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 Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:27 pm
Champions... They called them, the twelve families on Earth who represented Earth in a series of games that decided galactic diplomacy.
It all sounded like a futuristic fairytale; a made up story written by an author with too much time on their hands and one overly active imagination and yet, in a period of 48 hours, it had all become too real for an ordinary girl named Stella.
Every part of her body ached. The girl's mind was just as frayed from the recent chaos.
Her breath rasped as her eyes slowly slid open, taking in the blurry scene around her. She was alone again, bound to a wall in a cell: restrained in what she'd considered to be primitive restraints compared to the rest of the facility: Area 13..., she recalled.
Stella thought of the friends she'd come to visit and meet face-to-face: a small group of friends from an online gaming group she frequented. She'd come to meet one of them for- but no... Now was he time to be thinking about the convention she and her friends been planning and preparing to go to for over a month. That was irrelevant.
Stella needed help. Pulling against the out-dated, but strong titanium restraints, the 17-year-old choked back a sob, forcing her head forward as far as the restraints would let her go and screamed in agonizing pain, fighting as she woke, trying to reach a spot in the air, grasping towards where she presumed the door was," I need to survive... I want to get out... I want..."
Her head and neck lowered a bit as she caught her breath, steeling herself for round two. Electricity from the restraints ripped through her, causing her to gasp and flinch. The young girl pushed past the pain, gritting her teeth and held her breath, pulling away from the wall as mechanisms and organs inside her body; alien to her, whirred to life and began working to aid in her escape.
Stella had initially rejected these parts: these additions, these enhancements, knowing they didn't belong. They'd been put in without her permission. She hated them!
Because she'd rejected them for so long and had been so stubborn; she suffered, undergoing unspeakable torture to try and motivate her. The people who had done this were very cruel. "I WANT... TO LIVE," she cried, yanking again. The old bonds holding her in place began to tear away from the wall.
Alarms blared in her ears, drawing a growl from the cyborg's throat. Shouting and chaos could be heard from the other side of her cell door. s**t! They were coming for her!
Stella ripped her bindings from the wall with a forceful jerk of her body, falling to the floor on her stomach.
With a groaning creek, the vault-like door to her cell opened. Two men with guns: the laboratory guards, hurried to her, forcing her head down to the ground with the barrels of their long rifles and demanded her obedience," DON'T MOVE!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:39 pm
Stella shivered in place, sobbing; fear and frustration over-taking her.
Her strength was going. It took everything she had to break free and if these soldiers had any say in the matter, she wasn't going anywhere.
With a muffled, but recognizable pop, a bullet tore through the skull of the soldier to her right, who crumpled into a bloody heap. The latter soon followed before they could register what was going on with his partner, alarming Stella of the attacker. She was already frightened.
Who was this?
Stella couldn't see beyond the strangers ankle as he hurried in. The cyborg gathered her frayed wits for a final confrontation if it was needed.
Her eyes began to flare with power as she mustered any strength she could to pick herself up. It was all for naught. Her vision was too blurry to see. The young girl was far too worn out and injured for this last push and the room spun before her world faded to black again as her knees buckled and gave way.
A lone figure with icy blue eyes and short, brown hair slung his gun back and hurried over, catching her before her head could hit the ground.
With some difficulty, he hefted her up, regarding how heavy she'd become with a scowl and a glare as another invading soldier: an ally, joined him, ushering them both out of the facility with the rest of their assault force.
If they got out of this alive, Area 13 was going to have to answer for this: all of it!
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 4:27 pm
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 3:04 pm
Stella awoke with a gasp; her blue eyes shooting open as a sudden noise from her headphones shook her from her sleep. She had been leaning against the wall next to her seat for the past couple of hours, listening to music with her headphones plugged into her smartphone.
The middle-aged black lady sitting next to her on the bus jumped back and screamed, freaking out about the girl's sudden action and making Stella immediately feel bad.
"OH! Oh gawd! I AM SORRY! I am so sorry," Stella flailed, reaching over and placing her right hand on the woman't shoulder, reassuring her as a bus full of passengers turned their heads to watch," P-please calm down! I-it's... you're alright. You are alright! Nothing is happening... You're fine!"
The lady next to Stella caught her breath, narrowing her eyes and leaning back, glaring as if to say: 'Girl! What the hell's your problem?!'
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2018 12:06 am
The bus driver tentatively turned back to the front and grabbed the radio for the intercom, speaking up," Attention passengers! In about fifteen minutes, we will be stopping at the Avery Town station. If this is your stop, we thank you for travelling with us at StrayHound! Have a nice day!"
Stella turned her attention to the window, looking out at the side of the highway where several of the town's exit signs came into view, giving her an idea of the places she could eat and shop. Her thoughts, however, were on her friends and the anime convention to come.
They were all going. In two days time, they would be among cosplayers, convention stalls and voice actors, having the time of their lives and sharing a few hotel rooms. They agreed to split the price between them, which made the whole trip that much easier for them all.
She couldn't wait!
The town of Avery was quaint, but by no means small in terms of size. It looked like any other town, with a small circle of aged brick buildings at its center.
Stella could make out a coffee shop, the post office, and several smaller, independently owned businesses and shops lining the path to the large city hall: a building which also housed the bus stop. This was her junction!
The young teen could see a group of others around her age, waiting on the steps outside of it, getting up on the bus's approach as it pulled into the lot sit aside for buses and the like.
Stella's grin widened as she bounced in her seat, slightly, drawing another stare from the poor lady next to her, whom, at that point, was seriously beginning to question Stella's sanity.
Stella regarded the lady with a wave and hurried out the moment the bus door slid open.
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2020 10:39 pm
A myriad of equipment was neatly scattered about a poorly lit section of Deidrich's laboratory: host to a number of experiments set aside to finish another time. He stood, staring into a microscope at a cell sample set on a slate, examining the cells behavior and writing down details he found interesting. A change in the air caused him to look up and behind as another entered: a friend.
"Any signs of life from her yet," the guest asked, looking past Deidrich to the tank at the far end of the room where Stella was being resuscitated.
"Well, she's alive, if that's what you're asking. No signs of stirring yet. Whatever Area 13 did to Stella, it was invasive and did quite a bit of damage. However..." Deidrich directed his guest to the microscope," Well...Take a look for yourself..."
The guest stepped up, taking a peek through the scope. The cells within the sample looked human, for the most part, but they were gathering, reproducing, still very much alive, and seemed to move about the slate as if looking for something. "Whoa...," he muttered, standing up straight once more.
Zphal nodded, walking up to the tank," Exactly, Josh... Our girl Stella has been spliced. At least, that's what it seems. Area 13 was protecting their investment. They weren't planning on killing her! No... They just saw an opportunity and seized it. No telling when Stella will wake up, but she may never be the same again, if she does."
Josh sighed and ran a hand through his hair, stepping up to join his friend in front of the tank," Damn..."
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