Sighting in the Junkyards (Open)

[#PI077A "Adia"]

Adia was the first to arrive at the junkyards; released from her cage to investigate a suspicion of remnants in the area. It was a common occurrence; the junkyards were a dump where most of the trash ended up, trash meaning both the worst of people, and the trash you throw on the ground. There were about 150 most unfortunate souls here who lived in a shanty town made of the type of garbage you throw on the ground, and to be perfectly honest, they all looked like remnants, even though they weren’t, at least not yet; in their condition, they’d be more than vulnerable in an attack, which is why stopping a remnant here could be crucial.

Adia had been here before, on missions past, since remnant sightings here were often falsely reported in. People here didn’t talk much, they were afraid, even of New Children; no-one seemed to care about them unless remnants were sighted, a shame. She was almost always one to go to the junkyards; because of her enhanced sense of smell, she could pick out a remnant from the crowds. She didn’t smell any yet, at least she was pretty sure she didn’t; but she wouldn’t be able to tell until some-one gave the population here the orders to line-up for inspection, an order she had no authority to give.

Until that order came, it was her job to search around the area, where people didn’t normally go; it was the easiest place to get in and out of from the outside world, due to its condition. She always wondered: what if she just left; finding one of those many barely visible exits that remnants seemed to keep finding… or making, would by more than easy for her to sniff out. As she got lost in her thought, she stopped moving, and stared out over the junkyard from a hill of trash and useless junk.

[SHAKAYA JOHANNE]

♟ But You'd Look So Much Better inside out ♟

☙ Shakaya grimaced slightly as she made her way through the junkyard. She hated this place. She would much rather have spent her time with Amaranth and her research, but she needed to check up on the investigations here. There were frequent Remnant sightings reported in the area, but it was likely that many of them were false. This time she really wanted to make sure that the sighting was either confirmed or proven.

☙ The place made her skin crawl, though. She couldn't help but stare at some of the people as she passed by, their faces and clothes covered with grime and their bodies thin. The Southern District...it was hard to believe that Amaranth had been born in conditions like this. For the most part, they ignored her, but she realized that a few of the civilians were staring at her, as well. Maybe some of them recognized her as a General. It was a rare day when anyone from the government showed up here, and many of the people here didn't exactly have the highest opinions of them.

☙ She just looked away, wanting to get all this over with quickly. As she got further into the junkyard, she finally caught sight of one of the New Children who'd been sent here.

☙ She strode up to her, trying to remember that New Child's number. That was #PI077A, wasn't it? She grimaced. She couldn't stand New Children, but as a General, it was part of her job to be able to recognize the infantry members.

☙ "Any progress yet? Have you concluded anything?" She asked simply as she approached, her voice business-like and cold.

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[#PI077A "Adia"]

Adia scanned the piles of garbage as she was lost in her head; looking for either any trace of a remnant, or a place where one might be hiding. Her eyes became focussed on what looked like a small shack made from some pannelling and a few pieces of discarded, rotten, lumber. As she tried to find some sign of life near by, the would be hide-out collapsed and then blended in with the rest of the terrain.

“Maybe it’s a tunnel,” she thought to herself; she had seen them before, where remnants dig into the garbage and leave way to collapse it and hide their trails. She thought that it might very well be a remnants exitway to the wastelands, and thought about running for it. It would work, if she was cought, she’d just be doing her job.

Before she could react, she heard Shakaya’s voice behind her, and let out a sigh of discouragement. “It wouldn’t have worked,” she then concluded in her thoughts, “Even if I could have gone through it to the outside world, I’d likely die out there… or the tunnel could easily collapse on me, and crush me.”

As she came back to reality, Adia turned to look at Shakaya. “General,” she greeted her as she saw a general’s insignia on her uniform, “At a pass through here, I couldn’t find anything, but I won’t know for sure until I can check everyone in a line-up.”

After she had said that, she turned and started walking down the hill of trash towards Shakaya. “They may also be hiding out, in which case, I’d have trouble finding them due to all the trash; and of course, it’s possible that they could have already escaped, if there were any of them here at all.”

She pointed out towards the piles of junk, “Out there, I saw something collapse,” she finished her report to the general, “It could have been a remnant’s tunnel, but even so, it’d probably be gone by now.”

