| Logs |
2002 January 04
| Cosmic Guardians |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Guardians Logs |
Background RP - Nikki- Part 3
Life and Death:Nikki's Story
Part 3:Strange Bedfellows
The drive is not a long one. Within 15 minutes, the small car pulls into an underground garage underneath a nondescript office building. There is a gate guard that waves Prometheus through, and the blonde man parks close to what looks like an elevator. He gets out and moves around to the opposite side of the car, as if to open the door for his ghostly companion.
Nikki steps through the door and grins. "Don't you think it would look weird if you just opened and closed the door like that?"
Prometheus looks slightly abashed. "Sorry," he replies. "Just...good manners is all."
Nikki looks around. "No one's probably watching anyway."
Prometheus nods. "uhm, this way." he indicates the elevator.
Nikki heads in that direction, and then absently glances at ehr companion. "Something I'm confused about, Pro. If I can walk through walls and stuff, how the hell was I able to sit in that car and not fall out?"
Prometheus steps up to the elevator doors and presses the button. "Because some part of you still think of yourself as alive, Nikki. It's what's referred to as 'mortal mindality'. As long as you think that you can walk on solid ground, or sit in a car, or lean against a wall, you can. After all, you're not affected by gravity any more...so the only limitations are what you percieve as possible."
Nikki ponders this. "So, like...if I walked through those elevator doors, and there was no elevator on the other side, I'd fall?"
Prometheus knits his brow. "It depends on your mindality, Nikki. If you were convinced you wouldn't fall, you wouldn't. As you are right, now, I don't know. It's not clear how well you've accepted your...well, death as it were. Of course, even if you did fall, you wouldn't get hurt unless you were manifested."
Nikki looks doubtfully at the elevator. "I don't think I want to test that just now, myself."
Prometheus smiles wryly. "A wise choice." Just then, the elevator doors open.
Nikki steps into the elevator, glancing back at Prometheus. "Looks like an expensive place."
Prometheus follows, murmuring, "You have no idea." He does not press any of the buttons. Rather, he places a keycard into a slot. The elevator starts moving, and as the bells ring indicating the passing of floors, something odd is noted. There is not thirteenth floor. This is not too strange in and of itself; some buildings never had 'thirteenth floors' as a throwback to old superstition. However, when the elevator stops, having just passed the 12th floor, neither the 12 nor the 14 is lit.
Nikki blinks as the doors swing open. "There's...a thirteenth floor on this building...but the elevator skips it?"
The elevator opens up into a small room. There is what seems to be a receptionist's desk, complete with computer and so forth, as well as an am emblazoned logo on the wall: Chimera Enterprises. But the only exits appear to be the elevator and a door next to a keypad beside the receptionists desk. "Few people know that there *is* a thirteenth floor here, Nikki." the blonde says solemnly as he steps off.
Nikki nods. "If you were paying attention in the elevator, you might notice." She walks towards the door, planning on walking through it.
Prometheus blinks. "Nikki, you can't..."
Nikki jerks as she bumps into something. She stares at the wall a moment and then looks at Prometheus. "That's the first thing I've felt since I woke up." She touches it curiously.
Prometheus steps alongside the ghostly Nikki. "First lesson of being a ghost: you're not unstoppable. This little Lodge of ours...it has special protections. One of them prevents any non-recognized spirits to enter just by passing through."
Nikki hmms. "Interesting. Magic or something?"
Prometheus seems surprised at Nikki's casual acceptance of the notion. "Do you know something of magic then? Even before, your...ah...death?
Nikki says, "No...but I've never heard of anything scientific that could do anything with ghosts...except I heard they've got these devices that could detect them...or take pictures of them or something. So what else could it be?"
Prometheus considers this notion and then chuckles wryly. "What indeed. Dying would seem to open up a person's mind then. A pity that it only happens after one is dead. At any rate..." He goes over to the keypad. It does not have a standard set of numbers on it, but rather a set of twelve greek letters on it. Pro's fingers punch out a six character sequence, and the door slides open. "...you'll find out more than you bargained for on the subject soon enough." he finishes, motioning Nikki through.
Nikki takes a glance at the strange keypad and looks into the room before walking in. "But...I really didn't have a need to before. You know?" Prometheus grunts. "You will now."
