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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2016 2:00:27 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 12,300 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted | Current Powerlevel: 3,075 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights/T3 House | @noxa |
Noxa's little endeavor to sneak some food before he sat down at the table with her did not go unnoticed by the bio-engineer. After all, Katsu knew how many eggrolls he had made, how much rice and pork and chicken that was on the plate; he wouldn't forget the amount, or not notice what part of it was gone when he turned to face Noxa again. The lingering traces of food on her face was a dead giveaway as well. Of course Katsu made this meal just for the two of them, so it'd be pointless to call her out on eating the food he was making for her to eat.
Noxa's reasoning for her not absorbing him made sense on the surface, but Katsu was a student of Psychology; it was one of the first sciences he had studied in depth, to find out why he was so much different from those around him. That had led to biology and on to Bio-Engineering, always looking for the deeper “why”. Katsu knew the deeper why of Noxa's reasoning. He liked that thought, that he had managed to make a dent in her psyche like that. Thinking on this Katsu almost missed the part where Noxa asked him her joke question. He was tempted to tease her, but with a grin he gave her the real answer, “Oh there's plenty of interesting biology in your system, but I can't say I've had a chance to look very thoroughly at it all. While I had to invade your privacy to save your life... that body is yours and yours alone. I won't go digging through it without great need or your permission. The benefit of your alliance with me far exceeds the benefit of learning your genetic structure.
“You've already done this with me as well. You decided that having me alive is much better than whatever food value my corpse would be. In the future you'll need to make a lot of judgments like that, but I think you'll be able to make the right ones...” Katsu did a thing he rarely did to anyone; he openly praised Noxa for her good judgment. It seemed he respected her decision, and although it could be easy enough to just assume it was because it meant Katsu got to keep living, Noxa had to remember that Katsu enjoyed knowledge more than life itself. When he praised her on her judgment, he was completely impartial to his own circumstances. It was a completely logical thing to do, regardless of what it meant for him personally.
Of course, perhaps Katsu was doing this to lead up into something else, buttering Noxa up for what he was going to ask her, “..That's why I'd like to invite you into a group that I am a part of, Noxa.
“We're a group, mostly comprised of Androids and Bio-Androids, who seek to give evolution a helping hand. The Founder, a rather unique Bio-Android named Contagion, says that natural evolution has failed and artificial evolution must be initiated...I rather think that all evolution, whether induced by nature or a sentient mind, is natural. We all strive to move forward, and our group S.C.A.R. embodies this. While the group's motto and name is a bit extreme; for you it would mean being amongst people who have similar goals and purposes to your own. To become stronger, better, more than you were before. We have resources at our disposal to help you gain strength, and having allies is always a smart thing when taking on the world.” Katsu sat back in his chair, looking at Noxa levelly, his tone was business like and his posture was strong.
”Obviously you should have questions. Ask them and I shall answer as I can.”
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2016 14:56:25 GMT
A sigh of relief came from Noxa. It wasn’t a literal, physical sigh. It was merely a mental release of stress; Doctor Katsu seemed to not have noticed Noxa’s attempts to sneak herself food! If the Bio Woman could have high five'd herself she definitely would have. That was Noxa’s perception; in her mind she had fooled him completely. The possibility that she hadn’t, the possibility that the man was simply not a stingy, greedy hoarder of resources didn’t much cross her mind. It wasn’t even that Noxa had that perception of him, it was mostly her ingrained instincts towards the sanctity and importance of food — a resource scarce in the land she was built to thrive in. Her mindset was simple: secure it while possible with the least amount of sacrifices made. In this case sneaking food under his nose granted her the caloric power she desired, while getting away with the deed scott free didn’t sacrifice anything. After all what he didn’t know wouldn’t affect his perception of her in any way! The perfect crime!
Listening is something Noxa seemed to be doing a lot around this guy; it was something she’d continue to indulge in. Especially considering he was indulging her quips and tripe, going out of his way to give her actual, real constructive answers. Noxa was unable to speak for anyone else, but she found there was a bit of honor in what he’d done. In giving her a real, serious response to something so mindless… Well, the man had just further exemplified the level of his involvement in both their former, and hopefully future, partnership. The tiny little detail that someone would simply brush off meant a lot to Noxa; a lot more than it should.
Noxa hid this fact. Her face didn’t change; her body didn’t stir. Instead, she ate casually as the man explained how he preserved her privacy — another thing Noxa had never really considered. In her 18 years of living mostly as a nomadic predator she’d never really had an issue with privacy. The only real time someone attempted to bother — or, in general, seek — Noxa it was always with the intent to kill. Naturally, Noxa never led a civil life; Noxa never indulged in the social contracts of the civilized world. So, naturally, Noxa never had to worry about ‘privacy’.
Still, it was nice to hear he considered her privacy a thing that should be held sacred, even if Noxa herself did not. She didn’t care for privacy. She would never extend the courtesy to the man, so she didn’t expect it extended unto herself.
In fact, she spoke up about it once Doctor Katsu had finished speaking, once he’d finish his analysis of both their actions. That, alone, also rubbed Noxa the wrong way. The man predicted she’d be forced to “make a lot of judgements like that”. That specific quote truly confused the woman. Why did he say that? What did he know? Never before had Noxa been met with that quandary, so naturally he must have been speaking directly about himself, right? Referring the possible interactions they would have in a future partnership? Or was the comment made with a more insidious tone? A prediction that Noxa would become more involved in the pedantic rituals of civilized life? Why would she ever? Is THAT was he insinuating? Because if so it made Noxa curious — was he trying to say there was some kind of benefit to it all?
“Why do you care? Privacy?” Noxa, in reality, didn’t even really know what privacy really meant. She had a gut feeling, but that was it. “Why does it matter?”
The redheaded Bio-Android hardly gave him time to respond before she pressed on.
“And what about my judgement? Are you saying that just because you got to live? I don’t blame you if it is, I’m just curious.” Then, finally, he’d be given a breath to respond before more questions were lobbed in his way.
Noxa stopped eating to fully interact with him; her biology’s hunger being placed bellow her intellectual one. She needed to know exactly what he meant, after all taking sage knowledge for granted was a huge mistake. One that Noxa was LITERALLY ingrained to understand. She was, primarily, build within a Company of Bio-Android units. She was one of 300 Bio-Weapons; she was a soldier. Even if Noxa’s primary objective in the battlefield was survival she, like her other would-be sisters, all had a deep instinct to follow orders or heed the words of those they recognized as superiors. Superiors not necessarily in rank, biology, or social status, but of wisdom.
Because of this design Noxa had already found a keen fixation on the Doctor and his words. She found in him a respect she did not come to recognize in Dr. Morai — the head of research and development at Project N.O.X.A. . The respect she learned to have for Katsu’s actions was far more powerful than the ‘respect’ she was supposed to have — the one she was imprinted with — for her creators.
It wasn’t until the following part of the man’s dialogue that a chunk of her many questions came to be answered. A group? He was inviting her to some sort of clique? No — not at all. The way Doctor Katsu described this group… It sounded serious. The image he painted for Noxa was that of a cabal — a shadowy syndicate with a clearly outlined purpose. He spoke not of the immediate goals, but it would stand to reason that was on purpose.
“Evolution, huh?” Noxa asked, narrowing her eyes. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea. Honestly? She didn’t care about the concept. It didn’t stoke some kind of fire within her; it didn’t make her jump in fervor, eager to start a crusade. Still, it did make her interested. She was offered an alliance, something he explained could be used to serve her own interests — interests Noxa herself wasn’t exactly very sure of.