[SHAKAYA JOHANNE]

♟ But You'd Look So Much Better inside out ♟

☙ Shakaya grimaced slightly as the New Child reported that she hadn't initially found anything yet on her pass through. It took all the woman's restraint not to kick or slap her, but abusing or taunting the infantry member wouldn't get the job done any faster. There was a time and a place for everything. "Useless vermin." She just muttered under her breath instead, unsure of whether the New Child would've heard her or not. She didn't really care either way.

☙ She tuned back in, though, as she kept speaking, looking out in the direction the infantry member pointed. ...Something collapsed? With all the constantly growing piles of junk, that wasn't something terribly unusual, but what she was saying she supposed could be a possibility, too. "Very well. If there was a chance that there was a tunnel, that also means there was a chance that we did have a break in down here. Follow me, and I'll order the civilians to line-up for inspection. Afterwards make sure you examine them all thoroughly." She turned, gesturing for the New Child to follow as she started walking.

☙ As she kept padding forward, she gave out orders to each citizen to line-up, as well. She watched carefully, making sure no one resisted. She couldn't help a slight smirk - sometimes she really did enjoy her power as a General.

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[#PI077A "Adia"]

Adia turned back as the general spoke, “Vermin,” she thought, “Is she talking about me or the remnants?” She decided not to care, since she couldn’t do much anything about it if she was talking about her. As Shakaya kept speaking, Adia listened for her next orders. She followed the general down the piles of junk, back into the shanty town.

When the civilians there began to gather, Adia began to sniff the air. As she got closer to the crowd of people, she cought onto something, and grinned a bit; about 10 feet away, she could already tell what and who it was, and she moved at a casual pace so she could get close to him without setting off an alarm. When she was right next to her target, she thrust her hand forwards swiftly and wrapped her arm around the remnant’s neck, pulling him face down into the ground.

She pinned him there and held him still while she looked back up to Shakaya, “He’s one of them, I’m sure of it.” she said quickly, pushing against the creature’s back and holding him as still as she could. As she held him there, Adia waited and wondered if she would get the order to kill him, or if the general had other plans. “This has to be the easiest catch I’ve ever had,” she thought, “Either this guy is really weak, or I’m getting better at this… Maybe soon… I will be able to survive on my own if I wanted to try and escape.”

[SHAKAYA JOHANNE]

♟ But You'd Look So Much Better inside out ♟

☙ The New Child began scenting the air as the civilians gathered. Shakaya noticed a grin all at once come across the infantry soldier's features - had she found something? The General crossed her arms and waited.

☙ At first, she showed no difference in her behavior as she casually moved through the line-up. But, without warning, she suddenly thrust her hands forward towards a man as she reached him, grabbing him by the neck in almost a single movement as she pinned him down. Shakaya blinked, admittedly impressed. Very few infantry members showed such skill in these situations - usually investigations like this were followed by some kind of chase or conflict, but she already had this subject restrained.

☙ Making it her policy to never praise New Children, though, she said nothing as she approached, just staring down at the captured man. She bent down, brushing back his hair and sleeves as she searched for any inhuman features. Sure enough, she quickly caught sight of a few previously hidden scales on his wrists and forehead. She suddenly gave the man a hard kick to the side. "Can you speak?" She asked him coldly, her eyes like ice. The Remnant didn't respond, just staring up at her. Shakaya wasn't convinced that he couldn't. Many Remnants had lost their ability to use voice and language, but she figured that trying to get something out of him was still worth a try. "Is he the only one? If so, take him back to the lab for questioning." She ordered.

☙ Ultimately, she'd order him destroyed like all Remnants, but first, she wanted to see what they could get out of him. It was important that they found out what was really going on down in the junkyard.

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[#PI077A "Adia"]

Adia sniffed at the remnant a little bit and pushed two fingers into the remnant’s mouth, sliding them along his teeth and then pulling them back out to look at it. “Blood,” she thought, “It’s fresh… which means…” “This is why he aint talking,” she said to Shakaya, holding up her fingers for the general to see, “He bit some-one.”

Adia looked down at the ground by all of the people; though she wasn’t aware, every one of them had a worried look on their face, and all began to back away from each other. Once their feet started moving, she saw some-one who stood still. She watched for a few moments and sure enough, she saw a single drop of blood fall and hit the ground.

The soon to be remnant human turned and made a run for it. Adia reached for her dagger and flung it at the runner, nailing him in his calf; the obsidian blade sliced right through muscle and bone, hilting itself in him, and sticking out of his shin. The general didn’t even need to be there, it just had to be some-one who could order the civilians around and keep watch on Adia.

