Blanking the Slate

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #80 on:** October 04, 2015, 10:32:06 PM

Lily sighed. "I swear to god..." Getting to her feet, she grabbed the car battery out of the first guard's hand and stabbed him with it. She rolled her eyes. "If we're committing to looking like amateurs let's go all the way."

The second guard nodded in agreement, but his look quickly turned aghast when she approached him next. "Hey wait I--Aaaaughh!!!"

Emotionlessly Lily waited for several seconds, then dropped the battery heavily on the ground next to his collapsed figure. "Feel free to keep interrogating, clearly it's why we hired you," she said over her shoulder as she left the cell. "I'm visiting Dr. Almaya..."

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Emilena grasped the crayon and quickly grabbed a big lumpy circle; thanks to the handcuffs and her physical health she wasn't exactly in the artistic mood. "You listening? This thing is Lanthae." Another cirle further away. "Seryet. Corona is that way," she drew an arrow with a C pointing north. Then she drew a star on the unlabeled wastelands south of Lanthae. "The Scorched Desert. I'm not going to be able to get you GPS coordinates or something but it's roughly two hours' walk out of the Lanthae Forest. Stupid little algae farm but the owners have rediculous amounts of Scorched War weaponry stockpiled."

She highly doubted they'd actually follow any of this, but it was worth a shot. If the stars aligned for once in her life she could live long enough to see her parents killed.

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Flora rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. It was clear arguing with these people wasn't going to work; in hindsight she's not sure why she kept it up for as long as she did. She couldn't say for sure, but part of her was secretly suspecting that they were hitting on her... That can't be right though...they're old women and I'm way out of their league... She glanced suspiciously at the Golden retriever sitting beside her. Still, I'd better look out for myself...

Nick22 · **Reply #81 on:** October 05, 2015, 02:05:57 AM

Shirley you neeed to relax. " Marie said Here let me let me open your mind- and yiour mOyuth ' marie set her burger down then leaned forward and kissed Flora smack on the lips. Marie felt the young folf tense, from the surprise move. she intended to keep the kiss brief, and did so. the kiss lasted only 5 seconds, but 3 of those second marie pushed her tongue into Floras mouth.

Serris · **Reply #82 on:** October 05, 2015, 06:04:32 PM

(Purifier Base)

Soren paced around the cell, fuming. He looked around the cell. There was nothing in there he could use as a weapon. The toilet/sink and bed were all bolted to the floor with massive bolts that looked like the ones used to secure elevated walkways to their support pilings.

They had taken the net too, so he could throw it at his attackers. All he had were the clothes on his back.

Wait, the clothes on his back?

Soren immediately took off his windbreaker and set it on the bed as a makeshift sheet. Now all he had to do was throw it over the guard's head and start swinging. Pretending to be asleep, he lay down on the bed.

--------------

(Seryet City)

Uziel looked at the clock on the wall. It had been four hours since Soren had seen the. Doctor Schatten had already left for work at Hewlett-Case Industrial Electronics Recycling.

The man sighed and turned on a telenova. He sat on the couch and opened a bag of plantain chips and a bottle of cola.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #83 on:** October 07, 2015, 04:53:56 AM

Flora turned beet red and her eyes bulged. For five seconds her muscles completely locked up as her brain struggled to comprehend how badly her personal space had just been violated. Then her motor control reasserted itself and she pushed the older woman off angrily. "WHAT THE....WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking and growing painfully shrill. "Are you all completely fucking insane???? Get the hell away from me!"

In desperation she slammed her fist as hard as she could into the window, succeeding only in bruising her knuckle. Desperately she repeatedly slammed the door handle and started screaming. "Somebody help!" she screamed futilely at the empty cityscape. "Please! Just get me out of here!"

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The door to Soren's cell opened and Lily walked in. "Soren?" she asked softly. Gone was the commanding attitude she'd adapted briefly before leaving Axel's cell; once again she was meek and bashful like the woman they'd known in Lanthae.

