Welcome to Gaia! ::

((They must use some awesome fertilizer, geez. eek ))


"This is...magnificent." Genesis said with awe, "Not a single tree has grown in thirty years, yet here stands one which makes all others pale in comparison." His focus slowly drifted from the Watcher tree, trying to take in every detail of this previous impossibility. He could feel a sense of liveliness to the air, much like how he detected Scarlet's scrying presence in Chris's cell. He simply recognized it as an energy. It was indescribable, really.
As they drove further into the forest, some deeply-rooted part of Genesis felt truly at home. A distant familiarity. He tilted his head and focused on that sensation, trying to pinpoint the exact reason for it. The Caretaker failed to find a reason, but instead felt the desire to utter a single word in some unrecognized language: "Home."

Eva got out with greater ease this time, her strength had slowly returned. She watched the others being ushered into the medical tents, but resisted when they eventually tried to help her. "I'm fine. Just a few minor cuts is all." She peeled off her bandages to show them, "See?"
She saw Genesis leave the tent appearing rather bewildered, "What's wrong?" She asked gently.
The robot looked to her and smiled, "Nothing, Eva. I'm just thinking, really." Genesis answered, eyes scanning over the lab. "This place feels familiar to me, and I cannot figure out why. Like someplace I would have seen in a dream, were I capable of such..."
"But you've never been here, right...?" Eva, too, became engulfed in the mystery and confusion.
He shook his head, "No, never in my existence. I merely knew Northwest as a name, not a place."
They both fell silent. She lowered herself into sitting on the floor, examined the armor which she wore. It had been slightly damaged by the acid, but kept her skin perfectly safe underneath. She hoped Isabella wouldn't be upset with the damage. "I can't believe how much danger these people were willing to enter, all for my sake..." She trailed off, her voice becoming more of a whisper, "I am grateful, don't get me wrong, but... I wish they didn't have to make that choice. I want to be able to handle my own problems."

After a few minutes, I was the first to be escorted out of the white tents. I wobbled over to Eva and Genesis weakly, before falling on my butt next to her.

Hi.

A big man approached then, even larger then Lukas-- he looked like he was 7 feet tall. His dark hair was streaked with soot and the stuff was under his fingernails; he smelled of charcoal. His skin seemed to be tinted grey by the stuff. And yet, while he seemed strong, his muscles were uncut.

"Hey Scarlet... You okay? Where's yer armor?"

I looked up at the man. Hey Jerad. It got destroyed. I replied simply.

He his eyebrows went up.

A very high tech robot tried to eat me and I made it explode. That's kind of why I'm covered in blood. But if it hadn't been for your armor I would be dead. Thank you, Jerad.

I weakly got to my feet and held out a hand to him. He smiled happily and shook it.

"I'm glad to hear my work did it's job well." Her did that shallow Northwest bow, hand over fist, and I returned it. "I'll be happy to make you a new set, and my apprentice can repair any of the armor that needs repairing."

Thank you.

The man looked at Genesis, smiled, bowed to him and Eva before walking away, whistling. He was as happy as can be. His armor had saved a life; that's what he worked for.

Meanwhile, Nova was giving the medics a bit of a puzzle. I heard the commotion and looked over. A confused medic gave me some pleading eyes as Nova was poking a syringe.

I turned and shouted to the lab at large in a surprisingly loud voice.

SOMEONE GET GERALD!

There was amusement from the lab before someone could be seen heading off to fetch this 'Gerald'...

((Okay hiddo. I'll make note.))

I looked to Eva when she asked about Nova. My eyes got kind of unfocused as I remembered.

It's kind of hazy... I was half aware at the time... I think she showed up right before Meta tried to eat me. I remember hearing her say something from a distance, like "No" and then the explosion... Then I remember her running around, panicking... She picked you up, wrapped me in her cloak and picked me up... got us out of the area where Meta exploded. She ran with us or a short distance before my family showed up with Genesis... then Genesis took us to the lab where the nano-machines repaired me.

