Azrael the Jackdraw: Thanks for your comments, keep reading!
Artificial Existence
By Christopher Harrison
06: Rescue.
Violet hit the stairs. His head impacted on the corner of a step, and Violet lost all sense of vision. The pain from his back hitting the stairs was almost nothing compared to when his left arm impacted, his shoulder dislocating on impact. Violet sat there in silence. He wanted to get up, wanted to help Binary, but the pain was too severe. He couldn't carry on. He could feel the warm touch of blood trickling down the back of his neck, presumably from the impact of the stairs. He was also bleeding from the mouth, where the statue had hit him. He was going to black out soon. He would fail. As he was slipping away into unconsciousness, he heard a large explosion sound. He could not gather the strength to look up at the sound. A few seconds later, he blacked out.
Server entered the room, carrying the grenade launcher. She fired at the golden warrior furthest away from Binary. The grenade hit the statue square in the face, and exploded. The explosion rocked the room. The statue flew into the wall. Pieces of brick shattered from the impact of the golden giant. Server jumped down the stairs, and upon landing she inspected her prey. The serpent had dropped his scythe when it was hit by the grenade, and it had also lost it's head and much of it's chest and shoulders. The table had also flown into the opposite side of the room to the statue. While Binary had leaped away, and was standing near the double doors, the second statue was pushing the table off of him. Mozart had seemingly left the room before the fighting began. Server fired twice. The first grenade hit the statue in the chest, and, as it was already against the way, the bricks shattered violently, as shrapnel went everywhere. Along with the damage to the well, the table literally exploded, throwing shards of wood everywhere. The second grenade hit just near the statues feet, and the golden warrior flew upward, hitting the roof and dropping back down, cracking the already shattered marble floor.
Binary retrieved his sword and Server ran over to Violet, who still lay on the stairs, unconscious. A puddle of crimson blood cascaded down the stairs below his limp body. Once he arrived, Binary spoke quickly but slowly 'I'll hunt down Mozart, you've got to get him to an exit.' Binary began walking up the stairs, but Server held his arm 'It's okay, I'll hunt him down, you take Violet back!' Server protested, but Binary shook his head 'No, your out of weapons, you take him.' Binary continued his ascent up the stairs. Server looked down at Violet, slowly slipping her arms around his shoulders and waist. 'Damnit,' She whispered to herself, 'You'd better be okay.'
Protocol jacked in. He had only recently gotten out of the med bay. Entry had told Protocol to get some rest before jacking back in, but after seeing the situation the team was in, he decided that this was not a time for rest. Protocol's entry point had been inside the armoury that the team had originally received their weapons, so Protocol decided to pick up some equipment before he left. He carried a M4A1 Assault rifle, a pair of Glock 18 automatic pistols, and strapped to his back was a flamethrower. He also had two wrist sheath's which held identical 12" daggers.
As soon as Protocol had his equipment, he quickly hijacked a nearby car and sped off to the coordinates of the mansion.
Binary proceeded up the stairs of the main room and took the large double doors at the center. He pushed the doors open, to find a long corridor. The floor, walls, and roof were all black and white marble, much like a chess or checkers board. Binary would have proceeded immediately, but something didn't feel right. He stepped forward once. Nothing happened. He stepped again, bringing him onto a white square. The square depressed under the weight of his foot. Binary heard a click from the right wall, directly level with his head. He leaned back quickly as a bullet whizzed past. "Shit" Binary whispered softly to himself. The word echoed down the corridor. Binary took another step forward, onto a black tile, and like the last, nothing happened. Binary retrieved one of his revolver's from inside his jacket, and dropped the gun onto the next white square. As the square depressed, a click similar to the one before was heard and a large metal spike came out from the roof and down onto the white square, destroying the handgun. Binary stepped onto the patch of white that the spike had hit. From that point, there were 3 more squares, three of which were white. He stepped onto the adjacent black square, and studied the next piece of floor. The white square on the floor seemed to have nothing special about it, and the roof seemed relatively normal as well. Upon close inspection of the walls, he noticed that there was a tiny crack in either side, going straight down. The cracks were about one millimetre in diameter, and covered the entire area. Binary carefully put his foot down on the tile, keeping his body on the black tile. He depressed the tile in front of him with his foot, and a large guillotine came down from the roof at an amazing speed. At the same time, the spike from the previous white square retracted back into the ceiling. The following two white squares featured a flamethrower and an array of blades, both of which Binary was able to avoid, until he stepped through the door at the end of the corridor.
