*Okay, I know what you're saying. 'It's about goddamn time' right? Now that I have had more than enough time to think this thing through with ample inspiration and rekindling of interest in actually writing this thing, I intend to see this all the way through, making this possibly the one story that actually has and ending that I've written, either through decommission or general lack of interest. That's quite a feat, eh? Anyway, let's get the ball rolling on chapter two of 'A Reploid walks into a bar' shall we?
Chapter 2: Sad reunions and startling explanations.
Suddenly the bartender, Jarvis, was abruptly cut off by the sound of a high-end stereo system thumping out in the parking lot, wherein it cut off a few seconds later.
"Oh, boy... On second thought, bag that idea, here comes client trouble..." He said eying the door nervously as a figure cloaked in a tattered hood with a familiar-looking double-ended blue spear on his back walked in slowly and deliberately. As they sat down at the bar they removed the hood from their face as they raised a finger to signal for a drink, revealing...
"Thetis...?" Atlas said in a shocked whisper as the young man sitting before her said nothing in response, not even batting an eyelid. She started toward him when she was stopped by a blur of motion in front of her face, and she realized she was staring at the end of his spear, a mere 3 inches from her nose. She could feel a strangely cold heat from the energy of the blade, and she tried to grab it from him when she realized he was now behind her, and she was promptly flipped backwards to the floor with a THUD. She coughed from having the wind abruptly knocked out of her and she saw the bladed end was at her throat. She stared wildly up at the cold look on his face, revealing a heartless attitude, nothing like she remembered the happy young boy to be, and she noticed one of his eyes, namely the left was a deep glowing red.
"THETIS, WHAT THE HELL YOU LITTLE SHRIMP? IS THAT ALL YOU'RE GONNA DO IS FUCK WITH ME AFTER YOU SEE ME, TO THINK I WAS ACTUALLY WORRIED ABOUT YOUR ASS! She said, getting to her feet quickly, getting ready for more in case he was going to strike again.
"Wait-wait-wait... WAIT... You two know each other? How in the hell is that possib -oh whatever, I stopped trying to figure this city out decades ago..." Jarvis said in an annoyed tone.
" Decades? You don't look a day over 25 at best!" Atlas said, not sure what he meant.
"Oooohh yyeeeaahh... You're new, so you don't know yet..." Jarvis said with a concerned look on his face while Thetis walked past her back to his seat where Jarvis had a shotglass waiting of some strong alcohol, judging from the smell which Atlas could smell the five feet away she was standing.
"What are you talking about you moron...?" She grumped, sick of being out of the loop.
"I hate to break it to you, but nobody shows up in this city unless, well... Don't take this the wrong way, alright?" Jarvis said being coy, which only served to make Atlas grab him roughly and start shaking him even rougher.
"ALRIGHT-ALRIGHT-ALRIGHT! Missy, I hate to say it but... You're dead... No one in this entire city is alive, honest!" He said with an honest and sincere tone, albeit a slightly frightened one from her actions.
"That's impossible... don't say stupid shit like that to me, or I'll..." Suddenly she felt something horribly wrong with her body, and she looked down to see a huge gash in her chest, apparently from when Thetis had slammed her to the ground, and it seemed to be fatal despite the fact she was still standing. She felt a massive wave of pain flood her body as she dropped to the floor in shock, but it didn't subside, and she didn't seem to be anywhere close to passing out even.
"Just relax, the city will take care of the rest, it only hurts until you've 'respawned' as we call it... usually it's somewhere you need to be so... Until next time Missy!" Jarvis said as Atlas' mind began to fade to black. She couldn't feel her body anymore, it was as though she didn't exist at all, when she saw what appeared to be a pinhole of light rushing toward her, growing larger by the second until she was enveloped in a beautiful white light, her senses rushing back to her all at once. She blinked as the light became too bright for her eyes when she noticed she was standing upright again. As she opened her eyes she saw she was standing in the midst of a vast city with dawn on the horizon, barely peeking up over the city skyline. She quickly felt her chest for the giant wound, feeling none and seeing her clothes were back to normal. Although that seemed to be the only thing she considered normal as there were people dressed in various odd clothings, and even city folk that didn't look human at all ranging from the anthropomorphic ones she had seen in the bar with male ones this time as well, to some more of those robotic city goers she didn't seem to recognize the looks of. Even this early in the morning there was so much activity, and she was amazed to see that, besides everyone's appearances, everything seemed to be... Normal. She didn't get it, and her brain was racked from trying to figure everything out. Suddenly she heard someone say,
"Well, look at this... Not here even four hours and you've respawned already... Geez, you're a hassle..." She turned around to see Junker Pantheon say to her face, his hands on his hips in an aggravated fashion.
"I'm not a baby, you don't have to look after me..." She groused at him.
"Oh? Is that what I'm doing now... I have no intentions of doing any such thing, everyone is on their own in this place, By the way..." He said, grabbing her hand and placing something in it; Her model F device.
"You dropped that when you 'Offlined', so..." He said turning to go when Atlas stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What now...?" He started to complain when she surprised him with,
"Thanks... Maybe we can battle in the complaint department sometime..." She said as she turned around to go.
"You don't have a place to stay, do you...? It's not easy to find one in this crowded city of the dead, y'know..." He said, causing her to stop mid-step from walking away.
"You also have no idea how this place works... I don't normally go out of my way to help newbies, so this is a rare offering of help, mind you..." He continued as she sighed heavily and walked up to him again.
"Fine, but you try any funny stuff I'll rip you apart, got it?" She said tiredly, stifling a yawn.
"If I'm dead, how can I be tired... This place is frigging crazy..." She mumbled sleepily.
"You have no idea, kid..." Junker said aloud, more to himself than her.
