S.L.I.C.E. {Game Thread/ Closed, Started}

[DarkRawen]

"You've been on your first mission, for us of course. I can easily wait, and read the report your division head will send me... But yet, I wish to hear about it from you."

Will looked at him. It was hardly a surprise that the man wanted to talk about the mission, it being a psych eval right after the first, stressful mission. For a number of people, this was the first time they ever killed something with human intelligence. As for him, it had been a very unpleasant event. The first of many. Of course, Lucas' shape-shifting hadn't really helped. "Sure. Where do you want me to start?"

He didn't receive an answer, and suddenly the doctor shook his head. Was it to him? Or someone else? From the first questions, Will had figured that this man was probably as much of an illusion as the rest of the room, a means of doing the psychic evaluation of many people at once. Which meant he might as well be shaking his head for some other reason. Still, it was odd.

"... If the background bothers you at all, objects can be made physical. If it makes this easier for you."

"I'm fine... I'd rather just get this over with." Rather than waiting for the man to tell him about a place to start, Will sighed. Starting from after they were teleported to the outside of the stadium was okay, right? Not to mention, few details were needed, he didn't doubt several other people would go more into details and not everything before or after was relevant, so he could probably sum it up in a short summary.

Besides, he just wanted to be out of there, really. Go back to bed, perhaps eat some breakfast first. Curl up and see if he managed to keep the events out of his head long enough for it not to appear in his dreams. If not that, perhaps practice the flute the very least. Read a book. Anything that brought him away from where he was for a couple of hours.

"I was sent there, put in a small group with a witch from D6, a guy named Haytham from D2, and my brother, Lucas Hale, and then ordered to attack. I used telekinesis to murder as many demons as I could manage, usually by breaking their necks or crushing their skulls. I don't remember the exact number, but a couple of tens. Some of them had emerged from a portal, with a strange device, capable of making people into bloody messes, but all were taken care of, either killed or driven away."

That had to be enough of a summary. He looked over at the chairs, thinking he probably should have asked for something to sit on. Well, hopefully he was out of there soon either way.

"What's next?"

 

[IFS]

"... If the background bothers you at all, objects can be made physical. If it makes this easier for you."

"No its fine, as for the mission, well I dunno there were demons and we killed them, not much more to say," he shrugged ambivalently, though his next words contained a bit of concern "I feel like I should be more upset or disturbed by seeing them die, but I feel fine."

He wondered if those feelings would hit him later, or not at all, perhaps the simple knowledge of what they were was enough to prevent him from feeling like that? Or maybe I'm an awful person he thought, before dismissing the thought. Might even be a side effect of my powers, well hopefully this guy can help.

 

[Terratina.]

Psych eval was a boring affair and he droned his account of the misson. Yes, he had killed demons by performing flip-floppy-fu with sharp objects. Yes, he wasn't disturbed by the whole affair. Yes, they should spent some more time with the women with the marks. Yes, she would probably hex them. No, he didn't need the objects to be made physical. At least the sand wouldn't get in his eyes. He leaned back and checked over the AK-47. Sturdy old things they were, and this one was no different. It hadn't ever jammed. And Haytham took his time making sure that would be case. Well, it was something to pass the time, at least. He sighed, he didn't need the doctor to tell him to pretend that all of the flesh and gore was just ketchup and mincemeat. Haytham had done this a thousand times already, and he was still smiling. Hopefully the doctor would pick up on that.

 

[Pappytech]

"You've been on your first mission, for us of course. I can easily wait, and read the report your division head will send me... But yet, I wish to hear about it from you."

"Of course."

Clearing her throat, Lyra prepared to deliver her end of the debriefing, just like she had done a hundred times before. It was a mechanical, routine process by this point; all she had to do was list off the mission objectives, which of them, if any, had been accomplished, and give a brief rundown of the events that had transpired.

"We were teleported into an empty field early this morning," the soldier began, her voice level and devoid of feeling. She was relaying details, and allowing emotion to influence her words would lend her words unintended bias. "Captain Pendragon and the D5 head provided us with some basic instructions, then left us to perform our own preparations; I hung back and used a rifle to provide long range support for the initial conflict.