Binary walked into the new room. The floor now changed from marble to highly polished wood, and the walls and roof kept with this fashion. In the middle of the room was an old desk with a large leather chair behind it. The far wall held a massive window looking out into the night sky. The entire room would have looked relatively normal, we're it not for the added extra's. The first thing Binary noticed when he entered was the blood. It was everywhere. The window, the wall's, the desk and the chair were drenched in blood, most likely the blood of the occupant of the large leather chair. Binary recognized it as Mozart judging by the shape and size of the body. His facial features were covered in blood, and there was a large gaping hole, the size of a fist, in his chest. Binary looked to his left a right. The room was otherwise empty, and the door to his right was open.
He ran through the door, and looked around. This room was exactly the same as the one before it, but longer, and three of the golden serpent warrior's were fighting a large man. He was about six feet tall, with pale, bluish skin. He wore the suit of a medieval ninja, and carried a long sword, which glowed a blue tint. Impaled on the glowing sword was one of the serpent warriors, and the other two were closing in from the other sides. The blue man moved like lightening. As one of the serpents swung it's scythe, the blue man retracted his sword, ducked, and and shoved the sword into the attacking serpents chest. The scythe from the attacking serpent swung around and hit the third serpent in the head. Using this to his advantage, the blue warrior removed his sword from the golden statue and back-flipped over the third and final serpent. As he landed, the Blue ninja sliced straight down the third statue, cutting it in equal halves.
Binary slowly stepped to face the ninja warrior. The blue man turned, examining Binary. The ninja spoke in a somewhat high voice, and it was then that Binary realized that he was actually looking at a woman. "You are unplugged." the Ninja stated, quietly, "You would do well to leave, as you are not my prey." Binary just nodded. "You are the one known as Parasite?" Binary asked. The Ninja just nodded at the question. Binary pulled his sword from his sheath. "Then, I'm afraid I'm going to have to delete you." Binary said slowly, pulling himself into a fighting stance. The Ninja said nothing, and moved into a similar stance. Binary jumped forward, raising his katana for a vertical slash. Parasite rolled sideways, barely dodging Binary's blade. Binary tried to slash at Parasite, but she quickly rolled forward and flipped to stand. Binary spun around to once again face his opponent, who was already running toward him. Parasite sliced horizontally, trying to take Binary's head. Binary tried to block the blow, but Parasite's sword sliced right through Binary's blade, and he very barely dodged the attack by back flipping around. As Binary came out of the flip, Parasite tried to stab at his chest. Binary quickly side-stepped the attack, and elbowed the virus square in the face, sending her flying into a nearby wall. Parasite quickly spun her legs, and hit the wall feet first, using her momentum to flip off back to the ground. She stood up and glared at Binary. "You cannot win this, human." Said the virus, in an angry tone. Binary said nothing, yet he knew her words were true. Parasite ran forward. Binary knew he was going to die now. Without a weapon, he could not hope to defeat her. She was almost within striking distance when a barrage of gunfire opened from the room in which Binary had entered. Parasite jumped away, to the far end of the room, and sheathed her sword. 'You've not seen the last of me!' She yelled, and jumped away through the window. Binary turned to see the source of the gunfire. Standing in the doorway was a tall man in a dark coat, with slicked back hair. Standing besides the man were two slightly taller men dressed all in silver, with silver dreadlocks in front of their identical pale white faces. The silver men both held a small pistol in their left hands. The shorter man spoke in a deep French accent 'Well, well,' He said, 'it seems we came just in time. Who do I 'ave to thank for Mister Mozart's demize?'
