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Post by Ark on Jul 15, 2008 12:26:10 GMT -5
Ark weakly stirred his tea in a vague attempt to blur his own reflection that taunted him with his own bored expression. It’d been an indeterminably long period of time since his last real human interaction for anything besides the maintenance of his cybernetic appendages every few years when things got a bit too close for comfort. In fact, he currently wondered if it was really worth the trip to this secluded city just to try to find someone, anyone, to talk to that hadn’t a clue of the numerous corporate bounties on his head.
He was having a definitively hard time qualifying it so far. Not one soul had even acknowledged his feeble, yet earnest attempts at conversation. He’d even gone out of his way more than a handful of times to help someone, only to be brushed off when suggesting real conversation. Such seemingly merciless disregard did wondrous damage to his self confidence; if being a freak of nature wasn’t hard enough, that is.
He was snapped from his thoughts as his tea was knocked from his hands, sent spilling into the street by another businessman on a cell phone, leaving only the soft scent of peppermint to waft past Ark’s hood. He stood up and walked the other way, feeling a bit numb to the world around him. Everything was so different: people were colder, less willing to extend their feelings beyond themselves for reasons he both understood and refused to comprehend.
This city had been described to him as a perfect blend of magic and technology existing at the pinnacle of progress, but from what he could understand so far, the city only moved further away from progress on a tangent that lead straight to hell. From the backwards fear of magic and the occult often accredited with it that much of the populous was raised with to the increasing invasiveness of technology into everyday life, the city’s moral fiber had been consumed by the darkest aspects of human nature.
Every bit of it made him sick, and yet, he could smell the winds of change blowing fiercely on the horizon, whipping and swirling anxiously as the city neared an inevitable turning point. Beyond that he could not sense, for the turbulent morality of this place clouded his mind, and, more frighteningly, sometimes caused old bloodlust to resurface: something that was intolerable by his standards.
He eventually relocated himself to the edge of a large fountain in the city’s center, where he felt he could catch a glimpse of the city’s truest nature. Surrounded by stores and businesses, he was slightly overwhelmed, yet remained steady, ignoring the strange looks his rather ‘traditional’ garb drew from the people around him as he observed the beating of a dying city’s heart. He sighed deeply.
He had really, really wanted that tea...
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Post by Meluivan Indil on Aug 7, 2008 14:14:05 GMT -5
She rolled over and swiped at the alarm blaring next to her ear and growled as the tiny device flew across the room and shattered against the wall. With sleep hazed eyes that showed the slightest bit of red she pushed herself up to sit on the bed. Glancing at the clock she had just destroyed she cursed silently to herself. "Great! Another one broken. What ever happened to being woken by roosters in the morning?"
With that she slipped from the bed and slid on a silk robe as she walked over next to the window. All of the windows of her house were tinted, as to not let in much sun. A special addition she had added shortly after purchasing the large home. She could see the sun on the horizon in the west, and knew it would soon snake it's way down below, sinking the world into night. Then it struck her as slightly funny. "Well, it isn't as if I wake in the morning anymore."
Night time, her time. The time of day when she came alive and wandered the city streets freely. No fear of the sun's burning rays and no need to cover her skin. She had always loved the night far more than the day. Even before she was turned, she would spend many a night just walking through the fields and forests that surrounded her family home. The sounds of the night always lifting her senses and giving flight to her wildest dreams. Dreams far away now but never forgotten.
She shook her head trying to clear those thoughts once again as she turned from the window and left the room. She slid quietly down the ornate stairs, her fingers running lightly over the intricate scrawling symbols that covered the banister at the bottom. She had chosen this home for its unique, old fashioned style, and had been living there for more than a decade. She knew every inch of the home and could move through it blindfolded and never once disturb anything within.
Once at the bottom of the stairs she crossed the foyer and into the kitchen, which in stark contrast to most of the home's living areas was filled with the most modern of conveniences. Why she had filled this room with modern technology was actually beyond her. She did not require food and no one ever stepped foot in her home, but somehow she had felt the need to have it just in case. Maybe the fact that when she was a living human it had been so difficult to keep enough food available to feed her large family, but she would not dwell on that fact. She no longer had family to care for, and that was difficult enough.