"The mission itself was fairly straightforward: We needed to intercept a group of human arms-dealers who were preparing to sell their merchandise to a demon. The dealers were traveling in a large, unmarked van; we were supposed to take it down quietly, eliminate or incapacitate the dealers, and then approach the demon. But something went awry, and instead of stopping the dealers quietly we engaged in a full-fledged firefight. We had a few injuries on our side, but no fatalities that I'm aware of. The dealers, on the other hand, were all eliminated. So far as I know, not one of them was taken alive."

A practiced observer might've noticed something shift in Lyra's stance as she delivered that last bit of information. The muscles in her jaw seemed to tighten up just the slightest bit, and her fingers, spread out neatly in her lap, twitched a bit, as though they were resisting the urge to curl into fists.

The moment soon passed, however, and the soldier's report continued.

"With our cover blown, there wasn't much chance of getting the ambush off, so the plan was changed. We just charged the derelict warehouse the demon was in. Well, the rest of the divisions did, anyway; I just moved so I could provide better support.

"Inside the warehouse we encountered the demon. It claimed its name was Abaddon, but I'm not sure if it was the actual Abaddon or just an impostor going by that name. It went down a bit too easy for my liking...

"Regardless, the demon initially posed quite a threat. However, another SLICE operative, though I'm not sure which division he was from, appeared and engaged the target one on one. He managed to fight the target to a standstill, giving our forces time to position ourselves and get our shots lined up. When he gave the signal, we all opened fire, and while the target was certainly tenacious, it could only take so much damage before going down.

"Then we were teleported back to base."

Nodding once, Lyra mentally reviewed her summary. She believed she had gotten all of the important details; anything she had omitted was just fluff. Yes, she should have given Dr. Mann everything he needed to... do whatever he was doing. Checking her for signs of trauma or stress, most likely.

So why did he look so distracted, like he was only half-listening to her?

"Er... Sir?" she began, leaning forward slightly in her seat. "Is everything alright?"

Suddenly, the doctor seemed to snap back to reality. ...Or wherever this place was. "... If the background bothers you at all, objects can be made physical. If it makes this easier for you."

...He didn't listen to a word I just said, did he?

Barely repressing a sigh, the soldier sat up straight, unable to keep a slight twinge of annoyance out of her voice as she replied. "In all honesty, sir, I would prefer the background be dismissed entirely. I understand that it's supposed to be keeping me calm, but illusionary magic tends to agitate me."

 

[Ruedyn]

Gerald got multiple reports, seperating them mentally.

'The lack of emotion is disturbing...' Gerald suppressed a shudder, sitting forward further.

"I suppose I was looking for your opinion. Sorry if I was unclear." Gerald smiled, a tiny, barely noticeable thing. The folks at mission 2 got some support it seemed, probably from Merlin. James was loitering around his office still...

"Give me a second, if you will." He spoke slowly, before exhaling, splitting himself was a tad more difficult...

"There we go. So, I suppose I have your reports, that was a part of this. Still, we feel we must gauge emotions here. Make sure you don't turn your guns towards us instead of the demons... I'm sure you understand, despite how uncomfortable this is for you people."

"There we go. So, a demon prince showed up to your mission? I suppose he's the new presence.... No need to be worried, he's heavily sedated. He won't be bothering anyone for an hour or two, and by then he'll be locked away.

"Now, Your mission must have been... stressful. An angel got wounded, but other than that the injury report isn't that thick. You've been lucky. Now, you may leave if you wish, though we would prefer you stick around for a quick moment, to gauge your emotions."

-

Gerald sighed, rubbing his temples in his office. Mental magic was the second toughest type of magic, and that spell took a heavy toll. He looked at the reports, halfheartedly. He already read most of it, through James, but he'd need to revise it for his superiors. He'd be alerted if one of the mind-clones saw an abnormality, an especially twisted mind or hostile action.

 

[Pappytech]

"There we go. So, a demon prince showed up to your mission? I suppose he's the new presence.... No need to be worried, he's heavily sedated. He won't be bothering anyone for an hour or two, and by then he'll be locked away.

"Now, Your mission must have been... stressful. An angel got wounded, but other than that the injury report isn't that thick. You've been lucky. Now, you may leave if you wish, though we would prefer you stick around for a quick moment, to gauge your emotions."

Huh. Apparently that had, in fact, been the actual Abaddon.

That said a lot about either the ranks of demon princes or the mysterious operative who had intervened in the mission. Though she certainly would have preferred it be the former, Lyra had a gut feeling that the latter was probably the correct explanation. Still, it was somewhat reassuring to know that SLICE had such a powerhouse on their side; it didn't look like she'd have to worry about useless back-up at this organization.

