Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Risky: Haha, that's just 'cause we're so EPIC. cool
Everyone: Also! A new info sheet for the factions can now be found on the 1st page. ))

"That sounds reasonable..." Eva responded, gazing out to the fields as raindrops began to fall. She flinched away from the window when it started to splatter across the glass. An image flashed through her mind of another storm, of a whirlwind desecrating someplace dear to her as she ran with her life. It was a faded memory. "I wonder what life was like prior to the destruction..."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chris asked the hurried man, his unsure tone betraying his tough appearance, "If they catch ya, it's game over..."
"True, but if I succeed, it could mean an incredible upper hand for us in the coming days." Devon replied, typing in the last few commands before turning to face the boy, "And that's a chance I'm willing to take. Besides, I've programmed it to change my PA* every 15 minutes, and my virtual characteristics have been altered. If they manage to terminate me, then I damn well deserved it for not being careful enough." He grinned.
"Alright man, fair enough. Just don't be outright foolish. We depend on you."
He nodded to Chris in confirmation, then sat back against the wall. He shut his eyes in concentration, and shortly thereafter, his body fell completely limp.


((*PA: Personal Address — The VR's equivalent of an IP address, assigned to each individual occupant of the server.))



When he opened his eyes, he was standing atop a building, gazing skyward to the gaping hole that Nemesis had created. He was clad in all black, now without the canine features, and matching black wings jutted from his back. The nighttime sky would mask his presence well.
Devon peered out over the street just briefly, then took to the air. He continually scanned the areas below him for threats, be they Guardians or Caretakers. Several times he landed behind buildings, waited, then started off again.
It was halfway to the goal that he felt a buzz of warning in the back of his conscience, and the corrupted man immediately fell out of the sky, ducking behind the thick trees. There was a Caretaker nearby. He waited a few minutes, until the system changed his PA for the first time with a "click!" in his head, and the buzzing temporarily subsided. Then it returned, stronger and louder than ever.




Eva looked over to Odessa incredulously, "It hasn't rained...at all? But... I could've sworn..." She trailed off, then chuckled at the sisters' exchange.

Devon dropped from the branch, and took off running in the underbrush. The buzzing became more intense as he approached the hole's proximity, until he finally spotted the cause far above. Silvery metallic skin glimmering slightly in the moonlight, eyes glowing white in the darkness, hovering stationary just below the rip in the sky. Metamorphosis was facing his direction; she knew he was there.
He realized this, and stepped out of the woods and into plain sight of the robot. She did nothing but stare in warning. Devon unfurled his wings, and with unnatural speed, spiraled upward in a wide circle around the Caretaker. Meta didn't even budge until the man was at level with her, a mere 50 feet beneath the gap. The panels on her arm shifted, forming a device which emanated electricity. As he only continued to ascend, she lunged.
Devon rolled in mid-air, tucking in his wings as the robot flew over him by a few inches. He let out a volley of explosions as he dropped, then sharply turned back into rising. Meta had vanished. He rushed straight upward, seeing an opportunity. She rematerialized directly above him, bringing down the weapon upon him...
He entered warp, jerked suddenly to the left by a short distance, the electric currents crackling in his ear. Meta again launched toward him. He pulled back his arm, a thick wall of blue energy forming around it, then lashed out to the Caretaker with a shockwave-enhanced slap. She was sent spinning backward for a good ten revolutions, then vanished again. Devon flew upward in a race against the clock, his arm reaching for the void just inches beyond. Meta reappeared beneath him, hand clenched tightly around his ankle. Devon was stopped by her. The tips of two of his fingers had passed into the void. The grayness traced down his arm, turning it transparent, and followed all the way down the shape of his body. The robot's grip failed to hold onto his now intangible form.
With an incredulous grin, he waved to the dumbfounded android, "Buh-bye~!" And then faded into the gray abyss.



Chris nearly toppled over when the readings shot across the monitor, infinite streams of data previously unavailable to them. He glanced over to Devon's body and whispered in an awed voice, "...He did it..."



Eva listened with interest, suddenly wanting to visit that crater. But another sense of uncertainty entered her mind; if it hadn't stormed in 30 years, then where did that memory come from?

Dante had entered the VR and decided to enjoy a cup of tea before starting with his own plan. He'd leave a few of his VR Nano Machines in different areas all over the place, let them worm their way in like parasites and when he was satisfied with their saturation and integration, he'd carry out the next bit, the process was lengthy, but he had less chance of being discovered, provided of course he didn't run into any caretakers.

"Yo Raowan you home?" Virgil called out loudly into the other Guardian's house, having heard about the scuffle with Nemesis, he was curious.

((Currently in the VR: Raowan, Dante, Virgil, Devon (Kinda...he's in its coding right now), Januff, Leiara, Camilla, Metamorphosis (AI), Genesis (AI).
Real world: Eva, Scarlet, Odessa, Chris, physical bodies of the Caretakers (including Nemesis — the hardware wasn't destroyed).
Might have forgotten some people... sweatdrop ))


Eva watched with fascination as the scenery changed around them, first from darkness then to cavern. She was almost shocked to see so much activity all at once; she had been expecting a place much more like Western. "Is this your faction? It seems so different from the other one..."




"A corrupted slipped through. He had access to administrative actions, I failed to eradicate the threat—"
Genesis held up his hand in a gesture of silence, "I understand, Meta. It's alright. They're reinstating Nemesis shortly, albeit with a slight alteration in primary directive. She'll be sent to the beta layer first thing. I doubt he'll get much productivity done before that happens..." He explained, glowing white eyes fixated on the gray void, "We must patch this up before another can gain access."
Meta nodded eagerly, "Understood."
The two Caretakers floated up to the hole, a dull glow about them as they reached for the portal.

Eva waited until the other two were already out, slung the bag over her shoulder, and shyly left the vehicle with a quiet closing of the door. She stood in the background, surveying the area, taking in all of the experiments being done. Then came the thunderous words of Scarlet's father, which made her jump with surprise. She watched the father and daughter, smiled. It made her think of her own family, which was nothing like these people. Scarlet's family actually seemed...happy, close. Eva's was distant, always busy; money-oriented. The only times her parents were ever happy was when they found new corporate partners. Something inside of her ached at the thought, as if longing for something she never had. She briefly wondered where her parents were out in the fields, or for that matter, who they were.

Eva returned their greetings with a half-bow similar to Scarlet's, "Likewise." She smiled politely, noticing the pulling sensation that her scar now gave her with such motion. This body was still awkward to her, but she was slowly adjusting to it. She again explored the place with her eyes, wanting to just blend in with the scenery. Over the years, she'd come to hate being the center of attention. That...and frankly, Lukas intimidated her. She made a mental note never to anger him.