IC: Post or Die, Lifelines, and deadlines Options

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Ferret's van, Redmond

Professor gaped as the horror transpired before his eyes. Astrally aware, he watched as the life force drained from Amber. The second one in a day I've watched like this.

Cold. Blank. He drew his pistol. He walked towards the twitching thing on the ground. He emptied his magazine into it. It stopped twitching. He looked for more as he loaded another magazine.

[Sephiroth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, Redmond

Jovan was ruminating on the complication they had run into upon discovering that the ID's were disconnected. It was because of this distracted state he was in that he ended up hearing the gunshots and other sounds of the struggle before he actually got a look at what was transpiring. He moved with haste to the window next to him and quickly scanned over the scene, narrowing his eyes at the bleeding dwarf figure on the ground and the two shadowy figures attacking the rest of his team members. Mutants? Ghouls? What are those creatures? One of the things seemed to have been disabled, so that one was not of immediate concern - particularly as he saw the figure of Professor approach and unload an entire magazine into it.

He turned his attention to the remaining attacker. It seemed like the entity was looking to kill another one of his companions - and, in the heat of the moment, his patience wore thin, and his conscience and anger surged into life. Enough was enough. Too many people had been killed or critically injured on this job already. He could have dealt with it easily had their deaths been more spread out over this week-long job. Not like this, not all in less than 24 hours. None of this was necessary.

Jovan's lip curled upward into a snarl, and the pupils of his eyes dilated as he began forcing his way into the attacker's mind, almost mentally shouting at it to be still. He refused to let the thing put anyone else on this team at death's door, and didn't care that that refusal would bring doom upon it from Rusty, Professor, Acme, and Ferret. NO MORE DYING!!

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, Redmond

"Well this explains a few things." Oswald commented offhand as he kicked the rover's high-beams on, bathing the area in light. "Seems our man Biggs is dead 'n' ate if this is who he's keeping for company. I'm hoping this at least means those traps of his are sprung." He dropped the vehicle into park and began unhooking his harness.

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Ferret's van, Redmond

Ferret watches the scene unfold behind him unfold in the AR feeds from the van's cameras. His meat body reacts too slow to even shout a warning as the creature springs from the shadows. He rolls the van to a halt in the narrow passage and lets his head sink onto the steering wheel.

Dear lord, how many more.

He gulps down air, his stomach twisting. He hadn't had a good word for her since she turned up and now she was dead. And he wouldn't get a chance to apologise now. Lightning flashes as Rusty jams his stunrod into one of the creatures. Still Ferret doesn't move. With his forehead pressed against the plastic of the steering wheel and his eyes tightly closed, he watches the scene play out.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Ferret's van, Redmond

The elf walked past Professor as he unloaded into the beast of a man on the ground. It wasn't until he heard Rusty yelling that he noticed the second one closing in. The creature paused for a split second for reasons unknown. It turned its nose to the air like a wild animal. Only Jovan was currently aware how much like a wild animal this guy was. As he tried to calm the man with his magic, he found that this man was working on little more than instinct. Simple, basic needs that would not be swayed by subtle influences. His higher reasoning was gone. this was a starving bear in the woods bearing down on a white rabbit with pointy ears.

[Red-ROM]

...

[Red-ROM]

...

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Ferret's van, Redmond

The last magazine was nearly empty from the day's work so far. The new magazine, is in. This one is full. Professor sees the other ... thing. He see's Jovan's magic threading through it's aura. It's aura is disgusting. It was once a man.

He raises his weapon.

[Acme]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Ferret's van, Redmond

Acme frowned, not familiar with the gun in his hands. Dammit, he was used to the weight and kick of a pistol, not a full-blown assault rifle. With his head still cloudy, he looked towards the spectre for a target. Now was as good a time for practice as any.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

Not even sure why he did it, Oswald moved quickly from the safety of his vehicle to draw and fire on the not-so-imposing beast as it mindlessly dragged their newest addition off to some corner to devour her. Unmolested, the brain can survive without oxygen for nearly two minutes before risking permanent damage. Throats aren't always as important as people think they are..

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

The Ghoul, sensing he was outnumbered, switched to flight mode. He grabbed his small meal by her limp arm and bolted for the hole he crawled out of. Oswald leveled the laser pistol at him and fired. The first shot burned across the bricks where the beast had been a nanosecond earlier. The second shot zipped across the beast's back straight through the leather jacket and sending up the smell of searing flesh. But the laser isn't known for it's stopping power, and the beast continued on into the rubble from whence it came, trailing Amber's blood behind him.

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

No fucking way, you piece of shit. No way you get her for lunch.

Professor's aura is darkening into 'red'.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Another magic came lashing out from Jovan, and the Pale, blood crusted ghoul ceased its dash for safety. It stopped outside a gap in the fallen wall next door. It shook and growled, holding onto the dwarf's wrist, and wondering why it couldn't make another step.

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

That sparkly 'yellow' of joy appears in Professor's aura as he sees Jovan's magic entangling the mind of the assailant. <<@Jovan: Thanks for pinning him down, chummer.>> He stays astrally aware. Harder to shoot, but better to watch the thing die.

