Crash

[blooddebt]

(OOC: Have I ever mentioned how much I lurve dashes? Oh grammar! Give me thine hand!)

Acid paused in the middle of gulping down the delicious substance (his robotic parts may have just needed wire replacements and a drop of oil, but his stomach told him he had flesh to feed) and looked up at Sandstorm, amazed that he hadn't thought of that before. In actuality, he had - Acid just didn't have a very good memory.

"Um, I guess so," he muttered, and focused inwards, diving into the murky depths of the blank space that the five of them lived in; in the moments of thought between time - and the only place they existed.

Uh - G?, Acid began, unsure of how to ask the fellow inhabitant of his body to explain.

Yes? G sounded a little irritated, and 'Ciddy started to falter in his quest.

Well - uhm... Sandy - I mean, Storm (that name always slipped on his tongue - twelve year-olds were just -attuned- to cute things) said...

I know, Acid, G cut in crisply. I'm not deaf.

"So will you?" murmured the small boy, giving into the 'speak-out-loud' instinct. G grumbled for a second, then gave in, commanding Acid to take his place and taking control of the body they all shared.

"You wish to know what is going on? Unless you want nightmares for the rest of your life, I suggest you rethink your request. I am required to do as Acid commands, as he holds the power, but note I do not acquiesce willingly." His speech delivered, G34 sat back, ignoring the tantalizing food that lay only inches away on the table before him.

[Lee Stone]

(OOC: You are....completely insane. You know that, right?)

"Buddy, I've been living in a nightmare my entire life." Storm scowled. "Cut the dramatics, G. I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that the Blockers made you...this way, am I right? Because if I am I would like to know what your purpose is. Why the hell you have five alters in your head and metal limbs. Why you were crashed out in the middle of the fucking wasteland and why the hell one of you has suggested killing me?!"

She stared down at the boy's face, who had suddenly become more mature looking. Harder, colder even. It hurt her to see any kid looking like that. All this weirdness was giving her a major headache.

[blooddebt]

(OOC: Of course I knew! How did it take you this long? )

G had felt he owed her a warning, for taking him in. Now that obligation was gone. He smiled coldly at her - nobody ever knew the extent of the operations and the pain he had gone through.

"You are right, Sandstorm," he said with a tightly, "in thinking that the Blockers made me." His eyes darkened and flashed warningly, and he deliberately retracted the fake covering over his mechanical eye.

"I am an experiment. A clone. I have never known family, only the Blockers. They are my mother and father, my sisters and brothers," he hissed, "am I am one of them." He stood, and slammed his chair aside, ignoring it as it crashed into the wall and shattered into shards of stone that clattered noisily to the floor.

"I am made for one purpose, and one purpose only - to kill all psychics." Acid cried out, far back in the place in his mind, but the adrenaline rushing through his body gave him the energy he needed to keep a grip on his body. He strode round the table to face the older teenager, staring right into her eyes.

"I have been trained - I have endured pain to make me more resistant to it. I have had my arm cut off and replaced to make me stronger. Yet, as I was sent here, my pod malfunctioned, and I was forced to make an emergency landing in the Wasteland. As a result, I was split, although the others refuse to admit it and I AM G34," he spat. A shudder ran through his body, the other four all banging at his weakened defenses, bringing him back, letting Acid in once again.

[Lee Stone]

Sandstorm shuddered in terror and shrank away from G, her knees clattering together under the table. Her tough facade had been shattered by the power in G's voice. She hadn't really expected him to look so threatening. How could a twelve-year-old boy possibly have so much cold rage in his eyes? ...or eye rather. She'd seen that one was a mechanical eye like his arm.

She felt angry and betrayed that he was a Blocker agent, but at the same time, when she saw G fade from Acid's eyes and the young boy return to his body, her heart went out to him. "Acid..?" She squeaked tentatively, making sure that it was really him that was in control now. "Please don't let G come through anymore. Or Tom. They're kinda scary."

[blooddebt]

"Um, okay," Acid whispered, trying to adjust his vocal chords to his normal unbroken voice. It had scared him too. G was the strongest, the best of all of them. When Acid hadn't been able to retain his body, he had felt himself being sucked into G34. Luckily, the four had rallied, pushing with all their might against G's furious force, resisting the strange need to become one with him.