Nikki shrugs and walks in, "Why don't you guys use real numbers on the keypad? Because most people don't know ro and theta and stuff like that?"
The room beyond has an unfinished look to it...like a bunch of stuff was put in, organized, but doesn't really look complete, all by itself. There are a couple cots in the room, with a metal locker looming over them. An entire section of the room is dominated by what seems like a lot of computer equipment...racks of routers and bridges, several servers, at least three redundant UPSes, and three separate quantum laptops, with one larger flatscreen actually mounted on the far wall. One of the computers is in use by a man with dark skin..one might expect that he was black, but his hair seems too naturally straight. He spins in his seat as the two enter, revealing a set of bright green eyes. He looks mildly at the two, seeming, not quite surprised, but definitely curious. "Well now...it looks like you found something, Pro." he says in a musical voice.
Nikki's eyes almost pop out at all of the expensive equipment. "Wow....look at this rig!" She walks over and takes a closer look at the computers and networking equipment. "This stuff costs a fortune..."
Prometheus casts an amused glance at the dark-skinned man. "To answer both your questions, Nikki...yes, there was a good amount of money...or other resources, spent to obtain this equipment. And we use a greek-lettered keypad because it's much harder for the average hacker to decript. Now, if you'll draw your eyes away from the equipment, let me intoduce...Hermes. The fourth member of our merry band." The dark man smiles toothily, and seems to emanate something as Nikki's eyes fall upon him...something similar to the first time she looked at Prometheus...but stronger, and less spooky.
Nikki pries her eyes from the computers to look at Hermes. She smiles and waves. "I'm Nikki." Her brow furrows a bit. "You're kinda glowing...different than Pro, though."
Hermes, raises an eyebrow, managing to look like a Vulcan doing so. He looks at Prometheus again, who grimaces. "Another victim of our not-friend with the red hair. Only she not only seems to have survived, after a fashion, but her death seems to have brought some strange side effects." Prometheus looks at Nikki curiously. "You didn't see glowing auras around folks before you died, correct?"
Nikki shakes her head. "Not except for that one time I took that little pill that a friend at school gave me. Ya ya...it was dumb."
Hermes looks thoughtful. "It's not unusual." he finally says. "Often, mortals have potential never fully realized while alive...but often violent death can act as a catalyst...not that I'd reccomend it myself."
Nikki looks at Hermes oddly. "Oh...you've tried it and decided you didn't like it?"
Hermes chuckles throatily, almost oozing charisma. "My dear, I assure you, I'm quite alive. I'm just saying that being alive and normal is often far preferrable to being undead and not-normal...although the two usually tend to go hand in hand."
"I'll second that one." Prometheus adds quietly.
Nikki nods. "I'll uh...try to remember that...next time. Heh."
"And what's going on in there, hmm?" says a female voice with a slightly Irish brogue. A woman, perhaps in her thirties, stands in a door way just across from the three present. She's dressed in a strange ensemble: form-fitting brown leather pants, a long-sleeved red blouse ornamented with beads and ruffles, flat-soled boots that reach up to mid-calf, and a thick green cloak (an atricle of clothing that has made a comeback in the last decade) around her shoulders. She seems surprised at the new arrival, but then her eyes glitter merrily. "Sure, an have the pretty lasses been following you around agin, Pro?"
Nikki blinks and blushes a little at the compliment. "Uhm...is dead girls following you around considered favorable?"
Prometheus coughs, tugging at his collar slightly. "Hecate just likes to make me blush, Nikki. Not that it's a hard feat. Nikki, this is Hecate, our lady of mystery. Hecate...this is Nikki, another unfortunate victim of the latest incident."
Nikki looks at Prometheus. "There's been more than just me and Alex?"
Prometheus looks dour. "Yes and no, Nikki. We've yet to determine exactly why Mr... France, was it?..why he went after you...it may or may not be connected to what we're after him for. When the others get back, I'm sure that Athena will want to know everything you know or suspect about the...gentleman."
Hecate, for her part, goes slightly ashen. "Ah lass..." she says sadly, coming up and laying a hand on Nikki's face..."It's nae fair, t' been taken out of yer youth so soon..."
