Re: Future thing

[Deathcap]

When she had gotten Raven cleaned up for the most part and had his wounds bandaged, she put the bloodied rags in the bucket and drew back."I'll find you some blankets, I'm afraid the few beds we have are occupied." She apologized, struggling to get up from her kneeling position, using the wall for support as she did so before heading out. She returned with a bedroll and a water ration, laying them down for her. "Kait's husband is going back to the military for tonight, and she and the kids are staying here for now."

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet thanked the old woman, nodding. That was good. She didn't think she could sleep with josephe in the same building.

[melodiousmysteries]

SKIP

Sliet watched the stranger approach uneasily. They seemed odd. She jumped as the person attacked kat. Or... Was that a person? She reached for her gun, firing three rounds at the thing, aiming for center mass.

[Deathcap]

SKIP


Singer had picked up her weapon and shot at it's head the second the thing lunged, realizing a moment too late what it was, but to her shock, no shot resounded off the wall or struck the emancipated being.
She looked at her gun in confusion as nothing fired the second time, understanding; the stupid bastards. She walked past Anderson, snatching the knife from his belt with a practiced tug and breaking into a run in the same motion, sticking along the wall to keep out of the other's fire.

Anderson fired after the first shot after he pushed aside his panic, hitting the attacker through it's neck, but it didn't react, nor did it flinch at Sliet's shots at it's torso. He jumped in surprise as the former general relieved him of his weapon, but was too slow to stop her, and tried to aim again, not sure what was happening.

Katherine felt as though the life was draining from her as the creature seized her neck mercilessly. She tried to shock it, to fight back, but it seemed to be absorbing her power without trouble. Her vision faded as she struggled for air, and when it's grip loosened, she slipped motionlessly to the floor of the hall.

As the creature attacked the blond, Singer ran up behind it, driving the knife hard into the back of it's head, where skull met neck. But she wasn't as quick as she'd once been, the thing followed her motion and whirled with inhuman speed, lunging to bite at her. She shifted on her feet, narrowly slipping past it, tripping it up in the same motion and coming down hard with her knee in it's back. She raised and drove the knife into the former man's neck once again, and jerked the blade across, severing the brain-stem. She freed the knife then, standing unfazed, and wiped the blood on the tattered remains of the creature's clothing as she turned to the others, cold anger in her eyes.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet rushed to Kats side as the creature fell, ignoring the angry look from singer. "What was that?" She asked, distressed, looking over kat worriedly trying to find out what was wrong.

[Deathcap]

Anderson hurried up after them, regarding the creature in suspicion. Kat attempted to wave Sliet off a bit, struggling to sit up. "I'm okay, I'm okay," She sputtered through her injured throat, looking over at the dead man in shock and catching her breath. She felt like all her energy had been sucked out of her. "S-some kind of droid.."

"It was an assimilation soldier model." Singer informed. "Probably not a created one, looks like it was a man, once. They infect machinery and bio forms with a tech carrying mind or code altering nanites to control whatever host they take. We're lucky they didn't enter mass production before things fell apart. They'll drain people, trees, anything of life if they get tried, You're lucky that's all it did, and that you're still you." Singer extended her hand to help Kat up.

The blond took it weakly, trying to get a firm grip as she helped her up. Kat didn't want to seem weak, but leaned into Sliet a little for support. Warnings went off in her head concerning her energy, and she regretted taking her anger out on the table and wounding herself. "Thank you." She murmured to the brunette.

"I could have been more of a help if you'd given me a real weapon. You decided to work together, we need to trust each other." She warned, a growl in her throat as she addressed the droids.

"I decided that your daughter shouldn't have to lose her mother, like Sliet, or Pel, or any of the others whose lives you ruined. Trust isn't on the table." Kat snapped back, her voice strained as her throat started to bruise over.

Singer grunted dismissively. "This isn't about your emotions. Do you want me to help? Then we need to get along; especially if there's more of those things. Your friends weren't the only ones who died." She snapped. "Do you know how to put down a droid?" She asked, not really waiting for an answer. "Back of the neck or spine, and don't let them touch you." She added in anger, heading off.

