[IC] The Two Sides

[Hawksnest565]

Almost as quickly as he was down, Benjamin was back up again and pulling out his tranquiliser gun. He really didn't want to give the boy another dose, but what other option did he have. He pulled it out at aimed at the retreating child, totally focused on him and not on Misha. "Sorry buddy." He sighed and pulled the trigger.

[xiaomiau]

Misha slid off the road with the practiced ease of someone who lived by stumbling and racing and crawling through the wildness. The pavement faded off into grim rubble and a vast expanse of cracked red dirt. Misha's boots were worn and caked in dirt, and her bare skin stung where fragments of dust and rock shot up by her footsteps stirred, but she carried on with the mad dash. Now that she was out of their immediate reach, she was almost certain she could outrun both the man and woman . What do I do after that, though? she thought with a glance back at the facility.

[Fionraella]

The woman glances at Benjamin and sighs as he pulls the trigger. She then turns, seeing movement out of the corner of her eye. She curses. "Fuck! Ben! The other one's disappearing!" She glances at her colleague before tearing after Misha. The girl couldn't go on forever. At least the woman had been born here and knew the desert. She knew the girl wouldn't make it back home. But...she also knew the girl would die in about three days if she didn't get her first.

Ambrose winces, feeling the sting of the dart. He falls to the ground. He groans. "Seriously man, we're going to..." His head falls to the ground and he watches as Misha disappears from sight. He exhales and his eyes slowly close as he falls unconscious again.

[Hawksnest565]

Benjamin sighed in relief as the dart hit its target, barely hearing the words of his partner. The boy could have gotten himself killed if he wasn't careful. He then noticed the absence of the woman and turned to see her sprinting off after the girl. "You get her cuz!" While he could see the girl she was too far away for even him to hit. He noticed that his partner didn't have her tranq gun on her and knew that he'd have to join her in the chase. For now, he'd be best to make sure the boy was safe. He ran over to Ambrose's unconscious body and scooped him up carefully, returning him to the back of the truck.

[xiaomiau]

Misha continued along the uneven ground of the unfamiliar desert, weaving her way through patches of rocks and sparse foliage - mostly cacti and weird light-colored brush. This landscape was like nothing she had ever seen before, either in her years in the forest or the numb memories of her patched childhood, moving between relatives' houses in the wide and empty farmland of Kansas. She slowed a bit once she was sure the man and woman weren't yet pursuing. "What am I doing," she murmured so herself. The sun was hot, beating down. She could see a skull in the sand like some macabre prop from a western film. She had always planned on dying young, but it was more 'bleeding out' than 'drying up.'

[Fionraella]

"Girl?" the woman calls, stepping lightly around cacti and fallen bushes. "Come on back, you're going to die out here! It's going to be well over a hundred and ten today!" She looks around for any sign of Misha. "Please? No one's going to hurt you...we're just trying to figure out what's wrong with us...we're a lot like you, and we could really use your help. Please come back!"

[xiaomiau]

Misha raced on through the desert, but she could feel herself wearing down after days of physical and emotional stress. Her foot hit a rock and she made a pained gasp, collapsing on her knees.

[Fionraella]

The woman spots movement and runs over. She sighs in relief, stumbling upon Misha. She walks warily towards her. "Hey, are you okay?" She asks, genuinely worried for the girl. She holds a hand out to help her up. "Please don't run away anymore. It's really dangerous out here and you have no idea how important you are!"

[xiaomiau]

Misha stared up at the woman defensively. "I'm important? What, so you can cut me up and check out how weird and unnatural I am?" She hissed and scrambled backwards in a pained crab crawl.

[Fionraella]

Misha stared up at the woman defensively. "I'm important? What, so you can cut me up and check out how weird and unnatural I am?" She hissed and scrambled backwards in a pained crab crawl.

@xiaomiau

The woman blinks. "Cut you up?" She whispers, a bit horrified. "No! We'd never do that." She says gently. "All we want is to do what you're able to do. All we need is a little bit of blood. We have great scientists who make the process as painless as possible." She holds a hand out again. "Please, just come back with me, and I promise I'll protect you from whatever you're afraid of!"

[xiaomiau]

Liwei busied himself at a computer terminal just inside the building, rapidly inputting data to an outdated spreadsheet. The internal air conditioning was powerful, but he could still feel himself sweating from every hot breeze that wafted through a crack beneath the compound door. He wiped a bead of sweat off of his chiseled neck. Eventually, he rose from the seat and retreated further into the building in search of somewhere cooler to occupy his interests. He paused when he recognized a familiar face. "Hey - [nameless girl #1] - how is the work with those kids going?" he asked casually.

