WhiteAngel25

The Dark Beyond

”We haven’t heard from Ghost in weeks, sir. I’m afraid one ofour best has been compromised.” A tall, olive toned, 30-year-old man stated to the older man with salt and pepper hair and gray eyes, however, his left eye had an eye patch over it.

The older man smirked as he stared out the window of the Voidlight building. ”We would’ve been contacted by HiveMind by now if they had her. She’s exactly where she needs to be.”

Voidlight, on the surface, is a maintenance company. Fixing vehicles, resetting technology and simple home repairs are all within their wheelhouse. They even hire employees for hospitals, laboratories, and various other healthcare businesses. At least, that’s what a majority of people thought. Voidlight is an information-gathering group that works outside the government’s boundaries.

Stella had joined up with Voidlight, shortly after she had accidentally hacked into their system when she was attempting to get deals on updated augmentation software. They were impressed her her ability to avoid detection and how she was able to just disappear. They nicknamed her Ghost as no one in the group gave their actual names for safety.

---

Days had turned into weeks and then weeks into months since Stella and #3 had escaped in the nick of time. Stella didn’t want to leave Nick behind, she honestly thought he was just behind her but she glanced back to see the drone knock him out. She hadn’t slept well since.

Stella and #3 had made themselves a little base in the abandoned section of the facility. They were pretty far down, but still close enough that Stella could move through the vents to find food and water. She also began to hack into HiveMind’s computer system little by little, leaving little trail markers for her employers to use but nothing that HiveMind would notice. Stella usually had only minutes to do so between rotations of guards and scientists.

Stella had slowly pieced together a submarine from parts that she swiped from the maintenance sector. She had it hidden in the abandoned garage port and finally finished installing the programming module.

It was when Stella and #3 were near Nick’s holding cell that they heard the guards talking about the dark matter and a heart. Stella listened to #3 and raised an eyebrow at the young girl tapping her collar. She thought for a moment and her eyes widened.

”We need to get Nick out of here. We all need to get out of here,” Stella murmured.

The plan was to first receive a drive of the memories the scientists had contained from Nick. Stella had watched a few of Nick’s sessions, she had plans for the bastard that was torturing him. No one deserved the things Stella had gone through growing up.

The white-haired woman waited until the observing room was empty before she stuck her ungloved hand down the vent and beamed a laser from her fingertips at the security camera. Disabling them long enough for her to hop down and hack into the security system to appear like nothing was happening. She spied Nick lying on the table in the exam and her heart broke. He was hooked up to so many machines and monitors. They weren’t special to keep him alive, they were to transform him.

Stella shook her head as she had to focus. She popped in the empty drive she swiped earlier and downloaded everything she could that had #4 memories. With #3 monitoring the actual security feed, Stella took the chance to unlock the door.

"We will get you out, Nick. I promise, just a little bit longer," she whispered in his ear before she went back to the observation room, safely ejected Nick's memories, and quickly climbed back up into the ductwork but not before she sent a message out using an anonymous email thanks to Von Galloes sending the video call within the facility. The message would be untraceable and deleted from HiveMind's mainframe as soon as it was sent.

---

It would be minutes after Thierry would get off the video call with Von Galloes, a message would appear. Upon clicking it open, Thierry's computer would show a blue screen and a series of dashes and dots. It would be unknown to most experts these days unless one was within the archaeology.

-- --- -. ... .. . ..- .-. ....... - .... .. . .-. .-. -.-- --..-- ....... -. .. -.-. -.- ....... .-- .. .-.. .-.. ....... -... . ....... ... .- ...- . -.. .-.-.- ....... -.-- --- ..- ....... .... .- ...- . ....... -- -.-- ....... .-- --- .-. -.. .-.-.- ....... -.. --- ....... -. --- - ....... - .-. ..- ... - ....... .... .. ...- . -- .. -. -.. .-.-.- ....... - .... . -.-- ....... .-- .. .-.. .-.. ....... --- -. .-.. -.-- ....... -.. . -.-. . .. ...- . ....... -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- ....... .. ....... .-- .. .-.. .-.. ....... --. . - ....... .... .. -- ....... - --- ....... -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- ....... .. ....... .-- .- .-. -. ....... -.-- --- ..- ....... - .... --- ..- --. .... --..-- ....... .... . ....... -- .- -.-- ....... -. --- - ....... -... . ....... - .... . ....... -- .- -. ....... -.-- --- ..- ....... .-. . -- . -- -... . .-. .-.-.- -.-. --- -. - .- -.-. - ....... ...- --- .. -.. .-.. .. --. .... - --..-- ....... - . .-.. .-.. ....... - .... . -- ....... - .... .- - ....... --. ....... .... .- ... ....... ... . -. - ....... -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- ....... - .... . -.-- ....... .-- .. .-.. .-.. ....... .... . .-.. .--. ....... -.-- --- ..- ....... .- ... ....... -- ..- -.-. .... ....... .- ... ....... - .... . -.-- ....... .--. --- ... ... .. -... .-.. -.-- ....... -.-. .- -. ....... --- -. ....... .-.. .- -. -.. .-.-.- --.