What DID she want? So far in life she’d only survived. Through her first 18 years of life she yearned for very little. There was not much in the war-torn homeland she hailed from to warrant any change in her — nothing to develop her from the feral mindset. Two measly weeks in this planet, however, had a much bigger impact on her than 18 years on Zilyana.
Maybe this group could server Noxa just as much as Noxa could serve them. Maybe she could learn more about herself through this mutual partnership just as Doctor Katsu had helped her learn more about herself.
“Is this your favor?” Noxa pressed now, pushing back onto the topic the man initially dodged like a bad check. “Is the favor to join this group? SCAR?”
Of course, Noxa had plenty more question, but they were so many — they were so fractured… It would be best for the man to explain what he believed should be addressed. There was, of course, the possibility he’d life to further his own goals. Still, Noxa didn’t consider that possibility too much.
“What more can you tell me about the group?”
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2016 23:36:19 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 12,300 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted | Current Powerlevel: 3,075 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights/T3 House | @noxa |
Katsu was somewhat surprised of Noxa asking about the importance of privacy. One would think that her of all people would value her privacy. It was something all creatures tended to like. From the most sophisticated gentleman to the most feral of tigers, the ability to just get away from other creatures from time to time, and to have certain things they hid from everyone, was essential. Even Katsu, who didn't mind sharing any of his projects with others or minded someone invading his personal space, had to have some times when he just had to be alone.
Tilting his head very slightly to the side Katsu tried to explain, “Well, it isn't that I care so much for my own privacy too much, it's just that most people value it very highly. It's another part of civilized interaction. If I invade other's privacy they tend to get very angry; some even dislike it so much to attack. There's no reason to anger others for no benefit. I try to keep my list of enemies as small as possible. So I don't invade the privacy of others without permission as a rule of thumb, if you don't mind it, then I don't as well.
“As to your judgments... I merely mean to say that you'll often have to choose between instant gratification and greater long term benefits. It's good that you chose the long term benefits; plenty of sentient species have a hard time doing that sometimes.” Katsu gave a quick shrug as he finished that bit of information exchange. He realized he hadn't spoken too clearly earlier. No matter, the situation was rectified.
Sitting in silence for a bit longer after asnwering those two questions Katsu devoured more of the delicious dishes, motioning for Noxa to continue eating herself. He pointedly stalled answering her question about the favor, holding up a finger to tell Noxa to wait. Katsu enjoyed explaining and teaching, but his hunger was getting the best of him right then. The operation had taken a lot of energy on his side, and he was also running low on calories like Noxa was. Not to mention his absolutely inhuman appetite ever since he had injested his alteration serum. That energy was being condensed within his body, and most of it never made it to his cells to keep them charged. It made Katsu feel weak almost all the time, but he knew that his strength would grow far more rapidly in this fashion.
Finally Katsu had filled his belly enough to be sated, and he leaned back in his chair, floating a toothpick container over from a counter to the table, grabbing one and cleaning his teeth with dignity and finesse. “SCAR stands for the 'Supreme Council of the Augmented Revolution'. It is a group dedicated to forcing evolution forward through any means necessary. Many of the members would be considered... uncivilized in some ways. Contagion has Demonic DNA and a personality to match, for example. I am their emissary simply because a lot of the “defender” type of groups wouldn't tolerate them for a minute if they knew what they would do to fulfill their goals. My position is basically to play politics with people like the Blue Banner Army, the Galactic Patrol, and other groups. I'm also useful for recruiting. Hence this conversation.
“Currently the main goal is to secure power, both personal and as a group. My favor is not for you to join the group. The benefit should speak for itself. We have laboratories where we can analyze your DNA to discover how to make it more potent, gravity chambers where we can hone your strength, allies who can watch your back and help you secure high profile targets for absorption, and... personally, I have to ask if you even have a goal right now? You were designed to be a soldier who can survive and adapt, but you don't have an army to be a part of; no objective to complete, do you? SCAR can help with that, give you something to aim for, show you the things that can be done if you have the strength and will to do them...”
Trailing off for a few moments Katsu turned his head to the side, looking at the doorway to the next room, more obviously not looking at Noxa. He waited a few moments, his eyes far away, and then he turned back to Noxa, his eyes clear, “No, my favor is for you to be my long term... partner.”
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2016 1:52:56 GMT
“Attack you because of privacy, huh?” Noxa wondered, narrowing her eyes. The more she thought about it the more she could begin to understand why it was valued, but in the current context… It just was a bit of a foreign topic for the woman.
The redheaded Bio Woman was unable to keep a blustering laugh to rush from her lips, taking with it a few particles of food. The discourtesy done by the boorish woman aside her laugh was rather sudden and quite hearty. It went on for a while too, her head dangling a bit as she attempted to stifle it.
“T-try to ke-keep list of enemies down--!!” She would repeat that line a few times in broken fragment, words coming between gasps for air. Oh, dear! There it was. That sentence. It was the collimation of the most essential, hardest hitting life lesson Noxa had come to learn in her rough 18 years of life. Her ignorance to the subject had gotten her evicted from Zilyana — something she was rather glad for, actually. Unfortunately it also was the cause of much misfortune for the woman. Between near death situations and the perpetual wandering…
Her laugh slowly turned as sour as the reason for it.
“Yeah…” Noxa said under her breath, “That one ‘hits home’.” Her head slowly shook from side to side as food remained to be brought to her lips. The pace at which she ate slowed considerably. The eagerness was gone, even though her body still cried out for more nutrients and calories. It had been dampened by the gloomy mood that set over her.
Chewing slowed drastically she waited. Noxa, herself, took note of the finger he held up, but she was sunk low both in mood and willingness to chat. She was sent deep in thought. Her thought turned back to the offer — to SCAR. He had made a good point earlier. There was no point in making enemies; there was more than enough of a reason to make allies. Noxa stared down at the crumbs of food that had formed at the table beneath her. She stopped eating all together and just stared at the crumbs. Noxa had eaten more ‘normal’ food in the past two days than in her entire life. So far she’d only gone for living creatures — more often than not sentient. She enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. She enjoyed the extreme density of energy it provided. A naked finger pressed down against the crumbs, washing over them and leaving a spotless table behind as her body absorbed all bits of food it came across. Noxa rose her hand, staring in silence at her finger. Her hair had gone dead and lifeless, simply falling behind her — few strands over her shoulder.
“It… Is hard.” Noxa said, “The whole 'not making enemies' thing.” There was a moment of pause; there was a moment of reflection. Translating what she felt into words was hard. “People… Don’t like monsters. They don't like predators. They are hypocrites” That was the most accurate way she could think to put it all — appearance, behavior, her tendencies…
A long breath was yielded. Across the table she heard the shaking sound of Katsu toying with his toothpicks. She looked up, watching as cleaned his teeth.
“What are you doing?” Noxa asked, narrowing her eyes with a puzzled look, “Just use your hair.”
Once he’d finished with the dental care the man would go on, delving deeper into SCAR. Or, as Noxa learned, the ‘Supreme Council of the Augmented Revolution’. He went into his role within the organization, as well as its stance within the political playing field of… Other factions? She wasn’t sure exactly what he meant. Noxa was still very ignorant towards… Well, everything in general, but politics especially. Then came the word: ‘Contagion’. The name had a ring to it. Noxa couldn’t explain why, but she her nape tingle. The way the cold Doctor Katsu described this being… It put Noxa on the edge. Katsu did not seem like a pushover, so for him to attest to Contagion’s reputation in that way… Well… She had to take that at face value.