"Knife." Snapped Anderson, getting in Singer's way and holding out his hand demandingly. The older looked at him in amusement, not breaking stride, but raising the blank-loaded gun and raising it, firing it off at him. Anderson jumped in alarm, and Singer chuckled cruelly as she shouldered past him. "Full of blanks, boy, maybe they don't trust you either, huh?" She muttered bitterly, keeping the knife.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet rubbed the back of her neck jut thinking about it, cringing inwardly. She watched the interaction between Singer and Anderson, unamused. She stepped out ahead of The woman the same way that Anderson had done. "Knife." She growled warningly, holding out a hand and proffering her own gun in exchange.

[Deathcap]

Singer regarded the girl with less amusement than she had Anderson, not hesitating before she took the gun and replaced it with the knife. "Thank you." She unloaded half the ammo into her palm, and returned Sliet's gun to her then, loading the ammo into her own gun instead, pocketing the blanks. "You should keep that, you're a good shot." She conceded, before continuing down the hallway with caution.

Kat watched the three tiredly, but regained the strength to stand at her full height and glanced at Sliet warily as she passed the woman the knife. Did she really think that was best? She wasn't so sure she wanted to go any further. "Singer, how did that thing get down here? Are we in danger of more?"

"It likely came from the storage chambers. Some remnants of tech and droids are kept in a holding unit; might've adapted and taken over a body, or something, but I cant be sure until we get down there. If it came in through a hole somewhere under ground, than yes, more than likely, but I doubt that possibility. Theres no rats, so no holes."

Anderson caught up to Sliet, feeling a bit uneasy after the false shot, and worried with the droid attack. He hadn't signed up for this. "I could've done that." He muttered sourly, attempting to take his knife, but he looked concerned at the same time. "Are you alright?"

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet handed the blade back to Anderson with a sigh. "Yeah right. I'm fine." She said, her posture tense. "you didn't shit your pants, did you?"

[Deathcap]

At the mention of the remains of droids, Kat felt her stomach twist in discomfort, not wanting to think about what they'd find. "We should clear this out then, before we stop to research, make sure things are locked down."Singer only grunted in agreement.

Anderson glowered, resisting the urge to kick her. She seemed less than okay. "No, that was nothing compared to seeing your ugly face in the morning." He smirked, but his mean expression fell and he nudged her shoulder gently. "Come on, I'll watch our backs." He told her, dropping behind a bit as they headed deeper into the old facility.

The facility held no more of the strange humanoids as they went along, remaining empty and dusty, but neat and intact. Several locked down steel doors accounted for this, but Kat easily disarmed the mechanics of them. When they entered the holding cell, re-powering the lights, and uneasiness settled over the three.

A wide white room spread out before them, with a airtight dome in the center, one-way glass surrounding the enclosure, full of tables and instruments. Kathrine swallowed at the memories, feeling weak; too tired to feel any more rage, but came up beside Sliet, worried for her. Kat wrapped Sliet's hand in hers, squeezing gently, unable to imagine what the other must be feeling if she remembered.

Along the outer edges of the room, there were pods; similar to those aboard the ships, and doors to freezing containment cells, and numerous file cabinets, and old, terminals, some of their old screens miraculously online.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet felt ill at the sight of the room, the dome making her uneasy. She quickly squeezed kats hand back before slipping away to one of the terminals. She reached out to the machine with a shaky hand. Touching it gently and trying to will it to give up whatever information it posessed.

[Deathcap]

Kathrine trailed after the other, watching her try the terminals. She wasn't sure she felt up to accessing them, not wanting to loose anymore of her energy; her neck still felt sore, a sign she wasn't healing quickly, so she decided to let the other have a go at it herself. She glanced at the pods locked into the walls, feeling sick, wondering sadly if she should even look. Maybe there'd be someone she knew, maybe some of the Ashly models she hadn't caught, but she knew she wouldn't, the chances were so low, and so many of the Fairweather droids had been executed before they'd had a chance to die in the aftermath of their world. And Terra and Ruth were gone, long gone. Yet something held her back from looking. She'd already let go... as least she'd tried, but she felt like checking would crush her all over again. She hadn't seen Terra go, not like Ruth; in her arms, like Otifer; still in his chair. She'd heard the gunfire, had known as she escaped that she and Sliet had only escaped, only lived because the other had been fighting, dying for them. Yet she'd sat on the frozen rooftop of the center with her radio pressed to her ear, waiting every night, trying to numb herself with the cold and Otifer's good rum. The only thing she'd found to ease the pain was Sliet and Alex; their little smiles and hugs, knowing they needed her, but it still hurt, now, in this place. She swallowed, deciding it was time, and slowly walked over to the pods and storage units.

