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Post by Kal on Jun 14, 2020 23:36:35 GMT
One of the locations Leona knew quite well without being there often was the bunker that formerly belonged to the Voyagers. She'd known of it before she interacted with the group and intended to learn all of the inside after making contact with the Voyagers and she did exactly that, even though she wasn't welcomed to.
Walking through the mess that had remained from the last confrontation with Onyx was draining to Leona. The dust upturning with every step she took, the smell of copper coming from the pipes, the brief sections that could be illuminated by the open doors; it was something that she couldn't put with the people that she knew from the group.
She had made her way to Elizabeth's lab and felt along the wall for the switch, cautiously flipping it as if she would be shocked by it once the lights flickered on.
The only lights that came on were the back-up lights that seemed to be on their way out either way. Their only intended use being to light up the lab long enough to find the main power source, which Leona knew to be under the desk.
She looked at the ground that had dirt and glass all over it from the monitors of the computers that had once been in there. She put her hands on her knees and gently squeezed them as preparation for the discomfort that they were likely about to face.
Leona got on the ground, the desk only going as high as her forehead while she was down. She leaned under the desk and grabbed hold of the metal panel that she had spotted and pulled as hard as she could, revealing around twenty switches, most of them in the off position.
She began flipping them back on, not knowing which switch went to which area of the bunker with the hope that if there were some kind of electrical error that would risk lives, the Voyagers would have handled it before they left the bunker. She could hear the sound of a machine whirring somewhere in the bunker, which she figured to be the kitchen and the machine to be the refrigerator after starting for the first time in over a year. A quick grimace came across her face as she thought of the food that had been rotting in the machine.
While a number of electronics around the bunker began turning on, the lights in the lab remained off until the last switch was flipped. The computers had started with no monitors to see the screens so Leona took her finger and gently took it across the board next to her, watching as it gathered dust on the way to the power button that she would press before climbing off the ground with the assistance of the desk.
Leona looked around the lab, gathering a feeling of dread as she walked out and into the common room that had been torn apart by Luke Lowell when he captured Marshal and Elizabeth; an event that Leona had witnessed on the cameras.
She felt her hip vibrate briefly before a voice interrupted her thoughts. "Leona, are you almost done? Not to complain but this place makes me uncomfortable as hell."
She bobbed her head as if the person on the other end of the device would see her before she realized her error and tapped the device, trying to instill a fake confidence in her voice. "Yours truly has brought light into the dark, you're welcome."
"Wow, thanks for doing your job, I'm thrilled for you." The person on the other end didn't seem too entertained by her antics.
"It's real hard to tell when you're being sarcastic, Zachary." She paused. "Like ever. In person and on the phone. Work on that."
"Leona, if you don't hurry up I'm just going to leave you for being a pain in the ass." Leona chuckled and shook her head, taking a slight trot to the bunker's exit.
She started to climb the ladder, hearing creaks and feeling it bend as she climbed. Looking up, she saw Zachary watching her climb. She stopped and grinned, holding onto the ladder hard enough for her palms to start sweating. "Do you think I'll fall if I stand here long enough?"
"We can only hope so, right?" He said with a smile, knowing Leona wouldn't take any offense to it. He kneeled at the hatch as Leona continued climbing, holding a hand out for her as she reached the top and pulling her to the surface.
"Hey, Zachary?" Leona went ahead of him, grabbing the bag that she'd left on the ground before she went into the bunker.
"Yes?"
She turned back to him and stopped walking, giving him a light tap on the head as he walked by her. "You're an asshole."
She saw him nod. "That's probably the nicest thing you've said to me, it means a lot."
"But you're not as bad as Marie." Leona started after him, crossing her arms as they walked.
He shook his head with a sigh. "You're still on about that? Leona, she stopped you from killing an Onyx official because it was going to get you killed. The mask was only another reason for them to open fire on you so surrendering was really your only option to get out alive; that's not her fault."
"I'm as hung up on Marie as you're hung up on Luke Lowell."
"I'm not hung up on Luke Lowell, I'm just trying to look out for the groups and I acknowledge that he's a legitimate threat regardless of our location." He looked at her, raising his right eyebrow. "You were also a legitimate threat at a time, if I'm not mistaken."
Leona shook her head with a grin. "You've got me mistaken, I'm as sweet as honey." Her grin faded as she looked to the ground. "Do you really think there's a danger to the group?"
"There's always going to be a danger to the group. Need I remind you, there's someone out there who out a gun to Whitlock's head almost a year ago and despite both of his parents and his uncle working their asses off to find them, they couldn't." He raised a finger as if he were giving a lecture. "That's a threat. Yeah, Elizabeth and Marshal are rusty but Milo's at the top of his game. He's got a lot going for himself and between you and me, he's always been the type to exaggerate his emotions. If just one thing went wrong growing up, he immediately called himself a failure and would sulk for days. That's what keeps him going, though, so good on him I suppose."
"We all can't be emotional connoisseurs."
"Some, like you, don't have any emotions."
Leona gave a soft laugh, brushing her hand through her hair. "I've got emotions, I just don't display them the way some of you do. You guys make it too easy to find your weaknesses; Marshal and Leah's is Elizabeth, Elizabeth and Kyle's is Victor, Milo's is Jude, yours is Chelsea. Need I go on?"
She looked at Zachary, seeing that the bright blue eyes that typically charmed her with no intention to looked at the ground, a look of regret in them. He didn't respond for a moment before he sighed. "You didn't need to go on past your name, everything else from you has been a headache."
She jokingly pushed him, trying to make him smile after she realized that she had actually upset him by bringing up Chelsea, who he still shared a rather complicated relationship with. "I'll tell you who my weakness is." He looked over, expecting an answer. "You're my best bud so I'd say you're my weakness."
He rolled his eyes, a small smile creeping onto his face. "I'm telling Marshal he owes me more than one for this, everything you say to me is borderline harassment and I'm not taking just one favor for it."
-
Once the masks had stopped being used, the community had gotten closer to each other personally.
Things got a bit rocky once Pierre's people rejoined the group, permanently this time at the advice of Conrad, but the groups learned to accept each other and use the quirks of the other groups to their own benefits.
The Crusaders had the resources to get things done, the Voyagers had the minds, the former Hunters had the strength with their few numbers who could manage to outnumber most of the Voyagers.
After returning from the bunker, Zachary and Leona gathered all the familiar faces around the community's garden where they revealed a plan to them.
"The bunker that belonged to the Voyagers has restored power as of about two days ago. I do hope that in our absence, you've all been training like you should." He pointed at Milo. "Please tell me Cordelia has managed to make you tap out, because that would be the greatest thing I'd ever heard."
Milo shrugged, a smile on his face. "Not yet. She uses dirty tactics, though. Don't be surprised if I end up in the hospital because she decided to incapacitate me instead of just having me tap out."
Cordelia herself gave a chuckle, along with a few other members of the group. Zachary seemed to relax before he went on. "We're relatively unknown right now and that's our biggest benefit. We have time to gather our numbers, our strength, and our resources before we act. Strength is going to be an ongoing one but in the next week, I want us to focus on resources. I would say rallies but the last time that happened, some real weird shit went down and I don't know about all of you, but I don't feel like letting Marshal get the life beat out of him and Milo getting arrested again. That, and I'm afraid if we split up as a group, Elizabeth is going to do something illegal and bring attention to the group."
The brunette nodded, her eyes closed for a moment. "It would be in true Elizabeth fashion because you're making it sound like an easy job." She revealed her green eyes with a smile on her freckled face. "Now, I'm going to concede immediately and say that yes, my idea is illegal, but what if we remove what funds Bennington has left and whatever Chelsea had when she allegedly died?"
"Well first, that's definitely illegal and second, I feel that taking from the two of us would bring attention that we don't want and while I would love to have the resources, I don't think it's a good idea to risk it." Zachary looked away from Elizabeth, nodding at two people who strolled into the garden and took their respective seats. "Isabel, Gus, glad you two could join us. We were discussing resources and how we're going to go a hold of said resources."
The color on Isabel's face seemed to drain as Pierre looked to single her out. "You would be the one to help them on that." He paused. "Assuming you still have access to the finances, of course."
She nodded. "I will work on that."
Zachary cupped his hands in front of himself, his gaze drifting to Leona. "Right. Isabel will be working on that. Noelle, I want you to work with Elizabeth and Jean Luc on getting pieces ready to be handed out as soon as the call is made."
Marshal looked over the Voyagers he had left. "Samantha, start training…." He looked over the rest of the people in the garden, thinking on who the best option would be. "Carlos. I want you to start training Carlos on the crafting that you're going to need so he can have some supplies set up for you."
Milo got out of his seat, lightly drumming his fingers in the table that the twins occupied. "I'm sitting this session out and spending the day with the twins. You guys can live without me for a day." The two young children hooked out of their seats with bright smiles on their faces as they stood at Milo's sides, waiting for him to move before they would. "Is that cool with everyone?"
A few nods came around but it was mostly silence before Zachary gave a thumbs up. "Sounds good but you better come back ready for Cordelia to kick your ass because she's going to be sparring with Lecia tonight."
Milo nodded and started walking towards the exit, patting Cordelia on the back as he passed her. "Good luck, Lecia is pure aggression."
-
Kimber and Jude had gotten in the habit of leaving the community grounds whenever they weren't being fully watched, which was a typical occurrence. They'd learned a lot about the area and how to navigate while in their adventures.
Milo had taken them for a walk into the neighboring town, knowing the twins would enjoy whatever sights the town held, even if they were the same sights the twins could see every day at home.
"How come Nora gets to spend all the time with Elizabeth's mom?" Kimber questioned as her eyes darted from building to building, reading the signs on top of them.
"Because Nora's still too little to go out often. Whitlock is twice her age, walking and talking and he's still too little to go out as well." The twins had gotten closer to Milo and spent most of their time with him and Alyssa, whenever she was around.
"If Whitlock is allowed to go to school then why isn't he allowed to leave the house?" Kimber crossed her arms, eyeing Milo as if he was hiding something from her.
He had gotten used to the two and their attitudes; Jude stayed rather quiet after he hit ten years old and tended to draw and paint whenever he was allowed a free period between classes. Kimber had only gotten louder with her age and preferred to write and read in her free time. Jude occasionally got snappy with Milo, but it was more often Kimber who would challenge him.
"What do you two think of going for a long car ride, all over the country?"
The twins looked at each other before nodding, Jude putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "When would we leave?"
"Not for a bit now, but I want to do things with you guys and Nora." Milo paused, looking for people around them before he got on eye level with the twins. "Zach and Pierre want to take Onyx back and while we can't do many things now, when we do that, we would be able to do whatever we want whenever we wanted to."
Kimber uncrossed her arms and out her little fists to her side, a look of betrayal in her eyes. "Did you only take us for a walk so that you could convince us to let you go with them?"
Milo shushed her as he lightly grabbed her arm to keep her from running, which she would often do whenever she was upset with a conversation. "Kim, Jude, I know the thought is scary to you both but I was going on missions like this long before you guys were even born and I usually come out of it alright. They need my help, though, and I don't want to let them down. You guys understand, right?"
Kimber tugged on her arm but Milo wouldn't let go, only pulling her into a hug as she began to tear up. "No, you can't leave us."
The girl started crying into his shoulder as her brother put a hand on her back while Milo held her tight. "Kim, I'm not going to leave you forever; I'm going to be back, I promise you that."
She remained silent, prompting Jude to ask what he knew she wanted to. "What if you get caught and sent away?"
Milo looked to the boy with a sympathetic smile on his face. "Buddy, I've been arrested before, I've been shot, I've been stabbed, I've had a chip implanted into me, and I've come back every single time. Nothing is going to be different." Kimber pulled away, looking at her brother with tears all over her now red face. Milo pulled a napkin out of his pocket and started wiping her face, letting out a small sigh. "It's going to be dangerous and I'm a little scared myself, but I know that I'm going to be okay. I want you guys to know that as well, but I also want you two to stick together, no matter what happens, no matter where you are or who you're with, you two need to stick together."
He put the napkin back in his pocket and put a hand on Kimber's right shoulder and Jude's left shoulder, looking between the two of them. "You two are my kids as much as Nora is and I'm always going to come back for you guys and her, nothing can stop me from doing just that, alright?"
The twins nodded, Jude's seeming more sure than Kimber.
He pulled them both into a hug, letting a sigh escape him again. "It's going to be okay." He let go of them and stood back up, brushing off the dirt from his pants. "Now let's start heading back, I've got some things to do to get ready for all this."
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Post by Kal on Jun 14, 2020 23:44:52 GMT
Mkay so to explain what just came out of the blue, I'm going to be as open as possible with what had happened with Voyagers.
In the past two years, I've been struggling a lot in my home life, even being homeless for two periods of around three months each. I've been working over 60 hours a week to try and be able to provide for myself and my family, which is not an easy task.
In that time, I had zero time that I could write and even now, I've got very little time but I've been missing writing for Voyagers and I've made the decision to return to writing it with a new direction, the reason for that new direction being that all of the materials I had that properly laid out the direction I wanted to go in and my laptop have been stolen from me, so I can't really go back and look at my note files anymore.
My goal is to be able to properly finish Voyagers instead of just leaving it and if I do end up finding the time to continue writing more then awesome, I'll do more, but I can't do a set schedule. I don't really know what else to say so uh, yeah, there's that and there will be more.
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Post by Tales93 on Jun 23, 2020 23:46:00 GMT
Hey Kal, this is a welcome surprise! I didn't think I would see these characters or this story again! I'm glad to see your writing the story again. I'm sorry to hear of all the troubles you have been through recently. I hope things improve for you. Anyways, I'm excited for the return of this story, and I'm curious to see this new direction for the story. I can already tell that their was some sort of time jump, I believe.
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Post by Kal on Jun 26, 2020 9:17:51 GMT
Hey Kal, this is a welcome surprise! I didn't think I would see these characters or this story again! I'm glad to see your writing the story again. I'm sorry to hear of all the troubles you have been through recently. I hope things improve for you. Anyways, I'm excited for the return of this story, and I'm curious to see this new direction for the story. I can already tell that their was some sort of time jump, I believe. Ah, thank you Tales! It's so good to be back and I'm very happy to return to Voyagers after all this time because truthfully, none of my writings have grown on me the way that Voyagers has. There has indeed been a jump of around 4 years with most characters remaining around, there's going to be a few that won't be reappearing and that'll be explained in the story in due time. |
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Post by Kal on Jun 26, 2020 9:19:45 GMT
Zachary had gotten Cyrus, Horatio, and Grady to join him and Milo in the garden when he had returned with the twins, the children being their topic for the day.
"The problem that we're having is that we have multiple children without parents here that we can't really account for whenever we leave. Kyle and Leah are going to stay with Nora, Whitlock, and Victor but with them being older and those three being under five, they're going to have their hands full. We need to find someone who can stay behind to help them."
"What about Gregory?" Cyrus took a seat on the bench that faced a small fountain that was surrounded by rose bushes. "In his state, I don't think he'll be okay to join us."
Zachary shook his head. "Gregory needs to come with us. He's a bit in his head, I can't blame him considering his mother just died. He'll get over it when he realizes he needs to put himself to work to get over it."
"And what's gonna happen to him when we're free out there? Where's he gonna go?" Grady stood behind the bench Cyrus was seated on, his hands resting on the top of it. "He doesn't have anyone he can go with."
Zachary crossed his arms, seeming a bit uncomfortable on the topic. "The same thing that's going to happen with Kimber, Jude, and whatever other child ends up without a parent by the end of this; they're going to be sent to foster families."
The answer didn't set well with any of the men, Horatio speaking first. "They belong to the group, in a way they're all our kids. We have a responsibility to take care of them."
"Zach, I know you want to do good for the kids but leave Kimber and Jude out of it; they're staying with me for good." Milo quickly caught Zachary's attention, immediately telling by the look on his friend's face that they were about to have a disagreement.
"Absolutely not. I don't intend to give those two hope when there's no assurance that you'll be coming back from this-" He studied Milo's face before scoffing. "Or you've already done it. Milo, why would you tell them that they would be staying with you?"