Of course, there was more buttering up. Promise of power to go along with the allegiance and army. Then came a statement that made Noxa put on edge a little. He referred to her as a ‘soldier’. Noxa didn’t know why, but that made her shoulders tense up a little — as did the virago’s facial features. The tell-tale hints of a frown lingered on her face, but she said nothing about it. What could she even say? ‘Don’t refer to me a soldier, I don’t like it’? No — that’s stupid. If she couldn’t understand why she felt a certain way then it wasn’t even bringing it up…
Though despite her personal feelings towards the man’s comments he did make a good point. Noxa COULD use a deeper understanding of her physiology. Noxa COULD friends. Noxa COULD use training. Goals. Shelter. Guidance. All of it — she was in a very disprivileged position when it came to the social landscape that this planet really was. In this interconnected web that spawned from concrete jungles to desolate wastelands everyone knew someone. Except Noxa. She needed connections was she to thrive.
“It sounds like a deal to me Doc--” She paused. No, that wasn’t fitting. Referring to him as ‘doc’ would leave a bad taste in her mouth. He was no longer a stranger. “Doctor Katsu.” She corrected herself.
Then, after a bit of a coy little display, the man proposed his favor. The question that Noxa had pined after for many a topic. The favor — it had eaten away at her, even if she wasn’t exactly aware of just how curious she was. Noxa found herself edging closer to the table, her body firmly pressing against it. She was literally on the edge of her seat.
“Part...Ner? Do you need to retrieve more relics? Does this ‘SCAR’ group I agreed to join deal in pairs?” Ah — there it was. More questions that needed answering. Should things keep up at this rate and Noxa herself might fancy herself as scientist.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2016 17:19:13 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 12,300 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted | Current Powerlevel: 3,075 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights/T3 House | @noxa |
Katsu smiled a bit as Noxa went into a fit of laughter over the concept of keeping the list of enemies one had to a minimum. Her sudden stop afterwards, her mood plummeting, told Katsu just how badly her social interactions with people had been up to this point. She was created to be a survivor and a soldier; she probably had a very feral mindset, not much different from most animals. Eat or be Eaten kind of thing. The social world was really just the same, in the end, but the face it wore was vastly different, and could be treacherous to one who had no experience with it. Katsu made a mental note to teach Noxa about how not to piss people off in the first sentence of speaking with them if she agreed to be his partner.
Nodding to Noxa's comment about people hating so called “monsters” and predators, Katsu gave a quick quip, “At our instinctual base it's kill or be killed. Because you might kill them, they try to kill you first. It's all very droll at best.”
When Noxa edged forward in her seat when he mentioned the favor Katsu was somewhat pleased. She had been anxious about the favor perhaps, or maybe just very curious, either way, she had taken her commitment seriously. That was good. She herself had a sense of honor. That was a good omen for her accepting to become his partner, and also for during the partnership. You needed someone you could rely on for a partner, or it wasn't going to last long. “The partnership is a separate thing from you joining SCAR; it's a personal favor. Being focused on knowledge as I am, I've studied myself as much as anything else, and I am aware of my own limitations and weaknesses. I am far too focused on gaining knowledge sometimes. I've taken injury and hurt simply because I placed gaining knowledge above my own survival at the time. I need to not die, because dying sort of ends the search for knowledge, doesn't it? Yet while I can logically think this out right now...when in a situation where there's some new thing for me to discover I ignore my survival instincts anyway.
“I need someone like you to watch my back. To help me make proper decisions on risk vs reward, to make sure I don't get so absorbed in my goals that I forget about some enemy trying to remove my head from my shoulders. Your focus on survival is perfect for that role, and although some other members of SCAR might be able to fulfill that task...well, most of them have very strong personalities, you could say. Most don't have a predator's calm patience and ability to stop and think things out. They're very passionate about their own goals and would be no help trying to keep my own passions in check. Also you can pass for human if you hide your carapace and wear some clothes, which a lot of the other members simply can't do, and that's a boon when dealing with politics like I have to...” Katsu finished up his speech, looking to grab some more eggrolls and rice from the plates but realizing that Noxa and Katsu had somehow managed to polish them all off at some point. Which left only the red bean/cream mix with sugar buns for dessert. A wave of his arm swept the empty plates over towards the counter to be cleaned later, the buns and creamy dip was moved to the center of the table. Noxa and Katsu split the three dozen buns between them, the big bowl of dip within easy reach of both of them.
Taking one of the rolls Katsu dipped it in the pink liquid and brought it to his mouth, just nibbling at it to begin with as he thought of how to continue. Finally he took a big chomp and placed the bun down, wiping sugar from his lips. He then spoke, “I'd of course do my best to ensure benefits for you as well. Sifting through your biology to help improve your strength; teaching you concepts and techniques you thus far haven't yet grasped. I can provide a comfortable place to sleep and live, a good area to hunt for sustenance while also training your strength. Of course, you'd also be my first amongst allies, so if ever a conflict arose between you and SCAR I'd step in to help, and also I could help you if you get into trouble with others as well...
“It's your choice, I won't try and guilt trip you into it because of the favor. That'd ruin the whole point, but I do want you to be my partner. Think on it, seriously, please...”
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2016 20:18:03 GMT
They danced to the same sad song — Noxa and society. Their tempo was just a tad bit off. That’s how she interpreted it, anyway. It was heard to be a part of something when your beats didn’t match. Katsu was right. Very droll.
Doctor Katsu continued to elaborate on the partnership. The more he expanded on the idea the more Noxa indulged him. It seemed like an idea that she could get used to; a form of symbiotic relationship. This professional union — one that transcended their future as comrades within SCAR. A binary cabal made to further both their individual interests. Noxa liked that idea. She liked it a lot. For the most part Noxa felt as though she could at least attempt to help him with the issues he lined out.
But what about Noxa?
As far as Noxa could tell she had no goals. Nothing concrete, not really. So far she only lived in a very step by step way. She dealt with things as they happened; she lived in the moment. As her perspective of the world was broadened so too did her understand that she needed to think ahead. Think further than just the next few moves in a fight. Days. Weeks. Months. Years. It was something she had not yet done; Noxa didn’t have enough self-understanding to make a long term goal.
What did she want?
Noxa had no interest in money — not yet. To her money was just something used to buy petty items she could just steal. The Bio Woman had no interest of understanding in the politics; she didn’t yet understand just how much money talks. To a deeper degree Noxa also didn’t truly understand ‘why’ money would talk, for the redhead’s understanding of social situations wasn’t much more than ‘lie to get an advantage’. This, again, stemmed back into the fact Noxa had lived a very short-sighted life.
Noxa was caught in a loop of deficiencies. A loop of limitations that fed and gave birth to others. The ouroboros had to be undone one way or another, that was something Noxa came to reality then and there.
Katsu, in going about his weaknesses, helped Noxa realize her own.
“I do want to join SCAR.” Noxa spoke almost immediately after Katsu had finished his dialogue concerning their partnership. “And about that goal… What do you think of finding a better way to integrate with society? People?” It was hard to discern the tone. It was… Distant.
Her awareness was brought back to the moment when the plates were cleared with more of Katsu’s magical mindpowers. It hadn’t yet dawned on her that the food had been completely consumed; she hadn’t yet noticed the strange sweet bundles of goodness served. Noxa hadn’t had a lot of experience with deserts. It came with the whole ‘out of civilization’ thing. The only sweets she’d eaten in Zilyana were fruits — and those were a rare commodity that were often smuggled. True sweets — true deserts. Noxa had yet to had them. The confections put out by Katsu made Noxa’s mouth absolutely water for some reason. It reminded Noxa of soda — something she had before. Very, very sweet. The caloric density REALLY made Noxa curious.
They were like fruit, but of pure proceeded goodness.
