Recon mission

[issunboushi]

''whoa!''
Erian only had the time to say this, before being towed by the girl.
after some minutes walking his curiosity had won him, and so he asked
''that ice feom before... it wasn't natural, was it?''

[iridescentdreamer]

She didn't answer for a moment., but sighed. He did save her after all...and they were...friends?

The word seemed to warm her as he mulled it over in her head.

"...Natural, depending on how you look at it by definition, considering my people could do it from birth. My particular court...have a certain layer in the skin, that helps us regulate temperature. I'm from a high climate, where sub zero temperatures aren't uncommon come winter. " She paused, Mouth persed as if thinking. "You can say that my body on the inside, stays a constant luke warm temperature of 70 degrees. But on the outside...it repels the cold, and likewise, I can manipulate the temperature around myself. "Ice magic" becomes second hand for me you know, and other arts become easier like wise."

She explained it the best way she could, at least from a logical standpoint. After all. Air and cold makes condensation, and from there, ice ad frost can be created.

"I'm incapable of though. So I burn and overheat easily."

[issunboushi]

''ice magic... sounds pretty useful''
chuckled Erian
''i sure wish i had a 'magic' of my own...''
he waited for a moment. was it really ok to just blow his cover like that?
*aw, what the heck! it's not like i cannot fulfill my mission if i reveal my true identity*
''you might have already noticed this, but... how shall i put it? well, i'm not really human. i'm a replica, just like that panther. only, i'm not from this planet. i'm a research drone. you saw that thing back there with the panther, right? well, that is my 'magic': i can interface my systems with any other electronic device''

[iridescentdreamer]

"...a....replica?" she stopped, turning to eye him up and down.

"If you're really a machine yourself....you're rather....squishy on the outside." She said with a serious look on her face. pinching his arm, before moving to squeeze his cheeks. but alas, she was too short.

"...but I don't really care about you being human, I'm not really one myself either." She admitted readily, beaming at him.

[issunboushi]

Erian laughed
''squishy...''
it felt so good to laugh again after so long.

after about one hour Kai and him reached a pretty-old-looking mine.
something felt strange, though...
''hey, Kai... doesn't this place feel odd to you too? i can't really explain why, but i'm feeling... observed...''

[iridescentdreamer]

"Know what you mean.."
It felt like here was eyes on her...roving constantly.
She mumbled, long ears twitching this way and that. "I don't even hear the birds chirping anymore......"

It was too quiet, especially if it was a place that that panther had been protecting. Not to mention that wolf...

Speaking of which..

"...well...I don't doubt we can't go in the front door of that mineshaft....what if it's trapped?

CAAAWWWWWW...CAAAAAAAAAAAW.

THe call of a crow startled her, making her look up in alarm.

The bird was circling gradualliy soaring lower and lower.

Was it.....

She felt a jerk of her clothing, pulling firmly on her coat.

It was the wolf. When did it-

"Target acquired."

WHA- ?" Alarmed she unclipped the cloak, this time hopping away and reaching behind for her weapon.

Ah...the good ol' axe. Been awhile since she had last used it.

This time she had no doubt in her mind that the wolf was one of *them*.

She knew what animals were supposed to act like....this was....just-

A growl started as the wolf crouched, eyeing both, Kai just stared right back at it, rather oblivious to the fact that the wolf's eyes changed hues.

[issunboushi]

during their first encounter with the wolf, Erian was busy with the panther, so at first he didn't realize it was a replica too... until he saw Kai pulling out her weapon.
''i see... my guess is we're in the right place, then''
he checked it on EM-vision and realized its core components were the same as the other replica's.
''watch out: it might have a self-destruct device inside him too''
he switched back to normal view and prepared to leap
''i'll try to sync with it. maybe i can find some useful inform- OW!''
he felt a stinging pain at a shoulder. immediately he looked up and saw the crow from before flying above him with its beak open
''hey! watch where you're...''
his left arm suddenly felt numb.
*oh no... EMP bullets!?*
a micro uranium charge (about 2.5 grammes of depleted uranium) recieved a strong electrical shock from a nano-generator, which caused it to rapidly decade and radiate a strong electromagnetic wave in a radius of 2m.
before he could do anything he was laying unconscious on the ground, unable to move a single muscle.

[iridescentdreamer]

"Erian?!" She called. when the other hit the ground, eyes widening in alarm. One had to be lucky she was organic...but at the same time, three replicas, against a five foot woman...didn't exactly look good.

Taking a chance, she swung her Axe down, and sparks flew at the wolf's neck as it twitched wildly.

"Would it self destruct so close though..." she murmured to herself raising her hands as if to raise ice against the panther once again, but something pierced the side of her neck, burning her skin.

...Iron. Iron Tranquilizer darts. How the hell did they know?!

She staggered, weapon dropping from her loose fingers, and ice rose from the ground, starting to curl at the panther's paws.

It receded immediately however, when her body hit the ground with a soft thunk.

