SepticGentleman

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

TIME TO FILL UP THAT JAR, BOYS.

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

(Guild went fucky and duplicated my post)

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

@Mega Birb Goddamn it I was thinking of someone with that power. :P

@KaiserElectric

I mean, it's my personal belief that cryokinesis is one of those "ten a penny" kinds of powers. But that's just me.

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

Heyo, just letting you guys know I'm still here, it's been a rough week but I'm getting back into things and will be attempting a post soon. ^^

@JunkMail Speaking of which, I assume you're okay with us creating minor characters as needed?

@KaiserElectric

Speaking on his behalf, that's definitely okey-dokey.

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

Elias Winzer

---

TREVOR - Attack’s over
ELI - Casualties?
TREVOR - 145 dead total, rest got away
TREVOR - SG pulled out before the authorities got too close
ELI - Fuck.
ELI - You still have reads on their activity down there?
TREVOR - Yeah but I don’t know for how long
TREVOR - They’ve been getting a LOT of new techs on board lately
TREVOR - Starting to pick up on the piggybacking
ELI - Think they’re preparing for something?
TREVOR - Think they’re just gradually upping their game
TREVOR - Not gonna be able to get you info for much longer
TREVOR - Gotta keep my ass out of the firing line
ELI - I get you. Just stay safe.
TREVOR - Gotcha man
TREVOR - Tell godzilla I said hey
ELI - Sure.

Eli put his phone away after speaking with his contact Trevor Norton. One of his oldest confidants, since his time with Somniatis. Eli once expressed the possibility of getting him a job aboard the Promise, but Trevor turned it down on account of his belief that ‘they’re just gonna outmode all the humans eventually’. A thought that, for a while, Eli shrugged off as nonsense.

But here’s the thing.

The majority of human workers aboard the Promise were techs, tram workers, storage lifters, PR guys, etc. The menial stuff, out of sight from all the big shot power instructors and pioneers in medical, technological, whatever fields. Collectively, they were a perfectly capable workforce, filling in all the roles that metahumans weren’t interested in or meant for.

Then Zoey happened.

Over the last four years since she came online, there had been a very steady increase in employee cutbacks, reorganizing of section managerial operations, those sorts of things. And the majority of those cutbacks were on regular humans. The Board was slowly, slowly filtering out those positions and combining them into Zoey’s programming - as an experimental AI, she needed to take things gradually. But a point was steadily being reached where, in theory, she could run the whole damn station on her own.

And Eli was concerned that his position as student profile and power development manager was in line with the same fate.

But as always, he did his best to push the thought out of his head.

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

Archie

---

The Apothic, out of all of Archie’s sculpted microcosms, was by far his best work so far - to him, at least. As a nightclub, the intent behind it was to create a place that brought a greater sense of ‘openness’ than other establishments. For someone like him, the boundaries of standard architecture and reasonable geometry meant nothing when it came to his work. To be fair, some have stated that the Apothic is simply ‘too showy’, but leagues of other students have come to consider it one of the best spots aboard the Promise.

The layout was such - in one of the central rungs of the Promise, not terribly far from the hub, was a designated area Archie had ‘claimed’ as the entrance. Standing by a decorated wall with a glowing sign denoting the establishment up above, sits a large, door-shaped, collapsible metal frame that holds open a very large bag made of reinforced synthetic fabric. Archie has guards posted there, usually a duo, to keep out unwanted individuals.

Right past the doorway was when the laws of physics began to get unreliable. Entering into a dark hallway with white streamlights up above, you’d walk out into what was, structurally, a half-circle. The Apothic’s primary structure was a three-layered platform raised above a vast, unlit ocean. Archie used a synthetic, glowing white material custom-made for his use to simulate a moon hanging over the far edge of the water, bringing some ambient illumination to the structure. As well, within the water surrounding the central building, were a group of obsidian leviathans Archie constructed for ‘decoration’. Long, segmented creatures, with angled fins and white lights running along the lengths of their bodies.

