[IC] Genesis Ex Machina

[Bell]

Opening her eyes for what felt like the first time ever, a girl found herself locked in some sort of pod. It wasn't the most comfortable fit, and she barely had enough room to move her arms. As if by instinct, she reached out, taking hold of a lever, and pulled it hard. There was a hissing sound, before a door in front of her pushed out, and then ejected, flying a few feet and bouncing off a vehicle before sliding down the road. She felt the need to get out, to wherever she was, and so she took her first step forward, almost stumbling as she felt like she had to stop and think about how to walk.

Her head hurt... like it was used to create the crater around her, instead of the pod behind her. It took her a long few moments to get herself focused, to get her senses back. She was barely able to focus on anything. Slowly though, it all came back to her. At least, her senses did. The first thing she noticed was bits of cold hitting her face. Looking up, she could see rain falling from the sky. This lead her to her second realization. Though dark, the sky far above was clearly made of glass. How rain was falling, she didn't know for sure. Her first guess was the pod she just came out of fell through the glass sky above, and let the rain in. Then again, maybe there was some form of unnatural rain built into that giant ceiling over the...

And her third realization. She was in a city, surrounded by towering buildings each at least thirty stories high. It made it difficult to get a grasp of her surroundings, as she didn't know how big the city was, how big that dome even was. She wasn't sure where this was, why she was here, or whose city this was. And that thought lead her to her final realization.

She was completely alone, with not a soul around. The city looked alive enough, bright glowing neon signs, lights on in the buildings, vehicles around, some of them on... but, no people. Why was it so, empty? And if she was so alone, why did she feel so, in danger? For some reason not being able to see people made her feel even more threatened, as if there was a lurking danger around the corner. It wasn't as if all the people had disappeared into hiding so they could get the drop on her, right? And yet she felt exactly that way, as if she was about to be ambushed.

She barely had time to even ask herself the questions... who was she, where was she, why was she here? Her body screamed to get out of the open, to find cover and form a plan. But how could she form a plan, if she didn't even know... anything?

Once again acting on instinct, she turned to the pod, and reached out to its side. A hatch opened, and out slid a space with a massive weapon in it, a long white blade as big as she was. She grabbed it and lifted it, expecting it to be heavy and yet, it weighed nothing to her. Judging by the appearance alone, it was very advanced, and not just a simple chunk of metal meant for cutting. As she stepped away, placing the sword in a slot on her back, she eyed the pod, and noted a large "37" on it.

She waited for just a moment, thinking on it, before turning to an alleyway and walking from the pod. She had what she needed... a weapon, and a name. 37... She felt it was connected to her, it felt so, familiar. It could be anything but, somehow, she felt like 37... was her. And so that was it, Thirty-Seven, would be her name. Until she could remember what her real name was. It couldn't just be a number right?

Why couldn't she remember anything. Why was she here... she had too many questions, and no signs of answers as she walked through the alleyway, until she saw something ahead... something... very small?

[Sierra]

It began with a crash. The shattering of glass and rending of metal shouting over the dull rumbling made by the pod. Sirens shrieked inside, piercing the ears of its lone occupant. A column of smoke and vapor chased the contraption that plunged itself into the corner of a structure, coming to rest wedged in an alley after a brutal and destructive landing.

Half-consciousness came over him, a subtle ringing waking him from black. Bits of metal and shimmering debris floated outside a frosted window. The jagged, blocky horizon in the distance slowly rose, shaking the window. Red pulses came and went in the fringes of vision. The ringing grew to a warbling whine, and then the black came again. The ringing woke him a second time. Beyond the window stood a structure which had a good two feet of material gouged from its side, as if by an enormous shovel. The pulsing red and screaming alarms pulled him from slumber. Aware of the machine around him panicking like a stuck pig, adrenaline and reflex kicked in. Hands slammed against the window, and then pulled two levers above, ejecting the front panel. He pulled a sidearm from a compartment he wasn't aware of and checked the immediate surroundings.

