Nosuchthing

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

No worries, need to catch up on reading anyway, plus got a new character in the works, might throw a few questions via skype if that's cool :)?

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

Ok, been sooooo busy the last few weeks, seems to have calmed down though.

I'm really sorry I've not been posting, going to read up on what I've missed and then post if that's cool :)?

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

---

Commander Shepherd.

---

Alice closed her eyes, then opened them again somewhere else. Well not exactly. She was still in the same room, just six feet to the south and standing. Standing…

She looked down, curious which form her power had granted her this time. She was slowly learning how to control it, but even so she seemed to have little control over the forms that she could generate. This one was new, and her least favourite so far as her curious gaze revealed an immodest, scantily clad body, covered by only the barest pretence of armour, though she was grateful for the long ribbon that wrapped about this form. Deep purple, it criss-crossed her body and wrapped around and down each arm to end in two long, gleaming blades. Alabaster. Though she had been distracted by the blades for a moment, it didn’t last long, and she soon realised she was barely dressed. Alabaster blushed, even though there was no one to see her. She was far more scantily clad than she had ever been before and she briefly considered taking clothes from the closet before realising that they clearly wouldn’t fit her well over six foot form. This form was an almost identical replica of the hero in game, she really hoped she couldn’t get sued for copyright infringement over this.

She looked back to herself under the covers, apparently blissfully asleep, and totally unmoving save for the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath. It was strange, an out of body experience without death. She looked around the room a little more, it looked like any other girls room, barring the wheel chair and the mass of pill containers on the bedside table. She felt a sudden flash of anger at the weakness of the girl before her, and swept the pills onto the floor. There was a plastic clatter, and she felt herself flicker, her vision fading out and back in as her real body moved restlessly in bed.

Knowing staying here couldn’t be good Alabaster turned to the window and slid it soundlessly open, then, without looking back, flung herself silently out into the night…

---

She had simply run, she didn’t care where, simply glorying in the pure freedom that running felt like now. Though this was a huge difference to how she had been even before the wheelchair. This form certainly came with its advantages, she reasoned, as she leapt the fourteen foot gap between buildings, landing without even breaking stride and continuing to run. She wasn’t tired, not even slightly, and she had a co-ordination she couldn’t even dream of in her ungainly form, maybe it was something to do with this form being a construct of her mind, but it meant she could do everything that the character Alabaster could do and more.

She screeched to a sudden halt, in her wild flight across the rooftops she hadn’t realised exactly just how far she was going, and suddenly there were no more roofs, only a sheer drop off the edge of the edge. It was only a few stories, but still a lot farther than any human could drop and survive intact. Alabaster stepped off. She fell straight down, the air rushing past strangely muted through this forms senses, and then she flung out one arm, the blade carrying the ribbon forward and out to spin around the railing of the building. The falling, glowing figure suddenly jerked to the right and swung out from the building, nearing ground level at increasing speed, but not such an oblique angle. An apparently effortless flick of the wrist loosened the ribbon from its hold at the same time as the white skinned, beribboned figure hit the ground running…

Straight into a warzone, she had arrived at the beach and skidded across what was suddenly glass instead of sand. She stopped beside a girl she vaguely recognised and stared dumbly at the scene of chaos that had greeted her.

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

Ugh, still working on my new charrie, just had loooooads of work over the weekend

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

---

Jennifer Caspin, & Alice Shepherd.

---

Written in collaboration with @Mr Allen J

After a few minutes to allow Jen to change her clothes, she was wearing something a bit more appropriate than a T-shirt, and shorts. She was wearing a T-shirt with an intricate elephant pattern, and torn jean shorts. She had on an artist berrett. She was walking down the street, pushing Alice's wheelchair (Which still felt weird). It's definitely something that she'll have to get used to. Not everyone had a super regenerative system like she did. Though, that wasn't what she was worried about. Jen was constantly looking around. Checking out every corner, and every window. Her attention was more on searching for possible threats than Alice.