Nikki blinks, jerking a bit in surprise and moving a hand up to touch Hecate back, surprised she's evening feeling her.
Hecate smiles sadly as Nikki's hand passes right through her face. "Ah'm a lil different than you, hon. Ye won' be able t' touch me till ye learn how. But one of me gifts allows me t' interact with the departed dead as if they were yet alive.
Nikki nods and swallows, looking at her face before looking down. Hecate's eyes focus more sharply on Nikki then, as if seeing something about her that was not apparent to the visible eye...and her expression, while not shocked, does seem to imply that she's more than a little taken aback. "Mother Earth an' Father Sky...." she oathes...
Nikki blinks and looks up. "Uh...what?" Hecate doesn't answer right away, looking to Hermes. "D'ye see it too, or am I imaginin' it?" she says. Hermes frowns, and looks more closely at Nikki as well...his face knitting in concentration. "You're not wrong, Cate. We should be dammned lucky neither Mr. Red Hair nor anyone else found her before we did..."
Nikki frowns and takes a step back from Hecate. "What...are you talking about?"
Hermes steeples his fingers together, seeming thoughtful. "Just as there are those like Cate and Pro, whom have powers...Gifts...beyond the normal man, there are many people who have the untapped potential to such abilities. Often, the measure of a person's Power...an internal capacity that is neither genetic nor learned...represents the likelyhood that such abilities would manifest. You, Miss Nikki, seem to have quite a wellspring of Power at your command...but apparently, such potential remained buried. While you were still alive, that is."
Nikki digests this. "So...someone else could take it?"
Hermes raises his right eyebrow, and glances at Pro and Hecate. "This perhaps underlines my theory. You seem to have an instinctive knowledge of the notion of Power and Gift. Yes, you are absolutely correct, Nikki. Someone could have used you as a power source for less that worthy ends...or even awoken the power in you and used you as a pawn. Your personal Power would be a draw for many dark wizards...as well as otherworldly beings."
Nikki chews her lip. "Well...I didn't know...I was just guessing by the way she said that it was good that the other guys didn't find out."
Hermes shakes his head. "Do not overly doubt yourself, my dear. For now, such instincts might serve you well...till we can replace the with proper teachings."
Nikki thinks quietly for a moment. "Could they help me keep being a hacker? Even though I'm dead?"
Hermes smiles, his dark face seeming both ominous and friendly. "Learning to become solid is a common ability for those ghosts we.....have worked with. With your power level, it's likely that you would be able to do so for extended periods of time. Beyond that...only proper instruction will reveals what you can and cannot do."
Nikki smiles. "I'll be able to eat and stuff when I'm..solid?"
Hermes creases his brow, and looks at Hecate. She shrugs and looks at Prometheus. Stuck with the topic, Pro spreads his hands and says. "To be honest, I don't know. I don't think so. Becoming solid is does not mean that you suddenly become alive again, with all the internal organs. It's like your skin and outside has shape and texture and feeling...but inside there's nothing. Then again, I could be wrong...I've just never seen ghosts try to eat before. Although they have done...uh...other human things that would seem to imply they're not *completely* hollow."
Nikki tries to fathom for a moment what else Prometheus could talk about besides eating and then blushes. "Oh."
Prometheus chuckles nervously, seeming at once relieved that he didn't actually have to go into specifics, and embarassed that Nikki was able to figure it out anyway. "At any rate, you're with us now...and we're not going to be leaving you alone in this. We'll help you figure out these questions you have...as well as where you want to go from here."
Nikki smiles a little. "And keep me company on those long boring nights? I don't sleep now, do I?"
Prometheus shakes his head. "No, you don't....you rest, of course. But you can never lose consciousness while doing so...meditation is really the closest you can come to it."
Prometheus scratches his chin. "In fact...we've got a little time before Athena gets back....lets see if we can't show you how to do the solid thing right now."
Nikki grins. "Cool...that way I could actually shake your hands." She smiles
at Hecate. "And touch back." Hecate giggles and Prometheus smiles. "All right
then. This is how we begin..."
