Blanking the Slate

Serris · **Reply #200 on:** January 03, 2016, 10:01:17 PM

Aaron nodded. The SUV's electric motor whined as he sped off, throwing a fantail of loose gravel into the air.

Soren wrinkled his nose at the odor of burnt rubber that wafted through the open window.

The Wolf Purifier watched the other SUV drive off. He rolled down the window. "Hey! All of you lazy fucks quit standing around with your fingers up your asses and get in!" he shouted. He looked around.

This particular area of Seryet City used to be an industrial hub but when an explosion caused by corporate sabotage destroyed the maglev tracks, the entire area fell into decay. Now, petty criminals and clandestine industries ruled the area.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #201 on:** January 06, 2016, 02:55:55 AM

Lily watched the SUV raced away. She couldn't help but keep an unpleasant smile from playing across her face as Axel abandoned her at top speed. Nothing new there...

"The hell was that about?" muttered the Purifier guard who'd rebuked Flora.

"Huh? Beats me," shrugged Lily innocently. "I'd just wanted to shake his hand..."

* * *

Emilena caught her breath as she saw Lily allow them to leave without protest. Her heartbeat slowly started returning to normal.

"What the hell?" protested Flora loudly. "Can anybody refrain from manhandling me within seconds of actually meeting me? I feel like a hacky-sack!"

Emilena didn't answer. Instead she glanced at Axel through the rearview mirror. Did he know about Lily's powers? Does he know just how powerful they've become? She needed to find an opportunity to talk to him in private.

The trip passed in uncomfortable silence. Flora got over her bridled annoyance when she realized she'd just been accidentally liberated from the lesbians' sight. Oh my god, they're on the complete opposite side of the city... she digested, eyes lighting up.

After a silent drive the SUV pulled up to Axel's old chop shop.

"All right, the ladies man does the talking," growled the unnamed Purifier, jabbing his thumb at Axel, "We see what he can get, and then we scram easy peasy."

"What did you do to get on Lily's bad side anyway?" Flora asked Axel as she got out of the car. "Request to be treated like a rational human being?"

Nick22 · **Reply #202 on:** January 07, 2016, 04:36:48 PM

Marita climbed into the SUV and sat quietly. flora had been split off of from them. she hoped flora wouldnt get into too much trouble wnhhile she was with the others.. ' so what are we exactly looking for at this farm? Marie asked as she got into the SUV. rose got into the far back of the SUV, her face twitching at the smalls of the inside, clearly this vehicle hadnt been cleaned in awhile.

Serris · **Reply #203 on:** January 07, 2016, 05:53:26 PM

Soren turned to Marita and Marie just before they climbed in. "We're looking for anything that could explain why a bunch of Augment farmers just up and died while working. And we want to see if that hostage crisis had anything to do with that." He shot a glance at the Wolf in the driver's seat. "Or if the Purifiers were involved in some way."

The Wolf started the SUV's motor with a simple push of the button. The electric motor rumbled as it came to life. He saw Soren about to get in the back seat. "Oh no, you're ridin' shotgun with me since I don't know shit about where we're going. Now put in the name of this place!"

Soren obliged. He noticed the GPS mounted in the center console along with radio equipment. "Sky Farms," he said clearly.

The GPS chimed as it came up with the directions to the aforementioned farm. The Wolf smiled and rolled up the windows. "All right y'all! Let's do this!"

The SUV sped out of the empty loading dock. The other Purifiers who were in the SUV tucked between two ramshackle warehouses followed them.

bushwacked · **Reply #204 on:** January 08, 2016, 09:18:38 PM

"More like she got tired of being one," Axel muttered, climbing over and stepping out of the car. Now that he'd had time to calm down, he was irritated at himself for his outburst - if only because it probably made it all too clear how much he was hurting. Shit... for all I know, she enjoyed it.[/]

Trying to push it from his mind, Axel looked up at the familiar shop front. The neon lettering spelling out Thompson's Brightsmile Bakery above the entrance seemed to loom above him, and the dark windows glared at him reproachfully. Axel's jaw clenched as he took a second to try and come up with a strategy. Thompson was a lowlife, sure... but the rat wasn't sure if he wanted to be the reason the guy got tortured.

He let out a slow breath then looked across at the two Purifiers. "Just take it easy, okay? I can do this."