Alice wasn't exactly enjoying being pushed down the street, it was another aspect of a changed life, at least if she rolled herself down the street she still had some sort of independence. That said, it seemed that maybe it was offering Jen some sort of comfort. Alice couldn't see her, but she could almost sense the nervous energy emanating from the girl behind her.

"Are you feeling ok?"

"Ummm...." Jen quickly scrambled for an answer. Quickly saying the first thing that came to mind, "Yeah. I'm... fine." She knew that was far from the truth. Her heart was racing, and she was constantly on the lookout. For anyone that might look like a member of the Hands of Science.

Problem was that they blend in just like anyone else. Every person that passed by her could want to hurt her.

Jen let out a sigh as they approached a corner. The light turned red, so they had to wait as the cars pushed on past them. She tried to calm herself, but she found it hard. It was like a nervous tic that forced her to scan the area and keep an eye out at all times.

"Columbiana-Heights is like, right down the street." Jen said. Hoping that Alice wouldn't want to go to a park or something.

I'm fine, two words that were rarely truthfully spoken, and in this case they probably weren't. Alice didn't pry any further though, she was hardly innocent of the same crime. They stopped at the junction, and Alice twisted a little to look back at Jen with a raised eyebrow.

"I was in hospital for two weeks, not two decades, last I checked there are no Metas who can rearrange city blocks. I know where it is."

"Oh yeah, um... sorry. I'm just..." She trailed off, letting that sentence hang loose. Jen scratched the back of her neck, and at the corner of her blue eyes, she saw that the light had turned green. She hoped that this would remove the awkwardness of the situation. You know it isn't going away until you get back into the house. She thought, as her hand went to the back of her neck. She started pushing her way through the street, and eventually, they stepped out of University Row, and stepped right into Columiana Heights.

Alice sighed, "it's fine, I'm just a bit... yeah."

They were immediately greeted with a scenic park that was right up against one of the many rivers. "So, we're here... what do you want to do? Just walk?" Jen asked Alice, looking down at her.

Alice bristled again at Jen's faux pas, "I dunno, I just wanted to hang out with someone, in real life, get out of the house, pretend that things are still the same!"

She took a breath, "don't you ever feel like that sometimes?"

Jen awkwardly coughed after Alice's little outburst. It felt like Jen was... pushing a sore spot. Irritating Alice with every word that she said. She wondered if she could do better by just keeping quiet. "Yeah..." Jen said, but she kept her mouth shut. There was more she had to say, but maybe she figured that she should keep it to herself. With that raging nervousness she's suffering by just being outside impairing her social ability.

A droplet of rain hitting her in the head made her shudder. She looked up, and saw that clouds were forming at astonishing rates. And rain was beginning to drop down.

"Huh?" Jen put her hand out. "There wasn't rain in the forecast..."

Alice looked up as well, the clouds were dark and intimidating, a far cry from the relatively clear skies that had heralded the day. She was momentarily distracted, both from her anger, and the fact that she had probably just upset one of the few friends she had left.

"That's..." she looked at Jen, "a Meta?"

"It... might be." Jen noted. "Only explaination. NEST is going to give him shit for this."

She tugged at her arm, "maybe we should get inside, before it gets heavier."

Yeah... It's best that they get inside. Maybe one of the cafes? Jen had a few dollars on her, enough to pay for a drink or two. "I know a place, come on...." Jen pushed forward, and crossed the bridge they were approaching. She wished she brought an umbrella.

Right when they reached the other side, a large splash came from the river as a creature, hidden behind a silhouette, leaped out. It latched it's claws onto the side of the building, as it's humanoid frame hung off the building. It was no bigger than a taller-than-average male, except, it had no head. It's torso was one big oval, that gave off a glowing green light that was it's sole eye. It had long, strong arms, like an ape, but short legs.

It spotted the girls, and used it's powerful arms to climb it's way onto the building. Where it followed from a distance.

Alice managed to contain her irritation as Jen continued to push her, they crossed the bridge relatively quickly, but there was a sound of something heavy landing in the water. She looked about, but saw nothing, only the fall of rain, movement that she automatically dismissed.

