Society of Justice 3: Crisis on the Earth

[RBMidknight]

In addition to helping Levi construct Brian's new toy Taryn had spent almost a full week organizing her mini-command-center and revamping the Promenade's security system. She'd refused to say anything to the construction workers who asked 'What's behind that door there?' while pointing to the Security Room. It's not that she didn't trust them. Well no, actually it was that she didn't trust them. In fact Taryn posted a sign on the door of the Security room declaring it off-limits to non-members of the Society. With a big red marker arrow pointing to the name of the room. She did trust that the construction workers could read and follow directions.

Locating, fixing, or in some cases flat out replacing cameras that had been broken/melted into slag had taken a few days. Then after the replacing came the rewiring and restructuring of the security grid. Along the way Taryn made some modifications here and there. Cameras were hidden better, cases were reinforced, wires were double wrapped. This was her final test.

"Grid three...section two...row eight...activating...now." With crossed fingers on one hand Taryn hit the 'Enter' key on her laptop. On the opposite side of the Security Room a video feed switched to a new input. Instead of the front walkway it now showed the front lawn.

"Success." Taryn exclaimed quietly, with an accent borrowed from a cartoon boy genius. The last security camera was now up and running. Which meant that the Security Room upgrades were finally complete. "Which means I can take a break and..." Taryn's good mood abruptly diminished. "find something else...to do."

Silently Taryn unplugged her laptop and began gathering her tools. As busy as she was with upgrades and maintenance Taryn was also very concerned about Levi. What had started as depression now seemed to be an extreme case of lethargy. And depression. And a general...lack of care. Though they had both worked on Brian's scythe, Taryn hadn't actually spoken to Levi in days. He'd been there just not there. It was to the point now that Taryn getting past concerned and onto exasperated. He didn't smile. Didn't laugh. He wasn't himself anymore. She wanted Levi back...she missed him.

With a final check of the Security Room and a sigh Taryn stepped out into the hall. She secured the door then began walking toward the museum.

 

[blaze96]

Richard awoke to Alex sobs and immediately jumped out of bed while Same twisted to land on her paws before running off at her rude awakening. He quickly reached the room Alex was in and took her into his arms.

"Alex, what's wrong?" He asked, he had an idea but he wanted to be completely sure.

 

[CounterAttack]

Rowan had had trouble sleeping recently, and it showed. Almost every night for the past fortnight he had been awake until the early hours, restlessly tracing the same routes around the Promenade or lying on his bed and staring aimlessly at the ceiling. The reason for the insomnia was obvious; Alex telling him he could have lost his humanity. Eric had also dropped out of contact recently. As a result, Rowan hadn't had the chance to speak to the alchemist about anything he had dug up in regards to the day he had been exposed to the virus.

He was outside when the dawn broke over Nova City, sitting on a couch in the lounge and generally zoning out, distancing himself from the rest of the world for a while. The test results hadn't come in yet; it had been a full fortnight since the testing and he'd heard nothing.

"When will I find out for sure... and where are you, you sick bastard," he muttered to himself, referring to the currently faceless and nameless scientist who had locked him into the containment chamber.

[hr]

Katie and Leland had relocated to the Lodge to sleep through the nights, considering that the construction work was still going on and it interfered with their sleeping habits. Unsurprisingly, the latter was awake when Katie stirred, stretched and woke up by his side. "Hey, hun," she said quietly, kissing the side of his neck and pressing herself against him under the sheets. "That was pretty good last night, wouldn't you agree?" she purred in his ear, giggling a little.

 

[tsatoma]

"Well now I do agree with that statement. Then again these whole past two weeks were a good idea. Peace and quiet here, you get to check out those potion books, and I am back to my light sleeping habits. Hopefully all that construction stuff will be done soon though, it's annoying to just hear the noise or to be interrupted by one of those workers. I know it's their job, but still..." Leland replied as he reached over to look at the clock, sighing when he saw it as he sat up.

"Hmmm, do we want to head over their now or wait? I know that the groceries are in over there so getting breakfast their might be a good idea. And if you want to keep reading some of those potion books you can take them with you too," he added as stretched his arms and hopped out of bed towards his closet.

----

Garrus tried to keep himself from looking at his younger brother who had decided upon cereal for breakfast and was now eating it at the table. Instead he focused on Renton who also had cereal but was throwing it at some of the construction workers who were in the kitchen.

"You need to stop that," Garrus told Renton, the boy stopping a current throw and instead putting the cereal inside his mouth.

 

[Lizmichi]

"I.. I can't get pregnant. I swear to god there's something wrong with me." Alex said clinging to him. "God why did you marry me? Even out of the ally I'm a piece of shit. God my body is fucked up, hell I'm not even human for god sake. Knowing what I've done I most likely killed my reproductive system with the drugs I've done." Alex cried harder.

