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Post by issunboushi on May 5, 2009 11:30:47 GMT -5
it must have been almost midnight when Erian could finally manage to establish a connection with the station HQ and send the results of his daily exploration. much later than usual.
when the upload had finished he questioned the ststion's central computer about the connection problems, but the system was busy classifying the data and didn't bother answering him.
''snobby bag of third-choice microchips...''
muttered Erian closing the connection. everithing worked much better when it was the research team to get his reports directly, but now that that they have returned home leaving that bad imitation of a computer in charge of everithing...
*wait... was that 'anger'? it felt kinda strange... anyways, better move ahead and search another area to explore: i don't want that rusty can to complain about me not sending enough data*
he projected a self-made map of the already explored areas on a rocky wall (the holo projector hadn't been working properly lately) and found a big unexplored hole 1.5 miles away from there. it would have been a long walk, but there was sure to be plenty of still not classified plants and animals, not to mention the minerals!
''ok, it's decided then''
he turned the projector off and started to walk in that direction
{[''said'' *thought*]}
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Post by iridescentdreamer on May 5, 2009 19:52:17 GMT -5
(Hope you don't mind me replying to this or anything. If it clashes too much..I can delete. :9)
Voided eyes squinted at the small device of metal and glass lights in slight apprehension. Living off nature most of her life, away from most larger civilization of any kind outside of her village, she wasn't exactly the smartest tool in the shed when it came to technology that didn't involve the ol' hack in slash of weapons, or the much older tomes of magic.
So naturally, Kai was off put, unsure of what to make of it. It seemed to be of a mixed metal, nothing too harmful to her own touch, making her think it was synthetic....because it certainly wasn't iron.
That and it kept making an annoying, high pitched beeping sound that made her want to flatten her long ears back against her head.
The simple solution would be for the blue haired female to simply smash the thing. It definitely would stop beeping after -that-, but curiosity of course, stopped her.
"What if it's something important...?" she frowned, debating if poking it with a stick would be anywhere near kosher.
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Post by issunboushi on May 7, 2009 8:10:07 GMT -5
{Sorry to keep you waiting ^,^'}
not ten minutes after he started walking, memories from the time on the horbitating base filled Erian's mind.
he remembered Shio, the little genius who programmed him, and Jin, a biologist who was studying the local fauna. he was the one who taught him all he knows about humans. then there was Jaiya, the designer and only female of the team, and, of course, old man Gozu: the only one he could really call his 'father'. it was him who had the idea of the second processing unit... and it was him who gave him the name 'Erian'.
his thoughts were interrupted by a sound from the nereby bushes. immediately he crouched and thermo-scanned them... but it was only a little rabbit running away from a fox: nothing to worry about. he stood up and was about to deactivate the thermal filter when the scanner highlighted another heat source, more far away. zooming in he realized it was a human... or at least looked like it.
Erian was actually programmed to avoid any unnecessary contact with humans, but his main directive was to gather as many information as possible. it wasn't the first time that his 'brain' and 'heart' directives were in conflict, but it still wqsn't a very pleasant feeling.
he had been told by Gozu that his 'heart' unit wase purposedly programmed differently from his 'brain', and so it might have occurred that two commands would come in conflict. ''when that happens'' said the old man's voice in his head ''i want that you listen to your heart, and choose which one to follow''
Erian closed his eyes for a second and then decided that he wanted to know more about that figure, so he walked up to it.
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Post by iridescentdreamer on May 7, 2009 16:33:23 GMT -5
(s'fine :3)
Bushes rustled behind her, causing her to jump a little. Usually, she was able to tell if someone was near right away, including animals and plants...as most living things did give off an 'aura' to say, as she defined it.
Yet...this figure...gave off almost nothing in comparison. What she did sense was faint...and confusing. Honestly...this person seemed different, and passive as he approached her, making the size difference of six inches quite obvious.
Feeling as if five feet was a bit close for her, Kai grasped the cloak titer around her petite form, and took a step back, brows furrowing at the dark haired man as she tilted her head a bit.
"....er....'ello there.." Her accented voice greeted awkwardly, unsure what to make of his approach.