The rain was growing heavier already, enough to begin obscuring their vision, turning the people before them into mere blurred figures. Before long they were both drenched, and Alice's hair clung to her face in wet strands.

"I guess we were too slow. Where the f**k did that come from?"

"Where did what?" Jen asked, confused as to what Alice was looking at. Just to get an idea, she turned her head, and merely saw a glimpse of something quickly moving out of sight. It damn near sent Jen into a panic.

Her heart started racing as fear and adrenaline started coursing through her system. She immediately started pushing Alice a bit faster. "Yeah-yeah, we should go now..." She quickly said, trying to restrain herself from an all out sprint.

Alice gripped the arms of the wheelchair at the sudden increase in speed, maybe Jen didn't realise it, but it was obvious to Alice that something had unnerved her companion. She tried to look behind her, but at the speed they were moving there was almost no point.

"Jen it's just rain, we can't really get any wetter at this point."

Jen barely even paid attention to her. She was more focused on getting out of here than anything. She knew it was one of the Hands of Science's things. It had to be! Which is why she had to get far away from it as possible. Jen didn't even think about Alice for a minute there. All she thought that she was doing was hauling some weight.

She spotted a cafe's sign, which was the perfect place to hide. Jen quickly ran up to the door, and turned her back to it, and pushed her way inside. Before turning both of them around, and got full view of the rustic-looking cafe, with a full wooden frame that made it up. Tables, chairs, and a counter where people got their drinks.

The first thing that Jen did was turn around, and didn't see that thing. Maybe... it just went away. Yeah. She was safe now. She let out a sigh as she started taking steps forward. With her hair, and her clothes soaken wet.

"Are you okay?" Jen asked, legitimately concerned for her friend. "Um... nevermind. Want a drink?"

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

WP

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

Ouch...

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

---

Jennifer Marissa Caspin, & Commander Shepherd.

---

Alice was not at all surprised to see Jen's surprised reaction. She hadn't seen her since before the fair, or talked to her. She hadn't really talked to anyone outside of her family and the team. Online it was just that little bit easier to pretend nothing had changed. They didn't have to see how she looked now. In fact Dr34dno0ught was the only one who knew, she'd felt obliged to tell him after she hadn't been online for two weeks. They knew she lived in Verthaven, so had been worried when they learned people had died at fair, she wasn't quite sure how to broach the topic of her new disability with people yet. Apparently simply showing up on their doorstep wasn't the way to go about it.

She grimaced, "hey Jen, sorry to kind of spring this on you," she shrugged in response to the younger girl's question, "I was at the fair, and got hit."

Her eyes looked very far away for a moment as she obviously relived some moment of the past, then she looked back to Jen. "I was lucky..."

Eager to change the subject, she moved on, "what about you, you ok?"

That fair.... Images of what happened flashed before Jen's eyes - because she saw it with her own two eyes. She could not believe that Alice was there, all while Jen was hauling ass with Ratchet. Jen scratched the back of her neck and looked away - and her eyes shot open when she realized that she was outside. Out in the open. Trickles of sweat started dripping down her forehead as she thought about who (Or what) could be watching her. Planning their next course of action in taking her back to the place that haunted her.

Jen didn't even think about the fact that she's standing out in the open in a less-than-modest outfit. She was literally at a lost for words. Once again, she could only say the first thing that came to mind.

"I... I'm so sorry that happened to you." Jen muttered, looking around. She was fairly unsure of how to go about answering Alice's question. By all means, she was far from okay. Yet, she saw this as an opportunity to talk about this to someone. "Can't say that I was..." Jen scratched the back of her neck. "... You're keeping up with the news, right?"

Alice did not have the issue with being outside that Jen had, she wasn't even afraid of being alone, at least that wouldn't mean knowing that maybe she could have done something, anything to save them. She could see Jen's discomfort though, it was obvious, she was sweating, avoiding eye contact. It didn't take a psychologist to deduce that this was a girl who was seriously struggling with her current situation.

"Yeah, everyone's sorry, it's not their fault, no one made me go to the fair, you don't have to apologise!"