"If it looks like he'll call for help..." Marcus warned.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." Slowly, Axel walked forwards and pushed the door open. The 'bakery' was just as dusty as ever. On the other side of the room, beneath a dim bulb that cast a glow onto the service counter, Axel could make out movement as someone rummaged in the cupboards beneath the counter. The rat stared for a second then cleared his throat. "Thompson."

The shape gave a gasp of surprise and straightened up, revealing the small man. His black, beady eyes widened in surprise when he saw who the voice belonged to. "Axel. Christ, you scared the shit outta me. Where the fuck have you been? Got parts coming up to my ass 'cause you weren't here last night to..." Thompson's face pinched in as he noticed the others behind Axel. "... to clean up the shop. Who're they?"

Serris · **Reply #205 on:** January 08, 2016, 10:04:52 PM

"New customers," Anne said. She pointed to the horn on her head. "I've been looking for something to replace this old model. What do you got?" She leaned on the grimy counter and pricked her ears up in interest, hoping Thompson would cough up the goods.

Aaron, on the other hand, was looking around the "bakery". Next to the entrance was battered "baked goods" display case filled with decrepit-looking models of cakes that he was almost certain never existed in this bakery. Indeed, the only edible thing in the bakery was a half-eaten grilled catfish sandwich from a local eatery sitting next to the cash register.

The German Shepherd sniffed the air and was immediately able to pick up the metallic stench of blood and he noticed that it seemed to be coming from the back room. His ears leaned forward in interest. Luckily, his back was to the door so his horizontally held tail didn't give away his interest at noticing the odor of blood. He leaned over to Marcus and whispered in his ear.

"Marcus, I smell something interesting from the back room. It's blood. Keep the guy busy and I'll go check it out," he said.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #206 on:** January 10, 2016, 06:53:31 AM

Emilena hesitated before entering the store. "I'll be back soon," she told the others. "Just grabbing gloves from the goodwill next store."

"You better not run off," a Purifier growled.

"I'm not walking around with my hand looking like this!" she snapped, marching off without another word.

She was leafing through the available second-hand sweatshirts when a voice right behind her made her jump. "You might want a hoodie too. Keep your face private. With those scars you stand out in a crowd."

Emilena noticed the black wolf girl she'd grabbed to escape from Lily. "Who the hell are you?" she growled.

"Name's Shirley. I came with Marita and Rose." Shirley extended a hand.

Emilena went back to ignoring her. She picked out a dark green sweatshirt with deep pockets, good for hiding a gun.

Shirley sighed loudly. "Are you all completely asocial? I can't get anyone but the desperate lesbians to even give me the time of day!"

"This isn't a field trip!" Emilena snapped. "Also keep your voice down." She took a second look. "You came with Marita? What's the relation?"

"Platonic, to their chagrin," Shirley rolled her eyes and Emilena couldn't help but smirk in understanding. "Look, you wanna be a dickhead, each to their own. You'd be in good company." Shirley folded her arms. "But all I'm looking for is somebody to actually talk to me. And I thought since you're a fellow chick I might take a chance on you."

Emilena sighed and weighed her options. Last thing she ever wanted was to waste her time on a kid, but she could appreciate someone being straightforward and open to communication. That could come in useful later, especially with so few allies she could consider trusting. "All right. After the chop shop I'll clue you in on all the details. On one condition." She picked out a pair of black leather gloves and headed for the cashier. "Afterwards you tell me why you dyed your fur black."

Shirley raised an eyebrow.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #207 on:** January 14, 2016, 04:22:22 AM

The shopkeeper glanced at Anne. "Huh. Don't see many people going for the exterior models these days. You wanna upgrade that to something subdermal? We got a cash-in program, you could save up to 75% of the cost."

While grabbing her a brochure from the pile next to the cash register, he surreptitiously he fingered the second of two buttons on the till marked 'CREDIT'. In actuality this button alerted the Seryet Police; he'd been selling too long in a town like this to not sense danger when it walked through his front door.

----------

Lily glanced idly out the window at Sky Farms grew ever closer on the GPS. She didn't say anything, but in the window's reflection she was sizing up the Purifiers that were guarding them. She could kill any of them with a single touch, but they were more valuable alive until she could press them for information, not to mention it would be a minor inconvenience if one of them had the reflexes to kill her and the others first.