"Because I'm the one who's been taking care of them for years now, they trust me and I'm attached to them. They may not be my blood, but they're my kids." He sighed, shrugging slightly. "Plus, they're absolutely horrified at the idea of losing another parent forever and they would only let me leave if I promised them that I would be back."
Zachary sighed and tapped his feet, something he typically only did when he was annoyed. "I can try and help you get granted guardianship when this is all over, but I'm not going to promise you anything. It's a complicated process and with where you are now, it's an easy denial." He paused, looking to the ground. "I'm going to tell you this now and these men are my witness, so listen well. If Kimber and Jude's biological parents show up after all this and they're proven to be who they claim, you're going to hand those kids over to them."
Milo squinted and crossed his arms, watching Zachary's subtle movements. "You know something about their parents that we don't, don't you?"
Cyrus quickly joined the conversation as to cover for Zachary. "When Leona and Elizabeth went into quarantine, there's no doubt that some people stayed there out of fear or left but branched away from the Voyagers to prevent immediately being caught again. There was no active record keeping and if there was, it was destroyed when those two breached Onyx security. It's a likely possibility that Kimber and Jude's parents are out there somewhere, but we don't know that for sure."
As much as Milo wanted to fight it, he figured it best to drop it. "Fine, I'll be prepared for that and I'll tell the twins that I have to go."
The other men continued their own topics until Chelsea and Leona joined them, then they started saying their goodbyes for the night.
Horatio, Grady, Cyrus, Zachary, and Leona left, leaving Chelsea and Milo in the garden.
He sat on the bench that Cyrus had left and took a deep breath. Chelsea eventually took a seat next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about Kimber and Jude." He looked to her to see her blue eyes shining with a kind smile on her face. "I know you're not allowed to make a promise on your fate, but I'll make one for you; So long as I can make it to the final stage, you'll make it back home."
Chelsea ended up walking home with Milo, the two of them having a talk about how things had changed for her family in the past two years.
Isaac had only gotten more forceful in his hold on Onyx, in an attempt to keep people from discovering Chelsea.
She had picked a few certain people to speak with on a regular basis and that would be it for her own social activity. She didn't feel the need to reach out to more than those select few and only saw a risk in doing so.
Milo split up with her once they passed his house, leaving her to her own.
Chelsea had picked up a routine for whenever she got home years ago.
She would check every room, every closet in the house before she would even begin to settle for the night. Zachary would tell her that it was a useless check and that there would never be anything out of the ordinary, which he would normally be right about.
Tonight proved to be just like any other night with nothing sticking out to her, so she continued on with her nightly routine.
As she'd gotten into the bath, she could have sworn that she heard a thump outside the house. She stopped the water and waited to see if she would hear it again.
Silence was all that greeted her.
She tried telling herself that it was just the water heater or the pipes and continued on with her business.
After her bath, she'd gotten dressed for bed and went to get a drink.
Almost as if something was waiting for her, another loud thump hit the front door just as she passed it.
She turned towards the door, her stomach turning.
Nobody would stop by as late as it was and they surely wouldn't do it without a phone call ahead.
Whatever it was on the other side hit the door once again, prompting Chelsea to look at the phone on the kitchen table.
She had a feeling she didn't want to deal with this alone, but at the same time she only had two ideas of who to reach out to, the both of them likely asleep already.
[Reach out to Elizabeth via the gene]
[Reach out to Zachary via the phone]
[Handle the issue alone]
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Post by Tales93 on Jul 3, 2020 21:59:17 GMT
[Reach out to Elizabeth via the gene]
We haven't seen the gene in action for a while.
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Post by Kal on Jul 4, 2020 0:16:07 GMT
Luke Lowell
Luke had known about Amanda's whereabouts for years, long before the Dumont family had started to suspect anything about her. The Richardson family, on the other hand, were very quick to throw accusations after Amanda's disappearance.
Without answers, the family started to crack; Lyla started breaking away from her position and looking into Amanda's research more frequently, Bradly stepped away from Onyx with the exception of donations, but what Isaac had feared the most was Anthony. Anthony, despite not always having a soft spot for his sister, had started going public, using his spot as Onyx's public representative to demand answers.
Luke and Isaac worked to tame the family once again, knowing that if the Richardson family were to become too loud, the Dumont family would soon follow suit and Isaac would be forced to admit everything.
Isaac already knew where Amanda was, it was her request that he was following to not disclose her location. That didn't stop him from starting a "search party" that conveniently missed a small town a few hours away. Luke knew he mainly did that so he would be able to tell the Richardson family that he has tried everything he could.
In Amanda's absence, Debbie Renolds had stepped up into organization of Onyx's most sensitive files, something Luke didn't agree with as he could feel something changing in his cybernetics after she had gained access. He couldn't tell Isaac that, though, as he would probably blow it off and call Luke a skeptic.
On this particular day, Isaac had told him that he needed to go get a tune up, saying he was moving slower and Isaac didn't need a liability, he needed someone who was worth something.
One of the Voyagers had gotten into the habit of going to headquarters and providing Isaac with updates on Chelsea, Amanda, and occasionally Zachary. He would ask and she would answer, that would keep Isaac away from the town and the people they were hiding away from the city.
The Voyager they had chosen to send was one that Luke wasn't comfortable with, though, as his last interactions with her resulted in her getting hurt in some way; she avoided him for that reason.
On his way into the lab, the Voyager passed by him with a shaky nod as Debbie walked out of the lab, just in time to see her. "Hey! Stop!"
The Voyager turned to face her and started backing away, realizing that Luke was still in between them. "I'm here on business, I don't have a thing to say to either of you."
Debbie refused that answer and started speeding towards the Voyager, looking all over her once she caught up to her. Luke continued to watch, partially in amusement and partially in caution. "I remember you. You were here years ago, giving some passive stance."
"Yes, I know where I've been!" The Voyager immediately got defensive and Luke knew exactly why. "Now will you PLEASE leave me alone so I can hurry up and get out of here?"
Debbie shook her head and grabbed the walkie talkie from her hip. "You're still a wanted criminal, I'm afraid you can't leave."
Luke rushed to Debbie's side, jerking the walkie talkie out of her hand and sliding it into his back pocket. "Debbie, as your commanding officer, I feel the need to remind you that your position is in that lab and your job is to organize files inside that lab. What's your reasoning for being out here?"
She froze for a moment, keeping her words to herself as frustration built on her face. "I needed to share a word with Mr. Hampton."
"Go find someone else, he's busy." Luke ended up standing close to the Voyager, something he knew was unsettling to her.
Debbie shook her head and gave a soft laugh. "You're right, that's my bad." She focused her glare on Luke. "I'll go see if Lyla is busy." She passed Luke, her smile immediately fading as she met eyes with the Voyager in passing.
He turned to face the Voyager, seeing she still seemed petrified. "Leona, how many times do we have to tell you not to come so early?"
"I didn't think it was that big of a deal since I hadn't gotten caught before today." She slightly eased up when she was able to talk. "Why are you here? Don't you have drug houses to bust or something?"
"Can't do any of that when my mechanics don't work as well as they used to." They started walking to the elevator, taking it to the top floor and going straight to Isaac's office.
Luke took one of the seats across from Isaac while Leona shut and locked the door behind them, almost waddling to her seat next to Luke.
Isaac was looking at something on his computer, a look of distaste on his face as he read over whatever it was. "Ms. Williams, how are things going with Chelsea?"
She put her hands on her blue jeans, the grey jacket she was wearing slightly complimented her pale complexion. "Chelsea seems to be doing better than she was last time I saw you. She seems to be growing closer to Milo and she's talking to him more. He's been having a hard time with the kids and she's been trying to be a friend for him, it's quite nice."
"Ah, the twins?" Isaac looked to Leona, getting a nod. "What's going on with them?"
"They're just kids being kids and Milo's trying to do his best for them but with some disagreements between him and Zachary, he really can't. Then he's got the baby and he's still trying to mend things with Alyssa, it's just not a good time for Milo."
He slowly nodded. "And what about Amanda? How is she?"
A smile came over Leona's face as the topic changed. "Amanda's doing great. We don't have the same technology that you have here for obvious reasons but Amanda has found ways around that and has been able to do some amazing things to keep us hidden in plain sight. We don't even need the masks anymore because of her."
Luke gave a soft chuckle with a nod. "That's the Amanda Richardson that I know."
"She and Horatio have helped a lot in progressing our medicine so that our people can get a very similar treatment to the people closer to headquarters." Leona paused when she saw the look she got from Isaac when she mentioned Horatio. "Horatio has been working with Amanda since she started out in the medical center. Alyssa occasionally pops in to verify what they're doing but she's helping out more with the council."
"Does Chelsea work with the council?"
Leona gave a fierce nod. "Definitely. She's a born politician, she has a drive for solving issues within the community and she's still not talking much, but she'll usually write something out and give it straight to Zachary or she'll communicate with Elizabeth through the gene and guide her through a debate with Zachary if she thinks he won't accept it immediately."
A glisten went over Isaac's eyes as a proud smile went over his face. "Is she still giving more than she takes?"
"Yeah. We've tried to have her take a day off but she doesn't really listen." Leona fiddled with her fingers, trying to keep eye contact with Isaac. "We've tried taking Zachary and Elizabeth out of the council meeting for the day and she'll end up talking Cyrus into running it. If we take him out, she'll talk Grady into running it. She doesn't try to get Joseph or Eris to run one, I think she already knows what their answer will be. She's been teaching Cecilia on how to take over for her as the teacher so she can focus purely on the council and that ended up getting her, Zachary, and Cyrus into a big fight on how much time she spends on the council."
"Is it such a bad thing to have someone who cares?" Luke looked to her, seeing she did seem far more comfortable than when she first came into the building.
She shrugged. "Yes and no. There's people on the council who know when to pull themselves out of something because they just can't handle it and Chelsea isn't one of those people. She refuses to walk away from anything and she's taking the community issues home with her, which is wearing her down. She's been saying she hears noises at night and she's seeming to be a bit paranoid."
"And what does Zachary have to say about that?"
She hesitated, looking to the ground. "See, I don't know. He still keeps his thoughts about her private and I've tried to talk to him about her but that's the one topic he shuts down, regardless of how much pressure is applied. I think she still talks to him more deeply than she does with anyone else but more often than not, they end up disagreeing with each other and being pissed for a few days then they're suddenly good again."
"Who has she been telling about the noises at night?"
"Elizabeth, Zachary, and Grady. Grady only found out because she was having a really hard day last Wednesday and she snapped on him. Later on she told him what was going on and he promised to do some patrols after dark to make her feel better."
Isaac finally turned away from his computer, putting both of his arms on his desk. "And has he been doing these patrols?"
She nodded, her fingers being suddenly still. "I've seen him patrolling until four in the morning at times. If he sees that her light is still on after a certain time, he'll knock on the door to check on her and make sure she's okay."
Isaac looked at his watch. "Very good, but I'm afraid we're out of time, Ms. Williams. Have a safe travel home and I'll see you the week after next."
Leona got up with a nod, excusing herself from the room but shutting the door behind her.
Luke leaned in his seat, a groan as he did so. "I have a question for you." Isaac looked to him briefly before turning to his computer again. "Have you ever noticed anything strange about Debbie Renolds?"
"The secretary?" Luke nodded in response. "I can't say I have, why do you ask?"
"When Leona was coming up, she tried to arrest her like she's got any authority here and she started acting real weird when I stepped in."
"Could it be that you just don't like her and you're nitpicking her actions?"
Luke threw his hands in the air, immediately throwing them down onto his legs. "Doesn't it seem weird that she's been associated with only leaders of organizations? I don't know about you, but I don't know a damn thing about her personally and she doesn't seem to have an interest in talking to me, just you."
Isaac rolled his eyes with a sigh, facing Luke for just a moment. "If you're so concerned about her business then do something about it yourself and go to someone who actually knows her."
"The only person that I know that fits that category is Zachary and there's no way in hell that he would talk to me."
"Then I'd say you're not that interested in her business." Isaac faced away from Luke for the last time, ending their conversation.
Chelsea Hampton
"Right…" Chelsea tapped her feet before crossing her arms, focusing on establishing a quick connection with Elizabeth.
There was a final thump before everything around her went silent, her body suddenly going light.
'Elizabeth?'
'Chelsea? Is everything okay?'
'I could use your help.'
'I'm on the way.'
Just as quickly as the connection was established, it gave way and Chelsea was returned to her full conscience.
Elizabeth Kennedy
Of all the times Chelsea could have picked to go to Elizabeth for help, she had to admit that a family dinner wasn't the best time or even remotely close to it.
After the connection fell, Elizabeth put her hands in her lap, looking immediately to Whitlock, who was seated across from her. "You were listening in, weren't you?"
"Yeah." Whitlock had learned fairly early on after he started talking that because of the gene, there was absolutely nothing he could hide from his mother and he'd only get in trouble if he was caught in a lie.
She nodded, then turning in her seat to look at Marshal. "Chelsea needs me. I didn't bother to ask what it was for because it sounded urgent and I didn't want to waste time."
"Go ahead and go, I'll put the boys to bed tonight."
With that, Elizabeth hurried out of her chair and out the door. It only took a moment to get to Chelsea's house from her own home.
Elizabeth waited around for a moment before hearing a loud thump. "Huh… so that's what she's been hearing for the past week." She snuck closer to the front door, another thump being delivered far sooner than she expected, causing her to jump.
As she approached the door, she saw a figure turn to face her. She stopped, the figure stopped. They stood in silence, watching each other for a moment before the figure dashed at her, knocking her to the ground and continuing to run.
It took Elizabeth a moment to recover as she rolled onto her stomach and jumped back onto her feet from there, immediately breaking into a sprint after whoever had just knocked her down.
They slowed down before looking behind them and picking up speed once again, realizing that she was going to chase them.
'Grady should be patrolling near the community center right about now, I need to cut them off right now and get them turned around…'
Knowing what she had to do, Elizabeth started pushing herself to catch up, slightly veering to the left so they would go to the right.
It worked without an issue, telling her that this person was probably only focused on Chelsea. They'd likely not looked into Grady's patrolling and the routes he took, when he could be expected somewhere, only when he wouldn't be expected around Chelsea's home.
Elizabeth quickly brought her focus back to the chase, knowing she was losing speed as she got distracted.
The person tried going over cars, around poles, and taking paths behind buildings in order to lose her, which proved to be unachievable as their stalling had put them at the end of an alley with Elizabeth right behind them and Grady just a few feet in front of them.
Seeing her target stopped, Elizabeth slid to a stop herself and resisted the urge to fall onto her knees. "Grady," she snapped her fingers and pointed at the person in between heavy breaths. "Questions."
"Uhm, sure, yeah." Grady looked confused and stammered over his words. "Why are you here?"
Elizabeth put herself against the wall to better catch her breath, slowly inching closer to the person, who hadn't moved despite having multiple opportunities to do so. "Who are you?"
Grady saw Elizabeth getting closer to them and started to do the same, figuring she had a plan. "How did you find this place?"
As Grady approached them, they started to take a few steps back, only stopping when their back had hit Elizabeth's chest. "Stop this. I haven't done anything wrong."
Elizabeth grabbed her pocket knife from her back pocket, putting it to the back of the person's neck while Grady took aim for their head. "Answer those questions, you're running out of time."
She saw the person clench their fists, slightly turning their head to face her. "Do people know you're out?"
"They sure do." She thought of the time she left the house. "Do you have the time?"
They raised their left hand, revealing an expensive looking watch. "10:15."
"You've got about five minutes before someone comes looking for me and we put you down on the spot or you can answer the questions we've already asked you and then you've got five minutes before you're taken into custody."
She started to focus on the little things about this person, like how they smelled like pine cones and how their clothing, which was currently being used to hide their identity, also looked very expensive but worn down.
"I'm looking for a Kennedy. It's nobody's business which one and what for, but I know that they're all here."
Grady tensed up, his aim staying steady. "Take four steps closer to me, the person behind you is going to stay in place."