I looked to Genesis, and looked around.

Ummm...

Then there was some mad laughter, and a small explosion.

A man strode up, a thin one this time. He wore a well fitting lab coat with a neat line of buttons doing from his collar down to the bottom of his coat, under it dark pants and boots could be seen. Protecting his eyes were a brass and bronze pair of goggles that looked straight out of a steampunk fantasy; his hands were covered by tough black gloves. His face and lab coat was covered in soot, but under the goggles could be seen a highly intelligent, if not eccentric pair of eyes. One eye was blue, the other a reddish brown. His hair was short and kinda spiky, and had been flopped onto oneside of his head by the explosion. In his hands he held an empty beaker in some tongs and a test tube full of some reddish black liquid.

SCIENCE!

He strode up to me with his exited exclamation. He peered at Genesis, curious.

Hello Gerald.

Science.

What do you know about robots?

Science?

Well, Nova over there needs some repairs, and Genesis would like a place to recharge.

Science! Mwahahaha!

I laughed. He tucked the empty beaker and tongs in his pocket, and went over to Nova and grabbed her hand, before dragging her off. Nova blinked and made an odd whirring sound, not sure how to react.

You can use Gerald's lab to recharge if you want.

Gerald suddenly stopped, turned, and put his hand with the test tube in the air, and waved it; oddly he did not spill any of it.

SCIENCE!

I laughed. Hey, he wants me to pay a visit too.

I headed off into the direction the man and puzzled robot had went.

(( ... I love this Gerald character. rofl ))


"I'm surprised you remember all that... I was completely out." Eva managed to say before the explosion and madman entered the lab. Her eyebrows were furrowed the whole while, "'Science'?" She repeated incredulously, then got to her feet as Scarlet and the two robots disappeared. She hesitated a moment, then strode off in the direction of the cavern she and Scarlet had inhabited earlier. This armor still felt too strange to her.
She found her previous outfit piled on the floor behind the dressing curtain, and carefully removed the armor in exchange for the t-shirt, vest and shorts. The openness of regular clothes was a relief. Eva folded up the armor neatly and set it down on the bottom bunk, then paced around the room a couple times. She felt restless. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and one flew out ahead of her in a punch to an imaginary enemy's chin. She struck again with her other fist, a swift strike to the faceless man's stomach. Eva dodged to the side, then spun around into a kick... only for her foot to hit the cavern wall, causing her to gracelessly fall over in pain.
Halfway between pained tears and laughter, she stumbled back into standing and began the routine again. Further from the wall, this time.



Genesis followed after Scarlet and the madman pulling Nova, taking in every detail of the paths they went down. He was so acutely aware of all the energies around these people and caverns, a torrent of differing presences and intentions. He lacked the ability to see their colors, but in a sense, could feel the separate shades. A couple of those presences gave him that tinge of familiarity, though were further away from their course. Neither Scarlet nor Gerald had that sensation for him.

Eva had just entered a full frontward attack when Odessa knocked, and lost her balance from the surprise. She fell flat on her stomach with an audible "Oof!" She scrambled back onto her feet, clearly embarrassed, "T-thanks." She nodded once, then went to sit in a nearby chair. Sweat dribbled down her face, reminding her of the dried blood she would need to wash off later.
As Odessa entered, she thought back to the first encounter with Caretakers early that morning. How the family's medieval fighting styles managed to crush state-of-the-art war machines. She greatly admired that power, that talent. Eva looked to the Northwesterner with genuine interest, "How...did you all learn to fight that way? With nothing more than outdated weaponry?"



Genesis hadn't the slightest clue how any of this machinery worked. In fact, upon inspection, most of it seemed scientifically impossible. The technology he was born from and this technology were entirely separate, with seemingly far different intents. The Caretaker located a suitably empty plug, produced a small wireless device from his interior, and connected it to the power source. A thin line of pure electricity reached from the device's output to some point in the robot's back. He stood still as a statue and watched the others a moment, before closing his eyes and entering a computer's sleep mode.