After she saw the dagger hit, she turned back to the remnant and said, “I hear it’s easier for a remnant to live outside of the city…” she said, coldly; she personally didn’t care for remnants, they were just a tool for success in the eyes of humans to her, “I guess you’re gonna learn the hard way.”

[SHAKAYA JOHANNE]

♟ But You'd Look So Much Better inside out ♟

☙ Shakaya opened her eyes in surprise at the New Child's words, the infantry soldier holding up fingers tainted with blood. Damn! She cursed under her breath, surveying the crowd as each person immediately tensed, the people backing away from each other in fear. The Remnant had bitten someone...and that meant...

☙ The General didn't even have to give the order - before the person bitten could run, the New Child already had them down, hitting them in the calf with an expert toss of her dagger. Again, she was impressed. Especially for a New Child who'd originally be used for other purposes aside from the infantry, its skill was amazing.

☙ As the New Child turned back to the Remnant, the General walked up to the injured, bitten human, restraining him. She turned back to the infantry soldier after she had a grip on him, planning on dragging him back. "We'll have to take the bitten man back with us, as well. If he mutates...we'll have to euthanize him." She felt the man squirm, trying to pull away. There were a few hushed whispers from the anxious crowd, too. But this was the way it had to be. They couldn't risk the safety of everyone else. "Let's start heading back." She ordered to the New Child.

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[#PI077A "Adia"]

And They Shall Reign.

- ✝ - Adia pulled the remnant up by its shirt collar, and pushed him ahead of her, without actually letting it go. “Yes ma’am,” she said to the general as she began to walk behind her, leading the remnant with her. As she walked along, she eyed the humans around her that were going back to their normal life. “Humans are so ungrateful,” she thought as she saw all of their faces, “Maybe if these people changed their attitude, they wouldn’t be here… But oh well, that’s their battle.”

- ✝ - As she walked along behind Shakaya, following her back to containment, he eyed the bitten human she was pulling along. Her eyes were focused on the dagger she had thrown at him, “I get that back, right?” she thought, and then looked up to Shakaya, who of course was facing the other way, and gave her a suspicious look from behind, “You’re not gonna steal my dagger, are you?” she thought to herself, “I’ll just take it back before they pull it out.”

- ✝ - As they walked through the southern district, the people looked better and better off. The houses went from junkyard huts to actual apartment complexes. “With all of the recourses the wealthy have here,” she thought about it all, “They could take these people out of poverty… no wonder the human race is so near extinction.” “General,” Adia spoke, figuring Shakaya would be just as likely to carry on a normal conversation as any other human, “Why doesn’t the parliament step in to help these people… the wealthier side of town wouldn’t have any trouble supporting most of the people here in the southern district.” She asked this in shear curiosity; she liked to learn about where she lived and how it worked, even if laws were in place to keep her from learning to much.

Forever and Ever.

[SHAKAYA JOHANNE]

♟ But You'd Look So Much Better inside out ♟

☙ Shakaya mostly tried to ignore the New Child as they walked, focusing on keeping her grip tight on the bitten human. She just wanted to get this job done as quickly as possible so that she could get back to Amaranth and her research. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she couldn't help but notice that the New Child's gaze was on the dagger that she'd thrown. Eventually, Shakaya paused to reach down and grab it.

☙ She considered taking it, just to taunt the infantry member as she enjoyed doing - it was what kept this job entertaining. But...the New Child had already proved that she could put it to good use. Perhaps it would be good if she had it, in the event that she needed to use it again. Taking it would do little good. "This is what you want, right?" Shakaya eventually inquired, glancing over it for a second as if she was considering keeping it even though she'd already made up her mind. "Take it. No one else would have any use for it." She tossed it in her direction - not forcefully, but it was still something that probably wasn't a safe gesture with a knife. With this New Child's level of skill, though, she didn't doubt that she'd be able to avoid or catch it.

☙ She kept moving after that, slowly moving away from the barren shacks and grime of the Southern District. That was when she heard the New Child speak up again. Shakaya grimaced slightly, not really interesting in interacting with the infantry soldier. "What the Parliament does and why is none of your concern." She started, her voice still cold, but ultimately, she did continue after a brief pause. "...But that's just human nature, really. Most people focus on their own well-being above that of others. As long as the city holds together, the Parliament just views the Southern District as something of a necessary evil, as far as I know. They don't see any benefit in helping to change it, so they don't. In a social structure, there will always be those with status and wealth over others. That's just the way it is. From what I've heard, it was largely the same back on the Surface. That's what they've told me, anyway." She didn't face the New Child as she spoke, keeping her gaze straight ahead as she kept on her path back to the lab.

