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Chapter Four: в. я. ı. ∂. ġ. є. s. |
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Each step she took was like journeying deeper into a mysterious land - as if it were a land she had always dreamed of and was simply awestruck by its marvel. Her eyes, glistening and mirroring her concealed elation, traced the doorways she passed by; each door was closed, but held its own, unique secret behind it. She wondered what those secrets could be, how she would find out - it was all too much for her to consume at once.
To everyone else, the trudging of the lengthy line was nothing more than the largest burden they had encountered in their lives yet. Apparently, it was most definitely anticipated to be worth all the trouble, though: who would sit in a line and expect the worst deal of the existence of mankind? Remi's mind resumed making inquiries and mental notes - she'd run back through when everyone was long gone and inspect what she wanted to. Sure, it appeared to be a normal, run down apartment complex, but as they walked up seven stairs, carpeted and damp and euphoric, they walked along a twelve-foot platform that would lead them down another set of stairs - this time counted as nine.
Why someone found the indent necessary was beyond her. The pale, eggshell-white ceilings - chipped and molding - were signs that the building was most certainly older than the Traverse Date [ when the entirety of Raygate was influenced by the growth of innovation and technology ]. It was even its own era, labeled "T.D.R.", the Traverse Date of Raygate - two prior to the present era: "R.I.D.E." or the Raygate Impression Declaration Era [ whose objective was to make all their ideal objectives into accomplishments ]. The doors were old-fashioned: wooden and with brass knobs. Even the room numbers were plated like the ones she had read in books. It was an ancient piece of architecture that she was walking inside of, and it robbed her of her breath.
Remi necessarily wasn't an avid house-admirer, but even the slightest movements and things to satisfy her curiosity was much better than standing in that line way back when.
She had decided against speeding right through the corridors because she hadn't the slightest clue where she was going. A few looks around told her that she would get lost in one of the endless corridors which bore the same, identical looking doors as the one the line was following. It even weaved over itself once, as if the line were to experience a traffic light. Fortunately, she was part of the first piece of the infinitive snake which detached from the other sections - leaving possibly dozens of groups in their wake. The glares and growls of impatience Remi received as being the last in line was almost as appalling as the act an individual tried to pull - the proverbial wool over her eyes.
He hopped in front of her and shoved her back, quick to turn around and proclaim that she had cut into the line. Of course, just about everyone there had seen it, and she shoved him out of the line, soon to hop through the foreboding, black doors which collapsed in on their swinging hinges before slapping one another on their way out.
Doors settling behind her and security maintaining the tiers that would be flood-gated into the large space, Remi nearly croaked in impression of this place. It was as if the entire dynamic of the building and its innards had changed. There were rows upon rows of chairs - possibly rivaling the Town Hall for the entire Province and maybe even another to pop in and sit a spell. The ceilings possibly reached the skies, and the surface they walked upon soon turned to metal as they continued on, similar to a fire escape. The stairwell they then walked down led them down to the valley where the chairs were and they were allowed to meander about for about fifteen minutes until they had to take their seats and the next tier would come in.
The tables along the walls were rectangular and professionally garbed in cloth, setting up a platform for the side-displays that would compliment the presentation given today. They were all here for a reason, and it was something that would concern the lot of them, the entire Province, and maybe even the neighboring ones.
Her sneakers lightly pressed against the hard tiles beneath her as she took one step after another, her hands twiddling with her strands of hair. She grew anxious to find out what this was, and after a mere five minutes, she had approached her seat. What the dark-haired female then found was that most of the people had already flocked to their seats, as if they had been ordered to. They sat straight and faced forward continuing the eerie silence that hung over their heads. Removing her bag and setting it in her lap, her seat squeaked as she softly sat, but she received no glances, which she was more than grateful for. It was a little difficult to relax in here, but when she looked up to the ceilings - the dark abyss that reached over their heads - she surmised that the place would have looked much more comforting with a myriad of chandeliers. In fact, it would have looked much more graceful, seeing as how the visible support beams were already entwined with white, silky ribbons and the large platform - which stretched nearly beyond Remi's peripheral from how close she sat [ three rows from the front wasn't that bad, though they were quite the expansive arrangements ] - supported about three silver and white podiums. A mic stand was off to the right, and the curtains were lying in wait, black and billowy.
