WAOA Arena

[DotSlash]

Carmen sighed a bit and shook her head. [color=bb0066] "True, but I tend to lose myself when a battle goes on for too long. It's another trait of mine that resulted from being in the world I'm in, and it's been very hard to shake it off through the decades. I don't wish mindless servitude on anyone really... aside from a few people who are nothing but scourges to all existence... but I can't help it if I've lost my reason myself..." [/color] She looked at James with somewhat jaded eyes. [color=bb0066] "Fighting is a dangerous thing to get addicted to..." [/color]

 

[Random berk]

Dromaeus thought for just a moment before replying.

"If we have met at all, then it was most likely as a result of me dragging you out of a carriage and robbing you." He said to Laguna. "Or perhaps you once considered buying me from the Imperial landlord who owned me when I was too young to remember you. We certainly have never worked together or drank together. You are clearly not the sort to walk among bandits, assassins or escaped slaves." Then he turned to EMily.

"What must I know? There are three kinds of people among the mortals of Tamriel. Those who would use their wealth or power to crush others beneath their bootheel, those who have been crushed, and those who have thrown down their oppressors, but have not yet properly reversed the role. You are clearly not one of the downtrodden, this much I can see."

 

[Gearhead mk2]

"Look, I don't remember that much, but I'm fairly certain I'd remember where I come from. And I've never heard of Tamriel, people use trains instead of carriages, I've worked with mercenarys, and there's no slave trade. I don't think we're even from the same reality."

 

[Random berk]

Carmen would see her nature reflected to a great degree in James as he looked back at her.

"I hear you." He sighed. "I try to follow a code, try to live by some morality, but the truth is that I've seen so much shit, done so much... I don't know if I'm just fooling myself. The vast majority of the last decade I've just been putting down ghouls. Walking, mindless sacks of rotting meat. But all too often I've had to drop some asshole who had a gun on me, or my family, or more lately my division. I can justify those guys, but worse than that, I've had to put down some poor bastard whose only crime was to let his guard down and get bitten. I even had to shoot..." At this he stopped and shook his head, not continuing afterwards.

 

[Slenn]

<color=blue>"I also can't recall Tamriel. I come from a place called the Reformed European American Territories on a planet titled Earth. And I can tell by your attire and your fitness, that you are very athletic and strong. I can tell you also have a strong opinion on matters concerning hierarchy. In my eyes, I don't think you're low class at all. In fact I think you're very interesting. At this point in time where everyone has no memory of each other, we might as well be even. Humans in my own history books have always made racial boundaries, but yet that idea diminishes because there are always those that side with the victims of racial insults and treatment. Who knows, maybe some day in your world you'll come across a human who sides with you in this opinion." She shrugged.

 

[Random berk]

"Such humans do exist." Dromaeus confirmed. "But they have all been abused just as much as I or any of my kind, either by their own, or just as commonly by the Elven races. I have yet to hear of a wealthy man who would treat an Argonian, Orc or Khajiit as an equal, or of any of these races to rise to a position of great power in human dominated society."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen looked over, nodding a bit and smiling a small bit. She hadn't expected to find someone she could relate with in a place like this. [color=bb0066] "I see... I must've been... hard. I've had to do the same with someone I loved as well... Actually the first person who ever loved me for me... and not because of my powers." [/color] She scratched the back of her head a small bit while looking down.

 

[Random berk]

"Something like that just eats away at you."James said, leaning forward in his seat with his head bowed. He chuckled slightly, more an empty gasp than a sound expressing humour. "I think if I met myself from ten years ago in the street, I wouldn't even be able to identify with myself." He looked up at Carmen again.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened? I mean... how did it come to that?"

 

[Slenn]

<color=blue>"Well.... all I could say to that is such unfortunate times don't last forever. You never know. There will probably be a day when a higher class will stand up for you. At first this person may be berated, but may start some followers. This person may not succeed at first, but it will probably inspire a later higher class to try even harder."

She yawned.

