Laina Horello and Youn - Ground Floor, Central Babylon
Her name was called, and wishing to rid herself of the sight of Zael's body, Laina answered it with an instant zip across dozens of miles to the caller's location. They could speak her name, and so they must be alive at the very least. There was a chance she could save
someone. Appearing at the new location, Laina found herself amidst a dispersing cloud of smoke and ash. Behind the thick veil she could see and feel the heat of a billowing inferno a number of yards away.
At her feet lay the rustled form of another small boy, and with a few seconds of scanning over him through the dust that clung to his face and clothes, she identified him as Orie Nemertine, another orphan of Toland's, as it so happened. His reasoning for being in Central Babylon were unknown and unimportant; what mattered then was getting the boy out of the hellhole. The occasional moan of some massive structure indicated to Laina time was of the essence.
Something caught her ear, however. Amidst the boy's coughing, she heard the voice of what seemed to be a young girl. The conversation, between whoever it was, did not seem fitting for the environment.
"Hey! Did you ride that train from the roof?! That must have been awesome!"
As the dust suddenly, Laina could see the culprits; indeed it was a young girl, speaking up rather gleefully to some other individual standing atop rubble. Youn's words were left unanswered except by the slow approach of the entity. Stepping down from its hilly wreckage, the unknown individual walked up to Youn with bare feet, seemingly uncaring of the rubble strewn about.
Silently it came up to the girl, stopping mere inches from her and staring down at the young Error. With an apparent curiosity, its masked visage scanned over Youn slowly before its attention was directed down the street.
From a curtain of smoke, two figures approached, clad in black and bearing helmets with a single red circle painted on their chest-plates.
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Volkov - Sewers
The robot could not express its emotions with a stagnant facial design, but as his gaze met the red-haired girl's in perfect synchronicity, it was clear both were quite confused. The girl rose an eyebrow and lifted her lip in what seemed like disgust before sighing and speaking for the two of them.
"Your home? I don't think so. More like your hiding place," she said. Behind, the blonde girl appeared to take the opportunity of their distraction and made a step backwards before the robot immediately turned its head, catching her before she could move further. She stopped in place. The red-haired girl paid no mind. "This is none of your concern retard. Enough of your weird metaphors!"
"You! Help me!" the blonde girl cried out, just as the other raised her blade, swinging it for Volkov's torso. A notable heat brushed itself across his skin long before the blade could even make contact.
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Felicia Bell - Home
"You ever see a pencil print with this kind of font?" one of the officers asked, handing the letter over. Reading it next, the other officer scratched their head and shook their head.
"I know magically-conducted writing tends to be more fancy. Cursive or some sort. That's what the Thremont kids are always writing like anyways. This is..." he paused, "robotic, maybe?" The first officer nodded.
"Makes sense to me." The two spoke to one another, slightly away from Felicia as the drones zipped about. One of them beeped and unleashed a red wave of light over some particular corner of her house before beeping again. A tiny mechanical claw dropped out of the bottom of its chassis, reaching out and picking up a feather on the ground.
"Probably an android maybe-" the officer was interrupted by the drone beeping at him and displaying a soft feather in its claw. The officer rose and eyebrow, picking the feather with two fingers... before blowing it away and returning to his conversation. The drone continued on its way.
"Well Miss Felicia," one of them said, raising their arms, "the most we can tell you is that you've got some sort of deranged stalker. Do you have any sort of personal guard? You might want to tighten security for a little bit. Until then we'll help you however we can."
"We'll leave one of our drones with you in your house, if you're fine with it," the other began, reaching into a large side-pack, "This one will be moreso for keeping watch on your house's surroundings, though." Pulling out a chrome-colored box of metal and setting it down on the ground, it began to stir. Four legs popped out before a circular disk rose up a few centimeters from its center. A single red eye underneath the disk swiveled about before the robot made its way to the door, seemingly already well aware of its duty.
"It's got a few lethal and non-lethal systems to it. If anyone continues to bother you, it should pick them up. Anything else you ne-" his voice was cut off by the frantic voices coming from his partner's communication device. While he attended to the demands on the phone line, the other turned back to Felicia and continued.
"Anything else you need?"
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Seti Kelon - Layer 1, the Carnarium
Layer One of Neo Babylon was not a particularly well-patrolled area for the Policus on its own, but there were few places within it that an officer would avoid at all costs. The Carnarium was one such place.
A haven for the wicked and ambitious, the hedonistic and devious, the Carnarium had become a practically lawless region of the Layer 1, situated in the heart of Neo Babylon's Kell District. Underneath a massive domed and lopsided structure, the Carnarium was a stratified set of buildings containing shady businesses and "unoccupied" establishments, which were, in the end, merely places for squatters to stay. Coursing within its streets and walls, a population of criminals made their mark and offered their services, if any.