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[#PI077A "Adia"]

And They Shall Reign.

- ✝ - As they walked along, Adia heard the general say, "This is what you want, right?" and for a single, long, painful second she was sure that there was no getting the dagger back. Though Shakaya didn’t see it, Adia’s eyes looked down in sadness. No, it wasn’t the most treasured thing she had, it was just a weapon; but she still enjoyed the idea that she could have something like a weapon to herself.

- ✝ - She then lit up again, and let out a quiet sigh of relief when she heard that she would be able to keep the dagger. She took a hand off of the remnant to catch the blade when the general tossed it back, hardly noticing to the carelessness of the toss. Once she caught it, she took a piece of cloth from a garbage can and wiped the infectious blood off of the black knife before sheathing it on her side.

- ✝ - Having never met any high ups in the military before, Adia didn’t know what to expect from a general. Shakaya seemed nice, at least from her perspective. She had always pictured a general as a heartless baby-killer with no regard for any life, human or not; that was the impression she got from her former master whenever he said anything about anything to do with a military presence.

- ✝ - She was cold, and to-the-point; which made perfect since considering her rank. While Adia’s former master hadn’t much respect for Arcis military, he often spoke highly of great military leaders from the time before; most of the greatest leaders he ever talked about had that attitude: they weren’t concerned with emotions, but at the same time valued a soldier’s life greatly, and all while still being a level-headed, calculating strategist.

- ✝ - Adia chuckled a little in her mind as she thought of the idea of an Arcis general leading a massive army; no, they simply could not compare, but nonetheless, she did sense that Shakaya was a good general. Suddenly, she heard Shakaya’s voice, and refocused her attention, only starting to listen about halfway through what the general had said. It seemed like Shakaya was, despite her rank, just following some-one else’s orders without thinking critically about them, or maybe she had just missed that part while she wasn’t paying attention to what the general said.

- ✝ - “She may seem nice,” Adia thought, “But maybe she’s being emotionally unresponsive to hide what she really feels. There’s no way she’s this nice… she’s a general, in a cruel society. No-one I’ve met in the military has been nice… but at least they were bluntly honest.” She hated feeling like some-one was hiding how they felt, because it always almost meant that she couldn’t trust them. “It seems like your completely emotionless… cold,” Adia said, deciding to try and be honest to see if she could get a straight answer herself, to at least put her wandering mind to rest, “Is it because you hate me?”

Forever and Ever.

[SHAKAYA JOHANNE]

♟ But You'd Look So Much Better inside out ♟

☙ The New Child's words took Shakaya completely off guard, making the woman pause in her steps, though she still made sure to keep her grip tight on the prisoner she was dragging along. None of the New Children she'd met had ever asked her such a question before - most wouldn't dare. Most of the infantry members that she worked with regularly were afraid of her, likely with good reason, and that was the way she liked it. But this wolf girl seemed different. She was trying to speak with her and converse as if she was an equal. For a brief moment, the General almost wasn't sure what to make of it. ...And then there was the matter that she was asking, itself.

☙ "Emotionless? Cold? Am I? I wouldn't have noticed. As long as I do what I need to do - get my job as General done, protect the one person I have left, and survive, it doesn't matter to me. I will do and become what I have to." She eventually answered, looking down slightly. She wondered if what the New Child said was true. There was very little left that she cared about. Her research. Amaranth. Her power as a General. She felt an unexpected lump in her throat, but she couldn't quite bring herself to voice it, instead squelching it down with a hard swallow and a brief close of her eyes. Sometimes she missed the days when she'd cared about more - when she'd tried to survive simply because she wanted to live. She didn't feel that way anymore. Now, she only lived for Amaranth and her revenge. At least it was something, but she still remembered days when she hadn't felt so empty inside, though they felt like nothing but dreams now.

☙ She clenched her fists slightly. It was the New Children who'd taken much of that away from her! She gave an odd, ironic chuckle. "Hate you? I despise every one of you creatures! Because of you, my father was..." Her voice trailed off, the woman eventually just letting out a rough sigh before finally looking back up at the New Child. She unclenched her fingers, seeming to calm just slightly "...So don't flatter yourself. I don't hate you any less or any more than I do all of the rest of you."

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[#PI077A "Adia"]

And They Shall Reign.