Nick22 · **Reply #84 on:** October 07, 2015, 11:53:27 AM

Marie grabbed Flora by the shoulders and turned her around " For gawds sake Shirley, it was a freaking kiss! Its not like I groped your breasts or undid your pants and sucked on your dick! You've done much more with your groupies, and we have the internet videos to prove it. theres plenty of videos of you having lesbian sex with other girls, of all 3 varieties- vag, oral and anal, and theres plenty more videos of you sucking male dick- type in " I got blown by DJ' on the computer, and the number of videos top 2000 and the views top 20 million.I do hope you've tested yourself to make sure you didnt catch an STD from any of that> " shes clean, Bailey makes her undergo monthly STD tests, the last one they did this month was clean " Rose said. Btw , the purifiers will almost certainly go after your groupies Shirley, if they havent started already. so in truth, you're stuck with us for the foreseeable future, theres no one else you can run to that the Purifiers wont soon find out about and hunt down and kill. you might as well just come out as lesbian Shirley, because that the only kind of sex you'll be getting for the foreseeable future, and theres only 3 women you can safely get that from - us. and for the record, we're NOT that much older than you. we're all in our early 20s.'
- shes in 'pouting superstar ' mode ' Marita said as she turned down the road that led to their apartment " oh, and about that friend of yours Daryl ' she showed flora her phone which showcased a still image of a dead body lying in a pool of blood, he had been shot in the head execution style ' The Purifiers already got to him."

bushwacked · **Reply #85 on:** October 07, 2015, 06:31:34 PM

Axel's face was frozen in horror. "What the hell... What do you mean you hired them?! Lily!" As she walked out of the cell without sparing him a glance, his shackled hands tightened into fists. "Lily!"

Nothing. As the door creaked shut behind her, Axel backed away until his bare back hit the cold concrete of the cell's rear wall, the weight of confusion and despair weighing heavily on his shoulders. As the guards looked at him, Axel glared back, his face twisting into a grimace. Naked, battered and chained up, he bunched his trembling fists and gritted his teeth. "Come on then," he snarled. "Come on you fucks..."

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"That's really useful Miss Echo. You're being so helpful," the voice said, interrupting the buzzing. "They're all the way out there, huh? That really is something. Oh, but you know what would really help us out though - if you drew what these weapons you mentioned look like. We'd need to know what we're walking into, wouldn't we? And make it as detailed as you can."

The buzzing returned, twice as loud.

Serris · **Reply #86 on:** October 07, 2015, 07:09:22 PM

Soren was still feigning sleep. The voice sounded exactly like Lily but he wouldn't put it past them to use trickery.

He carefully cracked one eye open. Internally, he gasped. It was Lily! Or at least it appeared to be.

Thankfully, if it was doppelganger of her, the fake didn't appear to be armed so he could easily take her in a fight.

Chancing a discovery, he sat up and looked at the woman.

"Lily, wha--. Where's Axel?" he asked. "And how did you get into my cell?"

He looked at the cell door; it had been retracted into the floor and there appeared to be no one else around except Lily and himself.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #87 on:** October 07, 2015, 08:30:40 PM

Flora was about to protest the girls assumption that all those online videos were her, not to mention the assumption that you can have your way with somebody just because there's evidence of sexual activity in their past, but her words caught in her throat when she saw a familiar face on the corpse displayed on Marita's phone.

Her head spun as the gravity of her situation finally reached her. She wasn't going to shed any tears for Daryl; he was a self-centered conversationalist and he wouldn't kiss after receiving a blowjob, but if his association with her was tenuous enough to be worthy of murder, then she really was as big a target as Bailey had been claiming. She felt a cold tightness grip her entire body as she stared at the aftereffect of a hate crime that could just as easily included her if she'd reached Daryl's house.

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"Soren, I..." Lily's lip trembled, and she cowed her shoulders in a clear sign of submission. "I'm sorry...I think they found you because of me." She looked at him with wide tear-streaked eyes. "I was told to get you to tell where Marita is..." She hiccuped nervously, sparing a single terrified glance back at the door. "They're gonna kill me Soren...please don't let them kill me..."

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"Oh for fuck's sake, you're just entertaining yourself now!" Emilena threw her red crayon at the vague area on the ceiling where the voice kept coming from. "Like bloody hell you need the damn arsenal!" she shouted, burying her ears in her elbows as the piercing shrill returned abruptly. "Just bomb it from a goddamn airplane! I've never even been there so how the hell am I supposed to know what outdated ordnance a couple of Scorched War veterans have stockpiled?"

Her shouting and cursing degenerated into unintelligible cries of anguish as the ringing in her ears grew to deafening levels; she doubted she'd even be able to hear the voice when next it spoke. Dropping to her knees, she buried her face into the stone floor, eyes squeezed shut and teeth gritted.

Serris · **Reply #88 on:** October 07, 2015, 08:59:23 PM

Soren hugged the grief-stricken woman. "No. Some fuckers with a sick sense of humor put a bounty on all of us. I just got caught by a bunch of bounty hunters. You're completely innocent in my capture."

He then stared at the open cell door and gently lifted up Lily's chin with his right hand. "Now, are you going to sit around moping or are you going to escape and make these fuckers pay?"