Though, Erian was certainly right about one thing, she was different, per say. Though the most obvious tip off, was the fact that the area around her got notibly colder as he approached, and the grass at her feet had frosted over.
It was possibly a defensive reflex from earlier sudden surprise. Despite the greeting, her legs were tensed, and she was poised to spring into a sprint into action if needed.
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Post by issunboushi on May 8, 2009 14:52:08 GMT -5
the sudden reaction of the creature surprised Erian a little. uncertain of what to do he took one step backwords and bowed with his head
''i apologize if i scared you: i assure you that i don't intend to attack you''
while he was looking down a feint glitter caught his attention. there was a strange yet somehow familliar metal object at the creature's feet.
he was about to approach it and have a closer look, when his sensors picked up a thermal anormality in the area.
right away he switched to thermo view, and this confirmed it: the air around that woman, because that's what the creature appeared to be, was getting extremely cold.
his curoius side was about to yell ''COOL! how do you do that??'' but the still rational part of his brain suggested that it wouldn't have been a very clever idea, so he decided to behave as if he hadn't noticed: if it was really her doing then she might wonder why he was not affected by it, but it was anyway better than giving off like this the fact that he had sensed it.
he remembered to turn off the thermal filter, hoping the woman didn't notice the change in the eye color, and then did what his training had taught him. he walked a few steps towards her and then with a friendly smile reached out his hand
''i'm Erian''
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Post by iridescentdreamer on May 8, 2009 16:01:04 GMT -5
"oh no, it's fine.." she seemed to relax a little at the curt politeness, allowing her shoulders to roll back
She didn't notice the unneeded lingering gaze at her feet, but she did notice the flash of red in his eyes, and one of her long ears flicked, noticing the slight change in his demeanor. He seemed to be holding back something, so she decided not to comment quite yet. For now, her curiousity was slightly peeked.
"That weird squeaking thing is yours?" she piped, pupil-less eyes squinting again at it distractedly, but caught herself before she would start to stare, noticing that the man had come a bit closer. She almost jumped, but caught the amiable smile, and blinked at the hand, before putting one of her own decievingly thin, white hands into his warm one.
"I am Kairos, but most call me Kai.-Or Kia. To their own preference" She greeted back, not wanting to be rude to someone who hadn't warranted it.
Though to her, something seemed off the moment she touched him, she wasn't sure if it was his temperature, or the texture...nothing seemed off, visually or physically, but it was enough to make her feel very...disconcerted?
She bit her lip in thought, as if unsure what to do. Oh yeah. Handshake! She shook her head at her own absentmindedness, and squeezed firmly.
"Pleasure t' meet your aquaintance."
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Post by issunboushi on May 9, 2009 12:13:07 GMT -5
''what squeaking thing?''
asked Erian lifting an eyebrow. in that moment the metal object let out a shrill beeping sound.
Erian's heart skipped a beat... or at least it would have if he had one. a better look confirmed his doubts: that little gadget was a 'sonic repellent', a special tool that kept animals away with ultrasonic waves. it must have been there for a while: the solar panel was broken and the auxiliar battery was almost empty, and the sound's frequence had become so low to be heard even from humans.
*dammit!* thought the android clenching his fist *i must have forgotten it when i camped here last year. quick! an excuse!*
''oh! yes, it's mine. it's a... um... a little gizmo i left here for finding the way back''
he bit his tongue. such a lame excuse! who would do something like that!? yet, now it was too late to come up with something else...
the device beeped again. it was getting pretty annoying.
''i'll better turn it off''
he walked up to it, picked it up and pushed a little button on the underside. the device buzzed for a second and then stopped emitting any noise.
Erian put it away into a little bag, that actually was a special containment unit that warped everything put in it into a special inter-dimensional containment field (something like Eega Beeva's pockets XD), and then, before Kai could ask him anithing, he asked, always with his friendly smile
''so... what were you doing here?''
