the hell out of here if ya both know what's good for ya."

With his piece said, Jaiden walked around the woman to the garage, and his departure was soon followed by the whirr of a motorcycle engine before he could be seen driving off into the night.

"Or just don't say anything, that's cool too," Sam couldn't take the snubbing too hard though, clearly the house had been through something pretty serious while he was...incapacitated. Sam ignited his hand and looked more closely at the wreckage, there seemed to be chunks of metal everywhere. Were they attacked by a robot? How the heck did it even get in to the lodge?

Well Sam didn't have time to think about that right now. He wanted to get dressed because he figured his chances of getting back to sleep before morning were probably slim. He heard a voice behind him ask if he was alright. Sam turned around, flaming hand outstretched so he could get a better look at the person. The first thing he noticed was the blue hair, Sam always found non-standard hair colours fascinating. The next thing Sam tried to determine was if this person was a man or woman, they looked like a woman, or maybe just an effeminate man, hopefully a name would clear up his confusion.

"Um, ya, I'm fine, I think everyone is relatively fine," of course Sam had no clue how everyone else was, just the girl from the crash, and she seemed okay enough to ignore him and go to her room. "Not to sound rude, but who are you and why are you here? This place is pretty out of the way, so I doubt you came across us by accident. Just trying to be careful after this incident, hope you understand." Sam kept his hand ignited in case he needed to fight, after the explosion he was pretty sure it was over, but right now he was feeling a bit jumpy and paranoid.

Jing Shen

As Shen is approaching this man, fire springs to life in his right hand! Shen’s eyes wide agaze, he is transfixed by the beautiful flames dancing hypnotically in his hand! Shen heard ghostly whispers of others with phenomenal gifts from the heavens, but nary before did he see it with such crystal clarity before! He had won Shen’s trust, allowing Shen to breathe a sigh of relief. The mysterious stranger then spoke to Shen, telling him that he is uninjured, but asked him the meaning behind his presence. He thought it was reasonable for the man to accuse him of such a thing considering the circumstances, and wanted to ensure the man knew that he held no such desires. Shen slowly raises his hands above and behind his hand as he stared with sincerity into his bright orange eyes. “I understand. My name is Jing Shen. I came here to find a teacher to help me master my gift. I have no intention of harming you. I heard an explosion from outside and I don’t know what is going on.” Shen gently lowered his hands, his left hand flat with a tucked in thumb hovering over his square brick right hand, similar to a Tai Chi greeting. He now proceeds to bow at a 90 degree angle, exposing his back to the man. “I want to help in whatever way I can. I promise.”