“What is with your food?” She asked, a leaf-like blade of her hair would scoop up some of the savory meal, bringing it to her nose as she sniffed. “That’s something I mean to ask. It has so much… Deliciousness in it. It is far more rewarding than hunting for my own meals. How — is it something magical?” Eating his cooking — while it didn’t remove the thrill, it certainly removed the massive ‘reward’ from hunting people. Most of this world did. It wasn’t as arid and resource-starved as Zilyana.
Noxa had already accepted his offering to join scar, though she was already keen on accepting his offer for partnership. This, of course, was another dimension of benefits that Noxa felt he skipped over. Or, maybe, Doctor Katsu had not yet realized it — his nutrient-dense food. It was a significant boon to Noxa for a myriad of reasons. Aside from helping her acclimate her hunger it also had the benefit of enriching her body with the 18 years worth of nutrient deficiency — a reality from traversing a desert world.
Noxa had yet to taste the meal presented to her, as she spent more time examining the outer qualities it possessed. Her examination was brought to a swift end as her lips clasped around the red tendril’s tip, taking in some of the cream mix into her own mouth. The deliciousness of the flavors were up to par with everything he has served so far, but Noxa noticed that wasn’t how he ate. He dipped the bun into the strange creamy mix. Noxa decided to mimic this motion. A swoop came as the sugar-sprinkled bun was submerged within the dip. With a swift bite Noxa felt the jaw-aching sugar rush spark through her system. A hand moved up to catch a few drops of saliva — a side effect of the sudden exposure to this ground-breaking deliciousness. The woman’s face grimaced with a mixture of pain and pleasure born from the overly sweet meal.
This was definitely the start of something much bigger. Then and there Noxa discovered how needy her sweet tooth was.
This might not read as smoothly as my other stuff. I lost cadence many times through writing this one — sorry!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 1:18:19 GMT
w ▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 12,300 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted | Current Powerlevel: 3,075 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights/T3 House | @noxa |
Leaning back in his seat Katsu took another bite from his bun, enjoying the sweet creamy texture of the dip clashing with the moist and fluffy bun. He listened quietly to Noxa's responses and questions before he simply finished his first bun, looking at the others on his side of the table as if they had done something wrong. Somehow he was disappointed in Noxa's goal, although it was a vague sense of disappointment at best. Perhaps he had merely wanted her to have a goal similar to his, of self-improvement and attainment of knowledge, or maybe he just viewed prioritizing integration with society as a poor goal. Even Katsu himself couldn't have said why he disliked that stated goal of Noxa's.
However, it was her goal, not his, he didn't have to approve of it completely. A few moment's thought and Katsu realized he could perhaps use this as a way to start Noxa onto the road to self-improvement. She was after all asking to learn something, to improve herself in a limited manner. Katsu might yet kindle her interest in a different goal that was more similar to his own. That thought removed the traces of disappointment he felt, and he grabbed the second bun and dipped it before speaking, ”I can help with that. One of the concepts I can teach you as my partner, if you wish.
“The food is fortified with additional nutrients by my own process. It takes longer to grow and cultivate, even the meats do, but it's completely natural. There's no magic to it, just pure science.” Katsu gave a shrug to Noxa's inquiry as he took a bite from the bun, chewing quickly. He suddenly felt very tired. His body was metabolizing all of the food he had eaten, and after performing the surgery on Noxa he had little energy. His body wanted him to sleep soon.
In fact Katsu suddenly felt the part of his mind that categorized his priorities suddenly slam Sleep into the near top spot. He actually had to put the bun in his hand down as his arm tried to fall, sudden weakness invading it for just a moment. Oh yes he was done. Giving a sigh Katsu hefted himself up out of his chair, “I need to sleep now. The artifact retrieval and your surgery has taken a lot of energy. If you're tired you can sleep in my bed; it's plenty big enough and I don't really have a comfy place besides it to sleep. If not feel free to wander the house. I replaced all the strings on my instruments with stronger wires that sound close, if you want to try your hand at some music again...”
Should there be no interruptions, Katsu would move to his bedroom, ignoring the rest of his buns, and would replace his dress pants with his pajama bottoms before slipping into his covers to sleep for a few hours...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 20:33:44 GMT
She found his attitude absolutely impossible to decipher. The biological lexicon Katsu put forth just wasn’t something she could understand. Why the look? His disappointment was very well masked; never would Noxa understand it as ‘disappointment’. Going out on a limb her assumption was that the scornful look was born from a mixture of misunderstanding and intrigue. Some people might lose sleep over a social misunderstanding like that. Noxa wasn’t one of them. By the time the Doctor made a grab for his second pastry Noxa had already put the misunderstanding behind her. She wasn’t going to sleep — she sure as all hell wasn’t about to lose a good meal over it either!
Not long into his movement did Katsu once again resurface with the proposal of a possible partnership. He was really pushing the idea. A certain bio girl was keen to pick up on that — on his interest. Katsu’s calm nature kept the woman from assuming desperation, but it also suggested to her that maybe —just maybe — there was some ulterior motive. Noxa wasn’t sure what it could be, but the possibility of veiled intentions was still on the table. His “I can help with that” was still nonetheless promising.
True enough. Should he have some hidden agenda or not it didn’t change a fact: Katsu was human. A human from Earth. He was used to this world — the politics, social landscape, social contracts. He understood it all. He was, after all, an ambassador to what sounded like a very competent syndicate.
The man mentioned the heavy ‘fortifications’ of his food. He’d sworn magic out of the process, insisting only science. Noxa wasn’t sure how he’d achieved that, but it wasn’t exactly out of the realm of possibility. However he went about it, Noxa hoped the process wasn’t too complex. Whatever he did to enrich the vegetables and meats could be of use to her. It could control the relatively high amount of her body objectively needed to maintain, with ‘relative’ being the operative word.
The famished feeding frenzy Noxa displayed earlier had all gone. Her objective by this point was not to load up on calories. Her objective was to simply savor the food. It wasn’t often that she had the opportunity or gal to go through with this process. Truth be told the amount of times she’d participated in a civilized meal was easily able to be counted in one hand. Never had the food been this good; never had the food been able to satisfy both her body’s aching needs as well as her intricate flavor palette.
‘So good~’ Echoed the same thought in her her mind. Every bite was moderated and chewed with enough attention as to make it its own meal. She continued this snail paced practice while Katsu excused himself from the table, extending an invitation that ultimately went by mostly neglected. It was acknowledged, but Noxa didn’t care for a ‘bed’. Of course, this was mostly thanks to her ignorance concerning one. Much like the silk pajamas it was a luxury she would only take to after having experienced it.
A chunky portion of Noxa’s hair meshed together, rising and waving Katsu good-bye as he left. It could’ve been hard to tell if Noxa was even aware of the motion — her gaze was fixed on the half-eaten bun coated with a vibrantly colorful cream.
Did she even notice Katsu was gone?
Of course she did; just like she realized she had given him a ‘farewell’ gesture. Still, her uncanny ability to multitask could easily have led an observer to an alternate conclusion.
The man had stolen himself aware of the night; securing himself into his room and decided to sleep. Noxa was tired, of course, but her body was able to manage sleep and metabolized energy in an almost interchangeable way. Instead of sleeping she finished the food. She’d leave every pot, dish, and surface absolutely spotless, having cleaned it with her absorption ability.
Once the private feast had finished Noxa found herself sitting atop the table amidst the empty shells that once overflowed with savory goodness. Noxa sat there in silence, the soles of her bare feet pressed against one another, her hands supporting herself as they pressed down against the table — the empty space between her legs. Noxa, sitting in this ‘butterfly position’, listened to the ambience of the home.