She felt useless, worthless, hell not ever worth what she had, certainly not worth having Richard as a husband. "Maybe, maybe I should go back to the Ally, I seem to still be an Ally rat as it is. Hell I'm still smuggling shit like drugs, and artifacts but well I'll be fine with that really." Alex lied not wanting to tell him about the angry customer that wanted to kill her.

 

[blaze96]

"While we will have a talk about the fact you're still smuggling, what's all this about you being worthless and inhuman? So what if you can't have a kid, yea it would be nice, but I have you and I only really need you. Don't start saying you should go back to the alley, nobody deserves to live in that place, it is unfortunate that anyone need live there. As for you not feeling like you deserve my love, trust me you absolutely do whether you believe me or not." Richard said, not fully understanding the not being human part but understanding that she needed to be comforted in any case.

 

[Lizmichi]

Alex just rested her head on his shoulder. "I need to find out what's wrong. Maybe there's something I can do, a serum I need to use." Alex said slowly coming back to her scenes. "Or hell we just could be unlucky but I won't know for sure until I'm at work." Alex said softly kissing him. "I love you Richard." she said softly.

 

[RBMidknight]

As Taryn passed through the museum her gaze hit upon various statues and remnants of battles past. Display cases and awards. And a giant empty space where-

Taryn paused. Then turned around. Surely, it couldn't be. She looked again. It was. Still, almost a year later, a giant space existed...

...where a spaceship once sat. A worn, battered hunk of twisted metal. Tinted green by oxidation. A hunk of metal on top of which a shy technopath liked to sit. Where an accident caused a small stylus to fall. Where technopath and inventor had first really talked. She'd talked to him. It seemed like so long ago. They'd been through so much since then. Taryn's gaze circled the space that once held the Merriweather. She tilted her head and frowned in concentration. She tried to picture...'What did I call it then?' Marvin. That was it. Marvin the spaceship. With the remembered name came an image. And with the image came voices of the past.

"You're pretty small, I'm sure I can catch you"
'I...don't know about this.'

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"
"No...you can...put me down now."

"Does anyone ever call you Levi?"
"Levi. Levictus Harland. That has a nice ring to it"

'I remember now...' Taryn thought. The beginning. She smiled briefly. It had taken them a while to get to know one another. To build trust, and comradery. To fall in love...

'Well, to admit it anyway.' Taryn amended. Now comfortably reminiscing, she resumed her journey. Through the museum and into the lounge she automatically navigated. She passed by the kitchen, not noticing Garrus and little Renton. Perhaps if she had been less occupied with her memories. The scenes flickered past like an old-school film reel. Taryn put her hand out and trailed her fingers against the wall. It served as a tactile reminder that she was still moving. She thought back to the battles. The fighting, the healing. The holidays. Gifts. Declarations...

"I'd like to see where this goes."
"You have no idea how happy you've made me."
"I'm not letting you go. I love you".
"I think you're crazy...but I love you too."

Taryn opened the door to her room. She walked over to her desk and carefully dropped all of her equipment onto the wood surface. Her hands shook as she took her laptop over to her main console. Those first few months, they'd held hands almost constantly. Been close. Hugs for no reason. Cuddling together just because, or for warmth. Two weeks. Two weeks ago she'd gotten a brief hug. A soft kiss. It hit Taryn then how distant her and Levi had become. Physical contact. Real talking. Now things of the past.

'We made it through the battles...the danger...the secrets. Victor.' The Devil. The crazy British man. Levi's nightmare. Taryn's tormentor.

"You will have the distinct honor of dying last."
"I should have warned you how truly dangerous Victor is."
"I don't want to see you be hurt anymore."
"I'm sorry it has to be like this again."

They'd made it through...hadn't they? They beat the 'bad guy'. So why were they almost worse off now than when they started? It wasn't fair. Taryn recalled the end of that horrible nightmare. Bruised, and battered, she'd watched Levi confront his demon head on. And win.

"He's finally gone."
"Thank you."

Victor was gone. Gone. Sucked into a black hole. There was only Levi. And Taryn. 'We're alive. But still...kind of apart.' Pulling the door open Taryn stepped out into the hallway once more. She tugged on the door handle. The door shut behind her with a quiet *click*.

'No more.' Taryn strode briskly down the hall. Her boots thudded against the carpeted floor. The sounds were somewhat lost in the still present construction noise. Taryn counted the doors as habit but she knew the route by heart. She reached a certain door and stopped. There was a pause. She took a breath. Taryn raised her hand and traced the rectangular sign in front of her.

Levi

She'd tried to talk to him. To get him to listen. To be happy. To be something. Then she'd let him have his space. 'Talking didn't help. I tried. I did.' Taryn raised her hand as if to knock. She hesitated. 'What if it still doesn't help...I don't...know what to do...' Could she get through to him? Was it worth trying again?