"Mister, if I take four steps closer to you, I might as well offer you a handshake with how close we'll be."
"I know what I said, take four steps forward or I shoot, it's your choice." They complied, even putting their hands on the back of their head as they stopped. "Now answer the other two questions."
"I found this place by tracking my target." They seemed to look to their right. "If I tell you who I am, my own people will kill me. Perhaps ask your French aid what your Voyagers have to hide."
It was as if another person was waiting for those words as a cue to shoot. The person in front of Grady had been shot straight through the head and collapsed in a matter of seconds.
Grady and Elizabeth stopped in their places, looking to each other with a shared look of fear.
Lights began to come on in the residential area, the first person reaching the scene being Marshal, who was already on the way when the shot was fired.
"They said they were after a Kennedy and they were with a group." Grady sat in front of the body, Elizabeth sitting right next to him. They both knew it was going to be a long night of questioning and they wouldn't be leaving those spots for a few hours.
Marshal sighed, crossing his arms and looking at the body with a hint of sadness on his face. "The boys are with Milo. I'm already under the assumption that Chelsea needs to be brought here, is there anyone else that needs to be brought here?" The two shook their heads and Marshal stepped away for a moment, placing a call since he couldn't leave the area either.
Zachary and Chelsea arrived at the same time with Zachary quickly addressing the people there. "This doesn't go out to the others. What we learn tonight is everything we're going to know because as the sun rises, we're taking the body out and burning it. Clear?" They all nodded, knowing it was a precaution he was taking because of the position Grady had been in moments before they had been shot. "Chelsea, start searching through their pockets. Elizabeth, come with me."
He held out a hand for her, pulling her off the ground and taking her on a walk. "Did Grady shoot them?"
"No, Grady was just holding them there until someone else came along. He was in front of them and you'll find that the wound is on either the left or right side of their head."
"What did they say to you two?"
"That they were here for a Kennedy, they referred to whoever they were after as a target and said they had a group that had been tracking their target, that's when they got shot."
"Why were you out and about at ten o'clock at night?"
"Chelsea told me she needed help and I went to help her. They were just standing at her front door, hitting it. They tossed me down and I chased them into Grady."
He looked to be thinking over something before shaking his head. "I don't think they're after a Kennedy, I think they're using that name to instill fear because of the boys. It would be the same thing as saying they're after a Neil; your first thought would be on Nora, Kimber, or Jude, not Milo or Leah."
"What do they get out of hiding their target when they're going to end up dead either way?"
"Because now our group has been thrown off the tracks of whoever the remaining members of their group are after." He stopped walking, looking at Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, who would you say the easier target in the group is?"
She started to think over it. Chelsea was nowhere near an easy target, neither was Milo or Marshal. Alyssa wasn't an easy target, Leona sure as hell wasn't, the same being said about any of Pierre's people. "You or me."
He looked intrigued by the answer. "Explain your reasoning, you know how a debate works."
"Because we're the ones who typically throw ourselves into situations where we can be overwhelmed. I was already at my limit when we ran into Grady and had I stopped any sooner or Grady not been there, there would have been the perfect opportunity to grab me." Elizabeth looked behind them, focusing on Chelsea. "That, and it's no secret that any incident with Chelsea is going to provoke a response from one of us. While I do believe that going on a chase with them puts you as the target, I don't see it possible that they were bold enough to take you or myself out on the spot, so I can't say with certainty that you're the target."
He stayed silent on the walk back, taking what physical evidence Chelsea had gathered and telling Marshal and Grady to handle the body immediately.
He took Chelsea and Elizabeth back home, an unbreakable silence between the three of them as they split up for the night.
Immediately after opening the door home, Whitlock rushed into Elizabeth's arms, burying his face into her stomach. "Why didn't you come back? You knew there was trouble, why did you go?"
It was only then that she started to come to the grim realization that if her theory was right and had Grady not been present, she wouldn't have been going home at all. "Shit..." She held the boy tight, running a hand through his hair.
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Post by Tales93 on Jul 8, 2020 0:04:34 GMT
I really like where the story is heading so far. It is surprising to know that Amanda had joined the Voyagers. I wonder what her reasoning is? Perhaps, it is a mission from Isaac? I'm interested in the group this intruder worked for. Clearly, their dangerous; I wonder what their goals are.
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Post by Kal on Jul 8, 2020 0:49:23 GMT
Elizabeth Kennedy
Whitlock didn't let go, not after Elizabeth tried convincing him to just let her shut the door, not after Milo tried prying him off of her.
Elizabeth eventually scooped the boy off the ground, holding him as close as she could. She took a seat on the recliner, rocking him carefully and trying to console him while Milo shut the door and sat on the sofa next to the recliner.
She hummed as she took small tufts of his black hair and twirled it around her fingers. "He's never freaked out this bad before."
"He said that you were in trouble and he threw a massive fit when Marshal tried to reason with him. Marshal would have been around a lot sooner but Whit was a broken record and he only got more upset when Alyssa tried to calm him down." Milo gave a soft laugh, looking to the back bedroom. "Victor, though, he's definitely got Marshal's personality. Whitlock tried riling him up before Marshal left and Victor shut the door in his face because he was trying to sleep and Whitlock wouldn't let him."
Elizabeth looked back down at the boy, seeing his bright green eyes were still open, staring at her as if to make sure she didn't go anywhere. She gave a smile and brushed his hair out of his face, giving him a kiss on the forehead. "You know better than to keep your brother up."
"And so did you when you were his age but that didn't stop you." Milo got up, ruffing up his sister's hair as he walked past the recliner. "It's probably not best to talk about what happened right now, we'll catch up tomorrow."
She nodded, holding onto Whitlock as she stood up to walk Milo out, locking the door behind him.
She tried putting him down, only for him to hold onto her shirt tighter. "I don't wanna."
"You've gotta go to bed, it's already an hour after your bedtime and you're going to get in trouble if you're still awake when your dad gets home." She kneeled, setting him on his feet to look him in the eyes.
"I wanna stay with you." His tiny fists still held onto the shoulder of her shirt.
She sighed, a frown on her face. "Whitlock, if I let you sleep in my room then I have to be fair and let Victor sleep in there too."
That typically worked with him because he didn't like to be crowded with both his parents and his brother in the same bed, but it didn't seem to deter him this time. "I'll get him."
She reached out for his hand as he let go of his shirt. "No no, you go to bed and I'll get him. It'll only be a minute, okay?"
He looked her in the eyes as if to see if she were lying before he nodded and ran down the hall to his parent's bedroom.
Elizabeth went to the boys' room, picking the smaller brother out of bed, cradling him as she walked across the hall and set him into bed. He had woken up, but only seemed interested in finding out where he was going before going back to sleep.
She had gone to the bathroom and gotten changed before shutting the bedroom door and climbing into bed herself, both of the boys getting as close to her as they could.
While she knew it wasn't the ideal sleeping situation, it made her feel a bit better to have them with her after what had happened.
Marshal came back home hours later and took a shower before he had changed himself and gotten into bed. He seemed to share her feelings as he had no complaints when he got back.
He didn't have much to say and looked to be upset when he walked into the room.
Elizabeth used her free hand to reach over the boys and find Marshal's hand, giving it a light squeeze. "Are you alright?"
He held onto her hand as if he would never get the chance to again, something he normally only did when something scared him. "Liz, Whitlock woke up screaming because he said that he saw you were going to die."
"What? Milo didn't say anything about that."
"Because I didn't tell Milo that. One of us had to stay with the boys and if I had told him that bit, he wouldn't have given me a choice but to stay." He squeezed her hand, using his thumb to trace tint circles over one of her knuckles. "It's been so long since we've been in a position like that and I can't say I've missed it."
"It's been, what? Four years now that we've been here?"
"Just about."
Once people had settled into the community, nobody really had any reason to panic. Things calmed down about a year after the public believed that the Voyagers were non-existent and Chelsea and Zachary had died. They stopped using the masks about a year and a half after that.
"I was pretty quick to get on Milo's case about not going with the group but I don't think I can do it anymore, Marshal, not after tonight."
"We don't have a choice, Elizabeth. There's never going to be a safe place for the boys if we don't step up and make a change. Hiding out like this is no life for them and it's no life for us." He paused, letting go of her hand. "That's not to mention that you did something quite comparable to what we're planning to do with just you and Leona when you were pregnant."
He had a point. It worked out pretty well for them, as well.
Alyssa Kowalska
The next day an emergency town meeting was held. It wasn't called by any of the council, which was a first, but rather by Cordelia. She asked that it be in the school building, which was another uncommon decision.
She looked to be extremely nervous, tapping her fingers on her crossed arms and pacing the room.
Alyssa took a seat next to Kyle, giving a nod hello. "How long has she been doing that?"
He looked at the clock above Cordelia's head. "Since before I got here two hours ago."
Kyle looked past Alyssa and Milo, who had Nora, and to the twins. "They doing okay?"
"Yeah." Alyssa then turned, making direct eye contact with Jude. "Jude is on a bit of a streak with his decision to be vocal at some pretty bad times, so we're hoping it doesn't hold up today, right?" The boy nodded.
After Lecia, Elizabeth, and Marshal arrived, the twins split up to see the other children, staying in the back of the room.
Lecia stood behind Alyssa, her hands on her hips. "No Zachary yet? He's usually the first to these things. Kyle, who was here first?"
Kyle scanned the room, his eyes falling on Grady, who looked to be in fear. "Grady got here first, he said he just happened to be patrolling in the area when Cordelia caught him."
"Still patrolling at four in the morning?" Alyssa couldn't buy that. Something wasn't right with what Grady had said. She decided to leave it alone for a moment, looking back to Marshal and Elizabeth. "Is Whitlock doing better today?"
"Oh, yeah, he's fine now." Elizabeth looked to the table, immediately telling Alyssa something was up with them as well. "Sorry about that, by the way, totally my fault."
Nora left Milo's lap and scooted off the bench that the twins had left, going to the back of the room with the other kids.
"She still giving Jude a run for his money on who can keep quietest?" Lecia sat on the bench that Nora had left, Marshal and Elizabeth pulling their chair over to the table as well.
"Definitely and she's winning without a doubt."
Cordelia stopped pacing as soon as Zachary and Chelsea got there, the both of them sitting opposite of Elizabeth and Marshal. Chelsea leaned into the table as Cordelia got started. "Where's Leona?"
Alyssa and Kyle both looked around, seeing that Leona was the only person not in attendance. "She came back from Onyx yesterday, right?"
Milo nodded. "I saw her before the sun even went down."
"We can't start without her, that's not fair, especially if she's the one person that's not in attendance." Zachary tapped his hands on the table and raised his right hand, looking to Cordelia for approval to speak. "Leona isn't here, we can't start a community meeting without the full community."
Cordelia paused, looking at him and the people around him. "Right… she was here earlier, I just thought she was still here, I'm sorry."
Alyssa turned to Kyle, giving him a light tap on the shoulder. "Why didn't you say she was here earlier?"
"I'm old, I can't remember everything." He shrugged with a grin on his face.
He got a laugh out of the group as their conversation turned to catching up once again.
Gregory eventually joined the group, sitting in between Zachary and Chelsea. Leah stayed in the back with the children.
Pierre's people say at the table ahead of Alyssa, they seemed to be in thought as none of them were talking, with the exceptions of Jean Luc and Noelle.
After another hour of waiting, the door to the room opened, catching everyone's attention. It was Leona, but she just stood there. She didn't enter, she didn't make eye contact with anyone, she didn't say anything. Something was extremely wrong.
Zachary must have reached the same conclusion as Alyssa did as he got out of his seat and approached her, taking caution as he did so. "Hey, what's going on?"
Filip and Horatio left their table with Cyrus, seeming to believe Zachary would need help. Horatio hurried to her side, a sudden sense of urgency overcoming him. "She's bleeding."
"Sit her down." Alyssa jumped out of her seat, going to Leona's side as the men had gotten her to sit. "Horatio, find out where she's bleeding from."
"I already know." He took a strong hold of Leona's arm, looking to Zachary. "We either need to get Leona out of here or clear the room because she's not in her right mind."
Alyssa looked to Horatio, immediately understanding what he'd meant. She'd been chipped. "It'd be easier to move her, circle her and move her out." She looked over the people in attendance. "Pierre and Marie, we could use your help."
The two nodded, getting out of their seats and helping the four form a circle around Leona before Filip lifted her up and started dragging her out of the room.
Alyssa shut the door behind them, Zachary leading the circle to another room down the hall. "We don't have long before she's going to be active again." Alyssa looked over her, noticing small twitches in her hands.
"How do you know?" Pierre looked to be putting himself between Leona and Alyssa, suspecting that she would jump at any moment.
"She's already had the time to start dealing with the effects because she was able to make it all the way to the schoolhouse and even now, she seems to be fighting Filip, albeit a very lazy fight."
Filip laid her down on one of the tables in the second classroom, her stomach facing the table. He then took a step back to allow Horatio and Alyssa to work.
Alyssa tuned out the other people in the room, with the exception of Horatio as they found the chip, hidden under the top of her shirt. Alyssa sighed, shaking her head.
Pierre walked over, looking at the chip. "If we remove it ourselves, we will run a large risk of harming her further." He looked at the scratch marks next to the chip that had dried blood over them, telling him that Leona had tried to remove it herself. "Our other choice is to get Isaac."
Zachary stood next to him. "Filip, find a way to tie her down. Regardless of our choice, it's going to take a bit." He traced the chip with his finger. "Isaac can't do anything about it, this isn't an Onyx chip. Marie, go get Amanda, Chelsea, and Elizabeth."
Filip left the room to find something to tie Leona down and Marie left to get the women, returning in just a moment. Alyssa backed off while Horatio, Pierre, and Zachary stood as a barrier between the women and Leona.
Chelsea moved past Zachary, looking over the chip herself. "You've already realized this isn't an Onyx chip, right?" Zachary nodded. "I don't know where it's from but someone else is about to have complete control over her." She tried slipping her fingernail under the chip, unable to do so. "Ripping it off is going to cause a lot of damage to her but unless we can find out where it's from, it might be our only option."
Elizabeth moved to stand next to Chelsea, going quiet in a moment. Her movements faltered but her focus remained on the chip. She tapped it with her fingernails before a slight gasp escaped her. "Whitlock knows the chip. He's seen it before." She then turned to Chelsea and Zachary. "So have you two."
Zachary crossed his arms with a sigh. "I can't recall where it's from at this point and I'm under the assumption that Chelsea can't either. That leaves a six year old as our most reliable source right now." He then looked at Pierre. "Are you positive you haven't seen this before?"
He took a step closer, focusing on the design. "It's European, the side's design is that of a twisted rope, a link."
Filip returned and began tying loops around Leona and the table, a look of regret on his face. "Would Onyx really chip her when she's been going there for months?"
The room almost went cold as Filip asked his question, most of the group able to see the betrayal. Zachary looked to Chelsea, then straight to the ground. "I don't know. We don't know who all has access to the chips but if Pierre's right about the design, it couldn't have been someone at Onyx." He bit his lip as if he were hesitating on saying something else.
Alyssa moved close to Pierre, knowing he would step in the way and she'd have a closer view from where he was. "We have to do something, we need her."
"Agreed. Alyssa, I trust you to find a way to remove it without hurting her." He briefly looked up at her, a pleading look in his eyes for the few seconds she saw them. "We need to get back in the other room for now, Alyssa will think on it and get back to me."
[Suggest having Chelsea reach out to Isaac]
[Suggest having Amanda attempt to surgically remove it]
[Suggest having Noelle attempt to find a way to override it without removing it]
Noelle Marseille
After the group of Voyagers returned to the room without Leona, the room went silent until Zachary gave Cordelia permission to go on.
She hesitated, watching the people who just returned as if they were going to hurt someone. "Where is Leona?"
The table shared a moment of silence, Zachary sighing. "Don't worry about her, she's just-"
"No!" The room went silent again after Cordelia's usually soft voice shook the room. "This is why I called a meeting. The secrecy that you're subjecting the entire community to."