Her thoughts turned back to the day — how crazy had it all been. A chance encounter. Had the woman simply decided to not investigate the cavernous abyss that radiated energy… Well, she’d never have experienced any of it. She never would’ve grown so much — both in power and character.
She closed her eyes.
There was nothing but the distant humming sounds of machinery — possibly a refrigerator — and a soft buzzing of lights. The storm had passed. Noxa’s mind, in this sanctuary of peaceful pseudo silence, was free to wander. She reflected back on the events of the day. There was much to learn in her victory; there was much to learn in her defeat. From the physical clash of Noxa and the many golems to the social / psychological dance she between the woman and the Doctor — between it all was valuable insight to be gained.
She didn’t know the term for what she was doing, but a tactician would call it ‘revision’. Someone with a spiritual background would call it ‘meditation’. Either way that is what would occupy a good chunk of her time alone. Once that was done Noxa decided to go exploring the house. She’d try to keep things minimal, but eventually she’d go around opening and closing drawers. She’d go around entering and exiting rooms — save the one he slept in. The woman tried to be relatively discrete, but one could only be so quiet with furniture. If there was a television set Noxa would fumble with it and try to find something to watch.
No matter how else Noxa would go about entertaining herself the end result would be the same: she eventually DID decide to sleep.
Come morning — should Katsu not try to sense her ki — he’d easily think she’d fled. The door was wide open and her form was nowhere to be seen. However, a brief search for Noxa’s aura would tell him exactly where she was. At some point in the night Noxa had decided to sleep, and the best place she found to do so was the chimney. She’d have holed herself up about halfway, her hair wrapping around herself and just enough of the walls to keep herself suspended. She slept in the safe, comfortably confined spot.
Another thing he may or may not have noticed is that all of the doors and drawers of the home were left open and essentially hanging free. The TV — should Doctor Katsu have on in his home — left on in a random channel. The dishes were exactly as he left them — save, of course, having been 'absorbed' clean. Someone with obsessive compulsive disorder may have very well snapped at the scene.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 18:24:26 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 12,300 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted | Current Powerlevel: 3,075 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights/T3 House | @noxa |
Katsu's peaceful sleep was troubled. Not by Noxa however. Not by her wandering through his home, inspecting everything she could, not by her turning on the television and leaving it on, and not even by dreams about her which might have been expected given the sexual tension that was between them. No, despite recent events it wasn't Noxa who occupied Katsu's subconscious mind; his dreams weren't of anything visual or sensual. Only a deep sense of time passing in a dark world, of voices whispering in the blackness, only snatches of words reaching him... “.. retrieved the crown...” A voice, quiet and reserved, in absolute control of themselves...
”..we've waited for?” Hopeful, the voice almost shaking with anticipation. Impatience was clear.
“Patience. What's a few...?” The first voice again, a chastising tone.
”..catastrophe! We should hide...” Fear and Anger, a desperate sense of loss filling every word.
”..chooses it's own, whether or...” A different voice, full of authority that did not expect any argument. The other voices quieted for a moment, listening to the words that Katsu couldn't catch.
Yet there was suddenly a new sensation. The voices had been unaware of Katsu's “presence” before, yet now there was a sense of an eye looking at Katsu. Inspecting him from head to toe, even if he had no discernible anatomy in this endless blackness. “Quiet yourselves. He can hear us.”
More words were spoken, a sense of shock from one of the speakers, but Katsu couldn't hear anything, he found himself slipping out of the blackness, somehow, back towards something closer to normal sleep.Katsu awoke very suddenly, his eyes merely snapping open in a moment. He lay there for several minutes, his mind grasping at... he wasn't sure. Something pertaining to the artifact, something his dreams had told him, but floated away before he could commit it to memory. Finally, he accepted defeat, at least for the moment, and got out of bed. He took a quick shower, dressing himself in fresh clothing, his labcoat back in place where it belonged. Exiting his room revealed the minor chaos that Noxa had decided to unleash upon his home away from home. Every cabinet, drawer, shelf, container of any type had been opened and left. Some things were strewn about the place at random, and the television was on. With a quick sigh Katsu got to ordering everything. It took him much less time to do so than it took Noxa to mess everything up, his telekinesis was a handy tool here, and his memory of his home allowed him to place everything away without hesitation. It took perhaps a minute for each room to look as spotless as Noxa had first found them. Of course Katsu knew Noxa was in his chimney; he never really stopped sensing Ki, it was like hearing or sight. Once you learned how to use the sense it had to be forced off by “closing your eyes” so to speak. But she seemed comfortable enough in there; Katsu was fine with letting her just remain in there. SO with Noxa accounted for and put way by her own choice, and the house clean once more, he moved into the room that he had designated as subject storage, if only so his Recon Probes would place the artifact there. As he moved into the room Katsu stared at the scepter looking object, his eyes looking up at the top, towards the “head” of the weapon, noting the design of the decorations at the top. Something itched at the back of Katsu's mind, but he couldn't get anything from it; just a sense that he should know something already. Which made Katsu stop and think, trying to pull from his memory everything he had been able to learn on the artifact, to see if there was something he had learned that was related to the inkling in the back of his mind. For the second time in an hour Katsu had to admit defeat, merely shaking his head and stepping up to the object, examining it closer. An hour or two later, Katsu was still trying to activate the object, machinery strewn about the room. Most of it was of the sensory variety, trying to give Katsu some kind of readout on the scepter-like artifact. Other machines were for trying to access the object physically, perhaps try and break down the tough obsidian like stone that made up the object... Growling in frustration Katsu ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm himself down. He had to think of this logically. Since the object had been removed from the chamber he hadn't even gotten a response from the object. Yet he could still feel its... presence, its awareness. It was still aware of him; just not answering any queries he gave it. Completely ignoring him, it was maddening to be so close to such a great source of information and not be able to access it!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 20:52:45 GMT
Enjoying her sleep was priority number one. The slumbering woman wouldn’t be up and about at least for three or four hours after Katsu had already begun experimenting with the artifact. The woman took her time. Partly because of the exhaustion of the precious day. Partly because it wasn’t often Noxa found such a comfy place to settle in. Partly because she went to sleep so late. And, of course, partly because Noxa just felt plain lazy that morning. There was, of course, another reason:
Even then Noxa didn’t really want to move. She had been enjoying her dreams. She had absolutely no idea what she was dreaming, but that hadn’t stopped her awareness that it was good. It left the recently-awakened woman reveling in the afterglow of something fun and satisfying. Still, no good Bio Android would sleep ALL day, especially when they’d been so close to so many opportunities; Noxa’s impatience for both SCAR and the artifact’s abilities greatly outweighed her desire to ‘sleep in’.
Tossing and turning, the woman found herself torn between the two desires. The more more she moved the more soot came undone from the walls of the fireplace’s exhaust. Eventually, having noticed just how filthy she was getting, Noxa slid down, popping out from the fireplace along with a billowing cloud of black, that eventually simply created yet another mess for the Doctor to clean up. Noxa coughed, waving a hand from one side to the other to disperse the blackness that gathered. She eventually rose to her feet, dusting the once beautiful pajamas. Now the pink silk was nothing more than a black-stained outfit.
Noxa didn’t much pay attention to that. She looked about, noticing the place was far more organized than what she’d left it as. Her nose rose in the air, sniffing about as she got her bearings on Katsu’s location. Noxa’s bare feet slapped as she made her way to wherever Katsu was holed up in. Noxa reached at her behind, yawning as she slumped off to the doorway just outside of where Katsu was. She didn’t go in. She weighed her options. Noxa looked on way, then another. Her palm pressed against the frame of the entrance before she walked off. She took herself to the bathroom, deciding to once more revisit the shower.