Alice realised that she had raised her voice a little, and couldn't help but smile a little at the irony, "sorry, I'm just sick of people saying sorry..."

When she shouted, Jen took a step back. Okay. Maybe she pushed a button. "Sorry..." Jen found herself apologizing again. She hadn't even considered that. She, for a moment, thought about it. While she was running for her life, Alice was bleeding to death. She wondered if she could have helped Alice. Or, if while she was running, she passed right on by Alice in her rush to get out of there.

She shook her head, "I've not really been paying much attention, it's just more about the last two weeks, and things are depressing enough without adding to it."

I have to explain it... Don't I? Jen thought to herself, while avoiding eye-contact with Alice as much as possible. She doubt that she could look her in the eye while explaining. While Jen walked over to the stairs to her house, she thought about how to phrase it. How to explain it. Yet, every time she thought about it, she could just feel that monster's hands inside of her, and she had to remind herself that everything was fine. She had regenerated. She shuddered, as she sat down on the stairs. Her gaze was fixated on the ground at her feet.

"Well... Have you heard of the Hands of Science?" Jen asked. Alice had to know about it. Even if she hadn't... she would have a bit of trouble trying to explain it.

Alice half shook her head, she'd been in a hospital for the better part of two weeks, and been less than inclined to ressearch current events when she came out. Even so, she had heard them spoken of, "a little, don't they experiment on metas?"

Her voice caught a little, you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it, but it was enough to give away her new secret. Though hopefully not to the clearly distracted Jennifer.

"I...." Jen trailed off, as she thought about a different way to start off. "Two weeks ago, me and my friends were... kidnapped by them." She started off, but found herself unable to continue. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with a hand. Before taking a deep breath in. She figured that she should keep her mouth shut about the details. "It should be obvious, but we got out.... yet, I can't stop thinking about what happened in there." She looked off to the side.

"You were..?" Alice fell silent, not quite sure how to continue.

"Yeah... It was... fucked up." Jen ran her hand through her hair.

"But you aren't a..."

Alice would have face-palmed, but it somehow didn't seem appropriate, "a meta..?"

"Are you?"

"Regenerator." Jen blankly says. At this point, she could care less about keeping it a secret. NEST knows about it. Her family knows about it. Her friends know about it. "A few weeks ago... I helped someone, and she gave me regeneration." She just concisely explained it, leaving out all the other details. She didn't care if Alice turned away right now, and never spoke to her again. This is the burden she has to carry now.

The burden of an abnormal life.

Many other people might have said that was cool, and Alice would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous, but she didn't say anything. She wasn't glad she was a metahuman, and god knows what had happened to Jen when she had been kidnapped by a group known only for experimenting on Metahumans. She probably felt a little less than lucky. The Doctors had told Alice she had been lucky, she'd been in critical condition, but somehow once stabilised she'd made a miraculous recovery. She should have been dead, but she wasn't, Michelle and Sophie were, sometimes Alice wondered if it wouldn't have been better if she'd joined them.

"Did you... you know... register?"

Alice hadn't, she wasn't sure if she should, if it was safe. She'd not been paying attention to the news, not enough to have an accurate understanding about what was going on, but she'd overheard enough conversations in her hospital bed to know that NEST had something to do with the Fiends attack on the fair. How could she trust them with her identity?

"Had... no choice... NEST found me out after they got me out of there." Jen scratched the back of her neck. Then let out a sigh. "I wish they hadn't... I never asked for this - any of this." She remembered the time when she wanted to keep her power a secret, and keep going. Now, anyone and their grandmother can just hack into NEST and get her identity. Who knows who's out there. Maybe someone might want to steal her Regeneration now.

"That... sucks I guess... Especially after what happened, I mean I haven't been watching the news but people talk you know. And to be honest I wouldn't want to be in NESTs database right now."

Alice half-smiled, and shrugged, "I don't think either of us ever asked for this, but we've got it, so we might as well make the most of it right?"

There was a faint pleading note in her voice, as if she didn't quite believe what she was saying herself, but was trying to put on a front for the world. A front that said that really, she was ok.