"I mean - I can keep Tom out," he backtracked. "But I don't know about G. He's kinda... getting stronger. He wants this body back." What was he saying? The body was Acid's! Not G's! Why were they starting to defer to G, acquiescing to his demands?

Tell her I apologize, the mechman's disembodied voice ordered. I do not intend to kill her unless given cause. She has, after all, saved us. However, if she uses her psychic powers, I cannot say what will happen. It will set off the trigger mechanism and not even you, Acid, will be able to control it. G seemed to have calmed down - maybe all his anger had been used up from a few seconds ago. Acid sincerely hoped so. He relayed G's speech to Storm, reciting word for word in an instinctive schoolboy stance.

You shouldn't have scared her like that, Carrie reproached, motherly instincts to the fore.

Well if Acid there can't and won't tell the truth, I will! he retorted, making the accused cringe slightly.

It's not true though, Kar rationalized. I know I'm not part of you. Acid felt the first tendrils of doubt creep through his mind - if they were different personalities, then why had they felt such a strong pull to bond with G? He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

[Lee Stone]

"Okay..." Storm said in response to G's apology. She still didn't like him though. She preferred to keep Acid present. He was a sweet little kid.

"So what now?" She wondered. "What are you going to do?" If Acid was some kind of Blocker experiment, then should he go back to them? Storm didn't really like that option. She'd been raised with a fear and mistrust of the Blockers since she was young, and with good reason. But Acid wasn't like that. He was just a kid.

Would the Blockers come looking for him? She didn't like that option either. If they came looking for him they would find her as well.

She could always try to hide him and hope that G or Tom didn't come forward and try to kill her or...well, she didn't want to know what Tom would attempt. Argh! She wasn't good at these kinds of decisions! She needed a break.

"You...make yourself at home," She told Acid. "I need to go play with my tools for a while."

[blooddebt]

(OOC: Sorry to have taken so long, I've been away. Warning: Tom uses strong language, as in accordance with his character.)

-

Acid pouted at Sandstorm's retreating back, wishing he could play with the tools she mentioned. He'd never played with anyone - or anything, for that.

Come, dear, Carrie offered I'll teach you a game. He acquiesced happily, passing over the body to Kar - the only one able since Tom was untrustworthy, and G requested to stay out.

Kar lifted new hands to her face, smoothing over each nuance of the face she saw through. Skin darker, smoother, than hers had ever been met slightly calloused fingertips. She dug in hard with nails that were not hers, trying to find the face under the skin, her face, the one that grown, changed, matured with her for sixteen years.

You're not gonna find anything, Tom pointed out cruelly. This shit-ass body is twelve. Probably can't even get it on properly.

Shut up, Kar hissed at her twin, digging grooves into petite cheeks, gouging into pale flesh with muscled hands. Shut up shut up shutupshutup.

G looked on in detachment, but she didn't care. Blood ran down her fingers as she desperately scratched at her face - it wasn't hers, though. The red liquid ran down her fingers, the pain somehow rationalizing her existence, proving that she was real, verifying that she was not just a split part of a whole - she couldn't be. She was Kar. But where was she? Where was her body. Tears tracked down her face, mixing with the wounds she had inflicted herself, making it seem as though she was crying blood.

Girls, was Tom's disgusted comment. Both Carrie and G were oblivious. G watched.

Her hands dropped to the table, realizing the futility of the task she had assigned herself. Crimson tears dripped onto the black top proclaiming 'G34'; dark spots of color marring the cool dark of shadow and night; splashing down and destroying the unanimity of the singlet. She knew she was real. She had to be real. Yet still, she cried.

[Lee Stone]

Storm sat slumped over her workbench, lazily dragging a small screwdriver across the cold surface. A large fan hummed in the corner, although it didn't help with the heat much. But Storm wasn't paying much attention to the heat. It was always hot in the wasteland. Her mind was too preoccupied with Acid tyo notice.

How had such a strange and unique boy ended up in her home? And what was she supposed to do with him? Taking him back to the Blockers was out of the question. Even if that was what he wanted to do, there was no way Storm could help him if he wanted to go back to killing psychics for them.

She thought she heard some noise from the other room where Acid was, but she ignored it as she tried to figure out what she was going to do with him.

"I could always just do nothing," She mumbled to herself. "Just do nothing and let him hang aroud here until he leaves." She had no doubt that eventually Acid would leave on his own. Probably one of his alters would make him do it. That was likely for the best. He couldn't hang around or she would be caught as well.