Singer walked around slowly, examining the strange room, but not sure what to look for; the droids seemed to know what they were doing, anyway; she stood by the door and kept lookout.

As Kat walked up to the lines of pods, she found most were empty, but there were locks and glass over some, their contents shaded.
The blond seemed to find something then, and put her hand over the glass, freezing and stepping back, as if confused or frightened, before her hand gripped the lock and she spoke up, her voice breathless and shaky with startled, joyed laughter. "S-Sliet- Sliet-" She got out, struggling over her words. "Sliet can you disengage the lock? P-pod C-8!" She told the younger, her eyes full of tears as she shook, glancing back.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet looked over her shoulder at Singer by the door. She didn't like the idea of the officer guarding the door to this particular room while she was in it. She glanced up in surprise at how excited kat sounded, trying to persuade the computer to do as she'd asked. "What is it?" She called over, at the same time searching for that same information in the data.

[Deathcap]

"I think it's Terra-" She replied, her voice little more than a sob, pulling the lock open as soon as it clicked, commanding the machine to disengage with a few taps, trembling where she stood until the machine let out a beep, and the lights along the side turned green. She was careful not to disrupt it, but didn't wait as she opened the sleeper door and caught the other as she slipped through into Kat's arms, her form unconscious but very much alive, dressed in only a pale smock and shorts, her dark curly hair tangled and loose down her back and she crumpled into the blond.
Kat knelt, holding the other against her chest, speechless and tearful as she brushed the other's hair back from her face, laying a shaking hand against her dark cheek, as if she might fade away, just feeling the other breathe against her as she cried, trying to speak. "Ter? Can you hear me? I'm here, I-" She trailed off in a sob, rocking a little and trying to wake her friend, her mind spinning. How could this be real? After all this time "Terra, please wake up, It's Kat, y-you're safe, I've got you." She assured, pressing her forehead to the other's, trying to reach her somehow.

When the brunette's eyes fluttered slightly, she gazed up at the other in a confused daze, reaching up to touch the other's face, no less confused. "...Kat?" She whispered. "What're you doing here? I-I told you to run."

Kat shook her head, not even sure how to speak, just so relieved to see her, to touch her, to know she was okay. She tugged Terra closer, cradling her and still crying. Terra gently wrapped an arm around the other, lost and not sure why the other was so upset. "It's ok, Kat, it's alright..." She soothed, trying to get a bearing on their surroundings. She felt worry when she saw three others she didn't recognize, all still in this place. Where was the little one? What had happened? Kat just kept hugging her and crying.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet moved cautiously over to kat as the woman fell out of the pod, leaning over the two as terra woke up, dark hair falling over her shoulders. "Whoa." She breathed, staring wide eyed at the two.

[Deathcap]

Terra tried to sit up, but found she had no energy, and just slumped against Kat's arm gently. "H-Hey, calm down, what's going on, are you okay?" She whispered, reaching up to brush the tears from her eyes, but Kat just caught her wrist and held her hand to her cheek, entwining her fingers and holding it gently. "O-oh, god, so much, Terra." The blonde replied, laughing, joy and love clear on her face as she sniffled. "I missed you so much, but I'm okay now."
"M-missed me? Kat, What is this? Who as these people, what's wrong?" Did you come back for me?"
She asked, looking up at Sliet.

Kat sat up a little, transferring what little energy she had to the other, not caring what it did to her.
"I thought they killed you, Terra, it- it's been almost thirty years."
Terra looked at her in shock, barely remembering, let alone understanding.
"That's Sliet, she's the little kid you saved, isn't she so tall now?" Kat smiled proudly at the other, her face still full of joy. "And-And Alex, and, I-I have so much to tell you, but it's ok, I-we'll figure it out." She tried to assure.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet reached out her hands, touching each of them on the arm, splitting half of her energy between the two. She smiled at the mention of her name, getting up once she was done to give the two some space and went back to chacking the computers.