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Post by iridescentdreamer on May 9, 2009 12:33:44 GMT -5
She jumped a bit, flattening her ears when the strange device made -that- sound again. "...ah-that's interesting....more affective then leaving stones I guess.." though the relief was kind of obvious in her eyes. It kind of -did- hurt her ears, but it almost made sense sort of. " ....probably would hear it even if I got lost deep in the forest here." Of course she wouldn't know that no...it was probably NOT really...normal to hear such, much like a dog whistle, so she shrugged, watching him curiously as he put it away. The bag looked even odder to her, and she was about to speak, when the other's voice cut right through.
"So...what were you doing here?"
She blinked, bouncing a little on her toes. "Exploring!" Was the simple reply. She couldn't really return home to nothing really. "...It's a lot different....pretty sure I am lost...but it doesn't matter. Food is surprisingly easy for someone like me to find here." She continued enthusiastically, the shy cautiousness in her disposition seeming to disappear the more she talked."and it's not like I have any where really to be." She said simply. "and...I find the wildlife here particularly interesting....even though a lot of the larger ones try to eat me." a mischievous grin accompanied such thoughts, probably more playful than anything else at the moment.
"What about you? I've never seen any Gizmo like that...unless it was a time piece or something like that." Such development as such tended to always be hush hush...especially in times like these...she wasn't entirely surprised that the man put it away so quickly.
'Such a weird metal...kind of what I usually see in jewelry and specialized weapons...' She tapped her chin..before shaking off a frown, as she let her smile fall a bit more naturally.
After all, if she was lost, she didn't exactly want to spook off the only life that didn't lick themselves to keep clean she had met in days.
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Post by issunboushi on May 11, 2009 14:04:03 GMT -5
{again, sorry for the wait ^w^'}
''i'm a researcher, and i'm sort of on a... well... i guess you could call it a recon mission...''
saying that part Erian looked away. it was strange for him to talk about this with someone else besides the research team.
''well, i guess it's better i get on with my mission. i'm headed for the mountainy region over there: wanna come too?''
{sorry for the lame post... i just wanted to start moving XD}
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Post by iridescentdreamer on May 14, 2009 2:22:50 GMT -5
"Reconnaissance?" Surprisingly, she was familiar with the term, as it was also a military one, but then the word 'researcher' clicked.
"...are you a type of geologist or something..?" she misunderstood, searching for the right ward.
Frustrated at her own lack of fluidity in her words, she muttered a curse under her breath, probably in her own language, and shook her head, eyeing the mountain.
"...sounds alright....looks easy enough to climb and find a trail..." The mountain itself seemed huge at first glance, but now that she actually looked at it, it was no where near the size of Ularian ridge
"...yeah- I wanna see how different it is from the range at home." She perked up again, seeming to get excited at the prospect of a new place. After all. she was, by no means in any hurry.
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Post by issunboushi on May 15, 2009 14:18:06 GMT -5
''geologist? well... close enough''
said Erian, waiting for Kai. his job was to gather information also regarding the conformation of the ground, so 'geologist' wasn't entirely wrong...
''let's say i'm curoius by default.
he chucled a bit after that last phrase, but then he immediately stopped: his 'brain' angrily noticed him that he was being a tiny bit too confidential with this newly met woman, starting from the fact that he had invited her to join him: extremely dangerous for the mission!
suddenly he realized he had been glaring at her with clenched fists. immediately he turned away and apologized saying that he was thinking about a stupid collegue of his. another lame excuse.
*dammit! now she'll surely think i'm some kind of wierdo or omething like that... it might blow my cover! no... what am i saying? thinking about the mission in a moment like this!? i'm thinking like a machine again! this is not what old man Gozu would want me to do...*
Erian took a deep breath and then turned back towards Kai
''sorry about earlier... shall we get going, then?''
then he started walking towards the mountain. a smile appeared on his face: from now on he would have listened only to his 'heart'.
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Post by iridescentdreamer on May 16, 2009 10:37:14 GMT -5
"Curious? ....well I guess we both have something in common then."
She smiled patiently, as he paused, myriad of emotions crossed the larger male's face, though...the sudden flit of anger confused her, and she had stepped back a little when she saw the knuckles of his fists turning white, and flattened her ears back when her pupil-less eyes flicked back to his face. Those narrow eyes were glaring right through him.