"Are you sure you still want to...be with me?"
"I'm sure."

The sharp sequence of knocks that followed was solid and loud.

"For you, anything."

 

[socialtangent]

Levi was roused from his lethargic haze by a loud series of rhythmic knocks. Somebody was at the door. Briefly, he considered just calling out to whoever was there, but didn't feel like raising his voice. Getting up and opening the door sounded equally unappealing. After about a minute of indecision, getting up and opening the door won out, but barely.

Slowly, Levi lifted his suddenly much heavier body up from his bed and forced himself to move towards the door. Twisting the knob, he pulled the door open to see Taryn standing before him. Normally, he would be happy. But now, all he could feel was...nothing. Nothing at all. Anything that even came close to registering as happiness was lost to the despair clinging in Levi's chest.

"Hey..." he mumbled.

 

[NeoAC]

Brian had only seen Ethan in the kitchen before, and figured that he wouldn't have any wheels that he could borrow, but Garrus? The apparent leader of the group? He had to have a decent set of wheels, something he could use to show Kayla he had something to offer.

He came over to him, careful not to disturb the baby he was holding onto. "Hey, Garrus, buddy," he started. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have a car or something there that I could borrow? You know? Just for the day and all? So I don't have to go on the bus?"

 

[tsatoma]

"Uhhh," Garrus started as he processed what Brian was asking, taking a moment before answering, "Sure I guess. The X6 is a lot less flashy and noticeable than the Ferraris...which I'm still not sure on the status of those. Here are the keys, and it's out in the front parking lot. Please just don't crash it; I'd hate for insurance to go up for it. The insurance for my bike is already high...though at least that has a reason for it." He handed Brian the keys to his BMW, and once more told him to be careful and to bring it back in perfect condition.

 

[Captainguy42]

Tommy was in the gym doing bench-press to keep in shape. 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56. He counted off mentally, as he pushed the bar up and lowered it.

While it was true his power was derived from magic, he found exercising still helped him grow stronger, he was not particularly sure how it happened. Tommy often had trouble finding weights that were massive enough to give him a work out, and still be of a reasonable size. That's why he was so glad Alex had given him a hyper-dense weight set last year for Christmas. During the raid by the Union the set had actually gone un-disturbed, probably due to the fact that they were too heavy for anyone but Major Crime to move.

...57, 58, 59... "60!" He exclaimed as he lowered the bar onto the rack. On a clipboard next to the bench he made a tally in a box labeled Bench press reps bringing his total for that day to 5.

"Alright, now for squats." He muttered grabbing the bar and draping it over his shoulder and beginning his squats.

 

[RBMidknight]

"Hey..." Levi mumbled.

Taryn frowned at the response. If it could be called that. A single mumbled word. Taryn shook her head. 'How could it have gotten so bad.' Squaring her shoulders, Taryn cleared her throat quietly before speaking.

"Hello, Levi." Taryn said. She mentally cringed. 'Well that's not very personal is it...' She brushed off her misstep and forged ahead. "Um...can I come in?" she asked. "I was hoping that maybe we could...talk." Taryn trailed off as she examined Levi's unkempt appearance. Her hand twitched at her side. She wanted reach up and fix his hair. Levi's normally immaculate appearance was deteriorated. Which was not a good sign. Apprehension mixed into Taryn's mood, dimming her determination somewhat. 'It's okay...I can do this.' She gave an approximation of a smile.

 

[socialtangent]

Talk?

Levi stared at Taryn blankly for a moment while his exhausted mind processed what she said. He nodded slowly and stepped aside to let her in, closing the door when she passed him. Out of habit, he turned the deadbolt and locked the door. With a sigh, he straightened out his dirty gray tanktop and faced her. Although Taryn had smiled, even someone as "out of it" as Levi could see that something was on her mind. Something that was bugging her.

"Talk about what?" he asked blankly.

 

[RBMidknight]

Taryn didn't answer Levi immediately. She stepped around what looked like a pair of jeans and one sock lying on the floor. It was not the only pile of clothes in the room. She nudged the small pile with her foot then briefly looked for a place to sit. That was visible. The options were limited. So Taryn decided to remain standing. She realized she needed to answer Levi's question so she looked back at him.

'What, indeed...' Where should she begin. Now that she'd gotten in the door, literally, Taryn's verbal skills seemed to vanish. Maybe she could be evasive. Or work up to a big central point. But...no. This was important.

Taryn took a breath. And went with honesty. "About you." she replied. "I'm...I'm worried about you. How you're doing." She started to gesture to the room but her hand froze before she could complete the inclusive gesture. 'Look at this. What's happened?' felt like it was going a bit too far. But she couldn't help the thought. Feeling awkward and unsettled Taryn lay her hand against her leg. She leaned backwards and found she was near the wall.