She would have to wait once again for another occurrence to satiate her curiosity, but this time she believed she could survive the wait.
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"Ugh, this place stinks," "You're right." "Shh. Someone's coming." They stumbled into a rigid formation, quickly linking up with the end of the line where they had dove in. There seemed to be no suspicions as they entered the building, but as they began to walk in the poorly lit hallways, both Jobin and Kenny caught chills. Naturally, Joey was a bit uneasy because of the enclosed area - he wouldn't be able to fly easily if they needed to make a quick escape. Even his jovial vibes were toned down due to their environment: not only had it put a damper on his mood, but he had to restrain himself and act similar to everyone else.
Brainless, mind-washed - it was something that sounded simple but proved to be more than a trial.
"What does it look like?" "We're still in a corridor," Whispered Kenny to Ditta's question. The male on the outside was relaxed and attentive all the same, having to guard their unconscious pal. As an added bonus, this provided him entertainment as well as vital information, so all things beneficial came from this experience. "What about the line?" Ditta looked down the street to see if anyone was walking: if the line left the building, then that would be an interesting discovery. His eyes widened. "No signs of traps or anything?"
Kenny tried not to shake his head and kept behind Jobin and Joey. "Nope," He clenched his jaw, eyes darting away from an individual who looked in their direction when his voice grew too loud. They were getting too close to the line to discuss anything further. "Can I get a visual?" "Joe," Kenny immediately called, and both dark-skinned individuals turned to look at Kenny, the one in between only turning his head halfway. Joey responded, "Yeah?" "Behind me?" Kenny mumbled, and Joey quickly did what he was told. Kenny looked expectantly and Joey returned his gaze, a quip of a shaking head all he needed. Quickly, Kenny pressed his finger into his shorts, as if tucking in his sleeveless, mesh shirt, and ran it along the curve of his waist. At the back of his hip, where the tag for pants usually could be found, he found a series of buttons on that tag, but it was presently connected to his compression shorts.
Just as he was about to press a few of them - having memorized their purposes and locations as par his intuitive knowledge because they were of his design - an individual walked past them, and he had to withdraw his finger from his pants, uniform now neat. As the male trudged past, Jobin inspected him with eyes that were both calculating and overly observing. The man looked exhausted beyond belief, but carried on with an air of casual dismissal, as if he didn't want anyone to be bothered by him. Quickly looking away, his eyelids lowered in idle contemplation; sometimes he wished he possessed Darin's powers at times like these. They'd solve a lot more than what they were standing here, doing.
They shuffled a few feet forward, yet no changes in the line were visible. The only thing Joey saw at the front of the trio was a staircase. With a sharp breath, he leaned out to the left to inspect it, but quickly ducked back into line. Murmuring over his shoulder, Joey lagged behind the male in front of him, who seemed to be in a trance, as he didn't turn around once to lash at the trio of boys whispering of their espionage. "Stairs." Joe glanced back to Jobin and Kenny while inconspicuously looking for the male who had passed them. He turned down a corridor and seemed to be going to his room. Which meant that Kenny had a window of opportunity to provide Ditta with a visual.
"Visual affirmative," Ditta spoke, staring ahead in a gaze. It would be invisible to anyone else, but as he stared through his mask, the translucent haze that appeared over the sockets allowed Ditta a perspective from Joey's brown eyes, courtesy of his technologically enhanced contacts. Watching on, Ditta fell silent and allowed the boys to do their work. Joey did a quick look of the ninety degrees he could inconspicuously inspect, and then turned his body slowly to provide a view of the ground they just covered from the entrance. "Everything looks the same..." Ditta whispered in observation. Kenny's head slightly nodded, but it would not have been noticeable to either Jobin nor Joe if they had seen him.