But there would be time to think about that later.

"My emotions?" Gone from the soldier's voice were the slight hints of annoyance. "Er... That's fine, I suppose. Go ahead and do whatever you need to do; I'll do my best to accommodate."

This wouldn't be the first time Lyra had been subjected to such an examination, and while she found them bothersome, she did acknowledge their relevance. It'd be quite the disaster if one of her fellow agents suddenly decided to go postal, and if all it took to avoid that was answering a few questions every now and then? Heh, that was a price that anyone should be willing to pay. "Ready whenever you are, sir."

 

[DarkRawen]

"I suppose I was looking for your opinion. Sorry if I was unclear."


Will shrugged. He was about to open his mouth and comment on that, but the doctor spoke again, so he decided not to.

"Give me a second, if you will."

"Yeah, okay." "Can't we be done already?" Honestly, he didn't know what to say about it. What kind of opinion? It wasn't like it was explained much to them, nor were they given a reason for why they were attacking the demons. To him, it seemed more of a test than anything else. Still, he didn't think he would be allowed to say that aloud. He was fairly sure he wasn't allowed to question what he was told to do. Not knowing had both good and bad sides.

"There we go. So, I suppose I have your reports, that was a part of this. Still, we feel we must gauge emotions here. Make sure you don't turn your guns towards us instead of the demons... I'm sure you understand, despite how uncomfortable this is for you people."

"I don't have much to say when it comes to that. I'm not sure if you have been informed of it, but my powers tends to have a presence on my mind that numbs my emotions. It does not numb my morals, so you don't have to worry about me attacking you." Will then decided to add a little more, trusting the other a bit. "It wasn't a pleasant experience. But I'll be fine. Most of all, I just want to go to bed, relax, and sleep for a while."

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

"I suppose I was looking for your opinion. Sorry if I was unclear."

Opinion?

"Give me a second, if you will."

He paused.

"There we go. So, a demon prince showed up to your mission? I suppose he's the new presence.... No need to be worried, he's heavily sedated. He won't be bothering anyone for an hour or two, and by then he'll be locked away."

How would they know what sedatives work on them?

"Now, Your mission must have been... stressful. An angel got wounded, but other than that the injury report isn't that thick. You've been lucky. Now, you may leave if you wish, though we would prefer you stick around for a quick moment, to gauge your emotions."

Actually, it was surprisingly tame compared to the other jobs.

The man sighed and began rubbing his temples.

"All I ask is that you don't dig too far." I'll know if you do.

 

[IFS]

"Sure I suppose I can stick around, not much else to do," he replied.

He wondered how Will was handling this, he would have to ask him later, although he was also worried about whether Medea would try anything. He wanted to trust her, as she was his teammate, but he doubted her forgiveness of Will was sincere. Dr. Mann seemed distant somehow, so he doubted that he had his full attention, though that could mean any number of things in a place like this.

 

[Ruedyn]

"Alright then, let's get this over with." Despite the seperation, all said this in tandem. Funny how people disliked the idea of others in their psyches. Still, only one left right away. The following couple of hours were miserable for Mann, but his clones did their jobs, helping some cope with the murders they were forced to commit, some revealed their history, one confessed to crimes previous this job. He would have to be terminated, of course, but Gerald was touched he was trusted that much.

When it was over, Gerald dropped the illusions, noticing it was 9 pm.

"... Eh, might as well go to bed." Gerald got up, hoping tomorrow would be a day of nothing, those were fun.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

"-Yes, yes, we'll send some people out to go look for them." James raised both hands to the big, chainmail wearing ************ who had cornered him. Templars missing in the woods somewhere, yadda yadda. Fourth mission given that day, surprisingly. Demons seemed to be rather vindictive, but luckily SLICE wasn't on their radar yet. However, Templars were, and they were already getting hit. Hard.

James made his way through the church, finding his office and clicking on the PA system.

"6 am... oh well.

Ahem, rise, shine, report to the main hall. We've got a lot of missions and none of them are specialized. Find the mssion board when you're ready, you have all day, others don't."

 

[Pappytech]

"Ahem, rise, shine, report to the main hall. We've got a lot of missions and none of them are specialized. Find the mssion board when you're ready, you have all day, others don't."

