Irell Starling

Escape from Syrae (Irell Starling)

Name: Ryen Arleth
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Occupation: Cargo Ship Mechanic
Alignment: Neutral Good



Bios: Selections from the Memory Log of

Title of Recording: Why do I do this?

”My father once asked me the point behind creating memory logs because I never forget things. I had to think of this for a while. I guess because I’m hoping that one day these logs will be important to someone. You see, when I die the chip in my brain will no longer receive electrical energy from my body and self-destruct. My father did this so that no one could remove the chip out of my brain- it being one of a kind. But what that means is that when I die, all my knowledge will forever be lost. Just like a normal being of flesh. The memory logs ensure that some part of me goes on long after the rest of me ceases to exist. I find it comforting.”

Title of Recording: Memory Chip

”Everyone’s body uses electricity, the created current between anions and cations, more specifically the flow of electrons due to the different potentials in the cells. It tells out heart to beat, and our muscles to move. It’s this energy that powers the memory chip in my brain. Some scientist claim the reason we forget things is because our brain loses the ability to find the information. It’s like forgetting where you put a tool in a shed. The tool is still there, you just have to remember where to locate it. The chip my father installed in my brain helps it to better organize my thoughts, allowing me to easily retrieve any memory. The physical price is a slightly higher metabolism. This psychological price is… different.”

Title of Recording: Home World

”While I wasn’t born on Syrae ( or FDRY776 as it’s known to the Federation) it’s the only place I can remember living. We were six when I arrived, shortly after my memory chip was installed. It’s a cold planet, the surface being completely covered in ice all year round. There are few native species, none of them with sentient capabilities. It was first colonized by a group of scientists over 900 years ago. Others eventually came seeking freedom from the Federation’s rule or a safe haven on a planet where people don’t dig up the past. The scattered cities are built on geothermal vents and derive their power from the planet’s superhot core. It’s a hodgepodge of technology and cultures. Traders come by often, swapping out dated Federation Technology for ore and high quality gems found under Syrae’s ice-capped peaks. I miss my home.

Title of Recording: Why I left

”My father is dead. No. What I mean to say is my father was murdered. I'm not sure why... or at least if I am I'm afraid to record the reason down here. I know what those people wanted... but they'll never get it. That's why I have to leave Syrae. ”

Restraint (my Lalia & Starling)

What will be Kassie's fate? Will she be taken by the police?

Restraint (MST3K 4ever & Starling)

I was hoping Nym could bump into Martin casually. She obviously doesn't need to know what he's about but it could allow her to recognize him in the future if she sees him with Charles. As for Ellen.... I have no clue. Unless maybe Nym bumps into her instead??

Either way, perhaps the Rebels ought to make some counter move to the police Raid the following evening.

Restraint (my Lalia & Starling)

Tuesday: 708 pm

Enrick Valdea

I could barely register the kiss before the alarms went off. All I had been thinking about what how impossibly soft her lips were, how her breath, flavored by spiced rum, felt warm against my cheek. I could still feel her hand, bunched on the fabric against my shirt. It felt terribly addictive. I stared into her eyes, our noses only inches away. I had a terribly wonderful idea. I wanted more. My right hand automatically rose up and slid across her elbow toward her wrist. I leaned in…

”You talk too much."

And then it was gone. She was suddenly at her usual distance and the lights in the bar had flicked to emergency haze red. I wasn’t given much time to mourn over the situation, I had other, more important things to worry about.

”Don’t be a hero…”

”You shouldn’t be here,” I replied. I was irritated, more than I ought to be but I refused to think about why. I didn’t say it to be mean, I wasn’t petty. I knew Kassie hasn’t kissed me because she liked to toy with men’s emotions. I said it because it was true.

Around me the panic had already started. The patrons pulled at the door, as if somehow the fifth time they jerked on the handlem the lock mechanism would magically release. A new cocktail waitress was screaming at my manager, demanding to know what was going on. A few people tried to click through the news data feed on their regulation digital watches. From their irritated faces, I was guessing they weren’t working. Besides Kassie and I, only the band members seemed resigned to the situation. And why wouldn’t they be? They were getting paid no matter what. Lucky bastards.

I moved away to pour a drink for the singer before returning back to my partner’s side. ”You really shouldn’t drink so much of that,” I said and tapped the label, ”For one you’ve drunk about a week’s worth of my pay and for another it’s specially designed to go right to your head. Insta-drunk as I like to say.” I took the bottle away and returned with a glass of water.