Kenny was now the ears and Joe was the eyes. Jobin prodded the taller figure before him in the small of his back. "Get moving." Casual as always, Jobin then watched as Joey looked down at the stairs, and then up as he scaled them, trying his best to provide Ditta with a justified surveillance. What they found on the other side of the staircase was that - much to their surprise - the staircase was actually necessary. There was a door to their left that was tempting them to inspect it, but they couldn't risk it. Normally, they would have sent Darin in, and - no matter how reluctant he proved at first - he would investigate and report with relative ease. A clear of his throat disrupted the silence once over, though Joey didn't see anyone turn to face him. This marked that there was someplace they'd retreat and inspect later on.
Well, if he was doing it for all the sketchy doors and entryways in this building they had seen so far, Ditta would think he would need a glass of water or something.
They went through the corridors and finally reached where they were to enter another room, it appeared. The line had snaked around over itself; however, since they were the last in line, they didn't need to undergo the circle. Turning at the corner, they could hear the muffled speakers produce a booming voice. The individuals on either side of the doorway stood about ten feet away from it, and as the last three individuals passed by them, a beep resounded.
Swiftly, a large and calloused hand shot up before Kenny, while Jobin and Joey quickly turned on their heel. Their first instinct was to fight, which Jobin had already reigned himself from doing, but they weren't in uniform. They didn't know if there were any cameras or anyone else looking on. It could very well jeopardize their entire identity altogether if they did something.
"Is there a prob--" Kenny began, but the stern baritone to his left cut it with an unwavering command. "If you possess any firearms or devices on your person at this time, remove them and leave them in our custody." Kenny's eyes widened as he decided to reel out what it was exactly that this invisible system had detected on him. "I don't," He started, patting at his person and looking about him as if his invisible pockets were empty; chuckling apologetically, he continued, "I don't think I have anything." The suited man who hadn't spoke stepped forward, plucked up the bud from Kenny's ear, and held it up to Kenny's face. The man who seemed to be the speaker of the two started up once again.
"This?"
Joey's eyes quickly looked to Jobin, who didn't show any signs of lowering his guard or astonishment at the fair discovery. Ditta immediately pressed against his own bud and it turned off any receiving signals, including the view he was receiving from Joey's contacts. With the sudden dilemma, it was protocol to cover their tracks - in this case, Ditta had to cease any connections while Kenny's own were out of his reach as standard precaution. Much like they had feared, the signal and reception was tested, but Kenny quickly covered it up after the split-second delay.
"Oh, that's my hearing aid." Plucking it back from the massive thumb and index finger, he pushed it back into his relatively small ear. Scratching at the back of his earlobe, he looked over to the speaker with equally inquisitive eyes. "I don't have anything else." He would have been rude and disrespectful for the invasion of his space, but that would not have gotten him any further. He quipped his breath short and held it for as long as he could to listen intently, as if he could hear the thought shared between the two of them. The only sound that went on in the stillness was the voice from beyond the black doors - submarine windows taunting them with the view of what they weren't allowed to enter.
After a brief frisk of Kenny's person, they looked suspiciously at Jobin and Joey - who were forwarding aggression and uncertainty, respectively - and then ushered them in. But not before plucking the machine from Kenny's ear once over, snorting a "You won't be needing this," and shoving them inside. Kenny could have simply blast down the door, but so long as they didn't come into contact with Ditta, they'd all be safe. He wanted to, so badly, but he couldn't. Jobin elbowed him and Kenny joined Joey and Jobin, looking at the room they had stepped into.
But, to simply call it just a "room" would be quite the understatement.
The lights on the walls didn't do much of a job lighting up the place, but it was much better than those ominous corridors they had near-blindly trudged through. The many seats they could see from the twenty-foot balcony in the back of the room were all taken up, the space behind the seats nearly filled with those who were left without, standing. They carefully descended down the fire escape, Joey quick to hold onto the sleek, steel railing as he quickly raced to the bottom. As they came, the voice had been booming - overwhelming their ears to ensure that everyone heard it loud and clear - yet the man didn't sound as invigorating as the obscene volumes had portrayed him to be.