For now, she'd let Soren investigate something on behalf of the enemy. But she wasn't interested in forming plans that took any longer than necessary.

bushwacked · **Reply #208 on:** January 14, 2016, 06:55:17 PM

Marcus inclined his head slightly. He smelled the blood too, subtle and faint - but for someone as familiar with the scent, the sickly copper smell was obvious.

Axel winced at Thompson's recommendation. The sub-dermal augments were always the messiest when they came into the shop. Small strips of flesh still clinging on, globules of who-knows-what... gentle removal wasn't a focus when it came to the business. "She doesn't want an upgrade. Look, we just need to ask a few questions then we'll be gone, no big deal."

Thompson's eyes squinted in suspicion. "Questions? What the fuck're you talking about? And who're these people?"

"Friends," Marcus grunted.

Thompson's breath whistled out of his nose. "Friends? Sure, and I'm King Kong."

Shit... Axel's jaw clenched. He was messing this up almost straight away. "We just-"

Shaking his head, Thompson turned his attention back to Anne. "Why do you look so familiar? Something about you..."

Serris · **Reply #209 on:** January 16, 2016, 12:46:03 AM

"You must be mistaking me for someone else." Anne replied. "Anyways, no subdermals. I want everyone to see what I've got. Besides, I can't use a subdermal implant as a weapon, now can I?"

It was then she picked up radio chatter from Seryet City PD...and they seemed to be coming closer. "Come on buddy, we're just here to buy some goods. Did ya really have to go and call the cops on us?" She leaned over the counter and batted her eyelashes at Thompson.

Aaron scowled as he looked over the goods in the display case. Anne was shamelessly flirting with Thompson. He had to admit, that mare was quite savvy...despite her obvious addiction.

Of course, this was a lie. Anne had in fact sold some scavenged augments to Thompson but she always made sure to wear a hat and bandanna to cover her face and the distinctive horn.

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

The SUV pulled up to the parking lot at Sky Farms. As Sky Farms had produce market and an informational exhibit, it was open to the public. And today was quite a busy day. The scent of seaweed and plants mingled with the industrial odor of Seryet City.

The driver of the SUV got out and opened all the doors. "All right y'all! Let's move on out! And no funny business!"

bushwacked · **Reply #210 on:** January 16, 2016, 07:09:52 AM

"You called the cops?" Axel felt his eyes widen. "Goddammit, Thompson..."

The man's mouth opened, closed. Then his expression hardened and he scowled at Axel. "What the fuck are you doing? You had it good here. At least you could feel useful, you little fucking asshole."

Axel turned to Marcus and Aaron. "Grab him. We need to do this quickly." With the illegal augment business raking in a decent amount of money, Thompson had known it would only be a matter of time before the cops caught wind of it and paid a visit. Luckily for him, the police department in this sector was as corrupt as it was brutal and it had been easy for him to establish a deal - in exchange for a cut of the income, they'd ignore what went on, and would deal with any potential problems. Axel knew they didn't take prisoners.

"Piss off," Thompson sneered. "You'd all better leave before-"

Marcus darted forward, reaching over the counter and seizing him by the neck of his shirt. Thompson's foot knocked into a metal display shelf, sending it clattering to the floor as Marcus dragged him over the counter. The doberman held the human upright, towering over him. "Been selling the bulk of your... product to someone. Who?"

"Your mother, you fucking-"

Marcus' fist shot forwards, slamming into Thompson's face like a brick. Axel heard the wet crunch of tearing cartilage as the man's nose broke. Thompson's legs folded and he would have fallen if Marcus hadn't been holding him upright. "Who?"

Thompson gasped, one hand clutching his face. Tears shimmered in his eyes. "Fuck you."

Axel swore under his breath, aware of time running out. "He's got an office in back. Help me look through it, maybe we'll find something," he said, glancing at Aaron.

From a corridor leading off in the back, a toilet flushed. Axel paused mid-step, his damaged ear twitching. For a moment, the only sounds were Thompson's pained gasps. Then the click of a door unlocking, heavy footsteps approaching. Axel looked at the others, but before anyone could do anything a tall, beefy man emerged from the gloom of the corridor, looking at the floor as he dried the back of his hands on his jeans.

"Thanks for that, Ray. Been dying to use the crapper since..." The beefy man looked up, and froze, confusion plastered on his face as he took in the situation facing Thompson. "What the..."

Axel took a step back.