Soot and the like didn’t exactly BOTHER her, but something also told her one wasn’t supposed to be covered with one nor the other while wearing silk pajamas. She moved to the bathroom, her clothes falling along the way before she began laying out all of the products she used the night before. Bleach, Clorox, tooth paste, and plenty of other products mostly unrelated to one another. Noxa, this time, was sure to regulate the water temperature before entering. Once the hot water was running she’d fully indulge herself in the cleanliness rituals of civility.
This time Noxa used the products in a slightly different order, keeping her scent from being as overwhelmingly toxic as the previous night. Instead, this time around, she simply smelled like mint — having squeezed an entire tube of toothpaste into a loofa. The freshness it brought kept her spirits up. Noxa proceeded to leave the bathroom in higher spirits. The silk pajamas had been washed with bleach and were left to dry — the fabric would likely be beyond ruined. Either way Noxa’s form was back to the way it usually was — the same metallic carapace ‘covered’ her body.
Her heels clattered and clicked against the home’s floor; the reinvigorated woman’s head would slide into view, just poking past the door’s frame as Noxa peered into the room Katsu had been tirelessly working at. The Bio Woman got right to the point:
“How goes the ‘thing’?” She wondered, “Any luck?” Noxa hoped for a positive answer if the man was still working at it. “Can’t wait for that magical knowledge n’ stuff…” She paused, “Also, I gave the whole proposal thing some thought.” Her eyes rolled as she pulled and stretched the following word out “IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII,” the rest of the sentence came rather quickly, “Agree to join both your offers. Supreme Council SCAR thing as well as the ‘partner’ bit… Though I’m definitely not going to be living here, underneath this wasteland.”
That would have ABSOLUTELY been a deal breaker — Noxa didn’t want to be holed up here. As much as she enjoyed the aesthetics of this magical underground lava maze Noxa wanted more from her life. She wanted to be where the people are.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 23:37:00 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 12,300 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted | Current Powerlevel: 3,075 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights/T3 House | @noxa |
In the difference of a couple hours Katsu had managed to make a great deal of headway. Or, at least, he had managed to actually get something done compared to his first hour of absolute waste of time. It seemed that the device wasn't being silent in ignorance of Katsu's presence, but was in fact simply incapable of extending its mental voice very far from the surface of the object itself. Apparently the chamber that it had been placed in earlier was a sort of amplifying device for its voice, letting it project it throughout the chamber.. A close inspection of the surface and a new query had been all it took for Katsu to realize this, and after that Katsu was at least able to begin his real study, albeit in a limited fashion.
He merely leaned up against the obsidian scepter as it defied gravity, floating in the air, and mentally asked questions with his datapad in his hand to record the answers. “Name. Purpose. Reason for placement in such a secure location. Creators.”
The responses that Katsu got were varied. It seemed that despite the fact that the object was willing to divulge a lot of information now, there were still some limiters on what it could tell. Its name was simply the Royal Repository, and its purpose was thus to be an archive for Royalty of the State. When asked who the Royalty were the device gave a negative, saying it could not reveal such information to any but the Royalty. It could tell him about the reason it was placed in the “Vault”; which was in order to hide it from any who might misuse the knowledge it contained, but it couldn't tell Katsu about it's creators at all. Any questions even slightly aimed at them was shut down, just as it was with the Royals.
It was both a great step forward and a great block in the path forward. Frustrating to say the least. By the time Katsu was ready to begin questioning the device on something of a more practical nature, like some magical knowledge, was about the time that Noxa entered the room. And it seemed she was interested in talking business immediately, “Accepted? Good. I'm sure Dr Breech and Contagion will be pleased. Well, as pleased as they ever get, they're both rather dour characters. Anyway, allow me to be the first one to welcome you to S.C.A.R. although we're not in a position for me to give you the entrance spiel down here. I'll throw a call over to Dr Breech once we're back amongst the comforts of my real home...” Katsu grinned as he finished the last sentence, hopefully noting a bit of difference in Noxa's additude
He would go on to explain a bit about the comment, “You didn't think this was my real home, did you? I have a mansion in the Mount Paozu area, far away from anything except lush wilderness. If you need to hunt for something big to fill your appetite then Mount Paozu is the area, and you can always simply fly over to South City if you're looking for sociable company. It's where I have all of my equipment as well, everything here is just enough to run an expedition.”
Turning back to his original work Katsu began compiling the limited amount of data that he had been able to glean so far from the object, ”As for this thing, I've learned some basics, but there appears to be a lockout on a lot of information. Keeps saying it can only divulge certain information to Royalty of the State... maybe I should just pop a crown on my h...” Katsu felt that prickling at the back of his mind again, having said the word that his sub-conscious had captured from his dream before. Looking up at the top of the scepter-like artifact Katsu stared closely at the crown-like head. It was as if a cloud had lifted from his vision, because up to this point he could not see the fact that the Crown was made to be removed from the obsidian. It was not all one piece.
“Oh for the love of was it that easy?” Katsu stepped up to the object, taking the crown in both hands, and Noxa would be able to hear his voice in her head as he telepathically spoke a single command, ”Release!”
With a sudden click the crown came free in Katsu's hands. The golden tips and grand appearance melted away, revealing a simple band of iron just the right size to place around Katsu's head. Hefting the small crown in his hands he noted that the obsidian rock had falled to the ground slowly, coming to rest on it's side without making a noise. “Well, uh. At least it's a lot more portable like this. I didn't expect a Repository to in the shape of a crown...”
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 1:20:54 GMT
It wasn’t long after Noxa began to observe the scene; it wasn’t long after she’d posed her question that the woman decided to straighten up. She walked through the door. Katsu would be explaining himself, his situation, and SCAR while Noxa approached. Finally, she came to stop three or four feet just off to his side. She shifted her weight from one leg to another. One of Noxa’s armored hands pressed at her right hip, her own weight finally settling over her right leg. A soft sigh escaped her lips. She had nothing better to do. Her arm rose, bending back as for her hand to massage her neck and upper back.
While Katsu spoke Noxa found that her gaze wasn’t on him, but the object. She hadn’t had a chance to look at it up close just yet — it truly was a bizarre little thing. The word ‘scepter’ came to her mind, but she wasn’t exactly sure why. It was a common occurrence with her, considering just how much of her knowledge had been imprinted instead of learned through traditional means. Truly a pain.
Noxa’s nose wriggled, finally looking up to meet his eye when the Doctor’s grinning visage turned to her. She had questions; she had comments. None of them were voiced, for now. She’d come to learn that Katsu often had a lot to say, so instead of simply cutting him off a lot she’d just give her full rundown at the end.
She had plenty of them so far.
To Katsu it may or may not seem like Noxa had gone a little ‘silent’. After all she often was very responsive in their conversations — or at least had been to this point. Now, however, she was quiet. The word ‘pensive’ could easily have been conjured to explain her overall demeanor. Pose, attitude, expression.
The Bio Woman truly tuned into his words — focusing again on the object, which Doctor Katsu had begun to explain. Information. That’s what this was all about? Noxa wasn’t exactly sure if she should be disappointed about this or not. It subsequently meant no instant gratification, but it was just as Katsu had previously predicted — there was certainly a judgement to be done here. Should Noxa come to the ultimate conclusion that it was all for naught? That the adventure was meaningless just because the acquired scepter’s power was more intellectual than physical? Maybe. Then again, that loosely seemed to be the premise of this ‘excavation’ since the beginning, so if anything Noxa wasn’t DISAPPOINTED. Just… The same.
