Eli
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A Rebel with a Cause
Posts: 1,778
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Post by Eli on Dec 14, 2007 17:24:51 GMT -5
Eli had an uneasy feeling. He had let Skyler go, probably to his doom, despite the fact that he knew Skyler was better off without anymore attempts at guidance and education from him. But what bothered Eli wasn't that letting Skyler go seemed like a good idea, but the fact that things have quieted down. Too much, in fact.
Eli walked into the giant emporium, looking for a new barbecue. It wasn't much, but a party required a good grill, and his plan was to hold a party sometime at home, to celebrate his release from mercenary duties for protection of the gods' followers.
When he got inside, he noticed something wasn't right. Things were frozen. Not frozen as in ice, but frozen as in time. And in the middle of the store laid a box with blinking lights, which Eli immediately knew was not right.
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Post by narym on Dec 15, 2007 2:39:27 GMT -5
Narym wasn't sure what to do and that was an unusual and uncomfortable feeling. After her 'dream', she wasn't able to go back to sleep. Feeling decidedly unsettled, she thought she'd go and see if Eli had opened up his fighting school. Perhaps a bout or two with an experienced fighter would calm her nerves. But he wasn't there. Strangely disconsolate, she roamed the main street looking for....well she didn't really know what she was looking for. Then she spotted Eli walking into a large store just a little way further down. Perhaps she would wander down and see if he fancied a quick spar with her. She opened the door and gasped. There were a few people around and about, but they were all standing still, frozen in the movement they had last made. Reaching for something from a shelf....at the checkout.....two talking together. It was as if they had been frozen, but the air was not cold. She could see Eli. He was moving towards a box that blinked pretty lights, situated in the middle of the store. Somehow reluctant to call out, she hurried after him. " Eli," she found herself whispering. " What's going on? What is that?"
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Eli
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A Rebel with a Cause
Posts: 1,778
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Post by Eli on Dec 15, 2007 12:13:46 GMT -5
"I don't know, but it looks like it might be trouble for these people if we can't do something about it," he said, noticing Narym entering the store. "But the thing that is bothering me about it is that it is just sitting here and doesn't seem to move, so I wonder what else is here to protect it."
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Post by narym on Dec 15, 2007 12:23:11 GMT -5
" Ah damn," she replied, cursing softly, " and me without my weapons! Except this!" She drew out the small silver-handled knife that she carried in her boot. " I wasn't exactly expecting to need arms today!"
She looked around carefully. Nothing was moving. It was eerie and goosebumps appeared on her arms. " Can't see anything."
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Cassiel
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By night, one way. By day, another.
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Post by Cassiel on Dec 15, 2007 23:21:01 GMT -5
Cassiel had been uneasy all evening. She hadn't seen Eli all day because she got up early to get some work done at the shop and when she came home, Eli had written her a note that he'd gone shopping. After her third attempt at reading the page she was on in her current book, Cassiel walked over to the window, running her fingers through her long dark hair. Something was off, she just knew it. She decided to meet Eli at the store, maybe if she knew that things were fine with him, she would finally be able to relax.
She strapped her staff and daggers on, put her backpack on her back, and shifted, as that was her fastest mode of transportation. Cassiel took the quickest route into town, bypassing all the paths and going straight through the forest. She shifted back in the alley next to the store and found it weird that no one was coming or going. When she stepped inside, she realized why. No one was moving except for Narym and Eli. "What happened here," she said in a soft tone as she walked up to the pair.
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Post by narym on Dec 16, 2007 4:41:22 GMT -5
Narym jumped as Cassiel spoke behind her. "Ah! How do you do that?" she grumbled quietly, with chagrin. She seemed to remember another time when Cass had taken her by surprise. Not good for a warrior! " Umm, hmm, no idea." She noticed that Cass was armed. " Were you expecting trouble?" She moved away slightly. " I am going to check out some of the aisles. See if I can find a weapon while I'm about it."
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Eli
Administrator
A Rebel with a Cause
Posts: 1,778
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Post by Eli on Dec 16, 2007 9:45:35 GMT -5
"I just came to get a barbecue for the house, so we could throw a party, but when I got here, this was the scene, with this robot in the middle of the floor."
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Post by narym on Dec 16, 2007 11:14:45 GMT -5
" Hmmm, is that was it is?" Narym asked, peering at it. " Ah and a pretty thing to be sure, but like you I mistrust it." She gave it one last look and then began to move stealthily up the first aisle. Christmas music echoed around the store, made louder by the fact that all other noise had ceased. It had the effect of turning the store into a scene from a horror movie. Any minute now and something would.... 'Stop it!' she told herself crossly. 'Pull yourself together woman!' Other than a few people frozen mid-movement, there was nothing strange in the first aisle. What she did find, however, was the kitchen section. Choosing a very large, very sharp carving knife, she transferred her small silver poniard into her left hand and turned into the next aisle.
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Eli
Administrator
A Rebel with a Cause
Posts: 1,778
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Post by Eli on Dec 16, 2007 20:12:31 GMT -5
"I don't know if it is a robot, but for now it is easiest to call it such. But it still doesn't seem to have a defense mechanism, but it's defenseless where it currently is."