While Noelle never really talked to Zachary, he would typically tell her what was going on only if she asked him. She knew he did the same for Jean Luc.
"Unrest." Jean Luc spoke up from his cousin's side, looking at his hands on the table.
Cordelia looked at him, a wave of fear and frustration radiating off of her. "What do you mean unrest?"
"What you're feeling is unrest." Jean Luc stayed focused on his hands, moving his fingers as he spoke. "Have you ever asked questions about how things are going?"
"That's the point; we shouldn't have to ask, we should be kept in the loop."
Jean Luc stood up, pointing at the table behind them. "Do you think he was in the loop when his own business partner ordered a hit on him? Do you think Marshal was in the loop when his pregnant wife broke into one of the most dangerous places that your city has to offer?"
"Jean Luc, those are two very different circumstances." She crossed her arms, a look of annoyance going over her face. "Do you know what happened last night?"
"The gunshot?" She nodded. "No, and I haven't thought to ask because there's some things that I can't do anything about because they don't involve me in the slightest. From my point of view, it's nothing to worry about because everyone in both groups are still here and no one's hurt."
"Leona seemed plenty hurt to me."
Elizabeth shot up out of her seat, throwing her palm down onto the table as she did. "Now hold on a minute, Leona had nothing to do with what happened last night. Nobody involved with last night had even seen her for an entire day in advance."
Cordelia turned her attention to Elizabeth, a look of disdain on her face. "Then who was all involved? Why was there no effort to tell the community?"
"Do you know how many times I've either died or been critically injured?" Elizabeth started walking towards Cordelia, a look of mischief in her eyes that only those close to her could pick up on. "A ridiculous amount of times. Everyone here can back that up and at this point, it's no big deal when it happens because I'll probably just be back by the same time tomorrow, right?"
Jean Luc looked back to the table to see Chelsea get up with a slight grin on her face before she did so. "The same goes for me, the same goes for Whitlock. When there's people here who can't die, it doesn't really make much sense to get the community so worked up over them getting shot, doesn't it?"
Pierre nodded, knowing immediately what the two were up to. "Those two are right. That being said, of they were to tell us each time it happened, it would likely desensitize us prior to an actual emergency and when that occurs, it's over for all of us."
Cordelia focused in on Elizabeth. "So what happened last night? Who all was there?"
Elizabeth looked around the room. "Jean Luc, Pierre, Marshal, Zachary, and Chelsea." She caught Jean Luc's eyes for a moment and gave a wink that told him to just go along with it. "The boys were with Milo and Alyssa, I was with the former group around the community center and I was being an idiot with a firearm and shot myself, accidents happen."
"I have a hard time believing Marshal or Pierre would let that happen." Cordelia looked to Pierre for confirmation of Elizabeth's story.
Jean Luc found himself in her cross hairs for a moment. "I mean, there was really no time to react, it all just kind of happened. Everyone knows Elizabeth has a habit of getting ahead of everyone else if they let her and she was about twenty feet ahead of us, nobody was paying attention, it just happened."
"Then why is there no visual evidence that it happened?"
Amanda raised her hand to speak. "When they die, the gene typically removes physical evidence, the only thing it leaves behind is the memory of bystanders."
"How do you know this?"
"My mother put together the gene and developed it as it evolved." Amanda gave a smile. "I figured everyone would have known that by now. Any more questions?"
Cordelia sighed, shaking her head as she stared at the ground. "No questions, just a request to keep some of us in the loop. Some things are still very concerning to all of us and if we can help then we want to."
The people started to separate, the people Elizabeth claimed to have been with the night before along with Filip, Horatio, Alyssa, Milo, Marie, and Grady staying. Zachary also got Amanda and Noelle to stay for a moment.
Grady looked almost sad as he spoke with Elizabeth. "Why did you lie about what happened?"
"Because we don't have answers to provide, it's the same with Leona's status, we can't say anything because we don't have anything we know for sure. There's no reason to invite fear when we don't have any clear way of preventing it later on."
Zachary seemed to agree with her, but looked to Alyssa. "Alyssa, what are you thinking about Leona?"
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Post by Tales93 on Jul 8, 2020 19:03:42 GMT
[Suggest having Noelle attempt to find a way to override it without removing it]
This was a tough one. For me it was between this and having Amanda surgically remove it, but I didn't want something to go wrong by trying to remove it. I figured Pierre's group may have had more experience with European style chips. Maybe, if Noelle could deactivate it; it would be easier to remove it later without complications. It's interesting to see the friction within the group caused by the leaders keeping secrets. I wonder where that will eventually lead.
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Post by Kal on Jul 10, 2020 20:22:53 GMT
? ? ?
Nomads were something rising in popularity for the past four years, some did it out of the joy of seeing the world for what it was and some did it out of necessity. Those who did it out of necessity were far stronger than the people who did it for the thrill as they very likely had nowhere to return to, should things go south on their travels.
Many people from Quarantine turned out to become nomads as they had no home to return to once released from where they'd been and at the time, there was no safe place with the Voyagers.
People of all ages would fall into the lifestyle, people who had lost family and friends would seek comfort in a life alone, but Devin couldn't agree with a life alone.
The boy had shoulder length black hair that would very often end up in mats so he would keep it in a bun. He wore a white shirt that had a fair amount of dirt on it with khaki pants that cut off just before his combat boots. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder as he walked with a sense of urgency to avoid interaction from the regular citizens who passed him by.
His destination was Pierre, South Dakota as it was one of the last known locations of the Voyagers. That was over four years ago, though. He'd heard that they would often hide out for years at a time, so maybe it was just the group preparing for another move. Their last move was bold enough to send a message that they wouldn't be giving up, but that was close to five years ago.
There was one town on the way that stood out to him as everyone there seemed so familiar but he couldn't place them no matter how hard he tried.
He mainly planned to pass through until a boy who looked to be his age with dark red hair stopped what he was doing and watched Devin as if he was going to do something that only he could stop.
The boy was wearing a purple jacket with a undershirt that was striped tan and almost a yellow color. He wore black pants and a purple pair of tennis shoes.
He was walking by himself as well, opposite the street of Devin.
The two shared a look before the red-headed boy started to cross the street in a way that even if Devin tried to run, he'd be cut off by the boy so he stayed in place.
The boy stopped two or three in front of Devin, holding a stance that would throw anyone off. "What's your name?"
"You first."
Devin only now took note of the brown eyes that the boy had as he scrunched up his nose. "I think as the resident here, it's my call."
"My name is Devin." Devin started tapping his fingers, feeling suddenly anxious. "What about you?"
He looked past Devin, his eyebrows suddenly raising. "I'll tell you later, but you have to come with me or we're both going to get in a lot of trouble."
"You can't just say you'll tell me who you are later. What if you attack me and I couldn't tell anyone who did it because I don't know your name?"
"Why would I tell you my name at all in that case?" He finally looked back to Devin, looking particularly antsy himself. "I'll tell you when my group decides it's safe for me to do so but if I don't take you to the leaders at this second, I'm going to be in massive trouble because Cordelia's already seen you and going to tell them, from the looks of it."
Before Devin could respond, the boy started a run, grabbing Devin's wrist as he passed him, dragging him along. He had a rather right grip, which prevented Devin from wriggling out and running off himself.
They ran for about two blocks before the red-headed boy took him into a building where there were about ten adults in what seemed to be a very heated discussion. The adults stopped when Devin and the boy ran into the doors, the boy letting go of Devin's wrist as he stood as straight as possible.
Devin immediately recognized two of the people in the room, one being Zachary Bennington, who was said to have died four and half years ago, and the other being Chelsea Hampton, who also apparently died four years ago.
They all looked between each other before a woman with brown hair and green eyes shrugged at Zachary. "You've been telling him to step up more, here's him stepping up so do something about it."
There was a woman with red hair next to the one who had just spoken who quickly hit her shoulder with a glare. "Watch the attitude."
One of the men stepped forward, this one with brown eyes and black hair. He looked conflicted as he tried to talk to Devin before just giving up and turning to the boy that brought Devin in. "You gotta tell us what you're presenting us with."
"Oh, right." The red-headed boy turned to Devin, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "Right, well he said his name is Devin, he looked like he was just walking through."
"Looked like? Did you not ask him?" The man with black hair looked almost embarrassed, either embarrassed or frustrated.
The boy turned to Devin again. "No, I didn't."
He seemed like he was waiting for Devin to explain himself. "I was just passing through, I wasn't even on the same side of the street as him."
"And where were you going?" Chelsea rested her head in her hands, looking very tired. "Typically when someone is passing through a place, they have a destination in mind."
"I was going up to Pierre, close to headquarters."
Just like that, everyone had been drawn to Devin, each of them looking like they had a question.
The man from earlier grabbed the red-headed boy's arm and pulled him away from Devin as Chelsea and Zachary stepped forward.
"Who are you traveling with?" Zachary took a very strong stance, giving Devin a bit of concern.
"I'm traveling alone."
"Why are you going to headquarters?"
"Not to headquarters, around headquarters." Devin furrowed his brows.
"Alright, why are you going around headquarters?" Zachary put emphasis on 'around', almost as if telling Devin that the location didn't really matter, what mattered was he mentioned headquarters.
"I'm looking for some people."
"What people?"
"Why do you have so many questions?"
Zachary gave a look to Chelsea before sighing and stepping back, allowing her to step forward.
She had a smile on her face and seemed to erase the rest of the people in the room. "We just want to know so we can see if we can help you along." She stopped just three feet in front of him and held out her hand with her palm facing the ceiling. "If you don't want to say it out loud then just tell me."
"I can't tell only you in a room full of other people." He tried to back away from her, only to back into another person.
"You can, though." She looked at her hand. "If you put your hand on mine, it'll connect our minds and you'll be able to see into my mind, as I'll be able to see into yours."
He looked at the person behind him, seeing a tall blonde man with a small brunette woman standing directly behind him. Devin then looked at Chelsea's hand, giving a sad look. "I feel like I don't have a choice in this."
Devin looked up to see the red-headed boy looking a bit sad. "Devin, my name is Gregory Remey. I have a feeling you already know Chelsea Hampton and I can only assume you know Zachary Bennington as-."
Gregory caught the looks that the other people were giving him and quieted down. The man next to him looked him in the eyes and shook his head. "Greg means well, but he's not thinking about it in the same way that we are. In his defense, none of us are thinking about it in a reasonable way. We want to be trusted but we can't trust anyone else, so why should Devin trust a bunch of people that he doesn't know who are overwhelming him with question after question?"
Devin watched the man as he spoke with his people. "So you can acknowledge where the problem is but can't do anything about it?"
"I can tell you who I am, but I'm not going to force anyone else to do the same. That's no way to form trust with you and keep trust with me." He shrugged, Devin realizing what he was doing by talking to the group; he was buying Devin some time to make a decision with Chelsea, who remained in place with her hand out through the whole conversation.
Devin looked in the man's eyes and then into Chelsea's eyes before grabbing her hand, everything around him going dark.
The world felt heavy, it felt as if there were weights on Devin's chest.
He woke up in what looked to be a hospital bed with Gregory directly by his side, and only Chelsea standing a fair distance from his bed.
Chelsea started talking as soon as she noticed he was awake. "First, I'd like to apologize for your current state; you caught me off guard and while I didn't intend for that to be my reaction, I wasn't the only person who freaked out and it just happened. I know why you're heading to Pierre and I'd recommend stopping here. These people know far more than they're going to tell you at first." She looked like she was in a hurry as she went to the door. "Gregory said he would watch after you, so I'm trusting him with you until I get back."
Just like that, she was gone. Devin looked around, stopping to stare at the ceiling. "When can I leave? I mean, I feel fine and I'm not even sure what happened."
"You passed out because Chelsea ended up taking energy from you. She didn't mean to but in that time, she had no control over it. Elizabeth evened it out by taking some of Chelsea's energy and giving it to you; I'm guessing it worked because you're already back at it." Gregory leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. "She didn't tell anyone why you're here, so won't you at least tell me?"
"How old are you, Gregory?"
"Sixteen and a handful of months." He paused. "Well, okay, three months. What about you?"
"Sixteen and an actual handful of months." Gregory snickered at Devin's response. "Do you have family?"
He shook his head. "The closest thing I have to it is for about ten years, the group was led to believe Marshal was my dad. My actual dad died like six years ago and my mom…" He uncrossed his arms and brought one of his hands to his face, his gaze focused on the ground. "She had an accident a few months ago and the two people with her were unable to stop it."
"I'm sorry, Gregory." Devin gave him an awkward PST on the back that he pulled away from, holding a hand up as if to say he was fine. "I understand what you're going through."
He nodded. "I figured you did when you walked all this way alone. Chelsea told us where you came from and said you did most of it on your own."
"Is it true that she could see everything?"
"Yeah, Elizabeth could too if she had tried hard enough but as soon as she returned your energy, she took off, said something about her sons."
Devin had a lot of questions about the people Gregory was naming and the talks if energy, as he didn't quite comprehend what he meant by that. "If I tell you why I'm going to Pierre, will you keep it on the down low?"
"The only exception I'll make is if you present a reasonable threat to the group, which I'd say you don't right now."
"Right…" Devin sighed, looking at his palm. "I'm looking for the Voyagers. I was told that they could help me."
Gregory sat up straight in his chair, a look of surprise on his face. "The Voyagers? What kind of help are you looking for exactly?"
Devin quickly got out of the bed, trying to reach for the wall as his balance started to give way. Gregory rushed to his side, holding him up so he could try to catch his breath. "Just let me leave and we won't have a problem, alright?"
"No, you're not getting it." He got closer to Devin, lowering his voice to a whisper. "This group is made up of four groups and various stragglers, two of those groups are made up of Voyagers. That's what Chelsea was trying to tell you."
He then moved back from Devin, but stayed close enough to reach out to him in case he started falling again. "Is that the truth?"
"I swear on it."
"And which group are you from?"
"The Voyagers. I was born into the group, my dad was a leader at the time and he got overthrown because he didn't do shit, my mom tried to protect him for years." He stopped, a sigh escaping him. "What kind of help are you looking for from the group?"
"Safety." He met Gregory's eyes, realizing one crucial thing about Gregory right then. "I've been running since I was ten, I can't keep doing it, man."
Gregory nodded and started for the door. "Come with me."
Devin quickly gathered his belongings and went for the door, Gregory taking him back to the building they had gone to before.
There were less people, but the man with black hair was still there, talking with a man with brown hair and green eyes.
"Marshal." Gregory approached the two, Devin staying by his side. "Devin isn't a threat and I think it would be best for him to stay with the community."
He turned away from the man with brown hair and looked Devin up and down before looking back to Gregory. "Why?"
"He doesn't have anywhere to go and what Chelsea didn't tell us is that he was looking for the Voyagers. He's been wandering for six years and to make it that long without being in one place for too long, he's accustomed to the life we already live." Gregory then looked over to the brown haired man himself. "Milo, I'm sure you have something to say about it."
The two older men looked to each other, the man Gregory called Milo tapping the table he was seated at. "He understands that if he were to stay, he's going to be under a microscope for a bit? He can't really avoid questions the way he did with Zachary earlier and he's going to have to pull his weight. We can vouch for him, but it's going to be a fight with Zachary, especially with everything that's going on with Leona."
"If you'll both help me vouch for him, I'm going to fight it myself." Gregory's statement seemed to take the men by surprise, but they both nodded in agreement.
"You'd be wise to go find some more people to vouch as well. Chelsea would be your best bet, Alyssa is probably up there as well." Marshal paused, shaking his head. "That's about it. I already know it's a no from Elizabeth and Leona's in no position to give an opinion. Try Pierre and see if he can't help you get some of his people."
Gregory ran out the door, grabbing hold of Devin's wrist of his way out, determined to get Devin the permission to stay.
Noelle Marseille
After the new boy had shown up, Alyssa and Zachary approached Noelle with Pierre and Marie in tow.
They gave her an update on Leona's condition and made the request that Noelle work on overriding the chip.