“Eureka?” Noxa teased, watching as the man paused mid sentence. The woman could essentially see the gears turning in his head. It was almost comical, causing her lips to curl into a smile. The woman tried to lower her arching eyebrows and tone down the overall expression. Noxa didn’t want to come off as though she was making fun of him — a social interaction she was all too familiar with thanks to the animosity of her home planet.
“A crown, huh?” Noxa’s expression had melted back down to something more akin to ‘normal’, though soon enough she was squinting and smirking — preparing one of her little asides. “Well, I’m glad to be present for your coronation, Lord Katsu.” Her tone was definitely jovial — a quick, amicable jab at Katsu.
“Well, your highness, I hope your rule isn’t too strict. I’d hate to be subjugated by a ‘dour’ king. Especially considering that’s what my future employers seem to be like.” Noxa found herself bending over, leaning in to get a better view of the band that now sat on Katsu’s head.
Her smart alec attitude dropped instantly, being replaced by slight confusion.
“So, you feel any different? Powerful? Wise?” A leaf bladed tendril moved around the woman, scratching her cheek. After a brief moment of examination Noxa pulled back, straining herself. She reached up, stretching and yawning. “Well, if that’s the case you better share.”
With a swift turn Noxa was already found making an exit for the room, not so much as giving him time to directly answer any of her questions. Strangely enough she was still posing more of them, her voice raising just a little with every step she took, making sure he could hear her as she made her way to the kitchen.
“So, we are moving to this ‘Mt. Paozu? Never heard of it! I don’t have to come with you, right?” Noxa double checked, “I can just meet you there?”
Despite Noxa’s spelunking of the previous night the woman still found herself opening the fridge and looking for some quick snack. It didn’t matter if the fridge was full or empty the previous evening — she still checked.
While rummaging through the contents of the fridge, and if necessary a few cabinets, Noxa’s head turned to what the man had said about the syndicate. The way he’d described the head honchos made it seem as though there was very little room to fuck around. A serious place for serious people. How would Noxa fit there? One thing she was sure of: she had never been successfully serious in a social situation. That, of course, was likely born out of her lack of awareness when it came to the topic. Between social contracts, politics, or people, Noxa was rather naive.
This, of course, was the reason she’d decided to make integration her goal. The area she fell short: people, alliances. In her mind if she was able to mingle, live among them inconspicuously — even for a short while…
Her eyes narrowed, still searching for something to eat.
SCAR definitely would’ve been a very direct answer to one of the shortcomings that worried Noxa; SCAR easily would’ve solved her ‘ally’ situation. And, maybe, in the long term, SCAR could also help her better understand people. Noxa had been able to trust her instincts up to this point, but that wouldn’t carry her long. Without a doubt there would come a time when Noxa would have to be smart about her actions. That is exactly what she hoped to gain from Katsu’s proposed ordeal.
“When are we blowing this joint?” Noxa found herself asking rather impatiently.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2016 0:32:17 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 12,300 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted | Current Powerlevel: 3,075 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights/T3 House | @noxa |
Katsu felt absolutely stupid in that short moment; Noxa had every right to have an amused grin and a giggle on her face. It just felt like it should have been so obvious. Frowning in embarrassment, Katsu wondered under his breath, “How did I miss something so simple before?”
It seemed that Katsu and Noxa were in for a surprise just then, because the crown, which was more of a simple circlet now, began to speak out loud for the both of them to hear! ”The Royal Repository when in storage projects a field of null-thought targeting anything to do with a crown, headgear, or dis-attachment. You missed this clue because you were made to.”
Katsu blinked a few times, “Before you couldn't even whisper in my mind from a foot away, now you can speak?”
”Parameters for Royalty of the State have been met. I respond to your queries.” responded the voice of the little circlet in Katsu's hands.
Sighing a bit, whether in frustration, relief, or something else it was hard to tell, but Katsu turned his attention back to Noxa soon, “Yes. Mount Paozu is my home. Here, I'll just give you a GPS system and it'll point you right at my home. I'm not worried about people finding it; it's not a secret place like any of the other bases SCAR has. Emissary, remember? It's best for me to be open and free with my home and projects.” Katsu moved to one of the storage drawers in the room, pulling out a small device. It had a screen and some button on the side, and was small enough to fit in a pocket. After a bit of fiddling with it Katsu handed it over to Noxa. It would have a basic on off switch; the other buttons didn't work, and when turned on it would give a direction to go towards and a distance, which was in the several thousands of miles at this point. Mount Paozu was really far away!
]“But, before you go... you've never had bacon, have you?” Katsu smiled at Noxa as he placed the crown on his head, if only because it felt right at the moment. He moved towards the kitchen, prompting grabbing at the packaged meat in the bottom, slipping it out of Noxa's grasp with telekinesis if he had to. “Eggs and Bacon. Breakfast of Champions.”
Katsu would begin cooking up just what he had said, including some toast and a big tall glass of ice cold milk for him and Noxa. When he finished, which didn't take very long at all. Katsu would place a half dozen over easy eggs, a full pound of bacon, and several slabs on buttered toast on Noxa's plate. “Now, don't look at this as something nutrient heavy; it's all for the taste this time around. It's not even augmented, but I think you'll like it just the same...”
Smiling still, Katsu would sit down across from Noxa for the last time in that little house, awaiting to see what her reaction to “meat candy” was. He didn't think he was going to be disappointed at all, given how naive of human culture Noxa was. As for her, she was in for a treat indeed!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2016 8:27:39 GMT
Noxa had been staring at the circlet, not so much as mentioning anything else. She wasn’t sure what it was about the artifact, but it certainly was rather pretty! The vein thought came and went with just as little of of a warning. At least it could speak now, even if it didn’t say anything particularly interesting to Noxa she was sure it would help Doctor Karsu in his examination of the object; which, in the end, would’ve been beneficial to the both of them.
“Gee… Pee… ess?” Her words were very slow, as she phonetically dissected what Katsu had just said. She didn’t understand the terminology, so she simply waited until the object was already in her hands. Upon receiving the device Noxa fiddled with it a bit, her armored talons taping away at the screen and pushing in the buttons — careful not to break the thing. She had understood that Earthly technology was delicate — VERY delicate.
Noxa, having notice that some of the buttons weren’t working found herself flaring at the thing. “Buttons on.” She instructed. Nothing happened. The small device was brought closer to her lips and she ordered in a louder voice. “All the buttons: work!” With a little more fiddling Noxa sighed. “It’s broken, but at least it’ll show me how to get where I need to.” The redhead rose the decide near her temples, where a few strands took hold of the device. It wasn’t long before it sunk somewhere beneath the scarlet mane that ran down her back.
Not long after Noxa’s search for food she would answer Katsu’s question: Noxa had never had bacon. The word alone kind of disgusted her. She wasn’t sure why, but ‘ba-con’ sounded like something someone scrunched up from a gutter or another devious location.
The woman found herself half-heatedly walking to the table, taking a seat. An elbow dug into the table, the respective hand being pressed against Noxa’s chin. The crooked-sitting woman stared at Katsu as he began cooking preparations.
“So, about these ‘SCAR’ guys you mentioned. Do they have names? Can you give me some info about them? When do you think we can get this ball moving? I’d love to get my proverbial foot in the door as soon as possible.” Noxa gave a heavy sigh, her her free hand’s talons drumming on her meaty thighs. “How’d you join them, anyway? I figured you’d be some professor or full-time scientist, not an embassador to some cabal.”
It wasn’t until the unique aura of a bacon breakfast hit Noxa that her entire system was set to full attention. "W-what is that fantastic aroma?” She demanded, referring to the pound of bacon and eggs what was soon slapped down on her plate. Her question was answered. Noxa dug in, eating like a ravenous beast. Noxa ate with her hands, completely indulging herself into arguably Earth’s most popular dish.