Seti Kleon entered the Carnarium as many normally did; through a sewer pipe. A set of concrete and heavily damaged stairs led right up to the pipe, which wasn't so strange for those familiar with the place. Here he'd be 'safe' more or less, at the very least away from the persistent efforts of the Policus. There were, of course, other entities present here he
did have to worry about nevertheless. They were more familiar, at least.
The Carnarium possessed a strangely well-kept hospital in its ranks, offering
paid medical help to anyone and everyone who had the credits to pay for whatever mishaps they'd gotten themselves into. Thanks to the Arcane Decree's laws, easy magical regeneration of body parts was forbidden given the ease at which one could achieve immortality through its usage, one way or another. For the time being, physical medical profession were still in business. The wounds Seti had received wouldn't cost him too much and would likely be quick, so he made his way there first.
Passing by utterly disinterested eyes , Seti walked down the streets towards a dozen-story building with a large neon plus sign glowing at its peak. Amidst apathetic citizens, Seti eventually caught the subtle feeling of
someone staring him down.
"Seti," someone had called out cheerily as he continued walking, "What's going on man?" A small figure trotted up alongside him, keeping pace. It was a young woman, dressed quite neatly and appropriately for the present populace.
Ina Cerbress was her name, a fellow Painstaker he'd come across several times in the last year. She wasn't notable for much, but she'd participated in some larger tutoring events alongside Seti. He knew her only in name. Still, she seemed quite fond of him, for whatever reason.
"What happened?" she asked, still cheerful, "You hear about the new bombing in Central?"
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Kheda & Armel - 99 Ramp, Occam-Central Babylon District Border
The single shot was all it had taken at that point. As Kheda's boss was shot point-blank into his chest, his body falling, the crowd burst into pure havoc. Civilians dispersed about the ramp like a trail of ants that had just had a gust of wind blown on them. Their directions were erratic and haphazard, knocking over each other and stunned Policus officers alike. Their sheer size was enough to overcome the officers in front of the barriers, and they were promptly pummeled by endless hands and feet. Others simply stayed put, terrified of going up against the force, bumped to and fro by the tides of bodies.
Kheda was faced with seemingly few options; arrest or a dive off the edge of a streetway hundreds of feet in the air. She had her Wisps at her disposal, but the air was far from protected and she was a prime target for gunfire. Her wisps weren't exactly commonplace, and their appearance would certainly elicit suspicion as being illegally made.
Armel was in the midst of apprehending her when a voice called out to her. It was distinct, clear, and calm, as if it were materializing in her thoughts itself.
Kheda'Ahn Garuda. Listen to me. You must jump off the right end of the ramp. Your right. You must trust me. I need you help and you need to escape. Jump now!
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Sparkle Bell Lovejoy - Field Hospital, Central Babylon
While still growing, the field hospital was already quite large, made up of easily dispatched medical vehicles unfolding into tents and rooms. A majority of those present at the time were simply those who had suffered from mild scratches and a heavy dose of airborne debris. Stretchers came in as a stream, carrying hidden bodies that Sparkle couldn't identify as alive or dead.
With Barry in tow, she made her way to a set of benches set alongside an ambulance and sat him down. Their injuries and trouble were mild, and through the practiced art of triage, they were ignored. Others had more pressing things to be attended to.
As Sparkle looked about, she noticed a familiar face seated in an open tent; Barenna sat on a small folding stool in the tent, the side of her head bleeding significantly. A breathing mask was wrapped around her chin and she took in visibly distressed breaths. A nurse was in the midst of applying a stack of gauze to her forehead. She didn't seem to notice Sparkle yet.
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Elizia - Home
Trent looked flustered, dejected at having been held behind by his own parents. The house was left quiet for a moment, door still wide open, with only the distant buzz of a news anchor speaking about the events in Central Babylon continuing on.
The click of shoes on cement loomed closer to their home, then, and Elizia saw, through a window pointing out to her front porch, a strange man walking down the way... towards her door. He stopped there, under the open port, and turned to look inside. He was tired looking but nevertheless seemed alert. He moved with purpose and his eyes were piercing, despite their lulled state.
"Elizia, I presume?" he asked, stepping into the home without permission. Despite his enigmatic appearance, his voice seemed friendly enough. His attire looked like that of a detective, and so for the moment, he seemed safe. Still, he hadn't yet pulled out a badge of any sort. The man kept his distance, careful not to be
too intruding.