Eva had grabbed and started munching on a beef taco, listening with interest as Odessa explained this very concept. She loved the idea of using both physical and ethereal forces as one, but something occurred to her. She waited until Odessa went quiet before speaking up, "But... I'm not human. I don't have a soul, do I?" She asked with some delay, "I'm just a manufactured body containing a program which simulates life. I don't think I even have a true 'personality'... My program just generated one."
She took a bite and swallowed hard, as if trying to rid herself of more than just the taco bits in her mouth. "How long does it take to learn, even just the physical aspect?"



The robot was vaguely aware of its surroundings; it could hear the commotion of the gauntlets, could sense where each entity was in the room. Yet it lacked any feeling in this state, reverting back to nothing but what it physically was. A machine. It remained motionless and its vision stayed black, and the only things running through its OS were the algorithms which kept it from ever fully deactivating. Slowly, though, even its hearing and sensing became overridden by a more supernatural force.

The scene ahead was blurry and dreamlike, and came from the perspective of different eyes. A teenage girl approached him with a plain shortsword held at her side. She was practically an albino, with deathly pale skin, and hair of an almost pure white. Only her blue eyes and matching blue robe stood out from the otherwise absence of color. She glared at him with impatience, "Mentor Spirit, when will we start practicing? It's been an hour."
He spoke in a voice unlike Genesis's, yet it clearly came from his own mouth, "When you finally learn some patience. This world is filled with far too many busy-bodies as it is..." He shook his head softly, long black hair stirred with the movement in the corner of his vision. The girl sighed, then dropped dramatically on her butt to sit on the deadened soil. He chuckled, "Alright, we can begin now."
Anger flared in her eyes, but she restrained from acting with it. She stood up straight and held the blade ahead of her, while the narrator drew out his own sword. It was a crimson colored metal with a diamond edged blade, the hilt was in the shape of a star and was made of another stone. Hints of a white armored robe with accents of blue and gold came into view as he looked downward.
The girl suddenly struck out at him, his weapon easily batted hers away. She backed away, then attempted again. Their weapons interlocked this time, and he rotated just his hand in a circle to make her drop hers. The shortsword flew from her grip, and just as she reached for it, he smacked the flat end of his blade against her face. She recoiled in pain, a ribbon of red forming on her cheek, "Ow! Why'd you d—"
"Because you let yourself be distracted. Had I the desire to kill you, this sword would have plunged itself through your skull right then." He answered before she could even finish the question, "Let's try again."

The scenery faded to white, then reformed into a small room. The walls appeared to be made of rock, and a fireplace illuminated the area. There was a table which he was approaching with a teapot in his hands, the same girl (albeit slightly older) sat across from him. He poured the hot tea into each of their cups, then took a seat. They wallowed in silence for a long while, and he preoccupied himself with shaping the steam from his glass as it floated past his fingers.
"I can't stand those robots. I wish they would all explode or something." She spoke up in a venomous tone, eyes full of fury.
He took a sip of his tea and set it down gently, "Surely you do not mean that. For if you did, you wish for genocide. Everything has a soul, just as everything also has a purpose."
"But they killed my brother!" She exclaimed, her fist slammed upon the table. Tears started to spill from her pained eyes, "How can they have souls if they commit murder without so much as a doubt?!"
He stood up and knelt down beside the sobbing girl, used his sleeve to dry her face, "I know it seems unfair, Layla... But that is their purpose. They kill merely to teach us something, perhaps even the fact that it was our fault as a resistance that they became capable of killing. Nothing can numb the pain of our losses, but we can use the knowledge we obtain from that loss to prevent more from coming."
Layla quieted, then turned away from him. He returned to his chair. She drank the last sip of her tea and stood to leave, but hesitated in the doorway, "Thank you, Spirit. I... I think I understand."
He nodded with smile, "I'm glad."

((Okay, but Virgil is inside the VR looking for him, I doubt he's even set foot outside it. Of course this is all up to me since we don't know for sure. sweatdrop ))