Despite the savagery of her appetite Noxa was still thoroughly enjoying her meal, even though it wasn’t exactly as nutrient packed as the previous buffets Katsu served. By the time the woman had finished with her plate she would already be eyeing the toast and the milk; every single one of her fingers were brought to her lips, all residual flavor being sucked out before she decided to gobble down the bread.
That part Noxa figured was just ‘okay’. Naturally she didn’t see the advantage of soaking up yolk with it, as she had likely already done with her own absorption abilities.
It wasn’t until Noxa had reached for the milk that a pause came to her ravenous consumption. The white substance came near Noxa’s face before she began registering traces of hormones in the milk, her mind ‘clicking' what the purpose of this substance was.
“What do I need this for?” Questioned the woman, raising the tall glass of milk. The face that looked at Katsu was a perfect display of befuddlement.
Independent of the wiseman’s response that too would go down the hatch, washing down the entire meal.
“I have to admit: Earth’s food is, without a doubt, the best thing I’ve ever experienced. I can’t believe it has taken me two whole weeks to discover these wonderful treasures.”
The woman found her two hands resting over her exposed belly as she slumped back on her chair. Her legs would cross and be placed just besides the plate, coming in with a soft ‘thud’ on the table. Noxa looked to Katsu’s face far beyond the cross of her heels.
“Anyting else we should discuss about SCAR? I’d love to pounce on this opportunity whenever I get the chance. Meet the figures you mentioned and finally cement my place within the organization. Or, well, at least make my application.”
Her hands patted her fully belly for a little while, a mindless gestures as Noxa both listen to the Doctor’s responses and pondered just how true Katsu’s descriptions of the ‘head honchos’ had been. The Bio Woman’s fingers came to lock behind her head as she readjusted her position slightly. She doubted they’d be as intimidating as he painted them. Surely these were just bankers or scientists scheming away at a world they’d long forsworn — or a world that had forsworn them.
Either way, Noxa found it hard to imagine anything more and grouchy old men in business suits or lab coats. star
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2016 17:32:11 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 12,300 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted | Current Powerlevel: 3,075 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights/T3 House | @noxa Contagion Dr. Breech |
Katsu was amused at Noxa's rather childish attempts to get the GPS device to work normally. He watched her fiddle with it with a smile on his face, trying not to let a little laugh out at the situation. It was almost adorable. Of course Katsu wasn't the kind to torture someone so he explained what had happened to the device. “I did that on purpose, Noxa. You seem a bit of a novice when it comes to Earth tech, so I just made it as simple as possible to prevent anything bad happening. No offense aimed at you, but it seemed the easiest way.”
As for her question about the names of those in SCAR Katsu didn't answer until after they had already gotten down their wonderful eggs and bacon. Noxa's question about the milk got a quick response of, “It's cow milk. It contains fat and sugar and proteins. Healthy stuff; drink it already.” Katsu would of course down his own glass of milk at the same time as a show of confidence in his choice of beverage. He'd always loved the taste of milk. Full milk, not that 2% or skim crap. Soy milk was an abomination against nature and tasted nothing like milk to Katsu. He didn't touch that stuff after his first experimental tasting.
Back to the situation at hand, Katsu was finally asked once more about SCAR, and after a moment where Katsu soaked up the egg yolk on his plate with his toast and ate that, he dusted the crumbs from his fingers, swallowed, and responded, “Mmm. Well, I do need to give Dr Breech a status report soon anyway and get updates from them. You can stay and be part of the conversation..
“Not all scientists are stuck in labs poring over piles of data all day long, Noxa. Some of us actually go out and about to collect our data samples, to learn new things in person. Dr Breech and I are very hands-on in our fields. Dr Breech has an entire army of his androids that he has made thus far, and he continues to make more, improving the designs and creating new ones altogether. Amongst the members of SCAR he's the most pro-active in getting things done. He went searching for a batch of Resillium that was ready for use. I happened to acquire some beforehand. He found me, I handed over the Resillium because I felt he was the best one to utilize it, and he invited me into the group.” Katsu stood up from the table as he spoke to Noxa, moving over to the kitchen sink in order to clean up the dishes he had dirtied for the meal, by hand for once.
He finished the dishes just as he finished his previous paragraph of speech and moved on towards the exit, motioning for Noxa to follow him as he moved, continuing his answering of Noxa's questions about the other member of SCAR, “Contagion is our defacto leader. He's a Bio-Android. Oh, and speaking of Dr Breech, he was once human but turned himself into and android to avoid dying of old age. Anyway, Contagion is an amalgam of a number of different species with Demon as his core, tying everything together. His personality is sadistic and cruel, but more focused on getting things done than indulging in the pain he can cause. His body is sort of like a living liquid, but he can solidify into humanoid shapes. His normal form seems to be based on a hedgehog Zoan, likely one of the scientists that worked on his project. I think he likes stabbing things with the quills.”
Having moved into the next room Katsu passed straight through it, ignoring the instruments, and moved over towards a wall. A certain spot pressed and the wall shifted aside, revealing a control panel. Pressing one of the many buttons on it, the entirety of the house vanished in a moment! Everything around Noxa and Katsu except for themselves suddenly vanished, sucked into a tiny capsule that Katsu snatched out of the air. They were still within the underground cavern, and Katsu turned away from Noxa, back towards the hallway that led to the surface. The fiery orbs that lit the place up were quickly shoved aside by Katsu's telekinesis, and he moved quickly as he spoke, soon reaching the bottom of the great hole that led to the surface. The probes that he had encountered on his way back were all quickly capsulized and stored away by Katsu as he had moved.
“Zyajin is our Master of War. He's a complete war-driven individual. He's also a Bio-Android, although far more humanoid looking than Contagion. He's apparently been created to be a weapon against the Saiyans, but well, their invasion came earlier than a lot of groups could prepare for, so I assume he isn't finished. I'm not too sure, neither Contagion or Zyajin will let me look at their DNA to see what I can find. Perhaps they think I'd enslave them or something if I had access to their data like that. Anyway Zyajin is also very focused; he has a soldier's mindset, but he's more tolerant of uhm.... normal human mentality than Contagion is. I know he's got someone helping him on his own projects, although I've not met them.”
There really was a lot to talk about when it came to the leaders of SCAR, Noxa might get the idea that Katsu was giving her the truncated version of all he knew on them. They were unique people after all; with their various goals and purposes and methods and histories. Far too much information to relay anywhere close to efficiently with speech alone. Of course after his speech Katsu began leaping up the sides of the chasm, gracefully touching down against the rocky edge of the wall before flying up another twenty meters to bounce off the wall once more. His hands were behind his back, an unconcerned gaze ensuring that he touched down in just the perfect place for him to have stable footing to leap from once more. Soon enough Katsu was up and out of the chasm, capsulizing his last Recon Probe, taking out the capsule containing his house, and expanding it out onto the surface of the rocky plains of the Gizard Wasteland.
A short trip back into the house and Katsu would lead Noxa into the bedroom, pressing a button on the wall. A two-way hologram projector expanded from it's storage in the wall, and Katsu began fiddling with the controls, merely remarking on Noxa's possible curiosity of why he had done all of this just to end up back in the same house, “If you're wondering why I moved the house up here. Reception. The rocks in that cavern completely scramble most forms of communication equipment. I couldn't reach the Doctor from there, so I had to come up here.”
Katsu would continue fiddling with the controls, beginning to bring up a star chart, aiming it closer and closer towards a certain planet to talk with some certain, and this term would be used loosely, people...
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