<color=blue>"It is getting late. And I'm tired. I'll be heading to my bedroom. It was very nice talking to you." She got up from her stool. She bowed her head and curtseyed. <color=blue>"And my name is EMily. The 'EM' is for electromagnetism." She shook her head for a bit with a quizzical face. <color=blue>"I think I just had a bit of deja vu. In any case, goodnight." She made a polite smile before Gwen made her leave as well.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

"Really? Not one? I don't think so. There's gotta be someone who, even if they don't say it publicly, treats people like you with respect."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen seemed to look into the distance for a moment. [color=bb0066] "Well... I don't mind that much. What had happened was that I was important to the side I was fighting on. The enemy sent that man to assassinate me in the quietest way possible. He took on the appearance of a demon... and we fell in love, or so I thought. I awoke one night with a blade pointed at my throat... and I had to defend myself." [/color]

She sighed and looked down again. [color=bb0066] "When the deed was done and I stood over his body, hurt and confused, he explained everything. He said he still loved me, that things would've been different were we not destined to be enemies. With his last breath, he reassured me that he loved me. I wasn't sure what to think or feel for months to come afterward." [/color]

 

[Random berk]

Dromaeus grunted a farewell to EMily as she was leaving. He groaned in response to Laguna.

"I have no idea if a small number of humans hold these beliefs, I have never met them! Have I not made it clear enough that I do not habitually associate with them?" He snapped.

James's expression was sympathetic as he listened to the first part of Carmen's story. As she described her lover's final confession however, he was clearly shocked.

"Wh-what? 'Destined to be enemies'? How is that a reasonable... how could he still... I don't... Jesus!" He gasped. "Carmen... hell, I don't know what to say about that, honestly. I don't understand how anyone could claim to love a person, while plotting to kill them right from the beginning. That isn't just wrong, that's fucking insane." He sighed. "I can't imagine what you must have been thinking yourself after that. I don't know what's worse, having to kill a loved one to ensure the safety of yourself and the rest of your people, or to find that they were playing you from the start... I'm sorry."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen nodded and bit her lip a small bit. [color=bb0066] "They were probably holding something dear from him. Maybe threatening his family or something equivalent. That's what I told myself after some time, but I'm not even sure if it's true or not..." [/color] She shook her head slightly, trying to hold back something. [color=bb0066] "...Never mind it... Thinking about it now won't change the fact that it happened." [/color]

 

[Random berk]

James stood up and went to the bar, grabbing a couple of glasses.

"This is the kind of talk that demands a certain amount of drink." He said to Carmen as he went. "Whether you need to loosen your tongue, or just feel better about it afterwards. What'll you have?"

 

[Gearhead mk2]

"I was just saying, there's gotta be someone out there. Heck, I'm a president, so I probably count." Laguna stood. "I'm getting pretty tired, so I'm gonna head off. But one last thing: like it or not, you are gonna haveta socialise. I'd suggest getting a head start. If you ever wanna talk to me, say the word." Laguna gave a salute and exited the lounge.

OoC: I'm off. Night.

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen smiled a small bit as she walked along with James. [color=bb0066] "I'll just take a wine of some sort. Alcohol is one of the go-to's for those... hard nights, even in Hell." [/color]

 

[Random berk]

Dromaeus shook his head in exasperation at Laguna's persistence as he walked off.

James grinned and quickly selected a 6 year old red wine off the rack, before grabbing a bottle of dry cider from underneath the counter.

"It was mostly tobacco where I came from. Alcohol was something that we loved of course, but it was never a good idea to get drunk. Anything could go wrong at any time, and if a horde of undead somehow got into a fortified position or some similar situation and you were too hammered to hold a gun steady or to run without falling on your face, well... you wouldn't have to worry about the hangover in the morning. Cigarettes on the other hand were good for relaxing without seriously impairing your performance. Most of the guys in my division were fiends for them, myself included." He finished pouring the drinks and handed the wine to Carmen before raising his own glass.

"To memories. May we not be able to remember them for several hours after this."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen nodded and clinked her glass against James' raised one and taking a small swig. [color=bb0066] "To forgetting memories." [/color] She seemed to tilt her head a bit, finally picking up on James talking about zombies. [color=bb0066] "You fight the undead? When you said you were fighting ghouls, I assumed you were some kind of exorcist. Did a necromancer of some sort go rouge in your world to create so many undead that you needed to organize against them?" [/color]

 

[Random berk]

James laughed out loud at this.
"An exorcist? Do I look like the kind of person who deals with a problem by chanting hymns and waving around sticks of incense?" He exclaimed. "No, I was a Major in a military quarantine and extermination outfit. The dead were the result of a virus that went pandemic, killing billions of people and reanimating their bodies as flesh eating automatons. There was no intelligent design behind it, simply the plague spreading through channels of least resistance as quickly as possible back before there was any way to combat it."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen seemed to be a bit taken back by James' laughter. [color=bb0066] "You'd be surprised what an exorcist looks like in my world. And those methods are a bit outdated." [/color] She nodded along with his explanation as well as she took another swig. [color=bb0066] "So this virus was spread due to negligence or something of that like? Human error at work, correct?" [/color]