[Deathcap]

Terra looked overwhelmed at the information, but nodded weakly in thanks as the two gave her some energy, uncertain of her situation, resting her head against Kat gently and listening and watching as the other spoke, still taking things in as she looked around the room and clung to Kat, not fully understanding but glad the other was here for her. She remembered remnants slowly, of her last waking days, before she'd shut herself down into stasis to protect herself and the information about Kat and the others, but how had it been so long?

Kathrine was slowly getting ahold of her emotions, feeling like she couldn't hold onto the other long or tight enough. But held her gently, forgetting the rest of the world for a few moments, kissing the other's forehead before burying her nose her shoulder.

Terra found herself glancing at Sliet, something important at the edge of her memory as she tried to put it together. "Th-the kid? That's her? She's Miras..." She trailed of, looking at Kat.
"Y-yeah, we figured it out, that's her kid."
Terra shook her head, trying to get a handle on her memories. "No... Mira, she, she's here too, they had her in stasis when they questioned me." She informed, looking at Sliet. "I-I don't know if she's here, but you should check the-the pods, if theres others full, be careful, there's weaponized droids, too." She told Sliet and Kat, her voice soft with weariness.
Kathrine looked shocked at the other's words. "Are there other Fair Weather Helpers?" She asked, but Terra only shook her head. "I don't know, I put myself in stasis once I realized I couldn't escape. I'm sorry, I should've tried harder... I just wanted to protect you, I thought it was over for me."
"No, no, I should've come for you." Kat protested, breaking into tears again.
"No, that would've been stupid, this isn't your fault, you survived, and now you're back, you did good." She encouraged warmly, hugging the other.
Kat helped the other gently to her feet, having to steady the Terra's legs seemed to have trouble working, and she leaned on Kat helplessly as they walked over carefully and slowly to meet Sliet at the pods.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet looked up at the mention of her mothers name. It had been a long time since they'd actually talked about her. The last time would probably be when she had come back from her solo adventures in the federation forever ago. She'd long since come to terms with the fact that she would never see her again or ever really know the woman. But now... She threw open a couple of drawers in the desk, retrieving two markers and tossing one to Anderson. "Andy, pick an end and look through the pods, mark all the ones that have people in them." She instructed, pointing him towards one end of the row of pods and running for the other herself. She froze at the fifth or sixth pod she'd marked, staring at the familiar face, dumbstruck.

[Deathcap]

Anderson listened to the three women speak, feeling sorry for Kat and her companion, but glad they'd at least found each other. What he wouldn't give to see Lilla again. He pushed the thought aside, though, trying to keep up about what they were going on about. He expected to see Sliet react with excitement, or relief, or something, but she seemed focused on her task, still.
"No. No you are not calling me that, don't." Anderson said, shutting his eyes and sucking air in through his teeth as he fist up in protest at her nickname, snatching the marker out of the air, following the other to begin checking and marking the pods; feeling a little uneasy at the sleeping forms inside. "Sliet, you heard me? No." He glanced up to tell her, but saw the look on her face as she stared into the pod, and walked over. "Is that her? Your mom?"

As the two marked the pods, Kathrine and Terra stood back. It wasn't a bad idea; they could investigate and get the others out once they had a plan, and a safe path out for the exhausted droids. Yet Kat watched Sliet with worry as she stared into the pod, feeling an inexplicable sadness and happiness at the same time. She'd finally have her mom. Mira had been a lovely, caring woman; once they reunited, she was sure it would be good for the other. And she was happy, overjoyed that the woman was alright, another survivor, another friend okay. But somewhere, she felt a sadness that made her sick with guilt for even feeling it. She loved Sliet with all her heart, she'd done her best to be a mom for the other, someone understanding and supportive like her own parents had been, but she knew she'd never quite been that to Sliet; she'd been an annoying older sister at best; and a stuffy, cold teacher at worst. She would've given her life for Sliet or Alex or Ashi the moment they needed her, but she knew deep down she wasn't cut out for being a parent; Sliet had grown up angry, she'd hurt people, she'd even fled her; Alex grew up timid and stifled, and no matter how much love she'd given Ashi, she seemed to push the other farther away with every hug. She was so proud of them in different ways, but she'd failed them in others. She couldn't help feeling a sense of loss, knowing Sliet would have her real mom at her side soon. But those thoughts were selfish, and she pushed them down, heading over to Sliet, rubbing the other's back and smiling, happy for her and feeling warmth and relief at the sight of Mira's face. "She's gonna be ok - you wanna wake her up?" She asked softly.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet nodded to Anderson without taking her eyes off of the pod. She stood perfectly still for a long time, suddenly unsure what to do. She should be ecstatic and be trying to get her mother out as fast as she could like Kat had done for Terra, but she didn't. It was oddly surreal. "I... don't think so." She said quietly, still not looking at the others.