Artificial Existence
By Christopher Harrison
06: Rescue.
Violet hit the stairs. His head impacted on the corner of a step, and Violet lost all sense of vision. The pain from his back hitting the stairs was almost nothing compared to when his left arm impacted, his shoulder dislocating on impact. Violet sat there in silence. He wanted to get up, wanted to help Binary, but the pain was too severe. He couldn't carry on. He could feel the warm touch of blood trickling down the back of his neck, presumably from the impact of the stairs. He was also bleeding from the mouth, where the statue had hit him. He was going to black out soon. He would fail. As he was slipping away into unconsciousness, he heard a large explosion sound. He could not gather the strength to look up at the sound. A few seconds later, he blacked out.
Server entered the room, carrying the grenade launcher. She fired at the golden warrior furthest away from Binary. The grenade hit the statue square in the face, and exploded. The explosion rocked the room. The statue flew into the wall. Pieces of brick shattered from the impact of the golden giant. Server jumped down the stairs, and upon landing she inspected her prey. The serpent had dropped his scythe when it was hit by the grenade, and it had also lost it's head and much of it's chest and shoulders. The table had also flown into the opposite side of the room to the statue. While Binary had leaped away, and was standing near the double doors, the second statue was pushing the table off of him. Mozart had seemingly left the room before the fighting began. Server fired twice. The first grenade hit the statue in the chest, and, as it was already against the way, the bricks shattered violently, as shrapnel went everywhere. Along with the damage to the well, the table literally exploded, throwing shards of wood everywhere. The second grenade hit just near the statues feet, and the golden warrior flew upward, hitting the roof and dropping back down, cracking the already shattered marble floor.
Binary retrieved his sword and Server ran over to Violet, who still lay on the stairs, unconscious. A puddle of crimson blood cascaded down the stairs below his limp body. Once he arrived, Binary spoke quickly but slowly 'I'll hunt down Mozart, you've got to get him to an exit.' Binary began walking up the stairs, but Server held his arm 'It's okay, I'll hunt him down, you take Violet back!' Server protested, but Binary shook his head 'No, your out of weapons, you take him.' Binary continued his ascent up the stairs. Server looked down at Violet, slowly slipping her arms around his shoulders and waist. 'Damnit,' She whispered to herself, 'You'd better be okay.'
Protocol jacked in. He had only recently gotten out of the med bay. Entry had told Protocol to get some rest before jacking back in, but after seeing the situation the team was in, he decided that this was not a time for rest. Protocol's entry point had been inside the armoury that the team had originally received their weapons, so Protocol decided to pick up some equipment before he left. He carried a M4A1 Assault rifle, a pair of Glock 18 automatic pistols, and strapped to his back was a flamethrower. He also had two wrist sheath's which held identical 12" daggers.
As soon as Protocol had his equipment, he quickly hijacked a nearby car and sped off to the coordinates of the mansion.
Binary proceeded up the stairs of the main room and took the large double doors at the center. He pushed the doors open, to find a long corridor. The floor, walls, and roof were all black and white marble, much like a chess or checkers board. Binary would have proceeded immediately, but something didn't feel right. He stepped forward once. Nothing happened. He stepped again, bringing him onto a white square. The square depressed under the weight of his foot. Binary heard a click from the right wall, directly level with his head. He leaned back quickly as a bullet whizzed past. "Shit" Binary whispered softly to himself. The word echoed down the corridor. Binary took another step forward, onto a black tile, and like the last, nothing happened. Binary retrieved one of his revolver's from inside his jacket, and dropped the gun onto the next white square. As the square depressed, a click similar to the one before was heard and a large metal spike came out from the roof and down onto the white square, destroying the handgun. Binary stepped onto the patch of white that the spike had hit. From that point, there were 3 more squares, three of which were white. He stepped onto the adjacent black square, and studied the next piece of floor. The white square on the floor seemed to have nothing special about it, and the roof seemed relatively normal as well. Upon close inspection of the walls, he noticed that there was a tiny crack in either side, going straight down. The cracks were about one millimetre in diameter, and covered the entire area. Binary carefully put his foot down on the tile, keeping his body on the black tile. He depressed the tile in front of him with his foot, and a large guillotine came down from the roof at an amazing speed. At the same time, the spike from the previous white square retracted back into the ceiling. The following two white squares featured a flamethrower and an array of blades, both of which Binary was able to avoid, until he stepped through the door at the end of the corridor.