The last thing she saw when her vision hazed out, was the other's face a few feet from her.

"Er...i-" She reached, but blackness over came her.

[issunboushi]

two replica bears walked out of the cave and towards the unconscious Erian and Kai.
''oh no, you don't!''
a fireball flew out of a tree and hit the replica crow.
''woo-hooo! that's one down!''
a reddish shilouette dashed out of the bushes and in front of the two bears... a small shilouette. actually it looked just like a... fox?
the two bears gave it an inquisitive look.
it really was a fox! and quite small, too... and it carried a wooden sword, too!
''so? watcha staring at?''
the bears looked at eachother, then lifted their left hand and pointed it at him. the paw opened, uncovering a rapid fire 9mm micro gatling gun.
''this is bad''
immediately the fox dashed out of therr fire's way, but they were extremely precise in their aim: if he stopped just for a second it would have been a sure hit. he took cover back in the trees.
*dammit! this wasn't planned... gotta think of something, quick!*
''NO!''
the two bears, taking advantage of his distraction, had reached Erian and Kai and brought them inside the cave.
he tried to reach them, but he just barely made it inside before the doors closed.
of the two, not a trace was to be found.

[iridescentdreamer]

Consciousness was not kind to Kai when she roused.

Cracking her eyes open, colors blured, and the first thing that assaulted her was bright white light.

A normal person may have cringed, but her pupiless blue orbs that replaced them and blended with her irises merely dilated, getting slightly smaller in size.


"Why look at that....this only proves my theory that this one we caught is definitely from a frigid climate. Not only does the female exude cold to keep her temperature leveled, her eyes compensate light~. Perfect for snow glares, and areas with excessive light. Things that would surely blind us would serve no difference to this thing..."
A older gruff voice, nasally and deep remarked, strangely pleased, making Kai suddenly feel a lot more awake. Her body ached, numb from the tranquilizer, and she couldn't move her limbs....they seemed bound. No- strapped to the metal surface she was spread unto.

The only thing she was thankful for was the fact that she still had all of her clothing.

"Isn't she a beautiful thing? Like a tiny doll....a perfect host to carry the next project to term...especially since she seems to have strong reflexes...and heals fast too...

A hand rubbed against the red mark where the dart had punctured skin, as well as the pinkened, newly healed flesh of her shoulder.

...what?

She couldn't recognize the two men's faces...they were covered in clinical masks, hands gloved.

The man's words themselves made her insides churn in disgust.

She spat at the one hovering over her, struggling against the leather bounds....

"Hah! Feisty too!"

Gritting her teeth, she glared as the two doctors...no...surgeons laughed. before she decided to use her head, focusing on her right wrist, slowly freezing and warming the leather, weakening the material and making it brittle as the men were too distracted. It shouldn't take more then a minute.

"After we administer the anesthetic we'll cut here." her bottom stiffened as a finger traced over her lower abdomen in a horizontal line.
"To here. See if it holds well once it implants...and if it kills the mother." the finger stopped right above her midsection. and she could just HEAR the sneer in his voice.

"YOU SON OF A-" She hissed, ears flattening back as the, bound on right wrist finally snapped at her next movement, in which she took a swipe at the man above her, slapping him hard. Three bleeding nail marks gleamed on the man's cheek from the hit, and half of the surgical mask tore as her chest heaved.

"I'd behave better girl. You'll be in here for a long while." The words before the back of a hand met her cheek in a hard hit, stunning her for a moment at the sting.

Kai held her arm in front of herself, limbs feeling like a wet noodle as she frantically tried to decide whether it'd be too much of a deficit to free herself first instead of keeping SOME kind of guard up.

Once she was free she was definitely strangling that man first. THEN the chortling cohort.

[issunboushi]

when Erian regained consciousness, he was laying on a chair in what terribly looked like an old dentist's op room.
he tried to stand up, but his body answered with a massive amount of pain from every limb. appearently the nano-bots in his body's artificial blood still weren't done repairing the circuits fried by the previous EMP blast.
he used this time to have a better look at the room. it wasn't very big: probably only other three more people would have fit inside, but it was well equipped with all sorts of surgical tools and machines... though some of them mustn't have been used for quite some time, judging by the dust accumulated on top.
when he could move again he immediately noticed he hadn't been bound in any way, not even a single strap or buckle, and the door of the room wasn't closed, either!
was it an excess of self-confidence or were they just dumb?
*be that as it may, i'd better find Kai and get out of here*
he carefully opened the door and made sure nobody was around.
*good. now, where might the survaillance room be?*

meanwhile, the little fox had found a way in the ventilation shaft and was crawling around the building inside the air ducts, searching for any possible clue leading to where the two were taken.
passing on a grid, in a dserted section of the facility, he noticed a guy walking around circumspectly.
*what the- isn't that one of them!?*
indeed, it looked just like him.
*better not blow my cover yet, though. let's just follow him and make sure... you never know, it might just be someone looking like him*
he quietly opened the grid and landed on the floor without making a noise.
*ok, then... stealth mode, ENGAGE! just kidding*
the flame on the tip of his tail vanished, and so did the rest of his body.