"We could remove it but with it's placement, it's risking a lot of neurological damage to her and if we leave it be, we might as well set her into the city because then she's a threat to us." Zachary looked over Leona, a sudden look of sadness in his eyes. "Either we override it or we have to kill her and I don't intend to have her blood on our hands."
"Then I'll work on overriding it. I can't promise a better outlook but you need to think about involving Isaac should I be unable to do it myself. I expect that Elizabeth, Chelsea, and Amanda are going to work with me?"
Pierre nodded, eventually finding his eyes on Leona's chip. "Those three and Carlos will be your team. They're already expecting to take direct orders from you and only you from this moment on."
"Yes sir, I understand."
Marie left the room to go gather the rest of Noelle's team, Pierre stopping on the way out. "Ms. Marseille, my expectations are that you disable the chip's effects in a timely manner. We have more business to conduct and I won't allow any time to be wasted, am I clear?"
"Yes sir."
Devin Clark
Devin and Gregory had spent the day talking to residents of the community to try and convince them to allow Devin to stay, most of them either saying yes or taking some time to think on it.
They stopped into a building that looked like a school building, going into a room where four women and a man were sitting in a circle with journals at their disposal, each journal looking to be almost filled with writing.
Devin looked over the table, seeing the only person there he knew by name was Chelsea, but the red-headed woman and brown haired woman were both there as well.
A woman with brown, curly hair that went down to her back stood in acknowledgment to the boys. She was wearing a black blazer with a white undershirt and a black skirt, her glasses being light brown, which brought out her hazel eyes. "Can we help you two?"
Gregory hesitated, walking up to Chelsea and looking over her journal. "I wanted to talk to you guys about Devin but I see that you guys are busy, I'm sorry."
The woman who stood gave a kind smile and rose her hand. "No need to be sorry, a break might do us well." She walked to Devin, holding out his hand. "Noelle Marseille."
He shook her hand, prompting the one man at the table to join her in shaking Devin's hand. "Carlos Durand"
Devin looked to the table after Carlos and Noelle sat down, Chelsea giving him a small wave of the hand. "Hello again."
He looked at the woman next to Chelsea, seeing she looked almost sick despite seeming fine when they first met just a few hours earlier. She didn't make eye contact with Devin and kept her head down.
The woman next to Noelle gave a smile and a wave. "Amanda Richardson." That name sounded so familiar to him but he couldn't place where he knew it from.
Gregory looked to him as if he was waiting for him to do his own talking. "Hello, everyone. My name is Devin Clark. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Gregory leaned into Devin's ear, whispering to him. "The other lady is Elizabeth, Marshal's wife."
As Gregory pulled away, Devin looked at her. "Mrs. Elizabeth, I met your husband earlier, he's a very kind man."
She didn't seem interested in upholding a conversation with him as she only nodded, still refusing eye contact with him.
Chelsea looked at her for a minute before shaking her head and looking back at Devin. "So Devin, where do you come from?"
"I've been in South Dakota my whole life, but usually I've just been jumping from place to place." Devin put his hands in his pockets, seeing Gregory do the same from the corner of his eye. "I've been on my own for this past year and my dad was the one who told me to find the Voyagers, so here I am."
Chelsea didn't touch the topic, instead allowing the others to ask questions. "Why couldn't he be with you?" It was the first question Carlos asked and while Devin knew he didn't mean any harm, it still stung him.
"He passed away a year ago, my mother passed away two years ago."
The table went silent, Elizabeth finally looking up, her sick look replaced with a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry for your losses, though I understand the feeling."
"You do?"
She nodded. "We all do. Everyone here has lost something, someone irreplaceable. Have you met Joseph yet?" Devin shook his head. "That's no surprise, but he lost his wife just last week to a sickness that she'd been fighting her whole life. He's been cooped up for the most part and nobody can really blame him."
"That's awful, I'm sorry to hear that."
She went back to her silence, Carlos bringing up another question. "Do you have any experience with fighting?"
"Yes."
They asked a few more questions, then excused the two boys from the room while they got back to work.
That night, Devin stayed with Gregory in a house that used to be his and his mother's until her passing, then it was just his.
Gregory stayed in his normal room, Devin took the other available room, which Gregory said belonged to his mother but had been cleaned up after her death.
The next day they returned to the school building, the room they'd been in the day before set up to seat all the people who'd come.
There was one man there who Devin hadn't been introduced to, he kept to himself and sat away from the others. Milo and Alyssa came in with their kids, Devin immediately freezing as he saw the two older children.
Gregory noticed his sudden mood shift. "Are you nervous?"
"No, I know those two. Their names are Kimber and Jude Stewart."
"How do you know them?"
Devin froze, not knowing whether to give the truth. "I was family friends with them."
Gregory didn't seem to believe it but he didn't question it anymore, he just took a seat with Milo and Marshal, allowing Devin to take in the setting.
Zachary was the last to arrive, quickly getting notes from members of the community and sorting through them. "On the matter of allowing Devin Clark to reside here, it's majority yes with a few no, and even fewer undecided. Devin's vouchers are Milo, Marshal, Gregory, and… Joseph." He looked among the people. "Does anyone object to it?"
The room stayed silent, telling Devin that he'd been given permission to join the group.
As they began leaving, the one man Devin didn't know stopped by him as if he had something to say, then continued on his way out.
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Post by Tales93 on Jul 11, 2020 16:48:06 GMT
I really enjoyed this latest part. I'm glad to see that Devin was accepted into the group, and that they seem to be getting along with him so far, for the most part. For some reason, I was surprised Chelsea was able to read his mind. I thought the gene only effected other people with the gene and themselves. I must have misremembered what all it could do.
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Post by Kal on Jul 11, 2020 22:05:18 GMT
I really enjoyed this latest part. I'm glad to see that Devin was accepted into the group, and that they seem to be getting along with him so far, for the most part. For some reason, I was surprised Chelsea was able to read his mind. I thought the gene only effected other people with the gene and themselves. I must have misremembered what all it could do. No no, I do believe you're correct, however the gene is currently evolving and those afflicted are changing, as are their abilities now. |
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Post by Tales93 on Jul 11, 2020 22:44:51 GMT
Ok, I see now.
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Post by Kal on Aug 5, 2020 18:41:17 GMT
Zachary Bennington
"Joseph, I don't get it, why are you wanting to vouch for someone you've never even met?" Joseph had shown up at Zachary's door at four in the morning the day before the community's hearing on Devin.
"Because Gregory hasn't cared for something this fiercely since before Francine died, if we shut down that fire inside of him then he's never going to be any use to anyone in this group." He continued on while Zachary thought on his decision to allow Joseph to vouch for Devin. "As soon as Grady's done patrolling, I fully intend to take action that will secure that boy a spot in the community."
"If you vouch for this boy, you're going to have to be part of his daily life. Marshal and Milo are taking on another child, they've got a light handle on the gig but you've never had a kid. We already know Marshal's going to focus on combative training and Milo's going to focus on the boy's psychological health, that leaves you to make sure his needs are met every single day." Zachary paused, thinking on what Joseph had just said. "How do you intend to secure a spot?"
"I'm going to rig the vote." Joseph gave his answer with such confidence that it was concerning. "What you're forgetting is that I was part in bringing up Elizabeth, Marshal, Milo, you, and Samantha."
"No, that wasn't you, that was Eris. I mean no disrespect when I say that but you were always off doing your own thing, it was always her that was there when we needed someone."
Joseph went silent, a sudden distant look in his eyes.
Zachary frowned, disappointed in himself for what he'd said. "I'm sorry, Joseph. I'll help you rig the vote because I want that boy to stay just as much as you but I'm not entirely sure about your decision to vouch for him."
"I'm going to do both of those regardless of what you say. It's my decision and I've made it, it's your job as the leader of this community to respect that and agree with it."
Devin and Gregory seemed more shocked than anybody that Devin would be allowed to stay and that Joseph would vouch for him.
Once the community members had cleared out, Zachary took a look at the actual ballot box to see what the people really wanted.
He hadn't heard the door open while he was doing so, only realizing he had company when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Zach, it's time."
Chelsea helped him out the ballots back in the box and hide it in the cabinet before leaving the community center, going to the school building where they were greeted by Noelle, Elizabeth, and Carlos.
"Where are we with the override?"
None of them looked hopeful as Noelle hesitantly delivered a verdict. "I've completed a program that may override it, though it was incredibly difficult and I don't have high hopes that it will work."
"Do you want me to be here when you try it?" She nodded. "Then let's get on with it."
Noelle applied a second chip directly under the first one, then stepped away from Leona with Carlos standing between Leona and Noelle and Elizabeth.
As far as the group was aware, Leona was still restrained.
Well, for the moment she was.
Mere seconds after opening her eyes, she jumped to her feet, the rope that was used to restrain her being dropped to the floor in seconds.
She focused on Zachary and Chelsea, grabbing a meter stick that was typically used in lessons, moving to confront the two. She didn't say a word but confidence radiated off of her as she danced the meter stick between her hands.
Zachary pushed Chelsea back towards the door, a feeling of dread overwhelming him in a matter of seconds. Something was seriously wrong. "Yvette, how are you?"
She didn't say anything.
She tried to push past him, being caught off guard as he shoved her back and blocked her way to the door even more. "You're not going to leave."
She clenched the meter stick, staring at him for just one second before making a dash towards him.
He reacted with ease, having gotten to know Leona and her movements over the years. He quickly put her stomach first on the ground, the meter stick falling out of her reach as she hit the floor.
The weird thing was, he didn’t remember touching her at all. He didn’t remember putting her on the ground, he didn’t remember disarming her.
“It clearly didn’t work, I’m going to need another option.” He tried to be as quiet as possible because if he was being honest, he couldn’t even recall what the original plan with Leona was.
Chelsea Hampton
Over the years, many of the group members had been declining in certain aspects regarding their health.
Elizabeth had slowed down a significant amount, but swore that it was in an abundance of caution and there was no reason to worry. She may have gotten away with that lie to other people but Chelsea could see and feel right through it. If Elizabeth let her guard down, Chelsea very often took a step into her consciousness to see what was going on with her and while she never could come to a certain conclusion, she knew that Elizabeth was hurting far more than she’d ever let on.
Zachary, on the other hand, never changed physically. He believed there was no time to slow down so physically, he was still the same old Zachary he’d been before he even returned to Onyx. Mentally, though, that was a different story. He’d become distant and almost bitter to most people as a result of his recent failing memory. He would only talk to Chelsea about it as he didn’t really trust most of the others as much as he did her, but from what she could understand, it was a sudden onset and he couldn’t even explain it himself.
She shared a look with Zachary as he had pinned Leona down and quickly realized that he had no idea what he was doing.
Chelsea couldn’t move for the meter stick that Leona had dropped without getting caught by her legs, but she knew that if Zachary started doubting the reason for subduing Leona, he’d back off and Leona would take advantage of it in the moment that it happened.
“Elizabeth, grab the meter stick and get it away from her.” Chelsea looked up to meet Elizabeth’s eyes.
“I can’t.” As soon as she took a step closer, Leona tried to jump back to her feet. “I don’t know how long he has hold of her.”
Carlos went to take a step forward, immediately catching Chelsea’s glare. “I told Elizabeth to do it for a reason. You’re the barrier between Leona and Noelle and Amanda, Elizabeth is already unguarded from her position and she can move a lot easier than the rest of you can. If whoever goes for it gets caught, there’s an easier chance for her to slip out of it because of her size.”
Zachary must have gotten the idea back that the situation was a little more urgent than he believed because he looked at Elizabeth and reached out to push the meter stick as far as he could without losing hold of Leona. “Grab it, Elizabeth. If I take it, she’s going to grab it from me and then we’re fucked.”
There was still easily another three or four feet between Elizabeth and the meter stick, which continued telling Chelsea that Elizabeth wouldn’t do it herself.
Chelsea took over Elizabeth’s consciousness in seconds, being overwhelmed with a feeling of fear as she looked over Leona. It was physically difficult for Chelsea to push past it, but she did and tossed the meter stick to the opposite side of the room as soon as she grabbed hold of it.
Returning to her own consciousness, she saw a look of shame go over Elizabeth’s face as she moved past Zachary and Leona, leaving the room with her head held low.
Carlos and Zachary got Leona strapped back down to the table, Zachary seeming to leave the room in a hurry as well.
She didn’t see him for the rest of the day and thought better of actively seeking him out, knowing that whenever he got in his moods, he typically just wanted to be alone.
The next morning, she left her home and quickly ran into him on her way to the community center. She didn’t know where he was going but it seemed to be in the same direction as her, so she stuck with him. “You don’t remember much about what happened yesterday, do you?”
“Not really.” He had a baseball cap on, which was unusual for him but seemed to comfort him a bit. “I know that whatever happened really messed with Elizabeth’s head and gave me a few marks. My best guess is that what we wanted for Leona didn’t work. Does that sound about right?”
Chelsea nodded. “She tried to attack you and you pinned her. Does any of that sound familiar?”
“No, but it really shorts us on options.” He sighed and stopped walking. “Chelsea, I think either you or myself needs to go back to Onyx. Things are going to pick back up soon enough and part of the reason we failed before is that we didn’t have the sway that we needed. We can get that back by one of us returning to Onyx and reclaiming the portion that we shared.”
“You’re in no condition to go back.”
He slowly nodded. “I know, but I… we, the group, we can’t lose you.” He adjusted his cap, looking straight ahead. “I’m not going to get better, Chelsea, I’ve already tried so much and Alyssa can’t even explain what’s wrong with me. She’s the best doctor that we or Onyx has seen in years and when she can only theorize what’s happening with me, it’s a real bad sign.”
“And how can you help from Onyx if you can’t recall your goal?” Chelsea finally caught his eyes, seeing he looked a bit sad but had an odd aura of confidence to him.
“There’s a few things that I can’t forget, even if I try to. There’s always going to be something drawing me back to this place and to the group, whether I like it or not.”
Chelsea knew he was wanting an immediate answer, as he typically didn’t like to wait and if someone really was going to be placed back in Onyx, it needed to be immediate. “If one of us goes back, it would definitely help Leona because we could trace the chip then.”
“That’s not what I was thinking of but yeah, that can and should be done.”
“And how do we explain the fact that we’re both supposed to have been dead for years?”
“That’s another reason I believe I should go back. I can handle myself better and if something does end up happening, it’s not that big of a loss on the group’s end.”
Chelsea froze, taking in what he said. “Zachary, are you trying to go back to Onyx so you can die? Is that your entire plan?”
His eyes widened as he quickly shook his head. “No, no, no, absolutely not. I don’t want to die but from what I see, I can’t provide as much use here as any single Onyx person could and I want to fix that from the get go.”
"Who would be in charge if you left?" Chelsea looked back towards the houses. "I don't think Pierre would be settled with taking over a completely different group and I'm not sure Marshal or Joseph would want to return to leadership."
"You would. You're the only person who knows my thought process in the same way that I do. You know exactly how I would deal with situations and you wouldn't need an advisor because of that alone."
“I’ll go back.”
“You should go back.”
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Post by Tales93 on Aug 8, 2020 23:38:28 GMT
“I’ll go back.”
This is a difficult choice. However, I think it might be the best option. With, Zachary gradually losing his memory, I'm not sure how much he can help the group from Onyx HQ. Not to mention the fact, it would be really awkward to consistently see the people who tried to murder you everyday. For Chelsea, the main concern is that the whole reason she faked her death was because the Dumont's were after her. She would definitely be putting herself in danger by going back and risk the chance that they discover she is alive. I think she should disguise herself somehow and rejoin Onyx under a false name. However, in the end I think she might be the best option to get her father to help with Leona's situation.
Regarding the part itself, it was really interesting. We got to see a new power of the gene in which a person who has it can control the consciousness and body of another who has it. It's also interesting that Zachary is losing his memory. I wonder why that is. Since Alyssa doesn't know the cause; I'm guessing Onyx's doctors and scientists can't help him. So, that's another reason why him going back is pointless.