The first floor was divided into two sections - to the left, from the perspective of someone who just walked in, would be a dining area. A long bar, a whole kitchen behind it, and plenty of tables strewn about, everything offering a perfect view of the surrounding waters. The opposite end of the floor was an ascending segmented platform, otherwise put as the designated dancing area. Sometimes Archie thought it was taking too much space for how much real use it got, but he wasn’t keen on changing it currently. And some people made it known to him that they preferred having plenty of room to ‘get freakish’. Hell, Archie did so himself from time to time.

Staircases on either side lead up to the second floor, which was primarily a seating and viewing area. Away from the music, where people would go to watch the Promise’s cleared channels on the wall-mounted televisions - several of which Archie nearly had to beg for. Everything was connected via extensive wiring to the outside for connection, including the multiple wifi routers offering the Promise’s free connection. Once again, a view of the waters was available from the open space beyond the railing.

Two more sets of staircases worked their way up to the roof. Definitely the quietest area available, with obsidian structures replicated after various forms of vegetation dotted about. The white lights only partly illuminated the area, as it was really only used for people looking to rest up, or chat somewhere private. Of course, the addition of such a room in a nightclub seemed odd, but Archie preferred to cover all avenues of patronage, from the loud and bombastic to the quiet and peaceful.

And all of it was made from a piece of obsidian, a drop of water, and a bit of artificial light.

During the day, the place was never too terribly active. Some groups of students came in for a bite, or just to relax, or even to chat with the proprietor. Come nighttime, plenty more about, enjoying themselves, gazing into the abyssal horizon.

Archie was sat on the first floor, by the railing, looking at his phone. He was checking a few sites for news and whatnot, but it didn’t seem like anything major was happening planetside. As he was browsing, he was approached by a taller gent, with horribly burnt skin, goggles with orange lenses, and a black hoodie with azure and magenta decals painted all over it.

“Yeh gah-in’ teh that dance?” He asked, his lack of lips acting as a bit of a hindrance.

“Mhmm.” Archie replied, giving the gentleman a look. “Gonna see who else might be interested in Combatica. You’re still up for it, right?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Good, good. You going to the samba?”

“The ‘at?”

“The- the dance.”

“Ah… nah, nah, ‘e an Thera are just gonna relax ‘ere.”

“Alright. Tell Vero I said hi.”

“Yeah.”

As the young man left, Archie returned to looking at his phone. Speaking with contacts about Combatica, and a variety of other topics. Sparingly checking if anything newsworthy was popping up. But it seemed like the first day of the school year would end up being just that.

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

Ooooh watcha saaaaayyyy

Ooooh that you only meant weeeeeeeell

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

TERRORISM.

The Promise - The Ghost Note Wuz Here. He said "Say the N Word."

Eli and Henry

_{Written with @JunkMail}

---

Eli was still laughing out the last bit of the speech stuck in his head, seated somewhere else in the hub. He’d seen a good few freshmen laugh at it as well, and that was pretty much a mission success to him. Alleviate some of the tension. No one would believe him when he’d tell them it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. As he was seated there, he looked up to his left, seeing Henry approaching, no doubt to thrash him into the artificial dirt. But Eli didn’t wipe that smile off his face for even a second.

“Enjoy that?” Eli asked aloud.

“I hate you.” Henry stated firmly. He huffed. “Yes.”

Eli straightened his back, pointed at Henry, and chuckled. “Ahhh, I couldn’t help myself. Came to me while you were walking up there. I have that kind of music saved for occasions like this.”

“You have a playlist for these situations?” Henry said incredulously, half confused and half impressed. “So you DO think about me!”

“Yeah, yeah. I played Rasputin once when Orlov was walking through the concourse. Remember that? His skeleboys started dancing and then he joined in. Perfectly synchronized too, like they rehearsed.” Eli sighed, again lightly chuckling. “Ah, sometimes, the moment is just too golden to pass up. But… ah, honestly, I really just felt like giving the freshmen something to laugh at, make the transition from ground to space a little more lighthearted. You get that, right?”