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #89 on:** October 10, 2015, 06:34:43 PM

Lily's knees shook, and she hugged the human desperately. "You...you don't know what they've done to me," she stammered, voice cracking. "I..."

"--All right, that's enough." Two guards made their presences known at the doorway. "Time's up. Get him moving."

Lily's eyes flashed. "God damn! Will none of you give me a chance to actually work?" she protested in exasperation.

"Boss is saying bully to the others, we've got the ones we really want." The purifer pointed a rifle at Soren. "If you'll come with me, doctor. Rose, get out of here."

The dark-skinned female balled her fists and narrowed her eyes but acquiescently made to go.

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"Marita!" a figure shoutedfrom the parking lot when she saw the SUV pulling up to the apartment complex. Lily appeared outside their window, gasping in relief. "Thank god you still live here!"

She paused outside the shotgun window to catch her breath. "They've got Emilena, and I think they've got some of the others too!" she exclaimed as soon as she could get the words out. "The purifiers!"

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The guards looked at Axel. "Uhhhhhh...so we got new orders now," the first said to the second.

"I still have a mic Adrian!" the other shot back. "I know!"

"They want you in one of the interrogation rooms," the first switched the object of his focus to Axel. "You can, uh, put this on." He went and grabbed a prison jumpsuit from the hallway and threw it to the rat. "But be snappy, boss thinks we've wasted enough time already. Or we'll, like, torture you or something."

Nick22 · **Reply #90 on:** October 10, 2015, 08:08:14 PM

Marita sighed as Flora reaction made it clear that was indeed Daryl. Look once we get home.. she stopped as lily appeared at her window. "LILY? alright.. lets head inside. Rose get the food, and bring it in."
_
Marita parked the van,got out and pointed lily to the front door . " Go inside. once we're all in you can tell us everything, including what you've been up since Lanthae." She went to the door unlocked it and let Lily in first, then held the door open for the others.
marie helped steady lily as she helped the folf inside the building, followed by Rose carried the bags from Nixons, the food was still reasonably warm, a few seconds in the microwave would make everything hot. Once Rose entered, Marita followed and relocked the door.
_
Rose pulled out the food and set them on the kitchen table " Lily this is Shirley, we're taking care of her for awhile- her folks are in deep with the mob and they needed a safe haven for her, while they work out a debt repayment plan.' Marita said ' Shirley this is Lily shes an old friend from Lanthae. Ok Lily start at the beginning. First off, what have you been up to these past few months? and Second, how many of the old group do they have? Help yourself to the food, we got stuff from Nixons. I'm sure you're hungry. we can talk while we eat. Rose, go around the house and close and lock all the windows and close the curtains.
marie guided Flora to the loveseat in the tv room and let her get on the couch " I'm sorry about your friend ' Marie said. ' but now do you see what we mean? the Purifiers dont mess around."

bastille and Louvre sat at the dressing room mirrors working at getting changed into their costumes ' not much in the script for us ' Louvre said as she glued on a wing. ' we're attendants sister we're in the background, holding oberons scepter or Titanias crown for them. still its a role that pays and is not an understudy role' bastille said to her twin. ' just be grateful we're getting paid for this.

bushwacked · **Reply #91 on:** October 10, 2015, 09:27:03 PM

The buzzing noise in Emilena's cell abruptly stopped. "Alright, alright. You got me," the voice conceded. "Just having a bit of fun, nothing wrong with that." There was a sudden clack as the lock in the cell door was released, and the heavy metal structure suddenly swung open. A solid-looking, grim faced man stood on the other side, holding a crumpled grey jumpsuit. Without a word, he tossed the bundle in then stepped back into the hallway, keeping his staring eyes fixed on her.

"Alright, get dressed," the voice continued. "There's someone who wants to have a talk with you. Just follow your... escort down the corridor to your left. And don't worry, this isn't a trick. I promise. By the way, Miss Echo," the voice added. "I'm impressed with your artwork. The strokes are a bit amateur, but I could feel the emotion behind it."

Out in the corridor, the man made an impatient hurry up gesture with his hand.

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Axel jerked back when the guard threw the clothing in his direction. When he saw they weren't moving in closer themselves, he slowly crouched and picked up the jumpsuit, gingerly holding it out to check it for anything... unusual. After a second, he slowly slipped it on, his aching joints making him clumsy.

When it was on, he stared at the guards, unsure. Not like staying here's doing me any good... Cautiously, he made for the door, edging past the guards and stepping out into the corridor beyond. He looked up and down - the long straight corridor seemed empty initially, until he noticed a man standing outside a cell much further down on his right, apparently waiting for someone to come out. "What the hell..." he muttered, starting to follow the two men.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #92 on:** October 10, 2015, 09:42:04 PM

Emilena glared back. "Clearly you geniuses thought of everything...except how am I supposed to put on a jumpsuit wearing handcuffs?"