 

[socialtangent]

"I'm...I'm worried about you. How you're doing."

How am I doing? Good question.

Levi turned his head down and stared at his cluttered floor. His room had taken on the qualities of the man who lived in it: a disheveled mess. His empty gaze flickered back up to Taryn. Sighing again, Levi opened his mouth and paused for a moment before he spoke. "I don't know how I'm doing," he replied. "I really don't". Shoving his hands into his pockets, he shuffled over to his bed and sat down on it. "I just don't see the point in anything anymore".

 

[CounterAttack]

"Breakfast over there would be good, if they've finished with the kitchen," Katie mused, sitting up under the sheets and watching Leland for a few seconds before she threw back the covers and got dressed herself. "And yes, I'll be taking a few of the books to see if there's something I could try to create."

There were a couple of potions she had liked the idea of - specifically, one to increase running speed and one for catlike jumping - although at least one of the ingredients in each one was spelled in some bizarre way she couldn't pronounce. Still, there were small hand-drawn pictures of each ingredient in the index of one of the books, and they looked like things Katie recognised.

It seemed a little strange to Katie, getting into the whole magic thing. She knew she had no trace whatsoever of arcane ability, so she couldn't do any of the spells or things Leland was capable of. But the idea of using potions in fights appealed to her; they would give the Society the advantage in a way that some aspects of her natural gifts couldn't.

[hr]

Rowan was jolted out of his state by the voices of Garrus and Brian from the kitchen, but quickly went back to ignoring them for a while. Eventually, not wanting to listen to them, he got up from the couch and began retracing his regular pacing route. The only voices he wanted to hear were those of Alex and Eric, to give him the information he needed to hear.

Alex would confirm that he wasn't... human... and Eric would have dug up the details on the man who had stolen his humanity. The thought of someone watching him suffer and recording the results on a clipboard made Rowan clench his fists in anger as he paced without caring where he was going. No human should be used as a test subject except those who willingly offered themselves to the cause: that was his way of thinking.

 

[RBMidknight]

'Don't...see the point? What?' Taryn shook her head. "What do you mean?" she asked incredulously. She pushed off against the wall and took a step forward. She looked at Levi's blank gaze. "The point in...what? Living? Fighting? What? Being here? J-just..." Taryn stammered to a halt. She sighed in an aggravated fashion. This was not going as planned. Taryn glanced down at her hands. Reflex. She reminded herself that she shouldn't get upset. 'Alright...'

"Don't know how you're doing..." Taryn mumbled, echoing Levi's words. Alright. Fine. She could...she could work with that. Goodness knows she had already categorized how he was doing. Badly. Badly in need of a lot of things.

"Who are you." she asked almost inaudibly. It was a saddened, mournful statement. It was an accident. But when Taryn looked at the blank stare, the worn expression. It was like looking at a stranger. Something was missing from Levi. But the only really missing, that she knew of, was Victor. And damnit that was a good thing. Even when gone that maniac was still causing problems...

'Damn you, Victor.' Taryn thought. She wasn't going to let him destroy this. Them. Him. Taryn strode forward. It only took a few quick strides. When she was just barely arm's length from Levi she stopped. Taryn stood in silence for several long seconds. Then she spoke quietly. "Is there some way...I could help? With that?" she asked. Her tone was cautious.

 

[NeoAC]

"Holy shit, yes!" Brian couldn't believe his luck. First person and he got the wheels he needed. He pocketed the keys. "I mean, hey thanks man, I'll take good care of it, you know. You won't be disappointed. Uh..." He grabbed his waffles out of the toaster and drizzled them in syrup. "I'm uh, going to go get ready then, you know? Make me look like less of a caveman? Right. I'll get these back to you bro!" Brian then beat a retreat back to him room to eat and prepare for later.

 

[socialtangent]

"Is there some way...I could help? With that?"

"Help...well you can try, I guess," Levi replied quietly with a shrug. Again, something told him that he should be feeling something other than sadness. That he should be at least happy that Taryn was in front of him. As his gaze slowly raised to meet her eyes, he was rewarded with nothing. Nothing besides his lingering fear and despair. I can thank Victor for this, he thought darkly. Levi's eyes once again dropped the floor.

Even during the day, the flashbacks from Victor's reign of terror still appeared before him in horribly gruesome slideshow of his worst nightmares. Despite being dead, Victor still fulfilled his promise. He had ruined Levi. Left his mind in shambles. Kept him in perpetual fear even without his presence. Victor had won, as far as Levi was concerned. There was no point in denying it.

Levi collapsed backwards onto his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling above Taryn. "I don't know if anyone can help me".