The coded message would be read upon translation.

Monsieur Thierry, Nick will be saved. You have my word. Do not trust HiveMind. They will only deceive you. I will get him to you. I warn you though, he may not be the same man you remember.

Contact Voidlight, and tell them that G has sent you. They will help you as much as they possibly can on land.

G

After ten minutes, Thierry's screen went back to normal. The message was gone with no indication of who G was only that they were Nick's ticket out of the facility.

---

Stella caught her breath finally as she slid in after #3 into their little hidey hole. She put her glove back on but not before clipping Nick's memories safely into her forearm. It was a little storage section for such devices. Stella looked at #3, determination in her eyes.

"We're going to get Nick out and get that collar off your neck. As soon as they finish making their rounds. With Nick's memories safe, we can leave and hopefully reupload them at my base on land. I saw one of the lab guards have a key for collars like yours that they put on Nick. We've got this, #3." Stella said with all the confidence she had within her. It was all, honestly, she had left. Raised to be the perfect soldier, this was what Stella was meant to do with her life. Infiltrate, rescue, destroy if necessary and that was exactly what she was going to do.

The Dark Beyond

I plan on posting later today. The posts were amazing! I’m happy that I joined. :)

The Dark Beyond

@Lexisheeps@Estylwen I’m thinking Stella and #3 are hiding somewhere in the HiveMind’s ductwork and inner systems. 😆

Also, I have decided that this other company that hired Stella is a rebellion group against HiveMind and since she is one of the few people that isn’t linked to HiveMind’s systems, she’s great for infiltrating them.

The Dark Beyond

@EstylwenI was thinking once the whole battle is over and they (hopefully) escape. Stella will contact her employer company. I was thinking that it is a secret mercenary branch that is trying to usurp HiveMind’s hold on the monopoly of the dark energy power. They want to level the playing field of the energy crisis.

The Dark Beyond

Stella watched Nick put on the mask. She was a little shocked when he did so. The mask had dark energy to it, no telling what it was exactly. Stella put her sketch pad back into her pack when Nick showed signs of wanting to take it off. She was nervous that the mask would stick to learn all it could about him and would have to help take it off. Stella sighed in relief when Nick managed to get the mask off but noticed the tears that managed to escape his eyes.

When they reached the lava river, Stella raised her eyebrows. This wasn't right. The lava would be dark and crusted over from exposure to being underwater... Suddenly, everything disappeared, replaced by a white room. Stella gritted her teeth and cussed under her breath.

"Another fucking simulation. I should've known," she muttered as she didn't like the way the drones were nearing them. Stella quickly grabbed #3 and pulled the girl behind her to protect the young girl.

Stella rolled her eyes as the lead researcher spoke over a loudspeaker. "Well, this will be a fantastic time for target practice. She said as she pulled over her rifle from her pack, lined up her sight on her scope, and fired three shots at three drones. She hit each of her targets. The bullets went through the middle of the floating orbs of steel, where the memory bank and power source were. With a destroyed memory bank, nothing that was recorded by the drones would survive.

"These people are ridiculous. We need a plan, fast," Stella said to Nick as she ejected the empty casings and reloaded new bullets before taking down three more drones. Then the tremor hit, and her eyes widened slightly as Nick was right. They needed to get out of here fast.

Stella looked at #3 and smiled reassuringly down at her. Although her eyes flickered to the white collar. We need to get that off of her, Stella thought as she spied the door. She quickly reloaded her rifle and shot at the hinges of the door.

The Dark Beyond

@Estylwen@Lexisheeps I'm sorry. I thought I was going to have time to post, ended up falling asleep instead.

The Dark Beyond

I will post tomorrow! This weekend is kinda crazy.

The Paradox

I normally don't post a thread for a specific 1x1 idea, however, this idea has been on my mind and I can't shake it.