She opened the large refrigerator and pulled out a plastic bag with the words 'New Valley Blood, Tissue, and Organ Bank' printed in bold letters across the top. She glanced at the patient number and blood type. It didn't really matter who the donor was or what the type was. A vampire could ingest any blood as long as it came from a living being while extracted. But she had noticed that some of the rarer blood types had a strange and unique taste. This donor had been AB negative. Very rare, but she couldn't help the scowl. Even if she preffered the taste of blood such as this, she had asked Curtis to stick to the non rare types. She hated to think that someone with a rare blood type could desperately need the blood she was consuming.
Ah, Curtis, that was a subject she tried not to dwell on. She knew the lab tech was growing a little too fond of their arangement and probably of her too. That would account for the rare blood, a gift similar to a rare vintage wine, but this was something she'd eventually have to put a stop to. She couldn't afford attachments. Attachments always ended badly, whether by the vicious hand of someone trying to harm her through those she cared for or just by the process of old age and death.
She slit a hole in the plastic bag and poured the contents into a coffee cup, knowing it was a ridiculous habit, but one that made her feel slightly less monsterous for doing so. Then she traveled across the room and through an open door that led to the basement. When in the basement she crossed to the far wall and ran fingers over the smooth surface finding a small indentation that would not be felt by normal human hands. She pressed in upon the indentation and held for the count of three then let off the pressure, only to once again press in for a count of two. With that a secret door appeared in what had just been a seamless wall. The door creaked open an inch and she pressed against it revealing the hidden room.
If anything this room was the complete opposite of most of the rest of her home. Where her home was decked out in the oldest, most outdated funiture and even the lighting system seemed like something out of the dark ages, this room was all modern technology. Computers, gadgets, and gizmos. Some of which she had no idea how they even worked but for her job, you never know what might be needed.
The one item in the room that was used the most was the computer system. It was her lifeline to everything in the world that she should embrace, but absolutely deplored. Technology at the finest. She hated it, all of it. That was the only thought she had as she sat in the swivel chair before the monitor and powered the hated beast on. She had one intention in doing so. To check her private email account. An account that had been set up with so much decription that no person in the world would ever be able to trace it back to her. That was a good thing. Because the messages she recieved there would probably find her locked in a cell somewhere for all kinds of crimes against the world in general. Well a cell at first and then a labratory cage once her captors realized what they had. She chuckled lightly as she wondered which of her own clients would be the highest bidder for her and how long it might take them to start disecting her. Not long probably. The idea of disection while still breathing stopped the chuckle dead in its tracks.
"Concentrate," she whispered to herself trying to pull her mind out of such dark thoughts. She opened her message box and saw three messages from her 'broker' as she termed him. The drill was that he would send her a message for each job, but she would only reply to the ones she accepted.
She scanned the first message and growled in the back of her throat. Some sick rich B*st*rd wanted her to procure a rare animal for him. What her broker did not mention, but she knew all to well, was that particular rich B*st*rd's penchant for hunting rare and exotic creatures to add to his museum displays. She deleted the message and made a note to herself to school her broker in what type of jobs she refused to do. Destroying wild creatures for some idiots sport was high on her list of 'hell no' jobs.
The second was a request for an item she had heard of a time or two. It was an amulet, that supposedly granted its wearer the ability of extreme foresight into the future. Honestly she had never thought to go after the item because of the time she knew it would take to accomplish such a task, but an item such as that could bring its finder a huge profit. She didn't immediately delete the message. She knew she could sit on it for a day or two. No one else was gonna find the item anytime in the near future. She was certain of that. It was one of the best hidden artifacts she knew of to date.
She switched over the the third and final message and stared at the picture of what honestly looked like a boy to her. Dirty blonde hair, pale skin, and the most startling blue eyes she had ever seen. She glanced at the message that went along with the picture. A large pharmecutical company had put up a bounty on the young man. A rather hefty bounty. One that would supplement her lifestyle for quite some time to come. She briefly wondered why they wanted him. He looked, if anything harmless. But she slammed a door closed on those thoughts quickly, realizing that she was about to let her conscience step on her free will to do what it takes to survive. Not a good thing in her line of business.
Her finger hovered above the mouse as the arrow pointed to the reply button. Just two clicks and she'd accept the job without even having to type a word. She clicked it once on the reply tab an then moved the pointer to the send tab. She bit her lower lip staring again at the picture that had popped up when she opened the message. Could she hunt someone who looked so much like a child? She let her eyes sink closed as her finger pressed down on the button. Apparently she could.