The immediate surroundings: a cityscape. Rain dripped across his head, along the barrel of the weapon, against the fallen front panel of the pod. Neon light of varying colors seeped across the landscape like bleeding paint. None of it seemed familiar. Why had he dropped here? Why had he dropped at all? The figure lay in contemplation, staring up at a hole in the domed sky above him. Why was the sky domed? There was so many questions. None of them had answers. He tried to recall why he dropped, but found nothing. Absolutely nothing. Everything before was blank, save for the occasional sensation: a sound, a voice, a blur of color ... useless fragments of a memory that no longer remained.

Devoid of knowledge, he climbed from the pod. Moving his legs felt unnatural, as if he had forgotten how to stand. But stand he did, and handle a pistol like a soldier he did: good trigger discipline, proper sight picture, stable grip. It seemed muscle memory was still intact. He reached for a second compartment, this one containing a large weapon case. Some higher instinct also remained, telling him to seek shelter.

There was an absence of people on the streets. It was night time, or at least seemed to be as near as he could tell with a dome overhead, but it was still a city. Cities had people constantly, so where were they? The dearth was even more concerning than presence would have been. 'It's the one you don't see that kills you,' he thought to himself. He ... he had a name. Everyone had a name. So why could he not remember even that? More questions, and still no answers. He moved around the back of the building with the gash in it, presumably made by the pod on the way down. He must have hit his head. Surely that was the reason for this amnesia. The case was emblazoned with digits painted on with a spray can and a paper stencil: 0 7. He noticed the same number on his chest plate. It seemed familiar. He knew he'd heard it before, but was with everything he came up blank on where.

Opening the case, he instinctively knew this was his gear. The unconscious recognition was there, even if the conscious memory wasn't. A rifle with various alternate parts, a few full magazines, and attachments were all tucked neatly in their foam slots. An empty pistol-shaped slot was also there, no doubt for the sidearm he picked up moments ago. He reached under the foam layer, lifting it up to reveal a change of clothing. Good. Hard plate ballistic armor was not good for blending in. Pants and a black trench coat would be better than that.

* * *

He adjusted the collar, picked up the case, and stared up into the rain. How it was raining inside a dome was a good question, but hardly a priority at a time like this. He stared at the two holes in the dome. Two ... 'Was that there before?' He swore it wasn't. Something had put a second hole in the dome. If his pod put the first one in, then a second pod could do the same. A second pod meant a second person and that could mean answers.

He tried to take a mental note of the direction. He knew to stay off the streets. No one else was on them for whatever reason, so neither should he be. There were no crowds for cover and that meant sticking out like a sore thumb. He didn't even know where he was, let alone what would happen were he discovered. He couldn't shake the feeling he was very much unwelcome here. He headed down an alleyway in the rough path towards the second hole, hoping it also came more or less straight down. If it didn't, it could be anywhere in this god-forsaken place.

[Sylvan]

Falling. That was what stuck out to her, falling through an endless sky. Until all of a sudden there was no more sky, and she was no longer falling.

Opening her eyes with a start, she realized she was in a pod of some kind, facing a window with levers on either side. After blinking away the last bits of fog from her mind, she pulled the levers and kicked out, sending the clear pane flying across the street she landed in and hopping out of the pod, stumbling on landing as her body remembered how its legs worked. Turning back to the pod, she noticed a blinking light next to an inset lever, which she pulled to reveal a pop-out compartment containing a chest piece with 04 stenciled on the shoulders, arm guards and shin guards, which she put on, slotting them into slots that felt right on her suit, and a submachine gun on a sling, feeling more and more exposed the longer she was in the vicinity of her pod, which had made one hell of a crash landing, as shown by the gouge it left in a nearby building and the street between it and her.

If that hasn't caught somebodies attention, I don't know what will. I need to get out of here, but where do I go? the woman thought to herself, looking around for a moment before noticing the three holes in the canopy. One was clearly the one she had come through, but the other two were a mystery, so she decided to move in the direction of the other two holes, setting off at an easy jog with her eyes and ears alert for any signs of danger. As she jogged, though, her mind had time to mull over the events of the past few minutes.

Who am I? For that matter, where am I and why do I have this extreme feeling of danger? It doesn't look like there is anything living here. For that matter, where are they? She paused for a moment, mentally and physically, to process this new revelation before resuming her jog. For that matter, Who are they? All I know is that someone is missing, maybe multiple someones? And why does it hurt trying to remember? Ah well, I just hope whatever made those other two holes are friendly. Maybe the came down like me.