Binary walked into the new room. The floor now changed from marble to highly polished wood, and the walls and roof kept with this fashion. In the middle of the room was an old desk with a large leather chair behind it. The far wall held a massive window looking out into the night sky. The entire room would have looked relatively normal, we're it not for the added extra's. The first thing Binary noticed when he entered was the blood. It was everywhere. The window, the wall's, the desk and the chair were drenched in blood, most likely the blood of the occupant of the large leather chair. Binary recognized it as Mozart judging by the shape and size of the body. His facial features were covered in blood, and there was a large gaping hole, the size of a fist, in his chest. Binary looked to his left a right. The room was otherwise empty, and the door to his right was open.
He ran through the door, and looked around. This room was exactly the same as the one before it, but longer, and three of the golden serpent warrior's were fighting a large man. He was about six feet tall, with pale, bluish skin. He wore the suit of a medieval ninja, and carried a long sword, which glowed a blue tint. Impaled on the glowing sword was one of the serpent warriors, and the other two were closing in from the other sides. The blue man moved like lightening. As one of the serpents swung it's scythe, the blue man retracted his sword, ducked, and and shoved the sword into the attacking serpents chest. The scythe from the attacking serpent swung around and hit the third serpent in the head. Using this to his advantage, the blue warrior removed his sword from the golden statue and back-flipped over the third and final serpent. As he landed, the Blue ninja sliced straight down the third statue, cutting it in equal halves.
Binary slowly stepped to face the ninja warrior. The blue man turned, examining Binary. The ninja spoke in a somewhat high voice, and it was then that Binary realized that he was actually looking at a woman. "You are unplugged." the Ninja stated, quietly, "You would do well to leave, as you are not my prey." Binary just nodded. "You are the one known as Parasite?" Binary asked. The Ninja just nodded at the question. Binary pulled his sword from his sheath. "Then, I'm afraid I'm going to have to delete you." Binary said slowly, pulling himself into a fighting stance. The Ninja said nothing, and moved into a similar stance. Binary jumped forward, raising his katana for a vertical slash. Parasite rolled sideways, barely dodging Binary's blade. Binary tried to slash at Parasite, but she quickly rolled forward and flipped to stand. Binary spun around to once again face his opponent, who was already running toward him. Parasite sliced horizontally, trying to take Binary's head. Binary tried to block the blow, but Parasite's sword sliced right through Binary's blade, and he very barely dodged the attack by back flipping around. As Binary came out of the flip, Parasite tried to stab at his chest. Binary quickly side-stepped the attack, and elbowed the virus square in the face, sending her flying into a nearby wall. Parasite quickly spun her legs, and hit the wall feet first, using her momentum to flip off back to the ground. She stood up and glared at Binary. "You cannot win this, human." Said the virus, in an angry tone. Binary said nothing, yet he knew her words were true. Parasite ran forward. Binary knew he was going to die now. Without a weapon, he could not hope to defeat her. She was almost within striking distance when a barrage of gunfire opened from the room in which Binary had entered. Parasite jumped away, to the far end of the room, and sheathed her sword. 'You've not seen the last of me!' She yelled, and jumped away through the window. Binary turned to see the source of the gunfire. Standing in the doorway was a tall man in a dark coat, with slicked back hair. Standing besides the man were two slightly taller men dressed all in silver, with silver dreadlocks in front of their identical pale white faces. The silver men both held a small pistol in their left hands. The shorter man spoke in a deep French accent 'Well, well,' He said, 'it seems we came just in time. Who do I 'ave to thank for Mister Mozart's demize?'