"So did they put you on house arrest or something?"

So, that means that Alice, too, is a Metahuman. Not that Jen was particularly surprised at this point. People manisfest a lot, and those people are drawn to each other. After she manisfested, she learned much more about the people of Verthaven than she had ever before. Exposed to the many faces that the city has to show. Alice asked her was she on house-arrest, which was silly.

"Well, no." Jen put her hands on the steps at her side. "I've just been... staying in lately. For... personal reasons." Jen explained. Though, meeting Alice here has really warmed her up a bit. Maybe she could use a walk. Nothing bad could happen during a walk, right?

"But, I could use a little walk. Columbiana Heights isn't that far away." Jen scratched the back of her neck. "Maybe we could walk there...?" She looked down, and saw that wearing nothing but a T-shirt and shorts is far from appropriate wear. "... After a little change of clothes, of course."

Alice nodded, understanding the desire to not really leave the house, especially after what had happened. It had been a feat of courage to open the door, let alone leave and head down the street. Now that she was out though, she was glad, there was a feeling of confiment that came with being cooped up in the house all day, and although she had only left half an hour ago already it was beginning to assuage that sensation, much as she wished she could go home already.

Alice had already noted Jen's clothes, it was pretty obvious she hadn't intended to leave the house today, but Alice's visit maybe had her convinced. Alice didn't really know why, it had hardly been the most optimistic conversation, but maybe it had reminded Jen, as it had reminded Alice, that shit happened to other people too.

"That's ok, I can just wait out here till you're changed."

She had bristled a little when Jen had said 'walk there', but resisted the urge to snap at her, not when it seemed she had a friend to spend a little time with.

"I'll be right here."

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

Dr34dn0ught was coming around through the forest while neither Chex or Agrippa were responding in lane. Then Orb showed himself top.

“Go go go!”

Alice pinned Chex in place and yanked herself towards him with a flick of both blades, Dr34dn0ught’s shock collar flew through the air and Chex was rendered incapacitated for the few seconds Alice needed to finish him off with a flurry of deadly attacks. Agrippa had attempted to respond, but caught off guard by the sudden ferocity of the assault, was quickly locked down by a quick embrace from Serendippity. Alice turned to him and proceeded to eviscerate the helpless support.

Alice would have punched the air, but with the game balanced on a knife edge as it was a quick in game taunt had to do as they pushed up the lane to take the tower. Orb rotated to try and put a stop to their push, but a lucky lash from Serendippity sent him scurrying away on half health. The tower crumbled and Dr34dn0ught called a retreat.

“Time to go people, lets not get greedy.”

The game lasted maybe another ten minutes, but the final push had allowed Alice to pick up a Scissor blade and the ensuing carnage led to an even bigger lead, and eventually, victory. She sat back and rubbed her eyes, “ok guys I think I’m going to call it a night there, I’m kinda tired.”

Dr34dn0ught responded in kind, “same for me too, well played tonight guys, same time tomorrow sound good?”

There was a chorus of affirmatives, and one by one everyone signed out of the chat. Alice’s aging computer meant she had to quit out of the game first and eventually it was just her and Dr34dnought left.

“Are you sure you’re ok Regicide? It’s no big deal if you need some time to… you know…”

Alice nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. “I think I need this Dr34d, I need… I can think about something else while I’m playing…”

There was a moment of silence, “ok, well if you ever need a break it’s cool, sleep well Reg.”

“You too.”

They both signed out of the chat and Alice stared at the desktop for a moment. It was true, she couldn’t talk to her dad about it, and her mom was hardly at home right now, but Alice was struggling. She needed to come off early for reasons other than being told. She was missing the ball tonight, but she didn’t care, she didn’t want to be there and have people watching her because she was in a chair. She didn’t want to have to answer questions about it, or remember the fact that it was NESTs fault she was in this chair, and that Sophie and Michelle were dead.