When the man was not prompt to assist or give her privacy she succeeded in awkwardly getting her legs into the proper holes and holding the rest up with her hands. Staggering out of the cell, she noticed a scrawny rat in a similar state to her own. "Axel?" Crap, good thing Lily's not here...

Serris · **Reply #93 on:** October 12, 2015, 07:33:17 PM

Soren leapt back as if from an electric shock. His head spun...Lily was now going by the name of "Rose" and apparently in league with the Purifiers!

All he could think of was that they had drugged and brainwashed her. He defiantly crossed his arms and stared at the two armed guards. "First tell me what you cocksuckers did to Lily and then I might consider cooperating."

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Anne's body was wracked by noticable muscle twitches as she began to enter withdrawal. The two guards watching through the heavy bulletproof corundum window seemed completely uninterested in the mare. A dark stain at the front of her pants indicated that the withdrawal had caused her to lose control of her bladder.

"I need the drugs!" she shouted, pounding her fist against the window.

bushwacked · **Reply #94 on:** October 13, 2015, 07:42:35 PM

Axel started to take a step in the direction the guards were pointing him, but when he heard his name being called out by a familiar voice, he stopped and turned awkwardly. He blinked when he recognised the fox who was being led towards him. "Em... Emilena?" He thought he'd seen the last of her after their escape from Lanthae. He groaned internally. Me, Emilena, Soren... They're rounding us all up. But if they were gonna kill us, why haven't they done it already? He noticed the state of her hand, and opened his mouth to speak. "Your hand-" He was cut off by a hard shove from one of the guards. Wincing, he started limping down the corridor, turning a bruised face to look at her over his shoulder as he walked.

"Feels like we're back to fucking square one, huh?" he spat bitterly. "Just like old times." What the hell have they done to Lily... maybe she's just... acting...

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #95 on:** October 16, 2015, 09:49:14 PM

"Excuse me?" exclaimed Flora. "GET RID OF HER! Who the hell is she? What were you just saying about trusting nobody?"

Lily looked at Shirley. "I'm an old friend of theirs."

"Good for you, now get the hell out of the house!" Flora stabbed her finger at the door. She looked accusatorily at Marita. "If you meant any of the stuff you said about safety you'll kick her out NOW."

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The guard chuckled at Soren's line. "Her? We didn't do nothing to her; she joined us."

He beckoned. "Boss wanted you a minute ago. It's gonna get more unpleasant for both of us the longer you take. And don't worry, it's all good stuff for you. You'll like it." He grinned deceptively sincerely. "You may find today's actually your lucky day."

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Emilena started when a familiar face greeted her in the hall, in a similar state to her own. "Axel! I..." Her reply died in her throat. The rat looked awful. It wasn't just his fresh bruises; his lankiness had morphed from that of an awkward teenager to the taut rigidity of a recovering trauma victim. Were it not for the familiar inflections of his speech she might not have recognized him.

Despite the fact that he was now the closest thing she had to an ally, she couldn't look him in the eye. For the past X months her memories of him had been tainted with Lily's endless gripes and twisted retellings slandering Axel's character and actions. Of course her words were to be taken with more than a grain of salt, but even as Emilena met the rat's eye she couldn't help but notice a calculated hardness, a sign that he wasn't the naive youth she'd worked with in Lanthae. She realized that he was expecting an answer.

"I'm sorry they got you too..." she finally replied darkly. Of all the old crew he had done the best job of keeping his name and face under wraps. If anyone had had a real shot of slipping under the Purifier's radar, it was him.

Nick22 · **Reply #96 on:** October 16, 2015, 11:08:21 PM

we never said 'trust No one', Flora, we said you have to trust us. We've known Lily for awhile, she was one of our friends back in Lanthae before.. well before things all went to pot there . we 're simply catching up..at least in part. the Purifiers have some of our friends, yes the same lot that killed Daryl. Look, just eat some food, i'm not sure when you ate last, but best get something in you. now i dont think any of our friends know where we currently live, with the exception of lily here, so the purifiers arent going to be bursting through that door at least not right away' however with technology being what it is, it will only be a matter of time before they find us..

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #97 on:** October 19, 2015, 07:33:27 PM

"What do you mean its only a matter of time until they find you?" Flora's eyes bugged. "I thought nobody knew you lived here! Does Bailey know you've got a history of fighting the Purifiers? You better not be thinking of--"

"-Look, kid," Lily cut in. "Could you go wait somewhere else? The grown-ups are talking." She rubbed her temples in frustration.