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Post by Ark on Aug 8, 2008 18:50:59 GMT -5
A strange, undeniably familiar feeling flooded Ark’s mind despite his utmost desire to repress the unwelcome laughter that bounced around his skull.
“Oh shut up will you?” he muttered louder than he should, prompting a business man to halt his conversation abruptly and get right up in Ark’s face.
“Who do you think you are, runt? How dare you talk with such audacity to someone with much more standing than you; I ought to put you in your place.” The fool spat disgustedly, raising his fist even as it glowed with the unholy light of fire magic “A nice scar should teach you, you dirty cyborg!”
Great, now he was receiving insults for parts he’d added to stop the insults about his appearance.
He inhaled deeply as the man’s fist raced towards him, absently noting that it may have killed a normal person, mere speculation, of course. The fist connected, sending Ark twirling mercilessly to the ground, a sizable section of skin charred where the punch had connected. He stood shakily, much to the man’s surprise, and began chuckling, turning around slowly even as the blackened flesh flaked off to reveal perfectly healthy skin underneath. “I always did find fire mages a bit presumptuous in the power of their art.”
Fire now seemed to burn in the man’s eyes as he flushed with anger before sighing deeply. “I get it, you must be a hologram; some stupid prank by some cyberpunk.” He chuckled. “Can’t believe I fell for that” he added, before waving his hand “Program: shut down.”
Ark blinked twice before tapping the man on the shoulder. “I believe you are mistaken, I am very real; you would be wise to let me leave quietly, sir.”
The man was so shocked and blinded by fear that he merely began yelling as he ran from the square “Rogue hologram! Someone get those d**n techies right now!”
Ark groaned, quietly making sure he had his anesthetic close at hand, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. “Halt! Deactivate yourself immediately!” He reeled about, finding himself face to face with two cybernetic police officers.
“That’s quite impossible, I’m not a program.” Ark said, anger rising in his voice. “I’m also quite tired of finding weapons pointed at the face of an innocent bystander, much less a monk, you buffoons, so stand aside and let me get on with my evening; besides, the man who called after you attacked me, I might add. Don’t you idiots keep surveillance around government buildings?” he added, taking a step forward, prompting the younger of the two police officers to draw his weapon, taking a haphazard pot-shot at the vulpine featured humanoid in front of him before his partner could stop him.
Ark had a mere split second to asses that letting the bullet connect was probably the best option at the moment. Too bad it wasn’t a bullet, he realized, when searing pain erupted through his body as a small beam of light connected with his shoulder. He staggered back, dazed as his body fought to determine what exactly had happened as it quickly subdued the pain, healing a searing wound in his shoulder.
It was in this moment that instinct seized control from rationality, and Ark bolted from the square so quickly that by the time the stunned police officer had realized what he’d done, Ark was already long gone.
He slid to a stop some time later at the edge of a rather gorgeous park, now shinning in the moonlight, and slumped to the ground, his chest heaving roughly. “I’m really getting tired of technology.” He muttered, trying to fight off a massive headache that came along with his fighting of his strong bloodlust.
His history was rather complex, and he wasn’t one to dwell on it. All that mattered is that he’d renounced his violent ways and become as much of a pacifist as he could afford, reestablishing The Order of Repentance, a brotherhood of monks he himself had wiped out two hundred years ago.
He sort of lost track of time, staring at the moon as his mind browsed the internet; the one benefit of cybernetics he could not deny. There was a warrant out for him pertaining to a possible officer misconduct case. Go figure; he’d probably go in the morning if he hadn’t anything better to do; he really couldn’t blame the rookie anyways.
For now, he settled on listening to the sounds of the city outside of the park as his tail twitched merrily during his moonlight siesta.
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Post by Meluivan Indil on Aug 17, 2008 13:53:14 GMT -5
The sun went down quickly and the moon soon climbed into the night sky and after showering and changing she made her way back to her computer room and slid back into her seat. She knew she was procrastinating. This bounty wasn’t exactly what she had expected to be taking next and the haunting image of that young face kept popping into her mind. Was she really going to hunt down a boy?