The man's arm flashed back and pulled a revolver from behind him. He snapped it up, trying to cover everyone in the room. "What the hell's going on?! Let go of him!"

Serris · **Reply #211 on:** January 16, 2016, 09:01:14 PM

Seeing as there was going to be trouble when Thompson had started mouthing off to Marcus, Anne had already unscrewed her horn. She held it at waist level, hoping that Marcus and Aaron both concealed her actions.

When the man with the revolver came out, she made her move. She pressed the point of her horn into Thompson's neck while Marcus was holding him upright.

She then turned to the armed man. "Put the gun down and no one gets hurt!" She scratched Thompson's neck with the point of her horn for emphasis. At the same time, one of her ears was swiveled towards the entrance as she kept an ear out for Seryet City PD.

"Didn't think she had it in her," Aaron muttered. He turned to the armed man. "Look, do as she says before we all end up in deep shit with the cops."

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #212 on:** January 17, 2016, 01:51:24 PM

Emilena and Flora were returning from the goodwill when they heard the sirens.

"Shit. Shirley, get down." Emilena removed her sweatshirt and stuffed it on the teenager. "Also wear this. Your identity is more valuable than mine."

Flora cowered behind a trashcan fearfully, the sight of the pistol in Emilena's waiststrap bringing back a flash of unpleasant memories. "Please let those be fire trucks..." she stammered, failing to keep her voice level.

Emilena rolled her eyes. "Shirley, get back to the goodwill and act normal. We'll come grab you--"

"--Freeze!" An otherwise normal-looking SUV rolled down its window and an undercover cop flashed his badge. "Hands up! Nobody move!"

Emilena swore profusely as she grabbed Flora's hand and practically dragged her towards the chop shop. "We got company!" She announced, bursting through the door as a gunshot shattered the glass behind her.

bushwacked · **Reply #213 on:** January 17, 2016, 08:21:30 PM

As Emilena and Flora burst through the door, the man with the revolver jerked in shock. His finger tightened on the trigger just as the shot from outside caused the window to explode. The bullet exploding from the end of the revolver went wide, zipping out the window and taking out the window of a car parked opposite.

"Bastards are returning fire!" Axel heard someone shout from outside.

Suddenly the rattle of automatic gunfire filled the air, almost rupturing Axel's eardrums as bullets tore through the room, ripping chunks from the walls and shattering display cases. "Shit!" the rat yelled, doing the only thing he could - dropping to the floor, cowering with his hands over his head, praying none of the flying metal hit him. The man with the revolver wasn't so lucky, the volley of gunfire tearing him apart and throwing him back into the hallway he'd just appeared from.

Marcus felt his body shift into automatic. Grabbing a hold of Anne, he threw her and Thompson over the counter then leaped over after them, hunkering down behind the meagre cover offered by the thin counter. Now free, Thompson crawled away but Marcus couldn't go after him, not with the more pressing threat outside. He yanked out the sawed-off. He'd need to wait until their attackers came closer - it was too short range and they'd be able to cut him down easily. "How many?!" Marcus yelled across to Emilena.

The gunfire stopped abruptly. Axel's eyes opened, his ears ringing. Hyperventilating, his body trembling, he started to drag himself across the floor towards the hatch set into the floor just by the counter. If he could get into the basement where the augments were kept, maybe he could put together some sort of weapon. It was better than just waiting around to be shot to death.

Serris · **Reply #214 on:** January 17, 2016, 08:55:15 PM

"Fuck!" Aaron shouted as a piece of shrapnel grazed his cheek. He pulled out his pistol...and then nothing, the gunfire abruptly stopped. His ears still ringing, he pointed to Thompson trying to crawl away from the fracas.

Anne said nothing as she screwed her horn back into place. When the gunfire stopped, she picked up some radio chatter from the cops. "They're coming in through the back door and front door. We got about ten or so--"

"Use that horn and do something!" Aaron shouted.

"Okay! Just wait a moment!" Anne took a deep breath. "I sent out static over the police frequency. Hopefully while their ears are ringing, we can get moving!"

Aaron nodded and turned to Axel. "Axel! That hatch better lead to an exit!"