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Post by Kal on Aug 31, 2020 20:20:56 GMT
Chelsea Hampton
“Zachary, you need to stay here.” She looked to him, seeing he was growing frustrated with her. “You can’t risk showing back up in the city because they’ll be far more inclined to kill you on the spot. We have the same access to files and people, so that part doesn’t really influence who’s going to go. It’s a matter of who has the best chance of surviving and securing a future for the rest of these people here, which is something that I’m not sure you can secure, even if you think you can.”
He crossed his arms and looked away from her. He knew she had a point, he just didn’t want it to be her. “And what if I was offering to go to the city to see if I might be able to be helped?”
“You know you can’t be helped. You’ve told me that yourself, right now you’re just making excuses and even if you were trying to go get help, sending you on your own would probably be the worst decision we could make.”
“What about the fact that you’re supposed to be dead, too?”
“There’s a much easier way for me to get around that than anyone really thinks.”
“What would that be?”
Chelsea looked towards the community center, seeing Elizabeth walking with Marshal, Whitlock, and Victor. She briefly pointed. “Elizabeth and Whitlock. Nobody knows where she was when I allegedly died, nobody knows where she was when you died either. She’s typically unaccounted for and even though Whitlock was accounted for when I died, there’s nothing to say that she wasn’t in the area as well, making the gene kick into effect.”
“I still don’t think that solves your problem. You were supposed to be dead and what’s going to stop them from trying to off you right off the bat this time around?”
She looked away from Elizabeth’s family, taking a moment to think. “Leona.” She looked to Zachary, seeing his eyes lighten up as her own eyes did. “I can go in as Leona and the chances of anyone knowing a thing is absolutely minimal.”
His eyes lost their spark, a frown coming over his face. “That would work, if Leona wasn’t chipped. Someone in the city did it and they’ll be able to tell right off the bat. You’d be better off pretending to be Elizabeth and renouncing the Voyagers.”
“She’s done that before, though.” Chelsea paused. “She’s done it twice now and they kept letting her go back. As far as I’m aware, she doesn’t have any connections in headquarters, they just want her there so she’ll leave them alone.”
“Chelsea, that was a joke, don’t go in as Elizabeth. She may not have connections but Marshal and Milo have pissed off so many people that I fully doubt that even Elizabeth would be okay in the city.” He sighed, resting a hand on her shoulder, a look of defeat in his eyes as he looked to the ground. “I can’t stop you if you want to go, but I’d prefer it if you found a way to get yourself into headquarters safely and without raising any suspicion, then I’d like for you to keep that up for the duration of your stay in the city.”
She gave a soft smile that seemed to ease him a bit. “I’m going to be fine, you’ll see and then you’ll feel pretty rash for even doubting it.”
“That’s under the assumption that I even remember this conversation and who you are after today.” He took his hand back and put it in his pocket as he resumed his walk to the community center, leaving Chelsea a few steps behind.
Her smile didn’t fade as she let out a gentle sigh and shook her head. “At least you’re still mostly self-aware.”
Devin Clark
After getting settled into the house with Gregory, the two boys went to the community center, where Marshal said it was important for Devin to be active with the group.
This was Devin’s first meeting as an official member of the group and it seemed to be a particularly tense one.
Zachary had told the group that Chelsea would be leaving the group to return to the city, a decision the two of them had reached together that they believed would benefit the group as a whole.
“You think that sending one of our most capable people away is a good idea?” Lecia had her arms crossed with a sour look on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry, the both of you think that sending one of our most capable people away is a good idea?”
Elizabeth nodded, a particularly distasteful look on her face. “I agree with Lecia. We’re in our most critical stage; we should be focused on obtaining people, not depriving ourselves of people. We need people who are as quick on their feet as they are with their wits and Chelsea is exactly what we need so remind me, why are we letting her go?”
The two stayed quiet, Chelsea offering an answer before Zachary did. “I may be exactly what you guys need, but you guys need Leona just as badly as you need me. One of us needs to go into the city to even offer an attempt at getting the chip taken off of her.”
“Then shouldn’t it be Zachary?” Elizabeth continued to prod at Chelsea, seemingly unsatisfied with Chelsea leaving the group. “He would be more secure, wouldn’t it make more sense to send him?”
The group started to chatter, Zachary and Chelsea keeping quiet. Him looking a bit more disappointed and her more confident.
He lowered his gaze to the ground and let out a sigh before holding his hand to the air. After the group quieted down, he lowered his hand and spoke. “Chelsea’s going in my place because I’m sick and there’s a pretty high chance that I won’t be getting better. Right now, I’m not doing too horribly but daily tasks are already difficult on me. They’re going to continue to get worse until I’m of no use to anyone, including myself. Due to the risk that presents itself when speculating on sending me in, Chelsea’s going to go in and take a lead on her own in there.”
The group went quiet as Chelsea and Zachary finished up the meeting, which had acted more as a briefing than anything, then split their ways with the group.
Devin and Gregory had gone for a walk outside of the town, heading for a place that Gregory apparently knew pretty well. He had said it was hidden in the woods and deep underground, which was a weird combination in Devin’s mind but he had to remind himself that that was what Gregory had gotten accustomed to over his life.
“Do most meetings typically go like that around here?”
Gregory shook his head. He’d been looking rather down since they’d left and while Devin never would go out while he was upset, it was Gregory’s idea and he wanted to support the one person in the group who had been supporting him from the start.
“What are you thinking about?”
“How it doesn’t make any sense to send either one of them into the city.” Gregory stopped in his tracks, looking at the trees ahead of him and the trees beside him before turning to his right. “Something happened that scared Zachary and going into the city was an impulsive reaction, he didn’t expect Chelsea to stop him.”
“How certain are you of that?”
“Without a doubt, that’s what happened.”
The two boys stopped, hearing footsteps behind them.
Gregory withdrew a gun and aimed it past Devin, the footsteps stopping.
When the footsteps continued, Devin quickly realized that they belonged to something walking on two legs that wasn’t very heavy, as there was barely anything to be heard.
Two small hands shot up into the air as a small boy that Devin knew to be Marshal’s son stepped into view. “Where’re you guys going?”
Gregory put the gun away, looking around to make certain that Whitlock was alone before waving the boy towards him and Devin. “How did you get out of the town?”
“I followed you guys.”
Gregory sighed, taking the boy’s hand as they turned back around, going in the direction Whitlock came from. “Your parents are going to kill me now, thanks.”
“I mean, if they do then my mom can just bring you back.”
“Just so they can kill me again, that’s nice.”
Devin could tell that Gregory seemed to go quiet again after Whitlock came around, knowing he shouldn’t talk about anything that goes on in the meetings, likely as it would go back to Elizabeth and Marshal in just a bunch of garbled words that Gregory didn’t really say, it was just the way the young boy interpreted them.
He had to admit, there was something weird about the boy and he couldn’t exactly place it. “Chelsea’s leaving? Why?”
“To try and get her dad to help us from the city.”
“What can he do that we can’t do here?”
Gregory shrugged, refusing to look at the boy. “I didn’t even know what the Hamptons did before Chelsea joined us and I still don’t know, so I can’t really say anything on that.”
Devin looked at Whitlock, noticing something strange that he could have sworn wasn't right from the first time he'd seen the boy. "Hey Greg, what color are his eyes?"
"Him, his mom, and his uncle have these really green eyes, almost like emeralds."
The boy turned and made direct eye contact with Devin, a blue almost the color of the ocean emitting from his eyes. "They're blue, his eyes are blue."
Gregory let go of the boy's hand and look at him, his own eyes open wide. He looked over him for a minute before taking a few deep breaths. "Okay, okay, okay. This is going to sound weird to you, but that's not Whitlock. That's Chelsea."
"No, Chelsea is a woman approaching her thirties, not a kid approaching seven." Devin stepped back from the two.
"No, no, Gregory is right." Whitlock crossed his arms. "This is Whitlock's body, but the person in charge of his words and actions right now is me, Chelsea." Whitlock turned and pointed at Devin. "That was a good catch, though."
Devin froze as Gregory and Whitlock started walking again. "What the fuck am I getting myself into…"
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Post by Tales93 on Sept 3, 2020 2:35:28 GMT
This part reminded me another reason it's good Chelsea went is because she can get information from both Onyx and the Voyagers. She can learn from Elizabeth and Whitlock what goes on with the Voyagers. She can also easily relay information to Elizabeth that she learns from Onyx. Unless their is a range limit regarding those effected with the gene. I don't remember if that had been established. If it had; they may have learned to communicate and control from a further distance. Chelsea is obviously controlling Whitlock from some distance right now. Devin's last comment at the end was pretty funny.
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Post by Kal on Sept 3, 2020 2:57:43 GMT
This part reminded me another reason it's good Chelsea went is because she can get information from both Onyx and the Voyagers. She can learn from Elizabeth and Whitlock what goes on with the Voyagers. She can also easily relay information to Elizabeth that she learns from Onyx. Unless their is a range limit regarding those effected with the gene. I don't remember if that had been established. If it had; they may have learned to communicate and control from a further distance. Chelsea is obviously controlling Whitlock from some distance right now. Devin's last comment at the end was pretty funny. There is a distance limit with the gene, however back in chapter 7 (I think) Chelsea and Elizabeth found that by having Whitlock at an even distance between the two, their reach with the gene almost doubled. Though that would work whether it would be him in the middle, Chelsea, or Elizabeth. We also haven't fully explored the after effects of having someone with the gene taking over the consciousness of an unaffected person, such as Devin, which I'm pretty excited to dive into. |
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Post by Kal on Sept 3, 2020 8:04:22 GMT
Isaac Hampton
Isaac didn't typically get concerned with the affairs of the remaining Voyagers as he knew that Leona would let him know if there was a threat to Chelsea's safety.
What did concern him was when Leona didn't show up to the next meeting they had agreed to, or the next one.
The day he planned to go see what was going on with the community, he ended up getting stalled in the lobby of headquarters by Debbie, who seemed to take a different turn in attitude and focused more on her own endeavors, which he had to admit that he hadn't noticed for a week or so.
"Mr. Hampton, I have a question for you." She excused herself from her desk, walking to stand in front of him.
"Go on, Ms. Renolds."
She tilted her head slightly and gave a small smile, flashing her eyes. "I do hope this doesn't offend you but with the shares that Mr. Bennington had left to Chelsea, did she have a will worked out?"
"I don't see how that concerns you or where this question came from."
She looked to be taken aback, as she brushed a piece of hair behind her left ear, leaving her hand hovering over her ear. "I was just going over the records because there was some Voyager activity in the system and I checked one of the files that they had intruded on and with the information on there, I can't tell if they forged anything or if Chelsea was really unprepared to die."
"Anyone her age would have been unprepared to die. You would know, you're only a little older than she was." Isaac furrowed his brows and crossed his arms. "Tell me, Ms. Renolds, are you prepared to die? Do you know what will happen to your belongings? How will your death be followed up with? I can assure you that you haven't out an ounce of thought into what'll happen with your body after you're gone."
She threw her hands in front of her, holding them tightly as she looked to be tearing up. "I… no, I was just wondering because I know Chelsea was always super on top of things and I know Zachary was too and he-"
"That's enough." Isaac threw up his right hand, causing her to take a few steps back from him. "Unless you plan to make those arrangements within the next hour, I recommend you stop asking questions that don't concern you. Next time there's a breach, you tell me and I'll handle it myself because I'll tell you right now, you've lost my trust to do your job correctly."
"Mr. Hampton!" Someone reached out from behind him, grabbing his shoulder and giving a soft tug.
He turned with his hand still raised, seeing the same ocean blue eyes that he had, staring right back at him. He froze for a moment before regaining his composure. "Lay your hands on me like that again and I'll make sure you don't have a set to lay on anything else. Am I clear?"
The woman who stood a head shorter than him just nodded, she didn't seem afraid, perhaps just a bit embarrassed to be called out in front of Debbie. "I understand, I apologize. I am the technologist that you requested from the Diamond Organization, Robin Dunn. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Isaac looked to Debbie again, seeing her scan the woman as if she could already see past the guise that Isaac himself didn't catch for a moment. "Ms. Renolds, is there an issue?"
"No, sir, I just don't recall seeing a transfer request for a technologist." She stopped scanning the other woman and looked at Isaac, a look of distaste in her eyes. "I don't recall a transfer request at all, actually."
"Because they don't go through you, they go through me and me only. That's another thing you have no business digging through. Mind your work and let me do my own."
Debbie then turned back to the other woman, offering a very obviously fake smile as she turned back to her own desk and took a seat. "Welcome to Onyx, Robin Dunn."
She nodded, following Isaac as he waved her along, going back to his office. They didn't share a word along the way, Isaac removing the black wig his daughter had on once he had locked the two of them in the office. "What are you doing here? You know you can't be here."
Chelsea crossed her arms, standing with her back to the door to keep her face from being seen. "It was either me or Zachary, Leona's a little tied up."
"This so just for an update?" He scoffed. "Chelsea, no update is worth you coming here yourself when you're supposed to be dead."
She shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I'm here until the Voyagers can help her."
"Why would Yvette need help? She's fully capable of handling herself. What trouble has she gotten herself into?"
"She got chipped on her last trip here. We don't know when or where it happened, we don't know who did it but it's embedded into her spine to the point of a physical removal would paralyze her before the chip itself would even come loose."
Isaac paused, thinking back to the last day that Leona was there. "The only people she talked to that day were Debbie, Luke, and myself. Luke said there was a little bit of a confrontation between the two of them that he shut down. Everything after that was normal, she came and went at the same time she normally did."
"Does the MO of basically burying the chip in her spine sound familiar?"
"No, every organization has done it at some point and most of them continue to do it." He thought for a moment. "Is the chip hidden beneath her shirt?"
Chelsea nodded. "By her shirt and if she stands just the right way, by her hair and her bra too."
"They put it where they did to try and hide the fact that she was chipped. They probably burrowed it because they knew of her allegiance and know that the Voyagers typically just remove it themselves by force." He tapped his fingers and looked to the ceiling, his thoughts racing. "How was her behavior after she was chipped?"
"We only noticed she was chipped because she came in to a meeting and it was as if she were drunk. She struggled a bit with Filip, then-"
"Which one is Filip?"
Chelsea rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Filip used to work for you. Stocky guy, brown hair, brown eyes, about six foot."
Isaac nodded. "Alright, go on then."
"Anyway, she struggled with Filip but was able to be subdued. We tried to override the chip and she tried to start a fight, Zachary managed to subdue her that time but it took him and another bigger guy the Voyagers have to get her back in place and tied up again. She won't say a word, she just wants to fight."
"That's typical of any organization trying to weaponize someone. It's not very common, though. Did you see the design of the chip?" Chelsea nodded, putting her hands straight to her side. "What did it look like?"
She looked to the ground, tracing out the design in the air. "Pierre said it was something like two ropes twisting around each other, that was the design on the side."
Isaac went straight to his desk, grabbing a pen and paper, drawing the very first thing that had come to his mind.
It started very small, then followed the helix shape into the head of two snakes, the serpents looking directly at each other with adoration on the left and fury on the right.
He looked over what he had done before putting down the pen and handing the paper to Chelsea. "I'm going to say Pierre could tell you it was European?" She looked over the design, nodding. "It belongs to either the Diamond Organization or the Sapphire Organization."
Chelsea's face dropped quicker than Isaac had seen in a long while, a sight that even hurt him a bit. "Then we can't do anything for her."
Isaac nodded, pulling her into a hug and taking the design drawing from her. "You can do so many things, Chelsea, you've got a mind too brilliant for the place you are now, but now even you could take on Nikolai Volkov."
She pulled away, her face still in disbelief. "How could he have chipped her, though? He's only ever here for those damn donation dinners and the last one of those was six months ago. He hasn't been here, his wife hasn't been here, the only connect he has here is Naomi Dumont and she wouldn't hurt a fly."
"He also has his own parents and through Naomi, he has the Richardson's." Isaac's tone was almost as if he were scolding Chelsea. "There's too many connections to draw a clear line. I don't know what you guys can do about it because right now that chip is being used to control her and give whoever put it on her the location of the Voyagers and the Crusaders that are with them."