The better part of an hour passes as Hecate and Prometheus give Nikki a crash
course in 'ghostly manifestiation'. While the neophyte ghost seems to pick up
the concept relatively easy, carrying it out is much harder. After Nikki is able
to succesfully shift back and forth, the three start talking about the
limitations and nature of ghosts, while Hermes appears to be busy working on one
of the quantum laptops. Nearly an hour and a half since they started, the group
is interrupted by the entry of three figures. Two of them are recognizably
Cerberus and Athena, who enter looking more than a little chagrined. The third
is new, but seemingly part of this strange enigmatic crew.
The new arrival seems to have a distinct way about him. Where Athena is calm and calculating, Promethus is shy and hesitant, Hermes is alien and enigmatic, Hecate is teasing and mysterious, and Cerberus is earthy and feral, the sixth member is dark and almost dangerous looking. While he is not supremely muscular, he does seem rather bulky in his clothing...and the possible reason why is visible on his hands: he is wearing Spidersilk gloves. A recent breakthrough in the last decade, Spidersilk allows ballistic armor to be made thin, but with the same tensile strength of the bulkier Kevlar.. Clearly, it would be far more restrictive to wear Kevlar gloves, but spidersilk is thin enough to be both protective without restrictive. Under his leather duster is a different story; there seems to be some form of armor underneath there. His features have a mexican look to them: his skin a dark bronze, his hair black and shortcropped, and his eyes black and intense. He gazes upon Nikki; not asking questions, just staring.
Nikki looks over from talking with Hecate and Prometheus and her eyes widen a bit the new one, a little uncertain. Prometheus follows Nikki's gaze, and then chuckles wryly when he sees what she's staring at...and who's staring right back. "Nikki, this is our sixth and final compatriot...aptly named 'Ares'."
Nikki raises a hand in a tentative wave. "Uhm...hi." 'Ares' nods in reponse, and then walks over and grabs a chair sitting backwards. Cerberus just plops on an airmattress somewhere, and Athena remains standing, placing her hands in her coat pockets. "Well, I have some news for you all to hear...especially you, Nikki."
Nikki watches Ares and Cerberus a moment until Athena speaks. She looks to her quickly, interested. Athena reaches up with one hand and removes her mirrorshades, revealing very pretty blue eyes. "Your Mr. France and his men removed all your computer equipment, storage devices, and placed a bug on your answering machine. I've used some resources to see if the bodies of you or your brother have been found, and thus far, nothing. The rest of your apartment was searched, but if they took anything else, we can't be sure, as they put everything back neatly. And according to Ares, Mr. France was seen returning to Trypticon's San Francisco branch sometime this morning, but has not been seen since."
Nikki blinks. "You know where he is? How do I get there?"
Athena tilts her head. "The Trypticon complex is a few miles outside the city. They own several acres of space, and have a half-dozen buildings on the premesis. Why?"
Nikki's brow furrows, like the answer should be obvious. "Because I wanna kill him."
Ares offers a minute smile. "Spirited, isn't she." he says in a smooth voice with only a hint of an accent. Prometheus, for his part, groans. "Nikki, you can't just walk in there and expect to kill him..."
Nikki says, "No? I thought I'd kinda drift in...and then go solid with my arm through his chest."
Prometheus raises a hand to his eyes and rubs them, as if in pain. "It looks like we have to explain a few more things, Cate." he says in the witch's direction.
Nikki frowns. "You mean I can't do that?"
"No, honey." Hecate says gently in response. "And I don't mean it in the sense that we won't let you....that's a whole separate issue...I mean in the sense that it doesn't work that way. You can't become solid inside another object."
Nikki wilts slightly. "Well...damn...I'll just...appear behind him and grab his gun and kill him, then."
Prometheus sighs. "Have you already forgotten what we just told you, Nikki? Look, the're a significant perimeter between the surrounding gate and the buildings. Even if your anchor - the watch - were right next to the gate, you couldn't go more than say, a thousand yards away from it. That's probably not far enough to be able to get into much more than the very front of the buildings."
Nikki sighs and nods. "I forgot." She sits against the edge of a table.
Ares speaks up then. "Besides which, we're still not sure who they really are, or what they're capable of. I think they're just Majestic-12 or Echelon...and if they are, they probably have only technological defenses...but what if we're wrong? What if they do have magical wards; if they're Silver Star or something worse. I can appreciate your desire for justice, girl....but right now, you got more sand than smarts."