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Jhanuis Bedniv - Prime Hour Tower
An entire portion of the floor had been vacated of structural support, with the rest of it covered in a loose collection of embers still clinging to whatever flammable substance had sprayed itself on the surface. With each passing few seconds, the frequency of groans in the building increased, and a few times Jhanuis could have sworn he saw the ceiling bend.
Small flecks of paint and dust occasionally fell on his shoulders and hair, and once or twice a bolt of black lightning struck some still-standing machine within his vision. Within the carnage he could see the figures of those who had already fallen. With a still burning vision amidst the ash that continued to churn out, he searched for the individual his prior rescue had spoken of.
There. Crawling on hands and knees, a young man was attempting to escape... in the wrong direction. It was clear he could neither see very well nor move particularly fast. It was likely he had suffered from a crippled leg, or a severely pained one. He coughed incessantly and his eyes were half shut, tearing up in huge bouts of water.
Weak calls to anyone at all could barely be discerned as the structure's moaning peaked.
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Koi Ross - Layer 2
Any semblance of distress had vanished upon Koi Ross landing upon a sidewalk at Level 107. A few curious glances caught her, staring at the hover pack she'd used to fly about. Her attire and demeanor didn't reflect a Policus officer, so the possession of such a thing was at the very least novel. Plenty had them, but few actively used such technology.
As she began walking, the news of the city's most recent events had caught her ear through televisions blaring inside businesses with open doors. Another bombing, a collapsed building, dead civilians. Having just gotten past a prior moment of duress, such important and disheartening news was moreso distressing.
As she proceeded on, headed towards whatever daily activities she normally did, Koi was interrupted by yet another brief vision. As she bumped into a passing pedestrian, the future sight clouded her vision from anything but.
She was seeing through person she had just bumped, clearly, and they turned around to watch as Koi walked away; she could identify the jetpack on her back any day. But a second of normalcy in the vision was offered before things took a turn for the worse. Koi,
herself, was suddenly assaulted by a projectile of some sort which split into a large mesh of wire a foot from her body. Flying in from her right, it came from an unknown firer. Caught completely unawares, she was entangled by the trap.
Koi came to from the vision and turned to see the individual she had just bumped also turning to face her.
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Katergi & Eden - Stret Col Thremont Academy, Rattim's Office
"Well," Rattim began, sighing heavily and leaning back, "If we had access to these files a day earlier we might have avoided this issue." He was, of course, referring to the bombing. He grasped his face and shook it with disappointment. His two students had nothing to be ashamed of, but it was surely disheartening to know that there was an inkling of hope that one
could have averted a crisis.
"This does, however, mean we'll be spending a lot more time investigating the Repenters." Rattim turned his computer screen towards Eden and Katergi, revealing what had been stored in the data files their now-dead liaison was hiding. On screen a list of documents numbering in the dozens wrote about some "Project Record Breaker". The information was far too detailed and jumbled to make any sense of it before Rattim returned his screen to its normal position.
"Looks like our deceased whistle-blower secured some information on this project those kooks were cooking up. Too bad we were a bit late in stopping..." Rattim squinted at the screen, "...Stage Two of this Project Record Breaker. I'll have some of the faculty and my friends look this over, get things sorted out. Good job securing this information you two," he said.
"Oh, and don't feel too bad about the results. We couldn't have done much more for him or for Central. You did your best."
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Nechronica - At the site of the Arcane Anomaly, Ruruen District
Nechronica's request was ultimately shot down by a rather stern voice. The man on the other line, a certain
Warden Jerces as he identified himself, practically yelled at Nechronica.
"Negative Junior Officer Nechronica. You just wandered off into my District, and Occam East has just told me you darted off without permission by your superiors. Your pursuit of the suspect is to be halted. HQ has said he's just a courier if anything. Occam East has handed you off to my control for the time being, since you've been gracious enough to stop by." There was a pause, and the yelling picked up.
"You're to find your way to the coordinates I'm sending you now and aid in dispelling civilian traffic and aiding in setup. The Magus Division has got their hands full at the site. Hurry your ass over there." His voice ended. Nechronica's Policus-owned PDA received a small set of coordinates leading her to the very place in which Seti had initially fled from.
The scene was a mess. Floating in the sky, dozens of feet above the nearest sidewalk, an enormous block of glowing magical energy rested silently. Its mass was expanding ever so slowly, though it was clear the thing, whatever it was, would not halt in its growth. The block had already started cutting into the sides of buildings just by virtue of being present; its surface seemed to vaporize whatever it touched. A number of Magus Policus were on the scene, conducting god-knew-what procedures about the place to get an understanding of what they were dealing with.
Civilians were pushed away on the sidewalk, keeping them a number of yards away from the ensuing investigation. Nechronica was beckoned over by an officer, who promptly had her begin work on putting up an opaque fence to surround the scene.