[Deathcap]

Terra looked surprised, but Kat nodded. "Okay, we'll make it safe and get a proper welcome ready for her first, alright? Its okay if you need some time." She assured, still a little tired, but curious of the others and she walked along the rows.

Terra shifted on her feet, sore and stiff and muddled, but things were gradually coming back to her. "There's an Ashly droid in there, half grown, I would unplug it." She warned, gesturing in a broad swath, not fully sure which pod it was in.
Kathrine blinked, looking up, but not turning around or responding, suddenly looking a little stiff.

Kathrine looked over the pods, and got a little rigid as she looked into the pod holding the girl; a familiar sleeping face looking back at her.

"Did you ever catch her? Ashly?" Terra asked, uncertain of Kat's change in posture, but the other didn't answer. "Kat? Did you?"
"...No... she... I looked but.. she was gone, I-I think." She muttered noncommittally.
Terra watched the other in worry, confused."There should be a switch near the back, or cords under that panel." Terra tried to inform helpfully.
"Uh... yeah..." Kat replied, but didn't move from her spot.
"Here, I'll show you."
"N-Nah, I got it." She blond knelt quickly and opened the panel, but felt like her head was spinning, and stood back up instead of tearing the cables out, looking down at the girl again.
"Kat? You ok?"

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet looked over to Kat curiously finally looking away from her mother. What was an Ashley? She stepped over, away from the pod to look over Kats shoulder, recognizing the face in shock. Hadn't they left Ashi behind?

After her quick glance at the person in the pod she checked the number of the pod, rushing back to the console to try and open it. "Kat! we need to get her out!" she shouted, distressed.

[Deathcap]

Kat took two steps forward and grabbed Sliet's arm, hauling her back. "No! No, do not open it. That isn't Ashi- She's...Its..." Oh god, how was she going to explain this? To either of them? "No... just, hold on, I need to think..."
Terra looked in bewilderment at the two, her heart racing. "Kat? Maybe you should sit down..." She breathed, not sure at all what was wrong with the other or what was going on. She looked up at Sliet, trying to explain. "Ashly is a droid model; Kat hasn't told you about it?" She questioned, uncertain. "She's a full robotic, a rogue AI who replicates into clones, like that one... We were hunting them before-"

"Terra- I... we need to talk about this, somewhere else, it's complicated." Kat pleaded, cutting her off. But where else? If Terra saw Ashi before she explained...

The brunette looked at her friend in confusion. "O-Ok... Ill just.." She leaned down to take care of the wires, but looked up in shock as Kat caught her wrist almost forcefully.
"Leave her. Please. I cant..."
"Kat, what's going on?" Terra asked, pulling back, not sure what was happening. Her?
Kathrine swallowed, sitting back to look at the two. "Terra, a...a lot has happened. After I lost you, I kept trying to follow her, and I almost found her; she was headed south, but, she left behind one of her daughters in a tavern. She- Something went wrong with her; she looked seemed more human, and she wasn't like the others, she wasn't growing like them, and she way maybe two, I-"
Terra watched the other, narrowing her eyes as she listened. "Kat, they aren't human..." She warned, as if they'd had this fight before.
"No- I know, but I... She's different, you'll see, she's not like the others, she acts like a person, she grew up with us, she doesn't know, she's harmless." Kat tried to assure, looking more and more stressed, unable to meet Terra's eyes.
"You kept it?" Terra whispered in horror.
"HER. She's a her, and she's a person, don't say it." She snapped, then tried to relax. "Her, Ashi. She's a person." She defended. "I know this doesn't make sense, but please, you have to trust me."
Terra hesitated but nodded a bit, not looking convinced.

[melodiousmysteries]

Sliet watched to two talk with growing confusion, backing up to stand with Anderson. None of this made sense.

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