She had read about his cybernetic implants. That was something that bothered her. Technology she detested and for someone to willingly accept that into their body, well it just gave her the shivers thinking about it. But what if there had been extenuating circumstances? What if the boy had had no choice?
Damnit, she had to stop thinking that way. He was a bounty, her target, nothing else. Just a way for her to make a living and survive in the time she was now forced to suffer. So she concentrated on the task before her.
She knew she’d have to be quick with finding the bounty. Her targets usually didn’t stay still for very long, so she put the technology that she hated to good use booting up her criminal database search engine. It was a program that was highly illegal to use, and one that had cost her quite the pretty penny, but she found it invaluable when searching for her bounties. The search engine siphoned through every criminal database known to man and a few that were even kept quite hidden. She input the picture of her target and began the search. The parameters were set to start with local databases and then fan out throughout the globe and she knew it might take hours or even days to come up with a hit but if it panned out the time would be well spent.
If that didn’t work she’d have to change over to medical databases, followed by security footage from major chain businesses. Ideally her system was set up so that if video was ever captured of her target, from any source whether it be official or even so far as a webcast on the internet, she’d eventually find it. It just might take time.
So as she turned to leave the room to find something else to occupy her time, she was surprised to hear a tone sound from her computer. “Surely not that fast,” she said turning back to the computer system and checking the information being pulled up on the screen.
It seems someone fitting the picture image she had, was captured on video assaulting a cybernetic police officer just less than fifteen minutes before and not even far from her home. Now that was one heck of a coincidence. “Imagine that. It might just be my lucky day.”
She quickly memorized the location information and then headed to her weapons room. The room itself held more weapons than she’d ever likely use with rows of firearms, swords, knives and other odd various weapons that she’d never bothered to use before. She had her favorites that she usually chose, and this caused her to shake her head at the waste of good weaponry around her, but she always believed in being prepared for any situation. But her Katana blade had been and always would be her favorite. Though old fashioned it worked and she knew that if ever needed the blade could slice through the throat or for that matter entire neck of anyone who threatened her. Most foes didn’t get up once their head was lying on the ground next to their body. She hated the idea of killing, but at times it had been necessary, but then again there had also been times when it was probably necessary and she’d chosen other alternatives, much harder, but less permanently violent.
Oh to not have a stinking conscience. Wouldn’t that be a relief? To be able to kill without guilt. She knew there were many that did, but not her. No, she tried to take the path of less violence and more skill, just so she could keep her already blood stained hands from becoming anymore filthy with the blood of her prey. Sometimes it was all too complicated for her but that again was something she tried not to dwell on too much.
On many occasions she had considered purchasing some form of transportation, but her dislike of the technology had held her back until now, using public transportation while not in a hurry, and her own stealthy abilities and super speed whenever she was. This was one of those nights. So she took the back alleys and more deserted streets at great speed until she arrived at the alley opening directly across from where the incident had occurred.
She could see that the cyber cops had already left the scene so she crept over to the fountain that the altercation had occurred next to and started searching the area for any clues that might have been left behind.
She kneeled next to the fountain and found a few tiny splotches of blood. Hmm, looks like her target was already wounded. That could come in handy, if he continued to bleed. She was slightly surprised to see of all things a small bit of sand scattered around the area. Sure there was desert area to the west of the city encompassing a large part of the valley, but what was it doing here in the middle of the city? It puzzled her but she’d have to put that to the back of her mind for later examination. For now she needed to track her target.
But it was easier to track something if there was blood, but it seemed that other than the few splotches that there was nothing else to find. If he was hit, what happened to the blood? She searched the area over twice more but finally decided that she wasn’t going to find anything else. She knew she should just go back home and continue the video search but something about the fountain she was next to seemed to draw her too it. She soon found herself sitting on its edge gazing into the water, contemplating the confusing attributes of her newest bounty.
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Post by Ark on Aug 17, 2008 16:48:32 GMT -5
A cool breeze caressed Ark’s face as he stared at the moon; the wind had always been kind to him and tonight, it kept him company just fine. He was displeased, however, when it seemed to be shooed away when something in his cybernetics began alerting him to something so obnoxiously troublesome that he was tempted to ignore it for now.
In an instant, an automated message played in his mind, something he had set up when his cybernetics were installed for just such a reason; an unauthorized party had accessed a file pertaining to him, and although the source was not traceable, the fact that it pertained to that warrant out due to the rookie cop from earlier was particularly disconcerting. With a sigh, he mentally waved the message away before standing gracefully, brushing off his clothes. He was going to stop this now; it didn’t serve any benefit to get chased halfway around the world again.