Their feet touched the tiles, and the soft padding of their sneakers was nothing compared to what reverberated throughout the large cavern-like chamber. If there had been any other signs of a diabolical lair, Jobin just might have had to light this place that instant. With a huff, he crossed his arms and inspected all the individuals about them with stern, accusing eyes. Kenny shoved his hands into his shorts, using the elastic waistband as a makeshift pouch and relaxed there, getting a good look at the man speaking. Joey fiddled with his shorts, but tried his best to keep still, listening intently to every word the man said.
"...to begin again," was the phrase they began paying attention to. The man seemed to be saying important stuff, because everyone - standing or sitting - was paying him the entire mass attention they could muster. It unnerved Jobin, but his glare didn't falter as he caught the glance of a young girl, idly looking about. The voice continued, and it shook the three boys to the core. "Of course, as a priority, Raygate has put the investigation of unnatural individuals," By this term, "unnatural", he was referring to the trio of Oracle Prep kids in the audience, along with a few others who were similarly incognito, "at the top of their list. It is a pressing matter that Raygate has emphasized need assisting enforcement." The man clasped his hands together, and a rough chuckle erupted from his wide chest.
This made Jobin scowl and he glared over at Kenny, as if giving him the "O.K." to shoot him from the stage right there and then. Kenny mirrored the glare for a second, but immediately dismissed it to focus on the words of the male again. "As a step forward in that direction, we have already established the objective of every citizen here in Raygate," Which Jobin, Joey, and Kenny all knew was to practically reveal people like them and essentially persecute them, "but now our scientists and great technology have created the greatest asset to our efforts yet." Holding up an arm to gesture towards the center of the stage, which must have been the cue to the curtains because they parted in a graceful unmasking of the most grotesque thing Kenny and Joey had seen in their lives.
Jobin could chalk this up to certain things from his annual sojourns to the land his parents came from.
The display was confined to a box of glass, practically transparent and visibly unreal save for the spots where the poor lighting reflected off of it. If anyone had poor vision, they would have simply disregarded any possibility of there being a case about it. The object inside was an oblong shape - it looked like an orb, but had protrusions that disrupted the uniform, spherical area: rectangular platforms, cubed legs supported it, and - with its height practically twice the size of the burly man towering up at the podium - it loomed over the entire audience.
Much to their chagrin, it was exactly what they had been hoping wouldn't come.
"We have established a means of seeking out these creatures, hunting the monsters which instill a constant of fear within us." The words sounded disgusting, spitting them from his full and obnoxiously swollen lips. "What I present to you, citizens of Raygate, Gilded Province," He drew in an impressive breath and swung his trunk of an arm in the general direction, as if it was the most glorious piece of work in the entire world, "Is the Enhanced Identification Pursuer. It... It is a tracker, I suppose you could call it."
This gathered a reaction from the audience, and while it was quite the unenthusiastic rejoicing, there were three in particular who were visibly not in favor of this... discovery.
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Ditta didn't know what to do. The only thing he could and had to do was wait, but that was like leaving the rest of the world to fend for its own all over again. He had saved people with his bare hands, delivered individuals to safety countless times - revered by the public as one of the most famous vigilantes. Of course, as par the custom, people only liked what protected them and served of use; once he had his fifteen seconds of glory, he was tossed back in the brackets with the rest of "them." It really made him think why he even bothered, why his band of pals even tried to prove something to people.
Looking over to the one of the aforementioned pals, not entirely experiencing as much turmoil as Ditta seemed to be, he heaved a sigh and spoke to the unconscious male. "Y'know, it'd be a lot easier if things went the way I planned them to." A bit disgruntled, he looked over to the boy, awaiting a response. The only thing that changed was his ribcage rising and falling, as his slumber was obviously very deep.
Huffing once over, the tuft of hair that had drooped over his eyes flipped back onto itself, and he pulled at his pantlegs, a bit warm now. This suit design wasn't the worst of ideas, but he had more than a set of tanks packing in his biceps. Leaning forward, he removed the unbuttoned jacket and casually tossed it over Fore's sleeping figure, as if to comfort the male and conceal him from the rest of the world.