"Excuse me?" Flora looked at her aghast. "Look, I'll take lip from them because my...dad's forcing me to, but I don't care how far back you go with them, I'm not letting you tell me what to do."

Lily's eyes narrowed. She stood up and approached the fuchsia youth, who started looking uncomfortable and backing up to the nearest wall. "Listen to me, you pink little twit," she snarled in the folf's face. "I'm asking nicely. We're dealing with people who don't ask nicely. We're dealing with people who do this." Suddenly her hand shot out and crushed Flora's windpipe. The teenager's eyes went wide and she struggled for breath as her neck was pressed into the wallpaper. Gasping for breath desperately, Flora struggled to regain her footing but the dark-skinned woman proved to be far stronger than she looked. Somehow it felt as if the energy to fight was being drained from Flora's body.

Lily let the girl suffocate for a few moments before continuing with a tone of simmering anger. "But lucky for you, this doesn't concern you anyway," Lily growled, her nose a centimeter from Flora's panicked eyes. With her free hand, she opened the door right next to them. "Now go play with your Barbies and if you're a quiet little girl, maybe you'll get a bedtime story." Hurling the folf into the bedroom, Lily slammed the door shut behind her, leaving Flora in a collapsed heap heaving ragged breaths and clutching her throat.

"Sorry about that." Lily turned her attention back to her former comrades. "I'm not interested in talking about where I've been. Last night the Purifiers ambushed me in a doctor's office and I had to...fake my death to escape." she realized she wasn't comfortable admitting to the girls that she'd retained some psionic powers. The fewer people who knew about that, the better. "All I need from you is a bit of hacking." She looked at Marita. "Find me the new Purifier hideout, then you can go back to your normal existence. I can pay you."

The purifier attack had instilled something in Lily. A realization that she had been wasting her time eking out a living catching 'small fish', as Emilena put it. If the Purifiers want to dredge up old history, she's going to bring it to them. And this time, she's going to be immortal.

Nick22 · **Reply #98 on:** October 19, 2015, 08:19:58 PM

I'll go check on Shirley ' Rose said giving Lily a disapproving glance " you've changed a lot from when we last met Lily, you never would have done that back In Lanthae. but well you had to do what you felt you had to do.. She finished as she went over to the bedroom where Lily was crumpled inm a heap. opened the door went in and closed the door behind her.
_
Normal is a relative term. we've been scraping by, you see. biproxytol detox isnt cheap- Rose was addicted to the stuff for years.' Marita said as she took a seat at her computer. ' hacking into their base will probably not be easy, if it was anybody could locate them, and the army could wipe them out.. at any event its not as simple as getting you a location and sending you on your way. they've grabbed everyone else of the old gang, except us. we need to get them out as well. we'll need to locate where they are being held, and try and create a route of escape. i'll need to encrypt my hack, so that they cant just track it back here and find out where it came from. even if you can fake being dead after getting shot strangled or whatever it is you do, lily, that will only work for you, it wont work for anybody else . we dont have healing powers after all. just out of curiosity, how much are you willing to pay?"
-
you're going to hack into the purifier base? when the government doesnt even know where they are?' Marie started. ' the government is deeply compromised and corrupt Marie. if they had a modicum of competence, they would have found the base by now. Hold on, i'll start the search ' Marita said, pulling out a file and inserting it into the drive of her computer and began typing away furiously.
_

I'm sorry about Lily." rose said as she helped Flora to her feet. " she.. didnt use to be like that, back when we knew her in Lanthae.. shes had it pretty hard since then, evidently.. Here let me help up g lie down>"

bushwacked · **Reply #99 on:** October 21, 2015, 07:14:49 PM

"Not as sorry as me..." Axel said darkly. "I was done with this shit." He grunted as one of the guards yanked him to the side, leading the group down a passage that wound to the left. For a while he didn't say anything, his eyes fixed on his dirty feet as he was forced onwards.

He spat to the side. "I'm guessing they didn't tell you why we're here?" Killing them was the obvious guess, but why go through all this trouble? They could have killed him with no effort back in that alley, and if they wanted to torture him... Axel shook his head. He was sick of trying to second guess everything that happened.

The beefy guard in front of him halted in front of an open cell door. Axel glanced up from the floor and snorted when he saw Soren, two men surrounding him. Fucking perfect...

"Hurry up, he wants to see them now," Axel's guard was saying to the other two. "Get that one out here and let's go. He's getting impatient."