-1Sorry I took so long to update. I went home for Christmas and had no internet access since Dad's computer pooped out.
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She dreamed, and in her dreams she found herself standing before a terrifying creature like nothing any normal human could ever have imagined. It was seemingly fashioned solely from highly polished silver, and the only thing her mind could label it as was some sort of monster. Demonic red eyes fixed on her as the thing, which looked huge enough to pick her up as if she were a small doll, turned to face her, kneeling for a better look. The sight of her drew a smile that bared fearsome fangs, and she couldn't tell whether it was a gentle smile or an evil grin, but either way it was pretty scary. It spoke, and its voice was a booming growl completely unintelligible to her, as her terror masked the words. Terrible claws reached out and she panicked, turning to run as it cried out behind her…
Dirty water dripped sluggishly from a debris-clogged gutter, plunking down fat droplets upon the shabby cardboard box in which the woman rested. She had no knowledge of who she was or how she had come to wander the streets of Mission City, a problem that weighed heavily on her mind. The only clues she had were the exotic blue markings that covered her body, and her many peculiarities. She had been in the city for many days, and still she had yet to feel hunger or thirst. Another peculiarity had made itself known to her in the form of Dial-Tone, a cell phone she had somehow made into… something else. The rat-sized creature refused to leave her side for any reason, and it had subsequently become part of her plans for the future. Using herself as bait, she prowled the city streets each night, luring in then dispatching robbers who fell for her trap, snatching up whatever stolen devices they had on them. It was always machines she stole, the more high-tech the better, for they fetched high prices when returned to their owners. Having seemingly no need to purchase food or anything to drink, she was saving up to rent an apartment and begin establishing a life for herself. First would come an apartment, a place to use as a base of operations, and then a job. Maybe she would fix computers or cars… Either option would work just fine, since her uncanny talent seemed to extend to all technology. Car or computer, cell phone or television, each device seemed to have something in common, some indefinable essence that called out to something deep within her. There was some kind of link there; she was bound to something, or someone she either didn't know or couldn't remember. She was willing to lay odds on it being the latter, since feeling the link's presence brought her a bittersweet sort of comfort. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had loved someone once, had loved them very dearly, yet lost it all somehow. Who had she loved? How had she lost them? Truth be told, those were the questions that weighed heaviest on her mind, and the ones that hurt her most. It seemed as though hardly a moment went by wherein she didn't feel as if her very soul was being crushed by the agony of losing something she couldn't even remember having. As if sensing the change in her mood, Dial-Tone emerged from her purse and clambered up her pants. Looking down at where the transformed cell phone beeped and chattered up at her, she smiled and gave it a pat before shooing it back into her purse for its own safety. After all, it simply wouldn't do for people to see the little thing. They would probably hurt it.
There really seemed to be no reason for it, but the sight of that one single unmarked van made every mental alarm she had go haywire. Forsaking her cardboard shelter, she drew backward into the shadows cast by the alleyway's high walls, swiftly ducking out of sight. The adjoining city street upon which the van slowly cruised was very noisy, as city streets usually are, so no one noticed her quiet departure, least of all whoever was driving the van. She only allowed herself a small, soft sigh of relief before getting back to business. It seemed it was time for her to move on to another part of the city, for they had come again, the ones she just knew were after her. Suspicious men in business suits, led by a man she somehow couldn't help but hate. Something about his voice… She'd only had to hear him speak a few words and hatred had immediately blossomed within her, though she had no idea why. Was he a clue to her past and her identity? She didn't know, and she didn't care. All that really mattered to her was the fact that she just knew he was bad news.
In a darkened room, a group of men in suits sat around a table and watched as another man briefed them on the situation they faced. A small projector positioned in the middle of the table projected an image of a woman up on the screen behind the man doing the briefing. "There she is, boys… Sarah Hornsby." He paused. "She was last sighted back in early 2008, right around when NBE-01 reappeared. She was present during the capture attempt, and reports state she displayed some sort of machine-controlling ability. Roughly a day later, security camera records place her in an electronics store during an aborted attack from another NBE and suggest her presence caused the creation of a third NBE. An interview with the landlord at her last known address indicated that she had packed up in a hurry as if preparing for a long trip. That was the last anyone saw of her…" There was a pause. "Until now. We're getting reports of a woman matching her description living on the streets down in Mission City. Due to her connection to the incidents surrounding NBE-01's reappearance, we're going to bring her in no matter what it takes."
It had taken her all day to get there, but she had chosen to move closer to the city's edge, hoping her distance from the city's center would mean more places to hide. Moving among the smaller, run-down buildings, she looked around for a place to sleep even as the setting sun bathed the sky in brilliant shades of red and orange that even at that moment were deepening into violet. As she stared up at the darkening sky, she spotted a shooting star… no, it was more like a fireball blazing a trail of light through the heavens. Something else soared beside it, a strange jet glowing an incandescent reddish yellow as if it was red hot. Why would a jet fly beside a meteor? Seemingly synchronized with its reentry into her thoughts, the meteor abruptly broke up. Strangely enough, it seemed to split apart rather than exploding, four fragments of seemingly almost equal size flying in different directions as if each one was actively seeking somewhere to land rather than crashing haphazardly as any regular meteor would do. The jet, for its part, almost seemed to be cooling off, red fading into an impossibly glossy silver, a brilliant mirror sheen that reflected the sunset's colors in the manner of sunlight playing on rippling water. Somehow, despite how utterly amazing the strange meteor was with its persistent seeming refusal to obey the laws of physics, it was the jet that drew her attention the most. There was something about it, something both maddeningly familiar and terribly important, as if whatever it was, whatever it represented, was as integral to learning who she truly was as finding out her real name. But that feeling was all but eclipsed by the realization that whatever she was looking at was about as far from normal as it was possible to get, as if she was looking at something that simply didn't belong in the world period, much less the world she knew. Strangely alluring or not, common sense dictated that he would have to learn more… a lot more… before she could dare to approach whatever it was she was seeing at that moment. A series of loud beeps drew her attention down to her side, where Dial-Tone had climbed out of her purse to stare up at the jet and the meteor, chattering with almost hysterical excitement and bouncing up and down. "Calm down, Dial-Tone. We don't know what those are." A sigh escaped her. "…I really wish I could understand you." There wasn't much noise as the jet passed from her view, just like the fragments of the meteor had done moments before. When both were gone from the sky, she turned to walk away, retracing her steps. Maybe being out at the city's edge wasn't such a good idea after all…
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And so it begins…