He tapped at the bud in his ear, hoping to have some kind of incoming signal soon, but last he saw through his mask was Joey's trembling vision. The boy never did take pressure quite well, but he was as reliable as anyone else - likely more so, even. Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, he rest his head against the brick wall behind him, a brief breeze gracing him. They were already in the shade, but the fact that there wasn't so much as a cloud in the bright sky meant that there was even more concentration of the sun's rays.
He rest his now bare forearms against his thighs' inner sides, and pressed at a pebble he found on the sidewalk. His eyes scanned the stores across the street. There was a chair store - pretty random, seeing as how there was a furniture factory just a few blocks away; next to it was a convenience store of sorts - they sold only things that would be useful in a workshop, he could see from the window, along with attire for heavy-duty work; continuing down the line, he could see a documentstore - the evolved form of the bookstore, with desktop towers set up along the window and a long table running perpendicular along the window. This table would be the surface for the keyboards, allotted to their respective confines and screen for public use and showcasing. The monitor screen, of course, was embedded within the window. It was a magnificent show for those who were window shopping.
Though, Ditta always had to wonder exactly how they would install that into one's home without requiring a window. He had one at home, but the monitor itself was a remote and tangible item, so it could be utilized at any station in the house - not very similar to this stationary display in this store. He shook his head and realized that he was not sitting there to simply stare at stores: he had to stay on guard and pay attention.
Leaning to the left, he tried his best to peak around the corner without poking out his entire head. He saw no one in line, the entire line consumed by this building he was sitting against [ and unknowingly atop ], and now the space had become like every other intersection he could see from his spot. With another heavy sigh, he looked out into the street, wondering what it could be that was happening in the building. In fact, he should have inspected it for himself - carried Fore back home, or have Pyro teleport him back to base, because he was out cold.
As if that had been some kind of tacit alarm to go off, Ditta's ears perked. He heard something in the wind, and felt something before them. It was warm and obstructing, as if it were a body. He quickly got to his feet and was surprised to find that - before he could even assume a defensive stance to secure his paranoia - something had struck him across the face, and he was sent flying backwards into the surface of brick.
With a grunt, he quickly scampered to his feet and growled at the sleeping figure beside him. He charged forward, fists above and below his sideways figure clenched with all the fury and frustration he usually beat his opponents with. As he barreled towards where he was standing before - a few feet away from the wall - he stepped further and swung, knocking something into the ground. Success washing over him, he quickly wrenched his neck sideways to look over at his partner, whom he had a feeling wouldn't hear a word he was going to say.
"Fore! Wake up!"
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The audience had died down as the man began speaking once again. However, Remi had never once uttered a sound. A man accidentally bumped her arm with the rising of his own, to proclaim relief at this announcement - those wretched creatures would be found and eradicated! Remi couldn't help but feel disgusted that these people were so ignorant, so remarkably idiotic to be worked up over such a trivial thing. In fact, they didn't even know if this was a legitimate discovery. For all she knew, it could have very well been a hoax to instill a false hope into the people.
Her fingers jostled the pencil she had in her hands and she scribed down a few of her thoughts on the pad in her lap. She had come as a reporter for a local paper - one of the few still thriving [ as starving and ready to roll over in its grave as "thriving" could be considered ] - but didn't think it would be this... irksome. Her disdain surfaced as pressing hard onto the parchment from her wired pad, succinctly ceased for a moment as a lady who held her child in her lap looked over to Remi and stated that she was glad her family would finally have peace.
As if this were the complete end to those who were once proclaimed "the next step in human evolution." Remi feigned a smile that most certainly did not attempt to reach her eyes. She looked up through eyes masking all her fury scorned and fury untold, observing as the man continued. "It functions on the most accessible and averagely impressive 'source' it finds." The man spoke the word "source" with a particular emphasis to cue in the audience that it wasn't simply powered by a battery or chemicals of any sort. "It drains one of their energy to simply track down the others around them of similar attributes. After all, animals do travel in packs," The obscene joke preceded the yolk of a chuckle that escaped his fat esophagus. The audience, now light and airy, joined in. Remi nearly sped from her seat and rushed up on stage to drop kick the man. The nerve.