Nikki looks startled as Ares speaks and even feels a little stung at the words but nods and looks at her feet. "Are you guys trying to take them out?" She looks up. "Why were you at my place at all?"
Everyone seems to look at Athena at once, as if expecting her to either answer, or give them free reign to speak. She apparantly decides on the former. "Your Mr. France was identified by our client as having...stolen something from him. We traced him to Trypticon and had Ares stake it out, find out what he could about perimeter security. Cerb, Pro and I were actually on our way to meet with a contact when Cerb spotted Mr. France getting into a car outside your apartment. We gave chase, but lost them. So we went back to your apartment to see what he was donig there, and the rest you know.
Nikki nods. "So...you're only interested in recovering this stolen...thing?"
"We had...intented to reserve judgement on what actions to take after we had discovered who was behind the theft. And why." says Athena guardedly.
Prometheus stands suddenly. "And what about, Nikki, huh? We're not going to let her death go unanswered, are we?" he says, biting off his words heatedly. Athena starts to respond, but is interrupted by Ares's chuckle. "Let me guess. You're thinking about going 'scorched earth', right flame-boy?" Prometheus flushes, and sits.
Nikki's head turns from person to person like she's watching a tennis match, wondering at what joke, if any, was just implied...and remembering the image she saw earlier upon first seeing Prometheus. The being of flame that was seemingly inside him. "If you're going after him, I want to help. I want to be there..." she says stubbornly, pushing her curiosity aside for the moment.
Ares grunts. "Like I said, kid. You got sand, no two ways about it. But you're not trained for this. You'll be a liability if we have to watch out for you." "What can they do to her, though? She's already dead." says Cerberus, shrugging. Prometheus shudders. "You don't want to know, Cerb. Trust me on that."
Nikki grips the tables edge tightly, knuckles even whitening a little. "They fucking killed my brother...and I'm supposed to just sit around?!" She doesn't seem to notice the seeming impossibility of her interaction with the table.
Prometheus holds up a hand. "Nikki, all we're saying is..."
A rather audible sound emits from the table as cracks start to radiate out from where Nikki's hands grip the edge of the table. After a couple of painfully loud seconds, the table practically breaks apart in an explosion of splinters, leaving several pieces of table to clatter to the floor. Nikki looks back and stumbles a little, surprised by the sudden lack of the table she was leaning on. The effect is almost like the cartoon character that runs out over open air and stands there a moment until they notice there is nothing under their feet.
Everyone stares in shock, even the normally pokerfaced Athena. Well, Ares is not quite shocked, but definitely surprised. Athena is the first to speak. "Hecate...what have you been teaching that girl?" "Nothing like that." the witch murmurs.
Nikki looks at the others and then crouches down to run her fingers through one of the shards of wood. "Uhm...what just happened?"
Hecate purses her lips. "I'm not certain...but clearly we need to find out, honey. Come over and kneel by me a moment..." Nikki readily responds, standing up and walking over to Hecate, glancing at the others a bit nervously and then kneels down. "I...uhm...that wasn't on purpose."
"Drat. I was going to congratulate you on your strength." says Ares amusedly, though not unkindly.
Hecate holds her hands on either side of Nikki's head. "Be quiet a moment, dear..." Nikki chews her lip, and quiets as Hecate does...whatever she's doing. The witch frowns as her eyes seem to glaze, looking at something about Nikki not in phase with the real world....then her eyes unglaze, and she looks disturbed. "Her death seems to have been a catalyst for powers that I've never seen before. It's like magic, only...not."
Nikki sits back on her heels. "So...that's great. I'm going to randomly and accidently destroy things?"
Athena shakes her head. "Most assuredly not." she said firmly, having regained some of her composure. "I think clearly we're going to have to take some time out of our objective to insure that you gain a measure of control over...whatever it is you have. Cate, do you think you can help her with it?
Hecate considers the question. "Yes. I think so." she says dubiously. "At least trying would be better than nothing at all, considering the circumstances." Athena nods curtly. "All right then, that's your job for the nonce. The rest of you, here are your assignments..."
[Previous Log] [Index] [Next Log]