As the screechy PA system relayed the message throughout the barracks, Lyra groaned, rolling over in her bed and barely resisting the urge to wrap her pillow around her ears. Christ, this whole early morning wake-up was going to become a daily thing, wasn't it? If she was going to make it through the week, she'd really need to stockpile up on coffee...

Though her irritation refused to fade so easily, the soldier was up and out of bed in a matter of minutes. A quick cold shower helped to shake the last vestiges of sleep from her mind, and a mere twenty minutes after the announcement had rung out Ms. Summers was ready to head downstairs and face the day.

GRRRRRRRGGGGGLLLLLL~

...Well, she'd be ready to face the day after she got some food in her gut.

[hr]

Though it took a few minutes and a bit of exploration, Lyra finally managed to track down SLICE's cafeteria. Considering the building was only half-finished, the eatery had a surprisingly decent selection; a wider variety would've been nice, sure, but the soldier was willing to take whatever she could get. It felt like she hadn't eaten in a week.

Snatching up a tray, a glass, and a couple of plates, Lyra made her way down the rather standard breakfast set-up, selecting some bacon, a couple of pancakes drowning in syrup, a nice, crimson apple, and some whole milk to finish things off. Tossing a few bills at the man working the register, the soldier, carefully balancing her breakfast, ventured out to one of the long, mostly empty tables that filled the majority of the cafeteria's space; it looked like she was the first one here.

Well, hopefully that wouldn't last for long, she mused as she eagerly tucked into her food. Hopefully some of the other agents would show up soon; it'd be nice to get to know some of her comrades.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Ahem, rise, shine, report to the main hall. We've got a lot of missions and none of them are specialized. Find the mssion board when you're ready, you have all day, others don't."

Will didn't wake up this time, as he had already been awake. All together, between wanting to be anywhere apart from where he was now, and his mind going from the sensation of crushing people with telekinesis and the sight of Lucas' snake-hand, he found himself sleeping less than two hours, not counting the nap he had taken earlier, after the psych eval. With that added, it would be around 5 hours. Which was 10 too few compared to what he'd prefer. As he heard the message, his mind instantly told him that it meant that he could just lie in bed until he was ready, and so he did. Will was staring at the ceiling, and he let a small sigh out as he closed his eyes, once again trying to relax.

However, after a while he got out of the bed, having decided that he should probably go get something to eat. He hadn't bothered to the day before, for different reasons. After getting dressed in a pair of loose pants and a sweater, and then going to the bathroom, he knocked on Lucas' door. His brother was probably awake by now, he tended to be. Will somehow doubted he had left already, though. "Lucas?" he said, yawning in the middle of his brother's name.

"Are you there? Do you want to go get some breakfast?"

 

[IFS]

Ahem, rise, shine, report to the main hall. We've got a lot of missions and none of them are specialized. Find the mission board when you're ready, you have all day, others don't."

Lucas yawned and forced himself out of bed, he got dressed, checking his arm again to make sure it was his even after all the shifting he had done with it the night prior, checking that the skin of his hand wasn't writhing under its own power or something of that sort. He heard a knock at the door soon after having gotten dressed, and shrugged and stopped staring at his hand.

"Are you there? Do you want to go get some breakfast?"

"Yeah, I'm here, lets go eat I'm starving," he opened the door and walked out into the hallway, forcing himself to smile, "How are you feeling? I'm feeling like having waffles, I hope they have those."

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

"It burns John, please make it stop, please make it-" SCREAMING
Their flesh was melting as the rays permeated the chamber and the electrical fires consumed them. There was nothing he could do for them. The room around him was coated in blood and he could only hear the screaming, the unholy screaming emanating from what remained of his comrades souls.
GODHELPUSWHYWONTITSTOP?

"Ahem, rise, shine, report to the main hall. We've got a lot of missions and none of them are specialized. Find the mission board when you're ready, you have all day, others don't."

John heard the announcement and pulled himself out of bed. Another day. He clothed himself and made sure his pistol was loaded and holstered.

He went to the cafeteria and grabbed some food he saw, a glass of orange juice, some dry cereal, and a piece of fried ham.
He sat at the same table as one of the woman he saw during the previous mission. He felt that she was human and therefore less likely to try to kill him.