[Sephiroth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, Redmond

The failure of Jovan's previous attempt to bend the creature's mind only added to his frustration and anger as his magic lashed out to immobilize it. I said be still!

He glanced at the message in the corner of his vision as the ghoul suddenly found itself unable to move, and paused. The dwarf had called him his chummer. Jovan felt ambivalent about that. One the one hand, no one had dared call him their chummer in years, and hearing it again after becoming used to the fear and hatred of normal metahumans was... strange. Perhaps almost touching. On the other, he felt almost a little insulted. It was almost like a mockery of his trust in the one person in the world that Jovan could truly call his friend; this unInfected dwarf was certainly not that person and never could be.

There will be time enough to think on this later.

<<<@Professor: ...Mmmm. Just go on and shoot it already.>> He turned back to the animalistic creature before him, and, with the quick reflexes of a superior Infected, prepared to lash out again with another of his natural abilities.

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Professor's disciplined mind took control of the distracting messages from astral and material planes. Good. Clear shot. But what struck him next was a surprising revelation. The thing's aura. Was that a hint of ... Jovan's disease? No time to be sure, but of course. Yet another victim itself, this thing was once a man. Could'a been me.

Professor's aura changed again. The 'green' of pity. It was not an angry man that took aim, but one bent on releasing a hostage.

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

I hope this sends you to a better place.

Professor takes two quick shots to the centre of mass.

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Ferret watches in horror as the ghoul starts to drag Amber's body away.

His mind cries 'No!' but his body remains locked to the steering wheel, watching the scene play out but unable to act.

[Warlordtheft]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 1:31 PM, Zo's Doss in Touristville, Redmond

Zo groggily stumbled out of bed. Trying to remember which joy troll, dwarf, or orc he came home with from the TDO club last night.
"Ahh Shiela, <subconsciously smacking her in the ass as she lay right next to him>. That was it."

He sent her some 50 nuyen, not that he had to, the club was in Crush territory, just that he got more fun out the joygirls than if they were just Micky’s freebies for his protection.
"Shiela, you should git back to Mickey's, he is probably wonderin' about you now."

He started to grab his gear, and noticed a rat crawling across the floor of his dilapidated apartment. He pondered if he needed target practice. He settled for a virtual draw on the beast. Nailing it, at least that is what the smartlink program told him, in .073 seconds "Not bad" . The rat moved on, oblivious to its virtual death. Shiela, looked at him slightly puzzled.

"Rat ain't worth the bullet." Zo said

As if that explained everything, he grabbed a soy bar from the fridge (the only place the rats didn't go), eating it while watching the dwarf get dressed. They left together, and headed toward Mickey's on his bike.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Professor's Shots land square between the shoulder blades, dropping the man like a sack of dirt on top of Amber's body.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

"I know this is going to sound strange, but get a tourniquet around her neck! Tight as you can! Save the blood, and I can save the rest of her! There's some major pathways thereabouts, but they're few in number. If I can splint the big ones and burn the rest, we could still stabilize her."

Triage in general was never Oswald's thing, but this was hardly something any doctor saw. A person would bleed out of such a wound in probably 46 seconds, so people with torn jugulars weren't exactly hospital fare. This was the sort of experimental medicine that overjoyed Oswald's jaded heart.
Bryukhonenko could routinely keep a severed dog's head alive and responsive for 4 hours back in 1928. I'll be damned if I can't do better today.

[Acme]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Acme seems a bit stunned and in shock of the ghouls going around him to act very quickly, as he wasn't even sure what the hell he was thinking to go out into a firezone to go after her in the first place. Seeing the one dragging Amber away, he slowly moves forward to reclaim her, since Oswald was insistent.

[Warlordtheft]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 2:00 PM, TDO Club in Touristville, Redmond

Without saying a word, Zo dropped the Dwarf off. Noting that some of Crush were already hanging out at the club enjoying the show. There were a few wageslaves inside, those that were regulars ignored them, the one or two new faces Zo recognized were nervous. He went over to the Bar to talk to Gore, one of the few trolls in the gang.

"Hey Gore, you coverin' here tonight?"

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Oswald's shout cut through Professor's focus on the assailant. He looked around, and saw that he was the closest to her. He rushed to her side, bent, and ... stopped. Ghoul blood spreading everywhere, including on Amber. What was hers? What was its?

<<@team: There's infected blood everywhere. What do I do?>>

[Sephiroth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 9:31 PM, Oswald's Rover, Redmond

Jovan grimaced as he realized, now that he had the time to process what had happened, that the wounded creature now laying atop the newcomer Amber must be a feral ghoul. That did not bode well for the female's fate. Not that he felt a great deal of sympathy for either of the two, of course, but even so he lamented this misfortune.

You picked the wrong herd of metahuman cattle to prey on this night, brother. You should have stuck with your smarter brethren to look after you.

<<@Professor: I know this isn't what you want to hear, but that is not a good sign for her. If the ghoul's blood is mingling with hers at the site of her wound, and she survives, there is a high chance that she will reawaken as an Infected, and she won't be one of the more fortunate ones like I was. To live as a ghoul is to live as worse than an exile, to live as a true monster in the eyes of others - even if she restricts her feeding to corpses. A quick and merciful death may be the best choice if this is the case.>>