"The chips are reliant on brain activity, right? So if she were to cease all brain activity, it would remove itself, right?"
"Yes, but if you stop her brain activity then you likely won't be able to restart it unless she's here and under the watch of some very specific people, most of which want nothing to do with her and would rather see her dead."
"What team would I need?"
He took the paper of the design and flipped it to the clean side of the page, writing down a few names.
Alyssa Kowalska
Amanda Richardson
Bradly Richardson
Lyla Richardson
Elizabeth Kennedy
Chelsea Hampton
She looked over the names, a frown crossing her face. "What would it take for the Richardsons? Wouldn't having Amanda back be enough?"
"Yes, but Amanda doesn't want to be found. You'll find that you'll end up having a more difficult time convincing the people you've been among for the past few years to do it."
Elizabeth Kennedy
She'd heard everything from the second Chelsea walked into headquarters.
She saw the massive side eye Debbie Renolds was giving Chelsea as she walked in.
She saw the drawing of the fronting serpents that Isaac had made, then she had seen the same fronting serpents from one of Whitlock's memories.
She saw the slight sadness that Isaac had in his eyes as he told Chelsea there was nothing they could do.
She felt the blow to her own chest that Chelsea felt as she started grasping for straws to save Leona.
She saw the list Isaac gave Chelsea and then tuned out, being greeted by her brother who looked concerned. "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
He frowned, wiping tears away from her face that she didn't even know she had shed. "You wouldn't be crying if you were fine. What happened? What did you see?"
The two of them were at his house, one of the closest properties to the edge of the community. It was empty with the exception of the two of them as Alyssa had taken the kids for the day.
"Alyssa, Amanda, and me."
"For what?"
"A team put together to cut off her brain functions in the hopes that the chip just cuts itself off."
Milo's face went pale, Elizabeth just looking on. "Do they even know it would work? The chip is dug in pretty deep, it would take a minute or two for it to come loose enough to scrape it out, a few minutes longer to pull, and even longer for it to completely remove itself. She would be facing permanent brain damage even with just a few minutes."
"Pierre was right, the chip is from Europe, he just didn't recall that it's belonging to either Sapphire or Diamond. That cuts out anything we could have done for an Onyx chip or even a Jade chip." Elizabeth never met her brother's eyes, she just watched the wall as if she was waiting for it to do something.
She got up quickly, a gasp as she recalled something that she believed might change Leona's outcome. "Where are you going? Should I come with you?"
She shook her head, grabbing her stuff and going to the door. "Just make sure nobody goes to check on Leona for a bit. Zachary needs her to be okay because she knows things that the rest of us don't that he can't remember, if I can take those memories from her then we might be able to prevent losing them, whether she lives or dies."
Milo jumped up from his seat, following his sister out the door as the two of them ran straight to the school building, the two of them almost toppling over Cyrus as they went in.
He could immediately tell something was going on and remained in their way. "I know the look on your faces. Milo and Elizabeth Neil are up to trouble once again."
"It's not like the trouble we used to make, I promise!" Elizabeth tried to move past him, but he stayed out. "I can't tell you what we're doing but it's going to be beneficial to the group, isn't that enough?"
Cyrus sighed and crossed his arms, stepping out of the way. "I'm only letting this happen because that's the first time I've seen either of you run in three years and I don't want to kill whatever encouragement you two have going on."
Cyrus left the school building and Milo remained in the hallway as Elizabeth slipped into the room that Leona was restrained in.
She carefully walked to the head of the table, knowing that Leona was awake and fully aware she had been there from the second she walked into the room.
Leona only looked at her, the two of them just watching each other for a moment before Elizabeth took her right hand and looked at it for a minute.
She slightly raised Leona's left hand and slid her hand under it, her palm facing upwards, then she let go of Leona's hand.
Where she would usually just be able to go through certain memories that Leona had, she was greeted by a scene all too familiar to her.
The same creek that Leona had almost drowned Lecia and killed Elizabeth herself.
Elizabeth heard a scream that echoed as it drew on, anguish, pain, and sorrow all in the same scream. It was almost torture to listen to.
She followed the scream until she came up Leona, who was kneeled on the ground with her head in her hands, sobbing in between her screams.
Elizabeth cautiously approached her until Leona's head shot up, her eyes meeting Elizabeth's eyes.
In her eyes, she saw unbearable pain and misery.
Leona kept sobbing, now trying to crawl towards Elizabeth, her hand reaching out to her. "Please help me…"
She seemed weak, her body trembling as she tried to reach Elizabeth. "What's going on?"
"It's killing me!" Leona put her hands back on the ground, as she started heaving as if she were about to vomit. "Elizabeth, I can't deal with this pain. I'm going to fucking die."
Elizabeth came closer to Leona, wrapping her arms around her. "What do you want me to do for you?"
"Put me out of my misery." Elizabeth pushed her away, her eyes widening in shock. Leona met her eyes, her eyes pleading with Elizabeth. "Please, nobody will even know you did it. You're already inside my mind. Take all my energy and let me go."
Elizabeth shook her head. "Leona, they can help you, you you… you just have to give us time."
"I don't have time, Elizabeth! The chip is taking the same amount of energy that Whitlock would if he were in my head except where Whitlock would kill me from draining my energy, the chip will leave me alive. It's going to turn me against you."
"I have to take some things from your memories before I can do anything."
Elizabeth got back to her feet, walking away from Leona with a pain in her chest that she knew as the pain of loss.
[Respect Leona's wishes.]
[Help with Chelsea's idea.]
Devin Clark
Devin had been spending most of his day with Marshal and Joseph since Milo said he had some personal matters to attend to for the day.
The two men had been trying to talk to Devin a bit about his last to get a better understanding of him so they knew how to go about training him right, but he found it hard to open up to the two of them.
"From my perspective, Marshal hasn't lost anything. He's got his dad, his wife, his sons, what can I learn from him? We're not a thing alike." That was all Devin had to say after Joseph pulled him aside.
Marshal pulled him aside next, but didn't say anything about what Devin had said to Joseph. "What's making things difficult for you?"
“I mean, you guys did kind of toss me into all of this when I don’t know any of you, I don’t know any of the people that I’m suppose to care about here, I don’t know the actual risks that I’m facing while being in this group and more importantly, I don’t even know you, Joseph, or Milo that well, you guys just decided to vouch for me, which is another thing I don’t understand.” Marshal only nodded in response, then pulled Joseph aside on his own.
The two stayed aside for half an hour before they returned to Devin. They all sat around the table as Marshal cleared his throat.”The first barrer we have to get through with you is helping you get to know us, which is something we haven’t really had to do for four years now, it’s a strange concept for us but we think we understand what it is that you want to know.”
“Devin, my name is Joseph Frank Duke, I was born to Evie and Ike Duke. I met my wife, Eris, when I was working for Onyx in Quarantine. She was sick but even in her worst health, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. Her beauty was surpassed by her kindness of heart and I just fell in love with her from the first day. One day, I decided that I couldn’t just sit and watch this woman wilt away anymore, so I took my friend’s car and ran away with her. She had her good and her bad days over the years, but nothing could really drag her down. We were married almost thirty years before she passed. We never had any kids because she was terrified of passing her sickness onto them, but I could tell that she wanted to be a mother more than anything. It was evident with how much of a role she played with Elizabeth, Milo, Marshal, Zachary, hell just about anyone who was raised in this group.”
Marshal didn’t seem upset by what Joseph had delivered, even though Joseph claimed that his wife had played a large role in Marshal’s life,
He seemed distant instead. “Devin, my name is Marshal Aleksi Kennedy, my mother’s name was Dawn and my father is Kyle. My mother ran a diner in the city that was pretty popular with Onyx people. My dad worked with Onyx and to be honest with you, he was never there while I was growing up. My mom ended up hearing about the Voyagers after she got pregnant again and decided to leave my dad. She was caught and killed on our way out and I was left to find the group by myself. I married Elizabeth almost eight years ago now and that was pretty normal until she met Chelsea and got pregnant with Whitlock, that’s when things got strange. Elizabeth has died around four times now and I’m not talking about slipped away and resuscitated or anything like that, I mean cold dead. I’ve died before and she brought me back; that’s how I found out I would have had a little sister named Persephone Lin Kennedy. After Whitlock was born, he was brought into the trend of dying and returning as if nothing happened. Victor’s seeming to be completely average so far and I’m thankful for that, Watching your son and wife die and then come back later on, it’s fucked up.”
Devin took a deep breath, looking at the two men who seemed to be lost in their own thoughts at this point. “My name is Devin David Clark, my parents are Cynthia and Derick. We were living in Quarantine until about seven years ago when a break came for everyone. My dad and I weren’t really sick, it was mainly my mom. We stayed with a few people but because she was still sick, we’d always end up being kicked out. We started to stay on the move when the city itself was quarantined and my dad said it worked better for us anyways. My mom took a real steep change in health with all the moving we did and one day my dad and I woke up, but she didn’t. We had to leave her body lying in the woods and move along because we didn’t have any time to bury her. It’s been me and my dad for the past five years up until last year, some freak attacked him and wouldn’t give up. I had to kill that man.” Devin paused, looking at his hands. “My dad told me to find the Voyagers and so I was trying to go to the last known location of the group when I ran into Greg.”
“I remember your family, I’m sorry about your parents.” Joseph looked around, avoiding eye contact. “They were good people.”
"I take it the two of you knew Kimber and Jude before the group then?"
Joseph shook his head. "They were after my time."
"I knew their whole family. Kimber and Jude Stewart were the names they were born under, they just couldn't remember their last names because the directors at Quarantine would change their last names every so often so they couldn't provide a solid answer as to who they were or who they were kin to."
Joseph rested his chin on his hand. "They did that when they planned to release the children but not the parents."
Devin nodded, watching the table. He felt sick after divulging everything he did, like he was betraying his father by doing it. "What does it mean to vouch for a new person and why did you guys vouch for me?"
"To vouch for a new person means that if something goes wrong and it's their fault, it's automatically the responsibility of the people who vouched for them to decide the appropriate course of action and to clean up the mess. It was put into place to help Zachary's workload when his mind started failing." Marshal tapped his fingers on the table, not even looking at Devin.
"We vouched for you because we knew we could handle you the best if something did turn up wrong with you, but we didn't count on having to handle you at all. Gregory made multiple rounds after you went to bed that first night and continued to plead your case."
Marshal raised his hand briefly. "I was the first to take you up and I did it because Gregory had told me a bit about the distance that you'd traveled and I sympathize with it; I've dragged half of this group across the country and missed the birth of my son for it."
"I was next and I took you up because I saw how much it meant to Gregory. He wouldn't leave my doorstep for an hour and a half before I talked to him and he wouldn't leave it at a simple five minute conversation, it was a detailed forty minutes talk on why he believed you should stay with us."
"Milo took you up because when it finally got around to him, it was just him and Grady. Grady doesn't do well with extra stress and Milo has always been used to a bigger load, so he didn't really have anything to lose."
Devin looked at the two men, knowing that this was only the second time Joseph had left his house in over a month. He knew that Marshal had his own two boys at home that he was going to look after.
That's when he decided that he was going to do right by this group, no matter what it took.
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Post by Tales93 on Sept 5, 2020 2:14:15 GMT
[Help with Chelsea's idea.]
It might be a risk, but I think that if there is a chance then she would probably take it. Plus, if she let her die, then some point in the future the group is going to need Leona's help somehow, but she would already be dead.
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Post by Kal on Sept 5, 2020 21:58:03 GMT
Elizabeth Kennedy
Elizabeth rested her hand on Leona's hand, giving it a tight squeeze. "I know you're in pain, I'm going to help you, just hold on a little bit longer."
Leona looked up at Elizabeth, tears still welled up in her eyes as she gave a soft whisper. "Thank you, Elizabeth. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you."
"I know you are." She let go of Leona's hand, taking a stand. "I need to find whatever memories you're holding that Zachary can't remember. Can you tell me what those would be?"
She gave a pained chuckle, holding her stomach after she did so. "Just about any of them. Can't you take them from him yourself? He may have forgotten them, but you've reminded me of some things that I hadn't thought about for years."
Elizabeth froze, suddenly seeing a fair amount of logic in what Leona had said. "That's entirely possible. It's also possible to take them from you and basically transfer them to him through me."
"You should do it." Leona held out her left hand, her palm facing the ground. "You're cursed with the gene, might as well use it, right?"
"To a certain extent, yes." Elizabeth placed her right hand on Leona's hand, finally reaching what she was looking for.
She made it a point to not tell Leona what to expect because she didn’t know just what she was going to do herself, she just knew it probably wouldn’t be what Leona wanted.
What felt like minutes passed and Elizabeth had all she needed. Most of it was common knowledge within the community, but Leona had been given a little more clarification as she typically asked questions that most people wouldn’t even think to ask.
Returning to herself she found the room completely dark with the exception of a flashlight that was being held on her.
She couldn’t see who was behind it as she raised her right hand. “What time is it?”
“One forty-two in the morning.” The man who answered wasn’t Milo, instead it was the one person she was hoping to keep from running into while she did this. “What are you doing here, Elizabeth?”
“I’ve been here. What are you doing here?”
He sighed, flipping on the lights to the room. Leona’s eyes shot open but she didn’t move, she didn’t say anything, she just watched.
“Marshal was getting worried and Cyrus said this was the last place he saw you.” Zachary turned off the flashlight and started towards her, taking a look at Leona as he did so. “So what are you doing here?”
“Where’s Milo?”
“He went home like three hours after you went into the building because Alyssa needed his help at home.” He gave a soft chuckle, actually looking happy for a moment. “He was asking literally everyone who passed if they would watch out for you and when it came to me, he shut up real quick; I knew it was something about her when he asked Grady, who was two feet ahead of me but acted like nothing was going on when I asked him.”
“Jeez, so Grady and Cyrus told you?”
He nodded, a gentle smile remaining on his face. “It’s oddly reminiscent. Milo and Elizabeth getting into some trouble, Marshal not knowing about it until the last minute because they knew if they told him that he would have disagreed with it, Grady eventually spilling the beans.”
Elizabeth smiled and nodded. “That is how things went, isn’t it?”
“I think so, yeah.” The two of them left the room, Zachary locking the building up on the way out.
They started walking to the neighborhood together, Zachary seeming fully content in the moment. “How much do you remember?”
“Of what?”
“Everything, I guess.” She looked to the sky. “Do you remember Rocco?”
She turned to see his face fall in an instant. “Yeah… Unfortunately, I do. I remember what he did to Francine, I remember what he tried to do to Alyssa, I remember what he did to Greg, I remember what he did to Marshal.”
“To Francine? What do you mean?”
He frowned, stopping in his place and waiting for her to stop too. “Francine didn’t want a thing to do with him. Francine wasn’t even attracted to men, Elizabeth. He blackmailed her into sex, he would threaten her and he didn’t care who knew about it because there wasn’t anyone who would stand up against him.” He paused, looking at his hands. “She told me how many times it happened before she passed, but I can’t remember that. I remember her telling me that Greg wasn’t ever supposed to be around but she couldn’t bring herself to end the pregnancy and found that Greg was the only reason she defended Rocco’s sorry ass. She kept hoping that having a child watching his actions would make him change.”
Elizabeth knew that Francine and Rocco had a much deeper history than she had ever been told, but hearing the specifics of it hurt her to a certain degree. “Does Greg know these things?”
“No, please keep it that way.” He ran his left hand through his hair, something Elizabeth knew was stress related. He had strained himself just recalling those few things about Francine that most people would have no issue remembering.
She tossed her right hand in between the two of them, her palm facing the stars. He looked at her hand for a moment before putting his left hand on top of it, having gotten used to her and Chelsea using the gene to go into his mind as he had gotten sicker.
Putting all she had gotten from Leona back into him at the same time was stupid, especially since she didn’t know if it was going to work. With that in mind, she left something smaller.
As she returned to her consciousness, he seemed stunned as he tapped his foot. “First it was you, then it was Lecia, Marshal, Greg, Morgan, then it was the whole group.”
