Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Cool system you've got there. surprised I enjoy culture-building, too. In North, their mecha are basically a symbol of their social status. The taller, newer and/or more ornate ones are higher-ranking warriors. Each suit also has its own unique features or crests, as a personal identifier. The machines represent the pilots themselves, which is why they constantly maintain the mechs, because to neglect one's machine is to dishonor oneself. 'Tis also why Layla's earlier threat of "...or I'll hang your mech's head upon the wall of shame" was a huge deal. xd Her mech takes the personal aspect to a whole new level, however, since it actually has living flesh between the metal layers. And she can mentally connect with it, as if it were her own body. ))



"Got it." Eva confirmed, then slipped behind the screen. She removed her previous outfit, then mimicked the motions Isabella had made while pulling on the armor. She got it on, but struggled with the back closures. So she improvised, much like when putting on a dress in the virtual world, by pulling at the collar until the fastener was in reach. Eva stepped back out into the main room, testing out movement by exaggerating her steps and flexing her joints. It didn't feel much different than normal, just a tad more stiff perhaps. She liked the slight sounds it made as the layers interacted.





Chris didn't hesitate in the least; he ducked into the robot's cloak, shivering violently as sensation started to creep back to his skin. He looked away from Alena, finally noticing the other beings. A man with only one arm and an external heart; a young girl with no face and a scanner much like the early models of the Caretakers; a teenage boy with oddly mechanical angel wings jutting from his back. There were dozens of them, neither human nor machine, each hideously deformed in some way.
"W-what t-t-the hell a-are they?!" He exclaimed between chattering teeth, just in time for Genesis to appear in the doorway.

The Caretaker looked to the boy with initial relief, but tensed up as it grew aware of the entities around them. There was an ominous presence around each being. "We should get out of here," It said calmly.
"What have y-you d-d-done to t-them!?" Chris questioned angrily, "T-they're people! H-how can you d-do this to p-people?"
Genesis's expression softened, as if conveying regret, "You have to understand, Christopher. It wasn't entirely my doing, and certainly wasn't of my own choice. They never were 'people' by common definition; they were made this way." The robot walked over to Alena's container, glanced up to the woman's face with sorrowful eyes, "I am still unaware of their purpose... I was only instructed to create their physical bodies. I only obeyed because I knew that I wouldn't be destroying any lives, but rather creating lives by doing so."
Genesis turned back to face Nova and Chris, its face contorted by a strange mixture of confusion and wonder, "I am equipped with some of the government's most lethal creations — I hold within my body an arsenal which could terminate an army of thousands. Yet... never once have I made use of any of it. Why? Why waste such power, such potential?" Its eyes focused on Chris as it spoke, "Because human life is sacred, and I have been blessed with the ability to create it with my own hands."

((I think I've totally just found Genesis's theme: X Especially when it changes tone at about 1:00... I think it's the general tune that fits his character, because it sounds kinda foreign/strange, yet also sorrowful when the melody picks up. Yeah, I'm the dork that listens to video game soundtracks while role playing. No lyrics to distract me this way. XD ))


Eva followed in silence, listening to their plan of travel. She was surprised to hear them talk about crossing the crater, the brief memory of its radioactive glow floating back to her. She considered the options, glanced over to Scarlet as she did so. 'I probably shouldn't distract her...' She thought, then climbed into the back of the cab, next to Odessa. Eva leaned her head against the small window, eyes half-closed. The feeling of dread welled up inside, though she knew she needed this journey. She needed the truth. Either way, she was bound to suffer.
"Will you promise me one thing?" She asked Odessa in a low tone, "If I go insane after all of this... please, just kill me."





Robot and boy alike fell silent, their exchange instead trailed off into stares. Chris, angry and disbelieving. Genesis, saddened and regretful. The Caretaker turned to leave, "Nova, we should relocate him soon — even with your shelter, his body temperature will only continue to drop. And I doubt that storage space will be quite as safe, as they've probably noticed the sudden increase of activity in the area..."