The odd fluttering of talking to him made her blush too much for her own taste, and made her wonder if she had said something wrong in embarrassment. Inside she was cursing her near white complexion. The rosy pink dusting her cheeks were becoming way to visible.
So to avoid his gaze, she turned when he apologized, waving it off.
"No problem at all....when ever you're ready." She said, walking foward easily.
Little did she know just what mountain it was....and what may have surrounded it, Odd tracks would be the first case of that.
Large wolf-like tracks that could be easily be written off as a bear. The minimal sounds of the forest...
Tiny things really, meant to be ignored until it was too late.
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Post by issunboushi on May 19, 2009 10:33:24 GMT -5
as they walked towards the mountain Erian was being overwhelmed by his curiosity.
who was that girl? was that sudden chill really her doing? and, were there others like her? she didn't seem dangerous... well, at least she wasn't hostile, but could he really trust her knowing so little about her?
his thoughts were interrupted by sudden movements in the bushes. instinctively he stopped and told Kai to stay back and be quiet. the movements didn't stop: on the contrary, they were coming closer! it was as if something was running in their direction...
Erian was about to switch to thermo-view and check what was going on, when something dashed out of the bushes in front of him, crossed the small path he and Kai were walking and disappeared into the woods again.
''what the-!?''
Erian couldn't finish the phrase, because just after the first shilouette disappeared, a black panther, much bigger than the ones he was used to, jumped out of the trees and landed snarling in front of them.
at first it didn't seem to have noticed the two unlucky passerbies and started looking and sniffing around, but it must have soon realized that it's prey was long gone becaused he growled at the bushes and turned back. unfortunately in turning he saw Kai and Erian and started grunting at them.
*this is bad!* thought Erian slowly backing off *we must be in it's territory*
the panther started walking towards them.
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Post by iridescentdreamer on May 19, 2009 12:04:15 GMT -5
"....an....another one." she didn't seem to frightened, used to most of the wild life there.
She reached a hand out, like she usually did. Most creatures just sniffed her and went on their way....but she retracted it immediately,
"...somethings wrong with it." It seemed to be a lot larger than normal, and it's movements almost mechanical.
"...it doesn't feel right."
she bit her lip with a worrying look, and shifted her stance, moving back maybe one step, but clipping in front of Erian who had moved back, rolling her shoulders back into a semi relaxed, but ready state.
The temperature seemed to drop again around her, but in a controlled area in front of her, and the panther stopped, seeming to not favor the cold temperature contrast to such a warm forest, and stopped it's pursuit.
Instead it started to stalk around them in a circle.
".....weird." She furrowed her brows. Usually predators weren't that....determined.
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Post by issunboushi on May 20, 2009 12:22:47 GMT -5
''you bet there's something wrong with it...''
muttered Erian hearing Kairos' words.
he had just thermo-checked the panther, and noticed that, although the whole body emitted heat just like any living organism, the main heat sources (aka the internal organs, especially the heart) were not in their usual place: the only internal heat source was located in the chest region. very odd.
his eyes turned from red to light grey as he switched to EM-view... and that confirmed his doubts: that oversized kitty actually was a replica, a robot built to seem real... and a fairly old one, at that: the screening was almost gone and it emitted more electro-magnetic radiation than a malfunctioning ion generator.
anyhow, the fact that he knew what it was wasn't going to stop that overgrown tomcat from getting closer.
*crap! gotta think of something quick! it might be an old model, but those claws still look pretty sharp to me...*
his hand reached for the dimensional pouch and started nervously rummaging inside.
the panther was less than two meters away when he pulled out a shiny pistol-like gizmo.
*EMP bullets! perfect!*
he aimed at the replica-panther, but the gun's assisted aim system, directly connected with his own, beeped in his head warning him that such a close-range shot might affect him as well.
*dammit!*
the panther was now just one leap away from them.
Erian quickly turned towards Kairos and put the gun in her hands
''i'm terribly sorry to have to ask this of you, but i can't shoot from this range''
before backing off a few steps he added
''don't worry: if you don't hit the head it won't kill him''
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' Bloody heck, two jobs and a BUNCH of kerfuffle later, and I'm back AGAIN.