Chapter 2
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Ptilopsis never liked the dark.
To her, it represented everything wrong with life - the void, the silence, the complete emptiness. Nothing good came out of the dark either. The dark hid things from view, letting one's enemies to lurk unopposed until they found the perfect opportunity to strike. Once they struck, the darkness would hide them once more, leaving its victims at a loss.
And here stood Ptilopsis, standing alone in the dark, waiting for the System Nexus to finally overwhelm her.
For one brief moment, the Liberi froze in fear. 'Is...is this the end?' she thought, eyes wide open. She stared into the void before her. 'Is this it?'
'Initiate breathing exercise,' her mind suddenly supplied. 'Activating panic mode would only hinder defense protocols in the event of the System Nexus attack.'
Snapping out of her trance, Ptilopsis took a deep breath. She held it for five seconds, slowly releasing it. She repeated it twice, eventually calming her beating heart. "Activating Defense Protocols against System Nexus!" she exclaimed to the void surrounding her. "You will not claim Ptilopsis today!"
The darkness said nothing, as if waiting for her to slip up and fail. 'I will not cower!' she declared, concentrating on her earliest memories. She knew it was in a hospital in North Albert, finding herself-
[FEAR]
Ptilopsis staggered, her concentration breaking upon feeling the sheer terror she felt. "Wa-warn-ing!" she stuttered, trying to get her bearings. "Unknown source off-"
[COMFORT]
A wave of calmness washed over her, shielding her from the fear she felt. 'Focus on the objective!' she thought, trying to recall her-
[FEAR]
A wave of fear threatened to overwhelm her senses but-
[COMFORT]
Ptilopsis once more felt-
[FEAR]
[COMFORT]
[FEAR]
[COMFORT]
[PAIN]
[COMFORT]
[PAIN]
[COMFORT]
[PAIN]
[FEAR]
[COMFORT]
[PAIN]
[FEAR]
[COMFORT]
[PAIN]
[FEAR]
[COMFORT] [FEAR] [COMFORT] [PAIN] [FEAR] [COMFORT] [PAIN] [FEAR] [COMFORT] [PAIN] [FEAR] [COMFORT] [PAIN] [FEAR]
"STOP!" she roared, bolting up.
"AUNTIE!" Suddenly, Ptilopsia felt Ifrit pull her into a tight. To her relief, the voices were no longer screaming at her. "You're awake, you're awake!"
Blinking, she finally became aware she was sitting on a paved road. "Wait," Ifrit pulled away from her, frowning. "You were unconscious - Mom said I need to make sure if you're still Auntie!"
"Silence didn't reprimand me when I beat you in a game because you wanted to play it on the hardest difficulty." Ptilopsis lied, giving her charge a soft smile. It was one of the failsafes her friend made in the event she fell unconscious.
Ifrit gave her an affronted look. "She did! She said you should-" she paused, realizing what she said. Giving her a flat look, the caster huffed. "Well, at least you're still Auntie."
Ruffling her charge's hair, she looked around. To her surprise, she found herself in some sort of parking lot. Her fellow operators were already up and on guard, surrounding a much smaller Catastrophe Attractor. In the distance, she could hear sirens coming closer to their location while Folinic was talking with someone. "Current location is different from the one announced in the briefing. Have we been relocated?"
"Oh yeah - the Rhine Lab device sort of dumped us somewhere else." Ifrit replied, sounding somewhat annoyed. "Radio's down, so Folinic and Dobermann ordered us to stay put."
Before she could ask for further information, a voice before them coughed. "Uh, Dr. Ptilopsis," Hibiscus began, looking down at them. "Mind if I take a look at you? You're kind of the last one we're waiting to wake up."
"Ptilopsis will first initiate a self-diagnostic scan, then allow you to confirm the results." Ptilopsis ordered. The medical intern nodded, letting the veteran medic feel her body. "Hmm...preliminary findings show no known wounds or breaks in the body, internal or external. Mental faculties are still operational, though may need deeper scanning to be sure."
Satisfied with her findings, she gave Hibiscus a nod. The young Sarkaz channeled her Arts, letting it wash over her body. "Well...same findings as yours, Dr. Ptilo." she answered a few seconds later. "Though you could use some sleep."
"Well of course it's gonna be the same, Hibiscus!" Ifrit exclaimed, looking proud. "It's Auntie - she's one of the best doctors next to Silence and Saria!"
"But a second opinion is still worth considering, Ifrit." she told her adopted niece. She smiled at the younger operator. "Thank you."
She waved her off. "It's fine, ma'am!" she replied with a cheerful tone. "Instructor Dobermann told us to stay on guard, since we don't know where we are exactly."