I didn’t understand why she needed to be drinking quite so much. She’d visited me several times at the bar but I’d never seen her go at it like this. ”If the kiss was that bad that you have to drink just to forget it, we don’t have to do it again.” I said, trying to lighten the mood. It was clear from her behavior she was feeling upset about something. ”But in all seriousness, they’ll be screening people soon…” I watched her face for any change of expression. ”…I’ll think of something. They can’t have you.” Too.

I was tired of having the people I cared about stolen from me by the government. And if they could, they certainly would try to steal her away. Unlike me, your average working class citizen, Kassie had no papers and no legitimate source of income. It seemed like in the Rebel’s world either you were slumming at two jobs or in too deep to hold even one. ”I’ll just vouch for you. Maybe you’re my roommate or my long term-girlfriend.” It was one of the few perks of lower citizenship. So long as we promised not to breed too much, we could choose our romantic interests. ”You…uh…just forgot your papers at home.” I wondered if she heard the desperation in my voice.

---

Tuesday: 708 pm

Louissa Essair

We didn’t bother waiting for the check, we simply grabbed our things and headed to his car. While I was in the restaurant, the whole affair felt dream-like. Like it was happening to some other Louisa in a far-away place and time. Then I sat down on soft leather seats, the car door slammed beside me, and everything fell into place. There had been an explosion at Section 8. The Section I had been doing the security details on. The Section Gabriel had been overseeing. Would they think we had something to do with it? Did he blame me? I hazarded a look towards him out of the corner of my eye. He seemed relaxed but his eyes were focused on the road. I took in his flawless face and full lips that looked soft and inviting. I never stood a chance.

The car radio was off from the drive over when we’d been chatting but I wasn’t brave enough to break the silences Around us I could hear police sirens as blazing red lights lit up the night. It felt like the world was going to end and in some ways it was, at least for me.
We pulled into the garage of the Security Office. It was ill lit but at least it didn’t have any flashing red alarm lights. We sat there in silence, neither one of us wanting to go in just yet. Not being able to help it, I began to fidget with my hands in my lap.

I looked over at Gabriel. ”I…” What was there to say? Anything I could think of just made me seem guiltier. But looking into his startlingly blue eyes, the same eyes I’d tried to make sparkle for months, I forgot about the sirens and the alarms and the awkward silence. For all I knew, I could be marching out of my meeting in handcuffs. Working for the Security Office had taught me that innocence didn’t mean much when it came to matters of public safety.

My tongue brushed across my mouth as I nervously licked my lips. ”I…I’ve wanted to do this for such a long time and I worry if I don’t…” Then I acted before I had time to think and second guess my actions. My fingers reached out and ran through his silky blonde hair to the base of his neck. His mouth felt as good as I’d always imagined it would as even the barest caress sent tingles down my spine. My toes curled, my heart spend up, I swallowed the urge to moan.

Restraint (my Lalia & Starling)

I'm working on this post next. :)

The Fourth Blight {Irell Starling x Reaper}

As Kaitlyn had hoped, the day’s ride had been blissfully uneventful. The two hadn’t spoken since leaving the inn and now the sun was slinking back down towards the horizon. The road, earlier that morning had cut through the edge of the forests they’d traveled through yesterday. Normally soldier’s would patrol the roads in between the villages and small townships but their presence was wanted elsewhere on the continent. Kaitlyn and Thea passed only one other traveler, a merchant heading the opposite direction with a wagon full of winter rye and a tiered looking mare. As suggested, Kaitlyn cut back across rolling farmlands. After cresting a large hill, the capital of Orlais came into view.

”Welcome to Val Royeaux”

An expansive city rose up from the ground, giant stone walls protecting its citizens from ancient foes. The Waking Sea, the large body of water that cut across the middle of Thedas could been seen sparkling in the sun just south of the city’s limits. “See that white building up on the hill?” Kaitlyn said, pointing, her face full of relief.



”That’s the White Spire. That’s where we’re going. If you think it’s impressive now, just wait until night fall. We’re almost there now. I can just taste the hot meal now. Come on!” With a whoop of joy, Kaitlyn forgot the warm sickness that had haunted over her all day. Leaning forward, the Templar urged her mouth into a gallop and sent clods of dirt up as the sped down the hill towards the city gates.