- ✝ - Adia sighed as she heard the general answer her question, feeding her growing paranoia and distrust of people. Adia looked down as the general turned back to say that, and replied with a simple, depressing sounding, “Oh…”. “She really holds my entire species responsible for something that happened to her father? He probably died, but if some-one I cared for died…” Adia thought to herself and then remembered that she had lost some-one close, “If he was killed… I don’t think I would be so hate filled… but then again, I’ve never been in that situation. I know it’s not right, but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t.”

- ✝ - Adia stopped as she thought, and waited for Shakaya to lead on again; not wanting to close to her while she was looking at her. “Could I really have expected any different though?” Adia thought to herself, “Humans… even seem to hate each other without justification; maybe I’m wrong, maybe there is more bad in humans than good.” She didn’t even look back up after the general looked back at her, her hair hanging over her eyes and shading out the top half of her face; she just kept staring at the ground, waiting for the order to keep going. “I’d better not say anything else,” she thought, “She probably isn’t too fond of my company and if she wants something else done, she’ll ask…”

Forever and Ever.

[SHAKAYA JOHANNE]

♟ But You'd Look So Much Better inside out ♟

☙ Shakaya heard the New Child give a sigh as she answered her question, giving a brief 'oh' as the only response before falling quiet again. The woman briefly wondered what the infantry member had been expecting or wanting to hear. What was it that made her ask that question in the first place. But in the end, the General decided to pay it no more thought. "Now let's just hurry back to the lab." She ordered again, the last thing she planned on speaking to the infantry soldier until they arrived. Giving her own sigh beneath her breath, she kept walking.

☙ When the walls of the lab finally did come into view, she turned back to the New Child once more. "I'm going to take this man to a containing room, where we can observe him to see if he does indeed mutate. You take the Remnant to one of the restraining rooms - towards the back of the building, where subjects are held for research. Try to get any information out of him that you can, and I'll meet you there as soon as I have this man locked up." She instructed, beginning to walk away. "Try to have something useful to tell me by the time I get back. I have other things that I should be attending to." She added, before walking away, towards the rooms where the likely soon to be Remnant would be kept until his fate made itself clear. She'd hurry, and try to go back to meet the infantry member again as soon as possible.

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[#PI077A "Adia"]

And They Shall Reign.

- ✝ - Adia kept her head down the whole way up to the lab, following the general, and stopped when they arrived. She listened to her order, and then nodded at her, turning and heading off in the other direction. “Stupid remnant,” Adia thought, “Why’d it even come here? Maybe it’s not that intelligent after all, I mean… it did bite some-one, how stupid is that?”

- ✝ - She pushed the remnant into a moderately sized room and it rolled and tossed around the floor. There were restraints available, but Adia didn’t need them; she just shut the door behind her and turned on the lights. The doors automatically locked from the inside, so she’d be in there until Shakaya came back. The remnant looked up at Adia and hissed at her like a snake. “Shut it,” Adia said as she kneed the remnant in its jaw. The remnant flew back and hit the wall; the room was rather large compared to her cage in the infantry wing, it made her sick.

- ✝ - “Let’s start with the basics,” she told the lizard like humanoid, “Can you talk?” The remnant looked up at her and chuckled a bit, and shook its head. “Okay, cut the crap,” Adia said to it, “What are you doing in Arcis? The remnant kept its mouth shut. Adia sighed and knelt down in front of it; she then took out her obsidian dagger, and grabbed a hold of the creature’s hand, “If I don’t get an answer,” she whispered to it, “I’ll take your arm off. I’ll count to 3… and if you don’t tell me why you’re here, off it goes.”

- ✝ - “Okay,” the remnant said before Adia even began the countdown, “Fine… fine… you win. I came here to find something; a rogue new child told me that I could find it in the junkyards.”

- ✝ - Adia glared at it, “So why did you bite that man?”

- ✝ - “I found it… what I was looking for, and he stole it from me,” the remnant complained.

- ✝ - Adia raised a brow, “Really? And what exactly was so important that you had to attack some-one for it? I’m not buying your story. You tell me why you’re really here or I’ll start chopping fingers. Believe me, it aint worth protecting, whatever you’re hiding.”

- ✝ - The remnant hissed at her again and then quickly bit its own tongue off. Adia shoved it against the wall and brought the dagger down lengthwise of its hand, slicing it in half up to its elbow. She then cleaned the dagger off on the remnants tattered cloak, and walked back over to the door, leaning against the wall next to it, waiting for Shakaya to arrive.

Forever and Ever.