 

[Pappytech]

Lyra flashed a quick smile as one of the other D3 recruits slid into a nearby seat. Unmindful of the strands of syrup she sent flying through the air, the soldier waved her hand, fork and all, through the air in greeting; it was about time she got some company!

"Hey there!" she called out cheerily, talking around a mouthful of bacon. "Glad to see I'm not the only one who actually gets up on time."

Hmm... She didn't think she'd met this guy before. Sure, she'd seen him in the barracks and on the battlefield yesterday, but at least to her knowledge, this was the first time they were actually exchanging pleasantries. Washing down her half-chewed food with a swig of milk and letting her fork and knife clatter onto the tray, Lyra extended a hand towards her fellow agent. "I'm Lyra, by the way. Lyra Summers."

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

John looked at the woman with a blank face for a moment and returned the gesture by shaking her hand.
"Nice to meet you Lyra. I'm John."
He felt the pulse in her hand in that brief moment of contact and pulled his hand back, his suspicion was confirmed she was human.
"So, how long have you been here? This base I mean."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Yeah, I'm here, lets go eat I'm starving." Lucas came out from the room and smiled, if a bit forced. "How are you feeling? I'm feeling like having waffles, I hope they have those."

"I dunno. And I'm fine." He yawned, and stretched. It didn't really make him feel more awake. He didn't think anything apart from a large dose of caffeine or sugar would. For a short moment, his eyes lingered on the arm Lucas had transformed into that snake-creature-thing-whatever-the-fuck-it-was, making his distance from it by standing on the opposite side of Lucas. "I'd like some energy-drinks, and coffee. Both. And pizza. You know where the cafeteria is, right?" Even if Lucas didn't, he'd probably find out, something Will wasn't in the mood to do himself.

 

[IFS]

"I'd like some energy-drinks, and coffee. Both. And pizza. You know where the cafeteria is, right?"

"I think so, it won't be hard to find at any rate," he grinned and laughed inwardly at Will's appetite, though he doubted the cafeteria had pizza this early in the morning.

He led the way to the cafeteria, it wasn't hard to find and he remembered enough of the layout from earlier so they were soon there. He looked over the menu, sadly no waffles, but pancakes were an acceptable substitute, so he loaded up his plate with those and a donut or two, before walking out to find a seat, leaving Will to despair over the lack of pizza.

He saw a couple of people he recognized from before, the man introduced himself, and he picked up their names as John and Lyra respectively. He walked over to sit next to them "Mind if we sit here?" he asked, giving a glance over his shoulder back at Will.

 

[Pappytech]

"Nice to meet you Lyra. I'm John."

Though it was subtle, Lyra still felt John's fingers brushing against her wrist for just a second too long. There didn't seem to be any malice or cruel intentions behind the gesture, but it still struck her as a bit... odd.

Ah well. Odd was to be expected in this line of work.

"So, how long have you been here? This base I mean."

"The base? It's been all of..." The solider paused for a split second, flicking her fingers around as she mentally counted. "If you count the first night, this'll be my third day. You've been around for about the same amount of time, right? Thought I saw you when we were all moving in the other day."

"Mind if we sit here?"

"Not at all," Lyra responded cheerfully as she turned to face the newcomers. "Nice to see you again, er... Will, right? Or are you Lucas and he's Will," she continued, pointing at the younger boy behind Lucas. "Sorry, still trying to get used to everyone's names."

 

[DarkRawen]

Lucas had gone over to most crowded table in the cafeteria, this crowd being two people, and Will mentally facepalmed. Why was he looking for people to talk, in the morning, when they could just as well have been eating in silence? At least he knew one of them, Lyra, from before, and she seemed to be a friendly person, so it should be okay. Then again, he had probably made a bad impression on her before, with his joke...

Or, Will could just sit on a different table, but then he might have to sit with a stranger without Lucas there, which he really didn't want either. A few years spent mostly inside the same house without interacting too much with people did that. Besides, Lucas would probably comment on it, and Will would seem rude.

"Geez, why I am even thinking about where to sit?" he asked himself, before asking for a red bull, a cup of coffee, and several kinds of danish pastries.

He then lifted them with telekinesis -if he had been too tired to use telekinesis like this, then he would have been too tired to carry the stuff in his arms as well- and made his way over to where Lucas was now sitting, and sat down besides him. Drinks and pastries were placed on the table, and he started eating, but not before having murmured:

"Hi."