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Cassiel
Administrator
By night, one way. By day, another.
Posts: 2,501
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Post by Cassiel on Dec 16, 2007 21:36:03 GMT -5
"If it caused this, I wouldn't exactly call it defenseless. If someone noticed it or threatened it somehow and that's what caused this freeze, I'd say the only thing that's keeping us moving is the fact that we haven't done anything that's worried it." Yet she added to herself.
"So the question now is what do we do. If we try and spring the trap we will be just as helpless as these people, and if we don't, well, we can't just leave them like this."
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Post by narym on Dec 17, 2007 3:55:46 GMT -5
Poking her head around the corner, Narym heard caught the conversation. " All clear so far," she declared. " But if I may say something. If someone triggered off the thing by touching it or something, why are they not here, frozen like everyone else?" She gestured to the customers nearby. " They all look like they're going about their business with out alarm. It's as if they hadn't noticed it." She was quiet a moment. " Ah and that tinny music is driving me crazy. I'm going to find the source and switch it off. Be right back."
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Post by Alledyra on Dec 17, 2007 23:37:56 GMT -5
Dyra wasn't sure how long she'd been standing in this one spot, one hand raised to pick up a newspaper that had caught her eye, the headline reading Blizzard of the Century on the WAY!![/i] Everything had been fine, people milling, wandering, and browsing, and suddenly...she hadn't been able to move anymore. She had thought that the lights had dimmed, but that might have been her eyes...or perhaps a blink that slowed down imperceptibly...now she heard voices and tried to pinpoint where they were coming from though sound alone...although sounds seemed to echo strangely sometimes...she was trying vainly to turn her head or her eyes towards the voices that she could hear...but nothing happened though she tried.
Music...had someone said something about music?? No..she couldn't hear any music...so that couldn't be right. Trying to exercise her powers of telepathy, though she didn't have any, she called out tentatively with her mind, Hello? Is anyone there??
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Cassiel
Administrator
By night, one way. By day, another.
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Post by Cassiel on Dec 18, 2007 0:08:47 GMT -5
"I'm going to see how it looks if I shift." Cassiel said after a moment. "You are right Narym, unless the person who touched the thing was completely destroyed or transported and this is just the after affect.
Cassiel shifted and looked at the machine, the robot. It didn't seem like anything special, at least not as far as her eyes and ears could detect. Suddenly Cassiel stopped moving completely. She could hear someone talking, somehow through the hum of the machine. But it sounded impossibly slow. She stayed that way for a good couple of minutes while she let her brain process what she heard. When she did, she almost fell over. She shifted back immediately.
"They are not frozen, I don't think anyway. I heard a voice, telepathically like we can when we shift. It took a long time to figure out what it was because it was so slow. Someone is trying to communicate with us."
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Post by narym on Dec 18, 2007 4:27:22 GMT -5
Narym continued checking the aisles. After finding the music system, she had switched it off to be rid of the naff music that gets churned out every Christmas. Oh for a decent choir! But after a while she was begining to regret it. The silence was becoming unnerving. She studied the frozen people more closely, wondering if someone was just pretending, to escape being found. But all seemed.....well frozen didn't quite describe it. Arrested maybe, in their normal everyday actions. Then Fallow spoke. ' Dyra is there' he announced. 'Dyra? I didn't see her. Why didn't she call out?' ' She is the same as the others in the store. But her mind is still lucid. She is calling out.' Narym ran lightly back to Eli and Cassiel just in time to see Cass shift from cat to woman. " Whoa!" she exclaimed, forgetting the need for quiet. " That was impressive!" Remembering why she was there, she hurried on. " Dyra is here. Fallow has sensed her. He says she is like these others and she is calling out in her mind." She frowned. " That probably means that all these other people are too!" How awful. To be trapped inside your mind. " I'll go look for her, if you wish?"
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Post by Alledyra on Dec 21, 2007 13:35:39 GMT -5
Almost...at the tip of her mind...she felt something. But before she could focus on what exactly it was, it was gone. A warm feeling? A voice? No...she couldn't identify it anymore than she could move. But what had it been...with no other option than to think, she did that, wondering how long she had been in this one place. She couldn't feel any aches in her body, but that didn't mean much, because she wasn't sure she could really feel her body...in fact, now that she was thinking about it...she couldn't really feel anything, not her shoes, or her clothes. Trying to wiggle toes to verify that her feet were still connected was a bad idea. It didn't work. A spasmatic thought hit her What if none of this is really real? That I'm someone's dream...and they're waking up?? Trying to keep the panic out of her thoughts, she instead tried to take a deep breath, but couldn't feel that either. Panic was beginning to build and she had no time for panic...well, she probably had more than enough time for panic, but decided against it.
Thinking her only option, she continued to do that. I know I'm real because I feel...and I see...and I think. So. No panicking now...someone will find me, I just have to wait for it. Someone will fix this...so I'll count, um...the dots on that box. One...two...eight...twenty six...okay...now what?
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