"Would anyone care to see its performance?" The man, in suit and tie, leaned against his podium and stared in a particular direction, as if he had pinpointed a volunteer already. The crowd uncertainly swelled, not entirely wanting to be aware whether or not there were any in their midst. Remi knew for certain that she was uneased by this test. If it found her - if she was the only one in here - she'd be long gone before any of them could catch a glimpse of her face. But just how far would that thing follow her? With a breath she didn't know she was holding, she sat still and prayed that her lack of motion - that all the self-discipline she was implementing then and there - would deliver her from this extremely dangerous dilemma.
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Jobin's eyes widened. He glanced over to Kenny and Joey, and their eyes were wide, but not for the same reason. Kenny and Joey were as astonished and appalled as anyone who was being held as a target by this... thing, but Jobin himself had an epiphany. "Do you have another one?" Jobin swiftly turned to face Kenny and locked his jaw, hasty. "Another what?" "Another bud," Jobin's words lapped over the middle of Kenny's question, spacey and bewildered. "Oh, no. Why?" Jobin immediately turned away, quick to act. He shoved his way through people - between the front and backs that he had to slide through, without so much as an "excuse me." The people didn't mind, though, because their saving grace was right there on the stage.
Joey nudged Kenny in the arm and the two quickly but discreetly followed after them. Even in this sea of people, their motion wouldn't go unnoticed. Oh man, Joey clenched his jaw and weaved quicker to escape the watch of the man on stage. He's looking right at us. His breath grew sharp as he made a sudden realization. What if he knows we're Protectors? A sudden flush of heat washed over him and the butterflies that would mimic his first year of cross country meets surfaced then. His body tensed and he grew clumsier as he maneuvered through.
"Oh, sorry," He apologized repeatedly, Kenny grumbling behind him with the strange looks forwarded to him. Hazel eyes glued to the ground, Kenny continued on, but soon found that he walked into the back of Joey, who had already stumbled into Jobin. Jobin, however, didn't seem bothered by the two larger males crashing behind him. Fists clenched, he forwarded a death stare at the small indent of people that were slowly being parted. These people didn't think anything of it, because a visible individual was pardoning themselves from their perspectives, but this haze was something Jobin could see all too well.
"s**t." They couldn't make a scene, they couldn't fight. There wasn't much else to do. Quickly whipping his glance over his shoulder, he dove off to the right - away from the direction of the stage, and told his friends to follow him. "What's going on?" Joey chirped, his voice breaking in his soft whisper. Kenny caught the glimpse as he was the one to bring up the rear, and hurriedly pushed Joey onward, nearly stumbling over the shorter boy's fairly long legs. Their similar sneakers now pressed urgently against the tiles beneath them. They had to find another exit, Jobin realized. They couldn't go out the same way the went - it'd be too distracting and he doubted they would let them out so easily now with the present proposition.
Panic hadn't settled in for Jobin, who was simply in a state of perpetual collection; he looked the opposite way of where those hazes were sifting through and quickly made his decision, bounding in that direction. He didn't see any exits, but he saw a doorway in the back, and that had to lead somewhere. He recalled the random stairway, platform, and supplementary stairway back in the hallway and banked that it had some kind of connection to that.
His stride was short, but rapid. Joey was at a brisk, walking pace, nearly about to start sprinting, while Kenny was using his awkward stride to keep up the rear, nice and tight. Once again, though, Kenny crashed into Joey, and Joey into Jobin. However, this time, Jobin wasn't securely on his feet - instead, he had been lifted a few inches from the ground, and was visibly dangling from his neck. There was no one before him - or around them, for that matter - within arm's length. It had to be whatever that thing was that Kenny saw [ or, rather, perceived ] behind them. But, how did it get in front of them?
As Kenny looked around, he could see that most of the audience's eyes were forwarded in their general direction, Joey petrified from the sight before him as he stumbled off to the side.
"I do believe we've found our volunteers."
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 Montferer - Maestro · Thu Sep 01, 2011 @ 01:47am · 0 Comments |
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