He started off in a rough jog before breaking out into an elegant and smooth sprint, headed back the way he came, mirth in his eyes; he hadn’t gotten to ‘play’ with anyone in a good while, and if even the wind refused to blow ominously, this should definitely be fun.
By the time Ark had actually reentered the square he found it mostly deserted except for one fair woman sitting contemplatively on the fountain-side. Ark smiled mischievously as he approached quietly, catching his breath. “Excuse me, miss, but I’ve got to ask this; what would have you out on a night like this?” Ark stated quietly, a quizzical look on his face. “I mean, it’s rather late, and people in this city are not too friendly from what I’ve experienced.” He continued.
“I mean, it’s a perfectly paradoxical predicament that I’m in, see, I don’t want to be here, but at the same time, I do. Odd isn’t it? See, when you deal with certain things for enough time everything seems a bit paradoxical… everything is contradictory. Mortals pursue what they need even if they don’t want it; especially humans. What kind of living being doesn’t want what it needs? I suppose a guilty one, like me.” He rambled, a spark of merriness apparent in his eyes.
“I’ll cut the philosophy short; you’re here for me, aren’t you?” Ark chuckled with a wide grin, unabashedly sitting down next to the woman in a flash. “Well come on then, don’t be shy!”
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Post by Meluivan Indil on Aug 17, 2008 18:16:47 GMT -5
She had been lost in thought when something caught her attention just before her and she glanced up at the very being she had been looking for. My, my, isn’t this an interesting turn of events. One of her hands slid beneath her mid length leather coat resting on the hidden blade she kept there, but she cocked her head to the side as if she was very interested in what the young man had to say.
It was impossible though to ignore his words and unfortunately for her conscience they struck oh too familiar a cord in her. Being one of those paradoxical humans he described had been pretty much a part of most of her days as a Vampire. Killer that hated to kill, bounty hunter that hated violence, loner who hated to be alone. The things she needed certainly no longer corresponded with what she wanted the most.
But he was expecting an answer, and far be it from her to leave him hanging. But she wasn’t a poet, and she wasn’t a philosopher, so he’d just have to settle with her own version of speech. “I have never in all of my years, and believe me there have been more than you might guess, ever seen a human or non human that made sense, or one for that matter that knew exactly what they wanted. Paradoxes I know. Can I explain them? Not on your life.”
“But, I’m sure that is not why you are here. So let us say, hypothetically, that I am here for you. Do you believe that you would put up much a fight if I tried to take you with me?” She knew that she should just act first and take him into custody. Quit pussyfooting around with so much talk, but he had peaked her interest. Why had he come back and how did he know she was there for him? Who in their right mind would ever willingly walk up to a bounty hunter that they knew was after them? These are questions that she wanted answers to, and it wasn’t as if time really made that much of a difference as long as he was still there in her sight. They could wax philosophical for hours and it would make little difference to her.
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Post by Ark on Aug 17, 2008 22:04:14 GMT -5
Ark chuckled with mirth in his eyes. “Ohh, don’t let my appearance fool you miss, I’m much older than you are. Much, much older… do I smell blood on you? Ahhh, lovely then, you’re a killer; we shan’t waste too much time here then. To answer your question, I won’t fight, but you’ll still lose. There’s another paradoxical situation, huh?” He laughed heartily, then laid back in a relaxed pose on the fountain rim.
“I get it, really, it’s nothing personal; you need the cash, I’m your meal ticket. I can understand the concept of doing your job aside from moral implications, believe me. So I’ll let you get tired going for me right now. All I know is that I can say with no ego whatsoever that if it came down to the point where it was entirely necessary, I could kill you if given enough time.” Ark rambled, staring up at the moon, his robotic tail flicking about distractedly. “You’d be the eighth person to come after me in the last year, and all the other seven were months and months ago.”
He sat up abruptly, his face smiling brightly. “Well, hurry up and stab me with that sword of yours, I’ve already been shot tonight, I can take a big knife to the stomach easy.” He sighed.
“To tell you the truth, I’d prefer it if you could kill me, but I don’t have that luxury, so hurry it up.”
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