Nick22 · **Reply #215 on:** January 18, 2016, 09:48:49 PM

Marita Rose and Marie got out of the vehicle as and looked around Sky Farms. At first glance this farm looked like any number of farms that surrounded seryet. "well guys blend in and dont do anything stupid one the purifiers said to them. ' alright ' marie you check out the brochure. Rose you check out the Produce ' soren and i will check out the farm itself we'll meet back here in 20 minutes . marita turned to Soren. " lead the way you're more familiar with this place than I am.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #216 on:** January 18, 2016, 10:23:55 PM

"I only saw one!" Emilena gasped, ducking behind a rack of what looked to be microcams. She spared a glance, but from her vantage point she couldn't see anything. Her augmented fingers twitched as she tightened her grip on her silenced pistol. All right you stupid hunk of metal, you better work as well as Soren says you will...

Flora, for her part, was crouched with her legs locked in the center of the store and shaking like a leaf, arms wrapped protectively over her head. Luckily, she was doing such a good job of looking like a civilian that the police probably wouldn't even target her, but regardless Emilena hissed, "Shirley!"

Abruptly Flora screamed, a high-pitched siren shriek that threatened to give Emilena tinnitus. Cursing loudly, Emilena yanked her behind the rack. "Goddammit, move!"

"How can you be so calm?" stammered Flora, eyes wide as she scrabbled her knees and fingertips against the tiles for purchase.

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

Lily dawdled at the cars.

"Hey sweetheart, what'chu lagging behind for?" A purifier accosted her, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"I--I don't think I'd be much help," Lily stammered, recoiling just enough to look weak. "I was going to stay here and watch the car."

"Nuh-uh. Move it." The Purifier grabbed her roughly. "We stick together, and if you keep being useless, we'll just...uughhh..." Abruptly his eyes clouded over and he stumbled away from her.

"Joker, what is it?" another asked.

"'Snuthin," Joker shook his head and cleared his throat. "Got a bad headache all of a sudden." He shot a glare at Lily. "Git the hell moving, cupcake."

Lily complied, fighting to keep a small smile from showing. "You should drink more water," she told Joker helpfully. "It's probably dehydration..."

Serris · **Reply #217 on:** January 19, 2016, 10:43:27 PM

Soren walked past a group of schoolchildren. He went to a door labeled "Employees Only". He waved his ID card at a sensor near the door and it opened. He held the door open for Marita.

Soon, a Mexican man who was helping offload some frozen catfish burgers onto a motorized cart turned to the duo.

"Amigo!" he exclaimed. "Where have you been? And who's this lovely woman?"

"Well Uziel, I had a family emergency to attend to. So what's going on?" Soren asked.

"Catfish burgers! Real popular! I'm supposed to be restocking them."

"Okay. She's a friend of mine and she's interested in getting a job maintaining all the computers and shit. I'm just going to show her around."

"Ah! The computers are what makes everything here-" Uziel indicated with a sweep of his arm the entire glassed-in growing area. There were numerous fruit trees being tended to by workers wearing flying frames or using ladders (Augment climbers were now restricted to ground-level work for their own safety ever since the incident where several of them fell to their deaths when their augments failed) "-work."

He tossed Marita an orange that had obviously been picked from one of the trees. "Good luck on your job search." Uziel then hauled the cart full of catfish burgers off to the produce stand.

bushwacked · **Reply #218 on:** January 20, 2016, 02:46:52 PM

Over the ringing in his ears, Axel could make out someone addressing him. "No! No exit, just... just keep them busy!" Gripping the edge of the open hatchway leading down, he pulled himself through and wormed his way down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, the rat struggled to his feet and stumbled into the workroom, crossing to the storage area containing dissembled augments and the other parts still waiting their turn. Shit... what now... He tried desperately to think clearly, trying to ignore the dozens of panicked thoughts flying through his mind.

From up top, Marcus heard a crash as the back door was kicked in. Cautious footsteps from out the front announced the presence of a second attacker. "Almost on us," he growled. His ears flattened at Flora's shrieks. His dark eyes narrowed at Emilena. "Shut her up..."

The noise of the back door being kicked in send a fresh rush of panic through Axel. "Shitshitshitshit!" His desperate eyes passed across one shelf and he paused. Okay... better than nothing... "When I say now, drop and cover your eyes!" he called up to the hatch, frantically pulling parts from the shelf.

Nick22 · **Reply #219 on:** January 20, 2016, 09:36:00 PM

thanks for the orange ' Marita said as she was hurried along by Soren. ' so whats the plan/ she whispered ' what exactly shouldf i be looking for? archives of when the augments here croaked?