That made Ptilopsis frown. "Earlier reports indicated that only the radio was down. Is the GPS down as well?"
The intern shrugged. "No one's telling us anything, doctor. We're in the blind as Ms. Eyja."
Ptilopsis hummed, before moving to stand up. "Very well, Ptilopsis will initiate a dialogue with Folinic for further data." she decided. "Please help me up, Ifrit."
# # # | # # #
January 20, 2011 (11:11 AM) | Sunny
Brockton Bay, Dockworkers Union, Parking Lot
"...yes, we'll be waiting." Mr. Hebert replied on the phone. Once the call ended, he handed the phone back to the man beside him. "Thanks Kurt."
Folinic watched the man walk back to the building. "Thank you again, Mr. Hebert," she said, turning to the kind man. Though he looked kind of haggard (with light shadows forming under his eyes), he had approached them with calm courage. He didn't even bat an eye when she explained the preceding events leading to their current situation. "While our world has its version of Parallel Universe theory, your explanation helped smooth things."
(At least they could speak in Victorian - or English as the locals call it.)
The man waved her off. "No worries. You looked like you needed help, so I offered." he replied, giving her a sad smile. "I...I didn't want to look apathetic. And please - call me Danny."
Folinic nodded just as a motorcycle rumbled in. To her surprise, Mr. Hebert stiffened, his eyes narrowing. "Of course they'll send him." he grumbled. "Bloody tinkers…"
Before she could ask what he meant, a blue, heavily armored motorcycle stopped before them. Folinic was briefly reminded of a Guerrilla Shieldguard that got off it, though with a blue color scheme, a more streamlined armor, and his mouth and beard visible. To her surprise, he brought out a halberd and walked towards them.
"Mr. Hebert, you called in this situation?" the armored man asked, his voice stern and clipped. He then turned towards her. "And you are?"
"Folinic, Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals." she answered, crossing her arms over her chest. "And you are?"
The man paused, tilting his head to the right. "Apologies, PRT just updated me with the situation." He relaxed his stance. "I am Armsmaster, leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate. You are from another Earth, correct?"
Folinic nodded, gesturing to the rest of the operators behind them. "Yes, we come from Terra." she answered. "RI was contracted by Rhine Labs to protect a test site of theirs. Something went wrong with the experiment and the next thing we know, we found ourselves here."
Armsmaster didn't reply, pursing his lips. "What is that tower over there?"
The Medic Operator glanced at the source of all her troubles. "Honestly, I couldn't tell you." she replied, sighing. "According to our briefing, the device's purpose was to disrupt Catastrophes from happening. How it made us appear here is anyone's guess."
"Wait," Mr. Hebert realized something. "Didn't you say you were a pharmaceutical company?"
Folinic blinked, unsure what he was meaning. "Uh...yes?"
"But you're a pharmaceutical company. Why are you taking contracts like mercenaries?" Armsmaster asked, looking at her.
Folinic gasped. "Rhodes Island is not a mercenary company!" she exclaimed, feeling hurt by the comparison. "Our company is a registered drug R&D company working on medical solutions for countries, organizations, and individuals infected with Oripathy. We combat operators are dedicated to protecting and ensuring the safety of the patients and allies of Rhodes Island."
She narrowed her eyes at them. "RI is a trusted ally and partner of Rhine Labs. Part of the agreement between both companies is providing help, support, and or operators." she finished, glaring at the two. "Is that not standard practice in this world?"
Mr. Hebert had the decency to look embarrassed while Armsmaster tilted his head again. "I believe we might need to clear up the differences between our worlds first before we can have a meaningful discussion." he stated, pursing his lips. "If you could accompany me-"
"No," she cut firmly. Folinic stared straight at the man's visors. "While I would prefer to clear up misunderstandings between our worlds, we cannot just up and leave the device unattended. Rhine Labs contracted us to protect this device and although we are cut off from our command, we are not just going to abandon our job."
"Easy everyone," Mr. Hebert intervened, hands up trying to calm them down. "No one's suggesting all of you head to the Rig."
He gestured to the rest of her team. "Maybe two or three of your...operators can accompany Armsmaster here." he turned to the Protectorate leader. "And I doubt all four of you can fit in your bike."
Releasing her breath, she eyed the armored man. "I can work with Mr. Hebert's proposal."
Armsmaster nodded, relaxing his stance. "A PRT Team is on the way to help secure the area against curious citizens," he replied. "You can ride with the van back once a perimeter has been set up. Will that be satisfactory?"
"I'll have the people ready." With that, Folinic turned her back, walking back to her team.