“Of course…” Henry said, a small smile gracing his features. He clapped Elias on the back as gently as he could and continued. “Y’know- for a guy who considers himself such a hard ass, you sure care a lot about these kids.”

“I’m a hard ass by ear. They get the impression that I’m just an irate code monkey when they first hear about me, then I either slowly fade into the recesses of their thoughts, or they approach me and then, well…” He motioned his hand back and forth between himself and Henry. “This happens.” He reclined a bit, taking a look around the room. “Or maybe I’m just mellowing out the longer I stay up here. I dunno.”

Eli’s PDA began buzzing as he sat there. He took it out of his coat pocket and, looking at the screen, said, “Huh. It’s Trevor.” A moment later, reading through a message, he muttered, “Fuck…”

“What is it?” Henry said, watching as Eli stood up, still reading the message. Eli paused for a moment more before replying, “Sunflower Group’s hitting an Academy planetside. Like, right now.”

“Well shit, where on Earth?” Henry pressed, leaning towards his friend trying to read the message.

“Greece.” Eli replied, “Trevor said the attack started about twelve minutes before I got the message. Didn’t even know he was keeping track of that part of Europe…”

“How many are injured?” Henry questioned, grabbing a seat and sitting down. He leaned forward and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. “And how many are…” He trailed off, prompting Eli to fill in the blank.

“Hold on, he’s updating.”

A moment passed, and a new message popped up. Eli sighed. Henry just shook his head in disbelief. “Sixty-seven dead, hundred and two injured.” Eli read it aloud, “High grade explosives detonated all over the grounds.” Another pause before he continued, “Trevor says reports came in of UAVs with null tech. Major strike first, sweep up the survivors second, that’s what they’re doing. And this Academy’s out in the countryside, they’re gonna be on their way out before anyone else gets there.”

Henry leaned back into his chair.

“Fuck.”

Henry rubbed his snout and averted his eyes.

“Makes me glad we’re safe up here, y’know?”

“Yeah, but for how long?” Eli replied, “Null tech is a major step up. Trevor’s been keeping track of recruiting hearsay and they’re all over the eastern hemisphere, so that means they’re upgrading their transportation too. They’re starting to get… I dunno, ambitious.” They both paused for a moment more, before Eli brought up something else. “There’s gonna be news about it, that’s for sure.” He said, “Do we… let it up here? I mean, right at the start of the new year?”

Henry hesitated for a moment. He seemed to contemplate whether it should be shared, and then decided against whatever he initially thought. “Yeah, it should be shared. Not our right to hide things. Will let the students know in a few days. After the dance for sure.” Henry mused, the gears in his head already turning, trying to spin the situation in such a way that he could use it as a learning device.

“Yeah. Alright. Sounds good to me.” Eli replied, “Zoey already knows, I’m betting.”

“Can confirm, Doctor Winzer.”

“Yep, there she is.” Henry commented offhandedly. His body seemed to have slunk down, as if some invisible puppeteer had released his strings and reduced him to this over his normally very animated demeanor. “Damn… Can you call Orlov? I’m feeling cards tonight, just to get my mind off of it, y’know?”

“Oh, yeah.” Eli replied, “Poker with a guy spouting angry Russian about the SG. That’s just what we need.” He sighed, stood up, and nodded to Henry. “I’ll go see him about it, shoot you a message when and where. You just… take care, for now. Yeah?”

Henry waved Eli off. “You know me, will be back to normal in no time. You two schmucks have a way of cheering me up.”

“It’s those skeletons.” Eli replied as he walked away, “They’re a riot.”

As Elias left, Henry took a deep sigh and fixed his shirt, put on a happy face, and stood up again, walking towards the crowd to meet and greet his new class.