He had it. It had stuck for now, she would just have to see if it was still with him in the next few days. “There, I did you a favor, now I need one from you.”
The two of them returned their hands to their sides. “What would that be?”
“I need you to convince Alyssa and Amanda to come into the city with me.”
He froze, shaking his head. “Why? Why those two specifically and why into the city?”
“Isaac has an idea regarding Leona, it requires a select team and the three of us are what he needs. Obviously we would have to get Leona into the city, but that’s assuming Chelsea and I can get all the people we need.”
“I can try, I’ll try.”
Zachary Bennington
The following day, he had gotten Alyssa and Amanda to meet up with him. He had them meet in the garden, knowing it would probably be empty.
“What’s on your mind?” Amanda questioned him first as the two women sat on a bench that he stood opposite of.
He didn’t know Isaac’s plan, he only knew who he needed, which he knew wasn’t going to be enough to convince Alyssa. “I’m afraid I wasn’t entirely prepared for this meeting, please offer me fifteen minutes to fully prepare myself and I’ll be right back at this spot.”
The two nodded, but seemed pretty confused as he left the garden.
He went to the community center, finding a fair amount of people but not the one person he was looking for. He stopped by Kyle, waiting until he had his full attention before he said anything. “Kyle, have you seen Elizabeth?”
Kyle nodded. “She stayed at home today.”
Zachary left the community center, going to the neighborhood. He passed Marshal and the boys on the way, only confirming what Kyle had said.
Knocking on the door, Elizabeth answered as if she knew he was going to be coming by. “What is the plan?”
“What was the order of people that Leona met?”
“You, Lecia, Marshal, Greg, Morgan, then the rest of the group.” Her face lit up in an instant. “Now what was the plan?”
She held out her right hand, her palm facing upwards. “Your short term memory seems to be okay with implanted memories, I can let you have it so you can figure out just how to word it without getting frustrated. Deal?”
That was a strange thing for her to say, as he remembered that she was also part of the plan. Didn’t she need the memory too?
He put his hand on top of hers and it was over in a minute or two.
“Are you going to come with me to talk to Amanda and Alyssa?”
She shook her head, slowly starting to close the door. “That’s something you have to do on your own.”
After making it back to the garden, he took his place across from the two women on the bench.
“I want you both to hear me out before you guys say no, because I understand that the very first thing you guys are going to want to do when you hear what I have to say is walk out of here, I get it but listening is all I’m asking of you two.”
Amanda already seemed suspicious. “Is everything okay?”
Alyssa leaned back on the bench, just watching him. “Let’s just hear what he has to say.”
“The chip that’s on Leona is from one of the two strongest organizations. It’s going to be impossible to bust, the only way to disconnect it is to cut off her brain activity long enough for it to loosen itself.” He started fiddling his fingers, knowing he had already messed up. “We can’t do that how because we just don’t have the ability to keep her alive through it and we would need a few more hands that specialize in science and medicine. Isaac already has the people in mind and you two are the only two I need to agree to it.”
“Onyx doesn’t have that technology either.” Alyssa frowned. “Zachary, that would be an experimental operation and those are always more riskier to the people that are being operated on.”
“Who are the other people?” Amanda looked at the ground, her hands clutching the edge of the bench that she was on.
“You two, Elizabeth, Chelsea, Bradly, and Lyla.”
Amanda looked up, a sudden look of determination in her eyes. “I’ll do it, when do we leave?”
Alyssa looked shocked by the sudden decision. “How did you even know about this, Zachary?”
“Chelsea passed it through to Elizabeth and she passed it to me.”
The red headed woman sighed softly, looking to the ground herself. “I’m assuming we wouldn’t get in any trouble by going into the city?” She looked at Zachary as he shook his head. “Elizabeth wouldn’t have told you about it if she wasn’t confident in success and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in an experimental operation.” She sighed, resting her hands on her legs. “I’ll do it on the condition that Whitlock is somewhere close by during it all.”
"So that way if something goes wrong, there can be a reset?"
"Exactly."
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Post by Kal on Sept 6, 2020 3:47:17 GMT
Chelsea Hampton
It was three days after her conversation with her dad that she heard from Elizabeth next. “Alyssa and Amanda will do it. We’re going to have Filip and Pierre help us getting her there.”
Bradly and Lyla agreed to it as soon as Isaac told them Amanda would be there to help.
Chelsea and Debbie were getting the room ready, not making mch of an effort to talk to each other.
Debbie was wiping down all of the surfaces in the room as Chelsea prepared all of the systems, having gotten Leona’s details from Elizabeth earlier in the day. Bradly and Lyla were getting what they believed they were going to need in terms of tools.
“Soooo, Robin..” Debbie stopped cleaning for a moment, looking at Chelsea. “Is this what you were transferred for? Are you going to go home after this experiment?”
“No, and I wouldn’t really call it an experiment. It’s an operation.”
“An operation with higher risks and chances of failure that hasn’t been done within this organization before. That’s an experiment, dear.”
Chelsea shook her head. “An experiment is done to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a fact. This is being done to save a life.”
Chelsea could see Debbie cross her arms in the reflection of the monitors. “The operation itself is a hypothesis, there’s no proof that it’s going to work and there’s no scientific grounds to even warrant it. It’s an experiment.”
“Let’s just meet in the middle and say experimental operation and leave it at that, okay?” Chelsea spun in her chair, facing Debbie now.
Debbie simply rolled her eyes in response and went back to what she was doing.
Bradly and Lyla returned with the tools, along with three oxygen tanks and three blood bags after Elizabeth mentioned Leona’s blood type. They put things where they felt needed and not long after that, Chelsea finished setting up the monitors and the machines that would ultimately end Leona’s life to save it.
Isaac came around about an hour and a half later to tell them it was time.
Chelsea went down to the lobby, seeing a few armed guards had Alyssa, Amanda, and Elizabeth with their hands on their heads while Pierre and Filip held onto Leona.
Isaac led them to the room that had been set up by Chelsea, Bradly, and Lyla, then shut and locked the door after everyone that needed to be there was present.
Filip and Pierre rested her on the table, the chip facing the ceiling. The two then took to the corner of the room to allow everyone to work. They didn’t restrain her as she had been sedated and they weren’t entirely sure if they wanted her restrained or not.
“How long ago was she sedated?” Lyla looked over Leona, checking her eyes, her ears, her hair.
“Around four hours.” Amanda crouched by the table, Elizabeth doing the same on the opposite side of the table as they got her hands and feet restrained and tightened them.
Lyla nodded, grabbing a bottle that she and Bradly had brought in. “Weight is 140 pounds.” She filled a syringe in her hand with whatever was in her hand and injected it in Leona’s wrist.
Amanda and Elizabeth got up again after making sure the restraints were secure.
Alyssa looked over the people there and what they had at their disposal, nodding slightly. “If we’re going to want to do this right, we’ll have to keep her heart pumping. We can cut off brain functions and keep her alive by pumping her heart.”
“The chip implanted in her is reusable and disconnects when brain activity cuts off so that the organization can just reassign it if someone dies or goes comatose.” Chelsea read off a bit about the chip. “Our best chance would be to have it revealed, which..” She sighed as she looked at Leona. “Means that we have to undress her.”
“The restraints are already on and to be fair, it’s a challenge to dress and undress someone who is completely unresponsive.” Lyla wiped her hands with a cloth and grabbed a pair of scissors, handing them over the table to Elizabeth. “It would be better to cut the shirt off and just replace it later on.”
Elizabeth nodded, doing what she had been told, then handing the scissors back to Lyla. “We need to start off by stopping oxygen flow to her brain.”
“Are you saying that we need to suffocate her?” Amanda looked at Leona, surprised by what Elizabeth had said. “How will we keep her heart going if we cut off her air entirely?”
“You guys won’t,” Chelsea crouched at the head of the table, running a hand through Leona’s hair very briefly. “Elizabeth will from inside Leona’s body.”
Elizabeth took Chelsea’s spot at the head of the table, putting her right hand near Leona. “That’s what I was expecting.”
“Before Elizabeth goes in, we need to decide right now who’s doing what. I’m the only one who can communicate with Elizabeth while she’s inside Leona and if this goes wrong by just a second, we pose the risk of losing both of them. Alyssa, I want you and Bradly to manage the vitals and communicate what she needs to me so I can tell Elizabeth. I need you two to be just spitting it out, I don’t care if you think it’s relevant or not.”
Alyssa took her place next to Elizabeth, Bradly going to the monitors.
“Amanda, you’re going to have your hands on the chip at all times, starting now. As soon as it’s loose, I need you to figure out whether it’s better to twist it out or pull it out and start doing exactly that.”
Amanda put her hands in the area she knew the chip was, just barely visible by how deep it was.
“Lyla, you listen to Alyssa and Bradly too. If Elizabeth isn’t able to react or Leona needs something that is in the room, you get it. If Amanda needs a tool, you get it for her.” She nodded as Chelsea turned to Pierre and Filip. “You two watch out for us. If something goes wrong and she gets loose, it’s on you two.”
“Loud and clear.” Pierre crossed his arms.
Chelsea took a deep breath, turning to Elizabeth. “Elizabeth, go ahead, start slow and play it by ear.”
With that command, Elizabeth slid her hand under Leona’s and quickly took over her systems.
By holding her own breath, Elizabeth was able to cut off Leona’s breathing. She went slow, like Chelsea had said. She would hold her breath for thirty seconds, breathe for thirty, then hold for thirty more to give Alyssa and Bradly the chance to predict what she needed to do.
“Go to forty-five seconds each, Liz.”
She started going to forty-five seconds, then waited for another order.
“A full sixty. Start working on slowing the blood flow.”
Elizabeth had learned that in times like this, she could use herself as if she were a voodoo doll, something which she found Whitlock and Chelsea couldn’t do.
She did as Chelsea said, knowing that effectively, her actions would kill Leona if she wasn’t careful.
“One breath every two minutes, a lighter blood flow.”
It didn’t hurt Elizabeth to do any of these things, but she knew that if she got caught in the body and Leona died, she would either die as well or permanently be stuck there, she just knew she wouldn’t be able to free herself again.
Chelsea watched over Leona as the monitors that were hooked up to her starting going crazy, which was what they wanted. She ran her hand through Leona’s hair in an attempt to comfort her.
“Elizabeth needs to completely cut off blood flow and oxygen to the brain now, focus on beating the heart herself.” Alyssa watched the vitals on the screen ahead of her, Bradly nodding in agreement.
“No more oxygen, no more blood. Pump the heart on your own.”
“How frequently?”
Chelsea froze. “Shit, she’s right. How frequent?”
The two looked over the monitor before Bradly turned back to Chelsea. “It’ll be a bold move, but go once every sixty seconds.”
“One for sixty seconds.”
Elizabeth immediately went to work, the monitors going completely silent as they registered her as nearly dead.
The chip on Leona’s neck let out a shrill scream as Alyssa pointed at it. “We’ve got no more brain activity.”
Amanda reached for the chip, immediately trying to pull it or twist it. “It’s a pull, but it’s more than likely stuck.” She turned to Lyla. “Mom, I need that syringe you were using earlier.”
Lyla passed the syringe to her daughter, all of them watching as Amanda took it apart and kept hold of the needle. She put the tip of it in the hole that the chip had produced and carefully slid it under the chip as it started to release, moving the needle around in a circular motion around the chip to allow it the space to unsecure itself.
“Keep doing exactly what you’re doing, Elizabeth, we’re almost there.” Chelsea kept holding Leona, watching Amanda work.
They thought they had it right, the thought it would be okay.
In an instant, all the lights to the room flickered out, the monitors shut down, leaving a brief moment where nobody could react. Chelsea jumped up. “Alyssa and Bradly monitor with your ears. Amanda, don’t move until we get everything secure. Lyla get the flashlights in the bottom cabinet and use the guys over there.”
After a few seconds, three lights shined over Amanda’s operating area as she quickly got back to work.
Chelsea saw Amanda struggling for a moment, which made her go grab another needle from the stuff that Bradly and Lyla had brought and start helping her dig the chip out.
“Amanda, I’m going to push it towards you, I need you to let it sit on your needle while I get it free.” It had gotten stuck somewhere along the way, but the two did exactly what Chelsea said they were going to and gotten it to the point where it could almost be grabbed by hand. That meant the needles were useless as tey chip was now on level with Leona’s neck.
Chelsea reached for the chip itself, a shock shooting through her body as she pinched it. The shock sent her to the ground, unable to recover for a minute.
Pierre was the closest to her, reaching out his free hand and pulling her to her feet. “Are you alright?”
She nodded and he let go of her wrist. “It’s defending itself.” Pierre reached for the chip, Chelsea putting her hand ahead of his. “That shock would incapacitate you. We need to get it done and get Elizabeth out, they’re both struggling.”
He looked at her, then her hand. “Chelsea, don’t do it.”
Chelsea reached for the chip, the shocks hitting her one after the other as she gave the chip a tug and pulled it out, throwing it to the ground and holding her hand. “Elizabeth, resume functions and come out.”
Filip saw Chelsea start swaying and quickly wrapped his arm around her to steady her, flashing the light he had in his hand onto her hand, seeing the tips of her fingers had burnt enough to bleed.
Alyssa and Lyla got to work, stabilizing Leona as Elizabeth stood herself up from the wall. “Amanda, how does that door open?”
“From the inside it needs a code.”
Elizabeth snickered, taking the light that Lyla had passed to Bradly and looking for a panel on the wall. She hit four numbers and the door clicked open. “Filip, bring her this way. Amanda, please go turn the lights on.”
Elizabeth and Filip left their flashlights on the table and head out the door. Filip held on to Chelsea, following Elizabeth as Bradly went with Amanda, Pierre staying with Alyssa, Lyla, and Leona.
It was only after they walked into the hallway that Chelsea realized how badly the chip had burned her. “You should have made you, Amanda, Pierre, and I take turns pulling it until it came up, then you wouldn’t have been burned that badly.”
“Yeah, but then you and Pierre would have gotten burned worse. You were holding flashlights.”
Debbie came running around the corner with Isaac on her tail. She stopped after seeing the group, but Isaac kept going straight to Chelsea.
He immediately looked over her hand, a sour look crossing his face. “What happened to her?”
“The lights went off in the middle of the procedure and I pulled it out by hand.”
Isaac scowled, taking Chelsea from Filip. “You two go back to the room, I’ve got her now.”
Elizabeth Kennedy
She and Filip turned back, going to the room. The woman who was with Isaac earlier followed behind them about twenty feet.
The lights were back on when they returned to the room and Leona’s monitors were now beeping as they would for any other person. She hadn’t regained consciousness but Amanda and Bradly had returned to the room.
“What happened with the lights?” Filip stopped at the door, Elizabeth sliding past him.
Amanda faced the two of them, a slight frown on her face. “Somebody turned them off from the control room.” She looked back to Leona. “We don’t have much time left here, we need to-”
“We?” Lyla looked to her daughter with a sudden look of sadness. “Amanda, you’re going back with them?”
She nodded. “I am and I’m not going back on my decision. I still have things to do outside of Onyx.”
“As Amanda was saying, we need to decide as a group if it would be better for Leona to stay here while she recovers or go home. I have no doubt that Alyssa can care for her, but I want to hear that you guys feel the same.” Pierre took over the conversation. “As much as we all want her to get the best recovery possible, I think if we leave her here then she’ll just get chipped again or even worse.”
Alyssa agreed with Pierre, while Amanda stayed out of it. Filip disagreed and offer to stay put with her, leaving Elizabeth to make the decision.
[Take Leona back with them]
[Leave Leona and Filip in the city]
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Post by Tales93 on Sept 7, 2020 18:38:20 GMT
[Take Leona back with them]
I know Leona will be in danger if she stays there, and Filip too for that matter. Especially, since I know who cut the lights.
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Post by Kal on Sept 8, 2020 4:15:05 GMT
[Take Leona back with them]I know Leona will be in danger if she stays there, and Filip too for that matter. Especially, since I know who cut the lights. Oh? Is that so? Hmmm, maybe! |
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