---

The Paradox

"The Fox has escaped, sir." A nervous, 30 or so-year-old man announced as he wrang his hands together.

A man with salt and pepper hair looked up from the letter he was writing on his desk. "What do you mean she escaped? There is no way she could just disappear."

The young man got even more nervous as a figure came into view. "Well, she did, and worse yet, her tracker has been left behind. We can't even begin to think where she would go or what she would do," he admitted as the older man sat up and looked at the figure that came into the room.

"You were right. She was getting antsy. We should've kept her better under lock and key. Bring her back, Hound and your reward will be great," the older man ordered.

---

The idea is that my character is the Fox and yours will be the Hound. They were raised in an assassin/thief guild that prized themselves for ending wars before they began with their efficiency. The Guild picks orphans who seem to show promise for blindly following orders yet have the drive to finish their jobs. Our two characters are some of the best members of the Guild that the elder members have seen in a long time.

Growing up our characters were always in competition with one another. Constantly trying to one-up the other. As they got older, it was more of a teasing game and light flirting until my character came back from a job, completely shocked with the information she learned. This leads her to dig up information that your character advises her to stop. Their job is to complete the missions given, not to question the Elders. My character is put on house arrest, thinking that isolation will give her time to think but the scene above starts.

We will start after this scene and do flashbacks to fill in background details and whatnot.

This world setting is fantasy with a sprinkle of the Medieval era, a little DnD inspired.

---

Here are my thoughts on partners.

1.) Must be 19+
2.) Must post at a casual length (2-7 detailed paragraphs)
3.) Must be willing to have mature scenes from Low-core gore to heavily romantic.
4.) Be willing to help contribute to the world-building and development.
5.) Must have romance within the story.
6.) The story will be in PMs. I'm not the biggest fan of threads or Discord.

The Dark Beyond

@Lexisheeps@Estylwen

Stella smirked softly at Nick's comment about not acting like his spouse. "I was mainly teasing earlier. I could see that if someone loved another, how they wouldn't want their spouse to work for HiveMind. I am Stella. Thank you for the jerky distraction earlier." She said as they got closer to the crypt. Stella's blue eyes began to glow slightly as her eyes started to spot differences in the environment.

"This is incredible. Pieces of a lost culture, preserved by the forest." Stella commented as she paused when they got to the crypt door. She put #3 down as Nick tried to offer the pup in exchange for the mask she held. Stella began to sketch and take notes of the symbols and what she saw. She gently picked up a mask that was similar to #3's.

"Nick, I don't think you need to trade your new pet. Look at this. There are a few dozen of them within a ten-meter radius," Stella said as she handed him one of the intact masks, careful not to disturb the graves too much. She heard #3's comment about how the orb feels sad. The young woman looked at the orb and her mouth dropped open in slight shock at the realization.

"That's because it's a memory AI. Someone preserved their consciences in that orb. Incredible." Stella murmured as she walked towards the stairs in a cautious manner. "This place seems to be like what was their tomb mausoleum. Basically, everyone that passed away in their culture was buried here," she explained while she walked further into the crypt towards the stairs.

Stella's eyes flickered to the steps of the stairs to determine which path had been the most traveled. While both paths were well used, she chose to go to the right.

The Dark Beyond

@Lexisheeps@Estylwen

Stella raised an eyebrow when #3 admitted that she stole the artifact in her hands. She also found it interesting that this girl didn't wince or attempt to scream while she sewed up her arm. This girl is definitely not a normal human being, she thought to herself. Stella stood up and dusted off her knees when the white orb appeared. Her hands itched for her rifle with how fast the orb appeared but she quickly pulled out her tablet and drew the symbols for later.

"Well, #3, I think it wants you to follow it. I say that's what we should do." Stella said as she put her right glove back on. She looked over the edge of the outcrop as the young man spoke to them. "Which means we have to go back down. I think we should be okay, Pew-Pew-Shooter-Man seems to be completely fine to take these wolves head-on. He even adopted a runt by the looks of it," she explained with slight disbelief and shook her head.

Stella knelt down to be at eye level with #3. "We're going to piggyback again, okay? I don't want you using that arm until it is completely healed." She said as she didn't know why she was so motherly towards this young girl. This girl was down here left alone to defend herself, it reminded Stella of her own childhood.

Once the two were back on the ground, Stella kept #3 on her back. It would be faster to catch up with Nick. "Do you not have a sense of self-preservation? You walk straight into an unknown forest with your newly adopted pup without fear?" Stella asked Nick when they caught up.