"ARGH!" She roared suddenly. "I'm so sick and tired of people trying to kill me!!"

[blooddebt]

((OOC: I'm BACK! *gasp*))

Acid flinched involuntarily, hearing Storm's enraged shout even through the closed door. Then her words sunk in, and he gasped. Other people had tried to kill her? That couldn't be good. She had helped him... what would he do if something happened to her?

You would die, G's flat voice informed him. We would. The desert is impossible to survive in at this stage. We need to learn more before I could guide you through. I need at least a day to study our surroundings. Or we could steal that motorbike - but I doubt you want to do that.

Not that you'd be able to do anything, Tom sneered. No wonder that people try to kill her anyway. Stupid bit- A combined mental blow stunned the twisted teen into silence. It was amazing how he had managed to offend three people in the space of one sentence - Carrie with his profanity, G with his accusation of incompetence, and Acid for simply undermining Storm. Acid was developing an unhealthy attachment with Sandstorm - rather like the bond between a duck and her ducklings. Waves of pain emanated from his aura - after all, being hit several times on the head tends to hurt at least a little, and the bond between these five meant they hurt each other all the more.

Tom hissed slowly, holding his head in his hands. He backed away, acquiescing for now.

G34 and Carrie whispered to each other, out of Acid's hearing, quickly coming to an agreement. Carrie, being the motherly figure she was, simply wished for the wellbeing of all of them, and indebted to Sandstorm for the rescue that she had initiated. After all, here on Earth, strangers were still strangers, and many would have left Acid out there to die and for the rain to scour his bones of flesh. G nodded to Carrie's proposal - protect Storm. It was self-preservation, from his point of view. As long as the psychic didn't use her powers.

"Sandstorm?" Acid pushed the door open a little, peeking through to see whether it was a good time to interrupt her thoughts. His following dialog was a mix of his own words and prompting from G and Carrie. "I - I mean, we wanted to let you know... we don't want to kill you. We'll leave if you want us to, but we'd die in the desert. And - who are the other people who tried to kill you?"

[Lee Stone]

Sandstorm blinked in shock when Acid entered her workspace. It took her a few seconds to comprehend what he'd said. 'He's not going to kill me...he wants to know who else has tried to kill me...? He doesn't really understand, does he?'

Storm sighed sadly and slid around in her seat to face him straight on. "I'm glad to hear you won't try to kill me." She said with a small smile, "As for the others...well, don't you know about the Blockers? They try to kill all psychics. It's what they do. They don't understand our powers, they're scared of us, so they try to kill us. I've had run ins with them a couple times before, and they're nasty as hell." She shuddered when she thought of how narrowly she had escaped the last time she'd come across them on a supply run to The Ruined City. It wasn't a situation she would ever want to be in again. She quickly shook her head clear of the memory.

"Anyway, don't worry about that for now, okay? The Blockers don't really stay long enough in this wasteland to bother anybody. It's too dangerous, even for them."

[blooddebt]

“Too dangerous” was right – there was no doubt that the Blockers, without the advanced technology that their body was installed with, would surely die in the Wasteland with its violently erratic weather and unchanging landscape. There was something strange that messed up G34's navigational instincts. As if to reinforce this, a digital message scrolled across his eye (one that they all could see, but only he could read), giving the confused instruction that North was underneath the floorboards - obviously wrong. Perhaps it was the radioactive atmosphere that was messing with his senses. The storm had probably ionised the surrounding atmosphere – he would have to either whip up a receiver and hack into any passing satellite, or rely on some old technology that wasn’t affected. But that was beside the point.

“They’d kill you because you’re different?” asked Acid, puzzled. From his childlike point of view, it seemed a ludicrous reason to kill someone because they were different. Even his eyes were different from one another – did that mean he would be a target?

No, G34 reassured him. The Blockers don’t mind body differences, Acid. It’s the mind. Psychics are unstable beings seeking to topple the government. With their unfair advantage over the rest of the human race, they want to set up a dictatorship and kill off anyone who’s not got the same sort of power. By the end of that speech, G’s voice had taken on the flat tone of a passage learned by rote. He blinked, once, trying to digest the contents of what he had just said.

After what seemed like a brief struggle with himself, G then added: Though Sandstorm does not look particularly deranged or anti-government.

Another pause.

Yet.