She wheeled herself back from the desk once the computer had begun its shutdown, her bedroom was on the ground floor now, a couple of her dad’s friends had helped him to manhandle her bed down the stairs and put it in the small room of the hall. It felt strange being in a new room, and Alice wished it didn’t have to be the case. There were too many new things in her life now, just the way she moved around had to change, and her operational therapist was having to teach her new ways to deal with what had once been the simplest operations for her. She felt awfully selfish for it, but she wished that at least one thing could be the same in her life as it had once been. At least Vorpal hadn’t changed. It was something. Even if it was only a video game. Maybe she was lucky, Sophie and Michelle couldn’t worry about how people would look at them. It was their funeral next week. Alice had already decided not to go, she didn’t think she could look at their parents, let alone meet their no doubt accusing stares.

She did not sleep well.

---

Alice woke to the smell of frying bacon and fresh coffee, her dad must be cooking. He was guessing, correctly, that the smell of bacon would entice her from sleep. She levered herself up in bed, it was awkward on a soft surface, but eventually she was sitting up and awkwardly reached for her dressing gown. It was clear that her dad had already been in, her dressing gown had been hung over the back of her chair where she could reach it instead of the floor where she’d left it. In the past she would have hung it on the back of the door but there was no way she would have been able to retrieve it now. It was strange how she could miss something that simple.

She pulled it on and threw the covers back, awkwardly dragging herself into the chair, or at least trying to. Unpracticed as she was she placed too much weight against the chair and it rolled backwards, away from the bed. Suddenly devoid of support and unable to react fast enough Alice slipped and fell. It wasn’t loud, but even so she heard her dad pause in the kitchen.

“Alice..?”

“It’s fine dad I just fell.”

The sound of footsteps crossing the hall preceded his entry into the room. “Let me help you honey.”

Alice barely spoke as he helped her into the wheelchair, just a grumbled thanks as he settled her into it. Her dad smiled faintly, aware that she was embarrassed, and left her to it, “breakfast will be ready in a minute.”

She adjusted the dressing gown and tied it shut awkwardly, everything seemed more awkward when you were perpetually stuck in a seated position. Still, it was only a few minutes later when she rolled into the kitchen. Her dad placed a plate loaded with bacon and pancakes in front of her, then brought his own to the table. It was a heavy dining table, and something of a squeeze in the small kitchen, it had originally been in the room Alice now slept in, but her parents had moved it when it became apparent it was not realistic for Alice to sleep upstairs anymore. Unfortunately there was no shower downstairs, and they would have to work out a different solution for when her Dad went back to work full time. They couldn’t afford the mortgage on the house if he wasn’t working now though, but his boss had kindly offered him a part time job at the depot until he could drive again. It would last for at least a few weeks, maybe even months, but then he would have to go back to fulltime work again, or risk losing the house, especially considering the extra expense having a disabled daughter would bring.

Alice ate in silence, her dad attempted to broach conversation a few times, but it didn’t last long, and they finished their breakfast in silence. Michael Shepherd put the plates in the sink and put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder.

“I have to go to work, just don’t stay in the house all day ok? You still talk to Jen don’t you?”

Alice nodded non-committedly; she did, though she hadn’t really spoken to anyone since the fair. “you should go around and see how she’s doing.”

He left, but not before getting a few things from her old room, they were still in the process of moving things downstairs, and they still needed to buy a new wardrobe, her old room had a built in one, and the old dining room was not so well equipped. She dressed, it was awkward and time consuming, but at least it was something she could still do without help, and texted Jen.

Hey I’m going out today, feel like hanging? I’ll probably be heading past your house anyway so I’ll call in.

Maybe her dad was right, she needed to spend some time with someone, to be reminded that the world wasn’t quite over. About half an hour later Alice was outside Jen’s house, she would have used the bell, but it was uncomfortable and embarrassing to reach up, so she texted her again.

You in? I’m outside.

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

Well, Alice can know Jen, they both have interests in gaming and shizz. Meifeng could lead to some interesting conversations because she wants to become a NEST Agent, and how her mother is with NEST. She could know Trevor, and my new character, Cindy (When I put her up).

@Mr Allen J

Cool, can I discuss on skype when you come on :)?