[iridescentdreamer]

"Hahahah. I suppose stories are true...fair folk can be quite...brutal when provoked. To her pleasure, they had backed off a bit at the freed hand, however, she did not notice that there was another behind her. However, she did tthe un expected.

She caged herself. A thick layer of ice rising and forming a dome around the table she laid on, a full foot thick. She didn't plan on rising the temperature any time soon either.

"nuts. Get the hand drill!"

She had to stifle her own giggle, when the drill bit soon got covered by ice as well as soon as it hit her own little improvised shelter.

"....second thought. Heat core gun."

That was gooing to take a while, with that over sized hair dryer. She thought smugly, moving to work on the leather of her bounds.

How ever. She did not expect a fist sized section to melt away so quickly.

Stubbornly, she closed the gap, blue eyes flashing.

It melted again.

She closed it again.

So started the irritating game that did nothing but distract both and waste time.

[issunboushi]

Erian had been walking around for some time, and yet he didn't meet a single person. the area looked completely deserted. strange.
maybe they didn't see him as an interesting catch...
he didn't know whether to feel lucky or irritated.
while lost in his thoughts, he found himself in front of a door with a big ''surveillance'' sign on it.
*bingo! easier than expected...*
he entered the room, just to find it empty as well. not that it was a problem: he didn't have time to lose having to sneak around with people popping in and out of every door, but it did feel pretty strange...
he walked up to a wall covered with monitors. he didn't even need to sync to find his friend: she was making a heck of a fuss on one of the central screens, and from what a piece of paper glued on that monitor said, she was in the main op room.
''good! hang in there: i'm cominGAAAAACK!!''
running out of the room, he stumbled on something and ended up kissing the floor.
''OWW! watch where you're going, you moron!''
maybe the hit had messed with his processors, but for a moment he thought he had heard a voice...
''watcha lookin' at? oh, right... you can't see me''
the air in the point where the voice came from became blurry, and a reddish shilouette gradually appeared.
''there. now you should see me''
a... a fox?
Erian opened and closed his eyes several times, but the fox was still there.
''so you're real''
''of course i'm real! you just stumbled on me, for christ's sake!''
''oh, sorry...''
in that moment he noticed something strange.
apart from it being a talking fox, it was carrying a wooden sword, and on the tip of its tail...
''your tail is on fire''
he muttered confusedly
''IT'S NOT ON FIRE!! and, by the way, weren't you going to save your friend!?''
Erian immediately stood up
''that's right! Kai!''
he started running down the corridor.
''huh!? hey!''
''sorry: no time to talk!''
''wa-wait for me!!''

[iridescentdreamer]

Another heat gun added the competition, and kai, who only had enough time to free her other hand, was starting to get antsy, one heat gun was a snap to keep up with, but two on opposite sides?

She couldn't always get the one behind her as quickly and, HAH!

Oh oh. Three. Scrambling to get free, she formed an sharp edged sliver of ice in her hand as the last of her defenses fell, and hurriedly cut at the leather holding her ankles.

"AH HAH. FREEDOM."

SHe stopped, staring around herself.

Aparently they WERE smart. There was considerably more men in the room around her than the last time she checked.

"...a....ha...ha....ha?" She sat up, hopping to her feet as she rose both palms up.

If she was capable of it. She probably WOULD be .

"Say g'night sweet heart. " Tranquilizer guns aimed, and her eyes widened, backing into a wall.

She stared at them for a good bit, before darting forward. ducking flying needles and diving under the operating table.

Sometimes it paid to be small. she thought, satisfied at the sudden string of curses, as she reached out and grabbed one by the ankle, freezing his foot to the floor with a layer of ice.

~~~

Outside, a watchmen blinked. Watching Erian and an odd looking fox dash by.

He blinked again, before pinching himself, Watching them round the corner.

It hurt.

".......drat."

He coughed awkwardly, before inhaling.

"INTRUUDERS!! THE PRISONER IN ROOM 1A HAS ESCAAAAAAPED!!"

That's when the alarms went off. Blaring sirens that made Kai cringe.

[issunboushi]

not three seconds after the alarm went off, an explosion sent the iron shutters of the op flying through the room.
the fox was the first to dash in, a blazing fireball in every hand.
''how about you say goodnight, lardasses!?''
he leaped up above the group of men and chucked both fireballs in the middle of it.
meanwhile, Erian had run up to Kai and told her to stay down, then he had thrown the op table over and took shelter behind it with her.
one cm before reaching the ground, the two fireballs collided, setting off a tremendous explosion.
just the shockwave of it was enough to send every scientist in the room against at least one wall.
the fox landed triumphantly on the other side of the room.
''WOOOO-HOOOO! that's how it's done!''
when the situation had calmed down a bit, Erian helped Kai stand up and got the first-aid spray from his magic pouch, just in case.
''are you okay?''