[Fionraella]

Liwei busied himself at a computer terminal just inside the building, rapidly inputting data to an outdated spreadsheet. The internal air conditioning was powerful, but he could still feel himself sweating from every hot breeze that wafted through a crack beneath the compound door. He wiped a bead of sweat off of his chiseled neck. Eventually, he rose from the seat and retreated further into the building in search of somewhere cooler to occupy his interests. He paused when he recognized a familiar face. "Hey - [nameless girl #1] - how is the work with those kids going?" he asked casually.

@xiaomiau

The woman nods to him in greeting. "As far as I know, not well. Something's wrong with the boy, but they're not telling me anything." She shrugs. "I'm sure if it was anything too bad they'd tell us right?" She then notices the direction he came from. "Get bored of computer work?" She asks with a grin.

[xiaomiau]

Liwei gave a friendly chuckle. "I sure how they'd keep us in the loop." His pulsing, muscular shoulders - obscured only by a thin and half-opened lab coat - shrugged subtly. "It seems like all the have me doing is some simple accounting. Keeping those finances in order so we can keep on..." He smiled. "Keeping on."

[Fionraella]

Liwei gave a friendly chuckle. "I sure how they'd keep us in the loop." His pulsing, muscular shoulders - obscured only by a thin and half-opened lab coat - shrugged subtly. "It seems like all the have me doing is some simple accounting. Keeping those finances in order so we can keep on..." He smiled. "Keeping on."

@xiaomiau

"Finances." The woman snorts. "More like busy work." She then chuckles a bit. "I'm betting it's so the rest of us lackeys don;t get distracted by your devilish...intelligence." She then grins. 'I found a great place to watch the scientists test on the kids where they can't see us. Want to come check it out? I'm really curious what's going on with the boy.''

[xiaomiau]

Liwei lightly punched her shoulder, grinning. "Be nice!" At the question, he raised a finger to his chin and stroked a layer of stubble. "Hm.. You sure they won't get mad?" He did want to see what was going on with the experiments, but he wasn't sure if he was willing to jeopardize his trust within the compound.

[Fionraella]

Liwei lightly punched her shoulder, grinning. "Be nice!" At the question, he raised a finger to his chin and stroked a layer of stubble. "Hm.. You sure they won't get mad?" He did want to see what was going on with the experiments, but he wasn't sure if he was willing to jeopardize his trust within the compound.

@xiaomiau

"Hey, I'm always nice!" She grins back at him, before shrugging. "only if we get caught. Besides, I brought them in, I should be expected to see them through to the end right?" She smiles warmly and takes his hand, pulling him down the hall. "And if we do get caught, just blame me. It is my idea after all!"

[xiaomiau]

Liwei shrugged. "Sounds like a plan. Of course, I could always just say you were escorting me to, uh.. look for last year's financial reports." He follows her with much less trepidation, eager to see more details of what the experimentation actually entailed. Of course, he had read the plans, but it was different to actually see their work in action. It made him feel a bit better about all the paperwork.

[Fionraella]

Liwei shrugged. "Sounds like a plan. Of course, I could always just say you were escorting me to, uh.. look for last year's financial reports." He follows her with much less trepidation, eager to see more details of what the experimentation actually entailed. Of course, he had read the plans, but it was different to actually see their work in action. It made him feel a bit better about all the paperwork.

@xiaomiau

The woman nods slowly. "Financial reports, good idea." She chuckles a bit. "I don't know which scientists have the kids. Hopefully they got nice ones. Misha, the girl, seems super scared, I'd hate for her to be stuck in experimentation with some hardass scientist. You know what I mean?" She asks, turning down another hall, trying to remember the way to the secret place to watch.

[xiaomiau]

Liwei frowns. "We really need to look into better PR for this whole project. The poor kids probably don't even know what this is all about." He weaved behind her, glancing from side to side at the unfamiliar walls of parts of the facility he had never walked.

[Fionraella]

Liwei frowns. "We really need to look into better PR for this whole project. The poor kids probably don't even know what this is all about." He weaved behind her, glancing from side to side at the unfamiliar walls of parts of the facility he had never walked.

@xiaomiau

The woman nods in agreement. "Misha seems so frightened, worried we were going to kill her, poor darling." She sighs heavily. "I hate seeing kids' faces get all sad and worried. Brings on wrinkles later in life you know." She pauses and listens before heading down another hall. "You don't have a problem with small cramped spaces do you Liwei?"