Restraint (MST3K 4ever & Starling)

I felt like an eleven-year-old. It was that nervous, jittery sensation. The kind you got when your best friend handed a note to your crush, stating your feelings and you waited for a response. That almost stifling sense of expectation. I kept checking my watch waiting for a message. It was almost lunch time. Surely Charles was out of bed. Surely he’d seen my scrawled note on the kitchen countertop.

”Please write down all the prescriptions and supplements you’re taking. I’ll explain later.”

It was sloppily scrawled on the front of a napkin. I still wasn’t sure what made me do it. Perhaps his taunting words about us both having secrets? Maybe reading the details side effects of the more horrendous drugs my lab had created over the years? I’d scrawled it down and ran out the door before I’d had the chance to really think about the consequences of my actions.

”Why?” –Charles Plygaurd

The word scrawled across my screen as Dr. Lark pressed a hand against the center of my back. I almost jumped out of my skin.

”Are you alright, Nym?” he said, searching my face.

”Yeah,” I said, trying not to concentrate on the heat radiating from his palm, ”Just really concentrated, is all.” ”Did he always touch me like this?”

”I understand,” he said in a friendly tone and backed away as if sensing my unease. ”I just wanted to let you know that I’d be out of the lab this afternoon. I have a progress meeting.” He paused as if considering something. ”You weren’t interested in coming along, were you?”

”No,” I said, offering another smile. It was hard to relax under his intense scrutiny. I tried to mentally shake myself. It wasn’t as if he knew what I’d been up to yesterday evening. So then why did it feel like all the air was leaving the room? ”I need to stop by the police station to file a report.”

”It wasn’t your roommate, was it?”

I wondered if everyone knew about my living situation? I knew I could thank Sally for that. Then I noticed his eyes skimming over the message playing and replaying on my watch. ”No, nothing like that.” Without meaning to I brought my other hand over my wrist. ”One of my friend’s seems to have disappeared. She hasn’t been answering her phone so…”

”Ah. Well people are known to disappear…” With that he turned off his computer, hung up his lab coat and headed off. I knew what Dr. Lark was getting at, but I highly doubted Claudette was involved with any sort of rebellion. Then again, I never suspected my brother. Grabbing my purse, I locked the lab behind me and headed out.

---

The building itself was a bit intimidating. Large windows of one-way glass reflected on the passersby, judging us, finding mostly of us unworthy. I barely got through the door before I was examined to an inch of my life. A metal detector, a chemical sensor, a retina scanner, and a few other things that even I, being a top notch scientists, had no idea what they were for. Ultimately I was deemed safe and was given a security sticker and a bottle of water. I promptly gave the unopened bottle back. Who knew what had been put into it.

I waited in line until it was time for me to present myself to one of the many identically clad secretaries behind identically decorated desks. ”Present your case.” she announced as I walked up.

”I would like to file a missing persons report.”

She looked up from her computer, annoyance clear on her meticulous waxed face, ”You know you can do that…”

”I tried that yesterday but seeing as I haven’t gotten a response yet, I decided to come in person.” It was clear she wasn’t impressed by my decision, but I fingered my work badge still pinned to my shirt. It would be clear to her, just who I was, and the rank I held in society. I didn’t like to pull class rank but sometimes it came in handy.

”You’ll have to see Wanda.” I nodded. ”She’s in the Domestic Crimes Unit. They handle disappearances but they’re prob. pretty busy this time of year.” I mentally checked my snide comment about what time of year disappearances weren’t a problem. ”Rick will let you in,” she said, nodding to a man guarding a door to my left. ” It’s easy. You’ll go strait, take the first left turn, pass three doorways then hang a right. After the third “T” intersection you’ll see the break room straight ahead. Then you need to take two lefts… wait… a left and then a right… or was it two rights? Anyways, after that the Domestic Crimes Unit is the second door. You’ll know which on it is because it’s brown. Got that?”

I nodded. I wasn’t going to tell her, I had no idea where I was going. Not when she looked at me like I was gum on the bottom of her pristine red heals. It wasn’t until I was on the other side of the door, hearing the faint whisper of voices and taping of keyboards that I even realized that all the doors were brown.

The Fourth Blight {Irell Starling x Reaper}

Heads up, I'm working on a post.

Restraint (MST3K 4ever & Starling)

Heads up, I'm working on a post.

The Fourth Blight {Irell Starling x Reaper}

Should I also time skip the journey to the Circle or did you want more time on the open road?