The group had settled for the evening, a full circle of West's parked vehicles and North's mecha protecting the campsite from outside forces. There was no campfire, no joyous chatter, no livelihood. Instead of exchanging ghost stories, people solemnly discussed battle strategies and the oncoming war. Layla sighed, gazing into the cloudless night sky. She stood up and approached the outer circle, squeezed herself through the tight crack between a truck and her mech's right leg. She walked a good distance from the camp before stopping, and drew out her diamond-edged sword. The gemstone glittered with a deadly brilliance in the moonlight.
Layla held it straight down, with the tip perfectly perpendicular to the ground. She closed her eyes in concentration. Her routine began with a slow sweep in front of her, the blade arching in a crescent until it halted directly above her. She remained in that pose for a moment, then brought it down into a sharp crescent the opposite direction, and rotated her whole body in a lightning-quick sweep to the left. From there, the woman proceeded forward with a series of fast slashes, her movement reminiscent of a slithering snake. The last cut in the series was angled upward and lingered there, until Layla brought the sword across her chest and over her shoulder, crouched down low, then twisted around in a mid-air attack like a spinning cyclone. She continued on with this routine, the movements getting more complicated as she went, the blade's luminescence creating a lighted trail behind her.
Devon watched from a good distance away, having noticed the monarch's absence a while ago. As she stopped at the very last lunge, he applauded, "Bravo, bravo! Encore!"
Layla opened her eyes and relaxed her posture, the blade retreating to her side. She chuckled at his reaction, "I didn't know I had an audience... was it a good show?"
He nodded enthusiastically, "Hell yeah! Where'd you learn that kind of swordsmanship?"
She climbed back up to the top of the hill, sat down. Devon joined her. Layla's eyes were on the sky the whole while, "It was nearly seventeen years ago when I first started learning. My mentor was what we'd now call a Northwesterner, because he had all of those strange abilities and thoughts they share. That man was a genius in anything he tried; swordsmanship, creative writing, ceramics, cooking... and even if he failed the first time at something new, he was quick to improve." She shook her head and smiled, "Aerilo turned everything into a spiritual experience. He wanted so badly for me to open my senses, to see what he saw. But I was arrogant and stubborn in my youth, and rejected his every attempt to free my spirit. I regret that now more than anything else. Though, the one thing I truly accepted of his teachings was the ability to wield a weapon. Aerilo himself never even considered killing another being, but certainly possessed the power to. This blade was his, and never once tasted a single drop of blood."
Devon looked down to the sheathed sword, studying the intricate metalwork patterns that scrolled across the case's exterior. He whistled, "Dang! What a waste... if I had that thing, you couldn't pry it free of my grasp."
She nodded once sharply, "That's how most people are. Aerilo was different — he saw it as a test of will, to have access to such power and always resist the urge to use it. I never could understand him, but..." Layla glanced over to Devon for the first time, her eyes watery and showing an unusual vulnerability, "...he was the only man I've ever loved."




Genesis considered this, "I have been trying to devise ways of which we could achieve that. Unfortunately, we're six miles underground and at least four away from the nearest exit. And security is high in this below-ground system, not even counting the defenses Southeast has above. They are already trying to locate him..."

Eva's forehead bumped against the window as they entered the crater, and she winced away from it with a pained inhale. Her attention was diverted to the patches of glowing ground outside, a sickly green light that clung to the soil like toxin. It wasn't nearly as bright or obvious to her eyes as it was to Scarlet's, but it was enough to make her uncomfortable. Such unholy energy, made by human hands only to destroy...
"Why?" She whispered to herself.



"I don't know." Genesis replied simply, its puzzlement evident. It wandered back toward the door, "Shall we see where instinct leads us?" It smiled, a spark of life lit the robot's glassy eyes. The Caretaker disabled its mapping and sensor systems, achieving the closest equivalent to a human's perspective. It entered the hallway, listening, looking, feeling for other life. Genesis turned off to the left, paused at a circular walkway, then vanished down the third path to its right.

Dante dropped to the ground, dodging both attacks then rolling back to get on his feet again. "Well you could always decide to be nice for a change." Dante said with a smirk as five pillars of nanobots rose up from the ground around Nemesis, forming a barrier around her to give Dante a chance to catch his breath. That will not hold her for long, I either need some help or I need to get the hell out of here. Dante thought with an inward groan, he felt tired and considered it a miracle he had dodged that double attack and was still going.

"Figures." Dante said with a sigh and began to concentrate, the concept of Zen that had been taught before the war, Dante figured it'd come in handy later on. Ameras is going to die laughing when I tell him this. Dante thought with a small smile before pushing everything out of his head, fear of death, the urgency of the moment, his cares and worries, all of that pushed away in order to focus on the eye Nemesis took, the one that had been replaced in the VR and given a purpose.

Virgil was walking around when he noticed the fight with Nemesis and Dante. "Geez at it again? Didn't they just finish patching you up?" Virgil called over to Nemesis.

Head North now mother, don't hit any of the people now.

Isabella nodded, and eventually the glowing simulated Earth was in sight. Everyone piled out of the vehicle, putting on helmets. Odessa handed a pure white helmet to Eva.

The Helmet had a very wide clear visor-- enough to allow for full peripheral vision.

I lead the way carefully to the metal cylander, and I looked back to my family.

Are we all ready?

There was a unanimous agreement from my family. I glanced to Eva.